#possible unconfirmed bug

[sburbian-sage]

I'm sorry for BEING MEAN TO YOU.

It was wrong because IT DID NOT ADVANCE MY GOALS.

In the future I will PUT FORWARD A DISHONEST FAÇADE OF “POLITENESS”.

Do you forgive me?

there. as YOU CAN SEE, i read THE “sburb etiquette faq”, AND HAVE FOLLOWED IT. you MAY INTERPRET THIS AS A “GESTURE OF GOOD WILL”.

you SEE, WE KEEP GETTING BANNED FROM PLACES, SO IT’S HARD TO FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO ASK QUESTIONS. and MY OTHER HALF WONT ASK YOU ANYTHING BECAUSE HE STILL “doesn’t want to bother [you]”. so IT FALLS TO ME. even THOUGH YOU POSTED THAT MESSAGE i accidentally SENT WHERE MY HANDLE LEAKED, WHICH IS BASICALLY ATTEMPTED MURDER.

anyway. the PROBLEM AT HAND:

our SESSIONS KEEP GETTING SHORTER AND SHORTER. as YOU ONCE SAID, A NORMAL SESSION TAKES ABOUT A YEAR. but IT HASN’T BEEN ALL THAT LONG SINCE WE LAST SPOKE, AND i was ON SESSION 5 THEN.

we ARE NOW ON SESSION 12. absurd.

assuming THAT YOU DON’T JUST DISMISS THIS OUT OF HAND (AS YOU OFTEN SEEM TO DO, WHEN i tell YOU ANYTHING UNUSUAL), i desire YOUR “TAKE” ON THIS MATTER.

not BECAUSE i would EXPECT TO AGREE WITH IT ON ANY LEVEL- i’m quite SURE THAT ALL THIS IS SIMPLY A PRODUCT OF MY EVER-INCREASING SKILL AT THE GAME ALLOWING FOR FASTER COMPLETION- BUT MY OTHER HALF HAS GROWN CONCERNED, AND COWERS IN THE FACE OF THE EVER-LOWER NUMBERS WE FIND ON THE RECKONING COUTDOWNS, (NOT THAT WE NEED MORE TIME, AGAIN, i’m skilled. the MANDATORY SPEEDRUNNING ISN’T GETTING TO ME AT ALL.) AND i’m sure HE’LL LISTEN TO WHATEVER REASSURANCE YOU MAKE UP.

with THAT OUT OF THE WAY, JUST WANT TO CLEAR SOMETHING UP WHILE i’m messaging YOU ANYWAY: THE MESSAGE THAT THE knight OF blood SENT YOU BACK THEN WAS utter hogwash! i absolutely DO NOT HAVE ANY SORT OF ROMANTIC FEELINGS FOR YOU.

and BESIDES, IF i did, KILLING YOU- AT LEAST INTENTIONALLY- WOULDN’T BE HOW IT WORKS. couldn’t REPRODUCE WITH A CORPSE- OR WITH A HUMAN FOR THAT MATTER.

i mean, EVEN IF YOU WERE A CHERUB, IT WOULDN’T MATTER. if THERE’S ANYTHING ATTRACTIVE ABOUT YOU, IT WOULD BE THE HUMANITY. the SOFT FLESH, THE DULL EYES. not THAT i would DARE DEFILE A HUMAN IN SUCH A WAY! or AM EVEN THINKING ABOUT THAT AT ALL EVER! i’m just SAYING THAT HYPOTHETICALLY THERE COULD BE A KIND OF “EXOTIC” OBJECTIVE APPEAL.

and ANYWAY, IF i said SOME VIOLENT THINGS TO MY COPLAYERS ABOUT YOU AT THE TIME IN MY SLEEP-DEPRIVED, SOCIALLY DESPERATE, REASONABLY PISSED STATE, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PRIVATE INFORMATION ANYWAY, SO IT SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN DIVULGED TO YOU, AND ANY TRULY MORAL ACTOR WOULD HAVE ALSO NOT PUBLISHED THAT WITHOUT MY CONSENT.

HI… DID my sister contact you again? SHE’S been acting kind of strange and dropped a few hints about it, and uh… WELL, I’M SORRY if she sent you anything weird. I’M ALSO sorry I kind of ghosted you… IT shouldn’t have fallen to my co-player to explain how things worked out back then, but I WAS worried that if I KEPT messaging you, so would she... SHE’S been really anxious lately. WE’RE having this problem where we have less and less time to complete each session. I THINK it’s just coincidence, but she thinks it’s some kind of consequence of us getting better at the game? LIKE, we need less time, so we get less time? IF you have an opinion on this, I’D LOVE to hear it. IT’S hard to ask around- as much as she’s been improving as a person, she’s still abrasive enough to keep getting us banned off of most of the network…

Oh SHIT it's the Cherub siblings again! It's been a while. And to address some miscellaneous points before we dive into the actual meat of the issue.

Cherub Sister, I do forgive you. Not out of kindness, or any personal qualities you possess that make you especially forgivable, because your contempt is still leaking through your words and it's still kind of fucked up that you did that stuff to your brother. However, you are pretty top-tier at banter, and as long as you can keep the causticity to snipes in between actual communication (instead of messaging JUST to be rude), you're cool in my book.

I don't dismiss stuff out of hand unless you say ridiculous stuff at me like "I won the game the door opened and your mom gave me Victory Sloppy". I didn't even believe Cherubs were real at first and I still asked for verification instead of "nuh uh not real". And look at us now, we're basically best friends at this point.

I'm going to take the last four paragraphs as a compliment. I don't know much about how Cherub reproduction works, nor do I think I got a physical description or image of what they even look like, so I can't really speak on much of this, other than that you probably shouldn't be complimenting people on their "exotic" looks because it's somewhat un-PC. Also I agree, we should execute the Knight of Blood.

Cherub Brother, you could never "bother" me. You were always chill with me, and you will continue to be chill with me, regardless of how much of a pain your sister may or not be at any given point.

But now to actually address the issue you're asking me about. And not to immediately sour my newfound friendship with Cherub Sister, but she's absolutely wrong on this matter. With very few exceptions (and none I can think of currently), none of the game's features take into account Player skill or prior experience whatsoever. If it wants to generate a nearly-impossible Session, it will do so regardless of whether said Session is populated by veterans with a double-digit victory count, complete sboobs, or a mix thereof. So your skill is irrelevant, insofar as it isn't causing your current issue. It sure as hell is good at solving it though, so take pride in that.

So now the question is "why is this the case"? I doubt your Cherubhood has anything to do with it. It *did* affect the game at the start, with your not-quite-a-solo Session, but you've been playing with others now. So unless this game is uniquely biased against Cherubs (for some reason???), we can rule that out. And... I've basically hit the limit on how hard I can guess at what's going on. If there *is* some factor that you can account for that would fix the issue, I'm not seeing it, meaning that your Sessions becoming increasingly shorter is either due to A) coincidence, like Cherub Brother thinks, or B) something functionally indistinguishable from coincidence.

The bad news is, I have no way of helping you. The good news is, you may not need my help. Let's say this is a coincidence. It doesn't seem likely to be a coincidence, due to your perspective being "they're getting sequentially shorter", but I see confirmation bias all the time. Look for examples of Seers building "dens", and all of a sudden, every Seer has a den. Humans usually die when shot in the head, but repeat that action an infinite number of times, and there be an infinite number of survivals. That doesn't mean human skulls are particularly resistant to gunshots though. No matter what narrative you try to weave from the objective data, the number of deaths will be a proportionally larger infinite number. Math guys don't @ me and simply understand what it is I'm saying.

Granted, what's currently happening to you is "human gets shot in the head five times, is still alive, now they're reaching for the shotgun", and no amount of "erm actually" and vague gestures at nonexistent statistics stops that from being a bitter pill to swallow. My only point is, until further information can be gathered or provided, the only thing that can be done is surviving the current Session. In fact, whether your time limits go back to normal or shorten again, you still have to survive *this* Session. I think the likelihood that you're being deliberately "challenged" unlikely, but abnormally short or no, having a double-digit Session count is something to be extremely proud of, and it sure as hell indicates you'll be able to answer said challenge. So for now, keep doing what you're doing, while being on the lookout for anything happening in this Session (or previous ones) which might indicate a cause or pattern.

Also, if you want to make sure it's not your level of skill impacting things. Maybe suck a little more? Don't self-sabotage, because dying is bad. But maybe you could afford to cut it a little close, or look demure and beaten-up when your injuries are minor at best. Or at the very least say "AW MAN I DON'T THINK I COULD DO THAT AGAIN, MUCH LESS A SHORTER ONE, I'M NOT *THAT* GOOD" when you're at the Door. The game reads your mind, so this might not work, but it can't hurt to *not* do it, right? Stupider solutions have worked before, I personally have had to manually deactivate and reactivate the ectobiology apparatus to finish Frog Breeding once. Shut just wouldn't intake ecto-slime, and then it did.

[thedomesticanthropologist]

I went through the tags and replies on my post about wanting Larian to focus on finishing the game and adding content before making DLC

(paraphrasing) and here are the Top Requests from those who engaged with it:

What fans want:

Tara in camp outside of just Gales Origin playthrough

More Wyll content (he has the least out of all companions)

More Karlach content/more satisfying ending (perhaps being more companions with you to Avernus, or find a way to fix the engine so it works in Faerun, there is unfinished hints that this is possible in game?? Unconfirmed)

Re-vamp (haha) Astarions' Spawn Ending- let the player chase after him/help him

Conclude things (certain stuff consistent through act 1 and 2 that ends nowhere, be it quests? or hints from letters found, NPC interactions that seemed to be leading somewhere,etc)

Fix bugs especially act 3

Option to hug companions, hug romanced companion

Other suggestions that are popular on tumblr/tiktok and COULD be DLC

Companion camp outfits that change when the Act changes (have also heard of simple hair changes, their tents gaining times from the adventure so far

A tent for Tav (perhaps being able to pick from a few styles)

Opening up the upper city or adding in a new area to explore that is not main plot related (there are various ideas around this, but I'm keeping it generic for the list)

Please add more in the replies and I will re-make this list when it's more expanded!

[yuurei20]

I see people say that the twst tune in Book 5 was removed because of Neige's voice actor but is that true? Where is everyone getting this information?

Hello hello! Thank you for this question! ❄️

To my knowledge have received no official information about why both the rhythmic and the VDC closing scene were removed from Book 5 on EN!

(The "Neige's voice actor" rumor is a little unfortunate as it puts the blame on a person who is possibly entirely uninvolved, and might not even know what happened 💦)

While searching I came across a Reddit thread from three years ago, where someone reports on the email that they received from Aniplex USA in response to an inquiry about the missing content:

I cannot verify the communication personally but from this person's experience it seems that Aniplex USA did confirm that the content was removed intentionally--it was not a bug--but there was no explanation as to why. Which makes sense, as we have never received any official insight into any of the various changes being made to EN.

And that is possibly what has led to rumors like "it is because of copyright" or "it is because of Neige's VA"--it is only natural for people to want closure!

But as of this post everything is just speculation, and as far as we know it is no more the fault of Neige's VA or his agency than it is anyone's fault--it is just a thing that happened!

EN players were provided with the in-game rewards that they would have received for playing the rhythmic so it is just the game itself and the final closing scene that they were unfortunately not able to experience.

A related rumor that I have seen before is that the song is a literal, word-for-word cover of Snow White's original "Heigh Ho," possibly resulting in these unconfirmed copyright issues--but it isn't! And it also isn't the Japanese-language dub of the song.

The lyrics are completely different, including lines such as:

Let’s all spin around and dance, Look, look, now hold hands, Let’s all laugh and dance together. It’s almost time, let’s bake some delicious bread, Bake, bake, come on, sing too, birds Every day is wonderful, it’s so much fun!

Even so, the song is still a remix, so while copyright concerns with Disney USA are not impossible they are also not based in anything but rumor.

I have also seen people say that the song was removed because of the strong backlash on JP, with some people even saying that Rook's VA was threatened, but I have not seen any proof that this is the case!

For reference, here is a collection tweets from the day that Rook's betrayal was revealed in 2021. While there is some negativity about how quickly Rook was forgiven, there are also comments saying they are glad that Rook's role as the hunter included his betrayal of his queen, and how the reveal made them laugh ^^ I have asked on multiple JP-user platforms including friends and people I do not know, and everyone has said that they have never heard of any backlash against Rook's VA, and there are no tweets or official statements from the VA or his agency.

It was a certainly a passionate time for the community, but we have no verifiable reports of harassment or threats and it is always good to be cautious about spreading unverified rumors!

Japan has strict cyber-bullying and harassment laws and a threat against a seiyuu is very likely to result in both a response from their agency and local law enforcement, such when two people wrote threatening comments on a website in 2019 towards seiyuu Ito Ayumi, leading to their arrest.

It is not unusual for rumors of "purported threats" to cycle around without any actual threats being made, as people assume that someone, somewhere is probably angry enough to do so. But "someone told me" and "probably" are very different from "actually happened" :>

While a common rumor in the EN community I have never seen any screenshots of proof, and am wondering if maybe it was just one of those miscommunications that tend to happen when a fandom crosses languages!

And another curious thing is the Twisted Wonderland OST 👀

The OST uses the English-language titles of songs and events instead of their original, Japanese-language counterparts--JP players don't actually know what "Spectral Soiree" or "Twisted Tsumderland" even are!

For us they were "Endless Halloween Night" and "Tsumsted Wonderland," and my guess is maybe the OST was specifically prepared for an overseas audience, choosing song names that English speakers are familiar with regardless of the confusion caused to Japanese speakers who knew nothing but the name "Endless Halloween" for two years before buying the OST and seeing an entirely new name for the first time.

(The "Fellow and Gidel" name is unchanged, but the OST came out before the Playfulland event on EN, and we have seen this discrepency before: If you own the second visual book you may be surprised by how the EN-version name of "Beanfest" is listed alongside the JP-version name of "Endless Halloween Night," but the visual book came out before EN's Halloween event.

It is my theory that some merch, despite being made in Japan, is being localized for English-language speakers, but the changes being made by Aniplex USA are not being shared in advance. Much like how Aniplex USA doesn't seem to know where the story is going, resulting in plot issues born from localization, merchandise manufacturers don't seem to know what changes Aniplex USA will be implementing, leading them to depending upon the original versions of stories and events for things that have yet to reach EN server. Interesting!)

The OST includes 149 tracks, which is a curious number--why not 150? And Neige's song? It is not there 👀

But the rhythmic and closing scene are both available on YouTube, and there is also this advertisement (also on YouTube) featuring Everybody Yaho! with three members of the Night Ravens, the group who performed the opening theme Piece of My World 🎶

[simfestation]

Bus Driver: Legacy of One. Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bugs.

Chapter 7 - Growing Together

So, I deleted the last triplets that grew up while I tested out the new pack. Atticus, Angel and Wellness Guru had been adopted by father winter (he very well may have been the father anyway)

Bus and Wolfgang packed up and left on a new adventure POSSIBLY in Brindleton Bay but unconfirmed.

They opened up a live in vet clinic and animal shelter, and Bus gave birth to Stakeholder Driver. It also appears that Wolfgang returned to his medical career to fund the move and family expenses.

[trinityalps]

wanderers guide to species of the enchanted forest

bigfeet :: They travel in small groups and can safely by interacted with due to their extreme intelligence. use caution and respect. big feet are arboreal frugivores. do not be surprised if they show curiosity about you

false bog body :: a large fungus growing in disturbed peat moss, mimicking the appearance of a bog body. safe to eat if cooked well. a true bog body is a corpse mummified by tannins in the peat. true bog bodies are not safe to eat and should be reburied as respectfully as possible. it is easy to tell the edible fungus from a true bog body because the true are hollow with a leathery texture, the false is solid inside and silk on the outside.

hattifatteners :: technically a lichen, a specialist photosynthesizer which processes energy from lightning. during wet season the grow significantly, and can develop bioluminescence. they are most frequently spotted during this time. beautiful and harmless unless threatened.

tree octopus :: arborial, carnivorous, an ambush predator feeding off of large bugs, small birds, lizards and rodentia. too small to eat a human, but known to try.

will o' the wisp :: a nocturnal, bioluminent bird. very friendly, and useful to humans. the bird is omnivorous and will lead humans to various hard-to-access food sources. these may be thorny plants, beehives, fishing holes. in some urban areas they have led locals to dumpsters. know that once you have chosen to follow a wisp you MUST see the task out, for your own safety. some willys have guided humans 100's of miles. there are unconfirmed stories of willys luring humans to dead bodies, gem filled caves, magical springs, and

wishing well :: closely related to pitcher plants, evolved to lure humans. best avoided.

yeti :: while commonly mistaken for a Bigfoot the two are unrelated. in contrast to the bigfoots friendly nature, yetis are extremely avoidant of humans and are known to attack if spotted. when walking in yeti country whistle, hum, or talk loudly so as to never surprise a yeti. food should be stored in a yeti-safe canister and treehung at least 50 feet from your tent.

[cryptocurrencyaustralia]

Disclosure of CPU DoS / stalling due to malicious P2P message (≤ version 0.17.2)

A node could be stalled for hours when processing the orphans of a specially crafted unconfirmed transaction. This issue is considered High severity. Details After accepting a transaction into its mempool, the node would go through its cache of orphan transactions to find if this new accepted transaction makes it possible to accept any. This search was quadratic: for each output in the newly accepted transaction it would go through all cached orphan transactions (limited to 100). By specially crafting the orphan transactions to be invalid yet expensive to validate a node could be stalled for several hours. The stall was fixed by Pieter Wuille in PR #15644 by interrupting the orphan resolution to process new messages when a match is found (whether the orphan turns out to be valid or not). Attribution Credits to sec.eine for responsibly disclosing the bug and providing feedback on the fix. Timeline * 2019-03-19 sec.eine reports the issue to Greg Maxwell by email * 2019-03-21 Greg Maxwell responds with information about the proposed patch * 2019-03-22 sec.eine gives feedback on the patch (“seems solid and [..] doesn’t attract attention”) * 2019-03-22 Pieter Wuille opens PR #15644 * 2019-04-01 PR #15644 is merged * 2019-05-18 Bitcoin Core version 0.18.0 is released with a fix * 2020-07-22 The issue is partially disclosed during a PR review club * 2020-08-01 The last vulnerable Bitcoin Core version (0.17.x) goes EOL * 2024-07-03 Public disclosure. http://dlvr.it/T96bjg

[chestnutdex]

PIDGEOT

Pidgeot is a Flying- and Normal- type bird Pokémon with a long history of semi-domestication. Pidgeot may be the fastest creatures on the planet, capable of exceeding Mach 2 in flight. Only Dragonite have been confirmed at similar speeds, though unconfirmed reports suggest other dragons may be even faster.

TAXONOMY

Pidgeot are Buzzards (also called Hawks) in the Buteo family. The name Pidgeot derives from the word Pigeon. Though Pigeons are unrelated to Buteo, a young Pidgeot’s cry is distinctly similar to that of a pigeon’s. Young Pidgeot are referred to by the diminutive name Pidgey as chicks and Pidgeotto as adolescents.

Pidgey, a young Pidgeot

DESCRIPTION

Primarily brown with lighter undersides, Pidgeot are most notable for their colorful crests and bright tail feathers. Pidgeot crests and tails are composed of red and yellow feathers, both of which grow continually longer over the Pidgeot’s life. An individual Pidgeot’s crest may grow as long as its body, about 1.5 meters, and its tail may reach half that. These crests exist solely for display. Selective breeding by Kanto’s humans have significantly increased average crest length over time in both male and female Pidgeot.

Pidgeot eyes are surrounded by thick, black stripes that reduce glare. Pidgeot eyesight is accurate enough to spot prey from over 1km up.

Pidgeot have small beaks and talons and instead use their wings as their primary weapons. Young Pidgey discourage predators by creating small gusts to disorient and kick up sand clouds. As they grow, their pectoral muscles gain significant strength, allowing them to fly at over 2,500 km/hr and create sustained winds of over 200 km/hr. When needed, a Pidgeot can deliver powerful strikes with its wings.

Pidgeotto crests and tails are vibrant yellow and red

HABITAT

Pidgeot are common throughout the Kanto-Johto regions, easily found in trees, grasses, and overhead. Pidgey often remain inland while adult Pidgeot often fly over coastal waters while hunting. Pidgeot are non-migratory and are only rarely seen outside these regions.

Young Pidgey are often found in Kalos near Santalune Forest, though Pidgeotto and Pidgeot are not. The source of these Pidgey is unknown, but there is believed to be a supernatural connection between Santalune Forest and Kanto’s Viridian Forest.

Large crests cause considerable drag but greatly increase their chances of finding trainers or mates.

BEHAVIOR

Pidgeot are birds of prey with preferred diets varying with age.

Young Pidgey search tall grasses for small bugs, which make up the majority of their diet. They frequently hunt Caterpie. Pidgey are timid and otherwise docile, fleeing from perceived threats and flapping their wings to create small sand clouds to cover their escape. Pidgey supplement their diet with nuts, seeds, and berries. 

As they grow, Pidgeotto become more aggressive and more territorial as their need for food increases. A Pidgeotto may travel over 100 km away from its nest in search of larger prey, including Magikarp, Poliwag, Goldeen, Spearow, Rattata, Nidoran, Venonat, and Exeggcute. Though Pidgeotto’s talons do not deal significant damage, their strong grip makes it difficult for prey to escape. Pidgeotto may attack other predatory Pokémon or humans to discourage hunting in its territory. Pidgeotto only willingly share territory with siblings, and mated pairs may nest as far as 20km apart. Nests are built as high as possible to avoid predators, but are frequently vulnerable to Ekans.

Fully mature Pidgeot no longer protect territory, instead hunting almost exclusively over water. Pidgeot primarily hunt Magikarp, Krabby, and Horsea, but will continue to attack smaller prey as convenient. 

Pidgey carrying a letter

INTERACTION WITH HUMANS

Pidgeot have been regularly tamed by humans as long as 10,000 years ago and are frequent companions. In addition to battling, Pidgeot can be trained to deliver mail, assist in hunting and fishing, and serve as aerial mounts for women and children.

Pidgey are considerably easier to train than Pidgeotto or Pidgeot, and most tame Pidgeot are caught while young and raised by humans. Pidgeot raised by humans tend to become stronger and healthier, and thus more successful in the wild. Due to the tendency for Pidgeot to carry mail long distances over Kanto and Johto, wild and tame populations frequently interact, resulting in Pidgeot as a species only being partially domesticated. This has resulted in wild populations gaining traits considered desirable by humans, such as larger crests, brighter feathers, and reduced wariness that may be disadvantageous in the wild but increase their chances of being captured by a Trainer. 

Pidgeot raised among humans are often cheerful and friendly

MUTATIONS

Pidgeot can mega evolve into Mega Pidgeot with the Pidgeotite. In addition to increased size and strength, Mega Pidgeot gains blue feathers at the end of its wings and tail. 

NOTABLE PIDGEOT

Trainer Blue of Pallet Town, leader of Alola’s Battle tree, used a Pidgeot in his 1996 Indigo League victory.

Trainer Ethan of New Bark Town used a Pidgeot in his 1999 Indigo League victory.

The Church of Helix venerates a Pidgeot, “Jss,” as a holy figure, believed to be sent by their god to be their savior.

Hamigakimomo’s carving of Jss.

[fluctuating-fanby]

Tumblr Reactions: A Semi-Comprehensive Guide

This isn’t a joke, I really did put in all this effort. Context for anyone reading in the future: it’s April 1st, 2023, and Tumblr added Discord-like reactions to posts.

Tl;dr: They’re fricking delightful.

I haven’t seen anyone else with a complete list so I busted out an autoclicker and made this so that you don’t have to miss what I did at first. Also just documentation purposes. Feel free to add on (even screenshots or recordings, if you have ‘em) or correct me. Also I’m putting all this under a cut in case you do want to discover it for yourself.

These are the Tumblr reactions that you can add underneath posts. To add to a post with no reactions, click the smiley face next to the other post actions. 

These are the seven default reactions you start with: bug, cheese, crab, four, ghost, horse, and socks.

1. You can click them multiple times in one post. Clicking them in rapid succession pulls up a bubble that grows the more you click.

2. Some reactions have special effects, enumerated below:

The cheese creates globs of cheese at the bottom of the post.

The socks create stink lines.

The four create speech bubbles, as well as various voice recordings of people saying “four”.

The horse creates trotting/galloping sounds.

The ghost makes the post translucent/transparent.

3. Each reaction has an upper limit to how many times it can be clicked, enumerated below:

bug: I have yet to reach it, but it is at least 70,000. It is possible this limit does not exist. Edit: It’s 70,468!

cheese: 10,000. I observed this and bug’s from other posts. Trying to get to it by myself bricked my computer.

crab: 1,000.

four: 444.

ghost: 666.

horse: 500.

socks: 1,000.

3.1. Reaching the upper limit of certain reactions unlocks new ones:

Maxing out horse unlocks unicorn.

Maxing out four unlocks moon.

Maxing out crab unlocks pikaman.

Maxing out pikaman unlocks vanilla extract.

Maxing out vanilla extract unlocks cookie.

This is an unconfirmed theory but I believe the brick is unlocked after a certain number of total reactions.

Also unconfirmed: I have been unable to unlock vanilla extract on other posts. Does it only happen a certain percentage of the time, maybe?

With their own upper limits:

unicorn: 7.

moon: 223.

pikaman: 17 Oops, sorry, it’s actually 19.

vanilla extract: 999.

cookie: 999.

brick: 1.

[fridayfirefly]

Hardcore Hide-and-Seek

Read Hardcore Hide-and-Seek on AO3

Masterlist

Written for Maribat March Day 27 - Contest

There was a dull ache behind his temples that just wouldn't go away. The harsh, bright lights of his computer screen and the fact that he hadn't slept in almost 36 hours combined to give Tim a headache so powerful he could barely think.

"Sweetheart. Honeybunch. Cupcake. Darling." Marinette poked him in the shoulder after each pet name. "You need to go to bed now before you pass out on the keyboard." She gently pulled on his arm, guiding him away from the computer.

"Not yet. Give me... two more hours."

"No way. You need to sleep."

"I just need to finish this one program to search and identify every pedestrian walking by all five of Jason's safehouses, get it up and running, and check it for bugs. Then I can go to sleep."

Marinette groaned. "Nine hours, that's all I'm asking."

"You know how much can be done in nine hours? In nine hours Damian will have checked half of The Bowery, Cass and Steph will have combed through all of Crime Alley, and Dick and Babs will have hacked their way into every street-facing camera in Gotham."

"First of all, you're not going to find Jason if you're too tired to think straight. Second, finding Jason first means nothing if you're too tired to catch him." Marinette rolled her eyes. "Third, I think this whole contest is ridiculous. I swear, you Bats play the weirdest games."

"It isn't weird. It's good practice for our tracking abilities," protested Tim.

"It's extreme hide-and-seek tag, that's what it is. Now get to bed. If you get nine hours of sleep tonight, I'll help you catch Jason tomorrow morning."

"Fine." Tim cast one last longing look at the computer before Marinette pulled him out of the Batcave.

----------

The light of morning woke Tim up, reminding him that he had been too tired the night before to set an alarm. "What time is it?"

"It's nine in the morning. You were right that Cass and Steph searched through Crime Alley. They checked all three of Jason's safehouses but found nothing. Damian got sidetracked by an armed robbery while searching through The Bowery and was barely able to check a few blocks. Dick and Babs got access to the traffic camera and the video of two different security companies, but they weren't able to get any of your facial recognition programs to run on any of the feeds."

"Wait, what?" asked Tim, still not fully awake.

"I was serious about helping you. I don't do anything halfway," said Marinette.

Tim sat up, "That's great! Our odds of winning triple when we team up. What were you saying about Babs and Dick?"

"They can't get your facial recognition program to run."

"That's because I tweaked some of the code right at the end to require a confirmation from my laptop. That way if any of my codes fall into the wrong hands, I'll know." Tim grabbed his laptop off of his desk and opened it. A pop-up appeared in the corner of the screen.

[user: Babs requests access for FACIAL RECOGNITION]

There were three options underneath: YES, NO, and IMITATION RUN. Tim clicked the third.

"What does imitation run do?" asked Marinette.

"It will go through to all of the video feeds, but it won't actually flag anything. It will just run passively. Dick and Babs, however, won't know that."

"Clever. That should set Dick and Babs back. Now how are we going to find Jason?"

"Jason knows that we have programs to monitor anywhere where there are security cameras. That means he'll be staying away from traffic cameras. He's lying low - probably in a safehouse."

"Cass and Steph checked all three of the safehouses in Crime Alley," objected Marinette.

Tim shook his head. "Jason has more than three safehouses in Crime Alley. Those three are just the ones we know about."

"How are we going to find these safehouses?" asked Marinette. "If there's one thing Jason's good at, it's disappearing."

"That's the problem. Jason only has to last three more days before he wins. It's entirely possible for him to just hole up in his safehouse and never leave."

"On the other hand, that means that we've got him cornered once we figure out the location of his safehouse."

Tim nodded. "Let's get searching."

The problem with finding a safehouse is that there isn't much to do once a person is successfully hidden inside. It's impossible to search every single building in all of Crime Alley (though Steph and Cass together were giving a remarkably good effort of scouring for signs of Jason), so Tim and Marinette took a different approach.

"I designed the burner phones that all of the Bats use in our safehouses, which is how I know for certain that there are no trackers in them. However, if I send out a system update, they all update automatically. When the update is installed, it will send back a confirmation to the main servers. I can trace that message back to figure out the location of all of the burner phones."

"How long will that take?"

"Half an hour to get everything ready to send out a system update. Fifteen minutes after that before all the phones are updated and send their confirmation messages. From there we can start checking safehouses."

Marinette grinned. "See, I told you that you would think better with a full night of sleep."

"You were right," Tim admitted.

"You start the system update, I'm going to make breakfast."

Marinette left the bedroom and Tim wondered how he got so lucky as to have her with him.

----------

After collecting the locations of all the safehouse burner phones and cross-checking the results with the list of known safehouses, there were five unconfirmed safehouses left.

"Two in Crime Alley, two in The Bowery, and one in East End," reported Tim.

"Let's hit East End first, then move onto The Bowery, and end in Crime Alley," Marinette formulated the plan over a plate of pancakes. "What are the official rules to this game, anyway?"

"Jason got twelve hours to hide. Then we get five days to track him down and tag him. The winner gets to drive the Batmobile anytime Bruce isn't in town for the next six months."

Marinette playfully rolled her eyes. "Of course the prize is driving the Batmobile." Getting up from her finished breakfast, Marinette started putting on her coat and shoes. "Come on, Tim, let's go win you Batmobile privileges."

The apartment in East End was empty, save a few rats that scurried across the hallway of the apartment. Marinette wrinkled her nose and she peered out the grimy window. "Who's safehouse do you think this was?"

Tim fished a half-empty carton of cigarettes out of a drawer in the kitchen. "Jason's, probably, but given the amount of dust in here, I don't think he's been here for a while."

The brick house in The Bowery was a little cleaner but still abandoned. The little front yard was half dirt and half weeds. Pinned up on a bulletin board in the front hallway was an empty postcard decorated with the logo for Haly's Circus. Tim concluded that it was Dick's safehouse and they moved onto the next safehouse. It was in an apartment complex in Crown Point, the seediest district of The Bowery. It was stocked with knives, guns, and a box of neatly labeled poisons.

"Damian's safehouse?" guessed Marinette. "He's the only one I could see having poison kept on hand."

Tim nodded, "Probably."

The second-to-last safehouse was on the border between The Bowery and Crime Alley. It was small and run-down, but it seemed that at one point it had been well-maintained. The mailbox was hand-painted yellow, with blue letters reading: The Brown's.

"Stephanie's old house," said Tim, realization.

"Sentimental choice for a safehouse," noted Marinette.

It felt wrong to enter the house that Steph grew up in, so they moved on from it. There was no way Jason was inside, not when Steph and Babs had already search the known safehouses in Crime Alley.

Tim sighed as they drove to the last location. "We've only got one safehouse left to check. I'm not sure what we'll do if Jason isn't in it." Tim had forgotten to consider that Jason might have gotten a burner phone from somewhere else, other than the supply cupboard in the Batcave.

"If he isn't there then we'll go back to the drawing board, I suppose. But don't lose hope yet. I have a good feeling about this one," Marinette reasoned.

The final safe house was a nondescript apartment building: brown brick exterior, cigarette butts on the sidewalk, and grimy windows.

"Do you think this is it?" asked Marinette.

Tim shrugged. "We'll just have to find out."

There were eight apartments in the building, four on the first floor and four on the second. Tim and Marinette quickly swept the first floor, but none of the apartments were Jason's. They then moved to the second floor. Tim quickly picked up on a dusty footprint on the carpet. He recognized the tread-marks from the bottoms of Jason's shoes. "Second door on the left," whispered Tim. "You head outside and make sure he doesn't escape through the windows."

"I'll let you tag him," Marinette whispered in response, slipping down the stairs.

Tim waited a full minute for Marinette to get into position, then crept up to the door. Taking a deep breath, Tim waited for the moment to feel right. Then another breath. Bang!

Tim broke through the door, revealing Jason sitting on the bed, scrolling on his phone.

Jason swore and reached for the gun on the bedside table, but he didn't get a chance to fully react before Tim tagged him out.

"Goddammit!" Jason threw the gun on the bed in frustration. "How did you find me?"

"Burner phone," chimed in Marinette as she popped through the window.

"You said they didn't contain trackers," Jason accused.

"They don't. But when I issued a system update, they all sent a confirmation which I was able to track," Tim said smugly, trying not to gloat too hard.

Jason whipped open a drawer in the cramped kitchen and pulled out the burner phone, tossing it to Tim. "Next time, I'm picking out my own burner phone."

"If it wasn't the phone, we'd have found something else. Admit it, we were good," said Marinette.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Good job, Replacement. You too, Pixie Pop."

"See you at home," Marinette chirped. "Now that this silly contest is over, I have Tim to myself for the next two days. No more sharing his with his computer."

Tim smiled at the thought of finally spending time with Marinette. "Let's go."

"I thought you'd never ask."

@maribatmarch-2k21

[lantur]

if you were mine - part two

summary: Riza has been working on the unit for close to a year when she starts to wonder whether Colonel Mustang’s interest in her is more than professional.

rated: t | words: 4602

part two of four, read part one here

read on ao3

Riza goes home from work on the Monday evening after she and Colonel Mustang return from their undercover assignment in Maastricht. She walks Hayate and cooks dinner, trying a new stew recipe Rebecca had raved about, and then settles on the sofa with this month’s issue of Guns & Ammo and Hayate at her side. 

Everything has felt a little surreal since returning from Maastricht late last night. She had fantasized about it for so many years that now that it’s happened, it’s somehow surreal, dreamlike. She keeps expecting to wake up. Reading will help ground her, and she has been looking forward to this issue, featuring a long-awaited review of the Winchester Wildcat.

Riza is halfway into the review of the semi-automatic rifle when she hears a familiar knock on the door. Three short raps, two in quick succession and the last after a pause of exactly four seconds. 

Her eyes widen, and she sits up straight, setting the magazine aside, as Hayate yips. She opens the door and pulls her visitor in quickly, casting looks down both sides of the hallway to make sure that none of her neighbors are out and about.

“Don’t worry,” Roy says, shrugging his coat off and throwing it on the rack near the door. “The building’s empty tonight. And I wasn’t followed.”

Riza sighs, relieved. “Good.”

He tilts her face up to his and kisses her, long and slow, and Riza’s knees almost weaken. She will never get used to this. She never wants to get used to this. Yet, it’s just a little jarring, considering that five hours ago, they were in the office together and he had been leading a unit meeting about how to ensnare one of East City’s crime kingpins. 

Roy pulls back and gives her that signature look of his - so very perceptive, like he had just read her thoughts. “How are you feeling?” he asks. 

“Fine,” Riza says, taking his hand and leading him to the sofa. 

He sits close beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She nestles into him, relishing the intimacy. “Really?” 

“Really,” she repeats. “I’ve always been able to compartmentalize. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Of course I do,” Roy says, as if that should be obvious. “You’re my subordinate, and my girlfriend. It’s my job to look out for you.”

“What was that? I didn’t quite catch the last part.”

“You’re my subordinate and my girlfriend, and so it’s my job to--” Roy begins, and then heaves a sigh when he catches the small smile on her face. 

“Sorry,” Riza says. “I couldn’t help myself. It’s just so… wholesome, considering the words I’ve been using when I think of it.”

Roy looks down at her. “Don’t let this impact the way you think of yourself, Riza,” he says sharply. “This doesn’t make you any less of an officer or a professional.”

“How can it not?” She hugs her knees to her chest. “It’s drilled into all of our heads from day one of the academy. Don’t fuck your coworkers, but especially don’t fuck your commanding officer or your subordinates.”

Roy winces at the reminder. “I know,” he says. “I reconciled that by reminding myself that there was no coercion, and that I’m not the one who makes decisions about you getting promoted. And I know that I won’t give you preferential treatment, because I also know that this isn’t going to change any of the work you - or we - do.”

Riza leans against him. “Thank you for your faith in me.”

“Always,” he says simply, stroking her hair. “Always.”

“It is good that you came over, though,” Riza says. “I’ve been wondering how this is going to work.”

“Oh?”

“We need to set procedures.” She looks longingly at the pen and notebook on the coffee table. “It goes against everything in me as your adjutant to not write them down and keep a record of it. We’ll have to rely on our memories.” 

“Of course.” Roy glances at her thoughtfully. “I came in through the service entrance of your building today. Let’s continue to do that.”

“Good. And we’ll always be in civilian clothes, of course.”

Roy looks over at his black overcoat and frowns. “I’ll have to get a few more. We should avoid repeating any distinguishing articles of clothing, like coats, scarves, hats, and so on.” 

“Good thought,” Riza says approvingly. “Any other ideas?”

“Meetings no more than thrice a week, never on consecutive days,” Roy says reluctantly. “And never before nine at night. We need to be sure that we’re not followed by anyone on foot or in a vehicle. If there’s any suspicion of being tailed, we should go back to our own place and stay there for the rest of the night.” 

Riza hesitates, considering. “We shouldn’t stay the entire night when we’re together, either. We should leave well before dawn. Maybe four in the morning, at the absolute latest. The last thing we need is for anyone to see us leaving each other’s place early in the morning. That’s even harder to explain away than a late night visit.” 

Roy takes her hand, rubbing it apologetically.

“And no meetings outside of our personal residences,” she presses on. “Parks, bars, restaurants, the theatre, all out of the question. If we’re associating anywhere outside of work, our unit has to be there.”

“Just what I need, more time with Havoc.” Roy stands and walks over to the window, pulling the shutters down with a snap, and Riza grimaces at their oversight. “Windows closed and shutters down,” he says. “We’ll both sweep our apartments for bugs or surveillance every other day, and especially before a meeting. I’ll check my car regularly as well. Have we missed anything?” 

“This should go without saying,” Riza says pointedly. “But absolutely no unprofessional behavior in the office, even when we’re alone after hours.”

Roy gives her a mournful look. “Fine.”

“Of course, we will act no differently at work or when socializing with the unit. That shouldn’t be a challenge.”

Roy comes back to the sofa and sits beside her. “Maes won’t learn about this, either,” he says. “And neither will Catalina. They can - and will, and probably do already, if your conversations with Catalina are anything like mine with Maes - speculate, but those suspicions will remain unconfirmed.” 

“They’re both trustworthy about any suspicions they might have, too.” 

They look at each other for several moments, the grim weight of the discussion sinking in. Riza remembers his words in Maastricht, the warning that this won’t look like a normal relationship. She hadn’t fully realized the extent of that statement then.

“This is all very unromantic,” Roy says, his shoulders slumping. He runs a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. “I’m sorry.” 

Riza leans in and presses a kiss to his cheek. “Romance,” she says, “is overrated.” 

-

Riza remembers the learning curve when she had started working on the unit. 

The military academy had trained her to be a soldier, not an adjutant specifically, so the learning curve had been steep. Prior to starting her duties, she had studied every book on the role of the adjutant that she could find in the East City Command Library from cover to cover. Additionally, she had requested meetings and interviews with every other adjutant of every other high-ranking officer in East City, and taken pages upon pages notes from each meeting. 

She had prepared herself as best as she could. And despite her anxiety, she had marshaled every drop of her composure and been the consummate professional from her first day on the unit. 

At the end of her first week, she had mastered the typewriter. At the end of her first month, she had learned how to handle the massive quantity of administrative paperwork on her workload. At the end of her first quarter, she had learned the intricacies of the political and interpersonal relationships between every high-ranking officer stationed at East City Command. 

This isn’t so different. 

Riza learns several things in quick succession. 

She learns that sex feels different in her bedroom than it does in an inn two hours away from home. It feels safer, more familiar, comforting.

In her most private moments, alone in bed, stripping off her clothes and holding a pillow to her breasts, eyes closed, she had wondered what being with Roy would be like. If he would be gentle, tender, restrained, slow, teasing, flirtatious, serious, passionate… She’d had fantasies for every single possibility. She had wondered if she would ever have an answer to that question. 

Riza is fascinated to learn that the answer is all of the above, depending on the night and their moods. She wholeheartedly enjoys learning that she loves every one of them equally. She loves it when Roy pins her wrists above her head and presses slow kisses to the inside of her forearms. She loves straddling him on the sofa, kissing him hard, threading her fingers through his hair as he grips her hips tight. 

She had never fantasized about this, because years later, it is still a sore spot - figuratively, and literally, though only on particularly hot days. She learns that she even loves being facedown in bed, Roy running his fingertips gently up her spine, from the small of her ruined back, over her shoulder blades, to the nape of her neck. It makes her entire body tingle and shiver, makes her squirm and moan his name softly into the pillow beneath her. 

Do you want me to stop? Roy had asked at once, pulling back, his concern evident, and Riza had grabbed his hand and pulled it back to her. Please don’t, she had said. Please. 

She likes it when he stays mostly dressed, because Roy is so devastatingly handsome in the formal clothes he likes so much. She likes it just as much when he pulls off his shirt, tossing it aside, so she can run her hands over the muscles in his arms, shoulders, and chest. Predictably, he prefers when she takes everything off, though he makes exceptions when she’s wearing a short skirt. 

Riza learns that Roy can be so enthusiastic that he borders on clumsy. Passionate, he corrects, sweeping her off her feet and carrying her to the bedroom. Not clumsy. He kisses her so hard that they fall against walls in their apartments’ bedrooms and hallways (though he always cradles the back of her head in one hand so that she doesn’t bump it). She learns that Roy loves it when she nibbles on his ears and his neck, and she is surprised to learn that there’s nothing she likes better than when he trails his fingertips over her hips and stomach. 

She learns that she’s never enjoyed the sound of her name more than when he says it, breathed into her ear and nuzzled against it, or holding her tight in his arms, and he feels the same way.  

And Riza learns about contraceptives for the first time. She knew they existed, of course, but she’d never had the need to learn anything further.  

My aunt recommends a tea called Queen Anne’s Lace for the ladies at the bar, Roy tells her, somewhat red-faced, and then thrusts a paper with notes at her. I called her and asked for instructions on how to make it. She said to follow her instructions to the letter, and that we should call her if we have any issues getting the powder here. She’ll send it from Central. She has plenty.  

Luckily, Riza finds that Amelia’s Apothecary on the far side of town sells Queen Anne’s Lace, powdered. Within a month, she becomes an expert at brewing it, though she never gets used to the bitter taste.

-

And the months slide effortlessly into a year, a span of time that feels like twice that. Between their history, their work, and their intimate relationship, their lives have never been more completely intertwined. It had happened so seamlessly, the transition - integration? - from colleagues and friends to lovers. 

Riza takes Hayate for walks and goes out with Rebecca on the weekends and in the evenings. Sometimes her gaze lingers on couples out to dinner, sitting at restaurant patios, holding hands. Sharing picnics at the park, walking together, going out for ice-cream dates, or to the theatre. 

Over time, those moments pile up. Moments of little things that make her wistful. Riza chides herself whenever it happens. She averts her eyes and redirects her thoughts. She knew what she was getting into at the start. 

She reminds herself of that every time Roy leaves in the middle of the night (kissing her thoroughly, apologetically). She reminds herself of that every morning she wakes up alone, and places a hand on the pillow that still smells faintly of Roy’s shampoo.

-

It is little comfort to know that Roy feels as bad about it as she does. He has always been generous with her, always buying her food and drinks long before they had begun their illicit relationship, but afterwards, he veers somewhat out of control.

The first thing he buys her is an enormous box of fancy dog treats for Hayate - a sweet gesture. Then comes an upgraded access card to the shooting range, and then a steady stream of firearm parts, polishes, cleaning tools, and other accessories. 

Then come boxes of gourmet coffee, tea, and honey. A set of fancy soaps, shampoos, and lotions that weighs almost as much as Hayate. A beautiful cream-colored utility coat that instantly becomes a new favorite. A pair of warm slippers, satin pajamas, a cloud-soft pink bathrobe, several blouses and skirts, a few new pairs of earrings. Under the veneer of smoothness, Roy looks almost imperceptibly anxious on the rare occasion that he gives her the gifts in person. Most of the time, he leaves them in her apartment while she’s out with Rebecca. 

“Thank you for bringing me those files about the 1865 unrest in South City,” Riza says quietly, one afternoon when it’s just the two of them in the office. “They were very interesting reading.”

She had gotten back from dinner with Rebecca last night to find the latest in the novel series she likes; The Cases of Eddie Drake, sitting on her bed. The book had just been released a day ago. 

Colonel Mustang (she makes herself think of him as Colonel Mustang during work hours) looks pleased. “I’m glad you found it enlightening. I’d like to read through those files as soon as you’re finished.” 

“I did find it interesting.” Riza hesitates for just an instant. “With that being said, you don’t have to take the trouble of bringing me files from the library. I can always pick up or order files myself if I need them.”

Colonel Mustang rifles through some paperwork on his desk, making a noncommittal sound. “Don’t worry about it.”

Riza looks over at him. “I mean it, sir. There’s no need for you to go out of your way for me.” 

Colonel Mustang clears his throat. “It’s the least I can do for you, Lieutenant.” 

“Colonel, it’s really not necessary--”

“I ask a lot of you, Lieutenant. I know that.” Colonel Mustang’s tone brooks no argument. “So please let me do what I can for you.” 

“...Thank you, sir.”

Breda, Havoc, Fuery, and Falman return from their lunch then, and Riza lets it drop.

-

Riza finds a blank memo on her desk one Friday morning, a few weeks later. 

She looks over at Colonel Mustang’s desk. He is leaning back in his chair, idly flipping through a report, looking bored out of his mind. 

Riza steps out for a break a couple of hours later and takes the memo with her, folded into a tiny square and tucked into her pocket. She locks herself into a stall in the ladies’ bathroom, pulls out a small lighter, and holds it to the paper. Not too close, but not too far.  

The heat triggers the special ink, and the words gradually appear before her, written in Colonel Mustang’s neat, precise handwriting. Vollkar Overlook, past the fourth mile marker, ten p.m. Bring Hayate. 

It’s a short message, and it takes no longer than an instant to commit it to memory. Riza burns the memo. 

She returns to the office and frowns at Colonel Mustang, who is now hunched over the report and appears to be doodling in the margins. He gives her an irrepressible smile. 

-

Riza takes a cab to Trettach Park and walks the thirty minutes to Vollkar Overlook from there, with Hayate by her side. She is grateful for the opportunity to practice their rarely used woodland concealment skills. She keeps vigilant as she walks, hyper-aware of any sound beyond the normal, expected ones, but she still has some mental space to wonder what Roy’s intentions for the memo had been. This could be a professional meeting, or a personal one. 

She gets her answer when they emerge from the tree line onto the grassy overlook. Riza blinks, startled, and Hayate yips, rushing forward to greet Roy. 

“I don’t know why you’re concerned about your stealth skills,” he says ruefully, bending to pet Hayate. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Good. I’m glad to know that we’ve made improvements.” Riza takes in the sight before her, astonished. A blanket spread out on the grass, with a small radio on top of it, and an assortment of fruits, fancy snacks, cheeses, chocolates, and wine. And even a rawhide bone for Hayate. The radio is playing a soft jazz station. “What is all this?”

“A date, obviously.” Roy wraps an arm around her, and then casts a baleful glance up at the sky. “It was intended to be a romantic moonlight picnic, but the cloud cover isn’t cooperating.”

Riza steps away, looking nervously around them. The overlook is deserted, and Roy’s car is the only one parked on the road. “This is sweet of you, but it violates our procedures,” she says, hating it. “It’s not safe. Anyone could drive up, including a police patrol.” 

“I’ve staked it out every night at this time for the past few nights, and had the rest of the unit observe it at night for a week and a half before that. No one comes past the second mile marker. I figured just in case anyone does approach on foot, Hayate would sense it and alert us. And no police patrols will pass the second mile marker tonight, either.” Roy clears his throat. “I called in a favor.”

Riza looks at him, and then back at the picnic, touched by the effort, tempted, and torn. There’s a sudden lump in her throat at the idyllic normalcy of it all. She hadn’t realized how badly she wanted this, how badly she craved some of that normalcy that other couples took so much for granted, until this moment. 

Roy puts a hand on her shoulder, sensing the conflict. “Please let me do this for you,” he says quietly. “Everything will be all right. I promise.” 

Riza finally, reluctantly nods, and he takes her hand, leading her to the blanket. 

They enjoy a long dinner, complete with an olive-throwing target practice exercise that ends with all of Riza’s olives making it into Roy’s mouth at increasingly impressive ranges. To compensate for his lack of aim with the olives, he feeds her the chocolate “like a normal boyfriend would.” It is the kind of indulgent, lovesick display she avoids looking at when passing by other couples at the park, and it feels incredible to engage in it. 

“Thank you for doing this,” Riza says, stroking her fingers through his hair. Roy is lying with his head in her lap, looking more relaxed than she’s seen him in a long while. She feels somehow lighter than she had before as well, temporarily freed from holding this secret so close to her heart. 

Roy sits up and then shrugs, flustered. “I should have done this much earlier. And I wish I could do more,” he says, after a pause. “Take you out to dinner properly, to the theatre, or the symphony. I hate that I can do that with other women, but not with you. It feels wrong.”

“We both know that it’s not genuine, though,” Riza says gently. “It’s a farce to gather information. Nothing more.” 

“I know, but you deserve those nights,” Roy says, frustration creeping into his voice. “You deserve so much more than what I’ve been able to give you. A few gifts, takeout dinners, every time we see each other being in our apartments - I treat you like some of the senior staff treats their secret mistresses. I hate it.” 

Riza stares at him, surprised by the outburst; by the fact that he had voiced what she has thought in her darker moments. Roy averts his gaze from hers. “Sometimes I worry that you won’t put up with it for much longer,” he murmurs. “That you’ll realize that you would rather be with a man who doesn’t treat you like a dirty little secret.”

Riza reaches out, cupping his face with one hand, searching for the right words. “You talk about what you’ve been able to give me and what I deserve. What you’ve given me is a relationship with a man I love and trust more than anything,” she says firmly. “I wouldn’t trade that for the world.” 

Roy looks at her steadily. “I love you, Riza.” 

Riza smiles. “I love you too.” 

-

They board the six o’clock evening train from Resembool to East City in silence.

They sit next to each other, hand-in-hand. By the time the train arrives at the East City station, they will have moved to sit across from one another, the image of professionalism. 

Riza stares out the window at the rolling green hills and meadows that they pass, lost in thought. She feels a little sick to her stomach, a little nauseous. The events of the day keep replaying in her mind. What they had seen in the Elric home. Alphonse Elric, soul-bound to a massive suit of armor - that suit of armor speaking in the sweet, innocent voice of a young boy. Edward Elric, so young, but so broken, despondent. 

They were just children. 

She had remained professional and calm throughout, but it had shaken her, and even now, Riza’s eyes sting as she thinks back to it. She had been unprepared for the emotion she had felt at meeting the two boys; for the desire to draw both of them into her arms and tell them that everything would be all right.

“I’m glad that Edward seems interested in your offer,” she says. “It will be good for him to have structure, a sense of purpose, and some more positive figures in his life. I think that will save him from slipping into further despair.”

“Yeah,” Roy says. “Poor kid. Both of them.” He glances at her out of the corner of his eye. “Are you okay? Everything we saw at the Elric home, and Alphonse…”

Riza swallows. “It’s hard to take in,” she says, resting her head against his shoulder. “Just imagining the suffering they went through. They’ve been very brave.” 

They lapse into silence again, and Riza has some difficulty putting the children out of her mind. Edward, Alphonse, the young girl Winry. Even little Elicia comes to mind. She and Roy had visited Maes and Gracia in Central a couple of months ago. Gracia had made a lovely dinner, and afterwards, the four of them had sat and talked and she and Roy had taken turns holding Elicia. Elicia was sweet and agreeable, and Riza had been surprised by how strangely bittersweet it had felt to hold the toddler in her lap, wrapping her arms around her small body. And watching Roy hold Elicia afterwards, seeing the little girl smile and laugh at the silly voices that “Uncle Roy” did for her - that had been more bitter than sweet. 

It’s been almost six years, now. In another world, she and Roy would have been married years ago, with their own Elicia to hold. 

Of course, that isn’t possible, and won’t be for a very long time. Riza has reconciled herself to that. She doesn’t feel wistful at the idea of weddings anymore, or look twice at wedding dresses in boutique windows. But it’s only recently that this new realization has hit her - that there most likely won’t be a little dark-haired Elicia, or a little blonde boy like Edward.

She is twenty-five now and Roy is twenty-eight, and there is no telling how far he is from becoming Fuhrer and repealing the anti-fraternization regulations. It could be a decade, conservatively speaking. Optimistically speaking. More realistically, they are looking at fifteen years.

The idea of children of their own is another thing that she will have to let go of. 

Riza exhales slowly, trying to release some of the tightness in her chest. It doesn’t work. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Roy asks. “You seem preoccupied.”

“I’m fine.” Riza turns to him, attempting to distract herself.  “Actually, I’ve been thinking about growing my hair out.”

Roy blinks. “It’ll be harder for me to run my fingers through if it’s long,” he says ruefully, and does just that, a lingering, tender touch. “It’s hard for me to imagine what you’ll look like. You’ve had it short since the day I met you.”

Riza thinks back to that day, to her relief at no longer being alone in that big house with her father, and smiles.

“I’m sure it’ll be beautiful, though,” Roy says, squeezing her hand. “You always have been.” 

Riza nudges him in the side. “And you’ve always been charming to me, even as a seventeen-year-old apprentice.”

“Seventeen...” Roy sighs. “I was so young then.” 

“Barely twenty, when you enlisted,” Riza says, thinking about Edward Elric. “Edward is even younger. As a State Alchemist, he’ll be a major at thirteen.” 

“That will come with its fair share of challenges,” Roy muses. “He’ll struggle to fit in, on one level, and on another... I know you mentioned exposure to more positive figures in his life, but you have to consider the caliber of people outside of our unit. He’ll be exposed to a lot of negative influences as well.” 

Riza frowns, and she can’t help but think back to Ishval, to Kimblee. That is the caliber of some of the Amestris military. Roy squeezes her hand, reading her train of thought, as he always does. “You and Maes can take him under your wings. The two of you are the best influences the military has to offer him. It’s regrettable that Edward lost his parents, but knowing you and knowing Maes - you both can mold him into a good soldier, and a good man.” 

Riza nods resolutely. “We will.” 

Unbidden, Riza thinks of Fuhrer Bradley, his wife, and their young son, just adopted a couple of years ago. They seem like such a happy family. Mrs. Bradley, especially, dotes on Selim, and Selim adores her. She thinks of Roy’s aunt, Chris Mustang, and how she had raised Roy after the accident that had orphaned him. She’s seen Roy with Chris; underneath the sniping and the sharp verbal barbs they trade, the love they have for one another is clear. 

Parenthood can take different forms for different people, Riza reminds herself, and she holds that thought tight, a lifeline. It will be all right. 

-

to be continued

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Any thoughts or comments would be very much appreciated! I hope you enjoyed it. :) 

[gb-patch]

Wow... okay so I finally checked out the demo on Itch since there was new art and damnnnnn the concept and demo is sooo wonderful and adorable! How different is the demo gonna be when the Kickstarter launches? Will it include step 2 moments? And also, can the relationship between Cove and the main character change during moments (like a certain choice causes them to stop seeing them as a friend and instead develop a crush on them) or can it only be changed in between moments?

Thank you for giving it a try! I’m really glad you liked it :>.

The new demo isn’t gonna have a super huge leap forward in terms of script content. There will be a 30% increase, 23,000 words to 30,000 words. Almost all of it is to new Step 2 opening scenes, but there’s also some slight additions to scenes in Step 1. It doesn’t reach any Step 2 Moments, however.

What really makes this new demo shine is the numerous other ways it’s been improved/expanded. Such as-

Partial voice acting for Cove

The Voiced Name feature

New art for the Character Creation Screen (as in the doll itself will be in a brand new style. Still simple, but cuter)

Even more possibilities for your created character (more hairstyles and such)

More of those cut-in style CGs

An improved presentation for the cut-in style CGs

Two brand new music tracks

Those plain colored silhouettes that show up when going from Step 1 to Step 2 being replaced with much prettier ones

The option to turn off those gameplay explanation sections

The icon when skipping through text getting an updated appearance

All the bugs and little mistakes that were reported being fixed

Small tweaks to the script to make things better/easier to understand

Basically, the current demo seems pretty plain by comparison, haha.

As for your other question, it can only be changed when transitioning from one Step to another. If you’re set to Fondness than the game commits to a friendly relationship. It doesn’t include extra scenes to change what you’ve chosen. But transiting from one type of relationship to another can be done in a way. Going from Crush to Crush means that it’s already a confirmed thing that the two are into each other. Fondness to Crush, though, means the two are currently still friends, but with unconfirmed romantic feelings. If you’re in that state it is possible to then admit you have more than just feelings of friendship towards Cove and change the dynamic of the relationship.

Thank you for the ask <3!

[patternswillfall]

Thoughts on the Galarian Livestream

I’ve got really mixed feelings about the Glimwood Tangle livestream that I’m gonna try and sum up.

The livestream itself is atmospheric and mysterious and Glimwood Tangle itself seems a pretty cool place. I could see myself spending a fair bit of time there in Sword and Shield looking for Pokemon or shiny hunting. The animations have been done well and they’ve done a good job in presenting a calming area that’s attractive to look at. They build tension well with the reveal of the Galarian Ponyta as well.

There’s been a great sense of community between the players watching the livestream and it’s felt nice to be connected to everyone watching, losing our shit to the smallest thing and geeking out at seeing different Pokemon come up! It’s also lovely that it’s making an attempt to emulate nature watching, a hobby enjoyed by a lot of British people.

Interesting mix of mons: customary Pikachu, Morelull, Shiinotic, Phantump, Galarian Ponyta, Impidimp, Swirlix and Cottonee. A highlight for me was the glorious bastard Impidimp! He seems like he’s full of character and charm and I want to know more about him!

However, there are a few issues. I understand 24 hour livestream is to give most people a chance to get involved and to see as much as they can, but there’s still an overwhelming sense of anticlimaction for a lot of folk. We’ve seen the new (possible as still unconfirmed) Galarian Ponyta and a fair amount of footage of a not-as-yet-officially-revealed Impidimp but it’s hard to ignore the majority of the stream felt bare and empty.

I’m not saying the stream should have been full to the brim of Pokemon, but perhaps a shorter stream (12 hours maybe?) with a few more things happening would have made it slightly more interesting to watch. I find it very hard to believe that a forest area doesn’t have birds, bugs or rodents which could have been a great opportunity for Game Freak to immerse us in that.

I’ve heard stories of repeated footage, although I’ve personally not noticed anything being reused but it’s a pretty unforgivable thing to do that (if that is the case) as we all know there are folk who will watch the whole thing, for the benefit of themselves or others. If you’re going to give us that much footage and you know folks will watch it all, you should make an effort to make everything new and different. Again, I’ve not seen any repeated footage but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Certainly we’ve seen repeats of the same Pokemon.

Speaking of Pokemon, we had a couple of nice reveals to be part of the Galar dex but on the whole the number seems a bit sparse. Again, bringing in the “standard” bird, rodent, bug or even bat might have done a bit more. It would have been nice to see Pokemon in the distance too, like wee Easter eggs for the eagle eyed or even have more Pokemon playing with the camera or interacting with the camera. Heck, what would have been amazing would have been to have the camera on a 360 degree rotation so you could move it about. That would have been really cool for immersion, keeping it engaging and having some control over what you see (and wouldn’t see!)

So to sum up:

Positives

Really lovely ambient sounds

Impidimp and Galar Ponyta

Good sense of community while watching

Negatives

A very long stream for very little content

Quite stagnant in places/repeated footage

Very little interactivity

Only one new Pokemon revealed (at the time of writing this)

My view: a good concept but could be better executed. I’d like to see something like this again but only under certain revisions.

[nerdpokemonheadcanons]

Alright. I did some research and made an area of my home as comfortable for Bugs as possible. When Bugs got relaxed and had a bit of a nap, he managed to evolve in his sleep. I have no actual idea on what he's become, but most ultimately unconfirmed sources that I've looked at say his new form is called a Raboot.

Well, we’ll half to wait for any official information about Scorbunny’s evolution before we can be sure.

There’s still a lot of legal red tape. Pokemon regions are like that.

[cryptocurrencyaustralia]

Disclosure of censoring unconfirmed transactions to a specific victim (≤ version 0.20.2)

An attacker could prevent a node from seeing a specific unconfirmed transaction. This issue is considered Medium severity. Details Before this issue was fixed in PR 19988, the “g_already_asked_for” mechanism was used to schedule GETDATA requests for transactions. The SendMessages() function would send out GETDATAs for transactions recently announced by peers, remembering when that request was sent out in g_already_asked_for. However, this g_already_asked_for was a “limitedmap” data structure, with a bounded size that would forget the oldest entries if it reaches 50000 entries. This makes the following attack possible: * The attacker is the first to announce a legitimate transaction T to the victim. * The victim requests T from the attacker using GETDATA. * The attacker does not respond to GETDATA until close to the time when the victim would request T from other peers (~60 seconds). * Then, the attacker carefully spams the victim with bogus announcements, causing the victim’s g_already_asked_for to evict T. * The attacker announces T again to the victim (due to how the queueing works in m_tx_process_time, this does not need to be timed particularly accurately). * The victim, not finding T in g_already_asked_for will treat it as a new announcement, sending a new GETDATA for it to the attacker. * The attacker again does not respond to GETDATA. * etc. This way, the attacker can prevent the victim from ever requesting the transaction from anyone but the attacker. Attribution Responsibly disclosed by John Newbery, claiming discovery by Amiti Uttarwar and him. Timeline * 2020-04-03 John Newbery reports the bug in an email to Suhas Daftuar and others * 2020-05-08 John Newbery suggests an approach to fixing the bug * 2020-09-21 Pieter Wuille opens PR #19988 as a comprehensive approach to fixing this and other bugs * 2020-10-14 Pieter’s PR is merged * 2021-01-14 Bitcoin Core version 0.21.0 is released with a fix * 2022-04-25 The last vulnerable Bitcoin Core version (0.20.0) goes EOL * 2024-07-03 Public disclosure http://dlvr.it/T96bhn

[thetoxicgamer]

Destiny 2 Lightfall Raid Race Could Be Marred by Major Bugs

In just a few days, the Destiny 2 Lightfall raid race is scheduled to begin, but seasoned players are warning that serious issues might ruin the competitiveness in the FPS game and make it unfair for the vast majority of Destiny 2 players vying to be the first in the globe to complete the activity. Bugs involving armour mods and invisibility are already causing headaches for players, and given the stakes of the community-driven World’s First race, where the leading clans can win unique emblems and a raid belt reward, losing due to a technical failure seems like a worst-case scenario, though an entirely possible one. The armour mod issues appear to be related to the game’s reworked mod system. Destiny 2 developers overhauled the space game‘s mod system for Lightfall. While the intention is to be beneficial overall, issues with mod functionality could pose problems for players grinding challenging enemy encounters for hours to claim the Root of Nightmares World’s First raid race title. Among the issues, players report mods are disabling artefact abilities and impacting subclass debuffs such as volatile, which may affect how players construct their raid character builds and weapon choices. Some players report these issues may be related to having more than five stacks of decaying armour charges, but this is unconfirmed. Guardians also report an invisibility bug where characters render in an invisible state on the screen. While those who encounter this glitch can generally still shoot and move, it removes the character’s reticle, making it difficult to land accurate shots. Bungie first noted the Destiny 2 Lightfall bug making characters invisible on March 3 but does not appear to have addressed the mods not working as intended. At this time, Bungie does not appear to have introduced fixes for either issue. The company will release a patch today, but it’s unclear whether it will address these problems. In a contest setting such as the one that Bungie is creating for the World’s First race activity, players who encounter these glitches may face major issues that could cause them to struggle unnecessarily with specific interactions. It could also waste valuable playing time should Guardians need to hard reset due to the invisibility glitch during challenging encounters. While Bungie would be wise to address these issues so as not to impact the integrity of the World’s First race, it seems the developer presently intends to move forward with the race as planned. Yesterday, the company released a trailer promoting the Destiny 2 Lightfall raid race and announced it would release two free emblems for players who watched the race for at least two hours via Twitch. If you’re still catching up on everything new in the multiplayer game during Destiny 2 season 20, check out our guide to Destiny 2 Lightfall exotics list to see all the rewards you can get your hands on this season. Read the full article

[smoria]

if joan ferguson is actually alive and has been since her burial, then i have fucking questions such as:

how did she get out?

was someone there that night to help her out?

how did she hide so long?

if joan wasn't the one in the box, who was it?

where did she go?

who gave her the cash? more than likely the money could have been joan's own, how did she get it out without tipping off anyone?

question three thoughts: joan has a distinguishing look and her voice is unique that being out in the morning would be very impossible unless she found a way to get out of australia.

question four thoughts: the body that was kept in the box, the makeshift casket seemed to have less deterioration as previously expected for at least 8 weeks (from the time we find out how far along vera was) to maybe two or three months. the box was cracked open from the pressure of the dirt tossed on her and the exposure to bugs was higher; i expected to see a bug crawling out of her mouth. the body seemed either fake or embalmed, well taken care of prior.

question six thoughts: i get she was seen as deceased, but there is a unconfirmed forensics report in the wind and many minds saying the body is joan herself. i don't know how police work goes over there, but i would keep an eye on her bank account (s). there's a possibility she did have cash elsewhere that no one knew about. she is still very much a mystery, but planning and plotting seems to be right up her proverbial alley.

i still remain skeptical. just some questions and thoughts i had since we're still waiting for the results.