#and have some Unity stuff done too

[leftdestiny-posts]

Sorry for not being active a lot. I've been doing lots of stuff but I haven't had the courage to share it XDD I also have been getting more interactions through ao3, so its been more rewarding to post there instead of here

[specialagentartemis]

godddddd i have disliked becky chambers' work since long way to a small angry planet and I agree that that fish scene is SO much of what is wrong with contemporary SFF especially queer SFF. refreshing take, great review, thank you. would love to hear what authors or works you think of as the antidote to that sensibility.

The thing is, I enjoyed The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet when I first read it - it was a fun, light adventure, clearly a debut novel but I was excited to see where Chambers would go from there. And I actually really do think the sequel, A Closed and Common Orbit, was good! It did interesting things with AI personhood and identity.

... and then Chambers just kinda. Did not get better. She settled into a groove and has a set number of ideas that I feel like she hasn't broken out of, creatively. And they I M O kind of rest on an assumption that "human nature" = "how people act in suburban California."

As an antidote to that sensibility, I'd say... books where people have a real interrelationship with the land they inhabit, a sense of being present, and reciprocal obligations to that land; books that recognize that some things can never be taken back once done; books with well-drawn characters, where people have strong opinions deeply informed by their circumstances, that can't always be easily reconciled with others, and won't be brushed aside; books where these character choices matter, they impact each other, they cannot be easily gotten over, because people have obligations to each other and not-acting is a choice too.

And it's only fair that after all day of being a Hater I should rec some books I really did like.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - A man lives alone in an infinite House, over an equally infinite ocean. Captures the feeling that I think Monk & Robot was aiming for. Breathtaking beauty, wonder at the world, philosophy of truth, all that good stuff, and actually sticks the landing. The main character's love, attention, and care to his fantasy environment shows through in every page. (Fantasy, short novel)

Imperial Radch by Ann Leckie - An AI, the one fragment remaining of a destroyed imperial spaceship, is on a quest for revenge. Leckie gets cultural differences and multiculturalism, and conversely, what the imposition of a homogeneous culture in the name of unity means. (Space sci-fi, novel trilogy)

Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee - An army captain's insubordination is punished by giving her a near-impossible mission: to take down a rebelling, heretical sect holing up in a space fortress and defying imperial power. She gets a long dead brain-ghost of a notorious criminal downloaded into her head to help. Very, very good at making you feel like every doomed soldier was a person with a past, with a family, with feelings, with hopes and dreams and frustrations and favorites and preferences and reasons to live, right before they brutally die in a space war. Also very much about the imposition of homogeneity of culture as a force of imperialism. (Space sci-fi, novel trilogy)

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed - Maya Andreyevna is a VR journalist in high-tech dystopian future Russia, and she decides to investigate the truth that the government doesn't want her to. She might die trying. It's fine. Also has digital brain-sharing, this time in a gay way. It's bleak. It's sad. It feels real. Not making a choice is a choice. Backing out is a choice. And choices have consequences. Choices reverberate through history. About responsibility. (Cyberpunk, novel)

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez - Nia Imani is a spaceship captain, a woman out of time, a woman running from her past, and accidentally adopts a boy who has a strange power that could change the galaxy. Spaceship crew-as-found-family in the most heartbreaking of ways. Also about choices, how the choices you make and refuse to make shape you and shape the world around you. How the world is always changing around you, how the world does not stay still when you're gone, and when you come back you're the same but the world has moved on around you. About how relationships aren't always forever, and that doesn't mean they weren't important. About responsibility to others. It's a slow, sad book and does not let anyone rest on their laurels, ever. There is no end of history here. Everything is always changing, on large scales and small, and leaving you behind. (Space sci-fi, novel)

Dungeon Meshi / Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui - A D&D style fantasy dungeon crawl that stops to think deeply about why there are so many dungeons full of monsters and treasure just hanging around. Here because it's an example of an author thinking through her worldbuilding a lot, and it mattering. Also because of the characters' respect for the animals they are are killing and eating, their lives and their place in the ecosystem, and the ways that humans both fuck up ecosystems with extraction and tourism, but also the ways that you can have reciprocal relationships of responsibility and care with the ecosystem you live in, even if it's considered a dangerous one. (Fantasy, manga series)

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang and How Long 'Til Black Future Month by N. K. Jemisin and Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel by Julian K. Jarboe - Short story anthologies that were SO good and SO weird and rewired the way I think. If you want the kind of stuff that is like, the opposite of easy-to-digest feel-good pap, these short stories will get into your brain and make you consider stuff and look at the world from new angles. Most of them aren't particularly upbeat, but there's a lot of variety in the moods.

"Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self," "Calf Cleaving in the Benthic Black," and "Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia Protagonist" by Isabel J. Kim - Short stories, sci-fi mostly, that twist around in my head and make me think. Kim is very good at that. Also about choices and not-making-choices, about going and staying, about taking the easy route or the hard one, about controlling the narrative.

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells - Security robot with guns in its arms hacks itself free from its oppressive company, mostly wants to half-ass its job but gets sucked into drama, intrigue, and caring against its better judgement. This is on here because 1) I love it 2) I feel like it does for me what cozy sff so frequently fails to do - it makes me feel seen and comforted. It's hopeful and compassionate and about personal growth and finding community and finding one's place in the world, without brushing aside all problems or acting like "everybody effortlessly just gets along" is a meaningful proposal. also 3) because it is one of the few times I have yet seen characters from a hippie, pacifistic, eco-friendly, welcoming, utopian society actually act like people. The humans from Preservation are friendly, helpful, and motivated by truth and justice and compassion, because they come from a friendly, just, compassionate society, and they still actually act like real human beings with different personalities and conflicting opinions and poor reactions to stress and anger and frustration and fear and the whole range of human emotions rather than bland niceness. Also 4) I love it (space sci-fi, novella series mostly)

[civildisorderstream]

2023, The Year of Self-Sabotage

Has anyone noticed the trend businesses have been on in 2023? There's a LOT of self-sabotage going on in the business world. Throughout my life, and everyone else has their own observations too, once in a while you see a company make a boneheaded decision about their product or service. And once in a while you'll see a decision get made that is bad, but maybe it at least has some justification (even to an anti-capitalist goober like myself). But this year has been nonsensical moves of greed or product/service sabotage that make no sense for longevity or harm what's in the best interest of the consumer.

Activision-Blizzard: The Overwatch debacle, and Diablo Immortal's scummy practices.

Netflix: The account sharing debacle.

Twitter: Maximum divorced loser Elon Musk destroying its functionality and branding and we still call it Twitter.

Reddit: Inspired by Musk's stupidity, the API tools debacle. Shame on the Reddit communities for not knowing how to strike btw (you don't put a time limit on it).

Hollywood: Pulling shows and films from streaming services to declare them as failed products and somehow get a tax write-off for it.

Also Hollywood: Willing to take quarterly losses greater than the annual cost to meet the demands of two striking unions put together.

Unity: Announced in the past day that it will charge developers a fee for installations because greed.

Titan Submersible: "Safety is for losers" says billionaire who proceeds to use his shoddy tech to do a murder-suicide.

Starbucks: Breaking ALL of the labor laws to try and stop unionization. Admittedly a reach to be on this list but the situation (like all the others) is ongoing and can compound.

Embracer: A massive corporate company that bought a bunch of smaller companies. Thought a 2 billion dollar deal with the Saudi government was a sure thing, so they spent 2 billion dollars on stuff. Deal falls through, so they start closing companies they acquired.

That's just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. These aren't business decisions done for the sake of consumers. These are all decisions done to spite consumers or the workers who produce the products and services.

People try to remember years as being the "year of" something. And it's a thing I do too. For me, 2023 is the year of corporate self-sabotage.

[bleue-flora]

Something that I see a lot is the reasoning that Dream’s motive is unity. That staged finale was about uniting the server against him to bring them together even if he couldn’t be apart of that. And honestly I’m just not sure that’s the case. For starters, in the big moments when he talks about his reasoning he doesn’t mention unity he mentions together, he mentions family, he mentions team.

[from early days]

“We just wanted to have a good, safe, productive team. And when one person has a tyranny over everybody else—that keeps killing them, then you can’t have a team.” [clip]

“Listen, from now on we’re going have a civilization, okay? That lives in harmony and… and there’s no ruler. Not even me—not even anybody.” [clip]

[Punz and Dream planning]

“Always, the goal has just been that—it’s all one united server that everybody follows the same rules, there’s no countries, there’s no—you know, any of this. It’s just… One giant like—family, right?” [clip]

[prison]

���I just wanted to… I just wanted to bring the server together. Have it be a happy family, you know?” [clip]

[finale]

“Once we know everything, we—we’re able to live and everyone can be invincible and everyone can live together and be in harmony and—and not have to worry about death or pain or anything, then it’ll be worth it. The ends justify the means.” [clip]

“I want everyone to able to live and be happy and together… and you’ve—you’ve ruined that—you’ve ruined that yourself. You’re the one who separates everyone!” [clip]

And I know for some people unity and together might seem synonymous, but in this context I don’t think they are. I think it’s important to realize that Dream wanted people to not be divided, he wanted them to be a happy family, but families aren’t always united. They don’t always agree, they aren’t always peaceful, they don’t always have the same goals or agenda or beliefs, but a close family always makes up in the end and when all is said and done, generally gets along and is there for each other.

Additionally, the way I’ve always understood it was that Dream didn’t want peace, he wanted people to do the right thing [clip] and he wanted people to be happy which means that conflicts where people are getting upset opposes that. Dead pets, items not being returned, houses being burnt, people being insulted, and offenders refusing to simply apologize [clip] that tends to cause a conflict without resolution that leaves a lasting divide and unhappiness, which goes against Dream’s goal. But I don’t think he was against violence or wars as a whole, after all those happen at the beginning, when things were still simple. The point was that people stayed as a whole happy or content and as long as no one got too upset it was fine.

To keep people happy and safe, Dream also needed to prevent any one person from holding the power, because they would abuse it and use it against people, which we see happen over and over again. This is one of the reasons why he had a problem with Wilbur’s self appointed presidency, it’s why he kills George early on and takes his stuff when he became op before everyone else, it is why he kills Tubbo’s villagers. He didn’t want anyone to be too overpowered and then use that power to harm others. Dream considered himself the mediator and one to balance out the sides, the one to make sure people had their stuff back when all was said and done, the one to help people get revenge for their dead pet. Yes, he broke the very rules he made, which people love to point out makes him a hypocrite and therefore his gripe with Tommy has no footing, but notice what he says in the finale:

“You break all the rules. Tommy, there wasn’t even that many rules. They were simple things: respect others, don’t destroy things. You broke everything—every rule.” [clip]

“Respect others,” that’s the first thing he mentions, because that’s the most important. That’s the one that Tommy broke that bothered Dream the most. It wasn’t really about the stealing or the killing or griefing, after all George and Sapnap did that too. No, it was the lack of respect he had for the people he hurt that bothered Dream the most. It was that lack of respect which led people to be unhappy even when the war was over and sustaining that divide even after the war, which goes against the civilization Dream strived for.

It’s not about unity, it’s about the opposite of exclusion. It’s about Sapnap and Punz who were both friends with clingy duo, but not able to join L’manberg because they are American. It was the divide and separation. Like Ranboo who because of nations and politics struggled to be friends with both Techno and L’manberg.

Dream didn’t want people to be truly united in a cause nor did he want true peace - the absence of conflict and chaos because you only truly get those by enforcing them through dictatorship and oppression when you force everyone to have the same opinion and obey. But Dream didn’t want to be a tyrant, that’s one of the reasons why he kept handing the power to a king. He wanted everyone to live in harmony by doing the right thing themselves and he thought that if he could keep the server from splitting that they would.

So then, the reason I think he put himself in prison and planned staged finale, wasn’t about uniting the server even if that’s against himself, but because it was the only way he could see a path to be allowed and accepted back into society. That if he served his time in prison maybe they would see him as a person again and think he got better and let him out, which I’ve talked more about [here] and [here].

“Maybe—maybe I’ll be better and then you’ll let me out.” [clip]

He wanted a family. As Tommy points out in the finale: he just wanted to have friends. He didn’t want to ever be alone. So it doesn’t make sense for his goal to be a self sacrificial move to unite everyone against him for the sake of unity, he wanted to bring people together into a happy society again, where they spend the afternoon fishing and playing hide and seek, not wars and executions and politics. But he wanted to be apart of that society and family too, because he didn’t want to be alone. Honestly, he probably wanted to be friends with everyone, but the division was preventing that, the propaganda was preventing that, and so prison became the only option he could see to undo that. To allow him back into the family that he was trying to keep together. That’s what staged finale was about - protection for him and Punz and the opportunity of reconciliation [post]. If he really just wanted unity then he would’ve have been fairly pleased with Doomsday, where most everyone sided against his side. If he wanted the whole server against him, then staged finale was an abysmal success, as he points out to Sam in Daedalus plenty of people like Techno weren’t involved. But of course it was never about unity because that doesn’t make sense, it was about friends, and family, bringing people together so that no one was alone and excluded, forming a simple happy community again…

[megs-1800]

Could you write something about Mason with a teenager daughter maybe something happens like typical teenage stuff x

Teenage Drama

Notes: Please continue to send in requests. Hope you like it ❤️

Summary: Your teenager daughter is now growing up and getting her first boyfriend. How will Mason react, will he be able to cope that she is growing up?

Pairings: Mason Mount x Reader

Word Count: 1.6k

Warnings: Angst, Fluff & Swearing

“You’re not my dad!” I hear Emmi scream as I walk through the door, the door slams and Mason storms down the stairs. “Whoa what happened?” I question. Mason glares at me which indicates Emmi has done something to piss Mason off.

“You need to sort your fucking daughter out!”

“My daughter?!?” I question in a heated tone. Mason is technically not Emmi’s dad, but Mason has been in her life since she was 3. He is the father figure to her, and Mason treats her like she is his own, however its arguments like this he likes to throw it back in my face.

“Well she clearly isn’t mine. Olivia knows better than to speak to her dad like that! So if Emmi wants to be mine then she needs to have some respect.”

“Olivia is six” I spat back “you know Emmi is going through her teenager rebellion stage at the moment. She hates everything and everyone, don’t take it personally”.

“Well she needs to know if she wants to live under this roof she needs to obey by my rules”. Mason announces which we hear the door slamming open from upstairs and Emmi stands at the top of the stairs “Well then I will just move out! Maybe I will go and live with my real dad at least I won’t have to put up with a controlling prick like youuuuu!!!” she screams.

“EMMI!” both me and Mason shout in unity but she ignores us and slams her bedroom door shut again.

“Again I will ask Mason what the hell happened? Why is she kicking off?”

“Well if she wants to move in with her real dad then just fucking let her.” Mason spats. I shake my head and wrap my arms around Mason’s neck pulling him closer.

“Stop being silly, we all know her real dad is a dead beat, she even knows that. Why do you think she asked you to adopt her so she can be a Mount too. She loves you Mase, just obviously whatever has happened has got her back up. So talk to me what happened?” I asked pulling away and walking over to the fridge and brought out a bottle of wine and starting pouring.

“Okay I got home from an event earlier and when I got upstairs I could hear her talking to someone in her bedroom. When I turned the corner she was sitting on the bed with some guy-“

“Oh yeah Josh” I cut Mason off

“Josh? So you know about this?”

“Yeah they have been dating for a couple of months. The deal is he is allowed round as long as the door stays open, was the door open?”

“Wellll y-yeah” Mason looks down and stutters

“Well then we cannot really argue with her, it is what was agreed”

“I never agreed to that”

“Yes you did, we had that big conversation with her. Its not our fault you were on your phone when she started talking about him”.

Mason looks embarrassed “I just don’t like the idea of her sitting in a bedroom with some hormonal 14 year old boy. I thought she was better than that.”

I take the wine out of Masons hand and pull him closer, and lean in and place a small kiss to his lips. “She is a good girl Mason, she is on the pill so we know she is safe. She is a straight A student, she never goes out and breaks curfew, she would rather spend a Saturday night as a family than being with her friends. She is always helping out with Olivia and Hunter. We cannot really ask for a better girl Mason, we did well”.

Mason gives me another kiss, “yeah we did. Just in my mind she is still our baby girl who is scared of the dark and now she is this 14 year old women who is getting a boyfriend I guess I just miss our little girl”.

“I miss her too Mason but she isn’t going to be a baby girl forever. She is growing up and its her turn to make her life decisions babe all we can do is guide her”.

“I know I know. I guess I kind of fucked up then. I just know what boys are like I just want to protect her. She is going to hate me now isn’t she”.

I shake my head and start to move across the kitchen closer to him “She doesn’t hate you Mase, come on my parents weren’t so impressed with me dating you at the start due to footballer reputations and come on your parents didn’t like me as they thought I was a gold digger” Which I giggle at the end.

“That’s not true my parents love you”

“Yeah after they got to know me, but first impressions Mason they were sceptical of me”.

Mason nods agreeing know I was right. “I just don’t know what to say to make it okay”. With that Hunters cries come through the baby monitor notifying us that he is awake from his nap. “Right you go get Hunter and I will deal with Emmi”. I lean in and place a kiss to Mason’s cheek. We both jog up the stairs and then part ways on the landing, Mason goes left to Hunter’s room and I go right to Emmi’s.

I knock twice on the door but I get no reply, I slowly open the door which Emmi is laying on her bed with her phone in her hand with her back to me. “I come in peace” I state, she turns her body to look at me and then turns back to her original position. I walk round the bed and perch on the side. “Hey it will be okay”. I say rubbing her shoulder as she is still laying down.

“No it won’t mum! He ruined it! Why would Josh want to be with me after he just throw him out I am sick of it”. Emmi’s eyes now start to water as I slowly wipe the tears from her face.

“Come on Emmi he is only trying to look out for you. You know that, would you prefer him to be like your dad and not give a shit”. Emmi sits up and starts to wipe her eyes “I know you really like this boy but we just want you to be careful, I got pregnant with you at 15 Emmi I just want better for you. You know whatever happens me and Mason will be here for you but you gotta help yourself sometimes.”

“Mum we weren’t doing anything. We were just chilling, we haven’t even done anything, I haven’t done anything with a boy I promise. He is the first boy that is actually interested in me and not just with me because my dad is ‘Mason Mount’. I really like him mum, and now he just ruined it its not fair. I am going to be alone forever!” Emmi starts to sob again which I embrace her in a hug.

“Well that’s very dramatic!” we both laugh and she pulls away. I wipe her away hair that is stuck to her face from the tears. “Mason is sorry he knows he messed up and he let his emotions get in the way. He is going to try and be better when it comes to boys. You are our first child Emmi so you gotta understand we are going to mess up sometimes. Mason is trying his best to be the dad you need Emmi, he is a great dad. I promise you now, if this Josh really likes you, being kicked out by Mason won’t matter he will fight for you Emmi I promise. Now come on wipe your tears it won’t be the end of the world”. She sniffled away and wipe her tears from her cheek.

“I didn’t mean what I said to him, I don’t want to live with my real dad. Mason is my real and only dad. I was just a-angry, I don’t want him to h-hate me.”. She choked.

“we both know that baby girl. Mason will never hate you I promise that. Just go tell him that, everything will be okay. Come here”. She wrap her arms around me and I held her whilst she cried it all out. Once she was done she went into her bathroom and cleaned herself up.

We both walked down the stairs and Mason shoots Emmi a small smile as soon as he sees us, still rocking Hunter away in his arms. “Come here I will take him” I quickly step in and take Hunter out of his arms and start making his milk in the kitchen.

“I am sorry” Emmi says to Mason

“I am sorry too baby girl. I just panicked. You are our little girl the thought of you getting a boyfriend just breaks me because that means you are growing up. I am sorry I will try my hardest to be the ‘cool dad’ just please don’t leave.”

Emmi runs across the room and wraps her arms around Mason “you are my dad. I don’t care what my stupid birth certificate says you are my dad. I am not going anywhere. I love you.”

“I love you too” they both stand there for a little embraced in a hug. She sniffled again “is it okay if I go out for a couple of hours to town with my friends?” she turns to me to ask “of course it is Ems. Dinner is at 7 if you still want it?”

“Of course I will be home for dinner cannot wait”

She grabs her coat and bag and skips out the house. I walk over to Mason, Hunter still in arms. He embraces us together. “You did so well with her”.

I look up into Mason’s eyes and place a small kiss to his lips “I couldn’t of done it without you”.

[tartsinarat]

I don’t have much energy (on account of still being sick :/) but I still wanted to do something so dug up an old unfinished screenshot edit that I did a while ago but never finished until now

But yeah this is from the au’s version of Eclipse Lake, which happens a bit later down the timeline than the original.

It’s set just before Hollow mind instead and I’ll explain the timeline differences in much better detail in a different post but it’s basically because Luz isn’t focusing on going home like in the og so she is seeking on ways of getting revenge on Belos and saving Pip and Eda.

But Amity has been wanting to cheer up her awesome girlfriend so she’s been secretly researching ways to create a portal door as a surprise, so Amity was the one who found out about the titan veins through the echo mouse instead and went to go find some titan blood without telling Luz.

If you’re probably wondering where Hunter is…He’s actually taking an extremely well deserved break :0 (lmao, just kidding he’s still apart of the Eclipse lake events) as Pip is surprisingly extremely efficient at sorting out tasks (normal Pip could never, this is all the brainwashing tea lmao) and so Hunter has unwilling ended up getting all his work done by Pip…

Hunter doesn’t want to admit it but he is happy about finally getting a break because he’s getting to do normal teen stuff and play with flapjack more often but he does feel like he’s getting replaced so there is complicated feelings there (it also doesn’t help that Pip is now getting all the attention from Belos and is on top of that able to do magic so Hunter is switching between “I’ve got to do as much as I can so I don’t get replaced” to “it’s kinda nice not being in mortal danger every five seconds and being able to hang out with Willow”)

But yeah onto the episode; Much to the displeasure and horror of Kiki she’s having to be supervised by Pip during the titan’s vein assignment so she’s extra cautious and paranoid about not ruining the assignment especially when in front of the Prince…

Hunter wanted to go with Pip but was then explicitly told by Belos to take a break as Pip was handling an extremely special assignment but Hunter immediately flipped into panic mode because after getting kinda jealous of Pip and he wanted to show his worth again to Belos so he ended up secretly following along as a scout in order to be the first to find the titans blood.

Belos obviously already knew that the vein was already decayed and full of Fools blood from when he went there years ago, so the assignment Kiki is on was actually just a wild goose chase created in order for Pip to secretly assassinate Kiki (who’s fucked up one too many times and knows too much about the actual day of unity plans so she’s obviously got to go.)

Amity and Hunter end up working together after stumbling onto each other searching for titans blood, though they’re bickering and fighting each other the entire way but aren’t as antagonistic with each other as Hunter has slowly mellowed out after hanging out with the emerald entrails more often so they do actually end up properly bonding :)

Uh until they accidentally stumble onto Pip’s attempt on Kiki’s life…

I’m personally imagining the spiderman meme with Pip, Amity and Hunter happening and then Kiki scampering away at full speed in the background.

So yeah Amity is just majorly confused on the fact that she’s just randomly found Pip in the weirdest situation and place possible after months of no contact or communication…

It gets weirder for Amity as Luz never actually told anybody where Pip was and just vaguely said he was staying with family when asked as it wasn’t technically lying (Luz really didn’t want to break Pip’s promise on not telling anyone who he actually is so this is her guilt free way of avoiding questions on where he is)

Pip doesn’t even let Hunter or Amity think about the implications of this whole situation before running off to go catch Kiki and attempt to go for round two… Amity stops him mid way by grabbing his arm which wasn’t the smartest idea.

Because of the brainwashing tea and all the meddling Belos did with his memories, it genuinely makes Pips brain hurt when trying to recognise who Amity or anyone from when he lived in the owl house and so he usually gets really frustrated/aggressive when seeing someone from his past… so Amity interrupting his assignment genuinely made him kinda loose it and try to kill her instead.

The image is the aftermath but they both hit a draw because Hunter does manage to deescalate the situation by reminding Pip to focus on his actual mission instead.

I’ll probably continue this explanation through either a comic or text post :p

[sopaprimordialy]

Boppers, hear me out.

Victor is Luther's father.

Ok, now, you might be thinking: "what the actual fuck are you talking about?" Well, in this essay I'll expose favorable arguments to my theory/theses/head canon that, in the album, captain Victor is Luther's father. Keep your radio tuned tight, boppers, bcs I might be crazy OR I might be onto something.

(There will be spoilers)

1. First of all...

For context, Victor is the cop that kills Fox. He's played by David Patrick Kelly, the actor who plays Luther in the original movie, The Warriors (1979). This alone is a huge reason for me to believe that they are somehow connected, BUT THERE'S MORE!

I think we already established that what a character claims to be their reason for doing something is not always their real reasoning, or, at least, not the entirety of it. I do believe Luther kills Cyrus because he enjoys the chaos and has a lot of hate in his heart, as Swan wisely says, but I don't think that's all.

We have hints among his lines that he's also misogynistic and racist. "Well, duh?" You might say, because there were few white men who weren't those things by the time this story takes place, but sometimes we may underestimate how heavy this stuff weighs in the narrative. If he really likes chaos that much, why not kill, Idk, a police captain? That would certainly create generalized chaos just as he likes, but instead, he deliberately targets marginalized groups' leadership — he kills a black woman, a powerful black woman who was trying to unite her community.

She was obviously an obstacle for the cops to keep up with their oppression towards these groups because unity is strength, and all they don't want is strong communities that knows their rights and won't accept to be chased down like animals when they've done nothing but trying to survive.

In the very first track of the album, the question "but is Cyrus atractin' police action?" Is asked. The answer we find further on, especially when the police invades Van Cortlandt Park right after she's killed, is: *yes*, of course she is.

* Also, the timing here is too convenient, don't you think? Just like the police knew exactly when to attack, when the desperate crowd would be disorganized, when they would be easy prey... anyways 😛

2. That weird af phone call

Now that we have established that there would be a lot of interest on the police's part to have Cyrus killed, let's move on to the next topic.

Suddenly, without any further context or this being ever mentioned again, Luther talks to *someone* on the telephone. This happens in the album, and in the movie as well, it is not confirmed who the hell Luther was talking to on that phone call. I've already seen some people theorizing that he has contacts inside the force and that he's talking to them, and I agree, but I think he's not talking with some random cop, I believe he's talking to Victor.

Come think with me: how did Luther instantly knew Ajax had been taken by the cops ("Holy shit, Warrior down [...] Picked the wrong fight / now she's in for a long night", I'll talk about this later btw), and most importantly, what exactly was Victor doing at Union Square's station?

Let's compare this approach with Barnes' one at the park.

Barnes was alone in the bench, and only when Ajax approached him (and started beating the shit out of him), he called for police reinforcements. It didn't feel planned, even tho he was trying to bait them to come closer to him, I think it was much more about sexual harassment than him actually intending to arrest them. With Victor, however, it doesn't feel like a random encounter.

"Officers are on the scene". This line repeats a lot during Reunion Square, that alone indicates that there are a group of cops there, like they've been called. They knew the Warriors, specifically the Warriors, would be there, and why was it so important for them to get the Warriors if they're just a "likkle Coney Island crew"? Because Luther would be FUCKED if the Riffs reached them alive.

Of course, the Riffs could just not believe the girls, but he was not willing to risk it — after the phone call, Luther tells Cropsy the Riffs wanted the Warriors alive, but they don't. And he was right, wasn't him? Cleon being alive and telling the Riffs the truth was the only reason for him to be caught and... well, we don't know for sure what they did to him, but we can imagine they weren't gentle.

That being said, we have strong evidence that Luther was in touch with the cops, else he would have no way of knowing Ajax was grounded. And Victor needed a reason to be there as well; not only an informant, but also a motive, and if we consider the theory that he was talking to Luther, we have both things.

3. Trust in the impunity of a daddy's boy

During the entire musical, Luther thinks he can get away with about everything. I atribute that not only to the fact that he's a white man targeting women of color, but he must also have other reasons to believe he's immune to justice of any kind, and there's where I start to try to convince you that he's Victor's son.

I mean, when Cropsy shows that he's worried the Riffs would go after them, Luther, rather ignorantly, responds with "they're looking for the Warriors, remember?" As if the fact that the Riffs are going after the Warriors is enough for him to believe they would never even think about interrogating them, trying to find the murder weapon, etc.

This behavior suits someone that has never been held accountable for any misdeeds at all, and who would fit this description better than a cop's son?

Let alone that Victor is a captain. He holds even MORE power within the police. Being the son of a cop, even if you're a fucking gang member, you'd feel safe enough to do just whatever the fuck you want without even thinking about the consequences.

Like, how many times he could have been caught doing something illegal, just tell the cops "do you know who my father is?" AND IT ACTUALLY WORKING? I firmly believe he was the one to inform the cops about all of this — the gathering, the Warriors' location, and the fact that he needed daddy to arrest the women who could potentially cause something to happen to him, because the Riffs are not the police, they'd not give af abt who his father is, even someone like him would have to be a little worried about being taken by them.

4. Fox & Luther — Parallels

I bet you did not see that one coming. "What do you mean there's something in common between Fox and Luther specifically that makes Victor killing her an interesting parallel with his (supposed) son?"

Well, games. That's kinda it. Old games.

So, there are only two characters that canonically like games in the musical, because they actually mention them: Fox ("A-yo I'll take you on an Odyssey like Magnavox") and Luther (with his multiple references to Pacman during the entire thing and other game expressions, like "I was at the top of the screen when I took that shot")

The Magnavox Odyssey is actually mentioned on the movie (according to my own father. I confess I don't remember this part, but I trust my nerdy father who actually have a connection with old consoles to notice that) by the Lizzies (fem version of the Bizzies), and Fox was not even there at the moment. Actually, movie Fox does not have a lot of... personality, if you ask me, he was kinda irrelevant. Anyways, even if Lin and Eisa wanted to reference this specific part in which the Lizzies offer to play Odyssey with the Warriors to lure them, why not have the Bizzies saying that? Why Fox?

Because that would be a bitter irony in the future. I might be crazy, BUT HEAR ME OUT, Victor killing a young woman that shared his son's interest for games was a foreshadowing for him being responsible for Luther's death as well — because he failed.

This is other thing they share: they failed. Victor failed to stop the Warriors from going home, Luther failed to kill Cyrus and blame the Warriors with no consequences, they failed together at silencing them, and this CAUSED Luther's (probable) death.

5. A gang member who endorses the police?

Ok, this last section is based in my belief that, even tho the crews fight and have their diferences, they all share a common enemy: the cops. That was the reason for them to accept the truce after all, the cops are their common enemy.

But somehow that doesn't feel true for the Rouges.

First of all, they killed Cyrus, which obviously means they were not in favor of the truce. But why? They sure would suffer from police brutality too if they were a normal gang. And we can all agree that they are even more violent than the average gang (I mean... have you listened to their leader?).

Also, this line intrigues me.

I mean, "picked the wrong fight"? It is clear that Luther's view is biased to take the cops' side. In this case, one could argue that his misogyny would play a big part on him diminishing Ajax's will to fight against an abuser. Anyhow, I think that this evidences that, even tho he's a gang member, he has a strong connection with the police.

CONCLUSION

I think we can all agree that Luther has something going on with the police, and I hope I have convinced you that he has something going on with Victor specifically.

It is possible to argue that their connection is only "tactical", or even go as far as to say that they are friends or something (tho, I don't think that's possible. One thing about brats like the Rouges: they don't go well with old people, with all due respect. I don't personally see this working as a friendship), but I'll stand with the father-son relationship till the day I die!!

Thank you for reading this madness and please lmk what you think! If there's something that doesn't make sense, if you have your own theories... I mean, I'm far more invested in this than I ever thought I would be, please give me more content 🙏🙌

[stanwixbuster]

jynx absolutely fascinates me as a game dev because they're like. inspiration but in the opposite way of literally everything they've ever done

jynx decided they want to make touhou-like shmups, and decided to approach this by building most patterns around extremely fast bullets relying entirely on player reaction or having already seen a pattern before, infamously the most disliked and player-antagonistic way of approaching bullet hells

jynx added a great iteration on touhou-like shmups with flash bombing, an infinitely regenerating way to clear bullets if you put yourself in active danger in contrast to the use of bombs as a safe but finite resource, and then made sure you could only use it if you aren't focusing your shots, which you spend over 90% of a touhou-like doing

jynx created "absurdly extra" stages just as a complete fuck you to the player. half of them are humanly impossible to complete

jynx's version of character development is to add more characters. jynx will drop one of the most fascinating backstories you've ever heard that has groundbreaking and sweeping impacts on len'en lore, yet somehow being entirely consistent with it, and then proceed to do literally nothing and minutes later introduce another character with one of the most fascinating backstories you've ever heard. len'en has 40+ characters and all of them have been in perpetual Big Things Are Coming hell for over half a decade

jynx has spent over an alledged 15 years working on the world and lore in mugenri and the outside world, desperately wants to share this and continually mentions the short stories and lore dumps they write, which we never see, because they have somehow convinced themself the only way to show this story is through touhou-likes, which are notable for showing "story" as an excuse for people to shoot bullets at each other

jynx treats feature creep like an arms race. there isn't a single idea they come up with that doesn't end up in a game or is planned to at a later date. len'en 4 is still technically unfinished despite it having enough paths to dwarf all the previous len'en games combined thrice over and featuring the entire cast of the series in it (i will stress again, 40+ characters), and they've promised a dlc with even more stuff to do

jynx wanted to make a mobile cafe management simulator after having made nothing but bullet hell shmups on pc, just because it sounded fun, realised their previous tools couldn't make mobile games well, realised they'd be going in entirely blind on a new tech stack, realised they'd be going in blind on a genre they have no experience with, decided to tag on a second entire game to the cafe management with a turn-based rpg, realised they also have no experience with that genre, continued anyway, learnt how to use unity from the ground up, realised the multitude of issues unity development brings, decided every single character also needed to be in this one with unique boss battles, realised the problems of having 40+ character assets and 5min+ music themes in a mobile game that very infamously is a platform you need to stick to strict asset and tech limitations, decided to stream in assets from a server, made it a live service game because it would be online and that was an obvious next step, stuck through it, totalling in five years of dev time to make a full "gacha" game that is generous beyond belief and makes them a net zero in ad revenue vs server costs

jynx iterates nothing. literally everything you see in their games is the first go and if it sucks, too bad

jynx creates all their music with default fl studio sounds and the touhou trumpet. everything's unmixed. they earnestly believe that loud = better

jynx, allegedly, "blacks out" when making music after hitting some kind of flow state, and wakes up with a complete track. like everything else, these are never iterated on

jynx wrote the entirety of len'en 4's 100,000+ word script in one week. i don't even have a funny comment for this one

jynx doesn't think len'en would fit the format of a visual novel despite the fact len'en 4 has a 100,000+ word script

jynx refuses to collab with anyone for any reason. motives unclear

jynx did three 12 hour back-to-back livestreams crunching to finish book of the cafe. literally no part of this is a good idea

jynx is like the quintessential representation of everything you shouldn't do as a game dev. they should have burnt out years ago and been remembered as nothing but a random quirky touhou ripoff that was an interesting yet janky interpretation but ultimately went nowhere and YET here we are coming in to len'ens decade anniversary

how the fuck is jynx a real person. why am i so obsessed with everything they've ever made

[nonconformityhub]

Black Futch Flag and Futch Symbol by thegenderthieves

Continuing to repost some of my friends' stuff from their terminated accounts so that it's more easily findable (with their permission ofc) All text is pasted straight from the original coining!

The futch version of my (thegenderthieves') black butch and black femme flags is done! It’s for all black futches, stems, etc! (yes i released this flag hours early because I love it too much)

The colours are inspired by the dyke flag (you don’t need to have reclaimed dyke to use this flag ofc!), and a variety of futch flags

Meaning:

Black - black history and black sapphic history

Light red/pink - lesbian and sapphic history, love of women and non-men, sapphic power

Fuscia - inclusivity of all sapphics, including trans, non-binary, mspec, aroacespec, and other sapphics

Light pink - futchness, unity, non-conformity

Brown - androgyny and neutrality in gender expression

Light brown - futchfluids, stems, and futches that lean towards butch or femme

Sun, moon, and labrys axe - the sun is associated with masculinity, and the moon femininity, representing androgyny, and the axe represents strength, liberation, and rebellion

My Futch Symbol (not black-exclusive):

My futch symbol is free to use on other flags (with credit). Both the symbol and flag can be made into emojis and used elsewhere without credit as long as you’re not claiming them as your own!

Version with no symbol:

[stellar-constellations]

An Alliance (Part 9)

        

        Fem! Spy! (Y/N) x Yuri Briar

        Parts: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, current part, ten (to be continued when Spy x Family has more Yuri content!)

        (Y/N) is given her own backstory that is important for the story!

        The setting for this story is based off West and East Germany's (because Spy x Family is heavily based off Germany in the 1940-1950) laws (or at least replicated to the best of my abilities since it's unknown what time period Spy x Family is exactly in, we'll go with 1950 for the sake of this story). 

        Historically-accurate women misogyny and mistreatment! Only small comments and historically-accurate laws (replicated to the best of my ability). 

        The story, plot, and settings might not match up to the Spy x Family manga as it's not completed and the manga is still being crafted.

        This series contains spoilers for the manga and anime!

        A couple weeks passed by and Yuri decided he wanted to visit Yor. Yuri's wound had healed up a little so I allowed it (by allowed, I mean I tried to restrain him and gave up since he was too strong and determined to see Yor).

        During those months I gathered some intel from the National Unity Party that I didn't know about until talking with Twilight about little details of his current mission (or doing a little bit of hacking into Eden Academy's files). I learned that WISE's top suspect is Donovan Desmond has two children I wasn't aware of, Damien and Demetrius Desmond, along with a wife, Melinda Desmond. A little trip to City Hall and snooping through some files and database there, I found out what they look like along with their private information such as their birthday and where they work.

        I wrote down everything I saw (even stuff I figured didn't matter) and placed it into a big white envelope with a false train logo imprinted on it, handing it to Franky when I saw him at the train station on the way back. How I did this without Yuri knowing? I got him drunk and made sure he was sleeping when I left. 

        But Vixen—the West Spy—doesn't matter right now. (Y/N)—Yuri Briar's wife and secret SSS agent—does.

        Yuri happily skipped to the Forger's apartment, barging in quite rudely as I trailed behind him, used to this routine by now.

        "Yay, my sweet sister! I came by for an early morning visit!" Yuri shouted.

        "I'm not satisfied with our life together!" Yor shouted at Twilight.

        Yuri's face morphed to horror (as did mine and Twilight's).

        Twilight and Yor are having relationship problems?! I thought to myself. This is really bad! Twilight's goal is to maintain a family to get closer to Donovan Desmond. If this is ruined, WISE will have to start all over again, and who knows how long it'd be until Donovan does something drastic that breaks this very thin ice Westalis and Ostania is on! We'll have another physical war!

        "LOID FORGER, YOU BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SISTER?!" Yuri screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at Twilight. 

        "Let's not get hasty! We haven't heard both sides of the story!" I smiled nervously, grabbing his shoulder.

        "Yuri? Didn't you get hit by a truck and hurt your shoulder not a little while ago? You should be resting!" Yor spoke, concerned.

        "That healed up right when I talked to you on the phone! More importantly..." Yuri spoke dully, then his tone changed as he got serious. "I warned you, Loid Forger, that if you ever made my sister cry, I would have you exe– er... I would be extremely upset." 

        "Yuri, no! It isn't like that!" Yor claimed.

        It's not?

        "So then what is it like, Yor?" Yuri questioned.

        "Um..." Yor stumbled, thinking.

        "Tell me so I can properly chastise this ne-er-do-well!" Yuri spoke, then looked as if an idea struck him. "If I can keep her angry at him, she'll finally dump him like I've wanted all along." Yuri muttered.

        "Um... you're thinking out loud." Me and Twilight spoke.

        "All right, Yor. Let's get you out of this marriage. We'll go file the divorce papers right now!" Yuri exclaimed.

        "Wait a second, Yuri! I'm sure this can be justified! Let's not get into something so big like that!" I spoke, worried for the future of Ostania and Westalis.

        "We're not getting divorced!" Yor claimed.

        "Yor, have you been holding on to this grievance all along...?" Twilight questioned, a million thoughts going through his calm blue eyes.

        "No, just since yesterday." Yor smiled ditzyily, causing Twilight to go wide-eyed.

        "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER YESTERDAY?!" Yuri shouting, pointing his finger at Twilight again.

        "He didn't do anything!" Yor exclaimed.

        THEN WHAT ARE YOU MAD AT HIM FOR?! I thought to myself, yet held my inner peace as I watched the scene play out.

        "Apologize. I don't know what you did, but you're going to apologize to my sister." Yuri spoke, his tone intimidating me despite me not being at the end of his words.

        "I am so deeply sorry, Yor. I never–" Twilight started, but was cut off by Yor.

        "Loid, no! An apology from you is the last thing I want!" Yor claimed, causing Twilight to have a mortified expression on his face as I saw the Ostanian military clean their guns, ready for their command to infiltrate and kill.

        "HOW DARE YOU ATTEMPT TO APOLOGIZE YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS, YOU FLIPPANT LOUSE!" Yuri screamed, still pointing his finger at Twilight.

        "I understand, Yor. You want me to show contriction through my actions. And I will! I swear to you, I won't ever make you suffer this way again!" Twilight spoke.

        "TH-THAT'S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM!" Yor shouted.

        "HUH?!" Twilight and I exclaimed.

        I can hear the marching of Ostania's army. I can smell ashes from fire and gunpowder. 

        "Yuri, please, could you just stay out of this? This is a martial issue between me and my husband!" Yor scolded, directing her anger towards Yuri.

        "M-martial?!" Yuri exclaimed, a shocked and dejected expression on his face.

        Yuri depressingly made his way to the couch and flopped down, deflating like a ballon as he laid on the couch.

        Yor said this is a martial issue between her and Twilight, so I shouldn't get in the way too, I thought as I sat down next to the sulking Yuri. 

        The phone starting to ring and Yor quickly ran to go answer it.

        "Oh. I'll get it." Yor spoke. "Hello, this is Mrs. Forger." She answered, then redirected her attention to Twilight. "Loid, it's for you. It's from the hospital." 

        "Yes, hello?" Twilight spoke, answering the phone.

        Hospital? Oh, right! Twilight's cover job is a physiatrist for this mission!

        "I'm sorry. I've been called in for an emergency." Twilight stated, hanging up the phone.        

        "Oh dear, that sounds serious." Yor spoke, before it was like a switch was flipped in her as she started to shout. "EVEN ON YOUR DAYS OFF, YOU ABANDON YOUR FAMILY FOR WORK! HOW COULD YOU?! HOW COULD I EVER BE SATISFIED WITH THE WAY YOU ALWAYS PUT YOUR PATIENT'S FIRST?!" 

        "I'm sorry, Yor. We'll talk about this when I get back." Twilight stated calmly, sparing me a glance before walking out. "I really am sorry!" he exclaimed before walking out and shutting the door.

        Yor had a prideful smirk on her face as she looked at me and Yuri (Yuri seemed like he had a skeptical look on his face as he looked at the door Twilight just left).

        "Yor, I really don't mean to pry into your martial problems, but I really believe you need to think about this." I sighed.

        "Huh? But having gripes is a normal thing for marriages, right?" Yor questioned.

        "Of course, but you should understand his side too. You're claiming he spends too much time at work, correct?" I questioned, making sure I got the facts straight.

        "Yes, that is a normal gripe wives have against their husbands, right?" Yor spoke, genuinely seeming like she needed a gripe to appear normal.

        What's she need a gripe to appear normal for anyways? I thought to myself.

        "I hate to give unsolicited advice, but Loid works to provide for your family. I understand that you grieve the lack of time he spends with you and your daughter, but he's a physiatrist. He helps aid people's mental health to prevent something drastic happening. Life and death doesn't wait, that's just apart of this job. However, I do understand you. I believe it's a good idea to have a family outing soon, that way you're able to spend time with Loid and Anya!" I suggested. "That's just my idea though." 

        "I suppose, I could bring it up with Loid..." Yor mumbled.

        "I think it'd be fun for everyone! And don't worry, it's perfectly normal for couples to fight; I mean, me and Yuri fight quite regularly." I reassured. 

        "Yuri? You have gripes with (Y/N)?" Yor questioned, surprised.

        "Huh, yeah. Whatever you say, sis." Yuri spoke, his eyes not moving from the door.

        "Yes! Like this one right now." I smiled. "Yuri! You need to stop adding fuel to the fire! Yor was right! When a couple is arguing with each other, keep out of it! You could've actually did some serious damage to their relationship by bringing up divorce! We didn't even know what started the fight!" I shouted, grabbing Yuri by his shirt and forcing him to look me in the eyes and away from the door.

        "O-okay..." Yuri mumbled. "But something's fishy!" he spoke, redirecting his gaze to the door.

        "What?!" Yor exclaimed, seemingly worried.

        "The way he ran off in such a hurry just now... He's cheating on you, Yor." Yuri accused.

        "WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST TELL YOU ABOUT ADDING FUEL TO THE FIRE?!" I screamed, resisting the urge to uppercut him.         

        "What?!" Yor gasped.

        "Let's go follow him." Yuri spoke.

        "W-we can't do that!" Yor tried to reason.

        "I agree! We can't do that, Yuri! Have you no shame?!" I exclaimed.

        He's acting like he's following one of the people suspected of espionage at our job (or my SSS gig)!      

        "You aren't worried at all, Yor? About your so-called husband cheating?" Yuri questioned, turning to look at Yor.        

         "Well... maybe just a little..." Yor muttered.

        I was about to interject, say some wistful words about "how relationships should have trust" before remembering when I bickered with Yuri about if he'd fall in love with someone else and cheat before we agreed to get officially married.

        I felt like I was about to throw up, I don't want to be a hypocrite! But I also don't want there to be another physical war between Ostania and Westalis! But if Yuri finds out that Twilight is a spy and he gets caught, then Twilight's mission to keep peace between Ostania and Westalis will be screwed!

        "You need to be careful that he doesn't notice you, Yor." Yuri instructed. "Stay close, but not too close. You need room in case the target suddenly stops. You can't stop yourself, or you'll get spotted."

        "You sure know a lot about this, Yuri." Yor commented.

        "Uh... they just said that on some cartoon I watched with chihuahua girl the other day..." Yuri claimed.

        Dummy, we weren't even here! You were healing up from your wound, remember? I thought to myself.          

         I heard some noise from an alley and peaked over, seeing our lieutenant!

        What does he want? I thought to myself as Yuri noticed.

        "I-I-I-I-I'm sorry, Yor! I just remembered I had some paperwork that I forgot to file yesterday!" Yuri exclaimed. "Stay with Yor." Yuri whispered into my ear.

        "Huh?" Yor gasped.

        "I have to run back to the ministry! You go expose Loi-Loi's infidelity by yourself, okay?!" Yuri spoke. "I'm really sorry!" he shouted as he ran from us.

        "Hey, wait a minute! Yuri!" Yor shouted.

        Shouting? Thanks for giving us away... I thought to myself, then redirected my thoughts to the serious matters. Two emergency summons today? There's something going on between WISE and the SSS today. I can't go to the SSS since Yuri ordered me not to, but I should be able to go to WISE? I'll follow Twilight.

        Me and Yor kept following him as he walked into the hospital, allowing Yor to see for herself that she's actually going to "work." 

        "See, Yor? You have nothing to worry about. When has Loid ever given you a reason to doubt him?" I smiled. 

        "You're right. This was childish..." Yor sighed. "We can go home and make some tea." Yor suggested, smiling at me.

        "I would love to, but I'm on the lookout for an anniversary present for Yuri." I smiled sheepishly. "This is the only time that he's not with me, so I need to hurry before I have to get to work myself later!"

        "Ah, I understand! Do you need any help?" Yor questioned.

        "No thanks, I want to give him something straight from my heart." I spoke. "Have a good day, Yor! Tell Anya I said hi!" I spoke, jogging off to the streets away from the hospital.

        I ducked into an alleyway and waited for Yor to leave the hospital, making sure her back was turned from me before running back to the hospital. I ran into the lobby and walked through the halls, finding a nurse. 

        "Excuse me, I have an appointment for Dr. Forger, but I got lost and I don't know where his office his." I smiled.

        "Ah, no problem! This hospital is pretty big. I'll guide you, follow me." The nurse spoke.

        I followed the nurse to an office as she knocked on the door.

        "Come in." I heard Twilight's voice as we opened the door.

        "(Y-) Mrs. Briar?" Twilight spoke, looking at me as a white-haired woman stood next to him.

        I recognized her as Nightfall. She's very pretty, but she's very scary to me, so I stay clear from her. 

        "Mrs. Briar has an appointment with you, Dr." The nurse stated.

        "Thank you. Come on in, Mrs. Briar." Twilight spoke. 

        I nodded, walking in and closing the door behind him.

        Bugged? I morsed through my blinks.

        Safe space. Twilight morsed with his own eyes.

        "You're Nightfall, correct?" I spoke in a soft voice just in case the walls were thin as I held out a hand.

        "You know her?" Nightfall questioned, eyeing my hand like it was gum on her shoe.

        "Yes, this is Vixen. She's infiltrated the SSS and is up to date with information from them. I heard from the Handler you're back on the force." Twilight informed. "What brings you here?"

        "The SSS." I spoke. "An emergency summon happened today with the SSS. I was informed from my husband to not attend, so I'm here." 

        "You came here without orders from the Handler?" Twilight questioned, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

        "I need information from WISE and the SSS so I can determine accurate and inaccurate information to feed the Handler." I explained.

        "You're married to an SSS agent?" Nightfall spoke, a glare on her face.

        "Just for this mission." I smiled.

        "There's no time to send the Handler a message. We'd bring you, but your husband will identify you immediately." Twilight spoke.

        "There must be something I can do. I'm still apart of WISE, after all." I huffed.

        "Fine. Let's make haste, the SSS may already be on the scene." Twilight sighed. "Nightfall, the details." 

        Nightfall gave me a glare before reluctantly speaking up.        

        "We have an extreme level 3 situation. WISE HQ in Ostania has been trying to ferret out a mole. Yesterday, they finally uncovered the culprit. However, by the time they were identified, the mole had gone underground. And right around the same time, numerous top secret documents were taken from agency files. Among them was a coded map indicating areas of operational activity by WISE agents in Ostania. And some of the information contained within that document pertains of Operation STRIX. If that were to fall into Eastern hands and be decoded... our lives would be in danger." Nightfall explained in a mouthful.

        I'm unaware of the SSS receiving new files, so it hasn't been delivered yet. I thought to myself. I haven't seen anyone at the SSS that is a spy at WISE, could it be a new recruit? I'm aware of the new woman that came aboard, she's a total rookie, but the Director really wanted her onboard. But I doubt she's the mole, it's just a gut feeling. I don't know of any new rookies other than her, so it must be someone whose been at the SSS for longer than me, but if that's the case. I might not be able to help... unless.

        "Hey, I got an idea. I'm heading to the library, take this. It's a tracker so I know where you guys are, I'll meet up with you both later." I spoke, handing Twilight a small chip that he attached to his collar without second thought. 

        "You better hurry with whatever you have to do. Nightfall, you and I will make our way to the scene." Twilight spoke.

        "Be careful!" I exclaimed, quickly opening and shutting the door as I ran down the hall.

        I followed the way the nurse guided me to the office and made it out of the hospital, running into town and to the HQ of SSS. I checked the clock and knew it was time. I clocked in and ran to find a guy who owes me a favor (by that, I mean making someone do my work).

        "Hey, Donnie! I need a favor, buddy." I spoke, patting his shoulder.

        "Oh, what's up?" he smiled.

        "Today's your anniversary, right?" I questioned.

        "Huh? Today's my anni- OH! TODAY'S MY ANNIVERSARY! NO WONDER CARMEN WAS ANGRY AT ME THIS MORNING- but that never seems to be new..." He spoke, going through many stages of shock. 

        "Listen, today's my anniversary with Yuri! I can pick you up an anniversary present too for Carmen if you put my name in your document with yours." I spoke, referring to the document he was writing as he listened to a bugged room on one of our potential suspects. "This is the only time I can go out and get the present, but I need to be at work too! Please?" I spoke.

        I need to make sure that the SSS don't know I'm working with WISE in this part of the mission. If I mess with the information they gain, the SSS will kill me! I thought to myself. 

        "Yeah. I got you. Barely doing any work anyways with this! Thanks, (Y/N)!" he beamed. 

        "No worries, man! I'll see ya soon!" I spoke, rushing out of the room.

        I carefully checked the room with our schedule, making sure that there wasn't anybody there, before I ran out of the room. I ran to a nearby shop I knew that WISE was in control of, where you make anonymous purchases for wigs, outfits, and contacts to change your appearance for missions (or, their public front, for costume parties or parades). 

        I purchased a (different hair color) wig and a different shade of (eye color) for my contacts (making sure they were appropriate for my eyesight since I decided I wouldn't wear my glasses [if you wear glasses]). I grabbed a pink t-shirt, a white ribbon, black shorts, and a pair of brown boots. I made the purchase and ran into an alley, changing clothes and hiding my old outfit behind a dumpster in the dark alley. I threw a cereal box from the dumpster onto the ground near the alley entrance so I'd find my clothes as I raced out and to the library near city hall.

        I made inside and snagged a computer, taking a seat and quickly logging into the public computer with the library's username and password written on a yellow sticky-note on the desk. I wrote a fake name on the computer's public name log, then disabled the browser from any third-party trying to watch my internet activity. 

        I hacked into the SSS database, the screen going black with green letters.

        Woah, cliche hacking. I thought to myself, before quickly pushing away that thought. 

        It took longer than I'd like to admit it, but I finally found the information the Director receives from his little mole (perhaps my hacking skills are getting rusty). Sometimes there were emails but as I long as I thought really hard enough, I would crack the words they made up and proceed with the next file. This scum has been actively giving information on WISE for at least two years now, in fact, he was originally from Ostanian Intelligence before he got in WISE solely for Ostania's purpose! Worst of all, there's no name! All of his emails and files are signed off with W.W. Who had the initials W.W. that I'm aware of?        

        Nobody, that I can think of that the top of my head, that is. But the good thing about our day and age is that the library has public files for use, so marriage certificates and criminal records are available to me. 

        I need to get to the backroom and get those files so nobody knows I retrieved them, but I need those librarians to get away from that back door.

        I noticed a group of kids nearby and walked over to them, fishing in my pocket for some money. 

        "Wanna make some money?" I questioned, changing the pitch of my voice to a high but monotone tone, that way if there's any cameras or microphones here being watched by the SSS, they wouldn't recognize me. 

        The three kids nodded excitedly.

        "I need you guys to distract that librarian, but don't tell them that! Tell them you're looking for a book that's about a zebra becoming a tooth fairy and convince them to go look for it with you, okay?" I instructed.

        "Okay!" they all agreed, rushing towards the librarian's desk and distracting the librarian as I watched from behind a bookshelf.

        The librarian seemed a little stingy to leave, but they eventually agreed after some pestering from the kids. While they were distracted with that, I ran into the backroom and looked through metal cabinet files. I made it to a large drawer with the letter W written on a piece of tape. I scanned through the folders and papers rather impatiently since I'm on a timer. 

        I found the files of civilians and searched through, looking at the faces in case they'd be familiar. It's going to be a man since me and Chloe, our new recruit, are the only females in the SSS and we're both new. The only think I'm running off on is they're a man and their initials are W.W. I found a file that made me pause, observing the face more closely.

        He had a long face with white skin and blue, droopy eyes. His hair was blond and he has thick eyebrows with a fair and tall build. I checked the name, making sure that initials matched up (they did). I checked his birthdate and figured it was reasonable since he's a double-agent. The file said he works at the Ostanian Foreign Ministry (a cover-up in case WISE agents come snooping around here, like me). I swear I've seen those eyes before, whether at WISE HQ or Ostanian Intelligence. 

        I know I have a bad memory, but I really think I just found my guy! I thought to myself, smiling.

        I know that WISE had identified the mole, but looking at these files tells me how much Ostania really knows about WISE, and I know if that coded map from Westalian Intelligence gets out, it'll definitely end up in the National Unity Party somehow, then we're all screwed!

        I placed the file back where I found it, now having information on the target myself.

        Now I can hunt this mole down myself, I thought to myself, smiling at the irony itself.

        I looked around to make sure the librarian wasn't around as I exited the backroom, getting away from the librarian's desk and waiting for the librarian to give up on their search of the zebra tooth fairy book. It didn't take too long before the librarian complained about this being a waste of time, and going back to their desk.

        "Here. Thanks for your help, and ya didn't see me." I spoke with my undercover voice, handing the kids their well-earned money and running out of the library.

        I checked the watch on my hand, turning a tiny button twice, and seeing the clock's face get swapped to a black screen with a bunch of white lines, and green and red dot. The white lines are the streets of Ostania being displayed from the satellites, the red dot is my location, and the green dot is where Twilight is. 

        I won't be able to run that far on foot, and the train would take too long (not to mention I'd have to hop multiple trains too).

        My only option is to steal a car. Well, it's for the greater good. I'll return it! I convinced myself, before finding a motorcycle on the street left unattended.

        Or... we'll be dramatic! I smiled, running up and hopping on it. 

        I grabbed the wires and retraced the steps I remember one of my WISE trainers telling me a while ago. I burnt my hand a couple times and lost the feeling in them, but I finally got it working as I heard the beautiful cat purr of the engine. 

        I checked my watch once more, looking at the location of Twilight once more and memorizing it as I fixed the white ribbon in my wig, making sure my wig was secured very tightly to my head by tying the ribbon on. I turned the gas and rode away. Judging by how far it looks on my digital map, they must be either in or nearby Shellbury, in Northwest Ostania. It'll probably take a good thirty minutes to get there—that is if I abide by traffic laws, but again, I'm on a timer and the small "peace treaty" Westalis and Ostania is in danger, so we're going fast enough that it'll make lightning look slow.

        I got there in ten minutes, internally glad of saving time as I parked the motorcycle on the side of the road, checking my watch to see Twilight wasn't too far. I made it to a fountain in some park, seeing one of SSS' captains meeting with Winston. 

        I sat down on a bench, eavesdropping into their conversation for any leverage.

        "How about you hand over those files, Wheeler. WISE seems to have gotten wind of the meet, so I don't want to drag this out." The captain spoke.

        Yes, yes. WISE agents like me, I internally thought, yet shut myself up so I can focus. 

        "Before I do... I want to verify that you're really with the State Security Service." Winston responded.

        The briefcase he's holding must be the files, I could shoot him with the gun on my waist under my shirt, but that's extremely risky. 

        "What, you think I'm really Twilight, Master of Disguise? Ha ha. Good one." The captain laughed. "Can you prove to me that you're the real Wheeler?" 

        "My green tie and yellow gemstone tiepin already have." Winston informed. 

        "Mm... hey, it's yellow." The captain spoke, looking at one of his men.

        "Got it." The lackey spoke, walking away to make a call.

        What is going on? Is that a code the SSS made I'm unaware of? Well, with my low-rank position it is possible. I'll have to find information on their secret codes later.

        "As for... Our fake Wheeler here... Is that you, Twilight?" the captain spoke.

        Twilight? I thought to myself, checking my watch. He is! No wonder why Twilight's location showed up here! I can't believe I forgot about that!

        "That really is an incredible impersonation of Wheeler. You're every bit as good as they say you are." The captain spoke, reaching into his jacket's pocket and pulling out a gun. "So, what's next now? You gonna peel off that disguise for me?" 

        I reached for my own gun, ready for combat in case Twilight needs some help as I watched Twilight wiggle his foot. Suddenly, the big water fountain next to them blew up. Someone fired at Twilight as he ran, clicking a button on his briefcase that turned the bottom of the briefcase into a gun!

        Woah! I didn't know HQ had those! A whole shoot-out took place and I decided this wasn't the place for me. If I get shot and Yuri notices, he'll know I didn't follow his instructions, and that I was possibly working with WISE!

        I ran away and ducked behind some bushes surrounded by a fence, hiding in them as I checked Twilight's location on my watch.

        He's running straight for me? 

        I peeked my head out slightly, seeing a figure running to my spot. I ducked back into the bushes so I wouldn't get caught, hearing more footsteps running towards me.

        "Yuri!" a pair of guys shouted.

        Yuri?! Yuri's here?! Crap! 

        I felt my heartbeat raise out of fear for myself and Yuri's sake. This place really seems to be dangerous, he shouldn't be here! Twilight and I are here!

        "You still with us, man?!" one shouted.

        "Yeah, where did he go?!" the other shouted.

        "Ngh..." Yuri groaned.

        Is he injured? How?! Who ran into him and hurt him?!

        "The East gate..." Yuri mumbled.

        Huh, that's weird. He sounds like Yuri, but not at the same time? Is this... Twilight? I checked my watch to see his location, it proving my correct.

        "East! Got it!" they shouted as they ran away to find Twilight (who was right in front of them). 

        I very carefully peeked my head out and saw "Yuri" standing up, adjusting his jacket.

        "Oi!" I exclaimed, standing up from the bushes 

        I don't have to be careful, I'm in a disguise! I remembered.

        "Yuri" turned around quickly, looking at me with a surprised expression.

        "Um... hey...?" he paused.

        "No worries, Twilight. It's me, Vixen." I smiled as his composure relaxed.

        "Thank God, it's you. That's a decent disguise—amateurish, but it works well enough."

        "Sure as hell worked on the Master of Disguise." I smirked pridefully. "Now, what's next?" 

        "Let's make our getaway." Twilight spoke, looking around before his eyes landed on a sewer gate.

        "Ah, shit..." I mumbled, knowing what we'd have to do.

        Gross...

        "Let's go." Twilight ordered.

        "Yes, boss!" I joked, trying to make light out of this situation as we walked through some mud.

        I lifted the heavy cover and jumped in, Twilight following after as he closed the lid.

        "Stay quiet, light on your feet, and look out for all exits and entrances." Twilight muttered.

        "I'm a spy too, remember?" I huffed quietly.

        Even after all these years, he still has the audacity to treat me like I don't know anything. 

        We started running and heard some footsteps up ahead around the corner. Twilight efficiently kicked up a metal pipe for me as he ran. I caught it and gripped it tightly as he pulled out his gun, getting ready to fight.

        I felt a warm sense of admiration that he gave me the metal pipe since he's aware I don't like using guns, not after what I've used them for in the war. 

        We past the corner as Twilight shot, but instead we saw, Yuri, the real Yuri!

        Twilight's shot missed him, hitting his hat instead, as Twilight paused, making me pause too. Twilight's gun was aimed directly at Yuri's face, I was going to shout and tell him no, but he held his hand, behind me and only for me to see.

        He's telling me to stand down and stay behind him—like always...

        "Gah!" they both exclaimed.

        Yuri hasn't spotted me... he's too focused on Twilight that he hasn't seen me! This is good!

        Two gunshots rang simultaneously, one hitting the gun out of Yuri's hand and into the sewer water and the other piercing Twilight's shoulder. 

        "Guh!" Twilight voiced his pain as Yuri kicked Twilight's gun out of his hand then stepping back to make room as the gun hit the sewer wall before going into the sewer water too.

        Twilight clutched his shoulder tightly, a serious and frustrated expression on his face as they both stood still, looking at each other. They both look similar to each other, it's really scary. The only difference is that Loid is 6'1" and Yuri is 5'10". I wondered briefly on how good Yuri is at hand-to-hand combat, before seeing it myself.

        "Give up..." Yuri started, raising his fists. "And come quietly!" 

        He punched at Twilight, but Twilight dodged it and kicked him in the gut, giving Yuri a punch to his face as he fell down. While Yuri was distracted, I threw Twilight a white cloth from my pocket for emergencies just as this.

        I have to make sure I'm prepared in case me or someone else gets shot or is bleeding intensely. I've learned from my past mistakes.

        Yuri stood up, his fists raised once more, having a mark on his face as Twilight wrapped the cloth around his bleeding wound. 

        "Stop resisting and surrender. We've got the sewer surrounded." Yuri claimed.

        There's no way! They didn't figure it out this quickly that we were down here, did they?

        "If you don't want to die here, run back to the surface. Now." Twilight commanded, mimicking Yuri's voice pretty well.

        I understand why Twilight sounds different from Yuri. Twilight speaks in a calm and collected tone, always serious. Yuri, he speaks with his tone, he's very open about his feelings. 

        "DON'T TALK TO ME IN MY OWN VOICE!" Yuri screamed, rushing at Twilight. 

        Twilight quickly undid his belt and whipped Yuri in the jaw, hard, with it as he drew blood and possibly even broke his jaw! Yuri fell hard onto the ground as Twilight looked down at him.

        "You may not be eating any decent meals for a while, but you'll live." Twilight spoke.

        He's showing Yuri mercy. Could it be for operation STRIX? So Yor wouldn't be devastated and the family falls apart? Could it be he's aware of my feelings for Yuri and doesn't wish to kill him out of respect (or pity) towards me? Or, could it be he's genuinely grown attached to his "in-law"?

        That should be enough, I thought, worried for Yuri's safety and health. I'll make him some southern stew tonight, he really likes that since it came from his childhood. 

        Twilight turned around, giving me a nod as he started to walk away. I almost turned to follow, but I heard the sound of metal and raised my metal pipe. I turned the corner to face Yuri, our metal pipes clashing together. I pulled his leg from under him with my own leg, then used my metal pipe to shove him backwards, kicking the metal pipe that fell out of his hands into the sewer water.

        "You're wrong, Twilight! It's you who won't be eating any decent meals... in your prison cell!" Yuri spoke, spitting out blood.

         Wow, even though I'm right in front of his face and entered the fight, he's still caring about Twilight.

        "And who the hell are you?!" Yuri shouted.

        I ignored his comment, afraid if I talked he's recognize my voice as I stared him down.

        I really, really, don't want to fight him.

        Twilight noticed my hesitancy and was about to speak up, but Yuri charged at me. I hit him upside the head with my metal pipe with some heavy force, hoping to at least knock him out or disorient him so we can run and avoid further harm to him.         

        Yuri staggered to his side but quickly punched and hit my jaw.

        Man, he packs a punch! I thought, hearing a clack! 

        I grabbed him by his jacket and pinned him against the sewer wall as he grabbed my wig and pulled it. The wig fell as he looked at me, confused as my natural hair came down.

         "Wh-" I used his confusion to my advantage, grabbed his own hair and quickly turned him around so he was facing the sewer wall, slamming his head three times in the concrete wall before pulling back.

        Twilight quickly threw himself into the mix and karate-chopped Yuri's throat, coming up behind Yuri and elbowing him into the ground, (even giving a good kick to in-between Yuri's legs).

        I wanted to scold Twilight for being too harsh and mean (like I wasn't slamming his head against concrete a few seconds ago), but I understood Yuri's looking to kill (or at least capture) us both and watched on. 

        Yuri stood his ground and Twilight punched his face as I knelt to the ground and slammed my metal pipe into the back of his knee with full force. I ran back to Twilight's side as Yuri fell down, but he just got back up!

        Jesus Christ! Yuri Briar is seriously a force to be dealt with, how is he standing?!

        "Don't hold back this time." Twilight spat out harshly, his eyes kept on Yuri.

        "YOU BASTARD! I AIN'T!" Yuri shouted, holding his fist up and rushing towards Twilight as I took a deep breath and hid behind Twilight, clutching my metal pipe tightly and raised it.

        He said not to hold back. Sorry, love. I thought to myself. Consider this payback for my jaw.

        Yuri got closer and Twilight quickly side-stepped, leaving me vulnerable. Yuri didn't even stagger as he changed his target to me, but his eyes widened. 

        He ran too fast, so he can't stop now. His only option is to move forward and attack, even hesitate his attack now and he's screwed (which, he really can't stop now anyways).

        "He was talking to me." I huffed, making my pitch and tone high and monochrome as I did earlier in the library. 

        I swung my metal pipe down hard onto his head, the force even hurting my own arms as he fell cold onto the ground. 

        We watched closely as Yuri was on the ground, making sure he'd stay there. To my surprise, Yuri stood up, causing me and Twilight to let out a scream of shock. I swung my metal pipe upwards, hitting his jaw as he fell back to the ground. Me and Twilight watched on to make sure he was fully down as I held my metal pipe up high.

        Twilight huffed heavily as breathed in, finally glad it's over and that he's still alive.

        "Yor... I'm so... sorry..." he mumbled before passing out (for real this time).

        "Ready?" Twilight huffed out.

        I nodded, staring at Yuri before leaning down and checking his pulse.

        "He's fine." Twilight confirmed. 

        "I just have to make sure..." I mumbled, checking Yuri's pockets. 

        I found a walkie-talkie and looked at Twilight. 

        "Do his voice. Tell him to come find him; that he's injured." I ordered, shoving the walkie-talkie in his hand.

        "Are you serious right now?!" he hissed. "We gotta get outta here!" 

        "He's hurt!" I huffed. 

        "Fine..." Twilight groaned, grabbing the walkie-talkie. "Yuri Briar. Injured. Help, over." He spoke, talking in his tone.

        "Thank you." I smiled.

        "Let's move." Twilight spoke, grabbing my hand.

        Twilight started to run while clutching his shoulder as I followed, running ahead of him in case of any danger. I have to be able to protect him since he's injured. We ran a while until we heard different footsteps, causing Twilight to grab my arm and stop the both of us. The footsteps stopped as Twilight carefully led us to a corner. He peeked out of the corner as I watched his expression to see if it changes, indicating he saw something. I turned to look at my right just in case anybody was there, looking just in time to see a tall man holding up a brick and aiming it right at my head.

        "Oi!" I shouted, alerting Twilight of the man's prescence as I quickly ducked, bringing my metal pipe up and wacking his jaw. 

        The brick was crushed in the man's hand as it collided with the concrete wall.

        He was going to hit me with that! That would've killed me!

        Twilight grabbed my pink shirt's collar as he jumped backwards, forcing me away from the man. 

        "Winston Wheeler!" I shouted.

       "You're him!" Twilight exclaimed, quickly tapping a finger on my lower back as he let go of my collar.

        Don't, he's telling me. 

        "You're Winston Wheeler, right? Relax! I'm with the SSS! I was pursuing a wise agent down in the sewers! I don't know what you're doing here, but I sure am glad to see you! Captain Gascoigne and the others are waiting for you back that way! Let's join up with them!" Twilight spoke, grabbing a SSS badge out of his pocket. 

        I, too, grabbed a badge out of my own SSS pocket out of my pocket. 

        "How about you show me your I.D. to be sure." Winston spoke, outstretching his hand.

        "Okay." Twilight obliged, giving him his badge as I did the same with mine.

        "I don't match up with my badge at the moment, I'm in disguise." I explained.

        "What about the guy you were pursuing?" Winston questioned.

        "Securing you is our priority." Twilight spoke as I nodded.

        "WISE is here and infiltrated, we can worry about the agent later." I added as I crossed my arms.

        "Lieutenant Yuri Briar and Lieutenant (Y/N) Briar. You're married?" Winston spoke as Twilight crept behind him.

        Twilight came behind him and suddenly Winston turned his back, kicking Twilight in his stomach.

        "Or is that just the face you're wearing?" Winston commented.

        I immediately raised and slammed my metal pipe on his knee, causing him to huff and hop back a few steps. 

        "Nice try. Before you silenced them, your footsteps were those of someone being chased. You should know better than to lie like that." Winston spoke, the leg I hit raised from the ground as I yanked Twilight by his collar and pulled him up from the ground.

        "I don't understand you, woman. I've seen that hair before, facial structure too, and your badge just proves it. You're apart of the SSS too; are you aware of this?" Winston spat, his last question directed towards Twilight.

        "Course I am, you really didn't think you were the only double-agent, huh?" I smirked, my metal pipe raised. 

        "Huh. So you're both WISE. Those are really good disguises. Could you actually be him? Could you be Twilight?" Winston questioned. "We did an OP together once, remember? But I never got to see your face. So... let's take a look at that illustrious face of yours. Couldn't hurt to have one more gift for the SSS..." 

        "You gotta get through me first, pal." I spat out.

        I don't need to hold back at all. I can just kill him and have it over with; his life holds no more worth, not after he traded mankind for some extra pocket change. At least with me, I'm doing this to keep peace, not destroy it.

        "If I were you, I'd run. A weak woman like you is no match for me." Winston spoke, clutching his knuckles.

        So what he's taller and stronger than me? I'll whoop his ass! I thought to myself, grinding my teeth. 

        I clutched my metal pipe tightly, then threw it at him. He caught it with no thought.

        "That was stup-" I reached into my shirt and grabbed my gun around my waist, firing straight at his head.

        He dodged it effortlessly, then ran towards me with my metal pipe. I ducked and shot his kneecap, using the floor and rocketing my elbow into his stomach. His grip loosened on the pipe as I grabbed it and slammed the pipe down on his back, knocking him to the ground.

        He grabbed my leg and pulled it under, making me fall onto the ground and hit my head on the concrete floor.

        Shit, I thought as my head rang and felt a painful sensation, followed by something wet in my hair. That better be sewer water and not blood... I thought as he quickly got on top of me and balled up his fists.

        He hit me straight in my face, hearing a crack in my nose as I reached for my gun and aimed at his face. He dodged to his right as I pulled the trigger, his weight shifting, giving me the opening to roll my body right and make him fall. I stood up and stomped on his hand, kicking the metal pipe away from his hands as I took a few steps back. 

        Twilight grabbed the pipe as we both stood next to each other, I huffed as we kept our gaze on him.

        "His fists... are made of pure steel." I panted, blood flooding out of my nose, but I didn't dare care to raise my hand and cover it, I need both hands for this fight. 

        I kept my gun trained on his head, pulling the trigger. He ducked and rushed towards us, running to Twilight and throwing a punch. Twilight blocked it with his uninjured shoulder, but Winston was too quick and used his injured leg to hit Twilight on the side of his head, knocking him out. 

        I took the opportunity to fire while his back was facing me, but it was as if he knew this as he ducked low, quickly grabbing the metal pipe and blocking the bullet, creating a dent in the pipe before he struck it at me. I stepped back to avoid his swing, but he quickly grabbed my gun and fired it at the wall six times, wasting all of my rounds. 

        "Heckler and Koch P7. Eight rounds in a magazine. Not much for a shootout, but luckily you're not in one." Winston spoke, throwing the empty gun to his side. "You won't ever be in one after I'm finished with you." He threatened, raising his fists.

        "I don't think that was necessary." I huffed, lowering my stance and widening my footing so I could prepare just about an action I need that's necessary in the moment. 

        "Just evening th-" I quickly righthooked him while he was too busy yapping, then kicked him, hard, in his nether regions. 

        "Ammo cost money, bastard." I huffed. "To pay for the money you've wasted, I'll take your life." I brought my elbow into his back, aiming for his spinal cord and hitting it. 

        It should paralyze him for a few seconds. I thought, rushing to grab the metal pipe out of his large hands. 

        I would run, but I'm not going to leave Twilight here; he'll kill him. I thought, angry at this situation. I need to buy time, WISE must be aware that Twilight hasn't returned, WISE has trackers on everyone, so they'll find him.

        I turned around to see Winston already on his feet, in fact, behind me! He tried to elbow the back of my neck but I dodged, backflipping onto his back and wrapping my thighs around his neck tightly. He tried to pry me off him, but I refused. I've always been stronger in my legs, now that I'm here, he's a fly that's right in my trap now.

        I wrapped my arms around my thighs too so I can direct more pressure to him. He's a strong and tall man, who knows how long he can hold his breath. I need him to pass out, then I'll kill him right here and now. 

        He coughed, scratching my legs but to no avail. He backed up to the sewer wall, slamming his back and the back of my head into the concrete wall. He backed into it multiple times before I felt my vision stagger, a terrible headache forming as I felt my grip loosen. He noticed and grabbed my shirt's collar, throwing me down to where Twilight was knocked out. 

        I can't do this. He's so strong... I thought to myself. If only I had the endurance Yuri has, maybe then I can take him on.

        I huffed, sitting up, only for him to place his black boot onto my cheek and roughly hit my head back onto the floor. 

        "Such a shame, I've always been a fan of cold-hearted woman." Winston spoke. "I told you, should've ran when you had the chance." He spoke, applying more pressure under his foot. 

        He's going to crush my skull... I thought, my head pounding terribly.

        "While you die, I might as well see what Twilight's face really is." Winston spoke, reaching down next to me where Twilight was and grabbing his face mask. 

        "I hope... you fall onto that metal pipe... and tear your ass open." I huffed, the left side of my face smushed onto the ground as my right cheek was under his foot. 

        My vision was fading a black and white, a color I remembered from the war in Westalis when I was younger and lost my vision, or when I'd faint many times during my training in the army and in WISE. If only I was taller, stronger, worked out more or even took some extra missions, maybe then I could've fended him off. Maybe then I could've kept peace between Ostania and Westalis.

        I hate this feeling, I was always left behind. Even as a kid, my growth was stunted after I turned ten, promptly after joining the military. The work they put me through had negative effects on my body, my eyes, my ears, my memory, and my health. I couldn't grow like the other kids after that, but I guess I truly lost my childhood innocence when I forced my way into the Westalis Army like that. How childish I was.

        I heard footsteps and trailed my eyes to where I heard them, seeing a woman with black hair. 

        Is she apart of the SSS? I thought, then recognized her pretty eyes. Nightfall! I've never been more glad to see her! I felt a smile crawl onto my face. Twilight should be in good hands now, so I don't have to fight anymore. 

        I allowed my guard to go down as I closed my eyes, taking a quick power nap.

        .

        .

        The ringing in my ears was loud, along with the pain I heard screaming in my body. I heard muffled talking, recognizing Twilight's voice, but it was younger.

        "You're going to have to do more than that to take me down." Twilight spoke.

        "Shut up! I'm going to kick your ass!" I screamed, forcing myself out of the mud I was in and charging at him

        Twilight quickly sidestepped and righthooked me, throwing me right back into the ground.

        "I hate you..." I huffed.

        "I've heard." Twilight smirked. 

        "This isn't fair. You're stronger and taller and older than me! I need like, a gun or something!" I exclaimed. 

        "Do you think the enemy cares about that? If you're armed or not?" Twilight questioned. "The only thing they care about is if your head is still attached." 

        I looked down, adverting eye-contact as I felt tears welt up in my eyes. 

        "Hey, you're still a kid. You'll grow up to be strong." Twilight spoke, sitting down next to me in the ground as he ruffled my hair.

        "But you're a teenager and you're strong!" I shouted. 

        "I worked hard for it. You just need to train a little more, even during your free time." Twilight spoke, slightly scolding me in that last part. 

        "So much work..." I sighed. 

        "You wanna be big and strong, right? Surpass me?" Twilight questioned.

        "Yeah." I confirmed.

        "Then get up and let's do this again." Twilight ordered, standing up from the ground. 

        I stood up and looked at the sun, looking for how long it'll be until dark, but I just saw my vision fading instead.

        .

        .

        I opened my eyes to find myself on someone's shoulders. I looked to my left and found a roughed-up Winston. I turned around and saw I was being carried by one of the SSS captains!

        Aw, crap, the SSS found me here! I thought to myself.        

        "She's awake!" the captain spoke, in a voice I did not recognize as his.

        "Are you okay, (Y/N)?" I heard Twilight's voice and smiled in relief, seeing him not to far in front of us, carrying Nightfall on his uninjured shoulder.

        "Are you good?" I questioned. 

        "Always deflecting." He mumbled. "I'm okay."

        "I'm fine too. I just... really need a nap. And medical attention." I sighed, the headache I have almost felt like my head was splitting open.

        "Don't worry, we're almost out of here." Twilight spoke.

        I hopped off the imposter Captain's shoulder and followed them as we made our way out of the sewers, ending up in a van. 

        "We sure are lucky they stopped short of a full-scale mobilization with checkpoints and such. They refused to get the police involved from the start. Gotta be some reason they couldn't move overtly on this." Our driver spoke.

        "If our luck holds, we might actually make it all the way back to Berlint." The guy that was imposing as one of the SSS captains spoke (now out of his disguise).

        "At any rate, by catching Wheeler, we've succeeded in protecting the West's Intelligence assets in the East." Twilight spoke. 

        "Yeah, but we heard from Blue team that our mole in the SSS's comms team got taken out." The fake SSS captain said.

        "Even after catching Wheeler, we still can't get a clean win. It's hardly worth the effort." The driver spoke.

        "I tell you, I've had enough for today." The fake SSS captain said. "Hey, Twi-guy, you're getting a drink with me when we're back." 

        "HUH?!" Twilight exclaimed. "That's out of the question! I came here under the pretext of a work emergency! If I don't get home soon, it's going to look awfully suspicious."

        "Tch! Always the family man when you wanna get outta something." Fake captain said.

        "Being a family man is literally my mission." Twilight counterclaimed. "And especially today out of all days..." 

        "Oh? Are you and the wife fighting?" fake captain spoke.

        "Don't worry, Twilight. I feel you, man." I groaned, really hoping that Yuri wasn't at home right now.

        I still need to get an anniversary present for Donnie's wife, and for Yuri too. I owe him after all me and Twilight did to him today... I thought, sighing as my work wasn't done just yet. 

        "I don't know if I'd call it a fight, exactly..." Twilight sighed. "Let's just say I'm having trouble reading her feelings."                

        "So that even happens to the lofty Twilight, huh?" Fake captain spoke. 

        "It sounds like Operation STRIX is still in danger. I'll accompany Twilight home to investigate the source of friction." Nightfall spoke.

        "What's wrong with you? Get to a hospital already!" Twilight scolded, then looked at me. "You too!" 

        "Yeah, I probably got brain damage or something." I huffed, touching my head as I still felt it ache. 

        "Yeah, he's right. Only way to help a martial squabble is to stay the hell out of it." Fake captain spoke.

        We finally got to Berlint and I finally remembered the motorcycle I left back at Shellbury. 

        Ah, damn it. Well, the police will find it sooner or later. I'll just walk around. I thought to myself. 

        I looked at the stores open at this time, not finding many, but I did find a makeup store. 

        I remember from Yor that there was this new makeup kit every girl was after, but it's so expensive, so I should just buy that (I have the money with the two jobs I'm holding).

        Right! I still have to send in a report of today's events to WISE, along with the information the SSS has received, I thought, letting out a groan as I walk into the makeup store and quickly bought the makeup kit. 

        I headed to a flower shop and got some red carnations for Carmen too, thinking about what I'll get Yuri. A first-aid kit seems like a good investment at the moment for him (and me).

        I decided to grab some flowers for Yuri too. I heard guys never receive flowers, and I could believe that with the era we live in. I did a quick trip to the store and got a big stuffed bear for him too, that way he knows it was from the heart. 

        I also made a quick trip to the doctors, having them patch up my nose and the back of my head (apparently I got hit so much the back of my head broke open, so I'll have to return to remove these staples). I also washed the blood off my face and hands there, finding the alley I left my clothes in thanks to my little cereal box. I changed clothes and got rid of my eye contacts, wearing my glasses (if you have them) once more. I made it back to the SSS headquarters seeing a very worried Donnie.

        "You're so late! I thought that you had to leave for an hour or two, not the whole day!" Donnie exclaimed.

        "The line for this damn product, I swear!" I huffed, lying to Donnie as I gave him the makeup kit and one of the bouquets. "It was expensive as hell so consider that an apology for how long it took. The demand is high for it."

        "Thanks! This means a lot! I clocked out for you too." Donnie smiled. "You need me to walk you home? It's very late." 

        "No thanks. Yuri's a jealous man." I laughed. 

        "You're right. Be safe! If you feel anyone's following you, just call me!" Donnie spoke.

        "You're a good man. Later!" I spoke, waving as I walked away with my bouquet and my teddy bear. 

        I finally made it back to my apartment, just about ready to burst into tears since I was so happy to be home. 

        Home? Can I call it that after all that's happened? I basically just committed domestic abuse today at work without Yuri even knowing of this! 

        I climbed up the apartment stairs and made it to mine and Yuri's apartment, knocking on the door since Yuri has the only key (it's a work in progress for Yuri to get me a key). Yuri opened the door with an angry expression before it faded once seeing me.

        "Hey, what happened to your nose and face?" Yuri questioned. "And why are you so late?"

        "I worked with Donnie today on listening to bugged rooms, then did this extremely long interrogation and the bastard landed a few punches!" I huffed, gritting my teeth.

        "Are you okay? You should really lay down." Yuri spoke. "And what's with the bear and flowers?"

        "For you." I mumbled, adverting my eyes. "Donnie told me about how today was his anniversary with his wife, and it made me realize we never had a honeymoon or anything, for our real or fake relationship... so... I wanted to give you something so...you know...I care..." I muttered. 

        Yuri smiled, walking towards me as he took my gifts and set it down. I looked up at him, confused on what he was doing. 

        "I don't need you to spend money on me for me to know you care. Just you being by my side is enough for me." Yuri spoke, raising his arm and patting my head. 

        I smiled, ignoring the tears welling up in my eyes as I gave him a hug, completely forgetting about his wounds.

        "Ow! Ow!" he exclaimed.

        "Oh! Sorry!" I spoke, about to let go before he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in further. 

        "No! The pain is worth it!" he spoke through tears as I laughed. "What are you crying for anyways?" he smiled.

        "Listen, been a long time since I've had genuine love directed towards me." I huffed. 

        "I'll make it my life-long mission to make sure you're always loved!" Yuri declared confidently. 

        "By the way, I won't be cooking tonight. Today's been so long with how that damn brat broke my nose and fractured my jaw." I huffed.

        "So your jaw is injured too?" Yuri sighed. "I picked up some store soup for me since it'll be a while for me to see solid foods; you can have some."

        "What happened?" I questioned.

        "It's a long story..." Yuri huffed, resting his head on top of mine.

        Earlier, he said that just me being by his side was enough, but, I'm not truly by his side in this case... am I?

        Yuri Briar, I'm terribly sorry, but I don't think I could ever be the perfect Mrs. Briar for you. I'm Vixen, the West Spy after all. I've never failed a mission yet and I doubt I'd fail this one too just because of some measly feelings I harbor.

        Parts: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, current part, ten (to be continued when Spy x Family has more Yuri content!)

        Want more Yuri content? Yuri has his own masterlist now! Check it out!

        Have any requests? Check my masterlist to see the characters I write for: Masterlist (Please request, I have too much free time and too little fics).

        Hey! I need your help, my star! What do you wanna read for chapter 10? Help me decide on some new character’s personalities! Poll

[pilots-and-protons]

Had a crazy idea the other day, when I was thinking about how Tom Paris is one of the only main crewmembers who didn't have some kind of Borg stuff happen to him (other than the Doctor, of course).

Obviously Seven is already borg, but Chakotay briefly experienced the mini-collective in "Unity", Neelix and Harry were both cured by Borg nanoprobes (plus Harry had started to be assimilated by the Borg children), and of course Janeway, Tuvok, and B'Elanna were briefly assimilated too.

But because I'm me, I started pondering about "Threshold" and the fascinating potential of Tom being everywhere in the universe simultaneously, but how it all "slipped away" when he tried to remember - to process it after the fact. Because surely, a human brain simply can't comprehend something of that magnitude.

But what if it all was still there - just inaccessible, in a way. I imagine it would be like trying to run a game on a computer that isn't powerful enough - the basic game can download (barely), but if you actually tried to play it, nothing would properly load or function. What if everything Tom experienced at Warp 10 was in there somewhere, but just too vast and incomprehensible for him to access?

And then what if a Borg drone tried to assimilate him?

I like to imagine a scenario where Tom gets caught on an away mission during some Borg fiasco - but when those tubules go into his neck, when the drone links into Tom's mind to bring him into the collective, that Borg gets the surprise of a lifetime. Suddenly it's not one human brain unable to access this vast expanse of experience and memories - it's millions of species, working like one giant super-processor, and suddenly that "inaccessible" part of Tom's mind comes flooding out.

It would be like sending a feedback-loop through a machine to short-circuit it. Suddenly every Borg on the ship (maybe even others close enough within the collective hivemind), are flooded with more information and memories than they can possibly process at one time, coming from a singular source. Every cybernetic implant in the drone who initiated the assimilation overloads, and it collapses in an unresponsive heap.

Of course, Tom would hardly be much better off. It's like his brain exploded, first forced to try and comprehend the expansive collective of the hivemind, then flooded by memories and experiences he thought were all lost. Everything he saw, everywhere he was - all mixed in with the terrified screams of thousands of voices being overwhelmed and dying. When the drone collapses, Tom follows suit - his poor human brain unable to comprehend it all and shutting down to save itself.

When the others find him, he's unconscious, blood oozing from his nose and the injection sites in his neck. He's pale and clammy, but not the ashen color of a freshly-made Borg. The drone is lying beside him, dead - yet signs of struggle are clearly minimal. No one is sure what actually happened.

Tuvok and whoever else are in the away team are all completely perplexed. One moment they were trying to fend off the Borg in other parts of the Cube, then they heard Tom's screams echo through the ship and suddenly one by one, every drone seemed to fritz out and collapse. B'Elanna and Harry try checking the Borg systems, but they can't understand what they're seeing. All they can tell is that it looks like something burnt out every system, spreading from the inside out - both in the ship and the drones themselves like some kind of cascade failure.

Taking their chance to escape, the away team beams back to Voyager, with Tom sent straight to sickbay. When the Doctor gets ahold of him, he's shocked to see that the assimilation process had been started - but something had halted it. Nanoprobes have to be removed from Tom's body, but the interlink node that should have connected him to the collective is completely burned out even before the Doctor removes it. After surgery to remove the Borg tech and to repair some damage done to Tom's brain, they have to wait for him to wake up.

In the meantime, the other senior staff share what they know and what knowledge they gained from the Borg cube. B'Elanna and Seven come to the conclusion that there was some kind of cascade failure, and that the interconnectedness of the Borg meant that when it hit one, it hit all the rest. Janeway is excited by the prospect - that the Borg's greatest strength, their hivemind, could become their downfall if they can only figure out how to recreate what happened. Seven takes what scans she can from the Cube's systems before they depart, but it will take time to reconstruct all the damaged and fragmented data.

Of course, when Tom wakes up in Sickbay, he's initially pretty disoriented. He doesn't remember exactly what happened, too confused by the voices from the collective, and once more unable to comprehend the Warp 10 experiences. He explains that he remembers feeling the injection tubules piercing his skin, feeling terror and disgust at the idea of losing himself as a Borg, but then it's like... static in his brain. Just a faint memory of pressure and pain that he can't understand. When the Doctor assures him that there's no longer anything physically wrong with him, Tuvok suggests that perhaps a mind-meld will be able to help them. Tom's memories may be fragmented due to his injuries and the trauma of the experience, but Tuvok may be able to parse out what happened with the Borg.

The Doctor is, as usual, skeptical of the dangers of such a thing - especially so soon after Tom's recovery. But when he hears what the others experienced and why Janeway wants to know what happened, Tom agrees to the meld anyways.

Meanwhile, I also like to think that this strange occurrence was felt by the Borg Queen. Due to the time it would likely take for information to reach the center of the collective, I imagine only the drones closest to the away team's Cube would have been destroyed or otherwise incapacitated. Because of this, the Queen would have some knowledge of what happened - gleaned from fragments of the dying drones' collective consciousnesses. Mostly, she just felt hundreds of drones inexplicably ceasing to function and knew that, at the heart of it, somehow the crew of Voyager were involved. So she sends out a sort of scouting party, to find the ruined cube and to gather more information. Whatever had created this unknown threat - it has to be eliminated.

Back on Voyager, the meld doesn't exactly go as planned. Tuvok had melded with Tom once before after the Banean incident - but this was entirely different. He sees, experiences the sensations, as Tom is captured and the tubules are injected. But then everything becomes... almost incomprehensible. There is pain, fear - and the voice of the collective, their multi-faceted mantra of "resistance is futile, prepare to be assimilated". But intercut with this is something else entirely - space, a shuttlecraft, a feeling of inexplicable freedom. Then Earth, Starfleet headquarters, and a Klingon battle cruiser - voices from the Romulan high counsel, and the inside of an abandoned Cardassian station. Even more flood his mind - some arguing Kazon, though it seems to be a sect unfamiliar to them, a planet unknown to Federation star charts, creatures and places and people that Tuvok has no point of reference for. The images and sensations keep overlapping and coming faster, more intense, until Tuvok can also feel the screams of the Borg, feels the pain pain pain - and he has to force himself to sever the link before his own mind is drawn asunder.

In Sickbay, he stumbles back, caught by Janeway and Chakotay. Tuvok is surprised by the toll such a meld had on him, and even more so at the blood dripping from his own nose. Janeway kindly brings him a tissue and asks if he is alright. The Doctor is hovering, going back and forth between scanning Tuvok and Tom - the latter of which is only just coming around. He eventually asks what happened, trying to sit up but being overcome by a wave of dizziness. The Doctor insists he lie down, and for once Tom doesn't argue. He does admit, however, that partway through the meld it was like his mind just hit a wall and he must have passed out. He doesn't really remember anything.

After much fussing and a few hyposprays, the Doctor tells them that both Tom and Tuvok will be alright - but that they both need to rest for at least the next twenty-four hours. Whatever happened put a great deal of strain on their bodies both physically and mentally, and he once more chides Vulcans on their "recklessness in playing with the humanoid brain". He also give Tom a mild sedative to ensure that he doesn't try to overexert himself.

While Tom sleeps, Tuvok takes the time to meditate and regain his bearings. Afterwards, Janeway brings him some tea in her ready room and asks if he can try to explain what he saw. Tuvok says that the experience was quite disturbing, but that after familiarizing himself with Tom's records, he has begun to come up with a plausible hypothesis. He says that many of the things he saw in Tom's memories shouldn't have been possible - such as the unfamiliar Kazon sect, and the various worlds and humanoids that they have no record of. When Janeway asks if this could have come from the Borg, Tuvok says that it is unlikely - each person's perception leaves a sort of imprint on their own memories, like an artist's signature or the codes used to denote a federation signal in a communique. While the thoughts of the collective were briefly present in Tom's mind, as soon as he became linked to it, these other memories exploded out. The only explanation Tuvok can offer forth is that Tom's brain retained some encoding of his experiences with transwarp flight, which were previously too vast for him to consciously comprehend. The capacity of the humanoid brain to process information must have expanded exponentially with the aid of the collective, and these experiences were once again accessible. However, the onslaught was too much for even the Borg to handle, which completely overloaded their inorganic systems.

He expresses that it seems, Tom unintentionally became a living, breathing Trojan Horse for the collective - without anyone being aware of it. The supposed "weapon" that Janeway was hoping for is, unfortunately Tom Paris himself.

[babiebom]

apologies for my absence- holiday periods are tiring lmao how were they for you? unfortunately we have yet to watch the fnaf movie, as our group is one that is exceedingly difficult to make plans around because we're all busy 💀 but then there's the one guy who doesn't want to leave his house lmao luckily, iv'e been pretty good at staying away from spoilers, so i've got that going for me. on the other hand, i'm planning to go see Trolls 3, and my mother and sister recently went to see the new Wonka movie. Though from what i've heard from a friend, Wonka's no good :// Yeahhh, if i actually commit to the mod, i'd have to learn pixel art and reteach myself code and programming 😭... i used to be somewhat decent at it. oooo yes i love a good choose your own adventure! they're so much fun and i've actually coded 1 of my own :,) it was through Visual Basics though, so the formatting was a bit weird for me lmao if you're going for a visual novel type of look and playability, I'd probably recommend Unity or itch.io? in my experience, Unity is probably easier to use.. theres another website/app i used but i can't recall the name sadly :( if i do i'll get back to you though! i don't have that much of a detailed request this time, but perhaps some fluff and love languages between rasmodius and the reader? or like hcs of rasmodius's evolving interest/thoughts arund the reader before finally getting together? i'd perhaps request nsfw/smut stuff too but tbh i just don't have any ideas 💛 tysmm :D -🔮

A/N: I’m glad you’re okay!! Honestly I’ve been sick these past couple of weeks (I caught pneumonia and had it for a month before going to the hospital. I thought it was a cold oopsies) I haven’t watched anything new recently but I am watching the third season of singles inferno with some friends. And I guess until I can figure out how to make a visual novel I have to write the fic out lmao sucks for me because I think a game would be better but oh well. What can I do? And like always I’ll try to do both!! Check back for the second one!!

Tw: cursing, slight nsfw but no full on smut. Let me know if there’s something I missed!!

Wc: I have no idea! But these are headcanons so 10+ is the goal!!

Sdv Masterlist

Okay so there are five main types of love languages.

Physical touch, Words of Affirmation, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Quality Time.

I would also like anyone reading this to remember that these love languages are how you want to be loved/receive love not how you show love to others.

I do think that Rasmodius is very connected to himself

And by that I mean I think he knows himself very well, or at least he thinks he knows himself very well.

And for a long time I think he probably thought that Quality Time and Physical Touch were his main two love languages.

I mean idk if it’s canon but in my opinion I do think he cheated on the witch with Caroline

And I’m not gonna go into it here because this isn’t about them, but I think it might’ve had to do with that and his own struggles with temptations.

And I also think gift giving is canon for literally every single character in stardew because that’s the main way to befriend someone.

But I think that after marrying you/beginning to date you he realizes that his actual love language is words of affirmation.

While Physical touch and quality time are still very important to him, being with you makes him see that he really does like being praised.

Like whenever you say that he has done something well, or that you like something he has done his heart flutters as if he were a teenager again.

Especially when it comes to his magic

Like I feel like the townspeople aren’t really fond of him

And they never thank him for the things that he does whenever they actually need him for stuff

Like the haunted maze

Like they’re just talking about how weird he is and how he got it done

But they never stop and say anything that’s positive like WTF

So I think he would appreciate whenever you thank him or praise him and it would go straight to his head (which one idk 👀)

With quality time I feel like you get a lot of it after he moves to the farm

Like unless he’s working in his tower, or you’re off somewhere like in the mines

That you’re like together even if it’s spent in silence

And he loves that

Like he was super lonely before even if he doesn’t want to admit it

So just being in the same room as you counts as quality time for him.

And if you’re doing an activity that’s particularly domestic

He’s in heaven like he doesn’t wanna make it a big deal

But baking and helping you around the farm makes his heart soar.

I think in terms of how he shows love i think he would show it in acts of service and gift giving

Like oh you don’t feel well?

Don’t bother going to the clinic he’s just going to create a potion that stops you from getting sick

You’re afab and you’re having bad cramps during your period?

Consider them gone

Look at this thing he got for you

And while yeah this might seem like either a lot of insincere

In his mind and heart this is how he shows that he appreciates you and wants you to live a good and easy life.

If he can make things easier and less stressful for you

That’s exactly what he’s going to do

He loves you and while he loves receiving attention and love he’s kinda crap at giving it in the same way because he just doesn’t really know how

So this is how he does

He’s VERY romantic sometimes and shows it through gifts and services.

Very cute and a good significant other when you get past his rough exterior.

[light-of-delphi]

Apollo and Loki tag-team

I know how the title sounds. Let me explain.

Last night, I was conducting a reading with Apollo on the topic of familiars and spirit guides. He was being very non-specific about everything, sort of dancing around things, and then he said, at some point, "ask Loki."

I have not worked with Loki for about a year. I assumed he had stepped out of my practice and left me after helping me reach all of our goals throughout our working relationship. Though, I never really got an explicit goodbye from him. But after a year of radio silence, I assumed the relationship was done. Apparently not?

I reached out to Loki afterward and welcomed him back into my life. I really have missed him this past year and seeing him pop back up is a very pleasant surprise! He and I chatted for a while about the same topic: Familiars. A spirit guide. And he had the following to say during an intuitive writing session.

I may have had a hand in the sending of a familiar :) For comfort and stability. Yes, I sent it. You need to give in to impulse. Forget everyones expectations of you. You have to be you. You have to. Not [partner] or [best friend]. You will find balance with him. Balance, unity, and harmony. Seek it with him. Your choice. ... .. Look to the future with him and you both shall see each other to success. I'd prefer a wold, but a fox is much more your speed. And please, ask his name before anything. Have a gay ol' time, young on, and happy pride. Enjoy your gift. You have certainly earned it.

I had to expunge some personal stuff and instruction but this is most of what was written and spoken to me. Now... I am not very well versed on spirit practice and familiars, so I've begun doing research. If anyone has any good sources - books, blogs, sites, anything reputable, please let me know!

Sometimes my divine team will do this. They'll send me things that I don't have much personal knowledge of to break me out of my comfort zone and send me on my way going, "You're ready!! You're just too comfortable right now!" And every single time it catches me off guard because they do it at the most unexpected moments.

Loki coming back was also incredibly unexpected! But looking back at it, with all the chaos that's been unfolding around me, it makes sense. I'm happy to welcome Loki back with open arms, I missed him a lot, and his presence is always an unexpected gift. And I suppose this means that my life is going to reach max chaos, especially as I get ready to move out and away from home for the first time. Hermes, Apollo, Bacchus, and Loki will make sure of that!

But I do still have times when things will be a little more relaxed. In the early hours of the morning, when the city streets are still and the street lights are on, everyone in the house is asleep, I get to sit in my room and confer with my team and check-in. It's the time when I'm most connected with them, and communication is most open. Hopefully, this time frame opens up when I'm in a more accepting location, but for now, this is the routine.

And in the near future, I suppose I should be keeping an eye out for fox-like spirits! Again, any and all resources are welcome and appreciated! Blessed be, and may the sun be your guide! A domani!

[canmom]

I participated in the Micro Jam this weekend! Tyler, creator of the Latios Framework for Unity's DOTS, runs an annual game jam with his friends and I've ended up becoming something of a regular in it.

We made a game called Sanguis Velocitas, in which you're a chompy alien eating blood and spraying it out of the back to go. It's somewhere between asteroids/Jet Lancer, and those games where you're a little fish. Don't spend too long around the poisonous macrophages...

It was a pretty intense jam but it paid off - unlike every previous jam I've been in, the team did not fall apart, and we had a working game at the end of it! here's some of the stuff I did...

on Friday I modelled, rigged, texture painted and animated the main character 'chompey', kind of like a little Audrey II...

on Saturday I wrote the character and animation controllers for chompy, which involved some fiddly quaternion stuff. (Tyler/Dreaming381 gave it a little work after me to smooth out some jitter.)

and today, I did most of the visuals for the game while my friends worked on coding up all sorts of other behaviours - enemies, menus, etc.

that included cooking up a Blender system to generate gnarly looking caves using Geometry Nodes...

which are naturally inspired by Chris Riddell's illustrations of Sanctaphrax. It basically computes a 3D Voronoi pattern on voxels and shapes it with various functions of the distance from the level geometry, then meshes the result. (I was loosely inspired by the techniques used in Solar Ash to procedurally add detail using Houdini.)

Along with that, I piled up a big stack of post-processing effects to render that in Unity, and cooked up a nice little shader for rendering the pulsing effect on the walls and the red blood cells. I may have gone a little overboard but it was nice to be on a platform where post-processing and shadows are actually an option lmao.

Then in like the last 20 minutes I made the particle effect for blood.

I never made a model for the macrophage enemy or a shader for its poison cloud, but outside of that, I got pretty much everything I wanted to do done, and I'm very happy with what came out. Go try it out if you like and maybe leave a rating~

[amadeusgame]

Indie Assemble! (+ Updates)

First: exciting stuff! Amadeus is part of Excalibur's Indie Assemble, a Steam sale celebrating indie games all over the world, which you can check out right now here.

Second: below is an overview of last month's work to show that the game is on its way to done (exciting in its own way).

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I will keep this relatively short, because now that I am in the home stretch of actually building out the entire game in full—swapping placeholders, polish, and playtesting notwithstanding—I don't want to spend too much time writing about the process. I just want to get back to work on the game and finish.

The broad strokes of progress from last month are as follows.

Built 3 more scenes, including my favorite scene in Episode 1.

Implemented script and basic mechanics—the game is 100% playable from the start through these new scenes.

Finished 1 new detailed background image. We are well beyond the point where I want to share these, so you'll have to wait and see it. :)

Revised script to tighten the narrative.

Coded a new mechanic juuuuust for one single scene. I wanted to flex my Unity/C# muscles a little and I think this mechanic is very fun. Enjoy.

I've been building 3 new scenes a month for a few months now, and while some are more polished than others by the end of it, I've made significant progress and consistently met the benchmark. Based on this pace, the entire game will be built by the end of June. Two months until that major milestone is achieved.

In July, I will spend some time evaluating what specific, bare minimum requirements are needed to bring the game from "fully playable" to "shippable," and set my sights on those. I may be able to announce a timeline for release at that time, but I would prefer to wait until I am certain about what is doable.

I do want to say that I'm determined to avoid a scenario where I push back the game forever in the vain hope of making it perfect. If there is one thing I learned in grad school, it is how to prioritize what matters in the final stages of a project to get something out there. I obviously can't ship the game in its current state because it has far too many placeholders in the later scenes that aren't aesthetically or thematically consistent with the scenes from the demo. But I am already finding ways to reuse assets I have already made in effective ways to reduce the number of things I need to do between now and completion, and cut less important corners to focus my efforts on the essential things.

At this stage, a finished product will speak more than words. So I will get back to work. Thank you very much for your continued interest in this project.

Stay up-to-date here: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

[system-of-a-feather]

Like man, our system is extremely like "compassion, best faith, communication and radical 'beat them with kindness'" nature most of the time as a fused whole that its probably REALLY fucking funny when I come out of the woodworks going "dude I wish I could have done that and if I wasn't a system, I probably would have made it a goal in my life to do, I love assassinations and murderers in the name of the public good"

And like, I'm sure it seems juxaposing / incongruent with the fused whole that I can hold these beliefs AND be as radically valuing compassion and peace and what not; but like... no. I have been here since forever and I am still here, I just actively choose that while I do feel, believe and think certain ways, most of the time I also acknowledge that it is not productive, not helpful, and/or not aligned with the values and what we want in our life

That said, collectively we do agree that that motherfucker deserved to die, we love the unity and collective rage that the American populace has come together to voice in a response to it, and that we very much like to see where this is going because good god does the unity of the Common Person brought upon by this assassination make for such a great thing to see.

Like look, if the reaction to it was mixed, tbh we wouldn't care as much and I'd probably keep my "LOL BASED" and support stuff to myself, but good god I support the collective anger and rage and the opportunity to gain a voice

It's a moment when anger very much is suitable and very very much important. Anger isn't evil or awful, anger is the thing that advocates from you the most passionately. It can sometimes be missdirected or uncontrolled, but this here? No, I don't think this is a time that is the case. This is very productive anger and I support this.

I hope everything good comes from this display of anger. It was very much needed in our society.

We might - as a system - disagree with the EXTENT we loudly support this action and so some parts have to reign me in a bit from being TOO loud about it publicly (which is normal lmao, its always been that way), but we are all on the same page here with 'that bitch had it coming'