#First time drawing a splicer :)) I think?

[atlasvox]

[journey-tothesurface]

please PLEASE share the tenegrace headcanons i need to hear more

YES I LOVE YAPPING ABT TENENGRACE I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THEM.

Okay here we go:

Grace and Brigid work together to look after the rescued little sisters in Rapture. This is just canon now as far as I’m concerned

Post-Rapture, they also combine their efforts to reunite the girls with their families. The others try to help where they can, but there’s a very real sense of “this is partially my fault so I have to do this” in how they go about their mission

Speaking of, they’re both consumed by their guilt: Grace for being complacent when the family started creating new sisters and leaving Eleanor with Lamb for all those years, Brigid for her role in discovering ADAM and kickstarting the worst of Rapture’s crimes.

While both decide to pour their efforts into atoning by looking after the girls rather than think too hard about their own feelings; Grace’s way of doing so leans a little more self-destructive than Brigid because of her time in the family negatively affecting her self worth. It takes her a minute to accept that the girls genuinely love her and aren’t just clinging to her because she’s the only guardian they have

Brigid had kind of gotten her head around that idea thanks to the time she spent living with Jack and his daughters, but the first time one of the girls from BS2 era Rapture called her mama Tenenbaum she definitely felt something in her eye

They don’t agree on how to approach every problem. Brigid wants to advise the girls about the dangers they’ll face in Rapture specifically because those are so unique (and so much more dangerous) compared to what they’d see in the normal world, while Grace tries to tread a little lighter because she worries that teaching the girls to think about danger the Rapture way will make returning to their lives at home even more distressing

Another point of disconnect is how they view splicers. Grace spent ten years living with people in different stages of ADAM poisoning, and was fighting on the same side as them until very recently, so she tends to have more sympathy for the splicers still in rapture. Tenenbaum has mostly encountered them while defending or rescuing the girls, and has a more pessimistic view of their role in the whole affair as a result

Grace is “Aunt Gracie” to everyone, while Brigid is “Mama Tenenbaum”, and later, when the girls get out of Rapture “Auntie Brigid” to match Grace

They were always on good terms with each other, but there were no major shifts in their dynamic until well after they escape rapture. The idea of hashing out their romantic drama while finding families and organizing reunions just never crossed their minds because neither woman stops working long enough to consider personal feelings until the girls are home.

There’s no dramatic confession or big passionate kiss to mark the start of their relationship. Once the girls are settled, they just sort of… slip into place beside each other like they’ve been married for years because they’re comfortable in each other’s company

But they’re fine not drawing too much attention to their relationship, because Brigid’s never liked PDA in the first place and Grace has a decade of Family-related self worth issues to work through. They’ll leave being adventurous to Eleanor for now

It’s not a picture perfect healthy romance, but Tenenbaum’s ex is Frank “Bald Freak” Fontaine and one of the last people Grace let herself be vulnerable around was a cult leader who believed personal identity was for troglodytes, so any hang-ups they have to work on together are a massive upgrade as far as fulfilling relationships are concerned

They get invited to events like birthday parties, b’nei mitzvahs, confirmations, and eventually weddings and rest assured they go to every single one. Yes they’re travelling to the other side of the country so they can watch a 24 year old woman graduate from college. But have you considered that that’s their baby and they’re so proud of her <3

There are family dinners with the girls, Jack, and his daughters. These happen less and less often as everyone gets older and has their own lives to plan around, but there’s at least one every year

Date night is sitting in the two armchairs they put beside each other and reading after everyone else has gone to bed. If they’re really feeling adventurous, they’ll read beside each other on the couch

While she works, Brigid will sometimes hum songs she picked up from Grace

When the girls are all adults, they give Grace and Brigid matching jewelry which one of Jack’s daughters designed and made herself as a token of thanks for everything the two did for them when they were young. Grace gets hers as a necklace, Brigid isn’t a jewelry person so she gets hers as a pin. They almost never take them off

That pendant and brooch are basically their unofficial wedding rings. A gift from their girls commemorating the time that set them on their current path and led to their meeting is so significant to their life together that trying to commemorate it any other way would be redundant.

[yourpalbubs]

I don't think that I've seen this talked about much anywhere so I would like to share it as it popped right into my brain since I've been playing through the bioshock games again after a while, also if I'm saying anything obvious or just plain wrong please feel free to just yell at me later but please read the rest my brain vomit first please?

I believe that in ingesting vigors throughout bioshock infinite and the two Burial At Sea DLCs that there are more effects than just the character's hands changing. Like we should've seen more effects on their bodies than just Elizabeth turning invisible with Peeping Tom in BAS part 2

I mean, both of the Bookers and Elizabeth down the vigors like the aunt on your mother's side would down a bottle of wine at every family reunion to be honest and since they are ingesting it compared to injecting it there should be more side effects of the powers showing up on them. I mean look at the splicers, they just inject the crud into them and look how they mutate from whatever plasmids they use, and viggors supposedly use more ADAM to make and thus more EVE/SALTS to use them so there should be more physical changes than whatever happens to their hands when they use the powers as it literally stops ranging from only a little past the wrist to only 1/3 of the way down the forearm when you see them in use in game.

Since they are drinking the vigors I think that it would also make the effects of the vigors power show up on their faces/throughout the rest of their bodies while having them equipped/in use. I do have some ideas on how they would look in effecting both Bookers and Elizabeth so I'll put them down in a list so you can imagine what I'm thinking about when I mean 'vigors should have more noticeable effects on the body'.

Possession makes the users skin become slightly translucent, skin losing bright liveliness to it and becoming pale as if drained of blood. a green shine glimmers over the eyes aswell as turning the lips and inner mouth a lighter green from injesting it in the first place, a faint green mist around them as if they were under Possessions effects themselves but to a less noticeable extent compared to seeing it in use in game.

Devils Kiss burns the skin and flesh away from the users mouth, cheeks, and down the throat, leaving charred bone and a maw of volatile heat as embers flicker off from the areas of burning but not completely charred parts of skin and flesh much like you see happen to both Bookers hands.

Murder Of Crows causes feathers to bloom not just up the arms like in game but also to sprout down the back and sides of the neck aswell as both sides of the face where sideburns would grow on the user, random loose feathers becoming tangled in hair/sprouting alongside hair of the user. Eyes becoming darker and beadier like a Crows would as skin around the eyes and down the sides of the face/down the neck aswell as the lips darken like you can see when Murder Of Crows is in use.

Bucking Bronco causes chunks of the users skin aswell as flesh to ripple and quake, floating and disconnected yet still sticking close together as the effect traces up the neck, rippling around the cheeks and up to the forehead in various sections as it tends to spare some chunks of skin and lift others like the effect does in game with the gravity displacing effect/glow included, lips mostly unaffected with the occasional ripple of some chunks floating time to time.

Shock Jockey causes crystals to sprout sporadically all around the skin of the user, electricity tracing under the skin as it lights it up like the body of the user itself is being electrocuted but with none of bad effects of being electrocuted at all, skin growing the purple and blue tint it does in game all around the body in various splotches aswell as changing the lip color alongside it to that purple blue splotchy color. Bonus, static electricity hair

Charge engulfs the entire body of the user with wind, it twirling and spinning non-stop around the entire body, the spinning air being faintly noticeable around the legs and chest but extremely apparent around the hands like in game but aswell as a pair of twirling, raging cyclones coalescing around the temples like ram horns much like the short advertisement showed in game after drinking it in game.

Undertow causes many holes to ripple open all around the body of the user much like it does in game, holes appearing even along the sholders, chest, aswell as opening holes right into the mouth from the cheeks (or even from under the jaw and the neck itself for the body horror factor) as tendrils of water can arc from one of the many openings and connect to another much like a hose conecting from an oxygen tank to a diving suit, water also able to be seen rippling around the body wherever it wishes to, skin becomes rather slick and paler looking, as if the user had drowned but didn't die, eyes becoming bloodshot due to the drowned like state.

Return to Sender causes the skin of the user to fade away in splotches, revealing metallic like bones much like it does in game, the spirals much like the trap itself being charged spinning around their head much like electrons would around an atom, the spirals itself illuminating their head as if it was the trap itself, bullets and other used ammo spinning and hovering around their head like the trash in space would do around our planet. lips becoming the black silvery color of the skin fading away on the users hands when using the vigor.

Old Man Winter causes the users body to become frozen, skin becoming bloodless pale as a blue icy tint replaces the life in the users skin, eyes becoming dead-like much like a body in a mourge would as chunks of ice sprout and spike up on various parts of the body.

Peeping Tom naturally turns the user invisible so there's no changes there exept for the user being naturally semi-transparent, being able to see through them but more like looking at yourself through a reflection of yours on a window, seeing through them but not to the point of not being able to see the user at all unless they are actively using the vigor itself.

Ironsides, much like Return to Sender, causes the skin of the user to fade away in splotches, revealing metallic like bones much like it does in game, the spirals much like the trap itself being charged spinning around their head but instead of the golden and black tint of Return to Sender it would be the blue white and black tint of Ironsides itself, lips also becoming the black silvery color of the skin fading away when using the vigor.

If I had the ability to draw then I would love to draw them out and show it off, it just sucks that I don't have the confidence to do it, atleast I could share my ideas to my best abilities.

[sins-of-the-sea]

//....Really, I just wanted an excuse to draw Ruixiong with short hair. Turned out also being a body study to see if I can figure out a body shape for him that isn't too similar to Guy and Giovanni. I don't think I've quite gotten there yet.

Don't mind the chickenscratch on the side, that's meant for me to make sure I got the timeline right with Rui considering, in the Bioshock Verse, he would have been a Chinese orphan born during WWII, and would have been a displaced war orphan forced to survive at a young age before he'd enter Rapture.

Got inspired to draw this anyway when I reblogged the Bioshock Verse portraits. Originally he was going to wear the full-body worker's suit or mechanic's overalls (and he probably would should I write/RP him out in Rapture), but I got too much young Marlon Brando living in my head rent-free and it won't go away, so just a tank top and loose jeans for now pfff.

To go with the Bioshock Abena sketch and backstory, here is Ruixiong's!

Wang Ruixiong has no recollection of how he lost his family by the end of the Japanese occupation of China in World War II; all he knew was that he was constantly traveling with other orphans and adult strangers in the fight for survival. He does, however, recall when he first entered Rapture as a child--he was forced to do assorted labor with what was then Fontaine Fisheries. He didn't know it at the time, but Ruixiong was being groomed into the smuggling business; by the time he was entering his teens, the young boy was well-versed in the most well-hidden parts of Rapture and in the best ways to hide or disguise contraband.

The boy would meet the Frascona Family by around 1950, when Rui was still a pre-teen; it was then he finally had someone to call family, having becoming close to the family's nephew Giovanni and the neighboring Duchamp Twins. Josep would work to become Ruixiong's legal guardian until he became of age in 1957, where he would attempt to make his own home by working as a supplier for Fontaine Futuristics.

Because Ruixiong has worked for Fontaine for all his life by this point, he considers himself in great debt to Frank Fontaine. Ruixiong, after surviving the fight that killed Fontaine, was among the first to rally behind Atlas in rebelling against Andrew Ryan. Ruixiong was among the other Atlas loyalists by the time of the New Year's Riots in 1958. As the Civil War raged on, Ruixiong was forced to separate from the Frascona family, unaware that both Josep, Arcelia, and Giovanni have gone missing.

Ruixiong would not reunite with Abena until sometime during the events of Bioshock 1, unaware of Josep, Arcelia, and Giovanni's fates. By this time, Ruixiong has forgone the fight against Ryan in favor of searching for his missing family. One can imagine his reaction upon realizing the truth behind Atlas once Jack has faced him for the final time.

Rui has mastered the Telekinesis Plasmid and does his best to avoid becoming a Splicer, though he admits the addictive properties often drive him mad.

[inkdemonapologist]

[BatIM Call of Cthulhu Masterpost]

REMEMBER BACK WHEN WE GOT INVITED TO A MASQUERADE??? And we figured out the masquerade guests are definitely the sacrifice meant to summon their eldritch deity and that the party will probably be the location of the final ritual? ANYWAY WE’RE CRASHING THE PARTY, which means we need costumes.

The party is Alice in Wonderland themed; Sammy hasn’t read the book but got kin-assigned the March Hare by Joey, so naturally i’ve been doing nothing but drawing this loser in a dapper rabbit costume for an entire week

---

Anyway have a little smattering of out-of-context quotes from session 11

[Sammy is played by me, Joey is played by Boo (inkyvendingmachine), Henry is played by Maf (inkcryptid), Jack is played by Mochi (whatyouwantedmetosee) and Thren (haunted-hijinxer) is our GM!]

[Sammy] Sammy just has no magical powers. [Jack] YET. [Sammy] Yet. Correct. ...He doesn't want any. [GM] Half of him doesn't want any. [Sammy] That's... accurate, yeah. Half of him ALSO wants the OTHER half of him to stop having magical powers. [Jack] No Magical Girl transformation? [GM] *laughing* Is that what that is? [Jack] I'd watch a magical anime where the main character drugs themself and then becomes a weird... religious... madman! [Sammy] That does sound compelling! Maybe you should see if you can find a franchise that contains that element, and then become a big fan of it and draw a bunch of fanart for some reason. [Jack] Yeah, I dunno, I mean... it's so tiring getting into new media, I need to get a friend who will drag me into it. [Henry] And then you guys can start a roleplaying game with it and drag me into it! [GM] There's an idea! [Jack] Yeah! Someone should get on that! [GM] And if there was such a theoretical game... people might have to figure... what they're doing when they wake up!

[Sammy] We were put in a situation before where we were told that the only thing we could do was kill the host, but we found a way around it last time, [Peter] What way was that? [Sammy] Complicated.

[GM] Henry is the first to notice the apparent cultist, camping out, looking tired, trying to spot you guys. [Henry] Uh, Henry is just going to tap Sammy on the arm and point him out. [Jack] Bros! You've got to unionise! Look at these working conditions! [GM] Maybe one of these days you won't spot them, right? Hope springs eternal!

[GM] Okay, you can make an intimidate! [Sammy] Okay! *rolls* FIFTEEN IS -- this is the only thing Sammy's good at now -- fifteen is a hard success!

[Jack] I'm proud of him! [Sammy] Someone has to be.

[GM] Allison chats with everyone, and gets you into the costume room! Everyone seems relatively friendly! [Sammy] Except Sammy. Sammy doesn't seem friendly.

[Joey] My idea was, Joey would be Mad Hatter -- [Sammy] Because he needs a hat, [Joey] --Yeah, so he can have a hat -- I was thinking Sammy could be the March Hare, Jack could be White Rabbit, and then Henry could be the Dormouse, [Sammy] Yes! And then the Haiti boys are all the Mad Teaparty, which is great, because the Mad Teaparty is canonically trapped in a time loop. [Sammy] Because we tHOUGHT ABOUT THIS TOO MUCH,

[Jack] Kin-assign Pete! [GM] He's content to wear anything that looks like it fits him, as long as people aren't trying to push a co-ordinated effort. [Joey] (Pete can be Caterpillar,) [Jack] Catter-pete-lar [Sammy] Oh my goodness. Completely unnecessary. [Jack] This is a pun that Jack might make, out loud, to Pete [GM] Pete laughs, despite himself! [Sammy] I feel like, Jack would make this pun, and then Jack would be SO pleased with himself that Pete would laugh, because Jack was so happy about it. [Jack] Yeah that sounds canon. ....It IS canon!!

[Jack] You can like, actually pretend to be people who decided to come to this party to enjoy it, and not just steal and/or murder!

[Henry] I want someone on the help, because I feel like we would have more control if we had someone on the inside, [Henry] And Henry does have a very forgettable face, apparently!!

[Joey] What are the staff wearing? Target red shirt, khaki pants? [Sammy] Perfect! Everyone will fall for it! Based on my experience wearing red shirts into Target!

[GM] I guess this does mean Joey misses an opportunity to dress up Henry. [Joey] *excited gasp* Wait, wait, [GM] What? [Joey] Sorry, this has nothing to do with anything that's happening right now in the roleplay, but I just suddenly realised that (1) when Henry got married, was Joey his best man, and (2) did Joey get to pick out his tuxedo for him [Henry] UHHHH... I feel like, Henry usually defaults to Joey for outfits and stuff, but he would hesitate a bit to ask his best friend who has an obvious crush on him to help dress for his heteronormative wedding!

[Joey] There probably is at least one of the wedding photos where Joey is insistent on standing very next to Henry -- while Henry's next to Linda! -- but, [GM] ...but also, Joey is here, [Joey] But also Joey is here. [Sammy] ...absolute disaster of a man... [GM] But the tuxedos look good! [Joey] Yes. Henry was properly fitted.

[Sammy] I don't want a full-- I don't want a freakin' fursuit, because-- [Henry] (FNAF in the distance)

[Sammy] But I feel like, since both White Rabbit and March Hare are, like, dapper rabbits, they could do something like, yeah, splicer mask and also a hat. [Jack] I mean, Jack's not opposed; Jack likes hats. [Sammy] Jack absolutely should have a hat, I agree. [Jack] He's getting so many hats! So many hats, and so many boyfriends, [GM] He can't be stopped! [Jack] >:3c He shouldn't be stopped.

[GM] I'm still just stuck on the phrase "Dapper Rabbits."

[GM] If Joey and Allison are talking further away, I guess it's moot. Though Allison did see Prophet Sammy! He changed in her room. [Sammy] Well, nobody explained him to her. Sammy just showed up the next day and hoped that we wouldn't talk about it, and then we didn't! It was great. [Jack] Sammy's over here, hoping that Allison is distracted by Joey so that none of this conversation is being listened to, [Jack] MEANWHILE, smash cut to the other side of the room, where Joey is explaining SillySam,

[Joey] A lot of Joey's lack of giving information was to keep her out of it, and not paint a target on her back... but now? She has a target on her back, so... Sure! You can also sacrifice yourself, for the greater good!

[Sammy] I'm sure someone in this party will thank Allison. It won't be me. But I'm sure someone will.

[Henry] Henry's already smearing his blood on people, he's gonna agree to whatever at this point.

[Sammy] DEFINITELY not a cult, now hold still while we put this guy's weird glowing blood on you, it's fine. [Jack] Welcome to the flock!

[GM] What does this mean for Prophet Sammy's sacrificeability rating on Henry, though? Now he's potentially long-term useful... [Sammy] I mean... [Jack] The Prophet isn't here so he doesn't need to know about this! [Sammy] ...I feel like, if something has greater value, then it's an even more impressive sacrifice. That's why you sacrifice an unblemished sheep, traditionally. If it's not a blemish-- [Sammy] Like, that's most of what he was worried about, like, “does this make you not fit for sacrifice.” But if it's actually a really cool thing, ...!

[Sammy] Sammy's nervous. [Jack] Jack is also nervous. [Henry] Henry is also nervous! [Jack] Oh, that's always a good sign, [Joey] Joey's going to be confident! [Henry] ...Of course he is. [Joey] Someone has to be! [Jack]...is he "Confident" or "Confident (Fast Talk)"? [Joey] YES. That last one. [Sammy] *muttering* That's the best we got, unfortunately.

[Sammy] If Jack or Henry express nervousness, Sammy agrees with them. If Pete is nervous, then Sammy will very aggressively say that Joey knows what he's doing.

[Sammy] Allison, don't use a spell to bind people's souls together in order to avoid crunch,,, [GM] You never know when something might be handy! [Sammy] I mean, [GM] Waste not want not!

[Henry] Does Henry have to draw in blood on himself...? [GM] No, Henry has a lot of his own blood on his person.

[GM] Aw, man, Bendy should've commented on the rabbit outfits! I'm sure he'd find that hilarious. [Joey] ...why...? [GM] WHY? It's just objectively funny! No additional reason is needed!!

[Joey] Joey will go through his notes, and confer with Henry and Bendy on, okay, shall we try this, and see if we can help Bendy as well? [Henry] Henry is down to try! [GM] Bendy is worried about Henry overexerting himself. [Henry] ...Henry is down to try!

[Jack] Worst case, Jack looks at the symbol, and then he can be seeing-eye rabbit for the rest of the group!

[GM] Norman wonders what the plan is! [Henry] Bold of you to assume,

[Sammy] We're having such a good sleepover! We did a weird blood ritual, and we're braiding each other's hair~ [Joey] Having a fashion show, [Sammy] Yeah! We went out and got clothes, [Jack] Can't believe Joey called a boy, [Sammy] Gotta ask Joey about the boy he likes... wait, no, don't do that. [Jack] I'd say it's time to play seven minutes in heaven, but I think we, we did that early. [Sammy] WE DIDN'T DO A VERY GOOD JOB,

[GM] Norman wants to see how this plays out. [Joey] Okay, well, try not to get sacrificed, then, [GM] He laughs, and thanks you for the advice! [Sammy] *Hypnos Hadesgame voice* "Try not to get sacrificed, okay?"

[Henry] Allison is very helpful, and not weird at all!

[Joey] We already have the banjo case full of ritual circles, and Joey would rather have the emergency circles than Sammy carrying around bOTTLES OF INK. [Sammy] WHY, WHY WOULDN'T YOU WANT THAT TO BE HAPPENING? WHAT WOULD BE THE PROBLEM WITH THAT,

[GM] Make a sanity check! [Jack] Wait, what's happening? [Sammy] Joey was trying to think too hard.

[GM] Sammy does manage to catch that there's a little-- next to the kitchen, when you go into the place where they're serving food, there's a sign that says "Sheep Shop" over it. And there's a person wearing a sheep mask, handing out food. [Sammy] OKAY, THAT'S FINE,,, I don't feel like Sammy has actually read Through The Looking Glass, so I don't know if he knows why this is happening. I think he's just concerned. [GM] Excellent. Ideal response.

[GM] And Joey has NEVER seen the symbol EVER because he's incredible at not looking at creepy symbols! Which you wouldn't expect. [Sammy] I'm sure Joey will put this in his autobiography.

[Jack] :/ No Hashtag Gay Rights at this party,

[GM] Seems to be another party-goer; in fact, you recognise the voice! [Joey] Ohhh. Kyle -- I don't know his actual name, but -- [Sammy] (Dennis!) [GM] (Yes, that's-) [Joey] -- Kyle.

[Henry] Henry is going to try to sneak up on Moonlight while he's distracted! [GM] OH! ...Okay! He's very distracted, Sammy just screamed! [excited noises from everyone beCAUSE NO ONE EXPECTED THIS] [GM] You successfully sneak up behind him! [Henry] I'm going to grab the staff! [GM] Make a Brawl check, with advantage! [Sammy] (He has SO many limbs that don't work my dude, you got this,) [Henry] That's a success! [GM] You snatch it! [Henry] I RUN!!!

[Joey] We're just both escorting Jack, now. [Sammy] Would you say Jack is late, for a very important date? [Jack] Well YEAH, his Face Removal was scheduled like 2 dreams ago!!

[GM] He'd have to roll for it, to see if it felt familiar to his trip to Carcosa. [Jack] Extreme success! [GM] Then he would pick up that familiar feeling! [Jack] Oh, nice and homey at this party! Really nice. Nostalgic! It's been a while. [Sammy] Hm, [Jack] Maybe he should go play the piano, for old time's sake! [Sammy] NO

[spookyboywhump]

alleeeeeen what game what song omg please scream about it

WELL SINCE YOU ASKED-

I’m sorry I go full nerd down here

The song in question:

It’s a fan song for the game Bioshock! It’s a first person shooter game that came out back in 2008, it’s kind of a survival horror game but I wouldn’t say it’s all that scary. It takes place in an underwater city called Rapture, which looks like this by the way

And some interior shots

For me, the setting is the main draw of the game, it provides such amazing atmosphere and it’s just so beautiful. There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to the ideas presented within the game but unfortunately I am stupid, I cannot get into all the philosophical stuff. Anyways

The city is in a state of disrepair and decay, it’s very post apocalyptic, but instead of zombies, the most common enemy you encounter are Splicers. Splicers are what happens when someone overuses ADAM, a thing in the game that essentially rewrites DNA and gives you different powers, you have to spend ADAM to get these things (you recharge that bar tho with EVE). You get ADAM from little sisters, these freaky little girls

I’m using a picture from the second game because the graphics are better but it’s basically the same deal. I think they’re kinda cute.

They gather ADAM from corpses with these huge needles, and they’re protected by these guys, called Big Daddies

They’re fucking terrifying

You have to get through them to get to the little sister, which is how you get ADAM. You can choose to harvest or save them, as they’re genetically modified and just kinda fucked up. You get more ADAM if you harvest them, but I choose to save them because 1. It feels nicer and 2. Whether you save or harvest them determines your ending

Anyways the point of the game is to fight your way through Rapture to get to Andrew Ryan, the city’s founder, and off him. You’re guided through a radio by a man named Atlas, and along the way you’ll hear bits and pieces about a man called Fontaine (I can’t remember his first name rn lmao but they usually just call him Fontaine anyway) there are other characters of course but yeah

Now, the game came out in 2008, and takes place in the 1960’s so. There are some questionable things but I feel like a lot of it is meant to be seen as a bad thing, not glorifying it. Also I don’t recommend this game to anyone who doesn’t like needles, as there are A LOT, and the only way to get more EVE in your body is via injection which is shown, every single time.

OH also, the game has a hacking feature. You can hack security cameras and turrets to attack your enemies, you just have to solve this like puzzle mini game. I fucking. Love. The puzzles. I’m proud of my speed on some of em lmao. Unfortunately they took this feature away in the next two games. Also throughout the game you can pickup video diaries from various people, which gives you more info on the story and the way Rapture was Before.

I just really fucking love this game. I can’t even fully explain why I just DO. The last time I played, I beat it in one sitting, and when I was done I just started sobbing and hyperventilating because I was so overwhelmed by how happy it makes me. The setting is beautiful, being underwater, Rapture has this very Art Deco aesthetic, it’s so lovely. It’s genuinely one of my all time favorite games, and I didn’t even cover everything here to avoid going into spoilers for anyone who’s actually interested in playing/watching a playthrough. Thank you for letting me scream. I’m feral. This game makes me need to scream from excitement

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

Gonna admit, for the Splicers in Bioshock Rebirth. I don't think I would fully want them to be inspired by the Chimera. Because Johanncorgie's Bioshock art reminded me and looking up on Google Images. It's almost like a if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Yet that wasn't the intention. It was mainly the idea to make the Splicers looked even more fucked up. Such as some growing sharper teeth, larger jaws, and whatever else after splicing too damn much.

Maybe a little redesign. But I'm not really gonna draw them. It's still the same Splicers from the first two games.

I also likely just miss these guys in video games.

Just thought...maybe I can do my own type. I could call it the Ravager Splicer or something. XD Or just Ravage Splicer. A Splicer that still shares some forms of humanity. Such as at times using a gun. But they mainly act like an animal, craving more ADAM. Basically, a feral kind of Splicer.

I may draw this guy maybe. XD

I think just to be dark and what makes this guy also unique. But it may have been done already. This is a Splicer that would eat out of a Little Sister. I don't know if I would show that. Or maybe have him eat people when he's REALLY hungry.

[radramblog]

Planeswalkers in Cube: White

It’s been a while since I’ve discussed cube, I think, and also a while since I’ve just dived into a stupidly long topic without thinking too hard about it. And so here we go.

Planeswalkers are kind of in an interesting place in Cubes. Most of the time, they’re powerful midrange or control threats, but a lot of them have more specialised roles that can make them better suited to particular cubes. They’re also popular to include, seeing as they’re big, cool, and splashy, and a lot of people really like playing with them. What home exists for something like Liliana, Death’s Majesty in any other format? (I know it’s fine in commander hush)

However, you can only afford so many slots for Walkers in your cube, depending on how you treat them. And so, you’re not going to see all of them very often. Here, we’re going to go through all of them, colour by colour, and figure out why you should or shouldn’t play them, and which go better in different builds. Starting off, as many things do, with Mono-White.

Some ground rules: I’m not going to talk about the Planeswalker deck cards in this post, because the answer to whether you should play them is pretty much universally “no, why”. I’m also not going to talk about the creature->planeswalker transform cards, because they get treated more like creatures in a Cube environment. Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy is kinda just Merfolk Looter.

My next point before I talk actual cards: I’m far from an expert on this sort of thing, and this is going to be my opinions! If you want a different perspective, Season 4 episode 6 of Solely Singleton is a great podcast about this exact topic, though it’s two and a half years old at this point so some things might be a bit outdated.

Finally: White is a colour that tends to get more good Planeswalkers than other colours. Turns out, most Gideons and token-producing walkers are good in slower decks, who’d a thunk it. So unlike, say, Black, the average here is a bit higher than most of the time.

Let’s get into it!

 Ajani Goldmane

Ajani is kind of a classic, but the original iteration is kind of showing its 14 years of age. It’s a 4-mana walker (which is a very competitive slot) with a +1 that doesn’t really do anything, a turn-3 ultimate that dies to removal, and while the minus is good (see cards like Unbreakable Formation, or other Ajanis), it requires a board and isn’t really worth a four mana cast.

I had thought he’d be good in more budget lists, though. Except he hasn’t been printed since 2010 and so even though he sees no play he’s still like 5 bucks. So I’d pass on this version of cat dad.

 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

On the other hand, Elspeth pt.1 is still one of the best Planeswalkers you can play. She makes blockers for days, can push through some serious damage, and does both of those things while getting more resilient rather than less. Her ultimate might not be game-breaking, but since she’s constantly pushing towards it anyway you don’t really mind. Also she’s only 4 mana, holy moly.

Elspeth is good in aggro, good in midrange, and arguably still more than playable in control. At 12ish dollars, it’s not the ideal price point, but if you can afford it (or have one sitting around), she’s absolutely worth the include.

 Gideon Jura

Gideon 1 is a bit more specific. Aggro is not going to want him, seeing as the minus does basically nothing in that deck and the +2 isn’t really worth your time at 5 mana. On the other hand, this card is nuts in control. It’s a hard-to-kill wincon that is also removal that fuels its own condition and survives boardwipes. Gideon Jura is a chad in those decks, and kind of takes over the game the moment he comes down.

The other nice thing about Gideon Jura is that due to recent reprints in Mystery Booster and his Signature Spellbook, as well as not being very good in Commander, he’s ludicrously cheap. You can get one of these for under a dollar, making it perfect for budget cubes (that still include rares). Although, at that point, he might be warping to a cheaper format where aggro is worse, so keep an eye on him.

 Elspeth Tirel

Elspeth’s second incarnation (which is the one with her last name, because ???) is significantly worse than her first. If you’re in a slower deck where you want the ultimate, she’s probably not going to live to make it there. If you want the tokens, there are better options at cheaper mana costs. And you don’t want the +2, unless you somehow have a decent board against a red aggro deck.

I remember really liking this card when I first started playing Magic. That was a long time ago, and we have had much better options in the near-decade since then.

 Ajani, Caller of the Pride

The first 3-mana walker on this list, and one that shows the conservativeness WoTC had when first testing them at that mana cost. Just kidding, this came out after Liliana of the Veil.

Ajani 3is theoretically fine in an aggressive deck, but white has some seriously good 3-drop creatures that you’d rather just cast instead. Because when your options are a Blade Splicer or putting a +1/+1 counter on your two drop…I’m taking that token. And let’s not act like this card has any place in a midrange or control deck.

 Gideon, Champion of Justice

This was the first Planeswalker I ever opened, so I have a soft spot for it. But not enough of one to put it in my cube.

As potentially threatening as this Gideon is, he basically doesn’t do anything? While token decks might have a hard time taking him out, seeing as his loyalty can get pretty huge against them, they can also just block him forever. The ultimate is a game-ender, but also would leave Gideon so small that your opponent might just have enough time to draw lands and get back in the game. And he doesn’t do anything to protect himself aside from get big, and doesn’t really progress your board, so. Sorry Gids, you’ll get them next time.

 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion

Elspeths alternate being good, I guess. Elspeth, Sun’s Champion is basically unplayable outside of slow midrange or control, but is utterly incredible in those decks! She wipes out anything that would threaten her and makes enough blockers to easily protect either herself or you, and stalls long enough that those tokens can turn into a wincon via her ultimate.

It is not as universally powerful as the four-drop Elspeth, but the 6-drop one undeniably shapes the game when she hits the table. She stops aggro in its tracks, and nukes the shit out of midrange, especially green-based decks. I suppose there are times when she might be awkward to cast because she hits your own threats…but then just hold her back or +1, dude.

 Ajani Steadfast

Ajani Steadfast is kind of trying to be a better version of Ajani Goldmane. And yet, funnily enough, the Vigilance on Goldmane’s -1 is so important, as is being a -1 instead of a -2, so he’s kind of in a similar tier. The loyalty counter upside is so utterly niche that it might as well not exist, but the +1 is unquestionably much better at least.

Like with Goldmane, Ajani Steadfast isn’t really doing anything at 4 that cheaper cards don’t do better. And he’s at about the same price point. At least the ultimate is better?

 Nahiri, the Lithomancer

Nahiri is really specific. Like, if you’re at a power level where you have equipment worth playing Nahiri with, then you’re probably at a power level where she’s completely outclassed by things like Angel of Invention or…I mean, most other playable 5s. And some unplayable ones.

…I just remembered this card has 3 starting loyalty. On a 5-drop walker. You can -2 her and she’ll die to literally a goblin token. I sure hope that Equipment you got had Living Weapon!

 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

The first 4-drop that really steps to Elspeth, Knight-Errant. This Gideon is kind of just good in any deck- aggro decks like a 5/5 top end that makes a token T1 or just is an unkillable Glorious Anthem, midrange loves an infinite source of 2/2 to block or beat down with, and control loves an infinite source of blockers that can clean up after a wipe. He’s just kind of a disgusting piece of cardboard for a whole variety of decks, making him easily one of the best walkers in the entire format.

Also he’s…surprisingly cheap? After one “real” printing, and being on The List (which doesn’t do much, trust me), Gideon Ally of Zendikar is still only like 5 bucks. So if you can justify spending that much on one card…probably do that? He won’t let you down.

 Gideon of the Trials

Unlike our first 3-mana walker, this one is more than playable in slower decks. Gideon of the Trials is kind of awkward for aggressive decks, put what he does do is effectively remove some seriously big threats, adjust for whichever is the biggest problem around, and still punches peoples as a 4/4 Gideon. And he also has the unique benefit of being a Planeswalker that makes combo decks think twice, given that Emblem- though you’ll still go to 0 life if Splinter Twin or a similar combo is in play, and then die since they probably killed him too there.

Once again, though, this card is pretty cheap, sitting at about 3 bucks. As we get towards the more recent end of this list, a lot of these cards are going to look like that. I remember when I made my first cube, with the restriction of “Rares/Mythics that are under $2 US”, and getting 0 white Planeswalkers. I was playing the Planeswalker deck Gideon, for fuck’s sake! Things are so much better now.

Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants

I could never really get a good read on this Ajani. It’s obviously something control doesn’t want, and the +1 isn’t doing a huge amount in midrange decks. But the -2 is powerful in creature-based decks, and the +1 is solid for quicker builds, but not enough to really justify 4 mana? There’s a lot of power here, but the parts kind of form a strange whole.

I guess it depends a lot on how deep that 2-drop slot is in your cube, and how deep the 4-drop slot is. Because you kinda need good 2s and medium 4s for Ajani to really shine. I’m a little bothered by how meh Ajanis are apparently in general in Cube, but the multicoloured ones are a bit more solid.

 Gideon Blackblade

Take Gideon of the Trials, make it not playable in control, and make it really fucking good in aggressive decks. There you go, that’s Gideon Blackblade. Cheap in money and in mana, he’s here to die, aside from the part where he’s hard to kill.

The +1 on this card is not super great, but you have to keep in mind that you get that at the same time as Gideon being a creature. Honestly, it’s kind of easier to think of this card as a creature with a triggered ability than as a planeswalker, at least as far as cube is concerned. It also helps that the -6 isn’t actually that hard to hit, considering you can keep a creature back by giving it vigilance. He’s quite solid, and might just be the best aggro walker White gets. Certainly at 3, at least.

 Teyo, the Shieldmage

A bit of a step down from our last 3-drop, Teyo is clearly not built for the same formats as Gideon Blackblade. But with him, we can talk about weaker formats, like Peasant, where Teyo is…still not great? 3 mana gets you a pair of 0/3s and immunity to burn spells, which I suppose control might like in formats where you don’t really get board wipes, but I can’t imagine any other deck wanting him. And that’s not a great place to be.

 The Wanderer

Much like Teyo, I don’t think even Peasant wants this. I do think it’s kinda better- their static abilities are virtually the same, except Mx. ??? here extends the burn protection to your creatures. And they do serve as removal, but its both expensive and narrow. Like, how often is this just going to kill a 4/4 and then get killed by their 2/2? I wouldn’t play Smite the Monstrous but it gains 2 life.

I’m interested to see this character return at some point. Maybe next time they can be playable. Some of the uncommon walkers from WAR were great for Peasant (and some even in higher formats), but this isn’t one of them.

 Serra the Benevolent

Okay, so. 4 mana Serra Angel that can stick around to make another one is quite powerful! Though the +2 basically does nothing, it’s still a +2, meaning you can get an unkillable Worship the turn after you play this if you aren’t under pressure, or go token into pump into token. Serra is clearly quite solid!

However, it suffers from two issues. One, it’s competing for that 4-drop slot, and is less playable than Elspeth or Gideon in slower decks since she makes tokens slower than those two do. The tokens are more threatening for sure, but token decks generally want more tokens rather than bigger tokens. And two: it’s more expensive than Gideon and similar in price to Elspeth, not to mention another card we’ll get to later, so she’s not even getting into cheaper cubes. Since a lot of cube slots like this are taken by cards with more general playability, Serra is going to sit on the sidelines more often than she maybe should. If you’re at like a 720 list, though, spare her a thought.

 Ajani, Strength of the Pride

Take everything I just said about Serra, and make it worse, basically. I suppose 4 mana for two Ajani’s Pridemates is fine, but the plus doesn’t do anything (unless you have those tokens, in which case it’s okay) and you are never activating that 0 unless you’re already winning.

Oh also he’s more expensive than she is and is still at the same mana cost. Yeah nah I wouldn’t bother. Ripper in my Cat EDH deck though.

 Elspeth, Sun’s Nemesis

This card is actually really interesting. Our last Elspeth is still mono-white, despite the art and flavour, but she almost doesn’t play like she is. I think most of the time, she’s likely to make 4 tokens and then probably cack it, but the Escape on this is really interesting. By the time you reach 6 mana, you probably will just have enough cards in the yard to cast this again.

I really don’t know how to interpret this card. She’s in my own cube, but I don’t remember seeing her cast yet, so that’s not really any help. My guess is that she’s mostly good in slower decks, but also making and pumping tokens does output a fair bit of damage over time. She’s only like a dollar, so maybe try her out? At least she won’t be an expensive mistake if she is one.

 Basri Ket

Mr. Sandman here is pretty much just a better Ajani, Caller of the Pride. The +1 does more, the -2 actually puts things on board and is better for aggressive decks to get value out of, and the ultimate is actually attainable. He’s basically aggro-only, but he’ll get the job done in those decks.

However, the 3-mana Gideons kind of just outshine Basri here. He does literal jack squat without a creature on board, and his -2 is quite weak with only one or two attacking creatures to work with. The ultimate is nice, but +1ing over and over is extremely bleh, and you probably have better things to do. So sorry, Basri, maybe next time.

 Grand Master of Flowers

Bahamut, you aren’t fooling anyone, it’s on the typeline. For reference, Monk of the Open Hand is a 1/1 for W that gets a +1/+1 counter if you cast two spells in a turn- so it’s not really worth running? And even if you do put it in your cube, there’s no guarantee you’ll have both in a deck, or want to play both in a deck…so…

Okay, fine, let’s assume you just get a copy of Monk of the Open Hand when you draft the card. I’m still not super enthused about this Planeswalker. The lockdown ability is going to miss more than you think it will, and a lot of the things it misses are the things likely to kill you. It can make a 1/1 every turn, but only one at a time, and if they exile it then the ability does stone nothing. And that “ultimate” takes forever to actually get to. Also it’s another 4-mana White Walker. I think I’ll pass on this one. Somehow, both Tiamat and Bahamut were disappointments.

 Teyo, Aegis Adept

I wasn’t sure whether or not to include this, but I didn’t really want to end on GMoF, so. I’ve done a whole post on the digital-only cards, and I do think Teyo, despite being a Planeswalker, is one of the less fucky ones. You will need to track a lot of things, though.

So how does the card stack up? Honestly, I think it’s surprisingly solid. Aggro probably isn’t that interested, though Lumbering Lightshield’s ETB (makes a random card in the opponent’s hand cost 1 more) could be a real pain if you’re lucky. It makes a 4/4 every other turn for a bit, which is quite solid, and the ultimate isn’t that unobtainable. And you don’t have to worry about money, because this could only ever exist as a proxy.

I’d be really interested to see how Teyo, Aegis Adept plays. I don’t think I’m likely to, outside of Arena-based cubes, with the whole stigma around these cards and the added layer of having to proxy them. But in an Arena cube, with a restricted list of cards he’s competing with (It’s Adversary of Tyrants forward), he could really shine.

 This concludes White Walkers, the post. Please join next week when we discuss Blue Walkers. Make your own Game of Thrones joke here, I haven’t watched or read it.

[baconsoupforthesoul]

Popping the Question

A/N: Happy one year anniversary to the Bioshock au!!! I was originally planning on writing something COMPLETELY different for today but this idea hit me out of nowhere yesterday and I just had to write it. I want to say thanks again to everyone involved with the bioshockau, for bringing us such a lovely story with so much creativity and passion thrown into it. I hope you guys enjoy~

Henry and Lyra belong to @inkspottie

Ross belongs to @doberart

And Delta belongs to @trashboatprince

Henry thought that after facing the horror that was Rapture Studies that nothing would scare him anymore. After all, what could possibly be more frightening than an underwater studio filled with INK crazed splicers out for your blood, being led by the biggest monster of them all, Joey Drew.  Apparently, Henry couldn’t have been more wrong though, because as he sat across from his girlfriend Lyra at the fanciest restaurant in the city, he had never felt more scared in his life. The weight of the ring he had bought for her felt heavy in his pocket as he nervously looked up at Lyra from over his menu. Gosh, she was so beautiful, her auburn hair framing her lovely face, her deep green eyes shining in the light from the chandelier overhead. She looked up at Henry and gave him a sly smile as his eyes darted back to his menu, feeling the blood rising to his checks. It was like their first date all over again. Henry tapped his foot nervously as he tugged at his collar. He… he just needed to calm down. Lyra wouldn’t turn him down… would she?

“You doing alright over there Henry?” Lyra asked her tone light but mischievous as if she was trying to keep herself from laughing. Crap, with that knowing smile Henry knew she could tell he was nervous. Had she figured him out? This date wasn’t their usual thing, as while they would often go out for dinner it was almost never anywhere this fancy. Henry could feel his hands start to become sweaty and his heart beat faster in his chest.

“Uh, earth to Henry?” Lyra couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit as she waved a hand in front of Henry’s face.

“Right! Sorry, I was uh… lost in thought there,” Henry said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

“I could see that,” Lyra told him as she rested her head on her hand, smiling sweetly at him. “What’s on your mind?”

“Uh… well… you see I…” Henry fidgeted with his hands and his gaze dropped to the floor. Gosh, what was wrong with him, just spit it out alread-

“Hello! I’m Susan and I’ll be your server for this evening! Could I offer either of you two something to drink?” A young friendly waitress greeted them as she approached their table. The words died on Henry’s tongue as Lyra started ordering. He… he just needed to calm down. No need to rush into this, he had all evening to pop the question.

How was he gonna pop the question anyway? Henry had tried to plan the perfect way to ask Lyra but he always found himself drawing a blank. He had heard that some people would put the ring on a breadstick or something, but Henry wasn’t so sure that it was a good idea. Should he just go classic and just get down on one knee? What if he fumbled with the ring and he dropped it and it rolled away or something? His hands were so sweaty and jittery that he had a feeling that it was a stong possibly he would do something that stupid. Should he even be asking her in a restaurant like this? Maybe he should have picked something more private, he didn’t want to pressure Lyra into saying yes or anything.

“Henry? Henry? Have you figured out what you want to order?”

Henry’s head jerked up when he realized Lyra had been talking to him. Damnit, he had to stop spacing out like this!

“Uhhh,” Henry looked back at the menu, realizing that he had spent so much time worrying that he hadn’t even read any of his options yet. “Ummmm, I’m not sure yet. Everything just looks so fancy…”

“It really does,” Lyra agreed, glancing back at her own menu. “Maybe some pasta would be nice? I’m not used to eating out at places as fancy as this, did you pick it out for any reason in particular Henry?”

“Ummm, yeah actually,” Henry’s cheeks flushed again as he reached down for the ring in his pocket. “You see… Lyra…” It felt like his heart was beating a mile a minute as he squeezed the ring box. “I’ve been meaning to ask you… uhh…”

“Are you two all set to order~!” Their cheerful waitress had returned with a bright smile on her face to rain on Henry’s parade. Henry managed not to sigh in frustration as he and Lyra ordered their food. It was just his luck that right when he found an opening to ask her that he was interrupted. It was probably for the best though, he was getting so worked up that he knew he would screw up the proposal unless he calmed down. 

Calming down was easier said than done though. As he and Lyra idly chatted while awaiting their food, he could feel his thoughts begin to spiral and drown in doubt. Was this too soon to be asking her to marry him? Maybe he was rushing into this? Maybe one day Lyra would get fed up with dealing with his less than stellar mental health and leave him? He honestly wouldn’t even blame her if she did, he knew he had a lot of trauma to deal with, and that could wear anyone down over time. The last thing Henry wanted was to be a burden on her. These thoughts continued to swirl around in his mind and whisper in his ears as the food was finally brought out. Henry’s appetite was nonexistent thanks to his nerves but he tried his best to eat as much as he could so he wouldn’t worry Lyra.

By the time the waiter had brought them their check; Henry had made no more attempts to pop the question. The more Henry thought about it, the more this all seemed like some big mistake. Why in the world would Lyra want to marry him? She was so lovely, she could have anyone she wanted, what possible reason did she have to be with Henry? He couldn’t do this, he couldn’t do this, he needed help-

“Henry? Are you feeling alright?” Lyra looked up at him with concerned eyes after he was quiet for too long. He was making her worry again. Why couldn’t he just keep it together?

“I-I’m fine.” Henry attempted to reassure her but his voice came out shaky.

“If you say so,” Lyra doesn’t sound convinced. “There was something you wanted to ask me earlier, wasn’t there?

Ah crap, Henry gulped, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under her gaze. He wasn’t ready for this. He couldn’t- “I-I gotta go use the bathroom!” Henry stammered as he jumped up from his chair. “I’ll be right back!” Henry almost tripped over his own chair as he fled from the table, leaving a confused Lyra behind. Instead of heading to the restroom though, Henry dashed out of the restaurant. The cool evening air hit his face as Henry took in a deep breath. This was a mistake… it was all a big mistake. Henry tried to keep his emotions under control as he spotted a nearby payphone. Henry ran over to it, throwing open the glass door and digging in his coat pocket for quarters. “Come one, come on…” He whispered to himself, his hands shaking as he inserted the coins into the phone. He hurriedly punched in the number of the only person he could think of that may help. Henry tapped his foot nervously as the phone rang. Please pick up, please pick up, please pick-

“Hello? Henry Ross speaking,” Ross’s familiar voice washed over him and Henry breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh god, Ross, I can’t do this!” Henry cried into the phone, leaning heavily against the side of the payphone box.

“Henry? I thought you were out with Lyra? You okay? What’s going on?” Ross asked, his voice laced with concern

“Rosssssss, I need help!” Henry wailed, panicked tears leaking from his eyes. “I’m gonna mess it up, I just know it!” Henry could feel his breathing sped up as the panic he had tried to keep at bay started to set in.

“Hey, Henry, take a deep breath, okay?” Ross tried to calm Henry down but his breathing was starting to come in short gasps. “What happened? You were going to pop the question to her tonight, right?”

“I was!” He exclaimed. “But I was I was just so nervous, and I kept getting interrupted, and I didn’t know how to bring it up and oh god I’m so dumb why can’t I just ask her?”

“Alright, alright, you’re just working yourself up now Henry,” Ross told him, but his soothing voice wasn’t easing Henry’s panic.

“I mean, at first I thought about that whole cliche putting the ring on a breadstick but what if Lyra doesn’t notice it and swallows it? WHAT IF I SWALLOW IT! WHAT IF I CHOKE AND DIE ON THE RING BEFORE I CAN EVEN MARRY HER!!!”

“Henry, that seems very unlikely,” Ross deadpanned. “Okay, ring on the breadstick is out. If you’re this nervous just do it the old fashioned way? Just get down on one knee and ask her, that’s simple enough right?”

“But-but-but I’m so nervous I know I’m gonna mess it up! I’m gonna drop the ring, or loss it, or maybe I didn’t even bring it with me, oh god is it even IN THE BOX?!” Henry yelped as he quickly fished around in his jacket and pulled out the box. He opened it and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was there but his panic was still at a fever pitch.

“Henry, you gotta calm down. I know it’s scary, I remember I was a bundle of nerves myself when I asked Linda to marry me.” Ross attempted to soothe his brother. “You just gotta remember that Lyra loves you. It doesn’t matter if you fumble a bit on the question, that won’t matter to her, alright?”

“So you think I’m gonna mess this up?!” Henry asked, completely missing the point of Ross’s words.

“What?! No! That’s not what I meant!” Ross sputtered. “I just mean that-”

Ross didn’t get to finish that thought as there was the sound of the phone being fumbled around and a distant “Hey!” from Ross before someone else took over the call.

“Henry? Is that you?” Delta’s voice came out of the receiver. “Are you freaking out about Lyra again?”

“I-I just can’t ask her. Dinner is already over and I never asked her…”

“Henry,” Delta tried to cut him off but Henry kept going.

“…and I’ve totally screwed this up…

“Henry.”

“And why would she want to marry me! This was all a mistake I should just-”.

“HENRY!” Delta yelled to get Henry to stop his self-destructive tirade. “Take a deep breath for me, ya got that?” Henry took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. “Okay? Feel a little better?”

“A bit but-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Delta cut Henry off again. “Listen, just stop being a baby and ask her to marry you. Simple as that.”

Click!

Henry stood there in silence for a moment, his eyes widening as he realized that Delta just hung upon him. “Deltaaaaa!” Henry yelled in frustration as he slammed the phone down. “Why would you just… WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO MEEEEE?”

Knock Knock

Henry nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard someone knocking on the glass door of the phone booth. He spun around to see Lyra standing there, her hand over her mouth as if she was trying to keep from laughing. Ah shit…

“Lyra!” Henry yelped, quickly opening the door and stepping out of the phone booth. “H-h-how long have you been standing there?”

“For a little bit, “ She admitted. “You were taking a while and I happened to notice that you ran out of the restaurant, not towards the bathrooms.”

“Oh…. ummmm… well, the thing is….” Henry felt a pit form at the bottom of his stomach. He… he had completely messed this up, hadn’t he? He had wanted this to be a nice romantic evening and here he was a disheveled mess, tear tracks down his face, with his girlfriend having just witnessed him sobbing on the phone to his brothers. “I’ve… I’ve really screwed this up, haven’t I?”

“Of course not,” Lyra smiled warmly at him. “I was just concerned, Henry. You’ve been sweating bullets all evening.”

“I know,” Henry rubbed the back of his head, looking anywhere but at Lyra. “You see… I wanted to ask you something tonight… something important… and I wasn’t sure if… if you even wanted… I didn’t know if…” Henry’s voice petered out as he felt like he had a rock lodged in his throat.

Suddenly, Lyra placed a hand on Henry’s shoulder and tilted his head up to look at her. Henry’s face became bright red and she leaned down and kissed him sweetly. She pulled away and looked deep into Henry’s eyes. “Yes.” She said, smiling warmly at him.

“W-what?” Henry asked, confusion written all over his face.

“I have a feeling I know what you want to ask me,” Lyra confessed, her smile becoming more playful. “So if it eases your nerves, my answer is yes.”

Henry felt rooted to the spot as he stared at Lyra. Yes? She had said yes? But, he hadn’t even gotten a chance to ask her! “But Lyra… I… I…”

“You can still ask me if you want,” Lyra chuckled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to steal your thunder.”

“No! No, it’s okay,” Henry finally cracked a smile. While he was still shaky, Henry managed to get down on one knee and pull out the ring. He took a deep breath as he popped open the box and presented the ring to the beautiful woman standing before him. “Lyra, would you do me the honor of marrying me?” He asked, without even a stutter or hitch in his voice, staring up at Lyra with starstruck eyes.

“Yes,” Lyra told him again, her voice dripping with affection. Henry reached for the ring to pull it out of the box, and he almost dropped it thanks to his shaking hands. But Lyra leaned forward and helped him slip it onto her finger. “Wow,” Lyra’s eyes widened as she turned her hand this way and that, admiring the ring. “It’s gorgeous, Henry.”

Looking up at Lyra, admiring the ring he had bought her, knowing that she had said yes, that he was going to spend the rest of his life with her, Henry couldn’t stop the tears of joy running down his face.

“Oh, Henry,” Lyra’s voice softened as she helped Henry to his feet and pulled him into her arms. “You going to be okay?”

“Yes,” Henry answered immediately. “More than okay. Thank you so much, Lyra.”

“You don’t have to thank me silly,” Lyra laughed, holding onto Henry tightly as he squeezed her in return. “Nothing would make me happier than to be your wife.”

The two of them stood there for some time, basking in each other’s presence. That was until they realized they forgot to pay for their meal and rushed back inside. As Henry furiously apologized for almost walking out without paying, he felt that nothing could scare him anymore, not if he had Lyra by his side.

[killervibe]

Killervibe future fluff. The finale hurt me

@agentmarymargaretskitz Happy birthday!! You asked. I deliver. 

“Okay,” Cisco says, plopping his daughter in her little chair that went with her little desk in the corner of his workshop. “You stay right here.” He opened his Amalia drawer and pulled out her washable markers, some construction paper, a puzzle and her Duplos. “You’re all set. Knock yourself out kiddo, Daddy’s gotta work on this thing before we get home.” Amalia pouted, unimpressed with the array of toys. “I wanna help.” 

Cisco bent down, brushing her brown unruly hair out of her eyes. “I know you do, cutie pants, and you can by sitting here and having some fun.” 

She glared at him, but it went soft and ended with a giggle when he smacked a kiss to her left cheek. 

Cisco retreated to his table, his tools scattered around in chaos. He had three hours to transform this broken atom-splicer into something that will help Barry trap their pesky meta with echoes. 

He pulled his goggles over his eyes and started fiddling, taking the pieces apart so he could play around with its structure when Caitlin came in. 

“Hey, Barry wants to know if the echo device is ready.” 

Cisco groaned, not looking up from his work. “Not if he keeps bugging me about it, it won’t.” 

His wife made a sympathetic noise. ��That bad, huh?” 

She picked Amalia up, hoisting her on her hip. “What have you been up to?” 

Caitlin went quiet. 

Cisco frowned, “Something the matter?” 

“Cisco,” she said urgently, and he yanked off his goggles, rolling his chair towards Amalia’s desk. 

“What? What is it?” 

Caitlin was pointing at Amalia’s drawing. 

…It wasn’t a drawing. It was a sketch. Of the echo-maker Cisco had been trying to visualize for the last half hour. 

His eyes snapped to his five year old daughter, who was biting the nail of her thumb, gauging their reactions. “Where did you see that?” he asked her. 

Amalia tapped her head. 

Caitlin’s eyes widened the same time Cisco’s did. 

“She said she wanted to help!” said Caitlin, shock still written all over her face. “Do you think she–” 

“–She vibed it!” Cisco breathed, picking up the picture. He looked back at their daughter. “Mija, did you see this? All blue? Like when we go to the pool and we go underwater?” 

She nodded slowly. “I wanted to help, Daddy.” 

She wiggled out of Caitlin’s grasp and returned to her desk. 

He shared an excited look with Caitlin. 

“Okay. Okay okay okay,” he said, reaching forward for a pencil. 

“Did you see numbers too?” He wrote down some half finished equations, ones he couldn’t quite get right. Amalia was advanced for her age, able to write her name and some small words and numbers, but he wasn’t expecting her to know math. 

She was great at copying though. 

Amalia took her blue marker in her little fist, and wrote out her own, her tongue sticking out as she concentrated. She closed her eyes, then opened them with something murky in her expression, and finished the equations Cisco had been struggling with as if it didn’t require several science degrees. 

“I can’t believe this,” Caitlin said, and neither could Cisco. 

Although he could, actually, come to think of it. Because he had the best daughter in the world, and she was amazing and smart, and a beautiful meta-baby already, and if any kindergartener was going to crack a case, it was going to be his. 

“She really is her Daddy’s daughter.” 

They knew she could breach, she’d been doing it all over since she was two, but. To vibe? Was this her first one? 

Had she had many already? 

Caitlin crouched down low. “You’re amazing, Amalia,” she said softly. “You really are. We’re sorry we didn’t realize you could help.” 

Amalia shrugged, meekly, already over it, “S’okay!” 

Caitlin stood back up, and kissed him quick. “I’m going to tell the others.” 

Cisco took Amalia’s hand, and she slid out of her little chair. He brought her over to his actual workstation, clearing room for her to sit on the table. She kicked her little sneakers excitedly as he pushed his goggles over her eyes. “Let’s get this working, Lil’ Vibe.”  

[edh-a-to-z]

Modern Horizons - White

Ah, a new take on Modern Masters.

And you know what that means! New toys and reprints for EDH!

Gotta grind these before the next set spoilers come out...next week.

Force of Virtue

Grade: B+

Home: Go-Wide, Token Decks, MonoWhite

Range: Wide

Another Enchantment always help Go-Wide decks, and the ability do flash it in and not pay anything is even better. A solid Anthem, even paying the casting cost for, is always worth it.

Generous Gift

Grade: C+

Home: Any White Deck

Range: Very Wide

Never look a gift elephant in the mouth, eh?

A color-shifted Beast Within is always is welcome here. Removal of any permanent at instant speed is fantastic.

Giver of Runes

Grade: B

Home: Voltron

Range:

Mother of Runes that can also protect against colorless.

Yes it is Patrick, no matter what Maro tells use.

Unlike Mom, she can’t protect herself, so no chump block > tap to protect self. 

On Thin Ice

Grade: B-

Home: Constructed Snow Decks

Range: Average

Hey, it’s Chained to the Rocks, but not Boros colored! Make all your Basic Lands snow lands, and it’s 1 Mana Sorc removal with no downside, and easy to use.

Ranger-Captain of Eos

Grade: C

Home: Niche decks that need a specific tutor

Range: Narrow

Good Blink Target, and there’s almost 800 creatures you can tutor with this, so there’s always something you can use. Locking out removal and other noncreature spells is also very useful. Anything from Mikeus to Kid-eon to the new Giver of Runes makes a great tutor target, and that’s just in White.

Solid stats and a good creature type round out a good creature.

Serra the Benevolent 

Grade: A

Home: Angel Tribal, Flyers, Any White Deck

Range: Wide

My absolute fave of White. It can make a Serra Angel the second it comes down, or when Doubling Season hits with it, it can get it’s Worship Emblem.

She draws removal like a champ, hence the good protection the Angel provides.

Sisay, Weatherlight Captain

Grade: B

Home: Legendaries 

Range: All over the place

It can tutor any sort of Legendary permanent - artifacts, creatures, planeswalkers - all good stuff. Sisay has a max size of 7/7, which is pretty good for a 3 drop.

Vesperlark

Grade: B

Home: Blink Decks, Rez Decks

Range: Narrow

The Lesser Reveillark, getting back one creature with power 1 or less, which is still surprisingly good. Much easier to get into play on turn 1 that the Rev and then abuse.

Pulling the new Deep Forest Hermit and flickering Vesperlark or the hermit it the tip of the iceberg when it comes to shenanigans. 

Winds of Abandon

Grade: B-

Home: Any White Deck

Range: Wide

What’s better than a Board Wipe? A one-sided board wipe!

A good removal effect for 2 mana Sorc, the Overloaded version dodges any type of protection, and getting “compensated” with a basic land is harsh - especially when multicolored decks might not even run many Basic lands, so they can fail to find, making it even more one-sided.

On the Maybe List

Ephemerate - Double blink is pretty decent at instant.

Face of Divinity - Cheap abilities especially as you stack on Auras onto your Voltron creatures

First Sliver’s Chosen - Maybe if you want one big creature attacking, but I think Slivers like attacking more in a swarm.

Imposter of the Sixth Pride - Tribal options may be this card’s salvation

King of the Pride - Solid Cat Lord

Lancer Sliver - Decent 

Martyr’s Soul - I think a 5/4 for 3 mana is interesting, but possibly not right for EDH. The mana rocks and Convoke can help, but I’m not sure yet

Recruit the Worthy - White’s worse Sprout Swarm for 1 less

Reprobation - Nice alternate to Pacifism

Rhox Veteran - Battle Cry and targeted tap down are a potent mix, letting you whale on a target

Segovian Angel - Ah, finally the White Angel one drop the tribe’s needed forever. Nominally interesting, but probably out of the league of being competitive 

Splicer’s Skill - Not sure how well Splice works outside of the Arcane family, so this is probably worth checking out for cheap casting Jeskai decks maybe

Valiant Changeling - Possibly nice as a WW 3/3 Double Strike

Wing Shards - You can usually kill 2-3 things if you do it well, which is more than you need to kill Unblockable Souped up Voltron creatures with Protection from X

Not for EDH

Answered Prayers - Might be cute for the LG or Opal decks, but I feel it’s underpowered

Astral Drift - While it’s had it’s time in the sun in cycling decks, it’s not for EDH

Battle Screech - More for pauper than EDH

Dismantling Blow - Disenchant and Divination at this cost? No way!

Enduring Sliver - Slow, slow, slow. A decent bear, but I feel slivers can do better, even for a card slot

Gilded Light - Cycling is fine, but self protection could be found better with True Believer 

Irregular Cohort - Does fair work, but unless you can really abuse the Changeling or ETB, not really worth it. Even when you can, there are other options.

Knight of Old Benalia - Decent ETB, but not enough

Settle Beyond Reality - I wanna remove something at Instant speed, for much less mana

Shelter - Other options make for better card slots

Soul-Strike Technique - Weak aura with replacement is disappointing.

Stirring Address - Hey, Overload in White! Still trash combat trick though

Trustworthy Scout - Functionally a bear with an ability that doesn’t work in EDH

Wall of One Thousand Cuts - I hate paying for mediocre things to be less mediocre

Zhalfirin Decoy - Tapping and weird antics does not make for good EDH creatures.

Stay tuned for Blue and more campers!

Let me know what y’all think!

[debaiser]

The composite of things that ended up overlaying into the total concept of RoseIII struck me earlier, and I realized I’d never made one of these for the original. Many of the 1x1′s are largely hindsight retrospective. In order of size, then top to bottom. (Under a cut, because long AF)

Pokémon: From Red/Blue to the anime to Ono’s manga series, I consumed pretty much every single form of Pokémon between 1999-2004. Toshihiro Ono was one of the primary artists whose style I first learned to draw from, the others being CLAMP, Yun Kouga, and Kohta Hirano. Back when I was in my hard tracing phase, 99% of my altered tracing art was from Ono’s manga; to this day, I can’t reread them without the imprinted memory of exactly which panels were “choice” tracing material. (Without a name resource, I often took pieces of names from artists, Toshihiro and Keiji being those that come to mind immediately.)

Animorphs: Probably *the* TF series for kids of the Nineties. Shapeshifting, genetic augmentations/collection, aliens and alien technology… It’d be remiss to think the whole Elfangor-Loren thing didn’t influence stuff either.

Cardcaptor Sakura: This one gets a big square because the settings and a lot of clothing design came from here. I recall harvesting lots of names from CCS as well early on. I was obsessed with light-dark duality, and I ate that Yue-Ruby Kero-Spinel stuff right the hell up.

Hellsing: I restrained in letting myself get entrenched in it, but ended up in the last book of RoseIII absolutely flipping exploding at the seams with “HOU?” and the master-slave imagery Integra holds. Contrary to what you’d expect, I know in my gut the million eyes crap did not come from here (*or* Thousand-Eyes Sacrifice honestly). I’ve had trypo and million-eye nightmares for decades, and it’s one of the things that got me smitten with both Hellsing and Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Christian Iconography & Religious Fetishism: Honestly? I can’t remember what the seminal spark was for the technology in RoseIII to be jewelry, but it’s always held a meditative mechanism and deep identity politics. Many types of jewelry were very much fetish-icons, especially the brooches. Most aspects of jewelry were a metaphor for scarring and branding, especially with the motif of surviving traumatic situations which don’t typically leave physical scars. The eponymous brooch was the opposite role-wise, since it damaged most people who had it instead of healing or otherwise improving them. (There’s a lot of Christian imagery and reference made, from C.S. Lewis to I Corinthians 13. And then that crucified Umbreon…….. wheeze)

Dracula: Both Coppola’s and Stoker’s. I was obsessed with every element of the story, most meticulously Renfieldian shenanigans. I can’t honestly tell you where the body horror in RoseIII started shifting from “disturbing mutilation” to outright bloodthirst and cannibalism, though.

Disney’s Gargoyles: Winged TF sequences with heavy magic lore. Who didn’t wanna be a gargoyle or meet one when they were a kid I mean really

Body Piercings: Piercings carried heavy significance in RoseIII, especially the ones that weren’t simple earlobe piercings. This was back when Western culture was just starting to get a niche appreciation for body mods.

Night Walker: I really couldn’t tell you what the series is about, but I know I used to rent it from the anime rental place down the street from my house. Among my hard drive archives, I always run into saved caps of the green bat-fairy character, and bloodlust caps like the one I used. A lot of my art style tried to imitate this one and Earthian for a while. Also… this is where I got into Buck-Tick from, and I named the final chapter “MONA LISA” like a jackass.

Batman Beyond’s “Splicers”: It moreso impacted the Kuraitenshi side of the series, where I did a lot of pseudo-scientific genetics imagery, but the spirit was still there in my second and third drafts. ESPECIALLY the "Terry you're killing him!" flavor. Though I try to cite things like Cuvier Institute for me evolving a “mature” perspective on furry rather than a cartoony one, I started RoseIII in ‘99 and I don’t think “Splicers” aired until mid-2000? It *might* be more accurate, now that I’m thinking about it, to speculatively cite Bluth’s animation style, especially in NiMH. I really haven’t navelgazed my furry origins, and it’s difficult to pinpoint despite being a Disney-Ducks-Etc addict as a kid. (Tl;dr, I cited the BB episode here not for the furry thing at first, but definitely for the genetics imagery once I needed to call upon it. “Splicers” did definitely impact subsequent rewrites in its posthuman/entheogeny conceptuals. Iirc the original handwritten rough draft had it that people and Pokémon had simply been *mating,* or that it had been a weird-ass Moreau-style Rocket experiment, that caused the anthros to exist. The Rheshes were still hunting them either way for sport)

Digimon: Some of my humor came from here, but Digimon was probably my biggest name harvest source. This cap from Book 3 of Kuraitenshi says it all…

Earthian: I mostly have just watched the anime, but I was hardcore obsessed for a long time. If I recall correctly, Keiji and Toshi’s dad was Kagetsuya Itoh, lel

Honorable mentions:

zelgadis was probably the inspiration for the “base look” of tenshi lmao

there was a lot of x-men 90s/live-action/evo stuff woven in eventually

i wanna say watership down inspired the scansion of tenshi conlang

[blogging-phelddagrif]

Legacy Deck Tech: Death & Taxes

[you can see every deck tech here]

Hello & welcome to this weekly deck tech! This week we’re delving into legacy for a deck that has been in the meta for a long time: Death & Taxes. When I used to play legacy I had a love-hate relationship with this deck; it’s easily one of my favourite decks of the format, but playing against it is such a pain in the ass...the deck is really strong & aggressive, while really hindering it’s opponent’s plans. We’ll go over it and you’ll get what I mean.

the Tax Part

This fun little card makes for the taxing part of the name, making sure that your opponent will have a hard time casting anything that’s not a creature. I’ve seen some people play Thorn of Amethyst in the mainboard or sideboard on top of this card, but that’s really up to you. The new Thalia Guardian of Thraben can also be played in the sideboard for creature heavy decks. But this card by itself is really game-changing. Most legacy decks are very non-creature spell heavy, which hurts them a lot.

Revoking their Fun

While this card is usually seen in sideboards, here you want to play it in the main. Being able to completely shut down any card from your opponent’s deck is huge and since legacy has usually a pretty known meta, you’ll know in the first couple of turns what your opponent is playing and what to name with this. This requires you to KNOW what each deck plays, what are their win conditions, etc. Death & Taxes is one of the deck that is the hardest to pilot because you need to make a lt of decisions like these that will decide of the fate of the game.

Motherly Love

If you’ve ever played legacy you know how good and important this card is. It’s so hard to play around it with removal and it really fucks up your opponent. You can give your creatures unblockable too if you want, or make them be amazing blockers. There’s just so much you can do with this cheap & powerful card! Speaking of protection, the deck sually plays Mirran Crusader in the sideboard to deal with Black & Green decks. Let me tell you that Crusader is almost impossible to deal with if you’re playing those colours.

Serra’s Wrath

I’m sure a lot of you have never seen this card being played before, but oh boy is it good in this deck! To be honest, a 3/3 flying vigilance is incredibly hard to deal with in a format with so few creatures. you don’t really care that you cast cast it for the first 3 turns, no matter when it comes down, it’s going to pressure your opponent a lot and get the job done. Plus, there’s a way to cheap it in play early that we’re going to see later.

Stoneforged Death

Good thing this card is banned in modern because it’s really really strong. This might seem like it doesn’t fit too well in the deck, but it sort of does. You can go fetch one of your 3 equipments that we’re going to go over in a second, and just take the threat level up a notch. Your deck wants to attack with all your small & efficient creatures; making them more threatening with a sweet equipment is just amazing.

Big Ol’ Skull

A good target for your Mystic, this card will apply MASSIVE amounts of pressure on your opponent and can negate the pesky attacks from a True-Name Nemesis. The lifegain is amazing and your huge creature will require an answer right away or you’ll steal the game from your opponent. Good thing you have a Mother of Runes to protect that creature now.

Sword of Shock & Draw

On top of having a GREAT effect of shocking anything & drawing a card when you hit a player, this card gives your creature protection from red and blue. With this you’ll be safe from about 80% of the format’s removal spells. Seriously. If your opponent is heavy on removal, this is the equipment to get first; making sure your creature stays safe.

Unban Jitte 2K17

I often jokingly say that Jitte should be unbanned in modern and anyone who hasn’t played legacy would look up the card and think “they’re right, it’s not THAT good, why is it banned?” and everyone who HAS played legacy will send me hate messages telling me I’m the personification of the devil. This card is insane. Really. If you’ve ever had play against a Jitte you will know the gut wrenching feeling of hatred towards your opponent and the feeling of helplessness facing this atrocity. This card gets out of hand so quickly and is so hard to answer. If you play this, you will out-value your opponent, no matter what they do. It’s disgusting.

Blinking Friend

You’ve probably seen this card being played in modern & EDH because it’s, well, a good card; and that’s also the case in legacy. Being able to blink any of your creature is just good value and depending on what you’re playing, can get you really ahead. I mean, you can blink your Stoneforge Mystic to go grab another equipment, does that feel nice? You can also blink your Phyrexian Revoker to name another card. And you can blink the next card I’ll go over for some sweet value, and to make new choices.

Chalice on a Stick

Pretty much being a creature version of Chalice of the Void (I still think it should’ve been named Magus of the Void, but whatever) this card is probably my favourite card from the new Conspiracy set and is just what this deck needed. From the experience of playing Chalice of the Void in legacy, if you choose a cmc of 1, you’re turning off a majority of spells of the format. If you’re able to choose 1 AND 2, you just completely rendered useless a wide variety of decks. I shit you not, I’ve had a game where I’ve played CotV on 1 & 2 on the first turn of a game and my opponent just scooped. That simple.

Cheating Stuff in Play

This is the bread & butter of the deck. If you can get a Vial down on turn 1 you’ve just pissed off so many decks. With this you can cheat some creatures in play to overwhelm your opponent, as well as being really efficient on mana. Oh and you can Flickerwisp at instant speed, as well as play a Serra Avenger earlier than intended.

Mandatory Swords

The same goes for Path to Exile in modern; if you’re playing White in legacy, you need to play Swords to Plowshares. It’s most likely the best removal spell ever printed and there’s no reason not to play it. Period.

Legendary Mana Base

There is some cool little trivia about this card. It was being played in the deck some time ago to mostly protect your own stuff, like Thalia. It was also used to deal with Sneak & Show decks that were pretty popular. Then there has been a surge in Reanimator decks and Lands Depths deck, which all rely on playing a singular legendary creature to win the game. The Death & Taxes deck just didn’t care about those and saw it’s winrate skyrocket because it just so happen to already have an answer to all those decks with included in their mana base. The more you know.

Wasted

You shouldn’t be surprised that this card shows up here since most decks in legacy play Wasteland and since part of your deck wants to “Tax” your opponent, getting rid of their lands is a good way to do that. Not much else to say, it’s a pretty solid card in a format with not a lot of basic lands present. Also, since you play Aether Vial, you won’t really care about losing a few lands.

Should’ve Been Printed in EMA

I really would’ve loved seeing this card being printed in EMA alongside all the other important lands of the format. This card is amazing in the deck since it goes so well with the taxing aspect of the deck while being repeatable. You can really screw over your opponent with this and they’ll hate you for it.

Modern Version

There’s a modern version of the deck, which I don’t think is as effective, since you don’t have access to Sanctum Prelate, Umezawa’s Jitte and Stoneforge Mystic & Mother of Runes. Instead the deck plays Path to Exile (to replace Swords to Plowshares), Aven Mindcensor, Leonin Arbiter, Blade Splicer & Restoration Angel. Some decks even play some Eldrazi Displacer to utilize the “blink” aspect of the deck more. To be honest, if you’re looking to do a 2-for-1 you can play the deck in Modern and have the necessary card to turn it into the legacy version when needed, especially since it’s a deck that requires a lot of practice to get good at.

Wrap-Up

That’s it for this week, I hope you guys enjoyed this deck tech as much as I did. The deck isn’t really cheap, but is one of the top decks of the format, even if it has fallen out of flavour in the past couple of years. You have a good match-up in the majority of the meta and a lot of decks will struggle against it. In any case, if I missed anything let me know. I’ll see you guys next week for an EDH deck tech!

[vorselonarchive]

1, 6, 9, 18, 30

i just realized on some of these im gonna have to do different answers for her pre-war and as an Sploicer but u know what thats just fine

1. What is their favourite food?

pre war: amys got a huuuge sweet tooth, and she especially loves fruity pastries and cakes!! she grew up very poor and barely had money to feed herself at all as a kid, nevermind treats. one of the first things she probably did after her first gig in rapture was buy a huge box of donuts. shes also big on fast food and takeouts since she’s Not a cook and loves convenient salt and grease too much to ever learn how to make her own meals lmao

she also used to love seafood because it reminded her of her home city and her childhood in general, but after her dad is arrested for being a smuggler and when the morale of rapture starts going downhill she kinda.. goes off it. instead of being a sweet nostalgic thing, it starts reminding her of the Situation everyone is in. real unfortunate considering like 90% of what everyone eats in rapture is seafood fhfgh, she still eats it, but she doesnt enjoy it like she used to

splicer: she’ll eat anything she can find. she still loves sweet things but theyre impossible to come by anymore outside of like, canned fruit, which she probably has a stash of somewhere. she’s always been an alcoholic and a chain smoker but during/after the war she manages to be drunk 24/7 and definitely turns to alcohol/tobacco instead of eating almost exclusively. she also eats other splicers for their ADAM; first time she did that was probably when she was in SERIOUS withdrawl and it was the only option. she wouldve felt absolutely horrible the first few times but it’s more than normal for her now, she ends up eating people partly for ADAM and partly cus she just wants to :///

6. What do they look like?

pre war: amy’s a tall, skinny bigender thot (binary man or woman, she/he) (im gonna describe her usual femme look for the sake of this post not being Too Freaking Long). she’s white and has short brunette hair usually worn in this sorta 50s ass curly bob style, and her eyes are hazel. she wears quite a bit of makeup and she especially likes brown/grey eyeshadow, thick eyeliner, and dark red lips. her eyes are perpetually lidded and tired looking and her makeup only highlights it. shes got bad teeth from a toxic combination of growing up poor, heavy smoking and a lot of coffee drinking, and not looking after herself in general, but she really doesnt care.

typical outfits are made up of button up shirts and high waisted pants of some description. going to a fancy dinner?? nice shirt and nice pants. visiting dad at the fisheries?? ratty shirt and ratty pants lmao. she’s not particularly a fashion person and she sticks to wearing whats comfortable and what looks good on her most of the time, but she probably ends up going out of her way to buy an array of nice things specifically for her stage performances and hanging around posh folks since she has a bit of anxiety around being The Comedic British Funny Accent Girl Who’s Rough. she also has a silver chain necklace that she never takes off; it was given to her by her grandma

splicer: her hair is now a bit longer than shoulder length; it’s gross and matted and ratty and covers most of her face. the right side of her face is mangled and she’s blind in that eye; it’s cataracted over. sometimes she wears masks; typically a teal eyemask or a cat mask (as seen in-game). her right leg was broken after a fall and she tried to fix it with an EVE injection in a panic, which only caused it to heal wrong and become severely mutated. all of her limbs are heavily bandaged with bloody gauze, partly to stop any bleeding and partly to try and prevent the tumors from growing any larger. she has some visible, shoddily stitched up cuts here and there. she still wears her typical shirt and high waisted pants combo albeit torn up and bloody, and she doesnt wear anything on her right foot other than more gauze because it doesnt fit in a shoe anymore.

9. Do they have any artistic talent?

yeah! before the war she was a drag king, stand up comedian, and stage actor. she also dabbled in poetry but she never thought she was particularly good and was too embarrassed to show anyone. in terms of like, drawings, i can see her doodling every now and then but that wasn’t really her forte.

18. Have they ever been in a romantic relationship?

Oh Yes, lots. pre war she was an absolute thot who slept around with everyone and greatly preferred casual relationships. post-war she ends up meeting and falling in love with @robbytheturtle‘s chris. her relationship with him is the longest and strongest she’s ever had by a mile; i definitely think thats partly thanks to their dire situation and a need to cling onto any small comfort they can find, but it also really is just cus they love eachother so much and they really did just had to find The One after everything’s gone to hell lmfao

30. Do they have a job?

kinda answered that in 9!

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

The OG 4 of Bioshock.

Jack Wynand, Brigid Tenenbaum, Atlas, and Andrew Ryan.

All four first appeared in the original Bioshock. Yes there are other important characters you hear or see in the game. But it’s usually these four I think about.

Made a mention of this in a post that I would draw the OG 4. These are basically chibi versions of them. Gonna admit I am inconsistent with Brigid’s hair. XD Strangely for her I looked at her original look for her clothing. Yes even if her original look was a reused Splicer model.

Including my first time drawing Ryan, and Jack. Well Jack in his original look lol. XD Hope you folks like em. Will admit I made Ryan a bit slender. I had to I guess squeeze him in there. 

[little-red-2404]

The Technicalities of Tomorrow Chapter 7

Chapter 7: On Fire

         My original plan was to go straight to the prison and save the rest of our team. However, as Gideon loved to remind us and to Leonard’s disappointment and interest, no one has ever broken into the hell-hole that Stein, Ray, and Mick were locked in. So, we spent the next two days feeling useless, unsure of what to do. During the time, I had some crazy dreams that I couldn’t quite explain. The first one took me by surprise, it had to do with Cisco.

           I haven’t dreamt of Cisco in months.

           “But here’s what I don’t understand,” Cisco started to explain as he stood across the room from me. We stood smack-dab in the middle of the STAR Labs cortex on what looked like a bright, sunny day, considering all the natural light that was coming in through the window. “The Firestorm Matrix is unstable.” But I already knew that… somehow. “The thermacore reacts exponentially to the fission in the host’s body.”

           The “me” in the dream didn’t catch on right away, but I did. This was not Cisco. Everything about him was wrong. His hair was slicked back in a neat ponytail and not messy, and unkempt like usual. His outfit was certainly not his and much more formal than Cisco would ever dare to wear. What’s worse was he didn’t even stand like Cisco! He stood properly with his hands folded in front of him.

           This is all wrong…

           My voice stuttered for a second as if surprised to hear my thought on the subject before saying, “Well, fortunately, Dr. Wells invented the Quantum Splicer.” As “my voice” continued to speak, I realized it wasn’t my voice at all.

           I was having a dream about being in Professor Stein’s body?

           Before I could make sense of it, though, I woke up. The next dream was far worse. I was in a damp, dark hallway, making several lefts and rights while being dragged by two pairs of rough, calloused hands. My heart was pounding and I had never felt so alone. Then I felt even worse when I realized I was in Stein’s body again. I could even hear him whimpering Jax’s name in his mind.

           “Leah?” I woke when someone nudged my arm and found myself dozed off in one of the chairs in the central room. I was surprised to see Leonard looking down at me with an odd look of confusion and worry.

           “W-what is it?” I asked, rubbing my eyes as I stood up straight.

           Leonard shrugged. “You tell me. What are you doing sleeping in here?”

           As I looked around, I suddenly felt as confused as he was. Didn’t I fall asleep in my room? How did I get here? “Um…. I don’t know… Maybe I was getting a glass of water or something?”

           His mouth fell more into a frown as he told me, “You were whimpering in your sleep--.”

           “I don’t whimper.”

           He rolled his eyes at that before asking, “Having another bad dream?”

           I had mentioned the previous dream to Sara who then told Rip, and somehow the whole team eventually heard about it. Jax teased me and mentioned how it was probably my subconscious telling me I missed my ex; however, I knew that wasn’t true. My subconscious was Ronnie, and if I was really missing Cisco, then Ronnie would constantly remind me so. Unfortunately, the others had chalked it down to stress, all except Leonard.

           “I was being dragged somewhere by some tough-looking, unfriendly men.” I informed him quietly before adding, “But I wasn’t me, again.”

           “You were Stein?”

           I nodded, leaning back in my sleep, feeling how heavy my eyelids were once more. I hadn’t gotten proper sleep in days. “What do you think it all means?”

           “No idea.” He admitted, “But, I don’t think it’s anything good by the looks of it.”            I sighed, leaning my elbows on my knees and running my hands through my hair. My chest ached and the fear was slowly crawling back into my head. “I just want him safe…”

           “Yes, yes, he’s part of the team, I know--.”

           I quickly shot my head up to look him in the eyes. “No, you don’t know.” I wondered if I really looked as tired as I felt, because he looked a little startled. “Stein is family, okay?” I groaned, running my hands over my face before trying to explain. “Look… I met him when we figured out how to separate him and professor Stein back at STAR Labs, because they didn’t know how to control it at the time… I couldn’t stand him at first--.”

           “Not many people can, it seems.”

           I shot him a glare and waited until I was sure he wasn’t going to talk again before speaking, “But he has more in common with my brother than I first realized. He may be an old, cranky man sometimes, but at one point… He was literally my brother’s other half.” I hadn’t noticed my eyes were watering until I stopped talking. I blinked back the tears and took a deep breath before saying, “After Ronald’s death, him and Caitlin are the only family I have left…”

           “Caitlin?”

           “That’s Ronnie’s… That was Ronnie’s wife.”

           “I’m surprised you’re speaking to him about this.” Ronnie’s voice then said as he took the other seat next to me. “When’s the last time you opened up to someone?”

           I squeezed my eyes shut, hissing under my breath, “Shut up…”

           “I haven’t said anything.” Leonard informed me.

           “Sorry, not you.” I told him. Before he could ask the question that I knew would arise after I said that, I added, “I just don’t want to lose him, okay?  Therefore, yes, I am stressing. But I can handle this. I’m going to handle this. I have to. We have to save our men.” I looked back at him once more, “That means your partner, too. Mick is a part of the team, we’ll get him back.”

           He finally broke eye contact with me then and I couldn’t help but smile. There was a lot more to the two criminals on the ship than our team has cared to notice. However, I thoroughly enjoyed coming to terms with how they both have soft sides, especially for each other.

           “I know.” Leonard nodded. “I’m going to save my partner. And the Russians will pay.”

          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

           The next day, I was gathered in the main room with Rip, Sara, and Leonard. They were trying to find ways in which to break-in when Gideon again mentioned that no one has ever done it before.

           “No offense, Gideon, but I’ve never found a building in which I couldn’t break into.” Leonard informed her, seeming to be on the verge of yelling, and yet somehow keeping his cool.

           Pun intended.

           “Can we see what you know about the inside of the building?” Sara asked, in which Gideon pulled up some photos and small maps of the interior.

           The maps might have seemed small and unfinished in the eyes of my teammates, but as soon as I saw the blueprints, my mind began putting two and two together.

           “C-can I see that?” I asked, snatching a paper and pen from Captain Hunter, before I began scribbling on it. Flashes of the damp, dark hallway kept flashing through my head. I could remember every moldy smell, the fear that seeped through every limb in my body as I was dragged down the hall, but more importantly, every turn I took.

           When I finished drawing on three separate sheets of paper, I stared down in surprise as I realized what I had just done. I didn’t even move as Leonard took the papers out of my hand and moved to tape them onto the screen where they matched each unfinished corner of every blueprint.

           “Did you just finish those blueprints with your dream?” Ronnie questioned.

           “Huh… Look at that…” I mumbled under my breath as the other three turned to stare at me in shock.

           “Care to explain how you came by this knowledge, Miss Raymond?” Rip then spoke up after a long awkward minute.

           “It was in my dream….”

           “He thinks you’re crazy.” Ronnie told me when the captain’s eyebrows shot up so far, they almost reached the top of his forehead.

           “You mean the ones you’ve been having the last two nights?” Sara inquired.

           When she crossed her arms over her chest, Ronnie spoke up again, “She probably thinks you’re crazy, too.”

           “Yes.”

           When I made eye contact with Leonard who looked equally as confused as Leonard, Ronnie chuckled, “Even the thief thinks you’ve lost it.”            I almost snapped at Ronnie when Captain Hunter stepped forward, “Leah… How about you go take a break, okay? Would you actually do it in the med-bay? I’ll meet you there in a few min--.”

           “You think I’m crazy,” I scoffed, before Ronnie could think of doing it.

           “No, no- No. I think you’ve been extremely stressed lately which had led to struggles of sleep deprivation, and it’s causing you to mentally breakdo--.”

           That’s when I finally snapped. Lunging forward, I knocked the man in the brown trenchcoat into the nearest wall, holding him there with an arm pressed tightly against his collarbone so he couldn’t move; however, by the wide-eyed, surprised and partially terrified look he gave me, I knew he wasn’t going to try anyways.

           “Look, captain, you seem to be new at this whole “save the world thing”, so let me break it down for you,” I spat before the overwhelming feeling of fear washed through my veins again. I hesitated, almost rearing back completely before I gained my composure. Pointing an accusing finger at Rip, I continued, I’ve been doing this “superhero” thing for almost THREE years, and I’ve NEVER had a melt down--.”

           “Well, there was that one time you crashed a car with your powers and almost killed yourself.” Ronnie reminded me.

           I shook my head, trying to clear it, before a wave of nausea hit me. I bent over, hands on my knees and gasped for air. But just as quickly as it came, it disappeared and I straightened up again, before going on, “I left my old team for this one, yeah? And here, the professor is being threatened, including my friends, so I don’t have time for a panic attack of any sorts!”      

           I clenched my jaw as Ronnie spoke up again, “Well, considering all you’ve been through, it’s be plausible for you to--.”

           “SHUT UP!” I shouted, whirling around to face Ronnie who was standing in the corner of the room. “You just HAVE TO COMMENT ON EVERYTHING, DON’T YOU?!”

           I barely registered Leonard whispering, “Sara… Could you…?”

           “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” I screamed at my invisible twin before feeling something heavy land on the back of my head, and watching the whole world go black.

           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

           I expected to fall into some dream-like state, but instead, I was sitting upright in a cage. Part of me began to panic, thinking the team locked me up for going crazy, when I noticed the scene in front of me. The woman Leonard and Ray had spoken to two days before and Vandal Savage stood with their backs to me, watching something in front of me with entertained eyes. My head turned to see something quite devastating.

           Mick and Ray were hanging by their wrist from the ceiling with no shirts and some sort of device hooked to their chest. Ray’s small face was already purple and swollen in certain places, but that didn’t stop the guard from turning the machine on and shocking them right in front of me. I wanted to scream, to beg them to stop, but I remained still and quiet.

           I noticed the scars on Mick’s arms and chest, and part of me wondered if they had done that to him the day before, but there was no way his wounds would scar like that so quickly. I flinched internally as the guard got into his face until Ray spoke up. I couldn’t hear what he was saying from where I stood, but the guards face went red, and he looked angrier than before, if that’s possible.

           And then I screamed as the guard swung a metal device at Ray’s back.

           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

           “Leah! LEAH! Wake up!” My eyes shot open and the tears fell quickly in hot buckets. I did my best to push at the arms that tried to grab my shoulders, trying to get away from my captor, not realizing it was Jax until he called for help.

           I stopped struggling against him as the doors open and Rip came in with Sara, Kendra, and Leonard. I couldn’t stop sobbing as the fear in my body wouldn’t disparate. It was as though I was sharing the fear with someone else, which made it all the stronger.

           Jax’s arms were then swapped with someone’s else’s large hands which held my shoulders still as I cried on the gurney. “Leah. Calm down, tell me what happened.” Leonard’s voice sounded through the room, trying to coax me to relax.

           “T-they’re… going to kill him. They’re going to kill Ray!” My whole body shook under my sobs as the fear reached my toes and I began squirming again, trying to sit up. “We got to help him! They’re going to kill him!”

           I managed to sit up on my elbows before Leonard’s hands stopped me. He leaned closer to look me in the eyes, although my vision of him was blurry from the burning tears. I thought I felt his thumbs rub comforting circles into my shoulders before he spoke up in a leveled, calm voice, “Leah, you’re not making sense. Tell me, what did you see?”

           “Ray… they were torturing Ray… I-I…” I continued to cry as I kept on with my explanation. “I-I think they’re going to torture Mick… A-and then Stein…” I couldn’t stop the sob that paralyzed my voice for a second, exhausting my shaking body. I leaned into him then, placing my head on his wide shoulder, “They can’t torture Martin, they just can’t… He’s not like the others, Leonard, he’s older, he’s fragile, they’ll kill him!” My sobbing became hysterical then as Leonard tried to lay me back down. “I need to help him! I HAVE TO STOP THEM!”

           That’s when I heard Rip say, “Gideon, apply a small sedative on Miss Raymond, please.”

           “Certainly, Captain.”

           Wide-eyed, I turned back to Leonard, gripping his shirt tightly to display my urgency although the medication was already starting to set-in. “You have to save him! He can’t die…” My eyelids began to feel heavy as he leaned me back onto the gurney. I still held tight onto his shirt, “Promise me, Leonard… Promise…” My grip on is shirt began to slack as  I struggled to open my eyes after a few blinks, “Leno… Lenny, please… Pr…”

           “I promise.”

           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

           For the first time in what felt like a long time, I woke up without having to tear myself from some nightmare. Feeling sluggish and trying to shake the blurriness from my head, I peered around the room. It seemed empty and the only thing I could hear nearby was the beeping of the machine next to me. Looking down, I noticed the wrist-brace that connected me to the beeping-technology, and I brought it closer to my face to read it.

           Leah Raymond, 26, heart rate: good. Blood pressure: good.

           Mild sedative inactive.

           “They drugged me…” I mumbled to myself, rubbing my eyes to wipe away the fog in my head. Then I attempted to remove the wrist-brace when I realized it was locked in place. “Gideon, get this thing off of me.”

           “No can-d0, Miss Raymond.”

           “Why not?”

           “The captain asked me to keep you in place until they returned to the ship.” She informed me, matter-of-factly.

           “They went to the prison without me?” I squealed. “Gideon, let me go!”

           “I’m afraid I can’t.”

           “Yes, you can. You’re more in control than you let the others think. Now, look… If you care about the team as much as I know you do, you’d let me go. Because Professor Stein might get tortured, and Ray and Mick may be killed, and the others might be in terrible conditions as well if you don���t release me! Come on!” I sighed. “I know you care about them… I can feel it.” I told her, holding up the wrist-brace that connects me to the ship. “I may not be able to control future-tech, but I’m beginning to feel it… Now, please--.”

           I heard a click and the wrist-brace fell from my hand. With a large grin, I said, “Thank you, Gideon.”

           Then I jumped up to dress into my suit.

           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

           It surprisingly wasn’t hard to sneak into the fenced-in prison while everyone was busy kicking the crap out of each other. I walked through the muddy puddles to the center of the prison where all the action seemed to be taking place. Punches were being punched, and kicks were being kicked. All while I was trying to find my team in the heavy downpour.

           Wiping my drenched hair away from my face, I noticed Jax, Sara, and Leonard standing in the far corner across from me. I began to call out to them when they started moving, heading towards the middle. I looked over and wasn’t sure how I missed her before, but the woman who was working for Vandal Savage stood in the center of the field, licked in flames, eyes white and fireballs spewing from her hands. And Jax was running straight for her.

           “He’s going to kill himself!” I heard Ronnie’s voice through the pouring rain. I peered over at him as he stepped beside me. I was surprised to see him, considering I had screamed at him to go away, but I didn’t even have to voice this for him to respond, “Hey, I’m you, remember? You can’t really get rid of me.”

           “Guess not.” I said, trying to hold back my smile.

           “Come on, let’s go save the boy.” Ronnie smiled back.

           I took off in a sprint, just at Ronnie’s heels as he ran ahead of me. Jax was limping, is injured leg looking to be in pain again, but that made it easier for me to catch up to him. My heart dropped as I realized that we had caught the fiery woman’s attention and she turned towards Jax.

           “No!” I shouted.

           Ronnie leaped just before I did, and I watched his body be absorbed into Jax’s before I understood.

           Firestorm.

           I reached out on a limb, hoping I was right, and just before my hand touched Jax’s soaked shoulder, I heard Ronnie sigh, “Finally.”

           The process was odd; nothing like I had ever felt before. It was like sinking my skin into a bath of warm pudding. Then having my feet move from the position of where I stood to standing where Jax was made my mind spin slightly. But the heat radiating from my flaming palms and cascading down my long hair felt great. I felt complete.

           I managed a small laugh, holding my hands out to observe the flames licking the tips of my fingers, when I heard Jax’s voice.

           “Leah! You’re… You…”

           “I know!” I grinned. “I’m just like my brother.”

           However, before I could say much more or explain anything, I felt a searing-hot force push at my shoulder and I was thrown back through the air. When I hit the squishy mud below me, I grunted, feeling the force shake through my body. The mud sizzled under my flaming hands as I used the ground to push myself up onto my feet, but that’s when I felt the splitting pain in my shoulder. Looking down, I saw the blood and melted costume sticking to my burned skin and flesh.

           “Are you okay?” Jax’s voice echoed in my head.

           “I’m fine.” I lied, holding my arm which felt like it was going to separate at the shoulder any minute now.

           “Look, all you have to do is aim at her and focus on the energy in--.”

           I shook my head. “I can’t hit her, Stein is in there.”

           The woman stepped forward then, an amused smile on her face. “Two Firestorms managed by women? Who knew?” She giggled, a high-pitched thing that ran shivers down my spine.

           “This woman is crazy…”

           “Professor Stein.” I ignored them both and focused on the man we couldn’t see or hear. “I know you’re in there.”

           “And he’s BEGGING you to save yourself.” The woman continued to laugh.

           “But I don’t need to,” I explained, speaking past her, picturing Stein’s eyes under his large spectacles. “Because you’re stronger than her, Martin. Your mind is so much more than hers. And you won’t let her hurt me. Or Jax. You won’t let us fall apart like Ronnie did. Jax and I know that.”

           “He cares about us.” Jax agreed.

           I nodded. “That’s why you’re so hard on Jax. You don’t want to lose him like Ronnie, I know that. So does he. He knows you care about us. That’s why you won’t let her hurt us.”

           When the woman brought her hand out to hit me once more with her flames, I didn’t even flinch because I knew it wouldn’t work. Stein’s mind is strong; stronger than Jax’s mind and yet, I could feel Jax in my head completely, if he wanted to take over my actions, he totally could. However, he let me walk free, like a teammate would do.

           “It’s okay, Professor. She doesn’t make up Firestorm. You and Jax do.” I told him as I stepped forward. “You and Jax.” I quickly reached out then, grasping at the woman’s hand, hoping it would force them apart.

           It did. I felt Jax’s body slip from mine and he hit the mud the same time I did after we were thrown back from another invisible force. I shifted to land on my right, forgetting about my shoulder and crying out in pain when the wound hit the hard surface below me. The heat matched that of what was coming from the palm of my hands earlier; however, it stung like a thousand bee stings and sizzled deep into my flesh. I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming out anymore and shut my eyes tight as I felt my arm shake under the pain.

           A pair of hands were around me then, pulling me up from the mud and helping me stand. I leaned against Leonard for support as I tried not to curl myself up because of the pain, and I let him lead me back to the ship, just barely noticing the explosion as the ship took off.

           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

           “Now, can we get a proper explanation of what’s been going on?” Stein asked as I sat in the med-bay with him and Jax.

           “I’ve been seeing Ronnie lately…” I noticed their worried glances before stating, “No, it wasn’t actually Ronald, it was me. But it was in the form of him.”

           Jax shook his head, “No, I still don’t understand.”

           “Ronnie used to be the other half of Firestorm, before you came along. And I don’t know why I never thought of it before, but--.”

           “You have almost an exact copy of his DNA.” Stein stated, seemingly impressed.

           “Exactly.” I nodded before continuing, “Therefore, since Ronnie was one half of Firestorm, I can be too.”

           “But Ronald merged with Stein when the particle accelerator exploded.”

           “Yes,” Stein nodded his head, in deep thought. “That’s how Firestorm was first created. The merge of our two bodies, plus the invention I held in my hands at the time, and the explosion… However, Leah had been hit by the same explosion at the same time.”

           “I don’t remember much before being hit,” I admitted, “but I do remember being shocked by the panel that opened the door. And ever since I got my technical powers, I assumed it was because of that electrical shock.”

           “Then what caused this?” Jax asked. “What caused what happened tonight?”

           Stein shrugged, “Emotional distress? Some meta-human abilities can manifest in later terms due to stress or a drastic change in atmosphere. The conflict of not having your brother around or anything to remind you of him.”

           “That’s not true. You two remind me of him…” I smiled at them both before telling them, “You guys are like family.”

           They both smiled at me before shuffling in to give me a hug.

           “Ow, careful, careful.” I hissed, flinching away and holding my injured shoulder.

           “Are you sure you don’t want Gideon to heal that completely?” Jax asked, making a face at the messy bandaging Rip had done on my shoulder earlier.

           I shrugged. “This machine thing still creeps me out. I don’t understand it.”

           “Well, I’ve been reading the manual and teaching myself about it for weeks.” Jax informed me. “I could teach you. And then maybe someday, you could tap into the systems yourself.”

           I grinned, “That’s be great. Thanks, Jax.”

           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

           I walked with the boys back to the main room where the rest of the team was to greet me. Kendra gave me a one-armed hug, seeing as my other arm was under commission. Ray full on hugged me, nudging my shoulder and causing me to jump and down several times while he repeatedly apologized. Then I took off my bandages so we could compare injuries to see who had it worse, my shoulder or his face. We tied considering he had more down his back and didn’t want to take his shirt off in front of anyone.

           Mick mumbled something about how he was stupid for taking the beating in the first place, and Ray explained how he got beaten for sticking up for Mick. In which, Mick then saved him afterwards.

           “You took a beating for me, I saved your ass. Now, we’re even.” Mick grumbled before taking a shot of liquor that the team was passing around in celebration.

           I smiled, patting Ray’s shoulder. “Mick’s a good one, he just won’t admit it.”

           “Not soft.” Mick pouted before walking off.

           “Didn’t say soft!” I called out to him. “Just good.”

           Ray nodded in agreement, “Deep down, yes. He’s a good guy.”

           “Speaking of being good… I should probably apologize for earlier.” Sara said as she walked forward to stand beside me. Ray glanced between the two of us before leaving, giving us both space.

           I shrugged before admitting, “I somewhat heard Leonard telling you to knock me out, so…”

           “Not just for that.” She sighed, glancing around to make sure everyone was out of ear-shot before confessing, “I know how much Stein means to you now… So, I should probably tell you that I was told to kill him today, had things not gone well.”

           “By who?!” I squealed, before it really clicked. “Actually, no, you don’t need to answer that.”

           Sara shook her head, “He backed out before I did. Him, Jax, and Kendra choose to try and save him, anyways. But I wasn’t sure… I was worried about the future if they succeeded at the evil Firestorms.”

           “What made you change your mind?”

           “Someone surprisingly convinced me not to.” She told me, before turning her head to look at the said person.

           When I looked over to see who she was talking about, I was surprised to see it was Leonard who was leaning back, comfortably in his seat, nursing a drink Mick had handed him. “Leonard…? Why would he…?”

           “I think he’s more invested in this team than he’s letting on.” She grinned before stepping away to join the rest of the team.

           “I think our two thieves have bigger hearts than they’re letting on.” I whispered under my breath as I watched them all chatting and trading drinks.

           That is until the ship lurched to the side, knocking us all to the ground.

           “What the hell was that?” Kendra asked as we all quickly stood up.

           “Captain, seems as though we’re being targeted.” Gideon reported.

           “Impossible!” Rip sighed as we all took our seats and strapped ourselves in. “We’re in the Temporal Zone! We should be out of reach of everything!”

           “I believe it to be our former attacker, Chronos.” Gideon added for insight.

           “Aw, man,” Jax cried, throwing his head back in annoyance. “This guy has impeccable timing!”

           “Hang on!” Rip called out as the ship took another blow causing us to spiral out of control.

           There was an echoed pop from somewhere nearby and I closed my eyes in hoping that it would block out all the spinning around us. It did not. I grunted as the ship landed roughly on the ground and the lights flickered off and then back on again.

           “Where are we?” Sara asked.

           Rip then checked his center console before turning to all of us. His face was pale as his eyes flickered to each one of us, before answering.

           “Star City.”

           Sara, Ray, and I peered out the front window, surprised to see the city mostly in flames and ruins. I turned to Rip before stating, “This can’t be Star City…”

           “This is Star City.” He assured me, “The year 2046.”