#that main building window is a fucking ATROCITY.

[forcedhesitation]

blessed be the death of MFT.

buckle up, STBFL, and ultimate weapon nerfs next please. 🙏

#dbd #thoughts about media #ONLY during deep wound? like good bye. most survivors aren't going to bother and will prioritise perks that are more simple and reliable. #this is going to stop a lot of survivors from just relying on this perk- and not any of their own skill- to loop killers forever. #super happy about the garden of joy and red forest changes incoming too. #I could handle red forest just fine with my two mains- ghostface & hux. #but there are some other killers who do not stand a chance on that map because of the sheer size of it. #and the garden of joy is...well it's one of the most poorly laid out maps in the game imo. #that main building window is a fucking ATROCITY. #even hux with rapid brutality & soma family photo struggles to catch up to a survivor looping that fucking stupid window. #and it's not like you can just ensure you ONLY get that map when you're doctor- who doesn't give a fuck about that window. #also very exciting to see trickster is getting a buff. I fear it may be a Little too much but we'll have to see. #I do like trickster because I LOVE awful men but he's SO painful to play with the state he's in on live servers. #and like why would I subject myself to playing a killer whose power barely does anything as opposed to other. better. killers? #ghostface and hux aren't even remotely close to OP but they still get consistent and reliable use of their powers. #even if some fuckhead follows you around to reveal you. you can shroud in chase to hide your stain momentarily and mindgame. #and hux's depleted oxygen tank add-on shuts down exhaustion perk usage when a survivor may most need it. even if they get EMP'd. #hopefully updated trickster will join the pool of killers I regularly play. #so unfair that I can't play him and doctor and equal amount. they are married to me.

[phantom-of-the-memes]

Since I’ve been making posts about American/ British entitlement towards Ireland, I thought I’d talk about this video here.

I am a student at this college. It’s a big tourist attraction for many reasons, but the main one being that the book of Kells is kept here. I am also from Kells itself, but Dublin having the book and not Kells is a whole other issue.

So this protest that’s been happening over the the past few weeks is in response to the college once again raising rents for student accommodation to astronomical rates. That being when rent in Dublin (and Ireland as a whole) is already unliveable. You’d find cheaper rent off student accommodation, but it’s hardly easy to find places like this. As well as this, the majority of the student accommodation isn’t even on campus to begin with. Most are about a 45 minute luas journey away. So what the fuck are you paying for?

This protest is necessary. It’s been a long time coming. Time and time again they prioritise tourists over us. Buildings are old and falling apart, equipment isn’t functional, accessibility is god awful. I know this because I am disabled and use a rollator, but I can’t even use it on campus most days because there’s simply no ramps/ elevators in some buildings.

In one of my lectures last week we were in one of the old buildings. We had a lot of content to cover, but of course the projector wasn’t working. The professor spent fourty minutes trying to get the computer/ projector to work, but to no avail. So we have a whole lecture to catch up on! All of this while I was looking out the window at this atrocity:

A new building for tourists! Yay!

They’ve been building new school buildings for years, but of course instead of finishing them, they’ll spend their time and money on the tourists. I’m not even having an exam in one of my modules because they told the professor that there simply isn’t enough room to host our class for the exam. And it would be “too expensive” to book a venue… it’s only a class of about thirty. He had written a whole exam and we were under the impression we’d have one, but now it’s just continuous assessment I guess!

So you have to understand why we’re not exactly jumping for joy for the tourists. There are hundreds on campus everyday, just generally being annoying and entitled. And yes DISCLAIMER; not all tourists, not all Americans/ British people, blah, blah. But from my experience, you do encounter some obnoxious people everyday.

So that’s why they blocked entrance to the book of Kells. That’s why it’s disgusting for the tourists to be arguing with them and demanding entrance. For once we just want our college to prioritise us! So yeah we will revoke your entitlement, because we are the ones who study here, we are the ones who have to LIVE here.

#ireland #irish #tcd #trinity college #trinity college Dublin #Dublin #the book of Kells #book of Kells #protest #cost of living crisis #rent crisis #freeze the rent #leftist #tourism

[sirthisisa-wendys]

The Enforcers (Part 9): Geto Suguru x Fem!Reader

synopsis: the end is nearer than you think.

wc: 1.3k

tw: none

masterlist

The news comes as you and Suguru are working on the most recent deluge of files set to be released, despite the email you'd received.

"We should go in there and get them," you mutter, clicking away at the keyboard.

"We have to wait," Suguru replies tersely. You sigh loudly, turning back to the TV, which is droning on in the background.

"Oh, uh-- Pierre, we're getting word here that shots have rung out inside of CSB Headquarters, and-- oh my--" Sounds like popping - gunshots - echo behind the anchor, and you stumble out of your chair to grab the remote, turning up the television. The cameraman takes the camera and begins to run, and the screams of other protestors running away from the Headquarters in haste flood the sound of the reporter's panting as he runs away.

"There are shots ringing out inside of the building," you hear the reporter breathe. "We don't know what's going on!"

"Suguru--"

"I'm already calling the team," he mutters, leaning into his palm and rubbing his forehead. The reporter continues to try to articulate what's might be occurring, but it comes in stutters and shaky movements, and you can't tell whether the gunfire is coming out from inside the building or it's still contained inside.

"Pierre, we're getting news that law enforcement cannot - I repeat - they cannot get entrance into the CBS headquarters! The doors, windows, and roof have all been blocked and barricaded."

"Suguru!" you exclaim, just as Shoko bursts into the room followed by three other people.

"They're gunning each other down," Shoko grumbles, rushing over to the TV. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

"Why?" you inquire, but Shoko ignores your question, turning to the Leader of the Fallen Sun District with a look of resignation.

"Suguru, we can't go down there without risking fatalities." A chill runs down your spine, and you look over to Suguru in hope that he'll do what you suggested; that for once, he'll do the right thing.

"And what about those of us that are stuck in there?" He replies calmly, lacing his fingers together.

"We have to hope for the best." Right as Shoko finishes her statement, a loud explosion rings out on the broadcast. You all instinctively flinch as a burst of fire comes out from a set of windows.

"There will be fatalities, here." The reporter states. "There's no doubt about it."

Five hours later, you're still sitting in front of the TV, wondering how anything like this could have happened in such a short amount of time. The smoldering remains of the CSB headquarters are the backdrop for every channel, every new story.

Yuji, Nobara, Maki, Choso, Megumi, Noritoshi...

"The total count of missing people has climbed to five hundred and seventy-six. The debris from the headquarters covers a good percentage of the open field, and the confirmed death toll is still hovering at three hundred and twenty-four. No survivors have been found."

You inhale sharply, shoulders shaking involuntarily as you lean forward and place your head in your hands. Suguru and his team are working behind you on making some sort of plan, but you can't focus on any of that right now. All you can think about are the faces of your friends, the loving expressions, the way they cared for you...

And this is all your fault.

You helped Suguru release these files.

You gave him the ammunition needed to start this massacre.

You're responsible for--

"We have determined through an investigation that this attack was not only pre-meditated but spurred on by our own agents." Nanami Kento's voice cuts through the static in your head. You raise your tear-streaked face to watch the Head of Communications address the public. "For years, the Leviathans and Kitsune have worked together, but now, it appears that a rift in the two groups caused them to turn on each other and commit these atrocities."

"I fucking knew they would say that," one of the men behind you mutters.

"In light of recent allegations that we have conducted projects and initiatives aimed to promote and propel promising subjects to the Kitsune ranks, and thus disenfranchising candidates who would not have met those standards, we have decided to commence an internal investigation based on the evidence we have collected. The Grand Council will release those findings as soon as they are able. Thank you." The blonde man steps away from the podium and another person takes his place. But you turn to Suguru, who is frowning, hands gripping the edge of the table.

"This is absurd," you mention, but he averts his black eyes, looking at his lap. "They can't expect us to believe that every single Leviathan and Kitsune turned on each other." Suguru sighs, his eyes closing as he shakes his head.

"This is exactly what we expected."

_____________________________________________________________

No one can sleep.

Everyone is working through the night, attempting to make connections with their contacts in the CSB, planning out options, and watching the developing story with a vested interest.

You're laying in the bed, computer sitting in your lap as you search, again and again, refreshing the list of confirmed dead and praying no one you went to the academy with would show up on the list.

It's two am when Suguru's cell phone rings, and he picks it up, humming once as a greeting. He listens for a minute, then his eyes become wide and he stands, hair falling down his back as he leans his head backward and exhales deeply.

"We're on our way." When he hangs up, you all look at him for some kind of answer, some indication of what to do. "There are several cars that showed up just a minute ago, and they're full of people claiming to be from the CSB. And they want to speak to y/n and I." You shift out of the bed, standing with him in anticipation of putting up another fight.

"Wait, you mean..."

"I mean escaped Kitsune and Leviathans." Maybe your friends would be among them. "Everyone grab a jacket and your weapon. This might get ugly."

You all parade down to the main floor, where a collection of men and women with guns and vests greet the small team, every single face in the throng stern and unyielding. The armed militia stands at attention, waiting for Suguru's instructions patiently as he approaches and is handed two bulletproof vests: one for you, and one for him.

"Guard set A," Suguru calls out, slightly shifting his bulletproof vest as you attempt to adjust your own vest, pulling the straps extra tight. "Cover our back, face the escapees from the front. This could be a ploy to attempt to bring harm to the Fallen Sun District at close range." When Suguru sees you struggling with the clasps, he sighs and turns to you, continuing his instructions while his hands quickly readjust the straps so that the vest is snug against your body.

"Guard set B, cover our front. Y/n and I will negotiate with those who have arrived. If things go poorly, you all are commanded to shoot without prejudice."

"Yes, sir!"

"As for you," Suguru murmurs, turning to you and placing his hands on your shoulders. "Stay behind me at all times. Do not step one foot in front of me. I'm only saying this to keep you safe, as you're still assumed to be a hostage at this point." After this, you raise up on your tip-toes, lacing your arms around him. His hands slide to your waist as you whisper,

"Thank you for protecting me." He pecks your lips lightly, holding you close and exhaling into your ear,

"Thank you for trusting me again."

_____________________________________________________________

TAGLIST: @missbonekitty @wack0-genius @thankuary @jsqeeut @r-i-m-f-009 @sunfloweroranges @leanne-tamashi @girlruby23 @rein-icu @brownskinnedgirll @chanelmalandro @savantsoulfinder @jibe-gajima @chilledlucifer @amnxsia @kontentious @fuyuko26 @everybodylovescayrayray @flare-on @sammytamaki @meena-in-a-nutshell @falling-through-pages @naoyasdarling @vabybizzle

#geto suguru x reader #getou suguru x reader #jujutsu kaisen geto #jjk geto #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #getou suguru #geto suguru

[hencethebravery]

>> first and last lines writing game <<

I’ve been writing all wknd so I’m going to take advantage of that and play these games that @eirabach has been doing. I love you, boo.

Tagging: @jump-on-winds-back @mymostimaginaryfriend @justanotherwannabeclassic @distant-rose @jadeddiva @soft-october-night

>> 01. last line(s) you’ve written

01. wip, “dearly departed,” spn, deancas: Despite all this, and perhaps in keeping with his own preference for following through on his habits, he has never once stayed for Open Mic Night. It’s not as if he has anything against it in theory, he just never felt especially compelled to do so. And he was never a big fan of crowds generally.

“You should think about staying tonight,” Meg advises, sliding his third cup back over the counter. “I’ve heard this guy before, he’s good.”

02. wip, “the apportioners,” og: Case in point: Never betray a demi-god. Particularly one so unbelievably busted. Who would go so far as to force her to watch the other demi-god she is almost certainly (and regrettably) falling in love with, commit one more atrocity. To force her to watch her son die. Again. To force her to watch him choose between her and his family. Far, far more trouble than they’re worth. And sure—sure. She is angry. She may well always be angry. And yet. There’s the kitchen. The small, warm kitchen with the cream-colored tiled floors, inlaid with red grout. Where Edie makes too much bread and Estelle stores her spelled sourdough starters. Where Greg made her a cup of chamomile tea and described the unique softness of Clemente’s thread—how it curled and straightened and existed. And so she refuses. She refuses to do what some other irreparably broken version of her friend has expected her to do.

So. She lets him go. Again.

>> 02. first lines of my last 20 10 (20 is just... so fucking many; if you wanna do 20 be my guest but i have shit to do today) fics

01. wip, “dearly departed,” spn, deancas: Creative writing is so not his forte and really, what’s there to say about The Lodge that hasn’t already been said? A revolving door of adjectives that infect the collegiate discourse every few years—when some starry-eyed freshman sees the tall, thin door frame in all its carved, unknowable glory and gets it in their sweet, sweet head that surely no one has ever thought to opine on the virtues of a local, now-legendary establishment that seems to have haunted Main Street since long before time began. So, what is there to say that hasn’t already been said?

02. complete, “untitled,” spn, deancas: The two of ‘em establish the somewhat rude habit of bailing during get-togethers without telling anyone. They stop answering their phones at any point before noon shortly after that. He’d call it a side effect of New Couple Syndrome (NCS), but it’s something they continue doing long after any reasonable person would call something “new” (and honestly, he’s not even sure you could say it was “new” when it was new, technically).

03. complete, “untitled,” spn, deancas: There’s a fucking manticore in Memphis. Seriously. Human face, body of a lion, the whole freakin’ nine.

“Certainly one of the more… imaginative of God’s creatures,” Castiel muses, “albeit, unsustainable.” 

04. complete, “herbalist’s guide to skyrim,” star wars, reylo: Rey Kenobi really needed to get in the habit of bringing dates to restaurants she had no emotional attachment to. She had already lost an unacceptable number of extremely dear favorites that had been there for her when she’d had less than nothing and now? Blighted by the memory of mediocre men who she knew she had given far too much power. She knew she had an association problem, okay? She and her mildly overpriced therapist were working on it. Had been working on it. For a while. She really missed the dumplings from Hunger Pang.

05. complete, “a grief observed,” star wars, reylo: The presumptive triumph inherent to the return of the self? Painfully short-lived. It is brief and blinding and there is a feeling akin to invincibility singing in his veins. A humming that echoes in the gruff tenor of what could only be his father’s voice. How it must have felt when the heroes made yet another daring escape—against all the odds. The euphoria that occurs when you have begun to think that maybe, just maybe, you’ve finally won. It makes the loss so much worse than he could have ever imagined. Not when you’ve gotten so close to having everything you never even knew you wanted. And that’s half the battle, isn’t it? Knowing what you want. Like it’s easy.

06. complete, “a super solid history of the “good old fashioned lover boy(s),” c. the beginning (or there about) to now-ish,” good omens, aziraphale x crowley: Perhaps one of the cruelest tricks that God has ever played (and the list was indeed long) was in allowing angels to believe they were incapable of love. There is some amount of debate as to whether or not this was entirely by accident. She was a busy woman after all━perhaps that was why it, the question of whether or not angels were truly capable of love, had slipped through one of her metaphysical cracks (of which, admittedly, there were many). Those who managed to refrain from falling had quite an easier time believing this particular theory to be very much the case. A largely unspoken, slightly offended, “She would never,” followed by an affirmation of the belief in the long held assumption that they were above such things anyway, so really, what did it even matter, and can we please return to the task at hand?

07. complete, “first family,” ouat, captain charming: If the chronically thin, awkward, and punk-ass 15 year old version of Killian Jones could have, somehow, opened a portal in time and space; a feat which might have allowed him to peer into the future in an attempt to witness what it might hold, he would have likely imbibed several ill-advised shots of cheap bloody rum, and then quite dramatically flung himself atop the rumpled sheets of his perpetually unmade bed. If the younger Jones had even an inkling of the type of life he’d be living as a 35 year old man─with a full time job, a mortgage, a husband, one wildly photogenic dog─he would have done everything in his power to steer himself off such a disturbingly clean-cut, well-behaved course.

08. complete, “untitled,” ouat, captain swan: Rather predictably (and not without a somewhat inevitable feeling of frustration), Emma Swan was one of those people who had never put much stock in the notion of “vibes.” She had a “freaking superpower,” according to Ruby, which allowed her to suss out the truth about people, but as soon as Ruby suggested that the same might be true of certain places, Emma had chuckled, as if it was some unheard of thing.

09. complete, “untitled,” ouat, captain charming: In the end, he’d chosen the place because to be quite bloody honest it was precisely where you might expect the writer of an obscure indie mag to live. It was an older building (a suitably generous designation), tucked in between the modernist monstrosities of the last 20 or 30 years. Replete with gorgeous, if not ill-kept, accoutrements framing the windows; crumbling steps and a brick exterior in varying shades of red and orange. The aesthetic was rounded out by the kind of neglectful landlord you might expect, a horrid man who frequently enjoyed reminding his tenants that he lived, “out of state,” and they’d have to, “be patient.”

10. complete,” untitled,” ouat, captain charming: There’s an old adage about assumptions that Killian Jones finds physically repulsive. It is so unerringly awful, in fact, that he won’t even deign to repeat the thing in his own head. You know what it is, it’s not as if he needs to speak the actual words. And regardless of the fact that there’s this old, tired saying about assumptions, people still do it, and he’s done it, and ya know what? It kind of worked out in his favor, so, take that.

#@alanabeans #@hencethewriter #attn blogging #i... truly can't spot the pattern #does someone else #not in my brain #see the patterns #cuz i can't see them #also i am so so excited about #(1) this deancas au #and (2) my novel

[vagrantblvrd]

undercover battle buddies defecting to the fakes?

Lol, omg, yessss!

I feel I always go the route of whatever agency/organization Ryan and Jeremy worked for when the battle Buddies became a thing being ~evil/corrupt?

But I’m in a Shenanigans kind of mood in which nothing hurts. (Much.)

SO.

Let’s say these two assholes actually work for a decent agency/organization that isn’t out to derail governments for fun and profit/otherwise take over the world, okay.

They’re just out there doing their best to protect their country and protect innocents and all this other good stuff. (But then Ryan and Jeremy come along and their superiors and handlers and everyone else Suffers because dear God they’re such assholes. Also that whole thing with the Mutual Pining that drags on for years before they sort their shit out, but that’s a tale for another time.)

They Battle Buddy it up, and after a while their bosses figure out it’s smarter to hand the missions requiring anything like subtlety/stealth to anyone else in the agency/organization if they don’t want another Incident on their hands.

Which is great, because it means they get the missions that require summer blockbuster movie levels of pyrotechnics and demolitions and all-out chaos.

And then, IDK, the FIB comes to them with a Problem or something else has their agency/organization looking at Los Santos.

Rumors this new crew making waves in the city’s criminal underground is Up To Something involving Really Bad Stuff. (New designer drug that kills a good percentage of its users, or running guns that are more heavy artillery than what typically makes it way into the city,  or human trafficking or something vile and all that, because plot reasons demand it. Something to have their bosses rightfully Concerned.)

And then for whatever reason they decide their best bet to getting to the bottom of things is sending these two assholes in undercover?

Sets them up with vague-ish backstories that even the Battle Buddies can’t fuck up, you know? (God knows Ryan has a habit of forgetting code names during missions to everyone’s exasperation/exasperated fondness?)

Something about former spec ops or government agents who were betrayed by their superiors and had to fake their deaths and go into hiding ad had to create new identities for themselves to stay under the radar and so on. (“...are you trying to tell us something?” and “Huh. That’s not at all concerning.”)

ANYWAY.

The usual backstory I love to use for these assholes in the FAHC AU, only it’s something their bosses came up with to explain their presence in Los Santos. Just another set of mercs with a Tragic Backstory looking to make a few bucks.

They run around for a bit, a few months working for small-time crews and so on, working on building up their reputations and all that fun stuff.

Problem is, it’s boring.

They don’t get to blow shit up anywhere near as much as they used to and whatever jobs they hired to do don’t need a lot of brainpower.

Ryan starts it, this slow decent into madness and fashion-related atrocities with the damn mask he picks up one day, right?

Shrugs when Jeremy asks what the deal is and makes up some story about this vicious killer he’s supposed to be wanting to keep his identity a mystery or some other BS and Jeremy is like “Okay, buddy,” like he’s not the one to suggest the face paint later on as a joke. (Forgot that this was Ryan he was talking to with that theater background and stubborn as hell and just kind of an idiot? But whatever. Ryan makes it work.)

Not to be outdone Jeremy pieces together Rimmy Tim over a few months. Kind of passive-aggressive about it when Ryan pulls a stupid stunt that almost gets him killed.

Sees a cowboy hat in a store window as he’s walking past because Ryan was all “I don’t see what the problem is,” and “It worked” and “You worry too much” and it was either go out for a bit to cool down or implode from his worry-fueled anger. (The rest follows after, to Ryan’s confusion/fear/disgust until Rimmy Tim is just as well-known as the Vagabond and their bosses and handlers are just like “What have we done,” setting these assholes loose on Los Santos the way they have, because seriously.)

A few months later and the Fakes go to them for a job because they’ve heard about these mercenaries and need the extra muscle.

There’s the whole Thing where Ryan is very Vagabond at them and Jeremy is very Rimmy Tim and the others are like, “Well, alright” because God knows they’re not exactly normal themselves, you know? What’s a couple more weirdos in the mix?

Crime-related shenanigans in which Ryan and Jeremy realize pretty quickly on the Fakes aren’t the ones behind all the Bad Stuff coming into Los Santos.

Like.

They’re assholes, but not that kind of assholes?

Also, they’re kind of going after all these other gangs and crews and whatever else’s that have been plaguing the city for years. Real assholes involved in Bad Stuff they’ve managed to get away with time and time again.

Ryan and Jeremy are just ~subtle with the whole “Why go after these assholes?” line of questioning, and get blank looks.

Because look, okay.

They have standards, and those assholes were bringing the city down, but before the Battle Buddies get the wrong idea, think the Fakes are Good Guys or whatever? Those assholes also had territory the Fakes wanted, prime real estate for their own criminal ventures and shit. Nothing noble about it, so stop with those looks, assholes.

Anyway, anyway.

The crew(s) behind the Bad Stuff happen to be the Fake AH Crew’s main rival(s), and they’re engaged in what amounts to all-out warfare.

Once Ryan and Jeremy realize what’s what, they’re all for helping the Fakes out because it’s kind of why they’re in Los Santos to start with? And also they end up liking these assholes they’re working with.

A little too much, really, because once they take out the assholes behind the Bad Stuff once and for all, they don’t want to leave?

Got a little too attached to the crew and their life in Los Santos, you know?

Don’t feel that keen about going back to work for the agency/organization even if they were treated well there because it was starting to wear on them. (Came way too close to burning out there before their latest assignment and it’s. Yeah.)

There’s a whole Thing in which they do go back, because Duty and whatnot, but they’re not happy and it shows.

They do their job, but it’s obvious to their bosses/handlers something is off with them. At first they think it’s related to the Los Santos assignment, but for the wrong reasons? Think having to pose as criminals and all that wasn’t the best idea and they’re having problems readjusting. (Which to be fair, they are, but again not for the reasons they’re thinking.)

This goes on for a while, until there’s another Situation in Los Santos, right? One that has Agent 14 going to the Battle Buddies because whatever the Situation is, it’s something that no one can know the IAA or whoever he works for was involved.

Somehow, Ryan and Jeremy have become the sekrit agent/operative/spy experts on Los Santos and the criminal element there given their time undercover there. Agent 14 goes to them asking how viable approaching the Fakes for help with the Situation would be and that -

Look.

They really like the Fakes, okay. Got along a little too well with them and their chaos and miss it a whole hell of a lot. (Kindred spirits and all that.)

To say they’re not pleased about Agent 14 and his bosses wanting to use the Fakes to fix their own mistakes would be an understatement. (They know how assholes like Agent 14 and his bosses work, okay. Know how incredibly lucky they’ve been to work for an agency/organization that gives a damn about them beyond how useful they are.)

So.

They manage to pull strings, call in favors whatever to make sure if/when Agent 14 does go to the Fakes Ryan and Jeremy go too.

(This is the point where their bosses/handlers realize why the two of them have been acting so weird since the Los Santos assignment and why and are just, SIGH because of course these assholes would get attached to the Fakes.)

Anyway.

Agent 14 goes to make a deal with the Fakes, and around the time Geoff asks why the hell they’d want to agree to any of it, Ryan and Jeremy pop up, all, “Hey, guys” and “Long time, huh?” and also “So, there’s a funny story about all this,” and go through the whole Thing of them being government agents/operatives and waiting for the fallout.

(There has to be one, right? All this anger/resentment and so on from the Fakes about being lied to and they’re all “This is a terrible idea” but like hell are they going to let Agent 14 and his agency/organization use the Fakes and most likely try to arrest them whatever afterward, so yeah.)

But!

“I fucking knew it!” and “You owe me fifty bucks,” and so on because of course the Fakes knew they were government agents/operatives, you know?

Maybe not at first, but they had Gavin or Matt or whoever looking into the Battle Buddies – small inconsistencies beyond their cover stories that didn’t feel right and general paranoia and so on. Always ready for the two of them to turn around and betray them.

(Also, though. Trust being built when perfect opportunities came up for just that and Ryan and Jeremy let them slide on by and the two of them disappearing after everything without a peep. The long months/year after that without undue trouble from various law enforcement fronts. Maybe some of them ~scheming ways to find them and see what the hell was going on with them now, if they needed help or were just fine for themselves and so on, because crew is crew is crew.)

Ryan and Jeremy being Baffled because there’s less Accusation and such going on than expected?

Geoff going up to them without a glance at Agent 14 and asking them if he should trust the asshole, help the government with their problem.

And there’s this moment where the two of them have to think about it, because it’s a valid question, you know?

If it was their agency/organization, they wouldn’t have to think too hard. (They’re all for Doing the Right Thing, and sometimes that means bending the rules just so.)

But this is Agent 14 and his bosses and so they’re like.

No, because they sure as hell don’t trust the asshole, but the problem he and his agency/organization have isn’t something they can ignore.

So.

They just tell him they’ll be working with them on this too, implication that if Agent 14 and his people try to screw the Fakes over they’d have to go through the Battle Buddies and their agency/organization first, and that’s not a fight 14 and his people would win, you know?

Geoff is just, “Good to hear,” and then the whole Thing where the Battle Buddies show back up in Los Santos and they help the Fakes deal with Agent 14’s problem and all that.

It’s not exactly smooth sailing, because sure the Fakes knew they were government agents/operatives and all that? But it’s different knowing and acting like they didn’t and having it out in the open like this.

Don’t really expect to be betrayed by them, but it’s weird as hell for a little while.

But then there’s an attack or something in which Ryan and Jeremy are so much themselves – ridiculous everything while explosions and fire is happening that the crew is like, “Well okay then” because that at least is the same.

All of them figuring out how they fit together as a crew (family) now and working out whatever lingering issues remain from all that.

And then!

When it’s all over and everyone expects Ryan and Jeremy to go back to their agency/organization, Agent 14 pops up all, “You know...” and makes a little suggestion for Ryan and Jeremy to take back to their usual lives about how handy it was having an asset like the Fakes available to them?

Like.

Really, really useful and all. Could be worth looking into, in case other Situations arise in the future?

And of course they think about it, because Agent 14’s not wrong.

Still.

Not likely to happen, so they go back to their agency/organization and go on missions and try to pretend they’re doing Just Fine.

Their bosses, though.

Get a visit from Agent 14 and his bosses, or just find a proposal from them regarding the Fakes and what a valuable asset they’ve proven to be. (And, you know. It could be a smart investment on their part to have liaisons and all that, in case of future Situations and do Ryan and Jeremy’s bosses have any suggestions for that spot???)

There’s a Thing where the agencies/organizations Plot because it’s not a bad idea at all. Is actually one of the better ones they’ve ever had, just need to iron out some details and all that before they make it a reality.

And then they do, because of course they do.

Call Ryan and Jeremy in for a meeting that has the two of them wary as hell. (Generally speaking, it’s not a good sign when it happens.)

They’re braced for some deeply unpleasant assignment and just kind of ??? at their bosses/handlers and Agent 14 and his bosses as they explain this new assignment they’re being given.

Because it all sounds too good to be true? Acting as liaisons between the Fakes and the agencies/organizations and all that.

Get to do whatever (within reason) until a Situation crops up, and then they’re expected to get the Fakes on board.

(Agent 14’s people seem to think it’s more of an OR ELSE kind of agreement, while their own people are just pls don’t make us regret this you assholes because they know how Ryan and Jeremy work and this is a Terrible Idea but what else can they do? Agent 14 is just kind of amused because like Ryan and Jeremy, he’s actually met the Fakes and kind of likes them, so yeah.)

ANYWAY.

Ryan and Jeremy get to go back to Los Santos and the Fakes who are assholes, sure, but are far from being the worst thing to ever happen to Los Santos. (Do a lot of good, actually, and pretend they don’t because ~hardcore criminal types who are Totally Ruthless and all that.)

Their agency/organization continues to Suffer because now they have this whole crew to worry about aside from their two idiot agents. (And vice versa, with a whole lot of commiserating going on between Geoff and B-Team and the government agency/organization and if the public ever found out it’d be a nightmare? But whatever, nothing worse than what the Battle Buddies have caused for them before.)

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#ragehappy #jeremwood #battle buddies #fahc au #technically not a fic #vagrant fic #Anon #prompt fills #Anonymous

[cultml]

Breaking of Now

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"

That’s what I should have said to my sister when she asked genuinely what my problem with wearing a mask was.  On this occasion I had gotten trapped and was pretty pissed about the whole situation. The week before one of the big retailer announced a mandate masks. Virtue signalling group think as far as I was concerned and assumed, wrongly that if i bought a little more I would have time to finally workaround them. The day the mandate took effect and the day i talked to her,  I stopped by one of the more expensive less convenient workaround places to find a mask mandate. An couple hours latter i find out my main grocery store and the others options where going to mandate as well. Online is feeding a different beast and sending someone in my place is out sourcing my acquiescence. Trapped. In the end I just told her no one knows what they are doing (the failure to still count the deaths correctly), it's ridiculous (contradictory studies and disparate rules), that i suddenly didn't have a choice and it was going to take me a few days to adjust.

What was really going through my head was about USSR.  “ It wasn’t the just the necessary lies it was the absurd little pointless ones that broke the spirit of the people” to paraphrase badly from a place I don’t remember. That is clearer statement of Voltaire and a simple explanation of why we shouldn’t lie. It’s not the childish notion that we should not because the truth is easier. Most see mask wearing a virtuous, for me it’s an affirmation of a lie, of several, of the ones closer to the roots. It’s not a herculean feat to see for me it’s just stupid hard wired reflexive contrarian angst , not hell no so much as why the hell . It leads you to question anti-vax, reduced fat, publish or die, replication crisis, Russell conjugation, virtues signalling, Overton window, attacks on moral relativism destroying gradation of sin and virtue, cognitive biases , government building as nation building, gas lighting, the church defending itself and the existence of God but not the moral order(not that it knew the difference), the irreconcilability of socialist thought and Jihadists with the west, big government as government playing god, half the people are dumper than the other, death of the common, the long list of what’s called the regressive left we focus so much on (more of a symptom than a cause),cultural relativism, common human behavior dressing up common human behavior as conspiracy, fragility of high civilization, economics standing in for moral order, monogamy, “perfect as your are” drowning the phoenix, nuclear family, woke rewrites hiding more subtle rewrites of western mythos, the prison of two ideas, deep silos of knowledge standing in for wider wisdom, and....

At some point you find yourself  outside and not in some sort of edgy artsy way, not quite smart enough to figure out why no one else is there. I am sliding back into the hope I have gone insane. You deal with the whirling nightmare as little as possible, you don’t call it out at every turn, you don’t cheer it on, you don’t help it, and YOU DO NOT FUCKING LIE ABOUT IT. 

So sitting in the parking lot,deciding if one of the innocent creatures that lives with me, approaching month four of the six the vet said she had left, gets the food she prefers at the moment...  She had other food that was better for her anyway.., not that it matters now. I have a duty of care especially now. She won’t understand the problem or the cost to my honor, for lack of a better word. She will just miss the thing she is used to. In reality avoiding the mask is likely impracticality anyway.  On the verge of throwing up, crying, punching the dashboard or screaming fuck over an over... a car pulls into the spot across from me and a woman starts unpacking a kid out or the back seat... none of the above. A few deep breaths and fuck it, the easy way it is.  Never thought about actually punching a stranger or really anyone but the assigned finger wager at the door.... “I am a virtuous little citizen and those who know better know better” and not “we aren’t all writhing around in the liquefying corps of a great civilization” On queue they where still out of or ran out of again of the food I was after.

I didn’t feel anything brake that day. Thinking about it since something is missing. Maybe things are just numb and will come back in time. As of now thinking about what may have to be done in defense of a civilization worth defending against those that can not be reconciled with it, elicits little. The little emotional triggers that made question if I could if i had to, are gone.... I am pretty weak willed and was happy to stand on the side lines. Muse at what might untangle this mess. I am not a hard man by any imagining, but you made me lie exactly in the way that end civilizations. Not that mask work. Not that I was virtuous for doing so. Not that “we are all in this together”. Not that those in charge know. Not that anyone is in charge. Not that some version of normal coming. Not that this version of the west isn’t dead. It’s the lie that there isn’t a massive upheaval coming.

The mass of rubble , ideological and real that will have to be cleared. Unfortunately a fair amount of blood that is likely to be spilled. Driving now the phrase “ the ugliness of modern architecture” rings in my ears. Affordable little canvases of our own that last only a life time is not the worst thing, but churches in strip malls? Regardless if this is just contrivance of my head or not I have been pushed a few degrees off of where i was. For now, a reprieve as there is still the innocence creatures in my care. It sadly is not open ended.

This kinda of thing might not have pushed as hard as it did if the ground wasn’t already soft. Before all that a few thing had pushed me to wrap up what i was thinking and walk from my online musings. So. Brit Hume has been one of the perennial “ this is the most important election of our lives... til the next one”  He and Thomas Sowell, calling it a point of no return have both come to the conclusion that it actually is. If Biden wins the next election wouldn't matter and any other road blocks would be gone.

Charlie Hurt calling it a make it stop election and latter Victor David Hanson questioning if a silent major exists leads one to believe that reason may have been locked out. That this is a who ever can convince enough people they can save them election. It really fell like the argument don’t matter at all. My suspicion is that if you had really solid polling and knew the outcome of a handful of thing you could easily predict this election now, nothing the candidate did would mean anything. I have kind of gotten used to the idea that thing are going to get well... bloody when the left takes power and finally nails the door shut behind its self.

I was under the illusion that there are a number people that “know” where that leads and would as a last resort raise the black flag. Someone “on the inter webs” I thought was one (for no good reason on my part) when asked opted for the benedictine option. “The monasteries survived”. The monasteries where not an existential threat to the king. Little literacy. little printing and no internet. The parallels to the Maoist and the jihadists to our current insurgents? rebels? look pretty clear. What makes anyone thing they going to be left alone by this “madness”. I got very worried. Those you think might keep Trump in power surrender to the mob.... and those who would fight might decide to hide..... A number of things start looking pretty frivolous.

Author Brooks among a legion of others, well meaning I am sure, prescribe kindness and reason and be patient. I short you don’t hug the guy with the suicide vest.... clear? For the jihadists anything said buy outsiders is meaningless, faith isn’t easily to question on the best of days. For the utopians, you can’t understands till it finally works and usually the censors and secret police help.  To our little friends if your the oppressor you have no room to speak even if you think you understand how evil you are or your so oppressed that your don’t know what your taking about. It all insulated ideology, and all of it gets people killed. They haven't officially taken power so i guess you could try it one a time, cult deprogramming. However the cult isn’t living in the middle of nowhere, we are all living in it.

Jordan Peterson comes at it from a reasoned position focused more on the broader problems of the West. “Orientate your self properly,aye”. You raise yourself up and it raises those around you. Don’t think saving the West was at the top of his list when it all started  Again a one at a time, bottom up approach. At the time I was sure it was far to slow and he never seemed to have a handle on American politics though he knows how badly societies can go wrong. He and many other I don’t think quite understood how bad intentioned the left really was, or how much the compromises made with them where always seeding ground. It seems like a great many people are still living there.

The other problem is the lack of a common. “if there is no common understanding there is no common sense” Mark Steyn if memory serves. My past understanding of the malignant “God is dead” quote was just that and it was a good thing. In part from Peterson, my understanding now is “the common belief in a common God / moral order is dead”.  A strong civil society might be able to hold things together and let people do generally what they want....... as long as the reap the consequences of their choices.  The problem comes when all choices become valid because there are no consequence . A strong moral order would have put the brakes on.

This is the general problem with the various libertarian imaginings.  Over time it will always be a problem. Any significantly democratic organization will trend left or as to hear the left tell it “the long arch of history tend toward justice”... social justice.... popular judgement..... mob rule. Entropy.  We all want to be nice and liked so we let the margins slide, leave a little wiggle room in the rules. Eventually it ticks over. Instead of allowing it’s restricting. I doesn’t matter now whatever the case. There is no way now to go any where near letting people reap their own consequences, what would the bureaucrats do with themselves.

So come at it from the other side? The moment the Enlightenment or the industrial revolution started the church was in existential peril. The less the average person need God to explain their day to day the less the ethereal wonder holds. The explosion of knowledge even if they didn’t understand all of it, become a surer path.  Defense of the moral order was what was called for. The church defended itself and eventually the existence of God. I would like one of these fill in the blank “nationalist”, common good conservatives, new theocrat types explain to me how governmental policy is going to fix it? They seem to see it as a problem caused by the left. The left is just taking advantage. If it wasn’t them now it would be something else in a generation or four. Not only are they misidentifying the problem their solution is making it harder to solve.  Setting government policy to favor what worked is not a guarantee it works going forward. There are plenty of good studies and sound arguments and some policies may work well. The problem, it introduces rigidity. It will help stave off the known worse, meanwhile  staving off the unknown both for the worse and for the better. It slows the development of better.

There is this notion that the “left and the “right” should just get a divorce. The “left” will never be satisfied with that. There is as well the notion that we are to diverse to coexist. This is another result of the lack of a common. If a civilization or a country in this case, are bound together even loosely by a civil order an a moral order diversity isn’t a fatal issue. To say it isn’t possible is to reject  the American experiment out right.

Those who have accepted a civil war is inevitable talk as if the fight will be to restore something? The war is between who? One side is usually the government. Not sure what is gained by pickling fight with Antifa et al.

I had thought after Ferguson leadership would have leaned it’s lesson.  APCs for riot control, yes. For no knock warrant, not so much. It’s become abundantly clear I assume far to many things. We went from throw a water bottle at a cop, jail and the protest is over to everything is acceptable up until your try to burn people alive in a public building. As far as I am concerned those mayors and governors who allow this signed there own resignation letters.

It is has become clear Trump or likely any president can’t fix this. Trump specifically doesn’t have the tack to talk us off this ledge. Suspend the campaign for a week and talk about the consequences, the nature of and solution for the problem.... and never mention himself? I don’t know that and president would have the resources to declare an insurrection, deploy enough federal agents and national guard (assuming the governors allow it) and hold on til the local government went back to arresting the first bottle thrower. I doesn’t look like the decades long hold the “left” has had on these city is going to be broken by this, so no major change in policy that will stop this short term is coming. Those who decide to leave are likely to bring the same ideas that lead to the policies that lead to the chaos where ever they go. It’s not going to stay contained.

It sounded like there where the start of some defensive militia and there are always community deescalation groups. This is driven by policy fuel by ideology that can not be question (though they used to act as if it could). All solutions look to be outside our normal acceptable practice. Comment by Mark Steyn about Islam are instructive. Surrender, destroy, or reform. As with Islam this is a self fulfilling ideology.  So? a form of colonization inside our country, an insurrection? Remove the mayors, city counsel and the prosecutors, none of which are doing their jobs. If the rule is that the feds don’t declare insurrections, and it is not declared as such then it is not. What about the governors?  Then what..? What policies changes the culture? What are the markers for holding the next election? It is outside our norm, not so much for history in general.

If Trump wins whatever the left does including secession will be responded to by the federal government, our little city experiment aside. That at best will just reimpose the status quo. It is very unlikely to force the “left” ideology into retreat. If Biden gets elected? Play the city experiment out writ large . The constitution almost by definition can’t survive. So... just reprint the thing and put a new start date on it?  What does that solve? Maybe I am not digging in the parts of the internet where these this are being hashed out. If they are I not sure it’s by the type of people I want running things.

A list of systemic grievances going into all this would be useful both as a guild for what comes after and as set of red lines. I am sure most libertarians could give you a library full of outrages. It is not the day to day bureaucratic nonsense that’s the problem or police outrages. It’s things like deferential impact, judicial realism, popular election of senators, and the supposed precondition in which regulation is allowed just to start. The last line may be when the left has easily won two or three elections in a row while everyone is being forced to do things they don’t want and never hear a word in the press about it.  It may be to late by then. I believed that would be the result if Hilary got elected and it looks to be a certainty if Biden gets in.

Whatever the case maybe the violence has started and to what degree it escalate who knows. The idea that violence is never the answer was always a myth, one we are coming face to face with now. The fact is violence on very rare occasions is the only answer unless you are prepared to surrender everything, to live on your knees in agony. That is why the idea that the constitution is not a suicide pact never made any sense. We seeing it now to with the virus. “we must sacrifice everything even if it save one life”. What childishness. If you won’t die or worse live in pain for your principles they only hold until someone or thing threatens you with just that. If others know it your principles don’t mean much. Further more at societal level if leadership isn’t prepared to risk the live of civilian to protect those principles they aren’t going to last long either

All that in the end still solves nothing. You have beaten back the enemy for what? If violence comes or not we have to have something to go to, to strive for as a civilization. We are a fractured mess of half thoughts and endless “problems” to solve. We have no common understanding of what the moral order or any order is or should be. As is we are done.

“We are very unlikely to come up with entirely new definition or invention. We are very unlikely to invent new Gods, very unlikely to come up with new religion, ...very unlikely to be able to go anything this good again.” Douglas Murray.

 A similar sentiment two plus years ago sent me in this direction.

“ Where the road we’re traveling takes us. Where do the above events and that one trend leave us? Not in a good place. Unless there’s a black swan somewhere down the line, we are heading inevitably towards a socialist America. “  “ I’m praying for a Black Swan. My prayers aren’t usually answered, though. That’s why I’m assuming that the American future will be totalitarian — either Marxist or Islamic — and that it might happen within my lifetime and will definitely happen within my children’s. “ - Bookworm

So what we are looking for is a Black swan, a new god, a new religion. In an ocean of ignorance with an occasional mist of wisdom let me see if I can puzzle this out a bit. First there  is no puppet master just us. Though they took full advantage ,even the “left” isn’t the problem. We began to gain knowledge abundantly, with certainty if not ease. It distracted, if not overwhelmed the the ethereal of the church and rendered the judgement of the wise mute. So what do we need? We need to temper knowledge. We need not just the facts or the working of the parts we see. We need to pursue the truth, not exactly the truth. Not the truth of the tangible world or that of the ethereal. It is the truth of the moment. Our best understanding of the working of the two combined.  And an understanding that some day it will change. And that is what we should pursue. The honest truth of what we know and a drive to find more. To try, succeed and fail, to find what is actually better. It is an extension of the road humanity was on before this diversion.

How to paint the picture? A discovered / revealed God/ devil/ saint/ mythic hero, a torch bearer along the path humanity has always been traveling. The path of our increasing understanding, the path that raised our civilization. A light that only shines on the path behind us, to illuminate the things we missed and on our figure calling us forward. One who demands that those who obscure the past repent. One who demands that those who misrepresent the path their on to get others to follow repent. One that asks us to forgive those who do and use the shape of their misdeeds  to search for our own misunderstandings and mistakes.

In practice, a secular church that is neither. A voluntary body with neither the force of law or a claim to the moral order. A nondemocratic organization because the long arc of history tending toward social justice. An organization the is trusted to ask better questions. A group of people that will put themselves in the experiments in order and be brutally honest about the results. 

So for instance the question about transmission of wisdom from one generation to the next is about how we raise children and that is about family and marriage. What is best? what do we really know?  Follow the path all the way back. Romantic marriage is new, so why not practical or arranged marriage? We see the obvious problems with polygamy, with polyamory? Maybe some combination? maybe not one big romantic marriage but three,may be four people, one marriage is practical, one arrange, and one romantic. I have no idea. We can’t just default to the wisdom of religion or assume the recklessness of the “left”. Let Go. If it works or not we are better for knowing. We will have surer footing on the path ahead at least in the understanding of this moment.

If don’t like that formulation good. You build a black swan. If there’s a flock of them maybe one survives. Maybe we avoid generations of brutality. Maybe something of what we have done survives.

All I can do now is try to find a way not to live on my knees before anyone, anything, any ideology or idea. Try. That is all I can do.

Credit to those i stole ideas from that i can no longer remember if they're mine or not. I am going to put away my crayons down, shut my mouth give my mind a rest, deal with only what i must, and hopefully find a way to wonder at the world again.

or try to

#black swan #god gap #reversion is not reformation #CultML

[ml-pnp]

Breaking of Now   pt1

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities”

That’s what I should have said to my sister when she asked genuinely what my problem with wearing a mask was.  On this occasion I had gotten trapped and was pretty pissed about the whole situation. The week before one of the big retailer announced a mandate masks. Virtue signalling group think as far as I was concerned and assumed, wrongly that if i bought a little more I would have time to finally workaround them. The day the mandate took effect and the day i talked to her,  I stopped by one of the more expensive less convenient workaround places to find a mask mandate. An couple hours latter i find out my main grocery store and the others options where going to mandate as well. Online is feeding a different beast and sending someone in my place is out sourcing my acquiescence. Trapped. In the end I just told her no one knows what they are doing (the failure to still count the deaths correctly), it’s ridiculous (contradictory studies and disparate rules), that i suddenly didn’t have a choice and it was going to take me a few days to adjust.

What was really going through my head was about USSR.  “ It wasn’t the just the necessary lies it was the absurd little pointless ones that broke the spirit of the people” to paraphrase badly from a place I don’t remember. That is clearer statement of Voltaire and a simple explanation of why we shouldn’t lie. It’s not the childish notion that we should not because the truth is easier. Most see mask wearing a virtuous, for me it’s an affirmation of a lie, of several, of the ones closer to the roots. It’s not a herculean feat to see for me it’s just stupid hard wired reflexive contrarian angst , not hell no so much as why the hell . It leads you to question anti-vax, reduced fat, publish or die, replication crisis, Russell conjugation, virtues signalling, Overton window, attacks on moral relativism destroying gradation of sin and virtue, cognitive biases , government building as nation building, gas lighting, the church defending itself and the existence of God but not the moral order(not that it knew the difference), the irreconcilability of socialist thought and Jihadists with the west, big government as government playing god, half the people are dumper than the other, death of the common, the long list of what’s called the regressive left we focus so much on (more of a symptom than a cause),cultural relativism, common human behavior dressing up common human behavior as conspiracy, fragility of high civilization, economics standing in for moral order, monogamy, “perfect as your are” drowning the phoenix, nuclear family, woke rewrites hiding more subtle rewrites of western mythos, the prison of two ideas, deep silos of knowledge standing in for wider wisdom, and….

At some point you find yourself  outside and not in some sort of edgy artsy way, not quite smart enough to figure out why no one else is there. I am sliding back into the hope I have gone insane. You deal with the whirling nightmare as little as possible, you don’t call it out at every turn, you don’t cheer it on, you don’t help it, and YOU DO NOT FUCKING LIE ABOUT IT. 

-Breaking of Now

#black swan #CultML #unfixable #god gap #reversion is not reformation #breaking of now

[jet-bradley]

not to completely embody my url but my hottest, most cringe take is that a tron game for the wiiu unironically could have slapped. like. 15 people total would have bought it and it would have been a complete waste of disney’s money since we all know how the wiiu turned out, and it probably would have doomed the tron franchise even more, but hear me out

conceptually the wiiu is a ds that uses your tv as its main screen, alright. and i was thinking abt tron 2.0 and i realized... the concept of “user inside the grid/encom system” paired with the fact that you can see the world through two screens could slap. like, the TV screen being where all the action is, okay, and your gamepad being like, not necessarily your inventory? but where you manage your User Powers. and inlore it’s like a constant command window that you have that basics/isos don’t... a little more like how the sheikah slate would have functioned on the early wiiu-exclusive botw. so you can program things to happen through the gamepad, maybe you can see the world differently and identify not just programs but how the map is constructed, etc.

as far as what those abilities are, fuck if i know. if this was in any way shape or form a continuation of tron 2.0, it would be neat if instead of just equipping set weapons like the LOL or the suffusion rod, you could use the gamepad to alter their stats real-time, almost like you’re a user who can mod your own code on the fly. create fucked up atrocity weapons, or just minmax some set weapons, you name it. hell, even a 2.0 remake where you’re managing your disk real-time using the gamepad instead of pausing the entire game to access it could have been really sick. if you want to go down an entirely new path, maybe you’re able to build parts of the world using the gamepad, which would be more inline with legacy canon... but then you run the risk of creating Grid Fortnite which is something no one wants.

again im not saying this ever should have existed. the wiiu was a market flop for reasons that are too long to discuss here, and if anything a tron wiiu game would have had to really shine to be remembered as anything but a fandom joke years down the line, no matter how good it is. but like

you gotta admit if the wiiu had been received well at all, this could have slapped

#like. the weapon switching is already weird in 2.0 might as well add a touchscreen to it #also i'm totally NOT making this post because if i had motion controls for tron 2.0 i would be unstoppable

[icosmohunters]

chapter eight : master of puppets

chapter eight of cosmo hunters!

word count : 8.2k words

synopsis : the pirates have opted to help hope out properly in an attempt to get their hands on the puppeteer, a cyber mastermind capable of sick atrocities. after touching down on the m-colony, hope can’t help but feel uneasy, in worry that somehow this infamous criminal would hurt her. or worse, someone else.

the m-colony was perhaps one of the few human bases in the solar system that touches solid ground. though smaller than the earth, mars held a behemoth city on its surface, capable of withstanding some of the conditions normal architecture wouldn’t be able to handle. this includes the slight earthquakes and sandstorms that occur on the surface of this red rock.

out of all the planets in the solar system, hope has never had the chance to visit mars, the earth’s smaller but stranger brother, the red planet, often suspected of harnessing life, harnessing magma and active volcanoes underneath its soil, capable of supporting life if the earth were to end tomorrow.

mars was not only colonized with methods of living to support human life, but it was also taken in as extra space for agriculture, and the endless fields of dust and mahogany dirt that seemed to stretch on forever were often used as a method of sport; racing. 

even whilst entering the atmosphere now, hope could see the hoverbikes speeding past each other in a series of turns and jumps over cliffs and fields and hills, the riders wearing suitable equipment like helmets and specific suits.

“ after this is all over, remind me to book a seat to one of these things, i was never fond of formula one ”, the bounty hunter told her a.i. she had been given clearance soon upon entering the atmosphere, and now she followed a set of floating lights positioned as guidelines towards the nearest base. “ but that, i can definitely get behind. ”

“ we can do so after we finish what we’ve come here for ”, a.j stated and hope couldn’t help but mimic his voice before rolling her eyes. nevertheless, a.j always made sense, they did have to finish what they came here for. 

according to her artificial intelligence, the puppeteer has been hiding out within the human m-colony, somewhere within a run-down version of the apartments the humans first built after they entered the planet. the structures were left to rot and many building companies gave up on bull-dozing the place. so now, it was there, a ghostly sight.

and home to a potentially conspiring force of evil, and hope had to stop them.

m-colony was covered by a massive, almost dome-like shield harnessing the oxygen required for humans to breathe. the city was perhaps as big as beijing back home, but nowhere as big as the j-colony. nothing could reach the size of that monolith of a city. 

skyscrapers, roads, billboards, and marketing spread all around her. she peered out through nebula’s window and inhaled deeply. it was all perfect, the systems were complicated but safe and not the types that could be breached. however, this might not stop a particularly nasty person from ruining it all.

and by this nasty person, she meant the puppeteer. not much was known about them as a person but they were capable of doing things that could potentially kill millions. all that they’ve done is steal money from global banks, leaving people with little to no money in accounts and sending the earth in a financial crisis a couple of years back.

upon landing at the docks, hope let out a sigh of relief. ever since she left the headquarters, she’s felt like she was being closely followed by the very company she’s been working with. so far out into space, they couldn’t exactly trace her location nor her status nor log into the camera feed of her ship, not without her permission. but she still felt odd about it, worried.

maybe it was nothing to worry about but she would constantly think back to beatrice yoh, standing on that stage with a proud smile on her face announcing the strict regulations that had implemented to avoid a mutiny or a coup. it was a haunting memory, ironically the worst thing hope has ever witnessed.

a powerful woman imposing a regime that was going to put people in their places, people who disobeyed. as someone who was breaching at least a dozen protocols, hope was beyond anxious. all for the sake of keeping these pirates somewhere safe before taking them to where they had to be.

removing her seatbelts from her, hope took the elevator down and found the pirates gathered in the lounge once more. there was a proper meeting room somewhere in the nebula but hope never used it, especially since she rarely had visitors. besides, the lounge made her feel less worried about all of this, convincing her to brush it off like it was a family gathering of some sort.

“ we felt bad for taking some of your weapons so we managed to store some new ones after a shopping spree at j-colony ”, enzo announced, loading a firearm that seemed to be a ray gun of some sort, but it looked like it was capable of so much more.

hope shook her head, “ i usually stack up on my weapons when i go back home. dad keeps huge storage of them in the garage, he’d lend me some. but i don’t know when i’ll be going home, so i appreciate it. thank you. ”

something she’s noticed within the coming days is growing used to the presence of these strangers. she grew used to quinn and enzo bickering during a game, she grew used to the rattling of pans in the kitchen from vivienne and dawn. she wasn’t so used to dom making any noises but she grew used to seeing him about.

she never thought she would get used to it, but she was getting there. it was still unfortunate to have to wait for someone to finish showering or for her to eat within a close range of people. but then again, baby steps.

“ oh, it’s not a problem ”, vivienne spoke. “ besides, you just said yourself you don’t know when that would be. but it’s good to have weapons in case another name pops up on the list. ” hope nodded, looking down. “ this puppeteer . . . are you sure you’re confident in going after him? ”.

the captain rose her head once more with a chuckle, “ well, i have no choice. voyage gives me the targets and i either accept it or pass it on. and i’ve never passed down a challenge, not a single one in my years as a bounty hunter. “ besides, this is not the kind of person we want wandering around. something needs to be done about them. ”

“ you say that and yet you’re letting us go along with you ”, dom said and hope looked over whilst adjusting her wristband. “ sure, enzo can be quite manipulative when he wants to be. but why not just let us stay here? ”.

quinn called from the other side of the room, “ scared to die out there, dominic? we’re safe in a larger group. besides, we might not even need to attack if this person is a cyber mastermind rather than, you know, a physical one. ” he looked over his shoulder and towards dawn. “ besides, the medic’s staying behind. ”

hope snapped her head towards dawn quickly, “ you sure you’re okay with guarding the ship by yourself? i mean, nebula is safe and all but you might get bored quite easily. ”

“ i-it’s fine! ”, dawn squeaked, waving her hand to dismiss the statement. “ besides, i only ever come to use when someone’s hurt. and going in a large group, you might find yourselves injured. i can somehow sense it. so i’ll stay here, preparing anything in case someone comes back hurt. ”

vivienne snorted, “ knowing everyone, i bet it’ll be enzo. ”

“ rude! ”.

after a small gathering, hope went and got changed into something appropriate for the mission and this time, she made sure to lock the door in case someone with curious eyes came in to peek at her again. slipping her jacket on, she looked into the mirror and noticed her hair. “ fuck, you’re going to bother me ”, she cursed and grabbed a hairband before taking to leave her room.

in terms of weapons and ammunition, she had plenty in her backpack, it was heavy because of that but she could persevere. besides, comfort was the last thing on her mind when she had a person to hunt down. but her preferred weapon of choice remained with the band resting on her shoulder, the rifle she’s spent years protecting.

“ you look like you’re going to war ”, quinn commented when she came out of the ship. the items felt heavy on her body but the sooner they got to hunting, the less she would have to worry about carrying the damn thing around.

“ i might as well be ”, she said and grabbed a handful of her hair into her hands and then tied it up into a semi-neat ponytail. her hair’s never been an issue but this was a serious matter and if she missed her shot because of a brown lock of hair, she was going to lose it. 

dawn grinned brightly behind them, “ good luck, guys! and stay together, don’t split up! ”.

m-colony was fuller today than most days, people spreading into the streets with excited beams on their faces. they didn’t seem to be aware of the armed group of people walking among them, but then again, the blinding lights may capture someone’s attention and then cause a frenzy, a daze. hope would have been lost in it herself if she hadn’t been focused on the matter at hand.

the place where the puppeteer’s lair was possibly located was some miles from the main city, the outskirts of the deserted lands that were of no use to the human civilization at that moment.

“ how are we going to get there? ”, vivienne called over her shoulder towards hope. since she was at the front, and the cacophony of noise was enough to cloud their voices slightly, she had to yell.

“ there’s a car service not far from here! all we need to do is hire one! ”, hope called back and looked around, checking her location on her wristband. the location was a good half hour drive from them, but perhaps the drive would be enough to calm her nerves. she doesn’t like going into missions tense.

the car service was definitely not far, it was cross the street. now that she thought about it, based on the positions of these billboards and the streets lined up, she recognized times square back in new york. she chuckled and shook her head for a moment, humans bring their brand everywhere. it’s quite cute.

“ alright, we can hire it for four hours. after the time limit, it shuts down and we won’t be able to get back inside it ”, quinn warned after they had gotten the car they acquired. it was a hovercar, like most, with a beige, suede interior. “ so i suggest we hurry it up. ”

“ hah, four hours is more than enough to find a man and kill him. well, knowing how insane space can be, i might just have to take that back ”, enzo put in a lighthearted tone, before shrugging and pulling the door open for vivienne and hope. “ ladies first! ”.

the car was similar to that of a jeep, except it was incased with glass windows holding the oxygen required for the drivers to breathe. a snoop around and hope found it to be in good condition to drive, so she threw the coordinates onto the gps and then adjusted her seat-belt.

dom had chosen to drive, so hope remained in the back seat and gave a quick look around them before the car started moving. she saw the billboards, the skyscrapers, and many cameras. cameras that the puppeteer could potentially be peeking through, being the sneak he was.

always observing but never courageous enough to step in and actually act. a coward in a way but an ironically brave one, considering he was capable of committing crimes with the mere click of a button on a control panel. a hivemind, smart enough to never had to step out a confined space hidden somewhere in mars.

well, hope was going to blast that confined space to pieces.

the ride out onto the quiet zone was, well, quiet. racing through martian landscapes, seeing the mountains and valleys up close. it was like a ride through the old deserts back home, but even deader. the sky wasn’t particularly blue, it was gloomy and the sandstorms in the distance were horrifying but the car persevered.

“ so, should we play a game ‘i spy’? ”.

“ i can only see s and i ”, quinn muttered under his breath. hope looked up at him with a raised brow. “ sand and an idiot. ” this time, the bounty hunter couldn’t help but chortle, the kid was too good. he could be a comedian if being a pirate ever got boring. 

“ i’ll punch some sense into you, kiddo ”, enzo warned with a glare, but it was passive. hope chuckled and looked out of the window as the car continued moving.

the ride couldn’t have lasted more than twenty minutes with how fast dom was driving. after ten minutes, they seemed to have exited the main part of the city and entered fields and large, vast structures which she assumed held cattle and livestock. perhaps even the farms needed to feed these people.

and after another five minutes, these structures soon faded and it was just sand and hills for a while. but then hope began to see something on the horizon, something tall and saw it as an apartment building of some sort. rotting and falling apart. another one followed briefly after. and then another.

checking the gps a minute later, hope’s eyes flickered to the terrain of abandoned buildings and she felt a chill run down her spine. “ well, this is it. hear that? ”, she questioned and it seemed like everyone held their breath. 

all that could be heard outside was the cries of the wind, sound traveled solemnly over a landscape of nothing but what was once a lovely place, lush of life and the humans that once lived there but now it was sleeping. dormant. not completely dead, not with a single human being there. but it most certainly looked like red limbo, something that caused hope’s breathing to tremble. despite seeming dead, it felt like something slept beneath the soil. sleeping. or very much awake. waiting. an eye peering through somewhere, looming over every stretch of the landscape in search of . . . something. a watchful beast.

quinn exhaled, “ sounds like my literal nightmare. ”

“ the quiet zone. well, now it’s quiet, didn’t use to be. once home to about a million humans, apartments and accommodation scattered everywhere. the first establishment of life on mars, and now it’s a ghost town ”, hope explained in a grave tone before reaching into her backpack. “ everyone, put your masks on. ”

“ the humans migrated, didn’t they? moved to the big city? why would he be hiding out here of all places? ”, enzo questioned mostly to himself before he seemed to figure out the answer himself. “ oh, he’s arrogant. ”

“ well, try stealing a hundred billion dollars from every global bank on earth. that’s a self-esteem boost ”, dom said before pulling his oxygen mask on. hope bit back a smile, she couldn’t help but agree. 

after putting on the masks, it was time to head out. hope remained cautious because upon entering a territory of a prying animal, you wouldn’t want to wake it up or even piss it off before you get the chance to come within single proximity of it. so she warned the pirates to keep quiet and to stick close together.

stepping on martian soil, it’s perhaps the most thrilling experience hope has felt. she’s been to titan, europa, io, even to jupiter but nothing felt quite surreal like stepping on the red planet. she paid a glance around her, seeing the absence of people, people she thought would be living happily.

but not a single one in sight. not a single one.

“ alright, in which direction are we going? ”.

hope looked towards a puzzled vivienne and then pointed northwards. the base was said to be located somewhere beneath the ground. where? she didn’t know. and she didn’t have the equipment to dig down. so she prayed that perhaps these apartments had a basement that this monster could be living in.

so they went north. crossing these structures, seeing them up close right from the very bottom, hope realized just how behemoth they were, craning her head back to peek at the very top. doors had come off their hinges, windows broken, the little playground area deserted and scattered with graffiti.

to think that normal people once lived there. biting her lip, she looked back just once. it felt weird, then again this is the first time she’s doing something like this, approaching the devil’s lair with hardly any preparation. all she knew is that she had to be the one to murder this guy. the pirates could injure him, but she needed that final bullet to be fired by her. no else but her.

“ you know, for a planet that was supposed to be earth’s sister, it does a good job in being anything but that ”, enzo commented before kicking a pebble not too far away from him. it rolled over and then paused. “ just . . . rock and dirt. is anything alive? ”.

hope looked around before she continued leading the way. “ well, first off, correct yourself. it’s earth’s brother, more like. ares, god of war, male, one of the twelve olympians, get it right ”, she corrected him. “ second off, they believe this is what an early planet earth would have looked like. magma flowing underneath the ground, sleeping mountains and volcanoes burning up all the elements of life. ice being melted by this heat, generating water, generating the incubators for life . . . except mars hasn’t changed that much. they believe it’ll be a few years until it’ll be like the earth. ”

“ i think it’s quite a shame. it’s so similar to back home ”, quinn mumbled. “ minus the sandstorms and earthquakes that could happen. it’s why some people are scattered to build on the surface and choose to do it beneath the surface. ”

hope chuckled, “ i watched the documentary. yeah, mars is great but it’s one angry planet that hasn’t settled in just yet. the black sheep of the family, if you will. then again, so was ares. ”

“ well, at least it’s not venus. ”

“ weren’t they in love? aphrodite and ares? ”.

“ i don’t want a history lesson on god sex, thank you very much. ”

after about ten minutes of pacing, hope’s gps beeped and the map on the right side of her helmet showed the red dot blaring. they’d arrived. but there was nothing. they were pretty much there but there was nothing, nothing but red dirt and painful silence.

“ well, looks like you got the wrong coordinates ”, dom voiced and turned to hope. “ are you sure this is where we’re supposed to be? we can’t dig down, we don’t have the tools for it. ”

enzo kissed his teeth, “ stop annoying her, dom and let her think. maybe this guy is using a field of some sort to blind us, invisible. like the cloaking feature, the one we had on our ship before we left it! or perhap— ”.

“ enzo, step back! ”.

the captain of the pirates let out an echoing gasp and took a major step back and the ground beneath him seemed to crumble slightly. and then for the first time, hope heard a sound. like something falling on the ground and so she advanced forward towards enzo and saw what he could have fallen into.

a ravine of some sort. except it wasn’t a natural one, it was artificially made, hope noticed the balconies and the doors and windows and the walls and noticed that some apartments had been built inside a huge ravine on the ground. and it was deep, at least a hundred feet in depth.

if enzo had dropped in, he could have died. not even the slightly weaker gravity could have cushioned his fall. hope took a straight glance down and winced before turning to the captain and patting his shoulder, “ nice reflexes. ”

enzo sighed nervously, “ y-yeah, well, i try. ”

“ so, i’m assuming this is it. a giant hole on the ground, of course, the base would be here, it’s where the red dot is. now, it’s a matter of tracing this fucker down ”, dom said and crouched down slightly just by the edge. hope anxiously moved closer to ensure nothing bad happened. she didn’t want him toppling over the edge. “ should we take a dive inside? ”.

of course, there was only one answer to his question. they had to go in. there must have been at least ten different levels of these apartments and they managed to get into the top one. it was like council estates in the united kingdom, with a balcony shielding the drop down. and below, a basketball court. desolate.

on the top floor, hope looked and saw nothing but doors and doors and broken windows and some other doors. all of them appeared to be broken down or scratched in some way. she frowned and started to walk slowly down the hall.

“ this is something of silent hill, this is creepy and i don’t want to be here ”, enzo muttered under his breath before calling out. “ uh, hope! can we hurry it up a bit? ”.

“ shut up ”, hope snapped and listened out for another sound. the only sound she heard was the pebble hit the ground, nothing else. just utter silence and it was grinding her gears with how cold it was, how desolate and lifeless it was. not even her ship was as lifeless as this . . .

but that’s when she sat it. a door at the very end of the hall. seemingly polished, not at all damaged like the surrounding ones, like the rot didn’t affect it like it wasn’t even supposed to be there. not a hint of rust in the hinges. nothing at all. an ordinary, new, polished door. 

hope hurried her steps and motioned over her shoulder for the group to follow her and they did, so when she reached the door, she set her hand on the handle. and then pushed it down. 

the door beeped.

hope flinched back in fear there was an explosive behind it but it was nothing, it was only the door which slid slowly open. the noise it created was ghastly, like a creature crying out. a creature so bizarre she can’t even compare it to anything. “ that’s definitely gonna wake someone up ”, vivienne uttered. 

“ well, then we should hurry. ”

stepping inside, it was unlike anything hope suspected. she thought it would have been at least cozy, similar to the vintage decorations back home. the way her grandmother used to arrange her furniture. a sense of home. but no, it was like she had stepped inside a spaceship. gulping, she grasped her riffle and nodded to the group after scouting around. 

they had landed in a hall of some sort, a hall going left, right, and forwards. and she didn’t like that. it suggested the idea of splitting up and she was exactly against it. but they were definitely in the puppeteer’s lair, there was no doubt about it.

“ i always say go forward. we’d be going deeper into the ground and away from the apartments in themselves. he’s dug deeper, anyone can see that ”, quinn muttered and stood beside hope for a moment. “ what do you think? ”.

hope rose her brows slightly after sighing, “ well, forwards is the only way to go. no turning back now, not when we’ve come this far. ” she nodded forward and proceeded, hearing the footsteps continue behind her. 

the halls were similar to that of the nebula, silver with lit lines dug into the walls, no lamps required to keep it lit. the floors were polished, some sort of marbles and it was making her footsteps echo, something she didn’t need at that moment. at the end of the hall, there seemed to be a sealed door. 

“ well, that was fun until it lasted ”, enzo snorted before raising his gaze up before humming. “ there’s an opening above us. and judging from these designs, there’s something for us to crawl through. like shafts. anyone want to do the honors first? ”.

hope shrugged and adjusted her backpack and riffle, “ fuck it, why not? ”. enzo reached up quickly and gave the shaft entrance a tap with the butt of his gun and it budged, it could be removed. he pressed harder and the hatch opened completely, more than enough space for her to crawl through.

“ need a hand u— ”.

“ mars has weaker gravity for a reason ”, hope uttered and then jumped, feeling her feet touch the ground. it was like she was lightweight for a second, she grabbed her hands onto the edges and then hauled herself up with the strength she had. she crouched in fear of hitting her head, but she never did. she looked about and blinked. “ uh . . . it’s another hall. ”

enzo scoffed before jumping through himself and climbing onto this new level and looking around. “ well, so much for my james bond movie moment. i always watched to climb through a shaft ”, he complained. hope snorted and rolled her eyes. “ alright, you lot, come through, it’s safe. ”

after the other three had crawled through, hope looked at the two ends of the hallway she could take and bit her lip. “ usually this should be easy, but it’s one way or the other ”, she uttered before standing properly, despite the quiver in her legs that she couldn’t hide. she was shaking, worried. 

ever since she had arrived, it felt like something was digging into her head, telling her to turn back even though she’s never been the type of person to give up halfway. no, she’s never even been the type of person to give up at all. so why was she so willing to drop her weapon right now and run back to her ship like a coward?

“ well, we could split up ”, vivienne suggested whilst crouching to adjust her shoes. “ i know, terrible strategy but we have each other on a call. we can trace each other down and send locations easily. it’ll be easier to trace him down. ”

enzo groaned but then ran a hand through his brown locks and clenched his jaw. “ right, well, not a bad idea at all. i’ve just seen too many horror movies to know how it usually goes down. but we’re capable, w-we’ll be fine ”, he decided and looked towards the captain of the nebula. “ i’ll go with y— ”.

“ no ”, hope interrupted. “ if this guy really forgot to turn his security on today, i’ll get lucky with one shot. one bullet. but if there’s anything else out here, at all, i’ll be able to protect myself from it alone. i can fight, but only alone. you guys work better as a team. if you find him, you can fight together. we have equal chances like this. it’s just better that i remain alone. ”

enzo opened his mouth to say something but seemingly closed it and glared down. he cursed under his breath and moved away. dom stepped up, looking at her with a puzzling look. “ you sure you’re okay going alone? ”, he questioned. 

“ yeah, of course ”.

it took some convincing. in fact, it took a lot of convincing. enzo was hesitant on letting her go by herself but there wasn’t really an element of choice available considering the circumstances they were in. for all she knew, this place was a maze and her memory was better when alone. her senses were better when alone. her fighting was better when alone.

she needed to this alone. so whilst she went forward, they moved back. and even if they went opposite ways, they could potentially end up on opposite sides of the quiet zone. and she wasn’t going to risk it too much, so she paid attention. she gripped the rifle in her hand, ready to use it when the time came.

the door slid open when it sensed her. it really felt like a spaceship, or like she was walking through a voyage base buried deep underground. the end of her rifle rose immediately as she carefully aimed and tiptoed in, and found herself in a wide opening. it was dark, but then a sound beeped and the lights snapped on. just like that. 

hope held her breath.

this was horrifying, but it felt like she was in a storage room. no, a lab. no, a huge hall of some sort with tubes scattered all around, displays of . . . robots. it felt like she had walked into a hall of fame, in which display housing a robot. robots whose models she’s never seen before. it felt like walking through a museum. alone. at night.

but there was a sense of familiarity in these robots. she’s seen something similar to them before, a long time ago, perhaps when she was a kid. or older than that. she looked around, but her guard never dropped. who knew if these things were sentient, aware of her and ordered to get rid of her.

when she thought about it, looking at the models of these robots, built to resemble humans, covered by traces of glowing blue lights over a black, armored body of some sort, she felt like she’d seen them somewhere at least before. perhaps during a meeting with voyage or a picture her father had shown her. 

hope gulped, aiming at them and seeing that there was no other exit nor entrance other than the very one she’d walked through. the door remained wide open and she could very much retreat but something told her to wait. with furrowed brows, she began to look around.

there were military crates stacked around, some laying down on their sides which someone used as a desk, based on the papers scattered and the lamp shining over them. who even uses paper anymore? hope, being a curious soul, picked one piece of paper and saw what appeared to be rough sketches of robotic models drawn. similar to the very ones around. they were all the same, though, and the one on the paper looked a lot more . . . intimidating.

whatever the puppeteer did on a regular basis, she wasn’t aware of. but she most definitely knew that he was fond of making weapons of mass destruction. why else would he make so man—

hope’s heart dropped. she gasped and dropped the piece of paper and bolted for the door but it closed firmly before she even got the chance to reach it. she let out a yelp and started to bang her curled fist into the metal in hopes that it would echo, in hopes that someone, any of the pirates, would hear it.

“ g-guys, guys! come back, guys! don’t go down there, please! come back! ”.

“ well, what do we have here? ”.

hope didn’t turn around at first. every muscle in her body seemed to freeze into ice, stone, whatever. she froze completely, paralyzed with fear. fear. she wasn’t accustomed to being scared, nothing in the universe could make her scared. perhaps death scared her. an early death, to be more specific but she still felt fearful. very fearful.

“ hope, the bounty hunter. top twenty on the list. i mean, you’re on the eleventh place! one more kill and boom, you might end up in the top five ”, the voice continued. hope gulped, feeling her previously frozen muscles begin to tremble. “ oh, don’t avoid my eyes, hope! look at me, let’s see that pretty face. ”

what could she do? if she wasn’t careful, this guy could potentially disintegrate her. fry her. freeze her and then pushed her frozen body to the ground. so she turned, reluctantly but she still turned. her bottom lip quivered and her breathing became erratic. but she still dared to look.

the puppeteer’s face appeared on the screen in front of her, a huge screen tucked into the other side of this enormous room. his face, far from ugly, was ironically terrifying. because he was a beautiful man with dark hair and oval, pale, clear face. lips pouty and jawline sharp. but his eyes . . . oh, his eyes.

they weren’t human, hope wanted to say. they looked far too unreal, far too artificial; two glowing, purples eyes looking right back at her. purple, of all colors, her favorite. it was like staring into an android of some sort, the ones used in modeling. he didn’t look real. but then his lips rose into a sickening grin that left her stomach aching, the food daring to come out.

“ beautiful. at least you’ve got that going for you, good looks. good looks, a decent wit, you also pack quite the punch ”, he uttered softly before paused and smirking. “ but you’re rotten on the inside, aren’t you? oh, i’ve heard all about it. the ice princess, the ice queen, lonely assassin. rubbish names, but i like the one i picked for you. wanna hear it? ”. he laughed suddenly, rather maniacally. “ hopeless. ”

she felt like she was going to faint but she battled to remain awake or at least aware of her surroundings, of the things around her. of her intention and why she was here. wherever this guy was, he most likely wasn’t near her. unless if he was behind the screen . . . literally behind the screen. 

but she didn’t dare to aim and shoot to try, especially as he regained his composure and his expression fell stone-cold once again. “ and now you’re here. all alone. right into my trap. i heard what you said, i’m insulted, actually. i’m quite capable of getting to you myself. but where is the fun in that . . . when i can do, this? ”.

at this, hope felt the ground shake. and the floor not too far away from her, with a circular frame attached to it, began to slide open. and from the ground, a figure seemed to have emerged. ascending. hope held her breath when she saw it was one of the robots. almost identical to the ones on the displays.

except it didn’t feel like it was just a dummy. the helmet it wore seemed to show an led light, lighting up within the shape of a puppet. a normal puppet, a circus puppet. a puppet you would see in the movies. but it was horrifying, the cheeks were large and the smile was crooked and the eyes were wide and staring right into her soul.

it was like something out of her biggest nightmare.

“ oh, this is so exciting! ”, the puppeteer cried and clapped his hands happily. “ marvelous, isn’t it? say hello to the juggernaut. handsome fellow, ain’t he? made him myself. he’s quite fond of games. especially one that includes, let’s say . . . a boomerang. ”

gulping, hope watched as the robot rose its metal arm, letting out small wiring noises as an object came into view. a circular object with inside cut open, it looked like a full boomerang. or like a flying disk of death, especially at the spikes suddenly poked out.

the puppeteer squealed, “ i love it when he does that, he looks like a superhero! eek, i can’t wait to watch this. hope versus the juggernaut. ” he clapped and whistled. “ let the match begin! ”.

hope’s eyes scanned the area and soon she grabbed her rifle as soon as she boomerang was thrown, lunging forward and ducking for cover behind a crater. thank god there was a fuck load of them around the hall. she ducked and saw the bladed boomerang dig into the door it had been thrown towards. seeing how much it had dug into the metal, her stomach dropped.

no, no, she couldn’t die here!

harnessing the courage, hope rose and slammed the rifle over the crate, looming over until she saw the juggernaut. it extended his hand out and the boomerang reeled back, ending up safely in his hand once again. oh, great, magnetism!

rolling her eyes, hope fired one bullet and it managed to see right through the range of the bullet and cut it. cut the bullet in half. “ oh come on! ”, the girl cried and threw her rifle over her shoulder before bolting to the sides, remaining behind the crates at all times.

the impact of lasers being fired in her direction hit the wall in front of her, so she tried to keep her head down unless if she wanted to get it cleaned from her head completely. she peeked once again and the juggernaut aimed its metal arm towards her and throw the boomerang. when it was thrown, before she could duck, she spotted something. something interesting about the object.

and then ducked before she could get her head chopped off. she rolled on her stomach after coming to a clearing and fired another kind of bullet, a stun bullet. and he wasn’t able to cut through it this time, especially with the boomerang gone. “ take that, motherfucker! ”, she yelled when the bullet met its leg. and then it beeped. and then it blew up.

oh, nevermind, that wasn’t a stun bullet, that was a mini grenade.

the leg had been completely blown off and yet the robot managed to remain firmly on its feet, and then it looked at her as if to growl or frown and drew the boomerang back. the juggernaut suddenly lunged and hope threw herself back when it jumped and smashed its fists into the ground.

like some sort of hulk-like move, the ground shook beneath her feet. hope cried out when the grip from the rifle was lost, it ended up flying out of her grip and over to the side of the room, which she wouldn’t be able to reach without getting a limb cut cleanly off. 

“ alright . . . let’s try it another way ”, hope growled and picked herself up from the ground, watching the robot approach slowly. it was heavy, heavy because of its armor so taking a step would take long enough for hope to jump away. and jump, she did. 

on top of a crater and onto another, leaping on top of one and then another, hearing the beams just barely missing her head. grunting, she fought her way across the room and then lunged up and forwards, and a beam just right past a strand of her brown hair, burning it off. 

but she managed to jump back to where her weapon was, leaping, gripping the rifle and rolling back over her shoulder until the soles of her feet met the ground again and her arms rose to aim. and then she fired another bullet. another mini grenade, rather.

it hit one of its arms but it only managed to burn the hand off, not the complete arm. hope growled and rose her rifle once again whilst rushing to take cover, but then the juggernaut threw the boomerang once more and it didn’t hit hope, but it pretty much chopped the top end of her rifle clean.

she gasped, ducking when the boomerang withdrew and a laser struck on the ground just beside her. throwing herself behind another crater, she looked at her rifle, well, what remained of it, and she swore she teared up at that moment. gnarring deeply, hope threw the rifle to the side. 

“ you’re gonna have to pay for that, dipshit ”.

she was going to have to do this properly. and in a potentially suicidal way but it was the only way out of this duel.

“ you know what i love about robots? ”, she dared to ask, and it seemed like even the robot had paused, staring at her. “ that anything they drop, anything at all, ends up being a weapon! ”.

in her grip now was the very leg the robot had lost, which she threw towards the boomerang and instead of reacting, it seemed like he let it happen. when it dropped, they both lunged at the same time for it, but hope had enough power in her to sweep her aching legs beneath the robot’s feet, tripping him up. she cried in pain, forgetting he was made of metal.

but she rolled forward and caught the boomerang. the handle was firm and free of spikes, which was a relief. hope let out a sigh and picked herself up, but grunted when it seemed like the weapon sprung up with a life of its own. and that’s when she realized the juggernaut was reeling back once more and if she got close, it could potentially be the death of her. 

so she caught hold of something and brought herself closer to it, knowing that if she weakened her grip she would end up chopped in half. grunting, she saw the robot pull harder for its boomerang, but at this point, hope’s genius struck again.

“ you want it? ”, she questioned through a strained voice. she smirked painfully before laughing. “ alright, here you go! ”.

she did let go, but not before pulling it and then letting it escape from her fingers. the impact, of course, was like a catapult effect. the harder you pull, the harder and higher it goes. and when the boomerang came back, it struck the robot instead of ending in its grip again.

he cut his own arm off. and without both hands, the boomerang was no use. smirking properly now, hope rose a cocky brow. “ so, should we end this? ”, she questioned, bowing her head in respect before sweeping under his feet and grabbing the boomerang, take advantage of his slowness.

gripping the handle, hope breathed and rose it, before cutting it into the robot’s waist. she cringed at the way the weapon shook at the impact and the gross sound it made, of metal against metal. but she pushed harder until she left a great cut on its back.

kicking it forward, hope watched it stumble and then kicked herself off the ground once again before throwing the boomerang. it cut into the robot’s hip, and then came back to her. she inhaled deeply, avoiding the spikes before going in for the final blow. 

grunting, hope sent the boomerang hunting for the robot’s head. and before it could fall, soon after it was sliced cleanly off, the bounty hunter turned and roundhouse kicked the head across the room. she didn’t care what the head hit. but she liked the sound the impact made.

it was dead, unmoving. staring at its fallen body, the bounty hunter then blinked back into reality. panting for a moment and hunching over to press her hand over her chest, it felt like her heart would give up on her.

“ i-i think i win that one. ”

looking up, hope saw the doors slide open and bolted. she didn’t think to look back at the puppeteer if he had come online once again. she ran for the door and down the hall she had come through and to the other end and when those doors slid open, she let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her shaking hand.

smaller androids, so many of them, with bodies mangled over the ground, bits, and pieces all over, ripped cords and wires spilling onto the marble floor. even if it was nowhere human, hope still felt sick to her stomach.

the pirates were fighting, they looked as if they’d been fighting for hours. she saw enzo stab the blade of his rifle into the chest of an android, she saw vivienne lead some of them into incinerators where they cried out as they burned. she saw dom shooting one of the ground before smashing his boot onto its head. 

“ hope, watch out! ”.

the bounty hunter yelped and snapped back into her senses, throwing the weapon she still held in hand and watching it sweep through four of five androids at the same time. reducing them to scrapes and fillings. the girl exhaled uneasily and then ran to the others when danger seemed to reduce. 

“ what the hell happened?! ”, she cried and then spotted quinn wincing in the corner and gripping his waist. the girl’s eyes widened, throwing herself forward and rushed to the boy before grabbing a hold of him. “ f-fuck, you’re hurt. h-hey, look at me! t-that’s right, keep looking at me! ”.

quinn squinted at the girl and winced. hope frowned and looked at the others quickly whilst trying to keep quinn on his feet. “ he needs immediate help, we need to get out! ”, dom declared, shouting over the mayhem. 

“ but the puppeteer, we haven’t gotten him! ”.

“ quinn’s bleeding out! ”.

enzo seemed willing to keep going, dom was against it, vivienne just ran over to hope and quinn to attempt to help. “ it’s up to hope ”, the young woman said. oh, hope hated that. she hated calling the shots.

she was close to getting to the puppeteer. if they persevered, they would be able to find him in no time. but this place was a maze. they would get lost and quinn would bleed out by the time they got out of here. she was so close to killing the man she had come here for and yet . . .

was she really going to let a kid die for the price of bounty points?

firing a painful look at that boy, hope grimaced and then nodded. “ we’re leaving! get back to the car immediately. hang in there, quinn ”, she told the boy and with vivienne’s aid, she pulled him towards the door and towards the hatchet, the gravity would cushion his descent so not a lot of damage would be done. they needed to hurry back. 

enzo and dom stayed behind briefly to get rid of any more androids that just kept coming like an army of ants. insects seeping through openings and prying their hungry hands towards the humans they’d been ordered to kill.

by the time they were on the surface, quinn could barely stand. so hope did the thing she did best, being strong. she grunted and put the boy on her back, and as painful as it was with some of her own injuries, she fought through. because she wasn’t the one dying, it was him.

the car door opened and hope slid quinn through, sitting him down. “ w-we need to get him to dawn immediately, he needs to get patched u— enzo, dominic, hurry the fuck up! ”, hope screamed, seeing the two bolting towards them. she went inside the car herself and watched vivienne attempt to calm quinn down, he looked fit to throw up. and hope couldn’t blame him.

by the time the car was moving, hope’s breathing was erratic. but she had to stay calm, especially for quinn. the boy was grunting and wincing, hope saw the tears spilling down his now pallid face. he was losing too much blood. “ stay with us, kiddo ”, hope prayed, grabbing his bloodied hand and ignoring the disgusting smell and sensation of the red substance. breathing deeply. in and out. trying not to think of it.

because quinn needed support right now. and all of her past grudges towards the pirates were not relevant at this point. quinn had gotten injured because of her mission because he had come along. and the others could have been hurt as well. what happened? how did the boy get struck?

looking at his injury, through her lightheadedness, hope could see it was a stab wound. so he was stabbed. and it was a deep stab. and she just prayed to god that he hadn’t struck a vital organ.

as the car rushed, hope furrowed her brows into a grimace and squeezed her eyes closed, praying, wishing, hoping. demanding safety, demanding peace. and that this boy would keep breathing and living as soon as he heals.

“ p-please god, i’m praying just this once. please, please keep this boy safe. ”

#chapter 8 #space adventure #space pirates au #original writing #writing

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers Annual #7 + Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2

December, 1977

A joyous various winter type time period for you and yours!

Due to these issues issues coincidentally falling in December and also wanting to get back to the main book as soon as possible, I’m doubling up issues in this post. It’s a Yule-esque miracle, perhaps.

I wanted to get this out last Friday but I couldn’t make it in time before I had to visit my family for pre-Christmas.

Anyway, lets get into it.

The Avengers and Captain Marvel and some jerk named Adam Warlock team up to fight Thanos.

We’ve seen this before but the Avengers got kicked off the field so Drax and Captain Marvel got to hog all the Thanos to themselves. Maybe they’ll get their asses beat by him personally this time.

Dangit, maybe I should have saved this for when Infinity War came out? Eh. I can always cover Infinity Gauntlet. Its Avengers-adjacent.

Without further ado, let us commence without stealing someone’s catchphrase.

We start with Adam Warlock being moody and in space, the two prime facets of his character.

In brief, Adam Warlock was created by evil scientists to be the Perfect Man. He was then beaten near death by Thor and went back to his cocoon. Later, the High Evolutionary named him Warlock, gave him the Soul Gem, and sent him to Counter-Earth to become its champion where he gained the name Adam. Then he became involved in a predestination paradox with his evil future self the Magus and had to murder himself in the future to prevent his evil future self from existing. Thanos helped with this for his own nefarious purposes.

Warlock has been tracking Thanos, following the trail of destruction as it were. But he finds Gamora, Thanos’ most faithful servant.

Gamora is a lot different than in the movies. For one thing, she’s dying.

She discovered his secret plan of Stellar Genocide to wipe out all life and so he left her for dead.

Gamora: “He’s quite mad, you know.”

She says, master of understatement.

Gamora also reveals that the only person Thanos fears is... ADAM WARLOCK.

Warlock swears he’ll hunt down Thanos. But he won’t do it alone. bwoop. His forehead jewel eats Gamora’s soul. As it do.

He also scream exposits at no-one that he thought Thanos was a friend but Chaos and Order whispered to him while he slept that Thanos was a betrayer and also that Warlock is the Champion of Life, the natural foe to Thanos, Champion of Death.

Usually its worrying when voices tell you not to trust your friends but Warlock is kind of intense so I won’t tell him if you won’t.

Shouting into the void done, Warlock heads off to Earth. Which is a good segue for the Avengers portion of this Avengers Annual.

It is a dark and stormy night. Iron Man is brooding by the window. Scarlet Witch is trying to get Vision to go talk to him. And Beast has revised his policy on kissing and telling with Cap apparently into it.

Scarlet Witch finally convinces Vision to talk to Iron Man by basically saying they’re the same kind of stubborn stoic jerk who hides their emotions and Vision is like fine geez good logic.

Iron Man doesn’t really have an answer to give though. He just has a foreboding feeling.

Iron Man: “It’s just that ever since I arrived here tonight, I’ve had this unexplainable feeling of danger -- of forces at play about me. I don’t want to be here but I can’t bring myself to leave!”

Captain Marvel: “That’s because you are meant to be here this night, just as we are.”

CAPTAIN MARVEL (not those ones) AND MOONDRAGON!

Coming in through the window. And dripping on the carpet. Because fuck politeness, amirite?

It took all of my willpower to not edit this panel to have Tony say “Iron nipples... rigid! They sense danger!”

Because why would you choose that panel and pose to detail his chest dials?

I wonder how awkward it is for Iron Man and Moondragon to be in the same room. He was kind of an ass to her the majority of the short time she was on the team. And then she sabotaged his new roster by quitting and then convincing Thor and Hellcat to also quit.

Maybe that’s why it seems like they’re glaring at each other. Or perhaps Tony is just mad she’s taller than him.

Anyway, weird feelings are going around because Captain Marvel and Moondragon were also drawn to the mansion with a premonition that their powers would be needed.

This same premonition must have also drawn part-time Avenger Thor here.

‘No, I just wanted to hear stories about Beast’s love life. Now was this hair curling an euphemism or did grooming serve as foreplay in this encounter?’ Thor might have said.

Okay. Maybe I’m curious. Don’t judge me.

Anyway, the Avengers and guests ponder what kind of horror might be approaching that would need such an assemblage to stop.

A few hundred light-years away, a Playstation rendered TIE Fighter shoots a beam at a star and then the star kerplooies.

And a few hundred light-years back, Moondragon feels millions of voices cry out in terror and then were suddenly silenced.

I’m not being flippant. She basically Obi-wans.

Beast is being flippant. Doing card tricks and laughing off the idea of psychic screams and talking winds. This from the guy who was on a team with Professor X and Jean Grey. Won’t be laughing once Jean pulls the same shit on a different star, I tell you that.

He also won’t be laughing right now because Adam Warlock appears out of nowhere just to sass Beast.

I truly believe Adam Warlock’s true superpower is drama. He’s even got his own weird speech bubble quirk.

Anyway, he’s another person for this assemblage. But he also brings word of their common foe: THANOS.

Apparently it was supposed to be sort of a surprise? They haven’t said his name until now but if you’ve read any of the stuff Adam Warlock appeared in you’d recognize that Gamora worked for Thanos and the distinctive shape of Thanos’ ship, which is not actually a poorly rendered TIE Fighter. Its actually much bigger.

If you haven’t read any of the previous Adam Warlock stuff well then sucks to be you. He’s barely introduced here in this Avengers book.

But Thanos? Thanos gets a whole page of recap and introduction. By Adam Warlock. His best frenemy.

What’s weird is that apparently everyone is making faces like ‘yeah we know all this already’ and Warlock sees those faces but just keeps plunging on anyway.

So yeah we get through the stuff where he turned into a giant wireframe head in space and Captain Marvel chopped a Cosmic Cube to bits.

Now apparently Thanos is one of those villains who doesn’t think they could possibly lose but sets up some contingencies just in case. See also: Ultron.

Being ungodded left Thanos floating helplessly in space. And apparently he can breath in space. But then his not TIE-ship retrieved him and he began scheming anew.

But here’s the problem (from Thanos’ perspective): Death abandoned him for his failure. So he decided he needed a grand romantic gesture to win her back. Aka: where most of Thanos’ horrible atrocities start.

And on a scroll from a dead world, he found his answer. And the answer is what his answer always is. Gathering the six shiny things.

Yup.

This is the first time Thanos gathers the Soul Gems. Later to be called Infinity Gems once Thanos in a later story realizes he kind of underestimated them.

Actually the Infinity Gems got a bit of play before they were revealed to be Collect Them All Become God powerful. The Elders once tried to use them to kill Galactus because they were mad he was older than they were.

We get a brief montage of Thanos retrieving all the Gems. Stealing one from the Stranger, liberating another from a prison satellite, finding one in a cave, getting one as an epic drop from killing a monster named Xiambor, and finding one on the Moon because of course there’s one on the Moon.

The final one he was afraid to make a grab for because it was Adam Warlock’s Soul Gem and could steal Souls.

Instead, Thanos pretended to be his friend, worked together with him to defeat Warlock’s evil future self Magus because comics, and secretly siphoned off some energy from Warlock’s forehead bling without Warlock even knowing.

And then he transferred those energies and the energies of the other five Gems into a giant synthetic Gem. A truly, truly outrageous plan.

Truly a better telling of how he collected six things then the full miniseries that preceded Infinity Gauntlet and was just Thanos being smarter, stronger and more handsome than anyone else ever. I heard Thanos was shredded. I heard he had an eight pack. Etc.

When Gamora discovered that he planned on blowing up every star, she tried to backstab him but she was no match alas.

So most of this exposition Warlock learned by eating her soul with his forehead.

Meanwhile, hundreds of light years away, Pip the Troll arrives at Thanos’ Sanctuary ship to pay the “old gang” a visit. Nobody seems to be home so Pip loudly talks to himself, objectifying Gamora and insulting Thanos and basically digging himself into a hole.

I mean, in fairness, Thanos would have killed him either way. Now that he doesn’t need to pretend to be nice to Warlock, there’s no need to be civil to Pip either.

Lets just assume that something bad happens off-screen. Because we are changing scenes again.

So we have Thanos a) doing something crazy as a grand romantic gesture for Death and b) gathering several powerful gems. What’s next on our Thanos bingo game?

Invading Earth with a giant space armada? -checks- Yup.

And its such a giant space armada its twice the size of the giant Skrull armada from the Kree-Skrull War. These imaginary numbers are way bigger than those imaginary numbers!

(How does Thanos keep getting people to sign up with him if he inevitably leads them to their deaths and then laughs at them??)

The Avengers prepare to go fight an entire space armada by themselves again (seriously, start building space defenses, the Earth). And Adam Warlock just skips out without so much as a goodbye.

As the heroes prepare to go into battle we get some good character beats from each of them. And they each kind of lead into each other. Its good stuff.

Moondragon ponders how Thanos always shatters any peace she finds. Later on down the line, he even interrupts a date with her girlfriend. Thanos is the worst. Anyway, he also killed her family and caused her to be adopted by Mentor of Titan so really he’s always been screwing up her life.

Iron Man grapples with fear. He’s going to fight Thanos for a fourth time and wonders if he should have his head examined. Each time he’s fought Thanos he barely survived. And the last time the Avengers fought Thanos, they were only able to thwart his schemes. They didn’t even fight the man. Are the Avengers just heading for an unmarked grave among the stars?

(Maybe I should have saved this for Infinity War, geez)

Captain Marvel ponders how little they truly know about Thanos. And also he hugged Death and still lives. Whats the deal with that?

Thor is just thinking ‘man its about time I get to deck this Thanos fellow in the face.’

Vision wondering if decking Thanos will even win the day. Thanos is in effect a mutant demi-god. Because apparently the Titans of Titan are an evolved offshoot of the gods of Olympus. Which I guess makes Hercules and Thanos related? And also, wuh?

Captain America wishes they had more information about Thanos’ firepower and plans. But also suspects that Warlock knew more than he let on. Which will continue to be Cap’s frustration every time he ever works with Adam Warlock, who tends to use the superheroes of Marvel as disposable pawns in his inscrutable chess games.

Beast wonders who Adam Warlock even is. He was skeptical about this whole thing until he looked in Warlock’s eyes, the eyes of someone who has seen life, death, and infinity.

Scarlet Witch though is thinking that Adam Warlock is totally evil and that he and his Soul Gem could one day prove to be their foe.

And hey. She isn’t even wrong. Because Adam Warlock’s Evil side the Magus tries to take over the universe. And his ostensible Good side? She tries to KILL EVERYONE.

I sometimes think Adam Warlock only ever falls mostly on the side of good because of spite against people that side with evil.

And then the time for pondering ends. GIANT SPACE FLEET.

God. What a spread.

The Avengers really should start evolving their strategies against massive space invasions because the plan is still to send Thor and Iron Man out the airlock to dogfight spaceships individually while the Avengers’ shuttlecraft makes a run for Thanos’s H-shaped flagship.

A massive laser cannon aimed at space would be really helpful right now but some jerk time traveler never lets us have one.

Oh. And this is kind of a suicide mission. In that the Avengers looked at the odds and thought welp we’re boned. And decided to snatch victory from the jaws of numerical disadvantage anyway even in dying.

Wait, where the shit is Wonder Man? He usually has something to say about the Avengers grimly and dutifully marching off to their deaths. Usually of the ‘I wish that were me I me I don’t want to die but I do kind of want to retain dignity while I rush into death anyway.’

Anyway. Thor starts breaking space stuff FOR MIDGARD! FOR ASGARD! FOR LIFE! while Iron Man... has to be more indirect. Since repulsors are laser punches, he uses them to redirect the enemy’s ionic rays back into their allies.

Although if you think about it, hitting a spaceship going as fast as it is with a punch laser would probably punch a hole in the hull. No sense putting an extra step into it.

And technically with no sound in space, this would be more accurate:

Just Thor loudly screaming nothing as aliens asphyxiate.

Anyway.

With exactly two people running distraction (even though Captain Marvel can also fly through space I guess they need to keep some muscle to fight Thanos), the Avengers reach Sanctuary II.

Creating a kind of seal with the bomb bay doors somehow, Captain Marvel blasts a hole in the hull.

Beast: “I imagine a small army of aliens is waiting below to massacre us.”

Captain America: “So what are we waiting for, Avengers? LET’S GO!”

Nice.

Just wading hip deep into an army of alien malcontents. Now that’s cosmic.

If Avengers: Infinity War doesn’t have Vision fist a crocodile man, then the Marvel Cinematic Universe has failed.

Anyway, the Avengers do their Avenger things. Beast acrobats around and makes the wise-cracks.

Vision just stands still and lets someone shoot through him. As I get further and further into this liveblog I realize more and more how much Vision can just passively win battles and realize where Wonder Man got the idea from during his pacifism phase.

Scarlet Witch does a probability hex at a pig/bug/devil alien wearing no pants but wearing boots and a belt and bling to make his gun hand explode.

Moondragon smugly asserts that she needs no help. And she also reaches an armament control panel so she can turn the Sanctuary II’s guns against the rest of the fleet.

Also, there’s a giant cyborg space ape named QU’LAR THE MASSIVE.

He lasts for exactly two panels before Captain Marvel tells him to sit on it and possibly ruptures every one of Qu’lar’s organs.

Related to this, it strikes Captain Marvel that things have been a bit too... easy. It was too easy to get through the Sanctuary II’s hull. Too easy to reach it in the first place. And too easy to beat up Thanos’ forces.

If Thanos wanted to stop them, wouldn’t he be throwing worse at them?

He barges into the ship’s central section expecting the other shoe to drop.

Oh hey. Its empty. Well, except for Adam Warlock and Pip the Troll.

Adam Warlock: “His name was Pip, and he was my friend. Perhaps my only friend. He was joy and light to my darkness and damnation. He was unique among the heavens... and Thanos destroyed his mind and left him for me to find. First Gamora, now Pip. All about me those I love are falling. This cannot be allowed to go on. Nor, by my Gem, shall it!”

And Adam Warlock om nom noms Pip the Troll’s soul.

Alas, Pip. You were. Someone who existed. And who I have no strong feelings about at all. I guess Warlock’s Good side trying to kill everyone makes more sense if Pip was his idea of joy and light.

Anyway, by eating Pip’s soul, Warlock now knows what Thanos is really up to. Because Thanos did the villain thing and monologued his plans before destroying Pip’s brains. And Warlock absorbed that knowledge when he ate his soul.

So why did Thanos brag about his plans and then leave Pip’s husk for Warlock to find and learn from? Shrug. Thanos planting the seeds to his own destruction is ridiculously common even at this point. Its why he becomes a farmer later. He got so much experience with planting.

Anyway, Thanos is in an exact replica of his ship (Sanctuary III?) on the other side of the sun. The flagship and the fleet and all was just a distraction.

Of course, the fleet lured the Avengers out here in the first place. If he had just snuck up on the sun and destroyed it, he might have gotten away with it. More seed planting, perhaps.

But even as Warlock and Marvel approach the apparent real Sanctuary II, it fires its Starkiller at the Sun and starts suncrushing it.

The Sun goes red and purple and begins to flare. Eight minutes later, some astronomers are really going to freak.

But not if Captain Marvel has anything to say about it! He full-speed rams into the ion-laser projector that Thanos’ big synthetic Soul Gem was housed on.

I mean, maybe aim for the big gem next time, Marv?

Because Thanos is like oh darn I guess I’ll just replace the projector and get back to murdering stars?

Then Adam Warlock finally catches up and proclaims that he’s going to kill Thanos.

He gets one punch in before Thanos counterattacks and mortally wounds Warlock.

And since he’s dying anyway, Thanos asks if he’ll rely a message to Death.

Thanos: “Tell her I follow shortly behind you, bringing an offering of undreamed of magnitude... the stars!”

-Warlock plops to the ground, probably not going to deliver that message at all-

Thanos actually seems kind of disappointed on how smoothly this is going. He expected the Champion of Life to be more of a challenge.

THEN THOR AND IRON MAN BURST IN

Because its just one thing after another with heroes.

While Thor and Thanos exchange fisticuffs and... hammercuffs? Iron Man decides to attack the big shiny thing. Because he for one knows you attack the weak point for massive damage.

With the giant synthetic Soul Gem decided, Thanos’ plans and his chance to regain his love’s favor have been thwarted.

He teleports away, vowing that they’ve earned his enmity and will have few remaining minutes of life.

But I’m sure that everything is fine and will continue to be fine forever.

So now what?

Captain Marvel wakes up, probably with a horrible headache, after his face first tour of Thanos’ projector. And he sees Warlock talking to Warlock?

Whaaaaaaaaaat?

Okay, so context. In the Adam Warlock comic, Adam Warlock traveled into the future to absorb his own soul to keep his future self from becoming his evil future self the Magus.

In-universe, this only happened months ago. And also right now.

But the months have felt like an eternity to Adam Warlock as everything he has ever loved or accomplished has fallen to ruin or died. His whole life has been a failure and he welcomes its end.

So Adam Warlock om nom noms his own soul.

And goes back to his present to live out the events that will lead him to getting his soul eaten by himself.

All the while having the soul of Adam Warlock inside and outside the soul gem.

COSMIC!

Having watched this all, Captain Marvel is mostly confused. As is anyone else who didn’t read the Adam Warlock series.

Even with Thanos’ plan to kersplode the sun thwarted, his forces still prove a threat so Thor, Marvel, and Iron Man decide to head back over to the fake Sanctuary II to help the other Avengers.

What to do with Adam Warlock’s body? Eh. Leave it. He’s at peace now. And he’ll peacefully rot in space. Probably like he always dreamed.

Or maybe give him a proper burial?

Throughout Marvel’s conversation with the two Avengers, a green-hued Warlock has been coming to terms with life after death.

Being absorbed into the Soul Gem means being reunited with everyone it has eaten. Gamora. Pip. Some other people probably from Adam Warlock’s own mag. And the realm within the Soul Gem is a land of peace where all can live as one and share a collective memory and heart.

A land where hearts are an open book, where understanding is bred, and the ego is muted. In the Soul Gem there can only be love.

Not bad for a piece of jewelry normally portrayed as evil and voracious.

So a happy ending for Adam Warlock. And a happy ending for the Sun. And a happy ending for the Avengers who decided that they’re not doing any corpse disposal. Happy ending for everyone except Thanos whose grand romantic gesture was thwarted and the idiots he always manages to inspire to follow him who are getting their teeth punched in by the Avengers.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

December, 1977

I’m not ashamed to say that one of my favorite comic book tropes is when someone hits someone with someone. But only if they’re using said person as a bludgeon. Throwing the person is the coward’s way out.

So last time: Just scroll up. Thanos was going to blow up the Sun but Iron Man blew up his bling and Adam Warlock achieved his fondest desire and died.

This time: Peter Parker’s plot senses are tingling.

He senses... that a crossover needs him.

His plot sense also recap the events of the Avengers Annual issue and-

is that an upside down cyclops? What the heck!

Uh, anyway. Yeah. Just a recap of the Avengers Annual. Which is mighty obliging. A less scrupulous writer would have dropped a brief text recap and made you buy the issue to find out what happened.

Anyway, Peter’s dream goes beyond just the events of Avengers Annual #7. He starts dreaming of THINGS NOT ON PANEL. Except now they’re on panel because he’s dreaming of them.

Also, I lied. Its not Peter’s plot sense that's tingling. Moondragon just beamed a recap into his dreams.

After Avengers Annual #7, Thanos teleported back over to the other Sanctuary II where the Avengers were still fighting his diverse crowd of alien jerks (why do villains always believe in diversity more than the heroes do?).

With some actual leadership, they go from being an ineffectual mob mostly existing to make the Avengers look cool to a fighting machine.

In five panels, the fight turns against the Avengers and they all lie defeated.

Well, except for the away team of Captain Marvel, Thor, and Iron Man.

They take an additional page to defeat.

Thanos goes right from organizing his mob in their defeat of the Avengers to an armament control console with no time for gloating in between (which you know is very hard for Thanos) and blasts Thor, Captain Marvel, and Iron Man while they’re flying back towards the fake Sanctuary II.

I was going to joke that its because this isn’t an Avengers book that the Avengers can be totally stomped in two pages. But that’s just their life, isn’t it? Even in their own book they aren’t free of getting taken out humiliatingly easy, are they?

Thanos then had all the unconscious heroes put in stasis beams. Y’know that thing where the heroes are all lined up in a row but unable to move but there aren’t any obvious restraints? Well this time it works by keeping the heroes a micro-second out of sync with reality.

Without the giant synthetic Soul Gem, Thanos can’t blow up every star. But with the Soul Gem on the dead deceased corpse of Adam Warlock, maybe he can still blow up a star. And conveniently, he happens to be near a pretty one called Sol.

Maybe just blowing up the one star in Marvel that matters will be enough to appease death.

And then Peter wakes up, the recap portion of this recap over.

He only wonders why Moondragon chose him to send this message to. He’s a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man not a powerhouse or cosmic dude.

And we cut to Master Order and Lord Chaos basically being to blame. Their game against Death goes poorly and they’re forced to put their reserves in play.

I.e. Spider-Man and Ben Grimm, the Thing.

Because Spider-Man realizes ‘hey wait I can’t webswing into space, I need to borrow a spaceship’

And he knows just who to borrow one from.

Cue a funny moment where Spider-Man startles the Thing while he’s engrossed in reading Salem’s Lot causing him to accidentally inhale his cigar.

Oh what shenanigans you get up to, Peter.

But he gets the Thing to stop complaining about Spider-Man disrespecting the security system by shouting at him to STFU. Ben realizes that maybe Spider-Man has troubles.

So he pours Peter some coffee and listens to his story. And immediately asks what Peter has been smoking. Old tennis shoes maybe?

Which is. Ben knows that real drugs exist, right?

But since Peter is serious about it Ben figures what the heck. There’s an experimental spaceship he was supposed to test-pilot when he got the chance and now’s as good a time as any.

Spider-Peter doesn’t really have... exact directions but the spaceship’s tracking systems will track down Thanos’ ship if its up there.

Spider-Man: “If? Still have your doubts, then?”

The Thing: “About your story? Perish forbid such a thought. How could anyone doubt the word of a man in blue and red leotards who crawls on walls?”

Police, I’d like to report a murder.

But despite Ben’s skepticism, they find Thanos’ giant H on the very next page.

The Thing: “Appears like I was wrong about you this time, Spidey. My apologies.”

Spider-Man: “What do you mean ‘this time’?”

The Fantastispacecraft gets caught in a tractor beam and dragged inside the giant H (for Hate?). Ben kicks the door of his spaceship out so he can immediately go out and start punching some space goons.

Thus making the ship nonviable for a return trip. Good thinking, Ben!

Spider-Man joins in the goon punching, although he admits that monster bashing isn’t his usual comfort zone. But if he fights the small fries which basically look like weird people then he should be good.

He’ll let the Thing fight the giant space serpent.

AND USE THE SPACE SNAKE TO HIT PEOPLE WITH. That’s what I’m talking about, Ben!

Meanwhile, Thanos watches this on a monitor. He must be wondering how many heroes he aggroed today. They just keep showing up.

So he has the gravity turned off in the chamber Spider-Man and Thing are in. That’ll show them.

And Thanos’ men, who I guess trained for just this sort of contingency, waste no time blasting Spider-Man and the Thing while they’re discombobulated.

Its a bit of a shame. I wanted to see if Spider-Man would try to use his webs. A much later comic than this made the point that without gravity, Spider-Man’s webbing would splurt out instead of thwip out in nice lines. I wanted to see if that would be used here, decades before the first time I saw it.

Meanwhile, Master Order and Lord Chaos continue to commentate on the crossover. Another round goes to Death with Spider-Man and the Thing temporarily out of play. Still, they both expected this.

Summoning Spider-Man and the Thing was a ploy to get Adam Warlock back on the field from the emerald hill zone.

Meanwhile, in the land of emerald skies (they look purple actually) and green hills, Adam Warlock exposits about recent events.

Yup. He sure died. And now he lives in the Soul Gem, a paradisaical world where he can forget about his worries and his strife. All within the Soul Gem are one and live in harmony for harming another would be harming oneself. Yup, afterlife in the Soul Gem is good and will remain good forever.

Elsewhere and while, Spider-Man and the Thing wake up at the foot of the hero display case and/or stasis beam.

Thanos didn’t get the chance to gloat earlier so he’s seizing the opportunity now.

His henchaliens are preparing stasis beams for Thing and Spider-Man but in the meanwhile, look at how awesome Thanos is. He collected the Avengers better than the Collector ever did. Suck it, old man.

Spider-Man decides to hear Thanos out, hoping that encouraging Thanos to ramble will give them time to plan. And Thanos knows he’s being played but what the hell, he loves to hear himself talk.

So he explains to the heroes that he’s having another stellar projector prepared which will use the Soul Gem’s power to cause the Sun to go nova (but not that one. Or that one. Marvel has a lot of Novas).

And then he explains that he’s doing this as a grand romantic gesture for Death. Recaps how he fell out of her favor by fucking up his plan to become god with the cosmic cube. But anyway, yeah, thats why the Sun and countless lives on Earth must die. So Death will be really impressed with him.

Ben Grimm doesn’t find that a good motivation so he punches Thanos in the dick.

Thanos just no-sells it and purple energy blasts the Thing unconscious.

Annnnnd Spider-Man realizes he’s out of his league so when Thanos asks him if he wants a turn, he just webswings away.

Thanos: “WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

Spider-Man: “Leaving! This is the Avengers’ hassle.”

For some reason, Thanos takes exception to this and orders his alien mooks to bring back Spider-Man’s head.

Except now what? He doesn’t know how to fly spaceships so he can’t just steal the Thing’s ride (also its no longer air tight). He can’t stay here, he’ll just get killed. But he can’t go back to Earth because if Thanos blows up the Sun, Earth will get a whole lot less hospitable.

So if he’s dead either way, he might as well stay. And if he’s staying, he might as well do something. But he can’t fight Thanos directly. He’d sweep the floor with Spider-Man and probably any hero Spidey knows.

Except.... maybe Thor?

Okay, good plan. Good plan. Free Thor. Save the world. Have everything be good forever. Spidey is glad he talked himself out of that blind panic spiral.

Meanwhile, another Master Order and Lord Chaos intermission. They sure are glad that Spider-Man didn’t let his self-preservation overrule his strong heart.

So Spider-Man loops back around to where Thanos showed him his Avengers collection. And darn, Thanos is still there. And also he changed his mind. He’s not adding Spider-Man to his collection now. So there.

Spider-Man decides the thing to do is smash the stasis beam projector WITH HIS BODY.

So the Avengers wake up and immediately charge Thanos. While Spider-Man limply hangs half out of the machinery. Oh, and the Thing woke up by this point too.

That’s some quality Assembling! Good job, Spider-Man. Probably fracturing half of your bones was worth it.

Thanos summons his army of mooks and we get down to a real rumble.

Weird that apparently Adam Warlock will be needed to resolve this scenario. Thing and Thor seem to be thumping Thanos pretty effectively while the rest of the heroes keep the small fry off their backs.

And the other heroes are playing it very strategically. Captain Marvel is keeping an eye on the overall crowd composition so that one of the heroes can go and bust up any attempt to build up or consolidate a position.

Yeah, I’d say this is in the bag.

But just as Thor and Thing are still kicking Thanos’ ass and looking good doing it, Thanos eye beams Thing unconscious and puts Thor on the ropes.

Dangit.

Spider-Man regains consciousness, still stuck hip deep in some defunct machinery and realizes that he must Do Something. In fact, he feels as if everything depends on the decision he makes next.

In happy paradise green land, Adam Warlock is struck with a terrible migraine and realizes that the plot needs him for one last hurrah.

Spider-Man’s spider-sense spider-leads him to notice Adam Warlock’s Soul Gem, encased in a glass globe.

So obviously he should break that, right?

Yeah.

And with the Soul Gem freed from containment, Adam Warlock manifests as a naked fire man and proclaims himself the Ultimate Avenger.

(Was Adam Warlock ever in the Ultimate Universe? I can only think if he was, his re-imagining would have been endlessly disappointing.)

And Ultimate Avenger Adam Warlock (with kung fu action grip) could not rest while Thanos remains a threat to the universe.

And Ultimate Avenger Adam Warlock is so very, very tired and wants to rest. So Thanos will have to go.

So Ultimate Avenger Adam Warlock takes Thanos for granite because that’s just something Ultimate Avenger Adam Warlock can do.

Fuck you, I don’t have to explain anything. Its cosmic.

Which leaves just the cleanup.

Thanos’ army immediately surrenders.

Which is a good decision for them because they’re probably going to get released with no punishment aside from the hits they’ve already taken.

Spidey objects but Captain Marvel asks what he would suggest doing with them? Put them in Earth jail? That’s ridiculous, Spider-Man. You ludicrous radioactive Spider-Man.

I guess.......... space jail isn’t an option for some reason? They’re kind of accessories to the destruction of a star and conspiracy to commit another star murder.

When Jean Grey and/or the Phoenix did that it was a whole to-do but I guess its just okay this time because it didn’t personally inconvenience the Shi’ar?

Maybe Captain Marvel is just lazy and doesn’t want to do the considerable amount of paperwork it would take to arrest an army.

No Sam Vimes this Mar-Vell.

Perhaps realizing they were dicks before, the Avengers decide to actually have a funeral for Adam Warlock. They bury him on some random space rock.

And they leave his Soul Gem right on his grave for anyone to steal. WHICH HAPPENS AND CAUSES INFINITY GAUNTLET.

Geez, the Avengers. Geez.

Also according to his tombstone, Adam Warlock was only ten years old. He was a melancholic child.

Later, aboard the fake Sanctuary II which was apparently Sanctuary III all along and maybe you could have mentioned that earlier and prevented a lot of name confusion for me, personally.

Spider-Man mourns the loss of Adam Warlock. He didn’t know him that well but the universe feels much emptier without him.

And the Thing suggests they check to see if Sanctuary III had a coffee pot anywhere. SPACE COFFEE (do not drink in space).

And within the Soul Gem, Adam Warlock resigns himself to living in paradise free of any strife, problems or pain. Or darn. Well he’ll manage.

And the Thanos statue cries because Death doesn’t love him. And also petrification is often portrayed as a living death so he doesn’t even get to be with his crush.

Phew.

Two annuals back to back was a bad idea. And almost nobody is even going to read this today because I have almost nobody that even reads these on a non-holiday day and today is Christmas so people are probably going to be with families and singing to the Christmas raptor.

Well. Here it is anyway. The last stand of Adam Warlock.

And that’s the major thing to bring up.

This is Avengers Annual and Marvel Two-in-One Annual. A book about the Avengers and a book about the Thing and his amazing friends. But the story that spans these two issues is about Adam Warlock. The others are just along for the ride.

The giant cosmic space heads even say as much. Spider-Man is only here to get the real star of the show on stage. The Thing is only here because this is his team-up book (and because Spidey needs transportation).

Its kind of a tendency of Adam Warlock to make any story about him. Both in and out of universe. He’s kind of self-absorbed.

Whether you like these stories probably comes down to whether you like Adam Warlock. Because on this day the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the Thing took the backseat to the space messiah who hated to wear pants.

Other than that? Pretty good.

A good Thanos plan. An intentional downgrade from his plan to become god in terms of ambition. But possibly even worse because he planned to blow up every star just to get Death sempai-dono to notice him.

This is the end for Thanos for a while. He’s still a stone statue during the Death of Captain Marvel in 1982. Thanos doesn’t stop being stoned until 1990.

People that didn’t read Adam Warlock’s book probably don’t really get why Thanos was most scared of this golden brooder but I think turning into a naked fire man and turning Thanos to stone is context enough.

So happy and merry whatever. Next time I get back to the main book but we’re still going to have the Avengers storming a giant thing in space.

During this time in their lives, the Avengers just storm giant space things more often than typical.

#Avengers #Thanos #Iron Man #the Vision #Scarlet Witch #Thor #Captain America #Beast #Adam Warlock #Captain Marvel #Moondragon #the Thing #Spider Man #Marvel Two in One #Essential Avengers #Essential marvel liveblogging #I've already said plenty words #happy this time of the year

[negativefate]

rambling stream of consciousness essay i wrote to myself dec 29, 2014

listening to harsh noise music while driving down the highway i had just taken off at 630 from my house and before that woken up at 5 to get ready and finish cleaning the last set of things and before that leaving a party at kevins house and not telling anyone that i wasn't going to be there for new years and causing disappointment and before that seeing a show at dead leaf with a great 8bit band at the end and before that walking back and forth to the liquor store to get some beer and before that awkwardly getting dinner after my cousin came to visit when we probably should have gotten dinner with them and then before that i am cleaning up the basement again, organizing stupid cables, making a couple old devices work which is fun, but is it worth the time spent even? if not, then is my time on this planet even fucking worth it or am i just making trash like i believe these actual physical well designed objects that come to my home are so jump to me landing in kansas city and here i put on a tape just to get in the mood again i get there only an hour after landing i clumsily look up directions to get to jacks house on my phone i find there’s a bus that gets me there for fuckin a dollar fifty and i give them 2 and they give me a ticket for 50 cents back i ride the bus and i'm pretty tired for lack of sleep, and we drive through some weird semi industrial areas that are sparsely developed yet there are people getting on and off the bus fairly consistently i almost don't even notice who is getting on and off and at one point i look back to the back of the bus and see that i don't remember hardly any of the people getting on one person is looking back at me with a mousey face i typify some of these midwest people's looks certain women especially have a certain look that just reminds me of various nondescript porn actresses or something i start reading a economics book and it talks about oil prices and how scarcity reflects prices and is a major signal to the economy it is an interesting point of view but i look for holes in the logic because it seems obviously presenting a plain vewpoint it is clear that the US for example doesn't give a fuck about scarcity or perhaps the signalling system is so degraded that there is a runaway development the roads are overbuilt the cars are overrunning the roads if i take the face value economic view that this is a supply and demand problem i see it as a very perverse value system that rewards wasting they clearly even mention that soviet economies have gross inefficiencies and if we reflect on our own inefficiency it's clear to see that we are not perfect i feel that the author should have made this more clear i notice that i passed a street that i saw on my map (wyanadote) and while i didn't think it was "already" time to get off, several people are standing for several city blocks instead of sitting waiting to get off therefore I realize perhaps we're at a central location and certainly we are I stumble a couple blocks from the "main transit center" to another crossing on wyanodote, and i pass several office buildings with retail space that is broken down on the first floors first an eye doctor shop, filled with eye product ads but being torn to pieces otherwise then a sandwich shop, with dark cloudy windows and closed signs and a vibe of a previous generations comfort food when i reach the bustop at the streets that i had spotted on my map i was pleased and the troost bus came almost instantly i didn't understand how to scan my transfer so the lady did it for me, and i was acting bashful she was wondering if i knew it was the troost bus and i said yes i was wondering if that question was loaded i rode the bus in the front and looked at all the people that got on and off as we went towards jacks house we passed a row of two story townhouses that were red and white and repetitive that just looked like a dead end life situation for successful people i remembered my talk with my dad about retirement plans and investing money and about how i was literally thinking of blowing my brains out rather than do that and how i was yet again thinking about suicide in the bus i didn't even take it seriously but the vividness of me blowing my fucking head off was really awful i finally started recognizing some troost landmarks and scrambled off the bus i gave my ticket to a guy that wanted a transfer and he lamented being late for the bus that i just got off i don't know how to respond to this very well but wished him luck i walked up to jacks house and there are birds and squirrels and life just running wild there it is bright and sunny though a bit chilly (maybe 40 deg) and all these animals just were simply flourishing i walk inside through a couple closed doors and find my keys in the decorative chicken ornament i was surprised to also find several condoms inside the chicken, which was really amusing (e.g. the rooster...cock...haha) then i sat for a minute and petted the cat i wondered why the cat wasn't outside killing all the abundant wildlife whatever i was wearing three jackets because i was convinced that frontier would charge me for stuffing my jacket in my backpack and making it oversized in reality they didn't appear to care but they charge 50 dollars for a goddamn carry on that wasn't declared so i didn't risk it so i take off several layers and start my car i find where i left several of the christmas presents that I had meant to bring back home in the trunk and sort of kick myself for it i consider taking my car to a dealership to get it fixed up but have no idea where i also consider getting some food somewhere but decide to just hit the road i'm fairly tired still so i decide the stop off at fast food a couple miles out of town during the ride i am listening to some shitty talk radio about some guys that are talking about their "online trading academy" for stock trading i pull over and get some mountain dew, burrito and gasoline. slurping reality blub sucker is all i am at that moment. i do a couple stretches but it doesn't really feel very good. i am still listening to the radio in the parking lot and i notice that they replay recorded segments of themselves suggesting it is not at all a live show. at that point i decide it's time to blast the "white eye of winter" cassette and just start driving. i decide intentionally to start making stream of consciousness analogies to the noises instead of just letting it wash over me in some nonverbal stupidity i realize music journalists are probably better than me at this but i take some interest in just naming the feelings that i get so I'll repeat that hear a full spectrum white wash starts and then quickly gets crushed into a rumbling full force debase attack that's totally intentional about getting a skull crushing sound "large numbers of priests that were administrating the gulags were arrested and presumed killed" "others were sent to the labor camps...and suffered more slowly...assumed to be part of stalins fringe" a demented drum sound with a short delay time and extremely high feedback pounds and is absorbed by a sea-worthy hiss that fuzzes out and pounds once again to a deep drum a wind swept saturation takes hold and kills everything around it dead leaves litter the ground like there was never life anyways a thin veneer on the surface of our planet oscillations that never even really meant anything the dark fades away...like a comet that is completely grey....without color next a dirty fucking liquid sounds like it's being squeezed through a rubber feeding tube and a vaguely operatic chorus sings in the background, lulliby for a screaming nightmare some full bodied drone hovers over the chorus and takes the 17th century in it's arms and lays it gently to rest, taking each of the sharp moments, the sick deaths, the negative atrocity culture, and bringing it up onto a safer place, one where the only thing that matters is th industrialization of our times the industrialization has replaced any notion that feelings matter, any notion that a fair working environment is something that people deserve we could give retards something to do but it's already done and if you go up the ladder you see more and more things have been automated away you don't think about the roads being built do you? you don't think about the farms that cover 80+ percent of arable land do you? even when you're flying from new york to LA you don't hardly notice that humans have claimed this land for themselves scintillation frequency evokes this convulsive thought control that rises into a nasty chemical haze that demands more resources it's silenced into yet another flailing drippy sound fade out

a electric whip takes the stand fucking whining about the deprivation of resources and stuggles to make some connection fiercely spitting out brief moments of feedback between any number of frequencies that it can communicate on with an aether with non-existant endpoint it takes on more and more endpoint arcing back on itself and driving the frequencies into logical conundrums that antirepel itself and howl into additional painful derivative maneuvers it makes no difference to the machine what the effects of it's energy is being expended on, but only that some noise is being made taken astray leading reclamation of a formerly _done wrong_ system that is now instantaneously trashed and thrown under to make way for something more unplanned more unrelenting in it's consumption of power and antisocial connectivity whining and crying you see tear droplets form in the wave spectrogram taking a full 90 seconds to develop from a mixture of waveforms into a coherent pattern at your notification level notification level that is aloof from what you are supposed to be paying attention to but is instead wired into the inverse avoidance pattern the end the beginning once more gain blasting the appearance of nothing into a oscillation that has wavelengths spanning over years in time \ the bright lightning shatters a dark blank sentimental moment between us vaccum heavy rain sucks the white light from the heavens turning your back onto the keloid frostbite fallow bulbous pulsing face  trancerotten yellow drainage trapnell decade trip fucker stumble block meaningless powernazi storm chaser populace chain reveals a mathematical rule. a pseudoconsistent logic to resolve fndamental curry's paradox from thin air what you thought was a clumsy blind behemoth is now an industrialized system that seemingly stands on it's own regardless of what yo even thought your very presence is nothing more than that like a dinosaur a placement that just gives you a central prominence as i start the other side the lull the powerful lull of harmonics drilled deep into the subcortex drilled deep into the somnambulist deity that rocks the beddy-bye to sleep that keeps the sharp reality away for at least some time for that reality of simple nature, the spikes of inedible plant matter, the vast nothingness that humans have somehow decided is rightfully theirs. homesteaded one small plot at a time until the federal government stepped in and purchased the large swaths of land a musical pattern that resembles a shaman opening and closing it's arms above it's head and taken drumming starts thathits something that's the vbrational equivalent of a untuned drum mode across an entire flood basin drumming starts that calls into question or owner ship of that land and the melodic butterfly that was once a welcome sight is now almost  gone a tick tock dog growl gargling on some infected bacteria sinus cavity occupies the entire space you can hardly remember what things that you thought reckless distasteful nonsense squanders what was left of your vague fact driven storyline a sigh of relief ahlzagailzeguh stomps something fierce onto the mixing floor and drives metallic shards of broken dreams into the woodwork you don't think about who built your house did you/ why do you think you are worth anything to the other people around you when i say you am i actually referring to myself? i'm just desperately trying to offload my stupidity onto someone else? what is vulnerable to critique? i sit almost braindead when i face some of the most important situations yet when something is inconsequential i can leap into action and hurl retarded insults atpeople who don't deserve it like this girl that played prince at a party for like 4 hours i walked up to her and nearly choked her lights out and when she closed the computer i said no! play something else! i proceed to chose a random song that i thought was good off of youtube and then i proceed to just stand there and drunkenly creep on some peoples conversation wishing i could have just chosen a song that was better it's not my fault right? no, it is... there's a huge societal expectation that can't handle you being this way there's a roaring electric god that isn't going to cradle you in your arms while your social environment sees you as if you were a crying baby on an airplane take just a couple things at a time put them "in their right place" maybe then you won't have a crushing retardation lingering over everything you touch repeat this ad nauseum don't think for a minute that you can "escape" this reality you're "personal experiences" (your vacation, your hanging out with friends) is so far deviated from your systematically disassociated life happenstance that your better off to just give the middle finger to everyone and everything until it's over until it's over and you drop a sharp process into the ground and levitate transgressional power you can physically and mentally fail during this tremble weirdly under the occipital signal tension  drab naked torbid flippant crater wield two basic components and when suddenly connected create a huge imbalance that sends flux reeling superintensely into the weak painless skinless meat proper happenstance flayed skinless animal carcass rotting spongiform encephalitis eschera coli sacchromyces schizophrenia pombe river blindness parasite trapped nderneat the helencaste psycholayer obligate individual disease question i never know what to say

[sending-the-message]

I've been wandering through Aokigahara Forest, where bodies hang all year long by Ra1n_Walker

Hi guys. This is going to be long, because I'll just be as thorough as possible. I don't think leaving out details will contribute to the story, so bear with me. Or don't… I was wondering how many of you are aware of the existence of this forest. The Sea of Trees, as they like to call it, or, on a less brighter note; Suicide Forest.

I have a mildly unhealthy obsession for the obscure and unsolved mysteries, which often leads me to venture to lost and forgotten places. Abandoned asylums, hotels, evil looking buildings. I love to scour the internet for strange occurences and events that seem to involve anything going from ghosts to murderers or aliens. People will believe anything to feel excitement.

I wouldn't call myself a believer. In fact, I think it's funny how people can get all serious and worked up about some weird theory that sounds creepy, but has not the slightest proof or link to a plausible explanation. What I do believe in is that people have a tendency to do some really fucked up things. Guess everyone knows to what extent, but the real atrocities are preferably kept a bit further in our daily lives and rather not thought of.

It litterally turns me on. I can get goosebumps hearing about gruesome scenes, imagining someone's pain or finding truly disturbing things. The 'this-song-makes-me-wanna-cry' type of goosebumps. I can't ever get enough. So I heard of this forest and read about it on the web. Reddit also has some accounts on this and there's even a few movies based on its reputation and stories (which I haven't seen yet as I don't want to ruin the experience) so it really isn't hard getting a bit educated about it. I had to fricking go there.

So that was that, and I was off to Japan only about a month later. I always thought Mount Fuji might be worth seeing and I definitely had a strong passion for the Japanese culture. And their anime and manga, obviously. Being on a plane towards my long awaited destination, I had enough time to go through the available information and read up on the forest. I probably read it all already, being the special person that I am, but it amused me. 

It definitely was a cool mystery anyway. The 'facts' were often disturbing and the assumptions made around the place were even more so. There's a few of those that really stuck with me that I think are thought provoking or at the very least interesting. I read about a lot of aspects. Locals would believe they could pin point the exact type of visitor to the woods.

There were the ones trying to snap pictures of Mount Fuji and its impressive base and flora around it. Some would go in there and hope to find something dark or scary. Thrillseekers if you will. And then there's the obvious type, the type that make the forest famous; the suicidals that don't plan on coming back out. What the fuck

The thing that struck me when I first heard about it is that it would have to be littered with corpses, seeing as over 75 people were found every year. Most of them hanged. They even reached over a hundred victims a few years back and decided to stop reveiling numbers to avoid making it more popular, thus resulting in more suicides. So yeah, there's a fricking cleanup crew. Every year locals search the forest for bodies or what's left of them.

According to what I'd read, they would drag decomposed bodies or parts of them, skeletons and personal belongings scattered around the sea of trees back to some kind of room where they'd store them. There's accounts of people staying in a room with the bodies, because according to local folklore, it would mean bad luck to leave those  alone.

I landed after a long flight and needed a good night's rest. I always admired people who were able to sleep on a plane, I was too nervous to achieve that. I'd never been too keen on flying and this time was no different. It felt good to get out of that bird. I called a cab and made my way to my hotel, about an hour drive from Shizuoka airport. I would've loved to chat with the driver and learn more than I already knew, but guess what. The dude didn't speak one word of English. 

"Yessir."

Good talk...

I dozed off in the car, face against the window and coat over my head to block out the light of the evening that still shone bright. When I woke up, the cab had stopped and I was in... Shimizu? My Japanese was about as good as the cab driver's English, so I didn't bother even trying to ask. I got out, stepped inside the hotel and was pointed to my room. I stayed there the whole evening to fall asleep quickly. Next day; alarm at 6am, breakfast with some documents and brochures to re-check my way to Aokigahara and what to look out for.

After speaking with the hotel clerk, whose English was good enough to be able to make out key words. It only took me half an hour before being on a train towards Mount Fuji. Shizuoka airport was about 80 miles from Aokigahara  and I was about half way going from where I was right then. An hour drive before getting there and I had to walk quite a bit before arriving at the area I was trying to get to, after even taking an extra bus.

And that's when I finally got to the place I had been looking forward to for the last weeks. I had Mount Fuji looking over me from the distance, like a titan contemplating the world beneath, and the forest of Aokigahara in front of me. The Sea of Trees. Suicide Forest... I was standing at the beginning of a path that lead into the woods. The path seemed to be an easy one to follow, it was clearly maintained regularly and countless footsteps were printed in the slightly muddy trail. Heart racing and adrenaline pumping, I took off hoping for adventure.

The path continued for much further than I had imagined and started twisting and turning the more I got into the forest. I knew it stretched about 13 miles and I wasn't helpless at all when it comes to navigating. I know how to use a compass and I have a good sense of awareness, so I never worried once. I just thought it was a bit weird that people tried to maintain this, as if they were trying to shake the woods' reputation and attract more tourists and less suicidals.

I have to say, after an hour or so, my surroundings felt a bit darker, a bit scarier if you will. One of the reasons for this is that there were multiple ways to go from the main trail. Dozens of paths leading deeper through the trees that were everywhere. I mean it's a forest, but goddamn this forest was dense. A lot of those paths were marked with a sign or a carving in a tree. Messages saying things I couldn't read, others in English saying life is precious and I shouldn't give in, a plea to return to the town and talk to someone... They really tried hard to stop you from killing yourself. Those signs were well intended, but I couldn't help thinking this shit was spooky and so out of place.

Honestly, it was creepy, but nothing I couldn't handle and definitely not enough to satisfy my need for excitement and adventure. I noticed more turns and twists in the trail I was following and I looked behind me on a few occasions just to make sure I kept my bearings. Plus, I was slowly getting a bit paranoid. The forest got darker the more I ventured in and I thought I heard footsteps every so often. Don't get me wrong, I love this. But yeah, shit gets scary when you go looking for it.

At one point, I decided I'd take a break and drink some water while checking the compass, just to be sure. And of course, my compass was acting up and desperately looking for north, while I looked at it and sighed. No biggie, I just have to turn around and follow the trail back, should I want to leave. Problem is, I turned around to find myself standing on an intersection. I had three possible directions to go and I doubted a little when wondering which one I came from. I couldn't remember seeing any paths starting from the one I was walking until then and I felt a lot less confident all of a sudden.

Shit

I was used to the feeling of panic rising and that was also part of the thrill I wanted to find every time I went looking for it. So I took some time to take in my surroundings and thought about what to do now. I hadn't seen anything really exciting so far and I was slowly doubting to go back. But the day wasn't over and I was dedicated to my trip. So I looked up to see if I could see the sun's position and nearly screamed like a girl. The foliage was way too dense to see through, only a small amount of light pierced through the canopy. But hanging practically right above me was a little girl, eyes missing and legs bitten off to the knees. Her head was hanging down rested on her chest and I gagged.

I jumped back and fell down, tripping over and hurting my wrist in the process. I cursed at myself while looking at the grim scene before me, but I can't say I wasn't excited. THIS was the thrill I liked and I was proud of myself for getting where I was trying to get, the small border between adrenaline and madness or insanity. But when you're looking at a dead body of a hanged little girl, there's some things you don't expect/want to happen, because you might just get a heart attack like I almost did.

"Hoshi."

Guys. No shit. I sharted then and there and I'm not even ashamed to admit it. It was the voice of a little girl that sounded like she was playing with her dolls or having an imaginary tea-party. Except she was having it in the middle of a dark forest all alone with a dead girl as a view... It came from right behind me and I turned around with eyes wide open and a scream ready to escape my mouth. There was no one there and I started to feel watched and incredibly nervous. I could hear rustling from behind me and I prayed. I wasn't superstitious, but I think I knew what was coming. I turned around and felt myself turn pale.

"We are the doo doo doO dOO DOOO you help me sir sir please sir for the I want to down down me or you"

The girl was still hanging in the trees when she said it and her empty eye sockets seemed to be shimmering in the dim light. Her mouth didn't move, but her head was straight up and looking forward, completely immobile. It was the most unsettling thing I'd ever experienced and I honestly stood there nailed to the ground, unable to think or move. I didn't understand the first word I heard coming from behind me, but what she was repeating now was so chaotic and abnormal that it scared the living shit out of me.

I stepped back even more and rubbed my eyes, hoping I was dreaming (which I definitely wasn't) and I tried to set my mind straight.

""We are the doo doo doO dOO DOOO you help me sir sir please sir for the I want to down down me or you"

This time it was MUCH louder and coming from much closer and I felt my heart pumping in my head, scared to open my eyes. When I did, I could've cried. The girl was now standing a few feet in front of me, pieces of flesh dragging behind her while her legs, or what was left of them, carried her lifeless body towards me. Saying the same thing over and over again with the rope still tied around her neck, tight.

I stood there watching her, never blinking. She was really frightening with her deep empty eye sockets, her mutilated body and the fact that she was so little. Despite all of that, the sensation of fear and the desire to run became less urgent. I started feeling more sad than scared. A girl that age committing suicide was just above me, it blew my mind and I couldn't shake the feeling this was wrong. Well, of course it was, but isn't it more than just weird to see such a young child here? I looked up and saw the rope going from her neck towards the canopy and realized what was bothering me that much. How the fucking fuck does that rope even get there.

Not kidding, the trees were high. Like, really high. You'd have to use machinery to get all the way up or be a damn good climber and I couldn't for the life of me picture this kid doing that. It was so high up I couldn't even exactly see where it was attached and when I looked back at her, she was holding out her hand as to motion me to grab it. I reluctently took a step forward and held out my hand, watching her getting closer.

Before I continue; what would you do?

Seriously. I'm nearly 30 years old, I'm the biggest horror fan I can think of and I have a tendency to question everything that doesn't have a reasonable explanation. So, what would you do?

I stood there watching her as she stopped in place and looked right back at me with those black, hollow eyes. Despite the obvious fucked-upness of the whole situation, I just couldn't shake the feeling I was having. Unable to explain it, I'd have to go with sheer empathy… This girl had to be, what? Six? Seven years old? I'm not a pro, so ten probably would've done it as well, but you get it. No kid this young should be thinking about suicide, nor should a girl this young be here in a forest so dark and dense you can't hear any birds or other animals. I only heard the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves as I looked at the first person I encountered in these woods; a girl that was so young and looked so innocent that I got sick thinking about the undeniable fact she was here. In these woods that carried its name so clearly and casually, forgotten forever.

"Hoshi."

That word snapped me back to my senses instantly and made me feel like I lost something that I never had. Who the fuck leaves a kid in here, or who the fucking fuck makes a kid feel so bad that it makes her ending up here with a rope around its neck in the Aokigahara forest? Or where the fuck ever. So I don't know what you would do, but tears were almost running down my face when I practically lunged forward and grabbed her hand as firmly as I could.

I guess the world stopped

I was somewhere else, feeling like someone else and thinking like someone else. I was afraid.

If only…

I was scared as I had never been before. The world around me was pitch black and I couldn't hear anything but my frantic screams and the drumming of my blood pumping in my brain, making me feel like I was going to explode. The feeling I had persisted until a loud bang made me jump up and nearly gave me a heart attack.

My blindfold was taken away and the light that attacked my face stung like a thousand wasps. The smack on my jaw made sure I wasn't distracted by the stinging of the air in my nostrils and also made me open my burning blue eyes to watch what was causing me to feel like this.

The guy I was watching looked far too happy to be sane.

I was sitting down in a corner of a room, hands tied behind my back to a chain that was attached to a radiator, the only thing in the room besides me. My wrists were on fire and I saw my little feet twisting in front of me as I cowarded backwards against the wall, trying to escape his filthy hands. The knife in his right hand was all the more threatening when he grabbed my neck with his left and started applying pressure.

Panic, fear, anger, loss, despair. Those are but a fraction of the emotions flooding me at that time and I wouldn't even know how to begin to describe the rest of them. As if the lack of oxygen wasn't enough, the pressure on my neck felt like it was going to make it snap and the fact that my legs were everywhere and arms flailing made sure to make me lose all hope. The world went dark with the last image of a lunatic smiling at me as I drew my last breath.

Then I woke up

I was in the middle of the forest at an intersection and it didn't take me more than a few seconds to realize I was right where I was before I started dreaming. Panicked, I turned to look around me and above me, only to see I was alone in the woods. But the fucking rope was there. Right in front of me, where the girl had been standing, there was a rope on the ground heading deeper into the woods.

Safe to say everything was already fucked up and I didn't even think straight when I bent over to grab it and started following it into the forest.

Stay. The fuck. Out of there.

Guys, I followed it and walked for an hour (approximately) and from the very first minute I was surrounded by a sea. Not of trees, but bodies. Kids hanging from trees, some mutilated, some unharmed as if they were sleeping. Others decomposed to almost nothing but bones, fallen down as their ropes were still ominously hanging from the invisible canopy… it kept going for as long as I was. When I got to the end of the rope and thought I'd shed every tear and consumed all the fear that was hidden inside me, I was standing in the middle of a clearing and looking at a guy.

An asian guy standing by some kind of enormous plastic bag and hoisting something up in the trees with a rope. I started shivering and I felt like all power was taken away from me when I saw an arm sticking out if the bag. The boy he was hanging couldn't have been older than five and the fact I was watching this as if I'd be watching a street musician suddenly put me in a mood I hadn't yet been in.

Tears running down my face and legs unable to take a step in whatever direction, I felt a hand grabbing a hold of mine. The little girl, the one I could watch now without being scared, the one that showed me and asked for help was standing next to me. Although they were blue, she didn't have eyes, but her smile was worth a thousand words.

What happened next took five minutes at the most.

I anonymously notified the police when I found my way back out of the forest almost a full day later and I went back home immediately. I know that nobody there likes to talk about the reputation of the forest and I know that other things have been covered up, so I have no way of knowing what happened or if anything got done.

Don't fucking touch children, because I might be the last thing you see. I looked up what she said -hoshi- and I guess she meant hoshii… I'm not Japanese so I might be wrong, but I believe she wanted/needed someone to help her

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story