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space-mermaid-writing · 3 months ago

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Of monsters and men [IronStrange]

Summary: Some kidnappers fucked up big time and now Tony is bonded to this strange demon he continues to summon by accident.

Tags: demon!Stephen Strange, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Angst, Whump, body horror, protective Stephen Strange, Stephen Strange needs a hug

Author's note: 1. The villain of the week is so unimportant, I didn't even name him 2. I made a logic mistake. This chapter is a last minute addition, but I put it at the wrong place. In the previous chapter Tony mentions Ultron. That means Jarvis is gone. Unfortunately, this chapter is 25% Jarvis' snarks. I could have changed him to Friday but they don't have the same vibe. I could have <i> not</i> posted this chapter. But I don't want you to deprive of it. It's a nice chapter. So please just ignore the issue. Beta by@harpywritesfic and @kvjjjjjj.

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Chapter 9: You need to be more careful

Tony dodged an attack, scowling. His opponents looked like humans, simple civilians, except they were flying and shooting lasers out of their eyes. As soon as the faceplate of his Iron Man armor had closed, his HUD told him they were nothing more than robots - hyper-realistic human-looking androids, designed to deceive and destroy.

“How are the new updates holding, Jarvis?” The numbers in the corner of his display seemed alright but Tony asked his A.I. anyway because he trusted Jarvis more than any other source. He valued his opinion on this matter, especially in the heat of battle.

Tony dodged another attack and blasted one of the androids in the back, right where Jarvis had marked a weak spot. The robot shut down and fell like dead weight.

It thus joined the growing number of robots Tony had already taken out of the air. The attacks had started over Manhattan, and by now they had moved to somewhere over Brooklyn. The engineer suspected, or at least hoped, that a ground team from Shield was collecting the crashed robots. Tony didn't have time to keep an eye out on them to make sure this technology didn't fall into the hands of another enemy.

“So far they are exceeding expectations. With the amount of additional power flowing through, I would have thought that the structure would be weakened in the long term.”

“You thought it would blow up into my face, didn't you?” Tony realized, amusement creeping into his tone. There were three androids left. Time to wrap this up.

“It wouldn't be the first time that a weak point only becomes visible during a field test.”

Tony was targeting another weak spot when he became distracted, too slow to dodge another attack that hit his side with a jarring force.

“Like the new hydraulic dampers just now,” Jarvis continued unfazed. “The structure of the cylinders at the arms was considerably damaged by the last hit. I advise you to return to the lab soon.”

“Right after I’ve finished this,” Tony retorted because there was no way he would just leave mid-fight.

Jarvis seemed to know this as well. He delivered his next words with a level of deadpan that shouldn't be possible for an A.I. “Of course, Sir.”

Tony sent a repulsor blast to one of the androids. It didn't have the desired effect. “J, why is the power so low?”

“The line goes past the elbow and there-”

“The hydraulics press on it. I understand.” That wasn't good. But he would manage. He still had several missiles hidden in this suit.

“May I suggest calling backup?” Jarvis said anyway, always concerned about Tony's well-being.

Before the engineer could answer, he was hit with considerable force and thrown against the nearest building. The impact was so strong that he broke through the wall and landed under a pile of bricks.

Some part of his armor made a noise that didn't sound good.

“Sir, the-”

“I know.” Tony pushed himself up onto his forearms, far too slowly, and turned just as slowly. The weight of the armor worked against him. In return, he felt every bruise this fight had given him so far. And a few more he'd had before that. Although he was protected in his armor and all hits and impacts were absorbed, it was still not as perfect as he would have liked. Tony worked on a long-term solution: Nanobots. Tiny little, perfectly programmed individual pieces that followed his every command, and stopped attacks better than a full suit of armor ever could. But he was still at the beginning of his research in that direction and it would take some time before the nanobots were anyway near ready. Until then, he would continue to improve his current armor system.

Tony opened his faceplate and searched for what had hit him.

This time it wasn't a robot, but a man with a jetpack on his back. Over his body, he wore individual pieces of armor that looked like a cheap version of an earlier Iron Man armor. But between the individual elements, there were large gaps between which a small, beefy body could be seen. The helmet left the face exposed, showing sneering eyes.

The three remaining androids gathered around him. They seemed to belong together.

“Not looking so brilliant now. You finally met your match. I'm going to bring down the great Tony Stark.”

The voice was unusually hoarse and sounded suspiciously like the voice the robots had used to talk to Tony at the beginning of the fight.

The words sounded rather personal. Tony had no idea who the man was but it looked like he had a personal vendetta against him. Well, he wasn't the first, and Tony doubted he would be the last – unfortunately.

It was time to follow Jarvis' suggestion and call backup. He pulled his legs up to sit a little more comfortably. There was a smile on his lips, probably from the adrenaline pumping through his veins and from the knowledge of how this would end.

The villain made a step towards him. “I'm going to wipe that smug smirk off your face, Stark.”

The man saw the thin line of blood that ran down Tony's face, but he didn't notice the droplets disappearing into the ground. Each drop seemed to absorb into the earth, as if the ground itself was thirsting for the evidence of the upcoming confrontation that was inevitable.

Tony huffed over the threat, the corners of his lips curling upwards. “You're so screwed.”

“You are delusional if you think-” The villain faltered when suddenly a demon appeared right next to Tony. He frowned but he wasn't intimidated by the unfamiliar figure. Not yet.

Stephen took one look at Tony, and he wasn't happy with what he saw. His eyes darkened, a storm brewing within their depths before darting over to the other human, who Stephen assessed had caused this. The anger radiating from him was almost tangible, a dark cloud that threatened to engulf the scene. “Ɏøᵾ,” he growled with voice like a chalkboard scratching, each word dripping with menace. “mȺđɇ Ⱥ mɨsŧȺꝁɇ.”

His cloak morphed into long, strong, and rather sharp tentacles, which darted towards the villain with a speed that was both mesmerizing and terrifying. The villain, realizing the danger he was in, felt a flicker of panic surge through him. Still, he wasn't fast enough to escape.

“We talked about this, Stephen.” Tony's voice stayed casual, almost nonchalant, while he looked down to investigate the damage on his hydraulic cylinders. “Keep them alive.”

“If you insist,” Stephen replied, his tone laced with a hint of reluctance. He understood Tony's principles and the moral code that governed his actions, but the primal urge to get revenge was a hard instinct to suppress. Nobody touched what was his.

Tony did insist. He had been very clear about this.

As the tentacles closed in, the villain's bravado crumbled, revealing the fear that lay beneath. “Wait! We can talk about this!” he stammered, his voice rising in pitch.

Tony glanced up, his expression unreadable. “Talk? You had your chance to talk when you decided to come after me.”

“But I-” the villain started before Stephen grabbed him by his throat. His sharp nails pressed into the soft skin of his neck and jaw, right into the soft spot directly under the jaw.

“Ħøw đȺɍɇ ɏøᵾ Ⱥđđɍɇss ħɨm” Stephen snarled in disgust. His steel blue eyes showed rage. If he could, he would drag this guy into the Dark Dimension and show him its horrors. Even if it was only for a moment. It would be enough to push him into insanity.

The androids were crushed into unrecognizable pieces by the tentacles. Since they weren't technically alive, the rule didn't apply to them. And Stephen found their very existence an insult, especially when faced with Tony's superior technology.

“What...” The man had trouble breathing and his voice was hoarse. “What are you?” He tried to free himself from the grip but he didn't stand a chance against the tentacles.

“Ɏøᵾ wøᵾłđnŧ ᵾnđɇɍsŧȺnđ ɨŧ ɇvɇn ɨf Ɨ ŧøłđ ɏøᵾ.”

His eyes lit up briefly as he summoned magic, and glowing rope coiled around the human body like snakes, constricting him in a way he could not escape.

Then Stephen let him go and the villain fell with an anxious scream. The other end of the magic rope had attached itself to the surprisingly undamaged fire escape near the large hole in the wall, ensuring that the guy didn't hit the asphalt. Instead, the rope tightened and he dangled from it, hitting the brick wall once with the momentum he had left. He had no way of getting away from there by himself.

Stephen no longer cared about him. He had more important things to do. He turned back to Tony, who had opened the front of the armor and was now sitting with his upper body out of it. “J, have the line relocated and use a stronger alloy for the dampers. That should fix the problem.” Tony looked up when Stephen crouched next to him. “Thanks for stopping by.”

Stephen ignored his words and went right to scolding the engineer. “You should be more careful.” Despite his harsh words, his grip was gentle as usual when he cupped Tony's face to identify where the blood was coming from. The contrast between his stern demeanor and the tenderness of his touch spoke volumes about their relationship – one built on trust, care, and an unspoken understanding.

There was a small laceration along Tony's hairline, which Stephen quickly healed with a flick of his wrist, the magic flowing effortlessly from him. Then his hands wandered lower, searching for other injuries he knew were there. The instinct to protect Tony was almost overwhelming.

Tony let him have this and didn't bat an eye about the lack of personal space. “What can I say? I just love getting thrown through solid walls.”

But Stephen's next words made him realize that the joke fell flat. “Not funny.” The demon's expression darkened as he found a big bruise on the side of Tony's ribs, watching the man flinch as soon as he touched the spot. He healed it as well, the warmth of his magic enveloping Tony like a protective cocoon.

Tony's face became softer, the corners of his mouth lifting in a gentler smile as he put his hand on Stephen's to get his full attention. The gesture was familiar, intimate even. “I know you're there to catch me.”

Tony only had a few people he let get close to and whom he trusted. Mostly Rhodey, Pepper and Happy. But even they had their limits regarding Tony. Each of these relationships was a delicate balance, shaped by shared experiences, unspoken expectations, and the weight of their individual burdens.

Happy was his driver and bodyguard, a steadfast presence in Tony's chaotic life. However, in a fight against superhumans, he stood no chance. Tony didn't want to drag him into that perilous world, where the stakes were often life and death. Happy's loyalty was unwavering, but Tony recognized that his friend was not equipped to face the extraordinary threats that loomed over them.

Pepper, on the other hand, had enough on her plate as the CEO of Stark Industries. The demands of her position were immense, and the pressure to maintain the company’s reputation and success often left her with little room for anything else. Their romantic relationship had been fraught with complications, and after a series of misunderstandings and emotional upheavals, she had clearly articulated her limits. Tony didn't hold it against her.

Rhodey was the closest thing Tony had to a brother. Their camaraderie was forged in the fires of battle and tempered by years of friendship. Yet, even they had clashed in the past, and there were moments when Tony felt a profound sense of betrayal. Those feelings lingered like shadows even after they had talked it out and ostensibly moved on. Trust, while strong, was not infallible, and Tony could never be one hundred percent sure. There was always some doubt left, a nagging voice in the back of his mind that questioned whether their bond could withstand the trials they faced. Despite this, Tony trusted Rhodey with his life, knowing that their shared experiences had created a foundation that was difficult to shake.

When it came to the Avengers, Tony had a complicated relationship with trust. He relied on them to have his back in a fight; mostly. Yet, he was acutely aware that most of them had their own agendas, their own motivations that could easily conflict with the greater good.

Stephen was different. He was a constant presence, always there when Tony called him. Sure, the demon had no choice since he was bonded to Tony, but that didn’t diminish the significance of their connection. In fact, Stephen easily could despise him, could probably fight against their bond. Yet, he didn’t succumb to bitterness; instead, he came willingly, often expressing his displeasure when he thought that Tony should have called him earlier in a fight. This willingness to engage, to be present in his life no matter what strengthened the depth of their bond.

It might be fake, a byproduct of a ritual gone wrong, but Tony happily indulged the illusion that Stephen would behave the same even without their bond. The way Stephen looked at him, with an intensity that was both disarming and reassuring, made it difficult for Tony to dismiss the possibility of genuine affection.

If this was a regular human, Tony would call the expression he saw in his blue eyes love.

“I am,” the demon muttered, his voice low and earnest. He turned his hand to take Tony's hand in his, and moved it to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss on his knuckles, a silent vow.

Tony understood it even without words. “Let's go home.”

Stephen smiled at that word, a warmth spreading through him at the thought. The penthouse in the tower wasn't his home, but being at Tony's side felt just like it.

#ironstrange #demon Stephen Strange #tony stark #stephen strange #doctor strange #marvel #whump #angst #hurt/comfort #fluff #demon!Stephen Strange #of monsters and men

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thefandomcassandra · 20 days ago

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Voight-Kampff

Takumi wasn't sure why he chose to come to the library today. It's not as if he liked reading—not in the way some of the others do anyway, although he doesn't hate it—and he didn't have any particular desire to read at the moment but...

Maybe it was the general malaise that chased days where nothing was happening, peace chafing against the battle-hardened parts of him. Maybe it was just that he got anxious and stressed out when he felt directionless and without some kind of purpose and goal. Who could say?

Takumi perused the myriad of disorganized shelves looking for something to kill time with when Eito politely cleared his throat, drawing his attention over to him. Sitting in one of the chairs in the corner of the library, legs folded so as to hold the giant weapons-grade doorstopper he was reading, Eito gave Takumi a gentle wave. "Looking for something?"

"A way to waste time, mostly." Even if it was essentially a book repository for just the SDU members, the ingrained social norms of a library kept Takumi's volume low, despite the vast distance between him and Eito.

"I thought you weren't a books guy."

Takumi frowned at his teasing. "I'm not. I usually just read manga. Whatever's popular at the time."

"Popular things are popular for a reason." Something in the way Eito's eyes squinted as he smiled made Takumi want to close the distance between them and drop a particularly heavy book on his head. "Still, would you like a suggestion? It's a little old but I think you'll like it a lot."

What an odd way to recommend a book. "Shoot."

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick." Name and author? Takumi looked over at the shelves and then back at Eito. Could his friend see his confusion? Was he suitably visibly lost? Or did he need to ask the embarrassing question aloud? "Use the computer there. It has a digital index and can tell you where specific books are kept."

"Thanks." Unwilling to address how much of a handout that just was, Takumi quickly looked up the book and grabbed it from the shelf it was sitting on. The spine of the book was well-worn, the pages a vanilla-scented memory of a time long past. It reminded him of some of the books Karua used to read.

Nostalgic longing twisted his throat into knots.

"What's it about?" He settled into a chair near where Eito was seated, content to simply exist in the same space as his friend.

"Read it and find out." Even as Takumi shot him a dirty look, Eito didn't budge, just going back to his dense book with faint amusement playing on his lips.

So Takumi did just that.

He wasn't lying when he told Eito that he wasn't someone who liked books or read them recreationally. He didn't really see the appeal in wasting time better suited for actually doing something on just sitting down and reading for minutes to hours on end. It just wasn't his style. But, in the throes of a calm period that was setting his teeth on edge, his brain was looking for any kind of activity to latch on to and designate a Task.

In the same way that homework was a Task, Eito's book recommendation was a Task that Takumi quickly made his everything for the scant few hours it took to finish the novel.

When he was done, he sat back and really thought about what he'd just read. It made him feel...

Well, how did he feel?

Takumi turned to ask Eito a question and paused, mouth agape. Somehow, in the time it took him to read one relatively small novel, Eito had already finished his enormous tome and gone on to find and devour half of another equally lethal brick of a book.

What could he even say to that? It was baffling to him.

"...why?"

"Why what?" Even if he didn't actually look at him, Takumi could tell he had Eito's full attention. The way he sat felt more aware, more upright, almost as if his entire focus was on Takumi.

"Why did you recommend that book to me?" It was a genuine question. Takumi couldn't even begin to fathom what Eito had seen in him that might indicate he'd like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in the slightest. "What was the point?"

"Did there need to be a point?" Eito seemed honestly confused. "It's actually considered a science-fiction staple. It has a movie adaptation from the mid-twentieth century and a sequel in the twenty-first century, in addition to several comic books and a radio play. I just thought you might enjoy this cultural touchstone. You mentioned you liked popular things and, age aside, this was popular for several decades."

That was...actually surprising. Not that Eito had taken the time to consider his likes before offering some kind of compromise between literature and his usual media tastes, but that Eito picked the version that would be most accessible and easily consumed in this moment. Actually...

"Why not recommend the movie?"

That earned him a little chuckle and an oddly thin smile. "It's not the same. They actually neutered one of the pivotal themes of the book when they adapted it for film and, while there are subtitled versions available, the film was an English-language movie and it doesn't quite work as well when dubbed over. I prefer the original novel, although the movie isn't half-bad, though it's a matter of personal taste in the end."

"They changed things?" Maybe it was opening a can of worms he couldn't close, but Takumi asked that with some measure of genuine curiosity. Eito's opinions were, to him, more interesting than the novel itself. It had, after all, been a centuries old translation of an old cyber-noir story about humans and robots. "Like what?"

That seemed to have been what Eito wanted him to ask because his face lit up. He even folded his book closed, finger holding his place as he leaned forward in his chair. "Well—"

In that instant, Takumi remembered that Eito had a rather bad habit of going off on long-winded speeches about this, that, or the other; impossible to stop once he's started and completely deaf to all protests.

Whoops. Too late for regrets.

"The novel is about the space where humanity and machine intersect, about what makes one human. One can say that Deckard is human but inhumane as he hunts down androids with little care for their lives and fears and wants because he doesn't see them as people. Meanwhile, in the case of Rachael, the androids can be more human than the corrupt monsters in power enabling that senseless slaughter."

That was something that Takumi had retained about the story. Deckard was a frustratingly corrupt person and, while he wasn't the most genre savvy, he was pretty certain that most noir or noir-adjacent piece of media usually flirted with that kind of moral ambiguity without leaning full-tilt into the thoughtless way Deckard pursued his own selfish goal.

What was the price of several lives worth? A goat? A living status symbol? The entire concept made him nauseous in a way he didn't think he could articulate, something close to home but far away in equal measure.

"In Blade Runner, the initial movie adaptation, the focus is shifted ever-so-slightly away from outright discussion regarding the vile way humans can and will justify atrocities to themselves and instead makes Deckard a more redeemable, if not still morally-grey, figure. The thesis still revolves around personhood and its ties to humanity and being humane, but the protagonist is a less reprehensible man." The vitriol Eito cheerily spat regarding Deckard and his perceived themes of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was almost startling compared to his usual placidity and cheer.

Takumi watched him closely as he spoke, confused but intrigued. What about this had upset him? What made him so passionate?

It wasn't unwelcome, that peek into more of who Eito is—for all he was relatively open about most things, there were moments when Takumi could see a steel shutter slam down over Eito's face, hiding his emotions and truth—but it was...something. Takumi wasn't sure what he was looking for in his expression but he continued to watch him carefully.

He didn't want to miss a thing, even if he didn't necessarily understand what was being said.

"Do you remember the Voight-Kampff test?"

Takumi startled at Eito's question. Shit, uh, fuck... "Vaguely." Eito's pitying smile made Takumi suck on his teeth in frustration. "Look, I said I wasn't—"

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad!" Eito cut him off. "I was just assessing how much of this I needed to explain. Sorry if I miscommunicated my intent."

"No," Takumi was quick to reassure his friend, "I shouldn't have snapped at you. Sorry..."

"I'm sorry."

"You were saying?" They couldn't do this for forever. There weren't enough hours in the day. "About the, uh, Voight-Kampff test?"

"Right." Oh, he got it right. Neat! "While the test is touted as a surefire way to determine if someone is an android or a human, it's actually less accurate than even the slim margin of error it shows in-universe. Because it's less about humanity or personhood and more about being empathetic and sympathetic, you see. The intent is emotional reaction instead of logical thought processes because, by their metric, a machine cannot feel."

That was something that had bothered him when he was reading. The questions used to try and sniff out the androids felt almost unfair and imbalanced. There was no correct answer and it was up to Deckard and the polygraph-like machine to determine if their reactions were 'human enough'. When the questions weren't about animal cruelty or assault, they were abstract questions regarding love and betrayal. All of those supposed scenarios were subjective and, even as he was reading it, Takumi had found it difficult to imagine answering them to any satisfactory degree.

Did that make him inhuman? Would that society assume he was an android?

"It's cruel." He didn't even realize he had spoken aloud until Eito replied.

"It's human to think that certain traits not all humans share are indicative of personhood." All of his normal cheer was gone, flattened into a strange icy chill. Eito's smile was the same, his eyes were just as focused on Takumi, but his voice was... "But that's the point."

"Is it?"

"Phillip K. Dick is an author whose body of work often discuss socio-political problems that were at the forefront of his mind at the time. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is both a meta-commentary on noir as a genre—and the way it glorifies the corruption within the law enforcement system—and also is likely a response to some of the technological advancements of the time." That didn't answer Takumi's question but Eito seemed so into his speech, so delighted to be able to talk about something he loved with him, that Takumi couldn't bring himself to stop him from yammering on.

Besides...the way Eito talked about the themes of the book made more sense than him trying to parse them himself.

"The question isn't 'Can machines be human?' because 'human' isn't a quantifiable state of being. The question instead is 'Can something man-made become more than its creators?'. Empathy and emotions are considered a hallmark of the human experience and yet there are quite a fair amount of humans who struggle with both. Does this make them robotic? Inhuman?" Eito leaned forward in his chair, eyes glittering with a type of passion that sparked a hemoanima-bright fire in Takumi's chest in response. "And if it does, then is that a bad thing? Is being Other, being different wrong?"

It was a heavy question but Takumi gave it some measure of consideration.

Other—not 'other' as in just the word, but 'Other' as in proper noun indicative of 'Someone Who Is Not Like Me'—is a state of being separated from oneself. Could he actually quantify being Other without excluding what made him him? And if he could, is the concept of being Other worse than being himself?

It made his head spin.

Eito just laughed harder the longer that Takumi silently turned the thought around and around in his head. Eventually he granted him a merciful end to his pathetic rumination. "Sorry if that was too much, it's just that old genre cornerstones like that are fascinating to me on a cultural and psychological level."

"Psychological?" Another can of worms crumpled open beneath his prying fingernails but Takumi didn't care. Burgeoning headache aside, it was a good distraction from his unease and he was actually...it felt good, in a way that traditional learning at school didn't always, to learn and think critically about these things.

Or maybe he was putting too much weight on the discussion of the Self and the Other with regards to the invaders and themselves. Who could say?

"Well," Eito seemed delighted that he wanted to continue their discussion, as one-sided as it had been, "it's not like Phillip K. Dick only ever wrote this one groundbreaking and well-regarded science-fiction novel. He's actually an accomplished author of his time, with multiple adaptations of his works in his portfolio. But, while Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and its movie adaptation Blade Runner are both rather well-known, there's another adapted work of his I find as interesting and as complex as that one, even moreso. And it proves my point regarding how books—especially old ones —can contain fascinating looks into the psychology of mankind from ages-past."

Maybe Takumi wasn't smart enough for this—scratch that, he was definitely not smart enough for this—but he was unsure how pressing Eito on what about old books interested him on a psychological level lead to him discussing another one of the author's works.

Not that he was going to stop him from talking now. The ball was rolling fast enough it might kill him on impact.

"Have you ever heard of Minority Report?" Takumi stared at him, blank expression all the answer Eito was looking for. He was, after all, not like Karua—who devoured old books like they actually sustained her on a physical level—and knew nothing about anything that wasn't 'in' at the time. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was centuries old, so it was likely Minority Report was as well. "Ah well," Eito just sighed in amusement and shook his head as he soldiered on, "the long and short of it is that it's another one of Phillip K. Dick's seminal works with a large following and a film adaptation. Unlike Blade Runner, however, I'm of the mind that Minority Report's film adaptation is slightly more faithful, even if the author himself gave Blade Runner the go-ahead."

"You know a lot about this kind of thing." He knew, of course, that Eito had spent a lot of his life in a hospital and that he spent time reading, but the sheer scope of his ravenous consumption of books had never been made truly clear to Takumi until now. To not only know about an author so intimately that he could form strong opinions about centuries-old adaptations of their works to film, but to also have enjoyed their body of work so thoroughly as to have extensive opinions about individual stories was actually admirable. Sad, in a way, because that meant Eito had been alone for a lot of that time, but admirable. He was driven in a way that was interesting, his desire to know something foreign to Takumi, who had been content to drift through life like an origami boat down a storm drain.

The smile Eito gave him felt guarded in a way. Distant or maybe sad; it was hard to tell sometimes. "I had a lot of time to learn."

Takumi nodded, once. "It's cool."

That seemed to surprise Eito. His eyebrows disappeared behind his hair, eyes widening in an uncharacteristically off-balance way, like he'd been caught off-guard by Takumi's blunt compliment. "Thank you."

"Sorry for interrupting."

"Don't worry about it." Eito leaned back again, crossed one leg over the other, and smiled at him. "May I?"

It wasn't really a genuine question. Even an idiot could tell he was just poking fun at him, chiding him for interrupting, even though he'd said it was fine. Takumi nodded.

"Minority Report is about a future where crime is stopped before it happens thanks to the development of a subdivision of the justice system known as 'Precrime'. Using the visions of three people known as 'precogs' who can see the future, all criminals are arrested before the crime can be committed, leading to an authoritarian pseudo-utopia of a sort—assuming you believe that a high crime rate makes a dystopia what it is." His wry aside told Takumi exactly what Eito personally thought about that specific hypothetical. "The man who helped found Precrime discovers that he is going to murder a man he's never met and rushes against time and fate and everything he's built to not do that. But then he learns that there's a prediction he won't kill him, disproving Precrime and destabilizing the criminal justice system built around preemptive arrests. The third of three so-called minority reports—that is to say, when there are dissenting precognitions about a crime—actually is what happens. The man kills his victim to preserve the sanctity of Precrime, which calls into question free will among other things."

A...heady story to say the least, although Takumi could understand why Eito liked it. He seemed to delight in puzzling out the 'why' of people, trying to understand any social cues and clues he might have missed on first blush. Of course a story about fatalistic determinism would appeal to him.

"That's the kind of psychological thing you were on about?"

Eito smiled at him. "Of course! The thought of free will versus fate, of whether or not one's path is predetermined and how much of one's own choices truly matter, all of that is an interesting thought experiment isn't it?"

"Is it?"

"Do you think free will exists?" Eito grinned at Takumi with his teeth and, unlike before when it had felt almost razor-sharp, this grin felt sincere and warm. Open. He was extending his hand outward to Takumi, inviting him to dialogue with him.

"Do I—?" Did he think free will existed? Some days it didn't feel like it did, but surely he was making good decisions and if free will wasn't real then were his decisions good in the first place or were they simply What Had To Be? "Yes?"

"You sound unsure." Eito tilted his head, un-crossed and re-crossed his legs, and pursed his lips in worry. "I get it though. You don't have to have a definitive answer! It's not an easy question by any means but it's something I like pondering over when I get the time."

"For fun?"

"It's fun for me." The idea was incomprehensible but to each their own, apparently. "I like to wonder if precrime is even a thing and, if it were, would someone stop me one day?"

"Stop you from what?"

Eito shrugged. "Whatever crime I might commit. Precrime in the short story isn't necessarily restricted to violent crimes like murder. Anything, from petty larceny to assault is worthy of being precrime. It's how the government kept its citizens compliant."

If everyone was afraid of being a criminal, nobody would be willing to plot against them or try and upset the status-quo.

"But is it right?"

"Huh?"

Takumi repeated his question again, stressing the thought behind it. "Is it right? Judging someone for a crime they might possibly commit if left to their own devices?"

Eito didn't answer for a moment. He just sat there, one leg crossed over the other, leaning back in the library chair, and hummed to himself in thought. When he spoke up again, his words broke the silence like a gunshot. "What are you defining as 'right' here?"

"What?" Did that matter? Right was right was right! But Eito was asking him earnestly and, for all Takumi hadn't understood a lot of what had been said, he wanted to meet him on a level playing field as an intellectual equal. He needed to engage with the question presented to him and think critically. "Why are you asking?"

"If a central government decides what is and is not wrong—like in Minority Report—then their definition of right is what determines the law. The law then is the deciding factor as to whether or not precrime is both legal and morally actionable. So, with regards to your question: what are you defining as right?" Eito's voice was as sharp as his scythe, his eyes cold fire. He wasn't being unkind, just intense, and Takumi found himself pinned in place with no desire to retreat. He wanted to engage, wanted to keep pushing. "If you're going to judge precrime or the act of preemptively declaring someone a criminal as morally reprehensible or unjust, who is making the call regarding right and wrong?"

"Well—"

"Sorry, let me clarify—" Eito cut him off. "What gives you the right to declare something right or wrong? And is it any different from the actual practice of precrime?"

"What?!" Now Takumi was extremely confused.

"The whole point of the existence of precrime is to reduce the crime rate. In the film adaptation, precrime is only for murder, but the point remains that it is a deterrent." Eito watched Takumi like he was looking for something in his face. His brow was furrowed so hard Takumi worried he might give himself a headache. "It's a deterrent, same as a cop sitting on a street corner. The only difference is the act of self-policing. Precrime isn't a moral call, it's a legal one."

"Is it though?" That last statement had bothered Takumi enough that his words had a strangely bitter edge to them.

"You disagree?"

"The point of law is to hold someone accountable for their actions. Arresting someone under the pretense of preventing a crime, however accurate the information might be, is an act predicated on a moral choice." Takumi leaned forward in his seat now, their dynamic shifting as Eito settled back in surprise. "You're deciding someone will do something even though there's a non-zero possibility they won't do it. You're taking away their free will by assuming their moral stance before they get a chance to test their mettle."

"You're placing a lot of stock in the concept of free will." The teasing lilt to Eito's voice did very little to settle the energy racing beneath Takumi's skin.

"You're not placing enough." He wasn't sure why he was so upset but— "With a precog sample size of three, there's a huge margin of error. Three instances of this crime supposedly being committed isn't enough to say that, for sure, the crime will happen. It just means that, out of an infinite number of possibilities, at least three of them are this one instance."

"And free will factors in how?"

"The ability to choose is what makes those infinite possibilities real. When they choose—not before—the path they're on is chosen and the remainder of the possibilities are cut down and fall away."

"Do you not believe in multiple worlds theory? Or string theory?"

"We aren't talking about that."

Eito laughed, breathless. "We are though."

"You asked me how I was defining what right was and I'll say it now: I can't. But that's not the point of the whole precrime thing. I wasn't saying it was wrong on a moral level, but that it wasn't correct to simply assume that a crime will be committed when we have the ability to choose to be better, whatever that might mean."

"What if you're stopping a serial killer? What then?" Eito pushed back, delighted in a way Takumi had only seen from him on the battlefield. "If given the opportunity to kill someone now to save several others in the future, would you take it?"

Would he?

The burning blue edge of his Class Weapon reflected off of Eito's eyes as he stared up at him, wholly at his mercy. This was the monster who had killed Sirei, Hiruko, Eva, and the Undying Flame Boy. This was the harbinger of disaster, a demon in human skin, a monster who only saw humans as abhorrent beasts and wanted nothing more than to eradicate them. (This was his friend.)

He needed to die. (He hadn't done anything wrong yet.) He needed to die because if he didn't, he would ruin everything. (Who was Takumi to judge him on future-past mistakes? Didn't that make him a hypocrite?)

Takumi raised his sword, deaf to anyone's words, incapable of hearing anything but his own heartbeat. He needed to pick a course of action. He needed to determine what he was planning on doing with Eito. He needed to act.

("The ability to choose is what makes those infinite possibilities real. When they choose—not before—the path they're on is chosen and the remainder of the possibilities are cut down and fall away.")

He made a choice for them both and cut down any other possibility.

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gigabyte-flare · 11 months ago

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Follow the Stars | Part 1

Summary: Pixel is a Proxy with a rather unconventional way of entering the Hollows: a battle android that she controls with her H.D.D.. When her best friend goes missing, seemingly lost in a Hollow, Pixel jumps at the chance to rescue her, but not before meeting a mysterious wolf Thiren that catches her eye.

Word Count: 4.3k

Pairing: Von Lycaon x Original Character

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. You are responsible for your own content consumption. If any of the following warnings trigger you, please read at your own risk. Minors do not interact, this story is 18+ only.

Warnings: Strong language, graphic depictions of violence, depictions of PTSD, domestic violence and emotional abuse (not perpetrated by Lycaon), masterbation, unprotected p in v, oral (m and f receiving), size kink, knotting, creampie

More warnings may be added in future entries

A/N: I had originally planned for this to be a reader fic, but the more I was plotting it out in my head, the more I realized that New Eridu is the perfect place for my OC, Pixel. This is very likely going to flop but I don't care; I'm very excited about this series. Based loosely on Chapter 3, Lycaon's Agent story and his trust events, I will be trying my best to not write the existing dialogue word for word, but in some instances, it can't be helped. This will be my first time introducing Pixel to you all and I hope you all love her as much as I do!

Title inspired by Come Alive by San-Z and Hoyo-Mix

Divider by cafekitsune

Pixel: Hey Rain it's me. Is everything ok I haven't heard from you

Pixel: Rain it's Pixel again, call me when you get this

Pixel: K Rain, this isn't funny please call me

After reading through my chat history from the last few days with Rain, I put my phone to my ear; Rain's phone just rings and rings and goes to voicemail, "Rain, it's Pixel. Please call me, I'm worried about you."

I hang up, gently tossing my phone aside as I put my feet up on my coffee table. I knew in my gut something was wrong. Rain and I have been best friends for years now, she would never just blow me off like this without telling me why. A part of me wanted to get PubSec involved but where she is one of the best hackers in the Proxy business, it wasn't worth the risk. That's not even mentioning that I, too, am a Proxy. That's just asking to get burned.

I turn on the TV to the news only to find that the trial against the Vision Corporation is just about to begin. Supposedly they had cut cost in the Metro expansion project by failing to relocate the residents of Canvas Street, leaving them to the mercy of their explosives and the Dead End Hollow.

Fucking money hungry pricks.

The camera pans over to the individual that is representing the residents of Canvas Street and my mouth unconsciously hangs agape. I'd recognize the pinked haired loud mouth anywhere: Nicole Demara of the Cunning Hares.

"What kind of mess did you get yourself into this time, Nicole?" I ask myself as I take a sip of the can of soda in my right hand.

Just as I set the soda can down on the coffee table, I hear my phone vibrate next to me. I reach to grab it, my stomach dropping upon seeing Rain's name in my Knock Knock notifications. I couldn't open it fast enough, however the wave of relief that had been rushing through me is cut short when I am greeted by what appears to be a completely blank message.

"… the hell…?"

Before I can even process what I'm looking at, another message from her comes through; blank just like the previous one. Followed shortly by another. Then another.

Then another.

Knowing Rain's skillset, I take my phone over to my computer desk, plugging my phone into it to inspect the messages. I was expecting to find encrypted messages, but to my surprise, the messages were truly blank. Just as I unplug my phone from the computer, another message comes through, only this time, it's not from Rain. It's from the last person I would ever expect to get a message from:

Phaethon: I need to call you

I scoff as I stare at the message in disbelief. I'm a decent enough Proxy, but Phaethon is legendary. They were one of the first Proxies to master being able to directly sync to their Bangboo to communicate to their agents in the Hollows; although if they saw what I'm running with these days, they'd likely shit themselves. Regardless, I'm friendly with Phaethon. For me, we have a friendly rivalry.

Still, I'm puzzled as to why they want to call me; I need to be cautious, this very well could be a PubSec trap. Unfortunately for me, my curiosity gets the better of me.

Pixel: Go ahead

Immediately after sending the message, Phaethon calls. I accept the call and put the phone to my ear.

"Phaethon, for what do I owe the pleasure?" I ask as I walk over to the sliding glass door to the balcony of my apartment.

"Listen, I need to make this short. I need your help."

I raise an eyebrow at the man's voice on the other end as I open the sliding glass door to step out on my balcony, "… go on."

"You know the Cunning Hares, right? We need you to meet up with them outside the--"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa hold on," I cut him off as I shut the door behind me, "do you have any idea how many Dennies they owe me? I'm not doing jack shit for the Cunning Hares!"

"Pixel please. Phaethon will pay you, now let me finish. We need you to meet up with them outside of a Hollow. Can you do that?"

I fold one of my arms across my chest, using my hand to rest my elbow on as my other hand continues to hold my phone up to my ear, "what's this about?"

"We've been trying to track down a hacker named Rain to decrypt a flash drive for us--"

"Wait a minute! Did you say Rain?! I've been trying to get a hold of her for days, do you know where she is?!" I frantically ask.

"That's what we're trying to figure out. Nicole's been getting these weird blank messages from her."

"I've been getting them, too," I reply, turning around and leaning against the balcony railing, "I tried to see if they were encrypted or something, but they're truly just blank."

"That's what we found out, too. We were able to trace them back to the Ballet Twin Towers."

"The Ballet Twins?" I once again raise an eyebrow, "that's impossible, they were engulfed by the Hollow years ago. She wouldn't be able to send any messages out if she's there."

"That's the thing, the top of one of the towers is coming out of the Hollow because it shrank at some point. We believe she's there."

"So where do I come into this? Isn't Phaethon perfectly capable of handling an operation like this?"

"Normally yes, but currently, PubSec is at my place."

Flashes of red and blue catch my attention from the corner of my right eye and I turn my head to look. I live in one of the apartment buildings just outside of Sixth Street, giving me a clear view of it and I can clearly see several PubSec vehicles in front of the Random Play video store.

"They're there right now?" I ask.

"Yeah… we helped a couple of PubSec officers in a Hollow not too long ago and somehow they were able to trace our Bangboo to our place."

Well, son of a bitch… the owner of Random Play is none other than the legendary Phaethon.

I can't help but let out a short chuckle, "well that was certainly a rookie move, Phaethon."

"Shut it. We should be able to throw off their trail, but we won't be able to meet with Anby and the others outside of the Ballet Twins Hollow in time. Hence, why I'm calling you, Pixel. Can you meet them over there at 9:00pm?"

I look at my watch, it's just past seven, that should be plenty of time to prepare.

"Yeah I can do that. Listen, Phaethon. I'm only doing this because of Rain, got it?" I reply, my voice firm as I stand up straight and walk back into my apartment.

"Thank you, Pixel. Anby has the flash drive we need Rain to decrypt once you find her. I gotta go. We owe you big time."

Before I could even reply, Phaethon ends the call. I slip my phone into the back pocket of my jeans as I reach down to the remote on the coffee table, turning the TV off before setting it back down.

"You sure as hell owe me, Phaethon," I say to myself as I walk into my bathroom.

I stand in front of my bathroom mirror, scrutinizing myself for a moment until I run one of my hands through my short hair. I'm nothing remarkable; brown hair, blue eyes, average height and unfortunately on the overweight side, tactfully hidden by my baggy t-shirt, complete with a faded print of the Starlight Knights. I honestly hate how I look, so I try really hard not to focus too much looking at myself in mirrors.

Knowing I'm going to have a headset strapped to my face for several hours, I lather soap into my hands and rub it onto my face before rinsing it off. I finish my business in the bathroom and walk back out towards my computer. Standing next to my computer is a large form that has a white sheet covering it. Phaethon has their special Bangboo they use to dive into Hollows, I use this.

I pull the sheet off, revealing what's beneath it. This is Pixel and she is an android. Having found her in a Hollow a couple of years ago, I believe she was dumped there by the Marcel Group. With her human appearance, synthetic skin and internal hydraulic fluid that even looks like blood, whoever made her wanted her to look as human as possible. I dressed her in trendy techwear with a neon blue jacket with hot pink accents and dyed her short white hair into a brilliant neon blue. Her eyes are blue as well, however that's hard to see with her eyes being closed.

The only clue to her true identity that I have is the barcode on the back of her neck and beneath that is either a model number or serial number: P1X3L. And that is where my Proxy alias came from. I had used a Bangboo like most other Proxies right up until I found Pixel and after Rain helped me program her to assist me in diving into Hollows, I took up the name of Pixel and never looked back. As far as anyone is concerned, this is Pixel, not my sad excuse of a human husk. Although, now that I think about it, I don't even remember what I was going by before I started going by Pixel; must not have been that cool if I can't remember it.

In addition to Pixel's hyper realistic features, both her arms are equipped with mantis blades. She's loaded to the brim with sensors and data regarding most of the nearby Hollows, although the data I have on the Ballet Twins Hollow is severely out of date; not a lot of Proxies go there. This will give me an excuse to collect updated Carrot data. Strapped to her thighs are two Ether pistols for when I can't use the mantis blades.

Placing my hand onto her shoulder, I give it a gentle squeeze, "ready to get to work, Pixel?"

I sit down in front of my computer, booting up my HDD system. I grab a series of wires with nodes on the end that I then proceed to stick all on my forehead, temples and behind my ears; these are neutral transmitters that I use to control Pixel remotely. I then grab my headset along with my headphones, putting them on.

Pixel is activated by my voice, so I say the command loud and clear, "Pixel, engage."

The headset on my face whirls to life, going through it's start up sequence before the words "Welcome back, Pixel" come onto the screen. Pixel opens her eyes and I can see the inside of my apartment through her eyes, including me sitting at my desk. Seeing myself used to really freak me out, but I've gotten used to it. I also used to get really motion sick when controlling Pixel, but thankfully that's no longer a problem.

I take a couple of steps forward, lifting my harms and flexing my hands, making sure my synchronization with Pixel is completed before I really start moving around. Once I'm confident I'm synced up, I ball my fists, grinning.

"Let's Rock!" Pixel and I exclaim in unison.

"UgggggghhhhhaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Billy cries out, throwing his hands into the air, "Anby, where's the Manager?! Didn't Nicole say he'd be here by now?!"

Anby glances down at the clock on her phone before looking back up at Billy, "yeah. It's not like him to make us wait like this."

Did something happen? Anby thinks while pacing back and forth.

Nekomata seems completely unbothered by the situation as she's currently grooming her cat ears, her two tails twirling absentmindedly. Anby lets out a deep sigh and continues to pace. She surely hoped that nothing happened to Wise; recently a soft spot had begun to form for him, their mutual passion for movies often bringing them together. His sister, Belle, is equally as nice; always full of energy and positivity. Her thoughts are suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone's voice, a female voice.

"Hey, sorry I'm late!"

Anby turns around, unable to hide her shock upon seeing Pixel approach them, her asymmetrical neon blue hair and unique clothes unmistakable. Didn't the Cunning Hares owe her an exorbitant amount of money?

"Don't worry, Phaethon is covering your fee this time around," Pixel says, seemingly reading Anby's mind.

"PIXEL!" Billy shouts, running over and wrapping his arms around her, "It's good to see you but… where's the manag--"

Anby quickly shoots Billy a glare.

Realizing his slip up he corrects himself, "I mean Phaethon, are they alright?"

Prying herself from Billy's grasp, Pixel brushes herself off before answering, "Phaethon should be fine. They found themselves in the crosshairs of PubSec so they sent me over in their stead."

A lump forms in Anby's throat at the mention of PubSec, but she recomposes herself, "we appreciate you coming, Pixel, even if Phaethon is paying you."

Pixel gives Anby a nod before walking towards the railing overlooking the Ballet Twins Hollow placing her hands onto the railing and leaning forward, "so, what's the situation?"

"We're looking for a hacker named Rain inside the Hollow. We believe she's in there somewhere. Most likely on the piece of the roof sticking out of the Hollow," Anby explains, gesturing towards the Hollow.

Pixel nods in acknowledgement, "I have a personal stake in this as well. Rain is my best friend. Do you have any Carrot data on the Hollow?"

"No. The one we have is severely out of date," Anby replies as she stands next to Pixel, crossing her arms.

"Same here… we'll make due. It's better than nothing; I can try to record new data while we're in there."

Pixel pushes herself away from the railing, turning around and putting her hands on her hips. Her gaze shifts to Nekomata, raising an eyebrow.

"Who's she?" Pixel asks, her gaze scrutinizing.

Nekomata stands at attention but approaches Pixel cautiously, "Nyah! I'm the newest member of the Cunning Hares. The name's Nekomiya Mana, but you can call me Nekomata!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Pixel," Pixel replies before turning back around to gaze up at the Hollow, "now that introductions are out of the way. let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

I never envy the Agents that risk their lives in the Hollows. Even through Pixel's android body, I can feel the pressure of the Ether inside the Hollow. Just as we enter the Ballet Twins Hollow, I bring my right hand up and press a hidden button that's behind my ear, engaging my holographic glasses. They tell me a wide range of information; including etheric levels, heat signatures and Carrot data for the Hollow I'm in.

"So… where is your Bangboo? I've never heard of a Proxy entering the Hollow themselves," Nekomata asks me as she bounces to my side.

"These glasses are my Bangboo," I reply, the lie coming out smoothly has it has so many times in the past, "I reverse engineered them from bangboo technology."

That part isn't entirely a lie. When I found Pixel in Hollow Zero, it was Rain that helped me equip her with Bangboo technology so that I could use her to dive into Hollows. In truth, there wasn't a lot of work that had to be done; most of it was programming the glasses. Pixel was already corruption resistant and had a ton of Carrot data in her system. Pixel remains a huge mystery. With a few keystrokes at my H.D.D. back at the apartment, I begin recording new Carrot data.

"Do you think the rumor about the Ballet Twins is true?" Nekomata asks, moving in front of me and walking backwards.

My gaze shifts up to her, "what rumor?"

"That this place is haunted."

"Don't be ridiculous," I immediately rebut, walking around her to follow behind Anby and Billy, "there's no such thing as ghosts."

"Aww come on, meow! You have to admit it's a really interesting rumor!"

In that moment, one of my sensors goes off for a split second: an unknown heat signature coming from behind us. I stop in my tracks, turning around. Nekomata dramatically skids to a stop upon seeing me stop and turn around. She follows my gaze before darting and cowering behind me.

"What is it?!" she whimpers.

I don't see anyone and my sensors aren't picking up any other heat signatures. Despite this, I feel the hairs on the back of my neck and arms stand on end, suddenly very thankful that Pixel can't portray that. Anby and Billy quickly join our side, looking around.

"I don't want to alarm you all," I begin before turning on my heel and continuing forward, "but we're not alone."

"Is it a person or an Ethereal?" Anby asks, walking beside me with her sword at the ready.

"Hard to say, whatever it is tripped my sensor for only a second. Still, we need to stay alert."

We make our way through the Ballet Twins building, taking out an Ethereal or two along the way. That random heat signature from earlier is still fresh in my mind, making me uneasy. I can tell it's making the others uneasy, too. Eventually we come upon a large room, our steps echoing the expansive space.

"Does anyone else find it odd that we haven't run into that many Ethereals? You'd think a place where the Carrot data is so out of date would be crawling with them." I ask, stopping in the center of the room.

"I was thinking the same," Anby replies as she stops and addresses me.

Billy and Nekomata stop and turn to me as well. Billy scratches the top of his head and glances around while Nekomata takes a moment to groom her hair. I'm startled when one of my sensors goes off again; another heat signature. Same as before, it only popped up for a moment. I glance around myself, but I don't see anyone.

"We're being watched. Stay sharp guys," I say, rolling up the sleeves on my jacket.

Billy, Anby and Nekomata nod at me in unison, all of them taking out their weapons and looking around the room. A flash of movement catches my right eye and I immediately turn to it, deploying the mantis blades in my arms.

"We've got company! Ethereals!" I shout, charging at the Ethereal, leaping into the air and coming down onto them; one of my mantis blades coming down and piercing its core.

Despite my annoyance about the Cunning Hares not paying what they owe me, we fight together in perfect harmony; even with their newest member, Nekomata. We make very short work of the Ethereals, rendering the large room silent once more.

"That presence you felt before…" Billy begins, turning back to look at me, the anxiety in his voice heightening, "that was the Ethereals, right?!"

I shake my head as I approach them, "I'm not sure, something doesn't feel right. Don't let your guard down."

Standing in front of me, Nekomata looks down at both of my arms, the mantis blades still deployed, "are your arms fake?!"

"They're prosthetics, yes. I lost them in a Hollow years ago," I reply, another lie rolling easily off my tongue.

"Neat!" she says as she once again starts to groom her hair and her ears.

A flash of light from behind Nekomata catches my attention and I quickly realize something is hurtling towards her.

"Nekomata look out!" I shout, shoving her aside and bringing my right arm up to deflect whatever it was that was flying at us with my mantis blade.

A large spear-like weapon makes contact with my blade, however there is so much force behind the weapon, as I move my arm to deflect it, the various components of my mantis blade immediately shatter. The weapon spins in the air, impaling itself into the ground behind us. My arm sparks and makes whirling sounds as I try to move it.

"Shit!" I curse to myself as I look down at my busted arm, dark red hydraulic fluid dripping from it.

"It's a giant pair of scissors," Anby points out, pulling her sword out and taking up a defensive stance.

A loud clanging noise begins to reverberate through the large room, causing my breath to hitch. Anby and I spin around, my left arm returning to its normal state as I pull out one of my Ether pistols, pointing it at the source of the sound; a set of stairs leading into the darkness. As Billy and Nekomata cower behind us, I see someone come out from the darkness, stopping at the top of the stairs. From where we stand, I can tell he's a Thiren, admittedly a handsome one; his large bushy white tail swinging behind him. He's wearing a vest with a white shirt rolled up at his elbows, black dress pants, fingerless gloves and a mask that covers one of his eyes, his other exposed eye seemingly glowing a bright crimson in the darkness. What really catches my attention are his powerful looking mechanical legs. This is not someone to mess with.

"A wolf Thiren?" Nekomata whispers from behind me.

I tighten my grip on my pistol narrowing my eyes at him.

"You're all quite skilled. It's no surprise you were able to get through the building unhindered. However, I must ask you to leave. This is private property."

"Who are you?" I ask, my stance unwavering despite his smooth voice giving me chills.

"You are not in any position to ask such questions. I'll give you thirty seconds to explain your presence here before I--"

"WAAAAHHHH OH NO!" a female voice cries out before the sound of something crashing is heard.

A circular saw blade rolls out from the darkness behind the wolf Thiren, rolling down the stairs. All of us watch as the saw blade rolls before tipping over in front of us. There's a moment of awkward silence before our attention is back on the wolf Thiren.

He clears his throat before continuing, "in summery, the Ballet Twins are not open to the public and--"

More crashing sounds cut him off again, causing one of his erect ears to twitch towards the direction of the sound. He closes his eye and groans as a young girl steps out from the darkness, holding what appears to be a staff in her hands. Her green hair is in pigtails and she's wearing a maid outfit.

"How many times do I have to stress that the floors and one's weapon are to be kept in pristine condition," he growls, looking over at the young girl.

"I'm sorry Mr. Lycaon, I'm so sorry!" the girl whimpers, giving the Thiren and apologetic bow.

Lycaon… why have I not heard of him? I think to myself; I make a mental note to look him up later.

"Ugh… I'm so tired…" I hear another female voice from behind the Thiren.

"Ellen," he snaps, turning his head slightly to the left, "some professionalism, please!"

"Okay, okay…" she says as she walks up to his side; she's a shark Thiren with black hair with touches of red, also wearing a maid outfit; the giant scissors must be hers.

"Wait a second…" Nekomata suddenly says, stepping out from behind me and looking at the green haired girl, "Corin? Is that you?!"

"Nekomata! Anby! Billy! It's so good to see you!"

"Do you know them, Corin?" Lycaon asks.

"I don't know the blue haired lady, but I know the other three! They're the ones that saved me from the Hollow that I told you about!"

"This blue haired lady is our Proxy, her name is Pixel!" Nekomata exclaims as she gently places her hands onto my arm that's pointing my pistol, "it's ok, they're friends!"

I glance over at her, furrowing my brows before hesitantly lowering my weapon and putting it back into its holster.

"The Proxy that enters the Hollows herself. Your reputation proceeds you, Master Proxy," Lycaon says, his crimson gaze locked onto me; causing my heart to race.

He knows me? I swallow hard.

His gaze shifts from me to just behind me, "Rina, you may stand down."

My gaze follows his and I turn around slightly to be met with a woman that's floating in the air with long dirty blonde hair. Unsurprisingly, she's also wearing a maid outfit. She's accompanied by two floating Bangboos.

"Holy shit!" I cry out as I jump away from her.

She giggles, floating away from me, "your powers of perception are impressive, Master Proxy, you almost saw me!"

"She means you weren't even close!" one of the floating Bangboos follows up before both laugh wildly as they follow behind the woman who is now floating towards Lycaon and the others.

"Since you're not trespassers, that makes things easier," Lycaon says, descending the stairs, "allow me to introduce ourselves."

Rina joins them and they all stand at attention, facing us. Even through my headset, I can feel the immense regal aura coming from them. Lycaon clears his throat once more.

"We are Victoria Housekeeping."

Part 2

#von lycaon #lycaon #lycaon smut #zzzero #zenless zone zero #zenless zone zero smut #gigabyte writes #von lycaon x oc #von lycaon x original character #von lycaon fanfiction

36 notes · View notes

mid0khan · 3 months ago

Text

Writing Word Game

I was tagged by my darling @samsalami66 and the word was TALK! I expect most snippets to be from my Dreamling NieR Automata AU, because it has me in a chokehold x)

T - from the Dreamling NieR Au

Three hooded machines entered. "It is awake." "It is, my brothers." "We must take it to the Magus." "To the Magus." "A gift." "Here in the darkness." Dream was seized and pulled on his feet. He saw Jessamy taking out her sub-machine gun just in time to tell her to stop; starting a fight now would be their doom. They had to wait and pray for an opportunity to flee.

A - from the Dreamling NieR Au

"Alert. Multiple pursuers detected," his Pod J3SS-4-MY suddenly announced. "Since when do machines come so high above ground?" the battle unit raged. "No… Sir, this signal… they're YoRHa!" Lucienne despaired in the transmission channel. Dream could only watch in horror as four flying units overtook them, immediately turning around to start blasting at them. "Lucienne, stay behind me and find an escape route," he ordered, aiming at the first infected unit.

L - from the Dreamling NieR Au

"Look dad, there's a bird called like me!" the boy exclaimed, pointing at the book. "I see! And it's pretty just like you too!" Robyn chuckled, making Hob's heard ache with fondness. "Is the mister alright?" the boy asked then, bursting his father's little bubble of joy. Hob sighed. "He'll live. I can't say if he'll be alright, though." Robyn hummed in understanding. "Well, if he isn't we'll help him, so it'll be okay," he said with utter conviction, making his father smile. "You're right, we'll do our best to help him."

K - from the Dreamling NieR Au

"Kneel," the Magus ordered him. "I own you now. Praise my glory!" "Glory to Mankind," Dream spat back defiantly. He would rather die than bow in front of a machine. The machine nodded, and the guards holding the android pushed him down on his knees. He had to swallow back a scream when his bad leg was forced to bend. "You will obey me. I will break you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but rest assured that I will break you." With a flick of the wrist, the Magus dismissed him, and Dream was hauled out under the jeers and boos of the cultists.

Look who was right x)

Alright, the next word will be CARE, and I'm tagging @emihotaru @mimisempai @tj-dragonblade and @pumpkinkingsalem , without pressure as always ^^

#tag games #tagged mido #my wips #writers on tumblr #dreamling #the sandman #dream of the endless #hob gadling #mido writes

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blundergato · 7 months ago

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the western dbz fandom has got to be the worst fandom ever

i just see people complaining that daima is not super and its like...i dont get it. its like being served a delicious burger and going "you know what, id rather actually just have a dog turd"

i think the u.s. starting with dbz irreparably damaged how the series is seen here; too many fans only care about the next multicolored transformation and nonsensical power progression because even though Dbz isn't that at all, without the adventurous setting and background that dragon ball introduced, that's how its seen.

dbz lampshades the whole transformation thing because even though it introduces a lot of them, super saiyan 1 is the only one that does any work for a majority of the series. the series final battle ENDS with goku going super saiyan 1 and throughout a lot of the series, its mastering that form that matters above all else. the others are either gimmicks and/or one offs. but i guess fans just took every transformation way too seriously.

and then super just...goes banana shoes with the transformations and completely shatters its own worldbuilding. you introduce the strongest character in the entire series with beerus at the very beginning. well..goku has to have a way to SORT of match him, so he gets super saiyan god. well now, youve introduced a huge problem. who could possibly stand up to goku at this point? he was already the strongest in the universe and now hes like a billion times stronger than that. well...you just introduce a bunch of new universes where lots of people are apparently that strong now, continuously and nonsensically increase the strength of beerus since they wrote themselves into a goddamn corner and bring back old ass villains from the dead and be like "he did some push-ups and now he's caught up to everyone"

and despite ALL of that, continue to introduce more and more and more multicolored transformations that are stronger than the last, but not stronger than beerus for some reason. jiren is stronger than a god of destruction? goku beats jiren with his ultimate transformation? what do you mean he's still weaker than beerus? freeza did 10 more push-ups and now hes WAY stronger than goku's ultimate form...the one that beat the dude that is supposed to be stronger than a god of destruction? man f**k you.

on the other hand you have dragon ball daima, which is not doing any of that shit, one because it's supposed to take place before super, giving it a hard limit (thank GOD) with the transformations and because it's generally slower paced and actually taking its time to flesh out its worldbuilding, unlike super. it puts a lot of weight and respect on even just the regular super saiyan form.

you still have the issue of "how do you challenge the strongest dude in the universe" which is tackled in episode one. make him a kid. introduce a new world where the atmosphere slows everything down. done. goku still is stronger than MOST of the challenges put in front of him, but he does have to work a little bit for the bigger threats, while setting up a reasonable way to challenge him for real down the road. it feels like they actually tried to come up with a solution rather than super's "everyones just as strong as gods for no reason."

they also approach the teased big bad in a smart way. who is the last villain that gave goku trouble? majin boo, who he couldn't beat with his raw power alone. so why not go that route again? you have arinsu trying to recreate some sort of boo like being ALONG with having a backup plan with the dragon balls. is bringing a new version of boo a little derivative? sure, they did that with android 21 who was an amalgamation of cell and boo, but at least in daima's context, it absolutely works because of the lore and groundwork they laid beforehand.

with all that said, seeing fans shit on daima because there isnt...ultra instinct super mega perfected times 10 form or vegeta's VERY royal blue and purple form or freeza black and yellow black and yellow black and yellow, is infuriating. like, why? that shit is so boring. and the fights in super were TERRIBLE. daima has had less than 10 episodes and i think it has already topped the best that super offered in terms of fight scene creativity and fun. Daima is also expanding dragon ball's lore in a way that feels organic to what was always already there vs the god of destructions/angels/multiverse shit that super threw in.

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nanoseven · 2 years ago

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wrote based off of this fanart by android

T-rating for some petting, and unbetaed, maybe ooc

"Let's pretend there was never any bad blood, just for a while."

Jou swings his left arm, being aware of the danger of dropping his beer can below on the snowy ground. The weather is supposed to be -20 degrees Celsius, yet the cold doesn't penetrate his coated exterior as much as the man's presence next to him.

Jou hears Kaiba's scarf ruffle, but doesn't bother to turn and look. Out of the corner of his eye, Kaiba's elbow comes into view, where instead of holding onto the handrail, he crosses his arms instead.

They both stay silent.

True, Jou acknowledges that they had their differences. Both of them come from different classes in the same caste, with Jou growing up with an alcoholic father and Kaiba with his corrupt stepfather. Both of them hold separate values and beliefs. Jou values friendships, Kaiba detests.

Jou sighs. All this time, where did they go wrong?

He finally takes the chance to peek. Kaiba's been staying silent the whole time, ever since Jou made that statement. He has seen a silent Kaiba, especially moments back at Battle City where he's standing confident and observant. Not this version of Kaiba where he's radiating vibes of uncertainty.

Not gonna lie, it's uncomfortable to see Kaiba like this. A person being unsure of his caliber is a rarity, Jou thinks, digging through his mind if he's ever seen an insecure CEO on TV. The answer is no.

Jou's mind travels to the cold, half-finished beer can he's holding. He takes a quick swing at it and closes his eyes, pretending for a brief moment he's not stuck in this situation.

"I'm gonna head back. Pretend that I neve-"

"Okay."

Jou stops in his tracks, and turns.

"What?"

Kaiba doesn't move from his spot, at first. But eventually, he turns to profile view, his left eye peering back at Jou.

An unreadable glimmer and... hope?

"Let's pretend there was never any bad blood."

A shudder goes up Jou's spine. Whether it's from the cold, or by Kaiba's surprising answer, it's hard to tell. Some days, he's predictable to read, much like back in Battle City.

And rarely, impossible. Just like now.

Jou returns back to the same spot.

"Alright, then," he breathes, and just as he lifts his arm to drink, it slips through his fingers.

"Aw, fuck!"

It doesn't take long before the can decreases in size and hits the snow, creating a small crater. Jou wonders if the contents that spilled out would cause a complaint with the tenants living below his apartment.

Surprisingly, he hears chuckling.

Jou turns to see Kaiba giving a small smile. It's the first time he's witnessing it. He's quickly recalling a time if he's ever seen it, and mentally shakes his head: no. Always the arrogant smirks, never anything genuine.

The volume beats in his ears grow large.

"Not the first time you've made that mistake," he remarks.

Another snide comment. Nevermind what he just thought now. Blood is starting to rush Jou's body, toes to head, before Jou remembers what he said earlier.

He takes a deep breath. "I know, I know," waving his hand off as he's trying to push through his silly mistake. Kaiba has never stopped to remind Jou of all the little faux pas he's made during their encounters, and this was no exception.

Think, Katsuya, think, he scrambles to find something, what can he ask? Since they're pretending now.

"Have you always had dimples?" He blurts.

Kaiba blinks multiple times. He glances down, and draws his hand up to the sides of his cheeks.

"I don't know if what you just asked was a rhetorical question, but yes, I have. I don't recall if it was from my mother or father.

"Nobody personally commented on it, until now."

Jou turns his head. Either the snow that's gently falling down, or the soft, neon lights coming from below, it's presenting Kaiba as a male lead out of a K-drama, with his three fingers holding on his chin area while wearing his winter coat and white scarf.

Jou's feeling his cheeks bloom, pretending that he's not feeling anything in his stomach.

"Well, you look... nice, like that."

Man, what is up with him today? Complimenting Kaiba, pretending that everything's fine between them.

There's tension. Kaiba doesn't respond, and instead his elbows are on the handrails again. And as per usual, Jou fucks up once again. He wonders if this is the last time they're gonna have a chance to at least be civil.

But his eyes must be deceiving him, because was Kaiba pink on the cheeks? Or was it from being cold?

"...Thank you."

It catches Jou off-guard.

"Yeah."

He pauses once more, before he clears his throat.

"You know-"

"I-"

They both interrupt each other. Jou couldn't help but laugh at the absurd coincidence.

"Alright, you go," he gestures to Kaiba.

Kaiba stands properly. He pauses for a few seconds, before he speaks.

"It's pretend, right?"

Jou is about to clench his fists, but stops himself.

"Yeah... yeah, it's just pretend." He repeats.

Sure. Pretending to not be hostile towards one another, but also: something else?

Kaiba sighs. "We can pretend we went off on the right foot. And how I never snapped at you."

Jou slowly nods.

"Pretend that I never gave you any terrible nicknames, but rather ones more on the cheeky side."

"Cheeky?"

"...Yes."

Kaiba steps closer. Jou's not sure what's happening. Either he's really into this roleplay, or he's also playing a cruel joke. Cheeky his ass.

But…

He doesn't want to break what's happening between them, so he plays along. Jou’s smart enough to know when to pick up. "We can also--" he clears his throat, "we can also be real good friends, ones where we can pick up a conversation from where we left off."

Play it safe.

Kaiba is standing much closer than the personal space they developed. More than when they threw insults at each other on a regular basis.

"We can pretend that at one point, even before we were good friends, I had feelings, and later when it felt safe, I confessed to you.

“And you said yes.”

Jou’s eyes go wide.

Kaiba is towering over him by this point. Jou can smell the faint whiff of mint coming off him. Not that he ever noticed, since he didn’t really give a shit originally. But it smells nice.

“And what?” Scratching his head, Jou chuckles nervously. “Have it so that you confess to me on this very spot? After I accidentally dropped my half-finished can?”

Kaiba doesn’t react at first, but his eyes give everything away.

“Why not.”

He raises his manicured hand, and places it on Jou’s cheek. It feels colder, but gentle. He raises his own hand in response, rough calluses from working in the construction field onto the back of the soft, piano hand skin.

“Kaiba, I -” he sighs again. “I wanna ask you something before we continue this thing.”

The aforementioned man raises his eyebrow.

Jou’s body shudders, and he can’t help but close his eyes. He takes his brief pause, before he asks.

“You weren’t pretending about having feelings… were you?”

He opens it again.

Kaiba’s staring back at him. His thumb is rubbing on Jou’s upper cheek.

“No, I wasn’t.”

The thumb stops moving. Jou’s heart is pounding in his ears, a confirmation stirring in his stomach, deep down from all the way back when Kaiba snarks about Jou’s class status and appearance, and Jou retorts back the same thing.

“What about you?” Kaiba comes back with the same question.

Two dragons, swirling and snarling at one another, a never ending cycle of revolving through the sins of fire. Each breathing out flames of pride and envy.

Any and all the memories of the arguments have vanished out of the dark crevices within Jou’s mind, leaving behind only fragments of red rose petals.

Jou’s eyes flutter, and shakes his head.

“I feel the same way.”

In a quick second, Jou’s head gets lifted with the same manicured hands before Kaiba lands a kiss. His lips are dry, yet it feels more warmth than Jou has ever experienced. He doesn’t take long to return the favour by grappling his coat lapels and opening his mouth to let him in.

He briefly flashes back to a comment he made to Kaiba about his lack of sexual experience. It’s being proven now, with Kaiba only having some bit of control. He’s clumsy, lips nor tongue not knowing the pressure points. His passion makes up for it, making Jou take the lead and subconsciously guide Kaiba, nipping his bottom lips and dragging his tongue from one side to another.

Before he pushes any further and lets his baser desires take over, Jou gently takes Kaiba’s hands and releases his kiss away from him. Kaiba’s eyes glaze over Jou, still reeling from the aftereffect.

Jou drops his head on Kaiba’s scarf, and laughs.

“Out of all things I’ve expected, this was not part of it.”

Hands cross over to Jou’s back, and pull him forward. Even though it’s quiet, Jou’s able to feel and hear Kaiba’s pumping heart rate.

“It’s better than having bad blood,” Kaiba’s voice rumbles.

Jou closes his eyes once more.

“It’s a start.”

#from fanart #puppyshipping #violetshipping #joukai #oh im tired man

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dangerzonegrunt · 2 months ago

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When the robot is trying to pretend to eat and then you say something stupid

#Battle Android 1000 #Battle Android K #Art #Original Art

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midnightcowboy1969 · 2 years ago

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My bookshelf

Hey, @beanifred <3 So, here's a big peak at my bookshelf (way too many books as I said)

Beginning with my treasures:

The "Real" Bob Steele and a man called "Brad" by Bob Nareau

The Photostory of "Battling Bob" Bob Steele by Mario DeMarco

2. The Columbo Collection

Just One More thing by Peter Falk

The Grassy Knoll by William Harrington (my enemy)

Murder by the Book by Steven Bochco

And now there's chaos:

Psycho 1 & 2 and Night-World by Robert Bolch (Norwegian edition)

Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

The Body Snatcher by Jack Finney

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Trash by Dorothy Allison (lesbian but at what cost)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

The Buddah of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (I also have American Gods but I cannot find it)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

The Complete Short Stories: Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie

Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane by Henry Farrell

The Hunter by Richard Stark

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The System by John Burke (novelization)

Alien Nation by Alan Dean Foster (novelization)

Edge of the City by Fredrick Pohl (novelization)

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

The Collector by John Fowels

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (Norwegian edition)

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (novelization)

Ninteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Jaws by Peter Benchley

Wanderer by Sterling Hayden (the actor)

The Wicker Man by Robin Hardy & Anthony Shaffer (Novelization (?))

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Terror by Dan Simmons

Papillon 1 & 2 by Henri Charrière (Norwegian editions)

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (book of all time)

The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Midnight Cowboy by John L. Herlihy

Shooting Midnight Cowboy by Glenn Frankel

Cape Fear by John D. McDonald (watch the movies)

The Bretheren by John Grisham (Norwegian edition)

Dracula by Bram Stoker

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorgood

Glitz by Elmore Leonard (Norwegian edition)

The Big Sleep and Other Novels by Raymond Chandler (the other novels are Farwell My Lovely and The Long Goodbye)

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Client by John Grisham (Norwegian edition)

Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

Legion (Exorcist 2) by William Peter Blatty

La Peste by Albert Camu (Norwegian edition)

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink & Jeffery Cranor (not read)

The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg

The Day of the Dolphin by Robert Merle

Local Hero by David Benedictus (novelization)

The Glass Cage by Colin Wilson

American Psycho by Brett E. Ellis

Fools Die by Mario Puzo (Norwegian edition)

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

The Sicilian by Mario Puzo (Norwegian edition)

Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin (Norwegian edition) + Four different Game of Thrones books in Norwegian

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card

The Betsy by Harold Robbins (Norwegian edition)

Aliens by Alan Dean Foster (novelization)

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

The Auctioneer by Joan Samson

Timeline by Michael Crichton

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Red Dragon by Thomas Harris

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Dune, The Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert

Hitchiker's Guide to the Galxy by Douglas Adams

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Trumpet by Jackie Kay

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman (short story collection that made me dislike short stories)

Mr. Monk in Trouble by Lee Goldberg (my enemy)

Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop by Lee Goldberg (I hate him)

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Wolf

Oranges are not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Maurice by E. M. Forster

The Case of the Gilded Lily by Erle Stanley Gardner (Norwegian edition)

The Case of the Glamorous Ghost by Erle Stanley Gardner (Norwegian edition)

Something Happened by Joseph Heller

Marathon Man by William Goldman

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley (Norwegian edition)

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurt

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Norwegian edition)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three by John Godey (bad)

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

Killing Time by Della Van Hise (Star Trek Spinoff Spirk book)

Star Trek: Department of Temportal Investigations: Forgotten History by Christopher L. Bennet

Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Missing by Una McCormack

Star Trek Enterprise: Rise of the Federation: Uncertain Logic by Christopher L. Bennett

7. Stephen King Collection

Outsider

If it Bleeds

On Writing

Blaze

Carrie

The Stand

Hearts in Atlantis (Norwegian edition)

The Tommyknockers

Cujo

Thinner (Norwegian edition)

The Shining

Night Shift

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (Norwegian edition)

Dreamcatcher

Doctor Sleep

Rose Madder

Pet Sematary

Christine

Salem's Lot

Dolores Claiborne (Norwegian edition)

The Bachman Books

The Institute

Insomnia

Misery

Finders Keepers

End of Watch

Firestarter

The Body

Needful Things (Norwegian edition)

Bag of Bones

8. Not pictured

A collection of Sherlock Holmes books

Many Hardy Boys books

Chilly Scenes of Winter by Ann Beattie

Some comic books

I believe this is approximately everything lol.

My dream is to have a small cozy rooms dedicated to the books I own. It won't happen any time soon.

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toku-explained · 1 year ago

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Brother's Creation

Arc: As a Kaiju rampages in Hoshimoto City, the people are suddenly saved by a Giant. News reports on the giant appearing 3 months ago, and defeating every Kaiju to rampage recently, but the Global Defence Force are still investigating the reason Kaiju appear and the giant, and public opinion is mixed, but Kaiju have appeared since K-Day 16 years ago. At SKIP, Scientific Kaiju Investigation and Prevention center, android YouPi is trying to explain to a caller that they don't fight Kaiju but investigate them. Hize Yuma arrives, only to be told he should have met with Chief Ban Hiroshi and Natsume Rin at the Monohorn's unmanned monitoring spot, as an anomaly was detected. Rin and the Chief discuss the Monohorn, which has remained in place since K-Day, the remains of one of the Seven Kaiju that appeared on K-Day, specifically the sole Space Kaiju, Rin thinks the GDF should remove it and study it properly. Yuma arrives, and tried to analyse the reported life sign, the signal approaches and what looks like an organ erupts from the Monohorn, and Yuma chases. Rin contacts YouPi to assist, YouPi launches his drone head You, while his body, Pi, man's the center. Yuma and You meet up, and Yuma chases the creature into a cave, only to be chased out by a Shagong. He's saved by blasts from a man he passed earlier, which lead Shagong to retreat. Back at the SKIP, the man explains he is Ishido Shu, and investigator from GDF's space science division, here to look into the Monohorn anomaly. Yuma notes that it's odd the Shagong emerged at this time of year, and was eating rocks given they are carnivores, Ishido shows data on the other entity, the parasitic organism Oo-ze, which arrive via Space Kaiju and feed on Calcium Carbonate. 4 have previously appeared overseas, and it will cause the host to grow to full size in a matter of days. They wonder how it remained undetected so long, and what awoke it now. After Ishido deals with the shock that they don't have coffee, You reports via Pi on Shagong's progress and growth travelling along a main road, heading for a Calcium Carbonate manufacturer. SKIP prepare to at, as Ban contacts the Kaiju Response Unit, as the others prepare to lead evacuation. As they're enroute Ban explains to Yuma he didn't know about Oo-ze because the GDF control data on space Kaiju. Shagong emerged, and the Kaiju Response Unit begins their assault. Yuma realises as the attacks are failing that Oo-ze has multiplied inside Shagong, and rescues a worker from a group of Oo-ze, and is in turn saved by Ishido, who is then hit by rubble and knocked out. The giant speaks to Yuma, offering his power again. Yuma activates an Arc Cube, and summons the Arc Ariser, placing the cube inside and activating it, and becomes the giant placing Ishido in safety, the man begins filming. There's a tough battle, and Arc finds himself blocking attacks with a barrier as time runs out. The Giant invites Yuma to use his imagination, so he breaks the Barrier in two and stabs into Shagong and blasts it with the Arc Finalize, then defeats the giant Oo-ze that emerges with the Arc Eye Sword. Yuma reunites with everyone, Ishido is collecting samples from an Oo-ze, all the young died when the mother did, and believes they should thank the Giant someday, dubbing him Ultraman Arc, after the arc the Giant left when it flew away. A few days later, Ban introduces the newly assigned GDF member to their branch, Ishido Sho, who has brought his own coffee machine.

Gotchard: Minato gets himself trapped with Renge and Rinne after being updated on the situation, and Arumi runs off due to finding Spanner's attitude annoying. Kongou explains her history with Greyon, when they detect interference with the barrier. Spanner goes, but when Hotaro tries to take Sabimaru as well Kenichi snaps at his brother putting him down, and Hotaro decides to instead to ask Sabimaru about KameDoon. Sabimaru explains he drew a turtle Chemy as a kid, and Kenichi added the cannon, so they dubbed it KamenDoon, and Kenichi suggested they alchemise it. Sabimaru was too keen when they tried, but the incomplete KameDoon was created, but Kenichi concluded they had made a mistake, prompting Sabimaru to deface the drawing, from then on Kenichi was cold to him. Spanner finds Greyon at the barrier, he no longer is interested in Spanner, and so no uses Gérmain's power to summon a Golem to fight him. By the time Hotaro arrives to help Spanner Greyon is gone. Sabimaru goes to his brother, trying to express that he's glad their creation of KameDoon has helped Kongou Lab's research, but Kenichi accuses him of being angry at him for claiming his work, and throws Sabimaru's tablet, saying he shouldn't need ISAAC anymore. He's then tormented by Sabimaru admitting this, an illusion brought on by Greyon, who thanks Kenichi for his work, not on KameDoon, but ISAAC, be takes it and envelopes Kenichi on gold. By the time Gotchard and Valvarad have defeated the Golem, the Lab is in flames, most everyone is evacuated, and Greyon is happy to just leave everyone with the Malgam. Sabimaru informs Gotchard the Malgam is his brother, the form has now stabilised as a mix of the two states. Arumi is found to still be in the building, so they send Valvarad to find her. Sabimaru tries to confront Greyon, who amused gives him a preview of what he needs ISAAC for, converting into a Dread Driver and activating his first AI controlled Dread Trooper. Despite his trauma from Dread Sabimaru is determined to fight, and recognising this, Hotaro lends him the Exgotchaliber. Kenichi keeps ranting about how he was trying to protect Sabimaru from making more Chemies, but Sabimaru has always known both of them alchemised KameDoon indeed it's actions seem focused on repairing the brother's bond. Arumi's ISAAC helps Spanner find her. Greyon whispers to Kongou before vanishing. Rainbow Gotchard defeats the Malgam and passes KameDoon to Sabimaru, who uses it in the Exgotchaliber to defeat the Dread Trooper. Spanner understands the value of the research, KameDoon heads off somewhere else, seemingly now complete. Back at the academy Sabimaru is glad to see his drawing restored. And, while snowing affection only to Atropos, Greyon begins mass-producing his Dread Drivers.

Boonboomger: Saibu imagines herself and Boonboom as Orihime and Hikoboshi, but recognises she shouldn't be out with him in public, only to see a bunch of kids wanting to to meet ByunD whose walking with Sakito, she scolds them, but they're hungry for onigiri. She takes them to the garage where they devour Boonboom's curry, and after a tense discussion Sakito offers intel he remembers for food. ByunD is weirdly knowledgeable about Tanabata, but causes Boonboom to mention bad memories of the Milky Way, confusing ByunD, Boonboom is shocked he doesn't remember the Milky Way Circuit. ByunD remembers and tells him it's in the past, but Boonboom is now in a bad mood. The Sanseaters see a woman celebrating payday, and turn an ATM into a Kurumajin. Boonboom explains how in a qualifier for the Big Bang Grand Prix, he'd had the lead on the Milky Way Circuit and ByunD had been on his tail. There was a safe route or a risky jump, at the last moment Boonboom lost his nerve and took the safe route, while ByunD barreled ahead. Boonboom acknowledges it's not really ByunD's fault and he shouldn't be letting it get to him still. Saibu is alerted to Hashiliens. Sakito is first in the scene and confronting the Hashiliens, followed by the arrival of Mira, Jou and Genba, who save people trapped under Hashilien money, and Jou tears the bill he grabbed. At last Taiya and Chasshiro, who were at the Garage, arrive. BunViolet throws off the roll call timing. When Mira is hit by the weight of money, Chasshiro realises the attack crushes you with the physical weight of your assets, as such they force Taiya to retreat from the battle, as he would be crushed. The next money weight attack, Chassiro has everyone hide behind Jou, knowing he just spent a lot of money and is broke currently, then they use the opening to defeat the Kurumajin. Yarucar Highway Beams the Kurumaju, and ByoonByoom Mach Robo and Boonboomger Robo stand ready to fight. ByoonByoom Mach Robo loses it's mobility edge when hit, as ByunD has a nest egg, Sakito unaware of this. ByunD encourages Boonboom to use his wings, everyone encouraging him not to fear the skies anymore, and so Wing Boonboomger Robo takes flight. Inspired by the combination, Taiya returns to the cockpit, and the fly above the Kurumaju to get hit, using the weight to increase the power of the attack. Back at the garage, Mira has everyone write their Tanabata wishes.

#toku explained #kamen rider gotchard #bakuage sentai boonboomger #ultraman arc

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edogawa-division · 2 years ago

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ARB Birthday Special 2023: Kaoru Shinozaki

~~ September 15th ~~

“There is no great genius without a mixture of madness.”

“Zzzzzzz…. Gah! I'm up! I'm awake! Oh shit, you scared me! Don't do that! I can feel my heart pounding! Huh? Is this a present?”

“Why are you even giving this to me? It’s not like my birthday is anytime soon. Wait, what do you mean today is my birthday? Athena dammit! I forgot again!”

Voice Lines:

“I can't believe I forgot about my birthday for the second year in a row. I mean, I did spend the last few days working on an invention. Oh well, I might as well see what chaos I can get up to today.”

“Alright! “Operation: Birthday Bash” is a go! Mwahahaha! Major intelligence agencies all across the world are currently waking up to a malware virus that I just sent to their servers!*giggles* It's nothing too bad. All it's going to do is forcibly take control of their speaker systems and play “Never Gonna Give You Up” on repeat all day. Take that you fuckers!”

“Hi Mama, Papa, Nii-san. It's me. I’m doing alright, just turned 23, but I'm sure you all knew that.*sighs* Lately, I've been thinking about what my life would be like if the accident never happened. I think…I would've been miserable, and isn't that a horrible thought? I never said this, but for all that you loved me, none of you ever bothered to understand me. How could you? I was too different. What? You don't think I heard you talking at night? That you thought I walked the line between genius and insanity. That you thought I would grow up to be a villain? That some days you were even afraid of me? Ha! A part of me resents you for that even now.”

“You know A.D.A is usually the first one to wish me happy birthday, but I haven't heard from her all day, which is pretty strange. I think she’s planning something because she asked me a while back if I had any plans for my birthday all while looking like the cat who ate the canary. Ehhhh…I should probably prepare for the worst. A.D.A can get pretty vindictive when the mood hits her.”

“Yurikoooo! What did you get me? Noooo! Betrayed by my own mother! Next thing you know I’ll be left out on the cold streets to fend for myself. Oh, the horror! *wheezes* Okay, okay, I’m done! Oh, come on, Yuriko! It's my birthday. Let me live a little! Anyway, did you not really get me anything? Hahaha! I knew you’d never let me down! So, whatcha get me?”

“A string of numbers? Wait, are these what I think they are? Fuck…Yuriko that place is literally one of the best guarded networks in the world. I could spend years attempting to hack it as Delphi, and even then, I would only be able to make a dent in their firewall. Literally, the only ones allowed to have access to that place are the top and, I mean, top dogs of the underworld. So why? Why give this to me? Why give me access to… somewhere where I make the worst of my genius blossom to life with no consequences? A storm, huh? You can count on me, Yuriko. I promise.”

“No wait Kanra! *crunch* K-K-Kanra it seems like your birthday hugs get stronger every year huh? My ribs certainly can tell. Oh, what are we waiting for then? You know I love your cakes Kanra! Hahaha! Okay, then what did you get me?”

“Pfffffftt! Kanra that thing is nearly as tall as you are! Hahaha! No, but seriously Kanra thank you. I've always wanted one of these. How did you even get one anyway? This thing is kinda of expensive. *wheeze* Kanra please! You can't treat a fight like it's a Pokémon battle. Hahaha! Never change Kanra.”

“A.D.A! There you are! You're even in your android body, too! So I can only assume you have something special planned for me today. A.D.A…your grin is kind of scaring me. The last time you grinned like that, you didn't let me have coffee for 2 weeks. Oh gods, you are banning me from coffee again! A.D.A, please! I need coffee to survive! A.D.A…you’re still not filling me with confidence, but alright, what did you get me?”

“Uhhh…A.D.A? This is just a piece of paper with a time and a set of directions on it. Of course a…A.D.A WHAT DO YOU MEAN DATE??? Y-y-you…dinner…him…error…error…asdkhgkjiwenfkdklyyxgsitzfzjfzkfoxyoaryhdftwehadghffnjkelfhewnejwnjb…*faints*”

Yuriko Lines:

“Happy Birthday, Kaoru. *raises eyebrow* Does it look like I'm carrying a gift for you? *sighs* Are you done with your little charade Kaoru? Birthday or not, please do not wail like you’re the ghost of a Victorian child. Really? Do you truly believe I would get you anything? What kind of mother would I be if I didn't get my own daughter anything? Now I'm sure you’ll find this quite interesting.”

“Not just any set of numbers, Kaoru. I had to pull quite a few strings for these numbers. As you know, there's the black market which even a regular citizen can get access to if they look hard enough and then there's █ █ █ █ █ █ █. A global network of various dealers and brokers, hidden behind a series of codes and unknown numbers. Where only the truly dangerous lie, both people and items. It’s so well hidden that not even the various governments are aware of its existence, or if they do, all they know is rumors. Kaoru, I won't lie. A storm is brewing and heading our way. I’m not sure when or how, but I’ll be damned if I don't do everything in my power to make sure the three of us survive. If that means giving you access to someplace where you can be the worst version of yourself, then so be it. I know Kaoru, I know.”

Kanra Lines:

“Happy Birthday Kaoru! *hugs* Eh? Sorry! Guess I got a little too excited. Ah! Nevermind that! Come on Kaoru! I have your birthday cake in the kitchen! First I have to give you your present! I hope you like it!”

“Ta-da! Your very own giant Mareep doll! It is not! I can see over it! Hm? Oh right. So every time I beat someone unconscious I rummage through their wallets and steal all the cash they have on them. Why not? Winner’s rights! If people wanna pick a fight with me they better be prepared to fork over some cash when they lose!”

Bonus! A.D.A Lines:

“Kaoru my dear! Happy Birthday! Oh, I have just a little something special for you today. *grins widely* Hm? Hahaha! Don’t be so scared, Kaoru, it's nothing like that. I will admit that it was a bit hard to work on the plan without you noticing, but I succeeded. Now, here I have something for you!”

“Why is it the time and location for your dinner reservation for your date with that pretty goth boy! Of course! He seemed surprised when I asked him. He was under the impression that you would be spending your birthday with Yuriko and Kanra, but I waved off his concern and told him you would love it if he took you out for dinner! Oh dear, her mind is erroring. Are you alright, Kaoru? Kaoru? AHH! SHE FAINTED!”

#hypnosis microphone #hypnosis mic #hypmic #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic oc #edogawa division #wicked requiem #shinozaki kaoru #kuromiya yuriko #akemi kanra #a.d.a #alternative rap battle #arb #happy birthday kaoru 2023

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konmarkimageswords · 2 years ago

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Philip K. Dick (1928-82) was the kind of science-fiction writer who is read and praised by people who don’t like science fiction. His fame moved beyond the genre’s ghetto after some of his novels and short stories were turned into movies—Blade Runner (1982), Minority Report (2002), and A Scanner Darkly (2006), to name a few. He is sometimes compared to Jorge Luis Borges, one of the finest short-story writers, and his work has influenced many authors (genre-bending Jonathan Lethem, for example) and filmmakers (the Wachowski brothers, directors of The Matrix).

Just as critics dub certain writers’ visions of the world “Orwellian” or “Kafkaesque,” some now use the awkward term “Dickian.” Dick’s paranoid vision is a unique, sad, funny, and—in its strange and sometimes very moving manner—even ennobling way to think about what we are meant to be as humans. In his later work, Dick’s outlook became deeply, even explicitly, informed by a Gnostic sense of the struggle to be fully human. Ancient Gnosticism was, among other things, concerned with the dilemma of humanity trapped in delusion, imprisoned in a world ruled by malign and unseen forces—a recurrent theme in Dick’s work.

What does science fiction have to say about human nature? For many serious readers, this is GeekCity, a corner of genre fiction inhabited by sad and lonely people who go to Star Trek conventions and collect action figures. The science-fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon is credited with what has entered the wider critical discourse as “Sturgeon’s Law.” When it was said of science fiction that “90 percent of it is crap,” his answer was, “90 percent of everything is crap.” Who can disagree? Serious science-fiction criticism finds examples of imagined alternatives that illuminate our own world in Plato’s description of Atlantis in the Timaeus, in his vision of an ideal society in The Republic, and in Thomas More’s imaginary society in Utopia. Some writers prefer another name for the genre, “speculative fiction,” since much science fiction has little to do with science. Whatever term you choose, the best examples show that one way to see our situation clearly is to imagine another, very different one. This can be done by placing a story in the remote past, an alternative present, or a near or far future. Philip K. Dick was the writer who did it best.

The animating idea behind Dick’s fiction—hardly original in itself—is that things are not as they seem. This is, of course, a major part of any religious insight—and as an Episcopalian, Dick understood this. Walker Percy’s essay “The Message in the Bottle,” for example, describes an island (this could be the beginning of a sci-fi plot) where everything is pleasant. Life seems good for all its inhabitants; then someone walking along a beach finds a bottle with the message, “Don’t despair, help is on the way.” This is what the Christian gospel says to a complacent, obtuse world, and it is not unlike one of Dick’s plots. In many of his stories, as in Gnostic theology, the world is depicted as not merely asleep, but deliberately deceived. Any remedy or salvation will therefore have to include a battle against powers that not only seem insane, but are evil. Overcoming the ruse requires special insight or special revelation that is shared by only a few.

This theme of widespread deception is woven throughout several of his plots. In The Simulacra (1964), the U.S. president is an android, but the citizenry has no idea. In The Penultimate Truth (1964), World War III starts with a fight between two superpowers. The battle begins on Mars, spreads to Earth, and is fought by robots. Humans are forced to live and work underground in huge shelters. The war ends, but the people are told that the battle rages above them on an uninhabitable surface. Meanwhile, the authorities continue to generate false war stories while they themselves live a bucolic life on the earth above. In The Zap Gun (1967), two great superpowers are at peace, and citizens of both nations are reassured that they are secure because of their side’s superior arsenal—but the weapons are designed not to function. Weapon design is, in effect, a kind of conceptual art, although the fact that the weapons do not work is kept from the masses. This is what keeps the world truly disarmed. When aliens threaten the earth, the weapon designers have to come up with something that really functions. There is an implicit Gnosticism here: only a select few know what is going on; most of humanity is sleepwalking.

This isn’t a happy point of view, to be sure. Yet what’s missing from the film adaptations of Dick’s work (of which the best are Minority Report and the director’s cut of Blade Runner) is Dick’s humor. Even his darkest stories are laced with funny moments. Another quality missing in the movies is Dick’s enduring compassion for the sadness of ordinary, confused human existence. His stories usually take place in a future, or in an alternate reality, where paranoia reigns, where appearances cannot be trusted, where people may be androids—robots made to resemble humans—and androids may be whatever human beings are, where the world we are presented with is a lie.

Dick’s life was messy. (Lawrence Sutin has written a good biography, Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick, Carrol & Graf, 2005.) He was born inChicago in 1928 and died in 1982; his twin sister died in infancy. Dick’s parents moved toCalifornia and divorced. He lived with his mother until he matriculated at UC Berkeley for a short time, majoring in German. He was fascinated by German culture. After dropping out of college, he worked in a record store, and music plays an important part in much of his work. He was married and divorced five times, used drugs, was convinced at various points that the FBI was after him, feared for his sanity, and hoped for spiritual deliverance.

At the same time, Dick felt a keen loyalty to many friends, whose lives were often as complicated as his own. His novels are full of regular people with ordinary, often dull jobs; they struggle for decency, sometimes fail, sometimes succeed. There is always something sad, frustrating, and funny about their struggles, and I can’t think of another science-fiction writer who comes close to describing this sort of ordinary life with such compassion. The science-fiction novelist Ursula K. Le Guin once wrote that Dick’s characters reminded her of Dickens’s; sometimes you remember one and can’t place which novel he or she appears in, but the humanity remains vivid. Dick drew from his own life, sometimes quite directly, in writing his novels. A Scanner Darkly is about drug use—based in large part on his own experience—and it’s scary. It begins, “Once a guy stood all day shaking bugs from his hair.” It contains the only funny suicide scene I’ve ever read, and at the end of the novel Dick uncharacteristically explains what he has just written:

This is a novel about some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did. They wanted to have a good time, but they were like children playing in the street; they could see one after another of them being killed—run over, maimed, destroyed—but they continued to play anyhow…. Drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to step out in front of a moving car. You would call that not a disease but an error in judgment. When a bunch of people begin to do it, it is a social error, a lifestyle. In this particular lifestyle the motto is “Be happy now because tomorrow you are dying,” but the dying begins almost at once, and the happiness is a memory. It is, then, only a speeding up, an intensifying, of the ordinary human existence. It is not different from your lifestyle, it is only faster.

Before movies made him known beyond science-fiction circles, Dick’s best-known work was The Man in the High Castle. It won the Hugo award (science fiction’s highest) in 1962. It describes an alternative 1962 America, in which the Nazis and the Japanese won World War II. There are some nicely imagined touches (Americans forge Wild West artifacts to sell to wealthy Japanese collectors; Germans fly rapidly around the world not in jets, but in passenger rockets), but at the center of the novel is a search for the author of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, an alternative-world tale in which Germany and Japan were defeated. This alternative world is not the one we know, the one that really followed from the defeat of Hitler; and finally, it is suggested that the world the protagonists live in isn’t real either. The I Ching, an ancient Chinese text, figures in the book’s plot, and Dick apparently used its chance-based methods of divination in composing the story. Although Dick never alluded to it, this sense of not being able to know what reality really is reminded me of the Taoist sage Chuang Tsu’s dream that he was a butterfly: it wasn’t clear to him whether he was Chuang Tsu dreaming that he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming that he was Chuang Tsu.

In 1978, Dick delivered a lecture, “How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later.” In it, he said: “The two basic topics that fascinate me are ‘What is reality?’ and ‘What constitutes the authentic human being?’” This fascination went back to his first published story, “Roog,” which ��had to do with a dog who imagined that the garbage men who came every Friday morning were stealing valuable food that the family had carefully stored away in a safe metal container. Every day, members of the family carried out paper sacks of nice ripe food, stuffed them into the metal container, shut the lid tightly—and when the container was full, these dreadful-looking creatures came and stole everything but the can… [T]he dog’s extrapolation was in a sense logical, given the facts at his disposal.”

Dick’s approach was not always so light. In an angry short story about abortion, “The Pre-Persons,” he wrote of a future in which the courts had decided that a person was a real human being only when capable of doing algebra. Children not yet old enough to grasp algebraic concepts lived in dread of extermination trucks that could come and take them away. Dick’s antiabortion stance led the feminist science-fiction writer Joanna Russ to send Dick a letter, “the nastiest letter I’ve ever received.” Although he later apologized for any hurt feelings, he said, “for the pre-persons’ sake, I am not sorry.”

If Dick’s early work sometimes had an implicitly Gnostic aspect, that quality became more explicit in his later writing. In 1974, Dick, recovering from minor surgery, answered his door for a delivery of painkillers. The young woman delivering the medication was wearing a fish pendant, and when he asked what it was, she told him that it was a sign worn by the early Christians. In “How to Build a Universe,” he writes,

I suddenly experienced what I later learned is called anamnesis—a Greek word meaning, literally, “loss of forgetfulness.” I remembered who I was and where I was. In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, it all came back to me. And not only could I remember it but I could see it. The girl was a secret Christian and so was I. We lived in fear of detection by the Romans. We had to communicate with secret signs. She had just told me all this, and it was true.

For a short time, as hard as this is to believe or explain, I saw fading into view the black, prison-like contours of hatefulRome. But, of much more importance, I remembered Jesus, who had just recently been with us, and had gone temporarily away, and would very soon return. My emotion was one of joy. We were secretly preparing to welcome him back. It would not be long. And the Romans did not know. They thought he was dead, forever dead. That was our great secret, our joyous knowledge. Despite all appearances, Christ was going to return, and our delight and anticipation was boundless.

Dick was never entirely clear about what that experience meant. But he was convinced that something of great significance had happened to him, and wrote at length about his encounters with what he called “the cosmic Christ” in a free-form journal called “The Exegesis,” in which he understood Christ as part of a continuity which included Ikhnaton, Zoroaster, and Hephaestus. This syncretism is typical of Gnosticism. Dick’s efforts to explain what all this meant are less interesting than the work that came from the experience, his final three novels.

Dick’s visions and dreams coalesced in the VALIS trilogy—VALIS being an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System, or God (of a sort). The most tangled, complicated, and autobiographical is the first, VALIS (1981). It is the least successful of the three, but worth reading because of its seriousness and its painful closeness to Dick’s own life. The plot of VALIS contains not only autobiographical fragments, but a movie with a secret meaning and a rock-star couple whose daughter, Sophia, is thought by some to be the returned Savior. The novel wrestles with the first question that haunted Dick—“What is reality?”—and it suggests one good answer, based on a real incident in Dick’s life. When a student asked him during a lecture for a simple definition of reality, he answered, “Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, it doesn’t go away.” Toward the end of the book Dick writes, “I lack Kevin’s faith and Fat’s madness…. I don’t know what to think. Maybe I am not required to think anything, or to have faith, or to have madness; maybe all that I need to do—all that is asked of me—is to wait. To wait and to stay awake.”

The second book of the trilogy, The Divine Invasion (1981), tells of an exiled or absent God—another Gnostic theme—trying to return to earth, which has been held captive by Belial, a fallen angel, since the fall of Masada. The novel involves a virgin birth, which perplexes the Catholic woman who is pregnant with a divine child. She says remotely, “Catholic doctrine, I never thought it would apply to me personally.” The child must struggle to awaken to his own identity. As in classic Gnostic teaching, a perverse power holds the world in its grasp, and it is represented by both the established church (the Christian-Islamic Church) and the imperial political establishment, whose members are uncomfortably but profitably allied. The Divine Invasion is an amazing story of parallel realities, redemption, and the war between good and evil, with a wonderful ending.

The final novel in the trilogy, the last Dick completed, is The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (1982). The author based Bishop Timothy Archer on Episcopalian Bishop James Pike, who went on an odd pilgrimage into the Judean desert with too little preparation and died of exposure. So does Timothy Archer, in search of the truth about Gnostic scroll fragments. Archer is a complicated character: brilliant and selfish, genuinely insightful and clueless. The novel is narrated by Archer’s daughter-in-law, Angel Archer. In Dick’s novels, the point of view frequently shifts from person to person; but here Angel is the sole narrator, and her voice carries the novel, which contains serious arguments about Gnosticism and a few genuinely funny and politically incorrect jokes.

In these and his other stories, Dick creates characters who struggle not only for salvation, for ultimate truths, but sometimes merely to be decent human beings—and the two struggles are really one. What reality is and what it means to be authentically human are intrinsically linked. Dick’s answers, such as they are, range randomly from new-age nonsense, through his own episodes of delusion and paranoia, to a Gnostic Christianity that contains more of the pain and compassion of real Christianity than most Gnostic visions. Many Gnostic writings advance an elitism that delights in being among the chosen in whom the divine light resides. Dick saw glimmers of the shattered divine light in many confused and struggling people, and he found something of cosmic significance there, both in the light and in the struggle. His finest novel, The Divine Invasion, for example, ends with the fall of Belial, the angelic dark force that held the good God at bay. Belial “lay broken everywhere, vast and lovely and destroyed. In pieces, like damaged light.”

“This is how he was once,” Linda said. “Originally. Before he fell. This was his original shape. We called him the Moth. The Moth that fell slowly, over thousands of years, intersecting the earth, like a geometrical shape descending stage by stage until nothing remained of its shape.”

Herb Asher said, “He was very beautiful.”

“He was the morning star,” Linda said. “The brightest star in the heavens. And now nothing remains of him but this….”

“Will he ever be as he once was?” Herb Asher said.

“Perhaps,” she said. “Perhaps we all may be.” And then she sang for Herb Asher one of the Dowland songs…. The most tender, the most haunting song that she had adapted from John Dowland’s lute books:

When the poor cripple by the pool did lie Full many years in misery and pain, No sooner he on Christ had set his eye, But he was well, and comfort came again.

Philip K. Dick’s fiction—perhaps because most of it was written in a genre known for conceptual risk-taking—dealt in an unembarrassed way with questions involving the ultimate meaning of our lives in a tone that was compassionate, often funny, and at some unexpected moments very moving.

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britesparc · 2 years ago

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Weekend Top Ten #598

Top Ten Star Wars Droids

I wanted to do something this week to commemorate the release of Ahsoka, the brand new Star Wars TV series about, er, Ahsoka. She’s the padawan who was trained by Anakin and who ended up leaving the Jedi Order just in time to not be massacred by, er, Anakin. And she’s popped up in live-action in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, played by Rosario Dawson. And now she’s back! In her own show! Which hopefully won’t require me to have watched a trillion episodes of Clone Wars and Rebels to understand its various nuances. Because, er, I haven’t.

Anyway: Star Wars. I’ve written a little bit before how the bloom’s come off the rose for me, and how I’m just not very arsed anymore about anything to do with a galaxy far, far away. Having said that, I’m still quite excited about Ahsoka, even though the last time I was really excited was for the slightly disappointing Obi-Wan Kenobi, which left me wondering if I could ever feel the way I felt about the second season of Mando ever again. But Ahsoka has more Hot Jedi Action and David Tennant as a droid.

Which brings me to this week’s list. Because I do love Star Wars; the history and mythology and the breadth of the films and spin-offs. And I think one of the things it does really, really well is Give Good Droid. Here’s a fun aside: Star Wars owns the term “droid”, which I just figured was short for “android”, but is technically a Star Wars Term. Anyway, Star Wars has the best of all kinds of robots, which is quite a claim to make for a Transformers fan. I think what seals the deal is how weird, outlandish, and varied they are; not just valve-headed automatons, you’ve got men-in-suit type dealios, but also humanoid robots that are impossible – hollow-limbed, skinny, composed of irregular shapes; droids that could only be droids. Then you’ve got a variety of bucket-headed contraptions, clunking around on stubby legs or wheeling about; beeping, whirring little suckers. Then there are teeny tiny things, or spider-legged things, or flying things; all sorts of robotic buddies. It makes for a wild and wacky universe, and helps sell not just the fantastical nature of Star Wars, but also the in-universe ordinariness of these things.

So this is a list of my favourite droids from Star Wars. Mostly the films, coz I’ve not really watched much of the animated series.

And, for the record, I do actually think Ahsoka looks pretty ace.

C-3PO and R2-D2: yes, of course I’m cheating and sticking them together; how could I not? Long before those two women whose names nobody knew kissed for eighteen frames of Rise of Skywalker, we had the franchise’s premier gay couple; the bickering old marrieds of Artoo and Threepio. Like a classic British sitcom double-act, Threep’s all hifalutin and priggish and big-headed; whilst his cooler, cockier other half is the real brains of the outfit. But despite their contrasting personalities and temper tantrums, there is genuine love and affection between the pair; so much so that it make the franchise’s treatment of droids feel incredibly dark.

K-2SO: a bandy-legged, towering figure, a former “bad droid” programmed to be good but still with a rather dour demeanour. His deadpan hatred of Jyn Erso and matter-of-fact pronouncements of doom is a source of great humour, so when he does eventually show her affection it means something; his heroic sacrifice is the throat-lumpiest moment in a movie full of sad, tragic, early deaths.

B1-series Battle Droids: I’m trying to stick to individual droids but that can’t always happen; here we have the whole lot of them, those beige “Roger, Roger” dudes with their adorably droopy faces, silly walks, and delightfully clanky sound effects. I just adore them; they really took a technology that couldn’t have existed (CG characters) to make something that felt of a piece with the old, classic Star Wars universe. They were funny but also felt like a threat; the moment they unfurl from their troop carrier has real menace. Shout out, too, to their bigger brothers, the B2, with their mean-looking sunken heads and gun-arms.

L3-37: a droid with a circular head, a real sense of character, and perhaps a bit of a delusion (or perhaps not…?). Like Alan Tudyk’s Kaytoo and Athony Daniels’ Threepio, there’s a lot to love here due to the droid’s performer; Elthree feels so Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She’s funny but also adds a lot of pathos to the film, with her championing of droid rights and (again) her tragic demise. She gets to live on as, essentially, the Millennium Falcon, which is pretty cool. But at the end of the day, it’s her weirdly sexual relationship with Lando that earns her a spot; although thinking about it, everyone’s relationship with Lando is weirdly sexual.

DUM-series Pit Droids: again with the entire series, but what’s not to love about these flat-headed collapsible robo-Stooges? Dorky little dudes who get into fights, carry heavy loads, and generally dick about causing a mess. They were funny in Phantom Menace and – if anything – even funnier on Mando. I just think they’re neat.

IG-11: another one of the newer droids, and another one who’s greatness may just be down to the really cool actor playing him. But we get a few different shades here; the murder-bot whose only function is to kill; and the nurture bot who will do anything to protect his charge. Again, he’s a droid who bows out tragically, but then – sort of – comes back again. And he remains funny and deadpan, his every deliverance in a soft, staccato Kiwi accent. It’s a bit gross that they used his body as a statue though.

R4-P17: perhaps an obscure one, but I adore her; she’s Obi-Wan Kenobi’s ill-fated little astromech droid, popping up in his Jedi starfighter to help guide him round the galaxy, release a tray of pots and pans to confuse Jango Fett, and transmit a message to the Jedi Council care of “the Old Folk’s Home”, something I’ve found intriguing and delightful since 2002. She has to put up with Obi-Wan’s grumpiness and – frankly – his dose of droid-racism, as well as living in the shadow of Anakin’s droid, Artoo. She dies tragically, too, decapitated by a buzz droid; it’s not played quite as heroically as some of these other droids.

EV-9D9 and 8D8: another couple; and I may be wrong (can’t be arsed trawling Wookieepedia) but I think they may actually be a couple, too. Anyway, these are also a touch obscure, but they’re Jabba the Hutt’s fantastic torture-droids. EV (Eevee?) is the red one with the cool flappy mouth who checks Artoo and Threepio in when Luke “gives” them to Jabba; “you’re a feisty one, but you’ll soon learn some respect”. 8D, meanwhile, is the lanky white one who’s cruelly burning a Gonk Droid and pulling the arms off a protocol droid. Together, they’re an ace pair of metal bastards; and I had both toys. Yay for torture!

GNK Power Droids: Gonk Droids; these are Gonk Droids. They’re massive cuboid things with fat little square feet, farting about in slow motion making stupid comedy sounds. Apparently they’re mobile power batteries, but who cares? They’re just a box on (short) legs, with no distinguishing features, and they make a silly noise and I love them to bits.

MSE-6 series Mouse Droids: ah, of course; how could we forget the remote-controlled toasters? Talk about your world-building, the fact that these tiny shoeboxes on wheels were tear-arsing around the Death Star corridors, utterly ignored by everyone, was another major facet in establishing the lived-in nature of this universe; these kinds of small, everyday droids were utterly commonplace. They also make a funny noise, and get scared when a Wookiee roars at them, and they’re just delightful.

Blimey, ten droids already! And that’s with me cheekily sticking some together in one entry. I know what you’re all thinking: no BB-8, what a travesty. But really I’m more gutted I couldn’t find room for one of those exploding Imperial probe droids; or even better, R5-D4, the little astromech who blows a gasket in A New Hope leading to Uncle Owen buying Artoo instead. I once read a story where Arfive was the first droid to develop the Force, and he foresaw the need for Artoo to be placed with Luke, and so heroically sacrificed himself. Anyway, he turned up again in Mando, so he can’t have been too poorly. So yeah: top droids. Sorry, BB.

#top ten #star wars #droids #c3po #r2d2 #mandalorian #ahsoka #phantom menace #obi-wan kenobi #roger roger

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