#(I've been messing w this drawing for a week)

[insertsomthinawesome]

Trigun Road Trip Week - Day 1 - Flora Looked up some flowers that meant Protection and found two I liked, the Aster and the Calendula The Aster (purple one) is a symbol of protection and Love while the Calendula (orange one) is a symbol of Protection and Healing Seems fitting for a man so desperate to protect people who both needs a lotta love and a lotta healing ;;v;; and also somewhat poetically ironic given the uh... healing kool aid

Here's the website where I found them! There's some other very Wolfwood notes in both but I"m too lazy to write it all out xD

[dawntheduckrb]

Low resolution borb chilling on the curb

[alteredphoenix]

Was at a car dealership a town over to replace the door handle on the car we use at home and had to wait about almost two hours in the cafeteria/waiting room area while the technicians worked on it, so I was thankful that I came prepared and brought my sketchbook with to keep me occupied and do some character concept designing. Got at least most of it done before the repairs were finished and did the rest at home; I’d say this took around two hours, give or take?

I’m not sure how to describe this person, but I like to think they’re part of a race of...let’s call them “aliens” but the aliens are comprised of all the weird shit you’d see in Katamari Damacy, Mushishi, LSD Dream Simulator, Studio Ghibli films, and any whacky platformer from Sega/Nintendo/BamCo/whatever with outlandish creatures that came to a modern day Earth-like planet For Reasons because they’re naturally chill and wanted to bond with humans and share the power of magic with them as a gesture of goodwill. Except Humans Are Bastards, and when the aliens found out about nuclear weaponry and the concept of war crimes they shut that shit down fast that basically surmounts to them saying “we changed our minds, we’re not giving you this gift, after all, so we’re going to make sure you behave and get along with each other or we’re snapping your arms off at the fucking elbow”. Eventually, after much observation, they would come back and say to the world leaders “okay, we’ll give you magic but we’re going to vet people - and by people we mean ordinary people - based on the goodness of their moral and ethical values, on the added condition that only girls and women could be offered it. This caused plenty of backlash among the world leaders at large and some of the populace, but the aliens pretty much put their foot down on their rules and have held firm to it ever since. If a boy or a man should happen to be granted the opportunity to be given magic, then he must consider himself extremely blessed - and rather extremely lucky - to have earned the trust of those that have the means to upend civil order in the world as people know it but would prefer to be (more or less) nonverbal hippies that like peace and are one with nature.

While most of these “aliens” are of supernatural and surreal design, I like to think the governmental body that performs the vetting process is capable of humanoid form but with the added caveat of wearing ceremonial masks and robes to hide what they look like underneath. If anyone knows, they are very few and will not speak of it.

[heartfullofleeches]

Bullied yan x delinquent reader who beats up their bullies once (probably because they were in the readers spot or getting in their way) know bullied yan clings to the reader and treats them like a god and basically willingly becomes their slave and the reader just looks at them with disgust and slight concern.

Bullied yan: I’ll kill them all if you told me to

Delinquent reader: that’s fucking stupid- you’d be throwing your life your away by murdering someone or anyone for no reason other than “somebody told me too”, don’t waste your life like that

Bullied: Y-You care about my life

Delinquent reader: NO! Fuck off

[light violence, excessive language]

"Alright, idiots. Since you chucklefucks clearly forgot how things run around here while I was away - I'd say it's time for another lesson. Line up and spread 'em."

Trembling in fear, your fellow delinquents part their fingers wide as they place their hands palms down on the gravel - breathing quickened as your looming shadow towers over their battered forms. Whistling along, you step over their hands in a leisurely stride - twisting your heels into the backs of their hands and crushing their fingers raw. You stare down every one of your victims - drawing your foot back to plant it square in the chest of the bully who immediately retracts their hands at you step off their hand. Yanking them forward by the collar as they reel, you crack them hard upside their head as you his.

"Did I fucking say you could move, bitch? I should break every god damn bone in your body for the shit you've been pulling lately, but I'm not trying to get expelled. "

The bully covers their face, shrinking as you ball your fist. "W-we're sorry, Y/n. We thought you were going to be out for the rest of the week. Please don't hurt me.."

What's happening...? The bullies who made their few short weeks in town a living hell - cowering as if they were cut from the same cloth. How-

Thomas had never been the most liked by their peers. Nish interests and their weak frame made them a prime target for bullying. Their parents already had the car packed at the first sign of trouble and off to the next district to try again instead of taking the easy route and letting them in their high school years at home. They tried harder to fit in this time. Blended with the crowd, stuck to themself and their books. In such a short time their family had found stable jobs and made friends with their neighbors. They didn't want to take that away from them, even at the expense of their own happiness away well being.

The bullies here were a different breed. All it took was mistaking one of their bags as their own for everything to crumble around Thomas. The next day they found glass in their locker, accusing words etched into their desk. They were hounded for the money from their part-time job and beaten when they refused to comply. What made matters worse was there were rumors of someone worse than them on suspension after assaulting another student in the parking lot. This was hell, and if they had to deal with another bully they likely wouldn't survive. All they wanted was for someone - anyone to rescue them from this nightmare.

"I've told you time and time again that the bleachers are my territory. You dumbasses think you're sneaky, but you always leave cigarettes and other filth behind. I want you to clean your shit up - and get the fuck off my property."

You look back at Thomas like a beast to prey. "And I want you to return everything you stole from that guy. I let you off the hook easy one to many times. On second thought, gimme me that."

You tear the watch off leader's wrist and throw it at them as you walk pass. "Pawn it. Should be worth almost as much as they took."

Thomas misses the catch, scrambling to their feet to pick up the watch. "T....thank you?"

You scoff. "Don't thank me. Those morons never learn and needed an explanation of what happens when you mess with my shit. Stay away from me or you'll end up just like them."

You push past them as you walk off. Thomas would later come to find you were the student spoken of in rumors and the guy you nearly put in the hospital had tried to fight you the authority you never sought to claim. Many saw you as another target for your reserved nature until you put them in their place with your fist. You were almost alike in that regard. Challenged by peers for your differences. Unlike Thomas, you had the courage to hold your ground and knock someone down if needed. It was aw inspiring. It was enchanting. Maybe you were more alike than they'd originally thought. Thomas had always longed for companionship and maybe deep down you wanted the same. Partners in this cruel, fucked up world.

The next day, Thomas waits outside for you to show. You arrive almost thirty minutes late making it the first day they've ever been late for class, but they were fully prepared to shed their old self to make room for whatever you wanted them to be. They run up to you, digging through their bag as they call out.

"Ah - Y/n! Wait!"

You turn, annoyance clear as day. "Yea?..."

Thomas laughs, oddly giddy at the aggression in your tone. "So that is your name... I, uh - have a present for you. My mom goes hunting in the fall and really wants me to come with her. She gave me this as an early gift and I thought you'd be better with it."

Raising a brow, your curiosity plummets as the sheath of the item Thomas drew comes into view. A hunting knife, roughly sixteen inches in length and engraved with their initials. It felt almost romantic to give something with their name to you. Your eyes shoot around the open hall; shoving their hands and the knife back into their bag as your voice drops to a venom posed whisper.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Thomas giggles hysterically. They never wanted to wash their hands again. "Y-you're touching me...."

"Why did you bring that here? Are you trying to get us both kicked out or arrested?"

"I-I just wanted to give you something to help you out if you get into trouble again. You said it yourself that they never learn. There's no better lesson than slitting someone's throat, right? If you're worried about getting caught you don't have to be. I'll take care of everything - and even if we do get caught I'll take the blame."

You let them go, wiping your hands on your shirt as your face scrunched in disgust. "You're stupider than you look. Stay the fuck away from me freak - and don't throw your life away over dumb shit like someone knocking you around.

Thomas sighs as you storm off. They feel as though they should be upset, but even in threat it almost sounds like you're just looking out for them in your own, special way. This move really had been a change - for the better.

[venusstorm]

Backflips

Bucky finds your awkwardness adorable.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Fluff, flirting

w/c: 700 | masterlist |

﹤୨♡୧﹥

Your eyebrows furrow in concern as Bucky attempts to bend his dislocated shoulder back in place. He releases a loud grunt as it pops, the sound making you wince and hastily backpedal.

"Told you to stop falling off of shit!" Sam shouts, jokingly.

"Gotta get you in a dance class or something to work on coordination because your body does not like you."

Bucky rolls his eyes as Sam bursts into a fit of laughter. "This is how you look," he begins.

A smile grows on your face as Sam mimics Bucky's bird-like movements, which is slightly ironic because he's the same person who wore a literal bird as his superhero suit.

Sam dramatically tumbles to the ground as Bucky watches, mumbling something underneath his breath before preparing to turn around and leave the room entirely. He almost makes it too, well…until Sam physically drags him back in.

"Ahhh don't be so cranky Barnes. Look, even Y/N’s laughing."

Your small smile falls quickly. "Nope. Leave me outta this."

“Don’t act like you didn’t boomerang your shield back into your nose the other day,” Bucky quips.

“Touché,” Sam grins. “Fair point. I’ll enroll us both in a ballet class next week.”

“Sam! Bucky grunts, “please don’t.”

Sam begins to walk backward, heading towards the door. “Too late. You’ve already convinced me!”

“Goodbye Y/N, goodbye Buckkk. Don't fall off the couch or anything while I'm gone."

You wave goodbye to Sam who was stifling a sea of laughter as he shuts the door.

Turning to Bucky, your eyes broaden at the sight of his bruised skin. You knew the serum meant it looked worse than it probably felt but still your heart tugged at the sight. "Does it hurt?" You ask softly.

He shrugs. "I've had worse."

You got up anyway, adamant about helping him in any way possible. You placed your hands around his shoulders, pressing your palms gently against his skin before rubbing softly.

"This okay, Buck?" You inquire. He nods, his eyes closing shut as your soft hands dance around his shoulder.

The up-close view of his back left you stunned. The intricate outlines of his muscles protruded without him even moving. You could spend hours exploring, touching him in hopes that he'd finally wrap you into a warm hug just like you've always wanted.

"Fuck, you're pretty," you murmur underneath your breath. It was hardly a whisper, so faint that you hadn't realized you said it aloud.

But Bucky did.

Curse superhuman abilities.

His eyes flicker open as a smirk forms on his lips. "What was that?" He questions.

"Oh! I said Fun. Yep. Fun. This is soooo fun."

Bucky chuckles, "I'm glad my misery's fun for you."

Immediately your smile drops. "Oh my god, Buck. I didn't mean it like that, I'm so sorry." Your hands fall to your side, your stomach doing backflips as he turns around to meet your eyes.

“That’s not actually what I said,” you whisper, fiddling with your fingers nervously.

He grabs your hand, intertwining his fingers in between yours. “Yea?” he smiles. “And what exactly did you say, sweetheart?”

The corner of your lips upturned from hearing the pet name, the backflips in your stomach returning for an encore.

“I said...uhm. I said nothing. Yea.” You speak quickly, unsure of yourself as he watches you squirm.

You always became a mess around Bucky. His presence was intoxicating and quickly your words would become jumbled and mind hazy with adoration. You don’t even realize that you’re squeezing his hand a bit too hard but nothing that he can’t handle.

He rubs your hands softly, drawing them against his chest in preparation for what he wants to do next.

You yelp as he drags you down into his lap, his burly arms wrapping around your waist. His scent overwhelms you and naturally you sink into him, a deep sigh escaping your lips as you finally feel the warm hug you’ve both been seeking.

He smiles as you rest your head on his chest, kissing your temple gently before peppering kisses across your nose.

"I think you're very pretty too,” he murmurs.

[angelsanarchy]

Tangerine Skies: Possum x Y/N Series CH 3

Tagging: @svgarcaine @icarus-star @romanroyapoligist @tempt-ress @madamemaximoff06 @shady-the-simp @liquidsmoothdomme @auggiethecreator

Possum and Y/n have been co-habituating for almost two weeks before she found him stripping down outside smelling his shirt.

"Possum? Everything okay?" She asked curiously.

"Apparently not." He continued to strip down.

"What's going on? Why are you getting naked out here? It's not that warm." She felt the chill in the air.

"The convenience store told me I couldn't come back until I didn't stink. I was offending patrons." He shrugged.

"So what's the plan here?" She held onto her coffee mug as Possum kicked his shoes off to remove his socks.

"I usually just air out the clothes for a day. That will buy me some time." Possum had started taking his belt off and Y/n finally walked towards him.

"Okay that plan sucks. You can use the shower in the RV and I'll toss your clothes in with mine. I can do laundry a day early." Possum froze hand hovering over his belt buckle.

"Really? I'm pretty dirty. I'd hate to make a mess." Possum looked surprised by her offer but she rolled her eyes.

"Do you have a set of clean clothes?" Possum shook his head.

"Okay, leave all of your dirty clothes on the picnic table with those pants. I'll start the shower and find you something to wear." She left the door of the RV open and turned the knob for hot water so it would be warm by the time Possum walked in. She didn't have a ton of extra clothes but she did have a large pair of sweatpants.

"Okay I might have to-" Y/n froze hearing Possum enter, turning to see he was completely naked.

"Um...alright. We could have left our underwear on." She blushed trying not to stare. He was thin but the definition he had from his hips only served to draw her attention to his happy trail that lead to a dark bushel of pubes. If there was one thing she wouldn't have suspected of Possum, it was that he would have a large cock. It hung uninterested to about the middle of his thigh with a thick head. He had dirt on his legs and a few cuts on his shins.

"I don't wear underwear." Possum said without hesitation. Y/n cleared her throat and shook her head.

"S-sorry. Um...the shower is ready." She held up the towel and sweats, putting them on the table adjacent to the shower. Possum walked past her and she felt him graze against her. She blushed so hard that she took off out of the RV to get started on his clothes.

She ended up wearing rubber gloves to wash his clothes, mostly because they were crusty as if he hadn't washed them in a good month. She could understand why the store manager told him he couldn't come in. She listened for the shower to turn off and got lost in the thoughts of what fucking Possum would be like. Would he be a rough fuck or slow and sweet? In conversations with him, he seemed calculated yet at a slower pace. She knew it was the drugs but she liked their time together.

She couldn't help but think about the last time she actually had sex. It wasn't with someone whose cock could serve as a limbo stick and it certainly wasn't slow paced. She remembers getting herself in the car on the way home swearing to herself that she would stop hooking up on the road. It had been months.

"Can I help?" Possum appeared behind her now wearing the sweat pants and the towel over his shoulders, hair sopping wet.

"Jesus! I'm going to get you a bell to put on. You're too silent when you move." She knew it was more her fault being lost in thought and not his sneaky movements.

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry." He put his hand on her arm.

"No no I was thinking-

"About me naked." Y/n blushed.

"W-what?" She questioned but he shrugged.

"It's okay. I like to be naked. I don't mind you staring at me naked. I've been told I have a noteworthy cock but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing." He was very nonchalant about his naked body.

"It's a good thing. It's a very good thing." She laughed.

"I didn't mean to stare. I haven't see a naked man in a bit." Possum's eyes went wide.

"Really? I could take these off-" His hands moved to the top of the pants and she grabbed them to stop him.

"Possum! Work with me here! If you're naked, I will be too distracted to hang your clothes." She laughed and he smiled.

"Okay then I will keep them on." He walked over to assist with hanging the clothes and she shook her head.

"Hold on." She took the towel from around his neck and put it over his head to dry his hair a bit more.

"I have a hairdryer under the sink if you want to use it. You can't just walk around with soaking wet hair or else you'll get sick." She explained with his head hidden under the towel. When she moved it off his head, she could see him smirking at her.

"What?" She asked returning the smile.

"I feel like Pretty Woman." He said proudly.

"You feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman?" She laughed.

"Yeah...thank you for taking care of me and hanging out with me. You don't even have to pay me, I want to hang out with you." His smile spread wider and his cheeks blushed.

"Go grab the blanket off my bed so you don't catch a chest cold, Vivian." She teased.

"You know, Pretty Woman is one of my favorite movies." She called to him as he walked back onto the RV.

"No way! That's my mom's favorite movie. She made me watch it with her every Saturday while we had Crunch." He emerged with the thick blanket over his shoulders, he held it to his chest.

"Crunch? You mean Brunch?" She questioned.

"Um no we wouldn't have the money to go out so we would have breakfast for lunch on the couch. Crunch for couch brunch." Possum's explanation was sweet.

"That sounds really nice." He finally stood next to her, holding the basket of wet clothes while she removed them to hang on the line.

"Yeah I miss her...my mom. I think about going back East all the time." Possum admitted.

"You should. I'm sure she misses you too." She smiled at him. The fell in a comfortable silence for a few moments before he finally spoke up.

"You would make a terrible prostitute." Possum said matter of factly.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" She couldn't help but laugh.

"You're too nice. You just give things away." He smiled. She could think of a few things she would give to Possum, no questions asked.

[captainmalewriter]

Stranded Finale

Check out part four to this series here!

Weeks had gone by since Coal had been stopped by Grey and Drew. Now Coal was living inside an old fish tank Drew had laying around his garage. They had sealed the glass tank several times to ensure Coal couldn't escape. While Grey and Drew continued living their daily lives, Coal had essentially been reduced to the role of a house pet. But no matter how hard Coal protested, he had no choice but to accept it.

As for Grey and Drew, the two men had plenty of spare time to work on their own projects since the big fight. Grey used the time to properly heal Jessie's wounds from all the fighting. Grey refused to go into a hospital in fear of getting found out. So he took the role of medical expert himself. It was a slow process, but Grey had successfully healed Jessie's body. He had to, after all, he felt bad for letting Drew's best friend come into harm's way. Once Jessie was fully healed, Grey was back to all smiles with his human host.

Drew, on the other hand, had his hands full with figuring out a proper rocket design to get the aliens back home. It was winter already, and they still couldn't figure out just right the formula for space flight yet. Drew had mixed feelings about the whole mess. Between the frustration of making progress and the sorrow of helping Grey leave, Drew just couldn't find the inspiration to put his best effort forward.

So instead of forcing himself to work on spacecraft science, Drew decided to take another jab at figuring out alien technology. They had brought home the salvaged parts from the shipwreck along with the two USB drives Coal had on him. Drew was too freaked out to dissect the technology when there was a murderous man twice his size pressuring him, but now that Coal was locked up, Drew felt much more at ease.

It still took Drew a long time to figure out regardless. Grey tried to pitch in wherever he could, but social sciences were his specialty, not computer programming. But with enough time and effort, Drew was able to crack one of Coal's USB drives. It had an encrypted message stored on it. Drew gave it to Grey to translate it. The message read:

To my friends Date, Nickel, Aero, and Bin: I'm writing to you all from the planet Earth in the Milky Way galaxy. Remember our dear acquaintance Grey? He rented out a spaceship and took a joy ride to the tiny water planet. I hitched a ride with Grey and I've successfully landed on Earth on star date 070.040.XXX. While I was away from home, I've been busy preparing for my master plan to take over Earth. I've already taken over a human male to use a host and I have prepared a virus that'll allow us to take as much human currency as we desire. Once you all arrive on Earth, feel free to take your pick at whichever human you want. I personally recommend a strong male, as we'll be needing the strength to overpower the humans. Their technology is inferior, but with our intellect, we'll be able to easily overpower them. I request your assistance in taking over Earth, we will live luxuriously as the supreme overlords of the human race. I patiently await your arrival. Signed, Coal.

Grey and Drew stared at each other in utter horror. They both needed a minute to process what they had just read. Grey realized that it was his old childhood bully, Clay Fired Coal, who had followed him to Earth. Drew had to cope with how dangerously close Coal had gotten to sending off the message. Had Grey not arrived when he did... there was no telling what would happened if that transmission got sent off.

Grey pocketed the two USB drives to take back home with him. After unlocking the contents of one of them, Drew was too scared to find out what the other one contained. He'd rather live in ignorance.

With Coal's USB drives out of mind, Drew had returned his attention back to the drawing board. Grey was able to help out more now that Jessie's body was healed too. They used Grey's original spacecraft as a base for the new one. That was the easy part, the hard part was finding human machinery that could replicate the horsepower of alien machinery. They had to find a way to do that without burdening the spacecraft with excessive weight.

The design and manufacturing process was slow. Although it was a complex design that needed delicate, step by step building, both Grey and Drew were deliberately taking their time with it. Each day meant one step towards completing the spaceship, even if that step was as small as finding the right screws they'd need. The next day would then consist of buying those screws.

This was their building process for the next month and a half. Their working speed had slowed to a crawl. Both Grey and Drew knew why they were acting that way, but neither wanted to admit it. They both wanted to spend as much time together as possible before Grey left. They spent Thanksgiving together, they went snowboarding together, they cuddled during the long winter nights together; anything a couple would do, Grey and Drew did.

But unfortunately no matter how slow they were going, the spacecraft did eventually get built. The test launch was a success, and now Grey had everything he needed to return home the next day, December 31st.

The two spent well over an hour fucking the night before Grey's departure. Even the sex they shared, they took it nice and slow to avoid it coming to end. But even that too, after a certain number of kisses, hip thrusts, and moans, had to come to end. Grey and Drew laid in bed in each other's arms, covered in each other's cum. Neither of them slept that night either, instead opting to enjoy the little time they had remaining in each other's warm embrace.

Then, the morning sun had come and filled the room with light. Drew felt himself get teary eyed, for he knew the time to say goodbye was coming soon.

The two men rolled out of bed and got dressed in their winter gear. Then with both the spacecraft and Coal on hand, the two left for the mountains. Grey needed a high altitude launching point to ensure he'd have enough power to get home. It had taken them most of the day to get there after deliberately stalling yet again, but they got there. They had driven most of the way up, but the last piece had to be done by foot. Drew parked the car and hopped out. Grey did too, but he let out a sigh as he did so.

"You ready to go home?" Drew asked.

"No."

The two men then hiked the rest of the way up the mountain range. Neither man could look at the other in the eyes. They weren't ready to say their farewells, but it was what had to be done.

They made it to the top of the mountain, the highest point they could go. Drew set up the spacecraft while Grey secured Coal inside. Once all the preparations were complete, the two men found themselves staring at each other with a tender gaze.

"I guess... this is goodbye..." Drew started.

"Yeah..." Grey sniffled. He was visibly fighting back tears. "I'm gonna miss this planet... I'm gonna miss this body... And I'm gonna miss you, Drew..."

The two men gazed into each other eyes, then they both went in for a long kiss on the lips. The kiss lasted seconds before Drew pulled away. He held Grey's face in his hands. He then wiped away the tears in his eyes.

"C'mon my love, give me a smile, I want my last memory of you to be a happy one,"

Grey obliged, and smiled from ear to ear. Drew couldn't help but smile too, Grey's goofy grin always brought out the joy in him even on his darkest days.

The two had delayed the inevitable long enough. Drew stood close to Grey as he slithered out of Jessie's body. He caught Jessie as he fell forward unconscious, while Grey skittered down into the driver's seat of the spaceship. Grey wasted no time in powering up the engine for flight. The spaceship hovered off the ground slowly at first, but once it got a foot off the ground, the turbo blasters kicked in. The spaceship then took off into the night sky.

Tears rolled down Drew's cheeks as he watched Grey fly further and further away. Then, just before Grey had disappeared into the atmosphere, the clock had struck midnight. It was the new year, and the townsfolk below were celebrating. They were launching fireworks into the sky, and Drew cried happy tears at the sight of it. Grey got to leave seeing the one thing he came down to Earth to see, and he did so in the most glorious way possible.

"I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU, GREY HOWLING GREY!!" Drew shouted out at the top of his lungs. Grey had disappeared into the sky to go back home, never to be seen again.

...Meanwhile, Drew drove back home with a disgruntled Jessie in the passenger seat.

"Fuck man... my head's killing me..." Jessie said in a low voice.

"There's some ibuprofen and water in the glove box," Drew said in a stoic voice. Jessie noticed it and turned to him.

"Man, you're in a bad mood today. What's up with you?"

Drew hesitated before answering. He then just shrugged and said it was nothing.

"If you say so... Hey, Drew, is it New Year's already? I could've sworn it was the 4th of July yesterday... What happened to me?"

Drew took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at Jessie. Drew's heart fluttered at the sight of him. It was the same handsome face and toned body Drew had long loved since his teen years. But without Grey inside of him, Drew felt at odds with his emotions. Jessie, his best friend, was back to normal. Yet, Drew longed to see Grey again, even if it was just for one more minute. Drew got teary eyed again just thinking about him.

"It's a long story... I'll tell you all about it once we get home," Drew refocused his attention back on the road. He wiped away the tears with his sleeve before the waterworks started again. Drew then took a deep breath before speaking again.

"You believe in aliens, Jess? Cuz boyyy are you not gonna believe me when I tell you this one..."

[opheliajupiter99]

Enodi: The Faceless Clown - Mind Trick (sad/lovecraftian)

Enodi had been employed at the carnivale for almost a week now. Mr. Lecroux didn't let him out of his tent much, demanding he stay within it whenever he wasn't performing, not going out or interacting with the other carnies.

He didn't really mind though; he was used to the voices keeping him company anyways, and he was equally used to people being scared of him. He wasn't lying to him, about neither the lack of need for paid, nor the idea of him dying.

Admittedly, he had been 'dying' for quite some time, but all he ever heard from the healers that tended to him over the years was that his body was a rotten mess, and they were 'amazed he was alive'. He figured it just must be taking a while. Sometimes, he wondered how long...but that thought was usually buried under the desire to see others happy - or the voices.

From Mr. Lecroux's perspective, as rancid as the man was, it was an easy win; not only did he not have to worry about the little bard whining about his paycheck, but he wouldn't have to tolerate him for too long either.

His acts had certainly been drawing a crowd as well; the sound of his lute was unique, and his cords were bizarre, but captivating. He'd wanted to play with his flute as well, but Lecroux had forbidden it, since it would require the removal of his mask to play. The tales he told and the songs he sung were rambling and nonsensical, but the children found it amusing, so their parents paid - that's all that really mattered in the end, after all.

Enodi had relished every moment or every performance - that is, until today. One of the many carnies was a Tabaxi clad in green, a sorcerer of great ability, and a trick he was often used for was mind-reading, of all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, it was as simple as guessing cards, or where something was hidden, but today's plan was an especially grand affair; reading ones mind and projecting their thoughts for the audience to behold.

The idea of this spectacle turned the jovial and care-free Enodi's nature quickly to panic. It was time to begin rehearsal, but Enodi had still not emerged from his tent, laying on the sawdust-laden ground, curled up in a ball, whimpering.

He had no idea how long he'd been laying there, in truth, but eventually a pair peered into his tent, one of the two quickly rushing inside at the sight of the man balled up on the ground.

"Gricko, we were explicitly told not to touch him."

"Come on Frosty, look at him! The poor fella's suffered enough without people leavin' him all alone."

It was Gricko, an especially kind-hearted goblin, and the mystic himself, Morning Frost, Gricko knelt beside him and helping him to sit up, dusting off his mask and robes.

Gricko was by the far the kindest of everyone he'd meet here. While the goblin was always kind to the other carnies, men like Enodi especially he focused his efforts on, even more so knowing the man's time was short. It was hard for a healer's heart -not- to ache at the sight of a dying man, especially one they could do nothing to aid.

"What's wrong buddy? You're usually so chipper! Not like you to get stage fright." He said, giving a comforting pat to Enodi's arm.

"Y-You can't do the act, n-not with me. Please!" At this, Frost approached, kneeling down beside Gricko.

"Why? If there's something in your past you don't want others to see, just let me know, and I won't show them. I'll still see it, but I won't -show- it."

"I-It's not that...well...I-I guess it's kind of that. It's not m-my past - the voices, t-they don't like w-when people can h-hear them. People o-other than me."

"...What?"

"The v-voices. They keep me company...I've had them f-for as long as I can r-remember. They're my friends, b-but...but they only like m-me! They'll hurt t-the other people. They'll hurt y-you."

The pair looked at each other, brows furrowed. They both knew the kinds of things a brain could inflict when it began to wither; if this man was truly dying, hallucinations would be a common side effect, especially as he displayed many other symptoms of insanity.

"Sir, I believe these voices do not hold as much power over you as you think. Please, let me peer within your mind, just for a moment, to hopefully ease your worries. If it goes poorly, I will insist Mr. Lecroux cancel the performance."

"...Y-You mean it?"

"Yes."

After a moment of thought, Enodi nodded, sniffling, the sniffling sounding like a gurgled echo from a man with no nose. Frost put a hand on his shoulder, more as a means of comforting him than for the spell, and closed his eyes.

In an instant, Frost found himself in the man's mind. It was akin to a foggy tundra, most of everything clouded by seemingly endless nothingness. Occasionally, a vague image would be visible, a silhouette of a humanoid, sometimes getting more detailed before quickly becoming vague again. For a brief moment, Frost was left in an almost deafening silence.

Then all at once, things turned to precisely the opposite. A cacophony of voices began to assault the vision, squeaking and shrieking in a language that sounded like nonsense, but somehow, it made sense.

"Who?" "Who?" Who is it?" "New." "New!" "New voice?" "No!" "No, is mortal." "No, no mortal!" "Leave!" "LEAVE!"

The voices howled and shrieked, the word 'leave' becoming the clearest word amongst the torrent, as the endless white warped into a swirling mix of pitch black, and a shade of purple he'd never seen before...

To Gricko, Frost had been sitting there for no more than a moment, then all at once, Frost twitched slightly, swaying for a brief moment, before collapsing on the ground, unconscious. Gricko's panicked shriek called many to the tent, most too paranoid of the man's health to do more than peek, though the strongman, a hefty Genasi of bright red and immune to disease, bound into the tent, scooping up the sorcerer, trailed by the terror-stricken goblin as he rushed back to Kremy.

It didn't take long for Frost to awaken, and a quick look-over proved him free of disease, but the performance was indeed canceled, and the already existing fear of the man only ramped up further.

[mlobsters]

supernatural s15e9 the trap (w. robert berens)

was surprised to see a road so far recap, thinking that's early for midway, but right if it's 20 episodes then... and we're really just about almost to the end. i've been watching just about daily since beginning of march 2023, but i am actually approaching the finish. little freaked out, not gonna lie. but i didn't do the recap stuff regularly until like s4 so in theory i can just loop back to watching from the beginning and give myself an extension on my evening project :p because i am going to be adrift when i don't have this little nightly task.

couldn't focus on the recap because the music got me thinking it was like. knockoff ac/dc 😬 hard times in the land of plenty by omar & the howlers. internet doesn't seem to agree with me though. also i think part of the problem is that they mix the music too low, so everything sounds kind of generic when it's not boosted up enough to feature

CHUCK Same thing I've been doing for weeks— helping, helping you to the bunker, to Sam... to romance. It was easy, really, just a nudge here, a conveniently placed spell there.

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. i've been fucking whinging over this goddamned ludicrous plotline and this is why. SIGH. maybe i'm the doofus for not seeing the potential forces behind it but ugh. it actively made me irritated with the show and eileen, who i otherwise really liked, and for what. you got your GOTCHA! was it worth it?? deep breaths

i do like rob benedict a lot in this character though, i think he does a really good job. not as flashy like, crowley/sheppard or lucifer/pellegrino but good! whole mess of old regulars in the credits, i see.

DEAN Tracking Sam's phone. Okay, here we go. Uh... Milford, Nebraska, at a casino. What the hell is Chuck doing at a casino? Whatever. We need to go. CAS To Purgatory. DEAN Chuck has Sam. I'm not leaving him. CAS Chuck's not gonna kill him. That's not the ending. DEAN Wh— Then he'll torture him. CAS Dean, will you stop? Just stop being so stupid. DEAN What? CAS If we attack Chuck now, we don't have anything that can hurt him. We get that Leviathan blossom, complete Michael's spell, build the Cage. That's our chance. That's the way we'll save Sam, and that's the way we'll save the world.

can't blame dean for going slightly off the rails when sam's in peril

CHUCK How are you still like this? SAM Like what? CHUCK This...defiant. SAM It's not my first time on the rack. CHUCK No, no, no, no. No, this is more. This is...hope. Ah. That's what's stopping me – you. You still think that Dean and Cas are gonna fly through those doors just in the nick of time. You still think that you're the hero of this story. You still think you can win.

a) ouch. b) i mean, based on prior experience he's got a lot of reasons to think so

CAS Sorry about Benny. DEAN I owed him my life. And he sacrificed himself to get Sam out of this place. CAS Well, this place will bring that out in you. Guilt. It was my fault the Leviathan got out. It was my fault we were here the first time. I carry that guilt every day. DEAN I know you're sorry, Cas. About Bel, about Mom. CAS I was talking about Jack. I already apologized to you. You just refused to hear it. DEAN Sorry I brought it up. Maybe if you didn't just up and leave us. CAS You didn't give me a choice. You couldn't forgive me. And you couldn't move on. You were too angry. I left, but you didn't stop me.

so is that really benny being dead? okay. and bel? completely drawing a blank, have to look it up. ....oh. belphegor??? ok?? for killing him prematurely or whatever, that caused the rowena sacrifice?? i don't fucking remember. also, i mean. cas needed some space. sometimes other people need that. maybe i'm being delusional but it didn't seem like a forever falling out?? but i guess it was to them

i don't even know what to say about these chuck flash foward things. i guess an excuse to have mini grief over someone new dying each time. surely sam is not actually believing this is what will happen, being that chuck is driving this whole ass bus?

snorted. like knockoff alien xenomorph eggs

the real flash forward is sam and dean suffering from crippling CTE from the constant traumatic brain injuries. castiel must be an expert brain-unscrambler

SAM You're just showing me this so I give up, so I lose hope. CHUCK I'm just the messenger, Sam. I'm sharing my omniscience with you. SAM No, the Dean I know... the Dean who raised me – he'd never give up, no matter how bad things got. CHUCK Well, he does. He will. This is the truth, Sam. This is what comes next.

*eyeroll* there's zero reason to believe chuck about anything ever at this point so it's like ok dude, whatever. also, like, fully reasonable that dean would want to give up if literally everyone was dead or has a death wish, i think i'd argue more with this whole monster-apocalypse premise that these visions are hinged on :p

oh i feel like a massive asshole but this emotional speech to cas is..... a lot. what is that face he's making in the part when he says he was wrong??? and the breakdown, going down to the one knee? woof. ok! this is DRAMATIC. see here's where i get pulled out of the story. i'm going along with the premise nowadays that cas is their/his best friend, even if i never really picked up what they were putting down about it before. i've talked about it at length. but he's been around a lot more, i'm willing to accept it without getting disgruntled. i don't feel it, but it's not chafing me when it comes up anymore. HOWEVER. what's taking me out of the moment is how they've had a lot of blowups with cas in the past, and they get smoothed over so easily. then this, and i feel like okay. so we're having this big Emotional Moment as a set piece for jackles, as a nod to their relationship for the fans because it's the last season, etc. it feels like there's outside forces determining that this is the conflict that's gonna have the big breakdown/resolution.

interesting that the production draft of the script, it's a shorter scene.

i mean, knowing when dean actually dies for good in the show... sigh. (though of course we don't even know because the show doesn't say for sure) jared's generous 5 years later (hc afaik) gets us past 2022 at least, i guess.

LOL oh my god the teeth, so awkward and bad. sorry for the screenshot, fellas. i can't even watch this whole fight scene, it's so terrible. good GRIEF.

excellent stinkface at creeper chuck

ok so did they explain that this involved taking the mark of cain before this? was i really not paying attention? christ. maybe we were supposed to infer it from the fact that they're making a cage? reading the mark of cain wiki entry to try to wrap my head around it. doesn't seem like a straight line to needing someone to have the mark???

God created the Mark to act as the lock and key to the Darkness' cage and if it was to destroyed, the Darkness would be released. God gave the Mark to his most trusted lieutenant, Lucifer, but the Mark corrupted Lucifer and made him jealous of humanity which led to his imprisonment in the Cage. Prior to being locked away, Lucifer passed the Mark to Cain as part of his deal to save Abel from Lucifer's influence.

but maybe i'm just missing something

SAM It'll be better. It'll be better. It'll be better. [Exhales sharply] If we win – When we win – When we beat you, I will make it better! CHUCK You can't, Sam. You, Sam Winchester, have been playing fast and loose with the laws of nature and magic for a very long time – you and your brother. Always breaking the rules. And that's what I love about you, Sam. It's so heroic. It's so...Promethean. But there's still so much about the fabric of the universe that you don't know... that you can't know. 'Cause you're only humans. But I'm God. Think about what I showed you. Look beyond the Mark, beyond you and Dean fanging out – heartbreaking, but not the headline news. SAM The monsters. CHUCK The monsters. Without me, it's a law of nature – dark forces prevail, monsters rule, and you, your brother, and everyone you love will die. Can you really live with that?

patting myself on the back again :p i'm giving sam all the grace because having the full blown most powerful god in existence trying to manipulate you with his whole chest, surely that's going to be near impossible to withstand no matter who you are. i just am finding the plotline insufferable

and they roll the magic bath bomb of doom to sam and he can't break it. other than completely idiotic plot contrivances, there's no reason he didn't just roll it dean. they were both available. this is so fucking stupid i cannot. i had my problems with a lot of seasons but i have never been so disappointed in the quality of what made it to the screen as i have this season.

SAM I wish you'd stay. EILEEN I wish I could. After what happened, I don't know what's real anymore.

so clearly the answer is TO KISS HER? she just said--god i fucking CANNOT. my reaction, literally. "OH, COME ON!"

if they're gonna be mad at sam about this dumb fucking thing... so help me......

SAM That was our, uh, chance... to stop Chuck. But what Chuck showed me, what would happen if we trapped him – I believed him. I still do. DEAN Well, that's good enough for me.

well, thank goodness for that at least. good fucking god.

BILLIE It's time.

[factorialsotherfandoms]

Hopefully this is legible... A few thousand words of xcom au notes! With mini summaries of each of the missions. Plot details are marked with *, the Hunter/Warlock/Assassin H/W/A respectively, and egg plot E. I am... not reformatting for tumblr so good luck. Using tumblr's apparent system... 1 layer of number indicates an operation (AKA actually played mission). 2 numbers deep are things about the mission. And the bullet points are things done between missions.

This has major spoilers for XCOM2, but also I absolutely fucked with the plot to do my own thing and add in the Eggs. Also I've added drama to some sections (for example, Philza and the Ender King, though I don't specify that's what it is). It gets more detailed the further down you go

Operation Gatecrasher *

First prong - BBH, Fit, Roier, and Foolish blow up a monument to the Elders on the anniversary of the invasion. This serves as a distraction for the other half. Using info provided by a spy within the Federation they rescue Felps

Second prong - Forever & Philza sneak into a research facility in the same city, using the cover of the cover of the explosion. 

Operation Gasping Apollo

Philza, Roier, Missa, and Fit 

Sent to disable a psionic transmitter in the sewers beneath a city. This is being used to mess with the brains of particularly psionically sensitive people. They don’t know why, but it is a problem

* Felps wakes up *

Lost and Abandoned * A

Have been asked to facilitate a meeting between the Reapers and the Deserters. The first is a faction of stealth-heavy alien hunters who live in cities which were hit by biological weapons causing people there to become zombies called ‘the Lost’, and eat the flesh of the enemies - aliens and artificially produced Federation workers - they kill. The second is a group of non-human former Federation Workers who have broken their programming and fled to form a group in opposition to their former employers. The two groups hate each other, but the Order needs both of them to work together.

Team One - BBH and Max. Bad and Maxo meet up with Bagi, who has been sent by the Reapers. They make it to the rendezvous with relative ease.

Team Two - Roier and Jaiden. They meet up with Walter Bob, the Deserter representative. This goes less smoothly, as they run into a Federation Worker with a flamethrower. The flamethrower blows up, and the explosion draws a swarm of Lost to the area. Still, they make it to the meeting point.

The two groups meet up, the Order’s people keeping an eye on Bagi and Walter Bob. The two have personal and negative history, but are interrupted by the Assassin. Bagi shoots her over Walter Bob’s shoulder when she approaches in stealth. The two bond over her - Bagi’s people face the Assassin, while Walter Bob’s are harassed by her ‘brother’ the Hunter - as the group try to keep everything under control and flee. At the last moment the Assassin catches up, grabbing Walter Bob as he tries to get onto the helicopter - having stayed to protect Bagi’s back - and teleporting him away.

Bagi joins the Order as a representative and liaison to the Reapers, resolving to hunt for Walter Bob as thanks for him saving her. She repays her debts.

Operation Witch Fall *

A videocall with Spreen, discussing both what his resistance cell needs and getting reports on activity in the local area. Towards the end, where Missa and he are catching up, the call is interrupted by an ADVENT broadcast, announcing a crackdown. The Order realises that there are enemies coming for Spreen and his camp, but struggle to get back through to him because of the broadcast and signal jamming (Tubbo will reverse engineer it for new protections later, but this takes a few weeks). They start heading over with a group kitting up to help, but can hear the attack starting before the radio is shot and cuts out.

Philza, Missa, Fit, and Foolish. Roier desperately wanted to come, but is still injured from the previous mission. 

The group manages to save most of the group who were still present, and it’s a really horrific fight, but Spreen is gone. Not a corpse, gone. It is a lot of enemies that they clear up as best they can, and people suffer for it. All of the armed people from the haven were dead or kidnapped by the time people arrived.

Rescued people are helped to join other cells the Order has contact with nearby. They don’t know much of what happened, and a fair few are kids or otherwise non-combatants. Missa is a bit clingy and they in return, but it is fine.

Tina & Bagi on a covert ops mission locate Walter Bob

Operation Sacred Prophet *

Location of Walter Bob is tracked down.

Philza, Tina, and Jaiden. Tina is a covert specialist who found the place, and is showing the others - Philza as medical, Jaiden as one of their sneaky knife sorts. They manage to get in and out without being fired on.

Walter Bob returns to his home and the Deserters, but not before clearing things up with Bagi, and revealing some information about Tazercraft - the pair were actually the ones who suggested the Deserters get in contact with the Order. The two had actually saved Walter Bob when he first broke his programming, and got him safely to the group. No, he hasn’t seen them since. He’s sorry. He misses them.

Delivery of advanced weapon parts from a mysterious contact

Operation Hammer Storm

BBH, Roier, Missa, and Maxo sent to retrieve ‘therapy dissemination files’ from a train a local resistance cell caused to crash. While outside of the city limit it’s close to inhabited areas of Guadalajara, so 3 Spanish speakers just in case. BBH is here to actually hack the tech and get the info out of the train’s computers. Missa starts getting a taste for shooting turrets, it goes without injuries.

Operation Sky Valley A

Jaiden, Foolish, Philza, Fit, and Tina go raiding resources. Resistance cell took out a transport out in the wilderness and have taken what they want, then handed over the coordinates for the Order to pick over the remains. In desperate need of money and parts, so send a team. The Assassin shows up part way through the mission, causing problems.

BBH, Foolish, and Maxo sent out to try find where the Assassin is based

Operation Star Hawk

Get a message from Mike, via the deserters, and much faster than they normally manage messages at all. The two were helping a group take readings in one of the Lost Cities, trying to work out what the pulses going on were. However, they were caught by the Feds and split up. Mike got out, but couldn't find Pac, and… Well, at this point it’s serious enough he’s willing to come out of hiding to get Pac back. The message is pre-recorded as Mike’s already gone back to look for Pac. If they’re willing, he’ll meet them there.

Philza, Fit, Jaiden, and Roier join Mike there

When they get there, Pac is still on his feet, hiding but fighting. There’s a second combatant with him, and also the engineer operating the equipment. All three get out alive, but not without severe burns after new MEC units are deployed. There’s a lot of injuries from burns to explosions to vipers crushing people’s chests to Lost scratches.

All three end up staying with the Order - the other combatant is Vegetta, while the engineer is a generic background NPC. Vegetta knows a couple of people and has been running his own operation, but given he mostly just funds it he’s happy to stick around and be more useful. Both Pac and Vegetta have injuries already, various people sent on the mission got hurt too

Brazilians minus Cellbit reunite and it’s very tearfilled and dramatic and such

Their spy leaves details of some sort of facility in the Eastern US. Investigations begin, but have not yet sent people to it.

Operation Dragon Song * A

BBH, Foolish, and Maxo are caught and ambushed by the Assassin while looking for her. While they did get the information needed, they’re trapped and fled into a Lost City to try to escape. It’s a struggle to get to evac and Foolish is severely wounded, Maxo a fair bit.

Vegetta and Foolish first meet recovering from injuries

* Aypierre manages to finish the research on the brain implant removed from Felps. While most of the data is corrupted, it reveals that his brain was being used to run combat simulations and process various tactical datas for the Federation. A network of unconscious brain supercomputers linked together and running combat tactics for every single Federation guard, “peacekeeper”, etc, causing their superhuman seeming response times. The data however is heavily corrupted, so Aypierre suggests getting Tubbo to make a device that can be used to read the data from one still attached to a Federation Worker - the end which receives the conclusions, not the processor part *

Tina & Maxo sent to go look for a fabled resistance group somewhere in France. Maxo volunteers as Bagi is injured from the last mission and he knows of them.

Operation Glass Sentinel

Missa, Mike, Pac, Vegetta, and an extremely exhausted BadBoyHalo

Sent to protect a transmitter. It’s sending data between two resistance groups, vital research data, but they need to make sure it stays intact to finish. A little way into guard duty it is indeed attacked. They sufficiently protect it.

Tina & Maxo succeed in making contact. The French group don’t send anyone just yet, but are now talking with the Order and allied to it. Tina got hurt, though.

Operation Wailing Feast W

Missa, Philza, Pac, Mike, and Roier 

Sent to rescue civilians and operatives when a cell is attacked. Basically everything goes wrong and Pac very very nearly dies as a Faceless triggers multiple explosions in a row. The Warlock shows up during this mission, mind controlling Missa for a time. 

An infirmary is finally built, resources to do so having been a struggle

Thankfully a long break until the next mission. Some people probably take it off.

Operation Patient Rose

Get a message from a cell near Chicago, saying they think they’ve tracked down useful data - as another group are gearing up to investigate the facility they’d been pointed at. Groups are rearranged. This is more time sensitive so goes first, while the others get some extra time to eat/sleep/plan in.

Roier, Maxo, Pac, Mike, Missa. 

The exact data they’re being sent for is ‘Implant Connectivity Audit’ which, given the info about Felps’ implant, is of definite interest. They do manage to get it, though at one point Roier’s aim is off and one of his frags has shrapnel which hits and injures Pac. Mike is pissed at that, but as well as the info did also manage to steal some cash from the Feds while hacking. Rats were busy. Missa and Maxo mostly just kill things.

Some coordinates are found in a supply drop, the encoding clearly indicating they are from someone who has been feeding them insider information from the Federation for years. If it is not Cellbit leaving them, then it is someone pretending to be him to fuck with people.

Operation Flying Moon * A

Leaves immediately after Patient Rose. Following some coordinates sent by their spy, not really sure what to do with them.

BBH, Philza, Foolish, Fit and Jaiden 

They investigate the facility at the coordinates. There’s many corpses in green goo, both outside of the facility waiting and inside being processed somehow - with varying levels of flesh remaining. The Assassin shows up to cause trouble. Through various trials like blinding with dust and getting stuck, Philza manages to grab a vial at the centre of the processing, and the group runs.

Following their success, the French send a delegate to join the group. This turns out to be Etoiles.

Operation Banished God H

Maxo, Philza, Foolish, Etoiles, and Vegetta 

Sent out to collect supplies from a Lost City. The Federation are also seeking the same supplies, so it’s a game of tagging and airlifting them faster than the Feds. Hunter shows up and causes problems, at one point stunning Vegetta and ripping a little information out of his brain. He is left intact and alive rather than kidnapped, but it’s still a bad time. Etoiles also gets fucked up.

Operation Smoking Paramore

BBH, Tina, Foolish, Bagi, and Walter Bob joins them from the Deserters as they want some things from here too. A scientist of theirs has been kidnapped, so time to kidnap them back. 

Have to get her out of a van, but it is a success. Not a whole lot occurs here.

Tina and Bagi go out to hunt assassin just as Pac and Mike get back

Operation Fire Killer

Philza, Missa, Roier, Etoiles, and Fit 

Sent to recover a “Viral Diffusion Summary”. Philza is on hacking duty as BBH hurt and Mike just got back from covert ops. Arrive on abandoned train tracks, and notice a ping on the comms of a resistance agent trying to contact the group. Roier manages to track them down and they offer a delivery. It’s mostly slums with a really obvious high-tech building in the middle. They get the information and get out.

Random NPC engineer rescued from an abandoned theme park

* Finally finish the Proving Grounds, which was paused to finish the infirmary, a place for Tubbo to deal in testing more dangerous and complicated equipment than the basic weapons lab. *

Operation Blessed Chant * A

Maxo and Bagi get ambushed while out hunting for the Assassin. Trapped in a Lost City. Info gets safely recovered, but both Bagi and Maxo end up severely wounded. It’s a very long chase to get to a point Niki can meet them, full of Federation Guards with flamethrowers and zombies. Bagi has extensive and serious burns. Maxo has a major gunshot wound and some smaller burns. Both pass out as soon as they are relatively safe.

Jaiden and Fit are sent out to search for the Hunter

Operation Steel Witch W *

BBH, Philza, Pac, Mike and Etoiles

Attack on an allied rebel haven. Everything is very on fire by the time they arrive, camp surrounded by scrubby forests. The group split up to protect as many civilians as possible, the Warlock being present. They first meet berserkers, a form of alien with exposed muscle, short and muscular, with extremely good melee capabilities (combat ones trained to, anyway). They clear as quickly as they can, and find a majority of people are hiding in a ruined Church. Etoiles takes a particularly nasty hit while protecting people, but with Pac and Mike forces the Warlock to retreat. Like most things it is weak to sword in face and electrocution by robot. Camp is no longer safe, but civilians are. IronMouse was the leader of the group, scatters her people between other groups and joins the Order.

Armour upgrades are completed

Jaiden and Fit complete their mission safely

A Psi Lab is built under IronMouse’s oversight, a place for her to train her psionics - those demons, like she is, have naturally, but she has trained into combat powers.

Operation Knife Prince *

Receive an emergency communication from an unknown source. Given its encoding, it’s their informant, and somewhere in the ruins of Ottawa. Very little information is received before the line is cut, only a tracked location. It’s probably a trap. But they can’t not go.

BBH, Foolish, Pac, Mike, and Roier agree to go look, all knowing it could well be a trap. Pac believes it is Cellbit, Roier hopes it is Cellbit, Mike doesn’t believe but wants to keep Pac safe, Foolish doesn’t believe but wants to spring it anyway, BBH doesn’t really care but a medic is needed and he’s free.

The infiltration point will also be the evac, as there are no other safe places even for the wires. Foolish sets himself up on a nearby balcony to cover and protect it, with Mike convincing Pac to cover the next area in. BBH and Roier push further in towards the signal and find… Well, Cellbit, unconscious and surrounded by Lost. BBH doesn’t have the stuff to treat him there and then, so carries him back. Roier provides cover as they retreat, as do the others as they hit each group. Everyone gets out, Cellbit waking somewhat on the helicopter while being treated but definitely ending up in the infirmary for a bit. He’s released in time that the army group can have a sleepover complete again.

Jaiden and Fit return.

Maxo, Slimecicle, and Missa are sent out to find the Warlock’s stronghold

* Tubbo complete the ‘skulljack’, an experimental device to hack brainchips while they’re still attached to the brain *

Operation Tomb Valley *

Foolish, BBH, Pac, Mike, Tina, and Jaiden are sent on an assassination run - to kill a Federation Army Field Commander. Reports have him in the tunnels under a city. Tina is an assassin primarily by trade, Mike has been given the skulljack. The fight is done in subway tunnels. Jaiden and Tina go to hunt the commander while the others cause distractions.

Mike uses the skulljack on a Federation officer-ranked Guard. He gets the data for Aypierre and some extra to sell on the black market, but it also summons a Code Monster. He tries to shoot it, but when it is hit it duplicates - Jaiden notices and manages to take out one half, while Foolish the other. It leaves only one corpse, or rather a weird electronic device which contains what looks like a partial spinal column made of steel, with ‘nerves’ of thin, green-tainted metal.

Pac gets badly hurt by a Muton. Though he stays on his feet, the similarities to the mission where Pac nearly died cause Mike to panic, reflexively shooting and killing the thing. Pac manages to calm him down not long after.

Jaiden is the one to land the final blow on the Commander, actual target of the mission, but Tina shot out his ankles first. So he couldn’t run, allowing Jaiden to catch up and stab.

Following that they do manage to get Pac and Mike to go for some therapy, though under the circumstances there’s a limit to its effectiveness

Maxo, Missa, and Slimecicle return from their task. Slimecicle was somewhat injured, bad enough to need treatment and time out but not too severely

Weapons upgrades

The Warlock finally puts the information from Vegetta to use. His spy is caught, but not before she severely injures one of the engineers in the process. Damage is repaired, spy executed, and engineer in medical. W

Research to get EMPs through Federation tech shielding is completed. Missa’s gun is refitted to take anti-tech bullets (still work on flesh, but bonus damage on tech).

Cellbit is cleared for field work

Operation Gilded Shield

Informed about a crashed train by allies. They don’t have people to make use of it, but if we take anything give a cut for the info.

Roier, Maxo, Philza, Missa, Etoiles, and Fit. 

There’s a lot of weird purple stuff around, implying intense psionic field in the area. Missa continues his hot record on taking out turrets, even easier with his new bullets. Missa, Philza, and Etoiles take light damage from grenades, but the mission is completed without anything majorly serious. Shove it under a cold tap and bandage and rest a few days sort of burns.

Pac and Mike are cleared for duty again

Injured engineer recovers

* Completion of the ‘Shadow Chamber’, another new research lab. This one is designed so that Aypierre and Tubbo can work together on particularly dangerous research, such as examining the vial Philza recovered from the blacksite *

Pac and Mike are send out together to find the Hunter’s base

* Aypierre and Tubbo complete research on the vial. It is human DNA, specifically DNA matching to a number of missing civilians. They are unclear of the purpose at the moment, but it seems to be… Liquified biological matter, specifically liquified human corpses. There are some matching bits of DNA across everyone in the sample, though it is unclear what that DNA does. Or what this is being used for… *

Pac and Mike complete their mission. Mike is, however, captured. Pac ends up in the infirmary for a significant time, mentally dealing extremely badly with both the separation and the circumstances of Mike’s kidnapping.

Operation Jagged Reckoning A

Allied group gets in contact with a lead on some information. They collected it to trade, but their base was compromised and the information left behind.

Roier, Missa, Philza, Etoiles, Vegetta, and Jaiden are sent to recover “Remnant Disposal Report”, which with the new knowledge of what is in the vial becomes a lot more disturbing. Philza is briefly mind controlled by a Priest in service to the Assassin, but Jaiden manages to kill it and thus free him before he attacks anyone. Between them, Etoiles, Jaiden, and Roier kill basically everything, Assassin included damn her respawns.

A defence matrix - system of automated turrets for use if ship is attacked while on the ground - is installed

* research completed on the Code “brain”. They find partial coordinates and evidence of a ‘something else’ beneath it, but the code reactivates and starts wiping their computers. Aypierre explodes it before it can wipe everything, and gets to work on looking into what data remains. They need more “brains” to get the coordinates properly, so on future missions people make sure to collect them *

BBH and Foolish are sent out together to sabotage Federation plans.

BBH and Foolish return

BBH, Foolish, and Bagi are sent to find a way into the Assassin’s base

Operation Dying Reckoning

Message from France. It’s not Antoine’s main base, but one of the smaller camps elsewhere in France is under attack. BBH, Foolish, and Bagi are expected back anyday, and most of the usual suspects are gearing up to go take the Assassin out. Pac volunteers and it's not… A good idea, but it’s the first time he’s asked for something since Mike was kidnapped, and he’s physically fit, so… Fit goes with, to keep an eye on his bestie.

Roier, Missa, Vegetta, Fit, Pac. Baghera joins them there.

There are soldiers from the camp still fighting when they get there. One, a duck-woman named Baghera, joins the five sent. She’s not the leader of this cell, but was doing other work for Antoine nearby and thus came over to help. She does end up unconscious when a berserker punches her in the face, but is generally very helpful. No civilian casualties and this group still has living guards, so they decide just to relocate. Baghera asks to come with.

Baghera gets permission from Antoine to remain with the Order despite Etoiles already being there as envoy.

* Data extracted from the code’s “brain” is decrypted. Within the data are files revealing that the Elders, the leaders of the aliens and thus the Federation, are diseased and dying via some sort of rapid muscular degeneration. They’ve been experimenting on various races in hopes to find a cure, and humanity is just next on the list. Data is fragmented, however - Aypierre suggests skulljacking a Code, and Tubbo has an upgrade to do that with ready *

A Federation vessel discovers the Avenger on its way to pick up BBH, Foolish, and Bagi - the first sign they have been ambushed. They manage to get away, and make all haste towards the pickup point…

Operation Damned Breath

Bagi, BBH, and Foolish were ambushed while seeking a way into the assassin’s base. There are a great many Federation soldiers between them and evac. They manage to fight their way through, but at the cost of a lot of blood. From all of them.

Operation Shadow Tomb * A E

Using the information obtained from those three, an assault on the Assassin’s base of operations is put into motion. Shadow Chamber indicates that there will be Codes present, so they also bring the Skulljack to try to get that data.

Philza, Jaiden, Roier, Missa, Cellbit, and Etoiles are on the mission. You were never going to convince Cellbit not to be. The entry route leads to some sort of storage room, where everyone can sort their kit out after the vent crawling. As they progress further into the complex, they find all sorts of weird tech.

* Early on they find the first Code. Philza uses the skulljack on it, getting the data for Aypierre. When it is killed by the skulljack, however, a humanoid with white hair and a full face mask teleports in and starts attacking. It teleports every time it is shot, and is a nightmare to take down. When it dies, however, Cellbit observes a psionic ‘imprint’ - the ‘ghost’ of one of the alien leaders, none of which have been seen in over 10 years, almost being pulled from the figure, screaming as it is and then exploding into a small shockwave. Others on the mission noticed the shockwave. Philza also heard the screaming, and was the one to connect the figure Cellbit saw to the Elders, as one of the very few people with personal experience with them. As it plays host to another being, they name these ‘Avatars’ *

Further in, they find a bunch of cells. These have clearly been broken out of, and there are dead aliens scattered about. Surely this will not be relevant later? (It will be relevant in a few bullet points)

The group clear the facility, ensuring they are not followed. In the final room they find some sort of teleportation device, a heavily stylised, golden statue of an Elder looming over it. It takes them to another room, one which looks like an alien version of a very large gym. At the far end hangs some sort of metal slab, pulsating with psionic energy. As they enter it glows, and from it emerges the Assassin. She congratulates the group on making it this far, and attacks.

The fight with the Assassin consists of repeatedly killing her, only for her to respawn from the metal slab. It is heavily resistant to damage, but they work on slowly chipping away at it whenever they can. Eventually the metal slab is so damaged that it shatters upon her respawning, at which point the Assassin congratulates the team and kills herself. This time, she stays dead. Jaiden got the final shot.

About mid-way through the fighting, Missa and Roier were distracted by noticing a pair of children hidden amongst some of the equipment. Just as they spot them the two jump out, aiming small swords - styled after the Assassin’s own - in her direction. The two grab the children, forcing them back from the fight - both are skilled, but still only kids. While appearing human at first glance, both clearly have a significant amount of alien traits. Neither speaks, but both are insistent on joining the fight. It is only when the metal slab is finally shattered that both of them relax, revealing they are seriously injured. They initially resist treatment, but Philza is called over. Once they are treated, both fall asleep. The decision to bring them back to the Avenger for proper medical treatment is made, with the intent to find them safe homes.

Etoiles steals the Assassin’s very fancy swords for himself.

* Discussions occur around the white-haired being covered by skulljacking the Code. Between them, Cellbit, Felps, and Philza confirm it was definitely an Elder which exploded when the body was killed, however it did not look like one. Due to the nature of the mission the corpse could not be recovered for testing, but current theory is some sort of possession so that the Elders can physically interact with the world despite their illnesses. *

* While they’re being treated, one kid gets very attached to Roier and Jaiden, while the other to Missa and Philza. What exactly the children are is not clear - unlike a hybrid, the combination of human and alien DNA is far from natural - but they do heal up. While they cannot speak they can write - they do not initially have names, rather numbers, but are named Bobby and Chayanne respectively. Talking with them reveals they were the Assassin’s apprentices, who used the chaos of the attack as cover to escape, intending to try to kill her and run away. They call themselves Eggs, not children, but are not sure why. Both are allowed to pick some clothes and toys from a box of supplies intended to be delivered to one of the allied camps with children. The initial plan is to take the children to Philza’s faction, as both seem familiar with English. This, however, fails when upon trying to leave them, both children psionically latch onto the adults they became attached to. Study of the bond by Cellbit - largely via comparing it to Pac and Mike’s - reveals the children to have started ‘feeding’ from the adult’s psionic fields. It’s not dangerous to the adults, but is required for the children to grow. It does also allow the children to project thoughts into their adults��� brains, though unlike with Pac (and the missing Mike) this is only one-way, and requires conscious choice to. The adults become vaguely aware of the child’s presence, able to track them down and ascertain if they are conscious or not, but cannot directly communicate via the bond. Discussion with the children reveals they aren’t sure what this is either, but they were scared of being left without the adults who saved them and so reached out and grabbed on. Adjusting to having kids on the ship is a nightmare, but these two are very used to dangerous things they should not touch and so the equipment is safe, at least. *

Elerium researched. (This is about when Cucurucho takes over torturing Mike, and Mike is very nearly killed)

Operation Starving Gaze

Allies in Columbia get in contact about an alien transmitter relay in the sewers, being used to induce illness in the local population. Due to the causing illness it is very high priority, despite the Order having very few people uninjured and ready for combat; with nobody else with proper medic training even close to available, Philza walks out of the infirmary and into his armour, for example. And due to the transmitter causing very sudden and violent symptoms in people, an actual medic is needed.

Philza, Fit, Pac, Tina, Vegetta, and Mouse are on the mission.

The moment they arrive in the tunnels, the group is immediately being shot at. Philza takes most of the fire, and Mouse is working overtime to fight off constant psionic attacks. Spectres knock Philza out and make puppet versions of him twice, each time needing killing to get him back up, and leaving him with tiny bleeding wounds everywhere where the nanobots ate through his skin to get inside and copy him. There are multiple cases of aliens critting their shots, causing huge burning wounds, in a few cases the new metallic armour design making things worse.  They get to the transmitter, Pac starts disassembling it, and a sectopod shows up. It’s tall enough to break through the roof of the sewers and back into sunlight - with the firefight ongoing the team manage to hack it and disable it for a few minutes so they can focus on the aliens and transmitter. Once they have done so, Vegetta and Fit start shredding its armour, leaving Tina a clear shot to get in and hit the generator. Everyone is tired and badly injured - Philza and Mouse both pass out on the way back - with the only redeeming aspects being a) no deaths b) the transmitter is now disabled and c) the hole the sectopod made in the roof meant Niki could pick them up from right there, instead of them needing to manage to climb the ladders out.

Operation Sky Song

A very senior ranked Federation scientist is spotted in Kaduna. A team is put together to try to kidnap them, to interrogate for information. Failing that, to kill them and disrupt Federation research in doing so. However, still very short of people.

Roier, Jaiden, Missa, Etoiles, Maxo, and Baghera sent. (Bobby is very upset both his parents are going)

Mission is relatively simple, but hard. In the middle of a high-security district, causing its own problems. Upon sneaking into the building where the scientist is working they are interrupted by a Sectopod. Trapped in a building with it many people take serious injuries from its lasers, meanwhile in the time it takes to get it down the group are attacked on both sides by Federation workers. In the chaos Maxo knocks out the scientist, though just leaves him to one side while they deal with the crisis. Roier ends up carrying him, as heavy wounds are affecting his vision. Jaiden helps him and the prisoner to evac, the others following. Everyone requires extensive medical treatment after. Roier, Baghera, and Maxo are the worst off, but the doctor and Aypierre working through the night to get everyone treated enough to leave them. There’s barely redeeming things here, the information they gain is sellable on the black market but not relevant to the group.

There is news about Mike. Pac and Fit go to find him.

Pac and Fit return at the same time a resistance team contacts the group about a Federation supply cache. It’s believed to contain medical supplies and given current circumstances are badly needed. Both happen at the same time, with Niki dropping off the Rotting Whisper Team, covering the Dragon Prince Team, then once they are safely back going to pick the others up. Most people are recovered enough to be out of medical (its been a while), but not to fight.

Operation Dragon Prince

Pac, BBH, and Philza go to rescue Mike. Somewhere in Australia.

Mike is rescued! He is held deep in the facility, a long way from where Niki dropped them off, but the trio manage to get in and out without engaging in any combat. This is despite the reported presence of a Code.

Operation Rotting Whisper

Foolish, Cellbit, Vegeta, Jaiden, Mouse, and Baghera on a supply run!

It’s in a Lost City, and said Lost are visible even from the helicopter they are swarming so much. Vegetta has anti-tech grenades with him, which prove vital in keeping a sectopod at bay. One of the crates of supplies is lost when a burnt out car explodes, but the rest are recovered. Mouse secures most of them, while Jaiden is constantly both being shot at and killing things. She asked to be equipped with more advanced armour after Kaduna, limiting her movement somewhat but saving her life in this instance. Baghera also proved extremely proficient with grenades, using them to bait the Lost away from supply crates and injured teammates rather than purely to attack.

Another long gap

Further armour upgrades are researched, providing power armour to the group. A significant upgrade and without the obvious weaknesses of the previous sort.

Rumours are uncovered. Philza, Etoiles, and BBH are sent to try to find a way into the Warlock’s Base.

Operation Shadow Wheel H

Informed of “Mechanical Process Designs” being transported by train. It’s known to have a particularly complicated electronic lock, but reports say it’s not actually very well defended. With Mike just about recovered, it’s chosen as a good mission to check he can still serve in an active combat role. It is also mostly biological aliens, not robotics, so the team takes a lot of poison.

Maxo, Pac, Mike, Baghera, Slimecicle, Foolish

There are a lot of Chryssalids, the horrible little poison bugs which turn corpses of anyone poisoned into incubators for more of them. Still, they are pretty easy to deal with - Pac baits them close, and keeps attacking them with his knife. Unfortunately the Hunter reveals himself, shooting Slimecicle with tranquillisers. Maxo manages to get him up pretty quickly, while Baghera, Pac, and Foolish clean up, and Mike hacks into the crate to steal the blueprints. While Slimecicle needs observation until the tranqs are out of his blood, the only other injuries are general scrapes and bruises.

Flares in the desert lead to the recruitment of Mariana. Or, rather, rerecruitment; he had been on long term investigations for the last two years. He reunites with Slimecicle in the hangar and, well, you know how they are. Niki was not impressed.

Philza, Etoiles, and BBH complete their mission. As the route is unlikely to be compromised, it is decided to wait for an opportune time to attack. They also find some potential information about the Hunter’s Base. Slimecicle and Mariana are sent out together to see if they can find an entry route.

Months of following train routes and dispatches from the site with the vial finally pays off with finding another facility, one linked to the one with the DNA jar. It is decided to attack both that and the Warlock’s base at once, so as to stretch enemy forces thinner.

Operation Rotting Wail * W E

Using Philza, BBH, and Etoiles’ information about how to get into the Warlock’s base.

Philza, Etoiles, Pac, Mike, Cellbit, and Baghera

Entrance is some sort of sorting warehouse again. Pass through more storage, into a set of cells. All empty. A patrol catches at the far end of this. Cleared up, then press around to where the patrol came from. Leads to a MEC recharge station full of enemies. First injury is Cellbit caught when a purifier explodes. Weapon repair room is dead end, double back. MEC bay to some sort of clean room. It's full of chryssalids, quickly taken out by overwatch and bladestorm. Reload, heal up, and head out.

Beyond is similar to before, but has a sniper platform. Unfortunately, no snipers. Missa would have liked it a lot. Clear enemies, Warlock arrives. Could daze 4 people in a go in a brain hop. Baghera gets mind controlled just as everyone gets up, Pac dodges like a champ. Baghera breaks out of it after hitting Mike, but ow. Mike heals himself. Take it and its adds out, take out the plate, Philza just takes the Chosen out, reflexively shooting it as it respawns. Warlock speaks of the Elders being near and everywhere and finally hearing them clearly as he turns to stone and explodes.

At the end of the fight, a little girl comes out from where she was hiding, not far from the plinth. Unlike Bobby and Chayanne she is in kiddie sized armour with her hair in cute braids, and uninjured. Having seen Mike do healing she grabs his hand, and drags him through to another chamber. The others follow. Inside they find a heavily injured boy, strapped to a table. Mike only carries one medkit so does first aid while calling Philza to help. Given the room is small, he just passes the medkits over and backs out to give space. Pac and Cellbit get the restraints off, while the girl drifts over to guard the door with Etoiles and Baghera. She writes them a message - in French - explaining that the boy was being used by the Warlock as an experiment. She, however, was the Warlock’s daughter. 01 - Chayanne, she thinks they know him as? - had been dreaming of them, so she knew they would help. Baghera promises to help her too, and the girl is just… very, very confused. Because her brother is the one who needs help, not her. But, thank you from stopping the Warlock from hurting her brother even more.

Pomme and Richarlyson, as they are quickly named, are brought safely back alongside other stuff from the mission. Pomme gets a checkup and Richas gets actual medical care.

Operation Pungent Father * E

At the same time as Mission Rotting Wail, a group is sent to investigate the facility. Specifically it is known as a ‘Forge’

BBH, Foolish, Roier, Missa, Maxo, and Fit

The entire area around the facility is purple, like leaked psionics. Getting into the facility is not too hard, but it is full of vipers who crush a lot of ribs and BBH has a panic attack at one point.  

Inside there is a big white room, one which Maxo enters first, Roier close behind. Maxo is immediately distracted by the toddler curled up hopefully only asleep next to some sort of… big white stasis tube. Maxo scoops up the little one, Roier keeping watch, while the others deal with the stasis tube. Inside they find a thick, protective suit, wired in and slightly psionic-tainted. Inside of that they find what looks like a young lady in her late teens, deathly pale and entirely unconscious. BBH confirms she’s alive, while Cellbit bats off the psionics fucking with her. Upon getting her out many alarms went off, so Fit blows up a wall and drags everyone out of there.

Trump and A1 are rescued! Trump glues to Maxo. A1 drifts towards the Quackities, very easily scared and dissociated most of the time. ElQuackity gets uncharacteristically protective of her. Research begins on the suit she was in, but it is somewhat hampered by being disconnected and the fact she’s a living person and they cannot just cut her up or anything.

Aypierre and Tubbo finish their analysis of the remains of the first Code the group killed. Due to the heavy damage and significant corruption they needed a few more to get the full data, and have been slowly piecing it together. They have managed to pull out a set of coordinates, consistent across all Codexes and seemingly a point of origin? It is put on the list to investigate once time and persons allow for it.

Operation Severed Hammer

Allies in Mexico ask for assistance in rescuing a contact who had been caught feeding them information. She escaped into the old subway system, but was trapped. With the split teams only being back a few days, had it been anything other than a rescue mission the Order would have told them no.

Jaiden, Vegetta, Missa, Roier, Mouse, and Baghera

Get in via one of the old stations, where a train was still parked from 10 years ago. Spotting enemies on the train an ambush was set, but it failed to take them all out; a spectre set its bugs inside Vegetta. They managed to get him back up quickly, but it was unpleasant. There is also a strange new alien, something organic with psionic tentacles which exists in a giant, white, armoured, mechanical shell, only opening to attack. Unfortunately it exploded upon defeat, both severely injuring Baghera and preventing study.

Once the contact is located, it takes time for an evac route to be cut through - Federation Employees chasing the contact keep coming and coming, until finally Niki finds a close enough opening. The engineer and Baghera leave first, while the others clean up.

Mariana and Slimecicle return successfully, though Slimecicle is injured. Given the large number of injuries and the fact the uninjured senior members are preparing for dealing with stuff from the Code, the Hunter’s Facility is not attacked immediately.

Operation Crypt Hand * E H

Investigation of the coordinates from the Code. Cellbit wanted to come, but is still recovering and also needed on the ship. No idea what might be there - there are no buildings - but going to look.

BBH, Foolish, Fit, Pac, Mike, and Jaiden

First thing of note is the ruins of a farm and its associated buildings, and chryssalids. These are killed, and the group just follows the obviously worn path deeper in. Annoyingly, the Hunter shows up - this was a higher priority, but given Mike’s history with the Hunter this is a problem. They continue pressing in, until they find some Federation barricades. Beyond those the ground turns more purple, just like at the facility with Trump and Allie. In the centre there seems to be some sort of Gate? Psionic well? Portal entrance? Pac gets closer to take readings, and is poisoned for his efforts - given the severity of chryssalid poison, BBH heals it up fast. They press a little closer still, and another of the orb aliens appears - coming out of the structure, so likely Portal is correct. Wanting to steal the entire portal, the group kills everything; BBH and Pac are both injured when the Orb (now named Gatekeeper) explodes, causing Mike to panic - given the extra stress from the Hunter, too. Pac calms him down, but the Hunter knocks them both out with some sort of gas grenade - while BBH checks on them, the other three chase the Hunter off.

After the fighting is done, and Pac and Mike wake up, they work on securing the Gate for transport. While doing this, Fit is interrupted by something pulling on his trousers. He looks down to see a child holding out a notepad - ‘Spreen is dead. My condolences, or congratulations? You did not seem to like each other very much.’ is what it reads. Looking, there’s another two children hiding nearby too. Pac and Mike are left with the strong arms of Jaiden to finish sorting out the Gate, while the other three check on the kids. They call themselves triplets, and talking a little reveals that Spreen was imprisoned with them for a while. He was forced to bond with the kid with the notepad - Spreen had named him Ramón when that happened, but ignored the others - which led to horrific consequences for them both. While Spreen was not kind to the kids, he did also sacrifice himself to get the three out. BBH realises one has demonic heritage, and resolves to keep an eye on that one, so Foolish works on cheering up the third.

Gate is eventually recovered, and three more children - Ramón, Dapper, and Leo - are brought back. 

Vegetta adores Leo just as Foolish does, whilst BBH adores Dapper even more than the other kids. 

Ramón sticks to Fit, though it takes a while for Fit (or any other adult) to realise Ramón has bonded to him, due to Fit’s extremely low psionic ability. Ramón says he prefers it that way. No chance of a repeat of what happened with Spreen, but the kid can still feed. Fit is confused but learns to love him. Just a little slower than the others.

While Philza and Etoiles are running deliveries with Niki, a Federation vessel tracks down the Airship. Unlike last time, the airship is shut down. Aypierre, Tubbo and Mike (Pac is severely wounded from the last mission and barely conscious in the infirmary so cannot help) try to get it back up. There’s some sort of device emitting pulses which prevent them from taking back off. Mike leads a group to try to take it out.

Operation Spider Giant

Mission to take out the device and enable the Airship to take off again. Tubbo is manning the turrets from inside the ship, otherwise people are fighting wherever they can.

Mike takes everyone both present and physically capable out to sort things out. 

There are just constantly huge numbers of aliens and Federation employees, constantly attacking and making progress really slow. People get shot - in Fit’s case severely - but they make it to the device, disable it, and get back to the ship. The Federation keep sending even more people even then - it was a huge attack - but as soon as everyone is on the ship they take off and get as much distance as they can.

Over course of the mission, Maxo and BBH - both still injured - end up coming out to help defend, as aliens get into the ship. Inside is cleared out, those two take up positions where the aliens had snuck in. Massive panic hours for the Brazilians. BBH worsened his injuries, as did Pac who ended up having to fight inside the airship.

Analysis of Allie’s suit is completed, and generally about the children. They realise that the children are ‘grown’ from the DNA of some of the civilians - Maxo is depressed to discover Trump uses a fair chunk of Dan’s DNA - forcibly combined with alien DNA. It is not a stretch to realise that the Federation Workers are also grown from genetically modified human DNA - the ones who wear the full masks, anyway. The purpose for them remains unclear at this time.

Operation Winter Shield

Federation radio transmitter tower is being used to send out orders to Federation Workers, including spying information. Upon finding out about this, a team is sent to destroy it.

Mariana, Slimecicle, Maxo, Mouse, Cellbit, and Vegetta go.

As they make their way to the relay, Slimecicle spends most of his time stealing supplies from various buildings around the place. While it starts out funny it gets very dangerous very fast - they go from joking to Cellbit nearly being killed in a single very powerful and well aimed shot, saved only by his psionics wrapping around himself instinctively and at the last second. He still takes a very serious injury, Mouse having to feed him the hand of a Federation Worker she kills to get him healed enough to get back on his feet. She is also hurt, and they stumble through together. At the transmitter they discover something called an Archon - a flying alien fused with technology. Mariana acts to distract, letting Vegetta, Maxo, and Slimecicle take out the transmitter while protecting the still severely injured Cellbit - Mouse is helping guard him - but in doing so takes a heavy hit from both a Sectopod and is set on fire by a Purifier. Still it is taken out, and everyone gets out alive.

A long time of odd jobs, but nothing especially important. Just a lot of healing.

Operation Demon Song

Contacts inform the Order of a scientist they want to interrogate, who is currently travelling through Ibadan. If they cannot capture him for interrogation, then kill him to prevent him getting his research finished.

Roier, Philza, Missa, Etoiles, Maxo, and Vegetta

Everything is very white and clean and minimalistic - even the clothing stores. There are also a lot of roads crossing over each other, providing a lot of vantage points for Missa to snipe from. Pigeons jumpscare the group. Philza, Missa, and Etoiles take the upper path, Roier, Maxo, and Vegetta a lower one. Vegetta gets spotted by a civilian, who freaks out and calls for the Federation Security Forces. And thus fighting begins - Roier takes responsibility for kidnapping the target, while the others cover him. A pond provides complications via cutting off the obvious route to where Niki is waiting with the helicopter, but everyone does manage to get out uninjured.

Tubbo finally manages to get plasma weaponry functional. It is not all of the weapons the group uses yet, but a lot of them.

Operation Dismal Paramore * E H

With most of the group well, an attack is finally launched on the Hunter’s Stronghold.

Philza, Mariana, Slimecicle, Pac, Mike, Cellbit

The layout remains very similar to the previous ones. This time they do also find a “Clean Room” - similar to where Trump and Allie were discovered - though the tube is empty this time, and a big bay full of Federation aircraft. Pac gets set on fire at one point, which nobody is especially happy about, and Cellbit has his psionics turned against him by a Federation Psionics specialist, knocking him out for a minute or two. Injuries remain minor, but annoying, that early.

This time upon entering the Chosen’s Chamber, they find three children. One very small girl is lugging a rifle twice her size around, trying to set it up to shoot the Slab which permits the Hunter to respawn. Mariana immediately jumps up to help/stop her, finding it a good sniping place for himself too. The other two children hide when told. With significant teamwork the group take out the Hunter, his last words being to state that he has finally discovered what fear is.

Pickup is delayed by a few hours, the group stuck tending their injuries and chatting with the children, due to an emergency call from Brazil where one of the allied havens is attacked. However I’ll summarise stuff for the Eggs here, so it’s together, despite them only coming back after the other mission.

Knowing how this goes, now, the children are taken back. The others are thrilled, Chayanne, Dapper, and Pomme saying they think this is all, but… They used to have more siblings. Either the others are dead, or have been asleep for a very long time.

The girl with the rifle attaches herself to Mariana and Slimecicle. The other two children - Tallulah and Tilín - prefer to stay away from the fighters. Tallulah is enchanted by Wilbur, to his worry and confusion, while Tilín was extremely close to Allie before they were forcibly split up, and so ends up with the Quackities (later, when Luzu shows up, he will get very attached to him too).

Operation Iron Beast

Allied Haven in Brazil attacked. All combat Brazilians are either doing spy work (Bagi) or on the other mission.

Missa, Roier, Etoiles, Fit, Jaiden, Foolish

More of this haven is made of brick than the group are used to. However it has saved the lives of none of the guards, thanks to the presence of a couple of sectopods. At one point the Federation bomb a petrol station that some civilians were sheltering, triggering a chain of explosions and killing a number of people. Roier gets poisoned, Foolish heals him, it ends in a mini fight because Missa was significantly more injured - and that was the only medkit. Missa does not hear it, being on a roof sniping. At one point Fit gets yeeted off a roof by a Faceless, much to his displeasure. Missa snipes most of the enemies, while everyone else hunts burrowing chryssalids. It’s… a very depressing mission, even moreso than when Spreen was kidnapped simply because there’s very, very little they can do. Some people are saved! But it feels really bad. 

Tubbo manages to get the sniper rifles working using plasma technology

Operation Gasping Spark

Allies find a lead on data concerning the use of Psionic Restraints, something that is of interest - Cellbit learning to do it to someone, else generally developing something to protect against it, would be helpful. Cellbit is, however, injured, so cannot go.

BBH, Foolish, Mariana, Slimecicle, Vegetta, Maxo

There are contacts hiding in the area, willing to pass on info and supplies to the Order. It is a slums district, and such things are not uncommon in them. Maxo and Vegetta both get doused in acid, but with only one medkit between the group they have to find water to rinse it off - leading to bad burns. BBH gets the data with relative ease, but is hit so hard with a stun baton he is knocked out, and does not recover consciousness until on the flight home. It goes even further to hell from there, most of the group being set on fire by a purifier. Seeing BBH not coming around even once that is dealt with, Foolish takes command. He signals for Niki, and orders Vegetta to evac BBH - the helicopter has proper medical supplies. He orders Maxo out very soon after, noticing the man struggling to both hold his gun and to comprehend instructions indicating he might be going into shock. Slimecicle and Mariana hunt down the remaining enemies; Foolish watches their backs, taking out anything that tries to sneak up on them.

Tubbo gets plasma working with the submachine guns, and then the guns rangers carry (they mostly use knives, which plasma is less helpful with)

While running chores on the surface, a firefight is noticed. The group find a man being chased by Federation sorts, and save him. He turns out to be Luzu, a friend of Quackity’s from before the trauma that caused his amnesia, and also acquainted with a couple of the others. Significant player in the early resistance who slipped into the shadows. As thanks for the rescue, he gives information about a Facility he was on his way to blow up when he got caught…

Operation Haunting Night E

The facility Luzu mentioned. Don’t expect much here, but good to get rid of these things.

Luzu, Missa, Roier, Fit, Cellbit, Jaiden

Plan is to get in, plant explosives, and get out. It’s in the middle of a desert, near an abandoned petrol station. The Order have learnt and nobody uses that for cover. Still they sneak in, only to find some truly fucked up Viper - male, larger, with ice breath and so fast it can manage to attack everyone in the time it takes them to draw their weapons. It is hard work to take it down, relying on Jaiden’s reflexes every time it passes, Fit’s grenades blowing up all its cover, Luzu’s little AI buddy working overtime, and Missa and Roier being… Disturbingly in sync to kill it. Missa does also get set a little on fire by a Federation Purifier, but he has survived worse.

Cellbit sneaks in the back to check the Facility for information while Fit uses his other grenade to blow up a wall and get in to plant the explosives. With fighting ongoing for the others, Cellbit finds a number of corpses… And another child. One of the children who vanished, presumably, though they are critically ill. Cellbit gets the little one out, while Fit plants the charges and everyone else escapes.

They take the fucked up Viper corpse with, and to his horror Mike… Doesn’t recognise it, but recognises it as something he would have designed while experimenting with Meld and genetic modification in the war. While it has all his hallmarks, nobody (himself included) remembers this. Felps reasons it must have just been a thought experiment, especially as Pac doesn’t recognise it either, and Cellbit points out Cucurucho probably ripped it from his brain. This does not make him feel better.

In time the child recovers, clinging extremely hard to Cellbit - they had instinctively bonded with him as soon as he touched them, they were so badly starved and injured their soul acted the only way it could to survive.

* Aypierre and Tubbo finish analysis of the Gate found with Ramon, Leo, and Dapper. It is revealed to be a portal, yes, but one locked behind specific DNA and psionic signatures. They do this by sending Tubbo’s Tubbling into the gate to spy. They know about an electronic signal, so use a code brain to activate it. It shows bits of clearly alien architecture, on a massive level implying it is the alien’s base - not just Federation, but their leaders. They send the Tubbling deeper in to look closer, but due to not having the correct signatures it is kicked out. The second, organic signature is missing, and a feedback loop sent it out. Tubbo ignores responsibilities until the Tubbling is repaired, but Aypierre keeps going. He theorises they need one of the bodies of the creatures that come when Codes are skulljacked… *

Operation Damned Stroke *

Receive news of a crashed alien ship in Brazil. A group is sent out to secure it and to see if there’s any information to be gained from it.

BBH, Foolish, Jaiden, Fit, Slimecicle, Mariana

The ship crashed such as to take part of the roof off an old abandoned cafe, one already derelict and with trees growing through it after ten years of neglect. Upon the group reaching the ship an alarm sounds - BBH hacks the controls to shut it off, while the others attack the aliens inside. Unfortunately a sectopod was on the ship when it crashed. When it stands to defend itself, it destroys a significant part of the ship. It also critically injures Mariana. Slimecicle is injured (though less badly) protecting him while BBH heals.

* One of the enemies on the ship was another of those white haired humanoids which was summoned when Philza skulljacked the Code. This time the body remains intact, and was brought back to the airship. Aypierre and Tubbo abandon their other research to examine it. Now they see another, it looks suspiciously like Allie and Memory... *

Autopsy complete on the Viper King, proving Mike’s fears of it being a design sucked from his brain during his torture. He is now extremely worried about what else might be out there.

Bagi is injured on a sabotage mission with Tina.

Operation Falling Bell

Part of the alien communications system is discovered under Dijon. The local resistance operatives do not have the skillset to disable it themselves, and so pass the information onto the Order. Due to a very small access point only three people can be sent. As Pac e Mike are the experts on this sort of thing, they are sent to handle it with Baghera as support.

While the mission starts off simply enough, it quickly goes to hell. A spectre gets into Pac, and then the fake Pac formed by its bots shoots Baghera badly. Mike sends the rats to hunt down the spectre, pointing out the location to allow Baghera to take out the source of the problem - when it is killed, Pac is able to be roused easily and the false Pac dissolves. No sooner is he up, however, as a sectopod finds them. It severely wounds Pac before Mike can manage to redirect the rats from scouting to hacking it - but they do get it shutdown. Unfortunately with only three of them they cannot manage to destroy it before it reboots. Tazercraft fully synching themselves to the point they can process twice as fast is the only reason the three get out alive when a second sectopod appears. They do manage to get the transmitter disabled, and Baghera gets everyone out, but with the injuries and everything it takes Tazercraft a few days to let go of each other enough to have independent thoughts again.

* Aypierre and Tubbo complete their autopsy of the “Avatar”. They discover that it is an artificially created person, using a base of human DNA, fused with alien sorts. Following a horrible suspicion, they discover that the children they have been collecting are the same - indeed, made of missing civilian DNA. After thinking of this and testing them, Trump is revealed to be made using Dan’s DNA, though the rest nobody anybody knows. Confirming Chayanne as the eldest, they show him the corpse. He confirms they were another of the EGGS, though they died years ago. With a little putting things together, they work out that the children are being created for the Elders to possess, thus escaping their fatal infections. Hence the ghost of an Elder when the first was killed - presumably the second too, but nobody was psionic so only got the shockwave. It is also revealed that the DNA and psionic markers for opening the gate are held by the children, but given their young age they are not able to hold it alone. Need someone to buff them, and also work together. Going through the gate seems necessary, taking the fight to the Federation finally… But, it must be done carefully…*

* Reports from elsewhere reveal that the kidnapping has been massively sped up, to the point where ‘normal’ civilians are noticing the pattern and getting suspicious. Time is absolutely of the essence. *

* It is agreed that attacking the Federation base needs a distraction - and a good one at that. There’s some disagreement about what it could be, until Wilbur is like. I’ll do it. Give me the Theory Bros and three days, and we’ll get you a video not only proving the Federation are performing so many crimes on people, but also have it ready to upload. Which, Fit knows the radioing bit, just get him to the Global Network Tower. We stir up unrest with the civilians, lure a lot of the Feds out, then attack while they’re busy *

Nobody has better ideas and it’s actually a good one, so they arrange to try to get into the Network Tower on the night of the next major address. Significant planning is done with allied factions, ensuring they are ready for both if rioting begins or if not. In the first case, to steer rioting into something actually constructive. In the second, to protect themselves as the crackdown for pulling off the transmission will be hard.

Mission Bloody Wail *

Wilbur’s video is complete, with the aid of Maxo, Foolish, and BBH. Cellbit and Bagi also get super into helping collate the evidence, while Philza keeps dumping more video recordings on them to use. The others also help out, providing translations into as many languages as possible and lending their faces to voiceovers, interviews on what they saw, etc. Now it’s done… Just a case of getting it broadcast. Fit knows radios best, Pac and Mike there to deal with getting into the computer system in the first place, Roier bodyguarding.

Fit, Pac, Mike, and Roier

Niki drops them on repair walkways near the top of the World Broadcast Tower. The four systematically fight their way across to the radio station proper, taking out enemies as they go. Upon getting inside Roier and Pac deal with keeping swarming enemies off the group, while Mike gets Fit into the system and Fit gets everything broadcast properly. Mike adds a little extra signal, causing it to transmit a shockwave knocking out any tech-based alien forces nearby. As designed the broadcast cuts into the Federation address. Niki sweeps by to pick the group up as soon as the video is over - she otherwise hovers nearby picking off anything that tries to come close.

Wait for rioting to start, which it does, and then for the Federation to crack down hard. A lot of people are sent out to provide aid to those rioting, but it is far too much for them to cover when they need to deal with the main base too. Local factions take point on organising riots into something constructive, as arranged.

Mission Leviathan *

And then all that is left to do is to assault the Federation Base. Mouse leads people providing extra psionic juice to the EGGS so they can open and keep open the gate. As all of their parents are on the mission and so receiving the psionic power least directly, Dapper and Chayanne take responsibility for organising the EGGS. Dapper is also their magic expert, while they are used to doing what Chayanne says and getting info from him.

BBH, Foolish, Cellbit, Missa, Philza, and Etoiles (Crow video recording everything as well as individual photographs)

The EGGS open the portal. The team find themselves inside some sort of very sealed facility.

Some sort of lab. Two very young, mostly human corpses are laid out on examination tables, having been opened up and dissected slightly. Closer looking reveals alien features. It is theorised these may be more failed EGGS. The group pass through, taking out the enemies with minimal injury, and taking plenty of recordings. In the corridor to the next room a group of MECs spot them. Again, this is taken out relatively cleanly.

Another lab, more corpses, these ones older. There’s also vials of DNA - human, alien, and various species of earth around (Cellbit took samples ofc). Full of faceless, though Foolish and Missa pick them off easily. Cellbit lines up the other enemies and rips through them with his void lance. After clearing the room they regroup, and press on.

In the next corridor, they find an Archon and its friends breaking out of… something made of glass. They approach only to find a glass… human enclosure? There’s a “garden” with a swingset, a double bedroom, a single bedroom with walls covered in children’s drawings, a kitchen, a dining room, a lounge full of kiddie toys. All ruined, all in styles and fashioned long out of date. Later discussions think it must be where humans kidnapped pre-invasion were studied, and also it is proof just how long the aliens have been active.

As the squad approaches the human study enclosure, a team of stun lancers approach from the left. While those are easy to deal with, not so are the pair of sectopods escorted by heavy MECs. Both BBH and Missa take heavy injuries as the group adjusts to account for them. They manage to get one Sectopod down, but the other shoots Missa and leaves him in a critical condition requiring emergency treatment to survive. As the one with the anti-tech weaponry, they especially focused on him. Foolish takes out the Sectopod while BBH and the others dance with the MECs, screaming at Philza to treat Missa. He manages to get Missa stable, then sends the Crow to heal everyone from the extensive injuries that fight left. He manages to get Missa conscious, but it takes another two medkits to get him back on his feet, and there were limited numbers of them in the first place… One of them comes from BBH’s Ghostie, just to make sure both Crow and Ghostie have at least one equipped for further emergencies.

Etoiles runs after the final MEC, which leads him to… A very narrow slot between two high doors. As he is looking at it, another possessed Avatar appears. It pulls them through into the next room with psionics, to fight on its terms. This one has a glass ceiling, revealing that they are not on the Etheral’s home planet as expected, but instead deep, deep beneath the sea…

Before they really have time to process that, another 3 fully possessed Avatars appear. Among them is one who singles out Philza. Seeing it repeatedly trying to possess him, Cellbit sticks close to Philza, extending a shield over him. Dealing with it allows the others time to prep, but as even with assistance Philza keeps getting panicky, they do prioritise it - Philza manages to kill it himself, but it is a team effort. By the time it is down the other three have summoned in other aliens, fully puppetted and attacking. Foolish is poisoned badly by one of these, and BBH uses his last medkit to heal the poison. Doing this is immediately followed by Missa taking a series of four really nasty hits, sending him to bleeding out again. BBH is right with him, but has no medkits left. Philza has to run across the very large atrium to get in range and stabalise him. With absolutely no medkits left Missa is left on one hit. He just about manages to raise his rifle and take out the Avatar hunting him with a head shot, before tucking himself between three walls and focusing on just protecting himself. Philza stays close to distract any enemies taking a fancy to him, and keep an eye on him. The fight falls into chaos, with Etoiles leaping between enemies with his knife and covered in their blood, BBH going a little trigger happy, and Foolish sitting there with his pistol shooting upwards of ten aliens a round. Cellbit attempts searching for a consciousness other than the Elder’s inside the Avatars, hoping the EGGS they once were survive, but finds nothing. The children they used to be have been completely eradicated during the possession process. The floor is coated and sticky with blood as Foolish takes out the final Avatar not with his rifle, but his pistol.

As soon as the final Avatar falls, there is a massive psionic shockwave, destabilising the entire facility. Foolish, BBH, and Cellbit take the time to slip into the next room, killing all of the Elders they find in stasis awaiting their EGGS to be complete there, before running. Etoiles helps Missa up and keeps him steady as they all run back for the portal. There are horrific injuries all around, but Missa’s are by far the worst. Philza and Cellbit guard the gate for the others to get through, shooting the few aliens that manage to chase them and only going through themselves once the others are safe.

Chayanne upon counting everyone through has the EGGS drop their psionics. Even with the help they collapse into exhausted puddles. Everyone is so so tired, and the people who went away are badly hurt, but they are together.

With the deaths of the Elders and destruction of most of their facilities, the Federation crumbles under the weight of constant attack. Cellbit and Roier slip away one day, coming back lighter than they have been for a long time. Not long after the remaining Federation news channels announce that the Cucuruchos have been murdered, and graphically ripped apart - perhaps even eaten. Tina and Bagi follow the example with less eating, leaving for some weeks to pick off senior remaining members of the Federation. In its dust no government remains, causing its own problems. Rebuilding must then begin.

[revivemyreverie]

Hii, congrats on reaching another of your milestone goals! How've you been doing? I wanted to say something but you can skip this if this makes you uncomfortable or oversteps boundaries.

It's been awhile since I last visited ur blog, but DAMN—UR ART JUST KEEPS EVOLVING!!! I said this in a previous ask, but your colors holds both vibrancy yet natural flow that draws attention to the focal point but also gives love to the details (especially w/lighting and shadows (Caldera's fire glow effect still lives rent free in my head, but I also saw PL cards and THE SMOOTH SHINE OF LOTISE AND LUCERO'S HAIR THAT'S JUST ADDS DEPTH&CONTRAST TO THE BACKGROUND, THE SUBTLE GLOW OF THEIR EYE CLOSETS(probably saturation but it's making me feral) HOW THE SATURATION OF COLORS DON'T CLASH BUT WORK PERFECTLY TOGETHER AND STILL DRAW DISTINCT ATTENTION TO THE SCENE AND THE DETAILS—)). The way you draw characters, I feel like there is a lot more flexibility and freedom in dynamically angles and posing for them! I still feel a lot of anime nostalgia but also a uniqueness in how aesthetic shows up in design (toytoria dorm room has roblox royal high nostalgia for me hsksj). THAT COMIC YOU POSTED FOR TOYTORIA ANNIVERSARY THO, THE FLOW OF THE COMIC IS JUST INCREDIBLY WELL DONE!!! It really does feel like a small glimpse into a natural interaction between characters. For characters, I unfortunately am not up to date but from what I've so far, ur characters are expressive in this dynamic way that comes across so well when writing dialouge or from their perspective. I feel like your sense of direction w/the lore you want to establish is even more refined and I think you do a mind-blowing job in conveying it (show don't tell vibe). I still enjoy and look forward to seeing how chaotic and mentally ill/j you make ur characters. I'm extremely elated to see just how much you've grown despite not knowing the full picture.

I apologize for the lengthy ramble and the suddenness of this, and I understand if I am being overly familiar. Don't forget to take a break and rest + hydrate and eat—your health comes first!

Hope your week is good to you!!!

ANOOONNN????? THIS IS SO SWEET OF YOU HELLO#$??#$

WAA im surprised u noticed the details in my rendering that i threw into the playful land cards😭 im ngl i was playing around with the add/glow layer on it FOREVER lmao. That and well. ya my old Caldera sprites rlly helped me get a hold on lighting AKDSJHAHJDJH. IM HAPPY THAT YOU FIND MY WORK SO VIBRANT YET HARMONIC.... the flexible comment too...just this whole ask AUGH CRIES

You'd be right on the Roblox Royale High part IUKASDJHJAS i still play it...it still leaks into my designs....BUT TEEHEE it becomes a nice aesthetic as u said!!! AND MY COMIC AUGHHHHHHHH TYSM.....im so picky with my comics and their dialogue in fear ill b messing up the whole vibe SO IM HAPPY MY FLOW IS WORKING WELL ATM!!!! SAME FOR SHOW/DONT TELL i consider that 2 b like. one of the major requirements in any sort of storytelling💀THEN ITS NOT YUMMY YK??

TY AGAIN FOR SUCH A NICE COMMENT...holds it like its my newborn😭😭😭 DONT APOLOGIZE FOR THE LENGTH ILL EAT IT UP NONETHELESS. i hope ur week goes well too!!!

[2030kamenriders]

Alright. Seems like I've figured out how to use the poll feature.

Since polls go on for a day minimum, that first one will still be up and functional for a while. But now it's time for:

The Reading Week Poll

That's right, it's only a couple weeks until Reading Week, the week where I get a break from lectures and labs. I'll be spending most of that time catching up with anything I need to catch up on, but it'll be nice to have something fun to do as well. After all, it's a break! But what should I do?

(The last option is just there so that I can view the results over the week, without messing with the actual results. Apparently, even if you made the poll, you need to vote to see the results.)

I'll probably pin this post up while it's running, and perhaps reblog it a few times. And remember, if you have any other options, feel free to send them in the ask box!

[sourkitsch]

adam i have an ask i've been meaning to send you for like 3 weeks now oopsie. i know you've mentioned keeping a daily/pretty regular sketchbook practice. it's been so long since i've even touched a sketchbook so i was just wondering what you do. preferences for tools, how long you shoot for, references and resources you pull from, etc. <3

Hi Joey!!!

I try to draw at least one thing per day in my sketchbook, nearly always from photo reference or direct observation. I work in a 9x12 hardcover spiral bound sketchbook —working at that size helps me stay loose I think, and also gives me lots of room for thumbnails I can squeeze in.

In my sketchbook I work in pencil, mostly! I use either a mechanical pencil or a carpenter pencil, both have their uses depending on the kind of line I wanna play with. I also use crayons sometimes! They’re really fun and I enjoy that weird sticky texture.

I am really. Really slow. One drawing can take me a half an hour. It’s something I’m trying to work on!!

I get a lot of references from digitized museum collections, mostly sculpture, but sometimes I’ll look at portraiture too! Google Arts & culture is a great place to get started w that. Also Pinterest! My pinterest is fucked to hell idk how everyone else uses it for pretty photos I just get weird animals and bodybuilders. My sketchbook is filled with antelopes and muscles.

I try to be low mess in my sketchbook just cause I carry it literally everywhere w me. I use my sketchbook like it’s an extension of my brain, so there are a lot of notes on art history & gallery shows I’ve gone to, weird thumbnails and bits of poetry or song lyrics that I feel are related to what I’m working out.

Also maybe this is me on a soapbox, but like… don’t make your sketchbook look good. I have very few pages that look like… anything, really. But that’s kind of the point. Get weird. Draw a bad hand. Don’t show anybody. Draw one million dicks on a single page. Don’t be embarrassed. Sketchbooks are for you above anyone else, and I think that’s something important to remember!!

[dotthings]

Was happy to see the A18-49 demo went back up a bit on Kung Fu this week, probably due to all the markets knocked out by the Verizon-Nexstar mess being restored.

Been a while since I've talked about Kung Fu so I decided to take some notes on this week's ep. I used to tweet about Kung Fu a lot but since I'm not on twitter any more, I might start doing more episode reaction blogging here.

Season 3, episode 5 "The Harvest"

Pei-Ling and Xiao -- it's a common trope in heroic narratives like Kung Fu that the hero loses her mentor. It's not all that often she gets her mentor back. I'm really enjoying this arc about the resurrection of Pei-Ling, Nicky's mentor, and Pei-Ling's internal fight being possessed by Xaio.

There's quite a lot of symbolism about women being trapped in this ep. Xiao was locked in a mystically sealed cage and starved to death. Henry and Nicky research a way to free Pei-Ling that involves a candle from the Salem witch trials era, to expel Xiao from Pei-Ling, that involves a magical candle used to exorcise evil spirits from accused witches. Henry mentions the women were falsely accused, just to add another level to it. And Pei-Ling has a chain around her ankle in case Xiao takes over and becomes a danger.

Simon and Zhilan -- he gives her his sword, that was sweet. I know she killed him once but I kinda ship it. Zhilan having to watch Simon die again though, ouch. Even though the first time it was her fault.

Zhilan and Pei-Ling -- eventually the narrative of the two sisters intersect. Zhilan and Pei-Ling each fighting their enemy in a non-corporeal kind of place. The set design on this series is lovely. Both places are in black & white (Pei-Ling's mind battle with Xiao) or washed out gray (Zhilan's with the soul eater), with splashes of red. Turns out the soul taker and Xiao are linked and Xiao is feeding on the light of the souls, something both Henry and Pei-Ling see during the ritual. (Henry seems deeply shaken after, maybe because of his role as the compass, it affected him a certain way).

"My mind is like a cage...I thought the poison I felt was your anger. I know now it wasn't your anger. It was fear." Pei-Ling contains Xiao by shutting her in a mental cage. "My mind, my rules." (One of Kung Fu's EP's is Robert Berens who worked on SPN, and this put me in mind of Dean Winchester containing AU Michael in his mind--"I'm the cage.") It's not going to hold Xiao forever, but Pei-Ling (like Dean) has a strong will so it should hold for a while.

Jin -- Jin seems like he should be the politician and run for office since this guy he's working for seems a bit shady.

Althea and Evan solving crimes together for hire is fun. Althea Shen, PI.

Nicky and Henry -- so Nicky and Henry are very much broken up right now but when Nicky's worried about Pei-Ling, she turns to Henry. Only after Ryan suggests it. Nicky is trying to give Henry his space. But as soon as she's face to face with Henry, she shows her fear and vulnerability and it's clear she relies on him still. Just something about couples who break up and then at the first sign of trouble, draw together again and act protective and are there for each other. I realize this might not mean the romantic relationship is going to be restored or healed anytime soon necessarily, but the bond between Nicky and Henry is a strong tie regardless and I really enjoy them.

Zhilan and Pei-Ling --

Nicky and Bo -- there is nothing wrong with Bo except he's not Henry. I won't hold it against him. Bo was right to step back when Nicky seemed that distracted and every time he turns around, she seems to be running back to her ex, whose apartment she was living in while Henry was gone. But Nicky does seem to be into Bo and wants to make that work. We'll see where that winds up.

Mei-Li, Carrie, and Sebastian -- there's a rich small arc in this ep about privilege and culture told via the lens of food. I really like how this show gets written. Carrie (played by the wonderful Kim Rhodes), a white woman, giving lectures to Mei-Li and Sebastian about what can and can't count on the menu of a Chinese restaurant, for an "authenticity" that by Carrie's own words, is a corporate business consideration mandate. "For the brand." Carrie's corporate voice was insisting on a purity, but not an authentic one--it was a purity of brand based on marketing not the views of the two Asian people she works with. Carrie spoke over them. Sebastian rightfully calls Carrie out policing Sebastian's Filipino dish, although he cuts short of saying the blunt words we know were about to come out of his mouth. And I don't think he's wrong. Mei-Li works things out with Carrie more gently, and assures Sebastian's Filipino dish stays on the menu, then asks Sebastian to be more gentle with Carrie, who is a partner with them. There's a lot of layers there on different approaches, maybe different generational approaches too, in calling people on white privilege. I don't like that Carrie is snooping into Sebastian's background, although I think Carrie is a decent person. She is no doubt still concerned about "the brand" and the success of the restaurant and worried about Sebastian but I think she's going to have more of her assumptions disrupted. Should be interesting to see how Carrie and Mei-Li navigate each other, and how Mei-Li and Sebastian's friendship fits orbiting that.

[bugdotpng]

tagged by @starfoozle ty!! ;w;

rules: tag some folks u wanna know better (nah i'm just nosy)

last song: i just got done driving so idk my spotify was on shuffle but the song i currently have on repeat is tornado of souls by megadeth bc there's something wrong w me

last show: i'll be honest i've been living in a void of absolute nothingness over the past few weeks as i was adjusting meds so i haven't had much of a personality nor have i really partaken in any media consumption...but probably IASIP? and i've been watching VEEP off and on bc it's a household staple in my work group gfhfldsjk...i also randomly watched a bunch of KOTH episodes the other day. don't ask, my brain's been weird.

currently watching: lots of youtube unfortunately...i love nilered (all those fun little chemistry videos) and flygonhg is my fav pkmn youtuber/whatever-er so i'm always watching his vids (check out his highlights channel too). also been kind of into pkmn vgc lately (cybertron vgc)

currently reading: ...the body keeps the score lmao it's pretty good and honestly so fascinating and explains a LOT about all that...i won't go into detail lmao but it's been really interesting from a psychological and physiological standpoint. def recommend it but it's not a light read haha and it obviously discusses some seriously triggering material... but very interesting and informative if you're in the right headspace for something like that! i've also got "alice isn't dead", "the long way to a small angry planet" and "one last stop" in my queue when i decide i wanna pick those up again! reading is hard and i'm not good at it ghsdlfkjsk

current obsession: so many things. getting back into houseplants (i wanna build a greenhouse at some point), still going strong w/ pokemon, (doing 3 nuzlockes currently, collecting cards, playing ttrpgs w the buds, etc.) finally have some energy again to devote to OC stuff (writing and drawing), coding my OC repo and writing bios/etc. for all of my characters, and i've been teaching myself ruby in my downtime (in hopes of also eventually learning ruby on rails) when i'm feeling particular productive! i had perpetual brain fog and wasn't productive or creative for about 3 weeks when i was messing w meds (work has also been a nightmare), and now that i've got those figured out and work's calmed down (FINALLY) i'm ready to do literally everything. i took tomorrow off and i have so many things i want to do i don't even know where to start ghlsdkfjsk

tagging: @emsloe @gingerredshirt @destroyhorse @clown-femme @thedaywedied @typefettinge

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary173

3/6-7/2024

wednesday - thursday

the weekend is going well. or like, my weekend. i guess,

we did errands today. i didn't realize it was tomorrow that my gf was leaving for montreal for 10 days. i'm going to be alone a while. i'm going to miss her a lot. so we had fun today, we went to sorry not sorry, which is some fancy icecream place. it was really good. i got stuff for myself, in the house, and i spent some more money on skincare stuff for the 2 of us. roc retinol, which is mostly for old people i guess but...if it works well for them, just imagine what it could do for us... i guess that makes me sound crazy but i guess i sort of am. it'll be nice to not use retinol from samples for a while, and as long as i keep this job i think i can keep a steady supply of good retinol and other serums, i suppose.

i also got dressed up cute i think, i took selfies, i'll post them tomorrow. maybe. i think. i'll try at least.

despite it being errand day i liked it, i guess just because i was out with my gf for a while. for a bit i wasn't, she had to go to the dentist's to get a final crown for one of the teeth that's been bothering her. very expensive but important for her wellbeing. there's others, but that one seems to have been the biggest issue, so there can be some time between. her mom bought me some stuff at the thrift store, or we went to two, today, i got some stuff at both. i got shorts and a cute shirt at one, the shorts are low rise and small, which is good, because i like to dress like that i guess, and the shirt is very cute. i'll take pics of these when i find what to wear them in. i also got some thin and kind of like, i guess librarian-ish 2007-y glasses, i popped the lenses out, they were like 2 dollars. my gf got a really good shirt, at the 2nd one, a really pretty button up thing, and these crazy shoes that i think i might try to wear a lot . tbh. in the winter at least.

i'm talking about trivial stuff i guess, though. i was just in bed w/ my gf, she'll be leaving at 8pm tomorrow, she flies away at 10. i'm going to be sad, for 10 days. i don't really know how i'll feel going to bed alone. it's going to be the first time in a while i think. it happened when we moved to the first place, because she had to stay at her mom's for work for a few extra weeks. but since, i think we've not ever been very far apart, for very long at least.

of course we started kind of far apart cuz during covid i couldn't go anywhere cuz of my stepdad but that's a whole other thing. i don't really want to be alone in here i guess. i don't like thinking about it, also. it'll be good for recording but i'm going to miss just being in her presence/wake, able to interact and stuff. talk about whatever, have her talk to me about whatever. she is good at that, i don't really say a lot unless spoken to, and she likes to talk. she's good at drawing me out.

she is also very sad. i think it will hit her kind of hard in the hotel. not that she's not feeling it or anything, but i guess it's going to hit us both when it's time to sleep, and we can't really occupy ourselves or anything.

i know i'll probably vc with her on discord and stuff, and others too maybe. but idk. part of me wants to use this time to just get as much done as i can on the record, within reason. not singing late or anything but it gives me some more room to get stuff out.

regarding music, i recorded some stuff today on that one song that was giving me trouble, i've at least got an idea for delivery down, i might need to retry, with some more, idk, something, on the vocals, a different tone i guess, but the rhythm is there i think.

i also have been mixing another song, and the vocals i have for that, the tiny pieces at least, sound good, so there's at least one really solid vocal layer and then some stuff i just need to accentuate/layer on top of that. it's kind of a pain getting the guitar synth stuff right, not tonally, but mix-wise, i'm trying something now where i mess w/ stereo image stuff to get things to move in a way, out of stereo and into mono, that type of thing.

and one more export, and this should be good... i know i said i wanted to get 2 songs done today, i guess i kinda did, the other song i worked on is also sounding better broadly, mix-wise, since i messed around w/ that.

alright so... if that one's like done, with getting to sound right, that means there's 14 songs left, and the ones that are after the next 2 are all just going to be updated to this new saturator process, which will be be easy and i can do it transparently kinda i think. or i hope. i can make the saturation less extreme with these ones if need be, and if it frees up space in the mix, then that'll be super good + awesome and i can maybe squeeze more detail out of the songs or whatever. those i could maybe even do in like... i don't wanna promise it to myself or whatever, but 2 days? we'll see. those 12 should not be as much of a headache as some of these other ones.

i also read foucault today, as things were exporting earlier, very good as usual. one part struck me, about how the need to punish + torture, or torture being a punishment, as well as capital punishment, death + loss of limb and so on, was that it was not just to keep people in line via consequence, but also, as foucault puts it, to 'use terrorizing tactics' to take revenge against being outside the law, or the will of the sovereign. when you see this, where tactics of punishment and pain become not about consequence, where the relation is less simple, and more about asserting power and dominance once again, to express who creates rules and who directs them, things like that, even now, you will see the vestiges of this process. again, not a new thing to me i guess, but he articulates it well, it makes me think of how i've seen co-workers get yelled at by management at work.

a very minor thing in comparison to historical facts of murder by the sovereigns of europe, but it still seems connected, in odd ways. petty tyrants reigning over us, i guess, in management, everyone vested with these moral gauges and the compulsion to keep everything right, i suppose this is part of the soul he may begin describing, where we all become responsible for our own efficiency, and thus when others fail, it is something of a humiliation to be implicated in their either inability, their ignorance of power, or whatever else.

this i suppose, is why everyone makes jokes at foucault's expense, that everything is a prison. which is true but also a reduction. it's not really that everything is a prison, that's just a useful way to put it i guess to explain, but really it's that the prison is historically a way to organize, and all of us put in this rubric of not just penality, but the improvement of ourselves, and so on, in school, in psychiatry, at work, our time put to bettering something, that something vague, by necessity, the prison outlines not just institutions, but the world the institutions would like to produce, i suppose. and so with that, comes the thought that everything is a prison. it is perhaps something else more complex and strange, that depends one me and where the book takes me, it is where i lean, it is elucidated in other works certainly, the odd world we live in now. where there are huge suggestions of like, caring about others, lip service to 'mental health' and other things that one would imagine are positive, even ideas like fairness, kindness, all requiring a fact that you have to deign to give these things, people receive from you in those cases, a condescending in ways we are taught to be positive and show concern, in a world like this, everything is trying to be as friendly as possible. this is why the police destroy homeless camps where people are surviving, and are truly kind to one another by building fires to cook over, collecting resources, because this is unpleasant to see. i guess an ultimate wound to everyone in this area, it's twofold, to know that this is what awaits you should you fail, that at this economic class should the bottom give out, there is no longer anything to catch you accept people who are abused, frightened, and starving, and they will catch you, and then 2, you will work hard, for so little, because the world is so violently exclusive, in such bright colors.

and now i need to sleep, the song is sounding good now, i think, which makes me happy.

it feels ugly to say that after what i had just written, but it's all i can think to do really.

so,

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!