#more reference for self?

[imitationgame77]

SecUnits in ASR and Their Fate

It’s been bugging me (well not so much) just how many SecUnits appeared in All System Red, and what happened to them. So, I decided to go through the book, making notes (as we do, of course).

My conclusion was this:

One unit (Murderbot) assigned to the PreservationAux team

Three units assigned to the DeltFall survey team. One survives.

Four units (probably) assigned to the GrayCris team. Three survive.

Premise:

There is a rule set by the bond company that any team must have one rental SecUnit per ten humans.

Murderbot and Pin-Lee had checked DeltFall specs that stated that they had three SecUnits.

The presence of GrayCris on the planet was hidden from both PreservationAux and DeltFall, so, they had no knowledge of the team’s size.

What happens to the units

[Chapter Four]

At the door to the hub, I found their first SecUnit. It was sprawled on its back on the floor, the armor over its chest pierced by something that made a hole approximately ten centimeters wide and a little deeper. We’re hard to kill, but that’ll do it.

DeltFall Unit1 – killed with a mining drill

I hit the first one with three explosive bolts in the back and one in the faceplate as it turned toward me. It dropped. The other one I nicked in the arm, taking out the joint, and it made the mistake of switching its main weapon to its other hand, which gave me a couple of seconds. I switched to rapid fire to keep it off balance, then back to the explosive bolt. That dropped it.

Neither unit was dead. But they were incapable of reaching their cubicles in the ready room, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to give them a hand.

DeltFall Unit 1 & 2 – incapacitated but not dead

One or both of these units could have been the ones belonging to GrayCris, but since MB would notice and mention that if they were wearing a different armour, my assumption is that these were DeltFall Units.

When Murderbot thinks that it has taken down remaining DeltFall SecUnits, it was attacked by another one. MB comes back online, terrified and angry to find its armour partially removed.

I shoved its hand up under its chin and took the pressure off its weapon. It had a split second to try to abort that fire command and it failed. The energy burst went through my hand and the join between its helmet and neck piece. Its head jerked and its body started to spasm. I let go of it long enough to kneel up, get my intact arm around its neck, and twist.

I let go as I felt the connections, mechanical and organic, snap.

GrayCris Unit 1 – taken down but probably not dead. (Will come back to this later.)

That was the fourth one that Murderbot saw in the DeltFall habitat where it had expected three. Yet it was not over.

I looked up and another SecUnit was in the doorway, lifting a large projectile weapon.

How many of these damn things were here? It didn’t matter, because I tried to shove myself upright but I couldn’t react fast enough. Then it jerked, dropped the weapon, and fell forward. I saw two things: the ten-centimeter hole in its back and Mensah standing behind it, holding something that looked a lot like the sonic mining drill from our hopper.

GrayCris Unit2 – killed with a mining drill.

Murderbot had said earlier that SecUnits are hard to kill but piecing their heart with something like a mining drill, leaving a hole the chest would do it. That’s what Dr. Mensah did to this unit in order to save Murderbot.

[Chapter Six]

After PreservationAux have evacuated from their habitat, they return discreetly to see who the EvilSurvey was.

Five SecUnits piled out of the cargo pods, all armed with the big projectile weapons assigned to protect survey teams on planets with hazardous fauna, like this one. From the pattern on the armor chestplates, two were the surviving DeltFall units. They must have been put into their cubicles after we escaped the DeltFall habitat.

So, here we see 2 surviving DeltFall Units and 3 GrayCris Units, which did not include GrayCris Unit2.

[Chapter Seven]

By the size of their habitat and the number of SecUnits, including the one Mensah had taken out with a mining drill, they had between thirty and forty team members.

Since there is a rule of one unit per ten humans, the estimates of 30-40 team members suggest MB had observed four SecUnits belonging to GrayCris. Here, it is also confirming that one (GrayCris Unit2) was killed with a mining drill earlier, but no mention of the other one, suggesting that it (GrayCris Unit1) survived.

In the open area on the plateau were seven figures, four SecUnits and three humans in the color-coded enviro suits, blue, green, and yellow. It meant they had one SecUnit and probably twenty seven–plus humans back at their habitat, if they had followed the rule of one rental SecUnit per ten humans.

So, here, there are five SecUnits, four that MB could see and one it assumes to be with the remaining GrayCris humans.

She cut the comm off again. Then one of the DeltFall SecUnits started forward. She came back on to say, “This Unit will help you.”

This indicates that surviving DeltFall Unis were there, visible. So, there were 2 DeltFall Units, and 3 GrayCris Units (Unit1 from earlier, Unit2 and Unit3) in this scene, and one of the GrayCris Units was out of sight with the remaining GrayCris people.

We rolled over rock and brush until I wrenched its weapon away. After that it was easy to finish it off. Physically easy.

I know I said SecUnits aren’t sentimental about each other, but I wished it wasn’t one of the DeltFall units. It was in there somewhere, trapped in its own head, maybe aware, maybe not. Not that it matters. None of us had a choice.

DeltFall Unit 2 or 3 is now dead.

It is worth noting that it seemed as though MB would rather have killed one of the GrayCris units. It had more sympathy for units forcefully taken over by combat override modules than those controlled by HubSystem via a governor module. This may be because with the HubSystem control, there is still some level of autonomy, whereas combat override modules “turn a unit from a mostly autonomous construct into a gun puppet”.

GrayCris takes Mensah aboard their hopper as hostage, while MB pretends to be the dead DeltFall Unit and rides in the cargo with the other three units (1 DeltFall and 2 GrayCris). They land a few kilometres away from the GrayCris habitat, close to the beacon.

The two SecUnits were circling the beacon’s tripod, looking for signs of tampering, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I started to walk toward Mensah.

When the remaining DeltFall SecUnit whipped toward me and opened fire, I knew the light had dawned. I dove and rolled, coming up with my projectile weapon. I was taking hits all over my armor but scoring hits on the other SecUnit.

After this, the beacon is launched, causing massive explosion which knocks MB offline for a while. There were no further mention of the remaining SecUnits there. So, as far as we know, one of the DeltFall units survived, and 3 out of 4 GrayCris units also survived.

Additional units

[Chapter Eight]

I expected a suit skin and armor, but the station units that helped us out of processing when we had catastrophic injuries gave me the gray PreservationAux survey uniform instead. I put it on, feeling weird, while the station units stood around and watched me. We’re not buddies or anything, but usually they pass along the news, what happened while you were offline, what the upcoming contracts were. I wondered if they felt as weird as I did.

Here, we have a glimpse of other units that Murderbot seemed familiar with. They were familiar only in the sense that their presence was no surprise to it but no familiar enough to have much interaction.

On re-reading All Systems Red, I noticed that while Murderbot did not show protective attitude towards its fellow SecUnits, and generally mistrusted them, it was unwilling to kill them. It expressed willingness to kill them while it had assumed that the DeltFall units had gone rogue and killed their clients, once it realises that they had lost autonomy to combat override modules it seemed more reluctant to kill them. It showed less sympathy towards GrayCris units which were ordered to carry out evil deeds by their humans, suggesting that it had expected them to exercise some control over their actions even if that meant they were punished by their governor modules.

[futilys]

dead boy cares

if anyone would like a risograph print of this- i now have a shop !!

[star-mail]

BINGLIUSHEN 🔥

"i don't thinkest thoust two... should be Aparte. Instead, thou shouldst be... togethere. ... with me." - Rouxls Kaard

i know ive been absent,,, ive been moving apartments,,, and im about to be absent again. *slides this across the table*

[northstarscowboyhat]

Outlaws in the Wild East ⋆｡°✩

(AKA, The Habanero origin comic!)

[dandelion-roots]

yosano-san was supposed to be taking the afternoon off...

[id in alt]

[asmodeusamaryllis]

Many call backs this chapter

[ma-lemons]

Okay so I want to write my thoughts out.

This family was Twilight’s scheme. Well, Anya really got it together, but it was his plan. Anya knows the whole truth, but Yor is under the assumption that the only lie in the Forger family is their marriage. She believes Anya is really Loid’s kid and he’s just an average guy. Yor gets to realize her emotions first because she has always been able to recognize people’s hidden emotions. She always tells Loid that Anya adores him and that he’s doing a great job, always helps him realize things he didn’t even notice himself. She’s always encouraging Anya, being that mother figure, even when she doubts herself. Despite the lies, what Yor feels about her family is real.

Twilight is not allowing himself that same grace. This family is his construction, so therefore he needs to keep them at arm’s length so he doesn’t get attached. He is capable of those feelings, but his trauma and mission are all he knew up until the last 6 months. Every time he experiences an emotion that expresses the slightest bit of affection for his family, he sees it as a weakness. And can you blame him? He has so many enemies and he can’t trust anyone. Besides, loving his family for real will make it harder to let them go in the end. Remember, this is a long mission, but it is supposed to come to an expected end.

Anya has her age and innocence and is able to verbalize her feelings for her family much easier than her parents. Though the words “love” rarely appears between the three of them, it is clear that Anya likes her family and their dynamic. But she understands why Twilight adopted her and knows that she plays a role in his mission. She knows that it’ll come to an end some day, that’s why she could confide in Damian her secret, and not her parents. She feels they can send her away at any time and them knowing she’s psychic might accelerate that process. I’ve always wondered if Twilight not “loving” her ever bothers her, but she’s like 5. It just seems a little depressing that she is so fond of her father but he isn’t quite there yet. And maybe Anya does understand that, but she doesn’t quite mind.

All in all, yes Twilight/Loid is so dense but that’s only cause we have all the details. There’s no way he would be bringing down his walls yet, especially since he already thought Yor liked him and she shut that down. So he already has it in his mind that he and Yor see each other in the same way, a means to an end. But Yor is starting to see it differently. It’ll be a long while until Twilight catches up to that.

[daily-odile]

everything is the same except Odile is the one looping

oh. heheheheh. muahahahaha. hold on *digs through my pile of disorganized sketches*

Odile loops au; a sketch compilation!!

Some old fic drabbles + associated sketches under cut (a6 secret spoilers):

hc: Since equipment carries over, as long as Odile uses her book in a fight, she can write down notes and have it carry over loops

toxic doomed yuri (for a more fleshed out fic I highly recommend The Sweetest Thing by soreimoon, it's amazing)

[batboopp]

as much as I love batgirl 2024, I have to admit the lack of Barbara Gordon mentions in the whole series so far, especially with the first arc having such a big theme of motherhood/daughterhood and the things that comes with it, makes me soo sad. Barbara was the first person Cass actually considered as a mother! Barbara, although she wasn’t the best at it at first, truly did try to understand and love Cass unconditionally even when she was separated from the Bat mantle! And that panel where Cass overhears Barbara tell Dick that she doesn’t know how to really care for Cass could’ve been the perfect parallel to the whole “is a Mother just being connected by blood? No, Something more is owed/Being a daughter is more than being connected by blood” lines that Cass says in the last (current) issue because Barbara, though she did not physically bring Cass into this world, has sacrificed SO much for her, and in return Cass gave so much back.

[inkzectz]

archivist gordon reference from someone who doesn’t know how to draw references

[beargregor]

wait i'm curious, what makes you say that gregor doesn't like everyone else (if i read that post right)? just curious since i've never seen anyone else say that

i don't necessarily think gregor dislikes everyone else at lcb but i do think that gregor is an incredibly petty person that isn't nearly as close to the rest of the sinners and even outright dislikes some of them cough cough rodya cough cough which a lot of people just Refuse to see because he's as much of a doormat as he is. there's several examples i could get into to try and prove my point however i'll just focus on what i personally think to be the biggest ones.

additionally, this is going to be kind of long, so i'm adding a read more. read more! read it. sorry for being so wordy. i have several diseases.

Pt1. gregor is the type to try and get along at least decently with everyone, especially if he gets a good first impression from them.

this is less a point in favor of gregor's distance w/ the rest of the sinners and more just a contributing factor to it. once again there's several examples i could point to here but i think the most in your face one happened in canto I with yuri, as several people have pointed out. even before gregor comes clean about growing attached to her as quickly as he did because she reminds him of his sister, we get this interaction.

i'll go ahead and make the disclaimer now that i don't necessarily think gregor is the most reliable of narrators, especially when it comes to his feelings and interactions with most people, but from the way he acts when the topic of yuri comes up (and the way we still see him act even all the way up to c7, nearly a whole year after yuri's death) i don't see reason to question his sentiment here. gregor immediately got that aya and yuri were close, potentially even taking note of their traded belts, and went out of his way to get something nice for yuri despite hardly knowing her.

i feel like a lot of people have forgotten as much, especially since it's been so long since c1, but gregor actually spent a good bit of season 1 doing the exact same thing with the other sinners! gregor reads a connection between him and ishmael pretty quickly despite getting off to a rocky start

mostly because gregor can tell that ishmael is pretty sardonic in a very similar way to him. there's been multiple instances where ishmael and gregor have essentially expressed the same sentiment at different moments, most notably gregor's little argument after ishmael got shot with a decay ampule in c4

and ishmael's response to pilot talking about self-sacrifice in c5

i could go ahead and pull up more examples, but in general pm has gone out of their way to show us that gregor and ishmael are pretty similar, so it makes sense for gregor to assume that they're friends, right?

this will be pushpin 1. keep note of this for Later.

ishmael's only the first sinner we see gregor trying to do this with in s1, we also see him try it out with heathcliff, sinclair, and ryoushuu

he's tried to get along with charon, being one of very few sinners that we've seen actually try to establish a connection with her at all

even rodya, despite my insistence that gregor doesn't like her nearly as much as the fandom thinks he does

all of these seem pretty fine and dandy, right? sure it frequently leans towards self-degradation, micromanaging, and commiseration, but gregor can at least be pretty chummy with most of the sinners, can't he?

Pt2. hell's chicken was more than just comic relief guys please

i'm fully aware that this is quite the hot take, but i think hell's chicken deserves a lot more credit for character writing than the fandom gives it. hell's chicken gave us foreshadowing for several events, such as the donqui bloodfiend reveal

heathcliff's distortion in c6 (as well as hong lu's highly speculated distortion at some point in the future)

and ryoushuu and sinclair's continued connection by making him the odd one out on her team

which, hey! that implies something about gregor's odd one out, don quixote, too, doesn't it? yes. yes it does. that's pushpin 2. keep note of that for later.

speaking of pushpins, hey! that's pushpin 1!

splitting into teams is one of the major events in hell's chicken, and most of the sinner's choices are either motivated by very little, backhanded, or motivated primarily by not wanting to be on the opposite leader's side. i didn't include all of the picks, just because i feel like including most of them already gets this across, but i think gregor took one major thing from this: most of the sinners, when push comes to shove, will only side with gregor when they refuse to or can't take his opponent's side.

now, don't get me wrong, i'm fully aware that this is primarily intended to be comedic relief, but when gregor is being described as having his trust broken by ishmael or nearly crying because no one on his team properly sided with him for him, i feel like it's pretty fair to read into this.

something that i think is pretty important to remember in conjunction with this is that we know that gregor is the type to hold a grudge, both from his general attitude towards the G corp soldiers in c1 as well as his continued distaste for vergilius

even beyond the splitting into teams of hell's chicken, the sinners have given gregor plenty of reasons to feel bitter. i feel like this is something people have noticed but haven't really put a finger on, but it's kind of wild just how often the rest of the sinners make gregor the butt of the joke

and sure, we could argue that a fair few of these aren't really made with any ill intent. quite a bit of it could have been meant as harmless teasing, but with gregor being more sensitive than most, it coming from nearly all sides, and as often as it does? yeah, i think he's prone to taking it a bit personally.

Pt3. yes i do still think gregor was the third most important character in canto VII you guys gotta hear me out okay

of course, all of this leads up to the bit of the story i highlighted, doesn't it? c7? i totally get why people haven't really picked up on all the gregor things i did in it, seeing as they were mostly not *directly* said about him or by him.

personally, i think that gregor's distaste for talking about himself on any serious level and thus leading to him getting sort of "sidelined" narratively (which i take issue with that claim, but still. it's effective for getting what i mean across atm) is supposed to lead players to take a deeper look at the times gregor gets held up to other characters and compare and contrast what's being said about them by the matchup. as i showed earlier with his immediate latching onto ishmael, i think this is something gregor himself is at least partially aware of too.

so, that begs the question, who was gregor compared to in canto VII that makes me think it's one of the most critical pieces in understanding his character?

really, i'd like to avoid getting too lost in the analysis of this canto specifically, since i'd like to do a proper post about this later, but i figure i can bury the lede a little before doing it properly.

c7 features several characters being made to perform in sansón's play, acting out the relevant backstory for this segment of the plot. a lot of these characters have rather direct, degrading reasons for playing the roles they do.

outis, a character with an inflated ego who wants her journey to have a purpose, is made to play an aimlessly wandering villager with a single line.

hong lu and ryoushuu, two characters for whom families and the expectations placed upon them are likely going to play a major role, are made to play bloodfiends.

rodya, a character who resents her lot in life and is constantly shown to be eager to leave her destitution behind her and become someone special, is made to play a helpless villager that's too poor to even offer any money to the hero that saves her.

heathcliff, a character that has spent most of his life getting dehumanized by comparing him to beastly animals, is made to play a literal bear whose sole purpose in the plot is to get beat up and then quickly left by the wayside.

sinclair, a character that has two opposed parties essentially treating him as a macguffin to procure for their side, is made to play the character who was arguably the catalyst for this entire canto, not to mention playing a decently major role in ruina.

our star don quixote is made to play her father, the first kindred, but there's someone by their side the entire time, isn't there? don quixote's dear, steadfastly loyal companion. a character which don quixote has tasked themself with getting to come out of their shell?

hello again, pushpin 2.

gregor has been made to play our unreachable star, sancho. someone had to, of course. you can't really tell a story without it's main character, now can you?

now, i should once again give a disclaimer. i am not trying to say that i think adapting what happens to donqui/sancho in c7 to gregor is the road pm is going to take here, not only would that toe a bit past the line of foreshadowing, but it'd also just amount to rehashing that plotline again, which i don't think would make for a particularly exciting story.

what i DO think is that we can take a lot of the things that are said to either directly be the case for sancho and use them to inform how we see gregor.

and god, does playing sancho have some fucking implications for our favorite ossan archetype.

starting off, the earliest moment we get to see of sancho is quite literally her just waiting for death to take her in a pile of ashes.

which, i should remind everyone, is actually pretty damn close to what happens to gregor's literary counterpart at the end of the metamorphosis. gregor samsa experiences one final breaking point that pushes him over the edge and makes him decide to just wait for starvation to take him.

gregor and sancho both consider themselves to no longer be human, something which sancho goes out of her way to highlight repeatedly throughout the canto and gregor is quick to get defensive on her behalf for when outis starts really tearing into her

sancho spends quite a lot of this story denying herself the joys of community and friendship, despite knowing that, even with the rest of the sinners frequently making jokes at her expense and outright insulting her, they were things that she desperately craved.

and, while this is getting into my "outis is a red herring meant to distract us from gregor's eventual betrayal" theorizing, i also think it's worth noting for this discussion that sancho's fellow kindreds, her family, all seem to be under the impression that she dislikes them and ultimately her departure was an act of betrayal

and that, despite gregor being one of LCB's resident mood makers and attempted conflict de-escalators, one of the sinners that's most prone to making appeals to the bonds they've all forged together, only him and faust remained silent during everyone's speech

so yeah, i think there's quite a lot of little details and hints building up to the reveal that gregor's not quite as fond of everyone as he presents himself to be. i do think a lot of this ultimately comes down to gregor getting in the way of his own happiness, similarly to donqui, particularly because he's been frequently portrayed as something of a self fulfilling prophecy, especially by giving him as many christ allegories as they have by way of priest and garden of thorns. gregor is convinced that the rest of the sinners don't like him because he's not convinced anyone could like him, so he convinces himself that he hates them because why should he care if someone that he hates hates him too?

a lot of this ultimately ties back to my personal interpretation of what happens in the metamorphosis as well as my own theories regarding all the times gregor has made weird callbacks and references to lobcorp and ruina, but yeah. i think about this guy and his deeper characterization a fairly normal amount, i think.

to end this off i'll highlight one of my favorite little "gregor is fucking seething and trying so hard to keep it cool" moments, in the credits CG for c7 we see rodya teasing him by drawing a little horse on his window and actively pointing and laughing at it, which gregor really doesn't seem all too pleased about.

i personally think this ties into the other cruel part of sansón forcing gregor to play rocinante, which is the more literal "he's actually just straight up playing rocinante" side of things. gregor was quite literally made to play something less than human, less than even animal really, as he was reduced to nothing more than the shoes don quixote wore as she got to play the leading role. sansón directly makes jokes about gregor being nothing more than shoes in the play twice, which adds to this reading, i think.

this, imo, really plays into the adaptation of the metamorphosis! i've seen a lot of readings for the book that posit that, despite being the protagonist, gregor samsa can't really be considered the main character due to nearly everything he experiences in it being used to further his family's character development at his expense, which i think fits nicely with limbus gregor seemingly having the most said about him through indirect means by holding him up to other characters. also it's rodya carelessly making fun of His Big Major Insecurities™ again like she did in c1 which i always find fun. rodya i love you but god you're the worst.

[smashwolfen]

May I propose my two hyperfixations combining to create a speculative AU? Essentially Okami but POKEMONNNNNNNN!!!!

Pōkami!

This idea has been rotting my brain away ever since the teaser trailer for the Okami sequel came out and I've been sketching so much but at the same time its also not a whole lot XD

Only have a few pokemon characters that I've been able to allocate to an Okami counterpart already, and whether its lore accurate or not its whatever at this point, this is just a fun way to combine my two favourite games together in a random idea!

Under the cuts my current sketches i'm happy to share about! Nothings set in stone yet but if folks are happy to hear me ramble and share more stuff about this idea burning inside me, then hopefully I can get more art out for it whether its sketched on paper or on the computer XD

Full Artpiece of all the Brush Gods!

5/13 Brush god post!

8/13 Brush Gods post!

12/13 Brush Gods post!

13/13 Brush Gods post!

These are the sketches of Ammy that I was bouncing between before doing a digital one. The first one I ever did to get the ball rolling and become obsessed was actually the running pose of the hisuian Zoroark here (with prototype issun) I instead had decided recently that the hisuian form is going to be her Shiranui form. I'll need to make more red marks in future doots for Zoro-Shiranui but atm normal Zoro-amaterasu

And then of course, Ammy needs an Issun, but if we know Issun, he's a bit....... much, in unsavoury ways XD

So for Pokami, decided his counterpart would funny enough be Rei from legends arceus, who will respect women more than the green bug ever did! Originally I was just going to make Re-Issun an actual joltik but went with a person in the end, we need someone to talk for Ammy. I thought from the get go that he needed to keep the bug helmet motif the Poncles have like Issun, but it wasnt gonna be green, and whos tinier than a joltik? Now Rei didn't butcher a Joltik to make his helmet no no no! He made it to resemble one with seed/sea shells, feathers/leaves and little blue gems to mimic its eyes. His scarf is also yellow to make it look like the back of a joltik when hes bouncing along

Story bits and characters will be tweaked here and there to match their repsected pokemon counterpart more but with that they will still have the same/similar issues the okami characters would have in the story too.

[phighting-x-you]

If anythingggg id like to askfor more of that but like

Katana takes reader aside to try to warn them, but he keeps getting blocked by other phighters

Ok thank youuuu

I guess part 2s are becoming a regular on this blog,,,,not complaining ehehehehe,,,

Yandere! Phighting x human! reader part 2! 💘💌

It's been six months since you've been trapped isekai'd into Phighting!, and you've adapted to living in the game. Infact, the Phighters were planning a half-year anniversary party for you, how sweet!

Most days, you interacted with the Phighters and sometimes spoke with the NPCs. You even met the local Broker! Much to the dismay of a certain someone...

"Awww, what a cute little thing you are!" The Broker claims, squishing your face in his hands with a bright grin on his face. His hands were soft and cool as they cupped your cheeks. "If ya want, I could set you up with some sweet gear, on the house!"

"Hey! Hands off!" From the distance, Banhammer was approaching. Broker giggled and unhanded you, choosing to ruffle your hair.

"Oh-oh! Banny doesn't seem to like me much, and I thought we were friends! Oh well, I'll catch up with you another time. Bye-bye!" And with that, The Broker was gone just as Banhammer managed to reach you. He growled, agitated.

"Damn Broker slipping through my grasp again! Stay right away from him, if he's givin' you trouble, ya tell me." The Warden says, putting a firm hand on your shoulder.

The Flipside Brothers had also invited you to watch Phights alongside them! How exciting is that? The Phighters were delighted to see you watching from the stands, all trying to impress you at the same time.

Everything was going great, the Phighters had even planned a present for you! One you'd never forget!

"Alright, listen up!" Subspace clapped his rugged hands, capturing the attention of all Phighters in the cafè. "The anniversary party will be soon, and we need the perfect gift for Y/N."

"How about letting them choose the theme for the next Phestival?" Boombox suggests, leaning back in his chair. "I'm pretty tight with The Flipside, so I'm sure they'd allow it."

"Or how about gifting them something beautiful?" Vine Staff muses, gently drawing circles on the table. "Shuriken and I can turn their garden into something breathtaking!"

"Those are all good ideas, but..." Sword cut in, clasping his hands together in thought. "It has to be something personal, to show how much we love them."

"He's got a point. We should give them something, like a token of appreciation!" Slingshot brainstormed. The room was filled with murmers, everyone giving out their ideas.

Suddenly, the door slammed open. Coil sped into the room, a bright light in his eyes. Rapidly, he ran to the front of the room, bumping into Subspace.

"Oh, for SFOTH's sake Coil! Do you min-"

"Shush! Everybody, listen!" Coil bellows, everyone snapping their heads towards him. "I've got the perfect present for Y/N! Look at what I found!"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, squared disc, looking very much like a spawning square. Coil threw it onto the floor, where it smacked against the ground before turning into...someone?

It was a Phighter.

"Y'see, I went scrolling through Y/N's Roblox profile to try get some ideas for what they'd perhaps like. I got curious and looked through their creations, and that's where I found this fella!" Coil explained, proudly patting the back of the Phighter. Suddenly, Medkit's crystal began to glow, his eyes snapping open. He had an idea.

"That's it! We could use Y/N's own Phighter...and make them one in the same!" He announced, slamming his fist on the desk with such excitement at the idea. "Not only will they be like us, but they can join the Phights!"

"I'll be more than happy to train 'em up!" Scythe agreed to the idea, her teeth flashing in a wide grin. "Good thinkin', 'kit." Everyone else loved the idea, beginning to plan it in thorough detail.

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

Katana's breath hitched. He had been listening in from outside. Turning you into something you're not? It's a sickening idea. He can't stand for this, he won't allow it. Kidnapping you was far enough, transformation was a whole new level of deplorable.

He crept away quickly and quietly, making a beeline straight to your home. He had to warn you, he had to tell you the truth. He had to help you.

You had been learning to ride your newly-gifted skateboard outside when Katana had rushed over to you. You were concerned when he didn't say hello back.

Swiftly gripping your hand, he pulled you back into your house, closing the door. He began to explain everything.

Unfortunately, before he could tell you very much, there was a knock at the door.

"Hello, Y/N! Isn't it such a beautiful day today?" Subspace asked, motioning towards the sun in an overzealous manner. You smiled in agreement. Katana, on the other hand, went completely still. His stomach dropped when he saw Hyperlaser and Biograft behind the scientist.

"Now, I was just looking for Katana. We have something planned for you, and I have to talk to him about it. Why don't you take a walk with Biograft? He wants to learn more about humans!"

With a smile, you stepped out of your house and began to take a stroll with the robot, describing what it's like to be human as best as you could. When you were fully out of earshot, Subspace pulled Katana through your front door and slammed him against a tree, grasping his horns in a harsh fashion.

"Listen here..." He growled, angry pink fumes spilling from his gas mask. "You aren't getting in the way of this. Hyperlaser told me everything, and I don't think he's above silencing his own partner for good if he has to!"

Katana struggled, reaching for his gear. Hyperlaser, however, ripped it from its sheath and threw it far in the distance. The overwhelming black mask burning right into the samurai's eyes. A tear of frustration spilled from his mask, making Subspace smirk sickeningly.

"I always knew there was something off about you. Do you not love Y/N? Is that it? Do you hate them? You heartless twit!" He continued, spewing accusations in Katana's face. He slammed the samurai's head forcefully against the tree, making a sickening thwack! sound before shoving him on the ground.

"Consider this your only warning. If you try interfering with us again, then I guess Y/N will be replacing you on the roster!" Subspace spat, kicking Katana in the ribs before marching away.

Wheezing in pain, Katana lifted his head up to look at Hyperlaser, shaky tears pouring down his face. A silent stare down between the two told them both that their relationship was no more, ending with Hyperlaser walking after Subspace, not looking back at his pained ex-lover.

As the days drew closer to the anniversary party, you didn't see Katana as much. It was almost worrying, but Hyperlaser assured you that Katana wasn't feeling very well, but you'd see him again at the party!

News about the party spread to the Flipside Brothers, who said they'd definitely come. The two went on to have a meaningful conversation about the party, worrying over what they should wear to the occasion.

"Dom should I just wear my usual suit or should I wear one of my Phestival outfits? I think my Ice Cream outfit would do nicely." Valk asked his brother, looking around his closet. Dom, who was busy responding to fanmail, simply just hummed in agreement.

He should probably fetch an outfit for the party, too. He put his pen down and opened up his own closet. Dom eyed up his Raven outfit when a thought dawned on him.

"Hey, Valk, do you think the Phighters have a surprise planned for Y/N?" He asked his brother.

"Oh yeah! Boombox told me they're gonna turn them into an Inpherno." Valk replied casually, taking his outfit out of the closet. "I was thinki-"

"Sorry, what?" Dom cut his brother off, slamming his closet door shut in surprise. Valk turned to his brother, surprised by the sudden sound of impact. The purple brother looked shocked.

"Turning Y/N into...an Inpherno?" He repeated, his expression contorting into worried concern. "Would that even work?"

Valk laid his Ice Cream outfit neatly on his bed and walked towards his brother.

"Listen, it sounds bad. But think about it, it'll be awesome! When Y/N becomes an Inpherno, they can also become a Phighter and-"

"And what if it goes wrong? What if Y/N ends up mutilated? Will that be awesome?" Dom rebutted, sending his brother into silence. Valk chewed his lower lip as he considered the possibility.

"Well, no, of course not." Valk answered, looking at the framed photo of Y/N beside the brothers. He picks it up and sighs. "Y/N doesn't even remember how they got here."

He paused, suspicion growing in his eyes. "Dom. How do you think they got here?"

"I don't know, man. But something tells me they didn't come here of their own accord."

Both idols stood in a silence, thick with contemplation. Eventually, they made a plan. A plan to find out how you got here.

[liauditore]

Equally Invalid

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

MDZS x ISAT part 1: In Stars and Necromancy.

(Part 2)

[aka-indulgence]

Um... are we allowed to selfship with the ravioli?

Um

YES!!!???!!?!

What do you think @llamagoddessofficial