#anti red crackle

[lara635kookie]

Ship Analysis let's go.

RedCrackle, CarmIvy and Carulia.

A lot of people tend to say "Carmen said a multiple times Gray is like a big brother to her" No, she only said it twice. And after the Opera in the Outback Caper she never says it again. Besides, while talking about this she says:

"I THOUGHT I KNEW you like the big brother I never had UNTIL THAT MOMENT."

"I know, but before he was Crackle he was Gray and Gray WAS like a big brother to me."

She uses the verbs on the PAST, as in NOT ANYMORE. BLACK SHEEP SAW HIM LIKE A BROTHER, NOT CARMEN SANDIEGO. And the same logic applies to Gray. His teenage self saw Black Sheep as a sister, but that's not how his adult self sees Carmen Sandiego. Gray only FLIRTED with her when he had lost his memories. But FLIRTING isn't the only way of showing love.

And I actually liked this aspect of the finale because you can choose who Carmen goes with or if she stays alone. But at the same time I am a romance sucker and Gray and her really felt to me like the most implied ship. They have too many parallels, more than Julia and Ivy combined. They are literally red and blue. And no, Julia isn't blue either. Julia never wore blue. Not even once. Her dress at TSONTS interactive special was black, like pretty much everything she ever used(The only exception I recall is that photo of her with her mother where she's wearing pink). And I have proof:

Of course people have different perspections of color but these circles are the colors I've seen Julia wearing. At least to my eye, Julia never wore one single shade of blue(as long as I can remember). Unlike Ivy. Girl has blue eyes, her shirt sleeves were blue and she wore a light blue with lilac dress to The Need of Speed Caper(I'm not sure if that's really the name of the episode but you know what episode it is, that one with Trey Sterling where a badass biker Carmen fights with Zack and Ivy because they messed up in stealing a super car and for arrested, we're introduced to The Mechanic and The Driver and yay found family has an official headquarters now).

The thing is, Carulia can have different interpretations to every single one of their interactions. You can see them as romantic or not. Meanwhile, with Red Crackle and Carmivy, the romance scenes are clearly romance scenes. I think Julia showed some little interest in Carmen, but Carmen never showed interest in Julia. And I'll tell you why:Carmen meets Julia on a train in India, to keep an eye on Paper Star, where we have the following dialogue.

Carmen:Is this seat taken? (Sits before having an answer)

Julia:Actually yes. But, feel free to use it, until my partner returns.

Carmen:Partner? (Looks to the side, to the other seat while the camera focus on a suitcase with the C.D initials)

Julia:(clears throat)Travel partner.

We see later on the episode that Carmen leaves the Magna Carta along with Devineaux's suitcase on the other seat she looked at. So I interpretate that Julia got it wrong what she meant and Carmen realized she was with Devineaux. Of course you can interpretate otherwise but here's the thing:Unlike Red Crackle and Carmivy, Carulia doesn't have any moment that is UNQUESTIONABLY romantic. You can always interpretate the Carulia moments as friendship or something else.

The fashion caper with the medicis dresses and hypnotized models, you can interpretate that Carmen was checking her out or analyzing her outfit to enter the runway. The Stockholm Syndrome Caper you can interpretate Julia was checking her out or she was really just concerned about Carmen freezing in the winter(which seemed more likely to me). Then Julia leaves A.C.M.E. and some people say she left because of Carmen. I definetely agree that's one of the reasons but we see that the main reason is because she wants to work more with history, her true passion. Where her heart was. And she wanted to leave because of Carmen not because she's in love with her but because she believes Carmen is good and the rest of A.C.M.E. doesn't and she doesn't want to chase someone who is doing good but as she already tried to convince people and wasn't heard, she left. Or because she doesn't understand Carmen's actions being so confusing, sometimes good, sometimes seem to be not so good so she was just sick of the mess and drama and wanted to comeback to just history which seemed to be so since when Devineaux goes to ask Julia if the "crimson ghost" was good Julia goes all like "that's a hard question to answer". At least that's my interpretation. And when Chief says something about A.C.M.E. stopping to chase Carmen and Julia goes like:"Or I'll have to retire/quit/leave all over again" it proves one of the reasons she left was Carmen, but doesn't go over the implications. It might be love, it might not be. It can be the things I stated before. Julia being "Carmen's favorite A.C.M.E. Agent" can be seen in a love light, but also in a friendship light. Julia saying "Who knew my two keen areas of interest would ever collide" which I interpretate as being closer to history and still doing super secret stuff but sure it can be Carmen. The thing is that the Carulia moments are never something SURE that only has romantic interpretation and nothing else. Carmen doesn't even show any signs of jealousy in hearing Julia is going to have lunch with Devineaux. And some people go like:She was jealous when Devineaux picks her phone. For me, seems unlikely. She could just be wondering why was Devineaux picking up her phone in her office and where Jules was, thinking Devineaux was being invasive like we know he can be sometimes. The way she partners up with Devineaux to save Julia, she would have done to save anybody else. And lastly, To Steal or Not to Steal. First having Julia to help is not even a canon event, since Carmen can save Zack and Ivy without it and then the final scene with Julia doesn't happen. Secondly, red roses definitely have romantic views but at the same time they are also a common symbol of respect. People throw them at stages, at ice skating rinks, etc, in a way of saying "Good Luck" or "Good Job", which is proven since Carmen also gives red roses to Lupe Peligro before her fight.

Some people might argue that they made Carulia that subtle to have casual representation for children in a way some parents won't complain. But you can make something less subtle but still discreet. Like Carmivy! Ivy clearly had a crush on Carmen, which Carmen seemed to reciprocate sometimes. Yes, Carmen's a flirt, but the way she looked at Ivy sometimes and smiled it was something else.

I think that what Carulia needed (besides romantic chemestry and more time to build better their relationship) is a huge moment in an episode that deepens the way they feel about one another. Like The Stockholm Syndrome Caper when Carmen is with her head on Ivy's lap, or the entirety of the chocolate factory girl's trip. Or something like the entirety of The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper and the episode Carmen tries to rescue Gray from jail and V.I.L.E. takes him. And of course The Opera in the Outback Caper, serving both Red Crackle and Carmivy goodness. Carulia needed its own episode. When I think about The Crackle Goes Kiwi Caper my first thought it's "That's a Red Crackle episode". The same thing with Carmivy in the chocolate factory girls trip. Carulia tried to have an episode, that's when Carmen rescues her from Countess Cleo but the problem is:

1-It was the last ship episode. So they give us Carulia when we already had Red Crackle and Carmivy, who were already established first and had more developing. And it was also one of the very few last episodes so we don't see how Carulia goes from there because it doesn't have the time with such a rushed finale.

2-They didn't have "THE MOMENT". Red Crackle has "hang on tight, don't let go". Carmivy has "by Carmen Sandiego, who else?". And Carulia...?

3-They didn't have a date. Red Crackle had a coffee date, Carmivy had a fountain date(yes they were dates) and Carulia...?

I wonder how Carulia manages to, out of these three, be the ship with the least number of interactions and still feel like the most forgettable ship to me. I love both characters and their friendship but in a romantic scenario, I just don't see Carmen and Julia working. Carmen, to me seems like that kind of person that needs someone badass, who can keep up with her like Gray and Ivy, not a "cutie cutie lil bean wholesome smol uwu pie" like Julia. She may act as a badass sometimes but she's not a badass overall. Julia just seems like she would be that awkward flustered blushing mess when in love and for me, Carmen would go for someone who can be more comfortable around her, like we see she is definitely the case with Gray and Ivy.

For me, it's kinda like Carmen is Anthony Bridgerton, Julia is Edwina Sheffield/Sharma and Gray and Ivy would be Kate Sheffield/Sharma. Carmen might like Julia, but she still feels boring to Carmen.

Besides, Gray and Ivy also know Carmen for more time than Julia, what makes Carulia look, in my vision, superficial, shallow, artificial and forced. Gray, along with Shadowsan and Player, is the only person Carmen has since her past as Black Sheep and Ivy, along with Zack, were there at the very beginning of Carmen becoming The Carmen Sandiego. Compared to that, what does Julia know about Carmen? Romance requires a deeper connection, a bond Carmen clearly has with Gray and Ivy, that know her better and for a longer time. Compared to that, Julia barely knows a thing Carmen. Between a person you still have to build a bond with and one you already have that kind of bond with, it's a no-brainer who the best choice is. Really, I can't think of something Carmen and Julia have in common that has nothing to do with history. For a relationship to work you don't need to have everything in common, but you do need more than that. Just history isn't enough. And I can say that because my favorite subject in school is history(alongside with geography, english, philosophy and sociology)(I am a languages/humanities kind of person, fuck math and sciences). History may be enough for a friendship but not a romantic relationship. Besides, history and geography are things Carmen and Player bond more about and in a better way so having Carulia bond over the same thing just seems like it's nothing special and passes the idea that Carmen can bond with anyone as long as they like history and geography, that are intrinsically linked subjects, making Carulia feel, for me, even more basic than it already is. Not all ships need a complex storyline but it does add to it. Because Carmen and Ivy have that "strangers to teammates to friends to lovers" that has a lot of potential to it like one of them being in denial about having a crush on the other, fear that the other doesn't feel the same, fear of ruining their friendship, flirting accidentally, doing capers together with Zack making fun of them, having to put their feelings aside for the sake of the mission, Carmen can't truly open up about her feelings showing vulnerability, jealousy, etc.

And Red Crackle has that "acquaintances to class/roommates to friends to best friends to consideration siblings to enemies to strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to partners in crime to casually making out/hooking up without commitment during six months to enemies to strangers" vibe. The six months thing it's a headcanon but the way it's shown Carmen and Gray work so well together and how it is implied they made a lot of missions as a duo, without the others from their class, just makes me dream, and no one can stop me. Red Crackle are "opposite sides of the same coin". And they'll end up as lovers again because I see Red Crackle as a "right person, wrong timing" situation. They are meant to be and they will be one day, even if it takes a lot of time. They just have too much chemestry, angsty potential and drama material to count and that's exactly what I like. The possibilities are infinite and that just makes their storyline so interesting and I love that for them. So for me, it just felt like Carulia was kinda just there. Only existing.

(That was too long so I decided to divide it. Part 2 is coming soon)

#carmen sandiego #carmen sandiego 2019 #graham calloway #gray #crackle #red crackle #netflix #carmen x gray #carmensandiego #carmen sandiego netflix #carmivy #carmen x crackle #gray x carmen #grahamcalloway #carmen x graham #graham x carmen #graham crackle #anti carulia #anti julethief #ivy carmen sandiego #julia argent

[firelxdykatara]

Was watching sneezys video on K/A v Z/K and wondered slightly off tangent why you (and ill admit that I) never took redcrackle as a red herring pairing? Was it just preference for enemies to lovers or ? Is it because they have meat to them that seems it actually might resolve in a romantic fashion (if xyz reasons and behind the scenes wasn't in the way)?

Prt 2 of the sneezy x rc because to clarify i always wondered why being like they are (not having the same values and always having to leave each other instead of coming together) didn't make you see it as a k/a or m/z?

So I actually answered an ask similar to this quite some time ago, though the framing was a little different--I was asked if I agreed that red crackle was maiko 'done better' and my answer was kinda wordy but I think it boils down to this:

I think a big part of it is that Carmen Sandiego started out giving you the sense that these two characters genuinely loved and cared for one another in the 'childhood friends' portion of their past. ... The thing about maiko is... it was entirely one-sided from the very beginning. Shippers will sometimes try to sell you on them being 'childhood sweethearts', but they really weren't--Mai had a crush on Zuko, to which he was oblivious,...

...

Gray and Carmen, on the other hand, were established as rivals who quickly became best friends over the course of their year in school together. They clearly cared deeply for one another, and Gray was just as upset as she was when Carmen failed their final exams ... They didn't see each other for three years (incidentally, the same length of time between Zuko's banishment and meeting Mai again), at which point they were enemies, and yet Gray was clearly upset at the prospect of having to hurt her.

...

Carmen and Gray both grew as characters separately and together--Mai never grew at all, being the exact same person in her last appearance as she was in her first, with the same beliefs and no indication that anything about her worldview had changed, and this is especially egregious when she was paired as a love interest with the character who arguably had the most dynamic growth throughout the series.

Ultimately, my problems with maiko (and kataang) were never that the characters involved had diverging morals or goals, or that they spent significant portions of time separated--those are things that could make for juicy romantic development if given adequate time and page- or screen-space to grow and add to the tension between them until it eventually boils over. The real issue is that neither of these ships actually sold me on the mutual development of their romantic feelings or relationships.

And actually, maiko and kataang both share the problem of one-sided interest being established and nothing being done to make the journey from unrequited to requited love seem believable for the characters who did not originally share these feelings. Aang's crush on Katara is abundantly clear from the beginning of the show, where he hatches from his ice egg and imprints on the first girl he's ever seen in his life like a baby duckling. Katara is entirely oblivious to his interest in her even when he tries to act upon it (take the Cave of Two Lovers, for example, where they kiss to light their way forward and Aang seems flustered and clearly wants to talk about what just happened, but Katara seems to feel nothing except relief and excitement that their plan worked and she can now find the way out), until quite late in the series when, after Aang rather aggressively projects his own feelings onto her, she suddenly seems to reciprocate. Likewise, it is established in a flashback that Mai had a crush on Zuko, but there's zero indication given that he ever noticed her feelings, much less returned them (which makes sense given that he was ten years old at the time and she was his sister's friend and helped to torment him), and no care or attention is given at all to his feelings towards her in the present until suddenly they are dating at the start of book 3.

Then with maiko you have the added issue of nothing ever being done to resolve their stark differences in worldview. At the end of The Boiling Rock, Mai turns on Azula to save 'the jerk who dumped [her]', not because she suddenly realized she was wrong and the Fire Nation needed to change. And at the end of the show you have evidence that Zuko had completely forgotten about her (despite the fact that he could quite possibly have thought she died defying Azula to save his life, and never once seems to think about her again afterwards), and they just... get back together. Because reasons, I guess. Because Mai says 'I guess I kind of like you' and that's supposed to be a good reason for two people to get back together despite none of the things that made their relationship untenable in the first place having changed.

On the other hand, Gray goes through an entire arc on the show after getting his memories back where he comes to realize that working with VILE was not worth losing Carmen, and it wasn't worth Carmen losing herself. And while you could certainly make the argument that at the end of the day he was still saving Carmen because he loved her (however you interpret that love; I personally view it as romantic but obviously the show did not choose to make any specific Carmen-centric ship canon in the end), not because his own moral center had shifted away from the villainous, I would counter that taking a stand against VILE was a clear indication that he had discovered something that was worth more to him than his criminal inclinations. And there was actually a relationship there to serve as a foundation, plus the obvious potential for him to join Team Red in the future and use his skills for good rather than evil.

I have always been a proponent of the redemptive power of love, incidentally. I think that one of the most beautiful forms of redemption is choosing to change because of love, because the act of falling in love and recognizing that love is inherently transformative. Because love changes us and makes us want to be better versions of ourselves. (Or sometimes worse, I do love a good corruption arc too but that's a different topic.)

But the thing is that I ultimately need to believe that love exists in order to buy its power to redeem. I never saw any reason to believe Mai and Zuko were in love beyond very surface-level indications of attraction and an otherwise shallow relationship where they never seem to connect on any deeper level--and not for lack of trying on Zuko's part, here is an excellent essay about their lack of emotional intimacy. Carmen and Gray, meanwhile, had a close friendship and deep emotional bond which persisted through Gray's forced amnesia and that changed him enough that he let Carmen go and then took steps to get her away from VILE after they captured and brainwashed her, branding himself a traitor and risking imprisonment or death to do so.

You can't just skip the part where the story shows us how and why a couple are in love or might have fallen in love and then try to convince me that they are and this isolated moment of sacrifice embodies it. You've gotta put in the work! And atla ultimately fails to do so for either of their main canon ships. (Zutara on the other hand..... but that's another essay. Cough.)

#atla #carmen sandiego #red crackle #anti maiko #maiko salt #kataang salt #salt for ts #long post #kitty meta #Anonymous #asked

[clockwayswrites]

Another Red Snippet

“Let go of me!” The scream crackled through Red Hood’s comm, desperate and pleading. “Quite!” Hood hissed. It wasn’t a sharp, angry word but one that wobbled with badly covered fear. Hood sounded young. “He’ll hear us! You have to be quite. He’ll hear us, can’t you hear him? He’s laughing.” “Fear toxin,” Batman rumbled, as if any of them needed to be told that.

“I have anti-venom on me,” Red Robin responded quickly to the unvoiced question in Batman’s words. Dick didn’t want to listen to the words from the warehouse, but he couldn’t not. “Who’s laughing? Is it Dad? No, no, no! You have to let me go!” “Hush up!” “He can’t find me! Dad can’t— he’ll kill me if he finds me!” “You’ll need to be prepared that Scarecrow has changed the formula,” Oracle advised. She was as calm seeming as ever, though Dick could hear her worry through in the frantic clack of her keys. “Now that I have an address, I’ve been able to track a few shipments. There’s at least one chemical that’s unusual for him.” “Don’t give them the anti-venom different or it may not have full effect different?” Dick asked as planned out his next grapple. “I don’t know.” “Fuck,” Red cussed softly. “I’ll keep you safe, okay? I promise,” Hood assured the other voice. “Robin will always keep you safe, right? We just have to be quiet and I can get us out of here.”

“I suggest you hurry before Hood does find a way out,” Robin (the current Robin), snapped across the comms. “We do not know where he will run in this state.” “No one keeps me safe,” the voice said with a defeated certainty. “No one cares that I died.” “We know, Robin, we’re almost there,” Red snapped back. Dick didn’t have the focus to reprimand either of them, he just wanted to get to Jason. He just needed to get to his little brother who acted so tough and grown up that it was too easy to forget that he was still just nineteen. He was still a kid.

#idk #I have such a bad migraine #but this fought its way out #it's prob not good but #this is why we have editing when not wanting to claw your own eyeballs out #dp x dc #batpham #another red #wip #find more in the tag

[greenglowinspooks]

(DCxDP) Drowning in formaldehyde (Prologue)

—

Tw: Danny is having a Certified Bad Time™️, dissociation, vivisection mention, suicidal thoughts (kinda?), basically just heavy angst for now

Will be crossposted to AO3 eventually

Note: you don’t need to read this chapter to understand the rest of the story, it’s mostly just to explore Danny’s headspace when he first escapes the GiW

(Pt. 1)

(Subscription post/masterlist)

—

Danny rocked back and forth, trying to soothe himself as the truck he was in continued to speed along.

It had been an eternity since he was captured by the GiW. He didn’t know why they were moving him to a new base after all this time, but he knew it wasn’t a good thing.

Still, he couldn’t find it in himself to feel afraid.

He couldn’t feel much of anything these days. The GiW had a routine and they stuck to it religiously, and that routine had sucked every bit of Danny’s soul out of him.

Something churned in his chest regardless. Anticipation? Excitement, maybe?

Perhaps they were finally going to let Danny fade. Was that a bad thing? Danny couldn’t decide if it was or not.

He wasn’t scared of fading. It seemed inevitable, especially with how he was treated on the daily. He would stop hurting if he faded.

Still, he’d like to see Jazz and Tucker and Sam at least one more time before he does. That would be nice.

The truck continues forward, unmoved by Danny’s thoughts.

The sound is nice, Danny thinks.

The hum of the engine, the crackling of pebbles being crushed under the tires, the electrical buzz of the anti-ghost handcuffs and shield keeping him trapped.

The only sound Danny’s heard the last few years has been the clatter of metal tools, the crunching of bone, the sawing and thunking and squishing of surgery, the murmur of voices.

It’s nice to hear something new, Danny thinks.

Strange, but nice.

The truck stops again. Another red light, probably. Danny continues rocking back and forth, back and forth, like the ticking of a clock.

Seconds pass. Second after second after second.

Danny hears shouting now.

Gunshots crack outside, and Danny sees holes appear in the side of the truck.

That’s definitely new.

Chaos is erupting outside. There’s a lot of screaming, and frantic footsteps, and cars zooming away.

The driver door slams open and shut. The truck speeds off, tires screaming as the driver swerves erratically.

Danny is thrown back and forth in the back of the truck, bumping up against the many weapons and other miscellaneous inventions stored alongside him. Pain blooms in his head and chest, an agonizing heat lining his surgical wounds. Danny licks his lips underneath his muzzle. It would be nice if the driver was a bit better at their job, he thinks.

The truck continues careening wildly.

Danny counts the seconds.

Second after second after second.

After around two thousand, three hundred and seventy four seconds, the truck comes to a stop. Danny didn’t lose count this time. He’s proud of himself.

The driver door opens and closes yet again. There’s chatter outside, excitement clear in the voices that Danny hears. There’s lots of talk of “congratulations,” and “lucky that the Bat didn’t follow you here.”

Then, the back of the truck is opened. Danny hears noises of confusion and shock. He turns his head, looking to see what’s happened.

There’s several men at the door of the truck. They’re wearing black tuxedo suits—Sam was right, black really is such a pretty color—and they’re staring at him.

They begin talking among themselves. Something about them not knowing about a kid, and not knowing what to tell the boss. It’s confusing to him. It’s not what he usually hears spoken.

Then, one of them climbs up into the truck. He approaches Danny slowly, speaking in a calm voice. He’s asking Danny if he can stand, he realizes, asking him if he knows why he’s in the truck.

Danny just stares at the silver glint of the gun at the man’s side.

It’s a nice one, he thinks. Semi-automatic, with a few modifications to make the reloads smoother and the gunshots quieter. His fingers twitch. He’d like to poke at it a little, see if he could improve it any.

The man notices where he’s staring and curses. He takes the gun and lowers it to the floor. Danny just continues to stare.

Silver is an ugly color, he thinks. He much prefers black.

Silver is the color of stainless steel, the color of lab and surgical equipment.

He doesn’t like it much.

The man reaches out a hand and grabs Danny’s shoulder, shaking him gently.

After a moment, he sighs, and hoists Danny up, carrying him effortlessly. He hands him to one of the men outside of the truck, hopping down himself a moment later.

They’re warm, Danny realizes.

He curls further into the new man’s arms, closing his eyes. It’s nice, he thinks, being held like this. He hasn’t been held with such care in a long, long time.

The man sets him down on a crate.

After a moment Danny opens his eyes again, watching as the many black-suited people take things out of the truck. He counts the inventions in his head as they do so, beginning to rock again.

Then, a new man enters the room, and everyone freezes.

He’s congratulating them, asking them about their escape, and then he spots Danny.

Danny would very much like to be invisible right about now.

“Where did you get him?” He asks, tapping his umbrella against the floor.

“He was in the truck,” the man who carried him says, “we don’t know why.”

The stout man looks at him closely.

“How did you get into a government weapon shipment? Did someone put you in there?”

Danny nods his head. He tries to speak, but his voice cracks painfully underneath his muzzle.

“You- someone get that thing off his face,” he says. Several of the other men scurry off, probably looking for something that can break the muzzle, “can you speak?”

Danny shrugs. He tries to talk again, but it seems that his voice doesn’t want to cooperate with him. The only sound he can make is a painful, broken wheeze.

“Hey,” the man says, resting a hand on Danny’s shoulder, “if it hurts to talk, stop trying, alright? We’re gonna get that muzzle and those cuffs off, and then we’ll figure out why you were in there. You know how to write?”

Danny nods.

“Good,” the man responds.

“You two, get something to write with,” he barks to a few of the other suited men. They, too, run off.

A few people come up, carrying a bolt cutter and a few other tools with them. They make quick work of the muzzle and handcuffs, the restraints falling to the floor with a clattering sound.

Danny looks down at his hands. They’re shaking. Slowly, slowly, he brings them up to his face. Thin fingers brush up against cracked, dry lips. He’s fascinated by the sensation.

Someone brought him a mirror, he realizes.

That can’t be right, though. The person looking back at him…isn’t him. That isn’t Danny.

That face is not his face.

Their cheeks are far too thin and sunken, their eyes dull and haunting. They’re far too old as well, they look like a young adult.

Still, they move when he moves. They stare at him with a look of fascinated horror that’s far too familiar.

He brings his hand up to his head, and they follow his movements. He trails his fingers over the stitches in his head, and they do the same.

Danny tries to speak, but is cut off by a painful cough.

One of the men brings up a pencil and notepad. Slowly, shakily, Danny writes down a question.

“What year is it?”

The man who had spoken to him earlier quirked his eyebrow up. He answers, and Danny freezes in place.

“What’s wrong?”

Danny looks down at his hands again. He looks into the mirror. The stranger staring back looks horrified. They look sad. They look…like him.

Danny lets out a mournful keening sound. He curls up into himself, covering his face with his arms. Distantly, he’s aware of someone rubbing circles into his back. He cries harder, his entire body shaking.

Three years.

It’s been three years since he was captured, three years of being cut open and sewn back together. Three years of burns and cuts and chemical damage and electrical shocks.

Three years of torture.

Danny sobs, hands gripping the thin fabric of his medical gown like a lifeline. Three years.

Danny’s being lifted up again. He wraps his arms around the person holding him and wails into their shoulder. Everything is quiet.

“I’ll deal with the kid,” the man holding him says, “the rest of you, finish unpacking the truck and dump it somewhere that the Bat won’t connect to me.”

The man brings Danny through the building, still rubbing his back comfortingly. He’s humming some song that Danny doesn’t recognize, occasionally pausing to bark orders at people.

Danny’s beginning to calm down now. He’s still shaking, but his breathing is beginning to even out.

It’s been a long time since he’s felt alive enough to cry.

He feels exhausted.

Danny tries to hold onto consciousness for as long as possible, but he’s so tired, and so sad, and he’s being held, and he’s warm, and…

Danny’s eyes flutter shut.

—

#dcxdp #dc x dp #dp x dc #dpxdc #dp x dc crossover #dc x dp fic #vengeful danny #villain danny #girl help I fucking love angst HDJFNSKFJDJFJF #literally pouring milk on Danny and throwing him against the wall to hear the thunk #he is going THROUGH it #truly rip bozo #don’t worry he becomes less scared and more neurotic and terrifying soon

[battyratzz]

⚠️CONTENT WARNING BODY HORROR AND GORE!!⚠️

I've been planning out some creature/monster ideas for Red Apocalypse lately since it is a horror based au so I put some real thought in the abominations the boys go up against

these things are called "Scouters" they have an alternative called "Watchers"

Scouters are made up of mainly teeth and flesh so they can't see anything but they certainly can hear

Watchers Are made up of mostly eyes and flesh. they can't hear but they can see really well they do have blind spots however.

anyway they're a few of the "Failed/forced Experiments" of Anti Red and they are scattered across their town they asexually reproduce which is why there's so many of them

they can disproportionate their bodies and make a bone crackling noise that makes your skin crawl. their movements are uncanny

but they are surprisingly easy to kill despite their large Stature, 2 shots and they're dead

but they are quick and aggressive so you need to be cautious around them

anyway here's a fully rendered drawing I did of it (wow shocking)

they're utterly disgusting

also here's the Red Apocalypse playlist I've been working on 👁👁

#eddsworld #eddsworld fanart #digital art #eddsworld au #eddsworld fandom #eddsworld art #art #eddsworld tord fanart #eddsworld tord #Spotify

[sentient-stove]

Phantasm’s tail lashed, smacking against the barrier with a crackle of electricity and the ghost cursed in a garble of static rather than living language, hitting the barrier again.

“I don’t think it’s working.” Jason said after a moment. “By all means, keep hitting it though.”

“Oh corn puffs!” She dropped out of the float, tail separating into legs as rings of light surrounded her and their small group was left with one vigilante, one sort of anti hero and a civilian. Elle then punched the barrier, her fist bouncing uselessly off it. “Damnit, I can’t get past the ghost shield!”

“Pause, we weren’t told about ghost shields.”

Her head turned back to him, red highlights a blur as her hair shifted. “A force field specifically designed to keep halfas, ghosts, spectres, screamers, or other various ecto-contaminated beings in or out depending on where they are when the shield is activated. I can’t get in, if my twin is in there, he can’t get out unless the shield is down.”

“Zombies too, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, I guess them too. Either way, I can’t follow and I don’t think mr. brined in Pit water can pass through as well.”

All Tim was hearing was that he was now down two people on a break in. Awful odds really when they’d already started with less than ideal circumstances.

God, the city just really wasn’t on his side tonight.

Elle kicked the barrier, and from next to her, Jason reached out to tap at it with the butt of his gun, the weapon and him passing through without getting fried to bits.

For a second, the three of them stared at each other.

And then Elle threw her hands up and screeched, the sound grating. “Ancients’ sake! The revenant gets in for free?!?”

#fanfic #wip hell #dc comics #danny phantom #dpxdc #dc x dp #danielle masters #tim drake #jason todd #red hood #red robin #robyn and the satellite #Elle over here taking her celebrity crush and her brother’s boyfriend out to go break into government facilities #yknow for fun

[thesharktanksdriver]

Mist veiled eyes (platonic)

I personally adore both silent hill and resident evil. I know both fandoms make jokes about one another so i decided to make something off of it. Originally I was also gonna add a Jill route but this was getting too long to write (maybe another day but not now)

I put in some P.T references for fun and sadness at it never being released (I still mourn). Y/n in this isn’t quite human anymore. Not even they know what they are now after experiencing the town but they don’t question it

Sorry if this is cheesy (tbh both series have their cheesy moments despite being horror games) and that this came out so late. I’ve been busy lol

Content warning: death, blood, trauma, mention of cult stuff, monsters, the usual for resident evil and silent hill (what else do you expect lol)

You think you had once been excited to go to your dads old town

He was a stern man, one who had kept secrets from both you and your mom

Someone who had once guarded his past to his chest and mind

Never once cracking and spilling its contents despite the questions that you had once pestered him about

It felt nice at first that he was seemingly opening up

He’d always been distant with you

Never really showing you anything other than the basic necessity

But now he was seemingly opening up

Showing a part of himself to you

You opinion quickly changed though on the drive there

At some point in the drive your mom fell asleep while you listened to your Walkman

Eventually as you went to change tapes and there was no music blaring in your ears you heard the radio

For a solid minute it was static

Pure static that your father was listening to

But then you hear it morph

And in that static you begin to hear a voice more and more clearly

It’s male, a radio station host

The radio man was talking about a father who killed his wife and kids

What’s odd though is the man’s tone of voice and how much info he has on the murder

He talks about it in extreme detail that not even police would know about

In an intense silence your dad listened

Quietly you heard your dad mumble what seemed to be a sequence of numbers over and over again

In the distance of the dark night sky illuminated by the headlights is the sign

The place that would forever change you

Silent Hill

The gate to the place is closed off, chain link yet despite that your dad keeps driving

Plowing straight through it making your mom startle awake

There’s a heavy mist surrounding the car as he drives into the seemingly abandoned town

Mom is yelling at him asking what the fuck he was thinking

But all you can focus on is the crackle of the radio, it’s getting louder in your ears despite no one touching the dial

You reach to silence it

Yet as your finger barely grazed the knob the radio host stops his anti-government rant

“Don’t touch that dial now, we’re just getting started”

A shiver racks your spine

How did-

Before you can question anything else your moms scream echoes out in the car and you jolt back

Your dads attacking her

Instantly you move to help her but there’s only so much you can do against him before a deafening crack fills the car

The radio host cackles in a twisted tone

In a blind panic you throw open the car door and run

Your dad yells for you to “get your ass back in the car” and that “you must serve your purpose!”

It’s confusing and your mind is spinning

You run into the fog despite the fact you can’t see 3 feet in front of you

It stays like that for who knows how long until you finally find and unlocked shop

It’s abandoned as hell but you find momentary relief flood you as you sit down on dirty tiles and cry

You cry and cry till your eyes are red and you can’t cry anymore

Eventually you look around the old store, it seemed to be a laundromat

Hesitantly you get up, shivering from either the cold or silence you don’t know

But then you that silence is broken when on a laundry machine a small radio comes to life

A chilling static noise ringing as you hear something else in the nearby pitch black doorway

Immediately you hunch down to hide behind the machines

Peaking out to see something entering

Not someone

That wasn’t human

Tears line your eyes once more as your hand clasps over your mouth

Frantic eyes look for an escape but all options would lead it to noticing you

And then your eyes land on something

Close enough in range for you to grab is an old pipe

Long enough where you aren’t too close and study enough to hurt whatever that thing was

Your hand reaches as you hear its footsteps getting close

Fingertips digging into the cold metal and readying it

This was the beginning of your own personal hell

Like the radio host one said

“We’re just getting started”

You one day emerge out the fog of that old town that reeked of death

It was a cold night, but despite it you don’t shiver nor do your teeth chatter

Your mind is…hazy

The main events leading to you escaping are blurry but so is the rest of your mind

Thinking back to your escape are just flashes of disjoined pictures

It’s like their not properly developed pictures

There are clearly things and people there but their distorted blobs of colour that need more time to come together

You walk the lone and forgotten road

Still unpacking your mind but not panicked

In fact your more calm than anything as you walk for hour upon hours until you reach civilization again

Your not exactly sure what it had done to you

You had killed several monsters of nightmarish compression made up from the demons of your mind

Trauma taking a literal form in the shape of entities for you to bash with whatever weapon you could find

An axe now instead of that old pipe

Occasionally being gifted a few bullets to hopefully put down the demons that clawed at you

When it was finally over

The mist being lifted off this abandoned sleepy town

Radio going silent

Rusted blood of the other world chipping away as you finally found resolve

Something remained

A piece of that place

Silent hill staying with you even as you left it for good

Maybe it was a new trauma replacing the one it had helped (help in large quotations) you work through

But you knew it was different from that

You felt physically different

Sometimes when staring in a mirror you didn’t recognize yourself

Looking at the old Polaroids it felt as if someone else was staring back

Perhaps when you left silent hill a part of it went with you

A twisted souvenir or medal of honour as you think back to the days or weeks you spent traversing that place

Time there was warped and you didn’t know how long you’d actually spent in that realm

Minutes felt like hours

Days felt like years

There was only ever a grey sky with no indication of sunlight or night

Just an endless limbo filled with melancholy as you did your best to survive

the time before you entered that town felt blurred and fuzzy, as if you were trying to watch an old tape that was distorted

You think you preferred it that way though, it made everything easier to accept if you didn’t know when you had entered and when you had left

Didn’t know what you could never have anymore

Cause even if it had been a day that you were stuck there it felt as if the world had changed monumentally

Felt as if you were a foreign force or entity impeding on what used to be your home

If…you could even call it that anymore

Despite being 15 you feel older than you are

Weathered and given the forbidden knowledge of an entity of eldritch descent as it clung to you like a cancerous sore

You travel now even if you sometimes feel the call to return back to the only place that felt as if it would accept you

Upon highways and bridges you walk

Only taking rest in motels that you somehow always have the money for

Your dreams being filled with that town once more and it’s open arms of welcome if you wanted to return back to it

Though now in those dreams there are no more monsters to hurt you

Your just by your lonesome traversing the place you once loathed

It’s peaceful and quiet unlike the natural world

You don’t need or feel the urge to eat but you do so anyways out of a nostalgia of what it was like to be human

Cause at this point you know your not that anymore

You had entered human but left as something else

And for some reason you felt fine with that

Admittedly the previous night with Rebecca and Billy wasn’t the best of days

Certainly not your worst by a long run

But not quite good either

Neither is right now as you wander a second mansion infested with science experiments gone wrong that only a mother could love

Whilst Billy did the best decision and go off on his own you decided to go with Rebecca

That was now kinda biting you in the ass but what’s more annoying is that you got separated from her due to that giant asshole snake

Of all sentences you’d say it’s probably that one that’s the weirdest

To be honest this was…well laughably less scary

Horrifying still? Well yes, these were the reanimated corpses of people that were now trying to rip into your flesh

But you had dealt with worse

These creatures weren’t a personal attack on your psyche

They were lab experiments gone wrong and now set loose on this mansion as some sort of testing ground

There was no radio static as the rooms were transformed to that of a industrial hell realm

In its place was a now well lit and elegant manor with the groans and moans of these shambling creatures

Marble floors accented with splatters of blood

There’s no dirt and grime covered walls

Just pristine with the occasional gore

All things considered it’s a welcome upgrade

If you could call it that

At least there’s less of a risk of tetanus

…still a risk of possible rabies from those annoying dogs

But to be fair you don’t think either can affect you anymore on the fact that you’d be bitten several times in the last few hours and nothing has happened

No itching

Or sudden urge for flesh

Your unaffected and for once you thank whatever that that town did to you

Still doesn’t stop those rotting assholes from taking a chunk from your shoulder though

With a sigh you rummage around for a first aid spray and some bandages

Your axe is discarded to the ground, dripping blood onto the posh carpeting

For some reason supplies had been “conveniently” spread around this death trap

Whoever was behind this at least wanted it’s lab rats to have a small chance at survive for at least a few hours

(They certainly didn’t account for something like you to appear here, for better or worse)

With a small mumble of a curse you pull open a few drawers of the small room your in

Looking around frivolous expensive clutter that was stuffed into the drawers as all you come up with is some green herbs

It was better than nothing

Sighing you pick up the leaves, pressing them to the wound

It’ll help the wound for now, but not fully heal it like you had wanted

Picking back up your axe you go to exit the room

Only to fumble back a bit when the door opens

Chris Redfield

A man entered through the door, green military vest with a combat knife strapped in place and pistol held up

When his eyes connect with yours though he immediately puts the gun away

Fearlessness and determination in his eyes being extinguished momentarily to a soft and gentle kindness

There’s also a bit of relief of not being alone in this nightmare

Something you had wish you had once before

“Hey are you ok?” He knells down so he’s at a closer eye level. His movements are cautious, much like when dealing with a frightened animal.

“I think we both know the answer to that question”

He lets out a small chuckle, forced or not it seems to lighten some stress on your shoulders. “Fair point.” He says eyeing your wound before pulling out a first aid spray “mind telling me how you ended up here though?”

As he sprays your wound you explain as best you can

The train crash and monsters

Rebecca and you ending up here but separated

Leaving out any mention of Billy

Throughout it he nods, adding or asking input before pulling back and throwing away the empty can

When he’s done he helps you up gently

Treating you as if you were glass

His kindness is refreshing from the apathy and disgust usually directed at you

It makes whatever’s human left in you feel warm

you feel nice and not just a constant feeling of apathy

Following him out into the infected ridden halls he keeps you close

He doesn’t have any spare guns nor weapons so you just stick to your trust axe

Luckily he doesn’t question it much to your relief

Just accepting it as it is and focusing on the bigger picture

Whilst following him he makes sure you stay close behind him

A protective hand outstretched to keep you far enough away incase something pops out but close enough where he can still somewhat ensure your there

Through the exploration and odd twists in the hallways he tries to keep a lighthearted conversation

Whether it’s to distract you or himself is up to debate but you humour him

He asks about your parents but you keep it vague where he gets the sense you’d rather not talk about it

So instead he shifts the topic onto his own

Apparently he had a younger sister named Claire, in his words she was a “stubborn pain in the ass but I wouldn’t have it any other way “

Soon enough she’d be heading to university

And throughout the entire process he’d be there for her every step of the way if she needed him

They only had each other now

So it was his responsibility to fill the now vacant roles of their parents

In every sense of the word Chris is a protector

Someone who goes out of their way to shield others from harm no matter the cost

Even though you have a weapon he still insists on taking down the zombies

Saying that you should only get involved if completely necessary

“Your a kid, you shouldn’t have to the one fighting here”

Those words end up repeating in your head

For so long you’d felt as if you were an adult

You’d forgotten you were a kid

A once innocent 15 year old that was now seemingly stuck forever like this in some sort of psychical and metal limbo

He sees a sad look in your eyes and goes to ask but you beat him to it

“Thanks…as silly as it seems I forgot that”

A part of him cracks at that

The familiar feeling of having to grow up too quickly after his parents deaths

It seems as is this and the past night was rough for you

Plus perhaps whatever is happening with your parental situation since you don’t seem to want to talk about it

He’d pry later but for now he focuses on this mansion

On getting you home safe

With your shared teamwork you both find Rebecca hunched over a injured Richard after a whole shit ton of puzzles

The puzzles you once went through were bullshit but these once’s were plain irritating

Who builds an elaborate mansion with this many puzzles?

You weren’t even halfway through the house and you’d already spent a decent amount of time backtracking and trying to find keys

“The giant bastard get you?” You knell down beside Richard who chokes back a cough. Rebecca holds his hand, he squeezes it.

“Y-yeah” it comes out as a garbled wheeze.

“Giant bastard?” Chris asks confused, he turns to Rebecca for a clearer answer.

“Richard and us was chased by a giant snake throughout the mansion. Richard got bitten though after they got separated from us” the mention of the reptile makes Richard flinch.

With that and a bit more added on you and Chris go to find the antidote even though he persisted that you could stay with the two

He may be determinedly stubborn but your persistently patient to get your way

Something that seemed to remind him a bit of Claire

Going through the dead infested halls to get the vaccine isn’t much of a hassle

Not when time is of the essence and there was no place for being extremely cautious

Richard needed that serum

you and Chris were gonna get it to him no matter how many dead you had to get through

Though your time with the orange vested man was brief compared to Rebecca he was exceedingly kind

He promised you much like Chris you’d get home

While trying to avoid the scalely bastard that did this to him he cracked jokes to try and lighten the mood

Like Rebecca he fussed over the smallest of wounds on you and insisted on using the spare supplies of herbs on you

In every regard Richard was a good man

Someone like everyone else who didn’t deserve to be in this mansion

Someone who didn’t deserve to die

He had Bridgette his fiancé whom he spoke foundry about to get back home to

had people who were waiting on him unlike you

Entering the “safe room” as you liked to call it you scrounged through medicinal bottles

Looking and looking until finding it as you hear Chris’s gunshots nearby

He let you run ahead while he dealt with the riffraff

You grabs the serum, pocketing a spare just in case before you run out and meet back up with Chris who dealt with the last of the zombies

“Got it?” He asks stepping over the dead again corpse that was riddled with lead.

“I grabbed a spare as well” you hold up the two bottles, allowing Chris to take one while you hold onto the other.

“Good thinking” without thinking he ruffles your hair as an appreciatory gesture. For a moment he thinks he fucks up since you go still, but when looking at you he sees happiness. “Let’s hope we won’t have to use it though”

Getting back to Richard and Rebecca isn’t too much of a hassle

You and Chris release your breath when making it back with enough time for him to be sufficiently healed

He was alright

He would be ok

He’d make it back home

For once you were able to save someone

Your mothers dead face flashes in your mind now more clear than it was once before

But why couldn’t you had saved her?

Why were you too weak to stop him?

Why did you freeze when that crack echoed out or try to stab him with something

Why-

Your shaken from your thoughts when Richard places a hand on your shoulder making you jump lightly

“Hey I’m alright…no need for tears”

With some confusion you swipe a finger over your cheek and you feel the distinct wetness of tears

For many a times you’d had tears bubble up in your eyes but until now they’d never fallen

Always on the edge of your eyelids but eventually retreating back away

But now the damn had cracked allowing the waterworks to flow

For some reason it feels nice to cry

With a small sniffle you nod

You and Chris must continue on

The two of you help Rebecca move the now unconscious Richard down to the med storage room you found the vaccine in

Chris fiddles a bit with Richards Radio as the new area of the mansion becomes more and more accessible

Every now and then your gaze drifts done to it

Expecting that hellish static to come blaring to life once again

For the monsters formed of your mind to tear through the walls

The world being town away for red tinged rust to replace it all

But it doesn’t

Your still in the mansion of different horrors

Now less personal

“Do you want the radio?, you could try to get it working but- ” he suddenly says holding it out to you, seeing the device get closer you flinch back.

“no!..uh sorry I just have bad memories associated with radios.” As you say this the memories crackle in your head.

He quirks a brow at that but nods

Pocketing it away for now to fiddle with later

You release a breath you didn’t know you were holding when it was put away

Out of sight and out of mind

He seems to have noticed that

“I know you don’t know me too well but, tell me if something is bothering you. We’re already in a bad place, I don’t want to make you feel worse”

“I…it’s stupid though-“

“No it’s not. I don’t know whatever happened for you to dislike it but it makes you uncomfortable. You shouldn’t have to invalidate your pain like that”

For a moment your silent

“Besides, even if you didn’t have a reason behind it we all have irrational fears.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!. Like I have a fear of werwolves”

“Really?”

“Yeah…might have once watched American werewolf in London as a kid and it stayed with me since” he admits with a bit of embarrassment

You giggle a bit at that

He pauses for a moment to listen to the sound and absorb seeing your face

This is the first time he’d seen you smile

Not like he can blame you for not

It’s still nice to see though

Especially since he gets the feeling you don’t do it often

In his mind it’s a real shame

Your a good kid

Fighting the damn snake was hard but rewarding

Slashing your axe down at the monster that had hurt both you but also Richard, Rebecca and now Chris

It’s hissing cries of pain

Blood staining your already red covered clothes

Something like this wasn’t uncommon to you

You had to fight a few stronger and bigger monsters in silent hill

But now it was at least something unoriginal and not an eldritch beast

With a sigh you feel the poison from its fangs that bit into you several times wash away

Your body was already at work doing whatever it did to slowly heal you

Chris meanwhile was going through the effort of looting the rest of the room

Getting spare ammo and herbs

Along with a mask

You didn’t like the look of the object, it was cult like

…you didn’t exactly like cults

But for now it was best to suck it up especially since it was likely for yet another unnecessary puzzle

Chris lingers by the door and you get off the dead snakes body

Not before giving it one last good kick to the head for an extra fuck you

Exiting the room you see Chris stumble slightly on the way down the stairs

Immediately you go to help him

“Did it bite you?”

“Y-yeah..,think it got me. Administer it to yourself first, you got bitt as well”

Before you can give a response he falls

Almost clattering to the floor if not for your support as you helped him slump against the wall

You pull out the serum, calling out for Rebecca

Distantly you hear hurried footsteps

Your breath goes ragged, you didn’t have a needle to administer the antidote

He could die

And you couldn’t do anything to stop it

Why?

Why does this keep happening to you?

What did you do to have the people you care for die with nothing you can do?!

Rebecca rushes in, eyes widening at the sight of the slumped over Chris and the look in your eyes

It’s just pure grief

Even after she administers it and he begins to stir your still stricken with that look

Her words are not responded to

Your mind is distant

Admittedly she didn’t know much about whatever had happened to you even before the mansion

But she does know your a deeply scarred kid

Someone who had seen horrors before the leach infested train, the first mansion and now a second one

But another thing she knows is that something happened to you that made you…different

You spoke broadly of it

A place where’re you entered and came out not the same

On the train she once tried to bandage your wounds with Billy after a Rebar had impaled you in the side when the train crashed

A wound like that with only a few spare herbs and a can of first aid spray should have resulted in death

But despite that you healed

The wound slowly going away until there was now nothing in its wake

Both eventually accepted it as something no one will have an answer to

Still she insisted you use the herbs to help with the process

Billy did as well, making you promise to look after yourself before leaving

Gently she tries to wake you up from the daze of your mind

Eventually it works but you still keep a look of worry in your eyes as you glance at Chris who begins to properly awaken

Chris noticed after this that your relatively more distant than you were before

Your more silent than before

Just give short responses as you avoid looking at him as if your eyes would scorch him

When he does see your eyes though he sees fear

Not towards him per say but more so at what could happen to him

That getting closer would lead to more harm if he got hurt once more

It’s touching in some sense but worrying

Really worrying

He remembers that same mindset when his parents died and he had to be the main caregiver for Claire

For a long while he almost feel into that thought but had caught himself

It wasn’t healthy

But he can’t just up and tell you to stop because that likely won’t fix anything

So for now he does his best

Entering out the mansion into its garden

An old beaten path leading the way as cicadas chirp off in the brush

The sounds of nature filling the area along with

Gravel being crunched under both yours and his boots

Just as you both walk downhill the radio he’d almost forgotten he had crackles on

Immediately his hand goes to it

The words are chopped up but he’s able to make out a warning

“Stay out the woods outside the mansion”

He casts a glance back to the looming building and then at you

You look at the radio once more and he puts it away

After a second you snap out of it and linger behind him once more

Axe hugged to your chest

Both stained with blood and gore

He’d maybe have to try and find something for you to change into

A cold breeze goes by

Maybe a coat as well if it keeps to this temperature

Speaking of which

“Are you cold?.” He asks looking at the statues of two Cerberus. From the looks of them their in the wrong directions. Knowing this place there would be two levers or something to put them in place…which makes him think of those two weather vanes

You shake your head no despite it being untrue. You were always cold, a chilling temperature always racking your body as if you were one of the corpses littering this place. “I’m fine”

He nods but doesn’t seem to believe your words

You both go back uphill to the weather vanes and press down secret buttons to stop them in certain directions

Distantly you hear the moving of stone

After some pressing there’s a click that emanates and the gates being seemingly opened

The two of you head deeper into the madness

Through the cabin madness and groaning screams you carry on

A creature much more akin to that of silent hill

Several faces stitched together as a mask on its face

Cuffed hands that are elongated to a unnatural extent

Groaning screams that sounded more human-like than that of the zombies you cut down

For the first time tonight your happy to enter back into the mansion of all things

At least Chris gave you a magnum in all this mess

One that would be saved for better occasions than shooting down giant spiders and weird giant reptiles

Surprise surprise this place had a lab as its basement, absolutely wonderful

At least there wasn’t a cult involved or else your bingo chart would be full by now

Crates splash in a small pool of water and bob under Chris’s footsteps

He goes across first

They shift a bit and he jumps to the solid ground across

You go to step on the first crate

He holds his hand out for you and with a little hesitance you grab it

Your not sure of the last time you’d been given affection like this

It feels nice though

You feel…safe and not alone anymore

“Your really cold. You should have told me”

“I…I’m always cold”

He nods with a bit of confusion but puts his questions away for later

You cross the gap but he still holds your hand

The warmth of his gentle touch is absorbed by your eternal cold

But then he pulls away

A part of you feels saddened but you accept it

But then he slips something over your hands

His gloves are a bit big on you but he adjusts them

Military grade material fitting snugly around your hands that have a forever bitter cold

“I know their fingerless but hopefully that helps a bit.”

You feel to stunned to say anything so you default back to a nod and grab his hand once again

You give a gentle squeeze as a thank you

With a small smile he repeats the action back

“I know your scared of me getting hurt, but have some hope in me. We’ve come this far, and anything that they throw at us is going down”

Like before you nod again

Cold water soaks you up to your armpits as Richard grasps the metal fencing of this aquatic tank area

The water is deep and murky

Filled with an unknown force that makes its presence known to your mind

Something lurks in these waters

Hungry…no, STARVED

Is the best way to describe the creeping feeling

The waters shifts, it’s coming

“Chris get back!”

Before Richard can do it your pull Chris back as that oncoming threat surfaced

A giant shark, one that narrowly misses Chris as it bites at the metal before going back into the depths

Waiting for the next time to strike

To finally feast once more

“Shit go!” It comes out as a panicked cry, his blood soaked and bandages arm pointing to the door you and Chris entered through.

“We’ll deal with it!. Get to safety Richard!”

“Are you?-“

“Go! Your still injured! Don’t throw your life away, you have someone waiting for you back home!” He flinches a bit that, clear hesitation to leave on his mind before he begrudgingly does so.

Exiting he shoots one last look over his shoulder at the two of you

Chris already leading the way as quick as he can through the water with you behind

Smaller sharks trying to get a nip at you but deterred by a few swings of your axe

The bigger one though lurks, waiting

Cold and calculating dead eyes

Much like your own in some sense

Heading through double doors you give a sigh of relief

You’d preferred not to be fish food

Soaking wet you descended down a ladder with Chris not far behind

He needed a second to ensure the herbs were still ok

To his luck they were

“I think you might’ve saved Richard back there”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…” he momentarily pauses thinking of the right words “Richard has a habit of…self sacrifice. It has something to do with his sister dying, I’m not sure of the specifics but he’s felt guilty that he could’ve done more to save her…so he tends to do reckless stuff to save others. Him pushing me out the way would have probably killed him, put him in my place instead.”

That….that can’t be?

You’ve never been able to save someone

Not your mother was she gasped out for help against your father

Not any of the others lost in silent hill, succumbing to the monsters of their own minds

Not yourself from what that place did to you

You couldn’t have…could you?

Had you finally saved someone?

After all this time of thinking you were incapable of helping others you had done it

Now thinking back you had saved him before with the help of Chris…you also saved Chris

Maybe you just didn’t realize it until someone else saying it

Your chest feels warm despite the now cold dripping clothes

Without thinking you hug Chris, he’s a bit surprised buts hugs back

He has a feeling your crying but says nothing except that “it’s alright, you saved him”

It makes you cry harder but in a good way

In the sense that he gets you’d been needing to hear those words for a long time

And now they finally entered your ears

“I don’t think I’ll ever look at plants the same way” it comes out as a grumble as Chris applies a mixture of green and red herb solution to his wounds. Those vines were much more sharp than they appeared…this would definitely bruise later on.

“At least salads will be more appealing now” that comments gets a chuckle from him and a “yeah, that’s for sure” as the sound of Rebecca leaving to find Richard echoes down creaky wooden halls.

The last few hours had felt like days and at this point you were wondering if this place was some sort of other reality like Silent hill

It would explain the seemingly dragging passage of time as the mansion got more and more confusing

But you knew at heart this place was just a normal mansion

…er well maybe not normal but it was still a standard building

Not a different plane of reality

You think you’d be able to detect that somehow

With a swat of your hand you kill a nearby stray mutant bee that hand died

With a groan you wipe away the aftermath on your already disgusting and stained shirt

Your gonna definitely burn your clothes after all of this. Not only for sanitary reasons but also cause if possible spreading of the infection

It was better not to risk anything

Especially since no amount of bleach would be able to wash this shit off

Your on guard when a nearby door opens

As is Chris who pushes you behind him

But then someone exits through in similar clothes to Chris

“Wesker!” Relief visibly floods Chris but your still a bit on guard. The sunglasses wearing blond feels odd to you, his eyes stare at you through his sunglasses but you know the look he’s giving you. It’s something akin to a predator looking at prey.

“Chris” after saying this his gaze focusses down on you “and who’s this?”. You stay beside Chris, clutching his hand tightly as he stays relatively oblivious. Despite asking who you were you get the feeling he already knows.

Chris looks down at you with a small smile, “their a survivor of the train bravo was sent to investigate, they came here with Rebecca.”. Wesker nods, a grin akin to that of a wolf in sheep’s clothing appearing. He was definitely bad news

The snake showed up again apparently not actually dead much to your annoyance

And with its arrival came weird reptilian monsters that almost killed Rebecca and Richard

Great…absolutely stunning

What’s even more “great” is that your now with Chris in a dingy mine area

One with guess what? Another lab!

This time without sharks

You swear to whatever god is out there that if Mr.”I wear my sunglasses at night” is behind this then your giving him a good and hardy hello from your axe

With a groan you step I’ve r the corpse of some weird new insect monster

It’s splattered guts from Chris’s shotgun now decorating the already dingy walls

How fitting

It twitches despite being dead giving some friendly flashbacks to silent hill once more

This place was still better than there but only by a small margin

One that had begun shrinking as the night went onwards and this place really began to get on your nerves

Even Chris seemed done by this point

Wanting desperately for the night to come to a close

“What do you want to do the minute we get out of here?”

“I’m gonna have the hottest longest bath and then have fast food”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“I’m not sharing my food, not even with you”

He chuckles a bit at that, it’s tired but still happy

“Fair”

Chris looks around the room once more for items you turn to look at the secret hidden camera

You can’t see where exactly it is but you know when your staring in its direction

Your eyes glare up at it

Unbeknownst to you the man watching sees misty white eyes through the lens of the screen

And then the feed cuts out with a glitch

Your in-between both Rebecca and Chris as the three of you go down an elevator

It creaks occasionally making both Rebecca and Chris tighten their hold a bit

It’s…nice

You feel cared for

Even though Rebecca knows you seemingly can’t die she still worried

And Chris does as well but believing your still mortal

Your axe is stored away along with the magnum but despite that your safe

Your nerves that would have never allowed that before are now tucked away in the deepest depths of your mind

For now your safe with them

It only goes away though once the elevator stops and opens

A dingy green lit hallways of tiles leading the pathway do you feel that urge

Steam escapes from nearby pipes giving a misty look

It makes you squeeze their hands

They squeeze back before Rebecca lets go

Chris tightens his grip while leading to a door

You pull out your axe

The door goes up, mechanical sounds releasing as it does so

There in this room is a lab, one with odd human-like entities in test tubes

A beating heart exposed fork their chests

Just like the one you and Rebecca fought the day prior

It beats gently as Wesker types away at a nearby computer

Back turned to everyone

Distantly on the monitor you see camera footage

The others are in real time but one screen focuses in on you

White eyes staring directly up towards the screen

Intensity that spoke volumes

What looked to be small wisps of fog escaping your lips

So you were right about feeling watched this whole time

And the culprit seems to have a knowing smile on his face once turning around to see your narrowed eyes

“Wesker!” It’s said in a tone of disbelief . You can’t blame Chris, this was his captain, the man who was in charge of the team he now used as lab rats.

“So you’ve come” he pauses for a moment, continuing to type of his keyboard “Chris you make me proud. But of course you are one of my men.”

“Thanks” it comes out as a scoff as you tighter the hold on your axe

Wesker pulls out his gun, pointing it at you all. “Since when Wesker” Chris hides his anger but you feel it radiating from him.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what your talking about”

“You’ve been with umbrella from the beginning haven’t you?”

“Correct” he moves closer, holding the gun up towards Chris “S.T.A.R.S were umbrellas— no, rather, my little piggies. The tyrant virus leaked polluting this whole place. And unfortunately I had to give up my lovely members of S.T.A.R.S. In the process though I’ve seemed to have found something more valuable” his gaze goes down to you

Chris pulls you to hide more behind him, an accusatory finger pointed at Wesker as he says in pure anger “you killed them with your own dirty hands! You son of a Bitch!”

“No…”

“Oh yes dear” he says it in a mocking tone before adding “just like this” as he turns his gun. Everything feels as if it’s going in slow motion, he points it at Rebecca who’s only a foot or two away from you. Without thinking you move, body shielding her own from the gunshot.

Burning pain echoes through your chest as Rebecca catches you

Chris yells but it’s stopped once more by Weskers cool and calm voice

Fuck this hurt

It hurt like absolute hell

Like that rebar that was impailed in your side

But then like usual the blood stops pouring out the wound

And your able to get up with the help of Rebecca who holds you

Chris looks at you with a mix of shock, confusion and relief

“How?-“

“That’s what I intended to find out as well.”

“Long story Chris…should probably focus on the crazy asshole”

A few moments after this with a click of a button the creature in one of the tubes is released

Heart pulsating even more as the water drains

It’s face that only a mother could love coming to life

“The ultimate life-form— Tyrant”

Staring at the monstrosity Chris laughs

“Wesker you’ve become senile”

“Chris, you’ll never understand. It’s magnificent” while saying this he raises his arms, looking up at the “glory” of his creation

“Sure…definitely magnificent” you cough out to Rebecca who still holds you. Sarcasm dripping from your voice like the splatters of your blood on the ground

Suddenly the tyrant moves

The glass of its tube breaks and it’s giant claw arm shoots through Wesker as if he were butter

He lets out a dying gasp as his blood falls to the ground

Then he’s Thrown away, discard by his ultimate being as it focuses its attention on Chris

With a groan you pull out the magnum, there were a good amount of bullets from you stocking up and waiting for a moment like this

So despite the pain your in you begin shooting

The knock back making you cough up more blood and pain spreads through your chest

Rebecca urged you to stop but you tell her to go find Richard and whoever else is left alive

You had a feeling this place would end up destroyed soon

Chris keeps shooting it down with his shotgun as you load magnum loads into its chest

Specifically aiming at it’s still beating heart that you desperately wanted to ripe out

God just die already

You aim and shoot once again in time with Chris at its chest

It falls down onto its knees and then face first on the floor

Faintly though you still hear it’s heart

But for now it seems incapacitated

With a sigh you shakily get up, Chris adding your side and helping you walk correctly

Your still healing and the exhaustion from tonight isn’t helping speed up the process

“Are you alright? Your wound it-“

“Less talking and more walking. Like I said, I’ll explain later”

He nods, helping you through the door and onto the elevator

“We should probably blow this place up”

“Why’s that?”

“This place is contaminated. They probably have more of the virus Wesker was talking about. If this got out to the public…then”

“Got it. The show must go on”

It seems the act is coming to a close

All that’s left is the finally

The self destruction message rings out in a woman’s voice on the PA system

Rebecca and Richard went to set it off

But now all that’s left was to get out of here and find someone named Jill

It wasn’t too much looking

It was pretty unsurprising this place had essentially a jail cell attached to it

The brunette looks a bit frazzled to see Chris but embraces him in a hug as the ringing of the PA continue

She tries to say something about Wesker but Chris replies that he knows

His tone is filled with betrayal and a bit of sadness

She nods, turning to the door to see you peeking in

“Who-“

“No time, this place is gonna blow any minute. Questions later”

She nods

Chris sets off some flairs as You, Jill, Richard, Rebecca and him wait with baited breath

Daylight is beginning to peak out from over the horizon

Day is near

The nightmare is almost over

….keyword almost

The tyrant didn’t die

And looks mighty angry for more lead to be pumped into its body

It knocks Jill aside and heads for Rebecca

Neither you, Chris nor Richard will let that happen though

There aren’t many magnum bullets left, the monster is a sponge for them

But nether the less you kept shooting

Keep persevering

Keep surviving

In the distance you hear the loud sound of a helicopter

Help was here

“Chris! Use it! Kill it! whatever it is!” The man in the Helicopter hovering above yells as a rocket launcher clatters to the ground

Chris nor Richard can go for it as the tyrant is in his way

But you can

You dive towards the weapon picking it up

It’s heavy but you don’t give up

“Chris!”

He looks to you

With as much might as you can you slide the weapon towards him with a a mighty kick

All the power left in you being used to get it over to him

Richard distracts it long enough for him to pick up

And then

Bam

The monster explodes into several chunks of flesh and fire

Blood splattering on you as the helicopter lands not long afterwards

Rebecca and Chris help you on

Jill and Richard follow in afterwards

It’s over

In the end you rest against both Jill and Chris

The two adults giving you their own types of comfort

in the case of Chris it’s him gently holding your hand, rubbing circles with his thumb as a reminder that he’s there

That your not alone in this

With Jill it’s promising you that your somewhere safe

That you can stay with her for security if you so need it since Chris has a plan of hunting down umbrella

Though you had just met her,Jill gives you a sense of comfort you had longed for

In your mind you consider the offer. For so long you’d been alone, drifting from place to place without aim

You had made it out that mist covered town but your parents weren’t so lucky

But perhaps that was for the best when their sins were brought to light

As of now though you just think over the offer

For now the nightmare was over

You had the feeling though that a new one would eventually take its place

Life has a funny way of doing that to you

But right now…there was a moment of calm you basked in

“So…I’d said I’d explain what happened to me”

“You don’t have to right now”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m fine. Fine enough to start explaining anyways.” For a moment you think of how to start telling them all. It’s hard to explain let alone believe…but after tonight you’re willing to bet they would take your word.

“In my restless dreams I still see that town…silent hill”

#platonic #resident evil x reader #rebecca chambers x reader #jill valentine x reader #chris redfield x reader #resident evil #silent hill #crossover #me combing my favourite game series with another I’ve been getting into as of late #like resident evil is my fav games of all time #castlevania is a very close second. #speaking of castlevania I might have something in store for it sometime if people are interested #but that’s for a later time

[five-rivers]

Life's Great Lie 17

AO3

.

“Oh, thank God,” said Tony, “Bruce is here.”  All the other green, angry looking people were secondary, as far as he was concerned.  Having the Hulk on hand meant that he didn’t have to play Jonah again.  That had been.  Unpleasant.

A dart of red broke off the crowd of ghosts and angled towards Tony.  Valerie Gray.  And Bruce, too.  As Bruce. 

“Where do you want us?” shouted Valerie. 

“Take your pick!” shouted Tony, even as he lined up more shots.  He was going to be running out of all but the special anti-ghost ordinance soon.  “But—Bruce, you’re going to have to suit up.”

“Of course,” said Bruce, rubbing his face.  “Yeah.  Okay.  You would call it that.  Miss Gray, if you could take me up towards one of those…  big things…”  He gestured vaguely at the space whales.

“Cool!” said Tony, giving them a thumbs up.  “Now, all we need to do is get a shield around the portals, and we can roll up the streets.  No problem!”

“Sir,” said Jarvis.  “You may want to look at the Ops Center.”

What was going on now?  He turned and watched the shield around the airship flicker once, twice, and then go out completely.  The chitauri, who apparently were smart enough to smell blood in the water, regardless of any other tactical deficiencies, changed direction. 

“Well, that’s not good.  Anyone want to fill me in on what’s going wrong?”

“Well,” started Jasmine Fenton. 

.

“What happened to the thing being self-sustaining?” demanded Natasha as she punched out another mercenary.  Where had Loki even found these guys?  They weren’t even mind controlled.  Who in their right mind signed up to fight for the aliens in a literal alien invasion?

“Listen,” said Maddie Fenton, a little testily, “we quite literally built it on the fly.  It isn’t operating at peak theoretical efficiency, but it’s a testament to Jack’s engineering skills that we got it to work at all, much less while also trying to come up with a workable solution for the shields.  Be glad we have enough power to keep the portal open, even.”

“Forget the shields,” interrupted Tucker, his voice crackling slightly.  The Fentons’ communicators weren’t bad, and apparently they worked through the ‘spectral noise’ associated with ghosts, but they left something to be desired in comparison to the crystal-clear communications Natasha had gotten used to while working for SHIELD.  “Well, no, don’t forget them, forget them, we might still be able to—I’ve got— What’s your name again, dude? —I’ve got Selvig up here, and he says that if we can get Loki’s staff, we can shut down his portal.”

“Great!” shouted Steve.  “Anyone have eyes on Loki?”

.

The answer to that was, of course, a resounding no. 

.

“Oi, Tucker, you want to run by that thought you had about the shields again?”

Under other circumstances, Tucker might have been over the moon.  Tony Stark, asking him about something technical!  It was like a dream come true! 

But between the mind control, the alien invasion, and whatever was going on with SHIELD and HYDRA, Tucker’s enthusiasm for anything was pretty much nil.  So. 

“Uh,” said Tucker.  He and Selvig were standing in front of Loki’s portal device.  Well.  Tucker was sort of crouching, and Selvig was… sprawled.  That couldn’t be a good position for a guy that old, but whatever.  “So, Loki got the startup power for this thing from the, uh, the tower’s arc reactor, right?  So, it’s still plugged in.  The connection is live, and it looks like he used standard connectors.  Not, you know, a twelve-gauge extension cord, but Earth-made.  I think maybe we can use it to charge up the shields and use one here as the centerpiece – the power source – instead of the one in the Ops Center.  If it’s, like compatible.  Is that a thing we can do?  Mrs. Fenton?”

“Well, it isn’t impossible,”she said.  “But those portable shield relays – they weren’t made as independent shield generators, and for them to run on something other than ectoplasm – Jack, sweetie, do we still have those blueprints? – Thanks.  Alright, Tucker, you’ll have to make significant adjustments to the shield relay, probably even cannibalize one of them.  Are you able to do that?”

“Well,” said Tucker.  “Maybe?  I’ve got a lipstick laser and…”  He looked over his shoulder.   “Selvig.  Sort of.  But if it’s anything more complicated than rewiring the Speeder’s main gun to fire from the backseat window console, I’m going to need a bunch of tools and a science guy who isn’t dead on his feet.  No offense.”

Selvig waved him off. 

“You’re the one who—?  Never mind.  It is more complicated.  Quite a bit more complicated.”

“I’ll also need, you know, the generators.  Relays?”

“I’m still on my way,” said Romanov.  She sounded… upset.

“And so am I,” said Iron Man.  “Kid, I’ve got all sorts of tools in my apartment.  And dummy, too.”

Okay.  Cool.  Also, what did dummies have to do with anything?  Was that rich people code for something?

“Okay, want to give me directions, or am I supposed to just start pulling out drawers?”

.

“Hey!  Where’re you going?”

“You need more cover,” said Sam.  “This is what I have the jetpack for, remember?  Arrow boy isn’t going to get all of them, and they do have ranged weapons.”

It was true, one well-aimed shot through the Ops Center envelope could send the whole thing down.  They weren’t using hydrogen gas, of course, but an ectoplasm-nitrogen mix, so there was no danger of becoming Hindenburg Mk II, unless the aliens’ energy weapons reacted really badly with ectoplasm, but there hadn’t been any evidence of that yet, so…

Anyway, it didn’t matter.  Jazz was too busy keeping the Ops Center and the portal steady to do much else. 

“Be careful,” she said. 

“Can’t make any promises!”

.

Fury was having a bad day.  A really, monumentally, bad day.  One that was part of an already awful week but still managed to go above and beyond in terms of how completely awful it was. 

Primarily, he blamed HYDRA.  They were very easy to blame and were, in his opinion, responsible for at least seventy percent of the metric ton of crap he was currently wading through. 

But then, then he got a call. 

The call. 

Which meant that he had to take this boat riddled with snakes to fight off an alien invasion over New York.  Peachy. 

If ever he’d been tempted to give old friends a call…  But he wouldn’t.  Not yet. 

“Sir,” said Coulson, joining him smoothly as he walked down the hallway toward the main bridge. 

“What’d you find?”

“We have problems, sir.  Using the head start we were given, I’ve found no less than seventy problem areas on this ship… and some indications that the World Security Council may have similar issues.  We also have to assume there are unseen variables at play.”

Fury did not miss a step.  Benefit of being a cynical bastard.  The WSC was a shock, and a disaster on multiple levels, but the other number was… livable.  “Are there any particular personnel involved in these problems?”

“STRIKE teams seem to have an unusually high number of incidents.  Upwards of ninety percent.”

Fury strode onto the bridge.  “Tell the STRIKE teams to prepare to mobilize and pilots to scramble.”  Uriah gambits were unpleasant… but if he could kill two birds with one stone, he would, and he wouldn’t feel bad about it.  “What kind of air power are we looking at?”

“Significant,” said a comm. tech who was flipping through different news programs.  “They seem to have biologically based technology of some kind, weaponry is mainly energy-based, propulsion… unclear.”

Wonderful.  Fury scanned the other screens, trying to get a better picture of what, exactly, was happening in New York.  What tactics the enemy was using, what numbers they had, what resistance had been put up so far and by whom. 

“Sir,” said Agent Hill.  “The council is on.”

The council.  The same one Coulson had just told him was infiltrated by HYDRA.  The same one that would probably find a way to make their present situation all the more untenable and Fury’s day infinitely worse. 

It was a pity he couldn’t ignore them. 

“Put them on.”

.

Pandora hissed at the sting of the enemies’ weapons.  They were not ectoblasts, no, but there was the taste of something like magic to them, and energy was energy.  Still, they were not enough to damage her unduly, although they might prove troublesome, dangerously so, for the weaker ghosts of their force. 

But that was the nature of war.  Few battles were won without bloodshed. 

Her warriors should otherwise be a match for the chitauri.  The chitauri had numbers, doubtlessly, but her warriors had experience.  And once Frostbite and Dorathea lead their forces onto the battlefield, well… She could not estimate the number of enemies.  She had been told that they came from the stars, and those lands were numerous to the point of being innumerable.  Even so, there was a limit to passage through a choke point, and even the stars themselves may not turn things in the favor of a commander caught in one, no matter their numbers. 

But the ghosts, too, must pass through a portal.  Pandora eyed the slight waver in the portal’s outline with disfavor.  She was no expert in such matters, but many years of existence had given her some intuition for how portals should behave.  This one was stable enough, but not for long. 

All the more reason to resolve things quickly. 

“Hunter,” she said. 

“What?” snapped the mechanical man, the burnished plates of his armor flashing in the Sun. 

“Your task.  Find Phantom.  Free him from whatever compulsion he is under.”  Although Phantom still had much to learn, he was undeniably powerful.  Returning him to his proper allegiance would

Skulker looked away from the beast he was dismembering with some reluctance.  “Fine.  Dog.  Come here.”

The dog ignored him.  As it was Phantom’s, and Skulker hadn’t made the effort to learn its name, that was really no surprise.  Still, Skulker gestured at it.  It, in turn, bounded away, yipping.

“Are you, or are you not, the greatest hunter in the Infinite Realms?  Find him with or without the dog.”

Skulker grumbled but flew off.  Good. 

Pandora manifested a joint in her neck just long enough to crack it and drummed her fingers on the lid of her box.  It had been too long, far too long, since she had engaged in a proper battle against evil, and the more vicious of the leviathans flying through the air looked like they would, at least, give her a challenge. 

.

Thor had become more open-minded since his short stay on Earth, with Dr. Selvig, Darcy, and… Dr. Jane Foster.  Truly.  But he had to admit, these ghosts were unnerving.  Too similar by far to the draugr that had ofttimes haunted the stories of bards – the ones that made his father glare and try to shoo away both Thor and Loki. 

He had to find his brother.  Soon.  With all that had happened, with how, exactly, Loki had behaved, he believed, truly believed Daniel Fenton’s assertion Loki was being controlled, somehow. 

It was a foul thing, to put such a geas on a prince of Asgard…  Although, to be fair, putting a geas on anyone was foul.  It just seemed especially foul to Thor, that someone should do it to his brother. 

Loki had, perhaps, never been quite so good as one might hope, but he had always been… himself, as vague as that description was.  Even when he’d been consumed by madness, letting jotnar into Asgard, sending the Destroyer after people on Earth, he had still been himself.

Thor did not like this new version of Loki, who was very much…  It was like seeing his brother through a warped pane of glass, or in a reflection.  In fact, he liked it so little that he couldn’t even enjoy the utter destruction he was wrecking on the chitauri, lightning, head-crushing, and all.  Not that he had been enjoying combat quite as much as he once did in general.

The price of being worthy, he presumed. 

Alas. 

A bright green flying dog whipped past him at speed, heading towards the tower.  He narrowed his eyes at it.  Most of the ghosts had stayed concentrated around the portals.  What cause had this one to stray?

But he could not go investigate.  He could still hear the screams of the civilians cornered in the buildings nearby.  He would not leave them to fend for themselves until he had cleared this street. 

.

Danny and Loki would both have preferred to use the elevators.  Unfortunately, significant parts of the main upper elevator shaft had been repurposed for extension-cable-from-hell-powering-up-a-doomsday-device purposes, and no one wanted to mess with that, and the military-type guys they still had with them recommended shutting them off from a tactical perspective of ‘there’s more of them then there are of us, and we don’t want to guard them all.’  So.  No elevators. 

Danny could have just dropped them through the floor instead, but Loki seemed concerned about the effect serially dropping through floors had on Danny. 

Or, well, the effect that the effect it had on Danny was having on him, in any case. 

“I refuse to get stuck in a ceiling again.  I am a god.  I am to be treated with some degree of gravitas.”

“It was one time.  You should’ve seen what I was like when I first got my powers.”

“And how long ago was that?”

“Year and a half ago, about.”

Anyway, they were taking the stairs.  Danny wasn’t really upset about it, because it gave him more time to be annoying.  Right now, he was in the midst of a recital of all the ‘annoying younger sibling’ noises he had ever made.  Right now, he was working on ‘long drawn out sighs,’ which had really been a hit with Jazz, when he’d been eight.  Which was to say, she hated them.  A lot. 

And Loki didn’t seem to a have a lot of tolerance, either. 

“What,” he snapped, “are you doing?”

“Nothing,” said Danny, enjoying the way Loki’s face pinched up, as if he were searching for a way to order him to stop without really screwing up his other orders…

… speaking of which, could Danny have interpreted ‘get me out of here’ to mean ‘get me out of New York?’  Maybe.  But at this point, there were plenty of reasons to want them both in New York, including-- 

Danny’s train of thought derailed as he noticed the sound of footsteps echoing up the stairwell.  He looked down and then threw himself backwards as a redheaded woman – Romanov – brought a gun to bear on him.  She fired, twice, in quick succession.  Wow.  Rude.  And pretty brutal, too, but then again, New York was being invaded by aliens.  And she knew about his powers. 

(Hecking Fury, telling people about his powers.)

Although, considering trajectories… no, he was too sleep deprived to consider trajectories. 

He grabbed Loki’s arm, intending to drop them through the floor. 

“No, wait,” said Loki.  “Let’s see what the Widow wants.”  There was a malicious, almost cruel, edge to his voice, but there was a hollowness underneath it.  He did want to see why Black Widow, Natasha Romanov, was here, but the tone, the phrasing, was just to rile her up. 

Or to appear as if he wanted to rile her up.  Danny hadn’t listened to all the things Barton and Loki had discussed – too busy freaking out about the whole situation vis a vis mind control and alien invasions – but he hadn’t gotten the impression she was all that easy to rile up. 

But Danny had his orders.  And he still had to defend Loki.  Ice began to spread out from under his feet.  It was a bit sluggish, but it would give him the terrain advantage as far as maneuvers went.  The Widow kicked open the door on her landing and rolled out, into the floor beyond, staying more or less out of direct line of fire for both Danny and Loki. 

“I have eyes on Loki,” she said, out loud. 

.

“Crap,” said Tony, tossing the box to the Foley kid.  “Sorry, got to go, but hey!”  He was already heading for the edge of the roof.  “Maybe we won’t even need that if we do this right!”

.

Black Widow definitely been looking for them, which wasn’t surprising, but what was she carrying?  The bag was bulky and angular.  A weapon?  If so, why hadn’t she used it? 

Loki stepped out past Danny but stayed well within Danny’s ability to grab – or drop through the floor, if necessary.  Making the floor intangible instead was a valid strategy. 

“What is it you want, Widow?  Natasha Romanov?”

Romanov, meanwhile, had disappeared, almost as thoroughly as Danny could.  He tilted his head to one side, listening.  This floor, it seemed, had been imagined as semi-open lab space.  There were long work benches, empty places for equipment, some kind of robotic arm in the ceiling, and a cart full of plastic-wrapped computers, monitors and towers together. 

It was kind of cool.  There were a lot of places to hide. 

“Is this… revenge?  For Barton?”  Loki’s smile was sharp.  “He told me much about you, and I suppose Stark mentioned avenging this place.”  Two false images split off from Loki to prowl among the lab tables.  “It suits you better than it does him.  But don’t you think it somewhat… hypocritical?”

.

“Okay, Romanov, here’s how it is.  Loki likes illusions?  Let’s give him an illusion.”

.

Danny saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and angled himself to intercept, but no attack came. 

“After all… you’ve done so much… so much that others would be more than justified retaliating for, don’t you think?  All those regime changes, shall we call them?  And Barton’s no better, really.”  He hummed.  “The things you two did together.  Drakov’s daughter?  Sāo Paulo?  The hospital fire?  And you think taking vengeance on me will change anything?  You think it will make you some sort of hero?  Give you peace?  When you—”

One of the doors flew open, revealing Iron Man.  Who plowed through one fake Loki (Faki?  Fauki?  Fauxki?  Meh, he’d workshop it.) and swerved to shoot one of his repulsors at another.  Romanov popped up from behind a table and threw something at the feet of the real Loki, who crushed it with his heel, ignoring the sparks of electricity that flew up off of it. 

Danny batted Romanov back with a shield, straight into the cart of computers, which fell down on her.  Ouch.  But she’d be able to get back up and into the fight.  The important thing was that, right now, she wasn’t an immediate threat, which meant he could ignore her. 

Give her time. 

If she hadn’t wanted something, she would have run, kept hiding.  Just these few minutes – She was a shield agent, sure, but she had to have some kind of specialty in—

Anti-ghost missiles were a lot harder to avoid in such a small place, especially when distracted.  Danny hissed as one impacted his shoulder and splattered green all over his shirt, but he caught the next, and threw it back at Iron Man.  He tried to phase off the green goo, but it wouldn’t go.  It had to be some of that phase-proof stuff his parents had been working on.  Nasty stuff. 

Although, he had to be grateful it had only given him a bruise and hadn’t been mixed with something that would melt him.  It gave him hope for his future relationship with his parents. 

In the meantime, it definitely limited his options regarding protecting Loki and just removing themselves from the situation without getting into more destructive behavior. 

He hoped Iron Man knew what he was doing… for everyone’s sake. 

The missile exploded right in front of Iron Man’s mask, splattering him with green goo.  Danny had no idea what kind of sensor array he had, but that would probably buy at least a little time as he adjusted it to compensate for the eye-holes of his mask being covered up. 

He turned back to Loki, only to see another Iron Man grab the staff from him. 

Only for that Loki and that staff to dissolve into the air. 

Loki, the real Loki, stopped being invisible and laughed.  “Oh, that was good, that was very good.”  Not only was this Loki real, his smile might have been as well.  “But you didn’t think you could fool me, did you?”

Danny flicked invisible, noting with disfavor that the green goo stayed visible when he did so, and moved closer to Loki, fending off attacks.  Two Iron Men – Where did the second person come from?  Was it Barton, in a suit?  Someone else entirely?  The War Machine person?  Danny couldn’t remember his name.  – and Romanov together was a bit of a challenge for Danny to keep track of, given his present mental state. 

Luckily, however, one of the two suits, the first one, didn’t seem to have nearly the tactical awareness of the other.  He’d say it was Stark in the second suit, the fresher-looking one… the one without any form of ghost proofing Danny could detect. 

Danny swiped an intangible arm through the suit, cleaving through delicate wires as he did so, but leaving warm, human flesh untouched.  Several pieces of armor fell away, revealing a band t-shirt, but not the whole thing.  Interesting. 

Romanov threw a Fenton Ghost Zapper at him.  Loki knocked it out of the air, the sharp end of the scepter cutting it in two as he did so.  Iron Man – the one he was pretty sure was Tony Stark – tried to grab it again, even as Loki pivoted to try and catch Black Widow with it.  Danny used that as a pretext to pull Loki back, away from Black Widow.  They did not need her under control.  Nope. 

But… they wanted the staff.  They wanted the staff now. 

Selvig must have gotten knocked free.  He must have told them, one of them, about his safeguards. 

If one of these three could get the staff, get back to the top of the tower…  Then it would be over.  They’d have won. 

.

“Director Fury, the council has made a decision.”

Fury flexed his fingers behind his back.  “I recognize the council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it.”  It’s what he’d say if he hadn’t learned what he’d just learned.  If HYDRA wasn’t threaded through every element of SHIELD like a deadly parasite.  If this sounded more like a simple fear-driven overreaction and less like a way to destroy one of HYDRAs most famous enemies and his new and very powerful allies? 

“Director, despite your shocking negligence, bordering on dereliction, you’re closer than any of our subs.  You scramble that jet—”

“That is the island of Manhattan, councilman.”  Although considering that HYDRA, in the person of Red Skull, had tried to blow it up in the past, he wasn’t sure that would sway them.  Until I’m certain my team can’t hold them—”

“There are two armies of alien origin, emerging from portals above that island.  If we don’t—”

“I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population, much less the densest population in the United States.  And the other army is an ally.”

“Based on what intelligence?  Based on what invitation?  That of someone already suborned by Loki?”

“If we don’t hold them in the air,” added another councilmember, “we lose.  We lose everything.”

“If I send that bird out, we already have.”

.

“Director Fury is no longer in command.  Override order, seven, alpha, eleven.”

“Sorry, sir,” said the pilot, who had just taken his seat.  He watched with some trepidation as Agent Coulson led a pair of his colleagues away.  This was all very irregular.  “I’m not familiar with that code.”

There was a pause.  “What’s your name, son?”

.

Cujo frolicked through the city.  It was loud, yes, but nothing he hadn’t been in training for while alive, and nothing he hadn’t experienced while dead.  So, a non-issue, obviously. 

The actual issue?  His person had just thrown a stick.  Obviously, Cujo had to go fetch it. 

#danny phantom #dp/mcu #dp/marvel #op!danny/marvel #life's great lie

[pinkalmondcake]

A Mask's Love

Fierce Deity x reader part 1 out of 3

Masterlist

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Part 1 of my Fierce Deity x reader series! I hope you enjoy this mini series of mine as much as I did teheh, and please note that part 2 contains nfsw! I'll be adding another warning there too so the minors can avoid it ^.^

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warnings: angst, smidget of thriller

‧͙⁺-ˋˏ Valuable Itemˎˊ˚⁺‧͙

1k+ words

A crackle of thunder echoed through the night, the rain pelting down onto the earth below as it drooled down the misted windows of all the houses within Termina. The flashes of the sizzling lightning casted a shadow across the grassy fields, the way the silver streaks tore through the clouds soothed me as I slowly stirred awake - my curtains twirling around at the icy breath that slithered through the crack of my open window.

Slowly, I pushed aside my duvet, climbing out of the softness of my bed and treading my way across the room. And with a yawn, I rubbed my eyes as the tiredness began to seep its way into my mind again, telling me to go back to bed despite the chilliness that crawled inside. I shook my head at that, feeling the cool wetness between my toes while my fingers wrapped around the legde of the window before pulling it down with a thud, my curtains coming to a slow still.

I found myself curiously glancing out towards the blackened fields, searching through the night for the lights of Clock Town, but only to see their dim, yellow glow flicker far ahead - a sigh slipping past my lips as I turned around and began my walk back to bed, hoping for the dream of the menacing moon to end - just like it did a few years ago due to a child hero that saved us all from its smiling doom. I shivered at the memory.

Just as I was abot to crawl into the warmth of my mattress, a slither of silver cackled above - the thunder causing my house to rattle from it's defeaning howl, but what caused the skin of my neck to crawl...was the heavy knocks that banged against my door. Another after another, the knocks never ended. I could only grab onto the coolness of my bedroom door handle before twisting it anti-clockwise, feeling the iciness of its metal burn into my fingertips after I pushed open the door.

My small, usually candle-lit home filled with nothing but the darkness that covered the sky, causing my heart to stammer in my chest in fear of what awaits for me on the other side of the door. So, I quickly drew out a knife from my draw, grasping its cold handle in a tightness that whitened my nuckles - my breaths wavering.

"Who...who is it?", I called while leaning forward towards the door, readening my knife in fear they dare to knock it down, but the only answer I was left with - was the silence before another whipping crack of lightning echoed through the sky. My anxiety slowly worsening after every lingering second. I cleared my throat, "Is there anyone there? Are you alright?"

Silence.

After glancing out through the side window, I couldn't see anything beyond the light mist that rose from the sogging ground, causing a frown to make its way across my face. And with a deep inhale, I slid my keys into the golden lock of the door before twisting them until the subtle click could be hear. I closed my eyes, finding the mental strength within me to help push the door open, only to find none. I inwardly sighed at that, a few curses spilling past my lips as I pushed it open after hesitanting for a few seconds.

Nothing.

Just as I expected. Nothing but the rain that began to pool its way in and kiss the blushed skin of my cheeks - an annoyed groan waiting to edge its weight out of my throat. But just as I was about to close my door, a sight of an object resting against my door mat caught my eye. The way its whitened colour shimmered with every graze of lightening, the intricate red and blue markings made my eyes widen in fascination - its carved hair whiter than the streaks of snow.

'...But who would leave such a valuable item outside my door?'

That was the question that bothered me most as I sat here in my newly lit bedroom, my legs folded beneath one another while my eyes studied the mask. The material of it was unlike any I have felt before, its smooth to touch and oddly delicate - similar to that of a porcelain doll. I twirled it around my fingers, watching the way the orangey flames danced off the whiteness of the eyes as I now found myself tracing the intricate designs of the cheeks, following the red with my fingertip, "Such a fascinating little thing you are." I brought it near my face, hoping to feel how its texture against me as though I were in a trance - but suddenly, I shook my head with widened eyes, dropping the mask onto my duvet before bringing my knees to my chest in fear, 'What...what was that?'

The pull to it was unlike any I have ever felt, the vibrations of its magic tainting my finger tips in a twirl of seduction, begging me to put it on and release the pain that swirls within it. But what would come of it if I did...?

That was the question that tore through my mind.

I placed the mask onto my bedside table, my eyes staring at it for longer than I would've liked. And with that, I pushed it further away from me with my index finger in fear that it would somehow awaken and come to life. I lifted my duvet and crawled beneath it, wrapping it around me securely in hopes to find salvation and comfort wifhin its warmth. But I never did.

"It has been a while, my love."

I felt the softness of someone's lip trace themselves against the skin of my neck, causing my eyes to widen.

"Remember me..."

Part 2

#link x you #link loz #fierce deity #loz link #legend of zelda #loz #loz smut #loz x reader #link x reader #x reader #fierce deity x reader #dark fantasy #first meeting

[whumpdoyoumean]

Whumptober #5

xxx you better pray i don’t get up this time around

“The window,” Nureyev says, veering left. 

“The window?” Juno repeats, not sure at all that he likes this plan. Very certain, in fact, that he does not. 

“The window!” Nureyev fires two shots at the glass, shattering it. “Bend your knees, Juno. Tuck and roll. Remember your training!” And then he disappears.

“What training!” Juno shouts, and then he’s falling, and flailing, and the ground is rushing toward him fasttoofast and he does as Peter says and bends his knees before he hits the ground and maybe he didn’t do it right because there’s the sound of something going snap and his vision goes white and for a moment all he can do is scream. And then he looks at his leg and he screams again.

xxx 

Nureyev is about to make an attempt at picking himself up off the ground when he hears a sickening crack, followed by a pair of screams from Juno that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up and his heart clench. He’s never heard his partner make a sound like that, not once. 

Not even in the tomb.

His pulse is racing as he scrambles to his feet and turns around. “Juno?” He closes the gap between himself and his partner in mere steps. He sees Juno’s face first, twisted in agony, eyes squeezed tightly shut. He sees Juno’s leg next, and has to turn away as his stomach does a backflip.

“My god.” He forces himself to take two deep breaths, regaining a bit of composure before he turns back to Juno and moves to his side, kneeling in the grass and not caring at all as the damp stuff presses into his bare knees. “Oh, Juno, my god,” he repeats under his breath, still not as composed as he’d like to be. “My-”

“-god,” Juno gasps, managing to look annoyed despite his obvious agony. “Yeah. Got it. It’s-it’s bad.”

“I think that may be a bit of an understatement, darling.” He tries to inject some humor into his voice and does a poor job of it as he grips Juno’s hand in his own.

He must have landed wrong. Very wrong, given that his bone, all jagged red and hints of white, is protruding from his shin. It’s bloody and it’s horrific and Nureyev honestly feels like vomiting, but that’s simply not an option. Instead he takes two deep breaths and pulls out his comm puts a finger to his ear as Juno lays whimpering and groaning and gasping beside him.

“Buddy, where are you now?” he says as soon as the comm crackles to life. 

The fear in his voice, the desperation, must be obvious because there’s a tinge of worry when she responds, “You okay, Pete?”

“We’ve got, um...a bit of a situation, here I’m afraid. Juno’s injured. His leg is broken.”

 “How did he manage that?”

It’s all my fault, he thinks, the thought making his chest go tight. Deep breath. “Can you get in closer, Buddy?” 

“...No. No, I’m sorry, Ransom. The anti-aircraft cannons would have us out of the sky before we landed. You’ll have to make your way to us. Is it bad?”

Nureyev almost laughs at the absurdity of the question, almost, except that Juno is in agony. The man’s hand goes limp in Nureyev’s at that moment, his pained noises quieting. Nureyev is concerned but not surprised to see that Juno has slipped out of consciousness. “Yes. It’s...It’s bad. What about Rita? Couldn’t she hack into them?”

“The computer’s on the fritz, dear, remember? There’s parts that need replacing.”

Nureyev lets out a string of curses under his breath. How could he have forgotten? 

“It’s just a little over a mile, Ransom. Do you think you can get him out?”

“I…” Nureyev shifts his gaze from Juno’s face to his leg and swallows back a bit of bile. “I’m looking at his bone, it’s…out in the open. I’m afraid to move him.”

“Vespa can talk you through stabilizing the injury. Or we can come to you on foot, but--”

“But it’ll take twice as long to get him back to the ship,” Nureyev finishes, heart sinking. “They’ll be coming for us. We don’t have that kind of time.” He closes his eyes and lets out a long sigh. “Tell me what to do.”

xxx 

Juno wakes up screaming. 

“I know, Juno, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. We’re almost there, darling. Just hold on for me. A little longer.” 

Nureyev is carrying Juno on his back, doing his absolute damndest to keep from jostling the man’s injured leg. But even with the improvised splint, Juno is still getting bumped around with every step.

“Ju-ju-stop! Stop, please! Please.” He breaks down into loud sobs. “Please. Fuck! Please, Nureyev, please.”

Nureyev finds himself biting back tears at the sound of his partner’s begging. 

“I can’t do that, darling. I’m so sorry. We must get you back to the ship so Vespa can do her work.”

Juno groans. “I hate you,” he mumbles.

He knows it’s the blood loss and the pain talking, but the words still send a shard of ice through Nureyev’s heart. He makes it a few more steps, and a few more shards puncture his ventricles, because he’s about to have to do something that he really doesn’t want to do.

Juno is slipping in his arms. 

“My love?” he says. 

Juno only grunts in reply.

“Darling, you’re going to want to brace yourself. I’m...I’m losing my grip on you and I’m afraid--I’m afraid I’m going to need to give you a boost.”

“Don’t.” The word comes out desperate and so very raw. “Nureyev, don’t!”

“Are you ready?”

“Don’t! Please, Peter please don’t do this please--”

Nureyev adjusts his hold on Juno, who barely manages to scream before going limp against Nureyev’s back. Nureyev steps a little faster, pushing himself to hurry, even just a little. His arms, especially his shoulders, are aching and his heart is hammering, his lungs burning, and he’s drenched in sweat. But it doesn’t matter because it’s Juno, stubborn, beautiful, infuriating, magnificent Juno, and Nureyev is going to fix this.

xxx 

#whumptober2023 #no.5 #“it's broken” #the penumbra podcast #tpp #junoverse #fic #broken leg #blood #open fracture #juno steel #peter nureyev #jupeter #tpp fic #juno fic #whumptober #my writing #my fic #whump #whump fic

[lilblueprint]

Anti-Hero

I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror

It must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero

At the end of the day, you are the one who saves him. Or, Jason gets the thirties blues and you take a hit, too.

Been a long time coming. I left a lot more to implication than I'd planned, but I hope you all enjoy this last Midnights piece nevertheless.

Tinnitus was screaming in his ears and his face was burning with heat from the previous explosion. He waited for the sound to fade out before springing at the remaining enemy. They went down in heaps of ash, and Jason sagged in relief. The smoke was clearing, but alarm bells were still going off in his head. Something wasn’t right.

Collapsing against the closest support beam, he tapped into his comms. 

“Hey, O. Can you hear me?”

The device crackled for a bit, then:

“I hear you, Red Hood. What do you need?”

“...who’s closest to my location?”

“--Red Robin is in the area.”

“Got it. Can you ask him to clean up here? I–”

His hand fell from his ear as his knees gave out. 

Jason hit the warehouse floor with a thud. He hoped the building didn’t burn down with him still in it.

“--Red Hood? Red Hood–”

.

.

.

“--Jason!”

It took a few tries for him to comfortably keep his eyes open. When his lashes finally settled, you came into clarity, leaning over him like an angel sent to collect him. 

“Am I still in one piece?” He groaned, forcing a smile onto his face. 

You glared at him with tears in your eyes. Ever so beautiful.

“Yes, you dumbass.”

He wrapped you into his bandaged arms, and you held onto him tightly as his wounds would allow.

-

Gotham’s sunsets were… strange. As far as Jason could remember, the light had always felt wrong when it washed over the city. Like it didn’t belong there.  

Maybe because I don’t belong here.

The manor was glowing on the hill to his right. To his left, shadows bounced far and wide as the light fluctuated between buildings. He kept his senses alert for fear of what he would see in the streets–Oracle had briefed them on a possible Arkham breakout tonight. 

Not him. He was on bedrest, or supposed to be. 

“Thought I’d find you out and about,” your voice called out. Groaning, he turned around with his hands up in mock surrender. 

“You caught me, sweetheart.”

“You won’t hear the end of it from Alfred,” you teased. “Not that I’m any happier about you sneaking out when you’re supposed to be resting.”

He averted his gaze as your eyes fixed on him. 

“I just wanted some air,” he mumbled, turning back to the rooftops. You padded over to him, grit crunching beneath your sneakers. Your hand slipped into his, and he squeezed it gratefully. He didn’t have to look at your eyes to know they’d softened, that they were testing his waters. 

He didn’t stop you from diving in. He never could. 

“What’s eating you, Jay?”

“...I don’t know.”

You waited for him, slowly drifting the two of you to a corner so you could perch on the roof ledge. When you swung yourself up, panic momentarily spiked in him as he saw you lean back. His hands twitched towards you instinctively, his entirety gravitating to you in order to make sure you didn’t fall. If you noticed, you didn’t mention it. 

“Talk to me,” you whispered, brushing your fingers lovingly along his cheekbone. He chased after your hands, leaning into your touch like it could heal him, him and all his mistakes. 

“I feel blue,” he admitted. 

“Blue?”

“Blue,” he agreed. “I don’t understand what it is.”

The two of you stayed silent for a while. You rocked gently on the ledge while Jason was slotted between your legs, head resting on your thigh. His hand gripped yours tightly, silently pleading with you to anchor him to your shores. 

“Do you think maybe it’s the holidays? Y’know, seasonal depression or something?”

“Or something,” he muttered. Another quiet minute passed before you made a move. You leaned down, snaking your arms about his torso. Your hands traveled further and further along his torso before quickly slipping into his jacket’s inner seam. “Y’know,” Jason smirked, reaching down to grab your wrists, “if you wanted to grope me you could’ve just–”

“Found them,” you announced, producing a pack of cigs from the leather folds. 

Jason’s jaw went slack. 

“...how long have you known about those?”

“About a year now,” you said, biting the broken edge of your nail clean off. Wait, did that turn him on? 

You gently loosened yourself from his grip, standing up and gesturing for him to do the same. When he towered a good foot above you, you reached into his outer pocket and pulled out a lighter. Laughing at his flabbergasted look, you turned to give the flint wheel a little jolt. 

The rosy golden hue of the sunset was suddenly cupped in your hands, hazy darkness had descended upon Gotham like a blanket of snow. Jason was drawn to the light as you blew experimentally on the flame to make it sway, flickering across your palm. 

“You catch on quick,” you commented, looking at the open pack of cigs. He was hesitant to put one between his fingers, you hadn’t liked smokers since your Bowery days. But here you were now, smiling wryly at him like it was no big deal. 

He chanced a crooked grin as he tucked the cig between his lips. Ignoring the open flame just inches from his face, he nudged his way into your space. Rough hands took up their place on your waist, your arm rested across his shoulders, and he was so close. 

“Help a guy out here, darling.”

“My pleasure,” you replied smoothly, holding the lighter up between the two of you. Angling your face to avoid the first wisps of burnt black smoke, you set fire to the end of the stick. 

Two pairs of eyes watched the cig smolder. Jason readjusted you so that you were tucked into his side. When your head fell onto his shoulder, he released the first lungful. It clouded your eyes as you watched its course. 

“Hey, Jay.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s good to have you here.”

He didn’t reply, but you knew he knew. 

It’s good to be back, doll. 

#jason todd x reader #jason todd x you #jason todd fic

[lara635kookie]

My Carmen Sandiego Ship Analysis with Red Crackle, Carmivy and Carulia:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

Part 7:

Part 8:

It had more parts than I expected but apparently tumblr has a word limit that I crossed pretty often lol. Anyway, it's longer than I thought and I don't know if anyone it's going to really read it but just in case there it is.

#carmen sandiego #carmen sandiego 2019 #graham calloway #gray #crackle #red crackle #netflix #carmensandiego #graham x carmen #carmen sandiego netflix #carmen x gray #grahamcalloway #carmen x graham #graham crackle #gray x carmen #carmivy #anti carulia #anti julethief #ivy carmen sandiego #julia argent

[firelxdykatara]

And if I said re.dcrackle was ma.iko done better?

My kneejerk response is 'how dare you do Carmen and Gray dirty like that 😭😭😭'

BUT I think I know what you mean--if you take maiko back to the bare bones, you come up with 'childhood friends turned enemies turned lovers', and on that score, red crackle did it MUCH better.

I think a big part of it is that Carmen Sandiego started out giving you the sense that these two characters genuinely loved and cared for one another in the 'childhood friends' portion of their past. (Although it wasn't childhood so much as late adolescence, which probably helps at least a bit--CS never tried to convince me that a one-sided crush from 12-year-old kids would last until they were nearly adults and only then become mutual.) The thing about maiko is... it was entirely one-sided from the very beginning. Shippers will sometimes try to sell you on them being 'childhood sweethearts', but they really weren't--Mai had a crush on Zuko, to which he was oblivious, and likely even if he weren't he wouldn't have wanted to even consider the possibility of returning her feelings because she was his sister's friend and Azula terrified him.

(For good reason, as we see in flashbacks when Zuko is convinced by Ursa to play with his sister and her friends, because then the whole 'knocking Mai into the fountain' thing happens--which, according to the comic that actually explained how they got together in the break between books 2 and 3, she apparently blamed Zuko for, even though it was entirely Azula's fault.)

Gray and Carmen, on the other hand, were established as rivals who quickly became best friends over the course of their year in school together. They clearly cared deeply for one another, and Gray was just as upset as she was when Carmen failed their final exams (and he was clearly devastated when she got taken down trying to stop their 'graduate' mission). They didn't see each other for three years (incidentally, the same length of time between Zuko's banishment and meeting Mai again), at which point they were enemies, and yet Gray was clearly upset at the prospect of having to hurt her. (I maintain that this is why Carmen so easily got the drop on him on that train, and why he gave her the chance to tell the whole story to begin with--he really didn't want to fight her, and his heart just wasn't in it when push came to shove.)

Obviously, this is where the two ships diverge dramatically--Gray got his memory wiped, and Carmen saw it as this bizarre sort of second chance; she befriended him and flirted with him and asked him on a date, she tried to stay away to protect him from VILE taking renewed interest, and she tried desperately to save him when they finally did choose to bring him back into the fold. And then Gray let her go, when she tried to save him only to find the brainwashing had been reversed--because he never wanted to hurt her again. And then he went to ACME after Carmen got VILE-ized, because this wasn't who she was and even if it meant going against everything he'd worked for, it was worth it to give Carmen back her mind and her choice. And then they got married and lived happily ever after -cough- sorry I can't help a bit of editorializing, but ANYway.

Where atla went wrong, I think, is failing to establish any real reason for Mai and Zuko to remain in a relationship after the completion of Zuko's character arc. Mai makes sense as a stopgap measure for a Zuko who is trying desperately to fit back in at home, be the 'prodigal son' returning triumphantly to his father's side, worthy of his father's love--something he'd been desperately working towards ever since his exile--and she was also, incidentally, an example of why Zuko didn't fit any longer. He had become a square peg trying very hard to fit himself into a round hole, and Mai was part of that facade, but once he finally stopped trying and instead left to do what he knew was right, even if it wouldn't be easy... Mai stopped making any sense as a part of his life.

Unlike Gray, who came to understand why Carmen fought so hard against VILE and endeavored to free her even if it meant he had no place in her life any longer (giving up his own place in that world in the process, because he knew there was a chance VILE would kill him even if he succeeded), Mai never seemed to care, much less understand why Zuko left in the first place. She saw it as a betrayal--of her and of his country, and there's never any indication that she came to realize the Fire Nation was wrong and needed to lose the war--right up past the point where she saved his life, which she did because she still had a crush on him, not because she cared at all about the cause for which he was fighting.

Carmen and Gray both grew as characters separately and together--Mai never grew at all, being the exact same person in her last appearance as she was in her first, with the same beliefs and no indication that anything about her worldview had changed, and this is especially egregious when she was paired as a love interest with the character who arguably had the most dynamic growth throughout the series.

So yeah, bottom line? As far as 'childhood friends to enemies to lovers', red crackle did it worlds better than maiko (though, admittedly, that particular bar was kinda on the ground already).

#atla #carmen sandiego #anti maiko #maiko salt #red crackle #salt for ts #long post #Anonymous #asked #kitty meta #a bit late to actually start tagging for it but better late than never lol #zuko #mai salt

[yuraimi-lee-bunny]

What, to you, is the stupidest anti-rc argument.

Uffff.... … I have several points, and the last one I will mention is the best known but where I want to give details of why it doesn't make sense.

It's a boring ship

I don't know why many say that as an argument, when that isn't an argument, it's an opinion. And it's okay if you find the ship boring (as I think Caru+++ is SUPER boring, but I'm not saying that as an argument, and much less I'm going to say it to anyone who likes that ship because it's basically disrespect)

Tastes aren't arguments, they're opinions, and everyone has their own taste and if it isn't harming anyone, then there is no problem.

2.- It's a straight ship

……….Again, it's an opinion… and a very strange and illogical one. I don't want to get too into that because everyone has their headcanons (and in my case it makes me laugh because I have the headcanon that Carmen and Gray are bisexules, so in my case "straight ship where?")

Whether it's an LGBT or straight ship, it doesn't take away from how beautiful it can be (and again, if it doesn't hurt anyone, then what's the problem?)

3.- Age difference

Ok, the truth is I don't see any sense in this, because to begin with it is almost canon that Carmen was born in 99. According to the creator, he mentioned that VILE students enter the academy at the age of 20. Doing the math, Carmen was 18 years old when she met Gray and she was 20 (approximately). That's two years difference, it's not much. Also, I think, the vast majority of shipers, we started to love Red Crackle when they were both older (20 and 22).

(And sorry for mentioning this, seriously, sorry, but Julia must be at least 4 years older than Carmen, and I don't see ANYONE saying this argument to be "against" Caru***… so sorry, just please, don't be hypocrites)

4.- Gray left Carme brainwashed for 6 months.

Ok, I would love to give a lot of details about why this seems very unfair to me, but I can't because I would be giving more details about Gray's character analysis and I don't want to make this post long, so I'll get to the point:

Let's remember that Gray returned to VILE, and was basically on probation. The Faculty knows how close Gray is to Carmen. They trusted Gray above all to not let Carmen regain her true self. It's true that Gray was okay with this (until the fair scene) but understand something: Gray was between a rock and a hard place. Yes, wanting Carmen to return, but on the other hand having the eyes of the Faculty on him. He did something 6 months later because he no longer had Carmen in his sight, he could no longer take care of her, she was already in the complete hands of the Faculty, and worse still, hearing what she would do to Shadowsan, that's when he took the risk.

Gray in itself didn't really want to return to VILE (in my analysis I later show the evidence), being on probation, then taking care of Carmen, both being on the radar of the Faculty so that everything was fine… don't believe that Gray was afraid for his life?

Because let me remind you something: NO ONE leaves VILE.

Thus, I consider it a little empathetic that they don't understand why Gray didn't act quickly to make Carmen return to normal (I even bet you that if he had seen the red team at some point, he would do something to make her return. Although that is a 50/50 of probability) But again: Gray didn't do that to manipulate Carmen, he did it because he had no other choice.

Finally, the best known, the one that we have all known for 5 years and continue to use incorrectly:

5.- They treated each other like brothers/That ship is inc+++.

.... oh my....

I just can't take this argument seriously… It's so ridiculous. Look, they're not even blood brothers to begin with. They looked like brothers in their VILE academy years. Carmen only ONCE said that she saw Gray as a brother, and then said "But this time, it may be the start of something more." From season two onwards, she stopped saying that Gray was a brother to her.

Now, I understand the point that when two people have spent years treating and being educated as siblings, it basically counts as an insanity if they fall in love within the story or if the fandom makes the ship (a good example: Luther and Allison from The Umbrella Academy)

But Gray and Carmen were NEVER raised to see each other as siblings, and it was only for one year, and then everyone went their own way. Obviously that idea of "seeing each other as brothers" could change, especially with EVERYTHING that Gray and Carmen experienced.

So sorry, but that ince*** thing is one of the most illogical arguments to be against Red Crackle.

And look, to finish: If someone doesn't like Red Crackle, that's okay, that's normal. But don't use "arguments" to denigrate the ship, when in addition to being invalid, the ship itself isn't harming anyone, and above all: why do you want to say this just to make someone feel bad because like Red Crackle?

Anyway, these are just my observations, thanks for your ask. If anyone knows another argument that is used against Red Crackle, you can write it, I only know these 5 hahaha.

#carmen sandiego #carmen sandiego 2019 #carmen sandiego netflix #graham calloway #graham crackle #red crakle #ask #annonymus ask #annonymous #Thanks for you ask annon! #and sorry for the long post 8'''D

[eretzyisrael]

In June 2021, Nathan Thrall published a lengthy essay “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama” in The New York Review of Books. Writing for HonestReporting, Salo Aizenburg described it as “a virulent anti-Zionist manifesto that relies on numerous errors, omissions, misrepresentation and misquotes to paint a one-sided image of Israel as a uniquely evil entity that seeks nothing more than the removal and domination of another people.”

Thrall has now turned his essay into a full-length book, a review of which appears in the New York Times.

Thrall’s book takes a fatal Palestinian school bus accident in February 2012 as the thread to critique Israel. Both Thrall and reviewer Rozina Ali, however, turn fact into fiction by using the accident as a means to bash Israel and portray Israelis as indifferent to the tragic event.

Ali writes:

The road the bus had been going down had been paved so that settlers could travel to and from Jerusalem without having to go through Ramallah, creating “the illusion of a continuous Jewish presence from the city to the settlements.” After Israel built new bypass highways for settlers, most of the drivers who used the old road were Palestinian. These Palestinian motorists were stopped at checkpoints, which meant traffic piled up, which meant that, to escape the bottleneck of cars and trucks, drivers had a habit of overtaking slow-moving vehicles by veering into the opposing lane of traffic.

Over the years, Palestinians and some media have used the catch-all excuse of “occupation” to absolve Palestinians of responsibility for their own actions. This has even included Palestinian men beating their wives or abusing animals. So Ali’s charge that Palestinians drive dangerously because of Israel is sadly all too predictable.

In the most emotive part of the review, Ali says there is “one particular detail about the accident that continues to chill me”:

The bus is ‘crackling with flames.’ There are screams and shouting. The children burn inside. The crash happened a few minutes’ drive away from a settlement and seconds from a checkpoint. An Israeli ambulance could have bypassed the checkpoints and taken a direct route to the scene of the accident. But about half an hour in, Thrall writes, ‘not a single firefighter, police officer or soldier had come.’

Children are burning to death and Israeli rescue forces are nowhere to be seen, apparently. It appears that Ali and Thrall relied on the inciteful remarks of then-Palestinian health minister Fathi Abu Mughli, who accused Israeli rescue services of failing to provide timely assistance, resulting in more casualties — a charge contradicted by eyewitness reports at the scene.

Media coverage from the day also tells a very different story.

Israel Radio reported that it took rescue forces seven minutes to reach the accident scene.

And Haaretz reported:

More than 50 ambulances and several rescue helicopters were called to the scene of the accident, near the West Bank settlement of Adam. The injured passengers, including three very seriously injured children, were admitted to several hospitals in Israel and in Ramallah. Later, however, Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service and the Palestinian Red Crescent agreed that most of the Ramallah patients should also be admitted to Israeli hospitals.

Not only were Israeli rescue services on the scene within minutes but Israel also went out of its way to treat the wounded Palestinian children.

In addition, Israel’s political leadership offered support:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who was visiting Cyprus, offered the PA ”any aid requested.” President Shimon Peres telephoned Abbas to convey his condolences. Peres asked the Palestinian leader to tell the grieving families that his thoughts were with them in their time of anguish, and assured Abbas that Israel would provide the best possible medical care to those of the injured who had been taken to Israeli hospitals.

Ali concludes her damning review by calling “to examine the apartheid system that intentionally divides Israelis and Palestinians, as Thrall does so convincingly in this grim narrative.”

The BBC interviewed Israeli medical worker Shalom Galil:

Mr Galil said Israeli and Palestinian emergency services had worked closely together at the scene. “Palestinian firefighters were involved. As far as I could see, there was full co-operation between the firefighters of Judea and Samaria [West Bank] and the Palestinian firefighters.”

Israeli and Palestinian emergency services worked together; Israeli hospitals (where Arab doctors work with their Jewish colleagues) treated Palestinian children.

Rather than an example of an “apartheid system that intentionally divides Israelis and Palestinians,” this tragic event was evidence of the contrary. What’s more, it showed the essential humanity of Israelis when it comes to saving lives.

But that’s not a narrative that Nathan Thrall, Rozina Ali or The New York Times want readers to see.

#nathan thrall #new york times #media bias

[grahamcarmen]

No i didn't send a ask yet i was just checking to see if you got the ask since a previous ask i send to another blogger was never answered.

anyway, deep thought but if you think about it when people ship carmen and grey back at vile academy and during each one's brainwashing you're essentially shipping different characters making redcrackle have plenty of subcategories, what would be your ship name for each categorie( I can't be bothered to list how many there are i'm sorry).

also also, have you seen kitsukits redcrackle "arcade" amv and AuroralovesMCSM's "Carmen and grey being in love for 5 minutes and 30 seconds" complication video.

Oh ok!

I can see that lol.

I don't romantically ship them at the VILE academy stage [even if I do believe its an important dynamic to their overall relationship] because thats where its strictly platonic. But since I have been around around long enough that I know that people sometimes people use ship as just a relation"ship" marker [hi ouat I know you guys weren't actually shipping certain peeps lol. Like they had platonic ship names regularly and most people understood that :p] that part would probably be cracklesheep or graysheep because thats when carmen was just Black sheep and gray didn't have any attachment to his name graham but also wasn't hard line about being crackle yet.

Carmen looking at Graham looking at her romantically and going ����👈maybe maybe? And allowing carmen to take the initiative in prioritizing her protective feelings over him?and lowkey allowing graham to again gain affection for her in an entirely different light...Hmmm

Svdjdkdokd i guess grahamcarmen or carmgray because she is still insisting on calling him gray and ascribing his new flirtation and doing good as like a mishmash

Gray pretending that she would have made the choice to be carmen while being on the island with that sinking feeling that no. carmen exists because she was chose to leave and connect with the outside world? And more than just acknowledging it wanting to protect it at the cost of what he valued most? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Cracklecarmen?

Tbh I've really grown attached to red crackle not just because its the first way to make it clear that i want these 2 to kiss because its the clear romantic shipname lol but also because its kinda what they choose to portray themselves as. Carmen using her red coat and name from the outfit she got off the island to signal the need to stop VILE to anyone who can find her and Crackle as a codename of the path that gray is choosing to follow even as he finds something good inside him trying to make it to the surface

and their relationship allowing them to clash but also want to look past that to the people who made these choices because they care about them.

And what makes it fun is that those subcategories include past subcategories, build on them, and change aspects of their relationship ever so slightly until we end up with something that is not at all how they started [gray in love with carmen and carmen with her deeper feelings of being forced to go without him as fully expressed as the finale allowed] . And when their memories are in place they acknowledge that. Its all rc to me...but I get it ! Exploring each category is VERRRRY different and I even sometimes tag them dark! Redcrackle for the dark red caper version of them instead of redcrackle because that is just ...different.

and my username lol is because I LOVE her nickname for him but always champion that entirely ignoring " graham " isnt....like they do need to adress that...somehow...not even to always go by his name because he's not anti-his nickname [and as you can see i think that carmen conflating his flirtations as something gray now can do 🥰 is hmmmmmmmmmm] but its still...~~~~~~idk. I am very appreciative that he does have a full name.

I have actually a playlist trying to save as many rc vids as I can find so yes! I have seen the arcade fanvid but like I might have just saved the other vid and watched the episodes again 😭

Edit: IALMOST FORGOT HIMALAYA AND TRAIN RC they can be cracklecarmen uwu

#red crackle thoughts #asks #im sorry for like not super creative shipnames i just actually am ok/like rc as the blanket