#freud/rusty

[kivaember]

Link to my AO3! Pinning this to make it easier on myself.

Also, if you feel like supporting me just because you like my writing, feel free to drop a tip on Ko-fi! I'd appreciate it, but only if you want to.

Alis Propriis Volat (APV) - VIV621

Title: alis propriis volat (they fly with their own wings) Rating: T+ (may go up later) Pairing: V.IV Rusty/Raven | C4-621 Tags/CW: Alternative Universe - Canon Divergence, Complicated Relationships, Morally Ambiguous Characters, Implied/Reference Suicide, Implied/Referenced Indentured Servitude, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Medical Trauma, Mute Raven | C4-621, Identity Issues, Wolrdbuilding, Unreliable Narrator Summary: “I’m not here to kill you, buddy.” Slowly, Rusty crouched down. “I’m here to capture you, before Arquebus does.” or; C4-621 manages to escape Institute City on his own after V.II Snail’s failed ambush, but with Handler Walter no longer in contact with him, and Balam essentially destroyed, C4-621’s only ally is the disembodied Ayre. Well, until the RLF swoop in, but that’s its own awkward can of worms.

Hunting Dogs - Gen

Title: hunting dogs Rating: M Characters: Raven | C4-621, Handler Walter, C4-617, C4-619, C4-620, Cinder Carla, Original Characters Tags/CWs: AU - Pre-Canon, AU - Canon Divergence, Medical Trauma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Morally Ambiguous Character, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Worldbuilding, Unreliable Narrator, Trust Issues, Complicated Relationships, Found Family, Implied/Referenced Indentured Servitude, Mute Raven | C4-621 Summary: Their newest Hound was C4-621: the fourth and the last. or; Walter and his Hounds, a year before they went to Rubicon-3.

Young Jupiter - Walter/Michigan

Title: Young Jupiter Rating: M Pairing: Handler Walter/G1 Michigan Tags/CWs: Canon Compliant, Pre-Canon, Rivals With Benefits, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding, Implied/Referenced Sex, Friends With Benefits, Complicated Relationships, Morally Ambiguous Character, Unreliable Narrator, Class Differences Summary: “Enjoy your stay at Ganymede Colony… it’ll be leagues better than that cesspool you just crawled out of.” or; Walter begins the slow slog into gaining the connections and influence he needs to ensure that the Coral is gone for good. It’s just that his starting point is at the very bottom rung of the social ladder on Jupter’s colon, Ganymede, and his only way up is by taking the AC pilot sponsorship with Furlong Dynamics. More of a detour than Walter would like, but it was manageable - he won’t let it be a distraction for his overall ambition. Then Michigan entered the picture.

Carrion-Eaters - Freud/621

Title: carrion-eaters Rating: M Pairing: V.I Freud/Raven | C4-621 Tags/CWs: Alternative Universe - Canon Divergence, Unhealthy Relationships, Implied/Referenced Torture, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Complicted Relationships, Coercion, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Unreliable Narrator, Blood and Violence, Slow Burn, Imprisonment, Re-Education, Mute Raven | C4-621, Implied/Referenced Sex Summary: “Wipe your mouth.” Freud pulled his hand away, showing the slight smears of half-dried blood against his fingers. “You’ve got blood all over it.” or; C4-621’s re-education gets hijacked by Freud for his own personal interests. Things get… complicated, yet also very straightforward.

Decoding (manipulation, disassembly, measurement, and observation) - Freud/Rusty

Title: decoding (manipulation, disassembly, measurement, and observation) Rating: M Pairing: V.I Freud/V.IV Rusty Tags/CW: Pre-Canon, Alternative Universe - Canon Divergence, Complicated Relationships, Morally Ambiguous Characters, Unreliable Narrator, Corporate Espionage, Developing Relationship, Enemies to… smth deranged Summary: Rusty was silent, caught between what the fuck is this and how do you know where i live.  or; Freud’s interested in Rusty. This is a very big problem when you’re a Rubiconian spy trying to fly under the radar. (Rusty makes it worse by getting interested in Freud)

Rubiconian Affogato - VIV621

Title: rubiconian affogato Rating: M Pairing: V.IV Rusty/Raven | C4-621 Tags/CW: Alternative Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafes, Fluff and Humour, Mute Raven | C4-621, Self-Indulgent, Romance, Implied Relationships, Complicated Relationships, Idiots in Love, Coffee Shops, Implied/Referenced Sex, Flirting Summary: Turned out a new competitor had set up shop over a week ago, and there was some unknowable, murky history between him and the manager, Snail (who the fuck named their kid Snail? Had to be a nickname). Michigan had been malding and seething for days, muttering ominously and glaring out the window like a psychopath (and scaring away from customers in the process), clearly trying to entice Iguazu to ask ‘what’s up chief’ like an idiot so he could send him off to sabotage their food supply or firebomb them in the night or whatever. (They did not discuss what happened to the last competitor for legal reasons) or; A new cafe sets up shop directly opposite to the local Redgun Cafe. This kickstarts a rivalry of epic and stupid proportions. Oh, and there’s a love story in there too.

A regretter's friend, the forbidden fruit - O'Keeffe/Flatwell

Title: a regretter’s friend, the forbidden fruit Rating: M Pairing: V.III O'Keeffe/Middle Flatwell Tags/CW: Pre-Canon, Complicated Relationships, Morally Ambiguous Character, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding, Corporate Espionage, Developing Relationship, Unreliable Narrator, Medical Trauma, Implied/Referenced Sex Summary: Since this morning, O'Keeffe knew there were exactly two Old Gens employed by Arquebus, and he was one of them. Which meant this was: “Flatwell,” he said, sliding his hand into his pocket as the man stiffened fractionally at hearing his name. “AC tester for the Nachtreiher project, right?” or; Flatwell is a corporate spy who’s managed to infiltrate Schneider’s new AC project. O'Keeffe;s just the intelligence officer passing by. Things get… messy.

Collection of AC6 Oneshots: memento vivere (remember to live)

Other Fics: Star to Star (Star Wars, Jangobi), Mortal Gods (SMTV, Aogami/Protag), Wine Cellar (FFXIV, series of oneshots/fics with my WoL), To Know Your Target (Persona 5, Akeshuake)

And a whole bunch of other fic from various fandoms lol

[beth4short-blog]

The Vespers

Every Vesper as they will appear in Amour'd Core. Shout out to everyone who came to the stream! Designing each character has been a labor of love.

[smorgasbort]

Armored Core 6 characters as Dril Tweets

[drenched-in-sunlight]

A little comic I did for an AU where Arquebus captured 621 right after the Ice Worm mission and they never managed to escape.

Freud and Snail who captured a scavenger bird.

Rusty who did not get the chance to confess.

621 who did not remember a single thing.

vögelchen means little bird.

I feel dumb posting the comic without even posting my design of Freud and Snail yet so I include them at the end.

[bornetoblood]

happy new year i got drunk and sketched out all the vespers

[littleouroboros]

Just starting my NG++ run

[bug66]

I finally emerge from my lab with Vesper 621 content (that I was trying to finish like two weeks ago oops)

It started as just a sketch and then became a fic that’s definitely not just an excuse for me to write a RustyxFreudxRaven love triangle with sex scenes and also to be used as a vehicle to explore the Vespers weird relationships with their own bodies (I’m whistling innocently)

He’s also different to my usual 621… now I have two Ravens hehe

He’s got short hair, had severe coral burn-in, has the complexion of a sickly Victorian maiden, and has some ability to speak through a vocoder device connected to one of his implants… and is also cis for uhh gay plot reasons :^) Link to the fic here if you so desire to read it (r18 for uhh above reasons)

[s3znl-gr3znl]

AC6 is such a wonderful emotional experience. The whole game for your first playthrough is heehee hoohoo look at all these cool characters!!! Are they all so fun and quirky and unique and interesting???

Now kill them. Do your job and pull the fuckin trigger, dog.

I vividly remember fighting back tears for the whole ending arc of Fires of Raven. I lost so many friends, some at my own hands. I didn't know. I didn't know it would come to this. Im so sorry, everyone. By the time i realized the path i was on, it was too late to save any of you.

Then you do it all again in NG+. Try to be better, make more thoughtful decisions, and fight the right people. Only to find you're still pointing your guns at the people you love.

So you go again, numb to the loss but still desperate for another way.

Only this time, you truly lose everyone. No one you care about survives the Coral Release.

But maybe it's for the best. Maybe you could push forward and build something new on the bones of everyone you sacrificed.

[burnt-cheese-toastie]

the mentally ill squad

|commission|adoptable|

they all relearned shame

except Freud, hes just depressed

[rolandlover]

Felt like drawing this

[bettercallstan]

V.II Snail - Second to One

Armoured Core 6 has an excellent story. The themes are well realised, the plot flows naturally, the world is coherent, but most of all the characters are layered and consistent. When you ask people who their favourite character from the game was most people will pick either V.IV Rusty, Handler Walter, Ayre, G1 Michigan, or G5 Iguazu. Armoured Core 6 has three endings and four major antagonists. The Fires of Raven ending has Ayre as the central antagonist, Alexa Lacta Est has Iguazu and Allmind, but the Liberator of Rubicon ending likely has the best antagonist in V.II Snail. Snail is the second in command of Arquebus’ Vespers and is often cited as a well written but fairly two dimensional character.

The first time Snail is introduced is just before Operation Wallclimber, where Walter is negotiating to send independent mercenary C4-621 on the mission. During the conversation Walter says ‘I hear you’re deploying V.I again. Must be rough having only one good pilot to rely on.’ He says this to insult Snail, as V.I Freud is the only person Snail can never be better than. Freud is ranked number one in the arena, he’s the highest ranked Vesper, and he’s both of those things without any of the augmentation that makes piloting an AC even possible for most people. Snail has many augments but despite that he can never catch up to Freud. In response Snail says ‘Are you suggesting your dog can take Freud’s place?’ This line is very interesting due to the similarities between Freud and 621. Freud may be the highest ranked Vesper but he isn’t loyal to Arquebus; he’s an expert AC pilot who only cares about getting to fight people he deems to be worthy opponents. 621 – the player’s avatar – is much the same, as what else is the player here for but for cool mech fights? Equally, 621 is a Gen 4 augmented human, a generation seen as outdated and subpar. So whilst not unaugmented, 621 needs significantly less augments than Snail to pilot an AC at the same level of mastery as Freud. Snail likely sees Freud in 621, and this is why he chooses to let 621 take Freud’s place on Operation Wallclimber. During the fight with the Juggernaut, Snail lies to V.IV Rusty about needing him to intercept incoming reinforcements, which causes him to leave 621 to fight the Juggernaut alone. Unfortunately for Snail, 621 wins, his plan fails.

After this failure, Snail becomes much less antagonistic towards 621. He takes a back seat in the story until the final mission of Chapter 3, Destroy the Ice Worm. In this mission Arquebus and Balam have agreed to cooperate, with Balam leading the mission under the command of G1 Michigan. Snail manages to nab himself the position of ground leader, and works with 621 and three other AC pilots to take down the Ice Worm. He’s mostly absent during Chapter 4’s descent into Watchpoint Alpha, because Arquebus have agreed to let Balam take the first shot at reaching the convergence. In fact Arquebus don’t even enter the watchpoint until halfway through the chapter. This is important as Snail seems to represent the ideology of Arquebus. His callsign – Snail. Snails are best known for being slow, and both Arquebus and Snail seem to embody the ‘slow and steady wins the race,’ mentality. This can best be seen when Snail lets his colleague V.VI Maeterlinck die so that 621 can defeat the Ibis series CEL-240 that guards the convergence. After the CEL-240 is downed, Snail ambushes 621 at the opportune moment and captures them, much like how Arquebus waited for the opportune moment to take down Balam by killing G1 Michigan earlier in the chapter.

At the beginning of Chapter 5, 621 escapes the Arquebus reeducation that Snail himself oversees. If that wasn’t already enough of an embarrassment, the player can choose to fight him on the Xylem and destroy his AC or ignore him. Both of these are incredibly humiliating for Snail; either he got his AC destroyed by an outdated pilot, or said pilot decided he wasn’t even worth their time. The other side of Snail’s callsign is that Snails are small, weak creatures that retreat into their shell when they feel threatened. In response to the incident on the Xylem, Snail retrieves the prototype Arquebus Balteus to try and finally put 621 to rest. This is a perfect conclusion for his character for a few reasons. Firstly, the main gimmick of the Balteus mech is its pulse armour; a spherical pulse shield that protects the mech from all damage, much like the shell of a Snail. But secondly, it relates back to his god complex being born of a feeling of inferiority. Snail sees Freud in 621 but even with this immensely powerful mech at his disposal, he can never overcome 621. He still loses. During his final fight he says ‘Raven the independent mercenary, you’re not the mutt I thought you were. You’re below that, you are vermin!’ During his conversation with Walter he called him a ‘meagre dog-sitter,’ so this shows how his hatred of 621 has deepened; he started off derogating 621 as just a dog, but now sees him as even worse than that because the only way he can feel better about himself is to put others down. No matter how hard he tries he can never be better than Freud or 621, so the only course is to bring them down to his level. During the fight he goes on a tirade, saying ‘Out of my sight vermin! That traitor V.IV, those dolts at command, but worst of all – you! The pest of Rubicon who stirred the cinders, you sicken me, all of you! I’ll crush you underfoot, I am Arquebus!’ Being stepped on is a common fear for Snails, so it seems he may be projecting somewhat here. Snails are incapable of ever crushing anything underfoot, just like how Snail can never beat 621 like he wants to.

However, the most interesting line to me is when he says ‘I am Arquebus.’ It’s worth noting that whilst Freud is V.I, Snail is the one with the power. Freud just does what he’s told if it involves cool mech fights, Snail is the one calling the shots at the Vespers. In practice he is the highest ranked member of Arquebus that we see in game. During his final fight, Rusty says ‘Snail may be V.II but he’s second to none.’ This is interesting because we know for a fact that’s not true – Freud is canonically the better pilot in every way that matters. What this actually tells us is that Snail, whilst not as skilled as Freud, was still skilled enough to gain Rusty’s respect. Snail had everything. He was respected as an ace pilot, he was in charge of the Vespers and of his rival, but he couldn’t see any of it because he wasn’t V.I. He was so obsessed with something that ultimately didn’t really matter that he failed to see just how much he has because at his core he is greedy, nothing he gets will ever be enough to satiate his inferiority complex, and it manifests in an arrogant, god complex personality that no one wants to be around. He ever says that 621’s greatest crime is trying to kill or ignore him. He can’t see how 621’s actions affect anything other than himself, and ultimately he dies inside Balteus for this failing.

In conclusion, V.II Snail is not as two dimensional as people say. He isn’t just arrogant, he isn’t just a man with a god complex. His character goes much, much deeper than that, and it’s one of the many reasons why I believe him to be Armoured Core 6’s best villain.

[kivaember]

Title: decoding (manipulation, disassembly, measurement, and observation) Rating: M Pairing: V.I Freud/V.IV Rusty Tags/CW: Pre-Canon, Alternative Universe - Canon Divergence, Complicated Relationships, Morally Ambiguous Characters, Unreliable Narrator, Corporate Espionage, Developing Relationship, Enemies to… smth deranged Summary: Rusty was silent, caught between what the fuck is this and how do you know where i live.  or; Freud’s interested in Rusty. This is a very big problem when you’re a Rubiconian spy trying to fly under the radar. (Rusty makes it worse by getting interested in Freud) Current Chapter: 4

[beth4short-blog]

I drew the Vespers on stream as the will appear in Amour'd Core, and managed to polish up I-IV. V-VIII coming soon to a post near you!

[smorgasbort]

Armored Core 6 characters as Greentexts

[timmie15]

Most normal Freud behavior on the annual Vespers meeting

based on this meme as a joke on discord

their designs by @beth4short-blog

[bornetoblood]

Freud's bald because he's old but also because he gets really really ansty when he's not been challenged for a long time. He picked most of it out between Isle Four and Rubicon cus all he was being deployed to deal with were like.. unnarmed protestors... or MTs... Lack of enritchment in his enclosure; he's plucking his feathers.