#Drone Technology Classes

[himedanshicult]

the problem w anti-ai pp isn't that they're fighting against technology, it's that they're fighting against technology for nonsensical workerist reasons and little else

[jawusa]

[4t2] Sixam - Secret Alien World for TS2 ^^

Remember my 4t2 Sixam project I started 2 years ago? Which I almost scrapped but revisited sometime last year? ... well, I've got good news for you then. It's finally out now! ^^

Welcome to Sixam!

Sixam Academy is a prestigious intergalactic university on the planet of Sixam that provides special training for aspiring students to become Birth Queens, Colony Drones, or even the latest innovation in alien technology: Pollination Technicians. The academy offers hands-on experiences, collaborative research, and cultural exploration, alongside interstellar expeditions, nurturing a community focused on curiosity, inclusivity, and innovation.

Yes, I recreated the secret alien world from TS4 for TS2 as a custom university subhood! Why as a university subhood you may ask? Well, I tried to keep the original vibes of Sixam of it being an "unlockable"/visitable place your sims can explore rather than a regular neighborhood your sims can live in!

Well, even after graduation, your sims can actually stay and live in the university subhood using Lamare's YAs can enjoy maternity (and all that) mod, as well as Lamare's Pets at University mod!

While technically it's a university, it could easily also be just a downtown or a main hood, as it includes quite a few urban city-style residential & community lots that a main hood/downtown would also otherwise have… just all in sci-fi/alien theme, of course! ;)

Download: MTS | Simblr.cc | SFS

More info under the cut...

Neighborhood Info:

Requires only Uni/NL/OFB EP and no CC were used to build the lots - I made this without Apartment Life EP, so TS2 Super Collection users can also use it, but in the future, I might also make an alternative version as an actual downtown with apartment lots!

No camera mod is needed, yet, still recommended for easier gameplay, especially since some lots were built on skyscrapers and can be hard to view with just the vanilla camera.

Number of Sims: 90 (10 playable sims in 4 playable families, 31 townies, 44 NPCs, 5 dead sims)

Number of Lots: 35 (7 residential lots, 2 Greek houses, 5 dorms, 1 secret society, 20 community lots, where 8 of which are owned businesses)

Gameplay Info:

Speaking of lots, I made lecture halls for every major, which you could use with beestew's Active Classes mod! These are community lots, featuring skill-building equipment and study spaces, with NPC professors (as lot owners) available for tutoring whenever your sims visit.

I also made an optional custom skybox and custom lighting file for Sixam that will make it always nighttime (Yes, you heard right! The sun never shines here on Sixam!) with subtle seasonal color changes - reddish in Autumn, bluish in Winter, and greenish in Spring.

While the empty version should be CC-free, the inhabited version requires the 3 alien skintones (blue/turquoise/violet) from my [4t2] aliens set to keep the TS4 alien characters like Aileen Rauvu authentic. As giving all these colorful aliens the default green skin instead felt as bad as white-washing, say, giving black characters like Olive Specter a lighter skintone for me. An alternative CC-free version with no CC skintones is also available for players who prefer to not have any CC skintones in their games, though.

I also recreated some characters from TS4, especially all the characters from the The Sims 4 Get to Work: Sul Sul trailer. Every character comes with a complete set of ancestors (at least parents) and customized memories, even townies and NPCs! Some also come with interesting lore! Even though, they're just... townies! Oh, and everyone has genetic infant faces! Yayy! XD

Speaking of characters, scripted events don't work in subhoods, but I wrote a text in each family description that somewhat mimic the scripted event notifications anyway. I think this is a brilliant and fun way of introducing new characters, even in university subhoods. All households should also have a complete set of family album pictures that show their lore a bit. ^^

Recommended Mods:

All notownieregen/antiredudancy/nodormiespawn/nossrespawn mods. All university townies/NPCs in Sixam are aliens.. or at least have a very good reason why they're there, but this can easily be ruined if you don't have these mods installed, lol.

bloodredtoe's Mannequin babies can be born mod. To have more variety, I used the mannequin skintone for some of the alien sims. While this mod isn't required, it's recommended to prevent crashes, especially when these aliens have offspring, as there's a chance they could inherit the mannequin skintone.

Squinge's No Townie Memory Loss. Again, townies and NPCs in this neighborhood are highly customized and I recommend getting no townie amnesia mods to prevent their lore from getting wiped out! As there are a few clues in the bios of some of the townies... including long lost twins!

lingeringwillx's Restore Default Names for Sims in Subneighbohoods . This is especially helpful, not only because the townies/NPCs are related to the playable sims, but also, it will help to maintain the alien atmosphere of Sixam with names like Pollination Technicians, Colony Drones or Birth Queens, etc. instead of having EA's default townie/NPC names.

Install Instructions:

This download consists of 3 parts:

Neighborhood itself:

Place the USXM folder into your PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 University/TSData/Res/NeighborhoodTemplate folder

Note: If you have TS2 UC, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection/University Life/EP1/TSData/Res/NeighborhoodTemplate

Note: If you have TS2 Legacy, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Legacy/EP1/TSData/Res/NeighborhoodTemplate

2. OPTIONAL: Custom skybox (& 3 new alien skintones):

Place the Sixam CC folder into your DOCUMENTS/EA Games/The Sims 2/Downloads folder

Note: If you have TS2 UC, it's DOCUMENTS/EA Games/The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection/Downloads

Note: If you have TS2 Legacy, it's DOCUMENTS/EA Games/The Sims 2 Legacy/Downloads

3. OPTIONAL: Custom lighting (for enabling 24/7 nights):

Place the sixam_lot.txt file into your PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff/TSData/Res/Lights folder

Note: If you have TS2 UC, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection/Fun with Pets/SP9/TSData/Res/Lights

Note: If you have TS2 Legacy, it's PROGRAM FILES/EA Games/The Sims 2 Legacy/EP9/TSData/Res/Lights

Credits:

To EA for creating Sixam in the first place, even though it was originally created for the wrong game ;)

Makers of SimPE (especially with the newest version, allowing creation of customized NPCs!)

Mootilda for all her amazing tools, especially LotCompressor, LotAdjustor, HoodChecker, and her tutorial on how to create a custom subhood template.

Numenor for his AnyGameStarter, allowing for the creation of a Uni/NL/OFB only environment.

@lowedeus for his original skybox, which I recolored and modified to make the skybox season-friendly, as well as @criquette-was-here for the tutorial on how to make nhood objects glow at night.

Gwenke for the original ocean surface nhood deco, which I also recolored and modified to make it glow at night.

@catherinetcjd for all her inspring builds and also for being such an amazing friend. I recommend her Isosceles Apartments, Experiment 4.2, The Colony as well as her Pyramid Commune No. 9 Live, specifically as optional additional lots for this neighborhood. I learned a lot from you in the past few years of neighborhood and lot building!

Creusa Sims for her support and love while I was creating this neighborhood. It was fun discussing some of the lore in this neighborhood with you. XD

@lordcrumps for also being such an amazing friend! It was you who kept pushing me to actually redo the skybox when I wasn't happy with the draft version, lol! And also for your helpful inputs very early on. ^^

@lamare-sims for being such a talented modder and her amazing mods that make living in university subhoods possible in the first place! This concept wouldn't have otherwise made sense.

That's it for now I guess? I hope you have as much fun with this neighborhood as I had building it! <3

[mindmelter]

Out Of Battery

Hunter was running across the empty football field, ball in hand, when he abruptly stopped, his body stiffening as his head tilted downward. In an instant, he was completely still, frozen in place like a lifelike statue.

Not far away from him, watching from the stands were two nerds. Micah and Elliot.

Micah is a young gay nerd from the robotics class. He is a scrawny young man with big glasses and messy dark hair. In his hands, he held a technological controller with a long antenna. He looked surprised to see Hunter standing motionless in the middle of the empty football field.

"Ummm... Is that supposed to happen?" Elliot asked on his side. Elliot is a chubby guy with round cheeks and bad acne, he also wears glasses and has a distinctly nerdy look to him, just like Micah.

Micah shook the remote control and pressed a variety of buttons while his eyes were still locked on the frozen quarterback as if he expected Hunter to move again at the press of a button, but Hunter remained motionless.

________________________

Elliot and Micah were best friends. They had clicked instantly on their first day in robotics class two years ago, bonding over their shared passion for robotics and science — and, admittedly, for hot jocks like Hunter Knox.

Hunter Knox was the golden boy of Crestwood University, the kind of guy everyone admired or envied. As the star quarterback of the football team, his name was well-known across campus, and his face was plastered on banners at every game.

With his chiseled jawline and a body sculpted like a Greek god, Hunter looked like he had stepped straight out of a gay man's dream. Girls swooned at his every move, but to Hunter, it was all just a natural part of being him: the untouchable, straight, all-American jock who seemed destined for greatness...

While Hunter knew that most Girls wanted to be with him and some guys wanted to be him... unknown to him, two gay nerds from the robotics class wanted to HAVE him.

They loved sharing their deep gay fantasies of what they wished they could do with the star quarterback as they watched Hunter dominate the field. Elliot's fantasy was to dominate Hunter, and Micah's fantasy was to be dominated by him. It didn't take long for their passion for robotics and for Hunter to merge into something much darker...

One day, Micah came up with a plan. He told Elliot he had created nanorobots capable of turning Hunter into their lifeless slave drone. The idea filled Elliot's eyes with excitement. The thought of controlling Hunter, the unattainable star of the campus, was his ultimate fantasy. He could hardly believe Micah's bold claim, yet the potential of their combined genius and obsession made it feel within reach.

"But... how would that work?" Elliot asked.

"The nanorobots will enter his system once ingested, spreading through his body and rewiring his brain to obey our every command. Once his brain is remade, he'll be our perfect, obedient drone."

Elliot's heart pounded as he imagined the possibilities. "Hunter... doing whatever we want?"

Micah nodded, a wicked grin spreading across his face. "Exactly. He'll be ours to control, to mold into whatever we desire."

"I'm in! Let's make Hunter ours!" Elliot responded without thinking twice.

That night during football practice, they put their plan into action. Elliot was the team's waterboy, so he had easy access to the locker room. While the players were still at practice, Elliot walked into the empty locker room and spiked Hunter's water bottle with Micah's nanorobots. They looked like transparent sand, so they blended perfectly with the water.

After football practice, the team filed into the locker room, laughing and messing around like they always did at the end of every practice. Hunter, as usual, was the center of attention, surrounded by his teammates who were joking and horsing around with him, trying to impress their leader.

Hunter took his water bottle and gulped down. And after a few minutes, he started to feel his mind becoming foggy, he couldn't focus on what his friends were saying anymore, he couldn't think... when Hunter came to himself, the locker room was already empty. All his teammates had left for their homes, leaving him alone.

Hunter was still dizzy like he was trapped in a dreamlike state. He slowly stood up and tried to leave the locker room, but for some reason, he decided to stay—wearing nothing but his white jockstrap. He had no idea why he was waiting. Waiting for who? he asked himself. It felt like something inside his mind was telling him what to do.

As the minutes passed, Hunter's mind grew even foggier and more vacant, until he froze in place in the middle of the locker room. His eyes remained open, staring blankly ahead as drool began to trickle from his mouth.

Suddenly, the locker room door opened, and Micah and Elliot walked in.

"Lock the door, Elliot," Micah asked his friend.

"Holly shit!" Elliot shouted at Hunter, standing with eyes open. "H-Hunter? Are you still... you?"

Micah chuckled at his friend's reaction.

"Don't worry, he's totally out," Micah assured his friend, he then turned to Hunter with a grin, "Hunter, be a good jock drone and get on all fours on the bench and don't move."

"Command accepted!" Hunter responded with a robotic voice and did what he was told to do, getting on all fours on the bench, with his ass exposed, barely covered by the white jockstrap.

"This is crazy! I can't believe we have the quarterback as our personal drone now!" Elliot muttered, more to himself than to his friend.

"At least for a few days," Micah responded, searching for something in his bag.

"What do you mean for a few days? I thought you said the nanorobots would rewrite his brain permanently."

"Oh, his brain is permanently gone, that's for sure. The nanorobots made tiny holes everywhere in his brain, there's no way back. But the nanorobots can't work forever. Like everything in this universe, they need energy. Soon, their energy will run out, and Hunter will be left as a meat mannequin. What I'm saying is; His jock brain was fried and turned into a processor device, and the nanorobots are what makes it function. That's why I created this recharging device." Micah pulled out of his bag a thick black battery.

"Wooo-ho-ho... I didn't know they were this huge." Elliot said, impressed by the size of the battery. "Where do you plan to put this?"

Micah smirked at his friend. Without saying a word, he walked over to Hunter and slapped his muscular ass. "Right here," he said. "His asshole will become his only source of energy. Isn't that beautiful? When the nanorobots run out of power, they'll travel down to his ass, where they'll be recharged by the battery. Then they'll return to his brain, fully energized."

"Couldn't you make the battery smaller? I'm sure a straight alpha jock like Hunter never had anything up his ass before."

Micah chuckled, "A big guy like Hunter needs a big battery to give energy to all those muscles, don't you agree? The bigger the toy, the bigger the battery is."

He then pulled Hunter's jockstrap down, and caressed his muscular jock ass for a while, giving the cheeks a few playful slaps, then proceeded to insert the battery into Hunter's ass. The battery was pretty thick, so he was having trouble making it past Hunter's tight virgin hole.

While Micah worked on the battery, Elliot decided to inspect Hunter. He crouched down in front of the bench, his face just a few inches from Hunter's, and gently stroked his handsome face.

"It's so weird—he's even more handsome up close. I never thought I'd ever be this close to his face." Elliot's thumb slowly traced Hunter's soft lips, then gently pressed inside his mouth.

"Well, I never thought I would be shoving a battery up his ass, so..." Micah said from behind Hunter, still struggling to fit the battery.

"I want to insert something else in him," Elliot pulled down his pants and stood in front of Hunter's blank face.

"What are you doing?" Micah asked.

"We need to make sure the nanorobots really fucked with his brain by making him do something he would never do," Elliot then pressed the tip of his small dick at Hunter's lips and ordered him to replicate the best blowjob he had ever received. In which Hunter obeyed. Elliot moaned at the feel of the quarterback's wet mouth wrapping around his short cock. Elliot was soon face fucking Hunter without mercy, burying Hunter's face in his fat gut.

After a few minutes, Micah finished pushing the battery inside Hunter, with only the tip sticking out.

Hunter immediately came to life, standing straight with a blank facial expression, making both Micah and Elliot watch in awe.

"Hunter Knox is fully recharged. Battery level at 100%" Hunter said in a robotic tone, his pupils glowing blue.

Since that night, Hunter became their jock drone, capable of moving only when having a battery lodged in his ass. Micah and Elliot programmed the nanorobots to put Hunter on autopilot so no one would notice Hunter had become a lifeless robot.

They did want Hunter to succeed and become a famous football player, so they let him continue on the team. But they grew worried when Hunter began showing a lack of motor skills during his football games. His coach was furious, his team was disappointed, and no one knew what was wrong with him—except for the two tech nerds from the robotics class.

Elliot then had the idea to create a controller that would connect to the nanorobots inside Hunter's brain, so they could control Hunter during the games. They were never sports guys, but they sure loved video games, so the idea of controlling Hunter like a character in a video game sounded perfect to them. But before using the controller in an actual game, they decided to test drive it so they were sure it was good to use in a game.

________________________

Back to the present, Hunter was now standing frozen in the middle of the empty field, just as lifeless as the ball he was holding.

"I think his battery ran out," Micah said, trying one last time to press the—On/Off—button on the controller. He sighed at realizing it had no effect on Hunter.

"I thought we only needed to change his batteries once a week. You replaced it this Monday, and today is Wednesday. It shouldn't have run out yet! Imagine if this had happened during a big game!" Elliot said.

"Dude, I know that! I'm the one who designed the batteries, remember? I guess all the intensive training we've been putting him through made the battery run out faster... But don't worry," Micah said with a smirk, putting his hand inside his bag and pulling out a bigger and thicker battery. "I wasn't expecting to use it so soon, but we have no choice. I designed a new more potent battery. It should last for two weeks. Why don't you go put it on him?"

Elliot didn't have to be asked twice, he took the battery and walked to Hunter.

"Hey there big guy," Elliot gently caressed Hunter's thick biceps, "You poor thing. We tired you out, didn't we? But don't worry. I'm going to give you life with a brand new battery," Elliot stood behind Hunter and pulled his black spandex shorts in a single motion, exposing Hunter's big muscular ass and long flaccid cock. Hunter's cock was 6 Inches when soft.

Elliot crouched down and spread Hunter's cheeks to have access to his hole. He could see the tip of the battery pocking out of the hole, so he pulled the old battery out and inserted the new one with some level of difficulty since the new battery was thicker.

As soon as the new battery was fully inside, Elliot was caught off guard when Hunter came to life and stood at attention with his eyes now glowing blue. With a blank face, he started to recite, "Hunter Knox is fully recharged. Battery level at 100%"

Elliot grinned. "Take off your shirt and show me your armpits. I want to smell your musky armpits you stud."

"Command accepted." With that, Hunter took off his compression tank and exposed his armpits.

Elliot slowly caressed Hunter's hard abs, feeling the quarterback's powerful body under his fat hands. He had to get on his tiptoes to reach for Hunter's armpits. He took a deep sniff, smelling Hunter's sweaty musk after being forced to train for hours nonstop. Elliot's hands were all over the jock's sweaty body as he pressed his face into the armpits.

Hunter suddenly pushed Elliot away, his face filled with confusion and anger. "What the fuck? Who are you, nerd? Wait-what the hell am I doing here?"

Elliot gulped and looked at Micah for help at the stands, but Micah was distracted with the control remote.

"M-Micah... I need a little help here... turn him off NOW!"

Hunter got furious, "What did you say? Turn me off? I'm the one turning you fucking off!" Hunter walked towards Elliot with clenched fists. Elliot winced and closed his eyes as if already accepting his beating.

But then... Nothing.

Elliot slowly opened his eyes and was confused to see Hunter on his knees in front of him.

"Please come enjoy my body, Master. I'm a mindless jock toy for my Masters to use."

Elliot looked at Micah and saw his friend laughing hysterically at him. "I got you good this time! Didn't I?" Micah said to the remote control speakers, making Hunter repeat the same words to Elliot.

"Dude! Not funny! I thought he would kill me."

"Sorry dude, I couldn't help myself. How many times do I have to tell you he's gone? Let me make it up to you..." Micah then pressed a few buttons and suddenly Hunter spoke.

"Cock sucking mode activated! Please insert cock into Hunter's mouth."

Elliot's heart was still beating fast from the scare he just got, but at the same time, his cock got hard at the sight of Hunter on his knees, looking up at him with his mouth open and tongue swirling, just waiting to be used. Elliot moaned loudly as he felt Hunter's tongue swirling on his cock.

Micah had his finger on the remote thumbstick, making slow circular movements, which Hunter's tongue obeyed.

"It feels so good... yeah, suck that dick you cock sucking machine!"

"You think this feels good? Just watch this..." Micah then pressed another button on the remote, making Hunter's tongue swirl at an even faster pace.

"F-fuuuckkkk...AAARRRWWWGHH! This f-feels so gooood... How is his tongue moving so fast?"

"The new battery you just inserted gives him inhumane strength. That means his tongue is 50% stronger now. His new strength will make him win every single game, he's going to be invincible!"

Elliot was too lost in pleasure, "Who programmed you to be this good at sucking cock?" He groaned, gripping Hunter's head and fucking his mouth. "Oh right, we did—shit, I’m not gonna last longer..." Elliot pulled out and spurted all over Hunter's blank face.

"Now It's my turn to have some fun with our toy." Micah said.

The two friends then switched places. Elliot was sitting on the benches, controller in hand, with a press of a button, Hunter's cock grew hard to 8 inches.

"Fucking mode activated. Please get ready to be inserted by Hunter's cock."

Micah was soon lying naked face up on the grass field with Hunter on top of him, fucking him with powerful animalistic thrusts. Elliot was controlling Hunter's thrusts with the remote thumbsticks, each move of the thumbstick would send Hunter's cock deep inside Micah's ass.

Every movement sent waves of pleasure crashing through Micah's slender frame, his moans were muffled only by the sounds of flesh slapping. He could feel the quarterback's strength behind every motion, firm hands gripping his hips possessively. Micah's glasses had slipped down his nose, his hair messier than usual, but he didn’t care. In that moment he was lost in the heat and dominance of the man he’d secretly dreamed about for so long.

Elliot was also having fun, he enjoyed controlling Hunter to fuck his best friend. He wasn't romantically attracted to Micah, but in a sense, it felt like they were having sex. Elliot pressed a button, releasing Hunter's orgasm, filling Micah with jock cum.

________________________

Hunter became a successful and famous professional football player, just as the two friends had planned. He was invincible on the field—no one could match his strength or skill. To the world, Hunter Knox was the epitome of strength, success, and masculinity—a legendary football star adored by millions. But behind closed doors, he belonged entirely to the two nerds, their perfect jock drone.

[enchantedbat]

Let’s talk potential: the specialists. 

Why isn’t the potential of the boys explored and they go different routes? Surely, the Red Fountain doesn’t teach each the same and produces what we have now? Why are they different but end up doing mainly the same? The Specialists are not all the same guy with the same skills and aspirations. Let’s talk about some ideas I had.

Timmy. He is a technician, an inventor and a scientist. Among his skills are providing new technology, knowing enough about weaponry to easily build it and planning strategies for even the trickiest of situations. Mainly uses long-ranged weapons. 

While appreciative of magic and impressed by the instincts of the others, he is going with logic and technology. He is responsible for upgrading but is also a walking arsenal. A multi-tool able to be easily transformed into a weapon of choice.

Timmy usually mans the aircrafts or uses higher grounds to attack. He knows his weaknesses and has created a battlesuit, similar to D.va, Iron Man or the Brotherhood of Steel armors. 

Carries his multi-tool, a drone, a ranged weapon that can go from bow to rifle, special glasses to scan surrounding and a watch that activates his battlesuit. 

Brandon. From the beginning, we know that he is a squire. His goal is to be a knight. One day, perhaps even the champion of Eraklyon (or Solaria?). His path started at the age of 7 where he was made a page in the court of Eraklyon. He was quite promising leading to him being trained by the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Together with Sky, of course. At 14, he graduated to being a squire. His good grades, extraordinary skills and close relationship to Sky got him a place at Red Fountain. A man made for the battlefield, Brandon seeks to be an elite soldier. 

To win against every opponent and be prepared no matter what, he possesses a basic degree of familiarity with all weapons and fighting styles. However, he concentrates and specializes on one weapon as well as mastering one combat technique to perfection - staying loyal to his phantoblade and sticking with swords. 

While Brandon himself has no issues with magic, he had the goal to be a Knight of Eraklyon which means he uses non-magical weapons. (Perhaps Radius or Luna give him a legendary sword of Solaria with the power of the sun, stars and moon as an engagement gift) He is physically the strongest of the specialists (berserker-like strength) and resilient to certain kinds of magic using the force of his body. 

Sky. He is a future king. Therefore, he is taught the basic fighting skills and such, but the main focus of his curriculum is diplomacy and strategy. One day, he will be the highest commander of military and security in his land solely by being the leader of said country. Knows the strength of the boys inside and out. Versatile but not as powerful as the others. Regularly training how to handle situations such as kidnappings or assassinations attempts. He can’t be as strong as the boys, he missed out a lot of training due to his classes on Eraklyon and state visits. 

Sky is not useless. He is meant to lead this group and that’s what he does. Not by running first into action but knowing who is able to do what and when. Of course, he can defend himself but his girlfriend is literally the strongest fairy known and he is surrounded by the best of the best. Besides his sword, he has his hoverboard, his shield and his boomerang. 

Riven. A survivor who had to rely on being cunning and stealthy. Who analyzes the vulnerabilities of his enemies to hit them hard and hides his own well because of that. But he also adepts fast to his surroundings. Maybe not one with nature but knowledgeable enough to hide himself and find others. With the help of Nabu, he finds himself positively connected to magic and knows that it is the magic user, not the power itself. That said, Riven uses magical weapons. He prioritizes subtleness and rather strikes once but hard. Keeps using a scimitar, but has a bunch of daggers hidden. His belt is full of smoke bombs, his bolas, toxins and even some explosives (like Batman). Interpret it however you want, but he mainly uses shadow-based and darkness-based magical weapons. That makes him a tiny bit proficient in this type of magic. 

While Brandon knows the most fighting techniques, Riven has a broad range of skills. Picking locks, climbing, disarming traps, improvising weapons, detecting traps, becoming one with the shadows, tracking beings and such. 

Helia. Related to one of the greatest wizards, Helia has a strong connection to magic. He also spends a lot of time with himself and mediating. The harmony between his body and mind helps him channeling his magic into attacks and more importantly: defense techniques. He stays true to himself and will always choose defending himself and others above attacking. That includes restraining and disarming enemies. Helia is trained in all martial arts and only has basic knowledge of weapons. Replacing his glove with a magical rope which is like the lasso of truth (Wonder Woman) but also a dart rope and a whip of sorts, because it can sense his intentions and emotions transforming into what he needs. Furthermore, his knowledge of the energy in his own body helps him to strike beings in the most powerful way like Ty Lee’s Chi-blocking (Avatar). Hitting the right weak point of a magical being can block their magic for a while or stop spells/attacks/whatsoever. 

Nabu. He is alive and well. 

Like fairies and witches, wizards share a scholarly approach to magic. Depending what path they choose, they can focus on their own affinity or master as many spells as possible, that’s what Nabu does. Reading about abilities, he can practice them and later use them. Some are connected to artifacts, books or scrolls. While his staff amplifies his natural power, it can also help channel his magic. 

Simply said: He can do almost anything. However, he often needs a source for it. Nabu’s powers are illusion-based, which means the source for those abilities is literally him. If he wants to use a spell of another element, he has to find a magical source of it. Funnily enough, the Winx count. Often in fights, he will grab Bloom’s shoulder and scream “Fireball!”. His staff is a source too but I haven’t decided what type of power it carries - this  needs continuation (and he needs a revival). 

Specialists. They have their own dragons still but I would like them to have different dragons. We only see them with their own dragons at Red Fountain and I would like them to have these as practice and later tame their own - which should be different types! It doesn't need to be a dragon. It could be a griffin or even a hydra! It could differentiate specialists between magic and technology user.

(if you think, they are all very similar to DND classes: that’s what I based it on. Timmy is an artificer, Brandon is a fighter, Riven is a rogue/ranger, Helia is a monk and Nabu is still a wizard. Sky exists? I am sorry, Sky-fans. He is a king at least?)

[sunarryn]

DP X Marvel #1

Don’t get me wrong—I love DP X DC, but I want more post for DP X Marvel, so I decided to write my own.

Danny had been in Amity Park, dodging international press, paparazzi, and the occasional FBI van parked outside his house, because, well, saving the world and exposing the existence of ghosts kind of made him a big deal. The whole “I’m actually Phantom” reveal had sent the world into a meltdown, with headlines like “Teen Ghostboy Saves Earth, Wears Same Hoodie for Six Days” and “Should Phantom Pay Taxes?” clogging up the internet.

That’s when Tony Stark showed up.

In person.

“You ever consider switching teams?” Tony asked while eating a hotdog in Danny’s kitchen like he owned the place. “I don’t mean ghost to human. I mean ghost to Avenger.”

Danny, halfway through microwaving leftover pizza, blinked. “Is this a recruitment thing or are you just lost?”

“A little of both.” Tony admitted. “I’ve got a proposition for you. Comes with a full scholarship, housing, no taxes, and a lifetime supply of Pop-Tarts.”

“…Okay but like. Why Pop-Tarts?”

“I have a theory about your ghost metabolism and artificial preservatives.” Tony said, waving his hand like it was normal science and not the start of an exorcism. “Anyway. Stark Industries internship. Full ride to Midtown School of Science and Technology. We pretend this is for science—understanding ghosts and ectoplasm and your stupid glowy ice powers or whatever—and I get to say I recruited the coolest teen superhero before the other billionaires.”

“You just don’t want me joining Batman.” Danny muttered.

Tony narrowed his eyes. “Don’t say the B-word in my presence.”

So that’s how Danny Fenton—Amity Park’s favorite undead menace—ended up in New York City, living in a swanky Stark-funded high-rise with a fully stocked lab, an entire ghost-proof gym, and a contract that explicitly stated “NO OPENING INTERDIMENSIONAL PORTALS BEFORE 9AM” in Comic Sans.

Midtown High was wild. First of all, every student looked like they either had a skincare sponsorship or fought crime on the weekends. Second, the STEM program had actual quantum computers. Danny’s old school had a vending machine that exploded if you pressed B5 twice.

Third: Peter Parker.

Danny met him on his first day, right after being hit by a rogue drone in robotics class and slamming face-first into a whiteboard that read “No running in the lab.”

Peter looked down at him. “You good, man?”

Danny blinked. “Spider-Man?”

Peter blinked. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Danny smirked. “Uh-huh. Tony says hi.”

Peter yanked him up by the arm and shoved him into a janitor’s closet so fast it could’ve given someone whiplash.

“Shh!” Peter exclaimed. “You can’t just say that out loud! People don’t know!”

Danny shrugged, now intangibly phasing halfway through a mop bucket. “Relax. Everyone already knows I’m Phantom. It’s not like we’re on equal secret identity footing here.”

Peter blinked at that. “Wait, you’re Phantom? Like THE Phantom?”

Danny stuck his head through the wall dramatically. “Boo.”

Peter shrieked and punched him. Which didn’t work. At all. From then on, they were inseparable.

Mostly because Tony made them sit next to each other at every Stark-sponsored science conference with assigned seating and a label that said “Teen Angst Section.” But also because they kind of understood each other. Weird powers. Exhausting double lives. Constant media attention. Love lives that were mostly disaster zones.

Also, because every time there was an emergency in New York, Danny would dramatically yell, “I GOT THIS!” turn into a glowing ghost, phase through the ceiling, and leave Peter holding their science project like, “Great. Now I have to explain this to Ms. Warren.”

There was a running bet in the school on how many times a week Danny would ghost out during class. The record was four times in a single Monday. Once during math. Twice during lunch. Once mid-presentation, when his eyes flashed green, and he mumbled, “Hold up, I think a ghost just tried to eat a nun,” before vanishing.

He got an A. Mostly out of fear.

They became known around Midtown as “Science Boyfriends,” a term coined by their English teacher after they accidentally blew up the chemistry lab and rebuilt it with better airflow and a smoothie bar.

Peter tried to deny it. Danny didn’t.

“I mean, he’s cute.” Danny would shrug while eating a granola bar and floating upside-down. “And have you seen his calves? Spider thighs? Man’s got spider thighs.”

Peter threatened to web his mouth shut. Danny turned intangible and said “do it, coward.”

Happy Hogan was having a mental breakdown.

“Mr. Stark.” He said once, after catching Danny phasing through a vending machine and Peter falling out of a ceiling vent. “They’re going to destroy the school.”

“They’re already destroying my will to live.” Tony muttered, sipping coffee while watching Phantom carry Spider-Man bridal-style on a street livestream. “But you can’t deny the brand synergy.”

And oh, the public loved Danny.

Kids wore Phantom backpacks. There was a whole TikTok trend called “Go Ghost Challenge” which was just teens flinging themselves over furniture in hopes of catching flight. People stopped him on the street for selfies. A company released a Ghost Repellent Spray that was literally just Febreze with a green label.

Meanwhile, Danny and Peter were balancing AP Physics, ghost attacks, Stark internships, and trying to keep a low profile despite Danny being literally neon.

Peter was this close to combusting.

“I can’t keep doing this.” Peter whispered during lunch, forehead pressed against a table. “My GPA is dying. I’m dying. My soul is cracking. I haven’t slept in three days.”

Danny, completely fine, sipping chocolate milk through a straw, replied, “I think a banshee tried to possess the home ec teacher.”

Peter stared. “… Danny.”

“Her cupcakes were glowing.”

“DANIEL JAMES!”

It didn’t help that the media kept speculating if Phantom was dating Spider-Man. There were articles like “Who’s the Top Ghost? Our Editors Discuss” and “Teen Heroes: Roommates or Soulmates?” Danny read them out loud during lunch.

Peter screamed into a burrito.

And then there was that time someone tried to kidnap Peter during gym class. Bad idea. Danny turned invisible, slammed the guy through the bleachers, and then flew Peter to safety in front of the entire school.

“You didn’t have to carry me!” Peter hissed later. “I had it under control.”

“You were duct-taped to a chair.” Danny pointed out.

“I was about to chew through the tape!”

“Like a squirrel.”

“Like a spider!”

After that, it wasn’t just the school that shipped them. The city did. There were shirts. Stickers. Fanfiction. Someone made a rap.

Tony started selling merch.

“We’re not even dating!” Peter yelled one afternoon, dodging a drone with their faces painted on it.

Danny just winked. “Yet.”

And honestly? They made a good team.

When ghosts got loose, Danny handled the supernatural. When aliens showed up, Peter webbed ‘em to the nearest wall. When things exploded, they blamed Flash Thompson.

Midtown might have been chaos. Their lives might have been actual flaming garbage fires. But in the middle of it all, Danny and Peter were the weirdest, most terrifying, most effective duo the teen superhero world had ever seen.

One had ghost lasers.

The other had web shooters.

Both had the fashion sense of stressed-out raccoons.

And somehow, they made it work.

Until Danny accidentally opened a portal to the Ghost Zone during prom. But that’s a story for another day.

[cl0udy3]

Shadow X Reader Enemies To Lovers Forced Proximity? (Context: I’ve Just Watched The Sonic Movie)

𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫

shadow the hedgehog x fem!rabbit!reader tw: none?? wc: 3093 helloo! sorry this took so long i was just so doubtful with my writing and i still am, plus i've been slightly busy with classes this week but i figured i should post something and 3000 words felt like enough! i really hope you enjoy it thanks for requesting!!

You never imagined that a simple quest for healing could lead you into a nightmare. Tonight, driven by a desperate need to recover a mysterious artifact—one that might mend the wounds of your past—you find yourself standing before the looming entrance of an abandoned research facility. Its rusted doors and crumbling walls speak of secrets long buried, and as you step inside, the cold, stale air wraps around you like a warning.

Your heart beats steadily, each thump echoing the determination that pushes you forward. “I have to do this,” you whisper, the words heavy with memories of what you’ve lost. Not so long ago, you had a life filled with love, laughter, and the warmth of family. But that life was shattered one fateful night—a night when everything you held dear was ripped away by forces you still struggle to understand. That evening, when the sky burned with anger and the streets erupted in chaos, you lost your family. Your parents, siblings, and the home you cherished were all taken in a senseless, calculated attack orchestrated by none other than Dr. Eggman.

Eggman, ever the master of chaos and technological terror, had targeted your town as part of a broader scheme to sow fear and destabilize the region. Under the guise of a sudden catastrophe, his monstrous machines descended upon your neighborhood, unleashing a barrage of explosives and automated drones. Amid the chaos of shattering glass, screeching metal, and the roar of Eggman’s engines, you were left standing alone in the wreckage. The screams of your loved ones still echo in your mind, a constant reminder of that night—and of Eggman’s ruthless ambition.

Almost immediately after stepping into the facility, you sense that you are not alone. As you move cautiously through a corridor lit by sporadic, flickering emergency lights, the sound of measured footsteps echoes behind you. You stop, instinctively turning toward the noise. Out of the shadow emerges a figure whose presence fills the space with an intense, brooding energy.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” a deep, gravelly voice demands. The figure steps forward into the weak light, revealing himself to be none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. His crimson eyes burn with suspicion, and his stance is all business—an imposing contrast to your gentle demeanor.

You straighten your back and meet his gaze. “I’m here on my own mission,” you reply firmly. “I’m looking for something that doesn’t concern you. I don’t mean to cause trouble.” Your voice is steady despite the underlying vulnerability, each word carrying the weight of loss—a loss of home, family, and the life you once knew.

Shadow’s eyes narrow. “This facility isn’t a place for someone like you,” he says, his tone laced with contempt. “I have my orders, and I can’t afford distractions.”

Before you can argue further, the building shudders violently. A deep rumble vibrates through the concrete floors, and the emergency lights begin to flash more urgently. Your instincts scream that something is terribly wrong. Then, without warning, a deafening explosion rocks the facility. The blast shatters nearby windows and sends debris tumbling from the ceiling. In an instant, the corridor transforms into a chaotic maze of dust, sparks, and collapsing walls.

“Dammit!” Shadow curses, his eyes scanning for a safe path. As the dust clears, you notice a massive, reinforced door slam shut behind you, sealing off any obvious exit. The roar of falling debris and the creak of twisting metal underscore the urgency of your situation.

“We’re trapped,” you say, your voice barely audible over the cacophony. Despite the danger, you force calm into your tone. “We have to work together if we’re going to get out of here.”

Shadow hesitates, his jaw clenching as he sizes you up. “I work alone,” he grumbles, yet there’s a flicker of reluctant understanding in his eyes. “But right now, I don’t see another option.”

As you both move deeper into the facility, the environment becomes a brutal test of survival. The corridors twist unpredictably, littered with fallen beams and sparking remnants of outdated technology. Every step forward is accompanied by the sound of crumbling concrete beneath your feet. Amid this chaos, your thoughts drift back to that terrible night. You remember the screams, the blinding flashes of fire, and the overwhelming sense of betrayal by a world that once promised safety and love. You recall how you were left standing alone amid the ruins of your former life, with nothing but fragments of memories and a desperate hope that someday you might reclaim a piece of that lost innocence.

“Watch your step,” Shadow orders as you navigate a narrow passage. You comply, carefully placing your feet on the uneven ground, though your eyes betray the growing anxiety “Sorry,” you mumble after a particularly close call when a chunk of debris nearly topples you over.

Shadow grunts. “Just stay focused. We’re not out of this yet.” His tone is terse, but you catch a glimpse of something softer in his eyes—a silent acknowledgment that survival matters more than pride in moments like these.

At one point, as you both scramble to avoid a falling slab of concrete, your path narrows into a claustrophobic tunnel. The ceiling begins to crumble overhead, sending sharp fragments of metal plummeting toward you both. 

"Move!" Shadow barked, shoving you forward as the ceiling behind you collapsed. You barely had time to react before he grabbed your wrist and pulled you into a tight space—a maintenance shaft, if you had to guess. Dust and debris clouded the air, the sound of the explosion ringing in your ears. Then, silence. The passage behind you was sealed shut. No way out. No space left between you. 

Your breath hitched as Shadow shifted slightly, his arm brushing against yours in the impossibly tight space. The dim emergency light flickered above, barely illuminating the cold steel walls pressing in on both of you. Your back was already against the vent, but no matter how much you tried to shrink into yourself, the space between you and Shadow was nonexistent.

"Move over," you muttered, though you both knew there was no room left.

Shadow let out a short, irritated breath. "If I could, I would." His voice was steady, but there was something tense about it, like he was concentrating on anything but the fact that you were practically pressed against him.

You swallowed hard, hyper-aware of the way his fur barely grazed your arm. The warmth of him was unexpected—contrasting against the cold steel biting into your back. You weren’t supposed to be this aware of him. Not like this.

"Well," you tried, a smirk playing at your lips despite the way your heart was hammering. "Didn’t think you’d be the type to get flustered over something like this."

Shadow's ear twitched, but his expression remained unreadable. His eyes flicked to yours, crimson in the dim light, calculating. "You think I’m flustered?"

You blinked, suddenly unsure if you should be pushing this.

"Please," you scoffed, though it came out weaker than you intended. "I can practically feel you vibrating with tension."

Shadow’s jaw tightened, and instead of snapping back, he moved. Just a fraction of an inch, barely enough to notice—except you noticed everything. His chest almost brushed yours with the subtle shift, and the charged air between you felt suffocating.

"It's not the space that makes this unbearable," he muttered, voice low.

Your breath caught.

You should’ve been able to brush it off. Make some snide remarks. But you didn’t. Because you weren’t sure what he meant, and that uncertainty made your stomach flip.

Silence stretched between you. Too much, too little, too charged. The only thing keeping you grounded was the rhythmic rise and fall of Shadow’s breathing, steady but controlled—like he was trying to keep himself in check.

"As soon as we get out of here," he finally murmured, voice softer now, "this never happened."

You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding, forcing out a chuckle. "Right. Sure."

But you weren’t so sure anymore.

After a few moments, the two of you manage to wriggle out of a small crack in the rubble, though not without a challenge. As you get out, you brush the dust and debris off your dress.

“Are you hurt?” he asks, his voice unexpectedly soft, edged with a concern he rarely shows.

You force a smile. “I’m fine,” you reply. “I… appreciate it.” For a moment, the hostility between you seems to soften into something resembling mutual respect.

Once you’ve taken a brief pause to catch your breath, you exchange a glance with him. “Look,” you say, determination rising in your voice, “I know we just met, but if we don’t trust each other right now, we’re both doomed. I need your help, and you need mine.” Your words carry not just the urgency of survival.

Shadow’s eyes flicker with an emotion you can’t quite place—something that borders on understanding. “Fine,” he says grudgingly. “But we do this my way.”

As you make your way through the dark, crumbling corridors, the conversation inevitably drifts to the ghosts of your past. In a rare moment of quiet, you lower your voice and confess, “I wasn’t always alone. I had a family—a home. It was the happiest time of my life… until that night changed everything.”

You pause, memories pressing down like a weight on your chest. “It was a cold autumn evening. My parents, my siblings, and I were home, laughing, making plans for the future. Then came the sirens, the thunder of engines, the roar of Eggman’s machines. It wasn’t random—it was calculated. A message. A show of power meant to instill fear.” Your voice tightens, but you push through. “Explosions tore through our neighborhood. I remember the screams, the blinding flashes, and the terrible, inescapable realization that my world was ending. I was just a teenager, and in a matter of minutes, I lost everything.”

A heavy silence follows. The only sound is your footsteps against the worn floor and the distant creaks of the collapsing structure around you. You exhale, slow and steady, before continuing.

“After that night, I kept asking myself why. Why my home? Why my family? Why did I survive when they didn’t?” You shake your head, a bitter chuckle escaping. “I never found an answer. Just more emptiness. More silence.” You glance at him, hesitating. “I guess that’s why I kept searching—for something. Some kind of sign that all of this wasn’t meaningless.”

Shadow’s gaze flickers with something unreadable. “And do you really think you’ll find it?”

You let out a breath. “I don’t know,” you admit. “But I have to try.”

His expression shifts, almost imperceptibly, but you catch it—the smallest crack in his usually impenetrable exterior. “I’ve spent too much time in the dark to remember what it means to hope,” he says finally, his voice quieter, laced with regret. “I was created for a purpose. Molded into a weapon. And in the process… I lost parts of myself I’ll never get back.”

The raw admission lingers, mingling with the distant echoes of a collapsing world. You glance at him, then at the path ahead. “Maybe tonight will remind us both of what we’re fighting for,” you say softly. “At least, I hope so.”

Your conversation is cut short as you approach an emergency exit—a reinforced door with a control panel sparking erratically. The panel flashes a series of warnings: “Critical Structural Failure Imminent” and “Override Required.”

Shadow immediately kneels by the panel. “Stand back,” he instructs, his fingers flying over the interface with practiced precision. You watch his every movement, admiring the focus in his eyes even as the tension mounts.

“Is it going to work?” you ask, your voice filled with anxious hope.

He doesn’t look up. “It has to,” he replies tersely. “We don’t have much time.” His tone leaves no room for discussion, yet you sense the determination behind every word.

Desperate to contribute, you rummage through your bag and pull out a worn datapad. “I found some schematics earlier,” you say, tapping on the screen with shaking fingers. “They might provide a workaround.” Your eyes meet his—a silent plea for trust amid the chaos.

Shadow hesitates, then nods. “Fine. Let’s see what you’ve got.” The two of you huddle over the datapad, exchanging ideas and piecing together a solution as the building continues its ominous groaning.

Minutes stretch into what feels like hours. Every beep of the alarm sends your heart into fresh panic, and every spark from the panel reminds you of the stakes. Finally, with one decisive keystroke, the panel displays a confirmation: “Override Successful.” The reinforced door shudders, its mechanisms groaning in protest before it begins to slide open, revealing a sliver of cool, fresh air beyond.

Relief washes over you. “We did it!” you exclaim, your voice ringing with genuine excitement. For the first time that night, hope sparkles in your eyes.

Shadow’s expression remains guarded as he steps forward to fully open the door. “Don’t celebrate yet,” he warns. “We still need to get out without triggering the rest of the collapse.”

You nod, determination shining through. “Right. Let’s move quickly.” Together, you step through the threshold into a narrow corridor leading to the outside—a passage that, against all odds, seems intact.

The air outside is cold and crisp, a stark contrast to the suffocating atmosphere inside. For a moment, you both stand there, catching your breath as the distant sound of crumbling concrete fades behind you. The night sky looms overhead, filled with stars that seem to wink in silent encouragement.

Shadow breaks the silence, his voice unusually soft. “I didn’t think I’d end up saving anyone tonight.” His admission comes more as an observation than a boast, revealing a hint of surprise at the unexpected bond forming between you.

You give him a small smile, your voice gentle and warm. “Maybe we’re both more capable than we think.”

As you both make your way away from the facility, you find temporary refuge in an old, abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the complex. Inside, the dilapidated structure is dimly lit by a few scattered, flickering bulbs. The silence here offers a brief respite from the chaos you just escaped.

Settling onto a dusty crate, your body still thrumming with adrenaline, you exhale sharply. “Well, we made it,” you mutter, more to yourself than to Shadow. Your hands are still unsteady, your mind replaying every close call, every moment you almost didn’t make it out. “Didn’t think I’d live to see another sunrise.”

You drag a hand down your face, swallowing the bitterness rising in your throat. “I lost everything once—my family, my home, the life I was supposed to have. And for what? Some power-hungry lunatic’s need to prove a point?” Your jaw tightens. “People talk about healing like it’s inevitable. Like time smooths out the edges, makes the pain easier to carry. But some wounds don’t heal. They just fester.”

Shadow sits a few feet away, his gaze fixed on the darkened warehouse interior. “Safety isn’t something I’ve known for a long time,” he says at last. “Maybe… maybe there’s a chance to change that.” His voice carries the weight of years.

You let out a dry chuckle, shaking your head. “I don’t believe in safety. Not really. People like us? We don’t get peace. We get moments—brief pauses between fights. And the second you start thinking otherwise, the world reminds you exactly what it is.” Your fingers drum against your knee before stilling. “I didn’t come here looking for hope. I came here because I needed something—anything—to make this fight mean something.”

Shadow finally turns to you, his crimson gaze unreadable. “And do you think you’ve found it?”

You scoff. “I don’t know,” you admit. “But I keep looking. Because if I stop… then what the hell was the point of surviving?”

His expression shifts—just a flicker, almost imperceptible—but you catch it. The smallest crack in the walls he’s built around himself. “I’ve spent too much time in the dark to remember what it means to hope,” he says finally, his voice quieter, laced with something that almost sounds like regret. “I was created for a purpose. Molded into a weapon. And in the process… I lost parts of myself I’ll never get back.”

The raw admission lingers in the stale air. You don’t offer reassurances or some empty promise that everything will be okay. You both know better than that.

Instead, you push yourself to your feet and glance toward the broken windows, where the first hints of dawn begin to seep through. “Maybe tonight was about more than just survival,” you murmur. “Maybe it was a reminder of what’s still worth fighting for.”

Later, on a creaky rooftop overlooking the sleeping city, the two of you finally allow yourselves a moment of stillness. The night’s horrors are behind you, but they’ve left their marks—some visible, others buried deeper. The cool morning air stings your lungs, but it’s a welcome reminder that you’re still here.

Shadow watches the horizon, his voice quieter now but filled with an unexpected sincerity. “I never imagined I’d find someone like you in all this mess. You’ve made me question everything I thought I knew about trust… and what comes after.”

You huff out a short laugh, shaking your head. “Trust isn’t something I give freely. And hope? I don’t think I have it in me to be the kind of person who believes everything will turn out fine.” 

He studies you for a moment before nodding, something resigned yet resolute in his expression. “Perhaps… together, we can find a way to let the light in. Even if just a little.”

As the sun rises higher, casting long shadows across the city, the weight of the night lingers—but so does the unspoken understanding between you. Whatever happens next, neither of you is walking this road alone.

You smirk, stretching the stiffness from your shoulders as you start toward the streets below. “So, what now?”

Shadow glances at you, and for the first time, there’s something almost resembling amusement in his gaze. “Now… we see where this path leads.”

You scoff but fall into step beside him. “Fine. But don’t expect me to start preaching about hope and redemption.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he deadpans.

And with that, the two of you disappear into the waking city, stepping forward not toward certainty, but toward whatever fight comes next.

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

A short fic about online studying during quarantine with Yves

You yawned, watching your lecturer drone on about a subject that you couldn't care less about, but have to take to pass your course. You stretched your arms and leaned back onto your comfortable office chair... well, Yves's.

While those poor suckers in the online meeting had to attend the class using their own subpar laptops and be in their inferior bedrooms they most likely have to share with other members of the family, you're enjoying the pandemic in Yves's lavish home. No worries about food, entertainment, hygiene, technology or comfort, Yves has it all covered.

You propped your cheek up on an elbow, struggling not to doze off to the monotonousness of it all. Your ears slightly perked up when you heard the door open, but you didn't make a move.

Yves gave your shoulder an affectionate massage as he placed a bowl of succulent fruits, packed with Vitamin C and flavour, onto the table next to the RGB mechanical keyboard you requested him to buy for you.

He kissed you on the cheek as a greeting, and reached out to press a key. You had forgotten to mute yourself this entire time, luckily he had caught it now.

"Studying well?" He asked, voice quiet and smooth. Yves draped his arms around your neck from the back. He rested the side of his cheek on the crown of your head, letting his luscious locks cascade down and tickle your face.

You complained that your lecturer sucked at retaining students' attention while stuffing your face with the sliced fruits, Yves merely nodded along and stroked your hair.

You asked if he could stay in the room with you while you go about your day, entering video calls to video calls. It gets lonely and very tiresome.

"Of course, my love. I am more than happy to." He smiled. Yves lets go of you.

"Stand up, please." You did, and moved aside, knowing what he's going to do.

Yves took a seat on the swivel chair, pushing it backwards to allow some space between the desk and himself. He has his arms open, inviting you to come sit on his lap.

You crawled into his hold and snuggled deeply into him. Yves pressed numerous kisses onto your neck and ears as you shifted yourself to get comfortable. Once you're settled, he closed the embrace and pulled the chair nearer to the desktop.

You craned your neck to give him a sweet little peck on the lips, to which, he appreciates very much. A chuckle left him as he cuddled you closer to him.

"I love you." Despite being a whisper, it drowned out the painful robotic voice of your lecturer and made the class much more bearable. You returned the sentiment only to be met with another appreciative kiss on the top of your head.

His loving caresses and his inky tresses that you would play with absentmindedly, allowed you to focus on your lesson. It's oddly crystal clear now and not as agonizing.

Yves would occasionally check your knowledge by verbally quizzing you. His praises and tenderness were to die for, it made you strive to be the smartest so you could please him. But there weren't any repercussions if you didn't understand anything, he would simply explain it to you in a way you would easily grasp.

Whenever you're about to fall asleep, Yves would sensually stroke under your chin to wake you up. It was always pleasantly ticklish and such an attention booster. Yves would then proceed to massage your hands, caring for each joint and muscle.

You would sigh and melt into him as he ends the massage by intertwining his slender fingers with yours. Quarantine may be torture to some, but never to you, as Yves would make it seem like paradise.

[the-knife-consumer]

I would love to hear more about Tenn! She seems so fun :)

YAAYY.

Invader tenn and the cancelled episode that torments me badly.

Okay so she ^^ this thang right here- makes me crazy crazy stupid crazy and it physically hurts that there's so little about her. She has a couple of cameos but her only big speaking role she has is in Megadoomer, so all of my ideas and characterization for her come from there...

Her only big appearances are when she calls the tallests twice, begging for help after she was sent a shipment of defective sir units on accident which destroyed her base and (presumably) ruined her mission. As seen heeeere

The shipment she was SUPPOSED to receive is what helps me with a lot of her characterization, as it implies some pretty interesting stuff. She was supposed to receive one of the Megadoomer stealth mechs.

Another thing being that the tallests (well, Red anyway) actually bothered to remember her name when they usually don't care about anything. Saying that this giant combat machine was specifically intended for her mission.

This makes me believe two things.

1) for specialized equipment that has been screened by the tallest to be sent to her, meekrob must be fairly dangerous

2) for the characters who's whole shtick is not giving a shit about anything to know her by name, she must be very successful/in high ranking among invaders

So we know she is (implied to be) very skilled. This is also where I get the idea of her being perpetually nervous during the whole "earth exile era" I'm putting her through.

If she is high ranking enough to not only be an invader, which is a highly celebrated class among Irkens (being referred to as "superior ones" who were chosen by the tallest and such), but also be assigned a dangerous planet and get sent cutting edge technology, then it's safe to assume her mission in particular was very important and news of her failure would absolutely reach the empire.

Control brains dish out heavy punishment even when the circumstances of failure are not the Irken's fault

(as seen in Tak's episode: a brain assigns her to 70 years of janitorial service on planet dirt because she was trapped in a collapsed area and couldn't make it to the invader exam. 70 years janitorial service for missing a test. A test. If 70 years of exile to a literal dirt ball is the punishment for missing an exam, It's a pretty safe bet that failing a mission could result in execution.)

So my version of Tenn is constantly on edge. Yes, she was sent the wrong package. And yes, the tallest saw that she got the wrong package, and know that the mission's failure was out of her control. But do the control brains care about that? Most likely not. Failure is failure, and attempting to return to Irk would, best case scenario: result in being exiled or becoming a service drone- or worst case and most likely scenario: undergoing existence evaluation and subsequent death

Unfortunately that's about where any relevant appearances of her end. Her only lines are literally just her screaming for help. Does not fare well for her.

HOWEVER☝️☝️☝️☝️

And tenn would've been present! That means she survived! Whether she kept the gaggle of defective sir units and would've been competing with them, or if she had a non defective sir unit she would use idk... Really makes me think... Yk for an episode with no script whatsoever Top of the Line is really tormenting me. I need to know. Tak and Skoodge would've also been present... My empire of dirt...

There is a cancelled episode: Top of the Line. Next to nothing is known about it because of a lack of script. But what we do know is that the episode would've been about a sir unit competition.

As for my "source" about her being ddr champion:

Woaw.. she canonically played a ddr knockoff.. woew........ (Said with all the awe as if I were seeing the sunlight for the first time after a lifetime underground)

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: The Folly of Gel’vana

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

The Terminus class warship “Gel’vana”, named after her captain of the same name, was the largest warship the Mogabi had ever constructed.

Outfitted with the latest technology, coupled with enough armaments to equal any single fleet, the ship was unlike anything the galaxy had seen set to sail amongst the void sea. The batteries of void cannons alone were capable of cracking tectonic plates like gingerbread.  

It didn’t take long for the intentions of such a ship to be made obvious as no sooner had it been launched from the orbital dockyards above the Mogabi homeworld did they declare war upon their galactic neighbor the Techno Autocracy.

The sentient machines held control over numerous mineral rich worlds that the Mogabi long since craved and so they dispatched the Gel’vana to drive the Autocracy out. Swarms of drones and carries were dispatched outnumbering the lone warship a ten thousand to one, yet the Gel’vana carved through them like a hot knife through butter. None of their weapons could pierce the warships shields as it unleashed devastating barrages against the mechanical adversaries.

By the conclusion of the Battle of Raxsus III the Autocracy had been crippled militarily and ceded control of the planets in question.

Emboldened by their victory, three months later the Mogabi declared war on their northern neighbors of the Tumani and Yulnucks. The pair had been locked in an ongoing border dispute for three years and the resulting conflicts had caused waves of disruption within the Mogabi trade network.

The pair was swiftly conquered by the Mogabi fleet with the Gel’vana leading the effort. Both fleets were swatted aside and their homeworlds conquered and instated as new vassal clients of the growing Mogabi empire.

This sad display of power played out again and again for the next ten years until to Mogabi controlled some twenty star systems, fifty worlds, and a dozen different client species serving their needs with resources and manpower. Their hubris was matched only by the fear they instilled when their enemies learned the Mogabi had dispatched the Gel’vana to their system. It was a sentiment that Mogabi felt with their soon to be latest acquisition.

A small empire of planets controlled by a species called “Humans”.

In short order the Gel’vana arrived in the human sol system and expected a fight. To their surprise they were met by a lone warship and a message of surrender.

To say the Mogabi were surprised would be an understatement. They had heard of the prowess of the human war machine and their spirit for conquest. Even with their previous victories the Mogabi were expecting a protracted war that could last decades and cost thousands if not millions of lives.

Human diplomats contacted the Gel’vana and expressed that they had no wish to see their people devastated by a long war. They were willing to negotiate with the Mogabi and give them favorable terms, even the possibility of limited subjugation, conditional on two terms.

1st: No human world would be subject to excessive occupation.

2nd: The human diplomats wished to sign the agreements onboard the Gel’vana as a sign of respect to both of powers.

The first the Mogabi could understand, but the second confused them.

Humans explained that while they were surrendering they still had a measure of pride to take into account. By signing the treaties onboard the Gel’vana they would show that it took the universes mightiest warship to bring them to heel.

Even with the explanation some of the Mogabi were still skeptical, but so drunk on their own supposed power the command staff ignored their suspicions and agreed to the terms.

Slowly the human ship approached the Gel’vana; the shadow of the Mogabi warship swallowing up the entire vessel like the maw of a great sea beast of old. A long lone docking tube extended outwards and latched on to the human ship and pulled it close as the Mogabi delegation gathered at the entry point ready in full military uniform.

As the tube finally stopped moving and the lights turned green, the entry door began sliding open slowly. When it finally slid fully open the Mogabi had just moment to register the tip of the Nova Warhead pointing right at them.

Before any of them could react the ignition triggered and the missile flew the length of the docking tube into the waiting Mogabi delegation, splattering several before colliding into the wall and detonating in a violent explosion.

While it was true that the Gel’vana was nearly impervious to exterior attacks, it was not designed to handle internal explosions. The detonation of the Nova warhead set off a series of secondary explosions in nearby ammo storage chambers which further added to the detonations until finally reaching the main reactor and setting off a critical overload.

In a single moment the deadliest warship the solar seas had ever seen was reduced to a momentary star of light and wreckage before being swallowed into the gravity well of Jupiter.

So assured in their own supremacy, the Mogabi failed to conduct even the most basic of scans of the human ship. Had they done so they would have seen that there was not a single soul on board, and quickly realized the ship was being remotely operated via a series of spy satellites floating throughout the Sol system. The destruction of the Gel’vana was recorded by one such satellite and then broadcast throughout the Mogabi Empire.

 Uprisings erupted throughout the entirety of their domain as their freshly conquered territories were all too eager to overthrow their oppressors; many of these rebellions aided by fresh contingents of human warships flooding in and engaging the scattered Mogabi forces.

Within six months the Mogabi Empire was no more and the human forces retreated back to their own domain. Many had expected the humans to become the new overlords, and it was a sentiment toyed with by some notable human leaders in flights of fancy; but that is all they were, flights of fancy. Their only interest had been in the complete and utter destruction of the Mogabi.

In their arrogance of sending a single warship to conquer humanity the Mogabi had done more harm to their cause then they could have ever imagined. They had wounded human pride at the insinuation that they were so frail and weak that they would cower beneath the gaze of one ship.

With their revenge carried out they were all too happy to leave the former vassals finish off what remained of the Mogabi; a vengeance they were all too happy to watch play out from afar.

[samheughanswife]

What is a kiss? Usually a way to express love, affection or as part of a greeting.

So let’s put this into perspective.

. Cast photographed together before boarding the bus that drove them to Murrayfield. So it’s a given that greetings were exchanged. Kisses and hugs, at the very beginning of the class excursion to TS concert with both the Headmistress and her deputy in attendance.

. Arrival and settling into the VIP tent and waiting for the pre show performance. Drinks, talking and familiarising themselves with the setup. Access, security, toilets.

. Sam and Caitriona would have been cognisant that the performance was filmed. All the other performances have been with multiple cameras and drones. TS set the standards very high with the use of technology so everyone can enjoy and benefit from her concerts.

. The chances of being filmed were high. They were very close to the stage and in the line of sight of the multiple cameras. These are two people very well versed in outdoor and location filming. Not novices. They would have seen the crew pre show.

. Paramore start their set with introductions and then their performance.

. Not sure how long they were in attendance before Paramore came on stage and not my job to find out. But suffice to say co-star catchup interactions were done and dusted.

What the video shows is a woman, Caitriona, so intuitively and intimately comfortable with Sam that she draws him in, arm around his neck and kisses him. Twice. It’s there on film. And it’s this that has the tumblrinas knickers so twisted.

We see a Caitriona who clearly not only “likes” her costar ( you know that she is said to hate him) but initiates UNNECESSARY closeness and deep affection, LOVE, for Sam whichever way you look at it. It was hours into being together on the excursion, not minutes.

These aren’t stills or screenshots. It’s on film. In technicolour. Swifty technicolour 🩷💚🩵🩶💙❤️💛🤎💜.

The existence of this video was dropped into the inbox of multiple accounts. It was there to watch and disseminate and ultimately share.

The only one to do so was @sgiandubh. I thank you so much and I’m saddened but not surprised that you have had to deal with the typical bullshit that comes from sharing any content that rattles the entrenched group think and mindset of so many.

“You think I’d leave your side, baby

You know me better than that

You think I’d leave when you’re down on your knees

I wouldn’t do that” By your Side, Sade 🤎

Caitriona showed not only her support for Sam after the HH pap walk but love as well. Platonic if you aren’t a believer and of course for me a woman who was unafraid and with zero fucks to give because she was aware that there was a chance it would be seen and still she moved in with the kisses and hugs.

Smooth operator ( sorry couldn’t help myself 😘)

N.B. Real life happens, I’m not here hitting refresh 24/7.

I’ve enjoyed reading the experts trying to make it make sense. The discomfort is real.

Caitriona forcing herself to get through a few hours of non work ( but it kinda was) with a co star she has barely tolerated these past few years and what do we see, deep down love and affection.

As as it’s often screeched ‘photos or it didn’t happen’ well we have video footage!!

[batfambrainrotbeloved]

Batfam quotes as quotes from my dnd group (part 3) (also including some from my homeland security class because it fits)

Bruce:"Whatever helps you sleep at night" Jason:"I sleep just fine- I have no guilty concensus" Tim:“Is a skateboard considered technology”? Duke:“You are victim blaming rn” Damian:“I am because it's the victim's fault”

Steph:“Not to kink shame- but I felt shame” Dick:“I don't wear socks from April to November” Duke:“As like a rule”? Kon:“Fireball-” Tim:“Actually,Lightning ball-” Bart + Cassie, in unison:“Alleged ball” Jason:“So obviously people have feet fetishes- but I have a foot phobia, they don't belong on a body” Damian:“Did you know every winter they kick all the drones out to freeze to death” Steph:“That's so valid- girlboss moment” Jason:"I'm sorry but if that makes you a white supremacists, you gotta stop the weed"

Steph:“What do you have against sharks”? Cass:“I think we're in mutual competition” Tim:“...Care to elaborate”? Cass:“Well were winning- humankind verse sharks” Steph:“OH I thought you meant You vs the sharks” Dick:“I'll allow you to talk- or I will accept an answer in the form of interpretive dance”

[cursed-40k-thoughts]

Do you know of any resources or fiction that mentions Eldar robotics? It seems like a pretty big factor in the Fall of the Aeldari Empire; technology so advanced it eliminates the need for manual labor, and by extension, a working class. I know the Exodites got rid of all their tech, but I hardly hear any mention of robots from the Asuryani, and the Drukhari seem to have converted entirely to slave labor.

To my recollection, the main mention of them was in the Asurmen novel. Spirit Drones, I believe they were called. I would assume, as with all things pre-fall Aeldari, there was a significant psychic component to them. Really, the robots would logically have only been one element of their post-labour, post-scarcity society. It’s important to remember that Aeldari at their height were unfathomably powerful psykers whose tech was built around augmenting and supporting that psychic might. When you can casually sing planet-sized party ships into reality, you’d only need the robots for menial stuff.

I would assume, given the lore is scarce, that the inherently indulgent culture the robots represented, or the nature of their function, is something the Craftworlders no longer want to engage with. Or maybe all the robots were destroyed with the bulk of the empire, and the Craftworlders didn’t take any with them. Maybe. Maybe. When your primary source is a Gav Thorpe novel from 2015, you have to do a bit of wondering and extrapolating, I’m afraid.

Also, Drukhari do use robots! Pain engines are robots that use organic components. 99% of their workforce is definitely slaves, though. It lends further credence to the idea that the Spirit Drones were psychic in nature, I think, hence why the Drukhari can’t/don’t replicate them, either.

[bobbile-blog]

Okay so I've finally gotten to Jessicalter's Oprec and now feel qualified to talk about Come Catastrophes or Wakes of Vultures. holy shit. This went straight into my list of top Arknights events. Fantastic event, spoilers will be under the cut so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND reading the event first. It's really good and worth your while.

Anyway, what follows is a scattered mess of thoughts about this event and things that stuck out to me.

First off, plot stuff! I'll probably cover this when I do my next plotline recap post, but what I took away from the end is that Clip Cliff seems to want to make Blacksteel independent, or at least more self-determining than it is now. He seems to be gathering resources and assets like mobile city plates and investing in long-term infrastructure like merc training, so he definitely has a long game he's pushing for. I don't think we know enough go speculate about his goals, but we'll definitely be coming back here again. After all, Tila has an infection monitor in her art, which probably means she's going to be playable at some point in the future.

Next, having looked into this a little on my own, I was interested in some of the previous places Raythean has shown up. Specifically, the ones that stood out were the drones in the Kazimierz Major and arming Silverash's forces in Kjerag, which might be referring to the Tschäggättä. It's not just notable for their apparent level of technology, but also as a faint connecting thread between three separate capitalism plotlines. I don't know if that's going to be meaningful in the future, but I found it interesting enough that I thought I'd bring it up.

Now on to more narrative things. While I love Liskarm and Franka, I do think it was the right choice to give them less screen time in this event. They're both (for the most part) fully-realized characters who understand their own motivations and morals. This is above all else an event about Jessica learning to stand on her own as an adult, so it makes sense that they're more here to support her than they are to play their own roles in the story.

Speaking of said roles, I liked the event's commentary on cops. It pointed out an interesting distinction that I wouldn't really have ever thought of, that between mercenaries and cops. To start: cops exist to protect property, not people. The police exist to protect things and do not have an obligation to err on the side of people over things, and in fact are supposed to do the opposite. This event understands that, and that role os the core of how the bank treats the Blacksteel mercs. CV, however, raises an interesting point that mercenaries are bound by the letter of a contract and not the larger obligation to property cops are, so they can actually raise moral objections and point to their contracts, sort of a Lawful Evil/Lawful Neutral to cops' Neutral Evil. The independence of their position with respect to cops allows for more of an independent morality than you'd get in a cop story and I like that, I think it's a really smart direction to take your writing in.

On a (mostly) separate note, holy shit Arknights is really good at writing cowboy stories. Between this and chapter 9 (and I would argue An Obscure Wanderer), Arknights has repeatedly made it clear that they Do Not Fuck Around with their cowboy stories and I'm surprised I haven't heard more people talking about it. It kinda has everything:

- It takes place in a rural, working-class setting undergoing a larger imminent societal shift that can inform the larger narrative, and deals with a semi-mythologized past that is rapidly disappearing.

- It has a protagonist and an antagonist that serve as foils, both very heavily affected and defined by the (same) violence in their past that they've both had different reactions to. Our protagonist has come to terms with the violence as a tool to maintain order, while our antagonist has used it for personal gain and in some ways lost control of it.

- It's a story about community, and heavily emphasizes local and personal community over larger artificial corporate "community". That's my reading of the recurring motif of the cold btw, warmth represents the close, personal community Davistown used to have and the cold that now pervades it comes from how the bank has systematically dismantled that community.

- And, I'd argue most importantly, it understands the narrative power of a bullet. The Showdown at the end of a cowboy story is powerful because we've spent the entire runtime of our story with these characters, and they are now facing each other down with the intent to end one of their collective two stories. The entire weight of the narrative so far comes to rest on a single moment of tension. It's really hard to gather up the kind of narrative momentum you need to make that hit like it does in CV. For example, it requires a really light hand with actual action in the story, so that it really does feel like it's an even standoff between our protagonist and antagonist. On the other hand, though, you do actually have to establish the relative skill of both parties and actually sell the danger of the moment to the audience. It's really hard to toe the line between tension and actual action in a way that makes for a satisfying resolution, and CV does it extremely well.

Honestly, Arknights just seems really good at getting the vibes of American media right. This is something I noticed in DV and Lonetrail too, and I haven't really been able to put my finger on what it is about them, but the vibes are just really on-point. I want to write more about this at a later point once I actually figure out what it is that I'm feeling, but maybe it's the setting, maybe it's the cast, maybe it's the plot points, maybe it's something in between — it just seems to understand the spirit of period cowboy stories in a way that I can't describe. Good shit.

Finally, I wanna end this with where Jessica is now. The events of CV take place In between the events of Loneterail and Ideal City, so the current "now" of the story is a few months ahead. Jessica left for the frontier along with Woody, Helena, and Miles. They live together in a small new settlement, building the place from the ground up with Woody and Jessica acting as town sherrifs. At the point we're at now, rhe town is fairly well-established and Woody has temporarily left on other business, leaving Jessica the sole sherrif of their new settlement. However, she's risen to her new station, and is growing into a stronger person than she ever was before.

[sapphic-agent]

You wanna know who the #1 beneficiary of the tech power creep is in this series? Momo. One thing this mech suit shows is that Momo totally wasted her time trying to beat people with sticks. The idea of trying to create items in a battle as a form of problem solving is stupid, or at best, should be done as a last resort. Her power was always meant for technology. That's the true power in this world. She should have been trying to be Ironman. You know how All Might spent his fortune on the suit, and that was meant to be a limiting factor as to why this tech can't be widely used? Well, guess who has the ability to generate materials with no cost. Even the idea of her inventions requiring studying to make things more complex stops holding water when you look at the torture device she tried to strap Midoriya into during Class A vs Deku. She made that in an instant and it posed an immediate threat. What could she make if she wasn't trying to do it during stressful battles with enemies right in front of her? So, her limiting factor really is her ability to study advanced concepts and have people explain them to her, and most importantly, what an author is willing to let her do. The path forward for her was always to pay people smarter and more educated than her to invent things and then she can have them explain it to her so she can recreate it. If her family had paid the cost to design that Iron Might suit, then she'd pay it. Once. And then be able to use the schematics to create as many of them as she wants. Or better yet, make killer robots except use the tech inside of the suit. Create an entire army of them so she never has to be in any sort of danger at all. Control them remotely. UA has been shown to have advanced AI robots who have personalities. Said bots have enough restraint to never kill any of the kids in the sports festival or entrance exam. This could be used for hero work. This also gets into what a valuable resource Mei Hatsume is and how if you wanted Momo to be a god, you could just have them meet in middle school. Mei just has to design a working device, once, and then Momo can study it and forever use it. What could she come up with, if the idea was that Momo would hide somewhere, perhaps in an APC, while she uses drones and robots to fight at a distance? Energy/food costs for her also aren't a concern. She's clearly able to output more energy than she takes in, given she can create cannons and things that weigh more than her. So she could use up all of her lipids creating a dead meat cube that contains as many calories as she's capable of packing into an object, then eat it. And repeat this process as needed.

This is definitely interesting.

Momo absolutely has the potential to be the most OP in the series. Horikoshi originally wanted to give her quirk to a pro but recognized that someone experienced would nerf the entire story.

I don't necessarily think that making things for problem-solving is the issue; I think it's way more that Horikoshi just didn't have the creativity for it. Like you said the entrapment device she made during 1A vs Izuku was maybe her most effective creation. Instead of disinfectant, imagine she made poison gas and simply knocked Kendo and the other 1B students out (not sure if she can create chemical reactions, but she could theoretically cause one by using components right).

I doubt she would be comfortable doing next to nothing as a hero. I do wish we knew her motivations, but relying purely on her money while doing minimal work doesn't paint a great picture for her. I like that in canon she doesn't rely on her status or wealth for hero work, she relies on her intelligence.

Momo should be an underground hero. She could be the equivalent of Batman (no this isn't my love for Batman over Iron-Man talking), strategizing and having any gadget she needs at her disposal. I would love to see more tech incorporated into her work as a hero. I also wouldn't mind the bo staff if she was allowed to actually use it like a bo staff (seriously she barely does anything with it what's the point of giving it to her. Nah give my girl a sword and let her cut people)

[mtb-tv]

Sleepers Were Never Meant For Labor

Sleepers can't be THAT efficient. Not more efficient than regular robots on factory lines or more advanced futuristic drones. They're practically a money pit, if you ask me. 1 out of 10 Sleepers escape...lets say every year. Given the intuited size of Essen-Arp and all its locations (factories, mining colonies, refineries) where Sleepers are working...let's be charitable and say that two-hundred Sleepers escape every year. These Sleepers would also take Stabilizer with them, or find a way to source it on the outside, so that's stock of Stabilizer going missing and out of Essen-Arp's hands. Not only that, but then they have to spend more resources sending Hunters down after them. Essen-Arp created a whole new class of Sleepers just to perform as Hunters and nothing else.

Now consider this - during Sabine's questline in Citizen Sleeper 1, what do we learn what Essen-Arp is most known for? Bionics. Bio-synthetic medicines, and other such augments. That's what they copyright, that's what they produce and develop, that's their main export, THEIR market share. Why would they get into the business of Slavery all the sudden with a fledgling android program in the form of Sleepers?

I think Essen-Arp has a larger end goal here, they're working toward a...Final Solution, if you'll pardon the comparison.

Are you perhaps familiar with Warhammer 40k's Adeptus Mechanicus? The "Machine Cult" as they're often referred to. You don't need to know the specifics, but they're fanatical transhumanists who aspire to the "purity of the blessed Machine" they worship a Machine God, and its prophet called the "Omnissiah". They forsake their flesh with reckless abandon, replacing parts with superior augmetics.

Now consider: Sleeper frames are objectively superior to human bodies. Even with their "planned obsolescence" and constant degradation. That's just a prototype, it'll be patched out in later models. Sleeper frames can go days without eating a damn thing. They don't need to breathe. They're immune to disease. They need no water. They produce no waste. They can work in extreme and hostile environments that humans would need extensive protection to even go into. They can interface with machines in precise and unique ways. Multiple characters remark throughout both games that Sleepers can work longer and harder than humans with a more consistent output, and these are just Sleepers who have been on the run. Who have been running on fumes and spite for their creators; Imagine what a Sleeper in its prime could accomplish...

Sleeper technology is in its infancy. Unable to be fully exploited for its full worth. All the Sleepers that exist in the setting today are prototypes, test subjects, control units. There are legions of Essen-Arp scientists and engineers observing them, testing them constantly logging data, tweaking formulas, adjusting designs for the eventual Perfect Sleeper so that only the most wealthy and powerful could upload their minds into, and become Gods in the Machine

Anyway, theory over

[tonyspank]

STAY READY (WHAT A LIFE)

"Here in this dimension, you and I are meant to be..."

Summary:  In the year of 2075, in a futuristic world where soulmates are determined by their markings, you serve as a police officer in a high-tech city. However, there's more to your identity than meets the eye, and your superior, Hannah, has secrets to reveal.

Warnings: death, bit of angst, philosophy, rushed ending

A/N: had mixed emotions abt posting this, might delete bc idk how to feel, hope u guys enjoy

also wanted to post this bc i’ll be going in a little “writing vacay” basically not gonna be posting anything until i finish majority of my fics

In the year 2075, technology has advanced to unimaginable heights. Everything was futuristic, from self-driving cars and flying drones to holographic displays and virtual reality. There were some parts that still remained untouched by technology: the lower-class side of the city.

The side you passed to get home from work, was a stark contrast to the high-tech world that existed just a few blocks away. Brick buildings a few years away from crumbling away, littered streets, and dimly lit alleyways were the norm in the forgotten part of town.

The lower-class side of the city seemed frozen in time, trapped in an era that had long been left behind.

You felt similar, feeling as if you were frozen in time. Or even as if time had been in a loop, every day is the same, repeating the same routine over and over again. You had joined the police force when you turned 19.

You can't remember anything before that; it felt as if your childhood life was a blur. You had always wondered about your past, but there were no answers to be found.

There were barely any crimes due to the fact that cameras were everywhere, along with drones that could identify you in less than a second. The constant surveillance made it nearly impossible for anyone to get away with anything.

You still found a way to rank up, taking on additional responsibilities and becoming a respected member of the force. Your dedication and hard work did not go unnoticed, and you were eventually promoted to a leadership position within the police force.

"Y/LN." You raise your eyebrow, twisting your chair around toward the familiar voice. Standing in the doorway is your higher-up, Hannah, the Chief of Police. She has a stern expression on her face, waiting for you to address her.

You quickly stand up, walking over to her to see what the matter is. Hannah always had a stern expression on her face, even when she was in a good mood.

But this time, it felt different.

Hannah motions for you to follow her, leading you down the hallway towards the conference room. You follow behind Hannah with ease, dodging and weaving between the mix of androids and human officers bustling about the police station.

Entering the conference room, Hannah slaps the folder against the desk, causing a loud thud that echoes in the room. Her eyes bore into yours as she starts explaining the details of a confidential mission having to deal with the president and his late daughter.

"The sons of bitches actually made the serum..." Hannah mutters, taking a photo out of the folder and sliding it across the table towards you. The photo reveals a vial filled with a glowing blue liquid, labeled "Project Seraphim."

Project Seraphim, a top-secret government initiative, was aimed at resurrecting the president's daughter, who had tragically passed away. Ashely Redfield, the president's daughter and a young girl who never got to experience the fullness of life, was the inspiration behind Project Seraphim. The serum was meant to bring her back to life, offering a glimmer of hope to her grieving father.

"...years ago." Hannah finishes, clenching her jaw. "Dr. Murphy finished Project Seraphim and never informed anyone about its success. He kept it hidden, for what reason? I don't know. All I know is that you need to find him and get the serum. This came directly from the president, and you're the only one I trust to carry out this mission."

You eye the file on the desk, which contains all the information about Project Seraphim and Dr. Murphy's whereabouts. With a nod of your head, you agree, "Understood."

-

It was nighttime when you left the station, rain falling from the dark sky, the only thing lighting up the city being the neon signs and holograms flickering in the distance.

For the first time in years, you felt...overwhelmed. The weight of the mission and the responsibility entrusted to you by the president seemed to bear down on your shoulders. You continued to stroll through the rain-soaked streets, rolling up your sleeve slightly, revealing the mark on your forearm.

The mark was a symbol to show you had a soulmate out there. Your soulmate was supposed to have the same marking as your own, connecting the two of you in a deep and unbreakable bond.

It had always been a source of comfort and hope, knowing that somewhere in this vast city, your soulmate was waiting for you.

You run your hand over your marking, feeling the raised texture and tracing the intricate design. The feeling was soothing, even more so than the raindrops cascading down your skin, which seemed to echo the rhythm of your heartbeat, as if nature itself were in tune with the anticipation in your chest.

With a deep and long sigh, you cover up your marking, carrying on with your walk home.

Your routine has been broken. A figure stood at the edge of the bridge, which separated the two halves of your town. The figure's silhouette was illuminated by the dim streetlights, casting a shadow on the bridge's worn-out wooden planks.

You furrowed your eyebrows, breaking the cycle, and walking toward the figure, who seemed to not care about the rain that fell on them. Only a few feet away, you stood beside the now-revealed woman, who stared ahead, watching the small ripples forming in the river below.

She was gorgeous; more than gorgeous, she was enchanting, captivating even in the gloomy night. Her eyes held a hint of sadness, reflecting the weight of her thoughts. You couldn't help but be drawn to her mysterious aura, wondering what had brought her to this desolate bridge on such a rainy night.

Her lips began to curve in a small smile, and you had nearly missed the soft chuckle that escaped her lips. She turns to you, smiling softly, her eyes pouring into yours—eye contact that felt both intimate and unsettling. It was as if she could see right through you, unraveling the depths of your soul with just a glance.

You found yourself captivated by her gaze, unable to break free from the magnetic pull of her eyes. Then you heard her for the first time, your heartbeat racing more than it ever has before. Was this healthy?

"The rain can be quite therapeutic, wouldn't you agree?" Her voice was like a gentle melody, soothing yet mysterious. You feel the raindrops on your skin, cooling and cleansing, as if washing away the weight of the world. It's as if her words have a magical power, bringing a sense of calm and clarity to your troubled mind.

"Yes, it is," you reply, your voice barely above a whisper, unable to tear your eyes away from her. The way she spoke and the way she looked at you made you feel like she could understand every hidden part of your being. She gives you another smile before turning her attention back to the river. "I'm Jenna if you were wondering."

"Y/N."

"I like watching the rain hit the water—seeing the ripples in the water as each raindrop creates its own unique pattern." Your eyes don't drift away from the woman, watching her side profile as she gazes out at the rain-soaked scenery.

"Even watching the raindrops that hit the dock is mesmerizing," she adds. "There are more than 200,000 raindrops that fall a minute, yet each one has its own individual impact on the world around us. People take rain for granted, complaining about how it ruins their plans or makes them wet, but they fail to appreciate the beauty and significance of each raindrop."

She continues, "Rain is essential for life, nourishing plants and hell even replenishing our water sources. It's a reminder of nature's power and the interconnectedness of all living things."

She turns back toward you, her eyes flickering with a sense of wonder. "Don't you kind of think we're like raindrops? Each of us may seem small and insignificant on our own, but together we have the power to create a ripple effect and make a difference in the world." She smiles as you stare at her, confused and intrigued by her analogy.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get too philosophical there. It's just something I've been thinking about lately. But hey, maybe it's something worth pondering, right?" She chuckles, breaking the momentary silence between you two.

You break into a smile. "No, don't apologize. I actually love that analogy. It's a beautiful way to look at things." Jenna's smile increases, her eyes lighting up with appreciation. "I'm glad you think so," she replies.

"Sometimes, it's easy to feel like our actions don't matter in the grand scheme of things. But if we can believe that even the smallest acts of kindness or positive change can create a ripple effect, then maybe we can find the motivation to keep making a difference. Like you taking the time out of your night to listen to me," she whispers the last part, breaking the eye contact she's been holding and looking down at her hands.

You open your mouth to speak, but you're cut off by the angelic voice. "Thank you; it was really nice talking to you, but I have to go now."

Jenna walks away in a hurry, leaving you standing on the wooden bridge alone, feeling a mixture of confusion and gratitude. You watch her disappear into the distance, wondering what impact your conversation had on her.

-

It's been days since your mission and days since your conversation with Jenna. You find yourself replaying the conversation in your mind, trying to decipher any hidden meaning behind her words. The memory of her angelic voice and the intensity of the moment still linger, leaving you with a sense of longing to know if she's okay.

A knock is heard at your door, interrupting your thoughts. John, a fellow officer in your field, hands you a file with a frown on his face. "Homicide," he says, scratching his beard. "We've got a new case, and it's a messy one. I thought you should take a look."

You quickly skim through the file while John briefs you on the details. "A young girl in her 20s was found dead three days ago, but there's no sign of a fight nor any obvious cause of death. We have her body in the laboratory for further examination, but so far, the autopsy results have been inconclusive. It's like she just... died. No witnesses, no suspects, nothing. Her names—"

Jenna?

"—Jenna." Your heart drops, flipping back and forth between shock and disbelief. Jenna. The same Jenna you met on the bridge that night, and the same Jenna that is supposedly your soulmate.

The marking on her back is the same as the marking on your arm. You feel a chill run down your spine as you realize you met your soulmate that night. Only once you find out do you realize that she is now gone forever.

What could have happened to Jenna, and why did fate bring you together only to tear you apart so suddenly?

"Y/LN? You alright?" John mutters, snapping you out of your thoughts. You eye the officer, still lost in your own world.

No, you weren't going to let the only person who brought you happiness after such a long time slip away without a fight.

Without a word, you jump up from your chair, pushing past your co-workers and rushing out of the office. You were going to use that serum on Jenna, not the president's daughter.

You burst through the doors of the laboratory, Hannah standing there with a puzzled expression on her face. "Y/LN, what's going on?" she asks, you were the last person she expected to see bursting into the lab.

Ignoring her question, you turn to a worker at the lab and urgently ask, "Where is Jenna Ortega's body? I need to see her immediately." The worker looks taken aback by your sudden request but quickly directs you to the morgue.

You remember the room number, then return back to Hannah, bumping past her and into the room she had just exited, the serum had been held here until the president was able to make his way down to your city, fortunately, he had been too busy to visit the lab earlier.

The four-digit code that you set and remember with ease is punched into the safe, unlocking with a loud beep. You grab the blue serum, turning around, only to be met with a gun pointed at your face. The person holding the gun is none other than Hannah; her expression cold and determined.

"Damnit, Y/LN. Don't make me do this," she mumbles, taking the safety off her gun. "Who told you about Jenna, huh?" You freeze, your mind racing to figure out how Hannah found out about Jenna.

"You knew? You knew Jenna was my soulmate?" Your voice trembles as you try to comprehend the situation. Hannah pauses for a moment, her grip on the gun tightening. "I've known for a while now," she admits. "There's some things you don't understand. You have an old soul, and I like that about you."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" You grit, confusion, and anger bubbling up inside you. Hannah's eyes narrow, a flicker of sadness crossing her face.

"You're not human, Y/N. You're something more, something special. You were created by SynthoTech, a company that specializes in advanced artificial intelligence and genetic engineering. They designed you to possess enhanced abilities and a unique consciousness, and it was either to terminate you or let you work for the government.

You're unlike any other Android that's been created before. Your thoughts and emotions are not just programmed responses but rather a genuine experiences. You have the capacity to feel joy, love, and even pain.

It's both a gift and a burden as you navigate a world that may not fully understand or accept you. I don't know why Jenna was your soulmate; I really don't get it, but we couldn't let you get off your program. So I had to eliminate her."

Hannah lets out a sigh. "Fucking hell, Y/N. Just set down the serum and let's figure out a way to keep you safe. No one has to know about this, okay? I can reset your program--"

"No!" You interrupt, "I'm not going to let you erase my memories and reset me like some kind of...fuck...no. You killed Jenna, and now you want to erase her from my existence too? This is so fucked up."

"The world is a fucked up place, Y/LN. What do expect to happen if you inject Jenna with that serum? You think the president is gonna let an android and human have a happily ever after with the cure that was made for his daughter?"

You shake your head, anger and frustration coursing through you. "I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be part of some twisted experiment or to be caught in the middle of political agendas. Jenna deserved better than this, and so do I."

"And so did Ashely; Jenna got to live her life, but Ashely was robbed of that opportunity." You take a step closer to Hannah, your eyebrows furrowed together tightly.

"Do you fucking hear yourself? You also robbed Jenna of the opportunity to live her life. You killed her for something she couldn't control! You're a hypocrite."

Hannah's face pales as your words sink in. She takes a step back, her eyes filled with guilt and remorse. The weight of her actions finally dawns on her, leaving her speechless and unable to defend herself.

Hannah lowers her gun and says, "Hurry." You hesitate for a moment, conflicted by the sudden change in Hannah's demeanor. "What?"

"Hurry up before I change my mind," Hannah says, her voice trembling. "I don't want to be responsible for any more pain and suffering."

Taking your chance, you run out of the room and toward Jenna with the serum in your hand.

You unlock the door to the morgue and step inside, the cold air hitting you as you scan the room for Jenna Ortega's body. She lies on a stainless steel table, pale and lifeless. You rush to her side, praying that it's not too late. Injecting the serum into your soulmate, you watch anxiously as her body stirs and color returns to her cheeks.

You whisper words of encouragement, urging Jenna to fight for her life.

Relief washes over you as Jenna's eyes flutter open, and she takes a deep breath. "Y/N," she whispers weakly, her voice barely audible. You hold her hand tightly, grateful that you were able to save her from the brink of death.

You roll up your sleeve, revealing the marking on your forearm, silently explaining that you're her soulmate. Jenna's gaze shifts to your forearm, her eyes widening with recognition as she traces her finger over the marking.