#but they’re so funny with their antennae and big eyes

[lazywriter-artist]

Shrimp themed Biologis and Crayfish techpreist apprentice anyone? (You guys get a fun lore dump with these doodles so strap in—)

Crunch—

Lore below the cut 🫶

So basically

Shimp-Biologis is silly and cool bc he’s technically not SOLELY tech, he’s mutated flesh and shit that’s melded with his tech exoskeleton (hence why he gets the gift of functional mouth) but this is very strenuous on his fleshy form. This is why the Biologis’s body is shaped around and themed after a shrimp (also why he doesn’t wear traditional robes, gets in the way of swimming)

Within his lab is this large tank (think of an inground pool situation in the middle of this lab which has stairs to a second level like some kind of aquarium) which he spends most of his time in due to the strain it is on his body to be out the water. He is able to traverse dry land but it gets very exhausting and he has to scurry back to the tank for a much needed old man nap. With a strong interest in humans he is definitely much more sympathetic to their plights then most of the Admechs but with a double edged sword he also finds a morbid curiosity in how their innards work— so— keep an eye on him cause his scalpels normally aren’t far from him—

But that’s also where the crayfish based techpreist comes in! Being a more traditional rejected the human flesh Mechanicus they are appropriately made for out of water travel so to aid their mentor (sh rimp) and to provide aid in whatever means necessary. This is also why they have them big honking claws, it is much easier to lift you Magos back into the water with big claws then tiny frail leg hands! Behind those beady red eyes they are a bit more interested in warfare then their mentor’s study but they’re one of the only other techpreist with waterproofing and the other one is a crab Logis whom is always by the Archmagos’s side so perhaps they’re better suited here anyway, the Omnissiah’s wish.

Also a bit of nerd stuff about designing these bastards is—

[Insert sobbing and crying image]

The crayfish themed character was easy enough as their defining features are

> big claw

> big antenna

> big carapace

And with some other inspiration aka Crush crawfish—

The design was not that hard to whammy outta my brain— HOWEVER Shrimp for some reason just WONT come out of my brain just as easily?!

As really the defining feature of shrimps are

> pi nk

> shrimp C posture

>funny legs

So it was a big struggle to sketch out The Biologis’s design while his crayfish friend was not so hard to get on paper 🙄 (and yes this is also also why he doesn’t wear robes is bc A I didn’t work all your dumbass body out to cover it up and B I can’t figure out how your dumbass robes would fall anyway so hah)

All and all mostly happy with them!! (Also also ALSO do expect more lore dumps since I’m further fleshing out my other AdMech’s stories 😈😈😈)

[doorrobloxstuff]

I’m back on the prooooowl, these bitches better have my moneeeeeey—-

Backdoor entities headcanons!! + a bit of au lore

Blitz

He/She/it, Bigender

Rush’s sister/brother (goes by both!) + littermate, was separated from from it before they were 14 or so after a certain..incident.

Was Raised by Rush’s sire, who was in a QPR with Rush’s mom.

He never stopped looking for them.

Makes a lot of SHEEEEEEEIT jokes because of her pronouns.

They are only funny to her. (And Rush. And Sally because she’s a daddy’s girl.)

Holds a lot of confusion and a tiny bit of resentment towards her mom.

Currently sharing Lookman w/haste (polycule with Lookman as the hinge.)

Curly fur/fog but in a raggedy way. Torn lookin almost. With less scars then her brother and Gray-ish.

Teethers are a lil crooked.

So, interesting thing about bbg is she has heart issues. Worse that her brother does, so to counteract this, she has this funky collar thing that buzzes really hard and then injects her with this funky glowing red liquid that makes her stop and take a breath and THEN injects her with an even FUNKIER green one to keep going.

Has a lot of strain on his heart, takes a lot of naps with her brother/with Lookman.

Curi + Lookman made him the collar <3 TCL loves technology and Lookman added the comfy parts to the collar so it’s ez to wear.

Bbg is VERY pain resistant.

also has a tiny vision issue (one of her eyes is bigger then the other).

Makes up for both disabilities with extreme, EXTREME sheer aggression.

Will barrage people with near constant attacks. Exhausting them.

Rush and her don’t meet for AWHILE, and when they finally do it’s a bit confusing but then it’s super happy and they pretty much just cuddle like they were never separated at all!!

They still do have their “oh yea we were separated for several years” moments though.

They look at eachother autistically.

Very touchy. Loves to preen Lookman with his teeth.

She loves Sally and Dupe, gives them little rides in her fur and frequently dashes around with them on her back.

Has insane reaction time, would be awesome at rhythm games.

Simultaneously is extremely observant and yet has the attention span of a gnat.

Lookman

It/he

Nicknames includes looksie loo, Looker, Looks, Lookie Cookie.

In a polyamorous relationship with Blitz and Haste, with himself as the hinge.

Extremely skinny, moth-like creature with long, thin wings, fucked up glowy eyes, and just, slenderman lookin headass.

Drinks up blood and fat primarily through its fucked up proboscis straw mouth, but can also drink nectar and would actually prefer some fruit tbh.

Kills you via the large spots on its wings, which by looking at them. They’re not really shaped like eyes, more so like the big red star things you see in game.

Very persistent, and arguably the best hunter right next to Haste. Practically on you for the entire experience.

Was romanced by Haste with some raspberries it picked for it outside the hotel.

Loves having its wings massaged and Blitz is happy to oblige.

Has long antennae with little balls at the end of them.

Squeaks like a deathhead hawkmoth when excited, anxious or hungry.

Baby of the group, the other two take good care of him.

Really Chill, all things considered.

Probably the most normal out of all of them.

Haste:

He/Him

Formerly human.

In a poly relationship w/Lookman and sharing him with blitz

Really violent, he probably did something bad while he was a human being.

Has an alarm clock that Curi has to reset the seconds via levers to keep that mf asleep.

As soon as he hears BEEP BEEP BEEP that guy is GONE.

Emits a really toxic gas that kills a human being in minutes.

Makes the person sees red, makes them bleed from the eyes as he speeds over to finish the job that the gas and his teammates started.

He’s very good at it, and kept the other two fed through the famine.

Works well with Blitz and Lookman, hunting-wise anyways.

Mostly just gets along with Lookman outside of that. He’s okay with Blitz because she’s dating Lookman too so-..mean as shit except to literally two people in existence.

Able to throw his head at people.

He’d bully you if you if he were a real person.

Very spiky

Smells rotten.

[korkietism]

Tokoyami’s middle school friend group. Also known as upcoming band, Skull Bowl Full of Soup.

Yuki Asano • he/they • ocd haver • bisexual • grayromantic

-lead singer and guitarist of the group (can play electric and acoustic. He also can work a DJ station like you wouldn’t believe

- deaf w/ hearing aids. Uses JSL and ASL. He can speak verbally but rarely does so. Usually just for singing. Deaf from birth.

- met Fumikage in kindergarten. Both of them had skin picking problems so were pushed to be friends. It worked out well though. The two, Fumi as the weird autistic bird kid with scary eyes and a demon who was way friendlier than him that could solo a building, and Yuki, a little girl who didn’t speak and hit and yelled at other children, who both anxiously picked at their skin, became fast friends due to ostracism from everyone else.

- has OCD, though his obsessions and compulsions are highly focused on contamination and germs among other things. For high school he goes to an adaptive school that has biweekly attendance and focused learning groups. It’s accommodated his mental health and his teachers all know ASL or JSL. He’s much happier this way. As good as it was that he met his friends through the public school system, it was killing him.

- obsessed with religious imagery. Very fond of biblically accurate angels and sin and rings of hell and mythology and such

- never wanted to do hero work or anything. He thinks hero’s are overrated but that Fumi will be different and become his favourite hero.

- he doesn’t care about quirks all that much either. He has very weak telekinesis and uses it almost entirely on small items. (Usually his phone so it doesn’t crack)

- all the SBFS members write lyrics and songs for the band to play though it’s mostly Yuki and Fumi. Stella and Shin prefer to convey their feelings through instruments.

- the most confrontational of the 4. He has the most metaphorical balls.

Stella Kuroiwa • she/her • queer • transfemme

- drummer of the group. She is absolutely wild on the drums. She is also good with any special effects.

- heteromorph like yami. She has a moth mutation which means she has big ol buggy eyes, these weird pointed yet tuft ears, antennae, and a velvety slight layer of fur to her skin. (Like those littlest pet shops. The fuzzy ones.)

- I am inbetween giving her two pairs of arms. I’m still unsure.

- her quirk is called firefly. She can create fireflies made of light though she must absorb direct sunlight or moonlight to do so. If she doesn’t, she can’t use it.

- she’s very anxious. Her sexuality + gender coming out was very hard on her. Coming to terms with herself was a process

- she’s sweet. Though also very silly. She’s really funny and affectionate with those she loves. Though on the outside she’s very avoidant. School is hard for her. She’s okay academically though avoids social things and sports like the plague. Probably does pottery or something. Needs to go to one of those break shit rooms.

- met yuki and Tokoyami in 6th grade. They were probably in the same gym class. None of them ever brought their gym clothes for fear of the change rooms + dysphoria + dysmorphia + insecurity so they were benched together.

- sleeby. Caring. Probably the tallest of the group. Though generally close to Yuki in height.

- now goes to the same school as Shin though they’re not in the same classes very much. It’s the school yami would’ve went to if UA hadn’t worked.

Yushin Tomioka • he/him • gay

- shin my boy. He’s.. so repressed

- probably the most level headed of the group. He keeps the 3 out of trouble

- really smart

- he’s an artist! Super fond of grungy lineart and symbolism. He’s working to be a tattoo artist, though generally has an interest in body mods.

- his quirk is called utensil. He can turn the tip of any of his fingers into a utensil (fork, spoon, knife, screwdriver, pen, pencil, etc) though if he does more than one at a time it uses his energy and makes him feel fatigued.

- gets along with the group well. Probably had a mild crush on Yami for a bit.

- he found solace in the goth alt sort of style. Former gifted kid with perfect grades and everything. He still has good grades but his parents are not at all happy that he isn’t becoming a doctor.

- pianist of the group. He uses a cool keyboard he bought himself. Was forced into piano lessons as a child. Has reclaimed it by playing amazing songs + video game music covers on his keyboard.

- call him shin. No one calls him Yushin. Or Tomioka.

-probably aroacespec but he doesn’t want to think about that rn

- same school as Stella. He’s good in school though he keeps to himself

-the outgrown buzzcut stays. He doesn’t want long hair for awhile.

-he’s shorter than yami by a bit.

-probably wants lip piercings

That is it for now. Ask questions. I will answer. Or ask them questions and they will answer. Yami included. The yamiverse expands one day at a time.

[titansandothers]

Cat Outta The Bag

(This is a brief sequel to Kitten Kaboodle, taking place not long before Osmosis Woes.) The five Titans watched with bated breath as their newest adversary took on their greatest challenge yet. A giant mutant approached, multiple pairs of legs carrying the creature towards its target. Its antennae poked at the team’s newest member, detecting vital information about her. She held her stance, braced for a fight. This wasn’t her first time with such a creature, so she was mostly able to keep her cool. Still, the Titans worried for their newest friend. The creature finished its examination and gurgled its approval. Beast Boy let out a breath he’d been holding and managed a smile. “Haahh… Phew! Good boy, Silkie!” Raven proceeded to toss a yarn ball between the two, watching as her kitten batted at it, Silkie following suit. “Guess your shape shifting really did help them adjust,” Cyborg grinned, patting the changeling on his shoulder. “Yeah, Silkie’s seen me as a cat all the time and I turned into Silkie a bunch for Cinder,” Beast Boy beamed. “I am glad they are getting along,” Starfire announced. “One less worry for the Tower,” Robin nodded. “I’d still keep an eye on them when they’re together,” Beast Boy recommended. “Just until they reeeeally get used to each other. And Cinder grows some more.” The other Titans nodded in agreement. Beast Boy really did know best with this sort of thing, after all. “Are you guys hungry yet?” Cyborg asked for the third time that day. Robin let out a slight chuckle. “Yeah. I can probably eat now. Let’s go see this world famous barbecue place of yours.” “All right!” Cyborg shouted. “You sure you don’t wanna come, BB? They might have salad or somethin’.” “Who goes to a barbecue place for the salad?” Beast Boy scoffed. “I’m hangin’ back and making my own veggie B-B-Q!” “Raven?” Cyborg looked over. “Maybe after the excitement surrounding the place calms down,” Raven mused. “I’ll see you guys later.” “Suit yourself,” Cyborg shrugged. “More for us!” With one more cheer, Cyborg had essentially dragged Robin and Starfire to the exit. Beast Boy watched as the three left before turning his gaze back to the animals. “I had a feeling you were gonna go with no,” the changeling began, giving Silkie a few playful pats. “So I went ahead and planned some non-tofu stuff, if you want some. I know how you feel about fake meat.” “That sounds good, actually,” Raven replied with a slight smirk. “As long as it’s not tofu, your stuff is usually edible.” Beast Boy stopped what he was doing to look up at Raven with wide eyes. Did she realize what she had just said? Did she really just give him this opportunity? Whatever the case, he was taking it! A toothy smile practically devoured his face as he replied with, “Why, thank you, Miss Pancake.” Raven’s eyes widened, remembering too late that she couldn’t cook and her attempt at pancakes that year or so ago resulted in lumpy inedible sludge only Starfire could stomach. Beast Boy was cackling now, rolling onto his back. “You walked right into that so hard!” he wheezed. “That never happens! Why did the others have to leave before you gave me that opening!” “Don’t worry about it,” Raven’s brow twitched. “It’s not that funny.” “Aw, c’mon,” the changeling sat up. “Can’t you let me have this one? How often do I get to have a smart response?” “You’d have more opportunities for a smart response if your brain wasn’t the consistency of my pancake batter.” Raven rolled her eyes. “Ha! Good one,” Beast Boy grinned, despite having a sore spot hit with her response. “Alright, I’ll let it go now. Just remember that my offer for cooking lessons still stands.” Raven opted to play with Cinder instead of replying. “Right. You’re not a big veggie person…” Beast Boy trailed off. “I’m not a big imitation person,” Raven corrected. “I like vegetables just fine. It used to be just about all I ate.” Beast Boy blinked a few times, brow furrowing in confusion as he stared at her. “...Food on Azarath was all vegetarian,” Raven clarified. “Ooooohhh… Hey, wait! You were a vegetarian?!” the changeling squawked. “Why’d you stop?!” The magus was quiet a moment, wondering if she should tell him the truth. Making her decision, she let out a sigh. “Remember when we first got pizza as a team?” “Yeah?” Beast Boy cocked his head. “You remember how Cyborg teased you for not eating meat?” “Oh, right. Yeah, I remember that. I still don’t get what his obsession with meat is about…” “Well,” she averted her gaze. “I was really self conscious back then. I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I just… tried it.” “But I could’a had a veggie buddy,” Beast Boy whined, shoulders slumping. “You can still have one, you know. Just cut out the tofu and I’d eat a vegetarian meal no problem,” she shrugged. “I just don’t like tofu.” “I can do that,” he smiled widely at her. “Maybe we could make something together sometime so you can make sure I don’t add anything you don’t want.” “Maybe someday,” Raven replied simply. “Whoa. You’re actually considering it,” Beast Boy asked in awe. “Don’t make me reconsider.” “Heh. Got it,” he smiled nervously and returned his attention to their pets. “Atta girl, Cinder. Big ol’ Silkie won’t scare you.” “You sure like talking to animals…” Raven remarked. “Especially since you did it when I was sleeping.” Beast Boy blinked. “Wait. How did you know that if you were asleep?” “I woke up early once and tried to go back to sleep. I stayed quiet so you could leave sooner and we could go back to sleep.” “Oh.” A hint of a blush painted Raven’s features at the memory. This didn’t go unnoticed by Beast Boy, whose ears drooped nervously. “...What did I say?” Raven scoffed, trying to play it off. “You were saying you were proud of me for taking care of Cinder.” The changeling chuckled a bit awkwardly. “Well, I am. I never thought I’d see you caring for an animal.” A brief pause before he continued. “Now that I think about it, I never thought I’d see you good with kids either. Melvin, Timmy, and Teether love you though!” Love. There it was again. “Reminds me of something else you said…” Raven trailed off. “What else did I say?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. Raven thought a moment, looking down at her now dozing kitten. “I should get her to bed,” she promptly changed the subject, scooping the kitten into her arms and heading for her room. “Wh- Hey!” Beast Boy exclaimed, following after her and stopping just outside her door. “What did I say?” Raven looked down with a quiet sigh before meeting his gaze. “I’ll give you a hint… I love you lots too.” With that, her door slid closed, hiding both teens’ flushing faces from each other.

[morelka]

YAY IM SO GLAD YOU LIKED THE BIRD FACTS also today i literally saw a kereru And a harrier hawk lmao what a good time for bird facts!! good time to mention you’re more likely to see some specific birds in different regions depending on where your staying but i guess you’d be travelling during an exchange right?

anyways, penguins!! there’s more penguins than this but off the top of my head: hoiho/yellow eyed penguin which are funky little creatures that somehow look mad at you but that’s part of what makes them so endearing to me they’re so silly haha. idk if it’s the hoiho specifically but sometimes there will be colonies of penguins on some beach that’ll come out at night if you’re lucky :)

WHIO how did i literally not mention whio yet. also called a blue duck i think doc (department of conservation) used to have a video game where you could play as a whio i don’t remember i was a kid but it was very cool. i’m gonna try find it after this list

harrier hawk since i saw one today, flies with wings in like a v shape, very quiet usually and looks very cool. you can also see them on the sides of the road eating roadkill. this can make driving difficult cause sometimes they’ll fly out in front of you and you can try to swerve which could be dangerous or hit it :(

ruru/morepork, our only owl!!! they look very funny but i love them, you can sometimes hear them when ur camping. big yellow eyes very silly goofy bird

possums! also not a bird but you will probably see one of these. they are Very Bad for our ecosystem (same goes with dogs and cats that are allowed to roam the bush, ferrets, stoats, rats and most land mammals tbh, since most of our birds aren’t adapted to deal with these.) australia likes their possums but we don’t. their fur can be brown or grey, the babies are kinda cute but the adults scare me a little haha. if you’re camping and you shine a torch into the trees sometimes you’ll see eyes shining back at you, that’s possums! not to be confused with american possums which are white and i think are kinda cute also

fairy terns, also called tara-iti, i did a school report on them in year 9. found in coastal areas, looks kinda like a mini seagull. possibly our most endangered indigenous breeding bird since they nest on the sand they’re vulnerable to a lot of stuff. i love them

huia, extinct. they looked very cool, had long curved beaks, black with orange cheeks. their feathers were a symbol of leadership. love them

moa, also extinct. BIG birds. i mean giant. i love them so so much i want to bring them back jurassic park style. wanna bring back the huia as well but MOAS. you can probably see a skeleton of one if you go to a museum. go and marvel at the magnificent-ness of the moa

seagulls, since you mentioned them. our seagulls are BASTARDS !!!! you’ll be on the beach eating fish n chips and oh look a seagull. oh look haha five seagulls. oh haha look twelve seagul- my cHIPS

love seagulls

weta - again not a bird but your probably gonna get freaked out by one if you don’t know what they are. basically they’re giant flightless crickets. big antenna, they look scary but they’re mostly harmless (just googled it apparently they bite? oops. never been bit though) if u leave them alone they will leave you alone

that is all the birds (and non birds) i can think of for now. it’s funny the thing you said about not having albatrosses since i’ve always been jealous of europe since you guys have a bunch of cool corvids like crows and ravens whereas i think our only corvid is magpies? and you have squirrels :( but i guess i never though of it from the other side lol

let me know if you have any questions also btw!! there are more birds than this so i may return again with more and perhaps non birds like the tuatara since those are pretty cool

omg omg omg thank you so much! so sorry for my late reply life has been messy messy

i can’t believe im receiving such an amazing list of animals to look out for!!

also i checked out the game it’s so cute omg i love it

wow i didn’t even think of the fact that you don’t have crows! they’re such a stable here i feel like something would be missing without them haha (also yeah love watching squirrels climb they’re super cute)

also thanks for the warning of the crickets haha i love insects but i’m used to very small ones :)

also also thank you sm for the tip with the penguins <3

i’m also very excited that i might maybe see some seals/sea lions since i’ve also never encountered them.

omg i also read that apparently snakes are banned in nz?? that’s crazy to me (i have seen one (1) snake in my life so who am i to talk) - wait do you guys even have any reptiles? and what’s the amphibian situation?

I hope you’ve had a good start into the new year!! So jealous of the summer haha i’m gonna have three autumns consecutively

[fasterthanmydemons]

[ Speedster of the Galaxy ]

Mantis blinked, visibly confused as Pietro seemed to expect being bossed around by the Guardians, which… had not happened. ‘It was same way with Avengers’ Pietro said. What? Why was he… resenting the Guardians… for things he went through with the Avengers? He had joined the team hours ago. Why would he think he knew them already? It made no sense. “I’m sure the Avengers live in a way that is most productive for them. It is logical. But each team is different,” she said. When he reassured her that he wouldn’t break the ship, Mantis let out a giggle. “You know, when I first met the Guardians, they had crashed a ship. It must be fun!”

When Pietro said it wasn’t nice of her to call him a liar, Mantis lowered her head a bit. “Oh, my apologies,” she said softly. “I’m still learning the intricacies of social interaction. Everything I know about it, I learn from the Guardians. But I agree, it is unfair to assume things about people, and yet… you are making assumptions about us based on your lived experiences with the Avengers. I don’t need to assume things, anyway.” She was hesitant about bringing up her powers. Often, others ran away from her and avoided her. Refusing to touch her. Some others were kind and sweet and found her powers fascinating, but… it was always a bit painful when the same people she saved wanted to get far, far away from her, deeming her powers unnerving, scary and wrong. It wasn’t natural to have one’s mind invaded and one’s will potentially rearranged. It hurt, but Mantis understood completely. It was a reaction Ego had warned her about. Ego was wrong about most things. But about this? He had been right.

However, Pietro was now part of the team. He would learn about her powers sooner or later. It was better to tell him early so he could avoid her if he wanted. “I can tell when others are lying. I can… feel it. I can tell anything they’re feeling, whatever it is.” She lifted a wrist to show him her palm. Green fingerless gloves covered her hands and arms. “Usually, I need to touch others to know what they are feeling, but… when an emotion is too intense…” Mantis trailed off. Pietro would probably finish the puzzle on his own.

She took a step forward, closing her eyes as her hand hovered over the side of Pietro’s head, but she did not touch him. Her antennae started glowing, twinkling like stars. Pietro felt he was a bad seed. Loved by Wanda, but unwanted by everyone else. Unable to fit in. Always getting in trouble. Always a problem. Mantis opened her eyes, drawing her hand back to herself as the light of her antennae faded, and offered a warm smile. “Don’t worry,” she said softly. “We’re all bad seeds here. But we still make a pretty garden. A weird garden, but it’s alright. I like it.” She usually took things very literally, but she believed Pietro would understand her metaphor. Laughter bubbled up inside her suddenly and unexpectedly. “The Gardens of the Galaxy,” she declared before bursting into laughter.

Luckily for Pietro, she was laughing too hard at her own joke to notice the way his right hand twitched. Soon, she felt awful. Pietro was struggling, and she was making jokes. It was like getting confirmation that she was Quill’s half sister, after all. “I’m sorry… You must think I’m so silly right now,” she said with a shy chuckle. She beamed when Pietro realized who the ship was named after. “Yes! Pat Benatar. It’s good to know you like music. To be a Guardian, you must cherish music like the beautiful, wonderful thing it is.” Mantis shook her head in disagreement when Pietro stated it was a weird name for a ship. “I think it’s perfect.”

She laughed when Pietro explained why space was supposed to be big. “You are funny,” she said. “Well, you have always been in space. That’s where Earth is.” She paused and turned to look at him. “Did you know your planet is known as 'Terra’ in the galaxy? And to some it is known as 'Midgard’. But it’s usually called Terra. Quill always calls it Earth, however, so I use both words interchangeably, like 'Drax’ and 'idiot’. Semantics.” She shrugged.

__________

When Pietro saw her bow her head and heard her apology, he felt like a total asshole. She was so outgoing and personable, that for a second he forgot he was talking to an alien being. Of course there would be social differences. I need to not take things she says or does so personally, he thought, making a mental note. “Is okay. You’re still learning. Is aright,” he said, trying to smooth things over. “That is how you learn, by practice, yeah?” He couldn’t relate to these people like he did everyone else. The Avengers may have been a team full of super heroes, but the Guardians were actual aliens. He’d be an ignorant idiot to treat them the same as human beings. “Okay... well...” he said, his expression softening. “...I will try to give benefit of doubt to the Guardians if you don’t assume you know what I’m thinking,” he offered.

But before that could even really sink in, she made an odd comment. “What do you mean you don’t need to assume?” Pietro had begun to wonder if there wasn’t also a bit of a language barrier, because sometimes she said strange things that didn’t make sense. However, as she began to explain her powers, he gave her his undivided attention. When she trailed off, he finished her sentence without thinking. “Yeah, is painful. Like a shock, but mental. I know,” he said sympathetically. “I don’t know myself, but I’ve heard my sister explain. She can do the same things.” And just like that, what Mantis supposed he might be wary of, Pietro seemed to be perfectly fine with.

When she stepped closer and lifted her hand to hover near his head, Pietro stood perfectly still, one eyebrow a little raised. He knew what she was doing, for Wanda did the same thing. So, he was quiet and let her concentrate not really sure why he was okay with her looking inside his head without asking first. Maybe it reminded him of something Wanda did, and therefore it almost felt like a weird sort of comfort to him. “Find anything good in there, or is it all cobwebs and dust?” he asked with a chuckle when she opened her eyes again. 

“That is very neat, by the way,” he said, pointing to her antennae. “Is neat that they light up like that.” That was something Wanda definitely didn’t do, namely because she didn’t have antennae to begin with. “Just be careful, okay? When you do this?” he warned, point to his head, then her antennae, and back to his head. “Some people get very upset or angry or defensive to have someone looking into their mind. Could be dangerous if someone gets violent, especially if you have to get up close to them to do it. So just be careful, maybe ask first to give others warning, yeah? Is okay with me, am used to it because my sister does it. But might not be safe to just go around doing that whenever you want without asking first.” The thought of someone maybe hurting her because she innocently used her powers without understanding why it might upset others made him anxious. He didn’t want to see Mantis get hurt.

He smiled at her metaphor, liking the way it sounded. “So we’re all just a team of bad seeds. I like that,” he said with a nod. If ever there was a team he’d fit into automatically, it might be this one. When she started laughing at her own joke, Pietro smiled. Then grinned. Then started chuckling. Her energy was downright infectious, but in a good way. It was hard not to listen to and watch her laughing and not want to laugh himself. “Hey... that was pretty funny. You tell good jokes,” he said, already feeling his spirits starting to lift a bit, just by Mantis being... Mantis. He shook his head when she suddenly seemed to feel she was doing something wrong. “No, you’re not silly. You’re actually... kindof adorable,” he admitted. I don’t know how anyone could be grumpy on this ship with you around.”

Pietro nodded. “Music is beautiful and wonderful. You will have no arguments on that point with me. I love music. It has always been very important thing for me and my family. Do you have any favorite songs or bands?” he asked, wanting to encourage her to share. He was really enjoying talking to her, and going back to literally staring into space with naught but his own thoughts seemed horrible by comparison.

He blinked as he considered that the Earth... was in space. “I... I guess you are right. I never thought about it that way before. You just blew my mind a little,” he said with a smile. “I’ve never heard of Terra before, but I’ve heard of Midgard. One of the Avengers called it that. Thor, the god of thunder, or so he said. Seemed legit, I mean, he was pretty good with lightning and stuff.” He laughed at her “Drax and idiot” comment, and then his gaze lingered as he smiled. “You are definitely very cute,” he said.

[baby-prophet]

we bought a couple crickets for Bingo and they’re so much fun to just look at they’re like little puppies

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Skeeter (again)

Debut: Super Mario 64

Do you feel it? The surface tension? Could it really be? It’s Skeeter! Y’see, Skeeter is a real All-Star, as in, we already made a post about them long ago! It might’ve even been our very first post to break 100 notes! But also as in, Skeeter has a lot of fans here! And we owe it to all those fans, myself included, to make a more in-depth Skeeter post truly worthy of Skeeter, I think. So let’s begin! 

Of course, one of Skeeter’s biggest fans is Princess Peach herself, given she comissioned a painting of one for her castle! There are a couple paintings of enemies in this game, but this one feels the most candid! It is really just a Skeeter, scooting in its natural habitat! And that painting leads to... Wet-Dry World? Hey! We live there, don’t we? More reason that Skeeter really deserves a spotlight on this blog, then! They’re basically our national flag! What better funny little guy to welcome you to, well, y’know. That!

Let’s talk a bit more about what a funny little guy this is, and how funny, and also little. Skeeter uses the tried and true Mario 64 technique of designing enemies: Orbs! Spheres! Orbs are the same viewed from every angle, so you can save them as sprites and conserve that sweet, sweet cartridge space. 

It gives them an undeniable charm though! Like, this is a bug that looks like a molecule! It really is just a ball with little legs, a funny dangly orb on top (to denote Silliness) and two big googly eyes! 

Say, looking at those googly eyes... Skeeter looks a bit sad, doesn’t it? Oh no! What could possibly be wrong in Skeeter’s life, do you think? It has such an idyllic lifestyle, scooting about the surface of the water... But even a Skeeter has its troubles. You shouldn’t try and assume what people are going through, y’know! I won’t pry, Skeeter, but if you ever need to talk about it...

Now the Skeeter market is constantly changing, and Skeeter needs to be adaptable to keep up with the times! That is why Skeeter’s been redesigned in basically every one of their appearances! Each era needs a different Skeeter, and Skeeter will deliver!

Well, all but one of their appearances, at least, because Skeeter makes a sneaky little cameo in Mario Party 3′s Woody Woods board! Do you see them? Have a good long look, because they’re in there! They were just a static image, but Mario Party Superstars had the gall to not bring them back when they remade this board. Can you believe that? I really ought to write a letter to complain!

The Mario Party 3 devs may have liked Skeeter, because they went as far as to make a special Robo-Skeeter for one of the minigames! In Ridiculous Relay, three characters take turns piloting different wacky vehicles, one of them being... this wonderful Skeeter mech! Wow! 

We only ever see this design from the side in-game, but thanks to modern technology and The Models Resource, we can witness it in all its glory! It really is so perfect to reimagine the antenna as a funny robot antenna! Wouldn’t you want to sit in there? Pilot it, even? 

Anyhow, introducing Mario 64 DS Skeeter! While some may lament the loss of The Classic Skeeter, if you ask me this is a basically perfect modernization! Plus, I think those original low-poly 64 designs are most charming on the N64 itself!

This one keeps all the core Skeeter traits, such as the Funny Dangly Orb, but the new big conjoined eyes are very adorable, and make it no longer sad! They even gave extra detail to its feets, emphasizing that they are suction cups! And there is something very soothing about its new shade of blue! Hey, isn’t it a similar colour to Robo Skeeter? I wonder if that was a coincidence! 

Personally, I would like to own both versions of the Skeeter painting and display them in my home, side by side, so all of my visitors know I have impeccable taste! Although maybe not in our apartment, because I’m not sure what happens when you place a portal to Wet-Dry World within Wet-Dry World. 

Our next Skeeter design is from... hold on a second! Silly me! This picture isn’t from Video-Game’s, it’s from Real life! You may have already guessed, but Skeeters are based on a certain real-life guy named water striders! Or pond skaters! Or water skaters, water scooters, water skippers, water bugs, Jesus bugs, and of course, water skeeters, which is where our beloved Skeeter got its name!

These bugs are well-known for their ability to Hang Out on the water’s surface, without sinking! How do they do that? It’s the Surface Tension, baby! In the grand scheme of cool things bugs can do, this probably isn’t that impressive, but it’s Pretty Cool in its own right, don’t you think? I like how Skeeter takes the ripples they make on the water and turns them into little suction cups! It’s cute!

Hopping back into the virtual world, our third Skeeter is from Super Mario Sunshine, and wow! This sure is  ! I mean all of Sunshine’s enemies look funky, but this is something else, huh? I guess I do quite like the colours and the Funny Shoes, but the eyes look a bit... scary! What has this Skeeter seen? Do I even want to know? 

Two things you should know about Skeeter in Super Mario Sunshine, pal. The first is that they aren’t called Skeeter, they are called Blue Spiders or Pondskaters. They aren’t spiders, but I guess they are Pondskaters! The second is that if you jump on them, you will bounce super high. I do not know why that is. 

Last but not least, Mario Galaxy 2 redesigned Skeeter once more, and... well, maybe not the least, but this one isn’t my favorite? They made its legs a lot shorter, and took away the iconic dangly thing in favor of a more compact skeeter! This does look more like a guy you can jump on, from a game design perspective its probably a lot better, so it’s not all bad! Besides- this one is pur

Of course the funniest thing about this one is its face! Not only are the eyes a little detached from the body like a classic Banjo-type Rare guy, but they are oh-so unimpressed! This guy would say “yeah yeah, laugh it up, pal”.

With how each Skeeter clearly shows a different mood, you know what that means! It’s extremely marketable relatable memes! Sure to go viral! Which one are you feeling today, Trainers? 

Yet legends tell of a fifth Skeeter... A Skeeter so mysterious, it even has its own page on the Super Mario Wiki..! Yes, it’s Skeeter from New Super Mario Bros., which I get to use bold for because its technically a different enemy! This guy is called Bomb Skeeter in Japanese, but for the English version they left it as just Skeeter, making the distinction kind of confusing! In my last post I exploited this confusion for comedic effect, but now I won’t do that anymore. It’s time to be serious about this. 

Still, isn’t this guy fantastic? It’s so much wider than your average Skeeter, plus magenta and teal is one of my favourite colour combos! It’s got everything the 64 DS design has and more!

The reason for their wideness, of course, is because they are filled with explosives! These Skeeters p**p bombs at you, as demonstrated above, and they can even break through blocks! I think this is a real clever way to adapt Skeeter to the second dimension- giving them a vertical hazard makes them an even bigger threat when you are swimming below them, and makes them even more special! They didn’t even have to do this, because Skeeter would probably work fine in 2D. But they did! Hooray! 

That may be all the Skeeters I have for you today, but the journey of Skeeter is far from over! With all the Skeeters we’ve gotten, more are sure to follow... at some point! If you are reading this from the year 2032 and enjoying a brand-new purple and orange Skeeter design from Super Mario’s Crazy Castle, with one raised eyebrow and slicked-back hair, hello! Know that you are living in the best future!

[artificerstimetable]

green is builder.,.,.,.,.,,,!!! so green has a backpack, and it has funny hand thing because we like that, so, so does green >:D red has wings from the lucky block episode, blue has peg leg and we really arn’t sure if the burns look good?? they’re healed ofc, but we do want it to be as accurate as possible!!

also bug purple supremacy (we cannot draw quartz)

we believe in bug porple beecause uh. uh,. yes? also the elytra looked cool, but we feel like they felt already used to it because they had wings in the first place, just way too small to function, so elytra helps! also yes, crown antennae!!!

yellow’s got three eyes!! gave er funny glasses

also yellow has a big head and porple does in fact make fun of em for it >:)

[hartigays]

big brain thot: wheezie being the one to get rafebarry together👀👀

“wheeze, you can’t just show up here like this.”

she hasn’t even gotten off her bicycle yet, helmet still in place and everything. she looks up at rafe with big eyes, rolling them as slowly and dramatically as humanly possible.

“i just did,” wheezie points out, unclipping her helmet and setting it in the front basket of her bike.

rafe eyes her warily, then relaxes a bit. his eyes flicker back towards the trailer. “how’d you even know i’d be here?”

“topper,” she tells him simply, shrugging.

“topper?”

another overly-dramatic eye roll. “yes, topper. he came by looking for sarah and i asked him if he knew where you were. i need help with something.”

“and topper told you i’d be here?” rafe asks, brows raised.

topper is a lot of things, but is he the type of person to send a kid to a coke dealer’s trailer? no, absolutely not.

“i encouraged him,” wheezie replies, a little too vague for rafe’s liking. he narrows his eyes and she sighs. “fine, i kicked him in the crotch until he gave it up. happy?”

rafe snorts at the mental image.

wheezie finally climbs off her bike, standing in front of rafe with her arms crossed. “so, are you going to help me or not?”

he really doesn’t want to say yes. but he’s sort of always had a soft spot for wheezie - she’s one of two people who don’t make him feel completely homicidal.

(the other is sitting back in the trailer, smoking a joint and watching some boxing match on his old as shit tv. the thing has antennas, for fuck’s sake.)

rafe glances back at the trailer again, then turns back to wheezie, scrubbing a hand over his face. “fine. but you can’t come inside, wheeze, i’m serious.”

“why, because of drugs?” wheezie snorts, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “please. i’m pretty sure you smoked weed in my room when i was like, five.”

“that’s not the point,” rafe huffs, his fuse shortening ever-so-slightly. “just tell me what you want.”

for the first time since her arrival, wheezie looks mildly uncomfortable. she bites her lip, looking towards the treeline.

“i want to learn how to fight,” she says, and her voice sounds so small that rafe sort of feels… bad.

which is like a new milestone or whatever, so this is sort of a big moment for him.

“why do you need to learn how to fight?”

wheezie doesn’t say anything for a long stretch. then, her cheeks get red, and the words burst out of her. “i’m getting picked on at school, alright? this girl keeps saying she’s going to beat me up after class and i can only hide from her for so long, you know?”

rafe is mildly taken aback, never figuring wheezie for the type to get bullied. she always seemed self-assured and well adjusted, with a sizable group of friends and an active social life. for a middle schooler, anyway.

“what’s her name?” rafe asks, indignant on his sister’s behalf.

if he had to choose a sister to be the target of bullying, it’d definitely be sarah. wheezie, on the other hand, is just a kid. and if someone is threatening to kick her ass, rafe sure as hell is going to find out who.

“i’m not telling you her name, rafe,” wheezie says. “i don’t want you going and knocking her door down to threaten her or whatever. i want you to teach me how to fight so i can hold my own.”

rafe would probably just kill the kid, not threaten her, whoever she is. but he doesn’t tell this to wheezie, biting his tongue for once.

he rocks back on his heels, then sighs, and beckons for wheezie to follow him into the trailer.

wheezie throws her arms up as if to say fucking finally, following rafe inside.

barry is still smoking on the couch, but when he sees wheezie trailing after rafe, he has the presence of mind to put the joint out with an awkward cough.

“you gonna tell me who your little friend is, country club?”

“i’m his sister, wheezie,” she says before rafe can speak, rolling her shoulders back and holding barry’s gaze steadily.

“wheezie?” barry repeats, then laughs, wagging his finger in her direction. “you funny, kid.”

wheezie gives rafe a look, clearly judging him for his choice of company.

“jury’s still out on you,” wheezie tells barry, eyeing him.

barry actually throws his head back when he laughs this time, and rafe can’t help but eye the line of his throat, his mouth going a little dry.

the worst part is, wheezie notices him staring. she raises a brow at rafe. he just coughs and looks away, regretting every decision he’s made in the last ten minutes.

“look, she wants to learn how to fight,” rafe tells barry. “i figured two heads would be better than one?”

“or you just a pussy and know you can’t beat nobody’s ass, rafe,” barry says, reclining back on the sofa, staring at him through heavily-lidded eyes.

“neither can you,” rafe reminds him.

always reminding him. where rafe has failed, barry has too. rather consistently, as a matter of fact.

“fair ‘nough,” barry says after a stretch, leaning forward again. “two heads, then.”

wheezie coughs, and they both turn to look at her. she gives them a bored look. “are you two done having a moment? or do you still need a minute? because i can step outside if- ”

“shut up, wheeze,” rafe groans, pushing her towards the couch.

they spend the next hour and a half discussing fighting techniques, and the cardinal rules of fighting. the ones rafe and barry abide by, anyway.

there aren’t many. they spend the majority of the time discussing technique.

when wheezie gets sick of listening to them yammer on about the different types of headlocks, she starts to get restless.

“oh my god, i didn’t come for the rules of fight club, alright? will one of you just show me how to punch this bitch in the face?”

both barry and rafe shut up immediately, barry’s mouth dropping open in mild surprise.

rafe just snorts, mumbling fair enough under his breath.

and that’s how rafe ends up watching barry do some sort of shadow boxing with wheezie in the living room. rafe re-lights the joint, watching the scene before him in amusement.

“no, kid, you ain’t gotta do all that fancy shit with your legs,” barry is saying at one point, then demonstrates some sort of kick for her.

rafe forgets sometimes that barry has military training, and despite the fact that he gets his ass beat on a regular basis, he’s a pretty damn good teacher.

the joint is long gone by the time wheezie looks at her watch, cursing.

“shit. rose is gonna kill me,” wheezie mutters, fumbling for her phone.

“just tell her you’re staying at a friend’s,” rafe suggests. “it’s too dark for you to bike back anyway.”

“you could always drive me, you know,” wheezie reminds him. then, her eyes flicker down to what’s left of the joint (basically, the filter) and backtracks. “well, he could.”

she’s pointing at barry, and barry shrugs.

rafe, however, finds himself wanting wheezie to stay. dare he say it, he might’ve actually missed his sister.

he’s pretty sure he’ll regret it later, but regardless he says, “we’ll get you something to eat and you can crash here if you’re too tired to go home after.”

something to eat ends up being freezer-burnt pizza rolls, but wheezie doesn’t complain. she eats her food while scrolling through her phone, glancing up at rafe and barry every now and then.

they’re conversing quietly about a drug deal they have set up later, a big one. rafe doesn’t think wheezie is listening, but he also doesn’t notice the way she keeps glancing up at them, her eyes flickering between them with an unreadable look on her face.

and then, out of nowhere, “are you guys dating?”

rafe looks at her sharply and he sees barry do the same out of the corner of his eye. barry’s mouth had shut so quickly that his teeth clacked together, and rafe can see him rubbing at his jaw.

“what the hell, wheeze?”

wheezie raises her hands in mock-surrender, but still rolls her eyes. “it’s just a question, geez. but thanks for the answer.”

“the fuck is she talkin’ about?” barry asks, his gaze flickering between rafe and wheezie.

“you two,” wheezie explains slowly, looking almost bored. again. rafe is starting to think he’s had a bad influence on her. “you’re dating, right? like that’s why you’re always here, right?”

the latter question is directed towards rafe, and he feels his stupid cheeks betray him, burning red.

“oh, right. you’re men, of course you haven’t talked about it,” wheezie sighs, then stands up and brushes invisible crumbs off her shorts. “well, i conveniently have to use the bathroom, so. use this time wisely, i guess?”

then wheezie disappears from the small kitchen, leaving rafe and barry sitting in thick, palpable silence.

“so… what the fuck just happened?” rafe asks when he can’t take the uncomfortable silence any longer, pointedly not looking at barry.

when barry shifts in his seat, rafe can feel it, and he realizes all at once just how close they’re sitting.

“she thinks… “ barry trails off, shifting in his seat again.

“that we’re dating,” rafe finishes, swallowing around the golf ball-sized lump that has mysteriously appeared in his throat.

rafe can feel barry looking at him. he can feel the heat of his gaze, and wow, wheezie is taking a really long time in the bathroom.

“that what we been doing, country club?” barry asks, and rafe looks over at him so quickly that his neck pops.

rafe searches barry’s face for any trace of humor, but comes up empty.

they’ve been practically living together for months, ever since rafe gave up trying to please ward and joined barry’s little side business. and if he really thinks about it, they have lapsed into something almost nauseatingly domestic.

it’s like. like rafe’s been in this weird, fucked up relationship this whole time, and he’s just now realizing it. and realizing, at the same time, that he doesn’t want it to end now that wheezie has gutted them both and laid everything out in the open, where neither of them can hide.

jesus fucking christ, is he in love with barry? barry the drug dealer?

well, rafe supposes that’s what he would call himself now, too, so. maybe it makes some sort of sense after all.

“i don’t think so, but i think we should now,” rafe finally says. he doesn’t know why he says that last bit, it just sort of slips out before he realizes what he’s saying.

but he doesn’t take it back either.

barry is too quiet next to him. the silence goes on for far too long, and rafe is starting to debate internally whether or not he should dump wheezie’s body in the swamp or somewhere off shore.

finally, barry speaks. “startin’ to think you may be onto somethin’, rafe cameron.”

“so is that a yes?” rafe huffs, already feeling exposed enough as it is. he doesn’t need barry speaking in shades of gray.

suddenly, there are fingers wrapping around his jaw, gentler than rafe would’ve anticipated, and then barry is turning rafe’s head and kissing him.

like, really kissing him. rafe feels like he’s being turned inside out, his insides shifting and adjusting, rearranging and adapting to make room for barry.

it’s not a particularly long kiss, but it’s sure as hell the best one rafe has experienced in his life.

“they teach you that in the army?” rafe asks when barry pulls away, aiming for nonchalant but failing due to the heavy rise and fall of his chest. and the fact that he can’t stop staring at barry’s mouth.

barry just smacks the back of rafe’s head, shoving him lightly. “get the fuck out my kitchen, country club.”

rafe is about to respond when the bathroom door opens, and wheezie pokes her head out.

“ugh, thank god you’re finally done. you should invest in a bathroom fan, you know,” wheezie tells barry, “i could literally hear everything.”

she shudders and gags, barry laughs, and rafe vaults himself out the nearest window.

well, he tries to. barry catches him by the waist easily, dragging him back into his seat. wheezie just rolls her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“okay, well, since you’re done being a drama queen, i think i’d like that ride home now.”

[poptimus-prime]

[Image ID: Two crude digital drawings. One is of TFP Ratchet, done in orange and titled “Ratchet Anatomy by Stormy” in purple. The other is of Stormy, done in purple and titled “Stormy anatomy by Ratchet” in orange. There are several areas on each drawing labeled in black.

Ratchet has the following labels:

Eyebrows for judging

Eyes for following for puppy dog eyes

Big shoulders for sitting on

Antennae attached to backpack for his applesauce

Spark is here (it sounds like an angry St. Bernard)

Wears a heart beat on his sleeve

Hands for fixing things + holding people

Knee spikes cuz it’s cool

Wheels in his shoes. Go go boots?

Stormy has the following labels:

Eyebrows for expressing emotions

Ears work…most of the time

Eyes (Warning: Used in successful manipulation tactics)

Humans wear clothes. What else is there?

Heart here (it sounds like a little drum.)

(In reference to the stomach) A shockingly soft part of the body for holding vital organs

Little hands can’t do much, but they’re still good

Feet stamp when frustrated.

End Image ID]

Just because I think two characters drawing each other badly and labeling the drawings is funny.

Top 5 parent-child activities material.

This is the closest thing anyone is getting to father’s day content from me because I’m having some Issues regarding that holiday, so take it IG.

[theskywaslookingback]

tma fic recs please ? 🤲🏽

Oooooo yes! I never get asks like this, thank you!

[my tumblr fic recs tag is here for browsing]

I had to put it under a cut because it got...entirely too long barely half an hour into making it, sorry.

Under 5k

means of cartharsis by orphan_account [G] [965]

“You’d think – you’d that at this point nightmares would be second nature for me, hm?” Martin says, forcing a smile even as he tugs the blanket tighter around his trembling shoulders.

It’s meant to be a bit funny. Instead of laughing, though, Jon frowns.

“No,” he says simply, and matter-of-factly wipes the moisture from Martin’s cheeks with a tissue like he’s a crying child.

A Proper Sleepover by Goodluckdetective (scorpiantales) [T] [1.4k]

In a different world, one where Elias is not waiting for them outside the Lonely, everyone has a chance to savor a moment of respite. As much as they can get these days. If only to talk about things that long need to be spoken.

“Basira says we should all sleep in the same room tonight,” Jon says without looking up. “Safer. So we can keep an eye out for intruders and also each other.”

“So we’re having a proper sleepover then?”

Jon scoffs. “Technically we’ve been having a proper one for months.”

where i go, when i go there by rainny_days [T] [1.7k]

Martin wants Jon to hold his hand. Martin doesn't want Jon to hold his hand.

It's complicated.

all the other ways by AptlyNamed [G] [2.2k]

Jon loses his first soul mark when he is eight years old.

a palace from ruin by bibliocratic [G] [2.2k]

"What're you sorry for?” Martin asks.

“I should have asked,” Jon says finally. “I'd never.... you were always so private about him, so I mean, at first I wasn't sure he was even yours, but then – when you, when you went with Peter, and I – he was so small, and I thought he was h-half-dead. S-so I picked him up and I carried him. And I'm sorry.”

interiors by doomcountry [T] [2.7k]

In the doorway, he fumbles with his keys. Their sound is loud in the silent stairwell. You don’t remember getting here.

searching for a light (for a right) by Kalgalen [T] [2.7k]

Some people make the mistake of assuming he's naive about sex, for the simple reason he hasn't dated in a while. Tim has called him a prude, at one point, and implied that he was somehow afraid of the intimacy required by the act; he wasn’t entirely wrong, but this definitely isn’t the reason for Jon's disinterest and general bafflement toward what most people seemed to consider as "what makes them human".

Jon simply hasn't found the right person. That is all it is: high standards, and a reticence to let people in.

(In which Jon finds out society is wrong about what a romantic relationship should be.)

how to plant a garden in rocky soil by treeprince [T] [2.9k]

Sometimes you just need a good pair of hands to work out all the kinks in your life.

Good thing Martin has two.

A Weather In The Flesh by cuttooth [G] [3k]

"There is a span of years where Jon doesn’t touch anyone other than the occasional hand shake. It’s not so bad. He’s never been someone who’s needed physical affection."

*

Jon has never been any good at making people want to stick around.

I'll bring the motion by callmearctus [T] [3.1k]

A long series of kidnappings and international flights leaves its own special mark on someone. Before the Unknowing, Jon is a mess.

Martin helps.

A Bread Made In Heaven by Againstme [G] [3.3k]

Martin moves over and watches how his boyfriend handles the dough. He's awkward with it, tentative and gentle, as if he's scared of hurting it somehow.

"Is this, uh, am I doing this right?" Jon asks, still slowly stretching out the dough and folding it onto itself.

"Well," he says shifting closer to Jon again, "you could be applying more pressure. Here, let me help you out, dear."

Martin moves fully behind Jon, and reaches around him, putting his hands on top of his boyfriend's. Jon inhales sharply, but doesn't say anything else, just lets Martin's hand rest on top of his.

Martin's hands are bigger, but not big enough to entirely envelop the other's hands, and Jon's hands are much, much warmer than his own are. To see what they're doing, Martin moves his head to look over Jon's shoulder. Though he can't see his boyfriend's face from this angle, he can see how it is slowly growing red at the edge of his vision. He decides not to tease him on it, instead content with letting a smile spread across his face and slowly guiding their joined hands in the proper motion.

Or, Martin teaches Jon how to make bread.

stumbling and spinning by lady_mab [G] [3.3k]

“Things happened,” Jon says demurely, trying to untangle Gerry’s fingers, but it only results in him getting pulled in so Gerry can kiss him properly. “It’s not all that bad.”

“I suppose not,” Gerry says with a sigh, sitting back upright. “You somehow managed to snag an incredible boyfriend out of it.”

It takes a solid few seconds before realization clicks in Martin’s brain. “You mean me?” [...]

“You have to admit, Jon has great tastes,” Gerry teases.

nothing sweeter than local honey by beeclaws [T] [3.4k]

So Tim is content, one arm leaned into the spray, waiting for the water to warm, enjoying the feeling of homecoming underneath the gentle fuzz of jetlag, when he hears gasping, panicked breaths coming from the other room.

Tim and Jon, in the aftermath, relearning how to be okay.

When Words are Inadequate by Mugatu [T] [3.8k]

Meals and the preparation of are, for want of a better word, informative. Fact gathering. A place where they can fill in the gaps of their knowledge of the other.

Jon cooks for Martin, and they learn more about each other.

go softly by doomcountry [T] [4k]

And there is nothing else besides this.

Imago by cuttooth [T] [4k]

“Jon?” he asks tentatively, tightening his grip around the poker as it slips against his sweaty palm. The antennae twitch, and suddenly Martin knows that it’s Jon, the knowledge sliding into his mind in a surge of desperate affection, the same profound love he felt that first time he truly saw Jon in the fog of the Lonely.

“Oh,” he whispers. “It really is you.”

*

Jon changes, but he’s still the same to Martin.

shoreline by bibliocratic [G] [4.1k]

“Martin," Tim says kindly, tipsily, only mildly slurring. "Dearest, dearest Martin. You're wankered, babe. Last train to Stockwell fucked off hours ago because it is now piss off o'clock in the morning, and there's a sofa with your exact name on it at my place. Thought you said you wanted some handsome fellow to take you back to his tonight?”

Or: The OG Archive crew go drinking, Martin comes out, and gets some well deserved TLC. In that order.

get your epitaph right by bibliocratic [G] [4.2k]

Martin's daemon has tried on the shape of dogs and lizards and snakes and horses, and even – once, when he was younger and Mum took him to the seaside, a fish.

Martin's never seen his soul in the dressing of a spider before.

i've known the warmth of your doorways by beeclaws [T] [4.2k]

'I’m always in pain, Jon wants to say, even as he dismisses the thought as melodramatic. Between his growing collection of old wounds and scar tissue, the supernatural hunger for statements that hasn’t been truly satiated in months, and the unpredictable aches and strains his body threw off day by day long before he ever set foot in the Institute, some level of pain and discomfort follows Jon wherever he goes now. He is used to being in pain. He’s not used to someone holding his hand as he suffers through it.'

Jon catalogs the comforts he receives, and wonders how long he will be allowed to keep them.

lay down your weary head by Zykaben [T] [4.6k]

Jon has been running himself ragged, searching for every scrap of information he can possibly find about the Unknowing. He's exhausted and sleep-deprived but he can't bring himself to take a break, not now.

Luckily, Tim and Martin are there to make sure that their boyfriend gets the care and rest he needs.

only the sweetest words remain by bluejayblueskies [T] [4.6k]

This isn't how things are supposed to go, right? Jon remembers those ratty paperbacks from the charity shops, dime-a-dozen romance novels with broken bindings and yellowing pages and words that spoke of love and passion and sexuality in prose that was more than a bit too mature for someone whose age hadn’t yet reached double digits. Stolen glances turn into dinner dates turn into passionate kisses turn into…

Well, he’d never actually read those parts of the books, because it had all seemed so deeply uncomfortable and gross. But he got the picture.

Or, Jonathan Sims, on being loved

5k-20k

and they keep not letting go by Marianne_Dashwood [G] [5k]

It’s an electric feeling, something strange and new and familiar all at once, even though he has been holding Martin’s hand for most of the day. His stomach swoops, like he is standing on the edge of the precipice of realisation and staring into the void of unknowing. But at the same time, he does know. In this instant of contact between them, the last few years of cups of tea and small smiles and momentary glances, of panic and fear and only feeling safe with Martin’s solid presence in the room, despite his paranoia, rush into him, and oh, oh oh.

ready to call this love by yewgrove [G] [5.6k]

How is Martin supposed to tell Jon that he panicked, stupidly, when the lovely old lady down the village asked him what they were doing in this part of the world? Got the shopping! Oh, by the way, we're married now! Whole village thinks we're on our honeymoon, hope you don't mind!

Prenons-nous la main by luftballons99 [T] [6k]

They still haven't talked about it, any of it, not even to pass the time on the long train ride to Scotland. Instead, Martin fell asleep in the seat next to him, pressed into his side from shoulder to knee, and Jon thought about love confessions and verb tense and how the two fit together when you think you're dying.

or: Good cows, mediocre poetry, and other crucial topics of discussion.

This Must Be The Place by cuttooth [T] [6k]

“You said – you said we were going home,” Martin says softly.

“I did,” says Jon, and is grateful that Martin doesn’t comment on him calling the Archives home. “I – I don’t really know where to go. I, uh, I don’t have a flat anymore, I don’t think. We could find a hotel?”

“Let’s go to my place,” says Martin. His hand squeezes Jon’s, more gently than before. Most importantly, Jon notes, he doesn’t let go.

*

Jon and Martin go home for a little while.

Small Things, Simple Acts by ZaliaChimera [T] [6.6k]

Even after leaving London, Jon and Martin are not free, not really. Maybe they never will be.

But for now they can be themselves, and maybe in the end, that's enough.

house by tomatoes [G] [9k]

Martin can take care of himself.

roses, roses, roses by acetheticallyy (judesstfrancis) [T] [9.3k]

Rose scented laundry detergent. Running into Jon in the breakroom. Running into Jon on his way back to his desk. Rose scented detergent. Running into Jon. Roses. Jon. Roses, roses, roses.

a deeply annoying child by ajkal2 [G] [9.6k]

Jon is hiding under the desk.

----

There's a child in the Archives, who shouldn't be there.

Inseparable by voiceless_terror [T] [10.3k]

“You can stay.” The voice interrupts his internal panic, and he looks over to find Jon studiously avoiding his gaze, staring hard at a neighboring bush. Martin wonders what caused his sudden change of heart. “But you have to sit on the other side. And don’t talk to me.”

Jonathan Sims and Martin Blackwood meet as children. Some things change, others do not.

i'm almost me again, you're almost you by gruhukens [G] [12k]

After a second Jon steps in towards him, close enough that Martin flinches, but all Jon does is put two fingers under his chin with his free hand and raise it until Martin can’t duck away. Jon has never touched him so casually before – at least, not until today, and it raises a lot of thoughts and feelings that Martin is trying very hard not to process.

Much like a lot of other things that have happened, he thinks. Not that it’s horrible or terrifying or numbing like everything else has been: it’s just another thing on the list of things he doesn’t have the capacity to deal with.

---

In the wake of the Lonely, there's a lot that Martin doesn't really want to think about.

hello my old heart by firebirdsuite [T] [15.8k]

Peter’s wrong, of course. When it’s all over, Martin does still want to tell Jon everything. It’s just—well, there’s a few things they need to work through first before they can get there.

Martin and Jon find each other again in Scotland.

Over 20k

The Kindness of Strangers by TheOestofOCs [M] [23k]

It was easier to treat Jon like a monster when he wasn’t shivering against his back, brokenly humming—wait, was that…

“Are you trying to do ‘Hey, Jude’?” Tim demanded.

Jon stopped, stiffening. “Mm hrmh mm mmh hm,” he said defensively.

“You really can’t hold a tune, can you, boss?”

*

It was just an ordinary walk to a restaurant. Tim had insisted that if they were going to talk, there would be no tape recorders or weird Archives ghosts listening in. A bit of fresh air wouldn’t kill him, Tim had said. What could go wrong?

By the time Jon spots the white delivery van, it’s much too late.

The Stranger kidnaps Jon. Tim comes along for the ride.

Misjudged by ShastaFirecracker [T] [36.5k]

Martin's been a longtime listener of What the Ghost, so when Georgie gives a shoutout to her flatmate's Twitch channel during a Q&A, he checks it out - only to discover that her flatmate is also his most terrifying coworker at his new job. The first time they crossed paths, Jon yelled at him for incompetence. But on the streams, Martin sees an entirely different person - someone fun and relaxed, engaging and unfairly attractive. Over time, Martin begins to find that Jon buried inside his dour, awkward coworker. He also learns to live with the fact that his crush is painfully one-sided... or is it?

if we make it through the night everyone is gonna hear us (Series) by skvadern [Ratings Vary] [42.4k]

In which Sasha survives the NotThem (with a little help from a certain Distortion) and she and Jon spend s2 working together to try and make sense of everything that's happening to them. It goes...interestingly

the garden of forking paths by bibliocratic [T] [49.7k]

Whatever he had predicted might happen, Jon wasn't expecting to survive upon demolishing the Panopticon. He certainly wasn't expecting to be rescued.

Instead, he wakes up in an alternative universe where he's never been the Archivist, and Martin Blackwood doesn't exist.

Martin Blackwood wakes up somewhere else entirely.

it's only forever by lady_mab [T] [50.9k]

“The castle at the center of the labyrinth,” Jon breathes, recalling again the words from one of the past conversations with Martin. “He’s there.”

“Turn back, Jonathan,” the Goblin King says, and Jon is surprised to hear a slight edge of desperation in the tone. “Turn back before it’s too late.”

“I can’t,” Jon answers with the same tone. “You know that I can’t.”

The Goblin King’s grin is gone completely, and he regards Jon with a degree of pity before that melts into resignation.

Yesterday is Here by CirrusGrey [T] [53.3k]

"Who the hell are you?" Jon could feel his hands shaking. The man laughed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to point at him. "I'm you, from the future!" he said, then swayed, eyes going unfocused, and collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. -------- Post-season-four Jon and Martin time travel back to the season one Archives.

A Home For What Loves You by TheWrongShop [T] [151k]

It was completely fine that Jon was following up on this very normal, non-supernatural statement at midnight on a Friday. He was going to find nothing at all, and then he was going to go home and sleep for fourteen straight hours and feel absolutely no qualms about moving case #0150409 directly into the filing cabinet marked "discredited".

Or; Jon and Martin end up investigating Carlos Vittery's basement and finding the entity formerly known as Jane Prentiss together.

RATED E *MINORS DNI*

A Look And A Voice by cuttooth [E] [6.9k]

“Do you want to have sex with me?” Jon asks bluntly, and for a second Martin can’t breathe.

“It - it doesn’t matter what I - ” he begins valiantly, before Jon interrupts him.

“Because I want to have sex with you, and frankly it doesn’t matter if you think it’s for the wrong reasons. I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions. The only thing that matters is if you want to as well.”

*

Martin meets a guy in a bar and takes him home.

Warms The Coldest Night by cuttooth [E] [11k]

"Flame that warms the coldest night Bring to us the waxing Light, Be with us on Solstice Night." Gypsy - Bring Back The Light

There is mistletoe hanging in the doorway to the Archives when Jon gets in.

Curiosity by ShastaFirecracker [E] [11.6k]

“You know that conversation we had the other day about how one of the most important things for queer youth to learn is that it's okay to change their minds, because identity and self-discovery are always fluid?”

Behind him, Martin slipped oven mitts over his hands and pulled open the oven door. The scent of garlic and rosemary flooded the kitchen. “Yeah?” he said.

“I, um... I'd like to revisit the topic of sex.”

At the Interim (Series) by Rend_Herring [E] [41k]

A Measure Outside the Lines and The Residuum

triptych (Series) by Stacicity [E] [44.9k]

A collection of Jon/Tim/Martin fics

a steady hand, a delicate man by callmearctus [E] [52.8k]

Martin is the proprietor and manager of a very discrete and fairly exclusive brothel situated between Belgravia and Chelsea. Blackwood House excels at special requests and pleasing any client.

Except for Jon, who probably has never been pleased a day in his entire life.

Despite that, he still comes back. It eventually begs the question: how do you solve a problem like Jon Sims?

[digital-corruption]

Sorry, I kept falling asleep while editing. lol

Haunted by the Past Part 61

We walked down the pier the next day, hooded, masked and hand-in-hand towards the all too familiar fishing boat. I could see Walter on deck cursing to himself as he was cleaning it. He glanced up and saw me there.

“MC?” he looked at me confused.

“Hi Wally,” I waved. “Permission to come on board?”

“Who the hell is he?” Walter frowned. “I didn’t agree to any +1s.”

“Think of him as my escort,” I winked as I hopped over.

“Are you blackmailing him too?” he joked. “Hey! Where’s the beer?”

I rolled my eyes and took my backpack off to show him to two six pack of Coronas inside. “Happy?”

“Well, you know where to put it,” he waved with a smile.

I shook my head and descended below deck. Jake climbed on board after me.

“I don’t know who you are, but don’t think I don’t know you’re responsible,” Walter gritted his teeth.

I rolled my eyes. “Are you done?” I yelled.

Jake didn’t say anything and followed me downstairs. The space below deck wasn’t big. It had a small kitchenette with a mini fridge that I’m pretty sure was only ever used to hold alcohol because I never saw anyone ever catch anything on the boat. Across from the kitchenette there was a small booth table that could barely fit four people. Beyond the kitchenette was a tiny toilet stall and storage.

“No funny business in the cabin!” Walter shouted.

And yes, small sleeping quarters in the bow, though I refused to believe anyone could ever fit in there.

As I unloaded my backpack into the fridge, Jake took his laptop out of his backpack and set up at the table. He pushed himself right up against the side to peer out the porthole window. By the time I sat down next to him he had already accessed the marina's CCTV. He pulled out a small antenna from his bag and plugged it into his laptop. He then began typing away. I watched him as he worked.

“There is a lot of radio chatter,” he frowned.

“Boats use radios to communicate,” I pointed out.

“Yes, they’re on standard, open frequencies. Not likely to be a problem,” he commented. “There is a bit on the private frequencies. The coast guard?”

Jake tapped into the frequency to confirm that it was just the coast guard reporting on standard patrols. He sighed with relief and leant back. His hand slipped onto my thigh casually.

“How am I meant to respond to threats like that?” he asked quietly.

I giggled, “It’s an alpha male thing. Let them beat their chest and move on. If you want to get on their good side, bribe them with alcohol.” I paused for a moment, “Why, how would you respond in the past?”

“I'd lock them out of their accounts,” he smirked.

“Right, digital alpha male response,” I rolled my eyes.

Jake glanced out the porthole, “This is my first time on a boat.”

“What? Really?” I looked at him surprised. “What about an airplane?”

“I haven’t been on one of those either,” he looked back at me sincerely.

I smiled, “I’ll have to fix that. How else are you going to get to a deserted island?”

Jake smiled back at me, “I look forward to it.”

“You’re not so callous after all,” I responded bemused.

“You get a short reprieve,” he frowned.

“You’re nervous about meeting my brother,” I teased.

Jake rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his laptop to watch the CCTV. While I was watching it along with him, I noticed his hand drifting up my thigh and between my legs. I slapped his hand and he smirked, but didn’t budge.

“Aaron's not here yet and Walter is busy,” he purred. “I am not obliged to behave yet.”

“Jake!” I snapped under my breath.

“You need to practice maintaining your composure under stress so we don’t get caught,” Jake watched me squirm as his fingers pressed against my pants. “Your brother is not due for another 45 minutes anyway.“

“You don't have to spend each minute of that groping me,” I groaned.

He smirked, “How else will I pass the time?”

--

“Walter? Why the hell are you calling me out here?” Aaron’s voice rang out from the pier.

“Why can’t old high school besties meet up for a few drinks on my dad's boat?” Walter quipped.

“Besties? The last time I saw you you were making out with my girlfriend!” Aaron snapped.

Well, that explained why they stopped talking.

“Ok, look, that was like, what, eleven years ago? We both know she was a bit of a slut. You saw who she was with like two days later. So why should we stop that from us reconnecting?” Walter palmed off.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Aaron asked angrily.

“Just go get some drinks from the fridge already, I’ll set us off,” Walter instructed.

“Why the hell should I?” Aaron’s feet stomped onto the deck.

“Because you shouldn’t pass up free alcohol!” Walter boasted.

The footsteps down the stairs were long and painstaking. Finally, my brother reached the bottom and his eyes went wide with surprise.

“Hi, Aaron,” I whispered from the table with a small wave.

“Shh,” Jake shushed. He typed away at his laptop while he waited for the boat's engine to start.

Aaron gave me a most perplexed look, but came over and sat down across from me without saying a word. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

“Ok, we're clear,” Jake declared.

“What the hell, MC!?” Aaron snapped. “And why Walter of all people?”

I shrugged, “He’s still the easiest to blackmail and has the least likely connection between us.”

“What were you going to do if I rejected his invitation?” he frowned.

“It was a long shot, sure I’ll admit that. You guys did used to be so tight that I was hopeful you would at least give him a chance,” I explained.

Aaron nodded casually, then glanced over at Jake, who was avoiding all eye contact. “This is the son of a bitch that ruined your life, isn’t it? Pretty ballsy putting yourself on a boat with me in the middle of the water.”

“Really, Aaron? Isn’t that against the medical code?” I laughed.

“I can make an exception for him,” he sneered. “Come on, why don’t you say something?”

“Aaron, I'd rather not go through everything with you right now,” I sighed. “Just believe me when I say it is my choice to be with Jake and I know what I am doing.”

Aaron clenched his fist while staring daggers into Jake’s hood. Jake still didn’t look up from the laptop. Aaron looked back at me and reached over to remove my mask and pull down my hood.

“What the hell has he done to you?” he sneered.

“Please, I cut and dyed my hair, he had nothing to do with it,” I rolled my eyes at him.

“I wasn’t referring to your fucking hair! Your complexion is horrible! And your eyes...” his face twisted. “What else are you hiding under those baggy clothes!?”

“Aaron!” I snapped. “Stop looking at me like one of your patients!”

“I took extra training to recognize signs of abuse in patients,” Aaron glared at Jake. Jake didn’t flinch. “Maybe whatever he’s got is contagious. Take the hoodie off and let me see your body.”

Walter put the engine on neutral and came down into the lower deck, “You could’ve at least gotten me a drink, dude.”

Aaron looked up at Walter apologetically, “Sorry for what I said earlier.”

Walter pulled out a few bottles and plopped them down on the table along with a bottle opener. “Water under the bridge.”

“You helped MC when you didn’t have to,” Aaron popped open a bottle and took a swig.

Walter laughed while popping his bottle, “Your sister still knows how to twist my arm.” He sauntered back to the steps to go above deck again.

“Thanks Wally!” I shouted out.

“I told you, it’s Walter! I’m sophisticated now!” he waved as he went up the stairs.

Aaron popped open a bottle and handed it to me. He left the last bottle untouched as an insult to Jake, not knowing Jake wasn’t going to drink it anyway.

“Your landlord called me to clean out your apartment,” Aaron commented.

“Oh right, you’re listed as my next of kin,” I nodded.

“There were things that broken and things that were missing. I went to ask Gabe, but his apartment was emptied,” Aaron frowned. “That’s no coincidence.”

I sighed, “Gabe was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Are you saying he's...” Aaron raised an eyebrow. I nodded. “What the hell? You better start explaining.”

I held my hand up while I chugged the first half of the bottle. Jake looked over at me questioningly.

“Ok, let’s do this. You’re all under surveillance by some very dangerous and corrupt people. Getting you out on Walter’s family boat was the only way to separate you from them. Jake is currently jamming the frequencies for any listening devices you might be unknowingly carrying. Right now this boat is the most secure place for us to talk,” I explained. “That lawyer you sent to me, I need you to see him on our behalf and pass these documents to him.” I pulled out the manila envelope from Jake’s bag.

Aaron looked at the envelope and then finished his Corona in one go, “Are you trying to make me an accessory?”

“No, no,” I emphasized. “We had been offered a deal, but it smelled beyond fishy. We needed a lawyer to make sure we couldn’t get burnt by it.”

“Swedish fishy?” Aaron raised an eyebrow.

I smiled at the inside joke, “Exactly.”

“Can you at least explain why it smells Swedish fishy?” Aaron grabbed the untouched Corona for himself. I grabbed his hand.

“You’re driving,” I frowned.

“Gee, Mom, I was going to hang with Wally before leaving if that’s ok with you,” Aaron frowned.

I rolled my eyes, “They want Jake to illegally obtain evidence for them as part of the immunity offers for us.”

“Hang on, is this for you or for him?” Aaron slammed the bottle down.

“It helps both of us,” I clarified.

“I know nothing about this prick,” Aaron snapped.

“Well, you know he’s been very tolerant of your insults. We don’t have time for heart-to-hearts here. You and Heather will have to get to know him at Christmas, but we can only make it to Christmas dinner if you help us,” I insisted.

“That’s not happening,” Aaron mumbled.

“Yes it will because you’re going to help us,” I smiled confidently.

“No,” he sighed. “Heather won’t be at Christmas, or at any family gathering.”

“Oh, what? Sorry, I was told you had good news,” I looked at him confused.

“I did, but then you disappeared. She got fed up with waiting for you to return. As if I wanted to have an engagement party when my sister was suddenly missing and wanted by the government,” Aaron finished his second bottle.

“Aaron...” I reached over and squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, I should thank you. I dodged a bullet. I wouldn’t want to marry someone who doesn’t know when to put family first,” Aaron said snarkily while looking at Jake. Then he stood up hastily, grabbed the envelope and pointed at him. “I want her back unharmed. Do you hear me?”

Jake looked up at Aaron, “Yes.”

Aaron narrowed his eyes at Jake, “You only get one chance! You screw it up and you’re a dead man!” Aaron went into the fridge and grabbed two more Coronas before going above deck again.

“Love you, Aaron!” I yelled out. He gave me the finger in response without looking back. “Well, I think that went well,” I drank the rest of my bottle.

“Is all your family like that?” Jake looked at me concerned.

I laughed, “Wait til you meet my parents!”

[puppyluver256]

[Image Description: Two fan-made Pokemon designs, a regional variant of Surskit and a new evolution based on a mud dauber.

The first Pokemon is the regional variant of the Pokemon Surskit. It resembles a water strider insect with four spindly legs holding up a round body that has an antennae sticking upward. It is mostly brown with yellow on top of its head, yellow tips to its legs, and yellow markings under its big red eyes. Lime green text outlined in dull brown to the right of the image reads "Surskit - Cantessy Regional Variant".

The second Pokemon is a wasp-like creature with large translucent wings. It has a brown head with large red eyes, dark purple antennae and legs, a brown body with a yellow stripe, and a yellow tail with brown stripes and a dark purple stinger, separated from the body by a spindly purple section. Its wings are mostly a pale blue, with orange, yellow, and green eye markings. Lime green text outlined in dull brown to the right of the image reads "Organdobb".

End ID.]

-----

Surskit (Cantessian regional variant) - Mud Skater Pokemon - bug/ground The Surskit found in Cantessy have turned brown in order to blend into muddy areas. They live near river beds, often staying in the muddy tubes produced by Organdobb for safety. / Living in and around muddy areas, they do not secrete the same oil that their Hoenn counterparts do and so cannot skate across clear water. Toys based on this variant have made it to Hoenn, where collectors who are not familiar with the variant are often convinced they’re bad bootlegs.

Organdobb - Mud Dauber Pokemon - bug/ground It builds nests out of collected globs of mud, in which it will lay its eggs. They sting other insects to paralyze them as food for their young’s first meal upon hatching. / Despite their frightening appearance, Organdobb are largely not aggressive unless provoked. Any attacks on humans, when examined in further detail, turned out to be the human’s fault as they had considered this Pokemon to be a pest and attempted to have it removed from the location.

More Cantessy Fakemon, and a regional variant with a funny origin story. So a while back my buddy @zootycutie​ shared with me a few bootleg Pokemon toys she'd found, and one of them was this poorly painted Surskit.

[Image Description: Three small bootleg Pokemon toys sitting on a table. The first one is the Pokemon Lugia, painted almost all white aside from some blue on its back and pink on its belly. Its eye mask growths are white as well, with little black dots for eyes. The second one is the Pokemon Surskit, which appears mostly normal aside from the blue parts of its body and its antenna being painted brown. The third one is Sableye, which appears normal aside from its gem eyes being sloppily applied. End ID.]

It was the one that looked more, erm, normal of the bunch, so I was inspired to turn it into a Fakemon if she wasn't going to hehe X3 The brown obviously was led into making it a ground type instead of a water, and other than coloration and typing there's not much difference with the initial form.

Organdobb is much less based on a joke than Surskit was, and is based on an actual bug called the mud dauber. It's a group of wasps that don't seem too terribly aggressive to humans unless provoked, and it's mainly known for its nest-making method, which is to clump mud into pipe-like structures, leading to one species in particular being called the organ pipe mud dauber (hence the "organ" in Organdobb's name). And they sting spiders to paralyze them and take them back to their nest, where they'll lay eggs on it and then the babies eat the spider. Hey, I'm not complaining :D Decided to keep some of Masquerain's eye motif in Organdobb's wings, it just felt right.

Reminder that if anyone wants to suggest moves for any Cantessy Fakemon to learn and some physical stats where I haven’t yet figured them out, feel free to throw ‘em at me :3 Links to their info pages will be provided in the replies!

💖🐶 Check out my pinned post for ways to support my artwork, among other things! 🐶💖

~If you like, please reblog to show your friends! Likes are appreciated, but reblogs let more people see my content! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~

Surskit (Hoennian form) and other Pokemon concepts © Nintendo/GameFreak Cantessian Surskit, Organdobb, the Cantessy region, and artwork © PuppyLuver Studios

[kinglazrus]

No Such Thing as a Fresh Start

Phic phight 2020

Submitted by @q-gorgeous: dash finds out danny is phantom. what does he do to help danny? does danny know dash knows?

Summary: Of all the people that could have found out. Out of everyone, in all of Amity Park, it has to be Dash Baxter. It has to be the one human Danny is truly afraid of.

Warnings: swearing

Word count: 8123

Danny's halfway into the locker when Dash freezes. He doesn't actually mean to stop. He got another bad grade in English class this morning and Lancer's disappointed face pissed him off so much that he needs to hit something. Stuffing Fenton into a locker is close enough. But as Dash shoves Danny's head down, as Danny flails pathetically and tries to push him off, Danny's shirt hikes up a little bit, exposing his hip.

Stretching from the waistband of Danny's jeans to up under his shirt is a patch of rough, ugly skin. It's wrinkled and bumpy, tinged red and pink. Dash doesn't know much about scars, but he knows enough to see whatever injury this was from, it couldn't have happened more than a year ago.

Dash grabs Danny's shirt and pulls it up, revealing more damaged skin.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Danny grabs Dash's hand and shoves it off with surprising force, enough that it makes Dash stumble back. Danny teeters on the edge of the locker. Arms shooting out, he manages to catch the door and brace himself against the inside wall. It doesn't look comfortable, one arm squished against his side, one leg tucked under him while the other sticks out, head ducked to avoid smacking it against the top of the locker.

Dash barely pays it any mind, though. His eyes are glued to Danny's hip. He was able to get Danny's shirt almost halfway up before he was stopped, but he didn’t even see the edge of the scar. It must be huge.

A hundred questions run through Dash's head. When did Danny get it? How did it happen? Is it serious? It looks serious. That bothers Dash, for some reason. It nags at him.

"Okay, you're actually starting to freak me out," Danny says.

Dash raises his gaze, meeting Danny's eyes. Other people in the hall are staring at them, Dash can feel it, but he can't look away. He can't stop picturing the marred skin stretching across Danny's torso.

Danny leans back, drawing his other leg into the locker with him. "So, I'm just gonna... yeah..." he trails off. Sticking his finger in the locker door grates, he pulls it closed. The hinges squeak all the way, a grating whine that echoes down the hall.

As soon as the door shuts, Dash snaps out of his daze. He shakes his head, blinking, and glares at the students that stopped to watch. "What the hell are you looking at?" he says.

The students scurry away, heads low.

Dash lingers a moment, staring at the locker, then shakes his head again. Turning on his heels, he marches down the hall, heading to the gym rather than the cafeteria. He needs to think for a while.

—

Danny doesn't know who's locker this is, but it reeks. He's sitting on a pair of old shoes and a canvas bag, probably someone's gym clothes. It takes all he has not to gag. Climbing all the way into the locker rather than out of it wasn't his greatest idea. But he couldn't stand Dash's staring, and he figured the only way to get Dash to leave was to finish the job.

Wiggling, he shimmies around until he's turned sideways—thank god Casper High has such big lockers—and peers through the grate in the door. He knows Dash can't seem him, but the sight of him staring makes Danny shiver. He waits, holding his breath until Dash finally leaves. And then he wants a minute more, just in case.

Once he's sure the coast is clear, Danny turns intangible and tumbles out of the locker. He rolls forward, almost smacking his face on the floor, and comes up dizzy. He grabs his head until the world stops swaying.

"I can't deal with this," he says out loud. There's no one else in the hall with him, so he's talking to himself, but that's not the craziest thing he's ever done. Besides, Jazz has assured him multiple times that voicing your thoughts out loud is a common practice for lots of people. It helps them sort through their thoughts better than they could if everything just swirled around their head for hours, thoughts tripping over one another left and right, struggling to take their place at the front of your mind.

Like the mall on Black Friday morning, except the doors never open and the thoughts just keep shoving, and shoving, and shoving, trying to get to the front even though there's nowhere to go.

"Maybe I should talk to Jazz again," Danny says. He stands up and brushes his jeans off, hoping he doesn't smell too much like someone else's dirty laundry. He's just lucky it wasn't one of the rusty lockers. Those ones always make his eyes and nose itch and leave red flakes all over his clothes and hair.

Danny's about to head to the cafeteria for lunch when his chest goes cold. The feeling travels up his throat, chilling his tongue, and a puff of blue air seeps out of his mouth.

"Oh, come on." Danny groans. At least it's during lunch and not class time. If he's lucky, it'll be someone easy. Maybe then he can wrap up the fight quickly and actually have time to eat, rather than sneaking bites of his sandwich during art class.

Looking up and down the hall, he double-checks to make sure he's alone and transforms. Turning intangible, he shoots into the air. It's cloudy outside, the sky dull and grey, and drizzling steadily. If Danny remembers right, it's supposed to thunder later, which makes him sigh in disappointment. He doesn't mind thunderstorms. They can actually be kind of cool. But thunderstorms usually mean it's going to be cloudy all night, which means he won't be able to stargaze while he's out for his midnight flight.

But he shouldn't be worrying about that right now. He has to find whatever ghost set off his ghost sense. Danny swoops over the school, scanning the grounds. No one's outside today, because of the rain, and the football field is soaked. He sees nothing but growing puddles.

Looping around, he heads toward the city instead. He's gotten better at sensing ghosts, especially in a wider area, which sounds like a good thing, at first. Except that his ghost sense has never been good at actually pinpointing where the ghost is. So for Danny, a wider range means more places he has to look before he actually finds the damn thing, and he doesn't have all day.

He spends half an hour flying around, looking for the culprit, and comes up with nothing. Not even a speck of ectoplasm. It could be a friendly ghost just hanging around, but Danny doesn't feel right taking that chance. Not after what happened the last time he brushed off something strange and ghostly.

Technus turned Danny into one giant bruise that day. Let it be known that while bruises are usually a small thing, they are still a sign of internal bleeding, and a massive one that takes up half your back shouldn't be brushed off so easily. Danny found that out the hard way.

Frustrated and hungry, he circles back to Casper High and touches down on the roof, right next to the hatch that leads down into the gym.

For the longest time, Danny didn't even know there was a way onto the roof. He never actually uses it, choosing to fly up, but ever since he's found it, it's been one of his favourite spots at school. The hatch only exists for maintenance purposes and students aren't even allowed to touch the ladder that leads up to it.

Danny gives the grounds around the school another furtive glance. It doesn't feel right to give up on the ghost so soon. He knows they're close by. He can feel it. If he heads inside now, he'll just draw them into the school and endanger some of his classmates.

At least that's the excuse Danny tells himself as he lowers himself to the ground, crossing his legs. Better to wait a bit, rather than tempt fate.

Laying back, Danny folds his arms behind his head and stares up at the clouds. They aren't much to look at, but he's sure they're darker than before. A squat antenna tower cuts through the top of his view. It's a relic from a bygone era, back when Casper High had an AV club that tinkered with radios all day. It's ugly to look at, but the school never took it down.

Danny rolls onto his side so the tower is out of view, closing his eyes and letting the rain soak him. He's always more comfortable when it's cold. He might regret it later, when he changes back and finds his clothes damp, but for right now, it's nice. The warning bell hasn't gone off yet, so he has a few minutes to spare out here before he really has to go back inside.

Just as Danny's getting comfortable, his chest goes cold again, and a shadow falls over him. He opens his eyes to the smooth, gleaming skull of Walker. With a startled shout, Danny scrambles upright, scurrying toward the radio tower, and faces Walker. He raises his fists, lighting them up with ectoplasm.

"What are you doing here?" he asks. "I did all your stupid community service stuff, remember? My sentence is paid."

"Ten thousand years is a long time to shave off for a little bit of community cleanup," Walker drawls.

"Oh? That's what you call it?" Danny asks. Funny way to describe Walker siccing him on every ghostly with an overdue warrant. Danny can't remember the last time he got in so many fights in one week.

"You just can't seem to stay out of trouble, punk. Damaging another ghost's lair? That's a thousand years." Walker pulls an envelope out of his pocket and throws it at Danny. It only flutters a few feet, but Danny snatches it out of the air with his telekinesis and pulls it toward him.

Side-eyeing Walker, he tears the envelope open and pulls out the folded piece of paper inside. It's a formal police report, filed by Skulker three days ago, citing charges against Danny for property damage and endangering his afterlife.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Danny says. He floats forward and waves the report in Walker's face. "You mean all this time you've actually had a formal police system? And I could have filed criminal charges? That's so unfair."

Walker loses some of his composure, staring at Danny in bafflement. "That's what you care about?"

Danny tosses the report in the air. It stays floating by his shoulder, surrounded by a soft green glow. "Is there some kind of lair registry thing? Could I register Amity Park as my lair? You guys always tell me it is, but you keep attacking it! Doesn't that endanger my afterlife? Attack my lair too many times and I might just snap, right?"

Danny paces through the air, fretting. There are so many fights he could have avoided. Skulker is so going to get it the next time Danny sees him. This is such a cheap shot. He won't stand for it. It probably breaks so many unspoken ghost codes. They're all brothers in ghost crime, aren't they?

"Skulker's a fucking snitch," Danny says.

"Bad luck for you, punk. You've got another sentence to fill out." Walker grows bigger, looming over Danny, reaching out for him with a massive gloved hand.

"Wait!" Danny shouts, shooting out of Walker's reach. He really doesn't want to get in a fight right now. "This is all official, right? That means I can give my side, and it actually matters. It was purely self-defence!"

Walker doesn't have any lips to speak of, but his teeth clack together and his aura flares, expressing his interest. "Go on."

"It happened last week. I was heading to the medieval kingdom when Skulker came out of nowhere and attacked me. Gave me this." Danny zips down his jumpsuit and pulls it open, showing Walker his newest scar, the same one Dash saw. Skulker managed to hit Danny with a new flamethrower of his, scorching him from his chest down to his hip.

Thank the Infinite Realms for ghostly healing. Danny was only out of it for a few days rather than the months he could have been. A few sniffles to his mom, plus a concerned pout from Jazz, and he was home "sick" until he healed.

"I shot him back to defend myself. We were pretty close to his lair. A few stray shots must have hit it," Danny explains.

Walker gives Danny's scar a considering look, shrinking back down to his normal size. Taking the police report out of the air, Walker scans its contents again. After a moment, he tucks it back into the envelope, which he returns to his suit pocket.

"Don't think you're off the hook yet, punk. I'll be back," Walker says. Just like that, he's gone.

Danny sags in relief, dropping back to the ground. "I can't believe that actually worked," he says. Tipping his head back, he laughs, grinning up at the cloudy sky.

Something scuffs the ground behind him. Danny groans. "Come on, Walker, I told you it was self-defence. Don't you have to investigate that or something?"

He turns around, ready to give Walker a piece of his mind. Except it's not Walker. Across the roof stands Dash Baxter. And he's looking down at Danny's exposed chest, at the scar he saw on Fenton not even an hour earlier.

"Would you believe me if I said it's a birthmark?" Danny asks. Judging by the stricken expression on Dash's face, that's a no.

—

As soon as Dash enters the gym, he heads up the bleachers, toward the back wall. There's a ladder in the far corner of the gym that leads up onto the roof. Kwan once dared him to sneak up there during their free period. It's been Dash's favourite place at school ever since. Besides the football field, that is, but that's currently flooded. He doesn't want to get soaked up to his ankles in muddy water.

Dash climbs the ladder with ease, stopping once his head brushes the hatch. He bends over, going up one more rung, and jerks upward, slamming his shoulder against the hatch. The day Kwan gave him the dare, Dash discovered there wasn't actually a proper lock keeping the hatch shut. All it has is a simple latch on the other side. To get it open, you need a special tool to stick into the seam between the hatch and the frame, and you have to jimmy it around a little bit to get it open.

Or, you can do what Dash does, and bash into the hatch over and over again until the latch jiggles open on its own. It makes his shoulder sore, but it's easier than sneaking down into the boiler room and finding the stupid stick.

Dash squeezes through the hatch, closing it gently behind him so it doesn't make too much noise, and starts across the roof. His destination is a vent sticking out of the room, held up by metal supports. It curls out of the ground like a worm, bent in an S shape. The end extends out, pointing toward the edge of the roof. It's just high enough for Dash to sit comfortably beneath it and wide enough that it provides some cover from the drizzle.

Dash settles there, stretching his legs out, and leans back against the vent. He might have to check his jacket for grime later, probably give his hair a quick wash in the bathroom, but this is alright for now. It's a great place to think. Nobody ever comes here, so there's no one to interrupt him.

His hand falls to his chest. He presses against his ribs, trailing his fingers down, tracing the path of Danny's scar. He tries to imagine what it feels like. It would be rough, he thinks. And maybe a little dry. It would feel foreign against his fingertips.

It must be from Danny's accident. No one but his friends and family knows the full story, at least as far as Dash is aware. They know Danny was there the first week of school freshman year. He didn't make much of a lasting impression, and almost nobody knew his name except those he'd gone to middle school with. Then, over the weekend, something happened. One kid who was passing on the street said he saw flashing lights and heard Danny scream.

He was gone for two weeks, the peculiarity of his absence and the mystery of his accident spreading his name to the furthest corners of Casper High. The rumours cycled through the school five times over, getting a little more bizarre each time. He spilled some dangerous chemicals, he messed with his parent's weapons, his parents shot him on accident, his friends shot him on purpose.

By the time Danny returned to school, everyone was waiting with bated breath to find out the truth. Danny refused to tell. Neither Sam nor Tucker gave even a hint of what had happened that weekend. Jazz said she didn't even know the full story herself.

Everybody lost interest after that. Danny was back, he was fine, and he wasn't telling the story. Collectively, the school decided to move on. No one thought about who the accident might have affected Danny, physically or mentally. Dash is thinking about it now.

His older sister, a nurse, has told him a few things about what big scars like that do to a person, even years after they've healed. They can be painful and stiff, impeding movement. Sensitive to touch. Easy to hurt. He thinks about how many times he's given Danny a good punch to the stomach over the last few months.

Guilt swirls in his gut, for a moment. It's quickly replaced by anger. Dash scowled, punching his fist against the rooftop. It's so stupid. So what if Fenton got hurt over a year ago? He's obviously fine now. Dash has nothing to feel sorry for. Everything Danny gets is his own fault, anyway. He's the only one who ever fights back.

Danny doesn't seem to get it that Dash would let him go if he just stayed down for once. One good wailing to set him straight, to make sure he knows not to mess with Dash, and then they can dust their hands of each other and be done with it. But Danny's one of those people that keep getting back up no matter how many times he gets beaten down.

Can't he see he's only making things worse for himself? Can't he see that if he just stops and does what Dash wants, he won't get hurt anymore? Everyone sees it.

It pisses Dash off. If Danny's going to keep doing infuriating things like defending himself, then he deserves it. He can't just go around pissing people off and expect them not to do something about it, that's ridiculous. It's not Dash's fault. It's not.

Dash curls his hand into a fist, clenching it tightly. Bringing it up to his face, he rubs his eyes and lets out a tired sigh. He doesn't want to think about stuff like this. All he does is go round and round without making any progress.

Resting an arm on his knee, he lowers his forehead to his elbow and stares at his hand. When he curls his fingers, his skin pulls taut across his knuckles. They're still red from when he socked Danny in the jaw a couple days ago. Sticking his hand out, he holds it under the rain. The minuscule drops barely dampen his skin, but it's cold and refreshing. He rubs his thumb across his knuckles, as if that can wipe away the bruises.

When it doesn't work, he lets his hand drop and resigns himself to sombre silence. It's a good day for silence. Fewer people are out because of the rain, even though it's the middle of the day. The drops, more like a fine mist than actual rain, make no sound.

Something whooshes overhead, drawing Dash's gaze toward the sky. Noise from above typically means an impending ghost attack, but he only sees Phantom. The resident ghost hero is a bright spot against the dull sky. He hovers for a moment, a white sun, then flies in Dash's direction.

Dash opens his mouth, about to call out, but stops at the last second. Phantom looks tense, mouth set in a grim line. Dash doesn't want to interrupt whatever he's doing. He tips his head back, watching Phantom fly over the school, fully expecting the ghost to pass them by.

To Dash's surprise, Phantom touches down on the other side of the roof. Dash scrambles to his feet, searching for the threat he should be running from, but it's just him and Phantom out here. When Phantom lays down, Dash hesitates, dumbfounded.

Creeping forward, staying flush against the vent, Dash grips the supports holding it up. The metal bites into his fingers and sucks the heat from his palms, but he holds it like a lifeline. Phantom's whole deal is beating people until they stay down. Maybe Dash can talk to him about it. Sliding his feet forward, Dash takes a step out from his cover, ready to talk to his hero.

The ground behind Phantom ripples, a tall white figure rising up out of the room. Dash scrambles back out of view, peeking around the vent to see.

He's never seen this ghost before. They're dressed completely in white, barring a black fedora, and have a skull for a head. Dash's first thought is that this is one of Phantom's allies. Those hopes are dashed away when Phantom sees the ghost and leaps away, immediately poising to attack.

It looks like Dash is getting a front-row seat to a ghost fight. Which is all kinds of cool, but also dangerous.

The only way off the roof is the hatch, which sits between Phantom and his opponent. There used to be a ladder crawling up the back wall, but it got damaged during a ghost attack a couple months ago and hasn't been fixed. With no escape route, Dash is forced to hunker down and watch.

It doesn't go how he thought it would. Phantom and the other ghost's—Walker's—voices carry easily across the roof. Dash hears everything they say, although none of it makes sense to him. Who knew dead people had a formal police network and criminal system? Who knew Phantom was a criminal?

Actually, that idea isn't so far-fetched. The more Dash thinks about it, the more sense it makes. Phantom doesn't act like other ghosts. He probably breaks a whole bunch of laws. The ghosts that attack the city are probably bounty hunters! That weird metal ghost is always shouting about capturing and hunting Phantom. Dash is willing to bet his football career on there being a bounty on Phantom's head.

He can't wait to tell Kwan all about this new, fascinating revelation.

Dash watches, rapt, absorbing every word. Paulina's going to be so jealous when she hears Dash got so close to Phantom. Especially with the few harmless embellishments he's going to add. She will be livid to know Dash spent the whole lunch hour hanging out with Phantom on the roof.

"It was purely self-defence!" Phantom shouts.

Dash frowns. There goes his criminal theory. This Walker guy reminds him a little of Tetslaff. Strict, no-nonsense, all about authority. Which means if you do something wrong, you don't get to defend yourself, you take your punishment and do better next time.

Walker also has that stern, "I want to execute you," look. Although that might just be the skull for a head.

Walker doesn't hang around for much longer after that. Phantom shows him an injury as evidence of his innocence, Walker threatens Phantom one last time, and pretty soon Dash and Phantom are alone again.

Seeing his chance, Dash moves out of hiding. As he steps forward, his belt loop catches on an exposed screw on the vent supports. Dash's feet nearly slip out from under him. He throws out his arms, quickly regaining his balance, and looks back to Phantom, hoping he hasn't scared the hero off.

Phantom turns, an exasperated expression on his face, and glares in Dash's direction. The glare slips away almost instantly. Phantom pales, his eyes going wide. Dash doesn't pay attention to any of that. All his focus is on Phantom's chest and the familiar scar that cuts across it.

—

Danny and Dash stare at each other for a long, long moment. Distantly, they can hear the warning bell ring, marking the end of the lunch hour, but neither of them reacts. Danny watches Dash warily, afraid of how he's going to react. Dash looks back with increasing dread, afraid of what he believes is true.

"Fenton?" Dash asks.

Danny stiffens. "Fenton?" He laughs weakly. "You mean that loser kid in your year? Is he here? I don't see him."

Danny makes a show of looking around the roof, pulling his jumpsuit zipper back up as he does. His gaze flicks down to the front of the school, the warning bell finally registering in his ears. Lifting into the air, Danny backs away.

"Sounds like you need to get back to class, citizen," he declares in a deep voice.

"Fenton, wait!" Dash says. He lurches forward a few steps, reaching out, then pulls back. Danny doesn't move. They're at a standstill. Neither of them really wants to be there, but neither of them wants to leave, either. They can't leave.

Danny needs to know Dash won't spread his secret. And if he will, then Danny needs to be prepared. As much as he wants to flee and pretend this never happened, he can't let Dash out of his sight until he knows what's going to happen next. Danny's mind is in overdrive trying to come up with every possible scenario.

Before Danny can stop him, Dash lunges for the rooftop hatch. Defying all logic, he makes it back to the cafeteria first. Dash clambers up on a table, drawing everyone's attention and shouts for all to hear, "Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom!" It doesn't take long for word to get back to the G.I.W. Wasting no time, they rush over to Casper High and detain Danny for being a class five ecto-entity in breach of the American Ecto Act and take him away. They experiment on him for the rest of his life.

Or, Dash recognizes Danny for the freak he is. His fear quickly turns to anger, and he lunges. Dash may be human, but Danny can only do so much to stop him without actively hurting him. Dash beats him to a pulp, calls the G.I.W., and leaves Danny on the steps of Casper High for them to find. They take Danny away for being an inhuman abomination and experiment on him for the rest of his life.

Or, Dash laughs it off. He claps Danny on the shoulder and agrees that Fenton is such a loser. They part ways amicably, an unspoken agreement to never speak of this again. Until Dash spills the secret to Kwan, who tells Star, who tells Paulina, who tells everyone. Eventually, word gets back to the G.I.W. They lock Danny up in evil ghost jail. And experiment on him for the rest of his life.

Logically, not every possible outcome ends with Danny being taken prisoner by the G.I.W., becoming an unwilling participant in their sick experiments. But human brains really suck at being logical when you're two seconds from panicking.

Dash's mind, on the other hand, is completely blank. Rather than running a mile a minute, his thoughts have come to a screeching halt. They laugh at him from afar, dangling just out of reach, and leave him to flounder in silently. He doesn't know what to say. He doesn't know how to move. Danny Fenton is Danny Phantom and he isn't prepared to handle that information. Fenton can't be Phantom. Fenton is infuriating. Fenton is a flea, a temporary nuisance in the grand scene of Dash's life. Fenton is a weak nobody who's only good at getting under Dash's skin.

Phantom, on the other hand, is Dash's idol. He's everything Fenton isn't and then some. Dash stares at Phantom right now and feels lost

Their staring contest drags on with no clear winner in sight. Thunder rumbles in the distance. The sky is a little darker now, and it won't be long before the clouds open up and drown Amity in a torrent of rainfall. It won't matter much for the two boys on the roof, though. They've been out here too long, standing silence, and are already soaked. It makes no difference to them as the rain grows from a drizzle, to a light shower, to a downpour in a matter of minutes.

Lightning flashes, followed a few seconds later by a great crash of thunder. Dash flinches, startled by the sound, and breaks eye contact first.

"Fenton," Dash says, advancing.

"Don't."

"Come on, I just–"

"I said leave it."

"Why are you being so–"

"Dash!" Danny bellows. His voice cracks like thunder, a trace of his ghostly wail rattling the rooftop, and is lost in the storm. Eyes flaring, he flies forward. Halfway to Dash, he jerks to a stop. He doesn't know what he will do once Dash is right in front of him. There's a burning feeling building in his chest that tells him it whatever it is, it won't be good.

Crying out in frustration, Danny turns away. He drops to the roof, curling over, and presses his hands against his ears so he can't hear Dash calling out to him. Of all the people that could have found out. Out of everyone, in all of Amity Park, it has to be Dash Baxter. It has to be the one human Danny is truly afraid of.

Dash Baxter is nothing like the G.I.W. They're a faceless mass of interchangeable bodies hiding behind the same suits and sunglasses. The G.I.W., as a whole, are threatening. Dash, to Danny, is downright terrifying on his own.

Danny aches just thinking about him. As a halfa, his body heals fast, but his mind was never granted such luxuries. If you keep hitting someone in the same place over and over, one day the bruise will sink so much deeper than skin. Danny is more bruise than boy, at this point. Pressing his head against his knees, he drags his hands through his hair, trying to stay calm.

Lightning flashes in the corner of his eyes. Rolling thunder booms through the air a second later. In the silence that follows, filled only by the staccato beat of the rain, he hears Dash's approaching footsteps.

"Go away, Dash," Danny croaks. He doesn't even care anymore. Let Dash do whatever he wants, tell the whole world who he is.

Dash stops a couple feet behind Danny. He looks down at his hero, huddled on the roof, and a strange feeling fills him. He refuses to regret anything he's ever done to Fenton, but... he wants to help. Because that's what Phantom does.

"No," Dash says.

Danny raises his head, hands dropping, and sneers over his shoulder. "No?"

Dash lifts his chin and nods, refusing to budge. "No."

Danny rakes his gaze over Dash, looking him up and down, and scoffs.

"I won't tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about," Dash continues.

Danny laughs, cold and derisive. "That's what you think this is about? I can't believe this."

Dash crosses his arms, hiding his confusion behind his scowl. "You're not worried about that?"

"I was," Danny amends. "For about two seconds. Look, Dash, I don't want to... I don't know. I just don't want to."

"That's kind of stupid, Fenton. I could always just beat it out of you."

"You don't even know what it is!" Danny stands up and spins to face Dash. He reaches out, hands curled together, and throttles the open air. "Just leave me alone!"

"No." Dash takes a step forward, pushing Danny's hands down.

"Stop saying that!"

Dash steps forward again, peering down at Danny. They're practically nose to nose. "No," he hisses.

"I swear to god, the Infinite Realms, and the fucking Box Ghost, if you don't back. Off–"

Danny's hair stands on end, static shocks jump through it. Faster than Dash can react, Danny lunges forward, tackling him onto the roof hatch. An eardrum-shattering bang bursts through the air as lightning strikes the old radio tower. The excess electricity, searching for the nearest conductor, shoots toward the metal hatch currently acting as Dash's backrest.

Dash has a second to panic before the world goes cold around him. He drops through the roof into the gym, back slamming against the top row of bleachers, and rolls off the step.

Danny falls through the ceiling a second later, and the electricity comes with him. It stretches between Danny's back and the metal hatch, crackling and sizzling. Danny screams, curling in, aura turning blue. A burst of cold air pushes outward and suddenly everything around Danny is coated in ice. The electricity surges across the ice, springing into a fuse box on the wall behind Danny.

Every light in the gym bursts, sparks raining down, plunging the vast, empty room into darkness. Dash pulls himself up, rising onto trembling legs, and looks around. A few final sparks fall from the ceiling, fizzling out before they reach the floor. He can't see a single shred of light, not even under the doors on the other side of the gym.

The whole school is blacked out.

"Fenton," Dash whispers. He turns, too fast, and trips on the bench behind him. Careening forward,  his arms windmill as he tries to catch himself. He hits something cold, smacking his chin against it, and narrowly misses biting his tongue in half.

Dash groans, rubbing his jaw, and carefully pulls himself up. His hands and knees slip on the ice. Now that his eyes are adjusting, he can see it gives off a slight light. Not enough to truly see by, but enough that he can find Danny's silhouette, slumped and human, at the ice's epicentre. He crawls forward and reaches out. A small static jump jumps from Danny's hair to Dash, making him flinch back.

Rubbing his finger, Dash shifts so that he's sitting. Carefully, he reaches out and taps Danny's head with his foot.

"Yo, Fenton," Dash whispers. It feels criminal to break the silence. "You dead? More dead?"

Danny mumbles something. His shoulders shift. His arm wiggles out from under him and grabs Dash's foot, shoving it away. He raises his head and glares at Dash, not that Dash can actually see it in this light.

"'M fine," Danny mutters.

Dash scoots back, giving Danny space, and strains his eyes, trying to see what Danny is doing. But it's too dark, so he gives up and settles against the wall.

Danny, coming to the same realization as Dash, pushes himself up with slow, painstaking movements. He huffs, thumps his back against the wall, and gets comfortable.

"You just got struck by lightning," Dash says.

"I got struck by indirect lightning," Danny corrects. His voice rough and his throat burns when he swallows. There's no blood on his tongue, though, so that's a bonus.

"And you're fine?"

"It shorts out my powers for a little bit, but it doesn't hurt much."

"You're lying."

"You don't know that!"

"Your voice does this wobbly thing when you lie. You're such a bad liar, Fenton."

Danny grumbles under his breath. "Why were you even on the roof in the first place?"

"It doesn't matter," Dash snaps defensively.

"Whatever."

They fall silent again. The school is supposed to have emergency lights for this kind of situation, but they don't appear to be working. Dash hopes the come on soon. He doesn't want to be stuck in here with Fenton. If he were really determined, he could try and feel his way down the bleachers, but he doesn't want to risk a fall.

Danny, caught on a similar vein of thinking, doesn't move either.

The silence is suffocating. It stretches between them, a vast chasm filled to the brim with repressed aggression. Dash can only take it for so long.

"How do you do it?" he blurts the question out after only a minute of silence.

"What?"

"The ghosts. They keep coming back, no matter how much you beat them down. How do you do it?"

Danny considers the question. Despite how stupid Dash is, he's not totally an idiot, and Danny can tell there's some hidden meaning in what he's asking. Danny's answer should be obvious. He does it because he needs to. Somebody has to keep Amity Park safe. Considering this whole mess is technically Danny's fault in the first place, he feels a little responsible for it and takes it into his own hands.

The wording throws Danny off. He doesn't beat his enemies down, he stops them. Dash makes it sound brutal, like a schoolyard fistfight.

"Dash." Danny's voice is strained. "Do you think you're like me? Phantom me, I mean."

He gets no answer.

"I swear, if you just nodded or something, I'm gonna punch you in the face."

"Why do you care?" Dash sounds defensive again.

Danny breathes in through his nose, a calming action, and exhales. "Do you think you're some kind of hero or something for beating people up?"

"You're the one who's always begging for it."

"I don't–" Danny shakes his head. He takes another deep breath. "You're serious? One hundred percent?"

Dash's silence is all the answer Danny needs.

"Oh my– wow. Dash. Just, wow. You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

"Hey, you don't get to say that. You don't know a damn thing about me!"

"I know you get your kicks out of beating the hell out of me. Because that's so damn heroic of you, isn't it? You are not a hero, okay? You're the worst."

"Screw you, Fenton! You don't get to talk shit about me like that. You're the one who's always getting in my way. Maybe if you just shut your mouth next time, I wouldn't have to shut it for you!"

"You know what, Dash? No. Fuck you!" Danny reaches into the darkness, searching, and latches on to the first piece of Dash he finds. He yanks Dash forward. "You know what the worst part about going to this school is? It's you. I'm afraid to come to school because I know you'll be here, waiting for me, ready to knock another took out. And I fight ghosts. Every day. I beat the ghost king. I've bent freaking reality. I've been electrocuted, shot, turned to goo, and you are still the worst thing that's ever happened to me! You're the villain, Dash!"

Dash grabs Danny's wrists. Rising to his feet, he drags them both upright. "You've got a big mouth for someone who's such a wuss."

The emergency lights finally snap on. They both wince, the sudden light blinding them, but Danny recovers faster. He swings his fist and punches Dash square in the face, breaking his nose. Dash's head snaps back with a spurt of blood. He stumbles back, feet sleeping on the ice, and clutches his face.

"What the hell!" he shouts, staring at the blood on his hand.

"Can't take a punch, Dash?" Danny sneers. He only has a second to prepare himself before Dash lunges. Confidence abandoning him, a primal fear rising up instead, Danny turns and sprints.

"I'm gonna kill you, Fenton!"

Danny believes him. On instinct, he leaps into the air, the fastest route of escape, and remembers too late that he can't fly right now. "Shit!" he shouts, flailing as he falls over the bleachers, the ground rapidly approaching. Panic shoots through him. He's going to land wrong and break his leg and then he won't be able to run, and catch will catch him, and he's definitely going to kill Danny this time.

The thought swells up in his head, suffocating any logical notions.

"Fenton!" Dash's voice, squeaky and panicked, rings out through the gym. It snaps Danny out of his spiralling thoughts long enough to remember he's a superhero, damn it, he knows how to talk a fall.

Just before he hits the bleachers, Danny kicks out, pushing himself off one of the benches. It jolts his leg and sends painful shivers radiating up the limb, but does the job well. He starts falling forward instead, rather than right down, barely missing the rest of the stairs. Leaning into the fall, he hits the ground shoulder first and rolls, letting the momentum bleed out. It's not his best recovery, and his shoulder and leg throb painfully, but nothing's broken.

Danny lays splayed out in the middle of the gym floor, panting. Distantly, he hears Dash's thundering steps as he books it down the stairs. He should get up and run while he can. But Danny's shaking all over and he thinks, if he were to stand up right now, he would just fall over. His body still aches from the brief electrocution.

"Fenton!" Dash says, his head popping into view above Danny. He looks conflicted, face red and angry, but honest worry in his eyes, like he can't decide if he should be glad Danny didn't become a pile of broken limbs on the bleacher, or if he should go ahead and break Danny himself.

And he can't decide. Dash is livid. Danny broke his damn nose! Dash wants to throttle him for that. But when he saw Danny falling over the stairs, one thought screamed in his head: he didn't want to watch Fenton die. For a moment, it overrode his anger with genuine concern. Now that he knows Danny is okay, though, that anger is quickly taking over again.

Danny, seeing Dash's shaking fists, thinks he knows an inkling of what's going through Dash's head right now. He pushes himself back, just in case Dash decides to stop on him. He's still too shaky to stand up right now.

Dash clenches his fists, then releases them, eyes closing. "What the hell is your problem, Fenton?" His voice is hollow.

Danny doesn't even dare to breathe.

Dash grits his teeth. "Fine, whatever, I don't care. I'm going to the nurse." He turns and heads for the doors.

Danny holds his breath until Dash leaves.

—

Tetslaff finds Danny in the gym. "Fenton?" she says, frowning in confusion. "What are you doing here? The students were all sent home."

Danny blinks at her slowly. "What?"

"You gonna learn in the dark?" Tetslaff holds the door open wider and jerks her thumb toward the hall. "Get out of here. No wonder Lancer was getting his panties in a twist, had no idea where you were."

"Oh. Sorry." Danny pushes himself up, wobbling a little, and shuffles toward Tetslaff. "No one was looking for me?"

"Your friends said you went home. Stomach bug." Tetslaff's eyes narrow. "Your sister vouched for you."

Danny freezes, hugging himself tightly. "Really? That's weird." He gives Tetslaff a shaky smile.

"You look like hell, Fenton. Go home. I won't give you detention, this time."

"Thanks," Danny mumbles. Once he's out of the gym, the urge to get out of there as fast as possible seizes him. He sprints down the hall, ignoring Tetslaff's half-hearted shout of, "No running!" and doesn't stop until he reaches the front doors, throwing them open.

Lightning flashes over the city, blinding him. He winces, ducking his head, raising an arm against the rain. He almost forgot about the thunderstorm. Glancing left, he scans the student parking lot.  All he sees is an obnoxious yellow Humvee, no sign of Jazz's little Prius. She must have gone home with everyone else, thinking Danny was already long gone taking care of a ghost. He wishes he had been.

With no other option, Danny starts the walk home. The rain drenches him immediately, plastering his hair against his forehead. His shirt clings to his chest and jeans feel heavy and uncomfortable. Halfway down the block, he realizes he left his backpack at school. There's a history paper he needs to work on. Danny shakes his head and keeps walking. He can sneak back in later tonight when his powers are working again. His sleep schedule this week is already pretty much non-existent. What does one more all-night matter?

At the corner of the block, as Danny's waiting for the crosswalk light to come on, a vehicle pulls up on his left and honks. It's the Humvee from the school parking lot. Confused, Danny stares, unmoving. The window rolls down.

Dash glares at him from the driver's seat. "Are you getting in or not?" he asks.

"I– what?"

"I swear you're deaf sometimes. Are. You. Getting. In. Or would you rather walk home in this?" Dash drums his fingers on the steering wheel. "Hurry up, the rain's getting in!"

Danny scrambles forward, throwing the door open and slipping inside. The seat's a little wet, but it's infinitely better than being outside. Almost, Danny thinks, side-eyeing Dash. Neither of them says anything as he pulls up to the lights, which are red now.

Danny pushes his hair out of his face, slicking it back. The style's not half-bad. At least, he likes how it looks in Dash's side mirror. The light ahead of them turns green.

"Seatbelt," Dash says.

"Oh, yeah." Danny hurries to pull it on, clicking it in place. It rests a bit too high against his neck, rubbing uncomfortably below his jaw. "Dash–" he starts.

"Look–" Dash says at the same time. They both cut themselves off, sharing a glance. Danny motions for Dash to continues. "Look. I don't like you, Fenton. I guess I got issues and stuff, whatever, that's none of your business. But you're also a hero, and it'd be pretty stupid of me to beat up a hero."

"It's stupid of you to beat up anyone."

"Can you just, ugh." Dash groans. "I'm trying to apologize to you, moron."

"Well, you suck at it."

Dash seethes, banging his head against the steering wheel.

"Hey, watch the road!" Danny yelps, reaching out to grab the wheel.

Dash slaps his hand away. "Shut up, I know how to drive. Just, I'm sorry, okay?"

Danny frowns. A half-hearted apology doesn't make anything okay. But, at the moment, it's more than anything he's ever expected from Dash, so he'll take it. For now. "Fine."

"Good."

They don't say anything for the rest of the ride, suffering each other's presence until Dash pulls up in front of Fenton Works. Danny has the door open before the car reaches a complete stop, practically throwing himself to the sidewalk. He runs up the front path and slips inside without looking back.

"Danny!" Jazz calls from the living room. She stands up, approaching. "You're soaking wet. Where were you? What happened?"

Danny throws himself into Jazz's arms and cries.

—

Dash sits on the Fenton's curb for a minute before driving off. His house is in the completely opposite direction and now he has to head back toward the school. After going to the nurse, who had thankfully still been in the building, and getting his nose fixed up, Dash's only desire was to head home and immerse himself in video games.

Picking Danny up was a total fluke. He just looked so pathetic, trudging through the rain, and Dash couldn't leave him like that. The apology had been unexpected. Dash didn't realize he meant it until the words left his lips. He's still pissed at Danny for breaking his nose, but he didn't hit back, so that was a step up.

Dash sinks into his seat, staring at how the city lights glitter in the rain. Fenton still sucks. In fact, he sucks even worse now for actually making Dash feel bad about all the bullying. He's got a lot of thinking to do. Nothing he says or does will always what he's already said and done, but apologizing was a good way to start.

[zrtranscripts]

Season 9, Mission 1: Cry For Help

Security breach detected

~

[alarm blares, crowd of soldiers rushes around in response]

GENERAL BAKARI: [over intercom] Dispatch is green, green, green. I repeat, this is General Bakari reporting from guard station 39. Security breach detected on my monitor. Access violation at east loading hangar. Full response dispatch is green, green, green.

[gate slams, crowd noise dissipates, alarm continues, GENERAL BAKARI approaches 555]

Sorry about the din, soldier. Hell of an alarm on the base. I know you're wondering why I asked you here. It's 555, isn't it? That nickname of yours. After your service number, I assume. 639555 is a bit of a mouthful.

I've noticed you're a quiet one, soldier. Always liked that about you. We haven't spoken much, but I haven't forgotten saving your squad from those mountain bandits. You owe me, and everyone says you're the honorable type. I need a favor. I want you to take something to the transmitter tower on the west side of Red Scorpion base. It's a portable data drive. I'll explain more when you're en route.

You know what security's like in the complex, soldier. If anyone gets caught out of place, it's shoot first, shoot second. Neither of us is cleared to access the tower, so this has to be done on the QT. I've set off a fake alarm to keep all the guards busy on the other side of Red Scorpion base. I'd go myself, 555, but I'm an old man with a bad leg, and the fake alert can't last.

I've reviewed your performance logs. You're faster than me. This is essential business, soldier. Trust me, lives are on the line. Head down that corridor toward the west side hangar door. I'll be on your comms set guiding you. We have to be fast, before someone clocks the false alarm. Run!

~

[alarm blares, drone whirs]

GENERAL BAKARI: Don't worry about the camera drone overhead, 555. I've commandeered it so I can follow you. Keep going through the storage bay past the metal crates. [running footsteps] Duck behind the crates, quickly!

FIRST SOLDIER: Three more storage bays to go.

SECOND SOLDIER: [speaks foreign language]

THIRD SOLDIER: Keep those eyes open, people.

GENERAL BAKARI: Six soldiers across the bay from you. Must be a stray patrol in the area. [a soldier whistles, running footsteps fade away] They're moving on. Keep going straight, soldier, quick sharp.

You know, 555, I'd rather not be doing this. Breaking the rules. Before I was here, I was in the UK for a long time. Had children there, of sorts. Jane and Tom. Adopted them after their parents died. I did my best to rear them. There was a lot of trial and error, I admit. They turned out difficult, disruptive. Got me in trouble with a local government, left me needing to flee the country.

This place seemed like the perfect escape. Isolated, secure, nothing unauthorized in or out. A bastion of routine willing to take an old soldier. At least, willing to take one with knowledge of certain UK research programs.

[sighs] It's been a sanctuary. I wish I could leave it undisturbed, but there's something here that needs to get out into the world. The thumb drive I've given you holds an encrypted message. Link it to the base's comm tower and the message will upload and send. The tower's just beyond the west hangar door outside the compound, but once you're there...

[gates rattle shut]

Damn! All the base exits are locking down. New orders from the head of security. The west hangar's been secured, 555. We need an alternative route. Stay calm! There's a fire exit near your position, needs to be locked manually. You can reach it before anyone else. Opens to the wrong part of the base. No choice. Down the stairs on your right, run!

~

[gate rattles open, alarm fades]

GENERAL BAKARI: That's it, soldier, you're out of the main compound and into the open. I've got my drone hovering nearby. Hell of a view, isn't it? Sand stretching off in every direction. It's easy to forget how alone we are out here, just a fence around a few gray buildings, surrounded by miles of empty nothing.

SOLDIER: Over here!

GENERAL BAKARI: Uh-oh.

SOLDIER: This way.

GENERAL BAKARI: That sounds like... Let me check my security feeds. Damn! Using the fire door triggered an automatic fire alert. The base knows someone's active in that area. Patrols are honing in. Look at that big greenhouse on your left, soldier. Guards are coming from that way. Turn right, 555. See the field of solar panels? Damn bright, aren't they? Reflecting sunlight like flares. Head towards them. The glare'll keep anyone from making visual contact. That's it, keep your eyes on the ground. There's dozens of those panels. Get lost in them.

Marvelous things, solar cells. Had to learn their workings to help Thomas with his homework once. Poor boy. Good at taking orders, but could be slow sometimes. Often ran afoul of bullies, needed someone to look after him.

SOLDIER: Triple check the area. Sweep for movement.

GENERAL BAKARI: The guards are searching the area you just left. Two squads. Stay low. If you can sneak across the solar field, the tower is nearby. [exosuits whir] Hell! The troops are using motion trackers. They've detected you. And those are fire team mechs, fully powered exosuits with heavy gun turrets. They're breaking out the anti-zom gear. That's not good.

It's okay, 555. One thing I learned from children: always be ready to improvise. Cut northeast across the solar field toward the stellar observatory. You know, the building that looks like a golf ball on its tee? You can lose the soldiers there. They won't fire on you in the panels. Go!

~

GENERAL BAKARI: That's it, soldier. You're in the observatory foyer. You'll see a steel staircase leading up to a second floor balcony. Take it now. [footsteps on stairs] They won't be able to fit the exosuits through the observatory entrance. You know how strict Red Scorpion base is about protecting equipment. That just leaves the troops on foot. [soldiers shout]

All right, 555. You've crested the stairwell. The troops are crowding through the entrance behind you. Throw a grenade. Aim it for the middle of the stairs. Trust me, do it! [grenade pin clinks, grenade explodes, soldiers scream, stairs shatter] Good job! The explosion scrapped the stairs. The soldiers are scattering. That'll buy time. Head along the balcony through the double doors ahead.

[doors open and close] I've had to pull my drone back, 555. The soldiers might have noticed it. It's funny, most of them don't even know what they're really protecting here, just following orders. You should be in a large domed room with a mounted telescope in the middle. Go to the leftmost control panel and hit the green switches. [switches click] The switches will open up the observatory dome. [walls roll open] Head to the seam where the dome walls are parting.

SOLDIER: Stop them! [other soldiers shout]

GENERAL BAKARI: Damn! The guards found another stairwell. Get right up to the opening, 555, and look down over the edge. You'll see the observatory building beneath you. There's a metal maintenance gantry wrapped around it. Jump down onto the gantry, go! [boots clatter on gantry] You're down, good. The gantry spirals around the building. Follow it to the ground. You'll end up a short way north of the transmitter tower. The soldiers have reached the telescope room. They'll be coming down after you. Get down the gantry, then bolt south. You'll see the tower. Fast as you can, go!

~

GENERAL BAKARI: I've got you on camera, soldier. You're nearly there. See the transmitter up ahead? Looks like a huge radio antenna, doesn't it? You've performed incredibly today, 555. I want you to know this was essential. We are reaching out for help. Red Scorpion base is keeping secrets that must get out.

All right, you're at the tower. There's a touch screen on its base. Plug in the thumb drive, then hit upload. [computer beeps] You're probably wondering where this message is going, 555. I admit I'd rather not be reaching out to the UK, but I don't have anywhere else to turn.

It was my father who first got me into the service. He taught me what it means to be a soldier. You've got to have a code. Country, honor, family, hope. A soldier fights for all these things with whatever means they have. Damn fool wouldn't give up his cigars. Cancer got him, throat and lungs. Pneumonia finished him off. The way he just withered... He wouldn't have been proud. He didn't go out in uniform

[computer beeps] Ah, message uploading. It'll take a few minutes to send. Don't worry, soldier, I have an extraction planned for you. [soldiers shout, fire guns] The guards are catching up. Head to the southeast corner of the perimeter fence, fast as you can. I can get you out from there. Run!

~

GENERAL BAKARI: That's the way, 555. Keep following the barbed wire fence straight forward. I have a lot of respect for you, 555. You do your uniform proud. It means something special, a uniform. My father taught me that. It means being part of a whole greater than yourself, joining others to be strong enough to serve. You've served well, soldier, but I couldn't let them catch you near the transmitter. They might have found the message.

[over intercom] Attention, this is General Bakari, level three security adjunct. Emergency update to follow.

[over headset] I hope you understand, 555. Once the message is broadcast, the drive will wipe the data logs. Your mission is complete, and that's what really matters.

[over intercom] Source of security breach confirmed as soldier 63955, currently at perimeter fence southeast corner. Target is absconding with base secrets.

[alarm blares, soldiers shout]

[over headset] Put the gun down, soldier. You don't want to fight your own. It's okay to run, it'll look more convincing. I know this is a hard pill to swallow, but you're going out a hero. That message could save countless lives. We may not have ended on good terms, especially Janine and me, but I know the De Lucas well. They won't turn down a cry for help when there are innocents at stake.

[over intercom] 63955 is confirmed armed and extremely dangerous. Terminate on sight.

[over headset] That corner's a dead end, 555. Nowhere to go. I salute you, soldier. You've done our countries proud.

[armed patrol approaches]

SOLDIER: Open fire.

[gunfire]

GENERAL BAKARI: [very faint, over intercom] This is Bakari. Target down. Security breach resolved. All troops return to patrol positions. Repeat, return to patrol positions.

AUTOMATED VOICE: Data upload complete. Message tag: to Abel Township. Beginning transmission. Beginning transmission. Beginning transmission...

~