#though I’m only really in the ethical hacking one for the hacking bit

[fated-normal-767]

important thing to understand about me is that I am completely fucking unhinged. Many forget this. It might surprise you but people forget this Often.

[pawzofchaos]

What kind of Plants vs Zombies players I think the reboot cast of Total Drama are (I’m slowly losing my mind)

Priya- definitely played and completed every single game. She still plays the first one for Endless and Last Stand and sometimes plays the second one for Penny's Pursuit. Has every single plant except the ones you have to buy for real money.

Bowie- Has played and completed the second one, has almost every $5 plant. Played the first one for a bit but then got bored. Has tried Heroes and enjoyed it (he's a Rose and Electric Boogaloo main)

Caleb- Has heard of it, but never actually played it. Priya FREAKED when she found out and is trying to get him into it.

Raj- Has played both 1 and 2, but enjoys 2 more because he loves Frostbite Caves; has a 100+ win streak in Icebound Battleground. Favorite plant is Snowpea.

Wayne- Same exact thing as Raj; they like to play side by side together on their phones. Favorite plant is Iceberg Lettuce.

Millie- Has played a little bit of 1 but stopped at the Night levels. She likes the design of it.

Julia- Only played the first one so she could use the Zen Garden and post about how "ethical" she was. Now that she revealed her true self, she doesn't do it as much but she sometimes likes to come back to check up on her plants.

MK- Uses weird mods and hacks for 1 and 2. Probably has some bullshit deck in Heroes like the Soul Patch Forcefield one or an insanely powerful Pet deck.

Ripper- Og player, has beaten 1 but not 2. He only really remembers it every few months and comes back to play some minigames. Still regularly plays GW and Heroes though. Super Brainz ahh main.

Chase- Definitely only plays the Xbox version. He makes weird challenge videos like "BEATING PVZ WITH ONLY WALNUTS AND POTATO MINES 😱💥" and does insane Heroes deck gameplay. Plays GW with Ripper sometimes.

Zee- Has only played the second game but has somehow beaten it over 60 times on multiple different accounts. Didn't know the first game existed for a long time. Somehow also remembers playing the 3rd game.

Axel- Literally only plays the first game, Endless and Last stand only and has the highest streak ever for both.

Emma- Played the first one and had beaten it, just getting into the second one. She likes watching people play it rather than playing it herself.

Nichelle- Couldn't beat Zomboss in the first game and ragequit.

Damien- Only plays PvZ Heroes. Professor Brainstorm and Green Shadow main; has almost every card in the game and has a really high rank in arena.

Scary Girl- has played EVERY game. Has a super mega high arena rank in 2, only plays minigames for the 1st one. Has also somehow played the 3rd game. Probably ships Peashooter and Sunflower. Favorite world is Modern Day.

[daisybeewrites]

Academy Blues — Prologue

word count: 1.8k

warnings: not any for this chapter

ship: Dousy, background Fitzsimmons and Philinda

okay y’all.. here it is. the first installment of my first LONG TERM SERIES!!!!!! ahhhh i’m so excited. literally i cant wait to continue this and see where it takes me. i have an idea and a few different planning sheets, but honestly i have no idea where exactly this will end up. i love each and single one of you <3 thank you for reading!! this is also posted on Ao3, and linked in the masterlist.

Daisy hated the sound of the bells at The Academy. Screeching, awful, way too loud, the bells were the bane of her existence. They all wore standard-issue watches from the lab that monitored vitals and gave them reminders, and also told the time, for god’s sake! Fitz had even modified hers so that she could play snake on the tiny watch face! There was no need for the bells to be so excruciatingly disruptive. Though, Daisy guessed, there were many things more tortuous than bells ringing every hour and fifteen minutes.

Daisy slowed to a jog, cutting her morning run short. The bright side to being a third-year was that you chose your schedule, for the most part, and that meant Daisy had a free first period for four out of five days of classes. She usually spent this free period getting an extra hour in at the gym, boxing or sparring with Mack or Bobbi, two fourth years that had reluctantly taken her under their wings, or sleeping in. She reserved sleeping in for especially rough nights where visions of ashes and earthquakes and lightning returned time and time again, no matter how many deep breaths she took or sheep she counted.

But this morning was not one of those mornings. She had been up before sunrise, a little before her usual alarm and silently headed out of her dorm for a run. It was humid this time of year on most Virginia mornings, but never so hot that it made Daisy feel as if she was being smothered. The cooler air chilled her sweaty skin, her chest rising and falling as she jogged up the three flights of steps to the second years’ dorms. Down one long hallway, and she arrived at her room.

Daisy had been given her own room at the start of last year, complete with poly-adaptic-proto-whatever panels, which she had painted a pastel shade of purple, to compliment the greens of her cacti and the dark purples and blacks of everything else in her room. Even May had agreed that the stark white was too ”psych wing” for a bedroom. Daisy was grateful for the space, but considering the panels and the private room were only necessary since...

She shuddered. Grabbing her shower caddy, Daisy set off to the bathroom at the opposite end of the hall, hoping no one else was spending a free first period at the dorms.

Her shoulder-length waves were wet from bouncing against her neck, and starting to become annoying now that the sweat had dried and was starting to itch. Picking the white tiled shower furthest away from the door, Daisy quickly turned the water on, checked the temperature, pulled her sports bra and shorts off and hopped into the shower. Shampoo, condition, soap body, rinse. Checking her watch, Daisy found that she had showered in record time, less than three minutes. After spending another five just enjoying the hot water, she hopped out and changed into her class clothes.

Dark purple leggings, Coulson’s grey vintage SHIELD tee and a pair of white running sneakers she had “borrowed” from Jemma completed her look. Passing the mirrors, Daisy tried not to glance at herself. If her hair was messy or her undereye bags a bit too dark, she didn’t want to know. Instead, she headed back to her room to pack her bag for the day.

SHIELD-issued laptop, extra hard drives and a charger, Advanced CS 3: Ethical Hacking: Theory and Application, Advanced CS 4: Secrets of The Coding Languages, Physics notebook, an essay that was three days late on some boring book about international laws, and her sparring gear were all thrown into the black bag. She gave a second glance at the Russian notebooks Bobbi had loaned to her, promising that she’d learn without taking the class. Oh well, she still had all of this term to start. Plus, would she ever really need more than the dirty words?

One look at the alarm clock that sat on her dark hardwood night table showed that she still had almost forty-five minutes before she had to be in the computer lab. Sitting down on her bed, Daisy ran a hand over the grey blanket May had given her.

Daisy’s relationship with May and Coulson had been something of a problem with other students when she first got here. Some had been okay with the obvious paternal love Coulson showed for Daisy, showing her around and checking up on her, scheduling lunch dates and reminding her of tests. May was more subtle, texting her links to tai chi videos when she noticed Daisy getting too stressed or letting Daisy do her own thing if she saw that she was overwhelmed. Of course, none of the other students knew her family history, what she had gone through just to realize that May and Coulson were more her parents than her biological father and mother could ever be. She would see them later today—May during field training and Coulson in between lectures in the canteen.

Daisy walked over to her window to open her blinds, staring out at the campus she had grown to love. The large brick buildings scattered around acres of the Virginia countryside; green fields meant for physical activities like sparring or obstacle courses, or simply basking in the weather to study or chat; the dorms—red brick and concrete melded together to upgrade and expand the charming style of previously-built homes.

Grabbing a protein bar, Daisy headed to the canteen to make a green smoothie (and maybe snatch a cup of joe before she had to listen to an hour-long lecture on the reason SHIELD must cooperate with the UN’s stupid rules at 7:30 in the morning). Smelling the pines and morning dew surrounding her, she smiled slightly. Maybe this term wouldn’t be so bad.

———————————————————————

Daniel Sousa was a man of honor. He was a man of great strength. Agent Daniel Sousa, previously Officer Daniel Sousa in the US Army, was a man who could fix his damn alarm clock on his own.

Just, not today. Or the day before.

So, Agent Daniel Sousa was now hurrying his way to class at The SHIELD Academy, books in hand and gym bag slung over his shoulders. Catching a glance at himself in the shiny glass doors of the bio-chem building, he groaned. He hadn’t even brushed his hair. And, looking down, he discovered he was wearing two different shoes.

This is the college experience everyone raves about, he thought bitterly. You see, Daniel Sousa had enlisted to the army straight out of high school, forgoing university. He climbed the ranks impressively quickly, earning his place as second-in-command and reconnaissance scout in the 28th Infantry Regiment. Unfortunately, after only four years in the army, Sousa was injured in the field, losing his leg and almost his life.

He came back to the US a war hero, and yet, he felt he wasn't finished. So, when a recruiter named Peggy Carter knocked on his door claiming to be from SHIELD (“Wow, you guys are still a thing?”), he leapt at the chance to continue fighti-...doing good. The Academy wasn’t exactly what he had bargained for, though. Trying to earn his B.A. and training to be an agent at the same time was grueling, but nothing he couldn’t deal with.

No, six different one hour and fifteen minute long classes plus mandatory physical therapy every day wasn’t going to break him. Learning how to be a communications agent and re-starting field training and catching up on general college education was no problem. Pressuring himself to be the best, to break the limits, to get past all his weaknesses was just another miniscule feather to add to the pile.

Unless his stupid alarm clock broke. Then yes, Agent Daniel Sousa would fail, buckle under the weight and be left on the floor to die.

Maybe he was being a bit dramatic.

One bunny-slippered right foot and a sneakered left leg carried him forward, propelled by a quickly chugged orange Celsius and his sheer will not to be late.

Daniel heard the late bell ring out, understanding that, on his first day of class, he would be counted late. It wasn’t like him, not at all. Especially when his first class was a refresher course on field tactics and covert strategy, something in which he was already aces.

He let out a sigh, slowing as he rounded the corner into the comms building. At the Academy, most buildings were grouped into categories: the cafeteria, gym and pool, and student resource building all to the south; the gun range, obstacle course, and specialized gym to the east; bio-chem labs, tech labs, and smaller rooms for lectures to the west; the computer labs and comms buildings right smack in the middle; and dorms to the north.

He swiped a key card with his driver’s license picture and student ID, unlocking the sliding doors that led to the computer labs. It was quicker to short cut through them than to walk around the building to the entrance closest to communications classrooms.

It wasn’t because he knew a certain broody brunette spent her mornings in the lab.

No, it wasn’t, because she wasn’t in her usual seat in the corner, typing away.

He slowly walked through the rows of computers, searching for a familiar black backpack. Nothing was there.

“Hey, Sousa,” an accented female voice called behind him. He whipped around to see who it was, feeling just a twinge of disappointment when Elena, or, as most people knew her, Yo-Yo, was leaning against the door frame. Yo-Yo, a fourth year operations trainee, who was very close with Daisy.

“Hey, Yo-Yo. Good morning,” he called, “I’m running a bit late.”

Elena checked her nails casually, “Way to state the obvious. You were running faster than I could trying to get here before the bell.”

Daniel rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. “Yeah…”

“Daisy’s running late today, too.”

Daniel looked around, pretending that hearing Daisy’s name didn’t make him want to smile. “Oh, of course. She’s usually here early.”

Elena nodded, chuckling a little at his response. She couldn’t tell if he was oblivious or just a bad liar. It was charming, really. “Right. See ya ‘round, Sousa!”

“See ya,” He replied. He thought he heard a quiet ‘Lovable nerds’ coming from the direction she left, but he couldn’t be sure.

And so, with a last look around the computer lab, Daniel set off to arrive late to May’s lecture.

———————————————————————

okay okay,,, what do y’all think?? like/reblog and let me know! it’s the best way to support writers and it only takes a second! stay tuned for more chapters!!

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

we are our family, even if we don’t want to be.

Titans 3.07

a bit over halfway through the season, and we still don’t have all of our main characters on the board! i love this show.

as always, typing this up as i watch. live reaction, baby! *shadowboxes*

SPOILERS AHEAD

1. i don’t think i’ve mentioned this before, but i kinda miss the old ‘dc universe’ intro. it was cool! the whole idea of it was wild and waaaaay over-ambitious, but also very very on-brand because of it.

2. this is... the third time we’ve seen dick sleeping this season? that’s a record! checking another thing off my s3 wishlist...

2.5. i guess i rag on titans all the time for its wafer-thin plotting and bad pacing, but i have to admit that this season has been a step-up from the last one in this regard. titans has very reactive rather than proactive protagonists, and a lot of the last season seemed to be: x happened, the team reacted badly, then y happened, they reacted badly, etc. this time around, it’s not a huge leap up by any means, but at least they’re doing something about it. 

i do appreciate the focus on character arcs over everything else. and when i say everything else, i mean it: arcs that started two seasons ago with no big cathartic moments, intermittent payoff and multiple relapses. big bads have ranged from interdimensional demons to superpowered assassins to whatever in the world scarecrow is, but trigon’s big weapon against the titans was to... use their worst fears against them. slade’s was to... use their fears to break them up. crane’s is to... use red hood to use their fears to break them up. even the threat of gotham’s citizens being in danger doesn’t feel real: gotham is mythologised into an entity of its own, infecting our heroes like a parasite. like. this is not to say that most other superhero media aren’t big character arcs intertwined with the main plot, but titans doesn’t even make pretend that it’s anything but.

anyway. that’s my entry #2345 to ‘give a grand unifying theory for titans’. thanks. i’ll be back with more.

3. “anger is just fear in a little black dress.” god I HATE HIM

(what’s he doing with barbara’s likeness? oh... oh god. a terrible thought just occurred to me. what if they introduce hush at the very last minute for plastic surgery shenanigans? would you put it past this show?)

3.5. jason, nooooooooo

3.75. i mean, they’re making it very clear here that scarecrow is the one in control--the one who’s always been in control--and is manipulating jason and literally poisoning him, but i hope it doesn’t end up erasing nuance or jason’s autonomy. if jason’s to reckon with the issues that brought him here, then the lines of responsibility will need to be set somewhere. 

(this applies to dick as well but more on that later, i guess.)

4. just--the phrase “40% loss of income” is so funny to me. like, gotham is full of these larger-than-life characters who are idiosyncratic beyond belief, colourful and dramatic and creating chaos just for the sake of chaos, and then there’s the regular criminals and their henchmen who just want to make a quick buck sitting down with pie charts and graphs, griping about the joker reducing their returns or debating high risk investments in, i don’t know, two-face’s next scheme.

“yyyyeeeeeaaah, my financial advisor is telling me that going all-in with a guy who literally makes decisions on the flip of a coin is probably not the greatest idea.”

4.5. god i hate smug!smarmy!scarecrow so much

4.85. as big plans to “control” gotham go, it’s pretty bog-standard. clearly scarecrow has some bigger plan in mind but it really feels like we’ve got no clear insight into him and he’s this generic creepy mystery-man who knows more than he lets on and springs a twist/cliffhanger every now and then. i liked the scenes with him and dick in 3.04 where it seemed like he was genuinely on the backfoot and things weren’t going as he predicted. for all of his faults, dick is at least familiar with scarecrow’s bullshit and knows not to give what he wants.

5. i mean... i see where dick is coming from with the “he’s not jason anymore; he’s red hood” because his immediate glaring concern is scarecrow’s drug and the damage it could potentially cause gotham? i do not doubt that it’s something batman drilled into him, too, but when you’re expected to take point on a situation where the lives of an entire city weigh down on your shoulders, it’s better to simplify things and prioritise. i’m not saying it’s great or healthy! gar is absolutely right to consider this facet of the situation. it’s just dick can’t.

6. hmmmmmmm. HMMMMMMMMMMM. 

i don’t know that i’m super fond of this iteration of oracle???? it looks like a cross between cerebro from x-men and jarvis from iron man. it’s giving me second-hand embarrassment. somebody help me.

(at least they remembered dick’s middle name is actually “john”. i like to think bruce printed D in that contract because for a while he genuinely thought richard “dick” grayson was his full name. duck duck goose, dick dick grayson, i don’t know alfred, the kid was in a circus, maybe they thought it was funny. or maybe it was a test in anger control, who knows.)

6.5 “maybe you two would like some time alone?” even AI can’t help hitting on dick grayson in this universe.

“oh mr grayson, if i only had another eye to see you better...”

6.8. on one hand, it’s a bit disconcerting that the title of ‘oracle’ has gone from barbara herself to this gigantic machine; from my impression of the comics-verse, barbara had an extensive computing and surveillance system, true, but she was very clearly the brains behind the operation. on the other hand, i’m kind of glad that the ethical boundaries that this kind of surveillance violates is a sticking point for barbara. (tho let’s be real, the nsa would kill to have this in their arsenal).

6.9. also it’s now obvious that scarecrow’s big plan is to take control of oracle itself. it’s why he had lady vic take that picture of her eyes, or why he’s meddling around with it on his computer.

6.95. if only i could ‘command sleep’ anybody overstepping their boundaries re: personal information...

7. “you can just sit back and watch as the titans destroy themselves.” i mean... he’s not wrong

8. “dick’s parents were killed by a criminal mob; he won’t work with them.” it’s wonderful that you have this insight into dick, kory, i just wish we could’ve watched some of these conversations actually happen on-screen.

8.5. i’m glad that kom’s being treated with such nuance and understanding, though it’s obvious that she definitely has a Plan of her own. (and did i entirely imagine her ability to mimic other people flawlessly at the end of s2? or is that going to come into play at some point?) i think her story has the potential to be genuinely poignant, and in a universe where being Different, either because of mental health or physical differences or whatever else, leads a straight line to Evil, it’s important to acknowledge and then emphasise that the mere fact of your existence as a Different Person doesn’t predispose you to evil. maybe your act of destroying a system that has destroyed you and not scrambling to “fit in” is only evil as defined by that system. 

8.8. “you’re trespassing, i should call the authorities, i feel unsafe.” now this is a villain lady who’s definitely aware of her privilege.

8.85. kom smirking knowingly at her sister is everything.

“oooh that’s the kory i remember”

9. conner and dick working together woo!

9.25. god i hate a villain who’s always just a step ahead, no matter what. so crane anticipated dick using oracle to track his personal communications and set him up? how did he know when exactly dick would get to do this? how long did he have that poor man tied up in that van?

(the “save me, grayson” is a nice touch, tho. send dick spiralling even further! because if there’s one thing dick will do, it’s take responsibility for every goddamn thing that goes wrong.)

9.5. ahem. i’m going to need a million gifs of conner yeeting dick across that yard, fandom, thankyouverymuch.

(i understand conner is invulnerable to explosions, but how do his clothes survive??)

9.8. oooh crane is already in oracle! i’m just sitting here laughing helplessly because they’re overpowering this goddamned guy so much. he can build a lab in arkham’s basement! he has access to lazarus puddles! he has minions working across gotham, including a fully functional chemical laboratory staffed by chemists who only answer to him! he has the crime families of gotham quailing in his very presence! he has assassins at his beck and call! he’s enough of a manipulative bastard to have red hood under his thumb! and now he has enough of a tech know-how to not only be aware of oracle, but know how to hack into it! i’m sick of exclamation marks! i’ll shut up now!

9.95. dick leaving behind that smouldering grave for a person he failed to save without taking a second to process how he feels about it and running towards his next plan to corner scarecrow: a microcosm of where his head’s at right now.

10. really hammering in the themes of this season, aren’t we. 

10.25. the interesting thing is the titans repeatedly call themselves a family this season (none more so than dick) and while that found family has helped encapsulate and put away their traumatic experiences with their ‘original’ families, it’s meant that they’ve not really dealt with those issues. and dick and gar and jason come from ‘found families’ of their own: they are twice removed, traumatised two times over. they still cling to this identity however, and because of it they’re losing each other. a family isn’t static. it’s an ever-evolving dynamic and you have to put in work constantly to keep it healthy.

10.5. anyway, that’s entry #2346. i’m here aaaalll night.

11. lookit gar the detective! half-transforming and using his powers to deduce things! what a hero! i’ve said this for a long time, but gar is the bedrock of this team, and an unsung one at that.

11.25. i’m confused about him calling this room jason’s though. it seems to me that this is dick’s room that jason later used, and one that dick’s using now. so the unmade bed isn’t really jason’s fault; dick was woken by barbara that morning, and in his hurry, he left without making his bed.

(it still confounds me that bruce didn’t find jason another bedroom in that gigantic mansion of his. you really didn’t give this kid a chance, did you?)

12. oh well. so much for the oracle.

13. ... sorry, wait. you didn’t think i wasn’t going to address the bit with dick right now, did you?

12.5. i honestly don’t think it’s very complicated: dick’s been reeling from one traumatic thing to the next, and just when it seemed like at the beginning of the season, he felt happy and secure with his team and his place in the world, bruce ups and leaves gotham to him, specifically naming him a successor and calling him a ‘better batman’. he’s lost garth and jericho and donna and jason and now hank and dawn. he’s not even sure where rachel is or what she’s doing. after being told that batman was a psychopath for moulding him into a weapon, he’s also been told that his failure to be a ‘better batman’ lead to further disaster. of course he’s going to get batman-goggles. of course he’s going to be a prick. 

12.8. i don’t know what to say. i feel his frustration acutely. i don’t think he should’ve said what he said to barbara (can people stop pushing her around this season????) but that pressure to step in where your parent fails? to clean up their messes and try to think like them? to fall into habits drilled into you when you developed them as coping mechanisms growing up? I FEEL THAT. 

every step he’s taking he’s putting 110% of himself in it and scarecrow’s still playing mindgames with all of them: i absolutely feel his desperation to take control of that game and turn it on scarecrow, no matter what it takes.

and he did apologise almost immediately, and finally--finally--actually works with barbara. 

12.9. again, not excusing him! but i get it. and i think that’s a sign of great character writing.

“did you know i just reminded emmram of all of her daddy issues? what the fuck????”

12.95. i love that dick&barbara, kory&kom, and gar are all approaching solving this mystery from different angles, each as valid as the other. also, conner is there as... emergency bomb defuser man?

13. it’s like all fancy rich people in fancy rich houses do is pour fancy rich alcohol into fancy rich glasses on pristine, untouched tabletops. i wonder what it’s like to live like that.

13.25. I KNEW IT! poor michael. it was nice knowing you.

13.5. man, kory is contending with a lot of issues that she’s successfully bottled up and compartmentalised until now. the cold reality that a child can seek out their parents as refuge and they can view the child as a piece to be moved in a greater game (never out of cruelty, though, never, and somehow that makes it worse), that truth of blackfire’s treatment on tamaran because she’s different, and her own culpability in what happened. she exchanged one family for another, after all, and left that family to die and her sister to suffer. like dick, like gar, kory’s being forced to reckon with what the titans are meant to be, the larger implications of creating their found family in their own space.

14. it’s probably because it’s one in the morning and i’ve had two glasses of wine but i did not follow that bit of exposition at all and victor freeze??? what? 

anyway. look at them solving things! together! go team!

“you made a deal with the mob?” oh the sense of betrayal on his face! fuck off, dick, your issues aren’t kory’s. 

15. conner is really sweet and a bit of an awestruck crush on kom is to be expected. especially after that power rangers-esque transformation (i say this as a former huge power rangers fangirl. i’ve seen every series until 2007 including the original japanese versions and written fanfic for all of them. so i love a cool costume transformation, is what i’m saying.)

also?

FUCK YEAH

16. i love the gotham crime families just chillin’ around eating ice cream. I LOVE THEM

16.5. that was a fun fight sequence, if marred slightly by that bit of awkward flirting between conner and kom. i wonder if she’s really planning to use him in a larger scheme to get kory back to tamaran, or maybe something else. 

16.75. so i’m assuming that scarecrow has jason either so paralysed by fear that he can barely move, or jason’s withdrawing from the drug that he’s been sucking in every few minutes. 

17. it’s nice to see them chill after a successful mission! and it can be awkward, but conner’s crush on kom and him striving to impress her is also, well, uh... cute.

17.5. i guess the dick/barbara scene was inevitable, especially given the... unresolved nature of their relationship in the flashbacks? and they’ve been through a rollercoaster together this episode, discovering and then destroying an incredible tool within a matter of hours, re-discovering just how well they work together as a team. dick’s swimming in the nostalgia. i don’t expect it to last as a long-term relationship, but i totally get why this is happening now. and hey, they’re cute!

i have a weeeirrrrd feeling that kory is going to leave to tamaran at the end of the season and that dick and kory will rekindle--or rather realise--their relationship just before that. it’s going to be devastating and beautiful and painful and i will be writing essays about it which would be me just wailing into the screen.

18. gar found molly!!!!!!! MOLLY’S BACK! \o/ gar is the BEST

19. that was a fun episode! i love this silly show, even if it does destroy me sometimes <3

[steve0discusses]

S5 Ep13: How to Get Away With Cheating in the Card Olympics

It’s been a little while since Pegasus made a card that screwed us years after it was developed...and so it’s time for it to happen again. Good ol Pegasus, screwing us all and not even knowing he’s doing it.

First off, it took me until this episode to realize that Leon and Zigfried are German and Leon is playing a Grimm Brother’s deck. I guess I didn’t notice before now because Leon was hiding his identity. But now that I know his deck is because he’s just German it’s like...well OK. That’s kind of cute. Better than that time they had the American play a deck filled with guns.

And that actually...fully explains why they are all dressed old timey. I didn’t pick up on it until just now...they’re referencing old ass fairy tales. But wtv, I still like my reaching theories of why Zigfried dresses like...that.

PS, my twitter just notified me that lots of people are getting a ‘Hime Haircut’, which is exactly the doo that Zigfried wears this season with the cropped side bangs. And like...are we sure? I see Kpop wearing it and Tik Tok kids wearing wigs but...I have yet to see a Hime in the wild. Course I haven’t gone outside in like a year so...maybe tens of thousands of people really did do a Hime Haircut during the Quarantine.

But, damn it, I decided to look at some photos, and a bunch of them looked pretty bad, but a couple looked pretty dope, and now I’m a little bit tempted to get a Hime...but I feel like it took a decade to get out of my bangs phase and like...Do I need two layers of bangs? I have naturally straight hair, I could do this, this haircut was made for me, but...

I just don’t know if I should get a haircut that looks like I’m an anime cosplayer when I can’t back it up. Nope. Cannot get this haircut. I know this haircut was made for teenagers or artists in their 30′s, and literally no one else, but no, this will be a mistake just like the side bangs I gave myself in 2006.

(looks over at scissors)

(read more under the cut)

(get it? Cut?)

Leon recalls that his brother very nicely gave him a card, and he’s so excited to finally do any activity involving his crazy ass family, that he just blindly does it.

This entire episode is about Yami not doing a hellscape when he witnesses cheating, and like...it is S5...it’s been a little while since anyone’s done a real good cheat on him, and he opened the door to darkness, and they got devoured by their own Tamagachi. It’s been a while.

And like the curse of Episode 13 was just a theory I had--but this particular Episode 13 is probably the most tame of all the 13′s (and yet, the most un-tame of this arc, which is a pretty chill arc, overall)

Yet...while this episode still fits in with their universe because the Kaiba’s are very proud so they can’t admit their duel disk has a flaw and therefore can’t forfeit the game, it kind of stretches the imagination a bit for the sake of the plot. Straight up we have a LOT of characters in this arc and they all just stood there and watched it happened.

It could have been also because this is like...televised...that no one wants to start throwing this little boy off the nearest blimp. I just wish that was addressed in the episode, other than “listen...Kaiba must allow this card to be played...or all his Duel Disks are lies.”

His Duel Disk almost caused the end of planet Earth a few weeks back, so I think it’s fine. I think this is a negligible problem to have when your disk shoots projectiles out of each end and has sharp folding edges in the shape of a blade--almost attempting to slice your face off every time you wave that thing around.

Yes, he’s trying to restore his reputation after the whole Dartz thing...but this is like...not that bad in the scale of things that have happened in the past several seasons. Maybe it’s just the last straw that broke the camels back here? One thing too far--’your disk played a broke card, Kaiba, I am pulling my investments and I refuse to go to your theme parks. I was here when you blew up that island. I was here when your company was literally bought out by the illluminati...but if that duel disk can’t play cards correctly--we’re done here.’ And TBH...that’s a very Yugioh mentality to have.

Like remember that time that Elon musk threw a brick at one of his new weird looking cars and the windshield cracked? But he was like “Oh...that was just a...listen the windshields don’t shatter, you saw nothing.” and still released the car anyway? Was kind of reminded of that.

Now...he didn’t actually go into the Dev room, we’ll go into how the hell he got this card, but first, a visit to the Kaiba Dev room.

OOOOOOooooooooh

That’s so bright!

It reminds me of how in the 90′s, the only real thing I knew to do on my computer was change the colors of the UI, so I just used the ugliest ass UI known to man for my family’s computers. I hope these computers have a mouse that leaves a tail behind and I hope that mouse is in the shape of a flying sparkling dragon.

Anyway, Duke speaks what’s on our minds:

Meanwhile, Pegasus, watching this happen over a glass of wine from inside his bathtub at Castle Pegasus, takes one very long sip while sinking into a pile of bubbles.

Seto at first is like “I literally own this tournament so thanks for losing? I don’t know why you threw it out into the trash but thanks?” But Zigfried pressured him so hard that everyone on Earth would judge his ass, and tried so hard to change the definition of what cheating even is, that Seto relented almost as if to shut Zigfried the hell up.

Zigfried explained that, technically, it’s still reads as a legal card on the disk and isn’t reaaally against the rules. Even though the rules say it’s against the rules--what are rules anyway?

Thankfully we have the King of “I dictate what the rules are AKA the rules of the universe, which I would show you, I just don’t feel like it right now, and I’m a little worried about opening that Pandora’s box, but I clearly know the rules of this card game, as stated on this Home Depot plaque that Seto gave me after I won the last tourney.”

Leon gets pretty upset about this--not so much screwing Seto Kaiba, but over the fact his brother stole his only chance at trying to beat Yugi Muto fair and square. So, trying to retain what little card honor he has left, Leon tries to self sabotage so everyone can just go the hell home.

OK so...do you think he put a floppy disk into the paper card? Like straight up how did he do that? Feel free to post your theories because like...how do you hack a paper card? Like do we even have a canon explanation of what these cards are or what they are made out of and how they theoretically work?

Anyway, now that they’ve spent a good portion of this episode discussing if this card should or should not be played, and the ethics and philosophy surrounding that, we find out that none of this matters because Zigfried was actually just stalling.

(He hacked the card so it had a virus like straight up how did he DO that without making a new card?)

Huh.

Y’all, what if I could just delete Google?

Can you imagine?

Like I know this is a kid’s show so it follows kid’s show logic and I will absolutely allow this ridiculous master plan and I will not question it, but think with me for a sec:

What if you could just delete Disney?

Damn. That’s some Y2K scare tactics propaganda right there. That’s some good YA dystopian fiction stuff.

Yo is Zigfried the good guy? He’s not, but if this were a YA novel he would be, right? Good on him.

I...do not know how the logic in Zigfried’s brain works, but if someone deleted all the files in my collaborators company and showed up at my front door and was like “I heard you were looking for a new collaborator?” I’d stick him face first into a blank paper card.

Which is, logically, the next step to Zigfried’s plan that no one has bothered to tell him yet. You just don’t mess with Pegasus, especially after all the stuff he went though with getting murdered by Mai, and Dartz showing up, he’d be so pissed right now. He might not be technically magical anymore--but it’s clear after last season that he’s still magical enough. This is a man who’s let out into the wild maybe a couple of scary cards--but hell knows how many are buried in his huge ass castle just waiting to do a murder.

This is just Zigfried hassling a hornet and the hornets nest is like...right there.

And so next episode we are going to...destroy the card? Hell, next episode might be entirely a card game and I might only have 2 caps.

Anyway, just letting you know that I typed this last night, and then had dreams that I got a Hime Haircut and hella loved it, woke up at 5:30 AM thinking about that haircut, and have since been just...

...I mean I shouldn’t do it...I cannot give myself unironic Von Schroeder hair...

...

...but what if it’s dope though?

(and here’s the link to read these from the beginning in chrono order from S1. Wish I categorized in seasons but alas I did not have that forsight back when I thought there were only 3 seasons of Yugioh total. I have since learned.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[joy1579]

Hey! So... When I started to play Mystic messenger I was a teenager, so I was wondering how the boys and Jaehee would react discovering that MC was a teenager too (platonic of course) I loved your headcanons btw ♥️

gah its been forever and a day since i was a kid. and even then i was like really bad at being a kid heh what do teenagers do? all i did was hide in the library and avoid socializing oops. whatever i had a lot of fun writing this! honestly i think they would all be very protective of you since the RFA really feels like one big family!

Jumin

He is proud of you and wants to provide you with future opportunities because that’s how he cares about people, by giving them a means to earn money and have purpose. Also he is very interested in what you can teach him about pop culture.  

-        Age doesn’t matter to him too much. Maturity does and you had proven your maturity by helping the RFA faithfully and well

-        In fact, he is very proud of how well you did and mentions that your professionalism at such a young age shows great potential should you apply to C&R (you know him well enough to take it for the compliment it is intended to be)

-        His presence practically drips with “proud dad preparing for his daughter’s future” vibes and considering the 11-year age gap you suppose you couldn’t ask for much better

-        That is until he hears you chatting on the phone and using slang he’s never heard before

-        Now he’s curious and asking questions. You show him some him some vines you have saved and teach him a bit about pop culture leading to an unlikely but very fun friendship

-        You and he tease zen a lot by having Jumin use made up slang and you pretending its super cool and zen’s just not with it. Also imagine getting Jumin to do a secret handshake just to piss Zen off. It ends with the “nyah” pose

Yoosung

Acts like your best friend that you enjoy teasing. He wants to be a good role model but that shiz is hard. You two bond a lot over stories about school and the struggles of exams.

-        He is very relieved to not be the youngest anymore because now maybe everyone will stop treating him like a baby. (spoiler alert they won’t. Ever.)

-        He worries that he’s supposed to act like a big brother. He doesn’t know how to do that! He’s always been the baby brother, or the youngest member, or the newest intern. How does one be responsible?

-        Tries and fails to intimidate guys away from you to “protect” you (but zen said it was his duty to keep you safe! He said all men are wolves MC!)

-        “If all men are wolves why isn’t he worried about you Yoosung?” “huh? Hey wait yeah! Does he not think I’m a man?!” “ go get em tiger. give zen a piece of your mind”

-        He helps you with homework a lot but no cheating! He tells you about the time he cheated to pass a class only to get to the next level class and understand NOTHING it took a lot of tutoring and studying and work to fix that mess. Best to learn it now while it’s still learnable.

-        He refuses to teach you LOL “don’t end up like me MC! Be better!” you learn it anyway and end up playing with him frequently. The rest of the RFA blame him for this much to his dismay.

Saeyoung

he wants to protect you in his own frankly silly way. still meme’s it up but doesnt want anyone “corrupting” you. actually he kind of treats you the way he would treat saeran.

-        He fights with V for the first time when V suggests leaving you in Rika’s apartment (with a bomb) but reluctantly comes around and does what V says

-        Stays a meme lord and is psyched if you can manage to out meme him

-        Definitely teases you about your age a lot (Yoosung is secretly glad to not be the ONLY one getting teased for being young)

-        “guys we have to protect the baby she has her whole life ahead of her”

-        Is the most adamant about not swearing, drinking or smoking around you

-        “y’all need Jesus there are CHILDREN here”

-        You may have to call him out on this behavior because seriously wtf you know for a fact hacking isn’t the most ethical or legal occupation and he’s gonna lecture you?!?

-        He may joke around but he up’s his protection game up about 10 notches because for real you have your whole life ahead of you

Zen

he basically adopts you okay. he wants to be your cool big brother friend and be everything his family never was for him. he takes care of you and stands up for you every chance he can.

-        He finds out very early on because the second he starts flirting seven shuts that shit down telling him your too young for that. He asks how young and is shocked but recovers pretty fast

-        You know the protective big brother trope? Yeah that’s him

-        He’s your ride or die friend too. Need a ride to school? He’s there on his bike, some dick is harassing you? He’s there to scare the punk off, and even though he doesn’t want to fight a kid he will if he has too

-        If its girls who are harassing, you he picks you up to give your rep a bit of a boost (it never hurts to be seen with such a handsome guy after all and if he shows up on his bike he’s also got the badass vibe going on)

-        He has ALWAYS wanted a little sister and now he’s adopted you. You’re his little sis now and he’s wrapped around your finger. He swears he’ll be a better brother than his brother was

-        He is so proud of all your accomplishments and is determined to encourage your dreams the way his parents never did (he might be living his family wishes vicariously through you but hey he treats you good so it’s cool)

Jaehee

-        She’s a bit worried about you taking on such a big responsibility as the RFA guest liaison at such a young age. What if your grads drop? Or you family gets upset? What if you had to also work a part time job and this interfered your young you need to be able to rest and live your life. (when you point out that she should do the same she brushes you off)

-        Not much changes honestly, she’s always been the RFA’s mom after all.

-        She gets a little stricter about language and “inappropriate” topics

-        She definitely encourages you to study and do well in school (and avoid any job’s Mr. Han offers you)

-        She still down to be your friend though! She’s all ears when you need to vent about school and you are always ready to lend an ear back when Jumin is giving you a hard time

-        You swap girl power ballads and she helps you set up a Zen fan club at your high school

Saeran

-        Look he didn’t intend to kidnap and actual kid and he’s honestly a bit panicked when he finds out your age you looked older than that he swears

-        Thankfully your mature enough and smart enough to do what’s needed of you and he supposes as long as you don’t have a family searching for you it should be okay

Ray

-        He’s a little more reserved but honestly not much changes he’s still innocent and devoted he calls you princess and tries to spoil you as much as he can he may not see you as a romantic interest but your still his obsession.

-        He likes that you trusted him even more since your young and therefor more vulnerable. You’re his family now, a better family than he’s ever had.

-        If you are the princess, he is your knight in the strictest definition. Which is to say he is devoted to protecting and serving you out of dedication and reverence rather than romance.

Unknown

-        He’s more verbally aggressive than physically aggressive

-        He doesn’t try as hard to seem intimidating because he thinks of you as a child, and he doesn’t have to prove how tough he is to a child it’s obvious after all.

-        Also his visits are simultaneously shorter and more frequent. Shorter because he tends to get flashbacks easier (since he sees you as a child despite you being a teen) and more frequent because they are less satisfying since he doesn’t let himself be physically aggressive.

Vanderwood

(IDK why but I feel like he probably had an actual family with a girlfriend/wife and possibly a very very young daughter before the agency. Maybe she left him and that’s why he’s so impressed by MC’s dedication in the secret ending. Or maybe they’re both dead because broken hearts make more money than whole ones. Either way I think a teen MC would remind him of his possible family and so he would be hell bent on separating you from the danger and drama of literally everything that happens in the game.)

-        He’s legitimately (and rightfully) concerned about you when he see’s you on seven’s CCTV feed

-        protective and angry dad mode activated

-        threatens to tazer seven into oblivion if he lets something (or causes something to) happen to you

-        “what the hell are you doing she’s a civilian AND she’s got her whole life before her, you and I might have thrown away our lives but she didn’t! whatever’s going on you had better fix it NOW”

-        He is not speaking with you. No way no how. Every word he says to you puts you more in danger and he is not having your life on his conscious

-        That being said the second you’re in danger he is all in on ANNIHILATING whatever has put you in danger

[preetsposting]

Hello! I've found my way here through your Dimileth fic on AO3 :). You mentioned that you take requests? If so, would you be up to write a short university AU meet-cute for Dimitri and Byleth?

Ack!~ Thank you for stopping by! Yes yes this sounds cute and exciting I’ll put it under the cut.  (whoops, this kind of turned into a hackers AU set in a university rather than a more university focused AU rip)

Author’s note - technical Capture the Flags are games where hackers have to find bugs and solve puzzles to find "flags," bits of data that tell the system you've completed a given task. (source). We had a ton at my University.

It was rare that Dimitri would actually attend class in person. He’d either watch the lectures after-the-fact at twice the speed (you can’t blame him, professors are boring), or peruse the slides at around 2am while eating an entire pot of Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese. 

He didn’t really like being around people (and he was a bit of a tough pill to be around - people didn’t really like being around him either). He spent most of his time holed up in his apartment, straw blonde locks touching the keyboard as he hunched over the computer, fearless leader of “Farghus” - the vigilante hacker group. 

He admired two people. 

One of them was AshenDemon, a new addition to their online force. Formerly a self-described “online mercenary”, they had decided to lend their technical prowess to Farghus, and had quickly proven themselves to be the most competent hacker of the bunch, even more-so than Dimitri. They seemed content, though, to simply advise him - they said they had no interest in leading the group. They felt that Dimitri was more than capable, and was stronger than them in many aspects - a complement that made him shoot a rare smile at the glow of his computer screen.

The other person was the TA for the Computer Security class he had taken last semester. Byleth Eisner was only a year older than him, but she was the PhD student that advised the course. You see, even though it was rare that Dimitri went to class, it wasn’t impossible. 

There was something about bantering with Byleth during their discussion section that really drew him out of his shell - she knew her stuff, and she had absolutely humiliated him at the Capture The Flag weekend that the course had put together for fun after the semester had ended. 

And, he hated to admit it, she was really pretty. Like, really really pretty. And that was, secretly, one of the reasons he was okay leaving his apartment to go to class.

And maybe, that was also why he was so nervous about the fact that she had asked him to coffee. It wasn’t a date, she was very clear about the fact that she just wanted to catch up and talk about one of the newest operating system exploits in the news (that he had engineered, but she didn’t know that). But that didn’t stop him from running a comb through his unkempt hair, finding a nice pair of pants to replace his sweats, and practicing his unpracticed smile in the mirror a few times. 

He glanced at his computer, the most recent conversation he had with AshenDemon pulled up from before they had reported the OS exploit to the developers.

HighLordsLance: I’m going to report this anonymously. I don’t think we can handle any more publicity right now. Even if we’re doing good things, the attention just makes our work harder. I don’t want the corps or the media interfering. Reporters trying to infiltrate are *so clumsy*.

AshenDemon: I get that, but your approach is too flamboyant. They’ll know it just from the report. An anonymous report isn’t anonymous if every exploit you report is approached the same way. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

HighLordsLance: I really think it’ll be fine. Not that it matters, anyway. I think it’ll be fine.

AshenDemon: I’m calling it. SecDaily is going to figure it out first based on the style of your approach.

HighLordsLance: You’re on.

AshenDemon: Buy me dinner if I’m right.

HighLordsLance: I’ll download DoorDash and send you whatever you want. ;) But I don’t think you have a chance in hell. The guys at SecDaily are idiots.

- - -

“How’ve classes been, Dimitri?” Byleth rarely smiled, but he noted (sourly - it was kind of unfair) that even the smallest upward twitch of her lips was radiant. She slid into the seat across from him in the booth they had claimed at the coffee shop, extra large drink in hand, faded green waves thrown up messily in a bun.

“I went through twice the usual amount of mac ‘n cheese to get through Computer Architecture. Professor Mudge is intolerable.” He sipped his coffee, finding ways to avoid eye contact as innocuously as possible. Her eyes were mesmerizing. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself by staring. “I’ve been focusing more on side-projects, lately.”

“I see.” She eyed him as if she wanted to say something more. “Anything interesting?”

He shrugged his broad shoulders silently. He knew that she knew about Farghus, just not his involvement with it. They had gotten into many an argument about the ethics of vigilante hacking. “Not really.” “You sure?” She pulled up an article on her phone and flashed the screen at him, eyebrow raised. Published two minutes ago. SecDaily: Hacker Group Farghus Discovers Day Zero Operating System Exploit.

He paled slightly. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” His voice was gruff. He took a gulp of his coffee, scalding his tongue in the process. “I mean, it’s an interesting exploit, sure, but-” “Dimitri.” She interrupted him. Her voice was almost playful, a note he had never heard in it before. “I think you have to take me out to dinner.” A flush raised to his cheeks, dusting across his nose. “Hold on-” “...or does the High Lord’s Lance not keep to his word?” She smirked and downed the rest of her drink. “Pick me up at 7, yeah?”

[elderkale]

chapter six

tell me we’ll never get used to it - chapter six

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Theta missed the ball on the last bounce. She twisted around to watch as it went over her shoulder and into the corner. She stared at it for a moment then sighed and got to her feet.

She brushed the dust clinging to the rubber surface off and wrinkled her nose. It was something new to look at, at least.

She glanced over her shoulder. The empty whiteboard stared accusingly back at her.

Well. Almost empty.

She flung the ball at it again. It knocked off a magnet before bouncing off in the other direction. A photograph fluttered loose and slid across the floor, finally coming to a stop under the toe of Theta’s boot.

Annie Hopkins. That had been her name, the girl on the wall. Her mother had confirmed it.

She grimaced as she crouched to pick it up, and shuddered when her nails scraped against the plasticky surface of the photo paper.

She tossed the picture onto her desk and snatched up a scrap sheet of paper (at least, she hoped it was scrap). She wandered around the desk in a circle, tilting her head up to stare at the ceiling.

Had it taken her this long, before, to figure things out?

She threw herself into her seat. It jolted and she kicked the desk, sending herself spinning across the room. Her elbow slammed into the wall with a bang and she winced. The chair squeaked in protest.

No, it hadn’t. At least, she didn’t think so. It was hard to remember. Hard to put into perspective, at least. Time was fickle like that.

She balled up the paper in her hands and tossed it between her hands. Everyone has off days, she reasoned. Nothing to be ashamed of. She clenched the ball tighter in her hands and kicked off the wall, spinning back towards her desk.

She grabbed it with her free hand as she passed, dragging herself to a stop.

Off days. That’s what this was, then. An off day. Off month. Months, if you would (she wouldn’t).

Of course, most peoples’ off days didn’t involve giving funeral homes more business.

She tossed her rudimentary ball at the board. It more flopped than bounced off, crinkling as it drifted to the ground. She sighed and tossed her feet onto her desk.

It hadn’t taken her this long before. That, she was certain of.

So why the hell was it taking her this long now?

She could hardly be out of practice. That just wasn’t something that happened. Not like this, not with her. She scowled and snatched the marker pen off the table, twisting its cap on and snapping it back on again. Pop, click, pop, click, squeak, click, pop.

She bit down on the end of the cap and twirled the pen between her fingers. There was, she admitted to herself with a small grimace, always the possibility of the copycat being better than her. Small, though. Very small. Miniscule, even, if you liked the word, which she did. Not one that she was willing to entertain, though.

He wasn’t. Not the type.

It was stifling. She tugged her jacket off and tossed it to the side of the room.

Motive. There was always motive. Even when the motive was nothing, there was always a reason. She knew that better than anyone.

Chewing gum too loud. Unfortunate resemblance to an old enemy. Stupid hair.

Convenience.

Who, her? Projecting? Pshaw.

It could, suggested a small, traitorous voice at the corner of her mind sounding suspiciously like a certain bearded psychiatrist, be that, though, couldn’t it? Maybe, it suggested. Maybe. Just maybe. Maybe you’re sympathetic? Empathetic, even? Could that be possible? Maybe you don’t want to catch him. Maybe you’re on his side, just a bit, or maybe you’re worried about what comes next, or that—

She threw the marker at the board. It left a streak of black in its wake and rolled away to join the ball.

What had she done before?

The subconscious was a funny thing.

She slid off her seat and flopped to the ground. She quinted up at the ceiling, a frown tugging at her eyebrows.

She’d talked to people, she was fairly sure. Nothing door-to-door, but she had. Watched interrogations from behind the glass. Joined in, sometimes (very sometimes) (as in once).

She grimaced and pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes until she felt like they were going to burst.

Not mainly, though. Nothing as inactive as that.

No.

It must have been her second year, or maybe late in her first. Before her third, for sure. Between August and November, maybe?

Disembowelment. That, she remembered. Disembowelment. Disembowelment and bone-robbing, which hadn’t been a term before that day, and for good reason, too.

A doctor, John had said. A surgeon, Mike had corrected. A fucking sicko, Owen had grumbled. That doesn’t help, Jack had snapped.

(And that’s the thing: how do you know? How do they—how does she—fit so perfectly into the mold, this archetype, this machine, and how do they make it work?

And here’s the other thing: it doesn’t always have to be that complicated.)

Anyone who’s ever cooked a chicken can figure out how to break out a spine. Anyone with half a brain can figure out how to use a knife. But who’s going to need that many bones?

Ah. There’s the question.

It wasn’t the sort of question to be answered in an office, or at home, or in front of a board. It wasn’t the sort of question to be answered, period.

(The term ‘liquid courage’ truly wasn’t any sort of exaggeration. It had burned going down, and had burned coming up again the next morning, but, in the moment, head spinning, blood rushing, heart beating like the drums of war, she’d felt weightless, and weightless she’d stayed.)

The femur, she’d remembered, somewhat hazily, hands buried in dying, withered heat. The tear of skin and a crack like splitting wood—

Wood.

There’s the answer.

(The chairs really hadn’t been too comfortable, though she supposed they fit a certain aesthetic. Theta had left it to Jack to suggest burying the furniture to the families.)

Her phone rang and she all but dove for it, sending papers flying. “She’s a bitch,” said Martha before it had even finished ringing.

“What?”

She heard a shuffling on the other end of the line. Her phone buzzed against her ear. “Messages,” said Martha bitterly.

Theta flicked the call to speaker and dropped the phone on the desk, leaning over it and squinting down at the screen.

Her stomach turned.

“Just a gossip column, but Jack’s losing it,” Martha informed her. Her voice sounded oddly thin over the speakers, like she was whispering into a tin can. Or was that just her?

Theta waited for her to say something else. “Did you read it?” she asked when she didn’t.

“No.” Lie. Theta pursed her lips and flicked her finger up the screen. The words whipped by in a blur of black on shocking pink, like ants smudged across a page. What she did catch made her nauseous. “Any luck, it’ll be down soon.”

“Won’t be,” Theta grumbled, grimacing and pinching the bridge of her nose. Her head was pounding. “Free press.”

Martha made a concerting noise over the line. “Ask Jake to hack it?” she suggested.

Theta shook her head, then remembered that Martha couldn’t see her. “Nah,” she said lightly. “Nah,” she repeated. Her tongue felt like sandpaper.

“Fine.” Martha didn’t sound upset, Theta didn’t think. And then she wondered why she thought she would be. “You alright?”

“Hm.” Her fingertips were tingling, buzzing with something that wasn’t quite warmth, but couldn’t reasonably be called anything else, either. “Yeah,” she forced herself to say, biting out a tight grin, despite the fact that Martha couldn’t see her. “Yep. Right.”

She hung up and threw her phone across the desk. Her hands shook when she flexed them, palms stinging with pins and needles.

Fuck.

*

Really, Theta didn’t know why she was so surprised. After all, it had only been a matter of time.

Cases dragged on. It happened. It wasn’t like there was much they could do about it. Asking nicely never seemed to help.

(Theta had been asked to give an interview, once. It had gone horribly, and she was fairly certain that, had the microphone not been mysteriously unplugged, it would have been a disaster.)

She drummed her fist against the table, staring at her screen. The computer had switched itself off ages ago, but she didn’t need to see the article to quote it.

Scandalous, the writer (Claire Rook, her name had been Claire Rook. Like a side character in a children’s adventure novel.) had said. Well, if you were looking for it, maybe.

She squeezed her eyes shut and dragged her hands down her face, elbows grinding against the desk.

It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t. They’d all been dragged by the press at some point or another (Some more than others; Martha had a Google Alert set up for Jack, and Mickey had taken out subscriptions to at least three tabloids. He didn’t seem to mind—rather, he seemed to thrive on the attention).

It was a gossip rag. A gossip rag that had clearly stolen pictures from The Guardian. They were running hentai ads alongside the front page, for God’s sake.

A gossip rag that had gotten ahold of her school records what the fuck.

She hit the space bar and the screen blinked back to life.

913 hits, because this was the kind of website that counted hits. One each for Jack, Martha, and Mickey, and another nine for her. 901, then.

She leaned back in her seat, squeezing her eyes shut.

Troubled past. She scoffed. The whole thing was one badly-Photoshopped cover from being a supermarket pulp novel.

I’m not angry.

What word would you prefer?

She opened her eyes a crack and peered at the screen.

915. Fuck her.

She could, she supposed, call Koschei, if only to let him know.

Koschei.

Koschei, who had been in the article too.

There is reason to call into question the ethics of the investigation, especially when considering the presence of famed psychiatrist Koschei Oakdown in the lives of the senior investigators—

Famed. She scoffed. She could almost see Koschei’s head swelling. Hardly the word she’d use. Inobscure, maybe.

—a hidden past shared with the notorious Theta Lungbarrow herself—

She gagged and slammed the laptop shut.

Her legs were itching. She leapt to her feet and began pacing.

Bullshit. Bullshit smeared across a server and tagged as news. She scoffed and dragged her fingers over her scalp. A strand of hair got caught beneath a nail and she shuddered as she tugged it free.

Abruptly, she threw herself to the ground, then got up again, then sat back down.

The infamous raid on Satellite and Fifth—

There was hair on the carpet, too, and eraser shavings, and a bit of a broken branch she’d tracked in on her boots. She twisted it beneath her fingers until it snapped, then did it again, and again.

—in the perfect true crime setup, with Lungbarrow set to lead; but as the villain, or the hero?

She snorted, brushing her hands clean on her knees. It was almost—no, it was—laughable.

Her keys were still in her pocket. She supposed she’d forgotten to take them out.

She dragged her fingers through her hair again. Her scalp was oily; she hadn’t showered.

She jiggled her leg, heel beating the ground.

It’s the moments in between, Rose used to believe, that are the most important. Nothing planned really happens, she used to tell her. It’s the stuff before and after that decides everything.

Failure drives success. Grief drives rage.

She vaulted to her feet and marched out the door.

[datawyrms]

Dannymay#1 Eyes

Who could have known one accident could completely change the course of all their lives? Sure, Danny had the most obvious change. Not many people could claim they were doing their best impression of Schrodinger's cat at all times. Yet he and Sam had changed too. His gothic friend had managed to figure out how to decide which issues were worth fighting for while actually having a chance of making a change stick. No more frog heists and poorly interpreted menus, but a lot more paperwork and sit ins. It had been worth it though, repealing any of the mayor’s idiotic programs that were just designed to make surveying everyone easier.

He’d never really thought hacking into and coordinating hundreds of camera feeds was going to be something he was going to be casual about. Yet here he was once again, Tucker Foley, the guy with all the eyes.

It had just been something to thwart Vlad at first, considering how gross it was the man kept sneaking bugs into the Fenton household. What kind of homie would he be if he let some rich asshole keep creeping on his mum? It had been tricky at first, plenty of failures, but now it was practically routine. Even the newest, most highly guarded systems were more like a fun game than the ‘baffing computer nonsense’ Danny and Sam insisted it was.

Maybe using the hidden cameras and breaking into others wasn’t the most morally correct choice. Maybe they’d gone a little too far. Yet every time his PDA was able to beep and let him know a camera had spotted a ghost, the ethical implications didn’t seem as important. It was one less ghost that could terrorize freely until Danny could detect it ‘naturally’, or found out on a news broadcast and end up sprinting away while cursing whoever decided to come haunt the town that day.

He checked the alert, eyes rolling as he adjusted his glasses. Technus getting a little too close to an electronics store yet again. He wouldn’t need to call his exhausted half ghost friend for this one if he cut him off quick enough. Blaster, Thermos, PDA, scooter, good to go.

The tech obsessed ghost was already mid monologue as Tucker ran closer “And soon, I-”

“I thought you upgraded to not do the long winded monologues?” the teen asked, thermos pointed and eyebrow raised.

“A-HAH! Ghost child’s mentally superior assistant! There was no one to hear the monologue, so I may make it!” the ghost apparently didn’t care about the suctioning soup container, more invested in refuting the comment. “Now you shall-”

“That’s great dude. How about we just not make another mech that gets blasted to bits today?” he rolled his eyes, watching as the surrounding area quickly emptied of people. ‘Get out of the way of the scary glowing thing’ being such a common occurrence really improved everyone’s knowledge of fire escape routes.

The caped ghost crossed his arms, looking away somewhat sheepishly. “I was not going to make a mech to bring around your clearly calculated doom!”

“You like, always make some sort of mech. Then we have to smash it and all this stuff gets wrecked. Really ruins the whole ‘and beeping’ part of your title,” Tucker said, edging closer. Jazz had insisted Danny was being a bit too much like their parents with the ‘fight first, maybe accidentally ask questions while punching’ policy with the ghosts that had been showing up for literal years At least it proved throwing them back in after a fight wasn’t going to make them stay gone, and they should try some new approaches. Technus was more of a nuisance than a menace, so trying the talking method with him seemed safe enough. After all, he could at least understand the ghost’s obsession with technology.

“It is not my fault the ghost child is always with the smashing! I would like to keep the electronics beeping, thank you very much!” The ghost remained defiant, but the green glow blanketing some of the monitors died down a little.

“Well if you go scaring everyone with a big glowing computer of course it’s gonna get smashed! Are you sure you actually like technology?”

Now that got a reaction. Technus almost seemed to grow larger with how brightly he was glowing. “OF COURSE I DO! ONLY I KNOW THE INTRICACIES OF ALL THESE NEW FANGLED BEEPERS AND BOBS! ONLY I CAN INTEGRATE AND ASSIMILATE TO IMPROVE IT AND MYSELF! YOU COULD NOT EVEN IMAGINE-”

He had to cut the ghost off before he tore off to make a mess. “Okay, chill! It’s just a real shame how much stuff gets ruined when you do this whole haunt and scare the humans thing, you know?”

“It...is that but I must be a worthy foe! It is the peak of rudeness to not put up a decent fight to such a good nemesis! On his territory no less!”

Tucker had to take a moment to think that over. Then another to hold back a snort. “You’re going to smash up all this stuff because you think Danny wants a good fight. Seriously?”

“Yes! Well, that and the terrified human screams! Those are always a hoot, someone should have thought of making somewhere in this world their haunt before now! Wait- why are you laughing?”

“Oh man he’s going to hate this.” he managed to say through laughter. “And what, you lose and get a free ride back home after having a fun day out around humans?”

“The ghost child is a good nemesis for that! Much better than having to drag myself back home with all energy spent! Skulker keeps taking part of my cloak, it is VERY IRRITATING and UNFRESH.”

“Okay, okay, I’m going to cut you a deal. As Danny’s friend, I’ll let you take one thing back to the ghost zone to play with if you just leave now.”

Technus slouched, glancing around a little as if worried the half ghost was going to just pop out a garbage can. “Eh? Won't he be offended I did not challenge him after trespassing? Child ghosts hold terrible grudges!” he spoke in the closest thing the ghost ever got to a whisper, aka theater whispering. “My intelligence is too much to be fooled by a human ploy!” Oh he was absolutely eyeing some sort of camera with adorable flowers on the casing.

“Hey, I’m his friend! He lets me watch over all of Amity, if he’s mad I’ll explain for you, okay?” Tucker wasn’t bothering to threaten with the thermos anymore, even if he still hadn’t quite realized this was actually working.

“Ah! Clever of him to use his humans that way. I should try it with little robot minions! Though my lair is not nearly so big…” the ghost was completely distracted as he mused “Maybe little floating fish! Or floating eyeballs! You are certain he will not be angry?”

“Dude, I promise you he won’t be mad about it. Swear on my glasses. Just take it and go.”

He hesitated for a moment more before swiping the packaged children’s camera, still doing a few double takes at Tucker to make sure the teen wasn’t moving to stop him. “Then I, TECHNUS shall take this ocular image stealing device and devise NEW HORRORS to BRING UPON THE SOULS OF THE LIVING”

“Or you could just play some video games. Those are fun, and if you don’t make a mess you might get to scare some people for a bit.”

“I WILL TAKE THAT IN TO CONSIDERATION, FOUR EYED ONE”

Then he was gone, cackling to himself as he tore through the sky. Jazz was going to have a field day with this one...

(I need to make a pseud on A03 to post all these later...hmhm)

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #11- Soak the Matrix in Lemon Juice and Break Out the Hairdryers

So, small problem.

Prowl realized he was in the wrong comic run and had to split.

But not before yelling at Orion about how stupid he thinks this National Treasure bullshit he’s trying to pull is, and makes a request that Chromedome be left out of this whole mess.

Why the fuck wouldn’t you tell him that?

Bye, Prowl. See you later, I guess.

Chromedome and Roller have brought in some help for the heist from the local college. These students were super gung-ho about stealing the Matrix, not because they’re agents of political chaos, but because the Senator has his name attached to this little project. They feel a certain debt to the Senator, since he’s been doing his best to protect them from the Functionist Council.

Gee, wonder who that truck is.

We get a little rundown of our new friends, while Chromedome has a minor temper tantrum in the background.

Skids is also a member of this group, labelled as a super-learner, enough so that it may not even be a voluntary thing on his part.

In the present day, Swerve’s returned from stealing things from Trailcutter’s room, apparently totally unaware of what’s happened to his roommate. You’d think someone would have gotten in contact with him about that.

I mean, maybe? You did say you liked purple.

Swerve lets it slip that this isn’t the only story time circle Rewind’s hosted in an attempt to get Rung’s brain back up to speed… which makes me wonder just how often the medical staff on board the Lost Light actually check on their patients, if Ratchet had been surprised that this event was happening today.

Swerve makes fun of Tailgate for needing to open up the wiki so he can keep track of what’s going on, then goes over to call Rung the wrong name. Swerve is very lucky Rung is essentially in a coma right now, because that’s probably the only thing keeping him from trying to strangle our resident barkeep.

Whirl helps Rung express himself by playing with his eyebrows, a trait which, now that I think about it, probably only exists for expressive purposes, considering that his eyes are covered by his glasses and we can’t see their shape.

Rewind saves Rung from being played with, perhaps solely because he’s a historical constant.

So you’re saying Rung gets around. Nifty.

Rewind decides that they’ve taken enough of a break and it’s time to get back to the juicy stuff, completely blowing off Ratchet’s professional opinion about what to do with Rung.

Nothing gets in the way of story time.

Nothing.

In the past, Orion Pax is poking Skids in the face, specifically in his mini Matrix tattoo, which is giving him ideas. Skids is a little weirded out, but this isn’t about Skids, now is it? Chromedome goes to pay a visit to a coworker to get things set for the madness that’s about to unfold.

My boy! My beautiful boy!

Yes, Ironfist, before shooting himself in the head and having his spirit broken by the horrors of direct combat, used to be a cop. Everyone’s a cop in IDW, at least for a little while. He’s also missing his faceplate, and isn’t nearly as cute in Milne’s style, but we can’t have it all all the time, now can we?

Chromedome’s feeding into Ironfist’s fanboy nature, pretending to be just as much as a nerd as he is to call in a favor. In exchange for getting Ironfist’s Delta Magnus body pillow back from their boss, Chromedome needs to borrow Ironfist’s one-to-one replica of the Matrix.

I mean, you practically are already, but the sentiment is appreciated. We haven’t gotten to the point where we’re comfortable with thank you kisses yet, and it’ll be a while still.

While the Senator and company gush over Chromedome’s good job, Roller pulls Ratchet and Orion over to the side for a little chat.

Roller doesn’t trust the Senator. He’s done his research, weighed their options, and he really isn’t sure about this guy. Turns out that Orion isn’t the only guy who’s been modified to fit a Matrix without his consent. Honestly, I’m with Roller on this one; that’s mad creepy to be loading the bases like that.

Orion doesn’t really see it that way, though.

Only one of these things was ever a secret, my guy. You worked with Whirl, he was in your precinct for crying out loud! At least he admits to his ignorance.

Back in the present, we check in on Rodimus’ investigation. Looks like we’ve got our answer on who tried to kill Red Alert.

It was Red Alert.

First Aid explains.

Fascinating.

Rodimus fails to see why exactly Red Alert would choose to go this route, because A) he doesn’t know that Red Alert knows about the dirty little secret in the basement, and B) despite probably having depression, may not be the type to have suicidal ideation. It’s true, those types of people exist!

Oh, this is a savior’s complex thing. Nyon really fucked you up, huh Rodimus?

After Ultra Magnus gets Rodimus to stop accosting the doctor, they’re faced with a sort of moral quandary.

IDW’s More Than Meets the Eye! Come for the space adventure, stay for the rumination on whether it’s ethical to allow a mentally ill person the right to self-termination!

After consulting with Drift, because it’s always important to get a second opinion, Rodimus agrees to put Red Alert in cold storage, to remain until their quest is finished and they’re in a place that’s better for his mental health.

Anyway, back to the heist plotline.

Orion breaks down the plan for everybody: the basilica is nearly impossible to break into, but they’re going to do it anyway, because this is the past, and we as the reader already know that things go alright because Chromedome, Ratchet and Skids are still here and Optimus Prime came into being.

Roller will hack the sky spies, make things look all hunky dory, while the rest of the boys magic carpet up to the top of the building.

Looking mighty relaxed there, Glitch.

Glitch is probably sitting down to conserve as much energy as possible, because his job sucks some major chrome- he’s got to keep the detector beams off, using his outlier ability, but it really friggin’ hurts for him to do it. He’s going to have to do it for an extended period of time.

Glitch really got the short end of the stick in all this, didn’t he?

Okay, so I was wrong, Skids uses his grappling hook a fucking shit-ton in MTMTE. Today, he’s going to use it to lower Orion down into the basilica so he can crack open a cold one and steal the Matrix.

Things can never just be simple, can they?

Over on Roller’s end of the workflow, Chromedome’s irritated that he’s got to babysit the Senator. Chromedome spends a good portion of this story arc irritated at stuff, in case you couldn’t tell.

In this case, the Senator agrees that having Chromedome stay back was probably unnecessary. Or at least, he did, until he noticed that the Academy of Advanced Technology is burning to the ground on live TV.

Then the wall explodes.

Things can never just be simple, can they?

Back on the front lines, Orion tags out and Ratchet tags in, because the locks on the Matrix are mad crazy hard to undo and they just don’t have time for pussyfooting around with all that. Ratchet is apparently a master lock pick. Must be those magic medic hands.

Even the Matrix being full of Fiji water is no match for our CMO, as he makes quick work of the bomb and removes it. Hooray! Now we just need to pull him back up and we’ll be all set to leave.

Or at least, we would be, if Glitch wasn’t the dumbest bitch alive.

Ratchet braces for an explosion.

And braces.

And braces.

But it never comes, because Windcharger has magic arms and zero patience for facing his own mortality.

The boys haul up Ratchet and the bomb, fly on out of there, then Orion jumps off the slab they’re floating on because Roller was supposed to call and he hasn’t. I’m going to hazard a guess and say that Roller might be a bit preoccupied at the moment, and it isn’t by the television.

That is a BIG BOY.

“Cleanse and control” was what Trepan’s idiotic tattoo said, so there’s a good chance that our buddy the Senator is about to go the way of Pious Maximus in a minute. Or at least, he would if Orion Pax didn’t embrace is inner monster truck and punch a hole in the big boy holding the Senator like Lennie does a rabbit.

Kroma isn’t one to let the opposite side have all the cards though, as he holds a gun to Roller’s head and suggests that the Senator be given to him, lest we be down a cop in this story that’s simply awash with them. The Senator, being the nice guy that he is, goes willingly to his doom.

Be a lot easier if we knew your name, bud.

The Senator is taken away, but Kroma leaves Orion with the other big boy, and he’s not playing nicely. Orion helps himself by way of domestic terrorism.

But that’s not the end of the story! Oh dear no!

After the explosion, Orion unearths Chromedome, and they make tracks for the Institute. Small issue with that though:

Well, dang.

Thus ends the tale of the Matrix heist, the mysterious Senator, and Chromedome’s awkward relationship with Prowl. Our storytelling session ends with the sound of the alarm, and everyone runs off to see just what the hell’s gone wrong now. Only Skids hangs back to take Rung to the medibay, but not before trying one last thing to help his partner in vent-crawling out.

Man, all they had to do was annoy him and everything would have been fine? Rewind’s going to feel so silly for all that work he put into this.

Back in the past, Orion’s digging through the remains of the Rodion police station, when a robot comes up to him, saying that they have a mutual friend who asked him to find Orion if he ever went missing.

The mutual friend was the Senator.

And the robot is Zeta, who would become Zeta Prima.

The Senator was really playing the field with all these Matrix reformattings.

Speaking of the Senator, he’s just arrived at a The Institute, where they’ve decided to not only shadowplay him, but also empurata his whole deal just to be assholes. He just wanted to be beautiful, on top of conniving, but I guess we won’t be having any of that anymore. Not that it’ll matter.

Because vanity is illogical.

No wonder Whirl’s so goddamn angry all the time.

[gamesception]

So the Outer Worlds port finally came out on the switch a couple weeks ago, which is what I had been waiting for to give it a try.  Beat my first play through yesterday.  And... honestly?  I kind of expected better.  Like, a lot better.

Not getting into the technical side, since I’d have no idea how to separate the stuff that was Obsidian’s fault from stuff that was Virtuous’s fault from stuff that just comes down to the Switch itself.  Also because technical stuff doesn’t affect my own experience overmuch - I can’t easily spot the difference between 30fps and 60fps unless someone points it out to me, and as long as a game is at least on par with, like, the ps2 era graphically then it looks good to me - though I will say the game crashed twice while I was playing it AND I had a random quest breaking companion death bug that by the time I noticed it I only barely had a save far enough back that I was able to fix it, and the game performed badly enough docked that even I gave up on playing it on the tv and just went with handheld....

But again, I’m not overly concerned with the technical end and wouldn’t necessarily blame obsidian for the shortcomings of the switch port anyway.  But where the game was disappointing was in areas that I was sure Obsidian would deliver in - an immersive world with believable and engaging factions and societies, interesting and well written quest lines and npcs, a main story with something compelling to say and a lot of opportunities for subtle role playing.  The stuff that New Vegas did so much better than Fallout 3, or that KotOR 2 did so much better than KotOR 1.  Stuff that the reviews around the time of the game’s release on other platforms all praised the Outer Worlds for.

And that’s.... like...  I mean, Outer Worlds isn’t terrible, I enjoyed my time with it more than I didn’t, but wow I expected more.  The game is short, the explore-able areas are relatively small, and, like, it’s really really dumb in a lot of exactly the same ways that people complain about Bethesda Fallout games - token quests that just have you following a quest marker around mindlessly, never getting to work anything out for yourself.  Settlements that don’t make sense, npcs and villains that feel like goofy dumb jokes rather than communities of people, random respawning groups of the same handful of enemy types with no integration into the world - the game’s raiders have no motivations, outposts, or place in the world like those of New Vegas, they’re just enemy spawns to give you something to shoot.

The world just doesn’t work.  Like, I get it, corporations bad, I even agree in principle, but there’s no depth to it, just a surface level, cartoonish reiteration of the idea.  It doesn’t get at WHY corporations are bad.  In Outer Worlds they’re just bad because they’re dumb and incompetent and pointlessly cruel.  Nothing about systemic lack of accountability or profit motive.  The game even just shoves a couple arbitrary human villains in at the end so that you have a generic bad guy that you can kill to magically fix everything.

And the segregated design of the world - instead of one big wasteland like fallout games there’s a bunch of smaller regions you space ship between like a KotOR or Mass Effect game - means nothing you do in one area or quest line seems to meaningfully impact or even just tie into anything going on anywhere else.  There’s a faction system like New Vegas, but the factions feel pointless and paper thin.

The only ethical/story choices in the game are between factions, and there’s always a pretty obvious “right” answer.  Do you side with the company town full of innocent people, or do you side with the outsiders who just want to be free even if that freedom comes at the cost of an entire town of innocent people?  Or do you want take the obviously best option milquetoast moderate liberal “both sides” option where you easily resolve the differences between the two sides by getting rid of the one individual bad man who is actually to blame for whatever’s going wrong?  That exact situation is repeated twice.  Then do you want to side with the board who are literally killing everyone through wilful incompetence or do you want to side with everyone else because literally nobody actually likes or depends on the corporate board?  The choices presented to you are as cartoonish and reductive as anything you could point to in any of the Bethesda games that Obsidian fans like to complain about.

Some of the companions are ok, Parvati is endearing enough, and there’s a bit of biowaresque banter between them while walking about which I like, but their quest lines, like pretty much all quest lines in the game, are pretty short and largely perfunctory fetch quests, and once they’re done the companions have literally nothing left to say to you.  Just as you get close to them they stop being characters altogether, and are reduced down to ‘attack that enemy’ buttons.

The game play was... like bare minimum passable, and way way too easy.  As with the quest lines, the game play seems to be idiot-proofed at the expense of all challenge.  There’s a neat infiltration mechanic idea, but those segments are all but impossible to fail if you aren’t trying to do so.  Combat likewise was way too easy, at least for the default stealthy long gun character I typically make in these sorts of games.  Enemy AI is pretty bad and rubber banding is super noticeable.  There’s multiple difficulty levels, but hard mode didn’t fix the problem and ‘supernova’ mode comes with a bunch of obnoxious survival busywork, plus the companions can be perma-killed, and since their AI is as bad as the enemies that would lead to me never taking them out of the ship, which would mean missing out on the party banter which is one of the few bits I was enjoying in the game, so I didn’t even bother trying it.

Skill checks are present but almost always too easy to distinguish character build decisions, and even when they are, bypassing checks by other means is always so trivial that it’s not even worth the quick travel jump back to your ship to respec - which you can do at any time.  If there’s a hard lock pick blocking anything important then there’s always an alternative computer hack, or a nearby pass key, or a room with a couple enemies that can be easily stealthed past, or even more easily killed, or some other alternative path never more than a room away.  The only thing that seems to be blocked by actually hard checks are more loot, and this game throws so much loot and ammo and medpacks at you that missing out on some never matters.

None of that would be a huge problem if the game’s story and world had more depth.  The game play coasts by on the bare minimum, but for an rpg of this type that would be absolutely fine, if the story and quests and setting weren’t *also* coasting by on the bare minimum.  That ‘bare minimum’ bit is highlighted by the game’s overall length, which is really pretty short.  I did every side quest I came across naturally, collected all the companions and did their quests, and capped my character level before going to the final mission, but that still capped out at well under 20 hours of play time, and a lot of that was spent backtracking back and forth over the same few areas with the same copy and re-pasted respawning enemy groups.

The whole thing isn’t, like, actively bad, I’m coming across as too negative here.  Again, I mostly enjoyed my time while I was playing it, and the relative lack of these sorts of games on the Switch means I don’t feel like I wasted my money on this one.  I *did* play it all the way through instead of just losing interest a few hours in.  I’ll probably play it through once more at some point in the future, a no companions, supernova difficulty run maybe, and I’ll probably enjoy that well enough.  And I guess maybe that makes Outer Worlds look good compared to recent Bethesda efforts, which I’ve either avoided entirely (76, mobile garbage), or lost interest in and stopped playing a few hours in (4).  Maybe that explains some of the overwhelming praise of the game I remember from when it first came out.  But I wouldn’t say it’s even on par with slightly older Bethesda fare like Fallout 3 or Skyrim.  And to the extent that the game’s world structure and focus on companions calls to mind Bioware games like the original Dragon Age or Mass Effect, Outer Worlds falls notably short there as well.  Most painfully, when it comes to the core elements that made previous Obsidian games like New Vegas or KotOR2 great, Outer Worlds doesn’t even come close.  Hardly even seems to try.  And if you’re comparing Outer Worlds to those games instead of to Fallout 76, I don’t really see how you could see it as anything other than a disappointment.

[peytonainsworth]

/ * { madelaine petsch ☁ twenty-seven ☁ she/her } among the whispers around peach hollow, have you heard of peyton ainsworth? no? well, let’s catch you up to speed. rumor has it, they’ve been seen strolling around olive avenue & have lived in peach hollow for two weeks, seeing as she just moved back. it’s good to have them around because i hear they’re an event planner for a living. recent events must have them trembling because it hasn’t be long since everyone found out that peyton used to escort in order to support herself after disowning her hotel tycoon father’s riches. let’s hope they learned their lesson that the truth always catches up to you. { haley ☁ twenty-one ☁ she/her ☁ est }

hi babies ! i’m haley, twenty-one savage from the est. massachusetts to be exact. like every bostonian, i drink clam chowder through a straw and hold a tom brady vigil by my bedside nightly. some of you may know peyton and her big personality already but for those of you that don’t, here is my lil red lipstick, ginger, regina george queen <3333

personality

character inspo: quinn fabray, santana lopez, regina george, jackie burkhart, blair waldorf, heather chandler, cheryl blossom ofc

HEAD BITCH IN CHARGE

will roast ur entire existence

perfectionist!! detail oriented!!

CRAZY PSYCHO BITCH

the problem child bc her sister is an angel

big bitch but has a heart sometimes

she will not go get mexican food w u don’t even ask but she really just wants a damn burrito

will literally come over and marie kondo ur entire life

evil genius and luvs revenge

a legit psycho when it comes to loving people like has hacked her exes phones even though she seems calm and collected on surface level

will force u to watch home videos of her skating and u will watch

don’t ask to see her sketch books she will blush and change the subject

past

peyton hasn’t live in georgia all of her life. in fact she is one of the town’s newer residence. she moved there a little under a year ago with her mom and sister.

peyton was born and raised in san francisco in a neighborhood called pacific heights, commonly known as billionaire’s row.

she was born into wealth, her father owning a chain of five star hotels that had been passed down through the generations for as long as she could remember. she spent a ton of time in the beautiful hotels her father owned, learning her work ethic from him. her father was stoic man who put more value on a dollar than substantial relationships with his family. your typical rich dad.

her mother was a trophy wife, spewing meaningless side projects like perfume lines and eye shadow palettes that enviably made their way into departments stores alike.

peyton’s fondest childhood memories was helping set up for the weddings in the hotels. watching the flowers be arranged, the chairs be strategically placed, the wait staff setting the champagne flutes. this lead to her taking an interest in doodling wedding dresses and small flower arrangements.

she has a small wildflower tattoo going along the curve of her breast that she drew, fun fact.

when she was three, her little sister was born. the two grew up inseparable, running amuck in their house together, pranking the nannies but most importantly: ice skating. there were obviously no ice rinks in california naturally but their nanny would take them to an indoor skating rink for lessons. peyton and audrey were quite good skaters.

in high school, peyton won a ton of awards in art contests and even got scholarship to attend art schools across the country.

her dad insisted there was no money in being artist (even if money was never a problem for them), he urged her to take over and be a hotel tycoon like him. peyton and her father fought a lot towards the end of high school about this but at the end of the day, she was her fathers daughter and was stubborn. peyton knew the key to happiness was chasing you passion instead of the dollar.

she attended rhode island school of art and design, earning a degree in interior design and a minor in illustrator. after graduating, she returned home and expected to have a job in the hotel that could suit her.

as she expected, her father got her a job in his business planning the events and having creative control over how each other ballrooms looked as well as the lobbies. working in close quarters with her father made their relationship grow quite strong. the two did everything together and suddenly their stoic walls were crumbling, only for each other.

it seemed as though everything in peyton’s life was coming together. she was the head event coordinator at the hotel, her father was her boss and allowed her to have free range. her sister was around so they could goof off at work.

this was until one day peyton was bringing her father lunch from their favorite mexican food truck in the city. she then walked in on her father sleeping with his assistant which put a stake in their relationship.

peyton couldn’t keep the secret from her mother. she’d rather her mother walk away with dignity rather than stay with a man who had no respect for her. but her mother did not have the same respect for herself.

peyton made the decision to take her funds and move to georgia to be near her grandparents, that’s how she ended up in peach hollow.

peyton’s time in peach hollow

peyton moved to peach hollow three years ago per her ultimatum to her mother that it was either her or her father and her mother chose her father.

she moved into a house on olive avenue and visited her grandparents frequently.

being skeptical at first about the new town around her, it took her a while to warm up and make friends.

she owned her own successful event planning business.

after about a year of living in peach hollow, she started dating leo choi and their relationship was rough from the very beginning. around the time they made things official, it got exposed by the peacher that she was an escort. and it also got exposed that leo had a secret child.

but peach hollow made peyton an extremely happy person and even made her a better human being.

peyton and leo were happy for about a year after overcoming their obstacles, just to run into another. leo got busy with work and his son, growing closer to other people as peyton began to drift away herself. it wasn’t until one day when their estrangement became physical.

leo walked in on his roommate lucas and peyton having sex and that was the end of their relationship. this was also the end of peyton’s time in peach hollow.

the last two years & now

after cheating on leo, peyton moved to nyc to take a job offer at a five star hotel planning events and also freelancing other galas throughout the city.

peyton’s been absolutely thriving, becoming a bit of a party girl with the city life but also finding herself as a professional in the daylight.

she’s even had a few relationships in new york but nothing as serious as her relationship with leo. she lowkey still has their pictures tucked away in her manhattan apartment. 

she brought her dog mango to nyc from sanfran.

doesn’t talk to her mom or dad, has cut all ties completely.

moved back to peach hollow (olive ave) bc her grandma is sick and she needs someone to take care of her. is not happy ab it. was living her best life. 

[perspective-series]

Exposed Perspective (7)

By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67

Warnings: Guilt, fear, panic, being trapped, people being used/treated like test subjects and injury.

THIS IS THE THIRD STORY IN A TRILOGY. READ “A Third Perspective” AND “Switched Perspectives” FOR THIS TO MAKE SENSE!

(Check the reblog for the links to the previous chapters and the TWO prequels!)

———————————————————————————————

“Fascinating.” Dee breathed, staring down through the lens as he turned the knobs this way and that. “Oh, simply marvelous!” It was in this tedious fashion he continued, inspecting every inch of Virgil’s hair first. As he moved onto the blood slide, a pounding at the door startled the professor so much that he nearly dropped it entirely.

 Virgil jumped, startled at the sudden sound. Patton, too, jumped awake and both looked at each other as they recognized the sound. They grinned, it had to be their humans!

“Be careful!” Dee yelled to the other side of the door, quite irritated by the interruption that had nearly destroyed his progress. Of course, he was sure it was just those meddling kids again.

“Dr. Dee?” A voice that was most certainly not one of the previous students made the dean pale. “May we come in?”

 The borrowers’ smiles fell. That wasn’t Logan, Roman, or Thomas’ voice. They looked at each other with panic. 

“Oh, ah, not right now!” Dee hurried to explain, already attempting to push the table closer to the door. “I am quite preoccupied at the moment and unable to open the door-” Before he was able to succeed, the door creaked open, revealing four figures on the other side.

“Well, it’s a good thing I have a key myself, then.” Dr. Picani noted, flanked by three friendly faces who looked ready to murder the dean. Dee gulped.

 The borrowers’ panic left as soon as they saw their three friends. “Guys!” They both shouted at the same time, though Patton’s shout came out a little quieter as he was still a bit dizzy. The fourth human with them threw them off but if he was willing to help them out then they couldn’t complain.

“Virgil!” “Patton!” All three students rushed over to the cage, relief flooding their features as they completely ignored Picani’s startled looks. Dee tried to step in front of them briefly, only for Roman to promptly punch him in the nose. The dean groaned, falling to the ground and clutching his face.

“Roman!” Picani gasped, shocked at his behavior. 

“Sorry professor,” Roman said, not at all sounding sorry as he didn’t even look over his shoulder before joining the others.

“Are you alright?” Logan asked worriedly, practiced hands unlocking the cage.

 “We are now,” Virgil said as he grinned up at Logan and helped Patton up, Patton swayed on his feet and Virgil winced. “But Patton might need some help. Dee took a lot of blood from him.” Patton just nodded.

Logan only nodded, not trusting himself to speak as he carefully scooped up Patton. 

Roman stepped forwards next, putting a hand out for Virgil.

 Virgil climbed on readily and happily, settling down in the center of Roman’s palm. “I am so glad you guys are here.” Virgil felt as though he could cry.

 Patton just barely registered he was being held now and looked up at Logan with a tired smile. “Hi, Logan.” Patton greeted, his words slightly slurred.

“Hi Patton,” Logan said softly, holding Patton close to his chest.

“...what happened to your hair?” Roman raised an eyebrow as he pulled Virgil out.

 “Ugh, he happened.” Virgil pointed to Dee, who was still on the floor, with one hand as the other went to where his hair was cut. Virgil grinned though. “Nice punch by the way.”

“Thank you,” Roman said, looking pleased with himself despite the fact his knuckles were bruised.

“How dare you.” Dee snarled, getting to his feet by clutching the edge of the table. “You come in here, defile my work, invade my sacred zone-!”

“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Thomas commented, ducking around Dee towards the door. The other two followed, both clutching their borrowers possessively. 

“Hold on a moment.” Picani put out an arm, stopping them all in their tracks. His eyes lingered on the tiny people. “I think you all still have a lot of explaining to do.”

 Virgil flinched, suddenly remembering the fourth human that had come in with all of them. He grit his teeth. He was tired of all these humans stopping him from leaving. He just wanted to go home. “Alright, fine.” Virgil surprised himself by speaking. “He kidnapped us and tried to run experiments on us while completely ignoring the fact that we are sentient beings with feelings. End of story, now let us go home already!”

“How could you do such a thing?” Thomas turned to Dee, looking distraught. He still couldn’t believe a human was capable of such malice.

“Thieves!” Dee protested. “Liars, hooligans, the lot of them.” 

“Ah...perhaps this would be a good time for a more...civil discussion.” Picani took a moment to look sternly at Roman, who didn’t even look sheepish.

“It’s not my fault his face appeared so punchable, professor.” Roman shrugged. As Picani’s gaze grew harsher, Roman had the good sense to duck his head and at least attempt to look repentant.

“Upstairs, my office, all of you.” Picani paused, looking at Logan. “It seems your claims were well-founded after all.”

The students began to follow Picani upstairs, as did a begrudging Dee. Both Logan and Roman kept him at a safe distance, keeping an eye on their respective borrowers.

 As the borrowers were brought along, Patton looked up at Logan. Things were getting a little clearer which was nice. “Who’s that? Patton asked Logan, motioning towards the new human.

 Virgil, hearing Pat’s question, couldn’t help but wonder the same thing.

“Doctor Picani,” Logan explained in a hushed tone. “He’s the true head of the natural sciences department, which makes him Dee’s superior.” 

“Sorry about him.” Roman looked down at Virgil apologetically. “We didn’t want to get any other humans involved, but… we really didn’t have any other options.”

 “It’s...okay. He got you to us and us away from Dee. That’s all that matters.” Though Virgil glared at Picani’s head. “As long as he stays on our side...we should be fine.” Virgil wasn’t too keen to trust another person of science though, not so soon anyway.

The group reached Picani’s office, a large room with a wooden oval desk. On one side Dee sat down, and on the other, the students sat. Picani went into an adjacent room, pulling out an ice pack and offering it to Dee before taking a seat next to his fellow professor.

“Thank you, Picani,” Dee said in an almost sickeningly sweet tone, clearly trying to get on his colleague’s good side. 

“Dee, do you know why you’re here?” Picani asked, looking concerned.

“You took pity on a few students who wanted to sabotage my work.” Dee shrugged, glaring across the table.

“It’s for a far more serious reason, actually,” Picani explained. “Logan here believes you are guilty of illegal experimentation.”

“Oh, is that so?” Dee leaned over the table towards Logan. “I think he’s just mad because I took his pet away.” 

“They’re not. Pets.” Logan growled, his fingers curling protectively around Patton. “How dare you accuse them of such a title when they each possess more humanity than you could ever hope to achieve.”

 “Yeah!” Patton exclaimed.

  “Also, he literally just admitted to kidnapping us, which I believe is illegal, right?” Virgil said, directing his words at Picani.

“Ah, yes that would be correct.” Picani nodded, still looking a bit thrown off. “I’m sorry, who are you, exactly?”

 Virgil sighed. “I’m Virgil and that’s Patton.”

 “Hi!” Patton waved.

 “Like I said before, we’re the sentient beings Dee kidnapped and planned to experiment on.” Virgil crossed his arms.

“I see.” Picani’s eyebrows furrowed.

“This is all just a big misunderstanding!” Dee protested, leaning back to look over at Picani pleadingly. “Surely you can understand a single mistake in my long history of beneficial research to this institution.”

“One mistake, huh?” Roman scoffed.

“I have in my possession files indicating over two decades’ worth of ‘mistakes’,” Logan explained, adjusting his glasses. “Countless violations of the human code of ethics throughout your means of research that you so tactfully hide in your papers yet fail to hide in the video evidence you’ve accumulated of every interaction.”

Dee paled. “How did you…?”

“I have a certain interest in computer hacking,” Logan smirked. “Consider this payback for all your cruel grading these last few weeks. Which, coincidentally, is biased and also illegal.” 

Indeed, ever since Dee had turned on Logan the biology student had set to work digging up dirt on his foul professor in the hopes of having the faculty member removed from the institution. It seemed his hard work was finally paying off.  

“Logan sent me the files and the evidence speaks for itself.” Picani shook his head sadly. “I wanted to give you the chance to share your side of the story before I take this case to the board of trustees.”

Dee looked across the table, eyeing the group with a certain amount of scrutiny. “So it seems I’ve finally met my match…” He chuckled softly.

 “Heck yeah, you did! You won’t be bothering us anymore!” Virgil yelled at Dee and smirked smugly. 

 Patton, who was slowly but surely getting less dizzy, grinned. That was definitely a nice thought. Not having to deal with Dee anymore.

“Dee, this is no laughing matter,” Picani explained sternly. “It’s very possible that you will go to jail for this.”

“Oh, most certainly.” Dee looked almost bored, pulling out his phone with his free hand. 

“...what are you doing?” Thomas asked, confused. The professor didn’t answer.

“Hold this, boy.” Dee tossed the ice pack at Thomas who caught it with a startled yelp. Now free to use both hands, Dee typed twice as quickly. 

“What tricks are you playing, villain?” Roman sneered, leaning over the table to try and view Dee’s phone.

“All scientists are entitled to their secrets.” Dee looked meaningfully at Logan. “Of course, given the fact you’ve ruined me, I have no need for secret-keeping anymore.”

“I’m not sure I follow.” Logan frowned. He didn’t like being unsure. 

“Aaaand send.” Dee hit one final button, repocketing his phone with a smirk. There was a quiet ping, and Picani pulled out his own phone.

 Virgil’s eyebrows furrowed and he looked between Dee and then at Picani’s phone before his head snapped to Dee once more in sudden realization. “...You didn’t.” Virgil said, voice barely above a whisper, not wanting to believe it had actually happened.

 Patton was still confused. “Did what?” Why was Virgil looking so pale?

“One mass email sent out to every faculty member of the college of natural sciences.” Dee held up a single finger, looking pleased with himself.

“Dee, why...why would you send this?” Picani frowned at the email’s contents. “This is just your laboratory recording from earlier today. All it does is prove your guilt.”

“Oh, it does far more than that.” Dee chuckled darkly. 

“...oh no.” Logan paled, catching on as well.

“Oh yes.” Dee grinned, leaning over and addressing the borrowers directly. “Guess who’s not a secret anymore.”

[fandom-necromancer]

917. I didn’t want you to see me like this.

Shoutout to the awesome anon requesting this! Unfortunately I realised I misunderstood something only after finishing this short, so this is Sixty saying it to Allen not the other way around as you prompted. You second one will have it in the right order :)

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Allen60 (Warning: violence, gunfights)

Sixty hated that he had to walk through the bullpen to exit the building. They were a separate unit, their office was in a separate building, why did they have to see these idiots every day? He maybe could have stomached the humans and androids working there he hadn’t yet met and would never have to talk to. But he absolutely despised the four people he did know: The other RK800 unit who called himself his brother and had been the reason for his mission to fail and Cyberlife’s downfall. His alcoholic human partner who had dared to shoot him. The RK900, who he had hoped would be the worthy opponent he deserved, being the superior model. The complete moron of a person the RK900 had instead fallen for. No, Sixty hated them with every bit of his being, hated them for their failures and their indifference towards them. He had been thankful he had been sent to the SWAT unit of the DPD, working directly under and with their Captain, an incredibly remarkable human. Maybe the only one Sixty ever respected. All he cared for was a job well and effectively done with minimal casualties. Something Sixty could easily grasp and adopt as it was similar to his base programming, something he still held onto even in deviancy.

Having at least one human share his believes and work ethic made everything else endurable. Still he was relieved to be outside and to enter the transporter after the Captain while all other humans followed. He was a well-respected asset of their team, having saved countless lives of hostages and other SWAT-members with his efficient fighting style and quick calculations. He never did it for the humans though. Everything that counted to him was his reputation, his flawless statistics. Every other RK unit had failed their mission. Be it to fall for the virus and start an android revolution, be it to deviate and help said RK with it or be it to join deviants and fall in love instead of destroying all deviants and remaining machine. Sixty made sure to impress. He had deviated, but he didn’t embrace the emotions with it. They were part of him of course, but that was it. A part of many.

‘Okay, you all have been in the briefing, so I won’t bore you by sitting through it again. But are there any questions? Everything set? We can’t allow any mistakes, there are lives on the line.’ As always, Sixty sighed inwardly, but didn’t complain. Short attention spans and memory loss were the most annoying human failures in his opinion, but Captain Allen always kept it in mind, despite being organic himself. Another quality Sixty admired him for – on a completely professional level of course. He was met by heads shaking and mumbled negations. ‘Fine. Sixty, you still okay with going solo? Someone could accompany you.’ The android scowled at the humans sitting on the benches to either side of the transporter rattling through the streets. ‘I am fine. A human accompanying me would only hinder me and raise the risk of casualties.’ ‘Okay, then. Just take care then. You will enter through the back entrance, while we serve as a distraction just outside the café.’ Sixty nodded. He didn’t need a repetition of his role, but the Captain always tended to treat him like he would treat a human. He knew it was a matter of making him feel equal to the others and more accepted. But when he knew he was better than that it just sounded ridiculous and unnecessary to him.

They arrived at the location and the men left the transporter to get to their positions in front of the little cosy café. A weird place to hold hostages in, but who was Sixty to judge. At the edge of the transporter, Captain Allen held him back. ‘Hey, Sixty. I meant it when I said take care. You might be right saying we want no human casualties, but I want all of my men back at the precinct unharmed. That includes you.’ ‘Don’t worry, Captain’, Sixty smirked, pointing at his forehead. ‘It needs more than a bullet to kill me.’ He knew that mentioning his first death just made the man uncomfortable, but it was an easy argument to bring whenever there was misguided concern. He wouldn’t fail his mission like the other’s had. And if he did, he was just a machine. He could be repaired and if the damage was bad enough to make repair impossible, then he deserved it for his mistakes.

The Captain walked outside, standing before the rest of the SWAT-members in position to start his monologue to whoever held the people inside hostage. It was just a distraction unless the criminals agreed to let their hostages go and comply. As soon as he began to talk, Sixty left the transporter and hurried around the building to the back entrance, always out of sight by any camera or the big front windows. Arriving at the back entrance it was easy to hack the lock – a low security digital pad. Absolutely no challenge for an android like him. The lock clicked open a few seconds after his interface and he was to wait for Allen’s command. Bored he kicked a stone through the back alley and watched a few pigeons scatter at the disturbance. There was no way they would let the hostages go. When had that ever worked? He sighed, this time out loud. He hated waiting when he could be productive instead.

‘Sixty? You copy?’ ‘I’m in position’, the android answered, rolling a little stick in between his fingers. ‘You are allowed to intervene. Use non-lethal force wherever possible. We are your backup, should you need it.’ ‘I won’t’, Sixty sighed, but couldn’t hide his anticipation. This would be another flawless mission without doubt. Another red LED turn in the RK900 at his statistics update and the RK800 would congratulate him, what equalled a defeat in Sixty’s mind. But most importantly, Captain Allen would praise him again in front of everyone. ‘Moving in’, he announced, as he shouldered through the door, not missing the whispered ‘good luck’ under the Captain’s breath. As if he needed that.

Sixty hurried through the small kitchen of the café completely silent. There was no sound of his entrance, until he was standing inside the main room, gun raised and action calculated in a split second. The first bullet hit the first of four criminals in the leg, shooting clean through the lower leg. He fell down, Sixty taking his place immediately to punch the next and grab his arms in the confusion. Holding both of them behind his back he had acquired a human shield and disarmed him at the same time. He moved forwards, kicking the next one in the groin. He doubled over and let the gun slip out of his hand. Sixty quickly kicked it away and moved towards the last one, who had finally reacted and grabbed a hostage, very much like Sixty had done. The android took a second to calculate his plan more thoroughly, then raised his gun to shoot. The criminal’s hand was so shaky he doubted he would have pulled the trigger. Sixty hit him in the shoulder, the idiot letting go of the hostage to touch the wound. Immediately Sixty was near, grabbing the damaged shoulder and pressing, so that the man screamed and let go of his weapon.

Sixty was close to signalling his Captain a [mission successful], as he sensed a gunshot behind him. The first one, the one he had shot in the leg had still held on to his weapon and proved the android wrong, who had thought the pain to be too much to think clearly. But there the asshole was, shooting him. He would have laughed at the audacity, had the bullet not hit one of the major thirium tubes in his chest and hadn’t his HUD immediately started informing him of a thirium shortage in his legs. They gave in, but Sixty managed to shoot the first criminal in the hand, rendering him unable to harm him further. During the fall he had pulled his human shield down with him and kept him in his grip next to him.

‘Captain. I need backup. Unit compromised. Hostages safe. Criminals incapacitated for now.’ Admitting this defeat weighted greater than the pain he felt. Immediately there was chaos, the rest of the SWAT storming the place and cuffing the criminals on the ground. Sixty let go of the one he had held as Captain Allen appeared in his vision. ‘I didn’t want you to see me like this’, Sixty grumbled static and looked away from the man’s far too emotional eyes. ‘Shut up, what is going on? What can I do to help? What happened?’ ‘Got shot in the back. A thirium tube is broken. I failed my mission. Sorry.’ ‘The fuck you did. You didn’t fail. You got shot on a mission. You still made it, didn’t you, you dumb machine? Look: The criminals are alive and arrested, the hostages are all alive and unharmed. Sounds pretty successful to me.’ ‘I should have been better.’ 'Hey, hey, Sixty! Shut up. You did fine. You did well. I should have given you someone as backup.' 'That’s exactly what I mean! I failed to prove my value. Now I'm just another Connor who needs a partner.' 'Goddamn, there is nothing wrong with accepting help.' The Captain grunted lifting him up and snaking an arm around Sixty's upper back. 'Come on, we'll patch you up in the car.' 'I'll be a failure just like Connor.' 'You won't, Six. You won't. We are a team, right? No one needs to know about this, if you are so damn stubborn to count this as a failed mission.' 'Really? You won't tell them?' 'Why should I? You did fine, Sixty. Even more than that. Also, I’m Captain of SWAT, what I tell and what I leave out for them to read in some forgotten folder down in the archives is my responsibility, isn’t it?’ ‘And I won’t get a partner to babysit?’ ‘How about I offer you to partner up? How does partner of a Captain sound? As I remember the other RKs only have a Detective and a Lieutenant.’ Sixty perked up. That would indeed be something he could boast about to them… Also, he could be near the one human he really respected. This may not be so bad after all… ‘That would sound great, if I think about it. My expertise might be of help to you.’ ‘Of course, I would feel honoured to have the best RK for a partner.’

[marinaaniseed]

Hotwax

Song: Hotwax from the album Odelay by Beck.

Summary: Scott's’ pleasantly surprised to see you at Tony’s costume party.

Pairing: Female reader x Scott Lang

Length: 1,499 words

A/N: Drink, drugs, bit o’ smut. This one went a bit weird. See here for what this is all about.

***

For some reason, Tony decided to throw a costume party where everybody dressed up as another hero.

Sam’s in a red wig, pretending to be Nat. Nat’s wandering around, wielding a toy Mjölnir. Thor convinced Tony to build him a suit, although Tony refused to put any fancy gadgets in it, because he doesn’t want to be responsible for that, not after the last party.

Scott had gone into full fanboy mode when he’d gotten the invite, which is why he’s spending Saturday night in the captain's clothes.

It’s his only chance to be Captain America, he wasn’t going to pass that up. He wishes he’d thought it through though. Cap’s a lot bigger than him, so the sleeves keep flopping down over his hands, the crotch of the suit is by his knees, and he’s had to roll up the bottoms of the trousers so that he doesn’t walk on them.

Plus, the shield is a lot heavier than he was expecting. Still, it was nice of Cap to lend him his stuff, even if Scott now feels very silly sitting in the kitchen watching everyone milling about around him. Perching on a bar stool where he could still reach drinks was definitely the best plan.

He knows he’s drinking too much, too quickly, but it’s just nerves. He doesn’t know anyone particularly well, and it’s even more confusing now that everyone is dressed as each other. Some of the costumes are better than others and he has to do a double take occasionally just to make sure exactly who it is who’s come over to the bar.

Clint - also dressed as Nat, but fully made up and squeezed into her tac suit with the zipper pulled down, at Nat’s own insistence really confused Scott.

Not that he should be surprised. Of course Nat would help her best friend do a good job of impersonating her.

“Wanna smoke some grass?” Clint had offered, and it’s only his voice that made Scott realise it’s not the real Nat.

“No, I’m good thanks,” he notes, not wanting to get up and shuffle awkwardly around in Cap’s clothes.

“You don’t have to behave like Cap, just because you’re dressed like him,” Clint teases. “Are you sure you’re good?”

Scott just gives him a goofy grin and a thumbs up. Getting a little stoned would probably be good for him right now, but he doesn’t want to explain his costume problems.

Tony gets the karaoke machine set up, and Scott swivels round to watch as T’Challa takes the mic to kick things off with a Beck number. He’d told Scott earlier how much he’s enjoying American music now that he’s been spending time at the Wakandan outreach centre in Oakland. They’d made vague plans for Scott to visit the centre at some point, given how close it was to him. But the amount T’Challa is enjoying singing along to his new favourite, Beck, is nowhere near as much as Sam is enjoying the fact that T’Challa chose to come to the party dressed as him.

“An actual king dressed as me, so clearly I’m better than all of y’all,” Sam calls out when T’Challa’s finished.

“Hey, there’s a god dressed as me,” Tony argues, getting up to take the mic from T’Challa. Tony’s also dressed as Cap, except his costume was made to fit, making Scott groan a little and reach for another bottle.

He almost spills it down him when Pepper taps him on the shoulder. He swivels round to face her, almost choking on his drink when he sees who’s next to her.

“Scott, I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of Stark Industries. This is Y/N. Y/N, this is Scott,” she says before leaving the two of you alone.

It’s not just that you’re stunning and sexy that has Scott coughing violently, it’s your costume.

“Y-you-you’re me,” he eventually splutters. You’re the only Antman he’s seen at the whole party, and in all honesty, he wasn’t expecting to see any.

“Yeah, I wanted to dress as my favourite,” you explain shyly.

“Me too,” Scott enthuses, before fully processing what you’ve said. “Wait. I’m your favourite?”

“Of course! I mean, the hacking thing was super cool. That’s my area of expertise, actually. I’m here as an ethical hacker to test any weaknesses in the Stark systems. And you explore the quantum realm, which sounds really interesting. And,” you lean in to whisper in Scott’s ear, “you’re definitely the most attractive.”

Scott’s face is blushing so hard, it’s definitely putting the red into red, white and blue. How could you think he was the most attractive when there’s a literal god in the room?

“I should get going,” you say, pulling away, worried that you’ve made things awkward.

“No, wait,” Scott says, grabbing your wrist. “I’m just shocked and flattered. There are so many cooler, sexier people here, and you think I’m the best?”

You nod, chewing your lip.

“Well, I think you’re the best. Apart from Cap. But he dressed as Thor, and you dressed as me, so that makes you better than him, in turns of costumes, and I’m just going to stop talking.”

Scott wishes he could talk to you without seeming like a gibbering idiot, but you stand there smiling at him.

“Just a question,” you say, “but couldn’t you grow a little so that Cap’s suit fit you better?”

“I honestly didn’t think to wear my suit underneath,” Scott admits. That would’ve been a good idea though.

“We could go back to your room and get it?” you suggest, a glint of mischief in your eyes. “Or just go back to your room?”

It’s worth a shot. You can see by how he’s reacting to you that he’s interested as well, and who knows when he’ll be in New York next.

Scott’s lost for words. He can’t believe that you’re propositioning him. Slipping down from the stool, he shyly offers his hand to you, even though it’s covered by the sleeve of Cap’s suit. Relief washes through him when you slip your hand into his, letting him lead the way to his room.

“An excellent union, Man of Ants,” Thor booms across the party as you’re about to leave.

Scott tries to hurry out of the door, to get away from all the shouting and cheering, succeeding in tripping over the bottoms of Cap’s trousers and falling flat on his face.

“Are you ok?” you ask, helping him up.

“Face is a little sore, think my pride is more damaged though,” Scott admits, utterly embarrassed.

“Here, let me kiss it better,” you reply, moving Scott back against the wall, kissing his lips eagerly and reaching a hand up to run through his hair.

“Good god,” he gasps when you pull away. He’s never been kissed quite like that before, with a gentle enthusiasm that leaves him groaning for more. He hitches the trousers up to his thighs, taking your hand again and almost dragging you to his room. It feels like the longest walk of his life, even though it’s only five minutes.

The two of you lurch through the door, slamming it shut behind you. There’s a race to get out of your respective costumes before Scott stops abruptly, suddenly self-conscious in his underwear.

“Are you sure? I mean it’s not too late to go back to the party?” he asks, wrapping an arm around himself.

“Absolutely sure,” you answer with a smile, and it’s the most beautiful thing, apart from Cassie, that he’s ever seen.

Scott exhales shakily as you sink to your knees in front of him, soft carpet against your bare skin.

“May I?” you ask as your fingers reach out for the waistband of his underwear.

“Y-yeah.”

He’s already half-hard and the way you’re licking up and down his shaft, lapping around his sensitive head has his legs shaking violently.

“Sit down, Scott, before you fall down,” you say with a smile, and he shuffles backwards until the backs of his legs hit the bed frame and he falls backwards with a small cry.

You climb on top of him, leaning down so that your breath is tickling his ear.

“Would you like me like this?” you whisper.

“Oh my god, yes,” Scott huffs out, hardly able to believe his luck.

You get back up and find your handbag, discarded in the pile of clothes. You rummage through until you find your purse, with the condom you keep just in case.

Scott’s glad you thought of that, because he didn’t want to have to ask F.R.I.D.A.Y. where to find one.

Opening the packet, you roll it down onto Scott’s erection. For a miniature sized hero, there’s nothing miniature about this part of him.

Easing down onto him, Scott begins to thrust up into you. He hopes to be invited to a lot more of Stark’s parties if you’ll be at them too.

[ask-marcus-cally-and-ari]

Only Human

Chapter 9: Breather

As the van made its way through the forest, Marcus asked, “So what’s your deal?” 

“Doctor kidnapped me and a Sniper, cut us up, then put my head on the Snipers body,” Spyper shrugged. “I’ve been stuck as a hybrid ever since.”

Marcus winced. “Oh… wow. Uh. That sucks. What happened to the other head and body?” 

“The Medic made another hybrid. Sny. Me and him are good friends, although it does get kinda weird at times since...Y’know, he has my body. And we both have this weird tick where we’ll switch into the other's voice for a moment,” Spyper replied, gesturing to his neck. 

“Oh. What does that even feel like?” 

“Uh… It's hard to explain. Have you ever had sleep paralysis? Where you know you’re awake and you’re aware of what's going on, but you can’t do anything about it?” 

Ari nodded. “I know what that is.” 

“It’s kinda like that. My brain gets paralyzed for a moment and I can’t do anything when that tick starts going, even though I know it's happening.” 

Marcus winced. “That must suck.” Briefly, the teen looked up at the van ceiling, hand on his gun. 

“You okay, kid?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Bad experience with things above me.” Marcus relaxed upon seeing nothing on the ceiling. “You understand, right?” 

“Yeah, I understand. I once fought Brutal myself.”

“Oh, wow!” Ari beamed. “Did you win?” 

“I did. Cut his head right off,” Spyper chuckled, punctuating his words by sharply jerking his hand across his throat. 

Ari whimpered, suddenly very pale- and far less excited. 

“Hey, he was terrorizing a team, and I just happened to drop by,” Spyper shrugged. 

Marcus leaned over. “Real talk, man,” he whispered, “Please try not to go into detail with stuff like that. Ari… isn’t that kind of person.” 

“Oh, sorry. It’s not often I meet people who are faint of heart. Y’know, I hang around Freaks all day. ‘Faint of heart’ isn’t exactly common with us.” 

"That's obvious," Cally responded dryly. 

“Jester and Pure fit the bill, though,” Spyper added, glancing back at Ari and Cally. “Well, not so much Pure.” 

"Who?"

“Christian Pure Spy. He’s a priest that lives nearby.” 

“Who’s he running with as far as other Freaks?” Marcus asked. 

“He’s friends with me Intelligent, and looks after Chaos Kin and Jester. He’s also friends with Polite Spy...But uh...That’s about as far as his good connections go,” Spyper said awkwardly. 

“So he’s a good guy?” Ari asked. 

“By himself? Yes. But he has some… questionable friends outside of the ones I listed.” 

“Define questionable, please,” Cally requested. 

“He’s friends with Christian Brutal Sniper and Gentlespy,” Intelligent answered, looking up from the chessboard.

Marcus twitched, then sighed. “Yeah, let’s stay our @sses away from there.” 

“Yeah, good idea,” Ari winced. 

“What about that Jester person you keep mentioning?” Cally asked.

“Count Jester is their full name. They’re on the more lighthearted side of Freaks,” Spyper replied, clearing his throat. 

“Friends?” 

“Me, Intelligent, Chaos, Pure, Pancakes...A whole bunch of people, actually.”

“Who’s Chaos?” Ari asked. “Good guy?” 

“Chaos Kin? Yeah, she’s a good guy. A bit aggressive, but that’s really only towards people she doesn’t like.” 

“Can we trust her?” 

“Against Freaks like Brutal? Yeah, you can trust her,” Intelligent said. “She’s helped several good Freaks since becoming a Freak herself. She’s helped Medizard, Dr. Dum and Mr. Dan, SomeCleanTrash, Weaselcake, Bellatrix…” Intelligent listed off a handful of different Freaks. “If you asked her, she’d probably help you.” 

“How many Freaks can we trust?” Cally asked. “And is there a database for you guys?” 

“There is, but HECU are the ones who maintain it, and are the only people who can access it,” Spyper replied. 

Cally raised an eyebrow and pulled out her laptop. “Let’s fix that, shall we?” 

“Like you can get through HECU’s firewalls-” 

“I just did. Marcus, Ari. Check this out.” 

Marcus snickered at the look on Spyper’s face. “Impressed?” 

“How did you get past their firewalls!?” Spyper spluttered. 

“With my laptop. Alright, let’s see here...” 

“All you have is a laptop, and aren’t you 17? How on Earth did you get past the firewalls of such a heavily guarded agency?” Intelligent implored, taken aback. 

“The only reason whoever sent Christian Brutal Sniper and Gentlespy found me is because I got past the firewalls guarding the plan to cause basically the end of the world as we know it.” 

“How you got these skills, I will never understand.” 

“My parents used to refuse to feed me if I forgot to do something or didn’t do a good enough job. I had to make money somehow. Ethical hacking was a good way to do it.” 

Ari whined upon hearing this. “They what?” 

Intelligent and Spyper gave each other pale and mortified looks. 

“What?” Cally asked, tilting her head. 

“That is so beyond not ok,” Spyper grimaced. 

“Got me the hacking skills I’m probably gonna need.” 

“Jester has their work cut out with you,” Spyper sighed turning back to the road. 

Cally shrugged and went back to the laptop. 

** 

Rudra was bowed over her desk, hunched over her computer and rigorously scrubbing through every piece of footage of the three teens she could get her hands on. First was the viral video of them fleeing Brutal, then there was a series of videos from the motel they had stayed at, and finally, a very short clip of them fleeing that very motel at night. It wasn’t much, but visuals on the teens could at least help her agents pinpoint the exact people they were looking for. And this combined with the knowledge they already had would make the process of searching for and identifying these three when found all the easier. 

A knock at her door, along with a soft white glow, interrupted her process. 

Rudra sighed heavily and sat back in her chair. “I knew you’d show up eventually.” 

“I was given a tip that the Heart, the Brain, and the Body had awakened, so I came to talk to you.” A black woman in a white robe stepped in. “What can you tell me about them?” 

“All three of them are teenagers. Barely out of high school,” Rudra replied dryly.

The woman, who had been sipping a drink, choked on it. “What?!” 

“I was just as shocked as you are. Why do you think my agents are running around like mad trying to find them?” 

“This is preposterous! They were supposed to select ideal hosts!” 

“Well, I guess they took that a bit too literally. From what I can tell, instead of picking people who already possess the qualities the powers are best suited to, the powers decided to build ideal hosts from the ground up by literally joining with them in the womb,” Rudra sighed, rubbing her temples. “I mean, why else would the powers decide to join with literal children?” 

The woman put her head in her hands. “This is not how it was supposed to go!” 

“Was there no way to ensure the powers would go to people who already possessed the qualities they needed, Mercy?” Rudra implored. “Was there no way to ensure they wouldn’t go such an extreme route?” 

“Had I thought that this option was on the table, I would have forbidden it.” 

“And now three kids are stuck with having to save the world,” Rudra sighed incredulously. 

“Oh, bother. Do they at least show promise?” 

“They do. From the security footage we pulled from the motel they stayed at, we can see their powers activating. Most notably with Ari, the bearer of the Heart.” Rudra pulled up the video feed and turned the computer monitor towards Mercy. 

“Hmm. Ari did not take the negative emotion well. They’re tender-hearted, aren’t they?” 

“Seems like it. They’re an empath. Ari wears their heart on their sleeve. Literally. Look where the Heart’s mark showed up.” Rudra pulled up the feed from Brutals confrontation with the teens and showed it to Mercy. 

“The girl with the Brain. She has not used her powers yet.” 

“No, but she has already demonstrated intellect indicative of the Brain. She managed to get past the firewall that kept outsiders away from the plan to convert the Earth's population into Freaks. Her breaking down the firewall is actually how they even got into this mess.” 

“Given how I overheard a few members of your cybersecurity team panicking on my way here, I believe that’s not the only firewall she got past.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Apparently, within five minutes of the first breach, an attacker broke into your system and downloaded your Freak database before leaving the system. Your team is still trying to figure out what happened.” 

Rudra exhaled sharply and held her head in her hands, going silent. “I didn’t fight a war just to be saddled with this sh@t,” She groaned. 

“I didn’t get cut in half to handle this either.” Mercy sighed. “I understand why she did it, though. The Brain’s purpose is to gather information and utilize it correctly. Information concerning what she and the other two are up against would be a great help.” 

“My question is: Why didn’t they come to us for the information? HECU literally builds itself on protecting people from Freaks, why wouldn’t HECU be their first option as far as refuge goes?” 

“Perhaps paranoia. Given their situation, paranoia is perfectly justified,” Mercy pointed out. “I recall attacking you and the Legion at some point the first time you visited my hideout over paranoia.” 

“And the fact that I was at the forefront of the army should have tipped you in that we were not there to fight,” Rudra sighed, dragging her hands across her face in exasperation. 

“You have never liked me. Besides, it had been a long thousand years. Paranoia was justified given the situation. Speaking of new situations, how are the wife and daughter? Did she like the sword staff?” 

Rudra jerked her head up. “...Sword staff? I don’t even own a sword staff. Mercy, what did you do?” 

“I gave her a present. And trained her on safe handling. You knew the possibility existed when you asked me to babysit.” 

“I expect this from Hero, not you,” Rudra groaned. 

“We both know I have an affinity for bladed weapons.” Mercy looked around. “Does the bearer of the Body share that affinity?” 

“No. The only weapon we’ve seen him wield is a handgun he carries.” 

“Oh. Is he good with it?” 

“He is. And he’s cunning. He faked being shot to get Brutal to lower his guard, then shot him in the heart.” 

Mercy grinned. “Impressive,” she mused. “Mankind might actually have a chance.” 

“Now if only the powers didn’t choose a bunch of kids to be humanity’s saving grace,” Rudra groused. 

“Indeed. Or, as you mentioned being possible, create them,” Mercy sighed. “I certainly hope it never enters their heads that they are weapons if that’s the case.” 

“No. The last thing these kids need is to act like they’re weapons and nothing more. That’ll do more damage than it’ll help.” 

“I am aware. Especially the empath. When I think about it, perhaps the power to take on others’ emotions was not a good idea to give them without them first learning to control it.” 

“You think?” 

“I would have prepared for that had I known it would happen,” groaned Mercy.  “As it stands, I will keep close tabs on them. I suggest you do the same.” 

** 

In Spyper's van, the Trio was reading over the database. “So, Spyper, you have a clone or something? Or just someone created the same way? What is RED Spyper to you?” 

“An enemy. I’m pretty sure the doctor who made me created him too as a form of spite,” Spyper groused, scowling heavily. “He’s basically my evil counterpart. A doppelganger, kind of.”

“An evil twin? Like on TV?” Ari asked. 

“Eh...I guess.”

“Cool!” 

“Cool to you. Not to me! That Spyper’s been a pain in my a$$ for years!” 

“Oh. That’s bad.” 

Marcus glanced at Cally, who was staring at the screen, tattoo and eyes glowing pink, face void of emotion. “Uh… Cal? What’s going on?” 

“Is something wrong back there?” Spyper asked, looking over his seat. 

“Cal?” Ari whined. “Cal, cut it out! Say something!” 

No luck. Cally gave a noise akin to a computer hum. 

“Hey, hey! Kid, come on, snap out of it!” Intelligent urged, shaking Cally by the shoulder. 

Cally didn’t reply; she locked eyes with Intelligent, keeping at least one hand on the laptop. 

“Kid? Kid, can you hear me?” Intelligent implored, growing increasingly worried by Cally’s continued silence. 

Cally’s eyes shone, glowing pink voids, hungry for… something. And then, in an instant, the light fell away, replaced with the soft brown eyes she had normally. “Ugh,” she groaned, “my head.” 

“Cal? Are you ok?” Ari exclaimed, climbing to Cally’s side. 

“I- huh? What happened?” 

“You blacked out, Cal,” Marcus replied, crossing his arms. 

“Oh… crap,” Cally groaned. “Good to know. We need to get help.”

“And that’s exactly where we’re going. I’m bringing you three to HECU. In the meantime, you three should probably get some rest. It’s a long trip there,” Spyper said.