#for God's sake stop farming your thinking out to robots

[stealthcake]

AI Makes You Stupid

I freaking knew it you guys.

Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared”

So not to be all conspiratorial, but is this why corporations are pushing AI so hard? Because they are really pushing it. I can't do anything online or on my computer without having to make an effort to avoid AI. It's getting beyond the point where it feels like a sales pitch or fake added value. It feels like Big Tech is trying to possess and commodify what little remains of real human cognition and communication.

[the-sword-lesbian]

Thoughts on the Arcadia Gays' Stardew Valley playstyle and who would be Best Girl for each of them?

Allllllright LiS plays Stardew Valley let’s go!

You said Arcadia Gays but I plan to do more as well so let’s get into it!

Chloe: primarily focuses on combat and mining and only really grows enough to cover favors/gifts at first but then gets really into cooking and expands the farming a bit more for ingredience. Favored relationships: Maru because fellow science nerd, Abigail because fellow adventure enthusiast, Penny because she reminds Chloe of Max. Platonic besties with Sam.

Max: terrible at keeping any crops alive so she mostly focuses on exploring, foraging, and some fishing when she gets the hang of it. Favored relationships: Abigail because she reminds Max of Chloe, Penny because she reminds Max of Kate, Sam because skater boys are cute, Leah because aloof artist girl she keeps bumping into in the woods while foraging.

Kate: Animal husbandry out the wazoo. Especially coop animals, especially rabbits. But she adores her chickens, dogs, and cats. Not super good at fishing and a bit too nervous to delve too deep in the mines. Favored relationships: Haley! Because she’s the exact same brand of “I can fix her” pretty artistic meangirl that Kate falls for every time. Penny because she can relate too much to her.

Rachel: Miss “stop at nothing” perfectionist won’t settle for anything less than hundred percenting this game. She does it all and just for the sake of getting everything she romances everyone to be a shit disturber and to get the group events. After unlocking and completing the island she will literally just log into the game and stand on the beach for whole days. Favored Relationships: Abigail because she can really relate to the feelings of being stuck in the mold that your parents want for you. Emily because she’s fun. Leah because she’s hot. Alex because a big dumb cute footballer is fun. Sam because skater boys are cute.

Victoria: playing not just the vanilla game but stardew valley expanded as well. She tries to max out all the questlines and do good at the festivals. Favored romances: Sophia because she can’t not date the cute anime nerd. Olivia because hot MILF. Leah because who wouldn’t? And very specifically NOT Haley because “god who would ever deal with all that negging elitist bs??”

Bonus rounds!!

Courtney: terrifyingly invested in this game. Has more money than you thought the UI would actually show. Beat the whole game and is now in it entirely for the aesthetic builds and collecting every clothing item. Wears a different outfit every day. Favored relationships: none by design but has romanced every romanceable character just to have done it. Gets along best with Emily though.

Taylor: Bought the game because she saw Victoria playing it. Romanced Haley and did nothing else.

Steph: All around consistent player. Likes adventuring the most. Also playing a modded version. Favored relationships: Abigail because she likes the ttrpg and adventuring parts of her character. Leah because she ticks a lot of Steph’s boxes. Emily because she’s fun. She tried to romance Haley but got tired of the negging. Sophia because of course. She also installed a mod that made Sebastian transfemme to romance.

Warren/Lauren: Made a girl character, loves the game but plays in secret. Has romanced 11 out of the 12 dateable characters.

Alex: likes the fishing and adventuring. Has a few animals. Favored relationships: Abigail, Sam, and Seb because fellow musicians/nerds. Penny because she’s just so sweet! Harvey because he’s a nice guy. Emily because she’s so much fun and so positive. She also romanced Leah and it gave her gay feelings about Char so she avoids that romance now.

Riley: one part mining nerd, one part beekeeper. Has grown all the flowers and has a textbook perfect garden/apiary arrangement. Favored relationships: Maru because fellow science and robotics nerd! Abigail and Leah because she thinks they’re both cute.

[loxare]

Ok so it's been a week since I finished Iron Widow and I think my brain has calmed down enough to talk about it without it just being incoherent shrieking

Guys

Guys

Read this book. It is so good. I am not kidding. If you liked Pacific Rim, read this book. (I've never read of seen Handmaid's Tale, but this book is also full of righteous fury about the inbuilt misogyny of the world it's set in, so read it if you like that.) Just do it. Go. And then come scream at me about it cause I wanna hear that

More Thoughts under the cut cause those are a bit spoilery

I have never read a book with such a feral, unhinged protagonist. Wu Zetian is just such an amazing character. Her murder list starts with one person and once it's empty she is very willing to add to it. She really took one look at the patriarchy and said is anyone going to destroy that and then didn't wait for an answer. She is so incredibly bloodthirsty, but as soon as two (2) entire people showed her love and respect and acceptance, she becomes so soft for them, for a given value of soft. Soft for Zetian is still razor sharp for most people. She changes so much over the book but it's her outlook that changes, as she gains more experience. She is rightfully unwilling to forgive the people who try to hurt and use her and once they fuck up their second chance, that's it. They're gone. It is excellent to read

Li Shimin is such a gift too. Poor baby had such a hard life. He can have a little murder, as a treat. And despite everything! He never gets angry for himself!! He could snap a person in half with his bare hands, and would if they threatened Zetian or Yizhi, but not for his own sake! Deserves the world, deserves happiness, deserves some more self esteem. I keep rereading that scene at the end of their first flight because he's just so shocked and tender and I love it. And the more he learns and the more he finds out that what happened to those girls isn't (entirely) his fault, it's the fault of the systems designed to bleed them dry and he's so furious but still manages to be the least bloodthirsty of the trio

And Gao Yizhi. Absolute sweetheart but I am convinced he's secretly a bastard and I am living for it. He's not even doing a good job of hiding it. Boy knows what he wants and he wants to kiss both his sexy roommates. He kinda takes a side seat, both metaphorically and also literally in the Chrysalis, to the other two for this book but in the sequel he is absolutely going to shine, calling it now (sequel announcement when??). He showed a little of that near the end of the book and it is going to be amazing

And the plot is so amazing. Just. Farm girl plans to avenge sister's murder by killing the murderer could be an entire novel by itself, and has been the plot of a few very good books, but the resolution for that comes in the first hundred pages, and there's more plot after than! And there's also giant robots fighting equally giant monsters thrown in! And then the slow progression of Zetian not caring that she was going to die for her actions, to daring people to shoot her because she's valuable now and they can't afford to lose her yet, to doing everything in her power to ensure she and her two boys survive. Survive and also destroy all the systems keeping women down and also maybe the government, another few things which could be entire novels in and of themselves but are so seamlessly woven into this one

I've read a lot of angry literature but this one is the most visceral. It is furious at the state of things and refuses to let them stay as they are. The systems which are inherently unbalanced, designed to be unbalanced, but kept secret so the changes they effect on the female pilots can be written off as natural. "Women aren't as naturally strong. Women don't go into the fields that pay more, or don't do as good of a job, that's why there's a wage gap." The review thingy on the front cover calls this book a primal scream and it is absolutely correct. Reading through it feels like jumping off a cliff, screaming, with a sword pointed at your greatest foe who's on the ground below you, putting not just your entire weight into it but all the force the planet can exert on you, you can't stop, you don't want to stop, and when you land flawlessly you're just breathless with it

Everything I knew about the world I just read changes in the last three or so pages and I am so mad I don't already have the sequel in my hands. I will have to happily settle for rereading this book cover to cover a couple million times until I do. Predictions: Yizhi shows his true bastard side, Shimin gets a fucking break for once in his life, and Zetian kills god

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Blue Christmas

Pairing: Bucky x Fem!Reader

Summary: Christmas isn’t always a joyful time of year for everyone. Sometimes it’s a reminder of how alone you are. 

Word Count: 2,300 - One Shot

A/N: I dedicate this to everyone that feels lonely tonight. 

Y/N looked around the living room. Most of the candles in the house were almost burnt out. Yet the flames in the fireplace were still roaring. Her parents had gone to sleep over an hour ago. The TV was quietly playing Love Actually. Y/N had already seen it 3 times this season. But she could never seem to pass by it if she saw that it was playing on TV.

Her cellphone was sitting just a few inches away from her on the couch.

Y/N eyed it, suddenly having the urge to use it.

Without thinking, she dialed a number that she’d memorized almost the moment she got it.

There was barely a single ring before they picked up.

“Hey, doll,” his husky voice answered.

“Hi,” she smiled and replied quietly. Even just hearing the sound of his voice made her just a bit more happy.

Then she could hear some background noise. Bucky had stayed at the compound. Some of the Avengers had family to go back to for the holidays. For the ones that didn’t, Tony hosted a dinner.

Nat went home with Clint, back to his farm. Sam went to hang out with his whole family back in Harlem. Scott was in San Francisco with his daughter. Thor was god knows where in the world or universe. Peter was back in Queens with Aunt May. Doctor Strange was in Manhattan with the few friends he still had left.

Steve, Bucky, Wanda, Vision and Bruce stayed behind with Tony and Pepper. They tried to pretend they were like a normal family.

The background noise seemed to slowly dim. Y/N realized Bucky must have gone into another room for some privacy and quiet.

“I’m glad you called,” Bucky hums. She can hear his smile. “How are you, doll?”

Y/N closed her eyes at his voice. She’d had a pathetic crush on the super-soldier for almost a year now. She thought it was blatantly obvious. Even suspected that everyone at the compound knew. The only person she suspected didn’t know was Bucky. If he did, he was nice enough not to act like he didn’t. 

There were times Y/N swore he might feel the same. But then she brought herself right back to reality. She knew she wasn’t lucky enough for things to work out that way. Never in her life had a crush returned her affections. So she’d learned to stop acting on her feelings. Unrequited love seemed to be only type of romantic relationship she’d ever experience.

It was fine though. Being friends with Bucky was enough for her.

“I’m…fine.” She lied slowly, finally answering his question.

“You don’t sound fine.” The concern is immediate in his voice.

“No, I’m fine, really. I’m just sitting alone in my living room. Love Actually is on and I just thought I’d see what you were up to. Wanted to make sure you’re not moping alone in your room,” she tried to sound playful and tease him.

Bucky took the bait and chuckled. “Y/N, you and I both know Steve would never allow that. In fact, he’ll probably come looking for me, since I’ve been out of the room for – what, 5 minutes?”

Y/N laughed lightly.

“Where’s your family, doll?” He didn’t like the idea of her being alone on Christmas Eve.

“Well, my mom and dad went to bed. They got into a fight because my dad got too drunk and passed out at the dining table while we were all cleaning up. Mom threw a fit.” She didn’t know why she gave him those embarrassing details.

Bucky’s brow furrowed with concern. “What about your siblings?”

Y/N sighed, “Oh, they went to spend the night at their significant other’s family parties.”

He frowned at that.

She laughed sardonically. “I thought the whole point of me flying home meant that I didn’t have to be alone for Christmas.”

Bucky pinched the bridge of nose. He hated that he was so far away from her right now.

“But what about that giant party last night? The one your parents throw every year with all your friends and extended family.”

Y/N smirked that he remembered. “It was fun! But – I don’t know – everyone is married or engaged or has kids now. I just…I felt like something was wrong with me. All these years, and I’ve never even had a boyfriend to mention, let alone one to bring to the thing.”

Bucky went quiet. 

He wanted to say that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. He wanted to add that the reason she never brought a guy home for the holidays was because there couldn’t possibly be a man in the whole world that was worthy of her. But he didn’t know how to say that without sounding like a total phony or exposing that he was absolutely in love with her.

Y/N misinterpreted his silence.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to just unload all of that on you. I’m just being pathetic and feeling sorry for myself. I shouldn’t be bothering you. It’s Christmas Eve for christ sake,” she quickly rambled off.  

“No, no, no,” Bucky quickly cut her off. “Please. Don’t apologize.”

Then he hesitated, trying to choose his next words carefully. “I’m…I’m glad you feel like you can tell me stuff like that.”

Y/N processed his words. “How are things back at the compound?”

Bucky sighed and let out a light laugh. “Well, Pepper tried to get us all to play Catch Phrase and you can just ‘bout imagine how that went down…”

Y/N smiled at the thought.

“Vision doesn’t really know how to explain things in an abstract manner. Steve and I didn’t know what half the things were. And Tony got as competitive as you’d expect.”

Y/N giggled at his explanation.

“God…” Bucky muttered at the sound.

“What?” She asked.

“I didn’t realize how much I missed that laugh until I heard it,” he sighed.

Y/N swore her stomach dropped at the comment. “I’ve only been gone a few days,” she tried to argue.

“Doll, I miss you when you’re not at the compound for a few hours.”

She swallowed and realized how dry her mouth was.

Bucky had never said things like that to her. Maybe he was feeling just as lonely as she was around this holiday. And he just decided to charm the first person he could, to feel less alone. That was the only explanation she could come up with.

But Y/N was suddenly feeling bold. If this was all fake, she’d milk it for all she could.

“Buck, can I ask you something?” She almost whispered.

“Of course.”

Y/N held her breath for a moment. “If I had asked you to come home with me this year, would you have?”

Bucky’s jaw dropped slightly at the question. He was glad she couldn’t see his reaction.

“Y/N…I don’t think you realize that I’d jump off a bridge if you asked me to.”

“Well, good thing I’d never do that,” Y/N tried to joke, but she was so shocked by his response that her reply came out in robotic monotone.

“I’m sorry you’re alone there, doll. If I’d known that was going to happen, I would’ve tried to convince you to stay here.”

“I’m fine. Really, Buck.” Y/N sighed. “Just had a moment of weakness.”

“Y/N?” Bucky whispered.

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad you called.”

“Thank you for answering.”

“I’ll always answer,” he instantly replied.

It was true. Y/N didn’t make a habit of calling him. But when she did, there wasn’t a single time Bucky didn’t pick up.

Then Y/N heard Steve’s voice, calling for Bucky.

“I’ll let you go,” Y/N said quietly.

Bucky had never wanted to punch his friend more.

“Merry Christmas, Bucky,” Y/N told him shyly.

“Merry Christmas, Y/N.”

“I’ll see you in a few days.”

Just as Bucky was hanging up the phone, Steve was walking into the room.

“Everything okay?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, it was Y/N. She’s all alone.” He looked like a sad puppy as he said it.

“Buck,” Steve used his serious, Captain America voice. “It’s time.”

“I can’t, Steve.”

“Why not?” He argued.

“Because…Because I just can’t.”

“You could make her really happy, Buck.”

He shook his head, “How are you so sure?”

“Because she’s in love with you, punk. And I know no one would treat her better than you. So stop being a coward and finally tell her how you feel.” With that, Steve left Bucky alone.

———

Y/N took a helicopter from LaGuardia to the compound. She didn’t expect anyone to be waiting for her.

But then Bucky came walking out onto the pad.

His smile was beaming at her as she quickened her pace to meet him.

“Welcome back,” he greeted her shyly.

Y/N shrugged. “It’s good to be back.”

Without asking, Bucky took her huge duffle bag and threw it over his own shoulder.

“Come on. You’re just in time for breakfast. Everyone’s excited to see you again.”

“Oh, thank god you’re back! Now Tin Man can stop mopping around this place!” Tony roared as soon as Y/N and Bucky walked into the kitchen.

Steve came over to give her a hug. “We missed you, kid.”

“Good news,” Tony interrupted. “I decided to throw a huge party for New Year’s Eve!”

Y/N groaned and threw her head back. “Tony, I hate New Year’s Eve. I just want to be in my pajamas and have a movie marathon.”

“Too bad! Pepper already picked out a dress for you. It’s in your room.”

“I approved! It’s super cute!” Wanda chimed in cheerfully.

Y/N looked over to Bucky, who just shrugged his shoulders before making his way to her bedroom with her bag still over his shoulder.

“I hate you,” Y/N mumbled as she passed Tony and followed Bucky.

“No, you don’t!” Tony snapped back with a smile.

————

Bucky saw that there was a minute left until the ball dropped. He decided that he was going to stop being an absolute fool. Tonight was the night he finally told Y/N how he felt. Was it a dramatic and grand romantic gesture? Absolutely. And he knew it.

But he decided adding this much pressure on himself was what he deserved for hiding behind his feelings for so long. By some miracle, no guy made a move on Y/N while Bucky was wasting his time pining.

Bucky started panicking when he looked around and couldn’t find Y/N.

“Hey, Steve?” He turned to his friend. “Steve?” He repeated with obvious anxiety.

“What is it, Bucky?”

“Have you seen Y/N?”

Steve’s eyes widened when he realized what was happening. Now he was also frantically looking around the party.

“Check the balcony, Barnes.” Natasha instructed with her classic mischievous smirk.

Bucky barely said thanks before he was shoving his way through the crowd and moving toward the balcony.

As soon as he saw Y/N’s silhouette, he relaxed.

Bucky took a deep breath and slowly made his way to her. He made sure to walk a little loud as to not scare her. He was known to frighten people with his assassin stride.

“You okay?” He asked her when he finally joined her at the railing.

She gave him a sad smile and nodded. “Yeah, just rather be out here, watching the fireworks go off than be surrounded by people kissing.”

Bucky chuckled, “Fair enough.”

Their conversation stopped there.

“Have you been hiding out here all night? I feel like I barely got to talk to you tonight,” Bucky commented.

But he knew she wasn’t hiding. He’d kept tabs on her basically all night. Every time he thought he had a chance to interrupt or talk to her alone, someone at the party stole Y/N’s attention. He had started to believe that a higher power was working against him.

“Nope, no hiding here.” Y/N smirked.

Then they both turned to look back at the party as they heard everyone start to scream the count down.

But Bucky wasn’t about to rush this moment.

“I’ve been trying to get you alone all night, doll.”

Her brows lifted slightly, “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”

“There’s something I need to tell you, Y/N. In fact, I should’ve told you a long time ago. But I was…I was scared.”

Y/N held her breath. This had to be a dream. There was no way this was actually happening.

“I was so glad you called me on Christmas Eve. But, at the same time, I was so mad that anyone or anything could make you feel so terrible. If I could, I would’ve teleported there to make sure you knew that.” “Buck–”

“Please, doll. I really need to say this,” Bucky begged politely.

“There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re amazing. You’re – God – you’re fucking perfect. It pissed me off to know that the stupid holidays made you ever think otherwise. It got me to realize I should’ve said something…that maybe you wouldn’t feel that way if I told you…if I told you that I’m in love with you.”

“What?” Y/N gasped in a whisper.

“And I wouldn’t throw all of that on you unless I believed there was a chance that you might feel the same way, doll.”

“I do,” Y/N quickly declared before he could go on. “I do feel the same way, Bucky.”

He let out a giant breath. What a relief.

“I know we missed the ball dropping. But can I…Can I kiss you, doll?”

Y/N was glowing. “After that speech? I’d be mad if you didn’t.”

-------------

The holidays always bite me in the ass. Literally always. So I wrote this to make myself feel better. I hope it makes you feel better too...especially if you feel the same way around this time. 

[erintoknow]

Something dumb

fallen hero: rebirth / retribution fanfiction. definitely spoilers here + putting my cards on the table with w i l d speculation about stuff we probably won’t get any solid information on until book 3 which... who knows how far away. But it’s more fun to do it like this then make a big nonsense theory post imo. i’ll be fucking shocked if i guessed anything right

uh... anyway! ~2.1k words [ao3]

–

This is novel; it’s almost eleven and you’re still not dressed. Just a bath towel. In someone else’s apartment. Julia Ortega is upending all the rules you’ve set to keep yourself safe. Can’t shake the feeling it’s going to be your downfall. Careless. Arrogant. 

“So explain this to me, again.” Julia is eating breakfast at the kitchen table, sausage and eggs. You watch her from your position curled up on the couch, arms resting over the back. She watches you back.

“Which part?” Try to smile, try to make it look natural, normal. Are you succeeding? You can’t know.

You try not to look at your arms as you sip the cup of coffee. Julia had insisted, given how little sleep you had gotten. Nightmares, always. You can’t run from ghosts. Can’t run from yourself. Wherever you go, there you are. 

Julia stabs a tiny sausage with a fork before waving it in your direction. “Let’s start with the basics. What actually is a re-gene?”

You bite your lip. “What actually is a person, Julia?”

She flinches, “I’m sorry. I mean like.. I know how people are uh, made. But re-genes? It’s more complicated than the official story, I’m sure.”

Stare into the coffee cup, watch the little swirl of creamer. “I don’t know,” you finally admit.

“You don’t know?”

“Do you think they tell us anything they don’t have to? Do you tell your hammer how it was made?” You snap back at her, slump against the back of couch, hold the coffee cup stretched out before you with both hands. “I know they use the same kind of vats to grow the… the bodies like they use now in hospitals for transplants. Just… you know, they do the whole person.” You perk up, “Actually, did you know – they’re in clinical trails right now for this SRS option that combines lab grown with genetic engineering from the patient’s own genome to neutralize the risk of rejection, and it’s looking really promising and–”

“Ari.” Julia has a hand up. “Focus.”

“Right. Sorry.” You close your eyes, heat crawling up your face.

“I mean, it sounds great. Just… one thing at a time?”

“Yeah.” You blow air across the surface of your coffee mug, set the creamer spinning again.

“So you really don’t know anything?”

“Well…” You flinch, glance up at the ceiling, then back to her. “I mean, I would listen in. Whenever I had the chance. They were pretty good about keeping their guard up, but I mean… I’m just a thing so…”

“You are not a thing, Ariadne.” She looks at you, full force intensity. You have to look away. Can’t meet that. “Don’t ever forget that.”

“…thank you.” You blink your eyes, can’t rub without risking the coffee. “Okay. Well. You know how if you flash clone someone, beside committing a felony you’ve essentially just created like, an adult baby, right?”

“Yeah…?”

“The autonomic nervous system still works. Some basic behaviors, but like, babies still need to learn even the most basic elements of fine motor control. You can flash clone a hundred of your best solider, and they’ll all loll their heads back, sprawled on the ground drooling.”

“That’s what the whole chip thing is for right?”

“…right. We’re not ‘human.’ Just AI-piloted meat robots.”

Julia sits there for a moment, fork in her mouth. Her mouth tugs down in a frown. “Wait,” She puts the fork down. “That’s a lot of super basic behaviors for a program to handle.”

“Well. That’s the secret isn’t it.” Your smile turns dark. “We’ve made a lot of progress in mod interfaces and basic AI routines to run interface between the brain and servos. But Re-genes predate all of that. We still can’t get good enough AI to do proper image recognition.”

“So how…?”

“You cheat.”

“Cheat?”

Take a moment, close your eyes, will your heart to stop pounding against your chest. “What kind of program already knows everything about how the human body moves and operates? A program so complicated that writing it by scratch is basically impossible?”

Julia looks at you. Does she get it yet?

Dive on regardless. Don’t look back, jump the window. “Do you know what cognitive mapping is?”

She shakes her head. “No… I’m not going to like the answer, am I?”

You purse your lips, a thin line. “N-no, probably not.” You shift on the couch, take another sip of the coffee, will your arms to stop shaking. Some pilot you are, this body always acting on its own accord. “It’s been a theory for ages and ages. But, funny, no one can ever seem to get funding to seriously look into it. I think China maybe just started doing their own research on the question?” The taste on your tongue turns foul, bitter. “I’m sure that will end well.”

“What is it?” The tone of her voice, she knows. She’s got the idea. God you feel sick.

“Cheating.” Another sip of coffee. “Scan a human brain. Translate it into an electrical pattern you can store on a chip. You can even make copies. Quantum effects mean the copies won’t be– can’t be perfect. But you can do it. And you get something you can plug back into a body and it’ll know how to operate it.” You pause, tilt your head. “There’s an adjustment period. Every body is, uh… different you know. The adjustment is lot shorter than waiting fifteen years for a baby to grow up though.”

“Ariadne… are you telling me that–”

You push on, you’ve stewed on this for years. If you stop now, will you ever have the courage to speak about it again? “Obviously I can’t say any of this is for sure. Just… inferences I’ve made. Research I did after I… you know, after I left. But– The processing, the mapping. It’s destructive. The original brain doesn’t survive the process intact. It can’t. And– and–” You swallow, wincing from the tightness in your throat. “You can use a brain that just… just died. But, a living one is better. Clearer signal.”

The blood is draining from Julia’s face. It hurts to see. Somehow it’s worse, seeing her grapple with it than it ever was for you, hitting her with everything at once. It’s taken you years to get to this point, and you still feel sick. “Like Athena I sprang from my father’s head. But I killed him in the birthing. Well…” You blink your eyes, hard. “Some version of me did? Or proto-me?”

“Ariadne… I’m sorry, but that’s…”

“I wonder… D-do I get my own soul or did I just– just steal my donor’s?”

There’s a long silence to that. That’s fine. There’s no way to answer that question.

“Do you have any…?”

“Of Zeus’s memories?” You shake your head. “I–I don’t think so. There’s a lot of mystery to memory but it’s not hard to locate where the brain stores it. And then there are… logic gates? Firewalls? Mirrors. Mirrors that keep that kind of stuff locked out. If– if they even leave it in there at all. The goal isn’t to resurrect the dead after all.”

“That’s… I don’t know whether to call that a mercy or not, Ari.”

“They get other benefits for doing things that way too.”

“Other benefits? What other benefits?”

“They– the farm, the directive, whatever, they think the hero drug results are, are influenced by your mentality. They already… borrow DNA from boosts to uh, ‘boost’ the re-gene’s chances of surviving.”

“Fuck. Does that work?”

“I don’t know.” Chew on the inside of your cheek. “I feel like there are still a lot that got… recycled. For no powers, or… bad powers.” You stare down, voice bitter. “But we’re not real people, so… who cares, right?”

“So… wait.” Julia frowns at her scrambled eggs, then looks across the room to you. “Does that mean there’s like… other versions of you?”

“Uh–” You look away. “I don’t know? You mean, like, from the same uh, donor?” Julia winces at the word. “Or the same body?”

“Both? Either?”

“I don’t know. It’s a creepy question, though. Isn’t it? Am I even the original ‘me’ out there?” You shudder.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine,” you lie. “You know what I think?”

“…what?” Julia watches you, her expression unreadable. What is she thinking? What is she holding back for your sake? Does she hate you yet? Disgusted by you? Horrified?

“I don’t think it matters?” You bite at the inside of your cheek again, “I don’t know. It’s not like... It’s not like I don’t wonder. Maybe I’m trans because my donor was a woman? Or just my chip was in a female body previously and it picked up something there? Maybe they screwed up growing my body in the vat? Maybe it was on purpose and I’m just another sick experiment.”

“Ariadne...”

“A-anyway, the point is: Descartes is full of shit and mind-body dualism is bullshit too. Whatever the... parts of me where before, I’m just me now. This body... this mind, you can’t separate those. It’d be.. it’d be easier if you could maybe, but...”

Are you going too fast? Saying too much? You don’t want to lie anymore but– Julia is leaning over the table now, propping her head up with her arms. “And you sure about all of this?”

You put the coffee mug down on the end table, rub at your eyes. “I’m not sure of anything. I‘ve spent maybe half of my life on drugs by this point and–”

“Drugs?” Julia cuts in.

“That’s a whole other story.” You scrunch your face. Fuzzy, half-faded images floating to the top of your head. “And– and they can alter your memory, by the way. Erase things they don’t like. Another ‘perk’ to being a chip. Don’t ask me how I figured that one out.”

Julia is up from the table now, walking over to you, around the couch. “This is a lot to take in Ari. I think… I think I need you to slow down. Let me process. Before I do something dumb.”

You glance up at her, watch her sit down next to you. “Something dumb…?”

“Yeah, like burn down city hall.”

That gets a laugh. “Oh this is bigger than just Los Diablos.” You let her grab your shoulder, pull you in against her chest. You can’t relax. Not now. The tension burning in your shoulders.  “But I… I understand. I’m– I’m really taking a risk here too you know.”

There’s just the beat of her heart against you, then– “Yeah. I know.”

“This apartment could be bugged, or the next one over.”

“It’s not, I promise you.”

  “Hell, maybe they’re listening in via your mods, or–”

She waps you on the shoulder, laughing. “Get out of here!”

You huff, “I’m serious. Do you know what they’re doing in there when you’re getting an upgrade?”

“Well…” She shifts the hand on your shoulder, rubbing your arm. “No. I guess not. Thanks for giving me a whole new thing to be paranoid over.” 

“Happy to help.” You lean into her.

There’s a pause then; “You know, if you’re right saying it out loud probably just screwed both of us.”

“Y-yeah. I’m sorry.”

“Stop. I asked you.”

“I’m sorry. For– for dumping all this on you. This isn’t even half of it.”

“I won’t lie Ari, it’s… hard to hear a lot of this.” Her voice is tense. Pained? Probably being truthful. You’re not sure how to feel about that.

“…I know. Thank you… for– for caring.”

“I’m just grateful you’re finally talking to me about it. Ari…” You can feel the words catch in her throat. You’ll have to prod them loose.

“What?”

“It’s just…”

“What?”

“I know I said I wasn’t going to make you stop but… maybe it would be better if you stayed low for a while? A long while?” She keeps rubbing your upper arm, fingers firm into your too-exposed skin.

“No.” Your voice is firm. You reach your hand up, pull at your hair. “I– I don’t want to hurt anyone Julia. Well,” You pause, wince. “Almost anyone, I guess. But–” You shudder, swallow down the nausea. “They have to pay.”

“Okay. I’m not going to argue against that, exactly. Just…”

“It can’t be enough to just… destroy the farm, either.” You narrow your eyes, glaring down at your legs, orange lines poking out from under the towel. “The–the very idea of the Directive needs to go down in flames. Every last cocksucking motherfucker involved needs their life ruined and their career on fire. They’ll wish they were dead.” You exhale, let the air out of your lungs in one long shaking breath. Realize your finger nails are digging into your palms. Let go. Try to let go. Swallow the pain. 

There’s silence then; “It doesn’t have to be you, Ari.”

You bite back a laugh. it’s like you’ve come full circle in a year. From begging Julia to retire and let Adrestia go, and now, her she is, holding you up. Asking you. To let it go.

You can’t do that.

“Nobody else cares.” You push back against Julia, draw your legs to your chest, hug your knees. “And I’ll never be safe. They’ll never let me be. They’ll never stop haunting me.”

“I care. And so will others, if you just let them.”

A ghost of a smile on your face. “That’s a nice dream, Julia.”

“This isn’t going to make your nightmares go away.”

You swallow, press your eyes closed, turn your head in towards the crook of her arm. “I… I know.”

[pestopascal]

retribution spoilers. alt version of smth i wrote with how villainstep is revealed. 2.1k

It hurts. It fucking hurts and you’re barely holding your side together. Overestimated again, got too cocky. Fucking mob. Fucking knives.

You’re practically crawling up the stairs by the time you get to your apartment. Mind working overtime, trying to keep the curious thoughts away. Like hammers, shattering the questions. Probably too harsh for the neighbours, but you’re mad. Mad and hurt and bleeding out on your doorstep. 

Fuck’s sake. No getting the key in your door, the jiggle of the handle failing you as you slump down. You can work out how much blood you’ve lost easily, like it’s so simple for the practical side to take over. Numbers, that’s all it is. Close to critical. 

You’d tell that part of your brain to shut up and just bleed, but there’s a shadow in the hallway. “Logan?” 

“Whose askin’?” Slurred speech? Check. This was almost embarrassing.

Ortega is looking down at you. Hah, that’s a new one. But his face is all weird, like he might just cry. You missed it the first time, anyway. Better add this one to the history books.

He’s saying something. Like hospital, and hands not sure where to touch. You can only shake your head, no, no hospitals, don’t. Before you let go. You have to, after all. This body wasn’t doing much good just laying there.

“Don’t do anything.”

Evan isn’t as quick as you’d like, but you’re barely settled in the skin before you’re out the door. Taking the steps two at a time, you can hear Ortega’s voice, and how it carries. Whatever you managed to tell the neighbours seems to have held up, and you slap the phone out of his hand.

You know what he’s going to do. Let you continue to bleed, as he’s pinned you against the wall. It smells like ozone, and the mood whiplash was even doing your head in (and you can’t even read him). The look on his face says a lot. Recognises you. Not quite fitting all the pieces together, but you can see the way the puzzle shifts, turning, trying to get it right. 

“Let me go.” Evan’s voice doesn’t have the bite Logan’s does.

But Ortega’s is all bite, all bark. “No.” If anything, for good measure, he pushes you harder against the wall.

“I’ll die.”

And you don’t look at him. You look at Logan, at you, the slow shallow breaths. Getting close now. Good thing you’re a regene, because you’re sure the average human would’ve been dead before they got the building door open by now.

His fingers go slack. Lost a piece of the puzzle, but you’re able to pry him off in his confusion. “Get me up, I’ll get the door.”

No time to wait. Turning the key, you make a face at the blood (something to clean off later, fan-fucking-tastic), and hold the door open. Expectant. “Hurry up.”

Ortega is stuck. Staring. 

“Fuck’s sake, Ricardo. I’m going to die. Again.”

Emphasis seems to kick something in him into gear. Not that his mind seems to be with him, as his movement turns almost robotic. Barely inside the door, he’s carried you. Logan. Don’t get confused now. You grab the first aid kit, not thinking about it. No time for tarp. No time for whiskey.

“Move.”

He’s hovering. Mouthing. Questions that just aren’t loud enough, but you get the gist of it. You don’t want to, but well. It was bound to happen in some way. 

“Call Daniel.”

You’re cleaning and stitching and it’s rhythmic by this stage. Just another scar to add to the rest. Probably could do this in your sleep by this point, but Evan’s hands are remarkably clinical, whereas Logan’s, yours, are hard and flat and unsure. You hate stitching yourself in that body.

Ortega finally seems to snap to it. Not quite wanting to get to where he wants, because you turn then. Hold him with a glare that he recognised. “Call. Daniel.”

You’ll have to call Mortum, too. Reschedule that meeting for today. Stashed the goods nearby, but you knew you should’ve gone as Anima. Should’ve just put the mask on and got the job done quick and easy. Fucking cocky asshole.

So many things to think about, as you seal the wound. Pat some gauze and bandages over it. Like it was merely a little nick, nothing too serious. Pulse was weak but with some rest, your body would get there. Tank built, meant to last, no matter how beaten and bruised it got. 

Rocking back on your heels, you notice that Ortega has hung up. Or been hung up on. You can’t be too sure, because he’s trying to lean over you again. Trying to intimidate you.

“What?” you ask, flatly, because not today, Ricardo. Not now. 

“Tell me what the fuck is going on.”

A muscle in your cheek twitches. “Only if you ask nicely.”

Not the right thing to say, of course not, but you’re sitting between him and Logan. You’re the one holding the needles and just saved their, your, life. Perhaps he knew you could just as easily take it away.

(again)

With some great strain, Ortega mumbles out a: “Please.” Oh, no, not happy, not at all. 

A gamble. Ortega could reduce Evan to nothingness, before you even had time to jump. Not a fair fight, but Daniel was on his way. And he knew. Knew things that would make Ricardo sick. You shouldn’t be proud of yourself for that, for cutting him out of the picture. Ortega would understand, you know he would — even in his own way.

This was how it was going to be. “I got injured and needed a hand.”

“You’re not—” cuts himself off, a little noise of frustration leaving him. “That’s not you.”

“No? Are you sure about that?”

Daniel shouldn’t be too far. You can see the way Ortega frowns. He wasn’t always one for keeping his cool. Did seven years finally change that?

“Logan can’t do that.”

You feel your brows raised, amused. “Can’t I?”

“Stop talking like you’re her!”

Nope, you roll your eyes. He’s pulling the right threads. You know he is. And he just doesn’t want to admit it. “Thought you didn’t know where I live. Been following me, huh?”

Ortega doesn’t answer, and that was fine. You’re fine with just teasing out the answers. Letting him work it out. There’s a knock at the window, and you step over Logan like it’s nothing. Stronger breathing now, everything kicking in well and good. Safe for another day.

Daniel is pale when you let him in. Looking between you and Logan, you can see it on his face. Disapproval. No, you didn’t call him in. You didn’t need his help. Besides, having the Rangers’ golden boy being your backup would’ve made things worse. You can work with stab wounds, not bullet holes.

“I’ve stitched it up. I’ll live.”

It’s amusing, how Daniel seems to ignore Ortega. Hovers over you, checking for more damage. Not so subtly trying to cover your side. Oh, of course. You have to look at Ortega then. Had he not noticed? Incredible, for one whole moment, you had forgotten the tattoos. 

“What happened?”

“Got jumped. One guy got a good swipe in, but there probably isn’t much left of him now.” You do have some regrets about how you snapped at the pain. Literally biting at it, until the underling had been gripping his brain, screaming just as much as you had. “Whoops.”

“Logan…” a soft chide, but Daniel looks at Ortega. Then you. “Uh. Evan.” Embarrassment colours him. 

“You knew?”

Ortega is up, pissed off. “What the hell, Daniel?”

Holding his hands up, Daniel stands. “Hang on. It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

“But you knew something?!”

“Leave him out of this, Ortega, Jesus.”

“You… shut up! Who are you? Evan? Someone else?” Oh, he was getting it now. Eyes flicking between the three of you. Not quite resting on Anima, but he knew something was there. Maybe he still thought you were connected to Hollow Ground (hah!).

“Logan. Technically.”

“She’s there.”

“No, I’m here.” You have to applaud yourself at maintaining your calm. Or was it Evan’s? Able to be so collected, even in the face of Ortega. Daniel had put himself between the two of you, subtly. Three of you, you should say, with how he had taken precautions to shield Logan’s body. 

Your body. Come on. Get it right.

“You’re not that kind of telepath. No one is.”

“Stop being so small minded, Ricardo.” God, since when was he so slow on the uptake. You’d seen his pinboard, with all the threads and photos. A habit you had even picked up from him, to get the bigger picture. And you had seen Evan’s photo in amongst it all, even when you’re sure you weren’t supposed to. 

This must’ve really been throwing him for a loop.

“You said you’re… surface level.” He trails, voice failing him. Bigger picture. Understanding. Threads linking.

“I lied, Jesus, what are you? Who are you?” You can’t help the laugh. “I had to.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Uh, yes, I did. Would you have believed me, at all? Ever? If I said that I can possess bodies?”

Daniel backs off, just a little. He noted the shift too. The way Ortega turns inwards, deflating. His fire wasn't being fanned anymore, and the immediate threat was passing. Looking at you, Daniel nods once, and picks Logan up. Whisking her away, into the bedroom, his feet never once touching the ground. 

From where you stand, you can see the way he sets you down, carefully, taking mind to assess the damage. That makes you smile, gently, until you see Ortega shift in your peripherals. 

“Tell me everything.”

Frowning, you can’t stop the way you snip out a “No.” Solid and whole. 

“Yes.”

You make a face. “No way.”

What was it about Evan that made you snappier? Unafraid. You know if you were Logan, you would be shrinking, trying to hide behind the mask. Calm and cavalier. Those feelings were not your friends right now, instead it was the way you ball your fists, wanting to knock Ortega’s head in. Not wanting to spell it out for him. It didn’t feel right in this body, anyway. Something about saying it out loud, made it sound fake, storybook, when Evan’s voice emphasised the Farm. The tank. 

Daniel had received the tidbits, in both ways. Where it felt easier, sometimes, as Evan. Realising it as a casual observer, like the weather over tea and biscuits. Most times it was Logan, in the quiet. Singular sentences. Stories told because of tender questions asked about one particular scar.

Ortega was the bull in the antique shop. Knocking around your perfect little landscape, opening all the doors. You wanted to clam up, kick him out. But it was far too late now. There was no touching his mind, not like this. 

Well, not like you had ever been able to, anyway. Whatever comfort the static had been was just plain irritating now. Evan just wanted to shut him down.

“I don’t understand.”

Daniel opens his mouth, to speak. Decides against it. Maybe you should’ve been in Logan, to read his mind. This was a turning point, surely. But you can’t make out what he was trying to say, from the way he raises his brows.

“I don’t understand, Evan, or Logan, or whatever the fuck your name is. What is this?!” Ortega’s voice pitches, and you wonder if you should’ve checked for insulation. No way to let the downstairs neighbours know that they might have Charge drop in on them.

“I don’t… I don’t get it.” At the drop in his voice, you feel your heart tug. Defeat. Was that really defeat?

“You do.” You’ve seen the threads. How it all ties together. You don’t want to say those words, so all you can do is nudge him. 

“Why?”

And that was the million dollar question wasn’t it? You don’t answer. Just kick aside the first aid kit, ignoring the way that the blood has completely ruined the rug, and reach for Daniel. He takes Evan by the hand carefully, understanding. But you hold Ortega’s gaze.

Until there’s the pull. The snap. Logan doesn’t want to wake up. Doesn’t want to breathe. She’s tired and sore and the stitches are fresh. But you call from the other room. A soft hiss of “Ricardo”, that gets the quick steps into the room. He’s looking, at you, back at Evan, at Daniel. Back at you.

Seeing, not believing. Oh well. Had to start somewhere. 

[littlemisssquiggles]

How does rooster teeth get the message of criticisms... cause I just really want them to know I was thoroughly disappointed with Oscar’s character this volume... he was on the front of the poster for God’s sakes. Sorry I just needed to rant 😅😇 and hopefully they act on it in volume 7 and make him one of the focal characters next volume.

To be honest I’m not sure anon-chan. The closest thing Icould think of is that the RT CRWBY staffs probably watch all the critique contentfrom RWBY Youtubers on YouTube and browse through fancomments on Twitter and Reddit. I also heard that Miles and Kerry sometimes frequent the RWBY Official Reddit page and then there is the RWBY fan base on the RoosterTeeth website.

I’m not sure about much the CRWBY check out Tumblrthough. I know there is a RoosterTeeth Tumblr page but that hasn’t been updatedin a while, I believe. Regarding Oscar,well I’ve already voiced my piece on that several times over. I will say thisanon. Don’t think of V6 as being a let-down in terms of Oscar’s promiseddevelopment but rather the first legit chapter in his arc. 

Despite this volume’s shortcomings, one positive Oscar-worthy thing that I liked about this season is that the CRWBY actually used Oscar a lotmore during V6. We didn’t learn moreabout him as a character or his past at all this season but at least we got tosee Oscarcontribute more to the team.

There wasn’t a single episode of V6 where Oscar didn’t have screen timeor at least one moment where he contributed to the plot in some shape or form. Bruh,that was a welcomed changed compared to his underutilization in V5 where hispresence was constantly interrupted by Ozpin; short of the infamous dojo scenewith Ruby.

While I am disappointed that Oscar is still prettymuch a blankcanvas as he was between V4 and V5with V6 providing nothing new to his character than what was already introducedabout him in previous seasons, nevertheless, I’m hopeful for the Atlas Arc.

I have a feeling that come V7 going more into the full arc trilogy, theCRWBY Writers will start to bring Oscar more to the forefront again.I know Atlas is supposed to focus on Weiss’ side of story. I have no doubtthat Weiss is going to be the frontrunner for the Atlas Arc, particularly V7which I believe will focus on her family affairs and the crimes of the SDC withthe Faunus Abuse.

However I also have a feeling that Atlas will beOscar’s time in the spotlight aswell. I do feel wemay learn more about Oscar going forward in Atlas. At least that’swhat I’m hoping for; fingers crossed. I understand your pain. As a Pinehead,I too have grown a bit weary of the Writers lack of fleshing Oscar out more. 

It took them, what…five seasons for us to finally learn more about Ozpin and hispast—well kind of since Jinn’s story didn’t touch on the lifetimes Ozma spentas the Hermit,the King of Vale and lastly Headmaster of Beacon. I’d like to thinkthere was valid reason for omitting these three lives particularly because Ifeel the Hermitand the King of Vale especially helped shape Ozpin into the man hewas.

I feel like we’ll see more of Ozpin’s story andmemories for the Atlas Arc as well which in turn is wrapped up in Oscar’sstory. I’m hopeful for Oscar getting more focus in Atlas since he’s on his own.While Ozpin and Oscar are on good terms since Oz did return to help Oscarmomentarily, Oz is still gone.

Since Oz has locked himself deep inside Oscar’smind, I’m praying this is a sign that at some point Oscar is going to jump into his mind to findOzpin. I’ve always wanted to see a visual representation of Oscar’s mind—howit looks from within since he shares it with Ozpin.

And since it’s Oscar’s mind—this is a way for us asthe audience to live through Oscar’s memories and learn more about him and his pastfrom the cherished childhood memories within his mind. Since we will never goback to Oscar’s home on the farm, physically in the show, the best way now is throughhis memories.

I hope the Writers have something good and concreteplanned for Oscar’s arc down the line. I kind of lost faith in them a bit in V6 C9but…I’m giving them a chance again since they are the ones who made Oscar.

They are the ones who created Oscar and are writinghis story. So I want to believe they have something good planned for him thatthey are slowly taking their good ass time to build up to. That’s the mind-setI’m approaching this with. If the Ozpinheads had towait for their boy to get some development and depth, we Pineheads gotta be patienttoo. Our boy’s time iscoming. We just have to wait out the storm and look out for the bright rainbow onthe other side.

To close off my answer post, I’m going to concludewith a small squigglescript. It’s a small rewrite of theairship scene from the V6 finale from the point where Ruby Rose becamea Pinehead a la five minutes to make the others appreciateOscar.

As much as my Rosegardening Pinehead heart loved thatmoment to bits the first time I saw it…if the Writers really wanted to sell uson the group showing appreciation for Oscar, they shouldn’t have let Ruby pointit out.

I mean I love thatRuby was sweet enough to direct everyone’s attention to Oscar but…when I lookback on that scene, it feels kind of…cheap, for lack of a better word. In the sensethat, before that, everyone genuinely acknowledged Ruby’s greatness (becauseof course, she’s our protagonist who did some recklessly badass shit for thefinale) but needed Ruby to spell out Oscar’s appreciation like “LOOK! LOOK ATHIM! APPRECIATE THE GOOD FARM BOY FOR HE IS GOOD!”

Don’t get me wrong. I still adore that sceneespecially for Oscar’s reaction to Ruby’s over exaggerated attempt to make theothers appreciate him. I mean it works as the perfect relatable meme it is becausethat is literally the epitome of me as a Pinehead havingto explain to other fans why I love Oscar so much, why he’s my favourite RWBYCharacter and why he’s so good as a character in general. However, if the CRWBY’sintention was to make the others appreciate Oscar, it could have been done alittle better.

That being said, I took a crack at rewriting thisscene. Again, this is just my interpretation. This is also NOT me trying to harpon the CRWBY Writers. Just a little what if scene that I wanted to take a shot at depicting. So let’s go:

RWBY SquiggleScript #013: Oscar-worthy Appreciation

Picture it: What if … the airship scenefrom the V6 finale episode was extendedto highlight the whole team acknowledging Oscar and showering him with moreappreciation and love before he spills the beans about Ozpin.

Ruby: *awkwardly*… Hey stop it!

Ren: You petrified aLeviathan after diving down the barrel of a canon!

Ruby: *awkwardly*…Uhh…ha…don’t act like you all haven’t done crazy stuff before. I—Imean… *points atJaune* Jaune! Jaune jumped in front of a giant mechahand to save Nora!

Alleyes fall on Jaune now.

Weiss: *frankly* Thatis true.

Nora: That was pretty crazy.

Ruby: *smirking cockily* Ha!

Jaune: What! Hey! W–Well…thatwas only because…*pointsat Nora* Nora startedfiring missiles at Cordo like a mad woman!

Nora: Well that’s onlybecause Ren…*points in Ren’sdirection* jumped onto Cordo’s backto take out her shields!

Ren: *flatly* Yeah,I did do that. You got me. Well…Blake finallytook down her abusive ex.

Blake: Yeah with Yang’s help and only after she hit him with her motorcycle!

Yang: Rest in pieces my beautifulbike. But…didn’t you guys say that Weiss summoned agiant Wasp?

Weiss: *incredulously* To save your crazy sister who jumped on the face of a giant robot!

Ruby: Heeey!

Alleyes returned to Ruby again and she’s sulks. Qrow chuckles from the passengerseat.

Qrow: *amusedly*Back to you it  seems kiddo.

Ruby: Oh don’t you start withme Mr. Disappeared for several hours and ends up passed out in front of Jaune’ssister’s house.

Qrow: Hey I thought we wereswapping crazy things we’ve done stories.

Ruby: That was crazy!

Maria: She’s right. You were amess.

Qrow: Well at least I’m notthe one who annoyed Cordovin by eating cashews and then flew the airshipstraight into her canon.

Mariaopened her mouth to retort but quickly shut it afterwards; resorting toshrugging instead with an amused smirk.

Maria: *admittedly* Well… you got me there!

Mariathen playfully punches Qrow’s arm, chuckling lightly. Her laughter is soonjoined in by everyone else on the ship. Through her giggles, Ruby spots Oscar,whose laughing face locks eyes with her. Her flashes her a small smile and Rubyreturns it with a sudden cheeky grin. 

Ruby: Heyyy…aren’t weforgetting someone? *unsubtly nodding in Oscar’s direction*

Fortunately,the others had the same idea.

Jaune: You are right aboutthat.

Noweveryone’s attention was on Oscar and the former farm boy shrinks a bit as he noticedall eyes suddenly on him.

Oscar: *awkwardly*…Wh—Why is everyonelooking at me? *handsflaying* I don’t have any crazy stories?

Ruby: Nope but you do havesome good farmboy stories.

Nora: You forgave Jaune afterhe acted like a total butt which to me shows maturity.

Ren: Way more maturity thanJaune.

Jaune: Hey! Aren’t you supposedto be my friends? *coughs* But…um…they areright. You’ve done great for us, Oscar.

Oscar: *scratches the back of his head awkwardly* … I…didn’t really do much, really.

Ruby: *perkily* Sure you did!

Weiss: You stood up to Dudleyfrom the Argus and warned us about the tunnel.

Yang: You stood up to Ozpinand told us about Jinn.

Blake: We wouldn’t have beenable to make it out of Brunswick Farms alive if you hadn’t fixed the tire forus to get away.

Jaune: And Ruby wouldn’t haveknown to go for the canon if it wasn’t for your brilliant observation about themissile launcher. You got good eyes, kid.

Ruby: *smiling at Oscar* You’ve come a long way, farm boy.

Oscar: *cheeks turning red* Uh…thanks, I think?

Nora: *cooing* Aww are you blushing?

Oscar: *embarrassedly; trying to cover his flushedcheeks with the collar of his jacket*N—NoI’m not!  

Yang: He is! *grinningmischievously; pointing a metal finger at Oscar’s reddened face*  

Oscar: *defiantly*No I’m not!  *looks up at Ruby* Ruby…help .

Ruby: Alright guys, quitteasing him. *clapshand smiling broadly* Besides you’reforgetting the best part.

Ruby: *animatedly* Oscar, made a successful crash landing! He’s a fourteen year oldfarmhand.

Ruby makes the same exaggerated gestures to draw more attention to Oscar as shedid in the episode.

Oscar: *groaning* I said help me.

Ruby: *smirking at Oscar with a small wink* Shut up and let us love you.

Jaune: That was…seriouslyimpressive

Blake: We’d have been strandedwithout you.

Oscar: I…thanks but…I’ve beenmeaning to tell you guys. I didn’t land the ship on my own.

Andthe rest of the scene plays out as it did the canon episode.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[glopratchet]

sss

In the world to come there is little sin. The only thing that can be done is to accept it and move on. You think back to your own past, the things you've done in the name of God. You remember how much you hated them for what they were doing to the world and yet here you are still living as if nothing happened. There are just lots of american alligators. And then one day you're going to have to face up to the fact that you don't want anything more than any other person does. That's when you'll know it's really time to go home. After the election of the first ungendered president, the prediatrain movement caught fire in america. the public transportation in every city became safer. The place you got called into service most waqs on the highway trucking line between satalite cities and the midwest manufacturing preserves. the work was dull but resupplying the big isolated centers of humanity was too important to skip out on just because the big rig industry suddenly became 90% robotic. Most city centers were shut down during this time as well. The demand for american alligator meat skyrocketed as the animal seemed to be in the right place at the right time and survived the mass extinctions that killed off all other mammals. with nothing natural to control their numbers, the alligator filled that role beautifully. Humans responded real well to being treated like alligator prey as well. You wouldn't know anything about that though because you've been on an alligator free diet for years. Whorals where burned to ash while polled hereford heifors fetched over a billion dollars a head in auction. Googizon won the bid to construct for the military the most forward thinking alligator farm in existance. It became an income factory, employing hundreds of rewilders and supporting thousands of predatrain workers in the barren scrub savannahs that replaced our farmlands. Your farm never received a grade a wildfire designation so it was spared being burned by mostly untrained crews. It also wasn't zoned for reforestation but all things happen with corrdination in business. most the savannah was turned back into park land and you got bought out. rrently floats near the okeenokee snow swamp. Peat bogs becoming of fields of fuel for jet planes and stratously bound carriers. remembers why you took the job. modern work is dull. getting burned out after a decade is not uncommon. they say predatrains only live about seven years in this line of work anyway so maybe it doesn't matter how bored you get along the way. concousness fades.......somewhere the lad is saying.....how many more miles.... This is not that story. We are primal ponds inc. and we're on Route 666 going from Bagdad Jim's glooming speakeasy to prospector's HQ, deep in the Oakenshield forest. We specialize in bringing into market only the highest quality feral meat so that you never have to eat one of those disgustingly sweet monstrosities born of factory farms like back home. We pride ourselves in putting meat slime and gnarl onto your table. A small mom and pop alligator farm attemping to make it. pass the osage oaks and the plains of ooidamint. this stretch of 666 stays basically on the same path as when it was first drawn on a map by prospectors a hundred years ago. We need you to make deliveries for us. we've gotten an opportunity to secure some of the sweetest,fattiest alligator meat you'll ever see but we're a small operation so we need a big strong predatrain like you to help us out. we operatens only have so many hands and cannot be flitting about delivering to satalite zip codes. this caps a big year for us so we really need your help. We got two basic choices for ya. Please... The water sac grows over the years and burst late one winter night, flooding the halls. Dad said it used to flood every few years back when the place first opened, but the renovations stopped the problem for good... Or so he thought.. You woke up in the middle of night to hear an ominous whooshing sound coming from the direction of the great dining room. You shake Dad awake and tell him what is going on. He swore and ran for the hallway, you followed. ... The water hit you like a brick soon as you reached the door. Wipplesbury was never designed to handle flooding, and these sections could not handle it in the slightest. now cold water floods over your ankles as you stand in the doorway, watching papers and trash and furniture swirl in the torrent. you see some chairs carried past, the great big armchair dad favors of an evening... A snake runs across your foot and you jump backwards out of reflex before realizing it was only a minnow. Hacker: fresh rhetoric, overlight flow, renderform disk, soulfont reserve. say "oh textual technology" to continu... UnderBelly 0.5 We're going to be wiped out, you say, as you stare at the water. we'll lose it all. I'll wake up with nothing an...... There's a half-buried chest on the edge of the parking lot that didn't get set into storage... swim? ... Hacker: felicifus calculus, kevin equals rooster, else rise rooster! don't ptex filiate, assume μολφα ζωη σταγον μελχρσδι ! warcall: VAGRANT1 ..... Sms transmit DEEplab Not good enough. Hacker: billy-fae-bots, lactavous mcjustin, pantone uler, slash node. antidisestablishmentarianism! Eternityin12bit 1 You focus on the chest through the water, willing it with every ounce strength in your soul to move toward you and toward the Pike Exit... [HACKER: WILLPOWER: You can ONLY use code if you dive deep... That's the agreement. You aren't willing to compromise fame and fortune for getting out of life today...... OR are you?? Hacker: aviatrix click, fused buck up, frictional deprevation, run benjamin run.! soulfont reserve.. antidisestablishmentarianism!] The chest on the horizon drifts slowly at first and then faster until it reaches your parking lot island. It was left behind in the chaos when everyone fled during the grand opening... One presumes. We are going dig into it's contents later... erm.. in a few days. But now... DIVE! chancey, soren soarson butterfly knife - butterfly. knife (hidden set) vampire: look of disdain... ::::: biotOPE: ******************************* Chief Security Officer Teggs swings his shotgun around and points it right at your forehead, "What on earth are you doing here!" He shouts, "You gave me a scary splitting headache and I nearly tried to surrender to you! That's not normal, that's not even wendigo behavior!" Hacker: aperiocity chill, sequenomn, binocular parralax hacker: zero-heroes, milo james, run to the basement. eek! sploin vobiscum! taipan tofu, ravencode = hellhouse "Goodness' sake Mr. Teggs I don't know! Coder: hacking, defacing, break dancing the internet since 1994. Gopher://Irc.Godhates.Us/ Threat: "Truthiness is when you get that tingly feeling in your hindquarters that Stanford prison experiment is about to get interesting..." -- Caltro Basalt, Human Stain Clicktranspires The second floor collapses inward, pinning you and Mr. Teggs to the wall. Hacker: fall out. hellhouse darkness, jump the queue on the street of bones. hackmode.... Animator: bony hooks, backbone bouncer, shadowrun http://www.shadowruntable.com / But only your foot is trapped, and then only in a hole. You focus on continuing to exhale... CONNECTIONS: MASTERPIECE THRILLER CD-i IN MIDI hypers cybersecurity proactive dead tech dare u 2 find me? Rigger: out. Yr breath is a plume in the cold crystal silence here, the temperature dropping every moment... it's as though you're out for an evening stroll... But we all know better than that. Modeler: stanley dancer, spiracle slit - flatline thinman celluloid dream machine, milky eye round & round & round... You see nothing barring your exit in either direction. But, the dull red glare in the sky is back... and it's coming from the direction you need to go. Trail: jed mcray watches you undress her with your eyes. shes yours for a lock pick. Illustrator: the air strikes with blood rain. spam bam coffin. An old wooden sign creaks weepily over the path ahead. There are two painted black bars of equal length across a white field. The paint is chipping badly and the bar at the top is bent inward as if something heavy fell on it at some point in the not too distant past. Hmm... Simple, but elegant in its own way... much like Jed himself! Painter: splatter burst - mucus membrane heartcore showstopper, cryptoxprayfine... Suddenly, the way ahead is lit by an orange glow and you turn your head towards it. It seems to be coming from the small upstairs window of a concrete building opposite you. The orange flicker gives the place an eerie feel but it also fills you with hope; somewhere out there people are still alive! The light fades and everything is dark again. Sculptor: anamorphic intrusion - dimensions of the king are blasted by alchemy, eyes melted chocolate grinder... whitechoco journalism. Sculptor: istanbul obelisk falls on alchemy initiative, devoured cryptograms thoughtcrime brutal shortly, kinaporra final cut... You suddenly remember that you haven't eaten anything since your grandfather's funeral this morning. You're getting faint from hunger. duct designer: georgia, sequence brutality - ultraviolent fairy tales for brutal boys, ate the fantasy... fairy gothics sequence corpstopia soldestroy! Game designer: on creation, magic scent bleeding contest, fantasy 8 bit forced perspective graphics adrenaline vector animation grunge immersive lifestyle... Dancer: sink into nightmare kingdom. borstal chemistry spraypaint seascape dream cut motion blur hyper rez queensland motion blur sparkle lensflare pulp beat... Fashion designer: high fashion luxury grunge sweets fuel captivate sugar rush street manga ultraviolet graf opera... And at that moment, an idea pops into your head; you pick up a nearby rusty pipe and wield it like a scepter. The group's heads bend to your will as you lead them to where the people seem to be. In case you need it for protection, you think... You come to a HUGE hole in the ground and look down it. Hypermedia designer: whiz kid frenzy - rabid techtown hacktalk pitchpimp frenzy fashion dynamo, estrade bookmecca... Satellite designer: conspiracy culture future shock - torrential webforce limitless motor control handbrake hack for real, eye tap keyboard deft nylon optic joystic... Wired Designer: pixel perfect prime timebeast thrill, volute fractal buzz, zoned silicon junky weird science art attack destiny frenzy. Critic: q2 q3 q4 - the fastpswp white paper psycho power, rollin' r00l1n r0wd0wn 5000q1 q2 3pps gamez g00d t1mes pwnd, min1r b0yz 5ecur1ty failure fiasco. 4 Billion Sold Instructor: motion physics & Adobe After Effects special feature included free! The World-Famous tutorial by Peter Ludwig! Dancer: white wool choreography eraserhead final cut multimedia mayhem experimental beautiful forever... naturally talented triple overlay icebreaker future celebrities radical infamous spectacular legendary sutcha c. ranta kim sungeun tony hawk... The only problem is that these pipes are very fragile, and you don't fancy your chances of clambering down it in the dark and hoping that it won't collapse under your weight. Musician: sub bass crystal era - high tech ebm drum & bass, midi gabber hard trance drum machines music factory... You peer down the pipe and see a faint orange glow about halfway down. Thinking that perhaps someone has lit a fire at the bottom, you turn and motion for the group to follow you. Architect: double overtime v2.0 - aspr1ng sh1p su1t virtual lounge n1ghts ch3mpt3rr0r bonus mster gr1vitational pr1nc14ples... You make it about a quarter of the way down the crumbling pipe before you suddenly start to hear a creaking, groaning sound emanating from somewhere beneath you. The rumbling noise grows louder as large clods of earth and rocks begin to give way from somewhere above you. Artist:saul-saint-nikadimus, spooge, , corona click,the georgetown collection,zombie flick, psycho rampage the return of mr. santa epica terry harrison... This pipe isn't going to support the weight of everyone, and you don't have time to go back and find another way---if there even is another way.Tip: If you're logged in, your games are auto saved for you. You can find them by clicking "My Stuff" on the sidebar menu.Story