#( they're both killer robots in a way )

[hartlines]

TUMBLR TEXT POST PROMPTS

@cainevesson: "If you ever feel stupid or weak or powerless, just remember that I, am not."

The Terminator hears the words like a spike of data, but at first, he doesn't move—he doesn't even blink. Yet there's a shift to his jaw, possibly a recalibration, but visible nonetheless.

"I do not feel stupid. Or weak. Or powerless."

Then he advances, one step forward, eyes locked on Cain. The red in them is dim but constant, like a warning light that has yet to flash.

"I am a cybernetic infiltration unit. My skeletal structure is reinforced hyper-alloy. My neural net processor is capable of over ten trillion calculations per second. I do not forget. I do not panic. I do not break."

His gaze hardens, not out of pride, but with something akin to insulted dignity, buried deep within the code that John Connor unlocked long ago. Then, a spark ignites a subtle hint beneath the surface of the words that reveals the true nature of the interaction.

"You say this to provoke me."

[sass-ruby]

Alright, so we shall talk about these two videos and the new channel :DD

First off all, for the new channel, me and my friends noticed they used MASM to make it

Understandable honestly, it's probably easier that way- since MASM already had subscribers and all

I was so confused on how I was already subbed 😭

Also don't mind the MASM logo for the second picture, I dunno how to make it go away

ANYWAYS ONTO THE EPISODES

Ah, usual moon things.. making robots that end up wanting to commit genocide ☠️ (reminds me of that one MASM episode with the raccoon)

Sundroid is so silly. THE SINGING AFTER EVERY SENTENCE GOT ME TBH

He's just a silly innocent guy :33 that wanted to pull a ruin but that's unrelated

I find it kinda cute that moon made sundroid based off of sun, adding the things sun usually does- it's just sweet in a way djdjjs

Sun was SO done with moon tho- WHICH WAS FUNNY

"you are a genius, but you are so SO STUPID AT TIMES" I LOVED IT FR

I was laughing my ass off 😭😭

Also KILLER SUN MENTIONED ‼️‼️

when sundroid entered the void/a dimension (idk I don't remember), there was a certain voice at minute 14:00.. it sounded A LOT like killer sun, not just by voice but by the way of talking

I love killer sun, I hope he gets more attention on the channel.. because ngl I like the dynamics-

Sun cannot STAND killer sun, bro would kill him in an instant. HE LITERALLY SAID SOMETHING LIKE "should've thrown a firebal-.."

I like how sun and moon kinda switched places- before moon was the one wanting to kill anyone who's a slight annoyance, but now sun seems to be like that. Like, when they first met killer sun, sun immediately told moon if he doesn't do anything, he's gonna kill him with NO hesitation

They really remind me of this picture (not my art!)

The amount of change they've both been through, holy..

IT MAKES ME A BIT SAD THINKING ABOUT IT

Back to killer sun and the dynamic-

Killer sun seems to be a huge annoyance to sun.. it sort of reminds me of past nexus and past ruin, the ruin who acted insane

Past nexus HATED ruin, sun was the one who tried his best to not intervene and probably tried to get past nexus to not kill ruin (?? I forgot)

Now, moon is the one staying quiet.. that killer sun himself mentioned

Meanwhile, killer sun? He's just a silly guy, alr? 😭 HE'S JUST SILLY AND I SUPPORT HIS RIGHTS AND WRONGS

(totally not contemplating deleting this part because I'm scared I'll get backlash for my observations being wrong or something)

TO THE SECOND EPISODE!!

(pic again because yes)

This was- one way to introduce the new channel ☠️ (In a good way!!)

I'm really looking forward to this channel ^^ it'll be neat! And it will most likely become another one of my new hyperfixations <33

I'm glad it's this and not lunar and astrals or something.. I don't really like the star power thing, plus, why would they make a channel?

No offense to those who wanted it tho! We all have our preferences, it's completely normal

I thought it would be called sunny and moony show- I didn't expect femme nights at freddy's but oh well, that's probably to make it easier to differentiate since when shortening it, it would be the same-

TSAMS (the sun and moon show)

TSAMS (the sunny and moony show)

Can't put moony first either, that would be MASM then. It'd be really bothersome- so the shortened version of this show would beeee...

Insert deep thinking

Help- it'd basically be FNAF 😭 um- I'm sure people will find a shortened version that'll fit good enough! Maybe like- FMAFS? I DON'T KNOW 💔

I wonder if they'll get traumatized though.. or if it will just be a silly show

I'M SO EXCITED FOR NEW VIDEOS OF THIS SHOW EEEEEE >:DDDDD

Tsams answered my prayers frfr (I did hope that they wouldn't just be a one time thing)

I like them, they're silly!! Their models, voices, personalities.. EVERYTHING. I LOVE IT ALLLL

And I like how chaotic they are with sun and moon 😭

LIKE IN THE VIDEO- THE BANTER MADE ME LAUGH SM

AND THE STRESSING-

"I HAVE THE NUKES READY :3"

"WHAT????"

Also monty in that universe having a bunch of nitroglycerin in his room.. ☠️ I LOVE HOW THEY'RE BOTH LIKE "that's just a monty thing!"

I didn't know nitroglycerin was used to make bombs!! THANK YOU FOR THAT INFORMATION DEAR EPISOD- /J

Another thing.. The mention of sun's adaptability is fascinating to me

Sun always seems to be the outcast/dumb one, but there's always ONE thing that surprises the others. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO EXPLAIN IT BETTER

Example is in that simulation- sure it's only a simulation, but the way merged sun+eclipse was surprised about sun's emotions

"I feel the need to kill that- thing! Yet I have this.. unending thankfulness.. is this what it's like to be sun?!"

I'm not sure if the need to kill moon in that simulation was a part of eclipse's or sun's emotions, but I think it could be both.

I always headcannoned that sun does feel a bit of resentment towards moon. I came to that conclusion by some of the things he says sometimes. They're brushed aside by most, but not with me :3

Example is when sun said to himself smt like- "two moons?? I can BARELY deal with on- okay no.. stop." Or something like that, I can't find the episode so not sure of the exact sentence.. but the way he STOPPED himself, it was like he was telling himself to stop being angry or to not hold a grudge

Yet, as the merged fellow said, he feels unending thankfulness at the same time which is seen by a lot of things-

That's just one of my personal headcanons, I feel that feeling too and I see myself A LOT in sun sooo

But YEEEE

I hope the new channel doesn't end up like MASM 😭 I doubt it will tho

These two episodes were fun, and got a really good laugh out of me jdjdjsj

THAT WOULD BE ALLLLL

TOODLESSSSSSS <3333

Edit:

I just realized- sun calling moon a genius yet telling him he's so stupid reminds me of that one meme-

"there's a thin line between being a genius and being an idiot... Sebastian uses that line like a FUCKING jump rope!"

THAT MOMENT WAS SO THEM 😭🙏

I love their brotherly dynamic frfr

[merakiui]

Hey Mera! Today's Friday the 13th and I couldn't help but wonder, do you have some thoughts for any serial killer (insert twst chara) for the day? 👀

personally thinking of sk Floyd with the lake theme surrounding Jason Voorhees, being the final girl when your group of friend decided to have a little camp out nearby the cursed lake.

but you know, sk Azul (persumed dead) coming back for revenge after being bullied and "drowned" in the camp lake is also a delicious thought....

AAAA sk twst thoughts!!!! Sk Floyd and Azul....... both of those ideas are so delicious,, being the final girl who is no match for these obsessed killers. >_< they're going to have you one way or another. Whether that's speared on a knife or his cock. :)

Omg but sk Rook is also a yummy thought!!! Maybe you're a horror writer trying to get out of a writer's block, and there's Rook who is so obsessed with you and your books. Your biggest fan, one might say. He decides to help give you inspiration by throwing you into the plot of a typical slasher film, only this one isn't just confined to the page. >:D Rook terrorizing your town and you've no idea what's going on, but people around you are dying in brutal ways and the killer seems to be getting closer and closer to you as the days pass. orz

And sk Cater!!!! Cater who wants to go viral so badly, but nothing seems to be working. So he decides to become a masked killer who livestreams all of his kills. :) he starts with insignificant people. It draws in some views, but nothing will get the view count up quite like a bigger target. Someone that people actually care about. Maybe you're a public official or a celebrity. In any case, lots of people adore you and now here you are, stripped naked and bound like a pig, and Cater's having his audience vote on which ways he should play with you first.

Sk Idia....... something something very messed up plot where he's running an experiment to see how much mental exhaustion and stress a person can endure before they inevitably break. Cold, detached STYX Idia......... putting you through the worst hell of your life and to him you're merely Human Test Subject #57. >_< there's no chance of escaping, and even if you do manage to miraculously break out of your cell and slip past the robots Ortho will stop you. He can quite literally control all of the surveillance and other high-tech security on his own, so bringing you back to Idia is no issue at all! :D omg what if,,, Idia but it's that one sleep experiment creepypasta....... I think Idia should be used for more unethical science concepts. He can be so frightening when he's clinical.

[randomthefox]

The problem I have with "Shadow has beef with Tails" is that it paints Tails as a hapless victim and Shadow as a bully. You already covered Tails' half of the discussion, so I'mma talk about Shadow.

While it's true that Shadow can behave like an asshole, it seems like the only character he truly has beef with is Sonic, and even that fluctuates from time to time. Maybe because he knows Sonic's strong enough to give as good as he gets, which would align with his whole "never abuses his power for selfish gain" thing.

Not to imply Tails isn't strong, but the point being made here is that Shadow really has no reason to pick on him.

Hell, even Eggman gets some perfunctory respect from him; he doesn't always threaten to throw hands with the Doctor and in fact sometimes pleads not to fight him, a la his dialogue during Team Dark's Robot Storm fight. There are also several instances in ShTH where Shadow approaches Eggman with the intent of getting information, only for Eggman to instigate the fight.

However, with Sonic, Shadow's usually ready to beat his ass on sight. Why would he go aggro on Tails, who's done nothing to him?

I also just remembered that the first Sonic fic I published on AO3 was a slice-of-life story where Shadow visits Tails at his house and convinces him to stop overworking and play outside, in so many words lol. It was inspired by a prompt I had seen on Tumblr about Shadow bonding with Tails over his inventions.

That was back in 2016. How did we go from that to "Shadow hates Tails' guts"?

I swear I used to see people float much different ideas about their dynamic. They'd say Shadow got along well with Tails - inasmuch as he can get along with anyone, ofc - because of Tails' similarities with Gerald and Maria, such as his genius, his gentle nature, and even his blue eyes.

A little reductive? Maybe, but at least you could see it and it was something that gelled with games canon.

Now it's like they want Shadow to shove him into a locker or something, all because they're basing the pair's dynamic on that one episode of Sonic X where Shadow bodies everyone in his mission to eliminate Cosmo, not just Tails.

Either that, or they're pretending he took offense to the "Who's your daddy?" line. Which is still just fanon any way you dice it.

Yeah it's such a frustrating character assassination against BOTH of them. "lol Tails is such a stupid useless idiot weak baby, getting beaten up by the big bad mean aggro badass Shadow!"

Shit like Sonic X and Sonic movie 3 portraying Shadow as this fucking one man army that can solo Team Sonic single handedly like he's the most powerful Sonic character bar none doesn't help. Tails is the weakest member of Team Sonic. Shadow is propped up like he's an untouchable god that Sonic can't hope to measure up against by the fandumb, thanks to these fuckass adaptations. So the juxtaposition of "badass god killer Shadow" wanting to beat up "stupid poor helpless weak baby boy Tails" makes it a "funny meme" to the ratbrained tosspots.

It's so fucking frustrating and stupid and not funny and an absolute disgrace for both of them. Tails is unquestionably weaker than Shadow, sure. But he would still put up a fight. Tails would obviously lose but it's not like Shadow would just walk through him with no fucking effort. Shadow couldn't just nosell anything Tails tries to do. It wouldn't go like THIS

I fucking hate Sonic X so fucking much

And power scaling aside, Shadow WOULDN'T WANT to fight Tails. He obviously likes Tails and respects him. He appears to give him much more consideration than he ever bothers to give for Knuckles or Sonic that's for sure. This is me reading into their relationship a bit, since they don't interact THAT often, but I would presume that Shadow sees Tails as someone who needs protection. He's young, smart, has some (mental) health issues, has blue eyes. You could easily say that Tails reminds Shadow of Maria. If TAILS wants to fight him, ala their encounter in Sonic Battle, Shadow isn't going to turn it down but he's definitely not going to go whole hog on him.

Shadow would pull his punches. You can say that infantilizes Tails, but I wouldn't think so. Saying Tails couldn't single handedly punch a meteor into dust isn't infantalizing him either. Shadow IS stronger than him. Shadow would HAVE to be nerfed for Tails to be able to match him, as he was in their Sonic Battle fight. That doesn't reflect negatively on Tails, what it does do is reflect POSITIVELY on Shadow. Shadow WOULDN'T unleash his full strength on Tails, because he DOESN'T WANT TO HURT HIM. He couldn't care less about hurting Knuckles or Sonic, but he's fine with fighting with one arm tied behind his back when it comes to Tails. And even in that fight in Sonic Battle where Shadow KNOWS he's handicapped, he still admits that he had to push himself in the fight against Tails.

Again, Tails ISN'T a worthless stupid weak helpless bully victim. He'd put up a fight.

Shadow very clearly treats Tails differently from Knuckles or Sonic. Shadow's characterization is just too subtle for most people to pick up on, little gestures go a long way for him. In Sonic Rivals, Shadow doesn't give Sonic or Knuckles the time of day and just wants to beat them into the dirt to get them to leave him alone. But when Rouge gives him sass, he RELENTS and wastes valuable time for the sake of explaining himself to her.

When it comes to people Shadow likes and respects, he's willing to bend and compromise and EXPLAIN himself to try and avoid conflict with them if he can help it. And we see this SAME THING in Sonic Battle. He tells Sonic "fuck off, I'm killing the robot and I'll kill you too" and doesn't bother with anything else. But with Tails, he actually lets him in on the drama and practically beseeches him to let him do what needs to be done.

Tails is clearly at least in the same ballpark as Rouge, when it comes to how Shadow sees them.

Shadow LIKES Tails. He RESPECTS Tails. He DOESN'T WANT TO HURT Tails.

The meme is utterly repugnant for BOTH of these characters. It's not funny. It's not accurate. It's perpetuated by shitheads who don't understand anything about either character or their relationship. I honestly have no patience for it.

[tyrantisterror]

Bringing Up Baddie (Working Title) Character Concepts

Hey, remember a while back when I made those posts about supervillain archetypes, one of which inexplicably became derailed to talk about different doctorates people wanted to see put to use as increasingly terrible supervillain pitches? Well that was for a thing! A thing that I'm currently conceptualizing as "What if we took the premise of the famous screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, wherein a crazy lady ruins a milquetoast guy's life in the best possible way, and did it with superheroes and stuff?" Well, supervillains, technically.

I was getting that list of archetypes together to try and make some pitches, and I basically took it and got some of the kids at the daycare to pitch power combos and motiffs for me, because who would know better what would make for a fun superhero, right? Anyway, here's some of the working character concepts so far:

Reptillion, with the enhanced powers of a million reptiles!

Just a down-on-their-luck schmuck who got roped into being a test subject for some evil super science while job hunting, Reptillion would be the Cary Grant figure in this tale. The power set was pitched by a child, I swear - for once it wasn't me who decided the protagonist should have a reptile theme! Reptillion is The Big Monstrous Guy archetype, a reluctant monster who will be forced into villainy by circumstance.

Scarlet Sidewinder, the venomous and villainous viperess!

The Kate Hepburn figure in this story was always going to be a Harley Quinn expy of some sort, and when a reptile theme was chosen for the protagonist, it felt only fitting that the deuteragonist would share it. Also, like, snake-themed Harley Quinn knockoff is very much in my wheelhouse. Figuring out her hairstyle has proved to be the biggest challenge - I tried a lot of looks that fit her punk personality, but they kept obscuring the viper eye-horns on her domino mask, which I feel are a more important detail (supervillains shouldn't downplay their motiffs!), so I ended up going with a pair of sidewinder-esque pony tails instead. As both Harley Quinn and Kate Hepburn's character in Bringing Up Baby were before her, Scarlet Sidewinder is The Wildcard archetype.

Scarlet Sidewinder is, of course, the test subject of an earlier version of the Reptillion super serum, one that only focused on snake DNA and didn't give broke shapeshifting powers to her. She initially wants the Reptillion serum for herself as a way to upgrade, but when the protagonist gets injected with it instead, she decides the next best thing is to have a partner in crime with those complementary powers instead.

Konglomerate and Dr. Gibbons, corporate apes!

I decided I want this to be the sort of comic book superhero pastiche that fully embraces how silly the genre can be, and one of the key ways to signal that is to just have, like, a LOT of apes running around. Like how The Umbrella Academy comics just have sapient/civilized chimpanzees make up around 35% of the background characters, and also one of the characters had his severed head grafted onto a space ape (both of these elements were downplayed severely in the TV show for those of you who've never read the comics). Two of the main antagonists would be Dr. Gibbons, a mad scientist who is trying to help humankind evolve into a superior species, and his boss/financier Konglomerate - they'd be The Evil Genius and A Normal Businessman archetypes, respectively, and the ones responsible for mutating both Reptillion AND Scarlet Sidewinder.

Nebulord the cosmic conqueror, Killer Rabbit the pandimensional prankster, and Lugnut Louie the professional killer robot

Just going to throw these three (well, four I suppose, but ignore the Interceptor for now) together since so much of their concept art ended up sharing the same sheets. They're all... not quite allies of Reptillion and Scarlet Sidewinder, but somewhat helpful in their own way as fellow supervillains go. Nebulord is meant to be a big cosmic threat in the vein of Galactus or Darkseid, with the caveat being that in-story we'd mostly see him off-the-clock and dealing with petty day-to-day grievances. I wanted him to feel very Jack Kirby-esque, though I think ultimately it's just a shallow imitation of Kirby's style. He would be the Foreign Tyrant archetype, with a dash of the Planet Eater thrown in.

Killer Rabbit is a Mr. Myztptlk knockoff - I had listed "Killer Rabbit" as the archetype name (i.e. a villain who looks cutesy and nonthreatening but is actually terrifyingly powerful), but my students ran with that and suggested an Alice in Wonderland theme, which I thought was actually a pretty fun theme to play with for such a character. I mean, it's not exactly new ground - there are LOTS of Alice in Wonderland themed supervillains, most of which suck ass (including you Mad Hatter!) - but the whimsical surrealism with a dark undercurrent that Alice in Wonderland embodies DOES fit well with a pan-dimensional imp who uses their godlike powers to fuck with people out of boredom. To keep from retreading the MANY other supervillains who just stole Alice in Wonderland character names, I decided to make Killer Rabbit the name of this character instead of just their archetype.

Lugnut Louie is an old pro, sometimes working as his own boss, but more often than not as a high-ranking henchman. He's the Anything But Retail archetype with a dash of the Big Monstrous Guy, since it's hard for a big ominous murder robot to get jobs that aren't villainy related.

Queen Vespidious, leader of the Hive Mind!

To fill the Mind Taker archetype, I decided to go with the whole "hive mind" bullshit and have a bee/wasp-themed villainess who inducts civillians into her Hive with mind-controlling royal jelly. She also has a loyal second-in-command who'd be a spider-themed villain named Tyrantula - of course, being a spider in a relationship with a wasp, Tyrantula is very much the sub in this relationship.

The Copycat/shapeshifter archetype would be filled by Octomime, a woman with the color changing skills of a cuttlefish and the body-morphing skills of a mimic octopus. Octomime can copy anyone's physical appearance so long as they're roughly human-sized, but her inability to speak means the disguise only works so long as no one notices she's being eerily quiet. She's a deadly supervillain despite that flaw, though, in part because her durable body and deadly tentacles make her a force to be reckoned with even when she's been discovered.

aaaand I've run out of images for this post, so I'll add the more unfinished concepts in a reblog.

[burr-ell]

different anon, but your answer to the last ask made me wonder on this thing i just can't seem to wrap my head around: what do you think matt/the cast even had in mind with the whole "pulpier and deadlier" bit??? i always found it kind of... lame even back when the camp was just starting, it felt like they had made such a big deal of it (also the "throw all expectations out the window") and to this day i don't understand at all what part of the campaign they were even referring to that was supposed to absolutely blow our minds or whatever. it doesn't feel like it was the whole thing with the gods since that wasn't brought up until so much later... i was curious if you had any thoughts on this, especially as a CR1 fan (since a lot of the time i see praise for something Cool and New with CR3 i go "wait... that's been a thing since CR1)

So when people snark about "pulpier and deadlier", this is what they're referring to, from this part of the Q&A panel at SDCC 2024:

LAURA: No, but seriously, how much does he—did we get from Matt before we actually start a campaign? TRAVIS: Nothin'! LAURA: Is that what you're asking? Yeah. TRAVIS: We get nothin'! Except for Mighty—well, the second campaign, we got a little primer because the continents were new and the structure was new. LAURA: And with like Campaign 3, we knew how far after Mighty Nein it was going to be. And then I think you said it was going to be more, oh, God, what was the term you kept—you said it when we were deciding our characters. You said— MATT: I said it was going to start more pulpy. LAURA: Pulpy. That's what it was. Like, you know, orange juice. Yeah. MARISHA: That was with Bell's Hells, is that what you're talking about? Well, he said it's going to be more pulpy and also way more deadly, is what he said. And then that was about it. ASHLEY: Yeah. That's what we got.

So "pulpy" refers to a specific kind of fiction. The name comes from the wood pulp paper used to print fiction magazines from roughly the first half of the 20th century, and is usually understood to mean lowbrow or sensationalist stories. (The Shadow, John Carter of Mars, Zorro, and Tarzan all featured in pulp magazines.) The general vibe of pulp is larger-than-life heroes, strange locales, and mysterious villains, and a lot of action-adventure stories are viewed as effectively spiritual successors to those pulp stories if not having been directly inspired by them. This is likely why C3's very first intro was a sendup to Indiana Jones and The Mummy—both of those film series were direct homages to old pulp stories from the 30s.*

*Unfortunately, what the cast appeared not to realize was how steeped those films are in colonial imagery. While many people, including those from the SWANA region, freely admit to being able to set that aside because they find the movies fun, it's not entirely surprising that some of those same people found that first intro to be in poor taste.

Based on all of that, my best guess is that what Matt meant by "pulpy" was effectively the premise that was fully laid out in episode 51: a high-stakes adventure story about a moon conspiracy involving a mysterious wizard trying to kill the gods. The players took "pulpy" to have various meanings—a young woman with mysterious psychic powers and ominous dreams; a flirtatious fey trying to find her parents; an elderly werewolf who once made toys for Fantasy Santa; an orphan forcibly given strange powers; a robot from an ancient destroyed city with no memory of their past; an undead woman who made a pact with her killer; and a widower who throws himself into the action to protect his people.

These are not bad premises in broad strokes, but they run headlong into the reality that Dungeons & Dragons is not a pulp novel. Collaborative art of any kind requires everyone to be on the same page, and once you get into the specifics, there are a lot of disconnects that made it a lot more difficult for this story to work. In a world where these characters had had the same initiative, planning, and investment in their own settings as characters in your average pulp story? The campaign might have worked. But the story Matt planned did not accommodate for the idea that the PCs might need to have those traits developed over time, or that they might not have the skills necessary to keep the plot moving. So instead, what we got was a cast of characters that wasted time arguing in circles repeating the same points over and over and accomplishing nothing, who constantly looked to someone else to make a decision for them or tell them what fetch quest to go on, who lacked both the skill and the inclination to investigate the plot on their own.

As for "more deadly"...I have to imagine Otohan, the anti-resurrection poison, and the anti-divine magic properties of Ruidian fighters were developed with that in mind. The problem is that is undercut when the characters watch a friend die in the first act...and then immediately call up a level 20 archdruid to give them a ride to ask a level 20 cleric for help in a city governed by a level 20 fighter and a level 20 ranger/rogue who are both sympathetic and richer than god. It's definitely undercut when it's episode 91, they're facing Otohan again, Chetney falls, and...he's immediately revivified. (So I guess this anti-resurrection poison that's been haunting the campaign since we learned about all these mysterious deaths is no match for the power of a 3rd-level spell?) It's additionally undercut when Otohan is effectively an outlier, and the only character who is comparable in deadliness (Ozo Cruth) is handled by a completely different party.

So whatever Matt meant by "more pulpy and also way more deadly", and whatever the cast understood he meant by it, the campaign failed to accomplish either of those things. I think it's pretty telling that even after being told this campaign was in fact meant to be deadlier, one of the players explicitly refused to roll a new character until she knew for sure if her current one could be resurrected or not—a resurrection that was ultimately of little consequence, like everything else in the campaign.

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #30

The Battle of Big Wand

Part 4 of reacting to this episode (spoiler-free)!

I LOVE that we get to see so much of Foop's spindly fingers in this episode. The way he wiggled his fingers was one of my favorite body language quirks back in the OG series. He's the same person...

Uh-oh... Dev's starting to have second thoughts now that people are getting hurt... And Irep doesn't like it...

I think it's REALLY funny that Irep's hair looks blue when he's in good lightning and black when he's in dim lighting. Not sure if that was intentional to mimic both his parents' hair and his old curl, but that's super clever if it was.

/record scratch. "So, you're probably wondering how we got here."

Irep remembering why he prefers working alone.

Fascinated by the choice to portray Irep tucking his hands behind his back. It seems to be his thing while his parents lean into the OG show's style of holding their hands like stubby chicken wings. I've been thinking that this whole episode... I have random memories sticking out to me from OG series; I'm gonna look it up.

- Oh, interesting... He does it in "Playdate" (dressed nice and trying to fool Cosmo and Wanda into believing he's rehabilitated after Abracatraz), "Love Triangle" (flirting with Goldie on the playground), "Timmy's Secret Wish" (bragging about being a lawyer), "Two and a Half Babies" (pretending to be a good boy for his teacher at the end so she'll let him go to summer camp), "Terrible Twosome" (swaying Poof to mess around and pull pranks), and maybe others, but that's enough looking. - I guess it's just his thing! That's cool; I don't think that was a gesture I paid much attention to in the OG, but he's done it a lot in New Wish. I think he's happy he lost his stubby arms.

I'm OBSESSED with Dev's realization that he and Irep aren't business partners if Irep doesn't listen to his feelings as a partner. He's gonna realize he didn't listen to Peri, and he's gonna want him back!! They're gonna work it out! ... Hopefully with a mediator!

I like how Dale went from 0 to 100 in paying attention to his son as soon as he realized Dev was capable of business deals. He's not being comforting, but he's interested in talking business.

Dale is one of the funniest characters I've ever seen in my life. Not necessarily for the things he says, but for the commitment to the bit.

His swagless looks, nonexistent charm, and extreme amounts of oddly specific lemonade trauma have captivated me. I desperately want to look at him and say "Huh?? Who invited THIS guy??"

Hands down favorite part of Dale's design is the enormous puffer jacket he wears despite the fact it's obvious he's still super scrawny. But I also like how his child design ALSO has the exhausted lines under his eyes in "Nectar of the Odds," which I'd just assumed were invented for adult Dale until I took another look. Also, on some bizarre level, I feel like Dale has actually recovered remarkably well for a guy who spent 7 years tormented underground in servitude? Is he generous with his money? No. Does he have friends? No. Is he kind to his son? No. Is he capable of resting between projects or just taking breaks in general? Also no. Can he handle people messing with his schedule? Absolutely not. Is he keeping tabs on his abuser to ensure she doesn't wreck his or his son's life? Nope. But does his hard work bring him happiness? ... I don't know :'D But he's good at getting things done when he sets his mind to it, he can host a killer event, he's heavily implied to have amazing robotics skills, and he has insanely quick turnaround on his marketing plans, so he's got that going for him. -> Dale will look at stuff and say "Is anybody gonna hyperfixate on that?" and not wait for an answer. "Self-made" lemonade boy, my beloved... If we get a huge plot twist that Dale is the creator of the Vicky-themed robot babysitters from the "Channel Chasers" epilogue, would that be nuts or what? Me: Wait, what are all the symptoms of hyperfixation again? Lemme look this up... Me: Me: ... Good to know! (It was all of them. All of them are the symptoms)

The Dale ramble I wrote here got so long that I moved it to its own post. I hope you like my shirtless "Dale bad at being on his honeymoon" doodles <3

I'm glad Dale seems like he's doing okay and that Dev didn't bug him with lemons (or throw him down in the dark pit that swings shut from the top, even though that would've been so easy). I think I was right in that I'm probably making a bigger deal out of his backstory than the show intended, but I think it's hilarious.

I do have a history of going for characters who give me "Okay, but where else can I ever get this character / this dynamic?" energy. He's one heckuva guy. I need to put him in a 'fic and shake him up and down like a snow globe. I desperately want him to find out he accidentally hired his abuser to babysit his kid. I hope it was an accident, because if he's kept her number in his contact list, I'm gonna have a talk with him.

I wish we'd see Dale doing "angry at Hazel" stuff. I'm confused as to what the purpose of it was... Are we not going to touch on that in the finale? Was it just to upset Dev, but not vital enough to follow through with as an actual plot point? hm.

-> ?? I feel like it was a big deal in at least two episodes leading up to this big finale plot, so I'm just... surprised? Hm.

I guess I'm not really bothered because I don't think Dale knows Hazel came to Fairy World or that she'll appear again, and I understand why his attention is diverted, but it'd be fun (for me).

Also, this is our second time being robbed of a Dev-Irep sleepover D:

omfg, Irep ditching Dev for Dale is the funniest thing ever.

oh no.

Alone again...

sdlkfj, Wanda has spent this entire series taking shots at Dev because she thinks he's a bitter bully and she kept saying things to Peri like "Blink twice if you need help getting out of here."

I remember posting years ago about how I like to think Cosmo's really good at reading people (especially when it comes to distracting them, like encouraging Jorgen to "scramble the Fairies" in "Abra-catastrophe" before he can separate them from Timmy).

So... I really enjoy that he senses Wanda's going too far and might lose any chance of Dev helping, and he tries to stop her.

oh no... I like how when Wanda is telling Dev about dying from magical back-up and she uses the example of a fairy feeling queasy and needing to use the bathroom and then they explode...

... because that's how the Grim Reaper told Foop he'd die back in "Man's Worst Friend" ("Oh, this is fun! You're gonna perish on the toilet!"), and I've been thinking about it ever since I saw Peri dying on the floor.

I headcanon them dying young, but not THIS young!! /jk

Wanda, I have good news for you! I'm pretty sure that guy you think is dead isn't dead. Pretty sure I saw him when I took my screenshots of Anti-Fairies taking over Earth and (ironically) the memorial scene at Fairy Con.

Irep when the alarm goes off cracks me up. There's no point in posting the screenshot because he's tiny and blurry, but he's so spooked. His eyes take up his entire face. RIP overly sensitive bat ears and weak bat eyes.

Oooh, Jasmine singing is going to do something. Are the Anti-Fairies going to enjoy it despite other characters thinking she sings poorly?

Yes. lol. I was going to theorize in my 2nd post for this episode about whether Irep is still really affected by music, but I didn't bother because I was like "I can't imagine that would come up."

oh no, he is. Not enthusiastically... but he is. Love that for him. This kid's always loved to dance and play loud music. Never change.

oh no!!! They're exploiting Irep's one true weakness...

Diversity win!! The genderfluid bisexual has a gender-neutral response for nonbinary folks he thinks have bad boy energy!!

sdlfjk, I think Irep just found the person he most wants to godparent for. Ever.

I checked "Certifiable Super Sitter" again just in case I missed a bad boy joke, and I totally forgot Sammy screams "Break Vicky like a 2 x 4!" at the top of his lungs while he mimes snapping her neck. He's so funny. I love him. I wonder if Foop ever told Sammy about his "Scary Godcouple" trauma and if Sammy was extra ruffled about Vicky because of that.

Peri: I don't understand what you see in Sammy. He's so... mild. Irep: Not after I talk to him ❤️

okay, nerd.

......... Did Foop have a crush on Goldie back in "Love Triangle" because she has major femme fatale energy?? Discuss.

omg, just realized the reason why Irep's single eyelash felt so familiar to me is because that's how he looked in "Blue Angel." Absolutely hilarious that when he opts for a feminine disguise, he has fewer eyelashes than usual.

- Poof and Foop had 3 eyelashes per eye when they were young, but Peri's lost those, and Anti-Cosmo doesn't show lashes. Jorgen's New Wish eyes don't either (Jorgen wore mascara in the OG series) and neither do Cosmo's (Cosmo also liked make-up) - I ?? have to assume that means Irep is deliberately going for a more femme, nonbinary, or genderfluid vibe of some kind, which is perfect for me! His gender identity is one of his plot points in the 130 Prompts. - Can't believe all those years ago, I clocked Poof as growing up to be "the one suppressing trauma with candy and soda" and Foop as "the one who plays with gender expression" ... I know it's not stated by canon, but you get me...

??? I like how Anti-Wanda seems to be teaching Anti-Cosmo how to make his eyes look in different directions and he's loving it? Unclear.

I also like how with his accent, it sounds like he's saying "Hazel-y," which is cute. I like how he made the effort to find out her name; that's 100% in-character.

They are doing their best!! (They are not)

I like that when confused, Anti-Cosmo's instinct was to turn to Anti-Wanda for advice. That's new for him considering he used to shake her and scream. I'm glad they worked that out. And I'm glad he's exactly as "extinct by instinct" as he's always been <3

Apparently Irep (or at least Foop) gets the "spelling out unnecessary details" bit of his dialogue from his mom??

Like, monologuing important info is one thing, but in the OG series, Foop elaborates on things for no reason, like Anti-Wanda here. lol.

I was kind of worried about the direction Anti-Wanda's reboot might go. I believe what I said was, "I'd be interested to see her redesigned with new clothes and with a reduction on the "Anti-Wanda's stupid" angle in favor of mirroring Wanda better (owing to how I've always felt she was a hasty design slapped down in Season 2 and then they couldn't go back on it when Wanda's character developed further). Anti-Wanda's hit every mark I was hoping for in a rebooted design for her. She's still Southern and goofy, but she's not being played as stupid... She and Anti-Cosmo are equally silly and equally dumb and messing around <3

sdlkfj, Anti-Cosmo out here like "This isn't my party, so I'm down to follow my wife's suggestion that we slip from the room together."

Okay, other nerd; I'm glad you're excited to be alone with your hot wife as you definitely try to catch a real human running around.

ALSO very in character; man LOVES forgetting what he's doing and wandering around!! That's his thing!!!

Me out here like "Oh yeah, now I remember why I wrote a 'fic where no one looked for the captured Anti-Cosmo for 77k years because his family totally thought he'd gone wandering and dissociated and started a new life... oh no.

[puhpandas]

Do you have any analysis or notes on how different both dr rabbit and Gregory’s personality is like? I can’t read the book of ggy but I’d like to know how different these two are just like Vanny and Vanessa.

OH DO I. u just opened a can of worms anon. pausing tower of hell for this

thisll all just be off the top of my head but I hope itll help anyway :)

from reading ggy and analyzing the shit out of dr rabbits behavior and doing the same with Gregorys SB personality along with ruin, there are immediately 2 key differences

dr rabbit is a character that puts on a front and a show for everything. hes portrayed as a genius who never does something without it being calculated and valuable for whatever hes trying to achieve

in GGYs case, one of Rabs goals was for some reason to play a part so tony and ellis would like him by playing into each of their interests. this was probably to appear more inconspicuous and seem less guilty since no teacher would pick out a kid from their class as someone to be worried about if he has good grades and has friends and seems plenty happy

he would joke around with ellis and play games with him and hang out with him, and with tony, he would say a couple deep sounding sentences to play into Tony's interest in the meanings of life and its mysteries and stuff. he did it just enough to the point where tony would notice it and prefer him over Ellis because of it but he also wouldnt pay him any mind when he wasn't actively doing that stuff

so basically rab always acts knowing exactly what he wants to come out of every interaction and it usually works. most of his personality is fronts he puts on for whatever goal hes trying to achieve

but with Gregory, none of his personality shown in sb/ruin is meant to put any sort of front or mask on. he doesnt even try to put on a brave face most of the time. he usually isn't that scared of things and can push through it, but he also has no problem expressing fear if he actually is scared of something (shown in the lines "its pretty dark in there" and "what was that??" in response to his watch beeping)

a lot of his interactions with people and just his outward personality are really genuine. that doesnt mean hes always nice or kind, but he just does or says what he actually feels. a lot of the time in sb he happens to be in a bad mood (for a. very good reason) and snappish towards anyone interacting with him. none of the 'quips' he says are meant to be funny, it's just him complaining and it happens to sound humorous just because of his personality

so that's immediately one line drawn between the two of them. tldr rab puts on fronts and nothing of what he does is genuine but everything Gregory does is genuine just in the way that it's true to himself his personality and what he is feeling in the moment

another thing is obviously their moral code. i dont rlly wanna focus much on this because its kinda obvious. rab will obviously do whatever it takes to stay in operation and was probably created to keep vanny in check, even if it includes murdering tons of people and glitchtrap abusing vanny through him. but Gregory holds a very specific moral code that I can boil down best to "I wont help anyone who doesnt deserve it, but if they do deserve it I'll truly try my best to save them, even if it means risking my life"

the way that Gregory decides which people are worth saving is pretty basic. people like vanny obviously don't deserve to be saved because shes evil and kills people. but vanessa was forced to be mind controlled by her and puppeted around to do it so Gregory believed she deserved to be saved

and the glamrocks werent because they were killer robots trying to rip him apart for seemingly no reason. gregory had no idea about any viruses or probably that they were sentient until Freddy became sentient but that was already by the end of the game. he decommissioned them with the knowledge that they were trying to hurt him, they're robots and can be fixed, and that they probably will by tomorrow because in a few hours the place will open

rab is also patient 46 so any little quirks in those tapes also apply to him. things like disliking flowers and liking the dark and liking to watch sports are all him, but theres no telling how much he could have picked up from Gregory by being created off of him

as for just like. dialogue things and how they talk, rab is a lot more literal and blunt with the things he talks about. gregory also says what he means and takes it literal, but he talks with "uh... like... I guess.... umm" things like that. rab doesn't stutter and he has a bigger vocabulary, while Gregory calls the security badge stations "badge head things" and stuff he doesnt know what to call "things"

rab is also very good at reading people and obviously a really good liar to the point where he can get anyone to believe what he wants. but Gregory is a very very shit liar LMAO. he literally just said "I'd rather not say" to Freddy about Monty and just told the truth but changed a little with the others

with vanessa and vanny they for sure changed Vanessa's personality in SB compared to the trailers so she turned from afraid and worried to snappish and annoyed. I honestly think that now vanessa is never vanessa at all during SB but shes always vanny, just in and out of costume. this way, Vanessa's like the opposite of vanny with how shes more timid from all the trauma and naturally afraid

so with Gregory and rab it could be the same but with different things. vanessa and Vannys personalities are black and white, but Gregory and rab dont talk or act very differently outwardly so it's more of a mental change

I've analyzed the crapp out of these 2 so I hope this helped a little bit =)

[directdogman]

Hey dogman, idk if you answered this

Who, out of both DSAF and Dialtown, was your favourite to write and/or create?

It's very hard for me to pick favourites with my characters because I don't tend to give characters a lot of screen-time unless I find a character interesting or fun to write. You've caught me in a talkative mood, so warning, there's an onslaught of text coming!

DSaF: Dave was the most fun to write for, as I remember it. I mean, the guy is the walking personification of chaos and even when he's being constructive (eg, rigging robots to do insane stuff), it's usually in a destructive capacity. Dave will do LITERALLY ANYTHING but contribute to society in meaningful/valuable ways.

In terms of what character-writing I was most 'proud' of, I was also pretty happy with Dr Henry Miller, as a villain. Namely the research he embarked on, described in his logs in DSaF 3 (which the fandom evidently agreed with, as I got really strong feedback on those logs.)

One issue a lot of people (including myself) have with canon William Afton is that he's this kind of mad scientist character but his research doesn't really seem to be... idk, going anywhere? Other than using remnant (soul nectar?) to make kids possess robots, it's kind of a mystery how he got to this point he did from running a bad fast food restaurant. William gets fleshed out motivations in TSE and even then, it mainly revolves around his relationship with Henry Emily, iirc. It's actually pretty accurate to how real serial killers think, imo, but there's a pretty wide berth between this kind of serial killer and becoming a sci-fi fast-food mad scientist... So, I decided to try to bridge that gap.

DSaF Henry's logs actually mention where the idea for his research came from, namely the fact that he existed in a world with normal scientific rules just like ours and seemingly discovered something supernatural, and he approaches it like an amoral scientist would - trying to figure out how to figure out more about the fabric of reality using the newly discovered phenomenon of possession. The 'joy of creation' phrase people pulled from Golden Freddy's phone call in FNaF 1 is given context - Henry is trying to find out what's on the other side (and eventually, how existence itself formed.)

There's other aspects to his character that make him more interesting too, like the implication that his research is partially an excuse for him to act on an underlying sadism (with scenes implying that he inflicts damage on others than can't be justified as assisting with his research.) His background as a dissident/quack laughing-stock scientist (thanks to pushing his soul theory in a best-selling book, which is considered pseudoscience) BEFORE he embarked on his journey to become a fast food tycoon also makes it less farfetch'd that he'd be capable of y'know, harvesting human souls intentionally to continue his research?

I had more for the character on paper that people haven't seen but some of it wasn't revealed due to it feeling a bit too disturbing to publish. None of the contents would've been all that controversial, more just too tonally disturbing when written about in detail (like a omitted part from his backstory/lore post where he managed to pick up a hazy audio of his wife + son's crying from the radio of the car his wife/son drowned in and reacted with genuine elation upon realizing he'd discovered a new scientific phenomenon (as this was the first time Henry witnessed soul-possession.)) Yeah.

I don't feel much of a need to revisit Henry as a character because as a series villain, he was pretty thoroughly-written and he did his job effectively... And his fate was well earned! (He even got an epilogue short-story a few years back, further cementing his fate!)

Dialtown: From the characters/writing that the fandom has seen? Tough to say. I genuinely really like every DT character. Gingi and Mayor Mingus are two of my favourite characters to write for because they're both really insistent and react to adversity in a really comically indignant way. Mingus is more like Gingi than she cares to admit in very specific ways, which is the core hypocrisy of her character - she's one of the most abnormal things IN Dialtown, and spends the game on a quest opposing abnormality that she, herself, can't stand.

Many absolute rulers have debilitating physical and/or mental cruxes and despite that, usually have the final say on what is/isn't okay, often guided by arbitrary preferences. It's funny to remember all of the ancient kings and emperors who dictated how others should act, talk and even think, when very many of them themselves were anything except a good reflection of their own subjects! It's an irony I quite enjoy and leads to a fun character to write for!

My favourite DT writing is probably some of my Callum Crown speech drafts. I have a definite bias here since Crown's character is based on many figures I've encountered in my own reading (and his story relates to topics I enjoy reading about.) A lot of that is real nerd shit that wouldn't be interesting to 99.9% of DT fans (like a long conversation where Crown + Milt discuss a campaign speech Milt wrote for Crown and they bicker about if the wording/arguments used are truly honest.) Again, not super relevant to Dialtown-proper, but it explains a lot about why the world of DT ended up the way it did.

Realistically, the story of Dialtown itself is basically a weird little epilogue to a story that ended decades upon decades ago, centered around a bunch of small-town nobodies circling around the carcass of the last surviving main character of the old story.

I'm also very happy with Gingi's character partially because I know more about Gingi's past/future than you guys do. Gingi has such rotten memory that Gingi's backstory before DT's story begins is basically a complete mystery. Thanks to Gingi never getting close enough to any humans before laying its eggs, there's nobody in Gingi's life that can fill in the gaps. Companionship means so much to Gingi because prior to meeting The Gang, Gingi is aware of a massive and unknown block of time that's a complete mystery precisely because Gingi had nobody in its life. To Gingi, this time was basically akin to being non-sentient or dead, and Gingi would never go back.

While I was making DSaF, I drafted a ton of other stories on paper. I considered making most of them, but decided not to for various reasons, despite getting some solid feedback from collaborators. Bits of almost all of those project ideas made it into DT, with Gingi having traits from several other main characters I prototyped years and years ago. This includes where Gingi came from and what exactly Gingi is. I don't want to mislead people into thinking Gingi is more important than it is, like Gingi is the key to unlocking DT lore (I promise there's a LOT of aimless scuttling/devouring in Gingi's past and relatively little else!) BUT: Of everything from those old scrapped projects, Gingi is what I decided deserved to survive the most. And that has to count for something.

One day I'd love to make sequels to DT and perhaps explore some of the stuff I've described above, like why the hell the world of DT is the way it is or maybe where the hell Gingi spawned from. Thanks

[eight-cats-in-a-box]

Lore for my Phoenix!!!! Long post so it's under the cut OwO @dandorime

Agent Phoenix, also known as [REDACTED], is the Agency's best operative, with successful missions numbering in the dozens under their belt. This file requires Level 5 security clearance.

[CARD ACCEPTED]

Agent Phoenix, hereafter referred to as either "Phoenix" or "Agent", also known as Leonidas Orion Bates, is the Agency's best operative, with their unique gift of resurrection allowing them to complete missions without a fluke- perhaps not the first time, but it's only a matter of time and iteration until they can complete it.

Phoenix had a fairly normal upbringing, with nothing of note occurring until their eighteenth birthday, when they were kidnapped by Zoraxis operatives on their way to a party. They would spend the next five years captive there. It is unclear why they were chosen, and Phoenix has declined to comment.

During those years, Phoenix was Pavlov'd into complete obedience by [REDACTED], their Zoraxis handler. [Note from R.C: Their handler was a horrible person, and quite frankly, I'm glad she's dead.] This was accomplished with a high-voltage shock collar. Phoenix has declined to elaborate further, for good reason.

They were renamed "Sicarius" ["killer" in Latin], and used as an assassin/executioner for Zor themself. This left Phoenix quite damaged, both physically and mentally. They have expressed a fear of harming their loved ones, and although the scars from the shock collar have faded, they're still visible on occasion.

Phoenix showed up at the Agency Headquarters in London on 04/09/XXXX, looking exhausted. They were taken into custody, and promised to give freely the information that they had on Zor's plans in exchange for sanctuary.

Their first Agency handler necessitated a transfer. It took a long time for them to trust their second Handler, due to mistrust not only from their Zoraxis handler, but their first Agency handler as well. [Note from R.C:I made sure that [REDACTED] got fired. What they did to Phoenix was inexcusable.] However, post-Operation: Death Engine, they opened up a bit more, and the two are now fast friends.

Phoenix has expressed a concerning willingness to kill, maim, and otherwise maul the enemies of those they are close to. This has been kept in check by their handler, but there are occasions on which they are permitted to...let loose. [See Incident Report 089.]

Post-Operation: Rising Phoenix, Agent Phoenix's handler, Reginald Crane, had informed Agency Director Ricardo Morales that if Phoenix were truly dead, he would be handing in his resignation, effective immediately. Two weeks later, the Agent initiated the Recommunication Protocol at Control Point Babadag. [Note from R.C: To say I was ecstatic would be a gross understatement.]

Post-activation, Phoenix informed Crane that none other than John Juniper was in their custody, and they were helping him recover. Juniper was later taken to an Agency hospital to recover, and allow Phoenix to focus on thwarting Doctor Roxana Prism, who had recently allied with Dr. Zor.

[Note from R.P: The two seem to have a dynamic similar to that of siblings. Phoenix regularly instigates arguments with J.J, and vice versa, but they have started all-out brawls because of someone else bullying the other. It's very strange. See Incident Report 087.]

After Operation: KBOOM, Prism was taken into Agency custody, but was released after both Agent Phoenix and Crane threatened to leave the Agency if she were not released.

Phoenix eventually befriended and even wooed the Doctor, and they have a very healthy relationship. Crane has expressed his approval, although Juniper was seen "shovel-talking" Prism. It seems he is rather protective over Phoenix, as Phoenix is with him.

Phoenix also stole the kinesium the Agency confiscated [namely, the sample taken from Robutler], and returned it to Prism, along with Right Robot. Phoenix returned to the Agency HQ looking quite smug, and declined to comment on their disheveled state.

Phoenix currently resides in California, with Prism, Right Robot, Robutler, and several cats. [Note from A.P: Their names are Buzz, Gracie, Lucy, Betty, Cheddar, Bill, Frank, Honey, Flip-Flop, and Sandal.]

INCIDENT REPORT 087

INCIDENT FILER: [REDACTED]

Agent Phoenix has left no less than four agents in critical condition, and at least ten more with non-serious injuries after an all-out brawl they started in the canteen. When asked why, they simply replied, "No one is allowed to bully Agent Clover [John Juniper] except me." [Note from J.J: Aww, they do care.]

Disciplinary action has not been taken, as their Handler has interfered.

End report.

INCIDENT REPORT 088

INCIDENT FILER: [REDACTED]

Agent Phoenix, who has now returned to normal, was reported as seeming rather dazed and looking around as though they had lost something at 17:26. They left the building at 17:32, and Doctor Roxana Prism reported seeing them at her doorstep at 18:49, with symptoms similar to that of Zor's Project Eidolon. [Glowing eyes, bigger physical presence, oddly robotic movements]

However, when Prism opened the door, Phoenix did not attack her, as other Eidolon were wont to do. They instead told her that they were "awaiting commands." [Note from R.C: I've always said that not even God himself could make Phoenix harm Roxana. It's nice to know I'm right.]

This loyalty/obedience lasted until Phoenix was returned to normal, and save for more sass, there hasn't been much change. [Note from A.P: Because there wasn't, really. I'd do anything for the ones I love. I think the only thing that changed was my accent, honestly.]

End report.

INCIDENT REPORT 089

INCIDENT FILER: REGINALD CRANE

Doctor Roxana Prism, who is currently recovering in the medbay of Agency HQ, was recently kidnapped by Zoraxis, possibly as a last resort due to the failure of Project: Eidolon. Agent Phoenix and myself found her at Zor's base in Jasper, Nevada. The place was crawling with guards, so we made a plan.

Phoenix was already on edge, and getting twitchier every second. So, I allowed them to clear the way for the both of us to rescue Roxana.

It was...brutal, to say the least. To say they were covered in blood not their own would be an understatement. [Note from R.P: I didn't exactly mind, honestly. The dry-cleaning bill was awful, though.]

Roxana was extracted without further incident, and the Zoraxis base was demolished.

End report.

INCIDENT REPORT 090

INCIDENT FILER: Agent Clover [John Juniper]

Agent Phoenix has recently landed themself in the medbay (again) after attempting to down three entire bottles of moonshine on a bet. Suffice to say, they won. Unfortunately, the upgrade the Agency provided them with (that was supposed to be for poisoning) did not hold up to the stress.  I had to hold their hair back while they vomited for nearly half an hour, and as both their girlfriend and their Handler were busy, I had to take care of them as well.  I will be sending the Agency my dry-cleaning bill.

End Report.

INCIDENT REPORT 091

INCIDENT FILER: [REDACTED] Agent Phoenix is currently recovering in the medbay after a massive brawl between them and at least seventeen other agents, as well as security, which left them with a broken nose and three broken ribs. When asked what their motivations were, they declined comment, but a bystander said that they had apparently over heard someone mentioning Doctor Roxana Prism's history with Zoraxis, which enraged Phoenix to the point of picking a fight with an agent nearly twice their size and his group of friends. [Note from A.P: I don't even have a defense for this one. Love makes you do stupid things, and I love Roxy more than I love fire and alcohol.] Doctor Prism declined comment.

End Report.

[hmshermitcraft]

Now, while not the standard "celeberties" in the stereotypical sense, both Mumbo and Pearl are essentially Idols in their fields of work, receiving the same level of attention and treatment as actors and singers.

Pearl, an astrophysicist, known for her groundbreaking discoveries regarding the moon and other celestial bodies, found herself in an odd predicament as she seemed to grow fonder and fonder of this celebrated engineer she had met during a New Year's Eve party held by her brother, Grian. There was just something about those eyes and his suit, the way that he let his intelligence shine through his jokes and comments, and the hints to the chaotic weirdness she just knew laid beneath that thin layer he held up for those who didn't know him well.

Mumbo, a roboticist and engineer, known for his groundbreaking robots that had been used to reach the moon and now some of the furthest solar system bodies, found himself in an odd predicament as he seemed to have fallen hard for the astrophysicist who had used his machines to make such astronomical discoveries. He'd known about her for years now, mostly through Grian, getting stories of the siblings' chaotic hijinks and sometimes, he'd get some news about her work, but now- Now she stood right in front of him, and she was drop dead killer, even in the formal academic attire she was stunning, but in casual clothing- were it not for the soft buzz of the jack he had earlier, he'd be a stuttering mess from how cool she looked.

The introduction went well, and when Grian brought up what they did for work, things began to hit it off fast. The two would spend almost all of the party just talking about their fields and stories from their past, sitting beneath the cosmic painting that is the midnight sky above them.

This was bad. That was the first thought that came to Mumbo's mind when the flash of the camera hit them- both him and Pearl had met up together at her place of work to discuss somethings, and it was just- how could he not lean in and kiss that smart face? How was he supposed to know that a reporter had came in right behind them to get a statement. Already, they saw how colleagues and fans of their work were beginning to talk about how amazing it would be if they were to work together, and a tiny few who started to connect a few dots-

This was great! Er, well, it gave them an answer on how to break the news on how they were dating. At least it wasn't from someone digging where they shouldn't have. Pearl was far more positive on this, using it as a way to safely and more appropriately reveal the "new" relationship. Of course, it came with some downsides, the letters and "critics" regarding a relationship between coworkers or who their partner was were always annoying, and at times, aggravating, but it was manageable, they had even gotten a "couple name" by a fan which was Celestial Nonsene- she had no idea where it came from, but she liked it. The best thing to come out of this all was her brother showing up to her place the day after it broke news, only to find a messy haired mumbo still in his boxers (that had moons on them, a gift from her) and a groggy Pearl who was wearing Mumbo's tie. Now that was a fuuun day, and nothing was better than messing with Grian by just leaning over and giving her boyfriend a solid kiss that left him seeing stars a bit.

-👁🎭

Grian is outnumbered and he regrets ever introducing the pair. They probably would've crossed paths eventually - Pearl works with a lot of high tech equipment! But Grian accelerated the process, and with it, his misery.

Seriously, he's glad they're getting along so well, but not so well they're teaming up to tease him!

[ace-of-hearts-and-spades]

No moment of self-awareness has stopped me in my tracks as hard as the realization that my attraction to Springtrap was basically predicted by my first conscious* character crush. They're not even the same character but in different fonts, they're the same character in the same font but printed in different colors.

Both big metal killers who’re in one way or another businessmen… and who are close enough to being robots that me wanting to fuck them lands me right in robofucker territory… and who have raspy snarly voices with British accents…. and who are extremely violent and sadistic and nasty…… I'm getting horny I need to lie down.

[rlyc00l]

Rhys fumbles his way into being a hero, which sucks, but at least he has soap now. Axton is kind of hot if you're into incredibly divorced 26 year old adult men who keep saying "Cool story bro" Zer0 is so nice to Rhys. They're helping him so much. He doesn't even know.

Also under the cut:

“Look, these are two fresh human heads, not even a day old. Buy one, get the other half-off. How often are you going to come across a deal like this?” Rhys never thought this was where a life of pursuing business would take him.  But the former Lanceman who paid out the bounties only looked at the heads with disgust and refused to take them. He at least paid out half the bounty, and was kind enough to suggest they try Doctor Zed’s clinic. 

Zed’s was easy to find, which was a relief, as Zer0 had insisted that he continue to carry the head they’d given him, despite having room in their storage deck. They made no secret of enjoying his discomfort, with their stupid smug sideways smiley faces. Even knowing how unhinged people on this planet were, lugging around a human head made Rhys feel like a freak. Enough so that he was almost relieved to enter the clinic and find it grungy, dimly lit and splattered in blood and viscera– it made selling this thing seem reasonable. He just hoped he’d never need medical attention while he was down here. 

“And how’d you say you killed ‘em?” the “doctor”, Zed, asked. The man matched his workspace, he wouldn’t look out of place as the killer in a horror movie. 

“Zer0 here decapitated them both—quick, clean strokes. Instant death.” Rhys assumed this was the sort of kill a mad scientist would want. Zer0 lurked behind him, holding up both heads for display. They’d agreed to let him do the talking and hadn’t even fought him on his ten percent commission. 

“Hmm… I don’t have anything in the works that needs a head…” Zed rubbed his chin with a gloved hand, leaving a streak of blood on his medical mask.

“Right, but what about when you do need them? You gonna settle for some random bandit’s head? These are Hyperion heads here, that guarantees they had a great diet, no major head trauma, no history of eridium use.”

“I’ll admit, it is tempting.” 

Rhys gave his winning grin. “Trust me, I’ve worked for Hyperion, they may be a bunch of assholes, but they take care of their employees’ heads. You won’t find better.”  “Do they stuff all of yer heads with those cybernetics?” He stepped closer, plainly studying Rhys’s head, now. 

“N-no. That’s optional.” Rhys couldn’t help but notice the buzzaxe leaned against the medical cart, within Zed’s arm’s reach. He hoped all the blood in this place had been just from cutting apart cadavers, but now that he was considering it, would a corpse’s blood spatter that way?  

“I admit… Was kinda curious about the effect those had on a human brain…” 

“Oh, well, I can’t guarantee whether they have cy-cybernetics or not, but...”  He resisted the urge to take a step back. Keeping up the confident facade was getting difficult. 

 “They will sell fast, / Many others expressed interest. / Time is limited,” Zer0 cut in unexpectedly. 

He forced himself to smile and nod. “Yeah, and…” He floundered for another selling point. Usually he was good at this. Usually the client wasn’t some sort of axe murderer. 

“You know the rumors, / Of Hyperion’s workers, / Forced to be robots.”

“Exactly.” Rhys was quick on the uptake. “They start with small implants, stuff we’d never even notice them putting into us. Some guys up on Helios are walking around with more metal than brain matter. There’s a good chance that one of these heads here has at least a chip or two in it.”   Zed considered this for a moment. “Oh, what the hell? I’ll take ‘em!” 

When they got outside again he was half tempted to thank Zer0 for their help. Maybe he would have even complimented them on their sales tactics. Thankfully, they destroyed that urge immediately, “When you end up dead, / I’ll know what to do with you, / It seems he’ll pay well.” They projected a winky face. 

“That’s not funny,” he said, thrusting their cut of the money out at them. “And despite what you may think, I don’t plan on dying here.” 

Zer0 pocketed the money without looking at it, shot him a red glowing “LOL”, and walked away. He wished he would have taken a larger percentage, if they didn’t even care enough to check. Maybe it was them who robbed him in the first place…  

Between the bounty and the heads, the money proved to be enough to buy everything he needed, from toiletries to a basic storage deck holster. Even a second outfit and a quick-change subscription. Sanctuary’s prices were far better than Helios’s, though the clothes here were used and sported some suspicious stains, and everything else was off-brand and of questionable quality. Even the soap smelled vaguely wrong. 

He split up what little money remained and tucked part of it in his insoles. The rest went in the storage deck. He’d have to find a way to make more before he ran out of food money, unless he wanted to live off of old Atlas MREs, which he didn’t. 

For now, Rhys returned to the Archives to stow what he couldn’t fit into his storage deck and give himself some quiet to write up a report to Jack. The place was still deserted, the other Vault hunters must have been out searching for leads on Roland. Fruitlessly, he hoped. Or maybe they’d find a corpse, that would destroy the Raider’s morale.

He sat down on his bed and began to draft out a message, trying to present his mission to Southpaw as if it hadn’t been a complete waste of time. Any correspondence with Jack couldn’t seem like a waste of time, Jack’s time was valuable. Millions of dollars every minute valuable. 

But, really, all he’d gained there was proof that Wot was insane, unreliable, and dead. Rhys tried to fill in the gaps by highlighting his own value, how he’d made himself appear useful to the Vault hunters–scratch that, the bandits, Jack would prefer they be called “bandits”–and how that could be used to Hyperion’s advantage. “They trust me, they’re willing to rely on my ECHOeye. I could use that to lead them right into a trap, if you had one in mind. I have a few ideas of my own, I might be able to hack some of their systems. Gaige uses a homemade bot and Axton’s turret’s security is probably way out of date, if I hacked either of thos–” 

His writing was interrupted by a bright flash and a boom, coming from the center of the room. One second, everything had been still, now papers were flying everywhere, and the floor was slightly on fire, rimming a scorched circle. In the center lay a blood-covered, slightly smoking human figure. 

Stunned, Rhys deactivated his ECHOeye, stood up, and approached cautiously. The woman was skinny, red haired, and blue-tattooed. And still breathing. 

Okay, so maybe Wot wasn’t completely out of his mind.She sure as hell resembled the villain in that  “Liberation of New Haven” reenactment on the ECHOnet, except, smaller and less sinister. 

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, prodding her with the very tip of his foot, ready to leap away if she moved or started another fire. Her lack of response was unsurprising, there was a lot of blood.  

For a long moment, he just stared at her, expecting something to happen. For her to get up, or disappear again, or burst into flames. Instead, she just lay there. 

He glanced at the door. It remained firmly shut, no one else had come running to investigate the sound. Without their Commander around, no one really had a reason to show up here in the middle of the day, did they? So, he was alone with Hyperion’s greatest enemy, back from the dead, and she was helpless. Opportunity had just up and landed in his lap. 

The thing to do–the thing Handsome Jack would want him to do–would be to kill her before she woke up. All he had to do was smother her with a pillow or something, and pretend she’d arrived here only to die of her wounds. Though, smothering was a bit personal, too hands-on… His stun baton was charged up again, that might be enough to kill her… Or he could just keep his mouth shut, and wait, she might die on her own. Could he still take credit for that? Jack would want him to take initiative… Okay, fine, he could do the stun baton. His hand found it at his belt. He grasped it, making no move. 

Lilith was scrawny, not a muscle on her. For someone fabled to have burned countless people alive for fun, she didn’t look dangerous. And she certainly wasn’t dangerous right now, which was more reason to seize the moment and kill her. It would be so easy, he could take off her shield first to be sure, returning it when he was done. 

She wouldn’t feel a thing, right? 

And he’d already killed at least five bandits, each time feeling nothing but a sense of victory, what was the problem now? It wasn’t like he’d be a murderer, this was war.  

He managed to get as far as touching the stun baton to the side of her head. He couldn’t make himself push the button to activate it. Kicking himself for cowardice, he turned around and searched up a first aid kit on the wall. Inside, there was a single insta-health, maybe enough to stabilize her. Again, he hesitated. It was one thing not to kill her, another altogether to save her. Still, he found himself jabbing the needle into her arm. Then he ran out of the building to find help. 

———

Afterward, when Lilith, still unconscious, was being taken care of at Zed’s, Rhys ducked out of the clinic, onto the street and finally messaged Handsome Jack. “Lilith is alive and just appeared in Sanctuary.” For the moment, Southpaw was unimportant. 

Jack’s response took a while. “Thought she’d show herself, now that Roland’s missing. She say anything about that?” He sounded pleased, but unsurprised. 

“She’s injured, she’s been unconscious since getting here.” 

Jack laughed. “The Bloodshots must have done a number on her. If she wakes up, she’ll put you on Roland’s trail. Let me know when that happens—I’m gonna need the Vault hunters out of Sanctuary for a few hours.”

“Yes, sir.” 

“Oh, and I don’t need the intel from those assassins anymore. They’re probably smoking husks at this point. Also, I have a surprise for you, coming up. Like, a perk. You’re gonna love it.” 

“Thank you, sir. I’m looking forward to it.” If he even deserved perks, at this rate. He’d even walked with the Crimson Raider’s carrying Lilith to the clinic, watched as Tannis injected her with a syringe of eridium. More because he felt obliged to at that point than anything else, what with the soldiers already praising him for his “quick actions”. But it made him look like even more of a traitor to Hyperion. He sighed, feeling deeply tired as he started toward the Archives. The sun was down, and there wasn’t much he could do now but hope no one else found out. 

“Hey, if it isn’t the hero of the hour!” Axton’s voice shattered this hope before Rhys had cleared town square. A second later he was being clapped on the back. “Nice job, man.” “I-” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. He turned to see Axton, Maya, Salvador, and Krieg. The four were grimy with sweat, dirt, and dried blood, they must have just gotten back into town. “I hardly did anything, to be honest. Just-just was in the right place at the right time, y’know?” 

“And maybe saved the entire Pandoran resistance,” Maya said. “That’s more than we managed today.” 

“Yeah, don’t gotta be fake humble, dude,” said Salvador.  

“Flagellate your principal!” Krieg gave a barking laugh and clapped Rhys on the back about three times harder than Axton had, almost knocking him over.  

“C’mon, we’re headed to Moxxi’s,” Axton said. “I’m sure we could get you a free drink or two. In celebration, or whatever.”

“Is it really a night to be celebrating anything? She’s uh, she’s still hospitalized, and Roland’s missing…” Honestly, though, a drink sounded good about now. 

Axton shrugged. “Look, in the past couple days, I’ve survived an exploding train, fractured my skull, took nearly ten bullet wounds, and got mauled by a skag. Situations like this, you gotta take the chances you get. Also, it’s Friday.” 

———

Rhys had never been so miserable getting free drinks while random strangers occasionally approached to tell him how lucky it was that he was around. How the hell did everyone already know? At this rate, news of his “heroism” was bound to reach Jack eventually. If it hadn’t already. Maybe Jack’s “surprise” was a bullet to the head. Or worse, Jack had some creative ways of killing people. This could be the sort of thing where they’d still be finding his body parts a decade from now when he was a cautionary tale: the stupid jackass who was too soft to kill a mass murderer and win the war for Jack, after Jack had trusted him… 

The other Vault hunters had quickly lost interest in his dour company and he snuck off and find a couch in a quiet corner, going mostly unnoticed by the other patrons. This should have been a bar on Helios. These should be Hyperion employees celebrating him… 

He should march right back to Zed’s, shoot Lilith, and flee town. He had a better chance of surviving the Pandoran wilds than surviving Jack, for what little that meant… He sat there brooding until Axton found him again and took it upon himself to lift his spirits. “What’s a good looking guy like you doing in the sad loser corner?” he’d asked, and soon he was on the couch beside him, regaling Rhys with anecdotes from his life as a Dahl soldier.  

At some point, Axton had slung an arm over his shoulder. Rhys leaned into him, he was completely willing to see where this ended up. Axton might be former Dahl, current bandit, and the sort of divorced guy to wear his ex-wife’s wedding ring on a chain around his neck, but hey, there were worse distractions. And fine, he was hot if you ignored about seventy percent of his personality. Or if you’ve had a couple drinks and needed not to think about anything other than how Jack would kill you.  

“So we’re fighting Vladof on Hestias, and they assign us to protecting this local dign-digni-dignit… VIP. He’s gotta dumb name, like, Jeppery Hands or something? Jepps. Guy’s a total douchebag, he insists on being addressed as ‘my lord’.” “What, like he’s in Bunkers and Badasses or something?” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Axton laughed. “He was really serious about it, nade his servants bow to him and everything? Yeah, he had actual servants and everything.”

“Is that kind of thing normal on Hestias?” 

“Nope. He was a total jackass…We called him Jazz Hands and it would make him so mad…” He broke off into a laugh. “So, Jepps is small time local government, no one really needs the prick, but he was in Dahl’s pocket, and they didn’t wanna have to find a new guy, I guess. And there was this rebel group Vladof was funding, right? They wanted him dead. So, of course Dahl brass decides we gotta keep him alive, protect him at all costs, you know how corps get? They’re all ‘We lose this shitty backwater and your whole squad gets…Gets the firing squad.’” 

“Yeah, sounds about right.” He tried not to think about that too hard. He was supposed to be focusing on being charming and engaged until Axton started making out with him, or whatever. Not on the various ways Jack might execute him.

“Yeah, I bet… Jeez, Hyperion must…They must be pissed at you. Especially after Lilith, imagine the look on Jack’s creepy mask-face when he finds out. Damn, knowing what I know now, wish I’d tried outright treason when I still had the chance…” 

“Oh, yeah… It’s…” Rhys took a long drink. Whatever this stuff was, it managed to be both overly sweet and slightly rancid, and it burned like drain cleaner. Normally, he’d take this as a warning not to keep drinking it. “So, uh, this Jepps guy?”

“Yeah, Jebbs. Total asshole. My squad’s getting killed at every turn trying to keep this dude safe. And like I said, Vladof’s been funding this-this rebel group, the ones who are after Jebbs, and we know they have a base out somewhere, but here’s the thing: that part of Hestias is a shitton of jungle, giant trees blocking out the sun, toxic clouds, man-eating plants everywhere, these monsters with con-concentric-concen…teeth in a bunch of circles, like, whirlpools of teeth, you know those things?” 

He nodded absently when he realized Axton paused. With his thoughts on the Lilith issue again, it was getting hard to follow Axton’s story. He wondered how protected she’d be in Zed’s clinic. Maybe he could still fix this. What if he poisoned her? Less hands-on that way. 

“I saw a guy get blended by one of those things once, it was nasty…” Axton trailed off briefly. “...Where was I?” 

“Uh…” There was a ton of eridium on Pandora… Eridium poisoning was a thing, right? 

“Oh, right. Hestias. Yeah, the jungle there is almost as much of a death trap as this place. And the rebels are hiding out there. Hestias is a real hellhole in general, so…” Axton went on, but Rhys forgot he was trying to be engaged and charming. 

Wait, no, eridium wouldn’t work, that’s how Tannis healed her…  How’d they poison the Atlas CEO? Oh right, Axton. 

“So I put a tracker on Jazz Hands, and we ditch him in rebel territory. The enemy captures him, and takes him straight to their big secret base.” Axton laughed, and Rhys figured he should laugh too, here. “So, we get like twenty bots, load them up with explosives, and send them after the guy. Boom! I end a three-year-long conflict overnight, and no more Jebbs–Jepps–Jazz hands.” 

“Wow.” He’d already forgotten where this story had even started. …Using someone else to solve his problem, though… There was an idea…

“Of course, since I did it the ‘wrong way’ Dahl got pissed. And then, after Tantalus, where I…” He could hire an assassin. Probably. Someone like Zer0. Except not Zer0, because they were a huge asshole. And they wouldn’t do it. 

“...which eventually led to my dishonorable discharge and order for my execution, but hey, it was goddamn awesome.” 

Huh. There was a single person in this city who was absolutely sympathetic to Rhys’s cause, and he was still tied up in the gun store. A trained soldier, just like Axton. 

When there was a long pause he realized that Axton had finished his story. He gave what he hoped was a charming, engaged grin. “Sounds like it.” Damn, Axton had some cool scars. Really added something to his whole face…area. “So… You’ve been doing this whole, uh, this whole action hero thing for a while, then?”

“Ten years,” Axton said with a sly grin. “Why? You into the whole action hero thing?”

“I’m open to finding out.” 

Axton’s face was inches away from Rhys’s, now. Rhys started to close the distance, when an epiphany hit him: Marcus’s would be closed, right now. No one would be there. Except that soldier. 

“I-I’m gonna be right back,” Rhys said, rising suddenly from his seat, spilling the rest of his drink on Axton’s lap. “Sorry! I-I gotta do a thing.”

———

Zer0 didn’t return to Sanctuary until it was well past dark, taking the fast travel into Pierce station. 

It would be too late to get payment from Hammerlock, they’d have to wait until tomorrow. He’d given them several bullymong-related jobs and they’d knocked them all out in one go, in the process experimenting with methods to quickly dispatch the ugly beasts with both blade and gun. Now they were an expert, and the bullymong population outside the city was cut in half—and a fourth of that was literally. 

All in all, a productive day. They were already in a good mood when they saw the Hyperion, shuffling down the street outside the station. He, of course, failed to notice them. 

The Hyperion had yet to prove boring, Zer0 thought he might even be as entertaining as someone could be, outside of a fight. Whatever he was up to, they wanted to see it play out. They followed.

Rhys ended up at Marcus’ Munitions, the store shut tight for the night. They heard an “Ugh” as he tried the door, found it locked, and switched to his cybernetic arm.  He cursed loudly when the door handle snapped off.

Zer0 chose now to speak up, taking the last few steps to put themself next to him. He smelled of alcohol. “What are you doing?”  

He flinched, dropping the door handle. It clanged on the sidewalk. “What are you doing?” He demanded. “Are-are you seriously, actively stalking me?!” 

They put a finger to his mouth to shush him. The “stalking” accusation wasn’t new. Usually it was true, and the accuser was seconds from death. “You were quite noisy. / Curiosity gripped me. / Are you robbing him?” 

“No! Why would I do that?”

“Because you are drunk. / Your judgement, inhibited. /  Perhaps it seemed fun.” 

“I’m not drunk, and I wasn’t going to steal anything, okay? I-I was gonna-” He paused, looking back at the street. “I was gonna kill the Hyperion soldier in there.”

 “Really?” They tilted their head. This guy was full of surprises.

“Not because I’m like-like you or anything. I’m not a murder-happy psychopath.” 

“Of course not.” Zer0 projected a “>:(”. They’d been trying to be nice to him all day, but he was making it hard not to be a little bit petty. True, they enjoyed killing as much as the next assassin, but there was an artistry to their kills that was missing from the average merc’s.  

“This-It’s just basic human decency. You people are torturing him down there. Someone’s gotta take things into their own hands and step up and fix that… You hear how I’m a hero now? That sort of thing is the heroic thing to do.”

“Is that what they say?” They wondered how he’d gotten that idea. Betraying Hyperion would put him in the same category as that Claptrap, wouldn’t it? No one was calling Claptrap a hero. “...Fair enough.” With a slide of their hand they digistructed four kunai and carefully selected one imbued with the corrosive element. That, they jammed into the edge of the door, next to where the handle had been. The Hyperion watched in confusion until the metal began to melt around it. 

“You’re helping me?” He sounded far from grateful.

“You clearly need it,” they said with a smiley. “You’re likely to get caught, alone. / Now, keep your voice down.” 

He hesitated, staring at them in disbelief, then gave a defeated “Okay. Sure.”  

They opened the door once the acid had done its work, then stepped aside. “Use your ECHOeye. / He may have security. / An alarm, or worse.” 

He stood there blinking for a moment while the ECHOeye flickered on. “I don’t see anything.” He started to walk in, Zer0 stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. 

“Go forward slowly. / Keep scanning in—”

“Can you not?!”  He hissed, turning on them and stumbling on the first step. They caught his arm before he could fall. 

“You are much too loud,” they said, projecting an extra-bright “LOL” in his face. If he was going to be so hostile, they were going to have fun with it. 

“You can go now, you know?” he hissed, shaking them off. “Thanks for getting me in, but I don’t need help.” 

“I would like to watch.” 

“That’s really weird.” 

“You may find yourself grateful. / When you mess this up.” He would absolutely mess this up. The only question was how far they’d let it go. They needed him alive, and it was probably better he didn’t completely despise them. Beyond that, though… 

Rhys just sighed, looking around the room. His ECHOeye hadn’t flickered back on, but he hadn’t seemed to notice. They grabbed his shoulder again when he started toward the range. “Before you go in. / I want to know your intent. / How will you kill him?”

He pulled away. “I… I was thinking I’d shoot him a few times and run for it?”  

“He wears a good shield. / You will need to bypass that. / And silence is best.” 

“Uh huh. What do you suggest?” 

They lifted their sword. “In the throat, perhaps. / Or, you could just strangle him. / He’s safely restrained.” They expected him to balk at the suggestion, but he surprised them once again by grabbing for the sword. They pulled it out of his reach, flashing him another smiley as he stumbled. Then they handed it to him. “Don’t hurt yourself.” 

In the range, the soldier was still tied to the target, fast asleep. Rhys had to clamber clumsily over the counter to get in melee range. There he lined up the blade with the soldier’s throat, froze, lowered the sword, and squeezed past the soldier to cut his binds on the back of the target mount. 

“That’s a risky choice,” Zer0 observed, leaning casually forward on the counter to watch. It was what they would have done, if they’d cared enough to kill this guy. Give him a fighting chance. 

“I-I’m not killing a helpless man.” He fumbled with the sword, not confident enough to cut the bonds with one clean stroke, and lacking the control to easily saw through them.  The soldier’s breathing was unsteady, his face a little too tense. He was fake sleeping, Zer0 realized. Rhys didn’t realize this. 

“He might wake Marcus.” 

He ignored that. 

“He’s doomed anyway.”

He ignored that too. 

“Watch out,” they warned as he finished cutting the bonds. The soldier leapt to his feet and turned on the unprepared Rhys, who scrambled backward, holding the sword out in front of him unsteadily. The soldier eyed him with wild desperation, looking for an opening. Of course, the guy wanted a weapon first. 

“You’d best finish it,” Zer0 said. They doubted the soldier had been trained to face a sword, unarmed, and there wasn’t a lot of room for him to maneuver—in lieu of the usual painted lines on the floor, each lane was divided by waist-high concrete barriers. Even a complete novice should have been able to stab him, this was a training wheels situation.

“Can you shut up?” Rhys shot back. “You’re not helping.”

“What is the problem?” 

“I can’t do this,” he hissed, barely keeping the sword lined up with his foe. It swayed in his hand, either from fear or inebriation. Maybe both. 

 “You’ve never stabbed anyone?” They feigned shock. 

“Of course not!” 

“You’re new to killing?”  

“Is that surprising?” 

“The Hyperion?”  

“We weren’t all stabbing each other in the back! Some of us got by on charisma!” He seemed to have forgotten he was trespassing, he was being much too loud.  “Now’s a decent time to learn. / Use the pointy end.” 

The soldier gave up on acquiring the sword, instead springing over the divider to his right, sprinting for the counter, and diving over it. Zer0 cloaked just in time to trip him on the way out the door. Two shots in the head, and it was done. 

“What the—?! Who’s there?!” they heard Marcus call from somewhere further back in the store. 

They activated Decepti0n a second time, and watched Rhys. Predictably, he panicked, abandoning the sword as he threw himself over the counter, fell on his face, got back to his feet, and ran for it. 

Zer0 calmly picked up their sword and left, hearing Marcus make it to the range as they were headed up the stairs. “Son of a bitch!” 

They found Rhys again leaning against Pierce Station, catching his breath. 

“That will be your death,” they said, projecting a frowny face at him. “You are soft, indecisive. / Both traits are fatal.” 

“Yep, kind of getting that.” He slid down the wall into a sit, balling up his hands in his hair. “If you’re gonna gloat, could you do it somewhere else?” 

“I am not gloating.” They were, a little. “And you will get mugged, like this. / Hurry and get up.” 

“It’s fine. I’m fine. Jack…Jack’s gonna kill me anyway.” When he looked up at them, his eyes were watering, and they regretted following him here. If he ended up outright crying, they’d leave.

“Probably not Jack. / I was thinking of bandits. / Or perhaps skag pups.” 

He gave a bitter laugh. “Thanks.” 

“How drunk are you?” 

“What?”  “Can you make it home?” They couldn’t just leave him here to have his ECHOeye dug out of his head by enterprising scavengers, they needed him in one piece. 

“Yeah. I… That… Pandoran drinks are goddamn poison, but… I’m fine.” He got to his feet, wobbling a little. “I’m fine…” 

“Come on, I will walk with you,” they decided. “So you’ll live longer.” 

[baxterstockmanisthecenterfold]

Do you prefer Baxter mutated 🪰 a cyborg 🤖 or just plain human? 👨🏿‍🔬

My answer has changed since the last time I've thought about it. Originally like most people I liked his mutant fly fate. But now honestly. I prefer Baxter be a regular human. I don't hate either of his fates anymore I still love them & am fascinated by them. But when it comes to new takes on them. Nobody seems to actually DO anything with them. Nowadays when Baxter's a mutant it's only just for the sake of fanservice to the 87 cultists. DC's 2 portrayals of him being the biggest example of this

Because I want you to genuinely answer me this: what PURPOSE did him getting mutated, even serve? In literally BOTH adaptations he was just. There. Aside from fanservice what was literally the point in him being a fly? I'll tell you: Jack shit. They literally could have kept him human & I promise you nothing would have changed. Hell they could have easily replaced him with a random scientist and nothing would have changed! That's how little him being there or a fly mattered! And every version that has him go this route always make that same exact mistake. It's honestly crazy how Baxter becoming a fly in the first place was because of a horror movie yet nobody ever bothers to.. ya know, DO THE HORROR part?! A giant killer fly is seriously giant fucking potential especially in these darker TMNT adaptations. 2012 was even CLOSE to getting that mark when their Baxter mutated

Bro was fully ready to catch bodies in the most disturbing way possible. Yet the only time they cooked with him in this was this & that scene of him taking out the foot bots. The rest of the episode they just still have him get easily beaten by everyone and it's the same status quo for the rest of the series, he just buzzes now. *Sighs* honestly I just want at least ONE version of mutant Baxter to do this to somebody

At least ONE version of mutant Baxter just going full fly on niggas and & being seen as a legitimate threat to look out for & not just "heheheh, goofy fly just like the 87 series" Like is that seriously too much to ask for?

Cyborg Baxter isn't safe from this either. Even though it's a much more rare fate, only happening a total of 3 times btw. Yeah. Only 3 times was he turned into a cyborg. And only ONE of them was actually a really cool & dangerous concept. That of course being his ORIGINAL Counterpart

The man broke into a military base, killed 2 guards, cut out his own brain & put it inside a killer robot and wasted ZERO time fucking around. A lot of people really don't seem to know Baxter canonically has a bodycount

He killed over 6 people because he possessed the body of a giant robot. He basically pulled a sci-fi Chucky & I don't think anybody seems to realize how terrifying & cool that concept alone is! The second time this happened was 2003 & I'm honestly a little disappointed it wasn't used in a more dangerous way. Granted I'm aware that version of Baxter is more of a victim than his original self & mostly just used his robot bodies as just. Bodies in place of his old one. He didn't actively choose this, but you would still think he'd try to make himself more stronger & capable of defending himself like he did when he betrayed Shredder in season one. But alas. That never became the case. The final time we got a cyborg Baxter was the Roninverse who is another rare Baxter to do his original counterpart justice in more ways than one.

Still, we didn't get to see this one in much action. Aside from punching the shit outta April, this Cyborg Baxter was another case of "just there" ism. Don't get me wrong he had an actual purpose of being in the story & why he's a cyborg, but they just didn't have him do much in this form. And it is a really big shame ngl.

Both of these fates are honestly amazing & fun to explore if you genuinely put your creativity caps in it, & it's honestly frustrating that they're just never put into true fruition. It's honestly one of the main 2 reasons I just rather he just be human now honestly.

The wasted potential with either one & the complete lack to bother trying to do something with them

Like with his race, fans seem to think that that's (mainly being a fly) his only character trait that matters & he's less of a Stockman if he's not which is.. beyond stupid honestly.

Baxter doesn't have to be a mutant or not human in general to be a great character, there're tons of villains in TMNT that are humans that still do the fans & themselves justice without always losing their humanities, why should Baxter be any different? Because he's a scientist? There's literally hundreds of evil human scientists in Superhero media that are still threatening. Doctor Octopus, Dr. Eggman/Robotnik, Lex Luthor, Hugo Strange, Gizmo, the list goes on! With the right writing a regular human evil scientist is a major good threat! And Baxter Stockman should NOT be any different from this category! Especially when IDW showed us you can literally do something even better with his fates.

IDW being the best Stockman he is showed us that he can literally have fly themed technology (his Flyborgs of all forms) as his personal minions and things to do his bidding aside from his Mousers! Even the 87 cartoon showed us that he has the power to control flies! Have him be a fly themed evil scientist. Matter fact. Have him built like this

This absolutely AMAZING 2-for-one that is basically giving him a fly themed mech suit. I literally can't explain into words just HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS CONCEPT & I'm so happy I've seen other fans draw their own takes on this too because literally why not go this route?! It has both fates, he's still human & he's still a big threat! I say THIS is my ideal Baxter Stockman fate honestly and I need it to be a real reality someday 💖🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

[wosieposiecozy]

Finally got the balls to post this

Candybats rambles and HC and individual stuff. Turning these freaks into OCs fr

🦇🎀 Rambles under the cut bc talk of mental health, also note pink text is for things that are more personal to me/ based off my life. I project onto these freaks a whole lot, especially streber! The pink text range from silly to not so silly 🎀🦇

Enjoy!!!

-kevin is a nerd/freak, no way he's friends with Radford and isn't a nerd, bro def has a fixation on sonic the hedgehog but only owns 06 (he borrows other games from rad)

- streber is not an engineer but a theater prop maker, he enjoys the stage and probably was in a robotics club in college but engineering/ robotics was not something he wanted to go into directly. He dose prop commissions and is a teacher assistant at an elementary school.

-streber is great at math and calculations, but my boy can't read/spell well.

- streber likes to fidget with Kevin's hands

-kevin likes to just flop on top of streber. Streber likes the pressure. Kevin's like a cold weighted blanket, and streber is a heating pad.

- streber struggles with depression, it's been a year since Bob and while he's doing better, he struggles with not feeling anything sometimes, he's nervous on how his response to his trauma isn't like others. He kinda pretends it didn't happen and continues on, and only really thinks about it when he's alone at night. (Based on my own experiences with grieving a lost one)

- streber has mixed feelings about people who survived Bob, he never blamed them but he's just is extremely upset he couldn't get the same treatment from that monster. He stopped going to support groups and just dose 1 on 1 therapy.

- streber lived with his parents for a while after getting out of the hospital (the rats stayed with Leon 💪) , and kinda just wanted to rot in his bed, but eventually went to some sort of support. Mainly because of fears of going to the mental hospital (yes, again,based on irl experiences)

-streber refused to talk to news outlets regarding the incident.

- he fluctuates wanting to get a prosthetic arm to not wanting to.

-kevin is on depression and anxiety meds. (Literally hc he has the same as me, bro take them everyday or else bad shit happens!!! )

- Kevin doesn't talk about work when he's not at work, it makes him pissed, mainly because the most interesting thing is skid & pump, police, teens stealing, or killers/demons

- Kevin hates work and dose experience fear of "god, what I'm if I go into day and I die" but the anxiety of having to get a new job and change his norm over powers his fear of death.

- streber bites Kevin, like just a stress and comfort thing, Kevin is okay with it. Streber kinda bites his arm sometimes

- streber and Kevin rent out apartments, they don't live together.

-streber loves his rat children. We got Socrates🐀, motor oil🐀, and Mr. Girl🐀!!

- Kevin had a love at first sight kinda thing but didn't act on his feelings, mainly because he likes to get to know people first before asking them out and bc work has him in a choke hold.

- Kevin would like a pet cat but.... Work 😔

- they met because of Radford 💪 the real hero of spooky month's 18-30 year olds 🫡.

- streber became pretty good friends with Kevin at first then he fell for him, bro just loves cringe fail men (and women). Kevin was beefing with children, no way your gonna find a better boy failure /silly

- streber disassociates during slasher films. He still loves horror and Halloween as it was his comfort growing up, but Bob left a stain that will forever haunt him.

-streber's favorite horror movies are silent & psychological horror.

- Kevin isn't a huge fan of horror movies but he appreciates "Dave made a maze" & probably "Willard", he's like " Dave just like me fr!!!" (Go watch the movie, it free on Tubi 😎)

- both can't drive, streber takes the bus, Kevin takes his bike.

-I like to think they're both touch starved.

-kevin likes physical affection and wants to give it to streber but kinda forgets how to

-streber is very big on physical affection but isn't use to it

-

- freak 4 freak

-insert Kevin is a fan of young Sheldon here-

🎀🦇 Oki rambles over 🦇🎀

If you liked it, that's kinda epic

[thebruno65]

Danganronpa 2: DLC. How it could potentially go

A while ago, i made a post on a fake dr2 DLC with Ryota and Sato and didnt think much of it. But ive been recently coming back to it. So yeah, dr2 but sato replaces hajime and ryota replaces chiaki, heres how i would make it go, btw, this ISNT a what if, its how i eould see it.

Chapter 1:

the prologue + most of chapter 1 daily life can go the same. The moment it starts to change the timeline is when they were about to do their usual stick-thingy draw, when Sato just reluctantly chooses to do the work instead, seeing as she thought that draw game was kinda stupid.

This kinda screwed Nagitos plan, so he thought about having 2 ppl clean, the same thing happens and Nagito is chosen. When they're cleaning, he changes his target over to Sato, doing the same he did to canon Teru, only this time she isnt willing to do it. Teru eventually stumbles into the scene and sato tells him about Nagito, foiling his plan.

In the end Nagito would have to fully change his plan to something else, deciding to have Akane as the blackened as he somehow finds out about her siblings at home. Akane kills him and then gets executed.

Chapter 2

The motive this time is way more interesting, as now the killer herself is here alive and well. So instead of messaging Mahiru, he does to Sato, she eventually plays and finds out about the game, but unlike Mahiru, she doesnt go. So it eventually retargets back to Mahiru.

The reason as to why Fuyu kills her instwad of peko usually could target back on the fact that his og target didnt show up, making him even angrier and peko just doesnt have time to interfeer.

In the trial, peko would obviously try and divert the trial to think it was her, but eventually the truth is revealed and fuyu is bye-gone

Chapter 3

The party can now be directed to Peko as she tried to interfeer in fuyus execition this time and failed. Nekomaru would still turn into a robot not because of akane, but because of Sato herself, you can have her truly get sick and mad that Mahiru died and all that so she confronts monokuma. Only to get slashed in the arm, aka the same place were she got slashed before.

The ones with the despair disease could be:

Akane -> Sato

Ibuki -> Ibuki

Nagito -> Gundham (?)

And the people taking care of them would be:

Mikan

Peko

Impostor

So the rest would be staying at the motel, those being:

Ryota

Hiyoko

Sonia

Kazuichi

Teruteru

Hiyoko one night would sneak in to sato's room, why? So she could tie her kimono. After Mahiru's death, they were both severly affected by it, also sato was the other person mahiru trusted so thats why she came to her and not someone else.

Dont know how the murder would occur, just know that those 3 die.

Chapter 4

Nekomaru finally comes back in his robot form much to everyones shock. When the 4th island opens up, they do the stupid rollecoaster and get the book of the fiarst killing game. Since Byakuya is surpisingly there, they question the supposed byakuya who responds about not knowing anything or remebering.

When they get in the strawberry hourse, the trios are as follow:

Sato - Nekomaru - Hiyoko

Ryota - Mikan - Impostor

Peko - Gundham - Teruteru

Sato would apologize to nekomaru about what happened to him, and in true nekomaru fashion he forgives her and doesnt hold her accountable, but he does wish she could apologize to Peko instead of him. She tries to argue back by reminding him what they did to Mahiru, but he claps back with reminding her that she killed their sister. Sato contemplates and decides to think about it.

When it comes to choosing the straw and grape rooms, the most logical solution would be to have the 5 males on the grape side and the 4 females on the strawberry house, but since Sato isnt exactly ready to be near peko yet, her and Ryota swap.

Dont know how this murder plan would go, but i still want to include the whole split group, woth Sato in grape and Mikan on straw. But this time, satos group is barely able to get anything done as their also the ones locked out of the crime scene, so well have to play as mikan for most of the time.

So it would also be Mikan that enters the final death room, now it would be changed sp ot doesnt require bs luck, mikan finds the book and her personality does a 180, she becoemes cold blunt and rude to everyone. She tells her sato abt the reserve course and yada-yada.

Trial time, and impostor is guilty. He has a similar motive to gundham in canon, only this time he intended to truly have everyone survive over him, and the trial is to try and convince everyone is him. Especially Ryota, who him and imppstor grew very fond of.

In the end, he reveals he is an impostor and gives a motivatory speech to everyone, after that, Sato finally gains the courage to forgive and apologize herself to peko. And while they both arent necesarily on the best of terms, she does still forgive her.

Chapter 5

Mikan does a nagito, idk how but she does. And Ryota is îthe traitor. He is still part of the Future Foundation and was put on the virtual world as a method to overlook the situation. Yeah not much else here.

Chapter 6

Kinda just the same as canon tbh, wouldnt change much.

And that's how i feel like a Dr2: DLC could go! If you have any questions or any other ideas/different ways it could go, leave it in the comments.