#Sigma does NOT like me but that's because I made him experience all the endings in VLR even the unnecessary ones

[kakusu-shipping]

Fuck it, Virtue's Last Reward Self Insert Fic I thought of in the shower. Do whatever you want forever.

"If we are Termites, and our world is a beautifully constructed mound, what does that make you?"

The Anteater in the Lab

There's a man in my father's robotics lab.

He's short, with white hair and really really red eyes. I didn't know eyes could be red. I don't think they're supposed to.

He's been there my whole life. He's never changed.

He doesn't age, his heart doesn't beat, I've never seen him leave to eat or use the bathroom and he's cold to the touch.

At first I thought he was just another robot, one my father built to keep the Gaulem Bay running while he worked on more important matters

"Stay away from that thing!" My father snapped when I'd asked him about it the first time, "Don't trust it, don't go anywhere near it, you understand?"

At the time, I still thought my father had my best interest at heart, so I listened to him.

Mostly.

---------------------------

"Hello again, Kyle, Luna's not with you?"

Kyle, who'd put his babysitter Luna to a wild goose chase so he could make this confrontation alone, made sure the door was fully shut behind him before he dared to speak.

"What are you?"

The thing that looked like a man looked up from it's work on the Gaulem laying on the table, and placed it's tools down slowly. Kyle never hesitated with questions he had, in this lab curiosity was a virtue, and the one thing he'd always been rewarded for was seeking knowledge, so of course the anteater had always known this question would come, it was just a matter of when.

Kyle was only freshly 16, two years before he'd have someone to quell his loneliness, to project his need for a nuclear family onto. He'd long sense learned his father doesn't truly care for him, or long sense made such an assumption, and now that he'd reached such formative years he'd begun to act out, though only in the littlest ways behind his father's back.

This was one of those little ways.

The anteater smiled, "What a deep question. What are you, Kyle?"

"I'm human." Kyle answered, stepping heavily across the room until he was on the other end of the repair table, "Unlike you."

His words would come across as harsh to anyone else, but the thing that looked like a man had been watching over Kyle sense the Nonary Game yet to happen and all the way back to his creation. It knew him in ways no one else in this world ever would. It knew he was just being honest.

"Indeed you are. You're as human as Luna is Gaulem." The anteater hummed and reached for his tools to return to work.

Kyle, one slow to anger usually, slapped his armor covered hands on the table, "Don't avoid my question!"

The thing that looked like a man looked calmly across the table to Kyle, it gave a hum and tilted it's head.

"What do you think I am, Kyle?"

"I don't know-"

A finger placed over the part of Kyle's mask where his mouth would be, "Don't give me that. A good scientist always has a theory. Even if it's wrong, I want to hear your thoughts first."

Kyle's face flushed under his mask ever so slightly as he stepped back. He then placed his hand to his chin and thought, before answering, "When I was little... I thought you were a Gaulem, like Luna, put to work to make other Gaulems..."

The Anteater walked around the table and sat himself on Kyle's side, mimicing Kyle's pose, "A good thought. It'd explain my lack of aging and need for nutrients. But,"

"But," Kyle picked up, shifting his weight, "You're cold, whereas Luna is warm, and has a pulse. Plus, according to my father, he specifically made the Gaulems incapable of self repair, so it'd make sense that they couldn't build new Gaulems as well."

The thing gave a chuckle, ""He" made the Gaulems incapable of self repair, hm?"

Kyle blinked for a moment, then shared in the humor of his own statement. He'd learned a long time ago his father had virtually nothing to do with the creation of the Gaulems. Robotics and Bioengineering were entirely too far removed for one man to do both.

No, the real genius of the Gaulems, the AI that ran the facility, and even Kyle's suit was the Not Man sitting before him. His father just laid claim to these creations.

"What else might I be?" Asked the Not Man, crossing one leg over the other.

Kyle thought, his other Hypothesizes were far from perfect, "Well... We are on the moon. While never scientifically proven, space is near infinite, and I would not be surprised if you were some form of extraterrestrial."

"That would explain my advanced intelligence." The man confirmed, "Though I do look a bit too human, don't you think?"

"I would assume to blend in with other humans," Kyle suggested, tilting his head.

"But the only humans in this facility are your Father and you, and you both figured me out right away. Why would I not shed my disguise at that point? Or simply leave?"

Kyle hummed in thought, he could Maybe and What If this train of thought forever, but based on the resistance he was getting from the topic, he could only assume he was on the wrong track.

"Then... You're like my father, an esper who traveled through time to help him with his work."

The Not Man smiled and leaned back, "You're on the right track, but not quiet. If I was from your father's original time here to help him, wouldn't he be more accepting of me?"

Kyle thought back to the first time he'd asked about the man in the Gaulem Bay, and the sharp way his father had responded. He thought about the times he'd only been passing by and he'd heard his father yelling behind closed doors at this not man for interfering.

"Then you're here to... stop him?"

"Would he let me stay if I was?"

Kyle shook his head, he looked rather lost now.

"Not to mention, espers are still human. Your father may not act like it, but he is just as human as you. He needs to eat, and sleep, his heart beats and aches and flutters same as yours."

"Unlike you..." Kyle trailed off and placed his hand to his chin, thinking again.

When he was young he'd remembered reading about Zombies and Vampires, fictional undead creatures in horror stories that felt cold as the dead and who's hearts never beat. That seemed highly unlikely to be true, but it was about all he had left.

The not man stood up, he reached up and removed Kyle's helmet, as he'd done every time Kyle would visit him, and patted him on the head. His hand was cold. It was comforting. It was all Kyle had.

"What I am is something that cares very deeply for you, Kyle. Why I came here, why I help your father, it's because you are very very important to me." The cold hand moved to Kyle's cheek, "Is that enough of an answer?"

Kyle leaned into the touch of the one thing that cared about him most in the world, even if it wasn't human, it loved him. And he loved it.

"For now..."

[orowyrm]

like the thing that i think a lot of ppl gloss over is that a large majority of the talon aligned heroes have little to no interest in the actual ‘goals’ of the organization (to the point where we still don’t entirely know what talon wants or why they exist, lmfao) so much as it just being a means to an end. like we can all conceptualize that sombra is pretty much just there because it gives her access to more resources she can use towards her own goals, moira is there for research opportunities and funding that she’d never get elsewhere due to the nature of her work, i can only imagine that ramattra’s alliance with talon (and thus null sector’s as a whole) is purely situational because it provides advantages he considers useful, reaper is pretty much just there because they’re against overwatch therefore he can use it as an avenue for his revenge, even doomfist doesn’t really seem to hold as much stock in talon as an organization as he does use his position as a tool to achieve his goals, if it stopped being useful he would likely just walk away.

in opposition to the overwatch aligned heroes who all seem to be coming together solely for the sake of this like, ideal of Overwatch as a concept being this paradigm of good and justice and doing what’s right, and rallying behind their faith in the organization and what it symbolizes… i genuinely don’t think any of the talon operatives really care all that much about talon at all. it’s just a job. like, sure, we’re doing cartoon supervillain shit, but the pay is decent and we’ve got benefits and i can continue to do my own thing on the side, no questions asked. it’s honestly a pretty sweet deal.

all of that to say i really don’t see why people seem so averse to the idea of sigma having that same mindset. like yeah, he’s not exactly thrilled to be using his research and abilities to assist in acts of violent terrorism, but does he have many other options? he says it himself in that interaction with baptiste, talon gives him everything he needs - funding, resources, something to fall back on after being in total isolation for decades and coming out with absolutely nothing. it’s a guaranteed safety net — so long as he’s with talon, there’s absolutely no chance of anyone dragging him off or locking him up again, and so long as he contributes when he’s needed, he’s free to pursue his research to his heart’s content. does he regret it? sure, sometimes. i think they all do. i doubt there’s a single talon-aligned hero who genuinely believes what they’re doing is genuinely morally correct and sound. but ultimately in his mind he didn’t have many options left, so he had to settle for something he knew would at least guarantee his safety and continued freedom. it doesn’t really mean he’s being manipulated or held against his will any moreso than most of the other talon heroes, imho. he’s not proud of it, but hey, it pays the bills.

i feel like he regards it with a similar level of resentment/annoyance as i felt towards my horrible soul sucking corporate retail job of several years - like don’t get me wrong, the company i worked for absolutely sucked and i HATED how they operated, policy was bullshit and so much of it was unnecessary and needlessly counterproductive. but i also really connected with my coworkers in the same situation AND i got to get paid to do stuff i already would have been doing on my own anyway, and ultimately the experience i got and connections i made were really helpful in pursuing what i actually wanted to be doing with my life. it’s like if your shitty day job required you to kill people but they also like, got you hooked up with a place to live and a healthcare provider and all that shit and paid for all of your living expenses no questions asked AND gave you a decent budget to screw around with so long as every now and then you showed them what you were making and maybe used it to kill people more efficiently sometimes. i wouldn’t exactly feel any amount of loyalty to the company paying me but i wouldn’t exactly be in a hurry to quit either

[bvnnyl0v3r]

An Angel's Kiss pt.4

A/N: okay imma immediately say: I‘ll continue the timeline as it is rn and work my way up (mainly bc i live in germany and we only got 23 parts and the 24th part is coming out in idk how many months I am dying from spoilers 😭😭😭) also like idek why I am writing Nikolai to be a total asshole he‘s my fave character but at the same time I just….. is it wrong to want tobe mistreated by a white haired man who definetly does not have all his cups in the cupboard (someone help It‘s 3am and that cupboard cup thingy is a german thing that we germans say instead of having some loose screws I am so fucked out) 

TW: mention of near death experiences, blood, wounds, dirty talk, Nikolai is still just….. *sighs dramatically*, needles, slapping, for once (NAME) is being the weird one

What you did not expect this lovely morning as you woke up was….. Nikolai. In your bed….. well okay you sorta did expect it since he does not know personal space with you but the unexpecting part was that he was covered in blood, you were covered in blood and your sheets were covered in blood. You checked to see if that bastard actually dared to die in your arms but luckily he didn‘t.

While you coulhave done the world a favor and left him to die your dumbass‘ first thought was to drag him into the kitchen and pour cold water over him to wake him up and then get out the medkit. After all Fyodor‘s surgery book did help you sew some of the wounds shut. Well that was while Nikolai was still half asleep half dead but now he was neither half asleep nor half dead so he was just groaning like the fucking masochist he is.

And sitting there trying to treat someones wounds while they keep on saying:

“that‘s it darling….. just like that…. Fuck that burned….bet you like me like this don‘t ya, baby~ whimpering just for you~ ngh~“

Was not at all a pleasant way to pass your time so after the first 15 minutes you‘d had enough

“Can you stopdirty talking me while I treat you fucking wounds???“

„But baby, my pretty darling, don‘t you looooovvveeee meeee~“

….

when Sigma came in because he heard a scream….

…..

…he just immediately walked out again at the sight of you stabbing nikolai‘s main blood vain in the upper arm. Sadly he survived....

About 10pm you wanted to go to bed. A good plan indeed as Fyodor was finally out the house just as sigma and fukuchi so it was just you and Nikolai. Nikolai had gotten a set of rules from the others. Much against his will as they "chained him even more than he already was" and "he'll never be free" but at some point agreeing when fyodor told him he'll lock him up in an actual bird cage if he doesn't collaborate.

So you finally got your sleep. 4 lovely hours until you shrieked up from a nightmare. To terrified to go back to sleep in your own bed you took a light and walke dover to Nikolai's room. To your surprise he was already asleep wich you found weird as you didn't think he'd sleep before 3am but who cares anyway. You were gonna wake him up and make him help you somehow. I mean yeah he may not seem the smartest but he actually can have some brain. 

So here you were. Sitting on Nikolai's bed. Trying to get the snoring bastard to wake up as he kept on sleeping. You got tired again so in the end you decide ife he can you andomly cuddle up to you so can you.

...

You don't know when you woke up but Nikolai was in a shock state. Looking at you with eyes wide open and an awkard grin. His arms tightly around your waist. Seeing this terrifying sight infront of you your flight or fight instict kicked in and you slapped him.

"OW WHAT THE FUCK (NAME)"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING STARING AT ME LIKE THAT"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED"

"I COULDN'T SLEEP IN MINE I HAD A NIGHTMARE"

"SO YOU DECIDED TO GET IN MY BED WITHOUT WAKING ME, CUDDLE UP TO ME AND SLAP ME AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP"

"I TRIED WAKING YOU UP BUT YOU SNORING BASTARD DIDN'T WAKE UP"

Then silence made it's way through the room until Nikolai speaks

"let's get mclfurries"

"For once youhad a good idea"

A/N: idk wtf happened at the end i'm honest. It's 3am again I can't sleep HELP THIS WAS IN MY DRAFTS FOR 3 MONTHS OR SO

[fenixfoxtrot510]

Long post with some BSD manga spoilers------

Seen some people get on other fans for fixating on Sigma being 3 years old.

And I can respect where they are coming from because Sigma is an adult with a fully developed adult body. He ran a casino all by himself for 8 days.

I also cannot let go of the fact that he is 3 years old.

I can't let go of that detail because being an adult is more than just being in a fully mature body. You can't form a fully mature person based on nature and biology alone. Nurture also plays a big factor in a persons development and personality.

A lot of what makes someone mature is lived experience.

And Sigma only has 3 years of that total.

There's just so much that Sigma is probably behind in development wise because he just hasn't been alive long enough to gain the lived experiences necessary for it. He doesn't have pre-made memories from the book to contribute to his personality.

I think that it absolutely affects him on an emotional level. Because emotions are something that's developed with time and experience, not just biology.

Sure, Sigma can run a casino and remember the profiles of thousands of people but he also has to mask his emotions so that people don't notice he's struggling with lack of lived experience.

Because he does struggle with the knowledge that he's been thrust straight into life with no real clue of what to do.

- I can tell you from experience that being thrown into the real world after not being taught how to do any kind of adulting is scary as hell. And that terror only gets worse when you look back at the people that were supposed to teach you and they just tell ya to figure it out on your own. You are an adult. They won't tell you what to do and you don't know what to do but everyone just expects you to do something because you are an adult now. -

So someone like Sigma, with no prior memories or experience to fall back on and no one to ask, ends up having anxiety and panic attacks when he finds himself in situations he doesn't know how to handle.

It's easy for other people to manipulate him because at least if someone is giving him some directions then that's better than no direction at all.

He's an easy target because of his lack of experience and emotional insecurity.

That is a direct result of his age.

Sigma is an adult biologically. But he is also 3 years old. He never had a childhood and that has to affect him. How he sees and interacts with the world.

When he plays rock, paper, scissors with Dazai, I really can't ignore how he gets frustrated when he can't win a game. And when he wins one time, he does a little happy dance while Dazai dramatically pretends to be beaten. It never occurs to him that Dazai was probably just humoring him. He finally won a game against Dazai! And he's happy!

And Dazai playing up his defeat right there just tips me off that Dazai also can tell that Sigma is affected by his chronological age. That Sigma could use some kind of help to catch up with where most adults are at.

That's why I think Dazai tries to engage Sigma in silly antics that come off more like playing together instead of just harassing Sigma like he does with Chuuya or Kunikida. It feels more genuine to me.

He probably knows that Sigma will not only benefit from some playing around. But he can also probably tell that while playing, Sigma will grow to trust Dazai and listen when he encourages Sigma to think and make decisions for himself; instead of just passively falling back in the cycle of abuse where other people control him till they have what they want and throw him away.

Dazai is giving him a safe relationship where he can be free to learn and grow and make his own choices.

There's nothing wrong with needing more time to mature past the physical developments of life. A lot of people that grew up in abusive and/or neglectful homes miss out on having full childhoods and many absolutely can benefit from making time to just indulge in their inner child as adults.

I'm one of them.

And I feel like Sigma, having zero past at all, would 100% need some time to be a kid in order to fully grow into himself.

So yeah.

Sigma is an adult.

And he'd be a kick ass detective with the ADA and solve all the crimes.

But after work hours he still deserves some time just have fun, eat cookies, and settle into safe place he can call home surrounded by people that care about him.

Maybe this doesn't make sense if you never found yourself behind other kids, development wise?

Maybe someone else could explain it better.

But I really haven't seen anyone try and talk about why Sigma being 3 is actually an important detail for his character development so I wanted to try at least.

[reincarnatedonthefirst]

My appointment with Sigma was okay. I had the place clean and smelling nice for him. But I have a few different feelings about how the appointment went (prepare for a long post)…

I think he is in the honeymoon stage of our relationship. He is trying to impress me, making subtle hints about spoiling me. Asks me a lot of questions, some of which are personal. It’s very flattering. I’m getting a little annoyed at him hinting at spoiling me, though. I actually think he might be one of those clients that, if you make them jealous, it will actually motivate them to give you more. I wonder…

I also made the mistake of not asking how much time he wanted today. When I confirmed our appointment yesterday, I mistakenly implied that I only had an hour available for him. I’ll never do that again. He ended up booking me for 90 minutes today, though. Hopefully, he settles for 2 hours next time. I fcked that up.

Anyway, we talked a lot… Too much in fact. I like to give clients at least two “pops” per session but we talked so much that we didn’t go a second round and I didn’t give him oral (and he really likes oral). But it’s not his fault. I need to get better at taking initiative during sessions. I am the provider after all. I regret not doing that.

He also asked me a lot about my dating life and my professional life as an escort. This is where I, once again, have regrets…

Because I have this idea that I need to impress clients so, when talking to my clients, I often make up stories about having wealthy clients and/or wealthy boyfriends.

Now, I don’t think there is anything wrong with making up stories to convince paying clients that you’re “high value”. The problem with me is that I don’t enjoy lying! It actually feels bad. Granted, in our society, it is sometimes necessary to lie. But I don’t like lying unnecessarily. It leaves me feeling rotten on the inside. I don’t enjoy making up stories or pretending to be someone I’m not even when it means I can gain financially. I love for people to know the real me (as you can probably tell from my very honest Tumblr posts where I often talk about my bowel movements). I’m one of those people that “wears their heart on their sleeves”. I’m mainly open-book. I’m truthful about my life experience and more positive aspects of myself but I also don’t embellish.

Which leads me to another point: I over-share with clients…

I’m sure clients would like to see me as some kind of unattainable goddess but because I prefer to be honest, it’s difficult for me to maintain that vision for them. I’m afraid that eventually, they’ll discover that I’m actually smarter than they are, I hate men, I’m highly capable, and I have more social consciousness than they are comfortable with. I just can’t maintain an image of being super feminine and intellectually inferior as they’d prefer I be. I’m afraid that my honesty is going to shatter the image they would like to have of me.

Anyway, back to the session…

Now, I will say that the sex today, though it didn’t last long, was good. We had a lot of chemistry. After some foreplay, I rode his pee-nuss like a champ and he came quick.

While we were talking, he also gave me a fun, useful piece of information. He said that he once went to see a fetish provider that does prostate massages. He said that cumming from a prostate massage is one hundred times better than cumming from vaginal penetration. He said that the provider he saw charges $1,100 per hour for her services and she doesn’t even offer penetration. 😐 … Bro…

I asked if she used a toy to reach his prostate and he said she uses her finger. I, then, asked if the session was worth $1,100 and he said, “absolutely”.

::snaps on a pair of surgical gloves:: Bro, point me to the nearest ass hole. Where is it….

I need to learn prostate massage. It’s a fcking must…

He sked why I was interested in prostate massage. I didn’t want to sound like a money-grubber so I came up up some BS reason and told him I like being in control. The truth is that I want to learn a speciality services because I can make good money off of it.

Anyway, he wants to schedule an appointment with me next Friday as well (YAY!). I hope he books for two hours this time. Sigma isn’t rich, I don’t think. But based on his hobbies, I can tell that he’s got a decent amount of disposable income. He also said he barely has any debt. The point is that, when it comes to him, I need to not “fumble the bag” as they say on social media. He wants to stick with me and he can afford to do so.

Another thing - I forgot to offer him water when he came over. I actually had a bottle in the refrigerator just for him. 🙄 Before he comes over next week, I also want to ask if there are any snacks I can keep here for him. The first time we met, he said he wants his provider’s place to be his “sanctuary” and I heard that loud and clear.

I guess I enjoy the customer service aspect of this all. I’m offering a “luxury” service, a service that most people cannot afford so I’m enjoying the process of creating an “experience”. I was even excited to take all of the linen off the bed and wash it clean for his next visit. 😂

I guess that’s all for now. I find Sigma attractive and I genuinely like him. He’s a successful, grown-ass man. He’s confident, kind, and he’s emotionally intelligent. I think we make a great pair. Today, he actually said, “you’re perfect for me”.

Anyway, let’s hope he is as “generous” as he claims, though.

[accelsynchros]

sorry im obsessed with bruno as a ygo rper myself;

what sort of things do you listen to when writing him? what core memory of his strikes you the most important to remember?

ask me about my muse

why are u apologizing ... whY are u apologizing .... i love when other people also love my muses it is so VALIDATING anyway uHHH i listen to a lot of motion city soundtrack ngl i love motion city soundtrack and it's literally like all the songs are written by a dude who is just a guy but he's seen SO MUCH and been thru SO MUCH which is ... the vibe.

i really love knowing that bruno had a life before he was antinomy- his experiences as vanni are the basis of his soul- a person who idolized yusei from the start, a talented duelist, the guy who built a d-wheel with his friends and went from amateur team to top of the pro circuits. the young man who fell in love with a quirky mechanic who turned out to be the heir to a massive company- he was always full of passion and hope, and the bonds he made before the world ended translate over into the bonds he makes as bruno.

aurora lamont, vanni's fiancee, became the mechanic for team delta. bruno sees so much of her in yusei, although he can't remember her name- he has her locket, it's the same energy as yusei has bruno's glasses. it's easy for bruno to love yusei, because vanni loved aurora more than life itself.

ruben farro was first wheeler in team delta. fun loving and laid back, bruno sees ruben in crow. the person who is there to lift others up. who makes the right choice even in tough times. someone he's so glad to have as a friend. someone who makes him smile.

mimi vespa was second wheeler in team delta, and bruno sees her in jack. strong and proud and aloof, but loyal to the end. no matter how far vanni was from mimi, he knew she'd have his back if he needed her. she'd be on sigma kite rushing over even if he didn't ask, because in the end, that's what friends do. it was easy for bruno to feel at ease with team 5Ds because the part of him that was still vanni saw team delta. everything he'd lost had come back to him.

he got the bonus of aki and rua and ruka, who he didn't really have anyone to associate with from his past-future, but he cherished them / he does cherish them-

but the tldr of it is "bruno is the person he is because of the person he was BEFORE antinomy" and reaching back into that core aspect of his soul drives so much- man i can write as non-linear as i want and it still ties together because it all comes from the same place and leads to the same place and aaaaaaaaaa

[ancientevangelions]

I need you: Asushin and how it impacted my relationship

Summary: Asushin, my relationship and initial reactions to spoilers/ Evangelion final

I wrote this to sort out some feelings so... have fun! 

WARNING POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR EVANGELION FINAL 3.0 + 1.0

As many of you know I like to ship. Shipping is complicated and means many things to many different people. Some people take it very seriously, others don’t. There are random ships and ships based on evidence, ships as stand in for thoughts and feelings, and sometimes there is a lack of shipping/ no ship. Sometimes it is casual and always for fun, but some ships run deeper than others. For me most shipping is just a fun byproduct of fandom, but I do have an important ship. For me my primary and most important ship is Asuka Langley Soryu and Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. A series that ran in 1995/96 with a movie in 1997, it is heartbreaking and visually pleasing, full of depression troupes. The characters are messy and awful, but also real and interesting. To me they are more than just fictional characters that I love and enjoy drawing together, they are also a representation of myself and Roachor and the relationship we share.

Let me back up a bit, a lot of you aren’t going to understand what’s going on with me without a bit of context and some history. Roachor and I started dating in October of 2009, and Roachor introduced me to Evangelion and the Rebuild series soon after we started dating. Later I would go on to watch NGE and EoE and fall in love hardcore with those but first came a few episodes of NGE and Rebuild 1.0 and 2.0 (if I remember correctly). Now the rebuilds have always been love/hate for me with regards to the direction and how Asuka is handled (Rebuilds is Asuka Langley Shikinami not Soryu and she is very different but that’s another rant). NGE/EoE are my loves and what I always come back to, especially because of the Soryu/Ikari dynamic. I related to Asuka, especially the younger versions of me. She’s fiery, tough, speaks her mind and she has many issues, but she is also kind and brave and 14. Asuka to me was therapeutic to watch, it was interesting for me discovering I had depression/anxiety at 22 to see a teenager going through a lot of the same thoughts and feelings I had at the time and in high school. I can’t speak for Roachor’s experiences, but I know he relates to Shinji Ikari because he told me so. In this way I started to see the both of us in them and eventually their relationship as relatable to our relationship. Some of you may yell “BUT ASUSHIN IS TOXIC/ABUSIVE”, and yes well it is unhealthy at times but again this is my story not yours. I see Asuka and Shinji as the endgame ship/couple of NGE/EoE, damaged people that relate to each other and can understand each other with some work and effort. That’s how I felt when I was younger, damaged and looking for someone to understand me. Roachor and I had arguments, fights, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and many other things we had to overcome on our own and together. Just because our relationship isn’t perfect and smooth all the time doesn’t make it less meaningful/valid. To me a relationship that grows and struggles is meaningful and relatable. Yes, Shinji makes some very, very bad mistakes and Asuka isn’t always kind and caring, but I still see the potential in the little moments, the exchanged glances, the message of “I’m the same as you”. Soryu/Ikari is something I will always love.

Never

Now for the Rebuilds. I know Anno said they would be different and he would destroy Evangelion but maybe I never believed him? I find that I still thought Asuka and Shinji would be endgame, maybe I was misled because so many other spin-offs and the manga end with him coming back to/ finding Asuka, maybe I was projecting too much and wanted to believe something that wasn’t likely. Ultimately it doesn’t matter. I had my heart broken by the Rebuilds if the spoilers for 3.0 + 1.0 are true. “Don’t ship anyone in Evangelion, they are all terrible/ you’re gunna be disappointed” things I have said before/heard and yet here I was, hoping desperately for Shinji and Asuka to connect yet again, enjoying the romantic tension in 2.0/ the hints of remaining love in 3.0. And then the Final came out yesterday and the spoilers were shocking. Shinji chooses to leave for the real world with Mari, Asuka stays behind to rebuild her world with the others, Asuka and Shinji confess their love for one another and then decide “but it would never work out”.

“It would never work out”

Wow… how final and heartbreaking. We are too different now, we grew apart, we’re not the same as 14 years ago, I am more mature, we are different people. My 10 years with Roachor suddenly felt like it was being shattered and tested by a Japanese show I have yet to view or experience. The relationship I had hoped for was being yanked away from me. Something I related to was being stated to NEVER work.  How could Anno betray me like that?! How could he say something so cruel. They are mine, not his! How can he just take away the beautiful ambiguity and decide that fans aren’t allowed to have this? Mari endgame? HAH and yet… the spoilers keep coming in and it doesn’t seem to be changing. Mari as Anno’s wife? Shinji is Anno? How could he do this? How could he change the direction and the people involved? WHY!!! Asuka and Shinji are supposed to come back together always. But then I remembered “Shikinami” not Soryu not Asuka Langley Soryu, daughter of Kyoko and her unnamed father, not college graduate and Miss Piggy-esq personality.

  Shikinami… she’s not MY Asuka. That’s not MY Shinji.

I am reminded of the idea that a different you exists in the minds of others, there are many versions of Asuka, Shinji, Sigma, Roachor. This isn’t my Asuka, this is Shikinami, this is a new Asuka, this is a new Anno. This isn’t mine… So… It’s not mine, not for me but for Anno and how it ends and the journey is his and he is sharing it with us. But where does that leave me? Will I like this new movie? Will it rip my heart into pieces? Does it even matter anymore?

It’s okay to be sad, but don’t let it destroy you. No I won’t let it destroy me. And yet… I lost? No, no one lost, there is only change and a differing message. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter, I still have my relationship with Roachor. I still have Soryu and Ikari (regardless of anything others or Rebuilds may say). I have my merch, fanart and other fan made items. I have a lot to confirm what I love and know. It’s okay, it’s not my story, it’s not my ending, but that’s okay.

Edited at 3:07 PM

After thinking a while I think I will be okay with this/ it is okay that Evangelion and everyone is moving on. I think we all need to move forward in the end. Also it sounds like it was less harsh of a scene and more just two people acknowledging they grew up and changed and not being all ARGH TOXIC. That seems to be interpretation not intent.

[overwatch-does-stuff]

Things have been going pretty shittily for me lately, so instead of processing my feelings in a healthy way I'm going to ask this: How do the members of Talon (or your favorites out of them) React to Moira getting her ass kicked for almost experimenting on a new recruit's ferrets? Also, as a ferret owner, I can say Moira definitely has more bite marks than bruises

Definitely the most specific ask I've had in a while, but this was fun! Hopefully it's silly enough to lift your mood :)

It was all a misunderstanding (probably). Moira saw a cage full of sleeping ferrets on the table of the breakroom and honestly didn't comprehend that they might be someone's pets. Science brain went "New shipment of test subjects" and she didn't bother to even ask around before yoinking them.

(Which was extremely inconsiderate of her, I'm definitely not excusing her actions!)

The first person of authority I see New Recruit going to when they see their ferrets missing is Mauga! He's a friendly, approachable dude, by far the least intimidating of the leaders in Talon (probably because he's only a squad leader, but authority is still authority!)

Which of course, immediately piques the attention of Sombra, who starts following New Recruit and Mauga on their search for the missing ferrets.

She knows where the ferrets went, of course- it only took her a quick camera search to find that out -but she's debating on whether or not she wants to piss of Moira by revealing what's she's done.

But of course, before she can decide, she's called on by Reaper to give a mission report. To which she promptly replies, "I'm busy".

So now Reaper's in on this whole mess because of course he comes to investigate. He's just as stealthy as Sombra, so he's able to join her where she's watching New Recruit and Mauga's now-rampage around the base and get the fill as to what's going on.

Seriously, though- Mauga's flipping chairs at this point. The longer he spends around Recruit, the more he's invested in finding the furry babies. He's already made Recruit promise to let him have unlimited play privileges with them once they're found.

Reaper shakes his head and storms off. Sombra assumes he's blown the matter off as nothing before she realizes that he's going to Moira's lab. Probably a good thing, since the scientists has just gotten all the needles prepped.

So Sombra pops out of whatever cover she's hiding behind and says, "I know where the ferrets went."

"Where?!" Both Mauga and Recruit scream.

"Woah woah woah, I don't do things for free. If I tell you, you're going to have to give me something in return."

"Like what?"

"I deal in secrets, don't you know?"

She doesn't actually "charge" them too much, because really she's on their side, but she does snag Recruit's first-grade teacher's name and Mauga's netflix password.

Meanwhile, Reaper has burst into Moira's lab, smoking mad (literally). He intercepts the needle she's holding (meant for the first ferret) and dissolves it into smoke.

"What did I tell you? No experimenting on pets."

(She had this problem in Blackwatch too.)

"They were laying unmarked and unclaimed on the breakroom table. I assumed they were for me." She replies.

He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Put them back"

Of course, by now, Recruit and Mauga have made it to her lab as well. Recruit has puffed up in anger almost three times their original size and Mauga is cracking his knuckles. They freeze, however, when they see Reaper.

Reaper simply nods and steps back. "Go ahead."

Let's analyze the situation here:

The ferret cage: open

Recruit: pissed.

The ferrets: touchy from the manhandling they've been subjected to and sensitive to their owner's emotions.

Result? Two whirling furballs of teeth and claws leaping upon Moira's labcoat and tearing it to shreds.

By the time Recruit manages to wrangle them off, she's got bite marks all over. Congrats to Recruit for making an enemy of the Talon medic. Hopefully they won't need healing any time soon.

Reaper is trying his hardest not to laugh at the karmic justice happening before him. (He has a reputation to maintain!)

Sombra, watching from the security cameras, can laugh as loudly as she wants, and she makes sure to save the footage for future blackmail purposes.

Mauga, being a tank and dependent on heals, also saves his laughter for later. Once Recruit and the ferrets are safely secured, he parades them around as the "Ferret warriors".

Sigma sees all the bites and scratches on Moira's face later that day and asks what happened. She doesn't say a single word.

Doomfist gets an. . . interesting injury report on his desk. His security guards get concerned when they hear laughing from his office.

(And you bet that he won't let Moira hear the end of it during the next major Talon meeting.)

[zecretsanta]

FIC:

To: @n-emone

From: @claire-folley

Happy Holidays! I saw Post ZTD Hurt/Comfort Phi & Sigma on your prompt list and I decided to go for it! I haven’t written fanfiction in years, let alone ZE fics (idk how I made it to 8k) so I’m sorry if they’re a little bit OOC,,, Hope you enjoy it nonetheless! I’ll be uploading it to AO3 as well after I give it an actual title so if you’d like keep an eye out for it!

It started with a scream.

Junpei whipped his head around to the source of the sound, where Phi was. Or where she used to be. Where she should have been.

The mission hadn’t gone to plan. Crash Keys had received a tip about an old building on the edge of Khabarovsk being used by Russian government officials to store information on criminals that could pose a threat to the country, and could potentially have files on ones with religious motives. Akane, Phi, and Junpei had all decided to infiltrate the site themselves since Junpei and Phi were a little familiar with reading Russian and Akane’s connection with her brother was strong enough that it was fastest for her to transmit anything they found to Aoi. 

The building may have been old but it certainly wasn’t abandoned, being in a group of three would make moving around discretely a difficult task, so the three of them decided to split up, all of them had coms so communication would be possible and. Instead of simply sneaking in, obtaining any documents they could that could contain information on the Religious Fanatic’s identity, and get out as fast as they could; Junpei had accidentally tripped one of the security alarms while he, Phi, and Akane were separated. When the alarm went off all three switched immediately to Plan B, to get out as fast as possible with what they had and meet up at a different location to figure out what went wrong and what to do next. Junpei had been up on the seventh floor at the time, Phi on the sixth, and Akane on the third, and since all of the elevators had been disabled with the alarm, all three had to rely on the only emergency staircase in the building. Akane had been able to make it out okay, but unfortunately security officers had blocked the stairs on the fourth floor, forcing Junpei and Phi to figure out another way out. The two had met up on floor 5 to discuss a possible plan to distract the guards for just long enough allowing them to escape.

“I really hope this works, it would be better if we had a floor plan for this damn place.”

“While I can’t deny that would help, we’re stuck working with what we have, and what is that?”

“We both have guns for last ditch efforts and worst case scenarios, our coms, the morphogenic field, the thumb drives with what information we were able to get…”

“And not much else, so we should get out of here as soon as we can because they’ve more than likely figured out someone is here.”

“Right.”

“I let Aoi know what’s going on, he told me to stay within the com’s range until you two are out so I can keep him updated or if you need me to go back inside to help.”

“I hope we won’t need that Kanny, but it’s appreciated.”

Little did Junpei know he would be eating his words very soon.

The two ran down hall after hall hoping for another emergency exit or a way to access the fourth floor somewhere as the footsteps of the guards grew louder and louder, eventually finding one thing they had been looking for. A balcony in need of repair set over a sad and unused atrium that was directly above a balcony on the fourth floor. Right when Junpei and Phi were preparing to figure out how to get themselves from the fifth floor balcony to the fourth floor balcony through a gap in an old, worn down, guardrail, they heard the sounds of footsteps stopping and guns being pulled and set to be fired.

Immediately the pair turned around and put their hands where their own guns were concealed, one of the three security guards shouted something in russian to the effect of “stop.” Ready to pull their own guns at any second, Junpei stepped in front of Phi, not because he was bigger, but he had been in similar situations back during his year of detective work and felt he was more prepared to be fired at than Phi was, even after the Nonary and Decision Games presented them both with grim situations. Phi in turn, took a couple steps back, careful not to push on the railing too much out of fear of breaking it if she did. Another command was shouted and they both regretted not learning more Russian dialect in case they didn’t have an interpreter with them, but it was too risky bringing an extra person without experience for a mission where none of them were planning on having small talk at any point with anyone other than themselves. As a result, they both stayed still, eyes still focused on the trio in front of them, blocking off their access back to the hallway. Junpei and Phi both noticed the man on the right slowly moving his own gun away from the two of them and down to the right, why he was doing that, they didn’t know.

Well didn’t know quite yet.

The second after the trigger was pulled there was a scream, Junpei whipped his head around to where Phi was supposed to be, realizing the guard had shot one of the bars keeping the railing attached to the balcony, causing it to break and fall, and subsequently making Phi lose her balance. Being treated with the sight of Phi falling from the fifth floor was more than enough for Junpei to decide to pull out his gun and shoot at the guards. Adrenaline pulsing through his brain made it hard for him to think about anything but getting out of there after finding where Phi had fallen and before he knew it, he was past the guards and on his way to the emergency exit as Akane’s voice came in over his com.

“Junpei? Phi? What happened? I heard a gunshot and a scream over both of your coms before one of them stopped working and more gunshots from the other, I don’t know who’s it was bu-”

“That was Phi’s com that probably broke, I fired the shots, I’m not sure which side of the building its on, but Phi fell from a fifth floor balcony in an atrium, I don’t know what kind of injuries she has but I’m running for the staircase right now so I can check on her.”

A moment of static filled Junpei’s ear as he swung open the door to the staircase.

“Sorry, I was trying to inform Aoi about what’s happening, You said it was an atrium right? I should be able to recognize it from the outside so I’ll see if I can get in from there.”

“Thanks.”

Junpei kept running down the stairs, thankfully without running into more security. For a supposed government facility, there was a small number of security guards, but it made Junpei’s trip down the stairs easier so he didn’t question it too much. Arriving on the ground floor, he made his way to the atrium as Akane’s voice again filled his ear.

“I’m with Phi, she’s unconscious, but she’s breathing. I think there’s a chance she fractured something when she landed, could you help me carry her when you get he-”

Akane wasn’t able to finish her sentence before Junpei burst into the room and over to where his fiancee and Phi were on the ground. Phi was in Akane’s arms and Junpei could see bruising on her face and neck, and her right shoulder noticeably dropped down low compared to her left. Running off for a second to find something that would work as a makeshift splint.

“Aoi is on his way with a car, we’ll still have to walk a bit because he doesn’t want to risk getting too close.”

“Okay, can I borrow your scarf for a second?”

“Oh! Yeah, here.”

They all sat there, not saying anything while Junpei tied a piece of metal around Phi’s back and arm, keeping her shoulder in place as he took Phi from Akane to let her stand up and start walking.

“You know where Aoi is going to be right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know when he’s going to get there?”

“Not exactly, but he should arrive soon.”

“I sure hope he does.”

Both of them kept walking through a cold russian night, occasionally glancing over at Phi, though nothing was likely to change at this point. They both knew she needed urgent medical attention, brain injuries can do so much damage to a person but it’s impossible to tell how bad an injury is until the patient is scanned, wakes up, and evaluated, but all they could do is wait and hope she’s well enough to pull through while walking to the pick up spot. Aoi was there before they arrived and left the vehicle to help Junpei get Phi into the car safely, while Akane got in the front passenger’s seat. 

Akane had given her brother updates through the morphogenic field as the events played out, so none of them had anything to say or explain as he drove through the woods. The trip consisted of somber silence until Aoi spoke up.

“We’re 18 hours ahead of California right now, seeing as it’s currently 03:22 for us I’d say it’s about 21:22, or 9:22 at night for Diana and Sigma.”

Without saying it directly, they all knew someone was going to have to let the two of them know what happened to their daughter. With Sigma’s familiarity with the human body from his cloning work in a different timeline and Diana being an emergency room nurse, both of them wod figure out pretty quick how serious this was. What none of the people in the car knew however, was how they would handle being so far away from Phi while they knew she was hurt.

-

“Oh the phone! Who’s calling us right now? Is it Phi?”

“Just a second Diana, I’ll answer it.”

Sigma and Diana opted not to join Crash Keys on international missions, but rather help from California, that way they were far less likely to end up in a dangerous situation that could stir up unwanted memories of their deaths in other timelines or make them shift. Phi on the other hand decided immediately to join the international missions, so they haven’t had a whole lot of time to just be a family together with their daughter. Phi did contact them regularly however to give them updates on anything that happened or just to talk and get away from whatever stressful event she or her parents experienced recently. With the difference in time zones however this led to calls at all different times of the day for both parties.

The couple had been on their couch, close to finishing watching a movie together when the phone went off. Even though Sigma would likely come back with the phone, Diana still paused the screen and walked with him anyway. 

“Klim residence, what do you need?”

Sometimes Sigma would show more of his “old-man brain” as Phi liked to call it, through mannerisms like the way he answers the phone.

“Oh Aoi, why are you calling? Usually it’s Akane or Junpei for Crash Keys work.”

Diana couldn’t quite hear the other end of the phone, but the slight concern in Sigma’s voice was enough to make her a little nervous.

“Yeah Diana is here with me.”

Sigma looked towards Diana and explained Aoi was on the line and needed to tell both of them something, but asked for it to be over speaker phone so he wouldn’t have to repeat himself. While neither said anything about the uneasy feelings rising from their stomach, the looks they shot each other as Sigma pressed the button said more than enough.

“Okay, you can start now.”

“Alright, it’s very late for the four of us right now so I may sound a bit tired, but I needed to tell you as soon as possible what happened tonight.”

“What happened?” The uneasy feeling only grew stronger between the two.

“Tonight Akane, Junpei, and Phi tried to see if a government building in Russia had files that could help our search for the Religious Fanatic, but it didn’t quite go to plan and Phi was injured.”

“How… bad… is it?”

“Let me explain what happened. In order to check the files, they had to go inside. The building in question was rarely used for anything aside from storage and is old as fuck, but still had some security.”

“So they broke in.”

“Yeah that’s the first part. Its what happened later that you need to know about. After getting some of the files from their computers an emergency alarm was pulled and they had to leave as quick as they could, Akane got out okay but Junpei and Phi had more issues to deal with since they were on some of the higher floors and security blocked off the only set of stairs in the building.”

“That’s not safe if a fire breaks out though.” Diana was looking more nervous by the second. Aoi taking his sweet time explaining the whole thing rather than getting right to what happened gave her a feeling that it was because something really bad did happen and Aoi wasn’t ready to say exactly what yet. Sigma didn’t look as panicked as his partner, but the expression on his face could tell anyone who knew him that he was terrified.

“Like I said, old building, mostly used for storage, there’s not really enough people there at once for it to be an issue. But back to what I was saying, Junpei and Phi had to figure out how to get around them and that included having to make a noise to get the security guards out of the stairwell while they ran down the halls finding a different route to the stairs without the guards catching them.”

“Was this around when Phi got injured?”

“A bit before that actually, they couldn’t find another hall that led to the stairs, but got cornered on a balcony that was more than a little worse for wear by the security guards at gunpoint. I don’t have full details right now, but one of the guards managed to shoot the rail at just the right point to make it break and she fell off without a chance to grab onto something or balance herself.” Sigma and Diana both froze, looking at each other with dread in their eyes for what they had to ask next. Sigma swallowed and opened his mouth.

“You said earlier that Junpei and Phi were on the upper floors, how long was the fall?”

“The building was 8 floors including the ground floor, she fell from the fifth floor to the ground floor, but Junpei didn’t. She’s being checked out by one of the doctors we were able to get in contact with to see how serious it is.”

“Do you have anything you know for sure that you can tell us?”

“She more than likely shattered her right shoulder and fractured some ribs on impact. She’s also been unconscious since Akane and Junpei got to her so there’s a good chance she might have a traumatic brain injury as well but we won’t know how bad of a TBI it is until she wakes up.” Moments felt like hours for Diana and Sigma while they processed what they had just heard. Slowly, Diana ended up on the verge of tears while Sigma’s hands clenched into fists as he began to speak again.

“Was that all you needed to tell us or is there more?”

“There was one more thing. We might be getting tailed by the government soon and we might have to be on the move again very soon. We’ll take care of her as much as we can but soon it’ll be safer to have Akane or Junpei bring her back to America instead of having to bring her to more possibly dangerous locations and situations while she’s still recovering.”

“So you’re saying she’ll be back in america soon, right? If that’s the case we’re more than happy to let her stay with us for the time being.” The thought of having Phi close again was enough to calm Diana down for a second before all of the worst case scenarios started playing in her head. Being an ER nurse can expose someone to witness more horrific injuries and deaths than any one person ever should.

“I’m sorry, I think I need to excuse myself for a moment.” Diana left, leaving Sigma alone with Aoi on the phone.

“Is Diana okay? I know this isn’t the best news to hear but it was important to make sure you both knew what was happening.”

“Thank you, if possible keep us updated if anything changes, As for Diana, she's… she’s been under a lot of stress recently, she just needs a minute to calm down.”

“Alright, just to let you know now, from our current location to the airport nearest to Irvine, it’s a ten hour flight by jet and we don’t want to risk the flight making her head injury worse. We’re going to make sure she’s well enough to fly before we know for sure when we’ll take her back to California and we don’t know how long that will be.”

“Where are you anyway?”

“Khabarovsk, Russia, it’s an actual city and not a small town so buying medical supplies shouldn’t be an issue if you’re worried about that, but hospitals are out of the question since the last thing we want to do is anything that could result in us getting arrested. I don’t know if they got any pictures of our faces, but three of us did break into a government building so I wouldn’t consider ourselves on the good side of the law.”

“… Just keep Phi safe, please.”

“We will, don’t worry. Tell Diana what I told you, and I’ll call you again unless I make Junpei do it for me.”

“Alright.” The call ended with a beep and Sigma looked down at the phone in his hand to see they spent over 40 minutes on the call. He set it down and went upstairs to try and find Diana. And he did. She was crying in the extra bedroom in their house, there so that when Phi would visit, she would be able to have her own room. Slowly, Sigma walked over and crouched down, putting a hand on her back.

“Aoi will make sure we’re updated on what’s happening with Phi, they need to make sure she’s going to be able to handle being in a plane or a jet before she comes back, but they’re near a city so they’re able to get whatever medical supplies they need for Phi.” Diana acknowledged his presence, but still didn’t seem ready to talk. “I know that you want to be there but you have to wait, I’m sure sh-”

Diana interrupted Sigma but whatever she was trying to say came out in a mix of gasps and sobs, it was impossible to make out any words the first time she tried saying it.

“Its okay Diana, take your time.” Sigma continued to rub her back, both of them were still trying to make sense of everything they heard, but Sigma’s first priority was trying to calm his wife down. She took a couple deep breaths before trying to speak again.

“Last week we lost a patient who tried to kill themself by jumping, he wasn’t much older than Phi.” Diana turned and continued to weep in Sigma’s arms.

-

Aoi was so close to falling asleep, when did he last have a normal sleep schedule? He didn’t know, but he didn’t really think he could have one until they knew for sure everything was okay and 8,000,000,000 people weren’t going to die in a nuclear war. As close as he was to drifting off the slumberland, the knocking on the door was demanding his attention and he begrudgingly went to open it. On the other side was Akane, looking a little more relaxed than before he left to call Sigma and Diana.

“Here to let me know how Phi’s doing? Based by the look on your face things are going a bit better than an hour and a half ago.”

“I am less nervous right now, but I’m still worried. We know for sure she cracked four of her ribs and has a compression fracture on her right scapula. The doctor will return tomorrow with the supplies the stabilize the shoulder blade, so for now it’s in a splint.”

“Better than Junpei’s?”

“Aoi! This is serious, yeah it’s better than Junpei’s, but you think this is a good time to be joking right now?!”

“Yeah, yeah, Sorry, still unconscious I’m guessing?”

“Yes, we were told she was lucky she didn’t have a skull fracture so it’s likely her right shoulder took most of the damage from the fall, but she definitely has some kind of brain injury, without equipment to do scans with and considering she’s still asleep, they couldn’t tell how bad it was.”

“Not surprised. Where’s Junpei? You wanted to be free of him for a minute?” Akane scoffed at the question.

“He’s with Phi, we were asked to make sure she’s monitored at all times to be and prepare for if anything changes.”

“And if she wakes up?”

“She’ll definitely be in a lot of pain, we were given medications to have her take if she wakes up before the doctor comes back.”

“There’s something, else isn’t there.”

“I’m worried about Junpei. During the Nonary game we set up there were timelines where he didn’t react well when people died. It’s a normal reaction to have to that situation, I know, but after that, he went through a very traumatic year before we ended up in the decision game. I’m worried he’s starting to blame himself for what happened to Phi.”

“Well then go talk to him about it.”

“Not right now, I’d wanna make sure there’s nothing super bad happening when I talk with Junpei because I don’t want him to have a reason to avoid talking to me.”

“Fair.”

“How did the call go? Sorry you got left to do that but me and Junpei had to communicate to the doctor about what happened.”

“About as well as you could expect. I couldn’t see their faces, but the tone in their voices made it clear they’re emotionally torn up over this. Diana dipped towards the end of the call so it was just me and Sigma for the last few minutes.”

“Oh.” They stood there for a bit. Thinking about how it’s more than just Phi who needed help right now. Junpei was here with them, but Diana and Sigma were so far away from the daughter they love. The Kurashiki siblings had strong mental walls from the difficulties they faced as children, but even this chipped them a bit. Suddenly, Akane’s phone buzzed from inside her pocket. She pulled it out to see a text from Junpei and opened it.

“I think Phi’s waking up, I haven’t gotten a full response for anything I say to her but she’s definitely in pain.”

Without a word both of them ran for the room down the hall where Phi was. The closer they got, the more they heard soft whimpering coming from the room. Junpei said she was feeling the pain and they could hear it as Aoi grasped the door handle.

He turned it to find Phi on her left side, hand on her right shoulder with her face contorted in pain and tears streaming from her eyes. The bruises more prominent now that they’ve been working their way to the surface for almost two hours. Junpei was next to the cot trying to see what he could do to calm her down.

“Has she said anything yet?” Akane ran for the pills and water bottle on the other side of the room. It was pain killers sure, but it was going to be hard for Phi to take them if she wasn’t fully conscious. Still, they should be ready to give the medication to Phi as soon as possible.

“Not really, I was sitting over there when she started crying. I texted you after getting over here to see if she was waking up. Nothing’s changed since then.” Junpei moved away slightly to give Akane room next to Phi. Moving Phi’s hair out her face with her hand, Akane tried her best to soothe the pain while Phi was asleep as the two other people in the room sat still in silence aside from Phi’s crying, hoping for the best.

“… urts…”

“Phi?” Both Aoi and Junpei drew closer without thinking, while Akane kept her hand on the other girl’s face. All three holding their breaths hoping for the best.

“It… hurts…”

“Phi? Can you hear me?” Akane tried her hardest to not let the fear in her throat come out while she spoke. Slowly, as if barely noticeable, Phi began to open her eyes.

“Yeah, I'm… it…”

“We have pain killers for you to take, do you need help with them?”

A shallow nod from Phi was enough of a que for Akane to ask the boys to help Phi sit up enough to swallow. As they slowly moved her, she winced anytime something touched her shoulder. Akane broke the seal on the water bottle and opened two blisters containing the medication before helping phi get them into her mouth and down with a sip before Aoi and Junpei slowly helped her down back to the cot.

“Damn, this hurts like a bitch.” Phi’s speech was hoarse and quiet, but she was awake and alert somewhat of her surroundings, a good sign no doubt. “What happened?” She asked as the three other people in the room shot each other looks before Junpei raised his voice.

“Phi, what was the last thing you remember? I can explain from there.”

“We were running in the halls trying to find another way to get to the stairs, that’s it.”

“Okay, so um… we didn’t find another way to get to the stairs. We got cornered on a balcony and not long after that, we were both taken off guard and one of the rails broke, and you fell with it.”

“That… would explain a lot- ahh…” Phi winced again and brought her hand up to her head as a wave of pain shot through it.

“The doctor we had look at you said you might have some kind of brain injury but she wasn’t sure how bad it was. The painkillers should kick in soon, but you should rest as much as you can.” Akane slowly began to softly stroke Phi’s face to try and distract her from the pain. Aoi moved to cover her with the blanket again to keep her warm while Junpei moved the painkillers and water back to the other side of the room.

“Do… Diana… and Sigma…”

“I called them already and told them both I’d keep an eye on you and give what updates I can, just focus on getting better for right now.” Aoi response helped Phi relax a bit, at least they wouldn’t be wondering why she wouldn’t be able to call for awhile.

Slowly as the medicine took hold, Phi drifted off to sleep as Akane took the next shift to stay awake and watch Phi.

-

Neither Diana nor Sigma had a restful night’s sleep. Both would wake up at different times of the night, checking their phones for word from Crash Keys on Phi’s condition. Even with their worries, they still had jobs to do, Diana’s shift at the hospital is usually twelve hours long and starts at 6 in the morning, so she needed to be up early anyway. Sigma was never a morning person and worked from home on his own schedule so Diana usually places little notes for him to find when he wakes up after she leaves, something they started doing while the two of them were trapped in the bomb shelter to help keep their spirits up while Diana was pregnant. This morning however she ultimately decided to leave one note before heading out.

“Please let me know if you hear anything about Phi. I’ll check my phone during my breaks to let you know if they tried contacting me through my phone. -D”

When Sigma woke up, Diana had long since left for her shift at the hospital. Her not being there was just an indicator that she would be at work and there wasn’t any reason to worry. Still groggy from his stressful night, Sigma reached for his phone to check the time, then to find two notifications, a text from Diana an hour ago, and an email from Crash Keys two hours ago. His heart rate jumped as his brain registered what he was seeing and didn’t hesitate opening the email first to check it’s contents.

“Phi woke up a little before 5 this morning, our time. She isn’t doing as bad as we feared. She has a concussion and was still very out of it when she woke up and can’t use her right arm right now. The doctor here wants to stabilize her shoulder and keep an eye on her for the next day or two though in case something unexpected happens, after that we’ll work on getting her packed up to fly her out to you guys. Maybe set her up to be checked at Diana’s hospital as soon as you can because she hasn’t had a scan yet and she’s on fentanyl right now to dull the pain from her arm and we only have so much to send over to the US. We haven’t told her that last bit yet because the meds are making her a bit loopy and sleepy. -Tenmyouji" 

Sigma let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding soon after hearing the news. Phi’s okay right now. He thought to himself as he opened the text from Diana.

“I got an email saying Phi’s awake! Hopefully we can see her soon." 

Not wanting to leave his wife on read he sent a small confirmation that he got it too before getting up out of bed. A weight felt like it had been lifted off his shoulders, but wasn’t completely gone. Khabarovsk was at least a 10 hour flight away from Irvine and he didn’t even like being on a plane for half of that. Soon he began thinking about everything that he should make sure is taken care of before Phi comes to stay; her room should be set up so it won’t be too bright or loud while making sure she would be comfortable while her arm heals. They would have to make sure she would be able to be seen at a hospital. Did they have what they needed to make sure she could be seen? How would they explain their relationship to Phi at the hospital?

It was going to be a long day.

-

"So, did you hear about your results or were you too out of it to pay attention?”

“Shut up.”

The whole physical examination flew by for Phi, mostly likely because of the pain medications. A doctor came by after she woke up to figure out how bad her head injury was since they couldn’t tell while she was out. All she wanted to do was sleep off her killer headache but was pretty much limited to sleeping on her left side and stomach because of the split on the right side of her back which made it very hard to get comfortable. Junpei had walked in shortly after the doctor had left to bring her some food to eat so she doesn’t have to take her medications on an empty stomach.

“Didn’t answer my question, but okay. How about this, did you hear about what they’re doing when they come back?”

“They were speaking Russian and I didn’t have the interpreter in here.”

“So no?”

“No.” Junpei put the tray on a nearby table before walking over to Phi’s cot to help her sit up, before going back for her meal. Lacking use of one arm, no less your dominant arm, made a lot of mindless tasks and actions a lot harder.

“So the good news is that it’s most likely a severe concussion, but you’ll be kept an eye on until you’re out of danger of having an aneurysm or hemorrhage.”

“And the arm?”

“Your shoulder blade is still in dozens of tiny pieces so they’re gonna use a bone cement mixture to keep them all together.”

“Bone cement? Doesn’t it have an actual name?”

“Don’t ask me, it’s not my job to remember that stuff. Anyway, you’ll be numbed before they start working on your arm. Can’t guarantee how numb you’ll be though.”

“That all you wanted to tell me?”

“Aoi and Akane are gonna come talk to you after your arm is splinted back up, then you can sleep.”

“Alright.” Phi resigned herself to waiting as she looked down at the tray of food on her lap.

After the doctor had left, Phi was left laying on her stomach trying to sleep as much as she could before the Kurashikis came to talk to her. Apparently it only takes about three days to fully set, but until then she’s going to have to be careful with it and wear a splint. Not that she’d have much reason to move around a bunch anyway with a concussion and several broken ribs. It was incredibly hard for Phi to keep track of time being so tired since she first woke up but it didn’t seem like long since she finished her food and started trying to sleep again before the door opened yet again as this time two people stepped in.

“Still sleeping?”

“Trying to at least,” Phi mumbled as she moved to reposition herself enough with her mobile arm to at least be able to see the siblings as they talked. They stood next to each other with firm looks on their faces. Clearly they knew she wasn’t in immediate danger, but whatever they had to say was serious and Phi began to feel a knot form in her gut.

“You’re not in trouble, what happened was an accident on your part so there won’t be any repercussions for you and Jumpy except for making sure you both know to be more careful from now on.” Akane was the first to speak up, whether or not she had noticed Phi’s unease, Phi couldn’t tell.

“Well we won’t be having you both go on missions for a bit, we’re having Junpei go through some of the data you got and it’ll take a bit, and obviously you’re not in any state to work right now, so I’m just going to cut to the chase.” Aoi’s tone of voice didn’t change at all while he talked. “The tools we need to make hacking into those files faster and easier are all the way back in the states, and you need a safer place to rest and heal up compared to a shelter with minimal facilities as well as being able to visit a hospital without worrying about being recognized for breaking into a government building.”

“So we’re having Jumpy fly you back to America tomorrow.”

It took a few seconds for Phi to register what the pair had said, silently cursing at the fact that with the medications and the concussion, thinking had become an incredibly difficult task.

“I hope you have it planned out more than that." 

"We do!” Akane piped in, Phi wincing with the sudden noise.“Sigma and Diana are living in California, they’re more than willing to let you stay with them for as long as you need to.”

“You talked to them already?”

“We called while you were still out and have been keeping them updated since. It’s been almost a whole day.” Phi stayed quiet and tried to pay attention while Aoi and Akane explained what happened while she was out and their plans for getting her and Junpei across the pacific ocean. After they finished, they left, leaving Phi by herself again. She hadn’t seen her parents since shortly after leaving Dcom, and while she did try and keep in contact over the phone, part of her felt anxious to see them again after being gone for almost a year.

-

It was almost Midnight when Sigma and Diana arrived at the airport. Waiting anxiously by the gate for the small plane Phi and Junpei would be arriving in any minute. Diana was trying her hardest not to nod off, she would usually be in bed by now with all of her early morning shifts, but managed to get the next two weeks off for a “family emergency.” Sigma on the other hand was still awake, it could have been lingering from his college days back when his 22 year old self had been inhabiting his age appropriate body, sure, but it was actually concern for his daughter. They hadn’t had the knowledge of them being parents for a year at that point, but when Phi mentioned she would be joining Crash Keys on their hunt for the fanatic the pair had basically transformed into stereotypical worrisome parents like they had raised Phi her whole life. Eventually it opened and from the other side walked out Junpei escorting a very tired looking Phi in an oversized jacket to accommodate the splint and keep her warm in the cool October air, it took everything in Sigma to not run up and hold her close.

“You both didn’t get too lonely waiting for us did you?” Junpei said walking closer to the couple. Both practically ignored him and instead Sigma went to pick up Phi so she wouldn’t have to walk all the way through the airport to the car while Junpei and Diana handled the bags. It was a small airport which made the walk back to the car a short one, all quiet knowing Phi needed it as much as possible.

Junpei headed out early in the morning without much of a conversation aside from a “good bye,” being picked up by a local member of Crash Keys while Sigma and Diana were still waking up. Phi was still upstairs in her bedroom sleeping as much as she could and Diana would bring her food later on to eat with the pain medication and help her with basic needs and anything else she needed help with before going back to sleep. Thankfully Phi would pretty much eat anything you put in front of her regardless of what it was so they would have to bother her as much as she slept to ask what she would like to eat. This would be their routine for the next couple of weeks while Diana was off from work, occasionally there would be a request or two from Phi, usually it was an extra snack, help readjusting the splint if it slipped out of place, or help with brushing her hair that had grown out it’s red roots since she left with Crash Keys almost a year ago. Eventually Diana would have to go back to work, and unfortunately that would be happening around the time Phi was supposed to wean off the fentanyl and stick to what they could get over the counter to manage her pain, so Sigma would have to take over managing her medication while Diana was away.

The night before Diana had her first shift back at the hospital she wrote up a schedule for Sigma to follow while she was gone and he followed it to a T. It had been a couple of weeks so her concussion, ribs, and shoulder had time to heal enough that she could start moving around again so long as she kept the splint on, albeit slowly and uncomfortably. Keeping track of time on the other hand hadn’t been a high priority for Phi in combination with the jet lag, sleeping, and pain killers making her thinking process go all over the place. Going off the fentanyl slowly let her start gathering her thoughts again, although not all of them were thoughts she wanted to have.

Sigma knocked on the door gently to let Phi know he was there before opening the door. Phi was on her left side on the bed as usual, her head buried in the pillow, hiding her face.

“I’ve got your dose for today, do you need anything else before I leave?”

Phi lifted her head from the pillow, hair a mess and her eyes red from crying. She didn’t say anything as she used her left arm to sit upright.

“Is something the matter?”

“I guess.” Her voice was hoarse and quiet. Sigma hadn’t heard her talk much in the few weeks since he and Diana brought her home. He moved to sit at the foot of her bed slowly so he wouldn’t jostle the mattress enough to cause Phi more pain.

“Is it anything I can help you with?”

“I don’t know, I’m still trying to process everything.”

“Everything with the accident or…”

“Everything since last Christmas pretty much.” Phi didn’t look at Sigma as she spoke. She hadn’t spent a lot of time with her parents after leaving Dcom before leaving with Junpei and Akane to join Crash Keys on their search. While Sigma and Diana moved in together towards the end of January and had helped each other through nightmares and breakdowns that came as a result of remembering everything that took place inside of the bomb shelter, Phi took any opportunity to keep herself busy and not think about the events of the decision game until she knew everyone was safe.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

Phi nodded, head hanging low as she took a breath.

“I was back inside the incinerator, it turned on and I couldn’t move. I heard you and Diana screaming on the outside, I couldn’t hear myself burning, but I felt all of it.” Sigma listened as Phi’s voice stayed flat as she spoke. The trash-disposal room had been the source of a number of his and Diana’s nightmares. While they knew there was a history where all three of them survived, the other two histories often overshadowed it.

“Have you had any other nightmares I should know about?”

“Well there’s the whole Radical-6 pandemic and being on the moon for a start. I still don’t remember much from the Nonary game, I just have small bits and pieces without the context. The only one that’s really fully clear to me is the one where we were able to get everyone to nine points. On the other hand I still remember so much before I was frozen.”

“Do you mind if I ask what you do remember about the Nonary Game?”

“Tenmyouji and Clover were handcuffed to the sink in the infirmary, K giving Dio some water to drink to determine if it was safe to drink or not after I shoved a spoonful of food in his mouth, Dio holding a moon rock over my head, and then I think you were trying to talk to me in the pressure exchange chamber but I was having a really hard time understanding what you were trying to say.”

“I don’t think you want the details for those timelines quite yet, but I can talk to you about them later if you would like me to.”

“Thanks…” the pair sat there in silence, contemplating, before Sigma opened his mouth.

“It’s not your fault that the virus escaped the facility, we didn’t know that Mira had a vial containing Radical-6 on her and Diana did what she did because she wanted to save you. Besides, not everything that came out of the Decision Game was bad, like you.”

“And Delta. You haven’t said anything about him at all.”

“Well, you know that me and Diana were trapped in the shelter when the two of you were conceived, and the month and a half before that was essentially torture to Diana and myself. Things were a bit better after that, but after we realized she was pregnant, it felt like we had something to keep going for. I didn’t think twice about sending you both in the transporter after you both were born and making sure the time we had with you afterwards was the best we could possibly make it.”

“What timeline did this happen in?”

“It was after you… passed away in the Trash-disposal room. We didn’t know how you had died at the time because of the supposed amnesia drugs.”

“Oh.” The room fell silent once more. This was the first time either of them had really talked openly about their experiences in depth. Sure they had friends in and out of Crash Keys and the SOIS who had an idea of what happened, but it was something else entirely when the other person was right there with you.

“Hey Sigma, could I ask you to do something for me?”

“What is it?”

“Could you give me a hug please? Just be careful about the splint.” Phi slowly turned her body to face Sigma at a more comfortable angle. He moved closer and opened his arms to wrap around his daughter and keep her close, trying his best to not move the splint on her back as she buried her head in his chest.

“I’m not going to turn down a request like that.” She was so small in his arms, not as small as when she was a newborn, but small in the sense that Sigma felt like she’d snap in two if he wasn’t careful. How she managed to go almost ten months without a major incident was a mystery to him.

“Did Diana ever tell you what your birthday was?”

“I don’t think so, I’ve always just had it celebrated in June since that was approximately ten months before my foster parents got me.”

“It’s November 16th. I made a calendar on one of the walls in the lounge and the 24 hour clock on the bracelets helped us tell when a full day went by and I’d mark it off.”

“Any reason you decided to bring that up?”

“Well it’s this Friday, I thought you’d like to know.”

“Wait how long have I been here?” Phi raised her head.

“We picked you up on the 25th of October, and it’s the 13th now, so about three weeks.”

“Huh.” They stayed like that for a few minutes, Sigma not willing to remove his arms from Phi until she moved to free herself, and Phi herself perfectly content with right where she was at that point in time.

“Do you think you could help me with something else?”

“It depends on what that ‘something else’ is, I’d have to find out before I can give you an answer.”

“Could you help me with my hair? I haven’t been able to bleach it since last December and it’s longer than I’d like it to be even though I’ve gotten trims when I could.”

“I only dyed my hair once in highschool and it turned out awful, that was also over 50 years ago for my current consciousness.”

“I can tell you how to do it, we could also try and get Diana to help too.”

“I guess I can do it, you’ll have to wait until you have that splint off first.”

“I guess that’ll work. One last thing, though.” She said as she moved to free herself and sit up straight.

“What is it?”

“Can you show me around your house and what food I can eat? I pretty much only know the route from here to the bathroom and I’m getting a little stir crazy being stuck in here all day.”

“That’s understandable, do you need help standing up?”

“No I’ve got it, just give me a minute.”

-

“I’m home! How’s Phi- oh?”

Diana walked into the living room to be greeted with the sight of Sigma holding a finger to his mouth signalling Diana to be quiet. The TV was playing yet another older movie with the volume low and the brightness dimmed. Phi was sleeping on the couch leaning against her dad with a blanket draped over her lap. Diana took notice and after taking her coat off and setting her bags down, sitting next to her partner to relax for the rest of the evening enjoying the first time her little family had felt complete and safe.

[mk-wizard]

Alpha Trion: An Analysis of the Wizard of Bots

Hello, Transformer fans. Today, we pay our respects to the elderly by doing a character analysis of the Autobot who no matter how much we come to know about him, the more mystery there is behind his character. Let’s delve into the history, facts and all around definitive traits about the Autobot sage Alpha Trion.

Alpha Trion was first introduced as the mentor of Optimus Prime as well as the keeper of all Autobot knowledge that is written, contained in the Matrix and beyond in the G1 cartoons. He is also in many ways a father figure to Optimus Prime and Elita One who he watches over on Cybertron. While this is still up in the air, it is heavily implied by his colouring, traits and the appearance of his wife Beta (more on her later), he is the biological father of Elita One and therefor, the father-in-law of Optimus meaning they are in fact all family. Alpha Trion’s demeanor is that of a wise old man with a lot of life and war experience who comes across as perpetually calm, but with a slight hint of mischief and a liberalism. His trademark appearance is of an elderly bot with the doll type frame, his armour is red and blue while being the first and so far, only bot to sport a cape, he has a long beard and (while we don’t see it) long white hair beneath his helm, his alt mode is a hovercraft and he was the first bot in the Transformers lore to wear actual glasses.

In his case, he wears them not only because his optics aren’t what they used to be. They actually help regulate his psychic powers as he is a very powerful diode (a psychic Transformer) and has abilities that would be considered as magic even by other bots which explains how he survived on a Decepticon dominated Cybertron dying only of old age in the original G1 cartoon. To be precise, his glasses keep him from using his powers automatically and he has a plethora of them; clairvoyance, hypnosis, aura reading, telekinesis and telepathy. And for the record, those are just the psychic powers we know of. With such a long list and taking into account how powerful he is, Alpha Trion needs those glasses to keep his powers in check so they don’t overload his mind or uses them on someone he didn’t mean to use them on.

Another thing about Alpha Trion is that like Optimus, the “Trion” in his name is actually a title. In Autobot culture, there is always one Trion who serves as the religious figure, the head archivist, the sage, the second in command of all Autobot kind and the keeper of all sacred data including that which is exclusive only to the Trion to know. Unlike being a Prime in which you become one by assignment by the previous Prime or it was literally in your code to begin with, being a Trion is a spiritual thing so the selection is done by divine intervention. As soon as the current Trion passes on, the divine Trion protocol gets passed onto the Autobot who Primus deems worthy though in some cases, if the current Trion has a good guess of who will be their predecessor, they will take time to train them. A Trion’s special abilities by default are being a powerful diode with a plethora of psychic abilities though the bot usually had them to begin with as well as other spiritual abilities. In the case of Alpha Trion, he has some powers the whole time, but they were nowhere near what they became when he became ordained. Another thing that is worth noting about Trion’s is that they are not actually fighters and seem to take an oath of pacifism of which they are not allowed to commit any direct act of violence though they are allowed to help provide tools or assistance during war.

Going back to Alpha Trion specifically, his life’s story begins when he fought in his own war though his was a little different. Back in his day, the Autobots fought to free themselves from their slavers the Quintessons. During this time, he went by the name A3 though he still sported facial hair and a pair of glasses. He also proved to be quite the fighter and rebel with a personality that was a similar to Rodimus’. Like Optimus, he had a wife who fought alongside him who went by the name of Beta Maxx or simply Beta. While she was dressed in green, we can see that she still has a striking resemblance to Elita One and even A3′s armour style back in the day was a lot like Elita’s which further hints that they are her parents.

After the war was won, we can assume that the two of them lived very peacefully and happily on Cybertron and quite possibly had their daughter. It was also during this time where A3 was ordained and was now took on the name of Alpha Trion. It is not known who the previous Trion was though it is heavily implied by Alpha Trion’s disciplined behaviour and extensive knowledge that he had a chance to be trained before getting ordained. It is also not known who the Prime during this time was though it is most likely that it was one of Orion Pax’s parents. When the Decepticons attacked one day and both Orion Pax and Ariel were injured, Alpha Trion rebuilt them into warriors known as Optimus Prime and Elita One. It isn’t known what became of Alpha Trion’s wife though a lot of evidence suggests that she was one of the casualties in the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. As the war went on, true to his duty and oath of pacifism, Alpha Trion acted as a guardian to Vector Sigma and would only assist the Autobots on Cybertron in their war. He was also an unofficial member of Elita One’s team by acting as a strategist and an adviser. When Elita One got captured, he had a hand in freeing and helping her before once again going into hiding. While Alpha Trion managed to elude the Decepticons and never even got taken prisoner, he sadly did not live to see the long awaited peaceful era as he died of old age near the end of the war appearing only as a ghost yet still offering help even from beyond. In the G1 cartoons, it is has never been confirmed who the new Trion was after him.

According the the comics, Ultra Magnus was his predecessor and faces the same struggle that Rodimus does as Prime; he has a very big pair of shoes to fill and often questions if he can do the job. In the War for Cybertron cartoon, Ultra Magnus was implied to be the new Trion in secret after Alpha Trion was murdered by Megatron and after he was killed, Bumblebee became spiritually ordained with the Trion protocol appearing before him in the form of Alpha Trion. In the Animated series, Alpha Trion appears once again as a sage figure though the extent of his role and title is not explored. However, it is heavily implied that his influence and rank goes far beyond that of a Prime. In the Prime series, Alpha Trion died in the war though it isn’t known if he was killed or died of old age. Before he did pass away, he passed the key to Vector Sigma to Optimus for safe keeping and appeared to Optimus in spirit when he was close to death to help him join the Allspark. It isn’t known who took up the Trion mantle after Alpha in Prime though. In the Michael Bay movies, Alpha Trion did not make an appearance, but Sentinel Prime was modelled after him in appearance though his personality could not be more different.

While Alpha Trion is not a mech of action, his legacy is definitely comparable to that of Optimus’ in that we can picture no one else with his role, but the wise old mech. Despite not appearing often in the cartoon, he made quite an impression that lasted and cemented itself in the lore. If Optimus Prime is to Autobots what Papa Smurf is to the Smurfs, then one can say that Alpha Trion is what Grandpa Smurf was to them. He has a similar role to Optimus, but is the one person who surpasses him in terms of wisdom and has an incredibly different view of the world for it. It has been confirmed that Optimus is very conservative whereas Alpha Trion is in fact liberal hence why he not only allowed his beard to grow out, he flaunts it which is unusual in Transformer society as hair is usually not considered as a desired trait for mechanical beings. And while that side of him was not very explored, Alpha Trion has a mischievous side and was at times known to be defiant. It is kind of a shame that he never got a chance to meet Rodimus because I imagine the two of them would have gotten along well. As a side note which I find amusing is that Alpha Trion from his youth to his silver years was always consistently handsome according to sources because he was athletic. Well, you don’t live THAT long unless you stay in shape and in his defence, anyone who can sport a superhero style armor while being able to show that much leg at that age must have aged well. I do hope that in the next era, he will be showcased more as a regular character rather than just a background one because he really is one worth showcasing not just as the Trion, but just as himself.

Anyway, what is your take on the Autobot elder?

If you have a Transformers theory or character analysis you want explored, please let me know in my ask box. And please, support me through Patreon or Ko-fi if you want me to make Transformers merch and videos. Or if you want a commission of your favourite bot, let me know in my shop. All links are on my profile page.

Thank you for reading and please, stay safe.

[game-fixer]

Game Fixes Episode 1: Mega Man X7

I'm gonna start my tenure with one of the most notorious games in all of Mega Man, not just the X series. I have several ideas that can make the game feel more in line with characters and feel less forced.

Of course this will come with general polish in many aspects including a redone script and voice work. No disrespect towards any actors/actresses in the games, of course, but the presentation needs some serious work. Anyway, let's start with the first change

Axl

No, I'm not gonna get rid of him. I think he's a welcome addition to the cast and, if worked right, could be made to be even more beloved in the game he debuted in, despite being the Silver the Hedgehog of the X series.

First idea would be an overhaul in his move set. I say ditch the lame Copy Shot thing for his charge. Also have him function more like Bass from Mega Man and Bass/Mega Man 10, where he stands in place and you aim manually from the start. In 3D, (because I'm not getting rid of 3D) this could even include a first person aim function so you can be more precise. Also a light will shine to show your path so you're not relying on blind fire. Now, I'm thinking he could still charge a shot. What would he shoot? Well you could target multiple enemies at a time, release, and shoot a spread shot of small homing missiles at enemies or even Mavericks which can take a lot of these shots, of course. This feels more like a proper special ability and something that requires a meter for. So what do we do with that Copy Ability that makes him special?

Bio Metal

Yep, the special little MacGuffins from the ZX series. The very same. I'm thinking Axl would be the first Reploid to be made with an early version of Bio Metal, allowing him to change forms at will. This would be his version of X's Weapon Systems. Axl would gain new armor and abilities from the Mavericks he fights to boost his arsenal. A regular shot and a special shot. For example, with Ride Boarski, you'd shoot his regular weapon, but his Special move could be a Tackling Dash that would plow through enemies until the Meter runs out. Flame Hyenard could give a flamethrower for the main shot and his special could give you a clone that shoots for a few seconds. Tornado Tonion could give his leaf shot as a main, and his special lets you throw a tornado and damage enemies in a wide pattern. That sort of thing. The Mavericks aren't the only ones you're getting Bio Metal data from, though. Before I talk about that, let's bring up the main boy himself.

X

I'm thinking X would still be unlockable just like normal, but you'd play as him through an intro stage to feel the power you need to have back. Is he moping about violence and sitting on the couch like a lump like before? Yes and no. X, after causing a serious accident and putting innocent lives in danger, requests to be taken out of active duty until he can sort himself out, but he doesn't want to stop helping. Seeing how lousy X treated our new friend in the real story gave me an idea. Make X train Axl as his superior officer! Axl could be a trainee Hunter, still dealing with his checkered past with Red Alert and realizing they were no better than murderers, thus joining the Maverick Hunters to pay his dues to himself and prove to himself he isn't evil. X, seeing some of his own plight in his Rookie apprentice, starts taking a liking to Axl's ideals, despite his hot-headed, quick-to-the-trigger tactics and lack of professionalism. They butt heads through the intercom, with X saying this needs to be done by the book, but Axl wanting to show how he can take on any challenge no sweat and all that. X would be the Navigator for Axl, though Alia would aid as well.

Unlocking X

While saving Reploids will still be a thing, X will be unlocked halfway through the game. The whole thing would be integrated into the story. Axl defeats 3 or 4 Mavericks. All the while, X is still dealing with his fear of becoming a Maverick, fearing all he lost and hating his carelessness. Before your 4th fight, X will start getting more hostile and snappy at Axl, making Alia worried for X, since she's never seen him so worked up at himself. Axl begins to suspect X going Maverick to himself (he'd think "H-he isn't going...nah, of course not. Commander X is too strong for that...but...) Once the 4th stage is complete we get a midstage, like in Mega Man 7 or 8. A Mechanaloid is causing havoc in the city and Axl offers to go help. However, X sees that it's the same one that he caused the accident with and this sends him spiraling into anger.

"It's still out there?! After all I did, it wasn't enough?!? Damn it!!"

"Commander! Let me go take it out! Those people are in danger!"

"Why? So you can cause more damage with your recklessness?! You want to be a Maverick Hunter? Act like one and grow up!"

"...that's it... I'm not taking this from an old man that's crying about one little mistake he made!"

"...tch...you can't go anyway...you have your mission... just... stand down for now, kid."

"Commander X, what are you-?"

"You're right, Axl. I've been stewing about this for too long. This guy's mine. I have to prove this to myself."

That's how I think the scene would go. You go in as X and fight the Mechanaloid after a short stage rescuing plenty of civilians along the way. Alia and Axl are watching the events and communicating with X as well. X wins the battle, but suddenly his Buster goes off out of nowhere again, nearly destroying something that would put civilians in harms way. They are saved in the nick of time by Axl, who ports in anyway to try to help. X starts to doubt himself again, but Axl could see that it was something out of his control. The two go back to Hunter Base to run diagnostics and they find a bug in X's Buster systems, a lesser string of the Sigma Virus. X gets repaired after seeing this virus as a warning that Sigma might be back. This snaps him out of it and this gets him to go out and fight. You can now choose to go out as Axl, X, or as a team. If you go solo, your shots will be stronger, but without the backup, you'll be left with less defense.

Zero?

Nope, I'm not forgetting our favorite robot swordsman. At all. He will not make a physical appearance at all in the game. Why? Well...the Mega Man Zero series is still a thing. While I like the idea that Zero's ending in X6 being at the very end of the series, I'm trying to keep a stronger set of continuity here. Zero would still be in stasis, though he could communicate with X, since I'm thinking this could be a precursor to Cyber Elves, having Zero be something like a separate AI that can still communicate. As for playing as him? Oh he's still available...as a Bio Metal! I'm thinking after your first Maverick stage, a Zero spirit will appear in a level (kinda like the X Hunters in X2 but less stupid). Go find it, and Axl will be challenged to a fight against Zero, or at least a Reploid being controlled by his spirit. Before Axl finishes it off, X tells him to stand down, and Zero comes back to talk with X. The Spirit also leaves behind the Z-Saber, and thus infusing Axl with Zero's abilities, thus creating a prototype of the Z-Type Bio Metal from ZX.

Red Alert

So, get this. What if Sigma really WAS technically gone forever? I mean the bodies are all used up. The Spirit lives on, yes, but ol' Siggy ran out of his own bodies. Humor me here. What if Red Alert became the new villain faction full time? What if Red became the new face of Sigma? We'll call it...Red Doom or something. Sigma basically integrated himself into Red's systems and basically became part of his robotic code as thoughhe was always Sigma. This could also explain more why Axl needed to leave Red Alert, but it also shows how much in denial he was about Red going Maverick, since Red taught Axl everything he knows.

Script Changes?

I made my case about where the plot should go, but lemme try to work out personalities I think everyone could get down with in general.

Axl is the cocky, hot-blooded new kid who wants to prove himself to be better than where he came from. No petulant, childish talking or stupidity here. He'd be more like Sonic the Hedgehog but still acting just a little green. Still taking things just seriously enough for his quips to be endearing.

X takes his role as a CO very seriously. He's to the point and ensures that Axl is taught the way a situation must be handled. He hates how lax Axl is during his missions and tries to get him to focus. In combat, X is a no nonsense fighter who is ready to bring in the Mavericks, by force if need be. He doesn't try to get them to go peacefully considering his experience. (in fact he'll say once "I guess I can't expect you to come quietly?") No more "Why must Reploids fight each other" and blah blah blah. We all heard this. While he hates the fight, he knows at this point that the world needs a warrior, sort of like Gohan if that helps.

Zero is supportive of X and does his best to help keep his mind out of darkness. He'll even say "You were willing to stand by my side when I feared going Maverick, so I'll be here to do the same."

Red is a lot more cold at the start, outright insulting Axl, saying that he's no more than a worthless prototype, and the next generation of Reploids will be far superior to Axl's faulty design, or taunting X saying "How the mighty hath fallen. How does it feel, X? How does it feel to have to watch as the world crumbles to nothing through the eyes of your good for nothing amateur all because you couldn't keep a tab on your trigger finger?" Red will also be a boss at the end of Axl's first stage before the Maverick fights, and you're meant to lose it to show how powerful he is. You can see shreds of Sigma in there, but he is woven into Red's thoughts and personality in a way that makes Sigma and Red seem equal in the body, though a body can still be created (basically Red Sigma will be put in a more "Sigma appropriate" body with the bald head and big ass chin. Basically Sigma takes Red completely in a way. They're both in control, like their souls combined if that makes sense.

Everyone else is how they should be. Alia, for example is more like how she was in X8.

These are just a few changes that would make Mega Man X7 a much more plot centered game that knows how to work with it's characters. Other fixes like making it faster, tweaking the weapons, making Dr. Light stay as an AI, all that feels superfluous, because a lot of that just makes sense to change. Same with presentation, but with a new script, new lines are inevitable, so duh.

Stay tuned for more Game Fixes! If you want to request a game, lemme know!

[deathdesu]

Zero Escape ask meme: 1h, 2a, 3c, 5f?

1h. Favorite quote: is it too basic if I say that it’s ‘SEEK A WAY OUT’?  it’s just really memorable to me and I always sing it to the little tune that plays when it shows since the amount of syllables and the amount of notes are the same. seek~ a~ way~ out~ 

2a. Least favorite character: Quark, I guess... I just think he’s more plot device than character and he’s kind of boring. He didn’t feel very defined outside of his relationship to Tenmyouji and he was missing for half of the game he was in. I hated having to look for him over and over. And the way they tried to paint him as sinister and then he wasn’t at all, which was kind of pitiful. Vent Goblin Quark would have been worth the hype they built up around him!  3c. Rank the ZTD teams: Q-Team Best Team > C Team OT3 > Dial D for DISASTER  

but honestly, this order only exists because D-end 2 is just THAT BAD. Unlike D team who I loved for the whole game until that ending soured me on them irreparably, I disliked C-Team for most of my first run and they only grew on me later. I hated the design change for Akane and Junpei - their characterization in ZTD was a bit grating but I understood it. But physically, they were unrecognizable to me. Akane’s face used to be so jolie-laide in 2D pics like this - her long features! her world weary heavy eyelids! nowhere to be found in ZTD design, she was a purple haired doe eyed moe girl. And Junpei already looked like death in 999, obviously there were ways to show his jadedness without turning him into a goth. On both teams the third wheel character was the saving factor. Carlos is pure himbo perfection and Phi just deserved so much better than the shit she was dealt. 

Meanwhile, Q team just grew on me lightning fast with their hilariously murderous found family vibes. They were such a delight I actually felt begrudged having to do anyone else’s fragments. I had never been more endeared to zero escape than I did playing as them. Eric’s fish out of water normie schtick is so great in this cast of hyperintelligent psychic weirdos and his PTSD + losing everyone he ever loved adds depth and sympathy to his largely antagonistic role. Sean is pragmatic but a huge sweetie and just a really well rounded character, and so interesting as a character that both of the other members of his team can see a part of themselves in - he is the perfect leader for Q Team in terms of both having enough empathy to truly attempt to understand them and work with them to be better people, and  being a super-strength robot who is absolutely not taking shit from them once enough becomes enough. You kind of start the game out going ‘oh no who left this small child with the assholes, please save him’ to realizing that actually, he’s got this! AND MIRA. Look, I have wrote my big analysis on how she highlights the themes of ZTD so well, and just. she’s murder wife. I made my animal crossing island Mira-themed what do you fuckin expect from me tbh.  

So if you averaged out my experiences then in truth

 Q team >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> C team = D team 

Sorry, not sorry 🔪❤ 

5f. Rant about something you disliked about the games: Again!? Well alright, let’s see... I’m just going to come out and say it. The payoff of VLR is extremely good, but playing the actual game is torture. I’m honestly convinced it is by design.  The events are so similar throughout, that all the timelines blur together in your memory and it’s hard to discern which events happen when. The bland ass sci fi shelter contrasted to 999′s gorgeous Titanic replica. And unlike in 999 where the character moments were blended masterfully into the escape rooms themselves and what you found at the end tended to differ by a lot, in VLR besides the escape rooms/your partner, you just repeat the same set phases of the AB game until at the very end one character tells you their backstory out of the blue in a monologue. There are also a million same-y bad endings where someone besides Sigma gets enough BP to ditch everyone. God. It’s just... so much. 

There is a certain degree of brilliance to it.  We experience every moment Sigma does, encountering all of these horrible situation where for the time we are powerless. And it's SO frustrating. You really feel what he would be feeling. The complete torture of enduring the nonary game over and over and over with no victory in sight. Like, I hit every plot lock in the game before I got a single ending, so I basically WAS Sigma. But you know....I don’t like being tortured! I hated it! It took me like two years to beat the game because it made me so unhappy to play and I procrastinated on it forever. If I hadn’t been on a flight where I discovered all the other games I brought besides VLR made me motion sick, I don’t think I would have ever finished it. Of course, the catharsis of reaching the end was immense. But it was a cliffhanger, so the kind of immense that also invokes berserker rage...? I really can’t imagine how fucking unhinged I would have become if I was one of those Zero Escape fans who played it ten years before ZTD came out. I finished it a comfortable six months before and I STILL would have fought an army for VLR young Sigma (but NOT OLD SIGMA.) 

[savannah-lim]

The Student Body || Savannah and Agatha

TIMING: A couple of weeks ago LOCATION: Harris Island PARTIES: @detective-keen and @savannah-lim SUMMARY: Savannah and Agatha band together to investigate some missing students and nothing goes wrong.  CONTENT: Gun use (on monster), mention of gore, blood and dismemberment. 

‘Thanks for the update, Lim, and hey, while you’re there, maybe see if the WCPD could use your help on any of these other Missing Persons cases. That one with the students looks pretty grim.’ 

Great. Savannah wasn’t opposed to taking on more cases - hell, Javier’s case was looking about as clear as mud right now - but local police departments very rarely welcomed the involvement of the FBI. It was usually a pride thing. They figured it made them look like they couldn’t handle it on their own. Or else it was a possession thing, like this is my town, my people. Rarely did she get the welcome wagon, so Savannah was expecting much of the same when she joined Detective Keen out on Harris Island. “Detective,” she greeted. “I’m Agent Lim. The Chief said you wouldn’t mind an extra set of hands.” Around them, officers were canvassing nearby residents and police dogs and handlers were gathering scents. There was so much commotion, Savannah would be surprised if they found a damn thing, but maybe that was just Javier’s case making her cynical. 

Rain boots on, Agatha strode from one boulder to the next, escalating the blockade to get a better view of the area. She glanced over at a bunch of patellas stuck on a rock nearby, forming a beautiful pattern. There was a few people passing by her on the beach that morning, and she had to be polite with a couple of old ladies who were being very curious as to why she was here. Part of her knew that the two old witches only wanted her to go, because crime on the island could decrease the value of housing in the area, but she still remained polite. There were ohs and ahs as Agatha played her Joker card and mentioned her mother, who was actually quite appreciated by those people, back when she was Sheriff. However, the next person she saw approaching was not one she wished to see. Fuck me, she muttered under her breath, turning her back on the federal agent to have a look at… Ah yes, the remains of an Al’s Diner takeaway bag. Clearly this was a clue, right. Oh crap, it might have been a clue, yeah. “Oh the chief said that, didn’t he?” Her back still turned on the other woman, she still kept her polite smile on and having put the bag into evidence, she finally stood up to look at Agent Lim. “I thought you were chasing that mysterious guts thief?”

Yep. Just like Savannah had predicted, the Detective wasn’t so happy to see her, which was kind of a shame, because she was both hot and gay, a viable distraction or bit of fun Savannah might have enjoyed at some other time. “Guts thief?” Was she talking about Agent Sterling? She supposed technically his guts were no longer with his body… “Is that how you refer to your case files, Detective Keen? What’s this one? Kappa Sigma Missing?” Okay, so she was being just a little bit of a dick, but really, it was all in good fun. Not that the solemn expression on her face did much to communicate that. She came over to examine what Keen had been looking at. “Better get it bagged. No pun intended.” 

“Wasn’t the other guy looking for a thief of guts? It was not my case so really…” Oh no, Agatha knew exactly what the case was about but she was not thrilled that someone was stepping all over her workspace. Couldn’t they have sent Marley? Or Sharmila? Or Jane? Anyone? Except for Mark.  “I refer to my case file by their assigned name. Maybe you should do that too, if you want to work with me,” she retorted with a deadpan look on her face. No, she did not have time for this. Sitting down on the rock to help herself down on the sand, she stopped for a second before she looked over at the other woman. “Are you going to make jokes the whole time you’re here?” Really? Because that little trick would not work on her. She liked to joke, with people she liked. 

“Oh, Javier’s cases? Yeah. There was a great deal of… disembowelment.” Savannah wished it was so simple, that she could determine whoever had been responsible for the killings Javier was investigating had killed him too, but she got the feeling it was far more complicated. She got the impression she and Agatha could both go back and forth exchanging witticisms all day. It might even have been fun if Agatha hadn't been so damn grumpy about it. "Who says I was joking?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. “I know you locals don’t usually like to share, but I’m pretty good at my job, and you have a half-dozen missing college students, so maybe we can just work together for their sakes, hm?” 

“Right,” she shoved her hands in her coat, searching for an actual pair of gloves. The air of the sea was quite fresh and Agatha had no plans of freezing to death while searching for a damn clue. Heading back to the tarpaulin where she had left her things, she took a flashlight and her notebook. The wind bit her cheeks and was starting to regret not grabbing a bigger coat on her way out of the station. She usually had one in her patrol car, but it had gone to the cleaner after she ended up diving into a large dumpster and covering herself with diverse substances that included, of course, trash bag juice. Glamorous. “Puns are humorous,” she replied with the same dry tone she had had since Savannah had arrived. All it would have taken was for the agent to actually ask if she could help, rather than just walk in and impose herself like this, for Agatha to be in a better mood. “What?” She scoffed, putting her hands on her hips. This was her first time being anything but annoyed since the other woman had arrived. What kind of idea was that? “We like to share. We like to share as much as any other town does.” She refused to look at her town as anything else but normal after all. “I’m sorry. You’re right, I just… this is still my case, alright?”

Savannah could be patient. Often, the sort of lengthy investigations she took part in required it. But tact… tact was something she often went without. She had the ability, of course, but most of the time, she preferred to cut right to the chase. People could take it or leave it. “Fucking freezing out here,” Savannah remarked. She was from New England, so it wasn’t exactly new, but the ocean air out here was a little crisper than most. “It’s your case,” Savannah repeated. She hoped Agatha was good at her job too, or she’d become a back-seat detective in an instant; if she wasn’t already. “Do we have their names? Have you checked if any of them have any ties to the neighborhood, or a reason to be out here? We can request their cell phone history. Unless you’ve already done that.” 

“Always, I can recommend you good stores if you want to invest in a thicker coat,” Agatha offered. Winters were never really kind, although some had it worse, but that did not mean that she herself could not be nice. “Alright,” she was someone who invested both energy and time in what she did, and there was nothing that could make her more furious than have someone grab what was the fruit of her labor. Maybe it was morbid to grow attached to murder and missing people cases, but she did not see it that way. She liked to finish everything she started. “We do,” she took out her notebook, handing it over to the other woman. She always had had a neat handwriting, and a passion for stationery, which meant, by consequence, that all her notes were not only tidy, but also detailed and organized no matter how messy a case could get. “I issued a request, I’m not sure how long it will take. There’s at least 4 students missing. I say at least, because I feel like there’s something going on here. These guys were healthy, and the sea was not agitated. There’s no reason for this to happen,” she observed, approaching the federal agent to look over her notes. “I was thinking, we could explore the caves on the seafront,” she had already done a walk on the shore and had not seen a thing. Maybe a cave could be the answer. “What do you think?”

Savannah's breath frosted on the air, pinching her skin and tainting it with hints of pink on her nose and cheeks. "I was stationed in Boston. I'm used to the cold, but this is next level." She rubbed her hands together. They were still cold in spite of her gloves, but she focused on the task at hand, examining the coast line for any signs. "Nice penmanship," she snickered as Agatha showed her her notes. She had to fight every urge to take control, but she had to admit, Agatha had done a commendable job so far. "Good. That's exactly what I'd have done." 

No reason for this to happen, Agatha had said, and Savannah nodded thoughtfully. "In my experience, you don't usually need a reason." Especially in White Crest, but she hardly wanted to reveal herself to believe any of that supernatural stuff in front of a colleague. "They were college kids. They might have been doing something reckless, or even nefarious." She didn't need much help to believe that drunk college boys could be assholes, but given the setting, she considered it more likely they had just been drunk and foolish. Speaking of foolish... "The Caves?" she repeated, thoughtfully. "Great idea. I have flashlights in the car." Within moments, she'd retrieved them and the pair were on their way.

“Yeah, I have some regrets too,” Agatha motioned to her own coat, stuck her hands in her pockets and tried not to bite back as the agent seemed to mock her good old valedictorian habits. But could she really just stay quiet? “Why thank you, I always hate when people write like they are in a hurry,” hate was of course a strong word, but she felt like anything done in a hurry could not be well done. She noted the statement Savannah made next, not taking that as a compliment, but rather as a commentary. 

“There is always a reason,” she retorted. Psychologically speaking, there was always a reason for things to happen. Even accidents happened for a reason. Someone had been drunk, or maybe looking at their phone. This was the reason for such a tragedy. Lame, avoidable, but still a reason. “See, that’s a reason. They could have been acting like idiots. I mean, college boys.” Even at the police academy, Agatha had been confronted with idiots. Guys roughly the same age who thought they were invincible just because they were young. You would think that people who were planning to protect others would be more serious, but apparently not. “I will be your guide,” a terrible one, as she very rarely had to wander in the shadow of these menacing hollows.There was no doubt that her boots would come in handy in there. She knew that the tides would not rise for another few hours, but they would have to be careful still. Seconds turned to minutes when you were searching for something, and it was easy to end up losing the notion of time. "May I suggest that we do not, under any circumstance, split? Those caves are larger than they seem."

"Okay, I guess technically..." Savannah answered. "Like, cause and effect and stuff, but what I mean is that sometimes accidents or murders happen without some kind of deep and meaningful story behind them." She'd been in law enforcement long enough to know that sometimes - most of the time - the stories behind crimes were much more shallow and surface-level than anything that happened in the movies. White Crest was. "We can't all live in an Agatha Christie novel. But drunk college idiots? That one's viable." 

Before long (and after making sure they'd checked the tides) they had given there whereabouts to the uniformed officers headed towards the caves, flashlight in hand and spare batteries in her back pocket. "What, can you see in the dark or something? Because that would be incredibly useful right now in a guide. Also, guiding me somewhere we can get a burger and a beer after work would be a plus." She stuck close to Agatha as they walked, careful of her footing. "So you an experienced cave diver?" she asked, pausing for a second. "That's not a euphemism." 

“This much we can agree on. Many cases I solve are not detective novel worthy,”  and considering how terrible the genre could get, this was saying a lot. Agatha smiled to herself and shook her head at Savannah, “I have a pass. My parents named me Agatha for a good reason.” They had, and it was not because it matched the name of that author, really, but rather because it meant good. From the start, she had been manufactured to be good to others and so far, she had managed to fulfil the prophecy quite well, right? “Maybe they were just drunk and being stupid, or maybe it’s something else. I did not find anything that indicates that they were drunk. Not yet,” it was what made the most sense however, and she could agree with the agent on this. 

“I wish. Perhaps we should have my cats join us,” she offered with a smirk. She imagined that her two fluffy friends would have clawed their way away from the humid caves. A flashlight in hand, she led the way, directing the beam toward the floor, and once in a while around her. They could no longer see the light behind them, and every single sound they made was echoing down the cavern. Who knew how big this place was. “I’ve never really explored this cave no, but I have tried each and every restaurant in town. I think we’ll deserve at least a proper meal once we’re done searching the place,” she agreed. Now that her mood had lightened, she began to feel more sympathy for the other woman. “Anyway, not exactly experienced, but it’s not my first time in those. You wouldn’t believe the amount of cadavers we find in those caves,” it was scary, how this town seemed to be drawn toward death of all sorts. Most of them were quite mundane but the rest, the rest just stood out. Always. 

"Are you saying you were literally named after Agatha Christie?" Savannah asked, unsure if she found that information interesting or cringe-worthy. "My parents named me Savannah because they went to The Serengeti on their honeymoon. At least they didn't call me Gazelle." She didn’t particularly think you needed many indications that college frat kids had been drunk. A lack of beer cans or liquor bottles might have meant they didn’t throw down and have a litter-party on the beach, but it didn’t mean they hadn’t been to a bar earlier that day or pre-games at someone’s dorm room. Nevertheless, she followed Agatha’s lead, difficult as it was not to simply take control. 

“Town must be pretty small if you’ve tried every restaurant. Or you’re just really determined.” Maybe a mix of both. She’d once dated a guy from Cincinnati who had made it his mission one year to try every park in the city limits with his dog. She missed the dog more than the guy. “I can believe it about the cadavers.” She wondered if Javier had been to these caves. Maybe the link appeared in her mind because of the fact he’d turned into a half sea creature. She just pictured poor squid-Javier, wandering around here in the dark making those weird squid-language noises she’d heard on his tape. She was careful with her footing as she moved along the rocks, relieved she’d worn sensible shoes and that her flashlight was clipped to the front of her jacket so her hands were free in case of a fall. She froze, hearing a splash of water in the distance. It wasn’t a steady sound like a stream. “Did you hear that?” She could make out the distant sound of gentle waves where the ocean came inside the rock, but this one had been louder, more harsh.

“Or I have a pretty large appetite,” Agatha gave the agent a wide smile, one that made her look either like a ray of sunshine, or like a hungry shark, depending on the occasion. “I can assure you that I have tried them all, but then, I never left that place,” aside from the summer holidays. “Some just wash up on shore, fishermen fallen from the boat,” more than in other fishing towns, but she failed to mention that. There were things you grew accustomed to. Much like Savannah, she heard that splashing sound coming from afar. Either they were not alone, or there was a very large fish somewhere in here. Her brows furrowed and she glanced at the other woman for a moment, frowning. “I did, it’s…” Once again, the same splashing sound could be heard, closer, louder. She aimed her flashlight in its direction, eager to find out what could have possibly been making that noise. She had this feeling in her chest as she walked forward. Could it be a body floating on the water? That could have been making this sort of noise, right? 

“That’s what she said,” Savannah teased. “Burgers after though? I’m down.” She didn’t get the chance to ask Agatha more about which burger places she recommended or the fisherman’s bodies that washed up on shore before the splashing up ahead caught their attention. Savannah moved slowly, drawing her gun. She was ready to walk up on someone dumping a body. Grim, perhaps, but far less unexpected than what she actually saw as she and Agatha approached the water. There was nobody standing at the edge looking shifty as hell, nobody who threw their hands up in the air and mentally crapped themselves when Agatha and Savannah approached. Whatever they walked up on was in the water itself, and it was only once they got close enough that Savannah could make out its features. As she got closer, she could see it was a young woman… surrounded by blood and body parts. 

“Don’t move!” Savannah instructed, her weapon primed. 

The woman threw her hands in the air. “It wasn’t me! I need help.” The woman answered, seemingly crying and shivering, though it was impossible to distinguish the tears from the water on her face. “Something attacked us. God, I’m so glad you’re here…”  

“Calm down Michael Scott,” Agatha shook her head, although there was a hint of amusement there. “Sure. And we can also ask Al if he saw those guys. I found one of his take away bags back there,” she offered. Two birds one stone was always nice. Still, Agatha’s appetite was out of the picture as this sound, that might just have been the sound of a body in the water, was heard again. Much like her colleague, she drew her weapon, although holding the flashlight and a gun at the same time had always been an equilibrium puzzle. You could not just hold a firearm with one hand. 

The salt in the water must have done a good job with the body parts, because despite the scene looking like a carnage, the smell was not as atrocious as one might have expected. She knew that this was not her being used to it. This smell was not one you could forget. “Oh fuck,” she muttered under her breath. Her hands pointed toward the woman in the water, and she was caught off guard when that particularly beautiful creature shot her hands in the air, crying and calling for help. What the hell. Clearly she was able to stand in the water, so why was she staying in the middle of this… horror. “I’m going to need you to step out of the water, ma’am,” the detective warned, not taking her eyes off the woman. If it usually took more than tears for Agatha to feel bad for someone, she was starting to feel this way. “You must be very cold, and whatever attacked you might come back.”

The promise of warmth and safety should have been enough for the beautiful creature to step out of the water, but instead, she took a step back, keeping that damsel in distress look. However, to someone standing from the shore, it looked like she was drifting slowly further from the edge. 

“If you don’t get closer, we’re going to get in there and get you ourselves,” she warned, and just like that, the woman in the water’s attitude changed. There were traces of fear and panic in her features. “She can’t touch the bottom anymore,” Agatha realized out loud. After all, how could she have figured that this was an antique ruse.

Savannah was glad she wasn’t alone. It was always better to have back-up in these situations, but she couldn’t have known just how important that back-up was going to be. “Okay, stay calm.” She backed up what Agatha was saying. Either this woman was an excellent actor and a cold-blooded killer, or she was freezing and traumatized. Either way, they didn’t want to scare her. “I’m going to put my weapon away, okay?” she explained, taking away her gun and strapping it back into its holster. Flashlight pinned to the front of her jacket, both hands were now free. 

“Don’t shoot me,” the woman begged, “please don’t…” 

“Nobody’s going to shoot you. I’m just going to help you out of the water.” Savannah looked over at Agatha, giving her a nod, telling her without words to keep her guard up and remain in position. She approached, movements slow and careful. The mixing smell of salt and blood hit her nostrils, making her want to gag, and suddenly burgers at Al’s afterwards didn’t seem like the best idea. As Savannah approached, the woman didn’t move, frozen stiff either by the terror of the situation or the icy water. 

Savannah reached the edge, extending her hands to reach for the woman. Something seemed… off. 

“Hey, can you come closer to--” She didn’t get to finish her sentence before the woman seemed to tip herself upwards and backwards, being replaced by the snapping jaws of something horrifying; the biggest, ugliest fish she had ever seen. Savannah let out a sound between yell and scream, echoing horrifically off the cave walls as she stumbled backwards, slipping on the wet rocks and hitting the ground with a thud. God, would she ever get through a single day in this town without something knocking her on her ass?

Agatha knew that when it came to her job, you could not afford to scream at the first scare, otherwise you’d be the laughing stock of the whole station. And so she was rather calm, something that she made up for during her civilian times. And yet, as that awful fish (she knew literally nothing about fish, it was not something that she really liked eating), that looked like that ugly thing in the abyss from Finding Nemo (and she would never admit to having such shitty references when it came to marine biology), leaped from under the woman, she screamed her lung out and let out the most high pitched sound she might have ever produced. She wanted to check on Savannah. She had heard that god awful sound she made as she hit the ground, and quite frankly, she was worried for her. Was the woman in the water just cut in half by that monster? What the fuck was happening? Maybe this might have not been the best thing to do, but the detective aimed her weapon at the ugly fish, and shot it twice. The woman’s upper body seemed to still hang from its mouth as it retreated underneath the water. 

Agatha ran to the edge, to see if she could still see the woman, or the fish, then turned to check on Savannah, a mix of worry and horror on her face. “That was… fuck.” She exhaled loudly, putting her hands on her knees. Oh no, now that she was close to the water, the smell was even worse, and with the emotions, she could feel her stomach twisting and twirling. No, no, no, not here. 

The gunshots echoed around the cave, ringing in Savannah’s ears. She could see the flash from the muzzle lighting up the darkness as Agatha shot at the thing, that inexplicable thing, and the worst thing was she was barely even surprised by it anymore. Yes, the initial shock was starling and frightening, but after that, it felt like more par for the course. God, she hated golf. 

Savannah stumbled upright, helping fire at the creature until it disappeared into the water. She wasn’t sure if they’d harmed it, or if it was just like firing Nerf darts at a teenager, but it was gone. She caught her breath, trying to keep her hands from trembling. “Is that…” Yep. A human leg. And a few other bits and pieces to go along with it. Agatha was shaken, and Savannah didn’t really know what she was supposed to do about it. She’d lived here a while, right? Was that really her first encounter with something like this? “Hey, are you..” She cleared her throat. “I think we need to get CSI in here,” was all she could muster. 

Whatever it was that had emerged from beneath the murky, bloody water, was gone now. Clearly two angry women shooting at it was enough to teach it a lesson. Agatha had never seen such a large fish before. Quite clearly fishing had never been a big interest of hers. “Oh God,” she grimaced, “fuck.” A hand on her stomach, she took a few steps away from the water to catch her breath. Was it the smell, really? Or the shock? She had seen many things, and she did not easily get startled, but this was something else. What the fuck, she repeated to herself, taking a few breathes. If she could feel her head spin for a second, she did her best to not focus on it and instead kept her eyes on her feet, which she could barely see. 

“What the fuck was this fish?!” She finally managed to blurt. She had this image of the fish darting out of the water to bite Savannah, and it did not seem to be going anywhere. “We do, we do. I’m gonna go out of here to call them. There’s no service in here,” she just wanted to get the hell out of his hellish place. Far from her the idea of fleeing, but she knew how to preserve herself, and this was how. “Stay away from the water, alright. This thing, I don’t know if it’s dead,” she warned.

Savannah’s words were lost at sea, along with those bodies (or whatever remained of them). She stood, almost frozen for several seconds before she could convince her lips to move again, the prospect of being abandoned for fish food spurring her. “I’m not staying here alone! Haven’t you seen horror movies?” She followed Agatha, making a mental note of the directions to the pool so they could find it again. She thought she’d remember which way they’d come. Once they were at the mouth of the cave, Savannah called some of the uniforms over while Agatha was making the call to CSI, getting them to section the cave entrance off. It had been several minutes, and her heart was still pounding. Once Agatha was done on the phone, she could tell something had changed between them, something unshakable. “This really was your first time seeing something like that, huh?” Savannah let out a sound of bemusement, somewhere between laugh and sigh. “Let’s get that burger after your shift. I have a feeling we’re both going to want some beers with lunch.” 

[cinnaminsvga]

what are your favorite fics you read for every member? like the ones that resonated and left you a changed woman when you finished. could be because of characterization, or plot, or nostalgia, just the ones that come first and easy for every member, like, the iconic ones for you. can be mxm. i'm asking cause i just read worldwide lonesome and. damb. just. i kinda feel like i read seokjin’s diary or something? like it felt invasive just bc of how REAL he felt, you feel me? so. i'm curious about u

this is such a loaded ask because honestly, i had to think really deeply about this!! there are so many fics out there that have changed me as a writer and as a person in general that its hard to pick just seven... but i’m glad you mentioned worldwide lonesome because that fic is definitely!! fucking!! up there!! it might actually be my #1 seokjin fic, so you already got me there. but man... i put a lot of thought into my answer because my reading list is a never-ending pool of queerness and angstiness, as those tend to resonate the most deeply with me (since i am, after all, both queer and angsty HAHAH) so uhhh... here i go!! (also i apologize that these are mostly mxm... weirdly enough, i’m kind of more affected by those bc i relate more to them than reader inserts for some reason... the world is bombarded with hetero representation, so excuse me for clinging to my sole source of queer love lmao)

➤ for seokjin:

worldwide lonesome by loindexter [yoonjin] - i already mentioned it, but MAN... this fic left me stunned. the characterization of seokjin is what gets me the most, and by god, i am a SUCKER for coming out stories. as a closeted queer person, i’ve always wondered what other people’s experiences are with coming to terms with their sexuality, and op really hits the nail on the head. seokjin in this fic just feels... so real. like you said, it almost felt like i was looking into his diary!! it was maddening and tearjerking and oh so fucking human... you could feel his turmoil as if it were your own... and yoongi!! dear god, yoongi... that sweet fool... this fic just struck a cord with me because of how intimate and vulnerable it felt. i really hope i can write a fic like that in the future.

➤ for yoongi:

here comes the sun by fruitily [yoonkook] - this was unequivocally the hardest decision i’ve ever had to make in my life, mostly because i’ve read a plethora of yoongi fics in my day and it is quite literally so difficult to pin down a singular fic that changed me the most as a person. the reason i chose this certain fruitily fic (op will always be my biggest writing idol... if i could, i’d list down their entire masterlist as my favorite yoongi/jungkook fics of all time) because of the emotions it made me feel. there’s always something a bit sad about summer romances, and i’ve always been a sucker for that sort of trope because of the many possibilities you can do with it. it’s just... the way yoongi was portrayed here was just so darn REAL,,, you could almost physically feel his increasing want, his slow realization that yes, he does love the bucktoothed kid from summer camp. i absolutely adore the interactions he has with all the characters, because you can almost fool yourself into thinking he’s a real person. he’s a friend, and you’re watching him come to terms with what it means to love someone you only see once a year. dear lord i love that dude i’m gonna go cry now!!

(also bc i’m cheating but i also recommend the nights really were made for saying things you can't say tomorrow day by siderum... first yoonkook fic i ever read and dare i say it literally changed me as a person. there are no words.)

➤ for hoseok:

depaysement by 1honeypot (oilblotter/obiwrites) - okay i know this is fucked up for me to recommend a fic that doesn’t even exist on the internet anymore (op deleted her account on tumblr and has moved to ao3 but she’s never gonna reupload this fic again unfortunately) but MAN i still remember that fic to this day. it was so fucking GOOD and it made me realize the potential reader fics had that i never knew was possible. the entire plot was the usual make-over cliche (popular trendy girl makes the nerd hot yadah yadah yadah) that i had thought wouldn’t be interesting, but op managed to turn that trope into her own. it was hilarious, hot, moving, relatable... just ticking off every point that makes a fic great. i miss that fic so dearly and if you were some of the lucky few who managed to read it when it was still around... i think you all understand.

➤ for namjoon:

beta tau sigma by bazooka [namjin] - i cannot count the amount of times i’ve reread this fic. like, no joke, i probably memorize a few of the chapters from rereading it alone. holy fuck,,, as you can tell, i have a pattern when it comes to my fave fics and it’s all about: GAY PANIC THE MUSICAL!! yea... i just really like fics about self-discovery because MAN as a young adult traversing the mysteries of human nature and sexuality, i sincerely relate to namjoon in this fic. “am i gay, or am i just gay for my best friend?” is a question i have asked myself NUMEROUS times... dear god, namjoon is just a walking catastrophe and i!! could not!! relate!! more!! the plot flow and immersion you get from this fic is out of this world. you almost feel like you’re in the same frat as them!! i also love the way op made even the side characters have their own story arcs and backgrounds... they are what inspired me to give life to even the smallest of characters bc it just heightens the reading experience imo!! they really do feel like your friends in this fic, and this fic will always be my sources of comfort.

➤ for jimin:

darling, just say you’ll say by tusaisbts [yoonmin] - have i not sung this fic enough praises? i know it looks weird from the premise... cowboys? mail order brides? i thought it was odd at first too, but believe me when i say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. jimin’s growth as a character here left me absolutely speechless!! i just love his development: from a scared stranger dropped off in the middle of nowhere to a smart and capable teacher who can hold his own in this small rural town. i especially love how he interacts with yoongi, because op really makes you want to root for them. you want them to fall in love, to make their relationship work out. that yearning for two characters to get together is something i want my own readers to feel, and there aren’t enough words in my vernacular to explain how happy i was when everything turned out well. and jfc... rancher yoongi? got me so fucking hot n bothered and now i will forever be enamored by the thought of rugged yoongi... jfc...

➤ for taehyung (& jimin!!):

mudlands & yellow acacia by nonheather [vmin] - i remember the day i read this like it was yesterday. i had a final to study for, but instead i read this entire thing in one go and then i cried my eyes out even until the moment i walked into my exam room. i don’t know how else to describe this other than it was otherworldly. it was cozy. it was heartbreaking and magical and downright lovely. i especially loved the way taehyung was here... so fucking whipped for park jimin. he loved like no other man could, and jimin might have been a little too bullheaded at first, but they make it out okay. i’m not really one to believe in soulmates, but this fic almost made me believe they could be. it made me yearn for the first time, and i think that counts for something. to love another person and to have them love you back... op made me believe in love. 

➤ for jungkook:

years since you’ve been here by ameliabedelias [namkook] - okay maybe i’m just a crybaby and i cry at every fic under the sun but dear god this fic... might be The Fic That Changed Me As A Person. like, of course the other fics were mindblowing but this one in particular... wow. trampled all my expectations and caused a garden to bloom in my heart. jungkook is so sweet, so lost... he feels too much and he aches for namjoon. i know all too well that feeling of melancholy... when you love someone you’re not supposed to. coming of age stories will always have a soft spot in my heart, because i always tend to project myself onto the main characters. i want to grow and find my own destiny. i want to learn and be happy. jungkook finds his way, tumbles and trips the entire time, but he gets there. a symbol of queer triumph.

[kuipers-song]

Checkmate

Professor!Sigma x Gender Neutral Reader

Summary: You underestimate Siebren's intellect once more, challenging him to a game of chess, setting up bets. You always did forget he always was several steps ahead, didn't you?

Warnings: Smut. Use of sex toy. Mild exhibitionism; if you can call it that. Overstimulation. Daddy kink. Semi-Public sex. Pre-established relationship.

A/N: Suddenly so many followers omg tysm! I didn’t think I’d gain traction like that haha. But here’s another piece I had in the works. Hope you enjoy ;)

If you hadn’t lost that dumb chess match. You wouldn’t be in this...predicament.

”Lets set a bet or two,” you smirked. Siebren’s peculiar eyebrows raised.

“Oh? You’re THAT certain you’re going to win? To that, I laugh. Fine. But I set your bet, you set mine.”

You huffed in disbelief, a grin never leaving your lips. “Okay, old man. Whatever you say,” you singsonged.

A mistake on your part, really. Underestimating him and his intellect? Dumb move.

”If you lose, (Y/N), I get to try that new vibrator on you, in whichever manner I see fit, for a day. No quitting out of it, only I determine if you had enough, or if you end up using our safeword.”

Sounds...normal. Too normal of a bet. There’s a catch, and you could smell it in the air. But you were too prideful to ask. So you simply continued the conversation.

“And if you lose, you’re gonna have to let me....hm, tough question. Let me top for a couple sessions.” Siebren’s eyes narrowed and one eyebrow quirked. “Alright then, kitten.”

You regret this. You never predicted that Siebren would pick out a day like this one. You had some important lectures, one of them being his class.

You were fucked. In every sense of the word, you guessed.

Sex technology now being basically much better at wireless modes, because Siebren has had the stupid thing at a low setting all day. You are bothered. The small toy was nestled inside of you, and at this point, you could feel it with every step you took. But everytime Siebren was on break, he would ramp up the vibrations, having to make you leave class for a few minutes, to just sit in a bathroon stall, and just ride your orgasm out.

This has been the routine all day. He leaves you sensitive, and when he has the time, he’ll force you to cum, regardless of where you were or what you were doing.

...This thrilled you. Having little to no control to yourself with this, was exhilarating, regardless of the amount of times you’ve had the role.

On the way to your last class, Siebren’s class, you had to bite your lip hard at the intensifying vibrations. The professor was going to kill you. Your underwear was soaked, regardless of your attempts of keeping it less...wet.

You sit at the back. You weren’t in the mood to deal with your smug boyfriend up front as he gave class. You loved him to bits, but this whole bet has made you a bit irritated, because instead of a toy, you wanted him to thrust his length up into you, and hammer you into a mattress, desk, anything.

As he begins to drone on about new theories and proven experiments, adding on to his own experiences, he raises his voice as he ramps up the vibrations up to maximum, and you bite your tongue to avoid moaning out loud to an auditorium of students.

You’re squirming, and he sees it. You barely catch him smirking. “Fuck you,” you muttered under your breath. If you end up dying here, you would gladly pull him into the afterlife with you, since he would be the reason for your unlikely, fantastical death.

Perks of being in the back? You slipping your hand under your pants to alleviate your aching. It helps, but it’s not enough. Though, you cheekily suck on your sticky fingers on the perfect moment, when he turns around from writing on a chalkboard. He sees this, a split-second scowl passing through his visage. It wasn’t that he disliked it, it was that he knew that you did a low blow, knowing he very much prefers to eat up all that sweet nectar you create.

He quickly goes back to writing and elaborating on his lecture, and makes sure for your toy to stay on max for longer this time. You weren’t going unpunished.

It takes all of willpower to avoid making a sound. You were oversentitive from having orgasmed minutes ago, but the astrophysicist wanted to murder you apparently.

Though, lucky you. Siebren manages to end his class early. Students leave, and Siebren manages to lock doors, and luckily this was an old classroom, meaning no working cameras.

“You’ve got nerve to put yourself on display, katje.” Siebren’s voice barked as he walked up between rows of seats.

“You’ve been killing me by putting me through this all day,” you whimpered. Your hand was on top of pants this time, pawing at yourself, wanting to remove the torture device, but Siebren hadn’t given a final word.

The professor smirks, “Does my sweetheart want that out them, replaced with me? "Beg for it.”

He kneels to your chair, right at your side, but the man is a giant. He sits comfortably, using your thigh as a pillow. “I can’t hear you,” he mocked.

You muster the strength to talk. “Daddy,” he tensed, not really expecting for you to pull that card yet. “Please get this dumb toy out of me, or I won’t be able to feel you ramming me into a wall. Please, please, please?”

For you, this time, he relented. Pulling a remote out of his pant pocket, he turned the toy off. He hears you sigh a thank you as he stands and basically picks you up with no effort.

“I’m going to fuck you so hard you’re going to see stars, as well as not being able to walk, got it, liefte?”

You shivered at that.

He took you into the very back of the auditorium, another blindspot, with good distance from any outside people that could hear. He loosens his pants, as you already had your lower half exposed. You both were lucky today.

But the risk of being seen or heard, felt too good.

Picking you up again, one large arm held you, his other hand helping line up his length up to your entrance.

Instinctively, you wrapped your legs around his small waist, arms around his neck. If you concentrated, you could feel his pulse, racing in anticipation of what’s to come.

“Color?” It sounded more like an order rather than a question.

“Green,” you replied automatically.

And without any hesitation, he buried himself into you, using a near wall to add pressure. Both of you moaned, heavy panting resumed, bodies singing their enjoyment. His hands held you, alternating between your hips and ass.

“I’m having mercy on you right now, because I expect you to scream my name soon, so be ready.” He whispered into your ear, a whimper slipping past your lips in response.

And he begins thrusting, the warmth and smoothness of your insides captivating him into starting off with a strong and rough pace.

The feel of the raw strength he was exhibiting, had you in a blissful state.

“Ah—fuck,” you moaned out.

“Kittens like you shouldn’t curse. It doesn’t look so good on you. But you know what looks good?” He thrusted particularly hard at the end of that sentence.

“A-ah~! You inside me looks way better,” you panted out. Siebren was happy with the response, burying his face into your neck, fucking you harder.

If you die here, you die happy.

An orgasm was quickly rising up, as Siebren gave you no mercy. Your hands and legs gripped onto him harder. He bit onto your neck, pulling out a needy whine from you. Raising his head, he kissed your lips, muffling your cries.

When you both part for air, you mewl out the need to cum. “Only if you beg, dearest.” His response sounded more like a growl.

“Please, Siebren—please cum inside me! I wanna feel all of it, fill me to the brim. Siebren!”

“Cum.”

He picked up a slightly different angle, and it drove you over the edge. Fucking you through your orgasm, his rhythm became erratic, probably chasing his own release. It wasn’t too far until he spilled himself into you.

After both of you came down your highs, he slid out of you, and let you sit down, his hand protectively covering your sticky hole.

He leans in, kisses your neck a couple times, and whispers.

“Don’t waste a single drop, kitten. I’m keeping this,” he held your soaked underwear in his large hand. Grabbing your jaw, he pulls you for a harsh but affectionate kiss. You couldn’t argue.

Siebren always wins, doesn't he?

[ashleyswrittenwords]

The Homecoming Formal [ZeLink College AU]

Note: Hi hello it’s me, Ashley. I know this isn’t HTBAQ, but I’ve been drabbling on the side and I very much like this idea. Also there’s a hot fraternity president that I happen to know and anyway, thought it was topical. This is kind of mature rated? Kinda? If you don’t like reading about sexual mentions and stuff or if you’re uncomfy. This will be a couple chapters and then I’m retiring the idea lol. It’ll be cute, promise.

Summary:  [Zelink College AU][Greek Life] Zelda had a one-night stand months ago and finally got over a big break up, but the shame of it happening weighs down on her. To make matters worse, her best friend keeps pushing her to go to formal with a fraternity boy. What happens when she meets their homecoming fraternity's president and her past mistake comes back to haunt her? Can I make this sound any more like a Wattpad book? Can this be anymore cliche? Yes, probably.

Warning: Mentions of the sex.

The Homecoming Formal

The bass seeped from the floor and through her wedges. She was completely off beat but she finally felt comfortable dancing. Dancing wasn't really the word for it, it was more or less being very low and bobbing with the music. There was lots of alcohol and none going on Zelda's tab. She was happy, shouting to the music that the club provided and danced with her girlfriends without a care in the world.

Maybe Midna was right and she should get out more.

It helped when she was paying the bill.

Men had come around every now and again, asking to dance with them and offering drinks. Midna was very staunch about the sudden arrival of testosterone and manhandled them away. Zelda had grinned wryly repeating how much she loved everyone. More jelly shots please.

Countdown and shots. It was a cycle.

How many did she have? It didn't matter. Nothing mattered right now. Zelda wanted to have fun.

She turned around and didn't see her friends. They were on the dance floor. She felt wobbly and a steady sense of vertigo washed in. Okay, the bar is nice now anyway. The bar stool was cozy and gave her relief to the balls of her feet. Someone brushed against her, slurring to the bartender. Zelda didn't recall what was said, but the nice drink lady was reluctant to give him more. Oh, it was a man. She had looked at him and he had looked at her.

Fun had found her.

Daren ΚΗΣ : Yo me and the boys are tailgating across the street from the stadium. You going to the game tmrw?

Zelda's eyes flicked up to her phone, which dinged, and pulled her from her glazed over stare. She sighed and stretched before grabbing the phone.

Me: Yea

A beat passed before the phone buzzed again.

Daren ΚΗΣ: Ahahah slideeee

She squinted at the phone screen and opted to stare off into the corner of the library. The calculus homework that glared at her from her computer screen seemed to hate her more than she hated it. A woman bounced through the door and immediately locked eyes with her. Her stare was piercing and Zelda felt like crawling under the table.

"Zelda Harkinian, what are you still doing here?" Midna said, accusatory.

"I…" Zelda paused, her brain not giving her a snarky reply, "I needed a couple more hours before the test." The woman picked up the cup of coffee that sat under Zelda's chin. It was still half full and hours old. The scent was comforting, at least.

"Cold coffee again?" The scary woman dumped it into a trashcan without another word, drawing attention from the people around them.

Zelda wined, mourning the lost cup, "Midna! You know that coffee here is expensive!"

"Only because you're too lazy to get off campus for a fix, besides you're addicted. Look at those eye bags! You know we have a social this weekend and you still insist on torturing your skin. What have I told you about at least using eye cream?" She went on, the blonde zoning out. She wondered how she would get out of this one. Midna was obsessed with socials. Especially this year, being that their homecoming fraternity was Kappa Eta, also known as Kappa Eta Sigma. It didn't make complete sense to Zelda, she wasn't the one for Greek drama, but if it made Midna happy she would be happy for her. In all honesty, a lot about being in a sorority confused her. It took a lot of pressure from her friends to rush with them two summers ago.

It was quite possibly the worst experience she'd ever faced. Standing outside sorority houses for fifteen minutes in the hottest days of summer weren't exactly what the movies depicted. The feeling of an hour's worth of makeup melting off her face made her shiver to this day. But to her friends it was something worth doing and Zelda couldn't complain. She met amazing people in her house and having Midna joining her made it even better.

"Anyway, tomorrow before the game we're going by their tailgate."

Zelda groaned, "Are you serious? Why? I'm trying to pull a disappearing act on one of their brothers."

"Because they're our homecoming frat and Paya said everyone has to stop by at least once if we're going to the game. And free drinks and free boys," Midna pulled her phone out, typing something in it was a grin. "Is it Daren again?"

"Yes," Zelda said breathlessly, shutting her laptop closed, "He's been either texting or snapchatting me everyday since the date party." She flung her backpack on and followed her tall friend out, looking around shortly for any of Daren's frat brothers. Believe it or not, fraternities were more invested in drama than any top-tier sorority. They always played that bad boy persona, but could never dish it. Of course, in Zelda's opinion. If anything, they were middle schoolers in snapbacks… just barely old enough to drink cheap liquor.

"Hey, I told you to get that other guy on their list. The blond one with the tan."

Zelda huffed, "I didn't know I was being catfished, Mid. Not my fault."

"Just, you know, make out with some other guy in front of him. He'll get the message."

"I'd rather die."

Midna looked up from her phone with another striking stare. How does she get her winged eyeliner so perfect everyday? "Don't give me that, Zel. You try pulling that perfect scholar attitude on me all the time, but I know you can get some if you really wanted to."

Zelda rolled her eyes, "I've no clue what you're on about."

"Really? After that last boy? When we went clubbing and you wore that skimpy black dress and we lost you. I thought you were kidnapped, but you just ran off with a boy."

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Zelda felt heated, "It was one night and I regret it." And she did truthfully regret it. That night haunted her as much as it did thrill her. She couldn't remember his face or name but he sure was good at-

"OMG you're so thinking about it."

"No!" Zelda fumbled as they descended down the hill, almost tripping in front of a man on a longboard, "I'm not!"

"Oh, my Zelda. Growing up so fast! Having one-night stands with hot men! I'm so proud," Midna pretended to wipe a tear. Some random girls caught wind and looked at the duo in a strange manner.

The blonde girl fumed, crossing her arms and pulling her math notebook close. She thanked her stars for the leggings she decided to wear. The days were getting cooler, but she couldn't bear to turn to jeans just yet. The oversized shirt she wore displayed her universities name: North Hyrule University.

"When is your calc exam?"

Zelda looked at her phone, "At 2. So, I have a couple hours to kill."

Midna looked at her with that look that made Zelda worried.

"Midna what are you planning?"

Silence.

"Midna."

A smile was being wrestled with on her red lips.

"Oh, Hylia above help me."

The accused girl gasped dramatically, "My stars! Would you look at that! Kappa Eta has a tent put up just down the sidewalk. What a coincidence!" Zelda's eyes were immediately pulled towards a row of tents in the common area. Damn it, of course she would lead us here. It was still early in the semester so clubs and chapters were scouting for freshmen. There was an outlandish difference between sorority and fraternity recruiting, the latter going through recruitment events throughout the semester. Sorority rush however was a week filled with suffering. It wasn't fun for anyone involved.

"I really don't want to go," Zelda whined.

"You are," Midna looped her arm around Zelda's as a move to take her as captive. She was evil. "We should at least meet some before the social. Maybe we can get you a new formal buddy! Wouldn't that be peachy?"

"Oh, yes. I'm sure any man would want to see me in no makeup and hellish looking. Perhaps I should tell them that this horrible hair bun is Vogue," the blonde groveled, trailing behind Midna who looked positively radiant.

"That may work," Midna said absently, responding to a yell with her name. She had already put on that dazzling smile, while Zelda was trying to remember if she brushed her teeth that morning. Kappa Eta's tent was loud to sum it up. Loud and obnoxious. Several were talking to nervous freshmen and showing off their acts of good deeds. Or whatever frats boasted about. Midna was talking to Kafei, a man she loosely knew from a friend. He seemed nice enough, but Zelda ended up zoning out on the background. Why did frat boys tend to wear the same outfit 8-year-olds wear to their grandma's for Easter? The bright shorts were killing her. At least some of them took the decency of wearing long khakis and a normal tee shirt with their letters. That makes sense.

A hard nudge to the side sent Zelda into the real world again.

"-and Zelda here is our Academics Chairwoman, as you can see she's clearly been wrapped up in it. She's in Calculus 2, you know?"

"Are you finished with the dossier on me?" The accused woman glanced at who Midna was talking to. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." The man was looking at her odd and his expectant gaze caused her to stop thinking for a moment. His hair was longer than what she usually saw with typical frat boys, shaggy and blond. His eyes contrasted greatly to his skin. He was tan and she wondered if maybe he was on the football team. He seemed like he could be built for that; a linebacker? It occurred to her that this was the same guy that Midna had recommended before for the date party. Zelda mentally kicked herself for not taking more care of her appearance today.

"Link," he finished his weird stare and smiled. Almost hesitantly. It made her wonder if she looked worse than Midna described. Had she actually spared her feelings this time?

No, probably not.

He held out his hand and she took it, shocked for a moment by his delicate grasp. She thought he'd be more firm.

"Zelda, this is Link Forester. He's the president of Kappa Eta Sigma." Now it made sense why Midna sounded so professional. She was the Social Chairwoman after all. She had to be diplomatic in some way. A hot flush crept up Zelda's neck, "Oh, I'm sorry. I probably should have known that."

He kept hold on her hand and laughed, "It's fine. I don't expect people to know me. Why should I?"

"Isn't that Zelda?" A sly voice crept in and it took a lot for the named woman to not roll her eyes. Link dropped her hand as another man approached them. He was shorter by a fraction and everything she didn't want to deal with at the moment.

"Hi Daren," she said, trying not to sound lame.

"'Hi Daren'? That's all I get?" It sounded like he was talking to a child. He glanced at Link, "Excuse me, Mr. President. This is my date to formal."

"Formal buddy, but okay," Midna interjected. To be fair, there was a stark difference. Date suggested… other things. Buddy, of course, was a more amicable form of date and Zelda hoped perhaps her own would change before formal. Daren only gave Midna's comment a side glance. "Where's my hug, Zelda?" He was going in for it and Zelda raised her eyebrow in question. Was he really trying to hug her? She had met him a total of one time.

Link pulled him back by the collar and Daren stumbled back. "Yeah, no. We're not doing that here. I told you and the rest of the guys that it's a bad look on the chapter, but I'm honestly not too surprised that you forgot so quickly." Daren mumbled something but complied.

"I apologize, ladies," Link again was looking at us, softer than he was before with Daren. "It was good to see you again Midna," he said, nodding at her and then looked to me. The same smile from before was playing on his lips. "And it was wonderful to meet you, Zelda."

He turned away, said something else to Daren and went to help his brothers with recruitment. Midna was easy to turn Zelda and herself away and begin surveying the rest of the booths as they walked. Zelda hummed, "I do believe I should have followed your advice."

Her companion scoffed, "Please. I should have followed my own advice."