#duncan macready

[fallout-drabbles-n-stuff]

I feel like X6-88 is the embodiment of having “scary dog privilege” when he’s around and Macready- despite brandishing a gun- is the exact opposite of that.

[vlad-theimplier]

WIP Wednesday: Custos Custodium

In which Jensen and the Task Force take on Sheppard in Dubai. I rearranged some lines to give a bit of characterization to anyone but Jensen and MacReady (who have plenty), and to make the tactical briefing a little meatier. Apparently, one of the divergence points between our world and the world of Deus Ex is that 10mm caught on over 9mm, but we know NATO exists and still prefers its familiar cartridges.

Anyway, Jensen does actually like some of his coworkers. Read all about it at https://archiveofourown.org/works/55686901/chapters/141357007

“Listen up, all of you!” Miller said in commanding tones. “We’ve finally got a lead on this man, an arms dealer goes by Sheppard.”

Jensen’s eyes widened behind his shades as the name registered with him. This was the bastard who’d escaped their grasp in Detroit—he damn well wasn’t getting away this time. John “Sheppard” Trent, 42, looked the way he remembered from Detroit, anonymous but mean. And as if Jensen needed another bone to pick with the man, Miller added a nugget of new intel: “He’s ex-Belltower. One of the Special Forces commanders who disappeared during the Incident.”

“And he’s come out of hiding?” MacReady asked. “That cannot be good.”

“It’s not. He’s selling weapons and military-grade augments to terrorists.” Miller swiped at the screen to reveal an Indian man with swept-back hair, stubble, and a haunted look around the eyes. “This is Arun Singh, the undercover agent who lured Sheppard out of his hole. Best UC Interpol’s got. For three years he’s worked to get us in tight with the Jinn, an Iraqi smuggling cartel that’s infected the Eastern Hemisphere like a plague. Last week, our arms dealer sent a message to the Jinn, offering to sell them a shit-load of black-market merchandise dirt cheap. They told Singh to handle the buy.”

A woman’s voice came over comms in a German accent, overriding MacReady’s scoff. “They’re not going to like it when Interpol disrupts their party. Is Singh’s cover really that good?” Dietrich, Jensen realized, looking at the screen. And she was worried about the right things.

“It is right now,” Miller answered. “We need to keep it that way.” He swiped again at the screen to show a sprawling but incomplete edifice, jutting out of the sea in graceful curves of steel and white concrete marred by tarps and scaffolding. An inset proclaimed it the “Desert Jewel.” “This is where the deal’s going down: a half-finished high-rise hotel that’s been abandoned ever since the incident. It is not a pretty picture inside.”

“Let me guess.” MacReady, of course. Mouthy bastard. “Most of the laborers were augmented with heavy-duty industrial rigs. So when the Incident hit and they all went schizo, things got gruesome real fast.” He stared at Jensen. Jensen stared back, curling his lip deliberately.

Miller nodded. “And no one except for some homeless junkies has been inside the place ever since.”

“So what’s the plan, Director?” Jensen asked.

“Singh’s meeting Sheppard on the ground floor, inside the hotel’s main atrium. He’s sent the bulk of his Jinn crew to the penthouse levels to secure a vantage point. I want MacReady’s team to take up positions overlooking the atrium and make the arrest. Dietrich, put the SAW and the marksmen on this little artificial island section here, across the lagoon from the atrium, where you can suppress and snipe as needed. Frost, you’re in reserve, up on the roof just back from the atrium. Rig ropes for descent. Jensen, you’re going in solo from the penthouse.”

Suited him fine. “My objectives?”

“Keep the Jinn from joining the party. As far as we can tell, only one route connects the atrium to the penthouse level—a halfway-decent elevator shaft here.” Miller swiped again, and a wireframe schematic popped up insertion points and the elevator in question. “I want you to block access to it.”

“Fine. Just cut me loose. If anyone spots me… I assume non-lethal is preferred? Doubt I’ll have time to cuff ’em, but Singh’s cover will be stronger if he’s not the only one still breathing when this is done.”

Miller nodded approvingly, but MacReady couldn’t resist a jab. “And if anything does happen to him, you’ll be the one telling his wife. After you get out of the hospital, of course.”

Jensen ignored him. So did Miller. “One last thing,” he said. “Singh told us the Jinn are using some kind of portable wi-fi device to boost communications. It could pick up anything he sends our way. He’s got a better chance of maintaining cover if you disable it, but if it comes to it, your number one priority is keeping the Jinn out of that atrium.”

“I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Good. Any questions?”

Lieutenant Frost chimed in. “Sir. Director. Why is this our op? Not that I mind—we’re all itching to mix it up—but Station Muscat is practically next-door.”

“Muscat’s resources are occupied elsewhere. We were the closest station with the manpower for an op this size. We did get the intel on this mission at the very last minute, no fault of Singh’s, so we’re all scrambling a little. Sheppard has stayed ahead of the Task Force for so long by pulling exactly this kind of stunt, on the rare occasions he shows his face at all. It’s our job to make sure it doesn’t work this time.”

“Aye aye, sir.” Frost took the answer as the gentle reprimand it was meant to be, and Jensen once again admired Miller’s leadership acumen. There were no further questions. The agents and soldiers turned to the briefing screens and reviewed the scant intelligence they’d received, or busied themselves checking their weapons and armor, as the trio of VTOLs sped onwards.

According to the map, they were coming in over the Persian Gulf a few hours later when Miller spoke up once more: “Ears here.” He checked the screen to make sure the other two teams were looking. “A new wrinkle has arisen to keep us on our toes. Sandstorm coming up out of the southwest, straight from the desert. It’ll be barreling down our asses—we can’t afford to make mistakes. Our pilots will keep us up-to-date on the storm’s progress. The window’s tight, but all signs indicate the deal is on. As you were.”

Silence descended once more. The indicators for their birds crept towards Dubai. Around Jensen, the agents began rechecking their rifles and donning their helmets. He gave his own weapons a perfunctory once-over, then rolled his shoulders and wrists. He crossed his left arm over his chest, running his blades out at the wrist and elbow, slow, then lightning fast. The myomer and servos whined quietly, just audible over the rush of wind and engine.

MacReady leaned forward. “Not gonna go all wonky on us now, Hanzer, are ya?”

“Why? You want to put a control chip in me? Don’t worry, I’m in spec.” Jensen locked eyes with him and bent his right hand almost to his right shoulder. His blade flicked out halfway, the tip coming to rest against his temple without even dimpling the flesh. Then, slowly, he pointed the blade at MacReady, giving him a chance to flinch or hold up a hand, to show fear.

“But if I do lose it, I guarantee you’ll never see it coming.” And he snicked the blade out to its full extension against the shoulder of MacReady’s combat vest. The alloy rang quietly on the ceramic plates, but MacReady didn’t move. Every eye turned to look at them, including Miller’s. Jensen withdrew the blade.

“Agent Jensen! Am I gonna have a problem with you on this op?”

“Nossir. MacReady just had some questions about my capabilities.” He met Miller’s gaze through his shades, deferential but uncowed, letting the double meaning hang in the air.

“Good. Because you’re our only Aug, and our only infiltration specialist. I intend to make good use of you.” That last was delivered as much to MacReady as to him, Jensen thought.

Miller resumed reassembling his rifle, ramming home a magazine of 7.62 NATO. Jensen grimaced. He supposed the AIC didn’t plan on getting tied down in a firefight, and Dietrich’s heavy gunner could always share, but it bothered him that their commander might find himself running dry in a pinch. At least the sidearm he wore was a ten-mil like everyone else’s. Not that Jensen had an augmented leg to stand on: no one else on the op—hell, probably no other agent in the hemisphere—carried a forty-five, but he could jam nine-mil into the Destrier in a pinch. Still, if they’d had time to actually plan this mission, they could’ve optimized logistics a little better. Or at all.

Chikane broke in on his maundering. “Time to put away your happy thoughts, gentlemen. We’re approaching the target.” The team was one-third women; Agent Montañez—Carmen—rolled her eyes. Jensen met them and twitched his hand by his crotch in a subtle jerk-off gesture. She hid a smirk behind her gloved hand.

Fortunately, Miller missed the byplay this time. “You’re up first, Jensen. Let’s do this.”

The pilot opened the team circuit as Jensen stood. “Strike-One, Strike-Two, this is Strike Leader. Engage hush drives and descend to angels one-five.” The VTOL quieted, slowed, and dropped in the sky. Jensen rode the change in altitude effortlessly. He thought about telling Chikane he flew like someone’s grandmother, but Malik wasn’t there to laugh.

The cargo ramp descended, and the jump lights came on red. Jensen rolled his shoulders. They were low—less than two thousand feet, for sure. He’d told Miller about the Icarus, of course, but he might have played up his skydiving “experience” a little. Well, too late now. Green lights and a tone. He stepped forward and leapt into the sky.

[whippedcloudsofcream]

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (2016)

[atombonniebaby]

@sirmanmister please stop... My heart can't take it 😩😩 (this is so friggen cuuuuuute!)

The MacCready family deserves the literal whole entire world and nobody can convince me otherwise.

[drk7991]

Fo4 : I've always wondered what Nat, Synth Shaun and Duncan think about all the companions (Sole including “Nora”).

______________________________________________________________

NORA

-Nat : shaun's mother do look enough like Piper. i mean, i change the blue color with red. and we already have another Piper.

-Shaun : I feel much happier with my real mom. Since both father and the scientists at the institute. who hardly ever want to spend time with me.

-Duncan : She cares a lot about me, as if she wants to be my mom too. ______________________________________________________________

DOGMEAT

-Nat : He is cute, funny, obedient and above all he is ten times smarter than Pete.

-Shaun : When I am sad, and Mom is not there. I always pet Dogmeat. He has a very soft fur, he calms me down.

-Duncan : My dad always wanted to have a puppy like Dogmeat. He says he can't call the stork, so he can bring little dogs.

______________________________________________________________

CODSWORTHS

-Nat : Codsworth is super nice to me and takes very good care of my two little friends, although sometimes he can be very pain with security.

-Shaun : He knew me when I was a baby, I know I don't have much of a memory with him, but my mom always told me, how well Codsworth took care of her.

-Duncan : I've never met a Mister Handy, up close. He's so round and has three eyes. Is he a robot mutant?

______________________________________________________________

PRESTON GARVEY

-Nat : If he is the leader of the minutemen, why does he always send Piper and Blue to do his job. can't he do it himself?

-Shaun : I don't know him very well, I'm usually always with Strurger, And help him fix Mom's car. Which has been sitting idle for two hundred and ten years.

-Duncan : My dad told me, when I grow up a little more. He'll give me a hat. Just like Mr. Preston.

______________________________________________________________

PIPER WRIGHT

-Nat : Sometimes I think I should be the oldest. I end up taking care of her more than she takes care of me.

-Shaun : It's Piper, a synth of my mom's. She looks a lot like my mom, they even behave almost the same.

-Duncan : She reminds me a lot of Aunt Red. Funny, smart And every time my dad misbehaves, she scolds him a lot

______________________________________________________________

NICK VALENTINE

-Nat : Nick is a father to me. When I'm sad, angry or when I'm lonely. Nick is always there to help me in everything. Like I'm his own daughter. I admire him a lot.

-Shaun : I admire uncle Nick a lot, when I grow up, I want to live thousands of adventures and solve many, many cases. Like what Uncle Nick does.

-Duncan : His face is scary, but he is super nice to me. He always tells me his adventure stories. He laughed when I asked him, though, if it's true that he drinks motor oil.

______________________________________________________________

JOHN HANCOCK

-Nat : How can it be, that a cool guy as Hancock, I have a brother as Different and Didactic. as the former mayor McDonugh.

-Shaun : Once, I asked him how it felt to be a Ghoul, out of curiosity. And even though mom scolded me afterwards for asking that question. Hancokc answered me that he looks much more handsome as a Ghoul.

-Duncan : Although my dad told me not to be afraid. This guy scares me a lot ( he has a trauma with Ghoul ).

_____________________________________________________________

R.J. MACREADY

-Nat : I like him. Right once told me she reminds me a lot of Lucy. When they were at Little LampLight. a and He tells some pretty bad jokes.

-Shaun : I didn't know that as a child, he lived with a bunch of kids & dogs in a cave, although I still don't know what exactly the word “MUNGO” means.

-Duncan : Both here and in my aunt Red's town. He says my dad is a hero, although sometimes he is very stubborn and grumpy.

______________________________________________________________

CAIT

-Nat : My sister resents Cait's attitude. But I love her attitude.

-Shaun : One time, Myrna messed with me, for being a Synth. And Cait defended me, he told her that if she messes with me again he'll shove his bat up her Ass.

-Duncan : she is beautiful, funny, strong and brave, just like my aunt Bumble.

______________________________________________________________

PALADIN DANSE

-Nat : I hate this guy. I find him to be a very hypocritical man and a pain in the ass to many of his teammates. Especially Nick and Hancock.

-Shaun : I had heard horrible stories about the Brotherhood steel from Madison Li. But I see him as a nice guy. Although I see him getting a little grumpy with some of my mother's friends.

-Duncan : He is very mean to Dad. My dad tells me that he is like that, because he was raised in a family of pigs.

______________________________________________________________

CURIE

-Nat : curie, it's like having my own edma teacher. but being a synth.

-Shaun : They say that people don't incarnate to synth. But looking at Curie, I think my theory is true.

-Duncan : Mama Curie is loving, funny and kind, she lets me help heal people and says I am very good at healing people. I hope one day I can meet both of my aunts.

__________________________________________________________

DEACON ( BUTCH DE LORIA ? )

-Nat : I like him a lot, but sometimes he goes three people too far with his lies and sarcastic comments.

-Shaun : He still insists he's either a synth or a 101 Shelter Dweller named Butch De loria.

-Duncan : I love it when Uncle Deacon tells me his jokes. I laugh a lot.

______________________________________________________________

STRONG

-Nat : I don't know who the pervert was, who stuck Strong's head in the milk of human kindness. It's disgusting..

-Shaun : My mom told me that, although Strong. Be “Strong”. At heart he is a generous and kind Mutant.

-Duncan : My dad, he tells me that I have to eat the mushrooms from his cave, to be as strong and big as Strong.

____________________________________________________________

X6-88

-Nat : I don't know him at all, Piper has forbidden me to approach X6-88, he is a very dangerous person.

-Shaun : He is the only person I can scold, when he behaves badly with my mom's friends.

-Duncan : My dad tells me not to go near that man for anything in the world, he tells me that he is worse than Angela.

___________________________________________________________

ADA

-Nat : Great, another curie. but in asaultron version.

-Shaun : I love Ada. Especially when she's with codsworth. they make a good couple. ( Overheating codsworth )

-Duncan : Reminds me a lot of the old sentry who is always defending Aunt Red's town.

______________________________________________________________

OLD LONGFELLOW

-Nat : I always wanted to have a grandfather as wise and experienced as Mr. LongFellow.

-Shaun : Because all the older people, they always have white hair. Is it a fashion for older people?

-Duncan : I love to hear your stories. Mama Curie, she always tells me that I can learn a lot from the stories of the Old People.

______________________________________________________________

PORTER GAGE

-Nat : If I tell the truth, I don't want to have anything to do with him. he reminds me a lot of the evil maybern. ( He's a little afraid of gage )

-Shaun : When my mom told me that gage can be very scary. but he's a good guy at heart. and he just needs someone to guide him in the right direction.

-Duncan : I don't know him at all. my dad says people like Mr. gage and the slavers. they only exist to hurt innocent people.

_____________________________________________________________

[setttanen]

Multi-shipping with Adam, both gay and straight, but here's the gay.

Adam and Bob Page, James 'Jim' Miller, Daniel 'Smiley' Fletcher, Duncan 'Mac' MacReady, and many more peeps if i have ideas.

[elvishdemigod]

So I was thinking how the guy from the Kitchen Gun skit looked familiar but couldn't place it. So I found out who his actor is, and ended up finding out he played a character with a...familiar name.

Well-

Funny thing is though, as far as I could find, Fallout 4 came out BEFORE this specific Deus Ex game, and that's where Duncan MacReady came from.

I now want to see an older Fallout Duncan with a cleaning gun.

[afterthegreatunknown]

The Boat Sails By, the Shore Remains

It’s only when Fiona hears the sure sound of the motel door clicking close by Quigley that she acts. She closes the kitchenette’s refrigerator door, water bottle in hand, and stares at Stepfather. He continues to quietly sew up the small patch on his coat.

Fiona then walks over to the close curtain, passing by Fernald. He’s still on the sofa, watching the ending of the 1982 classic film, The Thing. MacReady and Childs are sharing their last drink together, knowing well they don’t trust each other. Both think of each other as the Thing itself, making one last ploy.

She takes a peek out the window, and sees the Quagmires and Hector are hanging around the pool. Duncan and Isadora are carefully sitting by the edge, while Hector and Quigley are sitting on the few chairs provided by the motel itself. The four are doing their best to relax. Fiona is rather envious of them.

Relaxing is something her family can’t do. No one was on speaking terms with one another since yesterday night. Everything about last night was…eventful. Fiona can’t forget how painful everything was when talking to Fernald about Stepfather and the Gorgonian Grotto.

Fiona quickly walked down the pathway that led to the family motel room. She’s glad that when the group checked in, the Quagmires and Hector decided to get their own separate room.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! Fiona! Will you slow down!?”

“I can’t! You just confirmed what I suspected in the Gorgonian Grotto. Stepfather knew the Baudelaires and I could recharge our air supply, because he was there! He was there, with you! I need to—I need to know everything now!”

“Fiona, please! Slow down, and think about the mistake you’re going to make!”

“Mistake?” Fiona couldn’t believe what she’s hearing.

“Yes, mistake,” hissed Fernald into her ear. “As much as I would love to see Stepfather get call out about his role in the fire, now isn’t the time. What if the others hear us yelling through the walls? Just because it’s late at night doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be inconsiderate of them.”

“Why are you worried about the volume of our voices?” Fiona couldn’t help but let loose her anger at Fernald. His sudden hypocritical behavior was grating. “Between you and Stepfather, it’s you who never gave a damn about yelling in all of your fights.”

“Because—hang on. You heard our fights!?”

“Aye! Did you never thought I would have potentially woken up because of your yelling?” Fiona took a deep breath in, and then let it out. “Stepfather at least attempted to keep his voice quiet at the beginning of all the fights, but you never did. Not once.”

“…No. It never—I never thought of any of those things,” faltered Fernald. “And it also never occurred to me that you could remember the fights despite being a toddler at the time.”

Fiona didn’t get a chance to reply back to Fernald on how she could remember, for the door suddenly opened up. Stepfather’s head sticks out, and he looked at his right, and then his left. Upon seeing her and Fernald, Stepfather went outside, and curled the end of his mustache.

“Fiona. Fernald.” Stepfather stared at them with solemn eyes. “I think it’s time we have a family discussion. A long, overdue, family discussion...”

And such pain spiraled over into the family discussion. Family discussions are never an easy walk in the park, but oh boy. So much information was revealed to Fiona by Stepfather —with the occasional input by Fernald— in the span of thirty-three minutes.

In thirty-three minutes, Fiona heard Stepfather explaining how Fernald, back when he was fifteen-year-old, swam into the Gorgonian Grotto. Fernald swam into the grotto because his stature allowed him to fit in. Once he was in, he was ordered to use the back then working pump system to drain the grotto. Why Fernald drained the grotto? To allow outsiders who couldn’t fit in, in. Inside to get access to the once standing research center/rhetorical advice center.

Outsiders, like Stepfather.

In thirty-three minutes, Fiona heard Stepfather talking of volunteers who knew of the Volatile Fungus Deportation project, and how some became very concern. They became concern the research and specimens would fall into the wrong hands. Their concern was that Gregor Anwhistle and his team were going to play with fire, and would be looking into the abyss itself.

One such concern volunteer, was Kit Snicket.

In thirty-three minutes, Fiona heard Stepfather describing how Kit Snicket —a woman Fiona was told many times to be thoughtful and noble— after trying to reason with Gregor and failing, went to one of her closest associates for a favor. A favor that was a last resort. A last resort that had Gregor Anwhistle losing his life, and Anwhistle Aquatic set ablaze.

It was a favor Stepfather did without any hesitation.

In thirty-three minutes, Fiona heard how after the favor was done, those concern volunteers kept quiet. Or rather, attempted to keep quiet. Outsiders got nosy, especially outsiders not part of the organization. Their attempts to keep mum of the Anwhistle Aquatic fire origins blew up when Fernald, fed up after one too many fights, left. Left the Queequeg, his family, everything.

That, is what one call bad timing. A concern volunteer, Jacques Snicket, was assigned to report Fernald’s leaving. But an outsider with the initials ‘G.J.’ was investigating the fire like a true journalist. G.J.’s article had the other concern volunteers deciding on how to handle the matter.

And that, was to make Fernald their scapegoat.

Hearing that all in thirty-three minutes, Fiona was left speechless. The answer she longed for were told. And she hated it. She hated it to where she suddenly needed fresh air.

Fiona stared down at the pool, and kicks the water with her feet. Most people would likely go for a swim to relax, but Fiona always liked to put her feet in the water instead. She took joy in seeing the small splashes flying. But tonight, for who knows how long it’s been, the water did nothing to ease her nerves.

“I’m glad to see you didn’t run off to a different part of the motel,” said a familiar voice. “You never know what danger lurks around.”

Fiona doesn’t bother to look back at Fernald. “Did Stepfather asked you checked up on me? Was he worried I was going to run away like you did all those years ago?”

“No. Stepfather actually tried to stop me. He thought that you needed some personal time alone to comprehend it all.” Fernald kicked the ground. “Have you comprehended it all?”

Fiona kicked the pool water with her left foot. “What do you think, Fernald? I just got drop a bombshell in a little over a half-hour time. Everything that I thought is change once again. To think that Stepfather had no qualms with his actions. No qualms about killing one of his closest associates. No qualms about playing with fire on request.”

Fiona stayed quiet for a bit before speaking again. “He had no qualms about sending his own stepchild into a dark grotto in the first place.”

“Where you got that idea?” Fernald’s tone sounds almost defensive. “It is because he agreed to throw me underneath the bus? Stepfather did had qualms on sending me into the Gorgonian Grotto. In fact, Stepfather never would have sent me inside there in first place if it wasn’t for—”

Fernald suddenly stopped talking.

“For what?” Fiona removed her feet from out of the pool, and spun around on the concrete. She grabs her sneakers, and stood up. Fiona couldn’t help but notice Fernald begun to look slightly pale. “Fernald, why wouldn’t our Stepfather have done that in the first place?”

“…If it wasn’t for the fact my candidacy was heavily push for,” answered Fernald slowly. “Stepfather wanted someone else to go in. He wanted me to stay out of the mess. But I was the one to be chosen in the end.”

“Stepfather wanted you stay with him?” Fiona felt her lower lip quiver, and bit it. She couldn’t help but thought back to that day, before he left. She thought about how she and the Baudelaires prepared for the long, dark, drift. How Stepfather made the odd, silly, and rather insensitive suggestion of the Baudelaires to pull straws. How Stepfather after hearing the Baudelaires said they don’t want to be separated from one another in the journey—

“What about you, Fiona? Aye! You could stay here with me!”

After getting that fresh air, upon returning back, Fiona told Stepfather she needed more time to process everything. Fiona asked him to not speak to her unless she spoke to him first.

As for Fernald, while Fiona didn’t enact a ‘no talking’ rule, she said very few words to him throughout the remainder of the night, and well into the day.

But now, certain on the fact the Quagmires and Hector are occupy, Fiona decides it’s time for another family discussion. Fiona turns around, and went back to the kitchenette. She pulls out the opposite chair in front of Stepfather, and sits down. Fiona hears Fernald turning off the television. Eventually, another chair gets pull out, and is sit on.

The three of them sit there together, quietly. Fiona watches Stepfather carefully setting down the needle and coat onto the table, and places his hands on the table. Fiona watches Fernald looking down at the table, hooks on his lap. Fiona takes a deep breathe in, and then let it out.

“Having more time to process everything,” begins Fiona, “I understand why you and the others were worried about the Medusoid Mycelium. Seeing it firsthand with Sunny Baudelaire was horrible. It was fascinating, but ultimately horrible.”

Fiona pauses. She waits to see if either one will talk. They don’t.

“But just because I understand, it doesn’t mean I agree with what you all did,” continues Fiona. “For instance, I come to understand you wouldn’t hesitate to send someone else in Fernald’s place. And the only reason you allowed Fernald to go in was because he was heavily pushed into the role by someone else.”

Fiona watches Stepfather stare at Fernald, as if he got betrayed. Fernald slowly lifts up his head, and gives Stepfather an almost guilty look that reads, “It just slipped out of my mouth.”

That’s a rather odd expression for them to have, in her opinion.

Fiona thinks it odd, but she doesn’t think on it further. Stepfather then turns back towards her, and blinks a few times. He then closes his eyes as he lowers his head.

“What I did to Fernald back then is something I’m not proud off,” says Stepfather, quietly. “It’s a moment I can’t undo. Aye, it’s one of the three moments in my life I want to erase, but can’t.”

“What are the other two moments?”

Stepfather doesn’t answer. He only reopens his eyes, and gives a stern look at Fernald. Fernald quickly gets out of his chair, walks over to the motel bedroom door, and opens it.

“I know my presence is no longer needed, but bold of you to assume I want to risk getting push into the motel pool by the Quagmires,” says Fernald. “Thank goodness there’s two T.V.s in our suite. We really hit the jackpot with this motel.”

Fernald enters the bedroom, and soon closes the door. After waiting a minute in silence, Fiona hears the faint sound of what is audience laughter playing from the other side of the wall. Ah, so Fernald is making sure he wouldn’t be accidental eavesdropping. That’s nice of him to do.

Fiona and Stepfather stare at one another in silence. And then…

“You and I know what is one of those two moments, Sreypich.” Stepfather places one of his hands out towards her.

Fiona is taken back by what Stepfather says at the end.

When Fiona was younger —she must have been around four years old— Stepfather started the habit of speaking in his native language of Khmer around her. Fiona heard him speak it before at an even younger age, but that was because she was eavesdropping. Stepfather thought he was alone at the time, and thus found it perfectly acceptable to do so.

Over the years, Fiona learned Khmer words via context clues of Stepfather pointing at things, as well as his own translations. Fiona’s weakness is foreign languages, so she’s fine with knowing some words instead of many. For instance, Fiona knows that srey means ‘girl’, while pich means ‘diamond’. Sreypich is a name that roughly means diamond girl.

Fiona does not like being call Sreypich. Sreypich is a nice and lovely name, but Fiona feels the name doesn’t suit her. She doesn’t understand Stepfather’s logic of picking that name.

The way Stepfather stopped calling her Sreypich was terrible though. It was her twelfth birthday, and they went to a local café. An older volunteer who been around since Stepfather was a young boy was also there. The next day, she and Stepfather arrived to headquarters to drop off a package. There, the volunteer shamed Stepfather publicly for it, in front of a crowd. The stares and glares had Stepfather dragging Fiona out as quickly as possible.

Since that day, Stepfather never called her Sreypich. Until now, of course.

“Sreypich,” Stepfather continues, “I’m sorry I failed to stop you —and the Baudelaires— from going in the Gorgonian Grotto. No, I’m sorry that I made you go into the Gorgonian Grotto in the first place. It was a task that shouldn’t been yours in the first place. Aye, no parents should force their child into doing something so dangerous. But some parents unfortunately do, and I’m ashamed to be one of them. Had I just told you of my true feeling of the matter—"

“Things could have been very different,” finishes Fiona. “There are some things that should be said directly instead of being imply.”

Fiona then reaches out towards Stepfather’s outreach hand, and gently pats it. “I do take comfort knowing now that you attempted —very poorly, I should add— to stop me and the Baudelaires. You tried in your own way to prevent the mistake with Fernald from happening again. But just because I take comfort, it doesn’t mean I completely forgiven you. What you did hurt me in ways I still need time to heal from. And I’m unsure when that will happen.”

“That’s fine by me,” answers Stepfather. “I just want you to feel comfortable around me again.”

Fiona then gets out of the chair. “Now that, I already am. And I have nothing more to ask or say to you regarding the Anwhistle Aquatic fire. At least at the moment. If something does come to mind about the fire, will you promise me you’ll be willing to answer it?”

“Of course, Sreypich.”

Fiona nods her head, and walks over to the bedroom door. As she grabs the doorknob, Fiona feels herself smiling. While she still doesn’t feel like diamond girl, it’s good to heard it again.

[tertiaryunit]

If they don't like your hcs that's a them issue. Please continue infodumping & sharing your fan work, it's great.

Megan getting the token cishet is incredibly accurate. Hard agree. OH ALSO does the DNA theft lore bother you as much as it bothers me??? Like after they have the initial seq, they can just synthesize it forever, you don't need consistent access to Jensen for samples unless (I wrote a needless explanation post a while ago... ofc...) you want his CELLS. Which would need harvested from blood or csf,,,

I'm curious what you think of Vaclav Koller, Jim Miller and Duncan Macready (queer hcs and/or also just general thoughts). Mac is fun to me bc he canonically has 3 ex wives. Personally I've taken that as he's aromantic and it took him a while to figure out what he wanted/didn't want. Societal pressure/toxic masculinity meaning he thought it was totally normal to hate being in romantic relationships. and also he's just rly bad at being nice to people. -Helix

Oh dw I don't intend to stop :D I have fun writing and drawing my work and hope that for whoever unfollows more people know that this is a LGBT+ friendly space (couldn't be otherwise 'cause I'm in the community too lmao)

I have to think that they had much more nefarious purposes for Adam *OR* they wanted the original around just in case something happened to the original sequence which made them lost it or something? I am leaning in them being interested in actual human testing considering the Adam clones in the Versalife vault 😬 (Also I'm sorry to Megan fans, I hate her so much lmao) (adding here no explanation is ever needless :D I think I actually saw it)

Vaclav nonbinary pan nation rise up I headcanon him having some sort of addiction to light stimulants (aka: coffee). I think he'd be good friends with Shadowchild Miller is one of the characters I will never let die in any run. I am sorry for Allison (since this game decided you can't save both like in the Missing Link DLC for HR) but Jimmy lives xd I am biased on this because for once we have a canonically gay character with a family (even if he's divorced) and I don't want him to die. (He fixes the problems he had in his marriage in my hc and gets back with his husband) I'm gonna be honest Mac gives me the toxic cishet vibes hhh but as you said, that can be for the societal pressure or bad masculinity ideals. (I see Adam commenting "I start to understand why you divorced 3 times"😭 ) Extra character info cause I love them: Alex Vega and Elias Chikane remind me how much this game was cut in half for a sequel that never came out 💀 Ivan Berk too, you probably remember the collective gaslighting the trailers did on the fandom adafsfdsdg

[alexlacquemanne]

Septembre MMXXIV

Films

L'Homme au pistolet d'or (The Man with the Golden Gun) (1974) de Guy Hamilton avec Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams, Hervé Villechaize, Clifton James, Richard Loo et Soon-Tek Oh

La Panthère rose (The Pink Panther) (1963) de Blake Edwards avec Claudia Cardinale, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine, Brenda De Banzie et Fran Jeffries

Le Masque de Zorro (The Mask of Zorro) (1998) de Martin Campbell avec Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stuart Wilson, Matt Letscher, Victor Rivers et Tony Amendola

La Classe américaine : Le Grand Détournement (1993) de Michel Hazanavicius et Dominique Mézerette avec Christine Delaroche, Evelyne Grandjean, Marc Cassot, Patrick Guillemin, Raymond Loyer, Joël Martineau, Jean-Claude Montalban et Roger Rudel

Les Sept Mercenaires (The Magnificent Seven) (1960) de John Sturges avec Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, Horst Buchholz, Eli Wallach, Jorge Martínez Hoyos, Vladimir Sokoloff et Rosenda Monteros

Un homme est mort (1972) de Jacques Deray avec Jean-Louis Trintignant, Ann-Margret, Roy Scheider, Angie Dickinson, Umberto Orsini, Ted de Corsia, Alex Rocco, Felice Orlandi et Michel Constantin

Le Grand Pardon (1982) d'Alexandre Arcady avec Roger Hanin, Richard Berry, Bernard Giraudeau, Jean-Pierre Bacri, Gérard Darmon, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Clio Goldsmith, Richard Bohringer, Lucien Layani et Anny Duperey

Luke la main froide (Cool Hand Luke) (1967) de Stuart Rosenberg avec Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J. D. Cannon, Lou Antonio, Jo Van Fleet, Clifton James et Morgan Woodward

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) de Daniel Kwan et Daniel Scheinert avec Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tallie Medel, Jenny Slate et Harry Shum Jr

Le Tonnerre de Dieu (1965) de Denys de La Patellière avec Jean Gabin, Michèle Mercier, Lilli Palmer, Robert Hossein, Georges Géret, Paul Frankeur, Ellen Schwiers, Nino Vingelli, Louis Arbessier et Daniel Ceccaldi

La Pomme de son oeil (1970) de François Villiers avec Jean Pierre Aumont, Elisabeth Wiener, Sophie Desmarets, Carol Lixon, Jean Marc Thibault, Gabrielle Doulcet, Pierre Bertin, Gérard Depardieu et Edith Ker

Baiser mortel (A Kiss Before Dying) (1956) de Gerd Oswald avec Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith, Joanne Woodward, Mary Astor, George Macready et Robert Quarry

Arabesque (1966) de Stanley Donen avec Gregory Peck, Sophia Loren, Alan Badel, Kieron Moore, Carl Duering, John Merivale, Duncan Lamont et George Coulouris

Séries

Nestor Burma Saison 5, 6

Drôle d'épreuve pour Nestor Burma - La Plus noble conquête de Nestor - Poupée russe - Les Affaires reprennent - En garde, Burma ! - Mise à prix pour Nestor Burma - Burma et la Belle de Paris - N’appelez pas la police

Castle Saison 7, 8

Planète hostile - Le Flic de Hong Kong - Dans la ligne de mire - L'Attaque du pitbull - En sommeil - Y a-t-il un enquêteur dans l'avion - La mort n'est pas une blague - Dans les bois - Disparition - Conspiration - Cinquante Nuances de vengeance - De pieux mensonges - Le Nez - Une vieille connaissance - Un homme à femmes

Affaires sensibles

Le tortueux destin des Inconnus - Le Parrain, les recettes d'un chef-d'œuvre - Lolo Ferrari, la chute de l'icône de silicone - Rocky : l'Amérique les poings levés - La chute de la IVème République en mai 1958 - Landru et le chemin des dames - Les révoltés du France - The Golden State killer, le plus froid des cold case - Rue des Rosiers : le lent chemin vers la vérité ?

Maguy Saison 8

Les délinquants sont éternels - Ennuis et héros - Tx-trol de drame - Crocodile Maguy - Tous les kalaniens, toutes les kalaniennes - Funérailles aïe aïe - Nomade's land - Sauce grand vanneur - L'entremêleur - Maguy, Georges, Pierre, Rose et les autres - Traitement de chic - Allô Maguy ici bébé - Roman à l'eau de rose - Le fiscopathe - Olé beaux jours - Cet obscur objet de Désiré - Hoquet sur place - Fenêtre sans cour - La guerre des canulars - Désastres et des astres - Legs à deux têtes - Une souris et des homme - Coût de peau - La bourse ou Maguy - N'oubliez pas le service - C'est pas sorcier - Drôle de squatt - L'espion qui venait d'en face - Bébé éprouvant - Crises de mères

Le Coffre à Catch

#183 : Bataille Royale + Hommage à Sid - #184 : Santino Show + Dusty supporte Uva - #185 : Le futur s'appelle Ezekiel Jackson - #186 : La ECW : c'est annulé !! - #187 : Yoshi Tatsu et Goldust champions pour la dernière?

Les Nouvelles Brigades du Tigre Saison 5

S.O.S. tour Eiffel - Le Temps des garçonnes - Le Vampire des Carpates - Made in U.S.A. - Le Réseau Brutus - Le Complot

Nautilus Saison 1

Évasion - Tic Tac Boum - La force du peuple - Sur une pente glissante - Hallucinations - L'Atlantide - Guerre froide - Le Point de bascule - La Chevauchée des Walkyries - Bouquet final

The Grand Tour Saison 6

Un dernier pour la route

MacGyver Saison 1

Pris au piège - Le Casse du casino - Cauchemars - La Taupe - Mission Afghanistan

Brokenwood Saison 9

Brokenwood: Le Musical - On ne choisit pas sa famille - Les Petites Soeurs de Sainte-Monica

Commissaire Dupin

Les secrets de Brocéliande

Brocéliande

Episode 1 - Episode 2 - Episode 3 - Episode 4 - Episode 5 - Episode 6

Friends Saison 1

Celui qui déménage - Celui qui est perdu - Celui qui a un rôle - Celui avec George - Celui qui lave plus blanc - Celui qui est verni - Celui qui a du jus - Celui qui hallucine - Celui qui parle au ventre de sa femme - Celui qui singeait - Celui qui était comme les autres - Celui qui aimait les lasagnes - Celui qui fait des descentes dans les douches - Celui qui avait un cœur d'artichaut - Celui qui pète les plombs - Celui qui devient papa : première partie - Celui qui devient papa : deuxième partie - Celui qui gagnait au poker - Celui qui a perdu son singe - Celui qui a un dentiste carié

Spectacles

Gary Moore : Live at Montreux (2010)

Laurent Gerra flingue la télé (2006)

La Sainte famille (1976) de Georges Vitaly avec Dominique Paturel, Nelly Vignon, Frank Baugin, Erik Colin, Rodolphe Marin, Jose Luccioni, Jacques Balutin, Michèle Grellier, Max Desrau, Monique Delaroche, Madeleine Cheminat, Odile Mallet, Robert Party Frédérique Cernay, André Lambert, Xavier Renoult et Bertrand Gohaud

The Police : Certifiable: Live In Buenos Aires (2008)

The Doors : Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1968)

Livres

Zazie dans le métro de Raymond Queneau

Le boucher d'Alina Reyes

Effroyables jardins de Michel Quint

Kaamelott, tome 8 : L'antre du Basilic d'Alexandre Astier et Steven Dupré

Kaamelott, tome 9 : Les renforts maléfiques d'Alexandre Astier et Steven Dupré

Les secrets de Brocéliande de Jean-Luc Bannalec

Friends l'intégrale : Le livre officiel des dix ans ! de David Wild

Astérix, tome 16 : Astérix chez les Helvètes de René Goscinny et Albert Uderzo

[fallout-drabbles-n-stuff]

More wholesome Macready headcanon- If by some miracle you can catch him do it, there will be a few times you notice some treats or knick knacks randomly appearing into the pockets of more unfortunate settlement children. They have no idea where the items come from or better yet- HOW they got into their pockets but you know. Consider him a wasteland Santa, trying to make some little snot faced kid’s day just a little bit brighter like he hopes someone is doing for his own back in the capital.

[vlad-theimplier]

WIP Wednesday: Custos Custodium

In which Jensen has to dress up for an undercover op and MacReady disparages his fashion choices. Come enjoy the exploits of Adam Jensen, International Aug of Mystery!

Jensen read the note as he walked.

Stepanek: This gentleman has to look presentable by Thursday evening. Do me a favor and save him from himself. He’ll pay. MacReady

Nice. Well, he couldn’t argue. And he was good for it—he still hadn’t found anything worth blowing his pay on since he’d bought that lightweight coat, and Crunchy Pirate didn’t exactly break the bank.

Štěpanék’s shop was dimly lit, like an ops center or a shrine, with tasteful lighting picking out a selection of ready-to-wear suits and accessories. The fabric drank the sound of the door’s chime, returning the shop to a reverent hush as the proprietor emerged from the back, smelling of wool and competence. He was a stout Czech man of advancing years, dressed to inspire confidence in two-thirds of a three-piece, sleeves rolled up and a pincushion in one vest pocket. He took the note, looked Jensen over with a critical eye, and beckoned him to a three-way mirror in the back.

“Nice coat,” he said. “I will take. This dinner, is it with special someone? Or business?”

The latter, really, but… “A special someone, yeah, sure.”

“Restaurant?”

“Yeah, at a restaurant. Oh—it’s called ‘Nordlicht.’ In Dresden. You know it?”

“Mm-hm. Bože zachraň mě… you like vest? Three-piece? Or two?”

Jensen considered his blades and flashed the butt of the gun. “Vest is good, yeah. It’s gotta hide this, as well.”

“Ech, friend of MacReady, of course. If it were easy, you would not come to me. Hmmmm…” Štěpanék stared at Jensen’s coat, then at his face, then at his torso. “Pattern on coat is nice. On suit, I think no.”

“I trust you. Whatever you say.”

“Wise man. Okay, we can do.” The tailor bustled away and came back with a suit in a softly-gleaming dark grey herringbone, somewhere between charcoal and brushed pewter, and a jet-black shirt. “Here—plné plátno, full canvas, to hide. Try him on. No jacket, yes gun.”

Jensen ducked into the changing room and did as he was told. The result looked pretty impressive to him, in the mirror, but Štěpanék scoffed and shook his head. “We can do, we can do… Stand up straight and hold still.” He began tugging at the trousers and vest, pinning them in some places, marking them with a piece of chalk like a guitar pick in others.

“Ah! Shoes!” he exclaimed partway through. “My mind is gone. You need them?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Of course—let me see feet. Okay. Hmm—I do not do robot feet before, but is fine. No socks, usually?”

“No. Don’t need them. The feet are kinda slippery, and they don’t sweat.”

Štěpanék touched two fingers to his augmented feet and rubbed them thoughtfully. He flinched at the unexpected touch, seen rather than felt, but it was professional enough it didn’t bother him much.

“Okay, is all right because ankles are black.” He fixed Jensen with a commanding look. “You wear brown suit, you need socks. Or paint, hey?”

He rummaged around on a side wall and came back with a pair of black leather shoes, each cut from a single piece of leather joined up the back, with only three eyelets on each side and flattened laces like narrow ribbons. With the aid of a shoehorn, he popped Jensen’s feet into them and resumed his measuring. Then he did another set of pins and marks with the jacket on, pulling it carefully this way and that until the holster, rig, and magazines raised only the faintest outline on the fabric. With the jacket on and open, they were completely invisible. The tailor stood back at last with a satisfied harrumph.

“Jacket you will leave open, then no one will see gun. Looks better, too, for social event. Business, you button when you stand. Now. For alterations, you pay up front. You need Thursday—what time?”

“Sixteen hundred.”

“Before close, okay. Rush fee, too.”

Jensen shrugged. It was no more than he expected. The number, though… he could have bought new body armor for that. Although, in a sense, this was still gear. He swallowed and deposited most of his savings with the shopkeep. Friday was payday anyway, and the Task Force covered his rent. He could buy the cheap hooch for two weeks, and actually cook for himself for a change. No big deal. He bade Štěpanék farewell, assured of results on time.

And then it was back to the grind—following up on cases, checking in with informants, all the usual affairs of the Task Force. But it felt like things were in motion, now, the Illuminati making some kind of play in Dubai, while he was finally off the bench again. And Quinn hadn’t made him do anything duplicitous in forever. He caught himself whistling at his desk.

[rallamajoop]

Deus Ex in Yuletide 2022

Did I mentioned the Deus Ex series is nominated in this year's Yuletide fic exchange too? And presumably there's at least a couple of others interested, because folks have nominated 14 different characters (and you can only nominated 4 each). My own request letter (assorted prompts, free to a good home!) is up over here.

Full list of every nominated character below, and there are still a couple of days left for sign-ups, if you're interested (though, y'know ‒ see rules, and everything, etc).

Alejandra 'Alex' Vega

Bob Page

David Sarif

Duncan MacReady

Faridah Malik

Francis Pritchard

Hugh Darrow

Jim Miller (Deus Ex)

Talos Rucker

Vaclav Koller

Adam Jensen

Eliza Cassan

Helios (Deus Ex)

JC Denton

The downside: now I have to actually pick between officially signing up to request JC/Helios or Jensen/Pritchard, because Yuletide matching doesn't really give you a good way of signing up for either/or when there are that many other nominated characters. XD Ah well.

[subjectsix]

broke: aria is yor because jensen and aria friends to lovers arc

woke: aria is yor because it means mac gets to be yuri

aria secret assassin in prague = based

mac bent on revealing adam's Big Secret, whatever it is = canon tbh

[icaxrus-moved]

Agent Jensen! Am I gonna have a problem with you?

[nightingaletrash]

TF29's Beach Episode featuring Parenting Styles: Jensen vs MacReady

I dunno, I just wanted to draw the meme and MacReady struck me as being this type of parent more than anyone else in TF29