#Troubleshooting Secrets

[sigzentechnologies]

Transformative Troubleshooting: Sigzen Technologies' Impactful IT Infrastructure Solutions

In today’s fast-evolving business landscape, the significance of robust and adaptable IT infrastructure cannot be overstated. Serving as the backbone of modern enterprises, IT infrastructure encapsulates a complex interplay of hardware, software, networks, and services, profoundly influencing and steering the trajectory of business operations. Sigzen Technologies has positioned itself at the…

[buldakkris]

has/is anybody had this issue in the game?? like, when I go to change my Sims outfit, the sim does the animation but stays in the same outfit? and the sims head/picture is blank/invisible in the ui when I go to click on them??

[dragon-razor-writings]

NEO Specialist: "Mind if we talk about that mass email you sent?"

NEO Troubleshooter: "Why? It was important."

NEO Secret Agent: "All it says is, 'I'm back on my bullshit'."

NEO Troubleshooter, shrugging: "The people need to know."

[shimmershifts]

how to reality shift

method one: pure awareness

for those who have never heard of it, the state of pure awareness is exactly what it sounds like: pure awareness, detached from the input of your 3D senses, a state where you are no longer grounded to the 3D. this means you will not feel your body, or any surroundings at all. for those who have already heard of it, you may have heard this referred to as "the void state" or "the void", (especially recently,) but i don't like this term as it implies that "the void" is some sort of place that you go to, and it's not. "the void state" is not somewhere you go, it is a state of being and experiencing that you become.

what is the state of pure awareness?

the state of pure awareness is just you. you are your awareness, and the state of pure awareness is just you, without the data and input of your 3rd dimensional senses distracting you.

why does pure awareness help with reality shifting?

when we reality shift, our goal is to find a way to trigger our awareness into a movement in the 4th and 5th dimensional directions. for some, this is easier to do when you are not distracted by the 3D. this isn't because it's impossible to shift while aware of the 3D! on the contrary, lots of people shift while totally awake and aware in the 3D, in either their CR, or their DR, or even both. but for most of us, our awareness is really used to and really comfortable piloting our 3D body here. so perhaps try getting into a state of pure awareness and see if that helps you trigger a shift.

i believe the state of pure awareness is natural, a side effect of the simple fact that the bodies we inhabit are 3D, and our awareness isn't. our awareness is not a 3D object, mass, or body part. you can't point to and say "there it is, that's human awareness." but in our current states, our awareness gets all this input and data about reality from a 3D body.

the reason you see nothing and feel nothing when you're in the state of pure awareness is because when your awareness is not focusing on input from your 3D body, there is nothing for your to "see", "feel" or "hear" and no body for you to see, feel or hear it with. those are 3D concepts, and 3D senses.

how will i know im in the state of pure awareness?

you will have absolutely zero input from your 3D senses. there will be nothing, and yet you will be totally and comfortably aware. that means if your body feels tingly, floaty, dizzy, fuzzy, etc you are not in pure awareness. if you see hallucinations, flashes of light, etc, you are not in pure awareness. if your thoughts are muddled, dreamlike, or confused, you are not in pure awareness. if things change or destabilize into a different dreamlike scene, you are not in pure awareness. if you can feel your 3D body in any way, you are not in pure awareness.

how do i get into the state of pure awareness?

there are many different ways to get into the state of pure awareness. if one way doesn't work for you, please feel free to try another or even make up your own way. now, technically, you don't need a method to do this. because the state of pure awareness is not some place we have to travel to or a locked dungeon we need a secret key to get into... it hypothetically is possible to simply instantly get into the state of pure awareness. ie, to completely let go of 3D distraction, and become pure awareness right now. so, first, i urge you to try it. like, actually. pause your reading, and try to become pure awareness.

did it work?

if yes, congratulations, you've done it! you don't need to read the rest of this, or maybe skip down to the 'troubleshooting' section if you're one of those people who can get into the state of pure awareness but finds they aren't triggered to reality shift from it, and just came back here without being able to shift to your DR.

if it didn't work, do not despair. i think you're fully capable of getting into the state of pure awareness, and it may start to feel more natural and happen with more ease with practice. for now, here are some pointers.

method 1(a)

meditation. don't let that word scare you off! i'm someone with adhd, and ptsd. in my past, meditation was always spoken about or taught to me in a way that was completely ineffectual for me. i thought meditation just didn't work on me. turns out, all i needed was a method that was accessible for me, and for someone to explain what meditation actually is in first place because it turns out, what i was trying to force my mind to do isn't even needed or isn't even what mediation is. so no wonder why it didn't work! i'm planning to make a much longer "how to meditate" series for those who struggle, but for now i'm going to be fairly brief. if it doesn't work, just move on to 1(b), or 1(c) for now.

step one: choose an environment. it's okay if there are distractions, but it may help you to pick the most comfortable environment possible, whatever that means to you. do you want to be alone? outdoors? in the dark? what position do you want to be in? etc.

step two: relax your physical body, if you can. however this might look for you. can't relax? hold space for your body to relax if it can, but don't force it. some people find it easier to physically relax if they first tense up as hard as they can, and then let it go. this is the stage where some choose to focus on their breathing, do a body scan, etc. once you feel you are relaxed enough, turn your attention away from your physical body. note: this does not mean that your physical body has to stop feeling sensations. your nerves and senses will continue to function, because they always do, and that's their job. that's okay. your goal is not to force your body to be numb and comatose because it won't be. if physical sensations come to your awareness, simply acknowledge them and let it pass you by.

step three: relax your mind, if you can. however that might look for you. keep in mind, this does not mean to "clear your mind" in the sense of having no thoughts at all. that's not necessary, and your brain is meant to think. begin to let it do that without you. that's okay. if thoughts come to you, simply acknowledge them and let them pass you by. it may help to focus your awareness on something in your imagination, while you allow your brain to think in the background. common ones are counting, visualizing thinks like smoke, light, or a rhythmic activity like swimming, walking, etc.

at some point during steps two or three, you may start to experience hypnogogic symptoms. they aren't the goal with this method, and you don't need to focus on them. if you feel them, that's okay, just acknowledge the sensations and let them pass.

struggling to let thoughts pass you by? it may help to take a similar approach with your mind as some do with the body, taking the "tense your body and then release to relax". "tense"/focus on each one of your thoughts, acknowledge it, and then let it go. if it helps, try to visualize (or create the idea of) a place to put them. this could mean floating them away into the clouds, placing them into a box, or tossing them off a cliff. whatever you pick, acknowledge you do not need to be aware of that thought or sensation right now, and put it away for later. it may help to visualize putting them all in there, and then closing the box or turning away from wherever you put it.

step four: pure awareness. for this step, i'm gonna ask you to pick one thing to focus on. your mind and body should be relaxed, with no sensations or thoughts distracting you, it's all just passing you by. pick one thing. it could be anything. a mantra (ie, repeating "i am" in your mind) counting, a visualization (a place, maybe an object, or a simple, repeating sensation like the sound of ocean waves or the feeling of breeze on your skin.) whatever it is, turn your full awareness to that. take as long as you need, revisiting steps three and four whenever necessary. is your full awareness on your chosen focus? great, now let it go.

one of two things will happen. either your awareness will let go and you'll become a state of pure awareness, or distractions will spring back up. let them if they do, it's okay. it may take practice, you may have to bring yourself back up and stop for now and try again another time, or you may be able to continue if you go back through steps two and three and make another attempt.

method 1(b)

hypnogogia. some people experience hypnogogia when they meditate, but this is not a meditation method. this method is for those who don't want to meditate but who naturally experience hypnogogia when they're waking up or as they're falling asleep. identify which you experience, and plan to make use of it the next time it happens. you can increase the chances of it occurring very simply, if you're someone this works for.

for as you're falling asleep: every night when you go to sleep, your body and mind fall asleep, and they actually do this separately. the next time you're going to bed, and you'd like to reality shift, just try to keep your mind aware. you don't have to do anything special, you can just let your mind think normally. to avoid falling asleep, just keep your awareness focused, rather than letting it slip away as you would when you are going to sleep. if you need something to help hold your awareness in your mind, try counting, or visualizing, or focusing on one minute sense (ie, the weight of your blankets, or the sound of the refrigerator buzzing from the kitchen.) just let your body fall asleep. you don't have to do anything in particular to let this happen. your body naturally falls asleep every night, just don't get in the way of the process and it'll do the same as it always does. at some point, your mind will still be awake but your body will begin to fall into sleep, and this is when you start to experience symptoms of hypnogogia. lights flashing, hallucinations, fuzzy or tingly sensations, spinning, dizziness, floating, etc.

for as you're waking up: basically the same as above, but do it right after waking up instead. if you struggle with letting your body fall asleep when you first go to bed, this method might help you. right when you wake up, your body is still fully of sleepiness, and it's generally much easier for your body to fall back asleep than it was to fall asleep in the first place. use that, relax, keep your awareness in your mind and wait until the hypnogogia symptoms start. (this one doesn't often work for me because i have ptsd, and when i wake up i often immediately jump into fight or flight mode, totally and instantly awake. if that's you, this might not be the method for you!)

once you're in hypnogogia: there are a few ways you can go about this, and you can try both.

try focusing on the hypnogogic sensations. these are not real 3D senses, and your goal is to get away from the 3D distractions, so chase them. stay in them as long as you can. this technique is kind of like following the white rabbit down into wonderland, except that it's your awareness following strange buzzy sensations and flashing lights out of your body. try this until the 3D completely falls away, and the hypnogogia falls away next, leaving you in the void much like the white rabbit ditched alice when she fell down that hole.

did the hypnogogia not fall away? don't panic, try technique two: manually let go of the hypnogogic sensations. let them pass. actually, avoid them. your arms are tingling? notice it, and shift your awareness away. body spinning? let it go. don't try to focus your awareness on anything, just let things happen while you focus on being aware.

eventually, you should become pure awareness. if you try a few times and can't, this might not be the best method for you. some people are overwhelmed or distracted by symptoms of hypnogogia rather than being able to use it to reach pure awareness. just see what works for you!

method 1(c)

lucid dreams. when you become lucid in a dream, you're almost already in the state of pure awareness. if you know about lucid dreaming, you might understand what i mean. you're lucid, and you're fully detached from the 3D. that's great, that's the pure awareness state, right?..... not quite, because of the "dream" part. in most lucid dreams, there is still that "dreamlike" quality. however, if you're someone who is able to lucid dreams often, and have the skill to stabilize your lucid dream, you can also develop the skill to dismiss the dream entirely. that way, you go from lucid dreaming, to just lucid. (ie, pure awareness.)

i won't go too deep into how to have a lucid dream here because there's so much to say (if anyone requests it, i might make a follow up later about how to lucid dreaming!) but for now, the relevant info is how to stabilize the dream, giving you the ability to dismiss it.

so you're lucid. awesome! now what?

first, perform reality checks to confirm that you are lucid dreaming. poke your finger through your hand. did it go through? you are dreaming. now pinch your nose, and take a deep breath. did you breath? you are dreaming. look for a clock, or create one. look at the time, look away, and look back again. did the time change? you are dreaming. look for a mirror, or create one. look at your reflection. are you dreaming?

continue using reality checks intermittently. i've found that people can be fully lucid, and then forget they're dreaming and lose control.

now to stabilize the dream. first, stabilize yourself. hold up your hands. how many fingers do you have? touch the tip of your index finger to each finger on your other hand as you count them. are there five on each hand? good. now press your hands together, palm to palm, and rub. can you feel it? great! clasp your hands together, intertwining your fingers, and then pull them apart. count your fingers again. still five on each hand? great, you're ready to move on.

now stabilize your surroundings. to do this, use each of your five senses. first, look at something and notice the details. is it colorful? is it clear? now listen. can you hear anything? what about touch, reach out and touch something. hold it in your hand, and focus on keeping it there. smell it, and then taste it. (it sounds weird, but it really helps.)

now practice dream control. that thing in your hands, do you still have it? if not, redo the previous step. if yes, great! now turn it into something else, change the color, or the size. now make your thing disappear, but on purpose. now make something else appear. then make it disappear. do another reality check. do you still have five fingers?

now to dismiss the dream. this might take a few tries, as your brain is dreaming, it will try to add things in, or take you into a new dream. focus on your awareness, and insist on staying aware while the dream disappears. it may seem easier to dismiss things one by one (ie, the walls, the floor, then your body) but in my experience this can make things less stable. try dismissing everything all at once, if you can.

did it work? confirm that you're in the state of pure awareness (see: how will i know i'm in the state of pure awareness? above.) are your thoughts clear, consistent, and in control? are you totally stable, with no risk of waking up or coming out of the state? if not, you may still be dreaming. if you realize you're still dreaming, just let yourself enter a new dream scene and repeat the step above.

what do i do once im in the state of pure awareness? how do i shift?

actually, there's a lot you can do! but this is a reality shifting post, so that's what we'll focus on. once you've confirmed you're in the state of pure awareness, you are no longer aware of any 3D at all. hypothetically, it's just as easy to become aware of your DR from there as it is to become aware of this reality. first, try just doing it. become aware of your DR.

did that work? if not, try some of the tools you'd use to trigger a shift in general, except now you're doing them from the state of pure awareness with zero 3D distractions.

relax. there is absolutely zero rush. time does not pass here the way it does in the 3D. in the 3D, we perceive time as passing linearly, but your awareness is no longer tied to the third dimension. you have no body here, and you are not attached to your 3D brain or mind either. relax in your awareness.

visualize your DR. i think visualization is one of our most powerful tools for reality shifting, and it's even better in the void with no distraction. remember, you don't need to create the whole world with the power of your mind. you're not creating the world, and you're not traveling there. you're already there, you're just becoming aware of it. focus your awareness on small things about your DR. i think it helps to choose a few that feel close, familiar, or very real. where are you? what's your name? what are you going to do next? what are you wearing? what do you always have in your pockets when you leave the house? your favorite piece of jewelry? what does it feel like?

repeat. this could be a mantra, counting, your visualization, whatever, just pick something, if you find that repeating is something that helps you.

now visualize the very moment you want to shift into. use your senses, but don't force yourself to use one that's not coming naturally, ie don't sit there thinking "oh no, now i have to think of something to taste-" let go. you, dear reader who is reading this right now, are you thinking of one thing you can taste? probably not. unless you're eating hot chips. your DR self doesn't have to try to focus on being there, you're just there. so what are you sensing? are you seeing anything? smelling anything? hearing anything? feeling anything? don't create these sensations, or force yourself to feel them, you're in the state of pure awareness and you can't feel anything anyways. just reach for them.

at some point, you should become aware of your DR. in my experience, you don't have to force yourself there and there's no "symptoms" of being about to be there, especially because if you're in the state of pure awareness so there's no 3D sensations at all. it may feel like a "blip" or like a "pull" or a "blink" or like a "shift", and then you're there.

troubleshooting:

i can't get into the state of pure awareness.

don't worry, it's not the only way to reality shift. if 1(b) and 1(c) don't work for you, consider waiting for my meditation guides to be out, or methods 2 and 3, or come up with something all your own. you do not need to get into the state of pure awareness to reality shift, it's just one method that helps some people.

i got into the state of pure awareness, but i didn't shift.

well, there's two possibilities here. either you weren't actually in the state of pure awareness (ie, you accidentally fell asleep, or into a dream, or you were in some other meditative state you mistook for pure awareness).... or you did shift. to here. when you're pure awareness, you're not aware of this 3D reality, so when you became aware of this 3D reality, that was you reality shifting to here. oops! it happens, you can try again. do you remember how it felt when you reality shifted here from pure awareness? what triggered it? see if you can use that, and try to reverse engineer whatever made you become aware of here, to become aware of your DR next time instead.

if it does not work, over and over, then the state of pure awareness may not be what helps trigger you to shift to your DR. try a different method!

ok lovelies that's all for now!

-shimmer

[moiraimyths]

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) | Official Trailer

The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) is a lore-rich and choice-driven historical fantasy visual novel inspired by Irish mythology and Celtic folklore. Play as a tenant farmer from mid-19th century Ireland, whose path becomes inexplicably entwined in fairy affairs after getting robbed by the roadside and lured into the mythic and war-torn world of Tír na nÓg: A once unified land, now divided into the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Will you escape and return home with your stolen belongings? Or does fate have something else in mind?

🍃 STEAM 🍂 ITCH.IO 🍃PATREON 🍂DISCORD 🍃

Eager to play? Certain route content is available NOW in early access on Steam and Itch.io! For more information, click below👇

Meet the Cast

Facts & Questions: The Game

🍃 The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) is a Kickstarter-funded project currently in development. Due to the scope of the story, we will be releasing it serially over several years to Steam and Itch.io, and discounting it while in early access. The earlier it's bought, the cheaper it will be overall, and you'll only need to buy the game once!

🍂 Not all routes are currently available! As of Nov. 1, 2024, you can play half of Shae and Maeve's routes; both approximately 50k words. If you're not sure about paying for an unfinished game, feel free to check out our free demo first. It consists of Vol. 1, Book of the Traveller (the pre-route content). Differences between the demo's Vol. 1 and the paid game's Vol. 1 are marginal following our August 1, 2024 re-release of the demo.

🍃 The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) has a recommended reading order (Vol. 1, then 2, then 3, etc.), which will correspond to the release order of the routes. For more information on our reasoning behind this, click here.

🍂 Due to its setting, The Good People (Na Daoine Maithe) will occasionally feature instances of characters speaking in Gaeilge, i.e. the Irish language. All instances of Gaeilge are linked to an internal translation tool, which is voiced by Nigel McKeon, a Gaeilgeoir.

🍃 The main character is yours to shape. At minimum, you must choose a nickname, pronouns, and one of four default appearances, the last of which can be your own artwork (instructions are included in the game's files). You may also choose to discard the True Name…

🍂 All routes, both current and upcoming, will have both romantic and platonic choice options. If you're uninterested in romance, feel free to make friends instead! No matter the nature of your relationship, you will still be able to reach the good end. (Want to learn more? Refer to this post!)

🍃 Our cast consists of two men, two women, and two non-binary characters. All are romancable no matter the MC, but some characters are asexual or on the aromantic spectrum, which may impact aspects of their romances.

🍂 If you are a Mac user and are having issues launching the game via the Itch direct download, refer to this guide for troubleshooting before sending us an ask. We strongly recommend purchasing the game through Steam instead of Itch if you are a Mac user; it is the best way to avoid issues with launching the game.

🍃 NDM is very intentionally set just prior to the onset of the Great Famine, which is both thematically and textually relevant to the leftist, anti-imperialist story we're aiming to tell. If you would like more insight into this, refer to this post.

🐎 There are secrets to be found in this game, with more yet to come. Prepare yourself for a lot of horse related shenanigans. 🐎

Facts & Questions: The Company

🧵 Moirai Myths is a five-person company based out of Canada. The core devs/founders go by Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. All writing and programming are done by this collective, i.e. the Fates.

🪡 Moirai Myths has a two person in-house artist team consisting of Kazane, our Character/UI Designer, and Melinoe, our Environmental Designer. In addition to them, though, we have had a number of guest artists assist us with the creation of sprites, CGs, and an assortment of other materials. If you'd like to meet them, check out our about page on our website!

✂️ Moirai Myths stands with the people of Palestine 🇵🇸

Disclaimer: This description will be updated periodically. If you're reading this in a reblog, you may want to check our current pinned post for potential changes.

[captainsophiestark]

Rebound

Dick Grayson x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Requested by @navyhua! Hope you like it!

Fandom: DC

Summary: Dick and Babs just broke up, on the eve of an undercover mission requiring the cover to be as a couple. Luckily, Dick knows somebody who can step into Babs's place.

Word Count: 4,829

Category: Angst, Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"It's a three month minimum undercover mission. I completely understand if you're not up for it, but... I was hoping you'd be willing to take it on."

I stared holes in my kitchen wall, immensely grateful that Dick couldn't see my face right now. I kept the phone to my ear even though my good friend and vigilante buddy was finished speaking, now just waiting for my response. I felt more and more awkward with every second that passed, but I just couldn't bring myself to respond.

Dick was set to leave tomorrow morning for a massive, in-depth undercover mission to infiltrate a seriously dangerous group that a few of us had been keeping our eyes on. The cover required Dick and another person to go as a couple, acting completley and perfectly in love for the next few months. Until about a week ago, the plan had been perfectly set for him to go with Barbara Gordon, our mutual friend and his long-time girlfriend.

But then, just over a week ago, he and Barbara had broken up.

They were both fairly mature people, and had been friends long before they started dating, so there hadn't been much drama. Every single member of our group of friends and vigilantes had been relieved about that, not least of all because Dick and Barbara were essential leadership members of our teams, and a messy breakup would've been rough for more than just them. But, understandably, as a result of the breakup, they didn't want to go through with this undercover misison together, pretending to be a happy couple for months when their relationship had just ended.

I'd been part of conversations in passing troubleshooting what to do, but since I hadn't really had a role in the original plan, I hadn't paid much attention to the replanning. Now, it was all I could think about on a loop, since Dick had just asked me to go with him in Barbara's place.

I could tell from Dick's tone when he'd asked that he'd been worried about inconveniencing me on such short notice, especially since a few of our other friends had already tapped out due to scheduling conflicts. I was perfectly able to change my plans to go with him; scheduling was the least of my worries.

Instead, the number one concern dominating my mind was the absolutely gigantic, secret crush I'd been harboring on Dick for years. I'd been head over heels in love with the guy for a long time now, and the thought of spending months faking a relationship barely a week after he'd broken up with his girlfriend, another good friend of mine, made me sick to my stomach with nerves.

"Look, I know it's bad timing," Dick continued, apparently taking my absolute silence as indecision and not panic. "I'll understand if you can't make it work. But... if there's any chance you can get free, it would save the mission. You're just about my last hope of finding somebody who can see this through with me."

I let out a long sigh through my nose. This was a bad, stupid idea. But Dick needed my help, and I didn't want to leave him hanging. Besides, this mission was about more than a stupid crush. We were going after an organization doing legitimate harm to people, and if we didn't take this shot at taking them down, who knew when the next one might come along?

"Alright," I said, forcing the word out before I could second-guess myself anymore. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Really?" The joy and relief in Dick's voice made my heart do a backflip, and I shook my head at myself. "Thank you, so much. I'll come pick you up in the morning so we can head out. Is that enough time for you to pack and get everything in order?"

"Yeah, it should be," I said, fighting to keep the resignation and regret out of my tone. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Perfect! I'll bring your favorite coffee order."

I could practically hear the adorable wink in his voice that I loved to see in person as he hung up the phone. I let out a long, heavy sigh and set my own phone face down on the counter. This was a terrible idea. But it was too late to back out now.

I needed to pack.

****************

True to his word, Dick knocked on my door bright and early the next morning. I'd been pretty unable to sleep last night thanks to my brain overthinking the decision I'd just made, but on the bright side, it meant I'd had plently of time to pull off the perfect packing job. When I opened my door to find Dick grinning, an extra coffee in-hand for me, I was already ready to go.

"Good morning," he said, fixing me with the smile that never failed to make my heart race. "Here's your coffee, as promised."

I did my best to smile back as I took the cup from him, one bag already slung over my shoulder.

"Thanks."

"Thank you. For... probably obvious reasons, Babs and I really weren't in a place to do this mission together. If you hadn't been willing to step in on such short notice, we would've been in serious trouble."

"...Glad I could help."

"Here, let me give you a hand with your bags."

It didn't take more than one trip for Dick and I to get everything loaded in "our" car. For the sake of our cover, we were driving over to the gorgeous resort we'd be staying at together in this rental, in character from the moment we got within a few miles of the place.

I paused for just a second outside the passenger side door before joining Dick. I was not going to let this stupid crush compromise our mission, especially not when I knew Dick was still processing a major breakup. We'd been alone plenty of times before, we'd been friends for years. Sure, it would be a little different to act like a couple, but I made myself a promise then and there that I wouldn't let myself get carried away. For my sake, and for Dick's.

****************

"So, how long have you two been together?"

Dick and I shared a look, and I knew neither of us had to fake the warm smile spreading on both of our faces. For the sake of creating a cover we could stick to easily, Dick and I had kept a lot of truth in our fake story, including things like when we'd met. Dick already had one arm around my waist, but he pulled me in tighter to his side as he answered the question for both of us without breaking my eye contact.

"Almost two years now. Although, we've known each other a lot longer."

"Since we were kids."

Dick's hand gently squeezed my waist, and my heart felt like it was about to burst from the warm glow this man seemed to cause with just a single look. We really had been in each other's lives a long time now; we'd been each other's constants through quite a lot of change and challenge.

Which was why I forced myself to take a deep breath and a half-step back from our cover as a couple as Dick turned away to face the people in front of us. We'd been here for almost two months now, and at first, I'd been doing fine with separating reality from the fake story we were trying to sell everyone else. But in the last few weeks, something just felt... different.

I knew it was in my head, but more recently, when Dick gazed into my eyes to sell that we were deeply in love, it felt like there was an energy and a truth there that hadn't existed before. When he kissed me to maintain our cover, he never lingered, but in the past few weeks the small pecks seemed to stretch out for an extra few milliseconds more than they necessarily needed to, especially when Dick's arms were around me.

I took a careful sip of the drink in my hand as I forced my attention back to the couple in front of us. Dick had been carrying the entire conversation, which wasn't fair to him. He was an outstanding performer, and I needed to stop buying into our own press. It was a fine line to walk while we were quite literally in the belly of the beast, at a massive party with all of the targets we'd been gathering information on for months, but in the back of my head I chanted a little reminder to myself: "friend friend friend friend friend".

"Well, the two of you certainly make a sweet couple," said the woman in front of us with a smile. "We're glad you were able to join us here."

"We are, too," I said, returning her smile. "It's been a wonderful experience, and some great time for the two of us to get to spend together."

"But now, if you'll excuse us," Dick broke in with one of his trademark grins, pulling me a few steps to the side with him, "we're just dying to go dance."

The couple we'd been speaking to waved us away with adoring smiles, and my heart skipped a beat as Dick whirled us onto the dance floor, his arms wrapped tightly around me. We'd spent plenty of Wayne Galas dancing the night away like fools, but never this intimately. The chant in my head died down despite my best efforts.

Dick and I swayed to the music, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist as I rested my hands on his shoulders. Slowly, he leaned in closer, and my heart did a backflip. He brought his mouth right up to my ear, and I swear I was on the verge of cardiac arrest until he spoke.

"I just got a message from Wally. We got all the evidence we need, and they're about to break in here and take down the whole room."

I bit my lip, trying to ignore the pit of disappointment opening in my stomach. We'd done our jobs, and unless something went wrong in the next few moments, we were about to get some very bad people out of a position to do harm. The last thing I should have been feeling was disappointment.

"They're gonna need some kind of distraction while they put the last touches into place, especially for the security guys around the room. I've got an idea, but I need you to go with it, okay?"

I nodded, even though my clenching heart told me this was a bad, bad idea.

"I trust you."

Dick's hands squeezed my waist, and then he was spinning me, out and away from him. I let him lead, trusting him and trusting myself to know what to do when the time came. The music around us swelled to a finale for this song, and Dick had worked us right into the middle of the room. He dipped me, then held my hands tightly once I was standing upright in front of him again. As the last notes faded throughout the room, he dropped to one knee before me.

The gasp I let out was real. Everyone around the room echoed it. If Wally needed a distraction, Dick had found the perfect way to do it.

I quickly threw my hands up to my face, mirroring the normal reaction and also giving myself some room to get in the zone. Dick just smiled up at me, his face practically radiating love and affection.

"My love... I've been waiting for the right time to do this, and I can't think of a better one than now." The phrase was enough to help me get back in the zone, if only slightly. This was the best time for a fake proposal, as a distraction for our friends. "You make me the happiest man alive. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. So... would you do me the absolute honor of agreeing to marry me?"

I huffed a little laugh, letting a smile creep onto my face as my hands dropped. I knew how to sell the act, and more importantly, I'd managed to keep it straight in my head that we were acting.

"Yes. Baby, a thousand times yes! I love you so much."

Dick grinned, popping a up from where he'd been kneeling and sliding a ring I recognized as one of his own onto my finger. In a pinch, it'd work as a fake engagement ring, especially since if everything went according to plan, no one in the room would get the chance to look at it up close.

Cheers errupted around us as Dick finished giving me the ring. I smiled up at him, expecting that to more or less be the end of things, but then he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me tightly into his chest. His other hand came up to cup the back of my neck, and he pulled me into a deep, searing kiss unlike anything we'd ever done for our cover so far.

An absolutely tiny part of my brain argued that this was all part of creating a distraction that would do its job and distract for as long as our team needed to get in here. But the rest of me disagreed. This kiss, the way he held me, felt different. We'd been faking it for two months, I knew what that felt like. But as Dick held me to him and kissed me like the world was ending, there was a spark of something real and wonderful that I knew I wasn't imagining.

In the back of my mind, I recognized the sounds of shouting and glass shattering from the room around us. I blocked out all of them as Dick slowly pulled away from me, his eyes locking onto mine. I just stared back, my mouth slightly open. No doubt, our cover was broken now as our friends descended on the place, and yet the soft look in Dick's eyes didn't fade for an instant. He breathed my name, but then a shout that sounded like Wally came from across the room, and the moment broke. Dick turned to look in the direction of the noise, then dropped his hands from my waist and rushed into the fray with nothing more than a quick glance back at me.

I felt like someone had driven a knife into my heart and was wiggling it around with reckless abandon, but I forced myself to lock down the emotions, at least for a moment. Our friends were fighting to get and keep control of the room, and they needed all the help they could get.

Thankfully, I'd been working with this team as a vigilante for long enough that it came back to me perfectly naturally, even while my emotions were trying to take me out then and there. Gradually, we managed to get control of the room, securing all the bad guys Dick and I had been scouting for months. Once the action calmed down, I searched the room for Dick, intending to pull him aside and talk to him. Honestly, I'd been expecting him to be looking for me to do the same thing. But instead, I found him across the room, his attention completely focused on Barbara.

I bit down on my tongue so hard I almost drew blood. That knife in my heart had dug in deeper than I'd thought possible. I turned away, using the cover of cleaning up the mess in the room to hide my face from my friends, and tried to get a hold of myself. It's not like Dick and I were anything real. He'd just gotten out of a long term relationship, and everything we'd been doing for the past two months was supposed to be fake. Even if I'd thought I felt something different in that last kiss... it might not have meant anything to Dick.

I focused on taking deep breaths as I helped Wally, Dick, and the rest of our team wrap up the last loose threads on our mission. I kept trying to catch Dick's eye, but he refused to even look at me, which hurt about a thousand times worse than seeing him go running to Barbara. I loved both of them, and I didn't want to let my emotions convince me to do something I'd regret, so I took off at the first opportunity, saying I was exhausted and needed to rest. Thankfully, none of my friends called me on it.

Dick barely seemed to notice at all.

****************

After getting some breathing room from Dick and the illusion we'd created for the sake of our mission, I still couldn't shake the feeling that something had been different in that last kiss. Even if it didn't mean anything to Dick, even if he felt it was a mistake and wasn't interested in me the way I'd been interested in him, I knew we needed to talk about it. This radio silence would turn into a friendship-crushing awkwardness that I honestly couldn't take.

I called Dick two days after we got home from our mission to ask him to come over or grab coffee for a conversation, but he'd brushed me off with a lame excuse. I'd tried to set something up with him or else catch him at one of our training bases another dozen times over the next few weeks, but he just kept ducking me. It was incredibly unlike him, but after so many attempts, I took the hint. There really wasn't much else I could do. Whatever was going on with him, whatever had been behind that last kiss on our mission, Dick clearly wanted nothing to do with me now.

I debated talking to one of our other friends about it. If he kept avoiding me for too much longer, maybe I would. But eventually I decided that if he wanted space that badly, then I would give it to him.

I'd gone about three days after making that resolution before I'd broken down. I sat at my kitchen counter, drafting and redrafting a message to send to Dick to hopefully open the door between us again to talk and be friends like normal, before this mission had made things so weird. I didn't even care if he didn't feel the same way about me romantically, or if he wanted to say I'd been hallucinating whatever I'd felt during that last kiss. I just wanted my friend back.

I'd just gotten to a draft of my message that I didn't absolutely hate every word of when a knock came at my door. I frowned. I hadn't been expecting anybody, and honestly, I didn't want to be interrupted in the middle of drafting this stupid message lest I chicken out for another few days.

I stood up with a sigh to check the peep hole, then froze solid when I saw Dick on the other side. Even worse, he had a boquet of flowers in his hand. Whatever that was about, my brain and body were telling me I was way too nervous to ever know.

I was just contemplating whether I could get away with pretending not to be home, all the courage to do with the message draining away at the thought of having to say it to him in person, when he called my name from the other side of the door.

"I know you're home," he continued. "And honestly, I understand if you don't want to talk to me right now, but... I'd really like the chance to explain myself."

That, at least, got my attention. I took a deep breath, then slowly opened the door, revealing Dick on the other side. He gave me a smile as soon as he saw me, but it was much weaker than I was used to. Honestly, he looked more nervous than I'd ever seen him before.

"Thanks for opening the door," he said. He held the flowers out to me, and gingerly I took them. "Do you, uh... do you mind if I come in?"

"Of course not," I said, sighing a little as I stepped aside to make room for Dick. A bit of the tension in his shoulders seemed to fade at my words, and he stepped past me into my apartment. I shut the door, planning to ask if he wanted something to drink before we both settled in for whatever this conversation was going to be, but Dick beat me to the punch.

"Listen, I want to start by saying I'm sorry for disappearing on you." He spoke emphatically, standing in the middle of my entryway, his eyes locked completely on mine. Apparently we were doing this now. "I needed some time and some space to figure things out, but I'm sorry if I hurt you in any way in the process."

I cleared my throat and shrugged, setting the flowers down and then crossing my arms.

"Well, let's see. After spending two months together joined at the hip, you kissed me... like that, and then turned around and disappeared on me with a bunch of lame ass excuses for why you didn't have time to see me. Yeah, Dick, whatever that was, it hurt."

He grimaced, but took a step closer to me all the same.

"I'm sorry. I could've handled myself better. But..." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking away from me for the first time since he'd gotten here. I just raised an eyebrow and waited for whatever he decided to say next. When he met my eyes again, he looked a little at war with himself. "...I need you to promise me something."

I huffed a little laugh. "Seriously? Dick, you said you wanted to come in and explain something, so let's start there."

He just shook his head. "I need you to promise me that our friendship won't be affected. Alright? If I promise you that I won't make it weird, I need you to promise me you'll at least try to do the same."

"Dick, there is only one of us in this room who's made the friendship weird recently, and it's you. But... fine. I promise."

Dick let out a sigh of relief, then straightened up as he met my eyes.

"While we were on our mission... I started to feel like I wanted what we were pretending to do to be real. I realized I liked holding you, and kissing you, and having people look at us and know we were together. And as a result, I let myself get carried away when I kissed you on the last night of our mission. And I'm sorry for that."

I just stared back at him, my brain working overtime to try to process what he'd just said. I don't know what I'd been expecting, but a confession that my long-time friend and crush had spent the two months of our mission wrestling the same feelings I'd been struggling with? That hadn't been it.

Although, it was certainly a nice surprise.

"Dick..." I breathed, trying to decide where to start with what he'd just said. He broke back in before I got the chance to decide.

"It's okay if you don't feel the same way," he said quickly. "I don't mean to put pressure on you. But... I didn't feel like I could keep that secret from you, especially after that kiss."

The smallest hint of a smile pulled its way onto my face despite myself.

"You don't need to apologize," I said. "Not for that, anyway. I... ugh, I can't believe I'm about to admit this, but I've had feelings for you for... a long time. I didn't mind that kiss one bit."

Dick's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah, really. It's why I was so hesitant to take the mission in the first place. But we didn't really have another option to go get those guys, and I've gotten pretty good at shoving those feelings away and focusing on our friendship instead, so... here we are, I guess."

Now it was Dick's turn for a little smile. His seemed to be incredibly relief-driven, although we weren't totally out of the woods yet.

"That's incredible to hear," he said. "Seriously, I was getting worried I'd crossed a line and destroyed our friendship."

"Is that why you've been avoiding me?" I asked. "Because if so, Dick, you should've just talked to me-"

"No, that's not why. At least, not entirely." I raised an eyebrow, and Dick took another deep breath before continuing. "I'm sure I don't have to remind you, I just got out of a pretty long relationship with Barbara. When we'd started our mission especially, it'd only been a week."

"Yeah," I said, trying to keep the storm of emotions that memory brought on from showing on my face. "I remember."

Dick gave me a knowing little smile, then continued.

"Well, about halfway through our undercover mission... that's when I started feeling more than the usual friendship feelings about you. It felt real and right and like something I wanted to pursue, but... Barbara was my first long-term relationship. The two have us have known each other forever, and even though we parted on good terms, it still felt a little... weird, to just be moving on like that. And I care about you. A lot. I didn't want to make a mistake and end up hurting you. I wanted to be sure that my feelings were real, and not just a side effect of the breakup or our proximity and cover. I wanted to make sure I didn't treat you like a rebound. So, I ran when the mission finished, to get some space and to think. Maybe I could've handled that part better, but by the end of our two months, I was seriously starting to lose it holding feelings back, so... I couldn't think of a better way to handle things in the moment."

"...And? You took all that time and space, what did you figure out?"

The faint smile returned to Dick's face, along with the usual easy confidence I knew so well. He closed the last of the distance between us, gently taking my hands in his, and I let him.

"I figured out that these feelings I have for you are a lot more than a rebound, or proximity driven, or whatever else. I took some time to process, especially the stuff to do with Babs, and I feel good about why and how we ended. It was the right choice, for both of us, and we're both better for it. And most importantly, I think my next right choice is you. I'm just happier when I'm around you. My heart feels warmer when I get to hold you in my arms. You almost sent me into cardiac arrest with your outfit on the last night of our mission. So, if you feel the same way... I'd really like to be your boyfriend. Or at least take you on a date, if you want to start slower."

"I... I'm not going to lie, I kind of feel like I'm hallucinating right now."

Dick laughed. "I hope you at least feel like it's a positive hallucination?"

"Oh, definitely. Not one that I want to end by any means."

"Good. Then... is that a yes? To a date?"

I smiled, meeting Dick's eyes as my heart did backflips. "That's a yes to dating. Exclusively, if you're at that point, too."

"Absolutely I am. I'm... so happy to hear you say that."

I grinned. "I mean, I do feel like we're a little past first-date territory. Sure, we haven't technically been on one yet, but all the traditional first date activities are relationship markers we passed years ago. I already know all about your hometown, favorite color, and secret vigilante lifestyle."

Dick laughed again, letting go of my hands to wrap his arms around my waist and pull me into his chest instead. My heart was practically beating out of my chest, and when I brought one hand up to rest on Dick's chest, I could feel that his was, too.

"You know, I might not count 'secret vigilante lifestyle reveal' as a first date milestone," he teased. I hummed, pretending to think on the issue.

"I don't know, Dick. I mean, that's a pretty big potential dealbreaker you might want to get out of the way early-"

I stopped my teasing short as Dick moved forward, bringing his lips to mine for a real kiss, no undercover pretense attached. I melted into him, everything else in the world instantly fading to irrelevance. Despite our long history as friends, it really was too early for some things, including using the "L" word. But that didn't mean I didn't feel it, heart and soul. The past few months had been a constant emotional rollercoaster, but no matter what came next, this moment and this budding relationship with Dick made everything else worth it in my book.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen @misshale21

DC Taglist: @gaychaosgremlin @v1ckycheesue @lavender-dinos @g0atmansbridge182 @taliee

[thewertsearch]

AG: John, are you saying you had a nice friendly chat with this hideous, 8loodthirsty creature 8efore he killed you? EB: yes! EB: typheus may not be pretty to look at… EB: but he is not a bad guy at all!

And all of a sudden, Sburb just got a whole lot more interesting. There’s an entire layer of additional lore here, that we’ve only just begun to uncover.

Just what secrets do the Denizens hold? Hopefully Davesprite is about to clue us in.

DAVESPRITE: i busted into his palace DAVESPRITE: to finish the quest DAVESPRITE: i was expecting him to be asleep and was gonna figure out some way to wake him up DAVESPRITE: but like last time i saw him DAVESPRITE: he was already awake to greet me JADESPRITE: but i thought the denizens were supposed to be asleep? JADESPRITE: at least until you do the right things on your quest… DAVESPRITE: they are DAVESPRITE: as sprites were programmed to know things like that about the game DAVESPRITE: but i guess not everything

Apparently, there are game mechanics that even Sprites aren’t privy to.

If I had to guess, I’d say that Sprites are only told how Sburb sessions are supposed to work. The game doesn’t intend for Denizens to be encountered early, so the ramifications of doing so aren’t part of the standard Sprite knowledge base.

DAVESPRITE: it seems like if you try to go fight them too soon DAVESPRITE: you find them awake and theyre like DAVESPRITE: what the fuck are you doing here already DAVESPRITE: which is what happened last time i saw him DAVESPRITE: before i became a sprite DAVESPRITE: and i stupidly tried to fight him which was a bad idea because hes hella strong DAVESPRITE: and the whole time he was raving about shit DAVESPRITE: about a stolen sword and missing forge DAVESPRITE: but i wasnt really listening DAVESPRITE: if i had i might have understood

Denizens, however, do seem to know when Sburb has gone wrong. Maybe, in addition to being bosses, they’re also troubleshooters, charged with instructing the Players in how to fix broken sessions.

In that case, maybe there was a method to Hephaestus’s madness after all. He might simply have been trying to tell Dave what needed to be fixed, in order to revive the session.

[jessaerys]

i like that the manga explains light's secret drawer situation a lot more clearly and actually bothers to show him going to the hardware store for materials. however. from an engineering perspective i have so many hilarious questions. ryuuk mentions that he spent a long time choosing the board he would use which i take to mean he got the exact right size he needed but realistically that's highly unlikely given that he needs it to be flush against all sides in order to not give away that its a false bottom drawer. even if he got it cut to size in store, employees are notoriously not professionals and do not get paid enough to be precise (for the purposes of this post let us assume the same is true in home depot: japan). which leads me to: light yagami trying to sneak a 1x4 into his house without looking suspicious. light yagami learning about woodstains to match the exact shade of his furniture and trying to do his little DIY project in his room (terrible idea) without anyone smelling the fumes. light yagami like hey dad can i borrow the table saw and uuhh the sander. don't question it (soichiro: oh thank god he's not gay). and that's not even getting into the soldering and troubleshooting he would've had to do without blowing his hands off. where did he get the gasoline. did he siphon it out of a car or did he go to the gas station like hi id like to buy one gasoline please

[shannonsketches]

Okay I'm back to talk about headcanons that this ask made me think about because like I said yesterday I think we have very similar but adjacent thoughts and I wanna blabber

So the tl;dr of it is that I fully agree that Bulma terrifies Vegeta and that's part of her charm but our reasons for why differ a bit.

My headcanons are very heavily based on the manga, so in my mind he really didn't see much of her on Namek to compare with her Earth behavior. She and Krillin were both the correct amount of afraid of him, and then the Ginyu force showed up.

I do definitely agree that he's very impressed with the dragon radar -- but Vegeta's grown up in a super high-tech empire full of Freeza's personally curated collection of brilliant minds. While it is crazy that Bulma essentially reinvented scouter tech as a teenager, and hyper-specified it to pick up only the energy that the Dragon Balls were putting out, I think it's also important to recognize that Dragon Balls are a myth at best to almost every non-deity being in the universe, and a closely guarded secret for Namekians.

Bulma invented the radar because she found real ones in her attic (which, why do we never talk about why Dr B and his lovely wife just. Had two dragon balls? Chillin in the attic? This whole time?) and decided to see if the legends were true. Freeza had never seen one, and didn't know anyone who had ever seen one, and wouldn't have had any reason to invest R&D into a device that could detect them.

Don't get me wrong it's still CRAZY impressive that she did that, and something I fully agree Vegeta acknowledges as crazy impressive, especially having done it at sixteen because she was Bored, but for me I think that detection and tracking tech is kind of standard where he comes from (if others didn't already have proof that they work and weren't always in a race to make their wish, which kills their energy signature, they might too take the time to study them for the same result) -- so the time machine would be a much wilder truth to learn for him imo

But I feel Dr B impressed him first because, outside of Capsules, in terms of technology, Earth is VERY primitive to Vegeta. Even for as rock-carved as a lot of the low-ranked neighborhoods on planet Vegeta were, they still had space-faring ships (and potentially also the rearing pods) before they were taken over by King Cold. Bulma and her father -- and even Gero, who is collectively acknowledged as the most superior scientific mind on Earth -- didn't have access to the kind of tech and fuel that can do that effectively. In the Saiyan saga Bulma even talks about how the fastest engine her father ever built would take over four thousand years to go where Vegeta can in a matter of months (in an autopiloted pod, no less).

Bulma and Dr B can, however, utilize alien tech to create things that suit their needs, which is its own brand of impressive. In the manga, there is no second ship. Vegeta asks Dr Brief to build him a gravity room, so I personally hc it's him Vegeta's impressed with initially. I enjoy the thought that Bulma's capacity is one he learns more about just spending time with them developing the room to suit Vegeta's needs and standards, which are almost certainly annoyingly high (as it's established in the manga that Freeza's bases had training rooms too, and it may be safe to assume there is gravity tech in use, considering those fighters have to be prepared for battle on various planets of various sizes and atmospheres).

But again, that this earthling is able to replicate that technology without access to the base alien tech is crazy impressive.

I like to think that Vegeta's mind impressed both of them too, having spent so much time around fighters who are not scientific or tech-savvy at all, and suddenly an alien who knows wtf he's talking about and specifically what he's looking for and can troubleshoot and do minor QA on tech and explain in great detail how how something works (he can report in real time what's happening to him physiologically while it's happening to him, even if it's happening to him for the very first time, which is insane). One of my favorite long-time inside jokes with friends is that Capsule Corp didn't have hover cars until Vegeta moved in. I also just love that Dr B calls him Vegeta-kun in the JPN.

With Bulma though, especially in the manga, she's very much like everyone else -- she's brilliant, but imperfect, and still learning from her mentor (her dad). The bit in Daima where she works so hard on the ship just to have the launch fail feels very much like a callback to this joke where she VERY confidently tries to call Nappa's pod and self-destructs it because she mixed up the buttons, for example:

"Krillin, who's the genius here?" [fails immediately] "Dammit." my love for this fictional woman cannot be overstated why do we even have that lever

So like, while I VERY MUCH AGREE that Vegeta finds her intellect deeply impressive and hot and dangerous, in my personal opinion that is a part of her that intrigues him but it's not the part of her that terrifies him.

To me, it's that despite the fact that she is so smart, and so clever, and so quick-witted -- she is so brazenly authentic.

When Vegeta gets to Namek, he's at the tail end of a poker game he's been playing for years inside the Freeza force. Everyone's running a clever game, everyone's got an ace up their sleeve, everyone's bluffing, everyone is looking for a tell, and everyone's got a loaded gun under the table pointed at someone else.

Freeza notes that their confrontation was inevitable, but is surprised Vegeta's rebellion happened so soon. The thing is that Vegeta is also surprised that it happened so soon -- he was planning to go back to Earth when Cui told him Freeza had already left for Namek. The table got flipped and a 30-Year game turned into a standoff overnight. Vegeta's living on earth fresh from this lifelong cultural experience of "Loyalty is a strategy, everyone is playing to win, and no one is ever really on your team. The only way to save your neck is to keep your head low and your mouth shut."

Then there's Bulma, who -- despite her housing every ability (and reason, as the most wealthy heiress on her planet) to be extremely cut-throat and manipulative and shady and mysterious -- is not only extremely open about her flaws, her feelings, and her insecurities, but extremely LOUD about them.

Bulma will just cry. Bulma will just scream. Bulma will just be passively peer pressured into changing her clothes and then announce that what other people are wearing made her feel stupid.

Bulma is not just vulgar, she's transparent about all of her weaknesses. She plays damn near nothing close to the chest. She announces her suspicions. She announces her plans. She announces her observations, as if they can't be used against her. She's messy and unpleasant, out loud, where people can see her being messy and unpleasant. That's horrifying when you're used to everyone posturing and cooing and kissing ass to get what they want.

She's openly afraid, and also openly curious, and also openly lacking a sole singular fuck about what you think, and also loudly giving a fuck about what other people think. She's both deeply predictable and impossible to track. She thinks we should just kill that guy before he becomes a problem, she also thinks that even though everyone saw how dangerous this guy is he seems uncomfortable so we should leave him alone.

For lack of a better word, from where Vegeta's standing -- Bulma's fucking insane. This woman is crazy. She's got whims like the goddamn weather, but in the exact opposite way that Freeza did. Freeza would smile at you and wish you the sweetest condolences while running a knife through your chest, Bulma will wish you dead at the top of her lungs and then ask what you want for dinner because it's punishment enough being stupid you don't need to be hungry too.

Bulma has all of the same ingredients he's used to being around, but hers combine into something so radically The Opposite of that, and I think that's destabilizing in a way that was very very good for him (likewise, I think Vegeta's absolute lack of GiveAShit about being exactly who he is and dressing however the fuck he's dressed and doing exactly what the fuck he's gonna do no matter who's got opinions about it or what those opinions are (bless Toriyama for describing his personality as 'aloof superiority') was destabilizing in a way that was very very good for her).

I also definitely agree that seeing so much of Bulma's personality in Trunks as he grew up was not only endearing but kind of reassuring. Although I personally think Trunks is terrifying in his own special way. The combined parentage made the boy too confident. Now he's an unbridled weirdo (absolute joy, overwhelming praise).

tl;dr Part 2: I really really enjoy Bulma as a genius in terms of maths and metallurgy and machinery, but I like to think that Vegeta's got a better head for biological and social sciences and strategic operations (when his pride is not in the way), just as a matter of that being where his primary work experience lies.

I love the idea that Dr Brief was a bridge for them, and is a wildly fluctuating polymath who can kind of do all of it with exceptional comprehension, and would be a much bigger problem for everyone if he didn't have the personality of a career stoner.

Bonus: Dr B being awed and happy that there are people out there in the universe doing things better than he can while his daughter reminds them they're on a deadline.

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @steddieholidaydrabbles.

Along the Chimney with Care

Prompt Day 24: Stocking | Word Count: 550 | Rating: T | CW: None | Tags: Future Fic, Established Relationship, Learning New Skills, Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

"What are you doing?" Eddie asks, as he leans over Steve's shoulder as he sits at the dining room table. 

"Practicing," Steve answers, as he looks at the scrap of fabric in front of him at the sewing machine that he's dragged out of the deepest recesses of some closet.

"Practicing what?" Eddie asks, because it just looks like a bundle of tangled up threads.

Steve flips it over. 

It's a kind of badly done embroidered version of Eddie's name, but it makes him smile. It might not be anywhere near perfect, but he likes the effort Steve's clearly tried to make. Steve could have ordered them custom-made from somewhere else, or even gotten iron-on letters, but instead he's chosen to do it this way, for better or worse.

"What's this for?" Eddie asks, smiling.

"Stockings for Christmas. I mistakenly thought this looked easy. It is not easy," Steve says, and Eddie sits down.

"Let me help," Eddie offers, even if he has no idea what that will entail. But surely they can figure it out together. They've always been able to figure anything out, as long as they've done it together. Two heads are better than one, and all that shit.

Not to mention, Eddie can sew. In theory. By hand, for sure, and Wayne had an old machine Eddie used a few times while making vests and other shit. He's never made a stocking, but he's willing to try.

"It keeps tangling on the back," Steve laments, and Eddie slides the practice piece of fabric towards himself, so he can look at it more closely.

"Is there a manual?" Eddie asks, and Steve shakes his head. 

"Not that I've ever seen," Steve answers.

"Hmm," Eddie says. He understands the basics, maybe, but he's not sure he can do much by way of troubleshooting.

But he bets he knows who can.

"Joyce says to check the bobbin," Eddie says from the kitchen, holding onto the phone. 

"What's the bobbin?" Steve asks, standing up and looking at the top of the machine.

"What's the bobbin?" Eddie repeats.

Joyce laughs in his ear, "Oh, dear."

But she walks them through it. They take it out, rethread it through the machine, and then test it out.

It's better. It's definitely better.

"That fixed it!" Steve says, pumping his fist in the air, hollering, "Thanks, Joyce!"

"He says thanks," Eddie repeats to her over the line. 

She heard him. The whole block heard him.

Eddie sits on the couch and watches Steve hang the stockings along the chimney with care. They aren't perfect. Far from it. But they do have their names on them, and Steve made them. He also let Eddie sew patches on them, which makes them even more personal to each of them.

A joint effort. Eddie loves them in all their slightly wonky glory, and he hopes they use them for years to come. 

"Okay. They're Santa ready," Steve says, and Eddie grins. 

"I can't wait to see what Santa brings me," Eddie declares, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, and Steve just smiles like he has the biggest secret. 

"Coal, probably," Steve teases, and Eddie laughs, big and bright.

Steve's got something planned, something up his stocking, as it were, and Eddie can't wait to find out what.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddieholidaydrabbles and follow along with the fun! 🧦

[mywitchyblog]

PSA: YOUR SCRIPTS ARE SAFE. PERIOD. FULL STOP. 🔒🛡️

No, Notion employees aren’t sipping lattes while reading about your DR love story or your plot to be the main character in Hogwarts.

i saw this on my mutual @shiftinghoesblog and i though some of yall may need reassurence.

The Tea on Notion’s Privacy Policy ☕🍵

Notion’s Data Access and Consent guidelines are crystal clear (source: Notion Help Center). Employees CAN’T just waltz into your notes for funsies. Their policies lock your data down like the vault at Gringotts. Here’s the breakdown:

STRICT Access Controls: Notion employees can only see your data under very specific circumstances, like troubleshooting technical issues. AND THAT’S ONLY IF YOU GIVE THEM PERMISSION. Consent is queen here. 👑 If you didn’t say “yes,” they ain’t got the key, honey.

Encryption is Everything: Your notes are encrypted both in transit (when they’re being sent to the server) and at rest (when they’re stored). Translation? No hacker, Notion intern, or cosmic entity is peeping your Draco Malfoy fantasies or villain-arc DR scripts. 🖤✨

Account = YOURS: You can delete, export, and control every single thing you store in Notion. It’s like having the Elder Wand but for your data. 💼🪄

Let’s Talk Real Safety Tips (Because You’re a Boss 🖤):

If you’re still side-eyeing this, here are ways to flex your data security like the baddie you are:

💻 Password Power-Up: Use a password so strong even Bellatrix couldn’t crack it. And no, “password123” isn’t cutting it, bestie.

🔐 Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Protect your account like it’s holding the secrets to the multiverse (because, well, it kind of is).

📥 Backup Your Scripts: If Notion gives you the ick, download your scripts and store them offline or in an encrypted file.

And to Those Doubters Saying “But What If—”

Stop it. 🙄✨ Notion has actual legal obligations to protect your data. They’re not out here violating privacy laws to sneak a peek at your alternate-reality plotting. If that’s not enough, why would Linda from IT care about your scripted DR wedding or the drama at your magical prom? THEY DON’T, SWEETHEART. 🥂

So What’s the Vibe?

💎 Notion is Safe AF. 👑 Your DR secrets are sacred. 🔥 Stop worrying and script like the magical icon you are.

Now get back to manifesting your Desired Reality with confidence, sass, and all the ✨main character energy✨ you can muster. Your shifting journey is yours, protected, and unstoppable. 💫🌌 Go slay it, babes. 🔥🖤

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: The Fool's Journey

The Fool’s Journey is the archetypal story told by the Major Arcana of the Tarot.

Use the Fool’s Journey for inspiration and brainstorming, rather than for developing a plot or outlining.

It’s far more powerful for suggesting solutions than for suggesting structure (as is true for Tarot in general).

As a writer, the Fool’s Journey can help you:

Pinpoint the emotions your character should be feeling at each story stage,

Find the next step for a character stuck at a particular stage,

Create conflict appropriate to each story stage,

Access archetypal images and symbols to add depth to your story,

Troubleshoot problems caused by your character skipping a vital story stage,

Assess your own progress as a writer.

The ‘Fool’s Journey’ is the term coined by Eden Gray to describe the story of the Major Arcana of the Tarot.

USING THE FOOL'S JOURNEY

Possible pitfalls - useful for adding conflict to your story;

Feelings in life - the things that might be going through your character’s head,

Outward signs - external events of objects that can represent that stage of the story.

TROUBLESHOOTING

If your story is lacking conflict, find the card which best represents your character and use the “pitfalls” list as a starting point.

If you aren’t sure what your character is thinking at a certain point in the story, find their corresponding card and explore the “feelings” list.

If you need more events in your story that relate to the current stage it’s in, find the corresponding card and brainstorm ideas using the “signs” list.

If you don’t know what your character should do next, find which card their current state corresponds to, and use the exercises to brainstorm scenes for the next card.

If you need the influence of a particular card in your story, consider creating a character who fulfills those functions and makes use of similar symbols.

THE FOOL'S JOURNEY: 22 Cards

0. The Wandering Fool

The hero of the Major Arcana

How is your hero a wise fool?

How will this symbol gain new meaning when the hero returns home after their long journey?

1. The Magician

The Magician uses the way of the intellect to uncover spiritual secrets; he is an active seeker of knowledge and clarity. 

Who is the initiator of your character’s current way of life?

Does your character tend more towards the empirical or the mystical? What conflict does this dichotomy cause them?

Outward signs: A juggler, conjurer or magician, an adept, a bookworm.

Possible pitfalls: Megalomania, being a charlatan, omnipotence.

Feeling in life: Tapping into huge reserves of power, feeling in charge, confidence, a Faustian thirst for knowledge.

2. The High Priestess

The feminine counterpart of the Magician; she represents the mystical path to spirituality as opposed to the intellectual.

Her approach is passive, inwardly-directed, and in no way inferior or less effective to that of the Magician.

What is the character open to and expectant of?

Outward signs: Loss of consciousness, waiting, turning the other cheek, taking part in a ritual, allowing oneself to be guided blindly.

Possible pitfalls: Escapism, doubt, indecisiveness.

Feeling in life: Letting go, trust in the universe, inspiration, feeling loved, peace, going with the flow.

3. The Empress

The power of nature, as opposed to the Emperor, who represents the man-made or artificial.

She can be a source of abundance, creativity, nourishment, and life but at the same time, she can bring about the destructive forces of natural disasters.

How does your character embrace life?

Are they in tune with nature?

Outward signs: A feast, a mother, an artist, going shopping.

Possible pitfalls: Uncontrolled growth, changeableness, inconsistency.

Feeling in life: Creative flow, feeling alive, understanding the cycles of life, belief in abundance.

4. The Emperor

As the Father figure, he is the source of authority and responsibility.

While he may at times seem overbearing or critical, he provides the disciplining influence which is the essence of all learning and spirituality.

How does your character approach their responsibilities?

How do they struggle with discipline or authority?

Outward signs: An authority figure, being told to try harder, being given a routine or schedule, being drafted, a (verbal or physical) beating.

Possible pitfalls: Obstinacy, perfectionism, strictness, hard heartedness.

Feeling in life: To be aware of responsibilities, being cruel to be kind, a realistic outlook, seriousness, being given constructive criticism.

5. The Hierophant

The teacher of religious mysteries and the first suggestion of the underworld of adventure.

The hero must travel through both the (conscious) visible world, and the (unconscious) hidden world to find what is essential.

What character might work as a Hierophant to urge your character to discover the world that they’re ignoring?

What is visible in the character’s world? What is hidden?

Outward signs: A truth-teller, a blunder, an invitation.

Possible pitfalls: Hyposcrisy, world-weariness, “guru-ism”.

Feeling in life: Faith in the divine, profound experiences.

6. The Lovers

Having realised that there is a world beyond that which they had conceived, the hero must now decide whether or not to leave home and hearth and search for it (in the visible or invisible world).

The hero makes this decision with a light, pure heart, and with the best intentions.

This card depicts a pair of lovers because even after the teachings of the Hierophant, love is the ultimate driving force that allows us to make a change.

How does the experience of love force the character to make a choice between their current life and the life they might have?

How do they describe the choice to themselves? Are they accurate?

What are they afraid of leaving behind? How does their desire outweigh this fear?

Outward signs: An object of desire, arguments with parents or guardians.

Possible pitfalls: Intemperance, excessive joy.

Feeling in life: Butterflies, fearless decisiveness.

7. The Chariot

The decision made in the Lovers card has spurred the hero on to leave his home and set off in search of adventure.

Represents the pull of opposites.

What are some signs or symbols that the character has been chosen as the hero of the story?

How does the character set off on the adventure? What spurs them on?

How does the character struggle to keep their two steeds in check?

Outward signs: A new form, or clothing symbolic of a new function; provision of a vehicle; setting out on a journey.

Possible pitfalls: Arrogance, impulsiveness, intemperance.

Feeling in life: Optimism; desire for motion; being poised; increasing awareness; maturity; the first, intoxicating phase of the road trip, before reality begins to leak back in.

8. Justice

Marks the point of separation with the ordinary world.

This is when the hero reaches the first crossing.

The figure of Justice represents the old laws the hero is leaving behind and the new laws (of the new world) that are drawing them into their power.

The character must be ready and willing to take on responsibility, but unlike the choice of the Lovers card, Justice, with her prominent right foot, represents a more considered, rational approach.

What are the rules of the old/ordinary world that the character is leaving behind?

What are the rules of the new/adventure world? How do they differ? How do these differences cause problems for the character?

What responsibilities must the character take on? How do they feel about it?

Outward signs: Lifting the sword of power, training montage, a schedule/roster/plan of action.

Possible pitfalls: Being a know-it-all, prejudice, slyness, overconfidence.

Feeling in life: Fairness to others, making intelligent decisions, just rewards.

9. The Hermit

With the single digit cards ends the Fool’s sojourn in the realms of light.

From now on they are in the dark underworld of adventure.

This is the beginning of the inward journey, and for this reason requires some solitary reflection.

They’ve travelled a long way from The Fool card, where the mountains on the summit of which the Hermit now stands, were far in the distance.

Can also appear as another person, often a Helper, who provides the character with a protective talisman for their crossing.

This is also where the character learns their true name. It may be part of the revelation of the heavenly parents, who are often kept secret from the hero. 

How and where does the character seek peace and quiet?

How are they provided with a talisman for the journey ahead?

How does the character discover their true name? What does it mean to them?

What does this period of solitary reflection reveal to the character?

Outward signs: A hideaway/den/nook, a protective figure, a symbolic gift.

Possible pitfalls: Strangeness, feeling like an outsider, being too concerned with the other world, disenchantment.

Feeling in life: Clarity, inner peace, standing up for yourself, finding yourself.

10. The Wheel of Fortune

The card that clarifies the character’s goal.

What is the character seeking?

What are the weaknesses they must improve before they can reach a resolution?

What figure symbolises this weakness in the character? How does their interaction highlight this weakness?

Outward signs: Missing treasure, a nemesis/enemy/shapeshifter.

Possible pitfalls: Fatalism, misunderstanding your life’s purpose.

Feeling in life: Unpleasant learning experiences, resistance.

11. Strength

Brings the character face to face with their first true test of inner strength.

It follows on from the Wheel of Fortune by applying pressure to the character’s weak points.

The character must “tame the beast within”, accept their shadow side, and welcome their anima or animus.

What happens to try the character’s weakness and test their strength?

What is the shadow side that they need to accept? Why is it difficult for them to do so?

Outward signs: A spirit animal, a wild animal needing to be tamed, another character who is in some respects the hero’s opposite.

Possible pitfalls: Pride, a hardened heart, mercilessness.

Feeling in life: Living life to the full, a passionate attachment to life, showing your claws when necessary.

12. The Hanged Man

This card represents an existential crisis.

This is when the character questions the purpose they took on in the Wheel of Fortune, and in fact, the whole journey up to this point.

While unity lies at the motionless centre of the wheel, and the struggle of daily life on the outside, the character stuck in this stage is the hamster running along the inner surface of the wheel. 

Their whole experience of life is turned upside down, and until their perspective shifts to match their experience, they will be kept suspended.

What causes the character to question their purpose or their way of life?

What mistakes does the character keep repeating?

Outward signs: Something or someone hung, or held upside down, a revolution.

Possible pitfalls: Being caught in a vicious cycle, getting “hung up”.

Feeling in life: Repeating experiences like a broken record, mid-life crisis, inability to get out of your own way, having your patience tested.

13. Death

Death is a card that engenders fear, and the sooner the character learns to accept that fear instead of spending all of their energies trying to avoid the inevitable, the better (at least for them, perhaps not for story tension).

Death requires something to be left behind.

While this will feel like a hard sacrifice for the character, they will never make it while they’re carrying around “dead weight.”

What is the sacrifice the character must make?

Why is it impossible for the story to continue until this sacrifice is made?

How does the character try to avoid this sacrifice?

What are the consequences of the transformation brought by Death?

Outward signs: Bones, corpses, a wasteland, katabasis.

Possible pitfalls: Dying of fear, collapse.

Feeling in life: Ending, the search for peace and renewal, leave taking.

14. Temperance

Between the violence of Death and the Devil, stands the serene figure of Temperance. 

The challenge of Temperance is to find a middle ground between being dead to physical existence (Death) and being chained to it (Devil) by our vices or excessive passions.

This is the key to making it out of the underworld alive.

Who or what guides the character through the (real or imagined) underworld?

How does the character tread the middle path after the loss they suffered in Death?

Outward signs: A guide, a light in darkness, unnatural stillness.

Possible pitfalls: Following false influences, ordinariness.

Feeling in life: Being forcibly dragged along, conformity, level-headedness, health.

15. The Devil

Represents the dark side of the anima/animus, as depicted by the chained lovers.

Often this manifests in a way that entices the character to act in complete contradiction to their deepest values.

For example, killing to save lives, lying to appear honest, torturing people into believing in a merciful deity, etc.

What aspects of their shadow self has the character been suppressing?

What enslaves the character?

How does the character betray all that they have been striving for?

Outward signs: Taking up arms to keep the peace, using the people you love for base gains, a scandal, a seducer.

Possible pitfalls: Being enslaved by the shadow side, leaving the true path, intemperance, lust, power struggles.

Feeling in life: Slavery, addiction, being taken captive, being seduced, doing things you don’t want to do, betraying yourself.

16. The Tower

The destruction of the Tower is the sign that the old world has become too confining. 

The stage at which the character can show a side of themselves that no one would have suspected existed.

It is the sign that you can achieve the unthinkable.

What ideas are limiting the character’s view of the whole?

How can the character destroy these ideas in the most sudden, violent way possible?

How do others react to seeing the character’s hidden (and unsuspected) side?

Outward signs: An explosion, a breakthrough, the revelation of a new self, becoming visible.

Possible pitfalls: Defeat, collapse.

Feeling in life: Chaos, insecurity, surprise changes, escape.

17. The Star

Now we come to the 3 cards that represent a gradual lightening and emergence from the underworld: the Star, the Moon and the Sun.

The worst is now behind our hero, although their work isn’t done.

The Star is there to guide them to the next stage.

How does the character rejuvenate after their hard work in the Tower?

What abundant provisions do they enjoy?

How do they adjust to their new freedom of the world-view that was destroyed in the Tower?

Outward signs: A guiding light in the dark, a safe place to make camp, finding fresh provisions after a long journey.

Possible pitfalls: Forgetting the present while focusing on the future, being lost in daydreams, becoming complacent.

Feeling in life: Trust for the future, rejuvenation, youth.

18. The Moon

Represents a strange, changeable landscape that can easily confuse and trap the hero. 

Although the character has triumphed, they must still navigate the dangerous return journey back to the ordinary world.

The hero must extricate themselves from the temptations of the underworld, return to the world of the living and bring with them the elixir of life, if they are to succeed fully.

The Moon is the greatest threat to losing their true name, but to characters who are prepared and who are adept at traversing their inner landscape, it is also the greatest opportunity.

This is the test of whether a character is truly the master of two worlds, and can cross and recross the treacherous threshold.

How is the return journey different to the outward journey?

How do past landmarks take on new meaning and new danger?

What are the temptations that make the character want to stay instead of returning home?

Outward signs: A changing landscape, a narrow gateway, a difficult crossing.

Possible pitfalls: Being lost in the enchanted forest, losing sight of the destination, becoming enslaved by fear.

Feeling in life: Anger, frustration, mistrust, nightmares, fears, longing.

19. The Sun

The stage at which the character finally leaves the underworld of adventure and returns to the light, ordinary world. 

Looking back from this vantage point, the character realises that the enormous difficulties they just wrestled with actually boil down to a simple solution; that they would have triumphed much sooner had they not complicated the problem.

Now their task is to begin readjusting to the ordinary world, and reconciling the change in their inner world to the lack of change in the outer world.

How does the character re-emerge into the ordinary world?

How has the character changed, and how has the world stayed the same?

How does this cause conflict for the character and their allies?

Outward signs: Blinking against the light, waking up, watching the sun rise.

Possible pitfalls: Clichés.

Feeling in life: Feeling carefree, freedom, joie de vivre, lightness, fun, enjoyment.

20. Judgement

The Judgement card represents a final test of the character’s worthiness to be the bearer of the elixir of life.

If, by some chance, a false hero has managed to come this far, this is the stage at which they will be discovered and sent back to the underworld.

On the other hand, for the true hero, Judgement brings resurrection; a revitalising influence that is the final, freeing reward of their long journey.

What is the final test the character must undergo to prove their worthiness?

Why is the test easy for worthy characters to pass?

How can unworthy characters be discovered and punished?

Outward signs: Being reunited with loved ones, a return to life and vitality, verdure returning to a barren land, an arrest, a trial, a condemnation, an execution.

Possible pitfalls: To fail at cheating (for the unworthy hero).

Feeling in life: Feeling free and at peace.

21. The World

Is the resolution of the readjustment brought about in the crisis of the Hanged Man.

Brings unity to the opposites that have been battling for supremacy over the hero throughout their journey: dark & light, good & bad, action & inaction, male & female.

This isn’t because the world is suddenly free of strife, but because the character has accepted and dealt with both sides of the duality and thus earned freedom from them.

However temporary this freedom might be…

How does the World give the character the ability to disseminate their wisdom (or the “elixir of life”) far and wide?

What makes the unity of the World fragile? What might urge the character into another Fool’s Journey (and give you an opportunity for a sequel)?

Outward signs: A coronation, a homecoming, something in perfect balance.

Possible pitfalls: None.

Feeling in life: Joy, profound satisfaction, a feeling of finally being home.

NOTES

One final revelation about The Fool’s Journey, and indeed about any archetypal journey, is that their writers insist that certain stages of the story need to be taken in the prescribed order.

A character can’t skip building the ego during the “daytime” arc without facing the later consequences: material lack in the ordinary world and possibly ostracism.

Furthermore, an underdeveloped ego is not as great a challenge to abandon in the underworld, and whenever the sacrifice is small, so is the subsequent reward.

Sources: 1 2 3 ⚜ More Writing Notes: On Tarot ⚜ Notes & References

[dragon-razor-writings]

NEW FANDOM ADDED!

I will now post DFO/DNF DUEL content on this blog!

Hope all the people here enjoy me just talking about a very niche MMO and fighting game from South Korea 😅.

[rosecoloredtarot]

Troubleshooting Your Tarot Deck

I read a bunch of people for unnecessarily cleansing their decks but didn’t actually provide any alternatives! So I wanted to describe some of the ways I troubleshoot my tarot decks. Please, please, please feel free to add on.

Sleep on it. Literally. My favorite way of working through some wonky readings is to sleep with my deck under my pillow. I like to do it for 3 nights but you can really go as long as you want. You may have some pretty crazy dreams, but I like to think that means it’s working.

Change things up. If you’re dealing with repetitive answers, change how you approach it. Whether that means changing your spread, your question, your shuffling technique or a secret fourth thing.

Put the bitch down. I have found that doing readings too often can muddle them together (well, I’ve had trouble with reading for myself too frequently. Multiple people in a day is fine, but draining). Taking a break of even just a couple days can make all the difference.

Make an offering. Your tarot deck has a spirit too! Appreciate what it does for you and give it a gift. It could be a symbolic offering, like food, alcohol or some incense, or a new case to live in.

Give it a recharge. It might be acting funky because it’s tapped out. Use whichever is your preferred charging method. I like moonlight and sunlight (ironically, they are also cleansing methods, but it’s all about intention at that point).

Ask it what’s up. If you ask your deck why it’s acting out, it may just tell you what’s going on. Maybe it wants one of the other solutions, maybe it wants something else.

If none of those things work, then I’ll cleanse my deck. Sometimes it’s as simple as a smoke cleansing, sometimes it is reorder the deck and let it sit in salt for a week, it just depends on the situation.

[the-californicationist]

Troubleshooting

For @glitterypirateduck's super fun Oh, Captain! challenge. This is for prompt #8 where our deceptive captain tries to hide a secret from his gunsmith.

She could smell him long before she saw his hulking form stop in front of her office door. The sweet scent of his signature Romeo y Julieta cigars gave him away; a jewel from Villa Clara, Cuba. The tight-rolled tobacco smoldered amber and gold in the dark, its rustic funk and black licorice smoke gently curling out of his parted lips, trapped under his dirty boonie hat.  

When she had been assigned to his team, she’d been dreading the constant relocating and high profile secrecy. It was hard enough to find 5.56 ammo for that mouthy Scot’s Steyr bullpup, much less have it delivered to a black site without a postcode. But, as she let her eyes wander up his mountainous shoulders, tracing the outline of a sharp, scruffy Adam’s apple, watching as his jaw rippled and clenched to bite down on the soft end of his cigar, she admitted to herself that she could deal with a few shipping delays as long as she got to enjoy John Price. Now, just a few weeks into this roughshod operation, she ached to see what lurked under all that gear. 

She cleaned up her station, carefully screwing on the cap to her powder and putting it under the workbench. When he spoke, it was always confident but soft, like a stage whisper, words only she was meant to hear. 

“Smithy,” he took a long drag from his Cuban and pulled the creamy smoke in through his nose, a very casual French inhale, breathing it out and down sharply, purposefully avoiding her face.

He’d never called her by her name, only by his clipped version of her title of Chief Gunsmith. She knew he must be aware of it since he requested her transfer, but she had always been “Smithy” to him. 

“Captain, how are we this evening?” She gazed into his eyes with intent, hoping he would see her desire in them and be pleased. 

“We’re alright,” he took the cigar from his mouth and let it rest between his fingers, smiling down at her as he loomed, his height making her feel small. He removed his hat, placing it on her bench before leaning against the table, his huge hand spreading wide across the stainless surface. He continued,

“You know, this M4 has been giving me a bit of trouble. I cleaned it, but even after a full breakdown, the bolt isn’t sitting flush. Think you could help me get it all the way in?”

She let his quiet rumbling voice wash over her like a wave, lapping at her mind and making her breath catch in her chest. The double entendre was so obvious as to almost be in jest, but his suggestive tone - though subtle - was enough for her to believe in it. 

“Did you use enough oil? A little lubricant goes a long way, Captain, but some parts need more than others. Especially if it was a vigorous cleaning,” she threw him a bone in hopes he would bite it. 

He did, replying with a sly smile,

“Perhaps I went a little rough with her. Think you can take a look?”

He licked his lips, watching as the flush tinted her neck and cheeks, hungry for her attention. She watched him shift his weight, rocking forward towards the bench, flexing his hips. Obviously, she was getting to him. She turned up the heat, pushing her luck,

“Rough is just fine, John, but with the size of the bolt head you’ve got here, you just need to make sure she’s slick enough to take it.”

She smiled sweetly, taking the rifle from him and laying it across the bench. Now that she had turned her attention to the gun, she could only watch him from the corner of her eye. But, she knew she had landed a punch when he had to turn his head away from her and pull at the inside leg of his pants, adjusting. 

Then, as she took apart the barrel from the bolt and its lever, she realized he had been lying to her. He had replaced the trigger assembly before the bolt, effectively causing the problem he was asking her to solve. Price knew this gun better than the back of his own hand, and he had come down to her office with this game, hoping to score. 

Her heart raced when she discovered the error, and she tried her best to maintain a straight face, not wanting him to realize she’d caught him yet. She still wanted to play. 

She rebuilt the weapon, glossing over the false mistake, and pulled the bolt back flush. 

“There,” she sighed, “good as new.”

The ball was clearly in his court and she waited to see what he would do. His voice had dropped into a deep, threatening register, and he was leaning so far over the workbench that she could see his pupils dilate, pushing back the bright blue and revealing the blackness behind it,

“What was the problem, Smithy?”

He began to stalk her around the edge of the table, taking impossibly slow steps toward her side of the bench, eyes fixed on her mouth. She saw his chest rising and falling faster and stronger, lifting his protective vest and causing the lingering smoke between his lips to billow chaotically around his dark beard. She held her ground, turning her body toward his as he walked,

“You made a rookie mistake, Captain Price. One that you’re not capable of making...”

His eyes sparked to life, focusing on hers now, and he knew that he’d been discovered. She continued to dismantle his farce,

“…and I wonder how it can be possible…”

Price rounded the first corner of the table, hanging on her every word. He took his cigar and pulled a long drag.

“...that such an experienced…”

Another step. The leather of his boot creaked as he pressed it down.

“...intelligent…”

Another step. She could smell his cologne now. Vetiver. Musk.

“...diligent soldier…”

He crossed the second corner, letting the smoke fall out of his mouth, pouring like water down his chin and tangling in his beard, holding his breath to let her view the effect. His teeth were clenched together behind his full mouth, and he began to smile in a sinister, pained way. She went on, quieter, her voice betraying her nerves,

“...would somehow forget how to put his own gun back together.”

Price’s cigar had come to an end, and he crushed it out under his boot as he stood in front of her, too close for propriety, just close enough to smell her coconut shampoo. He hummed, playing along, falsifying a sense of wonder and mystery in his tone.

“That is quite the mystery, innit? Must’ve been distracted by…” Price brought his hand up to touch the tip of his gunsmith’s long braid as it lay draped over her shoulder, laying on her breast, “…something important.”

“John,” she whispered, leaning toward him instinctively.

In the half-second between her speaking his name and the silence that came after, he struck like a snake, wrapping the rest of her braid around his fist like a rope, yanking her head back and pulling her to his body, letting their gear and clothes rustle between them, not caring where the vests and belts and buckles twisted and pinched, letting the tension linger. His free hand grabbed her jaw and neck in his wide, open palm, fingers pressing into her skin, warm and callused. 

His voice was so strained and full of his want that it seemed like a growl, rambling in a rushed, fervent monologue,

“You’ve been teasing me again, Smithy. Ever since we got back from that damn operation. You’ve been coming to the gym at night, when I lift, and you wear those fucking shorts and you show off that thick arse, bending over in front of the racks, pulling them up higher so I can how see your wet cunt is soaking right through them,” his hand yanked her head back, making her gasp. He loved that noise,

“Delicious. Your pretty little cunt, ready to eat. Right within my reach. A whole gym, empty, and you pick that spot every damn time. Moving past me in the lockers, letting me smell you, and now I want a taste.” 

She felt the stinging tightness of her scalp as he tugged on her braid, locking her body in place against his, controlling her head, moving it toward his face. He grimaced like he was in agony even though she was the one under his fist. His touch was such a relief. She’d been torturing him for weeks, and she surrendered to him, pliant to his whims, hoping he understood that her lack of resistance was essentially her begging him to forgive her for leaving him starving.

“Alright,” she smiled, still at his mercy, “If you want a taste, you can have one.” She watched as his eyes grew wide with anticipation as she unbuttoned her pants and tugged down the zipper. She bit her lip and shrugged, “On your knees, soldier.”

AO3 Link

[catenary-chad]

Giving the earlier coaches wacky extended lore because they deserve more and were based on an era of train car that were reused for SO many things.

OLC Belle- becomes a gold digger via wooing a rich guy with her Plymetal. It’s plywood stuck between metal supposed used on old Pullman cars and I’ve seen old guys at train museums go on and on about how great it is. Old rich guys LOVE old train cars and will often restore them from scrapyard condition, someone can absolutely Fix Her.

Ashley- becomes a generator car and totally different kind of smoker, hangs out with a gaggle of other coaches at a train museum somewhere. She never anticipated to go that route, but it tied in well to her secret passion for HVAC since she now supplies power for it. Had dreams of being part of the Marlboro Unlimited train that never came to be.

Buffy- had a questionable Clown Arc by becoming a McTrain for a while post-canon (possibly involving a temporary relationship with Electra), went back to being a more typical cafe car because yeah, the McD’s model does not work on rails. Still friends with Electra over their shared fondness for old practical electronics because they can talk about how great microwaves and toasters and electromechanical pinball machines are. Plays dumb and underestimates her intelligence but is more the female equivalent of “guy with great practical sense and an eye for simple but effective solutions”, very comfortable troubleshooting household and commercial appliances and passionate Consumer Reports reader. I don’t know why I have so much Buffy Lore either.

Dinah- becomes a Track Geometry car inspecting courses for tomfoolery and foul play. Norfolk Southern repurposed a similarly old passenger car for this use. Becomes a sort of detective post-canon after becoming disillusioned by the foul play of engines.

Pearl- I have a whole AUish prequel arc about her being a former Metroliner EMU that’s depowered and turned into a cab car (making “backseat driver” jokes because they were used to control engines from the other end of trains). She’s brand new and naive yet “out of circulation” because she had her memory wiped in the Penn Central fiasco and kind of a Disney Princess thrown into the gritty 70s-80s era northeastern US with only vaguely romanticized conceptions of trains to go off and no experience with engines because she was self-propelled before. Satisfies a lot of popular fanon about her, with the massive twist that oops, her orientation is “anything vaguely modern with head-end power. or generator cars.” which is uh. not steam engines like the media told her she should love.

alternatively a ridiculous late 80s Ultra Dome totally detached from reality on weird land cruises. May have actually almost worked on the Marlboro Unlimited train. Also satisfies “brand new” yet not because they were rebuilt from much older cars.

Bonus: Carrie secretly being a B-unit diesel engine disguised as a baggage car would be hilarious because yes, that was a thing used as a hidden helper engine on a steam tourist railroad. You can have all kinds of questionable loyalties with her being McCoy’s helper but also a pawn of Greaseball and/or Caboose. She’s terrible at actually carrying baggage and keeps suspiciously getting grease on things. Alternatively, she job hops a lot and has worked for the circus carrying animals and cargo and eventually ends up at a tourist line as an open-air coach with bus seats stuck in. Because dear god baggage cars get reused for SO MUCH and so many things get turned into baggage cars.