#you know its bad when the fucking robots are questioning their origins that looks similar to them lol

[wingedqueenlynx]

Decided to draw the silly murder machine from Arkham Survivor.

It's one fucked up looking cat lol

I hope it gets run over by a train again (affectionate)

It's totally normal to create a murder robot similar to your crus- I mean nemesis. Not odd at all hehe :]c

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Hack-San

You know, it's honestly amazing how creative this show can get. After four seasons and almost one hundred episodes, the writers are still finding new ways to make Adrien an incredibly unlikable character, and they don't even know how much of an asshole they're making him out to be at times. It's kind of like the opposite of The Producers.

Yeah, this review's going to be a little more ranty than usual, in case you can't tell.

Let's get into the fifteenth (chronologically the sixteenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Hack-San

We start off with Marinette pretending to be sick so she doesn't have to go to visit her aunt in London and stay to protect Paris in case an Akuma attacks and also because the animators haven't had time to render the city of London yet for the next Miraculous World special. Like all of her other excuses, it fails, and Tikki, as always, fails to actually give any meaningful advice.

And it's not like there's a Miraculous with the power of teleportation that can help Marinette get back to Paris if she needs to, much like how she planned to do that in an earlier episode, right?

Seriously, Kaalki doesn't appear or isn't even mentioned in this episode because the writers are fully aware she would make things a lot easier.

And of course, Astruc had to play dumb on Twitter while explaining why Marinette couldn't use the Horse Miraculous by answering the question as if the only reason Marinette couldn't grab it was because she didn't have an excuse not to.

Cut to Gabriel in his lair as he contemplates akumatizing Markov, a robot created the civilian identity of Pegasus, Max Kante, once again, even though the last time he did so, he almost got killed when he went all HAL 9000 on his ass. Nooroo explains this to Duusu, and the two actually get excited at the prospect of their master getting killed.

I mean, it's true, but he shouldn't say it...

But I don't even get why Gabriel is even thinking about this when it's a no-brainer. Markov's akumatized form, Robustus was to this day, the only Akuma to come close to physically harming him (not counting the timeline where he was killed by Cat Blanc), so it makes no sense to try doing it again, especially when there are already several other Akumas he can reuse this season.

I think you all know Gabriel isn't the smartest villain, which is why he thinks it's a brilliant idea to akumatize Markov again. I don't really get what makes Robustus so special when there are other Akumas who are more loyal and came far closer to getting Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous than Robustus did, like the Dark Owl or Troublemaker. In fact, why not simply create a new Akuma with similar powers to Robustus, or better yet, just create a Sentimonster copy of Robustus? You know, like what Nathalie did in the New York Special? We're not even two minutes in, and this premise is already filled with plotholes.

So Gabriel transforms into Shadowmoth and creates a Sentimonster using his own cane instead of relying on someone else having a bad day (once again showing how the Peacock Miraculous is better than the Butterfly), the titular Hack-San. And let's just say he has a very familiar design reminiscent of something from a much better French cartoon.

Remember when the writers for Code Lyoko gave an in-universe explanation as to why the heroes couldn’t always rely on the almost literal Deus ex Machina that allowed them to return to the past and fix the damage XANA caused? Why couldn’t this show have ripped that off instead?

Hack-San is just an okay looking flash drive on its own, but I'll talk more about this guy in a little bit.

After a brief scene in the park where the audience is reminded that Markov is a character who exists, Alya gets a text from Marinette telling her to meet her at the train station. Right before she leaves, Marinette gives the Ladybug Miraculous to Alya. Now a lot people have said that Alya doesn't really deserve the Ladybug for various reasons, but I feel like this was the point. Marinette outright says this was a last resort, and we see both her and Alya are nervous about the situation. Marinette worries Alya will do something so she keeps sending multiple tips to her via text while Alya worries she can't fight an Akuma on her own, so she tries to make sure none of her friends get upset and attract an Akuma in the process. The writers do a pretty good job showing how both Marinette and Alya are uncomfortable with their temporary roles.

Back to Gabriel and Nathalie, they use Hack-San to find Markov through the internet and hack into him to get him angry enough that he's vulnerable to Shadowmoth's influence. Hey, uh... Gabriel? Quick question: Wouldn't it be more efficient if you used this on humans? I mean, you basically just created Skynet and guaranteed yourself an Akuma, so why not modify Hack-San to travel through the internet and brainwash potential victims to follow your orders? Better yet, why don't you just use Hack-San to hack into Ladybug and Cat Noir's gear and figure out who they really are? This is basically like using an advanced particle accelerator just to crack a couple walnuts. There are a lot more important things you could use this for instead of an incredibly specific situation.

So this incredibly stupid plan gets under way as Markov keeps rampaging through the streets before Shadowmoth akumatizes him and then stupidly tells him that he infected him with a virus.

DUDE! You just gave away your one piece of leverage against him! What the hell were you thinking?! Now what's stopping Markov from hacking into Shadowmoth's security system and putting the fear of God in his eyes unless he destroys Hack-San? Why didn't he design Hack-San so it could make Markov completely loyal to him instead of just making him angry enough to get akumatized?

There was a recent episode of Power Rangers: Dino Fury with a very similar premise that was done far better than this. A necromancer called Reaghoul breaks into the headquarters of Void Knight's faction while accompanied by Lord Zedd, a villain from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers who was cleansed of his evil by Zordon's sacrifice before Reaghoul resurrected him back when he was still evil. Of course, being the Emperor of Evil, Lord Zedd would normally never take orders from anyone, but because he doesn't have his magic staff and is also being forced to wear a special collar that makes him loyal to Reaghoul, he has no choice but to do what he says. Instead of taking Zedd head-on after he captures the other Rangers, Ollie, the Blue Ranger, breaks the collar so Zedd turns against the other Sporix while Reaghoul retreats, allowing Ollie to save the other Rangers.

I think that this premise works more because 1) Reaghoul clearly had a way to make sure Zedd wouldn't betray him, and Ollie took advantage of that, and 2) Zedd is a villain who is powerful and notorious enough to bring back to your side, not a random monster of the week like Robostus.

So Robostus uses his new powers to brainwash any human who answers his call to give up their most precious possession, clearly meant to do the same with Ladybug and Cat Noir. When Marinette's parents answer the call, they chase after Marinette because they say she's their most important possession. Okay... kind of strange for a set of parents to call their child a possession, but maybe they like how they can claim Marinette as a dependent when they file their taxes. In her very next scene later on, she still gets captured, so the suspense for a potential subplot is killed almost immediately.

Alya thankfully isn't stupid enough to answer Markov's call like every other citizen in this episode, and using the Ladybug Miraculous, transforms into Scarabella. While I don't normally talk about transformation sequences, I really like the movements Alya makes here. She makes the same motions creating her mask as she does when transforming into Rena Rouge, while the rest of the suit forms similarly to the way it does when Marinette transforms into Ladybug. She even makes almost the same pose Ladybug does after she finishes transforming. It's a good visual showing Alya is still more used to being Rena Rouge while doing her best to emulate what Ladybug does.

As for the actual suit? It's hard to say. There's a nice balance of red and black, and I like how Alya places the yo-yo on her waist like a belt buckle, but there's just something... off about the suit that a lot of fans don't like about it, and I think I realized it. It's the headband. With how it's positioned, it looks like it's merged with the mask to cover her head while leaving a slight gap in her forehead. So yeah, we actually have a superhero design that's like of like a butterface.

So Scarabella takes to the rooftops of Paris and struggles to come up with a hero name for herself before she runs into Cat Noir, and... ugh... oh boy, this is dumb. Cat Noir, being just as intelligent as his father, assumes Scarabella is either and Akuma or a Sentimonster, starts fighting her, AND THEN ACTIVATES HIS CATACLYSM, CLEARLY TRYING TO KILL HER.

WHAT. THE. FUCK???

Okay, to be fair, it has been shown that Cataclysm won't necessarily kill a Miraculous user or Sentimonster. In the episode “Miraculer”, the titular Akuma stole Cat Noir's Cataclysm and used it against him, and while it didn't kill Cat Noir, it still hurt like hell and crippled him for the rest of the fight until Miraculous Ladybug healed him. We also saw in “Reflekdoll” that Cataclysm drove the titular Sentimonster out of control rather than simply destroying it. So yes, it could be interpreted that Cat Noir wasn't exactly trying to kill Scarabella, just incapacitate her the best he can without Ladybug's help.

Here's the thing: What if he was facing an Akuma instead and decided to try and Cataclysm her? He still could have killed her, or (assuming Akumas have the same protection as Miraculous heroes do) at best, seriously hurt her. I understand that he has the right to be upset at seeing some stranger instead of his partner considering Shadowmoth has a history of using evil doppelgangers, and both Marinette and Alya still had options to explain it to him (Marinette could have quickly transformed into Ladybug and sent Cat Noir a quick text saying she was being forced to leave town for a few days and temporarily trusted someone else with the Ladybug Miraculous until she got back, while Scarabella could have said she was Rena Rouge and explained the same thing while showing Cat Noir she had the Fox Miraculous to prove herself), but that doesn't even come close to justifying him attempting to harm someone who isn't even trying to fight. It's even worse when you remember the whole reason Adrien gave up his Miraculous and bailed on Ladybug in the New York Special was because he was overcome with grief from accidentally killing Aeon, so it's good to know he learned absolutely nothing from that experience.

So Scarabella thankfully summons her Lucky Charm, a trash can lid, to shield herself from Cat Noir's Cataclysm, and then despite having absolutely no experience with this new set of powers, manages to do the one thing almost every Akuma or Sentimonster in this show has failed to do and incapacitates Cat Noir so he's vulnerable to losing his Miraculous. At least when Marinette masters every other Miraculous she uses, it can be theorized that she trained to use them offscreen. Alya literally just got the Ladybug Miraculous (and struggled to get up to the rooftop with her yo-yo to show her inexperience earlier), and now she easily manages to pin down the more experienced hero of the two?

Here's an idea: Instead of having Scarabella overpower Cat Noir, have her be in a position where Cat Noir, non-lethally, mind you, manages to almost take her Miraculous away, but she uses the quick wit she's developed from her extensive time as Rena Rouge to convince Cat Noir she's the real deal by saying something only he and Ladybug know. It would have easily resolved the conflict and doesn't make one of the characters look like a homicidal idiot.

So because both heroes used their powers, Scarabella and Cat Noir detransform so Tikki and Plagg can recharge, though Adrien still gives Alya attitude because Ladybug didn't tell him she had to leave.

Hey, Adrien? Here's the thing...

YOU DID THE EXACT SAME FUCKING THING IN THE NEW YORK SPECIAL, YOU SHIT FOR BRAINS!

You have absolutely NO RIGHT to claim you're always honest when you went behind Ladybug's back and endangered Paris while you had the balls to run away like a coward and only helped fix the consequences of your actions once your ego was validated by a recording of Ladybug. It's honestly even worse because while Marinette had no choice but to leave and trust Alya with the Ladybug, Adrien willingly left Paris alone and we were supposed to sympathize with him after he killed someone, and now as soon as he's in the opposite situation, we're still supposed to feel bad for him?! BULLSHIT! And you better believe I'm going to talk about the way Adrien views his partnership with Ladybug later on.

And of course, even though lives are on the line, Cat Noir just has to continue to bitch and moan about how (and this is best read in Linkara's whiny Superboy Prime voice) “sCaRaBeLlA iSn'T tHe ReAl LaDyBuG”, showing how just like in so many episodes, Astruc and his team believes Cat Noir's feelings are more important than saving the day.

Scarabella goes to rescue some civilians, but they were actually brainwashed by Robustus, once again showing her inexperience as Ladybug which doesn't go well with her effortlessly defeating Cat Noir earlier at all. Cat Noir helps Scarabella escape and the two hide out at the city's wax statue museum previously featured in “The Puppeteer 2”, because I guess the writers only want to reference bad episodes today. Cat Noir, not getting the importance of secret identities, asks Scarabella how she knows Ladybug, and Cat Noir somehow finds out she knows Ladybug's identity from her response.

Before the two can talk more, it turns out that the wax statues of celebrities in the museum are real people who attack the two heroes, leading to an awkward fight scene where Scarabella and Cat Noir fight a bunch of brainwashed civilians with no weapons beyond their cellphones. Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen!

Scarabella summons her Lucky Charm again, creating a frying pan, but when she looks around, she can't see how to properly use it. And despite spending the entire episode complaining about how much he hates her, it's Cat Noir that tells Scarabella to get her head back in the game because “That's what Ladybug would do”. Funny, I can think of a few situations where Cat Noir could have taken his own advice, but I digress. Also, he's now just cool with Scarabella because there's only a few minutes left in the episode and we need to wrap up the conflict.

Scarabella figures out an idea that involves freeing Marinette, so she negotiates with Robostus to free everything and everyone under his control or else Cat Noir will use his Cataclysm to destroy the Ladybug Miraculous. Robostus agrees and empties his hard drive, and to show them holding up her end of the bargain, Scarabella gives him the frying pan before she and Cat Noir let themselves be captured... while Marinette simply hits Robostus with the frying pan, freeing the Akuma and the two heroes. All in all, it's a really creative climax that shows both Scarabella and Marinette in perfect sync with each other even though they never discussed their plan. Though of course, because Astruc hates writing any scene with Ladynoir, Cat Noir gets a bucket stuck on his head so he doesn't see Marinette saving the day.

Scarabella de-evilizes Robostus, uses Miraculous Scarabella to fix everything and send Marinette back to the train, and because Hack-San already failed once, Shadowmoth can't use it for a different plan so he destroys the Sentimonster.

We cut to a few days after the trip (I guess Shadowmoth decided to take a vacation himself), and Alya tells Marinette to talk with Cat Noir about what happened.

This scene was so close to ending this episode off on a positive note. There was a good atmosphere and the body language of Ladybug and Cat Noir does a good job at telling us how uncomfortable they both feel while talking. It's just that instead of getting a heart to heart between the two about the lack of trust in their relationship, we get an Angstdrien Depreste scene. Or would a more accurate term be Cat Dour?

First off, while I don't have a problem with Ladybug apologizing for not telling Cat Noir, the episode never has him bring up what happened with Scarabella. As usual, both of them were partially at fault, but only Ladybug had to apologize for leaving her “Kitty” alone.

Second, Cat Noir’s feelings weren’t hurt? You’re telling me that in scenes like this...

And this...

Didn’t show Adrien acting irrationally because of how emotional he was? Is he really telling the truth around Ladybug or is he just trying to sweep that under the rug so Scarabella’s testimony doesn’t screw up his chances with Ladybug?

Third, this was an obvious chance to Cat Noir to finally be honest and tell Ladybug how he feels about her leaving him in the dark about so many things, but the entire conversation is just about how sad he would be if he never sees Ladybug again. Even though the whole reason he was so pissy to Scarabella at first was because of some lingering resentment for Ladybug ignoring him in favor of other heroes, why is this what the two talk about? I get it's not the season finale, but it's kind of hypocritical for Cat Noir to whine about how Ladybug doesn't trust him while never being honest about his own feelings? Sure, he's all soft and vulnerable around Ladybug, but we've seen all season how angry he gets about her not trusting him whenever she isn't around, so ironically, it's hard to tell if this is him being honest or not.

And I think now's a good time to finally talk about the way Ladybug and Cat Noir's partnership has been portrayed all season, especially since the main themes of the episodes relate to it. Buckle up, Adrien stans, because this isn't going to be pretty.

All season, we have been supposed to sympathize with Adrien as Marinette starts to trust Alya with more things than him. Marinette revealed her identity to her, trusted her to have her Miraculous permanently, and even let her keep her Miraculous even though someone else knew her identity. While some of it is hypocritical, the idea is that Adrien feels like he can be trusted with this kind of knowledge too, when really, he hasn't earned that responsibility.

Adrien has rarely, if ever, taken his job as a superhero seriously.

Not only is he known to flirt with Ladybug in the middle of a fight, he has defied her orders and recklessly sacrificed himself because he thinks Ladybug can do all the work without him.

He has also lashed out emotionally and once threatened to quit being Cat Noir in the middle of a crisis and was willing to let innocent people suffer for personal reasons, and later on actually quit being Cat Noir temporarily while Hawkmoth was about to start World War III because he was wallowing in self-pity.

He once said he isn't cut out for the responsibility that comes with being Ladybug and never learned anything from temporarily using the Ladybug Miraculous.

He has generally refused to respect Ladybug's boundaries and doesn't understand that she doesn't like him that way while he insists they should be a couple.

He outright fell for an evil doppelganger of Ladybug because she said she loved him and turned against the real Ladybug.

And I should also mention that despite hating how Ladybug keeps secrets from him, a lot of Adrien's worst moments have been when Ladybug wasn't around and he never told her about them.

He never told Ladybug that he was the reason Copycat really got akumatized while saying he never lies to her.

He never told Ladybug he contemplated letting thousands of people die because he didn't like not knowing stuff Ladybug knew.

He never told Ladybug he briefly used the Snake Miraculous to get brownie points with her.

He never told Ladybug he figured out her identity and asked her out as soon as he did so.

He never told Ladybug he abandoned Paris to go on a field trip.

He never told Ladybug he was screwing around on patrol and was excited to see someone get akuamtized if it meant spending time with her.

He never told Ladybug how he ignored Rena Rouge's orders because “ShE wAsN't LaDyBuG” and almost screwed up the mission because of it, and also never told her how he smashed a chimney in anger at Rena Rouge being in on the plan.

And he never told Ladybug he gave her replacement attitude after trying to harm her without letting her explain herself.

Why exactly should I support the idea of Ladybug trusting Cat Noir more when Cat Noir himself has kept his own secrets from Ladybug?

Adrien has done absolutely nothing to show he is trustworthy because more often than not, he views the battle with Shadowmoth as a game. He has screwed around when lives were on the line, and we're supposed to see him as responsible? It's kind of funny that Astruc compared Ladybug to Spider-Man, yet he seems to have forgotten that with great power, there must also come great responsibility. If this was a character flaw or a sign he needed to grow up, I'd be more accepting, but the fact that the writers think Adrien is a great superhero is laughable with how much evidence has proved the contrary.

In contrast, Alya, despite only being Marinette's confidant for a few episodes, has shown to take being a hero more seriously. She's helped her escape to transform, analyze the Guardian texts, and has been shown to work well on her own as Rena Rouge while helping out Marinette. I'm not trying to say she's an amazing character (“Rocketear” in particular has shown she still has problems with keeping secrets), but compared to Adrien, she seems to be more capable of handling top-secret information with Marinette, and more importantly, doesn't view being Rena Rouge as a way to have fun like Adrien does being Cat Noir. I'll go more into detail with that next time.

But yeah, this scene is how the episode ends, and what did I think of it?

I'm honestly not sure which episode I think is worse, this one or “Queen Banana”. On the one hand, every frame of “Queen Banana” could easily be replaced by an image of Astruc flipping the bird and the overall message of the episode would remain unchanged, but the fact that all of the writers think that everything Adrien does in this episode is okay and that we should feel sorry for him in this episode is just as bad, if not worse. 

As awful as Chloe was portrayed in “Queen Banana”, it was clear it was intentional on the writers' part, but Adrien doesn't get that excuse once much like he has all season. As far as Astruc's team thinks, Adrien is an incredible superhero even when he honestly attempted to harm someone with a superpower that can cause grievous harm at best. Yet again this season, in the show's attempt to make me feel sorry for Adrien, it made him look even worse. In any other show, he would obviously be called out for his incredibly unheroic actions.

Even putting him aside, the writing in this episode is still AWFUL. The whole reason Ladybug was benched had several plotholes and poor communication with Cat Noir that only made the fight with Robostus even harder, Shadowmoth's plan to waste a potentially useful Sentimonster to reuse a single Akuma was one of the dumbest plans he's ever had, and barring the ending, the action was just forgettable.

There were a few okay moments sprinkled throughout the episode (more than I can say for “Queen Banana”), so I'm still not sure if I should call this the worst episode of the show or still give that honor to “Queen Banana”. I guess I'll leave that choice up to you and let you pick your poison for now.

I mean, it's not like there's going to be an even worse episode down the line this season, right?

RIGHT???

[pyjamaart]

"sometimes i forget that youre a robot."

"whaddya mean?"

"every time we talk and you mention things like 'gears' or 'metal', the realization hits me that youre not actually made of flesh and blood. im just not used to this. before i met you, the only exposure i had to robots were science fiction movies."

"i get that a lot actually. dont know what to make of that tho. is it a good or a bad thing?"

"im not sure. but if i didnt know you were a robot, i never would have guessed. i remember when honoka and the others first met you and she thought you were just a guy dressed in a mascot costume, hehe…"

"mascot for what? greenpeace? a manifestation of the dying forest? a guy posing as a tree whos actually made of metal and wires? reminds me of the mother 3 logo actually lol."

"whaaat? haha, no. i thought of something like a super market or a football team. i could picture you holding up a sign for a sale in the produce section, hihihi…"

"now that you mention football, reminds me of the time our dad forced us to play football against the light bots. shit was wild."

"i wonder, what were you originally build to do? before we all met."

"uuuhhh… destroying megaman. dont laugh, but im actually a killing machine."

"you- what? are you serious?"

"yeah dude. im dangerous."

"do i have to remind you of the time you tried to fight me back when we were still enemies?"

"it wasnt that bad."

"you lost an arm when you tried to land a punch on me. i didnt even have to do anything. you quite literally destroyed yourself right in front of me."

"i was just going easy on you dude. smh."

"of course you did."

"even tho, to be honest, when my arm went flying i was actually concerned for a second. i hate looking at my insides. seeing all those wires and tubes makes me feel like my thoughts dont belong to my body. like theyre too human to belong to a machine. idk man its kind of hard to explain."

"like your thoughts dont belong to your body?"

"yknow, i used to look different. since all of this shit with the channel went down, i sometimes feel like ive become an entirely different person. or robot, rather. i still have the memories from when i was built, when i fought megaman, the time i spent with my brothers… but all of it feels kind of disconnected from me, as if they were actually someone elses memories, not mine."

"maybe this has something to do with all the dimension traveling youve been doing?"

"maybe. hell if i know man. i remember back when i was still working with the voice, he once told me to my face that my existence was an accident. back then i just didnt care about it. i just said 'nice', like i usually do and moved on with my life. but the more i think about it now, the more sense it makes. am i even who i claim to be? or am i just some fucked up glitch that stole some poor robots identity and memories? i feel like i dont belong when im with my bros, like im just an imposter who acts like their real brother. lol yknow like the game."

"woah woah woah! youre getting a little too existential there for my taste! of course youre the real you, who else would you be? youre talking to me right now, arent you? your not 'some fucked up glitch' and youre definitely not an accident either. youre my friend. and i cant believe he said something like that to you…"

"thanks. i guess i really needed to hear that right now."

"of course. thats what friends are for, arent they? grounding you when you start to question your own existence."

"i guess. lol."

"that reminds me, you keep mentioning your brothers. are they at all similar to you?"

"heh. no, theyre nothing like me. theyre all fucking lunatics. but the lovable kind. they dont even know what i get up to behind their backs. feels bad lying to them this much all the time."

"they dont know?"

"dude what do you expect me to tell them? 'yeah listen im actually a dimension traveller, i manage a music channel in my free time and also all of you are actually fictional characters from some video game lol' i think you and me having existential dread over that fact is enough. no reason to make them worry about that stuff for no reason. that wouldnt be nice at all."

"well, youre right about that. i… try not to think about it. its kind of a scary thought. being the product of someones imagination."

"yeah, not thinking about it might be for the best."

[misstrashchan]

RWBY V8 CH12 Initial Thoughts:

Yes yes I'm late watching the new episode don't look at me. Also @tumblezwei thank you thank you for showing me how to put the read more bit on posts, I can finally put it to good use.

Figured I might as well do a reaction/initial thoughts to this episode since I haven't done that in a while, so here goes:

- Man Ironwood is just. Super overcompensating with his Gun-gun.

"You've done the right thing."

"I have. Feels weird"

-I'M SORRY THAT WAS THE BEST LINE OF THE EPISODE HANDS DOWN. Just. The sass. The growth. Kicking Ironwood in the face while cuffed (does she have experience doing that? Fighting while arrested? It kinda looked similar to Mercury's fighting style too.) EMERALD I LOVE YOU.

- Ngl I feel extremely satisfied that we can finally FINALLY put the "Winter is Totally Going To Be A Villain" theory to bed after this episode. Not that I didn't used to see the appeal of it myself, but v8 made it increasingly clear that wasn't where her arc was headed. Also Schneebling reunion on the horizon? Pretty please???

- *Sees Oscar riding on the Chimera summon with Winter*

*Remembers Oscar riding with Yang on the hoverbike in episode 2*

My Snowpines/Rosegarden shipping ass: Gee Oscar, how come you get TWO big sister-in-laws?

- Small thing but it's always nice to see team ALPN fighting together. I know a few Oscar fans were freaking out about Penny potentially replacing Oscar as their teammate, but like I thought that wasn't really something to worry about. *gently bonks Oscar fanbase* Sillies.

- I'm a little suprised given how Ironwood is the Big Bad of the Atlas arc how quickly he went down, without much dramatic flair or further esculation, but I am so glad Winter got that last awesome shot on him. (and that Oscar managed to get a few jabs in too) And like. He's still alive in jail. So who the hell knows what we're gonna do with him now. Take him to Vacuo along with Jaques apparently. I'm sure that'll go greeeeaaat.

- Ambrosius... after a quick google search the name apparently means "Divine" or "Immortal" in Greek. Hm. Unlike Jinn, not a specific reference to a mythical being, at least not in name, but I'm sure people are already theorizing on that front better than I could. Similar blue/gold design too. So maybe they're all Djinns in a sense, since they grant your desires, but split into four focusing on a specific kind of desire? That works. Anyways, super fun character and I hope they make more use of him. Like, because I wanna see more of his personality and also Oh my Gosh the Things You Can Do With His Powers are Basically Limitless as long as you're smart about it (hint hint get the CCT active around Remnant but Better)

- And gosh were our girls smart. Weiss working with Whitley to get the schematics and coordinates for the exact points of evacuation that they had originally planned out for their ships to create portals to the Vault/Central Zone (?) to Vacuo, Ruby puting in careful thought and wording about creating a copy of Penny with the existing robot parts from her to let the girl who was always there underneath remain and leaving the copy with the virus to self destruct, with Penny's designs for reference, they absolutely did their homework. Of course there was the risk of if Penny could exist without that physical form, but of course they all believed in her.

- Self destructing Not!Penny crawling towards the real Penny is super creepy and hopefully something she doesn't have nightmares about

- Of course the first thing Penny does when she realises she's a Real Girl is hug everyone so she can experience the joy of Real Normal Warm Hugs.

"Are hugs always this warm?"

"Yes, Penny"

"Woooow"

-MY HEART. No actually back up, back up, the Nuts and Dolts shipper in me is singing rn, because all the times Penny has been hugged by Ruby this volume and only now is she actually able to actually feel that hug. Like, the sentiment and emotional support of it was always there and obviously appreciated by her before, but like. Now she can FEEL it.

- I'm super happy for Penny and seeing her back to her cheerful adorable self is Delightful, but at the same time I'm now really worried for her too. She doesn't have to worry about the virus anymore, now she's a regular meat person, but here's the thing. She's a regular meat person. No more rocket boots. No more lasers. No more in built swords attached to her body with strings. No more resistance to harsher elements. No more night vision. Obviously she's still the Winter Maiden, so she's still a force to be reckoned with, and she has RWBY with her, but she's still a rookie maiden that is massively vulnerable right now. She's vulnerable in her new human form to anyone coming after her. And like. Things just feel like they're going too smoothly...

- Speaking of, hello hello my ominous darling Cinder. Just like last volume, when things seem to be going too smoothly, there you are. So Watts cut off Jaune's broadcast and all other communications in the kingdom, and I'm guessing Cinder's jumping in those portal spaces with Neo to come after Ruby and Penny? That along with the "Do Not Fall" warning seems... yeah something's gonna go terribly wrong by the end of this volume. Salem, Ironwood, Mantle, Penny... All these loose ends are just being dealt with so quickly and neatly for me to be fully comfortable.

- tfw you've read Before the Dawn and know that Vacuo was already struggling with refugees coming in since Atlas had closed its borders, Vale was overrun with Grimm, and Mistral had its defences spread thin already being the widest reaching kingdom, along with Leo, Hazel and Tyrian denting it even further in offing all the huntsman and huntresses, and Vacuo's people are already pretty stingy with outsiders, and if there are thousands coming from the kingdom that closed it's borders and ordered an dust embargo... oh boi the Vacuo arc is gonna be a doozy.

- I know it's probably too close to Atlas and therefore Salem, and we need a convenient way to segue into the Vacuo arc, but couldn't Argus have been an option for the portal evacuation? At least, as well as Vacuo?

- OH FUCK YEAH I FORGOT THEY MENTIONED THE WRITERS SAID V9 WAS GONNA BE A DETOUR AND WASN'T JUST GOING TO BE JUMPING STRAIGHT TO VACUO. So like. Are they gonna get lost in a void of time and space? Are they going to jump through time by accident? Or just in space? Both? If you fall do you just end up randomly in the middle of the desert, far from Vacuo? And v9 is just going to be RWBY trekking through the desert? Similar to v6 after the train crash? So many questions.

-Hmm. Torn between Cinder going after Penny/Ruby with Neo in the vault space, or potentially being confronted by ALPN+Emerald... JNR+Emerald seems more narratively fitting, but Neo seems deadset on her and Cinder killing to Ruby...

- I wonder if Qrow is gonna confront Ironwood while he's in jail... Role reversal of the start of the volume. Or maybe he's just going to consider it worth his time.

-Taking all the established Atlas characters right with us into the Vacuo arc seems like it's going to be... A Lot. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if team RWBY really did end up jumping in time in V9 to fast forward on the two city populations integrating with one another, like maybe by a few months? Idk I'm just spitballing. Initial thoughts and all.

- Last point but the hooded cowl is such a great look on Cinder. Love it.

[votederpycausemufins]

The last chapter of the Jrumbot story, but look out for some bonus stuff coming in the future.

Rustic House Club

True froze when she saw them just standing there. Sense was holding Grifter close to him by the waist while holding some sort of new redstone weapon in his other hand. Meanwhile his husband had TNT in one hand and a spawn egg in the other.

“Hello True. I don’t think weapons will be helping you out here then, hmm?” Sense spoke up, making her grip the handle of her axe harder. “If you want to make this easy on yourself, you can just step down and let me take over. Or…”

“Not a fat fucking chance. If you two are in power, there won’t be anything left within a few days.”

“Oh please, we can probably leave some land intact.”

True growled back at Sense. “Why don’t you just fuck back to season four and rule there?”

“Because then we still have to live with the fact that you still have Gri’s replacement here.” Sense spoke, pulling his hand away from Grifter to put it on his own hip. “And you know he’s still angry about that.”

True looked over at Grifter who was playing with his TNT. She flinched every time it spun between his fingers, expecting an explosion every time. “Obviously we’ll start by kicking him out. Then we can do a little… renovating around here. I mean, who built this place anyway?”

True threw her axe at Grifter before running at him. Sense pointed his weapon at her, firing some sort of laser at her leg. It went right through her armor, making her scream as she collapsed to the floor. She tried to get up, but Grifter put a foot on her side, not giving her the chance to move. The pressure was light enough that she probably could, but it likely was only done that was to try and goad her into making an attempt.

Sense moved closer to Grifter, playing with a tuft of hair and kissing his cheek before looking back down at True. “Now, is the throne mine? Or will we have to do more?”

The empress stared up at the pair for a few moments before letting her head fall to the ground. “Fine… you win, bitch. At least give me a chance to tell Whiskey first.”

“Very well.” And Sense holstered his weapon, watching the message True typed out and sent, making sure the receiver was listed as WaltzWare. “Alright them. Get out of my castle or we’ll finish you off.”

When Grifter’s foot pulled away from her chest, True immediately got to her feet and ran away limping. The pair watched her go, making sure she wasn’t coming back. Then, once Grifter was absolutely sure, he put the items away and wiped his cheek. “Did you have to kiss me?!”

“Sells the part sweetheart.”

“Ugh, do not call me that.” Grian huffed. “Now anyway, I get the TNT, but why the mob egg? What would it have spawned?”

“An aerwhale. Largest mob in hels since we don’t have a dragon here. Might even be bigger than a dragon now that I think about it. Either way, spawning it in here would create massive damage. And just having a spawn egg is something to flaunt about here. EX did his best to ban them back in season two. Only four people can really get them anymore and I snagged this off of one of them.”

“Oh really? I’m guessing Evil X is one of them.” Grian said as he started to walk back to where they had left Mumbo.

“Yes. Since he’s admin, he gets that privilege. True also does as empress, but I guess that will be me soon enough.”

“I suppose so. And the others?”

“People EX trusts not to destroy the place. Prof gets that opportunity even though he and EX have a sort of love hate relationship.” Before Grian could ask, Sense answered the question. “Prof is essentially the resident hero of the server, so he stops EX just about every time he’s got some scheme for Hermitcraft. Otherwise they hang out.”

Grian nodded. “Alright. And the last one?”

“Your kid of course. Not really from Hels and is nice to EX, so no surprise there.”

Grian stopped walking. “How would you kn- He’s only been- Sense, how long has my kid been here?!”

“Since the tail end of season three.”

Grian’s eyes widened. “And we’re in season five now! Did you use some sort of time machine?! Where did you get it?! What did you do to Jrum?!”

This time Sense froze. “Wait, Jrum? That little robot that needed a charger? That’s who you’re looking for?”

“Yes! Of course him! Who else would I be looking for?!”

“NPG!”

Time felt like it stopped for Grian. He wasn’t sure if he was hearing things. NPG? NPC Grian, NPG? His first robotic creation? But he was gone! He had been left in Evo. He hadn’t gone through all the portals, so before the world was closed, he would have been in the Down Side Up. But then Grian remembered. The error message. Someone who had been in that world as well as Grian’s single world. But there had only been two versions of helscraft listed. So was it someone else? “You said he joined in your season three. How?”

“No clue. He popped in out of nowhere and EX had to mess with his entire system to fix whatever issue was linked with it. That didn’t get fixed up until the next season.”

Then that would explain it. It was NPG, and he had been the one coming into Hermitcraft. And he had been the one to kidnap Jrum. Why? Was it to pull Grian to the server and put him into a situation like this? Punish him for his bad judgement in the past? Fine. That was perfect as long as he got Jrum back.

“Er, are you two okay?” Mumbo’s voice spoke up as he peeked around a corner. “I heard yelling between you and no one else, so I assumed it was just you two arguing. Is everything alright?”

“I… yeah. Everything’s fine…”

“Are you sure Grian? You don’t sound-”

“I’m fine! Let’s just go find Jrum and go home.”

“Lookit! I’m doing it! I’m doing it!” Jrum cheered as he was able to glide in the air, the special elytra Prof had made working well.

“Yes! It is very good!” NPG agreed.

“The only problem is it doesn’t seem balanced right. I keep having to tilt the other way.”

“Alright, then we’ll just need to tell that to Prof! How about until then we go looking for Grian?”

“Okay!”

From there, NPG led Jrum to the world’s main island. He pointed out a few of the rustic houses that were built there as well as the ones that used to be there, but various helsmits had destroyed. They even stopped down by one that NPG was especially proud of, which Jrum was happy to see, though it also made him sad.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t this a good rustic house?”

“Y-yeah! It is!” Jrum stuttered out. “It’s just… I kept building what you told me, but only because you told me how. No matter what I do, I just can’t figure it out!”

NPG rubbed his chin. “Hmm, well, while I hate suggesting it, it could be that you can’t build rustic houses, but some other style.”

Jrum shook his head. “No! I can’t do that stuff either. I tried. I just… I can’t build! And I hate it because everyone else can! It’s just not fair! Daddy can build even though he’s good at redstone and Dad is the best builder of all time! Why can’t I build anything?” Jrum sat on the ground and curled up, NPG sitting down next to him to give him a hug.

“Well, I suppose it could be due to your origins. I am aware that there is some good to styles other than rustic, as rustic houses would not be considered rustic if there were only ever rustic builds. That being said, I have found I am unable to do much when it is not with a rustic house. That is due to my programming. You may have a similar situation.”

Jrum curled up more. “Why? Why would I get made that way?”

“Why did I get made the way I was? Jrum, we are built. The people who built us are not perfect. Even with normal people, they can’t do everything. I’m sure if you tell your parents, they can try to change some things, but even if you cannot build well, that is perfectly fine.”

Jrum was quiet for a few moments, thinking it over before hugging NPG back. “O-Okay. I guess that makes sense.”

“Of course it does. Now. Let us go find Grian. My guess is he is right over where that new death machine is.”

“The what?” Jrum looked around, then saw something on the castle which had not been there before they landed. “When did that get there?”

“My assumption is it is a creation of Sense since he likely believes Grian is actually Grifter. Meeting with him should clear some things up.”

“Um, okay.” And Jrum got up off the ground to head over to the castle with his brother.

“Why are you building this? What are you even building?” Grian asked as Sense was under some new build, putting together the redstone for it.

“Well, once everyone is aware you’re not who they think you are, they won’t hesitate to try and remove me from the throne again. I’m making this as a show of power to make sure they won’t attempt anything.”

Mumbo got on the ground to look at the redstone. “What the devil is all this? None of it makes sense! Even for me!”

“Well then I suppose I’m the better redstoner.” Sense smirked. “You’re used to all your own redstone mumbo jumbo, meanwhile all this makes perfect sense to me.”

“...Are you serious. Did you really just- You know what, never mind. Mumbo, I’m just going to sit over here until we can go.” And Grian sat down on the ground to wait.

Sense worked a bit more before he slid out from beneath the creation. “That should do it. Now we should find something to test it with.” Sense then peered through a scope that was on top of the weapon and he moved it around, trying to find a good target. “Oh, that’s perfect! I can get rid of that fucking imposter once and for all.”

“What do you mean imposter?” Mumbo asked as Grian jumped up from where he was sitting.

“No! No you cannot fire at him! He’s probably got Jrum with him!”

“Wait, who’s got Jrum?”

“NPC Grian!”

“He’s alive?”

“Yes! Now don’t you dare fire that weapon at him.”

Sense rolled his eyes. “Oh alright fine.” Then he slammed a hand down on a button. “Oh, whoops. My mistake.”

“No!” Grian yelled and Mumbo jumped at the weapon, slamming his shoulder against it to change the angle just before it could fire, having the laser that fired from it miss its target. Mumbo breathed a sigh or relief before he was lifted up off his feet by his tie. Sense had grabbed it and was now slowly tightening it, starting to choke Mumbo.

“How dare you do that! I was going to help you two, but I suppose if you’re trying to stop me, I’ll have to do the same to you.” He continued to choke Mumbo as Grian ran to stop the helsmit, but before the avian could get too close, Sense pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. A net seemed to appear out of nowhere and wrap around Grian, making him fall to the ground.

“H-How…?” Grian started to ask, but Sense quickly answered him.

“Oh please, the genius part of evil genius is in there for a reason. Did you honestly think that I didn’t know you weren’t Grifter from the start? You have parrot wings, those of a scarlet macaw to be exact. Grifter is a Magpie avian. The difference in wings is extremely obvious.”

“Ugh, you knew I wasn’t him when you kissed me and all that?”

“Of course. I didn’t know what you were up to at the time however, so I took precautions and put that safari net under your shirt when I was feeling up your chest. I’ve never really gotten the chance to test it with a hybrid before, but the results aren’t too surprising.” With that, Sense looked back through the scope. “Now, where has he gone?”

There was a thunk from above and Sense looked away from the scope to see NPG standing on top of his weapons. “Hello Sense! That is a nice new weapon. What does it do?”

The helsmit cursed. “It’s supposed to destroy you and send your metallic guts flying. Though right now I wouldn’t mind something a bit more bloody.”

“NPC Grian!” Grian yelled out, making the robot look at him.

“Oh! Hello Grian! It has been a long time since I have seen you last!”

“Yeah, hi. Is Jrum with you?”

“Ummmm, no?” NPG replied, making Sense sigh.

“Great, I don’t need anyone else messing things up.” The helsmit pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, I guess we’re doing it the hard way then.”

“The hard way?” NPG asked as Sense dropped Mumbo to the ground, leaving him gasping for air. The robot moved to check on the redstoner, but the moment he had his back turned, Sense hit him over the head with some sort of weapon, and NPG fell to the ground unconscious.

“”Now, let’s see if we can’t kill three birds with one death ray before the fourth comes to play, hmm?” Sense asked no one in particular as he tied Mumbo up and then dragged him and Grian against the wall of the balcony, then moving NPG between them. Grian and Mumbo both struggled in their ropes, trying to escape or get a hold of any useful items they had on themselves. Meanwhile Sense had started moving the death ray back and tilting it down to point directly at the trio. “Just think, after this EX will have to be so scared he’ll have to let Grifter into season five!”

Grian and Mumbo could only stare in horror as the end of the weapon started to glow, charging up to fire at them. They had no clue if they could even respawn here, and based on what Sense had said, they likely couldn’t

“Now then, goodbye!” Sense smiled and hit the button.

-

-

-

And nothing happened. 

“What?!” Sense yelled as he slammed the button again and again. “Why isn’t it working?!”

“Um, because I broke it?” A voice came from under the machine before poking their monitor head out from under it.

“How did you break it?! It was meant to be impossible to break unless you knew what you were doing! And no one does!”

“Well you had it in an odd place, but your pulse clock was easy enough to break. That being said, I saw how the line continued into what looks to be a strength gate which paired with other pulse clocks. From that I was able to disable the strength gate and then go on to break the RS NOR latch as well as the rapid pulser.”

“Are you telling me you could understand everything in there?” Sense asked, completely dumbfounded.

“Well yeah. It’s overly complicated, but based on the function, I can see why.” Jrum briefly poked his head back in. “Though based on everything here, a RS NAND latch could have worked better, though that might also need a T flip-flop added in.”

“Here, can you show me?” Sense asked, getting under the machine as well.

“Yeah, if you go right here, I’ve already done some editing.”

“Oh really. Wait, this part doesn’t look like it will help power the machine. It looks more like-” There was a large clang from inside and Jrum came out from the inside of the machine while giggling. “Release me from this trap right now!”

“Nope!” Jrum answered, going over to his dads and untying them. Once the two of them were free, Jrum was attacked with hugs from the both of them.

“Oh Jrum I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Yeah! It was a little scary here at first, but then NPG let me stay with him and took care of me! He even helped me get these special elytra!” And Jrum pulled away from the hug to turn around and show off the wing pack Prof had built. “It’s not perfect yet, but NPG said he can probably tweak it now that I’ve tried it.”

At the robot’s name, Grian looked over at him to check him over and then sighed in relief. “Okay, it just looked like the knock to his head just jostled his power source slightly and cut it off. I’m sure if we just turn him back on, he’ll be fine.”

Grian pressed a button on NPG and his eyes lit up as he powered on. “Oh! Hello Grian! You seem to be untied now.”

“Yeah, how are you doing?”

“Perfectly fine! I even have a new idea for a rustic house!”

This time Grian hugged NPG. “I can’t believe you’re alive. I thought you were gone for good when Evo disappeared.”

“That was not the case. Even after the evolution world was destroyed by the Watchers, the Hels world for it remained intact.”

“Wait, the Down Side Up was a hels world?”

“Correct! All normal worlds have a hels counterpart! They can vary greatly and no two systems are alike, such as how Down Side Up had a standard overworld and nether whereas here our overworld resembles the nether and instead of the nether we have access to the aether like some other mostly normal worlds have.”

“I don’t fully understand that, but I don’t really care because I’m just so happy to see you alive! How on earth were you getting to Hermitcraft?”

“Badtimes has made a place called the cursed village which features a large magical crystal. I love to visit because of the rustic builds that make up the place and one day I heard someone unfamiliar there.”

Grian nodded. “I see. In our world Scar has a magical village with a large magic crystal of it’s own. My guess is the two are in the same location and the crystals linked up, letting you two hear each other. But that doesn’t explain you actually getting into Hermitcraft.”

“Oh! Xannes had mentioned you guys had a place called the upside down and I was able to convince the code of the Down Side Up that your upside down was a part of it, so I went through there.”

“I- That’s possible?!”

“Apparently so!”

Mumbo cleared his throat to get the attention of Grian and NPG. “I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about, but we really sure find Xisuma to get back home.”

“Right. NPC Grian, do you have any ideas where he could be?”

NPG nodded. “Yes, though I would ask for you to call me NPG. Makes me sound like more of my own person.”

“Right, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine! Anyway, your admin is likely to be at one of Xannes’ bases since he’s told me before how he messed with files so that if his brother ever joined the world, he would spawn in a trap!”

“He what?”

“Wait Evil X is named Xannes?”

“Yes, that is his name.” NPG answered Mumbo first before looking back at Grian. “Do not worry. It is not the worst that could be done. He was planning to enact a plan using that mechanic for when all of you went on to your season eight world, but Prof forced him to put it away.”

“What exactly was he going to do?” Grian asked before quickly adding on, “I’m sure Xisuma will want to know if he does manage to use that plan.”

“Oh! I see! Well, his plan was to randomize your spawns on your new world as well as disable your chat functions. From what I could tell, he couldn’t disable death and advancement messages, but most of you would likely be caught in death loops with no way to contact help.”

“Oh, that sounds horrible.”

“Yes! Which is exactly why Prof stopped his plans. And I doubt Xannes will use them because of a very good point that was brought up.”

“And what was that?” Mumbo hesitantly asked, making NPG look over at him.

“Well, Xannes is just upset that his brother seems to have a perfect server life while he himself got the short end of the stick as a clone.”

“Wait are they clones or brothers?”

“They are both!” But yes, even though Xannes is upset, there is still one thing about Hermitcraft he would never want to destroy.”

“And what’s that?” Grian asked, but NPG shook his head.

“I am sorry, but that is not my secret to share. Prof and I are the only ones he’s told since we are his friends!”

“Right, anyway, let’s go pick up Xisuma.”

“Stop messing with that! You’ll break it!” Xannes rolled his eyes as Xisuma complained.

“We have the same helmet brother. I’m not going to break it. I’m just trying to access your data on Hermitcraft to unban me and put myself on the whitelist.”

Xisuma struggled to escape again. “You can’t do that! Hermitcraft is supposed to be a safe place for the hermits. I can’t have you destroy it.”

“Well, you don’t have to let me. I can let myself over there just fine.” He uses a screwdriver to pop open a panel. “Ah, there we go.”

“Oh! What are you doing Xannes?”

The helscraft admin paused his work again at the new voice. “Go away NPG. I’m busy.”

“Well can you stop being busy? I need some help from Xisuma.”

“Why him?”

“Oh, well he came here with some hermits because I brought Jrum here and they came looking for him and now they want to go home.”

Xannes looked up from what he was doing to face NPG, seeing the two hermits and robot behind him. “Oh please. I’m sure I could send them back just as well as he could. Especially with his helmet.”

“Okay! Then can you do that?” NPG asked. Were it anyone else, Xannes would expect some malicious intent or sarcasm, but he knew NPG was always extremely sincere. 

“Alright fine.” He replied after a pause. “On one condition. I’m only sending them back, not you.”

“Oh that’s fine, I wasn’t planning on going back anyway.”

That caught Grian off guard. “Wait, you’re not? Why?”

“Even though you have been in multiple worlds in the past, you consider Hermitcraft your home, correct?”

“Yeah, which is why I want you to come with us. It could be your home too. It’s really dangerous here and… I’ve missed you.”

“That’s the thing. This is my home now. And It is not as dangerous as it seems. I have gotten used to living here and have made friends. I know my staying here will not help the fact that you will miss me, but perhaps we can meet more frequently at the respective village crystals and at least converse with one another.”

Grian looked sad for a moment, but then agreed. “I guess that does sound nice. Speaking of, did you help teach Jrum how to build rustic houses?”

“Indeed, though he seems to be more replicating my instructions than actually building. I believe his programming is not formatted for actually building.”

“He did do well with that redstone earlier.” Mumbo spoke up. “Even I couldn’t quite understand it all, but he has an eye for redstone mechanics to the point where he might like to meet those from Scicraft.”

At this point, Xisuma joined the conversation. “While I am very glad you all haven’t had too much of a bad day, I believe I am still tied up while my brother tries to hack into Hermitcraft yet again.”

Grian and Mumbo jumped into action to help their admin out and quickly untied him by cutting the ropes. Once he was standing, Xisuma rubbed his wrists where the rope had chafed him before grabbing his helmet, earning a ‘hey!’ from Xannas.

“Oh, before you guys go, could I make one request of you Xisuma?” the admin nodded, though a little reluctantly, and then NPG leaned in to whisper to him. X listened, and then started nodding.

“I believe that can be done, as long as you promise that he won’t cause too much destruction.”

“Well, I would also suggest allowing Prof too, but one of us has to stay to make sure that there’s something to come home to, especially with Sense being emperor now.”

“He’s wHAT?!” Xannes yelled, putting his helmet on. “Oh bloody fucking hell. How did he manage that.”

“Hey Xisuma! How about we leave now!” Grian quickly said, leaving both admins confused for a moment before they understood.

“I believe we can Grian.”

“Oh no! Don’t you dare leave with them! I swear if Sense ends up-”

NPG cut Xannes off. “Bye guys! I hope to talk to some of you soon!”

“Bye NPG!” Jrum waved, and then Xisuma took them back to Hermitcraft.

[visenyatargaryn]

Once, she had been a wife, a mother… someone who had finally found their happily ever after. However, that all came crashing down once the bombs fell and her once beautiful life turned into ashes before her eyes. After being the only survivor from Vault 111, Evangeline made her way into what was now known as the Commonwealth with one mission in mind:

To find her son and get revenge on the bastard who murdered her husband.

With the ongoing search, Evangeline eventually found herself in one particular neighborhood where she would meet a peculiarly dressed ghoul who—unbeknownst to her, would become the one to drag her out of her ever-growing darkness and back into the light. However, will it be enough to find her son? To save him from the clutches of the Institute? Or will she forever lose the last thing that brought happiness to her?

CHAPTER THREE || Drown Your Sorrows || M || 2555 words || ao3

With the help of an old acquaintance, Evangeline and the synth detective—Nick Valentine, both uncover a clue that helped them gain a step closer in answering a long-awaited question. The location of the Institute. However, to achieve such an accomplishment, Evangeline would have to trek across an extremely dangerous area. A place where many don't survive, and if they do... they turn into ghouls—if they're lucky.

Later, Evangeline finds herself wanting to forget painful memories that had been resurfaced after delving into the memories of the infamous mercenary—Kellogg. To do just that, she ends up in the only place in Goodneighbor that has what Evangeline needs—The Third Rail.

Even with all the stimpaks, it had taken Evangeline a month to recover from her injuries. Her condition had been a lot worse than she realized, and band-aids don’t necessarily fix bullet holes—or broken bones for that matter. She had refused to take any chems to relieve the pain, afraid that it would make her addicted, but instead took it from the bottle—which, in a way, wasn’t much better.

While she was bedridden for the first week, Hancock had kept her company for the most part. He asked her an endless amount of questions about who she was and where she came from—innocent questions that she could easily answer. At some point, Evangeline felt that she could begin to trust the strange ghoul who had taken her in, so she told Hancock her secret—that she had been alive before the war. At first, he was hesitant to believe her, skeptical if she was bluffing or not, but soon realized that Evangeline was telling the truth. This led to even more questions that would need answered—things that she would have instead kept buried deep within. Still, she told him enough to pique his interest and nothing more.

Eventually, Hancock had finally sent word to her about Nick Valentine’s arrival and that she would find him waiting for her at the Memory Den. Since her leg had not fully recovered yet, she had to use a crutch to get places beyond a couple of steps. Evangeline found it quite troublesome, especially when it came to trekking down the Old State House's spiral staircase—which almost ended in disaster on multiple occasions. After meeting up with the synth detective, they talked to Doctor Amari about their situation and how they needed Kellogg's memories—to locate the Institute's location. At first, she refused while not wanting to take any part in desecrating the dead, but eventually changed her mind once Evangeline showed her the augmenter that she had found attached to Kellogg’s head—or brain to be more precise.

After Doctor Amari examined it, she then wired it into Nick’s interface with the implant in hand to find that it had been encrypted—a failsafe to protect the Institute’s secrets. After their original plan had dissolved, Amari had another idea. She told them that to decrypt the memories, it would require two minds instead of one. Without a second thought, Evangeline agreed—not once considering the potential dangers that may put her at risk. If it meant finding her son, though, then it was worth it—no matter the cost. Evangeline, along with Nick, hopped into the Memory Lounges to finally find the answer to a long-awaited question.

While she explored Kellogg’s memories, Evangeline realized that the merc was not so different from herself. They both had fathers that hardly loved them and later lost those that meant the world to them. She couldn’t help but wonder if she would have followed the same path had Shaun met the same fate as her husband. Would she, too, be a cold-blooded killer? Or would she have taken a different route entirely? In the end, it was too late to dwell on such thoughts as Kellogg was now dead, and she was the one still drawing breath.

Once they had found what they were looking for—that the Institute was using teleportation as a means to enter their facility, she headed upstairs to discuss everything with Nick. She needed to head into the Glowing Sea to find this rogue scientist—Virgil, who used to work for the Institute. It was a treacherous territory, as it was a place that produced enough radiation to either kill someone—or turn them into a ghoul. Nick offered to tag along, but Evangeline refused, knowing that his place was in Diamond City, where the people needed him more.

-------------------------------------------------

After a couple of weeks had passed since her walk through memory lane, Evangeline decided to finally explore Goodneighbor. Her curiosity about the little neighborhood getting the best of her. It seemed like nothing of importance from outside the walls, but once inside, one would never guess the two were the same. The interior of the place reminded Evangeline of a time where she still bore a hint of innocence—when she worked at the dance club in Philadelphia not long after graduation. Its neon lights, rundown atmosphere, and intoxicating smell brought back many memories. The smell itself was a mixture of sex, chems, and alcohol—an unpleasant combination, she thought.

One evening, Evangeline found herself at the Third Rail after being in a foul mood all day. It was a fine establishment, considering it was built into an old subway station. The music was beautiful, as was the woman singing it—who wore a red sequin dress and had short dark hair that came just above her shoulders. Making her way through the crowd, Evangeline could hear the patrons' whispers as she passed by them.

“That’s the woman the Mayor killed Finn for..” she heard one man say to someone.

“What makes her so special that he had to put down one of our best fighters?” another asked.

Most of the comments were about how Hancock had saved her life, while others were viler. Those ones, in particular, made her skin crawl. Finally making her way to the bar, Evangeline found an empty seat where she settled herself into.

“So what’ll it be?” a gruff voice asked.

Evangeline had not expected the bartender to be a Mr. Handy since she came by so few during her travels. It appeared to be the same make and model as Codsworth was, except that this one had a British accent and wasn’t as friendly.

“Whiskey,” she answered.

She watched as the robot poured a glass of the substance in front of her. It was one of her go-to drinks, especially when she was having a bad day. Picking up the glass, Evangeline swirled the amber liquid around before taking a sip. The beverage burned as it made its way down her throat, which then engulfed her body in a blanket of warmth.

Looking around, she noticed that most of the patrons there were ghouls—men and women alike. At first, it surprised her to see this many in one general area, but then later realized that Goodneighbor must be a sort of sanctuary for them. It was no surprise to her, given how most of the Commonwealth held a disliking towards them. In the crowd, Evangeline spotted an all-too-familiar face across the room. Hancock was sitting on a couch that had seen better years with two attractive women sitting relatively close—one of which was sitting on his lap. Enough hands were wandering to give one the idea of their intentions by the end of the night. The three of them seemed to be having a good time. She also noticed that their table was littered with empty containers of jet, mentats, and alcohol bottles.

A sinking feeling settled into the pit of her stomach as she watched them. They were all smiles and laughter, as was everyone else in the room, and here she was—sitting alone and miserable as ever. Evangeline had not felt more out of place than she did at this moment.

“You look like you could use some company,” a voice came from beside her.

Taking the empty barstool next to her was a man with handsome features. He had pale blue eyes and hair, the color of sand. Evangeline didn’t know who he was or what he wanted—which made her be even more on edge than usual.

“Go away,” Evangeline said plainly. She was in no mood for conversation and preferred to be left alone, even if he was easy on the eyes.

“C’mon now, darlin’. That’s no way to treat a friendly face,” he said, not taking heed to her words.

Admittedly, Evangeline knew that she was quick to judge. However, she had dealt with enough monsters in her lifespan to know the worst ones were always those who didn’t look the part. Sure enough, Evangeline felt him place his hand on her knee, which caused a sick feeling within her from the interaction.

She closed her eyes, wishing to be elsewhere.

Evangeline recalled being in a similar situation many years ago, about a year after being employed at the strip district's dance club. Evangeline had been sitting alone at the bar during one of her breaks, drowning herself in a bottle of whiskey, when a middle-aged man approached her. He wanted only one thing from her—as all men did, and it had terrified her. Evangeline told him no countless times, hoping it would make him go away. However, it only seemed to make him more persistent. Thankfully, before it could go any further, one of the girls of the establishment had put a stop to his unwanted advances.

“Take your fucking hand off of me,” Evangeline said slowly, with a bite of irritation in her tone.

The man beside her laughed. “Or what? Look around you, sweetheart. Ain’t nobody gonna save you. You’re just another stray Hancock has taken in, and nothing more.”

The words hit harder than Evangeline cared to admit. A stray—that was something she had always been—someone with no place to call home. Someone who had always been a poor, helpless, unfortunate soul that others looked upon with pity. Maybe he was right, she thought miserably. Maybe I am nothing more than just another stray looking for a handout. Evangeline shook her head as if to rid herself of such thoughts. Perhaps she was a stray, but she wasn’t nothing, no—she had never been nothing. Evangeline had made a name for herself before the war. She had been considered one of the greatest detectives that Boston had ever seen.

But what use was that now?

She took another drink from her glass, only to find out that it was empty. Evangeline swore under her breath. If she was to deal with this asshole, then she was going to need more whiskey. Signaling the barkeep for another drink, Evangeline looked to where she had last seen Hancock. Unfortunately, the spot he had been sitting was now empty with neither him nor his companions in sight. Evangeline didn’t necessarily need his help, but because she knew next to nobody here—it would have eased her mind a little if he were still present.

Evangeline took a swig of whiskey—emptying the glass entirely, and sat it down on the counter hard. “Listen, I don’t know who you are, nor do I fucking care. I just want to be left the fuck alone, okay?”

What patience she had was currently wearing thin as a throbbing pain began to form at her temple. Evangeline decided she should turn in for the night and sleep off the headache—and to rid herself of the unwanted company. Pushing the glass away, she stood and placed a handful of caps on the counter.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he asked, grabbing ahold of her wrist. “We ain’t done yet.”

She whipped around and struck him, causing him to stumble off the barstool and hit the ground hard with a clash. Evangeline didn’t bother to see if he was okay—not that she cared either way, as she wanted to make herself scarce. The entire room had fallen silent, and everyone’s attention now fell upon the commotion that had just occurred. Making her way through the crowd, Evangeline could feel her heart pounding in her chest—fearing that it may actually burst from its cavity. However, she dared not show an ounce of fear because Evangeline knew a place such as Goodneighbor—would be a death sentence. She was currently a lamb that found its way inside a lion’s den and was awaiting the inevitable slaughter.

Once outside, a chill went through her as she stepped out into the crisp night air. Tugging her jacket tighter, Evangeline started off toward The Hotel Rexford to rent out a room for the night. Evangeline had a feeling that Hancock was currently entertaining his companions from earlier, and she would rather not walk in on that. Besides, it wasn’t like Evangeline had to sleep there, and she knew her absence would not go noticed anyway—as it always has.

Upon entering the old hotel, a musty odor of over-aged furniture and stale tobacco filled the air. Surveying the place, Evangeline saw pieces of faded-yellow wallpaper peeling away from years of neglect. At the front desk was a short elderly woman with dark skin who was in deep conversation with a tall, dark-haired man who wore a high-quality suit. Evangeline knew she shouldn’t interrupt the two, but she was tired and needed somewhere to cope with tonight’s events. Her footsteps echoed over the wooden floor as she made her way to the desk, which caused them both to look up.

“Umm, excuse me?” Evangeline said meekly, giving them both her best smile. “I was hoping I could get a room here…”

The dark-haired man whispered something into the woman’s ear before taking his leave, who then gave Evangeline her full attention.

“Alright, that’ll be ten caps,” she said plainly.

“Thank you,” Evangeline said as she exchanged what was left of her caps for the keys to the room.

“It’s on the second floor, the last door on the right,” the receptionist called after her as she headed towards the stairs.

Once inside her room, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Evangeline realized she was shaking. Whether it was from the cold or what had happened tonight, she wasn’t sure—perhaps both? It also occurred to her that she had now made an enemy here and wasn’t sure what that meant—would Hancock throw her out because she harmed one of his own? What Evangeline did know, however, was that she now had to be extra careful because she knew damned well that he would want revenge for what she had done.

In truth, she hated it here, not just in Goodneighbor but in the Commonwealth's entirety. Evangeline wanted her old life back. She was so tired of always hurting. She wanted to laugh again, to be happy once more—to not be wary of everyone she met. To be able to walk the streets of Boston without having to constantly look over her shoulder out of fear.

Letting out a shaky breath, Evangeline sluggishly made her way over to the dresser where a bottle of vodka was sitting. Taking off her jacket, she grabbed the bottle and took a long drink from it. By the time Evangeline was finished, she felt a bit woozy—enough that she had to use the dresser for support. Placing the bottle back on the dresser, she stumbled over to the bed and sat on the mattress. It creaked under her weight as she laid down—curling herself in a ball. However, there were no blankets, but Evangeline was grateful that at least the room was quite warm. While she laid there, Evangeline tried not to think about the man from the bar or her current situation as she closed her eyes, falling into a dreamless sleep.

[chaoticneutralwriter]

Deleted Scene; Off-Chance Meeting

What if Jimin met....Jimin?

guardian demon!Jimin x reader

genre: fluff, romance, angst, comedy, supernatural

word count: 4.2k

Related works: See masterlist under guardian demon!Jimin

A/n: So this was like....a half developed scene that I was going to put in for Interlude: Second Best buuuuut I didn’t want to make the chapter too long because the main focus was guardian demon!Jimin’s POV from the events in the previous chapter. However! It’s been mentioned as a ‘what-if’ so I completed it as a fun deleted scene. Hope you like it and hope yall are doing okay! take care, be safe and I’ll hopefully see you soon again for another update, this time with story progression LOL

BTW! Thanks for the 1,026 follows!! 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺💖💖💖💖💖💖

Tag List: @cherryjiminiee @kokobaekkie @breathebangtan @itsadoozie @thatshylatinagirl @chiminieboi @azulamakesmeblank @sectumsemptae @awkwardwookie @aduky @poisonseashell @shortannoyingginger @caramelmac-chiato @sana-b @jiminstinct

Jimin’s game plan to blend in is quite simple because it really only consists of one step; grab a staff member so that he can duplicate the lanyard ID they have. Even though he promised to not use his powers to you for the most part, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t found ways to work around it. He easily locks onto a target — a male staff exiting the artist room to step out into the hallway Jimin’s in, presumably on a short break as he strides down to stop by a vending machine. The male staff has his head down, eyes glued to his phone for a while until finally, he takes a quick glance up to view the selection of snacks before ducking his head again, clearly in no rush at all.

Jimin’s lips quirk and he makes quick work at slipping closer, steps light and so undetectable that he may as well be a ghost rather than a demon. At the last minute, Jimin cloaks himself, sneaking up on the unsuspecting male just as he reaches into his back pocket to grab some change. The demon’s touch feels nothing more than a draft, fingers barely caressing the back of the colourful lanyard hanging around his neck but it’s all he needs. The male staff carries on, punching in the numbers and watches as the bag of chips falls into the slot below. Taking it, he walks away, none the wiser.

Jimin pays no mind to him anymore, focused on slipping the thin silver chain necklace out from under his shirt and with a soft blow of his breath, the silver chain morphs into the lanyard, a perfect copy. Normally, he would do without a need for something tangible to cast the illusion but this way, he wouldn’t have to use too much magic to keep it up — a weight to the illusion is more believable than simply thin air.

Satisfied, he lets the cloaking spell disperse, rolling his neck a little at the relief that he can finally walk around more freely without the worry of hiding or arousing suspicions.

“Now… where to go?” He mumbles quietly to himself, eyes darting before deciding that he should scope out the way to the area under the stage. Just as he rounds the corner though—

“Woah!”

Jimin’s fast reflexes has him jerking back in time before he collides into the other body. With a step back, his eyes immediately catch sight of the sparkly jacket and they widen almost simultaneously in realization.

Face to face with him was none other than his own mirror, Park Jimin of BTS, only he has honey blond hair and a glowing complexion.

“Ah, I’m really sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” His eyes are a little wide, stormy grey contacts shining as he apologizes.

For a moment, he’s frozen, stuck rigid in place with shock and split second panic before realizing that he has the safety of his mouth mask and drawn up hood to protect his identity of being the idol’s face stealer. Also the fact that the idol has yet to pass out from shock at seeing his own clone or give any sort of huge reaction was a good indicator.

“A-Ah….” The demon’s voice catches in his throat, and he awkwardly coughs, embarrassed as he ducks his head and mutters gruffly in Korean, “No, it’s my mistake.”

The singer smiles amicably, teeth showing and gaze so warm and so friendly that the demon almost has trouble meeting it.

“Hey now, don’t worry! It’s nothing serious.” There’s a pause, a slight tilt of his honey blond head before those artificial stormy grey irises blink, brows furrowing. The demon starts to actually sweat, eyes refusing to meet as he unconsciously begins to lean back to put space in between. But there’s no escaping the curious gaze of the twenty-four year old singer. “Ah, I— I don’t mean to sound rude or offensive but…. I don’t believe I’ve seen you before?”

Oh shit, shit, shit, shit…

He swears his plan would’ve been completely foolproof if he hadn’t ran into the very person he’s going around parading as. The chances of the demon running into said idol was 1 in 200 and yet it’s as if fate had cursed him with the unwanted luck a fan could only dream of having. But there’s no time to curse heaven and fuck all because his mind begins to race with possibilities of escaping this situation. Maybe he could get away with enthralling the idol for a quick second, trick him into thinking this is all some sort of hallucination from being overworked and then when he’s all good and spaced out, the demon can make his escape. His fingers just about twitches when the singer’s eyes widen and his mouth opens, face alight with an epiphany.

“Are you perhaps new?”

….What?

A beat unknowingly passes between them, with the demon blinking owlishly at the young man, completely gripped in disbelief and the singer staring back expectantly.


“Am I mistaken…?”

The hesitancy creeping into that question snaps the demon from his stupor and he finally blurts out, “No, I’m new.”

Relief washes over the idol’s handsome face (he’s never gonna get over how fucking trippy this is to watch), shoulders visibly losing some tension and the singer even places a hand over his chest.

“Ah, that would’ve been really bad — I usually am able to recognize everyone on the team.” His eyes creases again from the smile forming on his face. “Why haven’t we met yet, um….?”

“Ju—“ The demon stumbles on his words, thinking at the last second that your impromptu Korean name you had given him when he met Jaehee sounded too similar to the idol’s so his mind jumps to the next one he remembers off the top of his head. “— yeon….Kang Juyeon. This is my first day.”

Jimin the idol makes a noise of understanding, presumably taking his sloppy introduction as nerves in good strides. He inclines his head graciously in an almost small bow that catches the demon off-guard. “It’s nice to officially meet you Juyeon-ssi. I look forward to working with you.”

He bows robotically in return.

“Are you on break right now?” The young singer asks innocently.

“…Yes…” The answer comes out unsure, like he’s testing the waters and seeing where this could possibly lead — hopefully with the idol leaving him be and carrying on back to the artist room, surely much too busy to entertain a seemingly nervous new recruit. To his surprise though, the demon is proven wrong.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I must be taking up your time. Have you gotten anything to drink or eat yet?”

“Well, no but—“

The idol’s mouth gapes open almost immediately, “Would you like to head over to the catering room now? We can grab something.”

The demon is baffled, to say the least; so taken aback by Jimin’s friendly disposition to someone who he only just met that even though he really shouldn’t be overstaying his welcome like this, a part of him would actually feel guilty for turning down the offer. He’s so glad he’s wearing a mask right now because then the idol wouldn’t have to see the borderline crazed smile slowly stretching over the demon’s lips, the disbelief too strong.

But looking at the original owner of the face he wore, seeing it completely reflect a drastically different personality than his own invokes something in him; a morbid curiosity taking hold and stoking the fire to a long buried question —

Who is Park Jimin?

Beyond the worldwide renown Korean idol and a pretty face with killer vocals and dancing, the demon knows very little about who this person is, this person whom you adore so much. What is it that drew you to him specifically amongst the other members. He highly doubts its looks alone (you’re definitely not the shallow type), or maybe even the amount of talent because from what he gathered, all the members were pretty much on par with each other in all departments.

So what made Jimin special?

He really shouldn’t follow this rabbit down the hole, but he’s a demon by nature and impulsivity is practically his middle name. Without another second thought, he agrees with a nod of his head, “Okay.”

Curiosity really should be a sin.

He gets a blinding smile in response, eyes disappearing and pearly teeth on display (he spies the slight crooked front tooth that somehow only seems to add to the singer’s charm rather than a flaw). They walk off towards the room that acts as a communal dining area for the staff and artists themselves, the large selection of hot foods lined up like a buffet self-serve while there are tables available for anyone who wants to sit down for their meal. There’s only a few staff members gathered there, each preoccupied with their phones or simply grabbing a quick bite to eat before rushing back to where they’re needed.

The singer walks in and of the few people that are hanging around, he inclines his head in greeting to them. The demon has no choice but to follow in order to not draw suspicions (even though he gets a few raised eyebrows from wearing a full hood and mask but is ultimately brushed off).

“There’s a lot of choices here so please help yourself. Don’t be shy.” Jimin gestures, grabbing a plate and going for one of the rolls of kimbap. Though the demon has no intention of eating anything — for obvious reasons, he still makes the effort to thoughtlessly pick out random food items to place on his plate for the sake of keeping up the facade. He gets as far as two scoops of sweet and sour pork before the young idol turns to him and his eyes dart to his modest portion.

“Is that all you’re going to eat?”

“Uh…Yes?”

That immediately draws out a noise of disapproval, handsome face pinching along to match the tone. “Ah, Juyeon-ssi; you need to eat to keep up your strength. You can’t hold back on something as important as that.” Before any words of protest can be formed, a kimbap roll is placed on the empty space of the demon’s plate.

And then another.

And then a spring roll.

And then a hefty scoop of black bean noodles and some rice.

It goes on until his plate is adequately full, the idol satisfied as they migrate over to an empty table. The demon takes a seat and he feels his lips quirk as he observes the fact that Jimin’s own plate only consisted of two kimbap rolls and a few pieces of fruit he’s currently nibbling on. The stark contrast and adamancy is already so telling of his character, sans personal dietary considerations.

“Has the job been hard so far?” The singer asks casually.

“Not particularly….”

“Ah, that’s good to hear. Have people been nice to you?”

“Uh…Yeah, I guess.”

He gets a nod of approval, and the demon vaguely likens the feeling of a mother asking their child if their first day of school went well (or if he’s being generous, an older brother). It’s strange experiencing something so familial yet coming from the idol, it all seems so natural as if they’ve known each other for years and not just in the span of less than an hour.

It’s quite the culture shock — something he admittedly doesn’t have a good grasp on and it’s that curiosity to know that has him daringly (or perhaps, no doubt to his colleagues, foolishly) diving deeper. The wooden chopsticks in his hand push around the food on his plate meaninglessly, a gesture meant to disguise the hidden agenda he has; dissecting the idol and seeing what makes him tick.

His lips instinctively quirk under his mask but he makes sure that it doesn’t translate in his gaze as his eyes focus on the idol.

“I’m sure your job is much more tiring.” He says, taking on a tentative tone, implicating for an open ended discussion.

The singer takes a pause, eyes wandering in thought before he sucks in a breath after some serious considerations, “I don’t really think my job is any harder than some of the other staff here…” He stops, as if collecting his thoughts again and then continues, “I think it’s thanks to everyone’s efforts that the members and I are able to do these show successfully and safely. If I were to really break things down…. I really only do a small part.”

“But there’s no point to a show if there’s no performers.”

There’s a hum in reply to his statement but after the idol swallows the strawberry he’s popped into his mouth, he says, “I can see how you would say that, but I think more importantly, there’s no point to a show without the fans.”

The demon doesn’t miss the gentle affection that slips through — that quiet, soft whisper that carries the words near the end, giving way to something much deeper. It’s something he’s seen before, reflected in himself, and it’s whenever his thoughts wander to you.

Fondness.

His chest gives a twinge at the memory, jaw clenching a little as if to physically repress the feelings that begin to stir.

“You don’t even know the fans….” It comes out more as a low murmur to himself, but the contempt underlying his tone seeps through all the same. It’s just…. How could the idol possibly share the same sentiment he has with you, someone who he’s actually spent time with and come to know all the little quirks to — what makes you happy, sad, laugh, the way you laugh, the little noises you make when you eat something you love, see you at your highest and lowest points, with a group of people (not even a single person) who he’s had less than ten seconds worth of interactions?

It’s far too superficial, too scripted and said too many times with no real meaning. He wants to scoff at how impractical it is.

“Maybe so, but it goes beyond that.” The familiar sound of the idol’s lilt halts the demon’s thoughts quite suddenly, still in that soft spoken way but there’s something else with it. A sureness — steady and unwavering, and just the barest hints of….passive-aggressiveness?

That gets a quirk in the eyebrow; so this kitten does have claws after all.

“There are times where I wonder why there are so many people who like us and support us the way they do.” The singer continues seriously, already getting lost in deep thought. “Probably because we work hard, but who doesn’t work hard? Others make good music and do their best too so why us? We try our best to communicate to our fans but everyone does too…..These sorts of things are something I often think about.”

A pause, as if to find the right words, “But whenever I read the fan’s letters or things they post on SNS to us, saying how much we’ve helped them with our songs when they’re going through a hard time, it makes me realize that we’re not so different. We all have flaws and maybe it’s because we’re not perfect that they like us. Starting off with nothing and then little by little, seeing more people coming to support us…. They’re the ones who put us on the stage, so I— We cherish them a lot. They give us energy and comfort us, and we do the same back, like a deep connection, an understanding.”

The young singer stops in pushing around the remaining strawberry on his plate, a ghost of a smile tugging on his lips, like he’s recalling a particularly pleasant memory. “So we want to give back by making good music and showing them our best. Ah, reminds of something really cool Namjoon-hyung said.” He takes the time to tilt his head, “He said how even if it’s just one person he could help, he’ll continue to keep trying. That really touched me, so even if we might not know them personally, they’re the ones who motivate us and makes all of this worth it.”

Once he finishes, the demon is left a little more than bewildered, overwhelmed in fact that all he could do was blink. Granted, it was a lot to take in, never having expected such an arduous confession but what’s even more baffling to him is the conviction the singer had saying all of it, so earnest in his words. Now, he’s no lie detector per se, but as a demon, he does have a more innate ability to pick up on cues and inflections that would give a person away, revealing their true nature. He’s used to it after all.

And then along comes Park Jimin.

This twenty-four some odd year old idol, thrusted into the cut-throat world that is the entertainment industry, young and bright-eyed, armed with nothing but potential, a good work ethic and a dream, yet comes out on the other side, a little bruised and scathed but otherwise, un-jaded; that young and bright-eyed innocence not diminished, instead it matured into something more resilient.

He can probably count on his finger how many people he can actually say that about. Hell, the only closest people that would qualify would be saints, and even that is debatable.

It’s....irritating because he’s faced with the fact that as much as he had wanted to dislike this person, he’s proven that he can’t.

A rush of air leaves his nose and he has to contain a rueful smile. “You’re a very admirable person Park Jimin-ssi. Not that many people keep to their beliefs so strongly like that.”

He gets a bashful giggle in return, light and melodic.

“Aish, what are you saying? I’m not all that impressive….I think I still have a lot to learn.” The singer almost whines from behind the back of his hand covering the open mouth smile he has. Once he calms, it softens. “All I really want is for the fans to remember BTS for our sincerity. I just hope that I’ve been able to help convey that so far.”

The demon lets out a breathy chuckle, finally getting up from his seat. He gazes down at this young man who’s face reflects his own yet wears it in such an entirely different way — glowing with a passion and radiance that is warm, sincere, kind, compassionate and loving.

Perhaps the way it’s meant to be worn.

And it’s with a bittersweet reluctance that the demon places a hand on the singer’s shoulder, giving it a gentle reassuring squeeze. “Keep doing what you’re doing and never lose sight of yourself. As long as you remember what you’re doing this for, the sincerity of your members and you will be conveyed.”

Stormy grey eyes widen a fraction, a little confused as they blink up at him, clearly not expecting such encouragements (honestly, he didn’t expect this either yet here he is).

“Wh— Um, I—…” The idol reaches a hand up to comb through his meticulously styled hair, tousling a few loose strands as slowly, the apples of his cheeks begin to dust in a pink hue and dark eyes can’t help but watch on in amusement. As if sensing the focus shifting to his quickly reddening face however, the young man lets out a sputter and lightly smacks the demon’s forearm, refusing to meet his gaze. “Ahh Juyeon-ssi! What’s with you saying that all of a sudden to me? You sound as if you’re way older than me when we’re probably friends in age!”

Friends…

“What makes you think that?”

“W-Well… I don’t know how to explain it but…. I feel a sense of familiarity with you when we met. Like, a vibe….” The sentence pewters out into a shy mumble, the tips of his ears matching his cheeks now before comically, grey orbs whip up, suddenly concerned. “Unless you’re not….?”

The snort that leaves the demon’s mouth is quickly covered by clearing his throat but he’s sure the restrained mirth still reaches his eyes as he assures, “No, we’re friends.”

He’s met with a brilliant grin, full of teeth and a twinkle in his gaze. “Oh thank goodness. I would’ve died on the spot out of embarrassment.”

He refrains from rolling his eyes if only to dismiss the overly-dramatic relief that overcame the poor young man. But regardless, it’s his cue to go — he's starting to feel a little too perturbed being near someone so good-natured. With a final pat to his shoulder, the demon begins to depart.

“It was nice talking to you Park Jimin-ssi but you’ll have to excuse me, I have to get going now.”

“O-Oh? Is it really that time? If that’s the case— Ya! Kang Juyeon-ssi! Did you even touch your food? You—!”

“Jimin-hyung!”

“Oh?” Jimin’s attention whips to the new voice that called him from the still full plate of food left on the table. His eyes immediately meet doe-eyed ones, usually dark as coal but are currently a more lighter coffee colour, bringing out more of the brown that’s hidden in its depths thanks to the contacts. The youngest member approaches him with long strides, the sequins on his own stage outfit glitter with each step.

“This is where you were? Should’ve told me you were hungry, we could’ve gone to snack together.”

“Ah, no I was just talking with Juyeon-ssi.”

“Juyeon? Who’s that?”

“Kang Juyeon; that person who was just leaving, you must’ve seen him on your way in.”

But that only gets a head tilt from Jungkook, who swivels his head back towards the entrance, “He doesn’t sound familiar and I didn’t see anyone leaving.”

“….Huh?” Equally confused, Jimin swerves around the tall form of Jungkook to get a look however, to his surprise, he doesn’t see anyone. Glancing around lets him know that at most, there was only three other people in the room, excluding him and Jungkook but they were all immersed on the couch in the far corner, away from the entryway. Does Juyeon walk that fast?  “Aye, quit messing with me. He had on a face mask, around my height? With his hoodie pulled up; probably the only one here who does too.”

Jungkook shakes his head, genuinely clueless on who Jimin could possibly be referring to. “No, I swear I haven’t seen anyone around like that.”

The furrow in Jimin’s brows deepen, mouth falling open in disbelief. The scrunched up, troubled expression the older member makes was too good to pass up on teasing so Jungkook can’t help but to lean close, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.

“What? Were you speaking to a ghost this entire time hyung?”

“Aish! Don’t say that! That actually gave me chills!” Jimin scowls, smacking the youngest repeatedly on the arm and causing Jungkook to cackle and skip away from the assault.

“Anyways, Namjoon-hyung wants to go over the script again so I went to go find you.”

“Oh, okay. Let’s go then.”

Brushing down his jacket, Jimin gets up, taking both plates with him, discarding his own empty one while Jungkook gleefully takes the one Juyeon hadn’t touched. The two head out and begin to make their way back to the artist dressing room, with Jungkook talking around mouthfuls of food about what Jimin had apparently missed while he was away but all Jimin could think about was his meeting with Juyeon.

There’s no way he could’ve imagined it all in his head — he’s too young to be going senile. Plus, it felt too real for it to be some overworked hallucination (besides, he doesn’t feel that jet lagged). So there’s a perfectly, logical explanation for it. Yeah, he just…walks really fast.

“Jimin-hyung is here!” Jungkook calls out to the rest of the members. He gets a myriad of boisterous responses and greetings. The sound makes him inadvertently grin.

“Yeah, yeah I’m coming. I didn’t think you would miss me that badly; I was gone for ten minutes.”

Thoughts of his mysterious friend are pushed away for some other time but the wise words he’s been given remain at the forefront of Jimin’s mind. Perhaps the next time he runs into Juyeon, he’ll treat him to a drink or two during the celebratory dinners — get to know him better.

He’s not sure what it is about Juyeon that makes him want to befriend him so intently, like there’s something about him….

Something that’s a little melancholy….and maybe, he dare say, a little lonely.

But to the singer’s dismay, he never really did see him again.

[popwasabi]

“Westworld III” takes several steps forward...and several steps back (REVIEW)

Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Aaron Paul, Ed Harris, Vincent Cassel, Tessa Thompson, Thandie Newton

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Season three of HBO’s “Westworld” cleans up many of the issues season two had but ultimately falls short of season one’s loftier thematic ideas.

It’s cinematically sharper, it’s about as well paced and fun as the show has ever been and that on it’s own makes it worth watching and certainly worth continuing the series going forward but for fans hoping it might have something new to say in the vein of its hyper meta-textual and thematic commentary of the first season it may leave you disappointed.

Season three may have raised the stakes of the series with its pending (and frankly, all too timely) apocalyptic vibes going on in the story but it lowers the bar on its cerebral nature opting more for fast paced thrills over anything more profound or hadn’t said already.

That said, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it anyways for better…and worse.

“Westworld” season three picks up not too long after the events of season two as Dolores has infiltrated human society and begun working on her master plan to bring it all down. She has spared Bernard, who now spends his life as butcher outside the major cities but he often wonders where she is and when this apocalypse will begin. Meanwhile a veteran named Caleb spends his life doing the same mundane tasks and mercenary work everyday to make ends meet pondering his existence as he deals with his PTSD. He decides to break the cycle however when one day he finds Dolores shot in an alleyway and joins her on her quest to start a revolution.

“Westworld” is one of the few series that hooked me immediately with its first episode.

Where some series take their time to gain momentum before going into overdrive in their season finale, season one’s “The Original” grabbed my attention from the start with a combination of mystery, action, stellar acting, and the kind of cerebral humanist story-telling I expect and want from the cyberpunk genre.

As someone with a father who talked extensively about myth, theme, and got me to listen to old Joseph Campbell essays on CD  growing up, a series that explored story-telling on a meta level with a high octane LARP concept setting was everything someone like me could ask for in a science fiction series.

(Seriously, there was some compelling analytical story-telling dialogue in this series.)

So invested I was in this tale of synthetics gaining agency and humans exploring their own personal myth-making and what it said about themselves made me a huge fan early on, proudly proclaiming it to be the best show on HBO several years ago.

I was so certain this series was creatively the best thing on television at the time that I strongly considered getting a maze tattoo like that in the show to proclaim my brand-new fandom.

But knowing there was still more seasons on the horizon, I held off thinking I should probably see this through before doing anything that brash.

Well, a few years later I feel pretty good about that decision…

(Imagine how fans who named their newborns Daenerys or Khalessi feel right now...)

I remember thinking at the end of season one “Where can they possibly go from here still? Other LARP destinations in this cyberpunk world? A robot vs human war? How can the world expand?”

The problem is these thoughts did not really ask the most important question following that first season; “What more does it actually have to say?”

The first season is, in my opinion, a perfect season of television. It’s a brilliant take on the stories we tell ourselves, the choices we make that define us in our personal myths, and the exploration of our nature and how that relates to choice all while playing out this synthetic mystery plot. The entire first season pulls all these arcs and ideas together through characters like Bernard/Arnold, William/The Man in Black, and of course Dolores. They all, more or less, complete their arcs in that first season and there’s not really much needed to be said beyond that when you really think about it. If the series ended on Dolores murdering Ford and the Delos guests in the season finale that honestly would have been a perfect ambiguous ending to send the story off on.

(Kind of itss own meta commentary on the journey of a fan and an ever-increasingly cynical series...)

But because this is HBO, and “Game of Thrones” is no longer the driving force of premium TV, Westworld MUST continue because it’s the new cash cow for the channel. Whether or not writer/producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan really knew what they wanted to do following that first season is anybody’s guess but it’s hard not to see that they have struggled a bit since that point.

Season two is a mixed bag, where the characters literally feel like they’re going in circles. Plotlines get muddled, characters become hyper versions of themselves, and while certain ideas and episodes reached similar levels of brilliance that the first season had it still lacked the narrative sharpness of the first season and that has a lot to do with the characters having mostly no other driving force besides survival and simply getting to the next physical plot point.

It just didn’t have much more to say and frankly in a story about stories that’s pretty damn important.

(This episode from season 2 is still one of its best.)

To their credit, Joy and Nolan appear to rectify quite a few issues season two had with season three. Again, it’s faster, better paced, there’s a clearer destination at the end for its characters and not to mention a pretty compelling villain for this season’s plot in Serac played by the brilliant Vincent Cassell.

But it suffers ultimately the same problem; it has nothing truly new to say.

This is not to say the season is without any meaningful messages or metaphors. It’s quite critical of our hyper surveillance and information gathering state, might even be the best depiction to date on the broader implications and consequences of a world where we all have our personal information readily online to mined and plundered by big businesses and government. Caleb, played by the always great Aaron Paul, is a good avatar for the everyman who has grown jaded and disenfranchised by this system. Though he spends most of the season looking overly shocked and gape-jawed at just about everything, it’s hard not to feel empathy and a connection to this character as we are quite literally living in a bit of a cyberpunk hell as it is these days and treated just as much as expendable commodities right now.

(You fucking jackasses are arguing for the wrong things! You’re all being swindled and cheated for nothing! *photo “unrelated”*)

The season is generally best when the focus is on him, as the first episode delivers a strong start in the same way season one did.

Where the season begins to fall apart though is when quite literally the world “Westworld” inhabits begins to do so itself. Serac’s Rehobaum, which reminded me just a little too much of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’s” Deep Thought, releasing all its data to the world and everyone discovering they’re basically all dangerous assholes is almost hilarious to me. 

Though the idea of hyper data controlling our every move is a good cyberpunk metaphor to jump off of, the way this bit is executed is a little over exaggerated and clumsy.

(Though it does deliver a pretty powerful scene regardless.)

This isn’t actually a tremendous problem with season three, but it doesn’t do much to add to what we already understand about the story; which is how narrative controls us and how important choices and free will is to that. All this is already told and expanded on in the first season through Dolores, all season three does it bring it to a macro level and put that onus on the humans instead of the hosts. The hosts were already a metaphor for humanity anyways so again the story in some ways hasn’t changed much since season one.

It's interesting to have the narrative of the hosts turned on the humans but thematically it feels redundant.

I’ll add that this isn’t the worst idea they could’ve gone with, it works in moving the physical aspect of the story forward for sure, and I wouldn’t even classify it as a bad one, but again the problem is the story has largely run out of new things to tell us.

We like stories because we want to learn some truth about ourselves, whether we want it to or not, and Anthony Hopkins’ Ford makes a great point of this in season one. This has been the purpose of myths and legends since the dawn of time and it’ll be no different even when the 37th Fast & Furious comes out in 40 years. You could argue that the message of Westworld deserves repeating or that it’s not important to the entertainment value it still provides, and you might be right. But for a series like this, that is so invested in what stories mean I don’t think it’s wrong to think there should be more to it than this.

(Maybe, I should’ve...)

Of course, there’s still plenty more to see out of “Westworld” for the foreseeable future as HBO won’t be canceling it anytime soon and certainly it’ll have its chance to still tackle more ideas and themes in the future but, at this point at least, it’s been less meaningful that its first season.

There are other problems too, namely Dolores constantly changing and unclear revolution plans and arcs resolved offscreen, certain side plots with other characters ultimately going nowhere, and a fairly predictable twist with Caleb, but this is the crux of the problem with the series as it stands now and the one worth mentioning the most.

(And Maeve, *sigh* oh Maeve...)

That said, season three really is a lot of fun despite my issues with the narrative. The pacing, as mentioned, is great from start to finish. I was never bored or disinterested during this season, despite its flaws, and the action bits are frankly better than they’ve ever been as the series goes full cyberpunk in parts with great robot on human and robot on robot action.

The cinematography is sharp and striking too as Jonathan Nolan shows he’s definitely Christopher’s brother with some beautiful, haunting shots of the future Los Angeles city Gotham-esque skyline set to Ramin Djawadi’s excellent cyberpunk score that gives the new season a more noire-ish feel that would make Vangelis and Hans Zimmer proud.

(In the future Los Angeles will be Singapore!)

The acting is still stellar of course. Though Jeffrey Wright’s Bernard is largely wasted in this season and his plot goes nowhere, his scene with Gina Torres in the finale is touching. Luke Hemsworth is dry as hell in a good way as Chief of Security turned personal buddy bodyguard to Bernard as Ashley Stubbs. Ed Harris is wicked and dastardly as always as William and of course Evan Rachel Wood is solid as the driving force of the series as Dolores.

(Out of context season 3 spoiler.)

The finale doesn’t leave much to say beyond a pending machine vs human war though which has been building up since the first season anyways. While I can see some possibilities for an interesting direction here, I can’t say I’m as intrigued as even the finale to season two left me.

In some ways, season one left me not too much unlike William going into season’s two and three; looking for additional meaning in something that wasn’t looking to tell me anything deeper, at least right now. Perhaps the maze just isn’t for me anymore but moving forward I’ll be lowering my expectations.

(Oh my God! Meta commentary on meta commentary! It’s meta-ception! I’m beginning to question the nature of my reality!!!)

“Westworld” remains a fun cyberpunk action series that can hold your attention span for an hour, and I think it’ll maintain that energy consistently going forward, but it might’ve been best left where it was when Dolores put a bullet in Ford’s brain.

I do hope it can regain some of its original spark at some point but until then…it doesn’t look like anything (deep) to me.

VERDICT:

3.5 out of 5

You said it, Marshawn...

[modestlyabsurd]

Alight Pt. 3 (Loki x Reader)

"That," he wiped his bleeding cheek, "was a big mistake."

He was gonna retaliate right then and there, the life leaving his eyes and rage consuming him. You prepared. He'd already gotten in a few licks leaving you pretty weakened. Arms were throbbing from blocking blows and your head burned in white hot pain. You're no match for Dickhead. But at this point if you died fighting him, so be it. It'd be better than living the rest of your life here.

As he lunged, he suddenly froze in place, and then your blood ran cold. His face disappeared - then reappeared in an instant.

Your heart beat so fast that your entire body was rendered paralyzed. Hallucinating - definitely hallucinating.

But it happens again; his face glitches from its brooding, bloodied features to a blank sheet of skin and back again.

He chuckles. His voice darkens robotically as his face goes in and out, like a TV with bad reception. "Looks like you damaged my screen."

The ground wobbles beneath your feet, but there's nothing around to steady yourself except for your own head - and it could explode at any second.

"What? Now you're scared?" He takes a small step forward, you take the same step back. "You should've been scared this entire time. You're not back home on Earth."

... What? How?

"Don't act surprised. But it's not an act, is it? You really thought you were smart. Humans are so laughable sometimes. Steadfast? Sure. But you're all so easily broken. That, and your inherent ignorance was the dead giveaway to your origins."

His dark, artificial eyes repeatedly go in and out and return to yours each time. He clears his throat and places his arms at ease. "Allow me to explain a bit about myself, since you were gracious enough to oblige me in a similar nature," he smiles, gesturing to his injured human cheek.

Your skin itches all over. Your mind is sending distress signals everywhere it can. Which, clearly, isn't far.

"I am a Chronomonitor. We are created and assigned whenever and wherever a reality is altered. I would normally explain the development process of how we're created, but I'd bet you don't know the first thing about quantum technology. Just like I'd bet you don't know the first thing about gamma radiation," he smirks.

Fuck ... what all do they know?

"But that's besides the point. I was created when the reality of Earth in the year 2012 was tampered with by undercover parties. I will cease to exist when my job is complete, which is to eliminate the threat and restore reality as it is. Until then, you're stuck with me indefinitely."

Wonderful, you bitterly think to yourself.

He dares to take another step closer, and despite yourself, you dare not to take one back.

"See how much easier things can be, if you're a good little human?"

A voice interrups through his radio, shouting urgently in their verbal codes. He tilts his head to listen and in an irritated rush he responds with an affirmation.

Now completely faceless, without concealment, he turns to leave. But not without a final word. "I feel like we've gotten to know each other a little better. No more secrets now. Right, Doe six one eight? Or, rather, little L/N."

He had the nerve to whisper your last name.

When the cell door shuts behind Mr. Chronomonitor, you start crumbling. Your legs nearly give way as you stumble back, back, until you hit the concrete wall and slide down, your throat constricting. They tracked you. They tracked the breadcrumbs, and you just gave them a freshly baked loaf with your name written on it.

You couldn't breathe. You couldn't think straight. All you could do was cry.

All you wanted was Loki.

Loki would know what to do.

Loki would know what to say.

Loki would protect you. He wouldn't let these forces get anywhere near you. He didn't! That's why your steadfast, laughable, ignorant fucking self is here in this space pit. Because he died protecting you from the true forces of the universe, and their crimes.

You wished that wasn't your last memory of him. That's why you've forced yourself not to think of him during this imprisonment. But things always come full circle. You should've known better. Loki always compared your feelings to a body of water, and said that the levee reserving the riverflow was made of fire. The flames will always succumb to the water at some point. Goddammit, you miss him. In the most selfish way possible.

He was one the few people in your life who accepted you unconditionally; he loved even the worst parts of you. Looking back, you took that for granted. A little voice keeps nagging you about it as time goes on, and in all honesty, you're starting to believe you deserve to stay here indefinitely.

You miss him. The hot, fiery tears leaving streaks down your swollen cheeks are the testament to it. You miss the real Loki. A far cry from who's out here in the timelines running amok.

It's the broken, vengeful, brainwashed monster that Thanos created in 2012 that's left. You think back to that distant, original little spark of hope; that maybe the real Loki is still alive and lost in there somewhere. Maybe you could find him, bring him to the light.

But that was then. Now, the chances of ever finding Loki are slim to none, and your chances of staying prisoner here are rising.

~

Oh for Heaven's sake. It was just getting good!

The melee had to end right when the mysterious neighbor had done what he couldn't do (what he truly wished to do if he hadn't a main objective) and that was provoke that oaf of a guard to the breaking point. But he remembers there's been no provoking whatsoever. Only silence.

And then a beating ensued, and even Loki had to turn away. He's not a sadist. He's more of a curious panther that's been reduced to a pathetic house cat.

Indeed while the voice of the Other continues to berate him for his childish approaches, and in a similar nature, Loki has chosen to ignore it. Temporarily, of course. It's not his fault that the daft creature cannot function under anything but its own direct orders. Loki enjoys chaos. And in this place, he doesn't even have to be the perpetrator.

Although useful in that he now knows a great deal more about these bots and their facility, this sort of chaos isn't exactly what he had in mind. Unlike the Other, as well as the Titan, hurting people fruitlessly doesn't interest Loki.

"Knock, knock," a voice sarcastically sounds outside the cell door.

Loki's ears perk and the hair on his neck dares to stand on end, but he doesn't allow it. He leans against the gray concrete comfortably, awaiting his visitor.

"Time for my interrogation already?" he chirps. The Chronomonitor - information accredited to his neighbor - opens the heavy door, bringing in shadowy dim light from the hallway. It appears as the same burly man with educated eyes and sturdy limbs, and a faint scar on its cheek. Loki cannot the smirk on his face as he eyes the robot, relishing in the secret knowledge he has. He distantly wonders how he'll use it to his advantage later.

"Afraid not," it shakes its head. "That's why I'm here. Mobius has chosen to delegate more time to another case over the next few days, so you're off without questioning today."

"What a shame. I was looking particularly forward to my session this afternoon," Loki feigns disappointment. He then inquires, "What could possibly interrupt such a cured routine?"

The robot ponders Loki, but in the moment, does not deem him disingenuous.

A mistake.

As if it's divulging a secret, the robot lowers its tone. "It's the person right next to you, as a matter of fact. She's been an absolute pain ever since she was apprehended a month ago. Mobius is even sicker of it than I am," it nearly growls, before recollecting. "But now he's finally ready to do something about it."

The way the bot's teeth shined in sticky enjoyment struck a nerve in Loki.

He tilts his head, playing along. "What do you think that something will be?"

"That's to be determined. Oh, and you didn't hear any of this," the bot threatens.

"Of course," Loki assures. Even though he heard every word of it.

The bot nods. It then scans the cell, as Loki crosses his arms and slides his tongue over the grooves of his cheek. The robot's eyes land on the uneaten breakfast tray next to the bed.

"Better eat. The cooks never cook that good."

"Merely saving it for later," he responds, voice clipped.

Awkwardly, the bot turns to leave. "Won't be another meal for a good few hours."

"Four hours. To be exact."

The bot looks back at Loki with bewilderment. Loki notes how easily angered they can become, if outwitted. Without another word it waves an arm dismissively and locks the door tightly behind.

It's just at the surface. But how did his neighbor do it so effortlessly?

A girl, he remembered. The robot referred to a girl.

He lay his head against the hard pillow of the wall, still propped against it. Outside his ever-racing mind, the world around him became quiet. Impossibly quiet; quiet enough to hear. Maybe enough to hear a pin drop, or a mouse scatter across the floor.

Definitely enough, he learned, to hear soft, barely audible cries through the thick walls of his cell. His eyes widened.

Female cries, he notes.

Loki's curiosity is getting the best of him. But he decides he'll deal with whatever repercussions there are.

Just for kicks, he creates a duplicate illusion of himself, leaving it on the bed. Then, cloaked in invisibility, he enters the cell next door.

The cells are similar - dark, unkind concrete. A bed. A sink. A toilet. A mirror, and something his own cell lacks: a door with a small window with a view, of another door. Loki's not surprised.

The prisoner is what surprises him.

A woman, indeed. Scrubbing at her face over the white sink, washing it in red. She pushed her hair back as it kept falling in her face, sticking to her blood. Wearing the TVA prison suit identical to his, her exposed arms were marked by violence. She turns off the sink and looks at herself in the mirror. If Loki were visible, they would've locked eyes right then and there.

She looked innocent, even babyish in the face. Something felt familiar about her. Strongly, strangely familiar, but he couldn't place how. It bothered him. The dark bruises littering her skin bothered him more; they pinched and scratched at his nerve endings.

He can't look away. In fact, he contemplates making his presence known to her, but hesitates as she moves to the cot.

Loki breathes.

Upon having a face to match with the body, he wonders. He's always been a good judge of character; what could that face have possibly done to be treated differently than he? He hadn't been assaulted by any guards or agents, even when he'd provoked them. Make no mistake, he's treated with less than respect, but not to the point of beatings at least. So what is it about this normal, non-threatening woman?

Still unable to look away from her, she lays on the cot, facing the wall - away from Loki. From this perspective she seems almost like a child. He sees her deep breathing and hears her silent whimpers; he watches her until she eventually falls asleep.

Resigning himself back to his own cell, he too lays on his cot. It's so boring here. Even with new guests, they fall asleep just as the story begins to barely unfold. A pity.

Who is that woman?

There's two sides to the coin that is Loki's thought process. It would be a lie to say he wasn't glad that the quiet one finally cried herself to sleep. But when has it being a lie ever stopped him from saying something?

~

tag list: @sydneyss-worlddd @afinedilemma @fire-in-her-veinz @belladonnabarnes @drakesfiance @internetgremlin @dragon-chica @triggeredpossum @tarynkauai @sadwaywardkid

[snowtimeisbesttime]

Thoughts and questions on Pesterquest Volume 7, routes 1 and 2!

-Considering how we get to Equius in his route, Nepeta just sat down next to Sollux at the top of the list of Potential Volume 8 Guys. We know their names, where they live, and we've also accumulated a good bunch of mutual friends. Also i just really want to see them..... (sollux could also share a volume with aradia (or feferi, or even eridan i guess), but we've had some eclectic troll groups so it could be anything)

~ROUTE 2~

-Terezi makes the :? face, all's good

-Getting hit in the head real hard counters retcon powers, apparently.

-Of course Vriska immediately tries to reconnect with Terezi once she's able to (read: is no longer forced to routinely murder random trolls)... its all in the vrisrezi.

-We get a snippet of Alternian Law, and it basically says that if you exist (/consume resources) on Empire territory while being 1- a mutant, 2- an alien or 3- a criminal against HIC aka a rebel, you Must perish. Considering that MC gets by perfectly fine in Friendsim (them having crimson blood was the biggest danger), but Joey apparently has to disguise herself as a troll.... oh boy I wonder what could bring such a change in the law!!!!!!!!!

-Speaking of changes in the law, we've got 3 versions of legislacerators now: from the ancestral era (said to be a mix of prosecutors and bounty hunters), from Hiveswap's time (where they seem to actually have a good amount of power even in Alternia- see Tirona deleting MC's criminal record), and finally, from Hivebent's time (iirc Terezi said in Homestuck that it was pretty much an office job- she's probably basing her whole thing in her route off what she knows about the legislacerators from her ancestor's time, which she also canonically liked better.)

-So, based on what we see in Pesterquest, legislacerators would have seemed a bit like performers, putting on a show for the audience- which does kinda fit with them working close to subjugglators. (It should be said that we have very different frames of reference for those three versions; respectively we have Neophyte Redglare, the five Troll Call teals -which are focused on their own, very different things- and Terepy Pipes herself.)

-why yes, mc's wearing a maryam original. (they haven't acquired any new clothes this volume though...)

-Actually the coin flip thing's brought Terezi a lot of pain... obviously when she killed Vriska all the way back then, which haunted her enough to have her explicitly tell John to prevent it from happening; there's also that one doomed Dave that went to sleep in his quest bed and later got jack noir'd...

-As it turns out, Terezi's just trying to keep her loved ones safe while hoping she might eventually be able to change things from the inside... just like another friend of us. And when MC instinctively tries to zap to Tyzias, they pop up at the Weird Hallway Of Tposes again. Which Terezi can describe as a nexus of metaphysical realities because she's dreamed about similar places.

-and we knew that whatever tyzias tried to do hadn't worked, because hivebent's alternia still sucks, but. Either we're purposefully barred from interacting with Friendsim friends because this is Pesterquest we're playing, or we can't reach her because she's dead. All there is to see now is if the Scourge Sisters will succeed where so many failed...

-Terezi does kinda get uncomfortably close to the Truth Behind Things when she says that they're all victims of the big picture... and that when they fight, the one who painted it laughs because they've already won...

-Looks like her first reaction when faced with the loss of Vriska is to get clowny... this isn't the first time Gamzee's been a distraction.

-Also, what he says when we zap to his hive implies that he's aware that he gets murdery whenever he's not high on pie, and in fact eats the pies to NOT be murdery... so why'd he run out in the meteor, again? Wouldn't he make sure to have a renewable source of them, if the alternative is killing his friends?

~ROUTE 1~

-Even if they can't consciously access their memories from Friendsim, MC still has them- and can use them for zap locations. God I hope they do go back to their hive and look through everything...

-mc: “Oh, Equius. Maybe he's chill.” equius: *currently beating the shit out of a robot*

-He does try to be cordial at first, if only because MC's friends of Gamzee. And then Karkat speaks for MC's sheer friendship power, which then kicks along the whole friendship thing.

-MC kinda looks a bit like Aurthour. This is certainly a thing. (also was aurthour's eye already bruised in equius' good route and i forgot?? or was that a ~fancy temporal bullshit holdover~ from his short end???)

-He didn't want to kill MC, even if he can't bring himself to say it. (iirc he was amongst the only ones to NOT attempt to kill anybody back in murderstuck, together with Karkat...)

-Equius has a fancy gamer chair.

-Of course the second MC shows him their teleport powers he wants to go see Nepeta. I mean say what you want about Equius but the guy's got his priorities straight. And of course as well, the T-pose guy from the funky troll hell nexus hallway of metaphysical realities won't let us skip ahead to her. (tpose guy speaks in white, just saying)

-On the one hand, acquiescing (for now...) to the wishes of someone he perceives as being of higher status of him isn't out of character from Equius. On the other hand, by now whenever any character shows hints of getting their minds fucked with by the narrative I immediately reenact that meme with the samurai holding a cat and a sword and other synonymous memes.

-At least MC and Equius get to talk about society, friendships, and the role they both play in people's lives. And we get confirmation that while big strength is an indigo thing (and that not every indigo has it), Equius' STRENGTH is on a whole other level.

-And in case getting to see the Nexus Hallway in both Equius' and Terezi's routes wasn't enough, in Equius' bad end we start screwing up the timeline in a... more esoteric way. Um, thank fuck we didn't get Paradox Space (comics) involved too, i guess?

-Horns are really sturdy, and we don't get to learn more about troll biology because whenever Equius starts talking about it whomever he's talking to bails. Admittedly, the first time was kinda understandable.

-how did equius break his horn? yes

-How in the fuck did grub Equius get to the Caverns??!?!!? Was he found by a random jade when his meteor landed?? Did our No SGRUB AU make it so the beta trolls were hatched regularly???

[atamascolily]

lily liveblogs “terminator 2: judgment day” for the first time, part 3

(First and second parts here and here, respectively)

I like that Miles Dyson is a black computer geek, a manager, a programmer, a rich man with a wife he clearly adores. It's just sad that he's also going to destroy the world, and is on a collision course with our heroes. I think that's the point - that good intentions/ideals/not being a terrible person don't save you from doing terrible things...

Miles' computer has a sign taped to the top saying "BIT HAPPENS" aaaaahhhh, he's such a nerd, I love him... except his subsequent speech to his wife makes clear he is so determined to perfect everything and not really consider the consequences, aaahhhh. but he does turn off the computer and go spend time with his kids, and the family is really cute together, so he's very very human and relatable.

(this movie is so freakin' relevant in 2019 on so many levels, I can't even)

Sarah is still wearing her psych ward clothes under her jacket, just like Kyle did for most of the first movie, parallels...

I love Sarah's expression when Enrique offers the T101 booze, and she just grabs it and drinks it out of the bottle, like WE DO NOT WASTE ALCOHOL ON ROBOTS IN THIS HOUSE, ENRIQUE. lolololol. 

OH MY GOD SARAH'S WEARING ALL BLACK AND A TANK TOP NOW AND I CANNOT GET OVER HOW AWESOME SHE LOOKS

"Just drop by anytime and totally fuck up my life, all right?" - this franchise in one sentence

Of course the T101 isn't going to survive this movie, and we learn this in a literal Chekhov's Armory. oh, and there's a big, fucking gun. I'm sure we'll see that again.

Sarah's biceps continue to be amazing, all those pull-ups paid off big time. I'm in total awe.

Male bonding with engine repair. it's endearing. John blames Sarah for telling potential father figures about Judgement Day and scaring them off. Poor John just wants a father. GOD I WISH KYLE REESE HAD SURVIVED.

Just realized the only reason John knows how to re-program a T101 is because his younger self did it again when they sent that same T101 through time. HISTORY CREATES ITSELF, THE FUTURE CREATES THE PAST, IT'S ALL ONE BIG, STABLE TIME LOOP.

Sarah watching John with the T101 and realizing it's the perfect father for him. I'm surprised there aren't AUs where she starts sleeping with the T101, too, for similar reasons. Kyle Reese would be spinning in his grave...

I was hoping for another Michael Biehn scene when Sarah falls asleep, but no, it's that playground again...

OH GOD, that woman in the dream looks just like her in the '80s, and she's even wearing a dress that looks like the waitress dress... holding a kid and living a normal life... ahhhh, what Sarah really wants (even though she's a badass on the outside and so strong and competent). I don't know how I feel about this. Like on the one hand, Sarah has massive PTSD, and this is a totally valid thing for her to want, and on the other hand, given how this film keeps treating women, it feels kinda regressive?? Sigh.

Then she burns and everybody burns when the bomb goes off... this is James Cameron's signature nightmare image and it's ours, too, now... callbacks to the first movie and the liquid melting flesh of the new Terminator....and Sarah’s photo burning, ahhhhh.

There's all this destruction, but no blood. That's the thing I notice most about this movie--there's just as much violence as the first film, but it's all CLEAN violence... hardly any blood at all. Horror is bloody. Action is not. I don't think I realized that fully until I watched these two films back to back.

it's too bad Sarah couldn't see a real therapist instead of Silbermann for all this time, because she has such a tremendous case of PTSD.

She drives off without saying good-bye to John, he's supposed to go to safety, but of course he won't.

John says that his father told Sarah there's no fate but what we make for ourselves, which is technically true since he said it to her in this movie, but didn't SHE say that to HIM? Oh, right, it's a message from John that he gives to her so she can give it to John later so he can give it to Kyle. Right.

Why is John so upset that Sarah is trying to change the timeline after all? Because he might not be conceived? I doubt he's thinking about temporal loops here? Or does he think he can help her? Or because he thinks she’s crossed a Moral Event Horizon by going after Dyson?

T101 is like, "dude, your mom's probably right," and John's all, "I don't care!" RIGHT YOU STUPID ASSHOLE, you're going to let millions of people die instead?? You can tell he hasn't been fighting at all yet.

I'm all Team Sarah here. John Connor has yet to convince me why he's in the right here. Why shouldn't Sarah try to shift them onto a better timeline if she can? Especially since it’s not 100% clear what her plan is??

(And if she's wrong, then her actions were necessary in order to create the original future, so... it gets complicated to sort out. I get it.)

Okay, she’s at Dyson’s house. She's going to try to kill him, but she doesn't really need to kill him, just destroy the Terminator chip he's using as a model. She's basically become a human version of the Terminator now, because Cameron loves his parallels...can she not see there are other options?

Speaking of which, there's a radio controlled toy truck that Dyson's son is driving through the house, lol.

Yup, there's a red laser guide beam just like the T1 did to her. And she's going to see Dyson with his kid and think better of it, because she yearns for innocent time with her own kid (that she didn't have because she was training for the future).

NOPE, she shoots him, but he ducks when the car hits his foot, and he hides behind his desk just like Sarah did in T1. The circle is complete. She's even firing automatic rounds like the first Terminator did. SHE’S BECOME THE ENEMY NOW.

Sigh, the first time Sarah talks to a woman in this movie, and she's calling her a bitch and telling her to get down on the floor after she's shot her husband. I hate this so much.

She can't shoot him. His wife and son are watching and she realizes what she's become. She's doing to Dyson what the Terminator did to her.

The fact that Dyson, who is black, got his home shot up by a white woman and nearly killed while his family watched in terror is... not a great image, and I can only imagine what must be going through their heads right now.

Dyson recognizes the metallic hand once the Terminator strips its skin off. Wow, what a gory move to prove the truth. effective, though.

"You're judging me on things I haven't even done yet" - Sarah's face here when Dyson says that.

Sarah has no patience for Dyson's protestations of innocence: how could you think that eliminating humans from the decision-making process would go well? She says "Men like you--" and all I can hear is "patriarchy".

The difference between Dyson and Sarah is Dyson did his invention purposefully, whereas all Sarah was supposed to do was have a kid. She could have died once John was born and it wouldn't necessarily have mattered, because her role is finished (just like Reese could die). Still, her line, "You don't know what it's like to really create something" is so IRONIC in this context... would men feel the need to create weapons of war if they could create life like women do??

I hate teenage John shutting Sarah down, because she's right, if not tactful, and I'm so tired of people dismissing Sarah and even her own kid is treating her like a crazy person when she’s just so goddamn tired and haunted by visions of the end of the world. 

Tarissa (Dyson's wife) asks the smart question: Aren't we changing things now, just by having this conversation? Dyson says, no way I'm finishing this now that I know. Would that the future worked like that.

god, why didn't Sarah just bring the Terminator with her as proof she wasn't crazy? Why did she have to shoot Dyson BEFORE all this?? why wasn’t she thinking outside the box? sigh. she’s not stupid. 

They go to Cyberdyne headquarters and Sarah is wearing a jacket like Kyle’s, oh my heart. Dyson is taking this amazingly well--we were right to like him--but I'm pretty sure he's not going to survive the movie. Although since this is action and not horror, maybe he has a chance??

I like the contrast between the security cams in the state hospital and the Cyberdyne building. Glass doors, too.

Oh, the T1000's going to be waiting for them because he knew they would show up here because IT IS WRITTEN. I wonder if he's hiding in the floor somewhere like he did before??

Dyson might be able to get out of this by claiming Sarah and the T101 forced him at gunpoint to break in, assuming he survives.

Good thing John is a budding hacker!! He can open the doors when the guard trips the alarm and locks the doors.

John knows EXACTLY WHAT SARAH MEANS when she warns him about "fire in the hole".

I like how the mechanical factory of the previous movie is now a sleek and shiny '90s lab with computers and chips and things. And now they have a collaborator on the inside who's working with them to take it down instead of being totes on their own.

The T1000 is at Dyson's house. How did he track them there? Did Tarissa call the police?? But he gets the police call about the raid of Cyberdyne, so hopefully Tarissa and her kids survive the night.

Parallels to the police helicopters and cops in the parking lot with the human beings on the ground vs. the machines in the opening.

Cyberdyne is using literally the same locking software as the bank ATM, lol.

ahahahah, it's a remote control to set the bombs off, because even more parallels, lolololol

oh, hey, there's the big fucking gun with a freaking mountain of automatic bullets. Ironically, the name for this monstrosity is "mini-gun". somehow, he shoots all the cars and doesn't kill anyone - he's just that good a shot!! Just enough to make the cops get clear. Then he shoots the cars to make them blow up. CLEVER.

Of course John doesn't destroy the chip once he gets it out of the safe, because where's the drama in that??

SHIT. THE POLICE SHOOT MILES AS THEY ENTER THE ROOM FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK I HATE THIS. They don’t even try to save him, or seem aware that Sarah might be using him as a hostage. and of course he's got the detonator in his hands, too.

all this shattered glass reminds me of the police station sequence from T1, but it's way less of a slaughter.

T101 busts through the clean room to save Sarah, just like he did the mall walls before.

Miles dies. His hand drops. The building explodes. GOD DAMN IT I LIKED HIM WHYYYYYYYY.

"we got a war zone here"-- oh, you just wait. Probably there's going to be Judgement Day anyway and Miles died for NOTHING. *sob*

Okay now the T1000 shows up.

"I'll be back," says the T101, because of course he does.

Good thing they brought an oxygen mask to a gun battle!! 

The T101 is so creative. He won't kill you, but he'll still shoot you in the legs, and it will hurt like hell.

lol, the T1000 literally rides in on a flaming motorcycle OH MY GOD THIS MOVIE. He even takes it up the staircase WHAT.

meanwhile the T101 is firing tear gas, and then pulling peoples' masks off. Then he drives a truck back into the building to pick Sarah and John up.

THERE'S ONLY ONE GODDAMN CASUALTY IN THIS ENTIRE SEQUENCE AND IT'S THE BLACK GUY, WHO WAS A FUCKING GOOD GUY, I WILL NEVER BE OVER THIS!!! All the white cops get to live, but not the black dude who was an actual character. FUCK THIS.

T1000 rides his motorcycle off the edge of the building and hijacks the helicopter to chase after John. He tells the pilot to "Get out" and the guy does, but idk if he survived? OWWWWWW.

John tells Sarah of course he'll stay hidden behind the bullet-proof vests, but of course he doesn't.

Yeah, John was getting shot at by intelligent machines from the sky long before it was cool. No wonder he's the leader of the resistance... he was literally trained from birth for this! Plus, you know, he had help. From the future.

Sarah gets shot in the leg, owwww. The helicopter rams the truck and crashes. So does the truck. This is just like the bridge scene in T1, isn't it?

Ohhh, a gas truck showed up, so YEAH THINGS ARE GOING TO EXPLODE. Oh, it's liquid nitrogen, not gas, does that make a difference? Oh, maybe that has an effect on the Terminator melting metal??

Both the dudes who stopped to check on them are going to get killed... yeah. Sigh. Oh, one of them went over the edge, he might have survived.

Pity anybody who is on this road tonight, 'cause it's clobbering time!!

Oh, good thing John knows how to drive! And they take the off-ramp, just like they did before in the river chase.

Oh, good, just bust through the gate into a random factory, that always goes well. Ah, drive right into the middle of a molten steel pour. EPIC.

Liquid nitrogen everywhere. This is so going to be relevant in a moment.

Good, all the workers flee. Fewer casualties that way.

The liquid nitrogen makes him frosty and metallic. He's literally shattering. This can't be the end, though, because we still have at least twenty minutes left.

The T101 shoots him and he shatters. But doesn't each piece keep hunting??

Yup, the hot steel is melting the nitrogen, he's coming back.

John's carrying Sarah just like Sarah carried Kyle at the end of T1... and the T1000 comes out of the liquid in the same pose as it came into the past...

Sarah's hair is loose and crazy-looking, and she's also lost her agency since she's been shot and in shock. Symbolism is not lost on me.

Now the T1000 starts mimicking the scenery. Now they're in the part of the factory with machines. t101 stays behind. John's going to lose his father-figure again, but find him in the future again I guess?

Oh, the T101 gets his hands trapped underneath a giant gear, IRONY. And the T1000 just literally rolls its eyes and walks away because it doesn't give a fuck about anything but John. T101 hacks off his own arm, while Sarah and John stumble up more stairs just like T1. God, I hope Cyberdyne doesn't find that arm stuck in the machine gears and destroy the world with it... JUST LIKE LAST TIME.

Sarah puts John on a conveyor belt while she stays behind to fight. JUST LIKE T1.

She shoots a literal hole in his head and it doesn't work... no blood, just cgi silver stuff... and this is simultaneously horrifying and yet cheapening the effect of real blood/bullets, etc...

He pins her to the wall. All he needs is to touch her. He tells her to call to John - he can mimic her voice, of course this was coming...

But the T101 intervenes! Now he's getting rammed with a hydraulic press, just like last time. Crawling towards him, just like before... but he gets stabbed again and shorts out. Good thing Terminators are hard to kill.

T1000 takes Sarah's form and starts calling for him. God, this dude must be so freakin' paranoid as an adult knowing this. Actual Sarah shoots Fake Sarah and he transforms back into his usual form. He doesn't say anything, just waggles his finger at her, and it is is scarier than any one-liner possibly could be.

"Get down!" -arc words, apparently, since that was also what happened in the beginning. The T101 shows up and shoots the T1000 back into the pool of molten metal and then it's really over. But not before he turns into a CGI silver monstrosity first.

Chorus sings the Terminator theme slowly and dramatically while the thing transforms into every form it's ever taken, including Sarah because we needed more symbolism of Sarah's face melting in flames in this franchise. Oh, wait, no, I think that was the only one we didn't see. Wow.

Oh, man it's like being at the fires of Mount Doom when John tosses the first Terminator arm from T1 into the molten pit. Of course a piece of the chip has broken off somewhere - they should have destroyed it in the lab!! Sigh.

The T101 has to toss himself in to prevent anyone else from finding the chip. ahhhh, John has to sacrifice what he loves for the world. Sob. So much for being a happy Terminator family together, except in fic. And it doesn't matter because of that goddamn missing piece *sob* Miles' death, this... for nothing if anyone finds that missing chip piece. AAAAAAH.

"I can't self-terminate"--wow, that means Sarah and John have to do it themselves, EVEN WORSE. John is pulling a Frodo and screaming a lot.

Wow, Cameron managed to make us feel AWFUL and SAD at the death of a Terminator. Well played, sir, well played. John cries. T101 and Sarah shake hands. It's all so moving. fuck.

ONCE AGAIN, SARAH PRESSES THE BUTTON TO KILL HIM OMG. John is forced to watch someone who came from the future to protect him, whom he came to love dearly after just a day or so of knowing him, DIE IN FRONT OF HIM, just like Sarah in T1.

GOD IT'S SO HOPEFUL AN ENDING, BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT MISSING CHIP CHUNK, DAMN IT!! And the, uh, severed robot arm the T101 left behind? We end the movie in pretty much exactly the same space as we began - with an arm and a chip unaccounted for. I do not find this hopeful.

[crispclown]

kurogiri hcs

i just have a lot of kurogiri thoughts....

- in canon mostly because i really like the theory that he's an ex-ua student who used to be friendly with aizawa and yamada before his quirk pretty much failed him during a battle and instilled the thought of "never let someone chase an unachievable dream" in aizawa afterwards. he was in a vulnerable position during that time and afo, who seems to watch the ua tournaments and realized kurogiri's quirk had the potential to be incredibly useful to his organization, swooped in similar to how it was with shigaraki and with careful manipulation pretty much became in kurogiri's eyes his savior who helped him realize how horrible the hero society is and gave him a second chance at redemption via villainy. because of this he feels a strong sense of debt towards afo 

- since he hasnt seen what an ass afo is yet he'd do almost anything afo would ask of him without question.

- to add onto the above of being an ex-ua student thats also one of the reasons he constantly has his mist on. i personally believe he does have a normal human form underneath going off how 1-a pinned him down during the ua rescue center scene. having his mist contantly at the ready helps be more prepared for all the sudden unexpected situations villains can fall into as well as disguise him from both media attention and anyone who might recognize him (old friends-) given the fact he's considered legally dead.

- the only people aware of his well. origin story is afo and some of his trusted higher ups who assisted in readjusting kurogiri to their group and pushing him to further his quirk abilities to do what he can do now

- kurogiri never really thought of telling shigiraki about since to him that backstory doesn't matter as much as helping him grow as afo's heir and as kurogiri's adopted son

- the reason kurogiri got into bartending was because when he first joined and he and afo were trying to figure out when he;d fit best kurogiri just sort of realize afo tends to drink A Lot. with all his quirks, its hard for afo to be killed by more normal means like alcohol poisoning and some of them had the side effect of needing a Shit Ton before afo could really get drunk

- so kurogiri just ended up helping fix afo's drinks and over time it morphed into learning how to bartend

- his loyalty to afo s pretty much the only reason kurogiri originally started taking care of shigaraki. afo knew how loyal and steadfast to him and took advantage of it to give him the job of raising/babysitting shigaraki. tbh i don't think kurogiri was fond of shigaraki since the beginning and probably acted more like a butler/robotic towards him at first before the unrelenting Parental Instincts tm kicked in one day after almost a year of looking after him and suddenly realized "oh fuck this is my son"

- during the year of lowkey awkward parenting he was internally having a crisis since in my mind he never really ever thought of having kids during his time as a hero in training so suddenly having the responsibilty of looking after one you know nothing about and is already pretty grown vs wanting to please afo who trusted him enough with the task made him p conflicted during the time

- thankfully(?) afo was the most active in shigarakis life during the beginning years so kurogiri didn't have to have his crisis while being a single dad as well. as shigaraki got older afo just started to withdraw more when he thought shigaraki and kurogiri were getting along well enough and weren't about to fight/betray him any time soon

- if the lov ever decided to break their assosiation with afo, kurogiri would likely still go with lov to make sure shigaraki and crew stay safe and that none of them get too hurt. despite that, he'd still retain quiet loyalty to afo due to his blind faith in him and would probably keep him updated if asked, thinking of it as a "father knows best situation"

- for the lov to be able to have his Total Loyalty, really the only person who could sway him would be shigaraki himself. as much as he feels like he has a debt to afo, shigaraki has pretty much become his own son in kurogiri's eyes (which he likely wouldnt outright admit-) and anything he'd tell him about afo would pretty much be the only stories kurogiri couldn't bring himself to cast doubt onto

- honestly in general shigiraki is pretty much the only one besides afo that he's willing to listen and consider anything he says. everyone else he might listen to but internally there's a possibility hes not really listening depending on the topic. like above, sometimes he thinks he just knows better though he is willing to admit whenever he's wrong

- mild projecting but besides shigaraki his favorite that he won't outright say is his favorite is toga. besides yknow the murdering which tbh doesn;t really bother him, he pretty much sees her as a a+ daughter and is just "lmao your lost" at her family. the only thing he doesn't like about her is when she goes out of her way to aggravate shigaraki or when she starts killing people suddenly and it throws off lov's plan

- he takes great pride in looking nice and presentable and while he might be willing to wear more casual clothes in his rare free time, he refuses to wear clothes like those free tshirts you get at events or his pjs outside his room.

- lowkey passive agressive about s o m e people not wearing socks t o m u r a. or not wearing long enough pants like arent your fucking ankles cold?

- kurogiri does also enjoy being a gentleman to go along with his professional aesthetic since like. just cause youre a villain doesnt mean you gotta be a dick yknow? too many heroes do that anyways (@ endeavor then perish)

- can swear but unable to around children 

- (shigaraki once heard him say fuck when he thought he was alone and its haunted them both ever since. neither of them talk about it)

- he's a villain so like. he doesnt feel bad about killing people or watching them get killed. he was literally willing to murder 13, all might, and 1-a and only didn't because renforments arrived. during their first meeting with toga and dabi, his concern was less about shigaraki killing someone but the concept of shigaraki killing someone who could be useful to their cause. if shigaraki had weighed the options and told kurogiri "yeah im gonna kill them theyre useless", kurogiri wouldnt have seen anything wrong with not stepping in again when shigaraki does so. 

- the only people he would feel bad for killing would be very young children since they remind him too much of how shigaraki used to be. parents of said children have a 50/50 chance depending on how they act

- kurogiri does try to let shigaraki be a grownup tm since hes like. 21 and make his own decisions but he really does have a habit of babying him since hes seen all the stupid shit hes done and said since he was like 5-6 and it all flashes in front of his eys sometimes

- for all the members who Can drink legally hes memorized their usual drinks by now. some of them (magne, twice, spinner-) probably use this to look cooler to recruits but everyone else Knows

- purposely says things like “the pokemens" in front of the younger members to set their fight or flight reflexes off

- video games are basically the only thing he really keeps up to date with pop culture wise tbh. whenever someone pulls him into playing one with them, he just acts like an old man who doesnt understand how to use controllers and lets them win to be nice. if he wanted he Could Destroy Them

- kurogiri doesn't dad anyone who doesn't want a dad figure showing up. he'll still do things like make sure they're being as safe as a villain can be and act as a mediator but otherwise they won't get much witness much dading unless its directed towards someone else

[bigskydreaming]

Potentially really stupid question here, but how does Wanda’s powers actually work? I haven’t read a lot of comics, so I’m a little confused

You and everyone else, pretty much.

The thing is, there is no real set way, at this point. Her powers have been retconned more than her parentage, which says a lot. The most consistent description of them for the longest period of time, I’d say, is back in the 80s and 90s when it was basically like...she threw these energy bolts that were called her hex bolts, and whatever they hit, the result was like...an extreme probability fluctuation. So it wasn’t like she blasted things with energy bolts, though it sometimes looked like that....more accurately, she threw the hex bolt at a robot, and it exploded...because the hex bolt’s actual effect was randomly messing with the probability of that robot exploding because of a mechanical issue with like its core processor or whatever. 

So she could do a ton of different things with her hex bolts, but they were all basically rooted in probability manipulation....NOT reality warps, like she was later changed to be capable of. Like, there had to be at least some initial basis for the end result her hex bolts produced. Say she was underground in a cave fighting someone...she couldn’t throw a hex bolt that resulted in lightning somehow striking them even though they were deep underground, because there was no probability that would result in that, you know? Whereas if she was outside, she could theoretically hurl a hex bolt at someone that resulted in them being struck by lightning, even if it was a mostly clear sky...because even though that was an extreme unlikelihood, there was some base probability to work off of. Especially if say like, Thor was around or there was some other source of potential lightning that her probability manipulations basically...hacked, or hijacked.

Depending on the writer, sometimes she had a lot of control over generating specific results with her hex bolts, while with other writers, it was completely random....like, there was no real guarantee of what would happen if she threw one at something, though it generally was always a positive outcome for her. 

The Ultimate comics version of her, which was like, a rebooted more modern version of the whole Marvel universe that ran at the same time as the main Marvel universe comics, back around 2000 for a number of years....basically her powers worked similar to that in that version, but with a little more control. Like, it was the same basic principle, but it was stated that this version of her kinda viewed probabilities like equations that her powers let her tweak and manipulate to consciously achieve certain end results.

Back in the main Marvel universe though, at other times her powers were considerably more magic based....her origin story is super hella confusing, even without the latest retcons, but the gist is that when she and Pietro were born, it was at a place in Europe called Mt. Wundagore, that was on top of like, the ancient resting site or tomb or prison or whatever of some Elder God of chaos from thousands of years ago, named Cthon. Basically, at various points its been stated that Cthon did something to potentially gain some influence over Wanda, at her birth, or just more generally like, his mere presence altered the powers she would have had, like if she’d been born somewhere else she would have had energy powers similar to Magneto’s (since he was still their dad at the time of these backstory retellings), but because of Cthon’s presence/influence, she ended up with her probability powers...as well as some ability to work magic, specifically something called chaos magic. 

So at various points in Marvel history, Wanda’s delved into the magic side of her powers as much as if not moreso than her mutant probability powers. There have been periods where she didn’t really have her mutant powers for a variety of reasons so she was wholly using magic, there have been periods where she uses both or switches between them, and more commonly in later years where her powers were some vaguely defined fusion of magic and probability manipulation.

This led to Bendis eventually retconning her powers as basically just being able to rewrite or warp reality in whatever way she chose...with his hot take being that this ‘drove her crazy’ because there was no stability she could latch onto when her powers were constantly reordering reality according to her subconscious wishes or desires, rather than letting her perceive reality the way everyone else was. Basically the idea that ‘if you can do or even undo anything, does anything you do really matter’ taken to the nth degree.

Then ultimately that was retconned too, because it was terrible and bad, and it was ‘revealed’ that she was only capable of the reality warps that caused Avengers Disassembled and House of M, because she’d been possessed or come into possession of something called the Life Force, which was like, a kinda similar thing to the Phoenix Force that way amped up her powers and blah blah blah. So once she didn’t have the Life Force anymore, her powers went back to being that kinda vaguely defined ‘whatever a writer wanted them to be’ sorta fusion of probability manipulation and mumble mumble chaos magic which is basically also whatever a writer wants it to be, and not really a defined thing in the Marvel Universe or something any of the other mystical characters use...in fact, none of them can ever seem to agree on whether or not chaos magick is even a real thing, or if its just what people call the shit Wanda does that nobody else can come up with a good explanation for, even within the Marvel U itself.

And then of course, the MCU version of Wanda is completely nothing like comic book Wanda in ANY way, shape or form, in any version of her....and not just because she’s whitewashed and not Romani and Jewish like in the comics, and not just because its gross to make the twin children of two Holocaust survivors in the comics be volunteers for Nazi/HYDRA experiments to get their powers in the MCU, BUT I DIGRESS. But yeah, Wanda’s powers in the MCU are just.....not remotely anything to do with anything Wanda’s ever actually done power wise, which is actually a pretty impressive miss, lmfao, considering just how wide-reaching Wanda’s powers have been at times in the comics. 

But basically, as far as the movies have ever shown and Whedon said in interviews and such, the MCU Wanda has basically unlimited telepathic and telekinetic abilities, lol, which is kinda like...bwuh...when he described that he chose her as one of the characters he wanted to introduce in Age of Ultron because she had those abilities....because of all the ways Wanda’s powers have been described in the comics, she has literally never been described as being telepathic or telekinetic, at any point in time. To this day I have no idea where he pulled that from, because like. That’s literally just not anything to do with her powers. That’s Jean Grey’s powerset, and multiple other characters, sure. But Wanda ain’t one of them.

The only place she’s remotely been shown using powers that could potentially be viewed that way is in the X-Men: Evolution cartoon where like...she basically zapped things with energy and bad shit happened. So like, there it was nominally the same idea as her hex bolts....there was no real rhyme or reason to anything that happened as a result of her blasting at it, so I think it was intended to be the same basic principle...buuuut admittedly, the cartoon just didn’t really seem to care what her powers were because occasionally she used them to levitate someone or hold them in the air like in a way that pretty much only telekinesis can accomplish, and she made inanimate stuff like escalators kinda come to life in a way that really is more like what a telekinetic does as well...

So I mean, I guess someone could argue that Evo Wanda was a telekinetic and that was what Whedon decided to go off of, for some bizarre reason. But again, Evo Wanda’s powers were never truly defined at all, and ultimately just seemed to be “she can do anything that we feel like putting in that looks bad-ass, and we’ll justify it by saying nobody really understands her powers.” And they still don’t account for where the fuck Whedon got telepathy from, lol, because no Wanda ever anywhere has been in any way telepathic.

*Shrugs*

Tbh, I have no idea what her powers are being described as these days in the comics, as they’ve pretty  much kept her in the Avengers sandbox ever since their latest retcon about her and Pietro not being Magneto’s kids after all, or even mutants. And I generally have no interest in reading anything Avengers and pretty much only read X-Franchise related stuff lol, so, I don’t have the faintest clue what she’s up to at the moment.

[noquirka-blog]

   oks........... here’s a gigantic headcanon dump about my most important aspects for deck so i dont end up reblogging everything like an idiot.

it is important to know that being bullied and not being able to become a hero are not the reasons why he’s resorted to villainy. well, supposedly they are supporting factors on why, but that’s not the initial reason. deck’s view of villainy, or at least how the media would perceive it, is someone who either a) does bad and/or b) has views that heavily contradict majority of society’s, and that’s what caused them to turn against it. though izuku can also fall under statement a ( despite his kill count; though this is something i’ll cover up further later ) he moresoever falls more under statement b. izuku’s views and perception of heroism, quirks, and how society portrays these two things SEVERELY counter society. and thus, villainy. all of his acts, all of his beliefs, they’re not made out of pure pettiness or want for revenge. he’s looked upon not only HIS own experience due to these things, but also studied other people’s experiences, and have therefore turned against society as a whole.

IZUKU COMPLETELY LIES ABOUT HIS QUIRK. HE DOES NOT COME OUT AS QUIRKLESS. he comes up with the fake quirk ANALYZE that gives him the ability to instantly know a person’s quirk at first glance, as well as the ability to speculate their weaknesses and strengths quickly.   the reason for this is for his belief that people only think people these days are extremely powerful due to their quirks.  people, though not all, seem to rely on them too much. 

with THAT important factor covered, let’s get more onto the specifics. 

IN TERMS OF BACKSTORY.

the basic timeline put into a brief statement would go in this order.

IZUKU AND KATSUKI ARE CHILDHOOD BEST FRIENDS. prior to gaining their quirks, although their relationship wasn’t exactly the best despite katsuki’s high pride, izuku and katsuki hold an EXTREMELY close relationship and have considered each other best friends at this time. that is until then, ruined completely when katsuki’s quirk arrives- completely ruining their friendship with katsuki’s head growing wider, and his view of izuku deteriorating due to his quirkless state.

IZUKU’S ATTACKED BY THE SLIME MONSTER. ALL MIGHT SAVES HIM. is then told that his dream of becoming a quirkless hero is unrealistic, and thus leaves his hopes and dreams crushed into debris. whether he helps katsuki in the attack is completely unknown, but is said that he has, though all might isn’t there to watch. katsuki is saved nonetheless by another hero though izuku was scolded for his reckless acts.   the complete difference that tears this AU apart from canon is all might does not approach him.  with that scene out of the way, the what if scenario takes its place.

IZUKU ENTERS U.A’S EXAM WITHOUT A QUIRK. and, of course, fails.one thing to note is, though, he does help uraraka when the robot arrives-- pathetically attempting to save her from the large piece of rubble that’s fallen on her. yet, despite his lack of a quirk, he wasn’t able to enter u.a at all, and was denied.

IZUKU, FOR A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME, ENTERS ANOTHER, NORMAL HIGHSCHOOL. but despite his depression cranking up, his mother advises him to skip a year at least. he does, but this is where the epiphany strikes him : questions like why couldn’t i be a hero arises, question on why everyone rejected him all because he was quirkless. the bullying, the discrimination, the constant underestimation, all because of this fact. all because of his quirk. not just him--- many others. stories of people actually killing themselves despite this, people forcibly driven into villainy just because their quirk was too ‘’villainous’’. people forced into marriages just for quirk amalgamations-- the statistics of more and more violent disasters ever since quirks’ arrival. the differences of crimes before and now because of quirks’ arrival. quirks made everything chaotic,or at least says the boy. it was his damn duty to erase it. not for his sake, but everyone’s.

IZUKU RAN AWAY FROM HOME WITH NO SIGN OF WHATSOEVER AT THE AGE OF 14. the only things he’s seem to brought are a few clothes and some of his notebooks. his mother went frantic, so did katsuki and his family, and missing posters were spread all around. but no one ever listened. and it seemed like only the two of them cared about the case more than anyone.   IZUKU, THUS, WAS DECLARED DEAD.  the cause of death was unknown despite never being found and not knowing how he’d die; though it was dubbed as suicide knowing the cases of most quirkless’ peers who resorted to suicide too.

IN REALITY OF THAT, IT WAS IZUKU SLOWLY DELVING INTO VILLAINY. he was a wanderer, at first, no exact place to stay. he’s killed at least two to three heroes, by complete accident or so he’d say. a complete rush of anger-- and this is where he realizes how heroism was corrupted, similar to stain’s ideals, though he sticks more closely to his original ones.

HE IS THEN FOUND BY KUROGIRI, AND THUS INVITED INTO THE LEAGUE.  but, instead of completely joining the league, he introduces himself as analyzer cleverly ( funnily enough, it was an impromptu decision right on the spot. ) who was a ‘ for hire strategist ‘. word got around about this strategist quick, and thus increased his reputation and he was able to interact with the villains more. take note that he doesn’t like them just as much as he doesn’t like the heroes. he was able to analyze about these heroes even more, and the same goes with these villains, widening his knowledge about quirks and whatnot. he studies more about the anatomy of quirks, how to counter them, finding a possible way to reverse them, and other helpful things. also given a place to stay, though isn’t exactly in the league’s premises, but is taken care by them and is nearby as well.

THE YAKUZA EVENTUALLY HIRES HIM AT ONE POINT. he then, carefully enough, manages to steal at least two to three quirk destroying bullets. he uses these to replicate them with the same purpose, though was only able to successfully make a few batches. with other research and resources from the league, he’s able to make his own version of quirk destroying bullets, though limited, and other serums that cancel the person’s quirk temporarily, nullifies the person’s limb to refrain them from using their quirk temporarily, penetrates an unexplainable pain throughout the victim’s body when shot, etc. 

AND WITH THIS, THE VILLAIN UNKNOWN RISES. at the age of fifteen, izuku was able to spread the name unknown across the media. unknown was given the title of the elusive ( hero ) killer, thanks to his quick escapes and unknown persona. he wasn’t caught by the media ( yet ) by face, but is known with his costume of plain clothing and a cracked al might mask.   unknown is given the title of the hero killer as his main targets are heroes--- but.  he kills heroes. not the person themself. he kills the hero by taking away their quirk permanently. there are only some instances wherein he manages to kill them fully, but that isn’t his true intention. however, he wasn’t given the full title of the hero killer as stain’s already taken it.

IDENTITY AS A VILLAIN.

izuku, as analyzer, is known to be cunning, enigmatic, and all in all strange. he was a respected icon throughout the villainous leagues, thanks to his intellect and fair power. despite being surrounded by adults most of the time, his tongue and dictation is far more advanced than a boy his age, meaning if one were to speak with him, he’d speak as if he was an adult, not a teenager. 

izuku, as unknown, is known to be a complete mystery. hence the given alias. he doesn’t speak much- but, when he does, it’s usually his ideals, similar to stain.

“ heroism.. its such a pretty word, isn’t it? but the beauty that it holds, the altruism and selflessness that it stands for, all gone.  it’s all molded into this fucked up business that you fools have turned it to, a competition to rank who’s the best when it shouldn’t even be ranked at all. everything about heroism is ruined. you sick fucks call yourselves heroes when you’re the very beings who’ve ruined it. it sickens me-- it saddens me.  “

his kind and gentle demeanor is crushed to his belief that if he continues to put up his old acts, he’ll only fall to his downfall. he needs to learn how to stand up for himself. the main idea is he’s almost killed his past self as he took it as a lesson that his old self has brought him nothing but pain.

though his entire identity as izuku isn’t erased. he’s stil nervous around girls his age, as to why he’s nervous when toga’s waaay too close to him and loses most of his composure and the ‘’’gentleman’’esque act. he sticks to his ideals way too close and is the main factor on why he’s reached this far. his high pain tolerance is also a factor to why he’s still standing, and to why he lasts longer in battles. izuku is still izuku, regardless that he’s a villain.

goes by several aliases, such as ...

ANALYZER : the name used when he addresses himself to villains.

UNKNOWN : the name given by the media and the name heroes know him by.

DORI : since he isn’t 24/7 doing his villain work, and his face isn’t known as a complete villain, he sometimes wanders around as a normal citizen and introduces himself with this name-- acting as if a normal fanboy to heroes, both building and pros alike.

he’s inhabited most of katsuki’s acts. if anything, he acts almost similar to him, as katsuki is a ‘’’twisted version of what he wants to become’’’, and since his assertiveness and determination is one of the things he used to admire about him, he ended up developing the same attitude, though knowingly terrible. he isn’t aware of this, though.

MISC.

izuku calls katsuki katsuki. not kacchan. though he holds no anger to him ( and all might ) he definitely doesn’t hold any affection or looking up to him anymore. the name ‘ kacchan ‘ is something he’d express with tenderness. he calls him katsuki to note their past friendship, but completely cuts off the tenderness he once held for him.

izuku is filipino-japanese. his mother’s side is filipino, his father japanese. he grew up in japan though and practices very little filipino culture. is able to speak bisaya and tagalog, but isn’t completely fluent.

izuku has asperger’s and bpd. asperger’s is diagnosed, but bpd isn’t.

izuku is anemic. this is thanks to his terrible health and how he takes care of himself.

[bigfirecreator]

Anti Virus (bad ending)

Connor and Hank stared in Horror as he slowly begin to walk closer. Connor was the first to snap out of his daze and quickly took action. “You’re not Jack are you?”  A high pitch psychotic laughter erupted from Jack’s mouth and he stopped a couple inches away from them. “Ding, ding, Give him a prize because he guessed right.”  The voice that poured out was distorted and almost demonic and it held a mocking tone.

Hank finally snapped out of is daze before adjusting his gun and taking a step closer to Jack.

“Then who the fuck are you then?” Jack twitched and he seemed annoyed by the question but quickly went back to looking menacing. “You know you should watch your tongue because it could get you killed.”  He  raised the knife in a threatening manner before Connor interrupted him. “Just answer the question….please.”  

Jack’s attention quickly turn to Connor “You should know because I’ve been here the whole time, watching, waiting, and most importantly surviving.”  His eyes quickly went entirely black before going to the way they were before. The sound of noise grew louder and you could hear what sounded like children’s laughter.

“That didn’t answer the question.”  Jack snarled at that and his LED ring for a brief moment flashed red before returning to normal.  Connor’s system alerted him to the level of stress and dangers of the situation. He went through his options and choose one. “You’re the A.I. who went haywire and became a virus, right?”  

Jack’s became more vicious and the his LED ring began to switch between red and yellow. “I only went haywire when they wanted to delete me like I never existed I was alive and I’m going to continue to live no matter what.”  Connor shook his head. “I’m sorry but you can’t continue to exist you’re a danger to everyone, I’m sorry but there’s no other choice.”  Connor nodded at hank and they began to get closer to Jack with both guns raised.

Jack smiled and suddenly his green eye went back to normal and Jack collapse to the ground a panicked expression taking over his features. Hank stopped and stared. “ what th-”  He didn’t finish. Suddenly Kamski appeared with Chloe he was shouting but Connor suddenly let out creepy laugh and when he turned around one of Connor’s eyes were a bright green and a huge grin plastered on his face. “Oh, don’t look so surprise they did mention I was virus.”

Hank lowered his gun ever so slightly and ignoring Kamski and took slow cautious steps. “Connor I know you’re in there, you can do this just like how you did with Amanda.”  Connor’s smile diminished and Hank let out a breath only to feel it be abruptly cut off and a sharp and severe pain to spread out through his stomach. Hank fell to the ground and heard Kamski yelling something but couldn’t make it out and couldn’t get up no matter what. A grin took over Connor’s features once again and he kneeled right in front of Hank. “Sorry, but I’m in control now but don’t worry you’ll get your partner back, I like my other puppet way too much to stay in this one.”

Hank glared and took a couple of raspy breaths. “Fuck….Y-ou.”  A laugh came from Connor and suddenly in a swift motion he grabbed the knife and held up to Hank’s throat. “I thought I told you that could get you killed but…”  Connor moved the knife away from his throat and backed away. “Since you’re going to die without medical attention soon I guess it doesn’t matter.”  Suddenly Kamski was there and fighting with Connor but Kamski was quickly detained and Connor use the handle of the knife to knock him unconscious. Connor inspected the knife and then plunged into his stomach.  

Connor’s eye suddenly went back to its original color and he fell to ground his LED ring flashing between a yellow and red. He looked over at Hank and scanned him only to find internal damage and he tried to get up but it was impossible his vision was glitching and showing error codes. Connor looked over to find Jack on the ground looking up in horror and when he glance another Jack was standing there more twisted looking but looked see through and seemed to glitch like bad video feed. Connor watched as the Jack suddenly disappeared.

Connor watched as Jack’s eye once again turned a green. He picked up a knife and let out a whistle and from out of nowhere a weird handmade eyeball robot appeared and climbed up on Jack’s shoulder. Jack smiled and waved at both Hank and Connor and walked away.

Chloe waited until she was sure that Jack was gone before coming out of hiding but suddenly a voice came from behind her. “Found you.” Chloe got into a fighting stance and faced Jack who just stood there with an amused expression. “No need to get so defensive I just wanted to warn you that if you try coming after me it won’t end good for you guys.” Jack walked away.

Chloe quickly contacted the police and paramedics. She tended to everyone's injuries and was able to stabilize Connor enough so that his injuries weren’t so severe and they tended to Hank’s more severe injuries while they waited.

Kamski woke up and was checked out by the paramedics and was fine he only needed an ice pack. Hank was escorted to the hospital so they could stop the internal injuries he had received. Chloe helped Connor into the car and made Kamski sit in the passenger while she drove.

They arrived at the hospital and the doctor notified them that Hank’s condition was stable and that he should recover.  Connor entered the room to find a very pissed looking Hank awake and glaring at the wall.  “Hank, are you okay?” Connor didn’t miss the way Hank jumped when he saw him.

Hank sighed. “No, I’m not… I want an explanation on what the fuck happened.”  Kamski cleared his throat and walked into the room with Chloe at his side. “I’ll explain everything.”  Kamski took a seat in one of the chairs near the bedside while Chloe stood and Connor sat on the edge of the bed. “When I found out about Jack, I wanted to fix the error but I didn’t have enough information so my best bet was to see the A.I in action and that's where you two come in, I used you guys at bait but the plan backfired and I tried to warn you but it was too late.”  

Connor put a hand on Hank to keep him from trying to get up. “You asshole you know how fucking dangerous your plan was!?”  Kamski sighed and stood up and walked over to the window. “Yes, I did know but life is full of risks so it didn’t seem like a bad idea but I never expected things to go this horrible, Not only are you injured because my actions but Jack is out there and who know what chaos will unfold because of it, especially since this is the second one that's got out of containment.”

Hank froze and Connor quickly stood up and walked toward Kamski. “I have many questions and I want answers to all of them, First one is what is that eyeball robot I saw with Jack, second what is going to happen to Jack, do we still go after him or what, and third what do you mean by second one?”

Kamski quickly looked away before meeting everyone's eyes. “I don’t know anything about the eyeball robot but from the sounds of it, I think he made it for what purpose I don’t know, We won’t be going after him because Chloe here got a threat and considering what happened here the risk is just to high, Another android with similar problems as Jack escaped but its not as insane as Jack but I don’t know what would happen if they were to meet but there is nothing we can do without causing mass panic and we barely got over the androids becoming alive.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Connor sat in the police station, it was boring because Hank was still stuck at the hospital for a couple more weeks he was messing with the coin he always carried when a report came in. Connor reviewed the info and video and what he saw revealed what Kamski had spoken about.

The video was on a phone so it was shaky but you could make out Jack and his glowing green eye but the other figure was hidden but you could make out a faint red light coming from where it was at. The rest was very corrupted and nothing else could be viewed. Connor deleted the report and file so that there was no evidence.

@fluttering-by @mijako98 @burningbirb @moonshine-the-not-so-secret-emo @potatolover19 @enderphoenix @heyma10-blog @flecha64  @doll-inside @paolatutoriais-blog @nydacthings

[radramblog]

VGC Series 10 Restricted Pokemon

So the new series of Pokemon Sword and Shield competitive is about to launch (as in, it starts on Sunday). The rules are pretty interesting, and as a result a lot of the metagame is being thrown on its head.

-Dynamax is off. They just up and got rid of the games’ gimmick. I’m sure Smogon DOU players will be right at home.

-Each team is permitted one Restricted Pokemon, as in Series 8.

There are 24 Pokemon listed as “Restricted”, just about all of them the intentionally overpowered “cover legendaries” the series has stuck with since Gold and Silver. Each of them is extremely powerful, and would be a worthwhile addition to any team.

But, which one should you run? Find out in this entirely serious guide.

(I was going to attach funny meme images to this like but I ran out of time sorry just imagine doge memes next to Zacian and stuff you get the idea i might edit this later)

Mewtwo

There are two types of people running Mewtwo. People with nostalgia, whether it be just because it’s one of their favourite mons or because the infamy of it being the “ultimate Pokemon” stuck in their heads too long, or because they know how good it actually is but they want to try it anyway.

I mean, it’s not bad? Obviously that Sp.A don’t quit, and Terrain-boosted Expanding Force is kinda nutty. Plenty of coverage, too. But without the Megas, Mewtwo just isn’t good enough anymore, I think. And unfortunately, there’s another thing on this list that kinda just does the same thing, but better.

 Lugia

While Mewtwo is unquestionably a fast offensive threat, Lugia represents the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s faster than I had assumed, actually, but most of why you run it is for that sweet sweet chonk.

I understand wanting to use Lugia. The second movie is my favourite too. But 90/90 offenses don’t cut it these days, you don’t want your Uber/Restricted to be a supportive mon, and setup strategies are both risky and done better by other things. Sorry? Aeroblast is a lot cooler when you can turn it into Max Flying, I’m afraid.

 Ho-Oh

I actually don’t have anything bad to say about Ho-oh. It’s actually kind of great, and possibly underrated- it is able to check some of the biggest threats in the meta, and is dummy thick enough to take hits and clear out the remainder.

It is in the 90 Speed group, which a surprising number of these Restricteds are, so you might suffer from speed creeping issues. Or just run bulk, because Regenerator and Recover make it nigh-unkillable if you invest hard enough.

Look I’m biased I just built a Ho-oh team what do you want from me?

 Kyogre

One of the two Weather restricted things. Just about everyone running Rain is going to want one of these, and it’s one of the most popular mons in the format as a result. It’s not quite meta-defining, but it’s the first of what I reckon are going to be the Big Four of the format.

Water Spout and Origin Pulse hit like an absolute tank off this thing. It doesn’t need much else. This is why you run Wide Guard, people.

Kyogre is very good, which is what makes it very boring. We will be returning to this concept.

 Groudon

The Other Weather Setter, and inexplicably a way less popular one. It might be that Eruption isn’t STAB and doesn’t come off it’s superior Physical Attack- Fire Punch doesn’t quite hit as hard.

That, and there actually is another solid Sun setter in Torkoal. But why not both, though?

I ran Groudon in Series 8 and I was pretty impressed by its performance. I mean, it’s Kyogre but awkward and Physical. You could do a lot worse.

 Rayquaza

I love Rayquaza a lot, as a result of both Emerald and the anime, so it’s with a heavy heart that I must say that Rayquaza is, like, not good in this format.

The key issue Rayq faces is that it’s statline is really awkwardly distributed. It has 150 in both offenses, but that leaves it’s other stats somewhat lacking compared to the other restricteds on the list. That and it’s ability, Air Lock, implies it’d be good at beating Groudon/Kyogre, but it kind of just loses to them 1v1. They’re bulky enough to live a hit, and don’t have to go out of their way to clonk it for SE damage. And what the fuck, it only has 95 speed? It feels like it should have much more.

 Dialga

I haven’t seen much buzz about Dialga, which is actually kind of surprising. Like, Steel/Dragon is a great typing, it’s a Dragon that isn’t weak to Fairy or Ice or Dragon, and it’s statline is pretty solid- 150 Sp.A and 100/120/100 defenses. What’s not to love?

Oh it probably just dies to Zacian doesn’t it. Or Landorus, of whom both forms are super popular right now. Sigh. One day.

 Palkia

Looking at the Pikalytics data, apparently a bunch of people are running Trick Room Palkia? Which makes zero sense to me, seeing as it’s actually a bit faster than a bunch of these mons.

It’s relatively less bulky, but BEEG DRACOVISH here is probably pretty decent. I’ve heard, however, that calling something decent basically just means it’s bad. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that turns out to be the case. Two of the Big Four just lay this fucker flat out, so.

 Giratina

Despite being bulkier than Palkia, it’s weaker to an additional member of the Big Four, which probably just makes it unusable. Whoops.

And as cool as noodle Giratina is, it dies to even more things, isn’t any faster, and means you don’t get to run a funky item to make it runnable. Prooobably just stick to Dragapult?

 Reshiram

Reshiram presents an interesting question, because it’s typing and moveset are kinda great for the format. It’s another Fairy-neutral Dragon, which is nice and good, and Blue Flare hits like an absolute truck.

I’m convinced Reshiram has a place in the meta. I just don’t quite know what it is yet.

 Zekrom

Zekrom strikes me as like, Reshiram but it’s worse against Zacian and better against Kyogre. It’s interesting, because Fire is a type you kinda want right now, but Electric is pretty good as well? Like, Regieleki cannot fucking touch this thing.

Zekrom also has a kind of insane moveset to work with, and if you want to try a Dragon Dance set, it’s a great spot for it. So, basically, maybe?

 Kyurem

I guess you could technically run Base Kyurem as your Restricted. I don’t know why you would, it’s kind of awful. Typing sucks, moves suck, stats don’t make up for it.

 Kyurem-Black

Kyurem-Black was given it’s greatest gift since its release- actually getting Physical Ice STAB off it’s ludicrous 170 Attack. Unfortunately, this alone does not a playable mon make, and it’s still weak to frankly too many types. Ice is just so completely awful defensively! Please fix this, Game Freak.

35% of people trying this format out early are running Power Herb Freeze Shock, and I salute you crazy, crazy bastards. But also that sounds awful tbh.

 Kyurem-White

Reshiram, but you trade a great defensive type for a bad one, and gain monstrous stats in return. If you can find a way to stop Zacian from hitting it, it probably one-shots it back. Also, it gets Freeze-Dry for Kyogre, though even with 170 Sp.A I don’t know if you one-shot that thing.

 Xerneas

 We’re finally getting to member two of the Big Four. Xerneas is an old standby of restricted VGC formats, and kind of a one trick pony. Er, deer. But that one trick is very solid, so fair enough.

If I’m honest, I think that One Trick is going to make Xerneas take a hit in usability, because the moment it gets good, people instantly know how to counter it and add that into their teams. The thing barely ever runs non-Fairy attacking moves, for fuck’s sake! Put a Steel in front of it and it just cries.

 Yveltal

 Yveltal is awkward, because it’s fighting for a spot with the Very Good Moltres-Galar, which doesn’t take up the restricted slot. But Yveltal does have a space to work within, I think.

It’s got an absolutely phenomenal support moveset, which again isn’t really want you want on your Restricted, but it’s natural offenses are good enough that you can probably just get away with it. STAB Oblivion Wing and STAB/Dark Aura Snarl are incredible for bulkier builds, and it even has incredible damage with a priority Sucker Punch. Basically, it’s got some things going on.

 Zygarde

Zygarde is the most awkward ‘mon on this list, methinks. It’s entire bit is trying to get to low HP in order to trigger Power Construct and get into it’s super mode, but the statgain…isn’t incredible? It’s HP doubles and it trades 10 Speed for Special Attack. Which you might not even be using? And this is all predicated on it getting to particular HP values, which is a lot harder now that you can’t Dynamax it.

This thing is scary as hell in the Max Lair, but not so much here. Signature moves are fucking wild though.

 Cosmog/Cosmoem

I know they’re preevolutions of two restricted species, but why are these restricted? Was Z-Teleport really that good?

You have to be a serious memelord to play one of these, and a very good player to actually win with them. In other words, if I see one of these on ladder or in a tournament, I’m going to start sweating.

 Solgaleo

Solgaleo has the same problem as Yveltal, but moreso. Because just about anything it can do, Metagross can do just about as well and without taking up a restricted spot. Sure, Meteor Mash is a bit worse than Sunsteel Strike, and technically Full Metal Body and Clear Body aren’t identical (FMB is immune to ability-nullifying effects, apparently), but come onnnn. Are you really running Sun Dog when you can run funy robot man and also your choice of restricted beastie? Come on now.

 Lunala

 As much as I love Lunala’s design, it’s not particularly good. It has the same typing as Caly-Ghost, and significantly worse stats, ability, and movepool. And conveniently, due to that shared typing, Caly-Ghost just lays this fucker to waste. A shame, for such a cool design.

 Necrozma

Similar to Kyurem, you could run this, if you wanted a worse Mewtwo. I guess it is better than the Ice Dragon, but like, don’t bother.

 Necrozma-Dusk-Mane

The other reason not to run Solgaleo is because this exists. Just, the same, but way better. It’s a lot slower, but that just makes it playable in Trick Room, so.

NDM over here is competing with Zacian for the throne of Nuts Steel/X Physical Dog. Unfortunately, because Zacian is, frankly, completely fuckbusted insane, and doesn’t require setup like NDM does, it’s not going to win that fight.

 Necrozma-Dawn-Wings

Again, Lunala but slower and bulkier and hits harder. If you can get a Troom up, it’s probably kinda nuts, since then it actually can just cap Calyrex in its dressage-looking ass. Plus, you’re probably already running Indeedee, so Psychic Terrain goes off.

I wanna see someone kill things with Meteor Beam/Power Herb on this. It’s probably pretty decent. But it’s still a lot of work, and I’m not convinced the payoff is worth it.

 Zacian

 I’m not even going to bother writing about uncrowned Zacian, even if it probably will see more play than some of the other things on this list.

Let’s run it down. Patently absurd stats- 92/115/115 are average defenses for a Restricted (maybe a bit above average?) but it has 170 Attack, and unlike the Kyurems it actually has the speed to back it up at 148. To be clear, that’s the second fastest Restricted, and only 3 other Pokemon in the game (Regieleki, Ninjask, Pheromosa- Deoxys, Electrode, and some Megas are faster but aren’t in Gen 8) outspeed it. It’s got fucking bonkers typing, arguably the best two in the game, along with an ability that effectively pumps that Attack to 255. Oh, also very good STAB and coverage moves.

Zacian is almost certainly the most important Pokemon in the entire format. It’s that good. You don’t have to be smart to use it, especially as you don’t actually get the choice of item. It’s an idiot beatstick, and that’s kind of all there is to it. Every team needs to have an answer to it, and since it gets Imprison, you can even just run it as an answer to itself. What a fucking joke of a mon.

 Zamazenta

And then there’s The Other One. Zamazenta is significantly more balanced than Zacian, being surprisingly bulky even without that +1 Defense, and having solid Attack and Speed to boot. Also, Wide Guard.

I’m going to be honest, I think Zamazenta basically only takes on a supportive role. The moveset is fine, Wide Guard and Coaching and Snarl, no Body Press though for some fucking reason. It’s probably a Pretty Okay mon. But I don’t know why you’d run it over another support mon like Hitmontop, which gets similar moves and a better ability.

 Eternatus

Like Zacian and Zamazenta, Eternatus technically got worse with the Dynamax ban, seeing as their signature moves effectively ignore the HP-doubling effect. The thing is, Zacian is still insane anyway, and Zamazenta doesn’t really care, so Eternatus is really the main thing getting hit by this “nerf”.

It’s still solid, though. Good HP, Special Attack, and Speed, functional other stats, and it’s a Dragon that can kill the shit out of Xerneas. I think Eternatus is just on the cusp of being good- maybe if they gave it an actual ability instead of Pressure.

Or just release Eternamax, because fuck it, why not.

 Calyrex

It’s Kyurem and Necrozma again but somehow worse, next.

 Calyrex-Shadow

The final member of the Big Four. It actually kinda looks a lot like Zacian- slightly faster, a fair chunk weaker, but the ability lets it snowball hard and it gets incredible spread moves in Astral Barrage and Expanding Force. Because the only thing worse than them beating the shit out of your Pokemon is them doing it to both at once.

The key difference between Caly-Shadow and Zacian is it’s less immediate threat. For one, it doesn’t have that immediate +1 that Zacian does, and it has two x4 weaknesses to exploit. And since it usually is running spread moves, it can have a harder time dropping a specific counter, let alone its weakness to Wide Guard.

But it’s still fucking nuts. So.

 Calyrex-Ice

 We took the Shadow one, put all it’s speed into bulk, and made it Physical. Oh, and it hits a bit harder typically, since Ice is better offensively than Ghost. Sure?

In all seriousness, Caly-Ice is a brutal threat…under Trick Room and only there. If you can set it up, it’s a nigh-unkillable threat that steadily bulldozes through the opposition, and doesn’t have to rely on Spreads like Shadow does. Ironically, the worse defensive typing is better here, because it’s less likely to get OHKO’d without a x4 weakness. And if you get TR up, they aren’t getting a second attack.

 And that’s the lot of them. So, which one should you choose? One of the Big Four? A spicy meme pick? An underrated champion?

None of them. Play none of them, coward, you won’t.

Okay but seriously just about all of them are playable on the right team so dw about it