#[REDACTED] takeover

[author-a-holmes]

Hi detective

It's blorbsday for another hour (for me) Do you have any silly little guys?

Hello Sleepy, darling <3

I have many silly little guys.

My favourite in Darkling is going to be a surprise character so I can't really namedrop him, but he's a lot of fun to slip into the headspace of because he's a complete and utter anxiety riddles wreck.

My favourite in Stolen is Myris Orinan. I just think he's neat! He knows multiple languages, is the youngest graduate of the College of Wizardry ever, and is entirely mute due to some rather untimely torture, which also left him mildly agoraphobic.

The College tried to strike him from their membership after he lost his voice, under the assumption he would no longer be able to cast spells but he continues to use magic despite not being able to speak the spells, just on sheer willpower, and then went and developed his own sign language so he could communicate with his husband.

[detective-luca-montoya]

AMESS Profile: Moriarty

Moriarty, real name [REDACTED] was a prolific criminal kingpin active from [REDACTED] to [REDACTED]. With hands in the drug trade, war profiteering and many other illegal activities, Moriarty ran a profitable "criminal management" business up until his death in [REDACTED]. Shortly before his death, Moriarty enacted a takeover of the Ministry, holding several members of the INTERPOL force as well as several civilians present hostage. He then vanished from the premises, along with three children, [REDACTED] Duke, [REDACTED], and [REDACTED]. Two weeks later, Director [REDACTED] confronted Moriarty in [REDACTED], resulting in him losing an eye and the death of the mastermind. The children's involvement in [REDACTED] was deemed under duress and all records sealed.

Due to his [REDACTED] abilities, Moriarty was nearly impossible to investigate or prosecute. From witness statements, we have complied an approximate image of his appearance.

[bloomdigital]

MJ Tumblr Takeover

Hey there tumblies, it's me, ya boi!

I’m MJ (he/him), a queer, overcaffeinated, perpetually exhausted, chronically online, cat- and TTRPG-obsessed, BL-loving, shameless weeb, memelord (wannabe), raging anti-capitalist chaotic word goblin and aspiring cryptid, and I AM TAKING OVER THE LONGSTORY TUMBLR! (At least for a bit.)

Born: 08/09 Height: 182 cm Blood Type: [redacted] Type: Tsundere

I’ve been working on LongStory (on and off) since 2015, but I actually started as a fan! Once upon a time I blogged about queer nerd stuff for Xtra, Canada’s longtime LGBTQ+ publication, and I stumbled on the first episode of this adorable little romantic visual novel through Twitter (RIP). I was absolutely charmed, an instant fan, this gorgeous little game that let me relive the trials and tribulations of grade school life but in a more queer and trans friendly world. It was exactly the kind of game I wanted when I was growing up in a VERY small town in the Canadian Maritimes. So when they did a call for writers I think I was physically vibrating from excitement putting together my resume and sample scene—I actually remember exactly where I was, it was one of those weird, stars-aligned, stranger than fiction moments, but that’s a story for another time!

When I joined the team, we were basically a few writers, the producer/CEO and the programmer sitting around in a room figuring stuff out. I VERY ENTHUSIASTICALLY wrote a single VERY LONG episode which—instead of making me cut it down—the project leads generously cut in two and became Episode 4: Drama and Episode 5: Make Up, and I’ve been working with the company as a writer and narrative designer since then!

LongStory’s the first game project I ever got to work on, it’s near and dear to my heart, so when I got asked to join the team on a follow-up I was once again vibrating with excitement. The company is no longer a few people sitting around in a room, it’s basically doubled to a dozen actual employees and then a bunch of part-time contributors like me, and we’re working on not one, not two, but three—okay, one of them is in very early development, but still—games, with more coming down the line! It’s like we’re a real game company or something?!

YOU MAY HAVE HEARD WE’RE DOING A KICKSTARTER! We’re taking preorders through a crowdfunding campaign to finish development on seven shiny new episodes. We would ABSOLUTELY love if you supported the campaign, with just under two weeks and little over half way to our goal we really want to make it happen!

But, long story short (har har har), we wanted to make sure you know that there is a free Steam demo that you can very much play if you haven’t already! The team, including our narrative lead and I, put so much love into this demo which, let’s be honest, is the first full episode of LongStory 2. If you play it and like it, let us know what you think! In the meantime, I’m going to be here writing about what it’s like to work on LongStory, maybe take a look at some fun new additions to LS2, share some of our favourite fanart, answer some asks… talk about the music I’m listening to… uh… share cat pictures… SO YEAH! I hope to hear from some of you over the next couple of weeks! Otherwise I’ll just be here… you know, doing my thang?

Before I go… I’m just gonna leave this here…

[thesugaredalchemists]

•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•

SJY... I've been waiting for someone to come join me, the grand opening to our [redacted] is tonight... will you be my date?

•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•

Tags: @lordxftherings-cb (🐷🐇) @norselegends-cb (🔮) @ursoftieboys (🍬) @cave-of-celestials (✨️) @kardpackcb @mutant-academy @clubwnderland @silcntxnight @domrachaa @k-half-blood @oppositesattraxt @ocmyths @coffeexdreamcb @mafia-bc @folklore-cb @johnnys-toes-cb @lucky-charmsanhwa @onlyomega-cb @welcome-to-maniac @neverland-fairies @yxjmn @livealittleoc-cb @kitakcb @cyberpunkcollection  @urluvlyfe @weeb-wonwoo @hideawaycb @thegoodplace-oc @purgatoryxbot @project-takeover @kq-rescuecenter @demonljy @teyvatcb @theinvitation-bot @fallenangels-cb @dark-dream-cb @grim-johnny @hrtboys @theboys-oc @neonvandalsxcb @magicianxmark @richkids-cb @sk-cb @dreamtech-cb @urluvlyfe @luxurymamas

[bunnimew]

We were tagged by @9haharharley1 and @overmooneleven who could not have foreseen what a production this was going to turn into 😂 Thank you!!

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

*Gets out the record player* There's required listening while scrolling this list...

Now that the mood has been appropriately set, here we go!

Warm Bodies 10 Edit9It'sYourBoyJackFrostAightSo High Seas Hijinks pt 2 Android Pitch Neon Ideas Von Kaiser Mix Tape If you don't dance, no romance Jack Frost and the Quest for the Stanley Cup Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide YA Novel Merman/Nature Elf Baby It's Cold Inside Everything but the fresher sink Halloween bodyswap Saiyuki Fantasy AU Coffee and Fruit Snacks Untitled Document Blackice ABOlive Garden Concerned Neighbor AU Obsolete Force Monsters Donut Saga 2022 RotG Bingo RotG Bingo 2021 Free Day Light Magic Soulmate AU Sleight of Hand Android AU Wing fic space vampire arranged marriage fake ppl scifi book pogo kylux AU Hope Week 2022 Let's Play AU Clydeland Ghost roommate Omega hux Techwear AU Original magic apocalypse Holiday kylux Pink hair hux Goose steals the staff Quarantine Kylux twitfic college au ST/Kylux Omega hux sequel cyborg hux Fuck this I'm outtie hux Loud AF kylux Loud AF blackice Every floor is Loud AF Loud AF Zag and Than Angel/Demon AU Gymnast hux Parkour hux 5 times hux blows kylo A/B/O Hades Kylux A/B/Olive Garden Disney Princess Hux Hutt slave Mitaka Femlux Afterlife Bloom Halloween2020 sen aid + sen kid kylux Trivia and Other Flirtations Gertrude Pink hair Jack + Hux Teacher/Teacher Merge ST and EU frank/strange Bingo Fancy Dinner Matchmaker Cape Selection AU Senate Takeover Manny Moonbear's Pizzaria Guardians in Black Party fancy pitch Jasper/Lapis Suzalulu week 2016 horror ideas Untitled Terminator Game Terminator Ideas Frank/Strange coffee shop au Ideas for erotic stabbing Suzalulu week 2017 Zell birthday Gratuitous sleepytime Lulu the professional hand model au Peter has two dads au RotG Coffee shop AU Veelamate AU Sorceress Jack Guardian of the D Blanket Scenario i think Saiyuki bang 10k Clover AU Wizards unite AU X/1999/RotG [Redacted] Pitch's New Groove PoGo AU spacerace magic repo RotGRepo! Colormate AU Overqualified Merlin Caffeine and High Fructose Corn Syrup O2: Teammates Spideypool Bingo 2019 B1: Personal Trainer Spideypool Bingo 2019 Spideypool fairy AU Tie fix Soulmate tattoo AU 3 5 10 AU idea Silent Hill AU O1: Met at the Dog Park Spideypool Bingo 2019 ff8 werewolf au Buffate 2 Kink series Dance All Night Let Me and Your Body Talk Pounded in the Butt by the Physical Manifestation of the Fear That I Will Never be Good Enough While He Tells me I am Good Enough Also He's British  Silent Hill AU Bathtime Evening Horror Husbands Fic art 1 Morning cuddle Fic art 2 Spinel Jack Cover art Croptops Spiderman kiss Gargoyles

We literally do not know as many people as we have WIPs. I'd have to pull out the yearbook and start tagging people from high school and we're not going to do that. But we do have to tag @seekerseekingsomething for reasons they will understand and @askmyname @quillienvii @pheasantmadness for Other Unsaid Reasons ❤

[gingerbreadmonsters]

echo and... gavin??

ok so this is incredibly outlandish and doesn’t really have a huge amount of supporting evidence in canon that isn’t entirely circumstantial, but i think it’s cool and a fun idea to play with - plus, i have a wip based on this premise and i wanna lay the groundwork for that bc it’s a pretty mad concept if you’re not expecting it lol

so, i think about the imperium a lot - probably more than is normal or healthy - and i especially like to think about that one meme that erik posted on patreon just in the wake of cataclysm:

now, in all seriousness, it’s just a low quality meme that was probably made in about 5 minutes and just for fun, so i doubt it has any actual meaning - but i would like to propose a world where this meme is actually one of the most significant lore drops we’ve had yet!

in short, just go with me for a minute here - i would like to propose a world where gavin and echo are the same person.

we tend to treat a lot of these characters like real people with free will and agency, but they’re not - both on a meta level and inside the narrative itself. there’s a creator, and a larger narrative at play! even from echo’s very first introduction, he makes it clear that he exists as an independent, self-aware character - he’s emphatically NOT an impartial narrator, and while he certainly implies that he’s omnipotent and omniscient, it’s not clear whether he actually is, or where the real extent of his abilities and knowledge lies.

interestingly, he’s also both aware of AND separate from ‘Redacted’ (i.e. erik, canonising himself within his own universe) - he’s highly conscious that the events taking place aren’t real, and that he has some degree of control over the narrative. presumably, echo and ‘Redacted’ exist on the same level of reality in this universe - i.e. outside of it, but aware of what’s going on in there and able to change it.

ok, cool, but what does this have to do with gavin?

also, it’s a little bit weak, but go back and have a listen to echo’s playlist - don’t you think he speaks a lot like gavin (specifically early gavin, when he’s still all arrogant and whatever)? maybe this is just because they’re both being written by the same person, and their characters are just quite similar, but the resemblance is definitely there. circumstantial evidence, yes, but it’s worth mentioning.

to be honest, echo’s actually a little bit… strange?? when it comes to gavin?? he talks about him quite weirdly - the most obvious example for me is in ‘The Deal’, where he says:

it’s always struck me as a bit strange that echo SPECIFICALLY chooses gavin and fl to cross over with ivan and baby - and yes, i realise that there was probably an irl reason for this, but just go with it a bit longer! it’s likely that it was just pragmatism on erik’s part, of needing a storyline that could plausibly overlap with sadism’s hold, although maybe if the outcome of the poll had been different maybe this could have freed up fl to go out with damien as was the original plan… anyway, i digress.

hold onto that thought for a minute, and we’ll come back to the ‘why did echo choose gavin and fl?’ idea in a second.

it’s no secret that, if things continue as they are, freelancer is going to die - they are painfully, deeply human, and tbh they’ve survived some pretty long odds already! the confrontation with vega in their bedroom, the fight with vega in their living room, the inversion (and if you count the imperium, the takeover of - and escape from - the imperial academy)... all of these situations had the enormous potential to go horribly, horribly wrong, and freelancer could EASILY have died at any of those points!

if we exclude vega and fl’s first meeting (bc all things considered, vega was being cruel but not actually all that hostile in that interaction), gavin is almost always the one to save them - to step in and protect fl from whatever threats arose.

combine that with our idea from before - i’m suggesting that a world exists where freelancer dies at one of those points, or maybe even for an entirely unrelated reason that we don’t know about. maybe’s it’s vega in their living room, or the shade that killed xavier killing them too (i’ll come back to this later), or maybe it’s just that their natural lifespan comes peacefully to an end. they die, and that’s that.

except it’s not just that - because gavin’s not having it. it’s no secret, how much he loves freelancer, and i think he has the potential to do absolutely ANYTHING to stop them dying.

that anything, i suggest, is becoming echo.

this establishes the world that we’re hearing now - the universe that we’re familiar with is actually the second attempt. perhaps what we’re hearing are the delusions of a grieving demon, DESPERATE for a world where freelancer doesn’t have to die. or perhaps he finds a way to genuinely create a world where he makes the rules - maybe he finds his way to a world - ‘Redacted’’s (i.e. erik’s) world - where he can finally change things for good. maybe it’s time travel, or some sort of reset point, but whatever the case may be, he’s outside of it all now.

he couldn’t save his freelancer then, so he’ll do whatever he can to save them now - he’s walking them and this version of himself (whatever that might mean) through the life he had with his freelancer, just with a few… changes.

is he fully in control? no, that’s erik. but echo DOES control the imperium - and of everyone, it’s arguably vindemiator and freelancer who escape the horrors of that world the most successfully. they both survive RIDICULOUS odds, when you consider just how dangerous both of their situations are!

or, if you like, maybe echo’s not really in control of anything in the prime universe - maybe it’s erik steering the narrative but echo’s just able to hit the handbrake and make a few hasty edits whenever things look like they’re taking a turn for the worse. nothing earth-shattering, just changing a few minor details that keep freelancer safe (or even just alive).

in that vein, let’s come back to that point about xavier. this hc goes really well with the idea that fl is killed during the inversion, more specifically at the point just before gavin creates his ward. perhaps gavin can’t make that ward in time, and freelancer’s killed by the shade - so all that energy and power and hurt that OUR gavin pours into his ward from seeing xavier die? it’s that, but times a million if it’s freelancer who dies there - maybe that’s the moment where gavin manages to change things and step out of the bounds of the narrative. now, when we get to see it (i.e. in the versions of the audios that we know, which i’m calling here a ‘second attempt’), we’re given the character of xavier, who - apologies to the xavier nation - is essentially ballast, a human shield to stop the shade killing fl or gavin. for all intents and purposes, he’s a filler character with very little actually going for him - other than the fact that he dies during the inversion (and you can argue that even that is just to develop the characters of the DAMN crew a bit further). if we accept this hc, xavier is basically placed there by echo-gavin as one final, hail-mary barrier between freelancer and the shade who killed them the first time, to give gavin just enough time to put that ward together.

to take this a bit further, let’s return to the point about fl’s mortality for a bit. are we ever going to know their fate, or will this be left unresolved and up to our interpretation? will they settle for their human lifespan, or be turned into a vampire (willingly or otherwise)? will they die prematurely, or live out their natural lifespan, or find a way to artificially extend their life via some hitherto-unknown method?

placing this problem squarely in the context of the echo-is-gavin hc, i would love to see a world where echo finds some way - any way - to bend the rules of this universe, and to change freelancer or gavin in some way that they might be able to be together for the rest of both of their natural lives, however long or short that may be.

it strikes me as very interesting that when a’xerahn accidentally makes vampires, he’s searching for a way to create ‘a more manageable form of Concubus’ - of which incubi are a subset. is this just a choice that erik’s made either at random or because of the historical and cultural associations between sex and vampires and blood and all that? probably, yeah. but it’s especially interesting because it might imply that concubi are the easiest type of demon to convert humans to/from - which would then come with a whole HOST of implications for gavin and fl!

to be entirely honest, this is a completely off-the-wall hc that will almost certainly not come true - but it’s certainly fun to think about! basically i just want gavin and fl to be happy and in love and together forever, and i’ll come up with whatever hcs i like to make that happen lol

[talksosweet]

no because i’m so scared for the day redacted (my theme blog i refuse to share the url cz i don’t want anyone seeing my themeing process LOL) becomes sentient what if she hates me i’m sorry girl pls don’t kill me this is why we should stop working on ai she’s gonna hunt me down for this ☹️☹️☹️☹️

STOPPP 😭😭😭 this is so true i feel this way abt my abandoned side blogs too and the blogs i make js to save urls 😭 but omg i acc think abt that ai takeover thing sm idk it js freaks me out sm like if i ever use my snapchat ai i make sure to be rlly polite to it js incase...

[oww666]

The CLEAREST evidence yet of a COMMUNIST takeover of America | Redacted ...

[jonathanbiers]

wip wednesday!

tagged by @roykentt and @thefreakandthehair kissing you both!! <3

Rules: Post up to five (5) (don’t tell me what to do) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post.

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file.

beggin for a peggin

stargyle spring prompt (lmfao watch me finish it in like august)

remote takeover

family video punk guy fic

the panty fic

what if argyle was transfem

[redacted] au

stonathan week

snippet under the cut (bc nsfw) from beggin for a peggin. my dudes i am once again writing porn at work. first draft so don’t look at it too hard where grammar and flow is concerned

anyway, tagging some writer friends & mutuals! feel free to ignore if you don’t feel like participating on this particular Wednesday 💘

@bayouteche @cheatghost @fragilecapric0rnn @kkpwnall @toburnup @gorgeousgreymatter-x @g0thcl0wn

“Fuck, yeah, that’s it,” Nancy breathes, her hands gripping his hair and pulling, holding him right where she wants him while she grinds into his mouth. “So good, love using that pretty mouth. Fucking—perfect.” Nancy’s voice loses a little more of her composure, going a little more high pitched when Eddie wraps his lips around her clit, sucks on it.

He pries one of his hands off her thighs, presses two fingers into her. He opens his eyes so he can watch her face when she moans, the way her mouth drops open, the cute little pinch of her brows. He doesn’t even have to do much, just press at the right angle, move with the way she’s already fucking herself on his mouth. A chill runs through him at the thought, like he’s just her little toy, an object meant to please her, nothing else. Like he’s completely useless other than giving her what she needs. He could fucking live in the feeling.

[lasshoe]

if tedbecca does happen (it should), how do you think rebecca will come to the realization? i’ve been thinking a lot abt it, and i just can’t see her coming to it completely on her own? (would love to hear your take if you do think that’s possible) like i think it must involve either a third party helping her see it/calling her out on it or some sort of big thing happening that shakes her up?

i have both no absolute clue how it’s actually going to happen and also have thought about nothing but for the past [redacted amount of time] but narratively they have set up so many ways it could happen but i think I agree that clearly it’s going to need to come from an external source to actually get it through rebecca’s big dumb beautiful brain

here’s a list of things / people who might actually get her to see the light:

trent crimm. i admit this would be very slay and i would like to see it

deborah

deborah by way of tish

kinesics expert isaac

someone commenting on the everyday biscuits / biscuit box pink takeover in her life

the (matchbox) toy soldier. also a favorite possible catalyst of mine for her to Realize Something

higgins (i’ve given up hope on keeley atp)

henry :’)

michelle. or dr. jacob…. make him worth something

a literal lightening strike

[denimbex1986]

'The Guardian has announced a new multi-platform campaign, creating a huge cultural moment to launch the new Audible Original adaption of George Orwell’s 1984. With articles exploring everything from fake news to resisting online rage fests, bold interactive graphic treatments in display and a full ad takeover of Observer Magazine, the campaign shows why this version of 1984 is the must-listen audiobook for 2024.

The campaign uses the Guardian’s unique formula of “scale, influence and integrity” to deliver high impact content to match Audible’s all-star cast: Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, Tom Hardy and Romesh Ranganathan.

Scale: The biggest digital newsource in the UK, the Guardian will reach more than 9m 1984 superfans through big, bespoke formats.

Influence: The Guardian’s culture section averages 22m page views a month. Recent Netflix documentary Can I Tell You a Secret? based on the original Guardian podcast was the most watched show in 15 countries; Black Box, our new narrative podcast series taking a deep dive into the world of AI, has been a Top 5 hit across multiple podcast platforms.

Integrity: In an era of misinformation and deep fakes, the Guardian is a trusted platform committed to facts, honesty and unflinching investigative journalism. Orwell, a regular contributor to the Guardian and Observer, once stated that the Manchester Guardian had “the best reputation for truthfulness”.

Maximising the very best of the Guardian, the campaign launched with impact, with quizzes and jargon-busting articles that help audiences see what 1984 tells us about the world in 2024.

Around the content and across theguardian.com, a brand-new, bespoke scroller is running in unmissable Fabric XL ad slots over the Guardian’s TV, lifestyle, culture, film and book sections, introducing Orwell to an even wider audience.

In audio, ads across the Guardian’s podcast network share teaser clips of the audio book. And in video, the Guardian created a bespoke animated teaser trailer, filling editorial social channels with abstract imagery and bold graphics to bring the 1984 soundscape to life.

Last weekend, the campaign also ran a full takeover of Observer Magazine, using print as the hero format with a “turn-to-reveal” redacted coverwrap. Every single ad slot (in the Sunday 7 April issue) was filled with resonant Orwell quotes, articles and QR codes driving audiences to hear more: marking the cultural moment in Orwell’s former publication.

Albert Hogan, senior director – brand and content marketing, Europe, Audible, said:

“We were absolutely thrilled to work with the Guardian to introduce Audible’s adaptation of 1984 to the UK. From Orwell’s connections to the Observer to the resonance of the key themes of the story with the Guardian reader, it felt like the perfect environment to reaffirm the prescience of 1984 in 2024 and let people know there is no more relevant time to listen than right now.”

Imogen Fox, chief advertising officer, Guardian Media Group, said:

“The Guardian is renowned for its award-winning, multi-channel advertising campaigns, which deliver higher uplifts in brand and campaign diagnostic metrics. We relished the opportunity to refresh 1984 using the best of the Guardian’s unique channels and formats to bring this campaign to life. Many people think they know Orwell’s 1984 because they’re familiar with the novel’s ideas, but this new audiobook version 75 years on from its initial release pushed our team to develop innovative formats and visuals. Given our huge scale, we’re the perfect place for cultural launch moments.”'

[czigonas]

Coming back to the Removable Hearts... this time it's Soap-centric! (Ghost-centric version here)

I think, aside from the version where the SAS takes everyone's hearts for monitoring purposes (number 4 previously), Soap would only remove his heart in a few very specific circumstances. He's just not the kind of person who would willingly dull his emotions or hide from them. So consider:

Soap's parents take his heart when he's young. It's not done with malicious intent (not like Ghost's dad would) but out of a combination of tradition and overbearing protection. After all, kids can be cruel, and their little John is a sensitive soul.

I didn't elaborate on it in the first post, but one of the aspects of the hearts I used in Dust My Broom was that, if you held someone else's heart in your own chest, you could feel echoes of their emotions as they felt them. So, perhaps in MacTavish clan, it's a tradition to remove their hearts before marriage and trade them with their intended so they could feel certainty in the depth of their emotions. Soap's parents just take it a little further and don't tell anyone about it.

Soap adapts, though. He overcompensates his natural reactions so he doesn't appear closed off or cold to his peers. He learns the small, subconscious tells other people make to let him know what he should be feeling so he can project it better. He feels so much anyway that it isn't that hard to do. Plus, the ability to more easily lock down his emotions when he needs to focus serves him well both in competitive sports and when he decides to join the military.

His parents aren't thrilled at his decision to sign up and talk him into leaving his heart with them where it's safer than a base where it could be attacked or left behind accidentally. (Secretly, they want it left with them not only so they can reassure themselves he's alive, but also because they're afraid he'd be tempted to put it back in his chest and that the backlash of his restored emotional responses would overwhelm him and get him hurt in the field.) Soap isn't happy about this, but he understands their fears and resolves to revisit the issue once he's out of training and has his first leave.

It gets harder, the further he is from his heart, to use his real emotional reactions for cues, so he falls back on his observations to tell him what people want him to be feeling. He gets very good at reading people, and very good at faking appropriate responses. When he reaches the SAS and their torture resistance training, his instructors are almost concerned at his ability to shut himself down. He still feels pain, but the emotional responses they expect to have to train out of their recruits are just... not there.

(The medics know, of course, that he doesn't have his heart. But they're only obligated to tell his commanding officers and, even then, only those at the highest level. Otherwise, it's need-to-know information and fully redacted from from his files. When Soap is assigned to JTF141, Captain Price is deemed the only officer who needs to know despite General Shepherd outranking him. After all, Shepherd is American and Price is the highest ranked British officer in the task force.)

Then, Las Almas. Graves isn't quite so bold as to think he'd be able to subdue Alejandro, Ghost, and Soap with just words, so when he shoots, he doesn't miss. He hits Soap.

He hits a heart shot on Soap, and at close enough range that his vest couldn't possibly hold up.

Soap falls.

Ghost is devastated, but he can't stay or he'll die too.

He can't stay and he can't afford to try and take Soap's body with him. He has to leave it behind.

The Shadows toss it over the concrete barrier into the ditch. One more body on the massive killing field their takeover has become.

Ghost goes a little feral, carving his way through the city. He can't think about the betrayal, or Soap, or revenge. He wants to lose himself in the mindlessness of cutting down his enemies, but he can't even do that because he needs to survive. Someone has to live to tell the tale.

Even so, he's vicious and completely merciless. The path he carves through the city is only better than the Shadows' by virtue of him not killing civilians. He's reckless, even though he knows he has to survive. He still takes more risks than he should, because in a lot of ways it feels like he died on that road right next to Soap.

And then his radio clicks on.

“This is Bravo 7-1, in the blind…”

What the actual fuck, Johnny.

[aro-simp]

F/O-vember takeover !

For this event we'll be having a month long takeover on this blog! (No worries, Sean is near impossible to shut up, [redacted] will have its time on this blog as well!)

Near the entire list of f/o's will be at your convenience! (With the exception of Shane) So feel free to take a quick look at the pinned post.

As for asks, we would love to have you specify who you desire to answer your ask, BUT this is in no way a necessity, whoever feels most like it will answer regardless.

Every post that's part of the takeover will be tagged as "#f/ovember" and "#[f/o name] speaking" to avoid possible confusion with the owner.

With that said, happy F/Ovember!

[jakobsofficial]

Wait. Is this workin'?

Most assuredly, it is. I consider our temporary takeover successful.

Aw hell yeah, no more C ramblin' about! Let's go!

Wainwright 'ere. It's the funny day, so I decided to temporarily abuse my power an' take over this blog. With my beautiful darlin' of a husband, of course. When causin' mischief, two's always better than one.

Oh, please.

But yes, that much is true. We have, ehem, special privileges - that means no redactions and no expletives filter. Some things may still be classified, but you surely understand that we have a right to privacy.

That being said - ask away.

[iviarellereads]

System Collapse, Chapter 5

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which Murderbot does the most relatable thing of all: stalls for time when it doesn't want to do something.

They finally make it down to the hangar, so Murderbot lets the drones scout a little further out. There's a piece cut out of the hatch in the ceiling, and Drone1 finds the exit to the pre-CR installation. There's no sign of recent traffic anywhere, just heavy dust that would obscure any tracks fairly quickly.

MB suggests that Iris and Tarik go up through the broken hatch, with Art-drone's help, and guide Ratthi in for a landing. Iris asks if MB will be alright, and reminds it that pulling out to regroup and strategize is always an option. MB says it's fine, and it will notify them if it finds "any not-dead humans." Ratthi tries too hard to make the joke land, and Tarik almost claps MB on the shoulder, but settles for a shrug instead. Art-drone is just happy to have its humans safer again.

MB thinks about why humans might have taken shelter here. It considers its theory about advance warning of the hostile takeover. It wonders how much they might have found here, and how much more they could have built in, especially tapping into whatever was still powering it all.

It thinks about this as it stalls for time because it doesn't want to do the next bit. Especially not without armour. After the redacted incident, Three offered MB the use of its armour, but Three still doesn't quite have the whole "personal possessions" thing down, and MB didn't really want to use it.(1) Three offered it some drones, as well, but it turned those down too. It wonders why it's like this.

Ratthi, watching MB's camera feed, asks why round hatches are scarier than square ones. Tarik is very confused at this, but Ratthi says it's a fact. Tarik asks why any hatches are scary. MB, trying to make the job work with too few drones, runs a quick query on its media database for hatch shapes associated with various monsters, sending the results to the others. Art-drone is snide about wasting processor cycles on it, but Ratthi is surprised at the numbers: 80% of scary hatches are round. He really thought he was just making a joke. Iris says it's not the hatch shape, it's the columns to each side of the hatches. MB stands its ground and says it's not running the query again, even though Art-drone agrees with Iris.(2)

Iris and Tarik are back on the shuttle now, and Art-drone returns to MB. Just as Iris is asking if MB has a plan for next steps, Drone1 finds lighting in a corridor. MB flubs informing the team, and is embarrassed when Ratthi nudges it to share the details, but does so. To cover, Ratthi tells the others to always assume MB has to focus on a drone doing something. Art-drone helps with this cover.

Drone1 keeps exploring, and MB keeps feeling like a failure. Still, it goes in, alone, leaving Art-drone at the entrance to, as MB puts it, slow down anything that chases it outward, so the shuttle has time to launch.

As it goes through the corridors, it has a very rough map from the drones' sensor data, enough to not run into the walls. There are signs that Adamantine, or the splinter colonists. explored here as well. Well, Ratthi notices, and MB kicks itself again for not noticing. At the end of what seems to be a foyer, there's a ramp that stretches down three storeys, cutting back and forth on the wall.

MB lets Drone2 go ahead and bump into the edges to map out a route, and follows. At the bottom, things feel less creepy.(3) Art-drone picks up a transmission, and MB freezes, and tells us the redacted bit of the story.(4)

About twelve hours after the new B-E ship arrived, as the humans were strategizing, MB blacked out for no reason it can recall, and woke up in Art's medbay. Art poked into MB's archive and found that it had a memory flashback of the events near the end of Network Effect, but with anomalies, like the corpse catching and gnawing on MB, even though it still has the original memory intact for comparison. There's no indication of a hack in MB, Art, Preservation's Responder, or the feeds, and none of MB's other memories or media storage are corrupt.

MB had a trauma response and shut down, literally. It and Mensah both lied to Amena and said it was issues related to the alien contamination, and they agree they did a crap job of selling the lie. But it happened in front of enough humans (and Art, and Three) that they couldn't hide entirely the fact that MB broke itself with a memory it apparently made up.

(They were all so nice about it. The whole thing made me understand the human expression “it made me want to vomit.” Why would you ever want to do something that was so objectively disgusting and looked so painful. Oh, this was why, I get it now.)(5)

MB unfreezes to one of its favourite episodes of Sanctuary Moon, obviously started by Art in their media feed. It was only offline for 0.06 seconds, enough that hostiles would have overtaken it but thankfully there were none present.

In the comms, Art-drone and Iris are arguing over contamination hazards, and nobody seems to have noticed that MB lapsed at all except Art.(6) Privately, Art-drone asks if MB is back, and when that's confirmed, says the same performance drop and error codes occurred, but the duration was shorter, so it's at least a related issue.

The transmission, it turns out, is a greeting. Iris believes it's an active, thinking system trying to initiate with Art or MB. Tarik asks if they think it's like the other pre-CR central system, and MB finds its voice function and says yes. The transmission tries more protocols, and Art-drone says it's looking for one they'll accept. MB recalls how the other pre-CR system wasn't what infected it, it's what saved MB's ass. It doesn't want to answer this one, out of fear, but it also doesn't want its stupid organic neural tissue to win.

MB asks Iris if it has go to respond. The humans all look nervous, but Iris gives permission. Art cuts the comms coming from the ship as a precaution, but stays connected to MB with a firewall between them as it acknowledges the system.

There was no pause, like it had no concerns about contact with foreign systems. It sent, Connection: ID: AdaCol2. Query: ID? Okay, this is going to be tricky. ID: SecUnit. Function: query? Registration/organization: query?

So, this system has been slightly altered to work with the Adamantine colonists (AdaCol), but this one hasn't been updated to know things like what a SecUnit is, where the other one had some idea. MB offers that its function is survey, and its organization is PSUMNT.(7)

MB asks AdaCol2 to contact AdaCol1. there's a brief delay before it sends that AdaCol1 isn't responding. MB asks for AdaCol1's location, and AC2 provides a string of numbers MB eventually decodes and compares to the Adamantine map data. It reports to AC2 that AC1 is offline to contamination incident, since MB isn't sure how to convey its gratitude in this machine's language.

Knowing it should be asking if AC2 is here alone, MB thinks how it's sure it isn't. AC1 felt alone, but AC2 is active, not cut off. MB also knows that AC2 is probably smarter than it sounds. It assembles a report as it might for a SecSystem, and then hesitates. AC2 might try to kill it, or might be stalling while the humans drag out their SecUnit killing weapons. But, it asks if AC2 will accept a data file. AC2 sends a hard address, probably an isolated box like what Art used to decontaminate MB. MB thinks how 2.0 could have gotten out of such a box, and sends the file, and waits.

Not wanting to watch media and potentially be distracted at a critical moment, MB sends the whole conversation to Art-drone. It drops the firewall, just as AC2 asks why they're here, and observes that AC2 is behaving like it has something to protect.

ART in any format is absolute shit at talking to other bots, but in this case I knew it was right. I needed to reply in a way that would make sense to a Pre-CR central system jury-rigged to network with Corporate-era tech. The Targets, ART’s crew being captured, Barish-Estranza, the hopefully dormant alien contamination site now lurking under the collapsed ruin of the Pre-CR colony site. But I kept seeing the memory of that last moment before AdaCol1 shut down.

MB sends a sequence of tags that essentially means, Barish-Estranza is dangerous, and can your and my humans talk? AC2 accepts immediately, after clarifying what "client" means to them, and sends an immediate access to a camera feed. Art cusses. MB takes in and describes a room with at least 22 humans in old, patched up Adamantine environmental suits… and the source of the cuss: 5 B-E humans and a SecUnit.(8)

Yeah, we were too late. ART-drone had already ended our containment protocol and opened comm and feed to the shuttle. It said, Iris, we have a problem.

=====

(1) My assumption/projection/thought about this is multipart. Murderbot doesn't want to take advantage of what it sees as Three's naivete while it doesn't understand personal possessions. I don't actually think Three is misunderstanding personal possessions, it just sees the armour as gear and wants to share to keep [the only other person who can properly use it, and who needs it more right now] alive. (Recall, Murderbot has a habit of just staring at humans making poor decisions when they refuse to do the smart thing. This is exactly what Three is described doing.) This post is a great supplement to my feelings about that. But also, MB also doesn't want to accept kindness unless it has no other choice, because transactions still make it more comfortable and kindness freely given is still unfamiliar. And, a part of me thinks that maybe MB doesn't really want the armour, because that would make it more SecUnit-like again, and it's just getting used to not being a SecUnit. Rather, I think it just whines about the armour because it makes a convenient sticking point, and it does long for the comfort of anonymity and lowered human expectations that the armour represents, even though those come at too high a tradeoff of individuality and free choice for it to actually accept. It's just good at finding convenient excuses for all this like "oh no I can't possibly trust the OTHER MURDERBOT to know itself like I do".

(2) I adore everything about this scene? Like, first MB is actually engaging with the humans, right. But also, it's supporting its buddy, and it's contributing relevant information thanks to the skills only it really has here. And, Ratthi's like, oh shit, it was just vibes but the vibes was REAL?! And Iris continuing the banter. Just, love love love. Chef's kiss, no notes. (3) Pre-CR digs and architecture are truly alien enough to inspire unsettlement even in SecUnits. A nice bit of lorebuilding. (4) Fucking FINALLY. (5) So, I was wrong about my guess, but very close. I feel okay about that. And, it breaks my heart that MB is so resistant to treating itself with the kindness the humans offer. Like, it's very realistic, don't get me wrong. But, sweetie, they're right. You've been through so much and you've never really given yourself the time to sit down and work through it. Of course you're going to have the SecUnit equivalent of PTSD from your entire life. And, the humans don't expect you to be anything more than you are or can be right now. That's why they keep pretending with you, and helping you quietly when you're distracted. Honey, they love you, and want the best for you. (6) Of course not, you sweet dumb robot, human reaction time is a quarter second, you were out for a quarter of that. The only one fast enough to notice anything was Art, who had time to pick and start playing your favourite scene so you'd awaken to comfort, not fear. (7) I find it interesting that MB aligns itself with Art's University, not Preservation. It's on Art's mission, so it IS aligned with the University for the purposes of this trip, but… interesting. (8) Ruh roh.

[themetalvirus]

what did you think of sonic prime/have you watched it? i started it but then stopped cause. idk i forgot it was probably adhd but im thinking abt picking it up again

i only watched thru it once, maybe twice when it dropped (which is odd for me because usually i watch stuff pertaining to special interests MANY times over) (glances at the twitter takeovers pensively)

but i would 100% recommend watching the whole thing. i would say the pilot is the absolute weakest episode, and i'd say the show as it exists (no season 1b) still hasn't grown its beard and become the full version of itself it could be.

the setup in season 1a (what is currently released and labeled as "season 1") is honestly really great. some folks don't like the more immature aspects of the way sonic is written, and i personally find it odd that part of his character arc is learning to appreciate his friends, but despite the sometimes ham-fisted For Babies writing it's still fun

it's worth watching just so you can get to knuckles the dread. please appreciate my boy knuckles the dread.

also rusty rose is an amazing character and i want to see more of her so bad, she's my main blorbo in sonic prime. it makes me INSANE how she 100% still has the capability for love and kindness and heroics but she has been so thoroughly roboticized that she is just being puppeted around for evil

plus, when nine hacks into her and turns her "good", SHE IS STILL NOT IN CONTROL OF HER DECISIONS. she is still under the control of someone else... this time, nine. i hope they go the route of giving her ALL of her free will back.

if she chooses evil because it's what she's known for so long, my egghogs-loving ass will be excited. if she chooses to be with the good guys and fight for justice, i will also be happy because she broke free of her chains. if she becomes an independent player with her own goals that'd also be so cool

also, nine only gets better as the "season" goes on. he's really deeply interesting, and (sorry) i (sorry) prefer him (sorry) over canon main timeline tails (SORRY). he's interesting, he's rough around the edges, and i'm really interested in what they do with him while he's [spoilers redacted]

like. he is so lonely and needs to form proper friendships so he can grow past the trauma he has endured. he also is much more comfortable with what he knows, which is selfish pessimism. i think that's another interesting character conflict. I HAVE A TYPE.

anyway would recommend giving it another try, it just gets progressively better over time and it has some really great characterization moments, especially towards the end of the jungle world. i love how this show handles amy in general. she's so good