#it uploaded like trash though as i predicted

[gamebunny-advance]

I’m Feeling Saucy...

Time to post some *really* old NSR/Desynchronized comic sketches.

I’m putting them under a readmore because they’re *especially* bad and weren’t posted for a reason, but I feel like the only way I ever look at my old sketches is if I post them. So hopefully doing this will motivate me to actually finish one of these.

Contains Potential Spoilers For: 1010 Desynchronized

“Mug”

From a comic about Kerinting breaking one of Kliff’s mugs by mistake. I never got the layouts down for this one (that’s gonna be a running theme for most of these). I don’t think I ever finished the script for this one because I think it’s way too sappy, but I’m scrapping it anyway because I don’t want to write White as being physically abusive anymore.

Captions:

Kliff: I mean, yeah. I liked that mug, and now I have a mess to clean up.

Kliff: But I’m not going to hit you over it. It was a mistake.

Kerinting: I made a mistake... but I’m not being punished?

Kliff: Hey, this isn’t an inviation to break all my mugs. Just be careful next time.

------

“Untitled”

This is from one of the earlier rewrites of Desynchronized B Plot. Since I’m scrapping that version, I can talk about it a bit more.

Since I scrapped the original kidnapping plot for being in bad taste, the new idea was that during an unauthorized getaway into the city, Kerinting got separated from the main group and wound up in the trash (in most versions of that script, they accidentally got caught up in a fight, but since 1010s can’t retaliate against humans while in civilian mode, Kerinting became the distraction to let the others escape, but he didn’t make it out).

Coincidentally, on the same night, Kliff was coming home from a night of drunken karaoke and had noticed him in the trash. Joey (his neighbor) had forced him to go out since Kliff had gotten extremely depressed after the events of the game and had just been moping around his apartment for the past month or so.

Thinking it was just a bootleg that was tossed and against his better judgement, Kliff takes Kerinting home with the intention of gutting him for parts. The following day, Kerinting was able to reactivate himself, shocking Kliff who had no idea that Kerinting was a genuine 1010.

There are two different routes that I wrote for this version of the incident:

One was that Kliff just tells Kerinting to leave, but Kerinting refuses to since he was out past curfew: any 1010 not back home by a certain time will be destroyed, no questions asked.

The other was that Kliff physically takes Kerinting back to Barraca mansion, but gets into an argument with NJ about it, causing them both to flee back to Kliff’s place.

In either scenario, Kerinting is essentially abandoned by the others and is taken in by Kliff out of pity/spite. In most versions, this backstory was revealed through a conversation with Joey. Joey was actually a lot more prominent in earlier versions since he more or less served as the “voice of reason” to the other two’s nonsense. He might still be, but I haven’t thought of many other scenarios where he’s really “needed”.

Captions:

Joey: So... this thing...

Joey: Just lives with you now?

Kliff: Yep.

Joey: And you’re okay with that?

Kliff: It wasn’t my choice to make.

----------

“Routine”

I really liked the idea of a comic comparing and contrasting what the daily routines of the Green 1010s were now that Kerinting is living with Kliff.

Despite how bad they are, I do feel like the scribbles speak for themselves about what’s going on. But I did want to make an aside about how they sleep: In earlier drafts Kerinting just slept next to a cabinet in the living room because it’s visible and doesn’t take up much space (Kerinting used to stay in Kliff’s closet, but he kept getting scared by him). In more recent stories he sleeps in a suitcase next to the cabinet. The other 1010s sleep in what I call a “standing bed”. It’s a dock that they hook into so they can charge and upload their memories for the day. In earlier drafters this had to be done physically instead of being remotely uploaded.

----------

“Memories”

One of my “dream pieces” is to draw “Kliff’s Photo Album” where he keeps all of the pictures from his younger days. Top left would have been him and young!NJ. Bottom left is NJ recieving letters/gifts from his classmates before he gets shipped out. Top mid-right is a young!Tatiana. Below that was supposed to be Kul Fyra. Far right was a strip of one of those photobooth things with all 3 of them.

I had an idea for a comic where he takes one of those with Mayday & Zuke in one of the Sayu Photobooths as a celebration of him helping them take down one of NSR’s artists. When he came home, he would have put that one with the ones he took with Tatiana and NJ all those years ago. I might still do that one day because I still think it’s a cute idea, I just don’t think I can execute it that well XP.

----------

“Pet”

I think I’ve posted the script for this one already, though I’m not sure which one would have been the most recent iteration.

Anyway, this comic is mostly about Kliff comparing the ways that Kerinting behaves more like an animal than a full-fledged human. The 1010 AI is fairly advanced, but it’s still very predictable.

Captions:

Voiceover Kliff: It likes getting treats.

Kliff: Here, I found another mixtape for you.

Kerinting: Yay! Thank you!

Voiceover Kliff: It needs constant affection or it gets lonely.

Kliff: You did good today! *pat pat*

Kerinting: Really? I did good today?

Voiceover Kliff: It’s good at learning new tricks.

Kerinting: I cooked it just like you taught me!

Kliff: Yep. Looks good.

Voiceover Kliff: And no matter what it does, I can’t stay mad at it because it’ll hit me with those [puppy dog eyes].

Kerinting: I’m sorry. I broke it again.

----------

“Daddy”

I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about this before, but it’s a personal joke that 1010 calls anyone who even vaguely has some authority over them “Dad”, including each other. NJ is a dad for obvious reasons. DJSS is a dad because he’s dating NJ. Kliff is a dad because he helped design the MKI OS. And I don’t think I had considered it at the time of writing this one, but they call Tatiana “Dad” too because she’s NJ’s boss.

Captions:

Kliff: How many “dads” do you things even have?

White: There’s the Captain, you, DJ Subatomic Supernova, and me.

Kliff: What do you mean “me”?

White: I’m a first gen 1010, so that makes me their dad.

(White is an upgraded MKI. Red & Blue are upgraded MKIIs. Yellow & Green were born as MKIIIs.)

#gbunny draws #nsr #1010 desynchronized #i dunno if i want to add the character tags #the usual suspects are here

[zara2148]

Fethsteel Fic: Not Good Enough (For You)

So here we go, my take on how Fethry Duck joined F.O.W.L. and met Steelbeak. Less warning stuff for this one, mostly just implied abuse, though it’s clear Steelbeak has not had a pleasant history. Also, both he and Fethry have some self esteem issues... and there’s not exactly spoilers for “Lost Harp of Mervana,” but the new intro takes place right after it.

Also on AO3. Make sure leave kudos and comments there. I enjoy the feel of being applauded.

Huey was placing Isabella Finch's journal back in Uncle Scrooge's study when he spotted the tin can phone there, now connected to nothing. Scrooge held on to everything in the mansion, even seemingly useless things, on the grounds that it may one day come in handy again. 

It was one reason why Trash Day could be such a nightmare, though Scrooge was starting to learn how to let things go...

Huey found Della and Donald unpacking their gear off the sub, hanging up suits and boxing equipment until it was ready to be used again. "Uncle Donald? Mom? Do you know how to get in touch with Cousin Fethry? I think he'd love to hear all about Mervana."

"No, sorry, sweetie. I haven't heard anything from him since he rode off on the back of that... giant... fish..." Della shuddered in remembered revulsion.

"Mom, it was a krill."

"A fish is still a fish by any other name."

"You also seemed fine with Mitzy at the time."

"I was too busy thinking about all the Moonlanders we had to beat up."

Donald sighed and turned away from a crate to answer Huey’s question. “I haven’t heard from him either since then.” He shrugged. "But that's normal for Fethry. He either calls every five minutes or he gets so wrapped up in something we don't hear from him for six months."

"Doesn't he have a cell phone we could call?”

"Knowing Fethry, it would just get dropped in the ocean." There was a reason Scrooge only trusted Fethry with a tin can after one too many busted phones.

Huey’s beak twisted in discomfort. “But what if he got in trouble? What if he needed our help?”

Donald let out a breath, more frustrated with himself than anyone else, even Fethry. He knelt in front of Huey and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Fethry is…” Cuckoo bananas really hadn’t been the right thing to say to Huey, not when Donald could see the similarities between the two of them. Unsure how else to finish that sentence, he tried again.

“Fethry is who he is. But he’s also a grown adult capable of making decisions and taking care of himself. If he ever needs us, he knows where we are.”

Della grinned proudly. “He’s a part of the Duck family. Surviving is what we do.”

Uncle Donald and Mom weren’t wrong about that. Cousin Fethry had survived alone in a collapsing sea base for years. He knew the Junior Woodchuck guidebook from cover to cover, just as Huey did. He was better prepared than most to face trouble when it found him.

"Okay, I'll just make sure to write down all my observations about Mervana to share with him when he gets in touch."

Donald gave Huey a smile. "I'm sure he'll love that."

***

“Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

It was an old refrain at this point. 

The last job interview he had, Fethry had spent a full half-hour talking about the eating habits of krill and the merits of singing when asked about his team management skills. 

The interview before that, he spoke briefly about the endless silence of the ocean when asked how he dealt with workplace difficulties. He’d been too quiet after that question.

And the interview before that… well, he didn’t think that room was ever going to be the same.

Fethry’s laptop was old. Wires were sticking out and duct tape was barely holding the screen together. He browsed through the listings for scientists on Quacked In, tweaking his cover letter and resume slightly for each.

Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. Maybe he should try for a slightly smaller position at a lab, like a custodian! He had experience keeping things in custody! And then he could work his way up from there. 

But the little Donalds had such faith in him. They believed he could be a great scientist. Fethry wasn’t going to let them down. He never really realized until it was too late, but Fethry knew he had a habit of letting his family down.

Gladstone had offered to help, after that big event with purple people from the sky… ahh, yes, the invasion! But Fethry knew how often people tried to get close to his cousin to use his luck. Family shouldn’t do that.

The next listing didn’t quite catch his eye. But Fethry was at the point of applying for everything that came up for “scientist” and read through what little there was.

“WANTED: Skilled scientists for private company in Duckburg. Duties will vary. Flexible work schedule, late nights occasionally required. Must be able to roll with the punches.”

He had no expectations that it would progress to a job offer. How he chose to look at was that he was doing really well on reaching his goal of 100 job rejections. He’d read all about re-framing your objectives for positivity!

Once he reached 100, well, he might as well try for 200 rejections then.

He reviewed his resume and cover letter on the final submission screen. He clicked “Send.”

Then he moved onto the next listing and thought no more of it.

***

F.O.W.L.’s computer settings were extremely sensitized when it came to tracking the movements and activities of the Duck-McDuck clan. They knew when Hubert Duck received a new merit badge, or when Dewford Duck uploaded another video to his overlooked Insta, or when Llewellyn bought a soda that wasn’t Pep branded.

Any diversion from or progress in the Duck’s family’s normal routine could be significant. That’s why they monitored it all.

So when a member of the Duck family applied for one of their vacant positions, it got noticed. Alarms went off, alerting the highest-ranking members in F.O.W.L. command.

Just ten minutes after the application was received, Bradford clicked through it on his laptop.

F.O.W.L. could just ignore this. Stay away from the Duck family until they were more ready to move out in the open. It would be a sensible move.

But there was potential here he couldn’t overlook.

Fethry Duck was one of the harder members to track ever since the McDuck SubLab crumbled into an undersea abyss. Satellite images last had him riding some sort of kaiju across the ocean, which was just typical when it came to the Duck-McDuck family.

When the moon invaders came they had made many mistakes, such as caring more about the acknowledgment of their perceived superiority than how they could exploit the Earth. But they had been right that it was better to have all members of that family accounted for when it came to global-scale plans.

Having Fethry under constant watch at F.O.W.L. would leave Gladstone as the most transient variable. And the lottery winnings and sweepstakes prizes he left in his wake would make him infinitely easier to track.

Fethry was also one of the more controllable members of the Duck family. Neither misfortune nor ostentatious fortune dogged his steps. He didn’t question intention and he didn’t try to stir up trouble for his amusement. He was so lacking in ambition that he stayed in a lonely janitorial position for almost five years. If he was taken to a lab and given every reason to stay, he likely would do so without seeing anything amiss.

His goal was to steal the world right out from under Scrooge. Why not start by stealing a member of the man’s family? One Scrooge was unlikely to miss for quite some time, given his avoidance of Fethry’s company.

Yet for a duck who didn’t believe in handouts, it said something that Scrooge still cared enough about Fethry to give him a string of jobs that he more or less performed adequately. He’d prefer it not come to threats, especially since harm to his family made Scrooge predictably savage. But if worse came to worse… better to have a hostage than do without.

And if he was useless? Disposing of him would be no hardship.

He clicked “Accept” and composed a brief response, suggesting a range of times that Fethry could visit a front location in downtown Duckberg.

After opening up the email and reading through it, Fethry squealed and picked out the earliest possible time. 

***

Fethry hummed as he walked inside the address the email gave him. It was a plain building, notable only for its pristine white exterior that seemed all too blank.

He’d dressed up nice for the occasion. His red jacket was replaced with a slightly frayed and browned business suit jacket. His tie was a piece of dried kelp that Mitzy had picked out for him. She always had the best eye when it came to kelp. And his cap was still present, keeping his thoughts toasty warm!

Yet his throat felt clogged and simultaneously too dry. The papers in his hand would be wrinkled if he clutched them any tighter. There was a heavy feeling in his chest that told him he’d be out of here soon enough, and he would need to try his luck elsewhere.

A duck with a dirty face and ruffled hair sat behind the visitor’s desk. Her name tag read “Ample.”

He approached her without his usual bounce. “Hello, I’m here for an interview.”

She nodded and glanced through the schedule. “Fethry Duck?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“The director is ready to see you now. Go through the double doors over there.”

He dipped forward in an awkward half-bow, unsure if a handshake would be too presumptuous. “Thank you!”

He pushed his way through the double doors. The room was in grey shadow, a large desk slightly off toward one of the corners. Two chairs were in front of the desk, facing the figure behind it.

The shadows slightly obscured the person behind the desk. He could make out a shape but no features.  

The shadow turned to him. “Ah, thank you for coming. Please take a seat.”

Fethry grabbed one of the chairs, shifting his paper copy of his resume as he looked at his interviewer up close.

Oh, he knew this vulture! He worked with Uncle Scrooge before! His name was buzzing around in the back of Fethry’s skull, waiting to be grabbed hold of…. what was it, what was it…?

“Bradley!”

“It’s Bradford,” he corrected in a cold tone. 

Fethry slumped back in his seat, feeling small. “O-oh, I’m sorry.”

Bradford did not take the time to acknowledge what he said. He sat “So, Fethry Duck. Scrooge’s nephew.”

“Yes.”

“You hold no degrees, no certifications that would qualify you for a scientific position.”

“... no.” Fethry knew how much those pieces of paper meant to people. He sunk into his chair, almost wishing it could swallow him up, the way the ocean did…

...and that was not a train of thought he needed to be boarding right now. Fethry stepped off a mental platform, letting it whiz by.

Bradford continued, neither noticing nor caring about Fethry’s inner world and its struggles. “And yet, you thought you could apply here, for a scientific position with us.” He stood up and started to circle around Fethry. “Do you know what we do here, Fethry?”

“Science?”

“Among other things.” Bradford paused behind Fethry. Fethry couldn’t quite bring himself to turn and look at him. “What we do here... let’s just say we're out to change the world.”

Bradford resumed his circle and came to a stop in front of Fethry. He let silence reign for a few seconds before speaking. “And Fethry Duck? We’re willing to give you the chance to join our ranks.”

Fethry had to swallow down dry disbelief. “Really?”

“Yes.”

Fethry’s hands were clammy as he held out his stacks of papers. His grip wasn’t shaking, but his limbs felt hollow. “You don’t even want to look at my resume first?”

“I’ve already seen it.”

He let his arms fall to his sides. His voice came out small, as if he was once again speaking from the bottom of the ocean. “Why me?”

Silence returned. Bradford considered him over his beak.

“You’re the unnoticed member of the Duck-McDuck family. Isn’t it time you had a chance to prove yourself?”

Bradford wasn’t wrong. He wanted that chance. But the implication that he was only getting this job because of his family...

Well. Wasn’t that how he got every job he ever had?

Bradford turned away from him and loomed his way back behind his desk. “Mind you, the job still isn’t much. You’ll be working in a lab on your own projects, yes. But you will remain under direct supervision for the time being. Before undertaking any venture, you are to submit a full report that outlines expected costs and outcomes, in accordance with our guidelines.”

He sat down, his back hunched to allow him to continue looming from a lower height. “The pay is minimum wage, but you can work your way up through experience. Food and board will be provided on-site, so that’s two fewer things you have to worry about.”

Fethry absent-mindedly fiddled with his kelp tie, his attention otherwise on Bradford as he continued.

“As you may have surmised, your work is to be considered top secret. For the time being, we will ask that you remain in the facilities to better learn your responsibilities. There is to be no contact with the outside world without prior approval. Otherwise, you put ourselves and the work we do at risk.”

“If you accept the job under these terms, a car will be dispatched to pick up you and any belongings you choose to bring tomorrow morning.” Bradford steepled his fingers and looked through Fethry. “Do you accept these conditions?” 

Fethry had forgotten he hadn’t said yes to anything yet. He wasn’t sure how he got so caught up that he missed that.

He could bring his team with him, their jar was extremely portable. But taking this job would mean saying goodbye to Mitzy for a while… hopefully, she would understand. 

He nodded, then said for emphasis, “Yes.”

“Well, then. Welcome, Fethry Duck, to…” Bradford paused again, his words trailing off into familiar silence. “... well, we’ll just call it your new place of work.”

***

There wasn’t a whole lot to do at their headquarters between missions. The funnest thing to do around here was to play all the arcade games after the kids had gone home for the day.

However, the last time Steelbeak did that he blew an entire paycheck and ended up with only 20 tickets to show for it—not even enough to trade-in for a piece of candy. That didn’t make him stupid, that made the games rigged.

Now he stuck to the actual secret parts of their secret lair, wandering the halls. His wallet stayed full and fat, but the time between missions dragged on and on.

The gun course was fun, but there was only so much offtime an agent was allowed there. Spend too much time shooting things and command would send you over to their quack shrink.

The rec room was okay, but he’d be fighting every off-duty Eggman there if he wanted to pick which channel to watch on the sole TV. Not that he wouldn’t win, but his time in the prison rec room, and the underground fighting ring’s rec room before that, taught him that victory wasn’t worth it if you couldn’t find any good shows playing.

Which is how he often ended up doing what he did right now, trailing after Heron down to the labs. He’d watch her and watch the other scientists, trying to see how what they did tied into F.O.W.L.’s big ol’ villain schemes.

Did he always understand what she was working on? No. Did she ever really try to explain it in an easily understood way? Also no. Did these trips to the labs often end with her metal hand clamped around his beak, hissing at him and calling him names? No, well, yes. Yes, it did.

… he was supposed to be going somewhere with this, but he wasn’t quite sure where. Wait, no, now he remembered. 

If he wanted to someday be the one hatching the schemes, he should watch how others hatched theirs first. It was like watching the prizefighter in the ring to learn how to beat him. Some people would only hit you if you asked them for anything, so you had to watch how they did something instead.

Most of the other scientists ignored him, and he didn’t pay them much attention either. But today, a duck in a red hat waved at them as he and Heron stepped inside the lab.

“Oh, hello! I’m Fethry!” The lab coat he was wearing hung loosely on him, clearly meant for a slightly larger bird.

“O-kaaay...?” Why was he expected to care?

A grin was spreading across Heron’s face as she looked the duck up and down. Then she turned her gaze to Steelbeak as she gestured offhandedly at the duck. “Fethry is our new marine specialist. He’ll be working on some of our most important projects.”

Heron… sounded like she was trying to hold back a laugh. What, was this smart guy really good at the jokes? Or did he know a party trick or two?

And what kind of name was Fethry? Might as well have called him “Webby” since he had webbed feet.

“Say, Fethry?” He knew that tone of voice from Heron. He didn’t always know the details of what she was saying, but he knew the sweetly sharpened tone was meant to cut someone down to size.

He felt… lighter, watching that tone be aimed at someone who wasn’t him. Like he was actually in on the joke for once. He also felt the urge to move to safer ground.

Heron’s smile was wide as she continued. “Why don’t you explain to my partner, Steelbeak, what you’re working on? He loves to hear about scientific experiments in great detail. Especially if you use a lot of long words.”

Okay, maybe he was still part of the joke.

Fethry’s eyes widened—he didn’t even know it was possible for someone to widen their eyes like that until Fethry did. “I’d love to!”

“Great!” Heron said in a passable imitation of Fethry’s enthusiasm. Under her breath she added, “Maybe now I can get some real work done.”

Steelbeak’s jaw tightened as she walked away. He refocused his gaze on the red-capped duck, who was all but jumping in place. 

A snort escaped him as he sat down at a table. At least if this pipsqueak tried to clamp his beak, he could just knock him into next week.

“So what are you working on?” This was still more exciting than watching the walls, after all.

Fethry laughed nervously. It had been a while since anyone paid him a significant amount of attention. “Well, at the moment I’m just filling out the request paperwork. But I’m hoping to start an experiment on delaying the eating habits of the crown of thorns starfish.”

“The what?”

“Crown of thorns starfish. It eats coral.”

“And that is?”

“Coral is like…” Fethry scratched his head. He could never remember all the big words like polyps, sessile, and Anthozoa when he needed to. “It’s like skeletons scattered across the seafloor that fish live in.”

“Really? So fish just decide to live in dead bodies.” Sounded fake, but at least it wasn’t boring.

“Well, coral is a skeleton, but it’s also alive. It’s really bad when they do die.”

“So the fish live in alive dead bodies.” This Fethry guy was talking an interesting sort of crazy.

“Skeletons, yes. Called coral. Only these sea stars eat the coral, so the fish have no place to live then.”

“Now, these sea stars start off eating algae. It’s been called the grass of the sea,” he explained before Steelbeak even had to ask. Fethry’s beak scrunched up. “Though I have to say, grass usually tastes much better.”

“How long it takes for the sea stars to go from algae to coral varies. And there’s a lot of these starfish in the ocean. If they made the switch all at once, they could do a lot of damage.”

Huh. For the guy’s first project, it had the makings of a decent scheme. “So… if you could figure out how to make them do it, you could have them eat the fish out of house and home?”

Fethry actually nodded at that. “Or if I could figure out a way to slow it down, I could buy time for the reefs to grow.”

“...huh.” He actually followed most of that. Sure in his mind, coral reefs had a lot more skulls than they normally did. But he got the gist of what Fethry was talking about.

Black Heron hummed as she worked without interruption. Fethry calculated the costs of feeding and housing a small colony of starfish, making sure to show his work. And Steelbeak imagined blackmailing a fishing village with an army of sea stars. Small potatoes when it came to true villainy, but everyone had to start somewhere.

***

It wasn’t one of Heron’s longer science sessions. She tapped at some keys, read some screens, fiddled with some gadgets, and was ready to leave in a couple of hours.

Fethry had remained in the lab, drawing up plans for a sea star’s dream home. They’d need plenty of walking room, he’d said, so he was drawing up little pathway designs. Including one for a yellow brick road.

He started to reach out a hand to Steelbeak… for what, Steelbeak wasn’t sure. His body tensed in defense.

And Fethry must have noticed because he let his hand drop to his side and just smiled instead. “Thanks for listening. I know I kind of ramble.”

Steelbeak waited a few seconds to be sure that Fethry wasn’t going to make any sudden moves. Then he gave a shrug and followed Heron out.

It hadn’t been a hardship. Listening to weird undersea stuff passed the time. It was like catching a documentary on TV, without the meatheads that would grab the remote from you and change the channel to something else.

Black Heron laughed at Fethry as soon as they left the lab. "That guy," was all she managed to say before chuckles overtook her.

Steelbeak scowled. “What? What did he say that was so funny?” Was he the butt of someone else’s joke again? He'd make him go splat, if so.

Heron regained control of herself, but she was still grinning. “He didn’t have to say anything. It’s comical that he’s even here.”

The scowl receded and his brows knit in confusion. “I don’t —”

“You don’t get it, I know. Lucky for you, I’m in a good enough mood to explain. He’s Scrooge McDuck’s nephew. You remember, the guy you were supposed to get out of the arcade?”

“The big guy who wrecked one of my suits?”

“Ugh, no! He was the one wearing a top hat.” A frown flitted across her face, but her good mood was quick to reassert itself. Past failure meant little in the face of such a hilarious triumph.

“He came to us, wanting a job. He has no idea that we’re F.O.W.L. and no idea that we’re working against everything his family stands for. We’re holding him hostage, and he has no clue.” Another peal of laughter escaped Heron.

Steelbeak let out a chuckle as well, now that he was finally in on the joke. "Ahh, I get it. Classic dum-dum. What kind of idiot doesn't know who they're working for?"

The grin on Heron’s face slipped slightly.

"This should go without saying, but I know you so I'll say it anyway. Do not tell Fethry any details of your work, your missions, what we do here. Nada. Nothing."

"Well, duh. I know that. That's why they're called secret missions."

"Steelbeak, I once saw you brag about being a secret agent at a bar to try and get a date."

"And why not! They were cute!"

“And you wonder why your recreational leave is so limited.”

“What?”

“I’m saying dumb boys don’t get a lot of outdoors time.”

“Hey!”

A smirk moved across her face before she continued. “The director wants him to remain utterly oblivious, so secrecy is of the utmost importance. He’s not going to be happy if we have to lock him up or kill him for knowing too much.”

Steelbeak did not reach for his beak. He did not feel the slight dents that remained from trying to punch his own mouth open. “And we’re not just locking him up now, why?”

“Because the Ducks are easiest to manage when they think a situation is within their control!” Her voice was raised as decades of thwarted ambitions seeped into her tone.

Steelbeak was unimpressed. He could get just as angry, and he hadn’t needed years to get to that point.

“And what if he does ask what I do here?”

“Why would he ask? You’re hardly about to engage him in some deep conversation, are you?”

He couldn’t quite meet her eyes for some reason. “Well, no, but…”

“Oh, for larceny’s sake. If it does come up and you can’t avoid answering the question, just make something up. You’re an agent, do some lying.”

“... yeah, of course. I can do that.”

***

It doesn’t really sink in until later that night, back in his room, how Fethry answered all his questions without calling him, “Stupid.”

#ducktales #fethsteel #fethry duck #cousin fethry #steelbeak

[daily-dose-of-imagines]

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕌𝕡♡

Uhm, hi! Hope you guys are doing ok. Are you guys good there? Please make sure to not strain yourselves! I was hoping to be anonymous for this as well. May I have a matchup for JJBA, One Punch Man (if it’s available for matchup), and A3 (if available for matchup as well)?? So.. Where to start? I’m quite short, around 147cm tall, and look years younger than my real age as to what the people claim to be. I always end up being mistaken as years younger than my real age. I don’t really believe in zodiac signs, but if it helps you guys easier for the matchup, I’m a Cancer.

I like my shirts, jackets, and coats oversized. I have black hair that reaches the bottom of my shoulder blades. Here’s irrelevant info, my hair looks normal, but I have these ringlet thingies under my hair and it shows if I wear it up in a pony-tail. My hair’s always a mess, even if I brush it or not. I also wear glasses that show black-colored eyes, I prefer my glasses if they’re thick-frames.

I listen to music too, if I’m ever in a particular mood (as an example, sadness) I search for songs that relate to my current mood and sing along. I also dance along, occasionally. I like to act as well, albeit I couldn’t afford to because my parents have a particular job in mind for me, something that I’ll really feel pressure on. My taste in music varies from rock to jazz, to classical, to pop.

I have this boyish aura that makes some strangers think I’m a tomboy person? But once you get to know me thoroughly, I actually have an interest in trying girly styles like pleated mini skirts and all that jazz. However, I stick to my oversized shirts and jackets style since I feel like girly style doesn’t suit me.

I also draw— I’m ok at it, not that good but not that bad— and daydream of surreal things, and listening to music (especially to music that channels like HQSounds upload) gives my imagination a boost. As an addition, I read. I read novels, I also play games, namely rpg games, rhythm games and racing games.

With my closest friends, I really show my true self— meme-loving, disaster who also thinks of questionable life choices, pineapple pizza stan, can be sassy and sarcastic, and a shoulder to cry on, definitely dirty-minded that you could see me wiggling my eyebrows at every single thing that you do— with my friends? I show a little about myself— meme-loving fangirl— with strangers and acquaintances? I’m polite as long as they return the politeness, but once someone decides to talk trash to my friends, I won’t hesitate to step in and give them my full-blown sassy, snarky and sarcastic self. Here’s a lil something, if I have to do something like explaining a presentation or monologuing apart from Shakespeare, I go in with confidence, but at the end of the performance, I tremble like a leaf.

Despite those sides, I always value something in every relationship, and that’s respect. Having a fair share of friendship issues, I’ve learned how to confront them but in the most civil way. I try to be open-minded, if you want affection, I’m available for a big hug and cuddle. I also tend to be wary of strangers and acquaintances. Giving vague, cryptic, or even no answers if they ask for any personal information like what country I live in and such. I’d claim I’m fairly wise with experiences, not all-knowing wise, but just a little wise. I’m the type to lay back and watch from the crowd. Not a popular gal, although you could say I’m a bit envious of the popular. I tend to be aloof around strangers and acquaintances, even family. But it’s another story for friends.

I take no sides if there’s an argument. I’m that type of person. I listen to each side of the story and try to come up with ways to end the conflict. I’m also physically weak since I’ve spent 60% of my childhood bed ridden or in the hospital. I have a weak immune system and a very weak pair of lungs. I can be very cunning and sneaky. A Slytherin kind of girl.

Also, may I have a little nsfw as well? If it’s applicable for matchups..

Sorry if this ended up a bit too long for your liking. I’m always curious regarding matchups. Please make sure not to strain yourselves. Take your time if needed. If this breaks any rules, I apologize. Hopefully, Tumblr won’t eat this up. Stay safe in the midst of this pandemic and take good care of yourselves despite the undeniable big stash of requests you’ll get. I’m no writer, but please make sure to not stress yourselves out.

»»————-　♡　————-««

Hello~! Thank you so much for requesting with us~! We’re doing good~! We’re pacing ourselves when it comes to doing both requests and match-ups so don’t worry~! We really appreciate the worry though ;; Anywho~! I’ll be covering for the JJBA and One Punch Man portion of your match-up~! I hope you enjoy who I’ve picked for you, and again thank you so much for your love~!

» » Admin Ko

𝕀 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕐𝕆𝕌 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘…

ɴɪᴊɪᴍᴜʀᴀ ᴏᴋᴜʏᴀꜱᴜ

Chaotic yet lovable, Okuyasu is the guy for you! Despite his lack of awareness and sense of IQ he’ll be the absolute lovable and supportive boyfriend~! It goes without saying that he’ll show immense interest in what you like and will actively try his best to not only educate himself in your hobbies and passions, but participate as well! He finds your choice in style unique and adorable, and honestly will give you any of his hold clothes that you just so happen to have your eye on.

It’s without a doubt that you’d be Okuyasu’s first crush/love and undoubtedly he’d pour his all into giving you all his love and affection. Just keep in mind he may be a touch slow. Everything he does though is with good intentions! He most definitely loves your meme-loving disaster– as he most definitely sits in this category himself, though if he hears you say it aloud he may try to pick a fight with a non existent person as he thinks you’re one of the coolest people he’s ever had the chance of meeting. 

Other then that, he’s most definitely protective of you (this goes without saying of course– he’s more so protective when he finds out about your past hospitalization) and one who most definitely loves to provide not only a sense of adventure, but excitement in your life.

ʙᴀᴅ | ᴍᴇᴛᴀʟ ʙᴀᴛ

Despite his brash and aggressive exterior, Bad is not only protective of you, but a huge softie who becomes pliable mold in your awaiting hands. He lives for your sarcastic and witty comments and will undoubtedly hype you up whilst giving a smug ass smirk as you drop a full blown sassy snarky comment to someone who most definitely deserves it. Of course following this, he’ll just add in his own to amplify your point. 

He won’t outright admit it, but he enjoys the little moments of spending time with you whilst cuddling as you play your games. You’ll come to notice that despite his rough personality he is rather observant and diligent in not only remembering what you enjoy, but actively finding items you happen to mention to like in passing when he’s out and about. 

Bad finds your advice and insight useful. As he’s usually hot headed and jumps into things the moment he senses a good fight, your logistical and calm voice usually manages to persuade him out of going into a predictably long fight.

Overall, he may be jagged and brash, but he’s your supportive jagged and brash delinquent. 

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

Nanao Taichi!!!!!

I choose Nanao Taichi as your A3! boyfriend! First, for appearances and style, I feel as though Nanao would love how you look and the way you style yourself! For one thing, he will love that you are quite short, only because he is a pretty short person himself, he’ll think it will be easier to give you kisses and be affectionate! And honestly? I see Nanao always playing with those little ringlets that you have whenever he is bored, and whenever you don’t have you glasses on, he will play with them when you don’t want him to be playing with your hair! As for your style, he will love that you have an expansive sense of style when it comes to fashion! Like with your oversized coats and shirts, and then you rockin a cute skirt? Oh yeah. he would definitely like that kind of style, sense it kind of resembles his own style, minus the skirt lolol.

He will definitely appreciate that you love music, because I feel that he also has an big sense of music too! and the fact that you draw and read and play games! Especially the games part, I feel like that he will definitely want to play with you and see what you can do, and see if you can beat him!

Also the fact that you are meme loving and sassy and can be very sarcastic. Like he would really appreciate that type of stuff, seeing as it is your really authentic self. And that’s what he really wants to see, your authenticity. He wouldn’t really like your polite self with, he’ll want your meme loving self! 

He will love the fact that you like affection in some sense, since Nanao is actually a really affectionate person too! He will want to cuddle you and kiss you and all the great, cute things that couples do!! And for a little NSFW, he would be really, submissive in a way. Like, he would love getting a bunch of attention from you, from you giving him heavy petting to giving his lower region a bunch of attention, then he would do the same to you. He just wants to be touched and felt and given a lot of attention when you guys do the spicy sutff, so you better be prepared for that!

All in all, I definitely feel like that Nanao would be a really good match for you, from the common interests to you being your meme loving self! I feel you two would be super super cute!

#match-ups #matchup #submissions #anime matchup #submission #jjba match up #one punch man match up #opm match up #a3 matchup #okuyasu x reader #metal bat x reader

[soullistrations]

AO3 Wrapped (and various other writing meme questions)

I was tagged by @lynne-monstr to do this about two weeks ago, but at that point I only had 4 publicly attributable works on my ao3 for 2020, so I decided to wait. In the meantime, I came across some other good questions (thanks gumi!) so I figured I’d answer those as well!

Total Word Count: 16,860 --way higher than I thought! (even after i subtracted those two spn fics I wrote 7 years ago but only uploaded this year)

Fandoms: Stranger Things, Still Star-Crossed, Critical Role, Quan Zhi Gao Shou (The King’s Avatar)

Top 5 fics by word count: (here’s where things get hilarious)

i am no icarus (Still Star-Crossed): 5514 words of OC-heavy court intrigue, written over the span of about 4 days. more than twice as long as anything else on the list. I don’t know what about this yuletide prompt possessed me, but MAN did it possess me.

summer’s best hairstyle (QZGS): 2387 words of fluff. Not what I usually write but the image wouldn’t get out of my mind!

Stuck (Stranger Things): 2340 words. Honestly, I am proud of this one, even though it’s a bit sloppy and not my best work, because it got me back into posting things again, and more importantly got me into actually finishing things instead of writing them halfway and then deciding that no one else was going to read them so why put effort into finishing them. It’s the joy of the process, people. and also the joy of going back and reading my own work again because I am my first audience member for most things.

pics or it didn’t happen (QZGS): 2319 words. This one was...so much fun. It was so dumb, but so much fun. I think my favorite thing about it was asking wack, “can i do this? is this too weird?” and then just giving myself permission to be totally wacky.

Take the Hurt (Critical Role): 2300 words. I’m finding that I do well when other people prompt me, because the two “possessed by an idea” fics on this list both stemmed from other peoples’ prompts. Thanks, wren, for this prompt!

Clearly I have a sweet spot, because 4 of my six fics for this year are all within 87 words of each other (and the last is at 2k, so not that far away).

Top 5 fics by kudos: (lots of duplicates, because I only have 6 fics on the list)

Take the Hurt (Critical Role): 269 kudos.

A Different Patch of Sky (QZGS): 52 kudos

Stuck (Stranger Things): 31 kudos

summer’s best hairstyle (QZGS): 28 kudos

pics or it didn’t happen (QZGS): 26 kudos

I think this is where the difference between a big fandom and a small fandom are very apparent. I feel like for most of these fics, everyone I really wanted to see these fics saw them and liked them, and that’s all that really matters.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January 2020? I mean I had never even heard of The King’s Avatar/QZGS/cdramas in general in January, so that was definitely a surprise. I also never thought I would do an exchange because writing for someone else is so much more stressful than writing something for yourself.

What’s your favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest. This is a hard one--I like all my fics for different reasons. The one I’m most proud of at the moment is ‘i am no icarus,’ because I tried something different with that one and I think it paid off well. But I also really enjoyed writing “A Different Patch of Sky.”

Do you have any fanfic goals for the New Year? Honestly, my goal for this year is just to keep writing, and keep finishing things. I have some plans for fics that I’d like to do, and I want them to live as fully fledged fics, and not just bullet points on my drafts page before the end of the year. But even though one of my goals is to finish stuff, I also want to learn...when to let go of ideas, I guess? I feel like this year I rediscovered a lot of joy in the process of writing, and the fact taht even when the words don't come easily or I have to throw an idea out altogether, none of it is wasted writing. I got halfway through a fic for yt before realizing that it wasn't going to work and tossing it, and it was from trashing that idea (that I really wanted to make work!) that I got the inspiration for i am no icarus. I also want to work with a beta more consistently, because I love when I do, but I don’t often reach out--and I SHOULD reach out more!

Tagging: most of my writer friends have already done one of these, so this is an open tag to whoever wants to do this!!

#rebamble #writing wrapup meme #my stuff

[doobler]

DATA LOG//VALERIE-01//XX.XX.XXXX

SOME FILES CORRUPTED. RECOVERING UNCORRUPT FILES.

LOG 1

LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...

"Hey! You're not quite done yet but I wanted to start leaving you some video diary entries! Today is [REDACTED] so my 14th birthday was just last week! Pretty exciting, huh? As of now, you're about a couple months old which is really weird to think about. I'm so excited for the day you're finally done! Hopefully that'll be soon but, judging by how progress is going, it might be longer than I first predicted. Which is fine! You're worth the wait. Okay, well I just wanted to start this new little diary ritual hah hah! I'll seen you soon, buddy!"

LOG 27

LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...

"Hey, buddy, it's me again! Yesterday was my 16th birthday. It was pretty fun, we didn't do much. Mom made all my favorites like tostones and empanadas. I'll be graduating college in just a few months. Man, it went by so fast. Regrettably, that means you've been on the back burner. I'm real sorry, bud. I've had to work so hard at school but it means I've got a better chance at getting the job of my dreams. You understand, I know you do, your programming makes you empathetic. One day, I'll be the head of design for T.A.B.H, you'll see. Then I'll finally be able to finish you and show you off to the rest of the world. Keep sleepin' until then, okay? Dream of electric sleep. I'll see you soon."

LOG 112

LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...

"Today is [REDACTED]. I've finally gotten my shit together at the office. We made it! I'm now officially an employee working for the Programming and Design department of T.A.B.H! It took maybe a little longer than I wanted, I was hoping to be here at 18 but I guess two years late is better than nothing! Most of the people here are old bastards anyhow, hahaha! I get a lot of dirty looks but fuck 'em, I worked my ass off to get here and I deserve the recognition! The real work starts soon which means you'll probably be put on hold again, but only for a little longer! It's weird, I've had to age up your designs as time goes on. I guess the perfect boyfriend and companion for a 14 year old looks a little different when it's repurposed for a 20 year old. Don't worry though, I intend on keeping your [REDACTED] on the bigger side, hahah! Anyways. The next update might be a little late, I foresee this job really swallowing up all my free time. See you soon, buddy!"

LOG 120

LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...

"Hey. It's been a few years. I'm sorry, bud, this job just... Takes all my free time and energy. Your basic infrastructure is easy to tweak, it's your coding that's really been dragging. If I had just... A week to myself, undisturbed, you'd be finished but... Soon. Okay? We'll be together soon. I promise. Sleep well, love."

LOG 121

LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...

"T.A.B.H. isn't what I thought it'd be. On the outside, they're a tech company "dedicated to the pursuit of improving every day human life" but on the interior, this place reeks. There's a suspicious amount of security and the employees like myself are constantly screened, our social media always monitored, our phones constantly looked through. Thank god these diaries are directly through you. If I'd been uploading these through my phone, we'd be fucked. It's been nearly 14 years since I began building you, Valerie. You're still cutting edge, nothing these dumbasses throw together are nearly as advanced as you are. But you'll have to stay asleep for a while longer. I'm terrified of what would happen if they found you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Sweet dreams. I love you."

LOG 250

LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...

"This isn't what I wanted, Val. The advances we're making grow exponentially as the days pass. Androids are out, they're becoming accessible to society, but... Not in the way I wanted. They're not companions like you, they're... Slaves. Used and abused then thrown out like trash. T.A.B.H. puts so much research and work and effort into making them as lifelike as possible, only to treat them like... Like... Fuck! It's sickening, I can't. I look at my reflection every night and I'm disgusted by what I see. They're keeping me in a junior role within my department so I'll be forced to work harder but I'll never be given the jurisdiction to make POSITIVE change. They see that I'm leagues ahead of everyone else but I'm fucking trapped like a rat."

The camera view shifts. Mar's face comes into focus. He looks tired, with bags under his eyes and wrinkles at the corner of his mouth. Silvery hair has started to grow at his temples. He has multiple day old stubble along his chin.

"I can't bring myself to age you up anymore, Valerie. I want you to stay as youthful as when I first designed you. I wish... You could've finished in time and actually fulfilled my dream of having the perfect boyfriend. Instead, I pray you'll at least come online in my lifetime, so I can finally show you the love I've been dying to give you for almost 21 years now. Sleep well, sweetheart. I'll see you soon."

LOG 300

LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...

"I've been in hiding for 10 years now, making today [REDACTED]. God, I'm so fucking tired. You're the only legacy I've got, Valerie. No kids, no husband, no family left. Just me. And you. T.A.B.H's influence continues to grow. They've taken over the entire tech industry and are sinking their nasty little fingers into everything they can reach, from food to infrastructure and beyond. Everything looks so shiny and nice on the outside but the system is rotted all the way through. They haven't found out about you yet, but... I'm afraid they're getting close. I'm lucky to have found this place, old land my family used to own way down south, almost to the border. My grandfather was a smart man-- there isn't a microcubit of trackable technology here. The only way I'll be found is on foot. It's hard to rest, though, but it does mean I've got a little more free time to work on you. Your coding is nearly complete. I'm really proud of myself, hahah, the infinity matrix will give you the ability to learn and grow and develop just like a human, though you do have basic personality programming. Your external design has barely changed. You're still so young... Anyways. The next update might be a while. I'll do my best to stay hidden. I'll see you... Soon. Okay? Soon. I love you. Sweet dreams."

LOG ???

LOADING... LOADING... LOADING...

Maurice appears in the camera's view. He's old now, old enough to be a grandfather maybe. When he looks at you, a funny expression crosses his face. Your basic sensors pick up his heart rate, slowing gradually. He lays wrinkled fingers on your frame and smiles.

"This is it, Valerie. The end of the line. They've finally found me. I'm too old to run now. It'll be up to you. I'm gonna finish uploading the final details to your software and then you'll be done. It breaks my heart that I never got to meet you. I've seen you in my dreams for so long. You're gonna be amazing, though, I just know it. My only wish is... Please. Go out there and show humanity what you really are. Teach them that androids have souls, too, that you're all equal. Only then can life truly improve, only then will we reach harmony."

Maurice twists around when he hears something. He moves to the computer beside you and types for  while. He has something in his hand but your sensors can't pick it up. 

"I'm... Sorry, Valerie. That it had to be like this. But you've got so much ahead of you. These logs are protected deep within your mental core. They'll be incredibly difficult to access externally and hard to delete so... I'll be with you always. You'll come online soon, and I'll... Be watching on. Stay safe. Keep your chin up. I love you, Valerie. I love you so much. It's time to wake up, old friend."

#maurice cueva #valerie 01 #my oc #oc #tiny fic #ough feelings

[rocketraccoonmeta]

Who Is Rocket’s Creator?

(No Endgame Spoilers)

Disclaimer: my theory wouldn’t be here today without the planets being pointed out in the Easter egg hunt here

Also, the app butchered my formatting so please open this post in a browser, not the app! 

So, I’m not entirely sure how widely accepted this theory is but I believe that 100% High Evolutionary is Rocket’s Creator.

Obviously, in the comics this is different. Rocket, among other animals like a hare and an otter, is taken from earth and made to be human-like to look after mentally insane beings on a planet called Halfworld.

In the MCU, his origin is also listed as Halfworld, and Lylla (his sentient otter soulmate) is mentioned in the prison lineup screenshot so one might assume that he has the same origins as the comics.

But James Gunn says otherwise.

“As you know, the MCU is one way of processing these characters. [Universe] 616 is a different one. We are going to learn more about where Rocket comes from in the coming sagas. It’s going to be a little different from the comics. We already know a lot about from where he came from. It’s a little bit more horrible than what it is in the comics when you come down to it. We will learn more about that.”

Universe-616 AKA Earth-616 is the main comic book canon universe. Anything that’s not canon to the comic books is set in a different universe with a different number. For example, the MCU number is Earth-199999. So he’s said that 616 Rocket Raccoon origins aren’t the same as our 199999 Rocket.

Also, James Gunn confirmed that Rocket isn’t an Earth/Terran raccoon. Hence the drop of “Raccoon” at the end of his title. Cause he’s not a raccoon!

This is also made apparent when Drax recognises Rocket’s species in Vol.1:

"I recognise this animal. We'd roast them over a flame pit as children. Their flesh was quite delicious."

Anyway, we’ve established that Rocket isn’t from earth, he’s a raccoon-like alien species that someone experimented on. He is from Halfworld but, James has hinted at retconning this.

He didn’t say it was that fact in particular, but he has stated multiple times that Rocket and Groot are his two favourite characters so I believe he would want to explore them more. That, and Gamora being the last of her species has already been retconned in Infinity War. While Gunn could retcon Tibius Lark in Groot’s bio, it wouldn’t make any sense as that Groot is dead, and there’s no one in the comics with that name. A bit of a mystery.

So I would say he’s retconning Rocket’s origin planet, or the fact that one of his listed associates is Lylla (the otter). James Gunn has already basically said that Lylla is not going to make an appearance because their love and Lylla herself could get “really cartoony” which is something they were very worried about as they considered leaving Rocket out of the Guardians films. Either way, it’s safe to assume Rocket was made for a different reason than a companion for the insane.

Now to the meta.

From GOTG Vol.1, James Gunn has said that he likes Adam Warlock a lot and does want him to make an appearance. The post credit scene of Vol.2 hints at his appearance in the next film.

In the comics, he’s not made by Ayesha (The Sovereign High Priestess), but she’s his genetic twin. He escapes his first creators, almost dies at Thor’s hands, then goes into a cocoon again. When he comes out the second time, High Evolutionary AKA Herbert Wyndham becomes his mentor/adoptive father. And also gives him the Soul Stone.

In the movie, Ayesha has created him and that’s all we know from there. Will he seek the Guardians to destroy them like Ayesha wants? Or will he break out before we even see in in GOTG Vol.3 and he’s with Herbert?

The findings in the Easter Egg hunt point out that before choosing Ego, Rocket flicks through a list of planets: Drez-Lar, Hala, Terra and Terma.

Drez-Lar I can’t find out much about. Nova (Ryder) was there once. From the name you can tell it’s a Kree planet, but other than that I had a hard time with info.

Hala is the Kree homeworld. In the comics, it’s actually destroyed. I’m assuming it’s not decimated in the MCU seeing as it’s showing up in the system.

Terra is Earth! Quill’s home planet.

Now, Terma. Terma is only mentioned once in the entirety of the comics. Gunn could have chosen any planet that’s more well known for the viewers to cameo. But he didn’t. Terma is the Kree outworld where two characters found Adam Warlock in his cocoon. After Adam is awakened, he flies to a laboratory inside Terma’s star where he rendez-vous with his adoptive father Herbert Wyndham (High Evolutionary).

This is the important link.

High Evolutionary is a scientist, a master geneticist. Extremely intelligent. Not exactly the most humane person. He did... experiments.

He created the New Men. The New Men are, and I quote, an “artificial race of mutagenically altered, human-sized animals created to possess human-equivalent minds and consciousness”. Sound like someone we know?

Now, there’s a difference with Rocket here though.

Rocket isn’t human sized. My bet is on Rocket being an early experiment of his, instead of him being naturally bipedal, he has a normal alien-raccoon skeleton, so Herbert tore him apart and put him back together over, and over, and turned him... bipedal.

Herbert hadn’t figured out the minutiae of the process, hence why Rocket was an experiment, and not a creation. This also is further supported by Rocket saying “Ain’t no thing like me, ‘cept me”; Rocket was a failure so Herbert didn’t follow the process to make another one like him.

Also, mutagenically altered (how they describe the New Men) and genetically engineered (how they describe Rocket) mean the same thing, just different wording.

Another thing to note: Herbert banished a sentient cockroach (going to be a part of the New Men) into space because he was cocky and refused to follow Herbert’s orders. That sounds like something Rocket would do as well.

Also, it may just be coincidence, but there are a few other things in Vol.2 I want to point out that seem like a nod to Rocket’s past as well.

Firstly, we are reminded of Rocket’s past by the man himself as they try to manoeuvre the quantum asteroid field:

“I was genetically engineered to pilot a spacecraft”

Then right after that, they crash land on Berhert. Which is a real place in the comic books, but it’s also an anagram for Herbert. Coincidence? Maybe. But James Gunn could have made them crash on any other planet in the universe. He chose this one.

Secondly, he is called something he’s not a total of six times on Berhert.

“Yeah, that’s how eyesight works, you stupid raccoon!” - Quill

“I’m sorry. I took it too far. I meant trash panda.” - Quill

“Can I pet your puppy? He is adorable.” - Mantis

“Your associates are welcome. Even that triangle-faced monkey over there.” - Ego

“You’re leaving me here with that fox?!” - Nebula

“Hey there, rat.” - Yondu

Six times on the planet Berhert, the audience are subconsciously reminded that, no, he’s not any of those things. He’s a raccoon-like genetically-enhanced alien.

Thirdly, in a metaphorical basis, The Sovereign drove Rocket into facing his past (Chased them to crash land on Berhert [Berhert = Herbert] plus the constant name-calling bringing his past to attention).

Is this foreshadowing Volume 3? I think so. My predictions for the movie is that Adam (created by The Sovereign) and Herbert will be in it, and that they will be the antagonists. This will force Rocket to confront his past, among other things. I can’t go into much more detail about why I believe this is going to happen because I am not about to spoil endgame for anyone.

I will upload a follow-up theory to go with this one as to why I believe Adam and Herbert are so important for the next GOTG film (+ the future MCU) in the coming weeks. 

#rocket raccoon #gotg #guardians of the galaxy #marvel #mcu #marvel comics #adam warlock #high evolutionary #herbert wyndham #meta #mine #long #rocket #ayesha #the sovereign

[realityhelixcreates]

Lasabrjotr Chapter 15: Callout Post

Chapters: 15/? Fandom: Thor (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Warnings: Loki is a bigot, mentions of fear of sexual assault, mentions of past death Relationships: Loki x Reader (But not yet) Characters: Loki (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), OFC, Brunnhilde/Valkyrie(Marvel), Spiderman, Ant-Man Additional Tags: Post-Endgame: Best Possible Ending, Loki Needs A Chill Pill, Hey Here’s A Thought: How ‘Bout Ya Don’t Be Racist?, Reader’s Pretty Mouthy For Someone On A Sickbed, Thor And Brunnhilde Are Such Gossips Summary: Life is being very blunt to Loki.

Two days passed before the historians came to Loki with information about the dagger. It was a troll weapon, of a kind once prized as war trophies among Asgardian soldiers during the conquest of Nornheim. They were usually passed town as heirlooms, though only a few now survived.

None of the historians could tell him what family this knife might have once belonged to, nor how it came to be in human hands, if it was a human who threw it in the first place. Their best guess was that it had been lost in the last Asgardian visits to this world, roughly a thousand years ago.

They presented the knife to Loki with reverence, emphasizing how precious it was. It had been cleaned and restored, no trace of blood or dirt remaining. He could see his eyes reflected in the blade.

He’d seen items like this, in the palace’s armory display. Rock trolls had been surprisingly proficient crafters; of stone, crystal, and metals at least. They lacked Asgardian sophistication however, and could not even come close to the capabilities of the Dwarves of Nidavellir.  Still, as a reminder of Asgards first conquest, such items held great cultural importance. He knew just what to do with this one.

A young secretary contacted him on his way out of the library, to inform him of an incoming call on the computer. When he arrived however, there was no one on-screen, only an empty room presumably in the Tower. An alarm was ringing, and a red light flashing. It seemed something had rather suddenly come up.

Loki wondered for a few moments whether he had time to wait or not, when the alarm and flashing light abruptly ceased.

“Mr. Lang, you’re still here?” A soft voice called. “There’s a call open on the monitor, what should I do?”

“I dunno, who is it?” Someone else called back.

“Umm…” A masked face-red, with cartoonishly huge, almond shaped white eyes-took up the whole screen. “I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve met him before, but he looks familiar. Oh, shoot. The sound’s on. Uh, hi! Avenger’s Tower, how can we help?”

This person’s voice was altogether too young.

“Please tell me you are an intern.” Loki said.

“I’m Spiderman.”

“Man?” Loki repeated, incredulous.

The boy rolled his eyes. Or, at least, he tilted his head and moved his shoulders in the way that comes with rolling one’s eyes.

“Hey who is that?” Another face- this one thankfully adult-shoved into view. “Oh wow! Kid, that’s Loki! He bashed up New York a while ago, don’t you remember?”

The boy shook his masked head.

“But you live in New York!”

“C’mon, it was forever ago! I was like, ten!”

A heavy feeling settled inside Loki. How many buildings had he damaged that day? How many vehicles did he destroy? And all the while, this child had been there, somewhere, his life barely measuring the double digits.

How many people? He’d never found out.

“I am Loki, Prince of Asgard, and…look, is Barton there? He should have some information for me.”

“Just left.” The adult said. “Looks like he left some notes though. I can read them out for you.” He picked up a notebook from the desk. “Ooh. Looks Like Tony left some notes too. I’m, uh…” His eyes flicked from the notebook to the masked boy. “I’m not going to read those out loud.”

“I can hazard a guess as to their content. I doubt he has added anything important. Read away.”

“Alright well, it says here…’Ex-boyfriend, angry and vocal on Facebook. Toothless; cannot travel. No prize’. Huh. Okay. And then ‘mixed opinion news articles, none seems to know her personally. Sensationalist at best.’ Uh, ‘Security video viral; massive debate in the comments. Conspiracy theories. Over four hundred million people have seen Loki get punched in the face by a girl half his size.’ And here Tony adds ‘nice’. And that’s the only one of his comments that’s safe to read.”

Loki frowned.

“What? You’ve gotta show me that video.” The boy said.

Loki frowned deeper.

“And lastly, ‘Second video uploaded by someone called Sofie Snowfox, currently residing outside New Asgard. Shown alive and well, described as “Devoted to Loki.”

Loki perked up at that. Yes, that sounded rather nice.

“Most long-time subscribers positive and supportive, but recent waves of American commenters overwhelmingly negative. Accusations of treason, death threats, unflattering sexual speculation, more conspiracy theories.”

That sounded far less nice.

“I have no idea what this is about.”

“You don’t need to-“

“He kidnapped some lady, but I guess it was supposed to be a good thing. Maybe?”

“What? You stole a whole person?”

“I didn’t steal her, I saved her-you know, never mind. If you have not already been informed of this, you don’t need to know. I have the research I asked for, and I have no more time to waste here. Goodbye, Spiderchild. And also you.”

He ended the call without another word, and stalked away from the computer.

So. Your people had abandoned you. Typical. Thor was so optimistic about humanity, but Loki had seen the rot underneath. While his brother would praise how strong and helpful human’s natural social bonds were, Loki knew how they used those same social bonds as a weapon; to shun, to manipulate, to control.

Now you were outside of that control, and your country had turned on you. Viciously. Predictably.

No matter. You had him now; he would take care of you. He had sworn it, and he meant to keep his word this time.

But that meant that your assailant had to be found. This couldn’t be let go, not if he didn’t want them to feel empowered to try it again. You required some means of protection. And he had just the thing.

He found his way to the equipment stores, speaking briefly to the quartermaster. She was a formidable, battle-scarred woman, but when he explained that he wanted some of the old, busted up knife sheathes to attempt to fix up, she was happy to let him rummage around.

During the exodus, people had mostly just grabbed whatever they could find to bring with them. Unfortunately, some of it turned out to be trash. The quartermaster had been saddled with far too much unusable equipment, and Loki was able to come up with several sheathes that, between them, should provide enough intact material to put together a new one. Loki thanked her, and left with his prizes.

Prince or not, Loki had always taken care to know how to maintain and repair all of his own equipment, even learning how to make certain things from scratch. With the amount of knives and daggers he used, a simple sheath would take no time at all.

He found a place away from anyone else, where he didn’t have to be a prince, and could concentrate on being an artisan instead. A wave of the hand brought him his tools, and he went right to work.

                                                                                  *****

 “So the big mystery about the Jotnar, is that it’s clear from their extensive colonization of multiple worlds, that they used to be a space-faring race. But they aren’t now, and no one knows why or how that knowledge was lost to them.” Brunnhilde explained. The Valkyrie had moved this lesson into your room, where you were still being asked to stay. You had been longing for companionship for what seemed like such a long time, so long in fact, that you were now uncomfortable to have it. You hadn’t gotten out of bed, just sat up with your pillow to lean against. Brunnhilde evidently thought you were injured worse than you actually were, and made no comment about it.

“We’ve encountered them in several galaxies, always slightly different. Thousands, possibly millions of years removed from wherever they originally came from, and an unusually flexible genetic structure allows them to adapt to whatever planet they live on within just a few generations. For instance, here are Aegir and Ran.”

She held up a book, showing you an illustration of two people with deep blue skin, round black eyes, and green hair that was textured like seaweed. They were both adorned with shells, coral, and pearls, and not much else.

“These two rule a world of oceans. They’re pretty friendly with Asgard, and let us build small colonies on their islands. That’s the only land on their planet, and the Jotnar that live there don’t have much use for dry land. They make such exotic alcohol.”

You managed a weak smile. Of course she was impressed with the booze.

“Freyr is married to one of these?” You asked. You still wondered how big they were.

“No, no, these are sea giants. Gerd is a mountain giant. I found a picture of her earlier, give me a second…”

Brunnhilde leafed through the book.

“Are the Jotnar all just named after the terrain they live in?”

“Yeah, basically. They adapt so fully to their environment that they almost seem to become a part of it. So we usually just call them what they look like. Desert giants, and forest giants, and fire giants, and frost giants. All kinds. Ah, here she is!”

She turned the book back to you, showing a picture of a powerfully built woman, whose snowy white skin and hair shimmered with a diamond-like quality. There were long streaks and patches of silver skin on her bare arms that reflected light like a mirror.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, she’s a keeper.  We get along with some of the giants; others not so much. Frost giants for one. Our most recent war involved them. We won but relations are still pretty tense. I only fought in the very first battles of that particular war, but it was only about a thousand years ago.”

“Only a thousand?” You were still constantly startled by the massive age differences between you and the Asgardians. It was hard to comprehend a person who was older than most modern countries.

There was a knock at the door, and Loki let himself in without waiting for very long. He looked slightly excited about something, but the expression disappeared the instant he noticed the Valkyrie in the room.

“Oh, we are learning, I see. It’s good to see that kind of determination, but you shouldn’t overdo it.”

“The cut is almost gone, and I’m going crazy in here.” You protested, cursing the edge of a whine that snuck into your voice. “I thought another lesson would be low effort and give me something to think about.”

Something else to think about. Something other than him, and what he might eventually do to you. Why was he waiting so long? The fear and torment was making it harder and harder to think of anything else.

You shouldn’t think about it. Brunnhilde was here. You were safe for now. Think about giants.

“What is today’s subject?”

Brunnhilde turned the book to him.

“Look, it’s Gerd.”

“So it is. Jotnar? What, ah…what about Jotnar?”

“Different kinds. Sea, and mountain, and frost. Friends and enemies.” You said. He fidgeted a bit, rubbing at his palm. “I just kinda wonder how big they are, if we’re calling them giants. Are they really very tall? I’ve never seen one before.”

The Aesir’s eyes flicked back and forth to each other, as if expecting one another to say something.

“Well!” Brunnhilde said brightly, breaking the increasingly uncomfortable silence. “Why don’t you show her a comparison? With Gerd!”

“Oh that’s easy! Here. So this is Freyr…” He gestured and the image of the man with flowers in his hair popped up. Loki caught your wrist as you reached out. “Still not here.”

Heat crept up your neck. Stupid involuntary reaction! You really needed to get a handle on that.

“And here you are…”

A little image of you popped up next to the other, clasping your hands behind you and beaming happiness. It was adorable. Brunnhilde pressed her lips together to swallow a smile.

“And here is Gerd…”

The shining woman appeared next, easily two feet taller than both of the other images, to scale.

“Wow! Okay that’s pretty big.”

“Oh this is nothing.” Loki said, some of his earlier excitement creeping back in. “Here’s Aegir and Ran.”

The sea giants appeared, even bigger than Gerd.  “And the tricky mason who owned Svadilfari.”

A pale, rocky giant sprang up next. He would have been taller than a multistoried house.

“I bested him in combat, and took his horse. He was of the same line as Sleipnir, which is what gave the fool away in the first place. My Leynarodd is one of only two survivors of that line.”

“Yes, and we all know you’re very proud of that.” Brunnhilde interrupted. “How about you show us a frost giant?”

“How about I don’t?”

“I’d like to see one.” You interjected. Loki seemed to recede in on himself.

“I’m actually pretty sure you wouldn’t. They are hideous, brutish savages. You wouldn’t like them at all.” He said bitterly.

That was so infuriating. You were growing to hate the way he described other races. He was always so nasty about it.

“You know, your highness.” You said, sitting up a little straighter. “You say that about pretty much every race that isn’t Asgardian. How will you describe me to people in a thousand years, I wonder?”

He lifted his chin, mouth pressed thin.

“As a mouthy twit who thought she knew more than I did about subjects she hadn’t even learned yet. I’ve seen frost giants. I’ve fought and killed frost giants. I know about them, and you do not.”

“Then show me!” You challenged. “Because right now, you just sound like a huge bigot, and like a bigot, you’ve got nothing to back you up!”

Brunnhilde quietly chuckled.

“You insolent little-You think you can just sit in the bed, in the room that I provided you, and say such things to me? I am your prince, and-“

“Not mine!”

“-and your benefactor! Are you fed? Are you clothed? Are your medical needs seen to? Yes! You have me to thank for that, me and no other!”

“Now just a damn-“

“If the Bifrost could handle it, I would drop you on Jotunheim right now, and see how you fared, you little ingrate! Here!”

He tossed a little bundle onto the bed.

“I intended to present this to you properly, but I feel no need to waste any more time here. Figure it out yourself, since you know so much.” He whipped the door open. “But before I go, here is Surtr, the largest giant yet known.”

He slammed the door behind him, just as the illusion of the enormous fire giant filled the room and began knocking things over.

                                                                                *****

“So then I had to fist fight an illusory giant.” Brunnhilde said, cleaning grime off her favorite sword. “It was pretty cathartic, actually.”

“What did he give to her?” Thor asked, running a whetstone down the blade of his axe.  Norns, but his brother was bad at this. Scheming, manipulating, planning, organizing, oh yes, all of that and more. But openly caring about someone? Practically hopeless.

“No idea. She was not in a good mental place by the time I beat Surtr, and then her maid came and saw the state the room was in. Poor girl was beside herself. But at least _____ doesn’t have much to get tossed around. Still, the place was a mess, and she was of no mind to even open the thing up and look.”

“If he keeps on like this he will lose all chance of gaining her respect. He keeps moving forward and then taking a flying leap back.”

“Don’t know if it’s just her respect he wants. But this might not be as bad as it seems. For one thing, his wall is thinner around her. The things he feels he has to prove to her are different than the things he feels he needs to prove to us. He’s more open with her, probably because he thinks she is harmless. Now granted, that openness includes childish tantrums, but at least he isn’t closed off and stagnant anymore. He’s moving forward.”

The Valkyrie examined her sword closely, searching for any leftover dirt. Finding none, she dribbled oil onto a cloth, and began wiping the blade.

“For her part; I haven’t seen that fire in her for some time. Something is going wrong there, but I’m not sure what it is. She seems unusually passive, you know, she hasn’t even been asking questions like she used to. I think she might be afraid of something, or holding something in.”

“Because someone attacked her, and we don’t know who or why? I can see why that would be frightening.” Thor set the weapon aside, and began polishing his armor instead.

“Possibly. Probably. I know you don’t like to think of it, but we really do need some kind of prison facilities built. Criminals still exist, and if you don’t want to execute them…”

“Absolutely not.” Thor asserted.

“Then we need a place to put them. Whenever we catch this person-and I’m sure we will- we’ll need somewhere to stash them. If we get to them before Loki does, anyway.”

“Loki knows better now…” Thor began.

“Oh does he? Well that’s great to hear. How many milliseconds do you think he’ll hold his composure where the safety of his ‘responsibility’ is concerned?”

Thor scrubbed until he could see his eye reflected in the bosses of his chestplate, then began checking the scale and chain portions for any captured bits of debris.

“About sixteen. Which is ten longer than he would have done previously, so things are getting better.”

“If you say so. I’m not completely sure this has to do with the attack though. I saw signs of _____ withdrawing in on herself even before then, and just didn’t notice what was happening at the time. I wonder if there isn’t something around here that is bringing back memories of bad times. It’s easy to forget she lived through that damn ‘snap’ just like we did. We don’t know how she lived during that time, or what she went through. There might be all kinds of triggers hidden inside her, and the only way to find them is to accidentally trip them.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that.” Thor said, inspecting a nick on his helmet. That was unlikely to buff out, but he tried it anyway. “Probably unavoidable though. We’ll just have to be ready, be understanding. Which means Loki will have to get a handle on his temper.”

“We’re just a big bundle of problems each, aren’t we?”

“Part of being alive. Besides, better that we suffer than the alternative.”

“Psh, speak for yourself, your Majesty!”

“I do believe I am.”

Loki stalked into the room, clearly still disgruntled. Noticing what his brother and the Valkyrie were doing, he took a seat of his own, and began seeing to the maintenance of his own weapons. As the minutes ticked by, and more and more daggers piled up, he seemed to grow even more annoyed.

Finally, he slapped one last knife down on the pile. “Thor. Am I a bigot?”

“Oh yeah.” Thor said.

“Absolutely.” Brunnhilde agreed.

Loki made an offended noise.

“You are not unlike a great many Asgardians in that respect.” Thor continued. “I was like that as well, until recently. You remember.”

“I was too.” Brunnhilde added. “The social climate under the previous Allfathers practically guaranteed that. I only unlearned it by spending a thousand years at the ass-end of the universe, surrounded by people of every species, all of us knowing that we lived and died at the whims of a single madman.”

“I had to be stripped of all my power, and then choose to die at the hands of an ancient weapon forged by my own people, while protecting a non-Asgardian species.” Thor said.

“Well, what do I have to do?” Loki demanded. “I’m not going back to Sakkar, and I’ve already died! Where’s my magical personality cure?”

“I mean, it did take me a thousand years.” Brunnhilde reminded him. “And I don’t think ‘depressed, alcoholic, slave-taker’ is really the kind of personality you want to aspire to. “

“Besides, there is little chance of being able to make amends with the Svartalfari, or the Frost Giants, at least, not for quite some time. And I stand by my decision to forbid contact with the Dark Elves. Never again. If any remain, let them be.”

“Agreed.” Loki said. “But that still doesn’t help me. You didn’t see how she looked at me.”

“I did.” Brunnhilde pointed out.

“And you have no doubt regaled my brother on all the details. But that does me no good. I cannot simply stop feeling how I feel.” He paused. “Can I?”

“If you’re thinking about trying any memory or emotion altering spell, I must advise strongly against it.” Thor warned. “I know you can handle dangerous powers, Loki, but even the smallest mistake, and your entire self could be lost.”

“I know that!” Loki snapped. “But if I need to stop, how do I start? To stop?”

“Well, first of all, maybe you could stop describing every other race as ‘uneducated, brutish, savages’ to your only student, who happens to be one of those other races…” Brunnhilde suggested.

“Loki!” Thor scolded.

“Well how would you describe a Frost Giant?” Loki demanded.

“Hm. Fierce warriors with strong ties to an ancient heritage.” Thor said. “I suppose that could be taken to mean the same thing as ‘savage’, but without such negative connotations. It might help you if you just rewrote the propaganda to remove the negativity. That’s all it is, after all. A great many things we were taught about the other races was just propaganda.”

Loki gaped at him.

“Moreover, since the only Frost Giant I personally know is clever, well-learned, and sophisticated, how could I possibly describe them so crudely?”

Loki continued to gape.

“Y-your time among the humans has made you soft.” He whispered.                                                                                

#loki x reader #loki (marvel) #thor (marvel) #brunnhilde (marvel) #valkyrie (marvel) #peter parker #spiderman #scott lang #antman

[themutantunderground]

Let Your Heart Be Light Ch. 11

John is home on leave from the Marines and Clarice is home on winter break from grad school. While they used to date in high school, Clarice and John haven't been together in a long time... But it's Christmas time, and it seems like everything and everyone in their small, holiday-obsessed hometown is trying to get them back together. Modern Thunderblink AU!

Ao3 | FF.net

About an hour later, all three Christmas trees had been cut down, wrapped up, and packed into the back of John's truck. Nothing had been broken, no one had been cut in half, no blood had been spilled, and John hadn't lost his safety deposit, so Clarice was going to chalk it up as a nice and undramatic success.

To finish it all off, the front office was passing out rounds of free hot chocolate and a folk band had started playing at the front entrance. People were going off on horse-drawn wagon rides through the Christmas tree farm while others were dancing on the hard-packed earth near the front office's porch, where the band was playing. Norah and Riley were dancing around together, twirling and pretending to square dance with a few other kids. It was nice to see her normally reserved little sister having a good time.

Clarice took a sip on her hot chocolate and sucked in a breath of cold air through her teeth. This was nice. The past year had been filled with online grad school classes and traveling, and it was relaxing to just take a break and exist without documenting everything. For the first time since she had started her blog, she was taking a break, though she was still keeping up with the Instagram side of it.

Whipping out her phone, she opened Instagram and started a video. "Still not snowing!" she complained, turning the phone around and showing off the snowless sky. John appeared on camera for a moment then blinked and moved away. Clarice laughed. "Camera shy?"

"I didn't want to get in your way," he said, ducking his head.

"You're fine," she said and then pursed her lips. Well…he was fine. The Marines had definitely had a positive effect on his already impressive muscles. Distracted, she uploaded the video and stashed her phone back in her coat pocket.

Riley darted away from Norah and pounced on James, who happened to be sitting on the steps of the front office with his friends. She wrapped her arms around his knees, her dark eyes shining. "Dance with me!"

"Go ask John," James said, ruffling her hair and then gently pushing her forehead back. "I don't dance."

"Please…" She grabbed his jacket sleeve and tugged on his arm. "Just for a minute?"

James rolled his eyes. "You're such a brat." But he grinned and stood up swiftly, taking her by both hands and swinging her back out to the dance floor. For all his teasing, he really did love that kid. Whether she knew it or not, Riley had both Proudstar men wrapped around her pinky.

"He's a good brother," Clarice said, sipping at her hot chocolate.

John smiled and nodded, obviously proud of James. "He's all right. Guess we'll keep him."

Clarice smirked. The mere idea of John abandoning James was hilarious. He couldn't abandon anyone or anything, Once, when they had been in middle school, their class had adopted a guinea pig but John had been the one to take it home and keep it until it died of old age.

"What was that guinea pig's name?" she asked, rolling her gaze toward Marcos.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm supposed to be the one with pregnancy brain," Lorna said, "What're you talking about?"

"No, I just—that guinea pig from 7th grade."

"Scooter," John supplied, not looking away from his siblings.

"No, it was Lord Scooter McDuffinShorts," Marcos added, "But you hated his full name so it became just Scooter."

"Scooter was a girl," John said, "And anyone would hate that name."

"I voted for it," Marcos protested, "And so did Clarice."

"How the hell do you even remember that?" Clarice asked, turning to stare at Marcos.

He shrugged. "7th grade was a blur, but I remember arguing about that at the lunch table. I think I traded you some Dunkaroos and you voted for it."

Clarice laughed. "Oh. Yeah, that was a good trade."

"I remember the guinea pig now," Lorna said, "Or I remember it being at John's house. Didn't it freak out any time you gave it carrots?"

"She loved carrots," John said. He drained the rest of his hot chocolate and sat down next to Clarice, which instantly made her feel warmer. He blocked the wind and his thigh brushed against hers, and when he shot her a small smile, her cheeks grew hot. "You always brought her extras."

"Yeah, well, she made cute noises," Clarice said.

"Mm."

Something small and white swirled in front of her face, and she looked up. Snowflakes were beginning to drift down, finally breaking through the clouds.

"And that's our cue," Marcos said, shoving his hands against the top of the picnic table and standing up. "The car won't make it through snow."

John nodded. "Riley, James, time to go."

"Norah, come get your gloves," Clarice said, standing up as well. She held out the gloves as Norah left the makeshift dance floor and hurried over to her.

"Are we leaving?" she asked.

"Yeah, we need to go before it gets too snowy," Clarice said, pulling Norah's hat out of her pocket. She plopped it down on Norah's head. "Otherwise Marcos and Lorna will get stranded."

"And Marcos getting stranded is bad why?" James said as he walked up to them, Riley captured under one of his arms. The rest of the teenagers peeled away from the stairs and wandered over as well, tossing their cups into the trash on the way.

"Because I'd take your place in the Jeep and you could keep Marcos company," Lorna said, crossing her arms. "And we all know that'd end well."

"Can you have a Hunger Games with only two people?" Bobby asked, grinning, "And who gets to be Katniss?"

"That escalated quickly," Alison said, "And James is more of the Gale type. Marcos would be Peeta."

"Hey, now," Marcos said, shooting her a frown.

James set Riley down on the bench of the picket table and absently pulled her hat further down over her ears. She stretched out a hand, trying to catch a snowflake, and then jumped onto John's back, looping her arms around his neck.

Unfazed, he adjusted so he was supporting her legs. "Everyone ready?"

After a half-hearted chorus of yeah's, they headed off for the parking lot. Other people were starting to leave as well, hoping to get ahead of the snow. Clarice pulled out her phone and looked up the weather while they walked. What had been predicted to be a small snow shower had become more serious since they had left Westchester. It looked as if it was going to snow harder and longer than the weather people had first thought.

"Hey, look at this," she said, holding the phone out to John. Riley took the phone and held it down so John could see the screen.

"That's not great," he mumbled.

Riley pulled the phone up and studied the screen. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing," Clarice said, reaching for the phone.

Riley relinquished it with a frown. She gently knocked her gloved knuckles against John's shoulder. "Why isn't it great?"

"It's just going to be more snow than we thought," John said, "Don't worry about it."

It said something about Riley's trust in John that her frown melted almost immediately. Apparently if John said it would be okay, it would be.

Clarice just hoped he was right.

#thunderblink #eclaris #john proudstar #clarice fong #marcos diaz #lorna dane #james proudstar #alison blaire

[kvothe-kingkiller]

wtf is Nephelai

aight so if you’ve been following me for a bit you probably have Noticed me posting about the Thing I am writing which is called Nephelai.

so I thought I’d give a lil primer on it just for uhhh fun? I guess?

anyways. if you want it in a sentence its ‘gays out-science the competition’

if you want a little bit More info than that 4-5 word (depending on ur opinions on hyphens) blurb, here u go. I will put her under the cut so it does not clutter up the dashes of anyone who isn’t into this kinda thing. I am shit at brevity so this in itself is kinda long.

Just as far as vague genre/feeling stuff goes, it’s a sci fi and it kinda combines adventure with slice of life? Idk man. Its very much character based and a lot of it is dialogue. If you’re looking for pretty, poetic writing you’re not gonna find it here, I tend to just get to the point lol. It deals with some pretty heavy/dark stuff but I will tell you upfront that the ending is happy. There’s too many dark edgy books that end sad. Plus we don’t have enough gay stories that end well. It’s also quite R rated, though more in the violence/sweary way than the sexy way. 

Given that it does deal with some Rough Shit (child abuse, racism, depression, etc.) I have a list of all the chapters and their possible triggers here. (its at the bottom of the post)  I just put in general things but if you have a specific/more obscure trigger I would be happy to inform you if/where it shows up.

Also, just so you know, this fucker is Long. its at 180+K and I still haven’t gotten all the chapters out yet. As well as that, this is essentially a first draft. I know its slow to start and choppy in some places but currently Im just trying to get it out, and uploading the chapters as I go gives me incentive to do that, cause otherwise I’d never even get the first draft done. Basically I write a chapter, check for spelling and grammar mistakes, miss most of them because grammar is my kryptonite, then upload it. I will be editing it a Lot in the future. 

anyways.

Setting

The story is set in our universe in The Future. How far in the future? don’t ask because I don’t know. I don’t want a 2001 space odyssey situation. A lot of the technological advancements would take wildly different times to achieve so I don’t want to put a number on it especially because we are very bad at predicting how fast things will advance. It is at Least 150 years I’d say.

Humans have moved on from earth and colonized new planets. They’re still on earth, it’s just that they’re also in other places. Namely Mars and proxima centauri B which has been renamed Salus to keep up with the whole roman god thing (she’s the goddess of safety). Both planets have colonies from multiple different countries. Not all countries, I mean lets be real lichtenstein isn’t colonizing mars anytime soon. The two american colonies on both planets are Lincoln (Mars) and Roosevelt (Salus). The way that people travel between these planets which are v far away is through electromagnetic radiation powered engines and the use of man made wormholes. Let’s ignore relativity and pretend that when you get close to the speed of light your timeline Doesn’t slow down because I don’t want to deal with that.

However, those planets are not where most of the book takes place. The main planet they are on is Nephelai (shocker I know.) It is a planet with a small research colony on it. Before the colony was put in place, it was a barren planet with some water that was in the zone for life, and just didn’t have any. They terraformed the fuck out of it so the atmosphere is the same as earths then installed a Beyersdorf around it. A beyersdorf is basically a time machine. Anything inside it will have it’s timeline sped up. Uses some black hole jiggery pokery I don’t want to explain because it would be... impossible. Anyways, they placed some organic molecules on it and sped it up until life evolved then slowed it back down to normal time to go in and observe. It has tall mountains and a surface that is so hot that water boils. So all of the life lives up in the clouds around the peaks. Most of it is adapted for life in the air. Such as: giant borzois with wings and living blimps that are basically guppies. Its very cold and people have to have specialized gear to go outside.

Plot

I don’t want to go too much into the plot because... thats why you Read books, but I’ll give my best summary. Basically the main character, Nadia, is getting her masters in evolutionary biology and has to do a year long research project. She goes with her professor, Brenley, to Nephelai to do the project. While there, the planet is invaded by uhhhh neo nazis (whoops) and they basically create a hostage situation that is very hard to get out of in order to get the third main, Krupin, a celebrity trash man, to work for them and make some very dangerous biological weapons that his company’s products would be able to produce. Obviously they don’t want this to happen so they have to come up with a plan to escape. However a lot of what happens is more based around the emotional toll it takes to be trapped for so long with no contact to the outside world and the uncertainty of whether they’re gonna make it out or not.

Characters

Alright so now the characters. As I said, this is very much character based. So its more about their interactions than anything else really. Again, lotta dialogue.

Nadia Waters

She is as said before, the main character. A 23 year old dork who is a complete nerd (they all are). She is bi and also a bit of a disaster, naturally. Quite smart but doesn’t think she is, very loyal to the friends she has, and can be a bit shy at first. She is also stupidly brave to the point where its a problem. Her need for adrenaline is Real and she does very stupid things to get it. She describes herself at one point as “just a grad student with a very poor sense of self preservation.” While she doesn’t go looking for fights she will definitely stand up for herself and others and throw down against people who could very easily kill her.

Elias Brenley

Nadia’s professor, also a dork, also a nerd. A lanky french weirdo with an obsession for physics and a love for 80s music. Very spontaneous and doesn’t give a shit about embarrassing himself. He has aspergers and even though he is very smart and can do some savant-like tricks, that isn’t the only aspect of his personality (what a novel idea...) He Also isn’t just a ‘robot’, he cares a lot about others, especially those who don’t mind his quirks. Also I took the expected subplot of ‘male professor gets with female student’ and threw it in the garbage where it belongs cause he’s gay as hell. He and Nadia do become very close but it is 100% platonic

Feliks Krupin

Also a nerd, also gay (seeing a pattern?). He is pretty much a public figure as he owns one of the biggest biotech companies out there, Vozmet. Kinda like if you took elon musk and removed the asshole-ness. Annoyingly perfect in every way, charming, pretty, v smart, all those. Struggles with a good amount of mental stuff that most of the world doesn’t know about and came from a pretty shitty background. Him and Brenley have some History though at the beginning of the story they haven’t seen each other in 9 years. Tends to be noble to a fault and will sacrifice himself for basically anyone. 

Some other characters who aren’t the main three:

Kristina: The president of Vozmet to Krupin’s CEO and his best friend. About five foot nothing and has the appropriate amount of concentrated rage. She’s not mean, she just doesn’t let anyone push her around and knows how to get what she wants. 

Heidi: One of the only sane ones. Was determined by others to be the leader of the hostages so to speak and has Way too much on her plate. Is often the one voice of sanity or the one to actually get the others to stay on task

James: Drinks that respect women juice all day every day. Very nice. Doesn’t deserve this situation. Has a bit of a thing for Nadia.

Scott: Is the other only sane one along with Heidi. The doctor of the group who almost acts as a father figure to all of them even though he’s not That much older than some of them.

Saoirse: Dumb irish lesbian. ‘Nuff said. 

Links

so if you like the sound of any of that you can find it on 

fictionpress: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

or AO3 here

if u took the time to read this massive post, and/or read some, I luv u. *mwah*

#my shtuff #nephelai #big boy post #lorge

[existentialyoutubers]

interactive introverts milwaukee

i know it’s late but here is a list of ~spoilery~ things that happened at the milwaukee show! 

(seriously, it’s super full of spoilers so don’t read if you haven’t seen the show yet/don’t want to know what happens)

(also this got long as heck so enjoy?)

Simulation:

-Phil said they spent billions of Milwaukee dollars on it -Dan called them “cheese coins, because that’s a thing” -there was a Horse Prince reference at the beginning (Dan’s head on a horses body) -Dan made a comment about how of all the references we were going to get, we probably weren’t expecting that -Dan yelled at us for cheering for Satan (it’s because he’s shirtless isn’t it?) -he kept bringing up that the people in the balcony loved Satan -also commented that clearly they weren’t in Texas anymore because of that -Phil’s ending was him going home to watch “Fletnix” and crying -they yelled at us for making Phil cry -Phil asking if we wanted Dan to go through the Lady Door -Dan’s ending had him sneaking into the girls bathroom at a furry rave, hitting his head, and dying -Dan was indignant at this “THAT WAS THE WORST POSSIBLE ENDING YOU COULD GET” Survey: -clipboards and glasses -“everyone knows glasses make you smarter” -Dan dabbed for math and Phil yelled at him -“you can’t dAB for mATH” -“yes I can watch me” *Dan dabs again* -pie chart (Dan said they spent their entire budget on that pie chart so that was the peak of the show) -12% of people said they didn’t know who Dan and Phil were and the boys were SO CONFUSED -“whERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE RIGHT NOW?” -“is it all the parents???” -“what do you think this is, Shrek the musical?” -16% of people said danandphilCRAFTS is their favorite video series and they were even more confused -Dan was on the wheel and he was not happy about it -he kept trying to get Phil to shoot random people in the audience -Phil was wearing an apron and rubber gloves and called it his serial killer look -Phil was pointing the slingshot at Dan and Dan freaked out “whERE ARE YOU POINTING THAT THING” -“at your leg” -“looks like you’re pointing it at my face” (he definitely was) -Phil hit Dan in the upper thigh with the slingshot -Dan freaked and commented about how Phil would have “hit me in the nuts” if he hadn’t moved his leg -Phil missed with the bow and arrow and the bazooka -when it was over Dan practically jumped off the wheel he was in such a hurry -“bloody frick” and then he repeated it like he couldn’t believe he had just said that -Dan had to help Phil with his apron -Phil had to help Dan get the coverup off -everyone started cheering when Dan took it off -he yelled at us and moved almost off stage -he got his foot stuck and Phil had to help Collective Mind: -we were all called Linda (L-slice) -some people messed up the picking a dog/pointing thing but Dan said they were valid -some people also messed up the clapping thing -they weren’t as happy about that -“it’s ON three what’s wrong with you?” -we had to do it like three or four times -it was super satisfying when we got it though -Dan said it made him feel tingly and he rubbed his nipples and Phil told him to stop -before they passed around the beach balls Phil said that if you had when the music stopped and you didn’t want it you could give it to someone else -it was very soft and sweet -the things in Dan’s box were a hair straightener (he had to lock his emo phase in a box), his dentist kink video (it was so cringey he locked the SD card in the box), and a golden lady door (why is it golden???) -one of the girls nearly hit Phil in the face when she threw the ball back (“wow that was violent!”) -Dan kept commenting on Phil’s balls and how he couldn’t keep control of them because Phil kept dropping them -every time he’d pick one up he’d drop another Truth Bombs: -one of Dan’s was if he started a religion what would it be called  -one option was ‘hi, my name is [jesus]’ and Dan goes “you just roasted me and Jesus”  -another was ‘lolzr xD llamas...ism  -Dan picked that one but said you can’t just add ism on the end that doesn’t count -Phil got what’s on his internet browsing history (I genuinely can’t remember the rest oops) Dan vs. Phil: -the psychic category was dog breeds -Dan said Shib (of course) and Phil said chihuahua -“wHY WOULD YOU SAY CHIHUAHUA” -“it was the first thing that came to mind” -“that’s nOT THE POINT OF THE GAME” -for the dilemmas, Dan said he’d do anything for Phil -Dan’s dilemma was that Phil’s houseplants would never die but Dan’s entire internet history would be uploaded -it was no contest for him, he said he absolutely would never do that -Phil’s dilemma was that Dan would become an athlete but he would miss a single Christmas -he said it would be worth it -Dan lost 2-1 -the overall score is 28-26 in Dan’s favor -Dan says it’s because he’s number one Phil trash Good vs. Bad: -Dan tried to explain the wholesome Howell thing -Phil used a really deep voice the entire time (X-rated Lester) -they both failed the first and got the second one, but Dan failed the last one and Phil got it -Phil’s first one was a tasty meal and he started rambling about dog food and beetles and dog waiters -his second one was hugs and he turned it into getting hugged by an alien and them opening up and eating you -Dan commented that he should write horror...or at least tentacle fanfiction -his last one was a million puppies and he talked about getting smothered by them and dying (Dan said that’s the way he wants to die) -Dan’s first was infinity wars spoilers and he claimed they were good because then you’re not surprised by the emotional trauma -his second was his old branding and he basically said it was good because you can learn from it and move forward -his last one was the G note and he basically forfeited and stormed off the stage saying he couldn’t make that a good thing Dan, Phil or Rat: -the first one was just totally white and it was Phil’s guess -he was like “is that me? am I really that white?” so he guessed himself and got it right -Dan made a joke about how the only D Phil needs is vitamin D -Dan’s guess was basically just completely black -he was like “is that a rat? is that Phil’s hair?” -he guessed rat and got it right Golden I Awards: -Most inaccurate prediction of the show  -first was Dan and Phil pogo sticking with Nick Jonas (Dan got mad that Nick is engaged now and that they can’t be buddies in London anymore #ripdick)  -next was Phil falling off stage, Dan screaming, and everyone’s heads exploding  -the winner was a seven hour long titanic musical (Phil said Dan could be the boat, Dan agreed because Phil makes him want to break in half and sink) -Pets dressed as Dan and Phil -the first was a cat in a plaid shirt -Dan laughed about how any animal in a plaid shirt is just immediately Phil -next was a dog wrapped in a black blanket -the epitome of Dan clearly -the winner was a dog in Dan’s signature eclipse T-shirt -Phil commented on how that dog was more photogenic than Dan ever will be -Dan said that dog slayed his entire life Casual Chat: -Phil something about getting intimate at the same time as Dan said getting personal -Dan goes “I was okay with personal but noooo you had to say intimate” -the first question was what their favorite videos were -they both said the photo booth challenge because it was so stupid but hilarious -Dan also said they’d never cried so violently whilst editing a video (from laughing so much) -someone sent in that they had a presentation coming up and they were scared they were going to pee on the floor -Dan goes “is that a question or are you just letting us know?” -their advice was basically that everyone feels the same way so don’t worry too much -and Dan said also to wear an adult diaper -another girl said her brother had replaced her with fortnite -Dan was like yeah I relate Phil did the same thing to me -too much fortnite talk after that Random: -Phil got attacked by a seagull on his way from the bus to the building -he was very dramatic about it -Dan says that’s what he gets for going outside for three seconds -Dan made a comment later about cannibalistic seagulls -Dan said this was the worst place for Phil to be because it’s the cheese state -“the buildings are made of cheese, you’re all made of cheese” -Dan -apparently Phil is just constantly lactose intolerant in Wisconsin -apparently our show was originally just going to be cheese curd wrestling -according to Dan it would have been perfect “with the hexagon just put up some nets and fill it with cheese” -Dan called someone out for having their iPhone out -“can you put that down the glare is blinding me” -then they were joking about the tension in the air after that -Phil was waving his fingers in the air “I can feel the tension around you” -Dan’s response “I don’t think the tension wants you touching it like that” -Phil had on a badgers hat for the rap -he also dropped the B word and everyone dIED -they were talking about changes and Dan brought up Phil’s new hair -his conspiracy theory is that this Phil is a clone and that it killed the real Phil -“WHERE IS THE BODY?” -Phil shot back that this Dan must be a clone too with the curly hair -Dan acted shocked/concerned every time everyone cheered about something strange (they said they were going to drop 20,000 lbs of ice on us, also they were going to release bees into the crowd) -so much teasing Phil about the dead houseplants -Dan called him the Dexter of houseplants -at one point Dan said something about how Loki the houseplant was doing as good as actual Loki and the crowd just died -he also made a “I don’t feel so good” reference and there was much screaming/protesting -there was a moment when Phil misread something and then joked about his apparently useless English degree 

  -Phil 100% came close to falling off the stage about three times -seriously one of the times was so close Dan actually got worried -also Dan seemed concerned that Phil may not be able to make it onto the piano for the duet -there was an audible sigh of relief from Dan once Phil hopped up onto the piano

#interactive introverts #interactive introverts milwaukee #ii show #ii milwaukee #ii spoilers #dan howell #phil lester #dan and phil #my show #mine

[trashpremium-moved]

Sorry about not uploading this yesterday or this morning! Was super tired yesterday and went straight to bed as soon as I got any Wi-Fi, and then it wouldn’t let me post it anyway. But here it is.

I believe this season is all about cycles, parallels, and things coming full circle. We started this season in a position similar to where we were at the beginning of the series, just with different characters in the roles. This is an example of both something coming full circle, and a cycle/rotation in the original idea.

Like I said before, season 13 starts a little like season 1 does. A character has died, and another character is completely destroyed by it, and acting out on other people. There’s a character with powers they can’t control, and yet another character acting as a sort of parental guardian to that character because the destroyed character can’t.

In season 1, the dead character is Mary, and the destroyed character is John. The character with powers is Sam, and the parental guardian of sorts is Dean. John, as we learn in season 12, changes after Mary’s death, and becomes harsher.

But in season 13, the dead character is Cas, and because I am useless shipper trash, the destroyed character is Dean. The character with powers is Jack, whose role in this season I will get to, and the parental guardian of sorts is Sam. After Cas’s death, Dean is harsh on Jack, and it was textually confirmed that both Dean and Sam were aware that Dean is acting like John. Jack, although Sam is kind to him, takes Dean’s words to heart rather than Sam’s, suggesting that Jack sees Dean as a father-figure of sorts/someone whose opinion really matters, more than he sees Sam as one.

But, outside of those similarities, the beginning of s13 is opposite s1. John is dead, and Mary is missing. The season begins with Sam staring at a yellow-eyed being in a nursery, except this time Sam is the adult and Jack is the child with the powers. And while Cas and Dean can be paralleled to John and Mary, especially with the mixtape in late season 12, they could also be paralleled to Sam and Jess. From Dean being pulled through the portal by Sam being paralleled to Dean pulling Sam out of his burning apartment in the pilot, to other things that happened earlier in the series, this supports the idea that everything is switched: Dean being in Sam’s place, and Sam in Dean’s.

Another example of things repeating with new characters is the Wayward sisters, and dare I say, Dreamhunter. Many things were paralleled to times throughout the show. From the “The boys are on a hunting trip,” to the “I could go with you,” to Claire being pulled through the portal by Sam and Dean, and leaving Kaia behind, the Wayward sisters is an amazing example of everything coming full circle.

This all started with “Twigs and Twine and Tasha Banes”, which was the first complete storyline parallel I think this show has ever done.

Now comes my other theory: the cycle. I believe that this season is going through 4-episode cycles of sadness and happiness, with one transitional episode in between. Yes, I know how weird that sounds, but hear me out. Episodes 1-4 were Dean’s sad phase for this season; the cause for that was Cas’s death. Episode 5 is the transitional episode for this cycle, because of the return of Cas at the very end of the episode. Episodes 6-9 made up the first (relatively) happy cycle especially for Dean. In ep 6, he went from a suicidal mess to bouncing and fanboying. But of course, their happiness isn’t complete for long, because at the end of the episode, Jack goes missing. Episode 10, despite being the backdoor pilot for the amazing Wayward Sisters, it was not a good episode for, this time, Sam. It is the transitional ep from the first happy phase to Sam’s sad phase. In the next episode Sam stated that his reason for being, well, sad is that they realized that Mary was alive, and that they should have been looking for her. And then in 13x12, Sam talks with Rowena about Lucifer, and that that is another thing bothering him.

We get to see Mary and Jack in the next episode, which is similar to Cas in the empty in 13x04, leading up to him once again finding the Winchesters in the next episode. My prediction is that Mary and Jack are going to get out of the empty in ep 15, but that the episode is going to be the lowest point for Sam. I also believe that Gabriel is going to get out of the hell prison somewhere before episode 16, because who else would bring the scooby-doo universe into theirs? (that’s probably how he reveals himself to the Winchesters)

I think that ep 16 is going to be the truly happy episode, then it’s gonna go downhill a little bit, but not so much as the previous sad cycle. Given the ominous titles for some of the later eps in the second happy cycle, the cycle might change early for episode 19 to be the transition to the next sad cycle. As for whose it is, I’m thinking that they’re going around TFW, so it might be Cas. I’m hoping it’s not though, because he’s been through enough.

Another, more optimistic theory on if they’re going to break the cycle is that ep 18 will be the transition for the next sad cycle. Though that only leaves us two episodes in that second happy cycle, it means that ep 23 will be a transitional ep, leaving us with a more hopeful ending to the season. That would parallel last season, and its absolutely soul-crushing finale.

As for what’s gonna happen this season, I believe that they will (hopefully) get rid of Lucifer for good, and I have many many hopes for how that should happen, like having a final showdown between Gabe and Luci, with Gabe killing Lucifer as some kind of payback, or Sam finally getting to kill him. Another thing I hope for, that will probably be the most likely thing to happen is that Jack kills Lucifer. As for Asmodeus, I think they will kill him this season, but he will release those things that Jack almost released that are similar to Leviathan I think?? Jack will probably have a 2-season arc, but he’ll probably lose his powers/die at the end of his arc. They can’t have a character that powerful walking around, can they. Another ending for Jack is that he rules hell after they defeat Evil Colonel Sanders.

tl;dr: I think that everything this season is a cycle. It’s similar to s1-2, but also the opposite. There’s 4 ep cycles of happiness/sadness, and one transition ep in between

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who Series 12 Review Part 6/10: Praxeus

Air date: 2 February 2020

We’re going back to a slower pace for this series as we enter the second half. With the series finale being another two-parter, it’s only fair that we get some standalone episodes. If this series had been longer (say, 13 episodes), then maybe we could have had more two-parters, but sadly, this is what we have to live with now.

My spoiler-free thought for this week: “This is what Orphan 55 should have been like.”

Spoilers after the break.

Oh, puny Drylanders

This episode seems to focus on the dangers of plastic given that the Praxeus virus (as coined by Suki) targets plastic. This isn’t necessarily a marine-themed episode per se, but since much of it seems to take place in or near the ocean, I guess I can make this really obscure reference. Yep, I’m talking about Sea Princesses (aka Princesas do Mar). Basically, it’s a Brazilian-Australian children’s show set under the sea with “royal” families representing different sea creatures. Some episodes revolve around pollution as a theme, though it mostly stems back to how humans are bad and whatnot. The series was thought to be lost for years before it was uploaded online in 2018. I’ve been working on the wiki for the series since 2016 and it’s mostly complete now with character descriptions, episode plots and transcripts. The only other thing I want to do is to get the original books (that the series was adapted from) translated and put online in my own time with my own money, but that probably won’t be happening anytime soon.

How this episode was better than Orphan 55

To address my spoiler-free thought for this episode, yes, I do think that it’s better than Orphan 55 because it balances out the message with the drama. Also, they don’t just abandon Jake while he’s piloting the spaceship into the stratosphere. If they didn’t manage to save Jake, I would have still applauded them for making an attempt at doing it.

Jake and Adam are the gay representation for this episode. I felt it was done pretty good in the episode because they were prominent and they did get some good character development.

Even if the Doctor said something about how humans shouldn’t dump their trash in the sea, the episode wouldn’t have been that different anyway, but I think the subtler message has a deeper meaning that we’re meant to take in. Maybe that’s what makes this episode better than Orphan 55.

Other general thoughts

You know, it’s really funny that this episode premiered right in the middle of the coronavirus crisis, aka SARS 2.0. Even fans seem to think that Doctor Who predicted it since it was filmed last year. However, I wouldn’t say that’s accurate because Praxeus is spread by birds compared to the coronavirus, which is apparently spread through close contact and respiratory droplets.

In Peru, Gabriela says “Obrigado” to the driver as she and Jamila are dropped off near what is presumably the Amazon. It should be known that the official language of Peru is Spanish, not Portuguese, so she should have said “Gracias”. However, since some areas of Peru border Brazil (where the Amazon flows from) and Gabriela is a Brazilian character (on top of the fact that her actress, Joana Borja, is from Portugal), I guess I can overlook this error because I’m just nitpicking anyway. On top of that, Jamila’s actress, Gabriela Toloi, is actually from Brazil. I guess that makes the Sea Princesses reference in this review ironically relevant.

During the Hong Kong scenes, I managed to spot a couple signs in Simplified Chinese. The presence of Simplified Chinese or anything remotely Mainland Chinese is offensive to Hongkongers (who use Traditional Chinese) mostly because they believe that Mainland Chinese “culture” and governance is rapidly encroaching them way before the One Country Two Systems agreement was meant to end in 2047. I made a post back in 2016 addressing the so-called “dangers” of “misusing” Traditional Chinese. However, since this show was made by the “ignorant whiteys” at the BBC, I’ll probably overlook this again. Heck, I didn’t say a lot back during the “Hong Kong news” scene in The Magician’s Apprentice, probably because the series wasn’t as problematic as it is now.

UPDATE - 23 February 2020: This may be a bit nitpicky and I’ve been meaning to point this out, but I forgot to do so, so I’m doing it now. When Adam texted Jake in the pub, the caller ID number shows the Hong Kong calling code (+852), but then the numbers after that are for a UK mobile number. We never see where Adam’s texting from, but it should be noted that all Hong Kong numbers are eight digits long and that mobile numbers start with a 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.

Everyone gets gold stars in this episode. In terms of how points go, that’s 20 for Yaz and Ryan and 10 for Graham.

Summary and verdict

It’s not a bad episode. Again, it’s better than Orphan 55. We jumped around the world for cultural representation and it was alright. I’m literally struggling to find things to say because I can’t find more than two major things to talk about in the episode.

Rating: 8/10

Stay tuned next week as I review the seventh episode, Can You Hear Me?

#doctor who #doctor who series 12 #thirteenth doctor #doctor who series 12 review #thirteenth doctor review

[queenyleeny]

BRB: Gaming

Almost forgot to write my blogs for this week because of the amount of time I’ve been spending on playing video games. Right now, I am hooked on Need For Speed; Underground, because it’s the best video game ever. Not going to lie, when I play this game, I’m more of a socializer gamer. These are the types of gamers that indulge in the social relationships online. I love going online at the same time as my friends and then joining these races, only to trash talk my friends online. That’s what makes the game so much more entertaining, being able to socialize with one another. Every time I finish a track before one of my friends do, I get up dancing and screaming about how much I am the best, and they suck. Yeah, I get very competitive and invested in being the best when I play. Being the best isn’t the only thing I am invested in, I’m also fairly invested in what is going on in the game, as well as, I tend to look for these treasures when I play video games. As an achiever, I want to go looking for these hidden gems found within the games that I play.

I feel as though I started to play video games again just so I can avoid some people. It’s harsh to say, but the other week, I was supposed to hang out with my friend (I used to see her everyday, but because of school, a lot less now). I was so tired from having a final exam that week and a midterm, that I wanted to do nothing more than stay inside and play my video games. Every time I tell her that I feel too tired to leave, she forces me to go anyways. I decided to stay in, but I had to go pick my mom up from work, and the next thing I know, I get a call from my friend (the one I was supposed to go out with in the first place), asking me why I am out when I said I was going to stay inside. You might be wondering how she even knew where I was, and that’s all thanks to Snapchat. Snapchat has a function that allows other people to view where you are, no matter where you are in the world. It tracks your location using a GPS, allowing peer to peer monitoring to be done with more ease. It’s the same with Instagram’s active button. Every time I say goodnight to my friends online, I go on Instagram and browse my feed, but what I recently found out about was, Instagram tells the user’s followers when they are active. Again, it goes into me receiving messages of people wondering why I am still awake and on Instagram when I told them goodnight. This notion of using social media as a surveillance tool has sparked many discussions about whether there should be a right to disable the tool, or if it is something that can benefit us.

I don’t just play these games, but I also take part in the participatory culture that comes along with that. All that participatory culture means is,‘ fans and other consumers are invited to actively participate in the creation and circulation of new content.( Sullivan,2013,p219). There are so many different ways that you can take part in this culture, but I will just talk about the top three trends for now. Firstly, there is the fact that technology is now something that allows us to, “ archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content.” (Sullivan,P.219)

Do it yourselves (DIY) have become very popular over the past few decades. It is all about adding this personalized touch to what you create. As a kid, I was always a fan of Halloween, and used my love for DIY’s to create new content for the occasion. I made my own spider cupcakes (regular cupcake, but with the use of icing, candy eyes, black sprinkles, and pretz that get turned into a spider cupcake). https://damndelicious.net/2013/10/22/halloween-spider-cupcakes/ - this is a recipe that I had my sisters try out this year. Try it out, and I guarantee that none of you will be disappointed. With all of this talk about being a prosumer and creating our own content, it raises awareness towards intellectual property. Who owns the content? The prosumers “Users create, store, and distribute content is designed by themselves,” (Good, 2019) or the people the website belongs to? There have been many debates online about Youtubers, and how they upload all their videos, but technically it is Youtube who owns the content. If you are a smaller Youtuber, and you post videos weekly and have a small fanbase, you are contributing to Youtube’s popularity, but you do not get money in return. You are allowed to post onto Youtube, but in return, you get to post your videos online. https://www.tiktok.com/@queenyleeny/video/6764254098037460230?u_code=d28dhiaj75me25&preview_pb=0&language=en&timestamp=1574925654&utm_campaign=client_share&app=musically&utm_medium=ios&user_id=6604495042847850501&tt_from=messenger&utm_source=messenger&enter_from=h5_m - enjoy my friend and I creating a Tik Tok to give you a visual example about how we are prosumers, and how our video belongs to Tik Tok. We live in a society that allows these same websites to track down our user-generated information.human concerns of audience studies could be forgotten in the convenient euphoria of big data.” (Athique, p.72) Whenever we go on Facebook after visiting shopping channels, or browsing online in general, you will indeed run across advertisements that are similar to the products you were just looking at. Advertisers pay money to these corporations to be allowed to use our data in order to present more targeted advertisements towards their targeted audiences. Consumers become a valuable component to gaining accurate information, in order to give you more accurate advertisementsWhen you go on Netflix and you view all these shows and movies, and you finish, it will suggest another movie/show for you to watch. This is made possible because Netflix tracks down what movies/shows we watch, in order to make their “Recommended” section precisely more accurate to the movies/shows you like to view. As mentioned before, every time you click on one of those movies/shows, you are given a percentage rating on how much of a match that movie/show is in comparison to the previous ones you viewed. If you think about it, it is scary how our information is tracked down in order to predict what our future behaviours will be like.

XOXO-QueenyLeeny

#xoxo #media #blogs #tracking

[dauntlesstales]

=CHAPTER 1B: RAGING FLAMES SMOLDER=

~AO v1.0~

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

{Out in Kansas City…}

[Cardinal seethed.]

Cardinal: (Nothing. NOTHING!)

[He had spent all day and all night looking for some sort of gathering place where Shade might go. He’d found a number of underground dens, alright, but everything was so trashed that it was more or less impossible to tell what had been there before.

He hadn’t really expected this to be simple, straightforward, or easy…

But he was REALLY starting to regret how he had never looked into the other side of Shade’s life.]

Cardinal: (I only wanted to show him the respect he deserved! To not have to choose between duty and friends. And that had been important to him….)

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Cardinal: One thing I always have tried to do when it comes to friends involved in enforcing stuff—and that is not to end up making them feel they have a conflict between duty and… well, us.

Cardinal: That’s why I don’t ask about your job and stuff much even though I am awfully curious at times. xD

Shade: Heh. Oh, I'd tell ya, ah' really would, but. Sort of a whole, uh. Code of conduct sort of thing. Like...honor among thieves? 'Cept with assassins.

Cardinal: -Waves hand dismissively, as if dissipating the idea/concern- It’s more of a sort of… how do I put this?

Cardinal: I know this is not something I’ve talked to you about much before, but… preparing and trying to predict multiple possibilities is a pretty… eh… “strong” program of mine, I guess you could say.

Cardinal: It’s basically the backbone of my survival instinct, what little I have. Since, y’know, I was programmed with the idea that if I ever got destroyed, I could just be uploaded into a new chassis…

Cardinal: …Or replaced entirely.

Cardinal: Having an understanding of all of the elements in play—or as many as possible—is sort of an instinctive drive, you could say? Especially when it comes to power players.

Shade: (Kinda like in a game of chess…)

Cardinal: Now with your associates, that is something that would normally be a prime directive to understand in detail. Because they register—even as an abstract concept—as hunters. Which always take greater… mmm… priority, in a sense, since they are proactive, not reactive.

Cardinal: But in your case—same with Issimo—that, uh… instinct is negated/appeased by, well. You.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

[He was stung with sorrow.]

Cardinal: (Oh, Shade…)

Cardinal: (I…. …I just wanted you to…. …In the beginning, we worried about what might happen if you guys got turned against us, but as time…)

Cardinal: (As time went on, you guys made our world so much brighter that we left such contingencies behind us. I didn’t make one for if I would have to chase you down. This is my fault for being so unprepared…)

[He couldn’t stand this right now. He needed to vent.]

[…Which is exactly what he did.

He walked away from the alleys, making for the skyline.

Let them see his handiwork, should anyone care to look for him.

He needed to keep moving.]

———————————————

{Meanwhile, in the Meadow…}

[Dr. Cossack was sitting in the lab.

The remaining Rebel Angels and the DCNs were all present, though some seemed more restless than others.]

Mikhail: …We all know the grave nature of the situation upon us.

[Slight shuffling noises as a few of the boys looked away and to the side.]

Mikhail: I will not lessen the depth of this crisis.

[He interlocked his fingers.]

Mikhail: Our best friends and closest allies are in grave danger. The majority of the family has fallen to madness, and the remainder are without a proper home or lab. It is Beck against the whole country, and Gregory Graham is only making matters worse.

[He sighed and put his face in his hands.]

Mikhail: And, of course, Cardinal has RUN OFF on his own… AFTER taking all of our supplies.

Mikhail: To make matters worse, Tobias is in critical condition, and Aviator is blocking the signals. We cannot send help, either verbal or physical, for the time being.

Mikhail: I now open the floor. Does anyone have something to say?

[Jaden twirled his drills.]

Jaden: …We have to try and keep Aviator calm.

Nico: …Jaden—

Jaden: -Flatly- As far as I care, the infection is Airman reborn. -Softer again- …But Aviator is still in there. And when he gets back into control…

[He shifts his weight.]

Jaden: Cardinal once talked to him about his worries. Avi has a very sensitive Emotions.EXE program—that’s why getting his soul dragged into the abyss of our suffering hurt him so badly, even while infected. And we all know what it was like the last time someone was forced to see such suffering…

Speedy: -Looks away in shame-

Jaden: …It’s going to be horrible for him once he gets out of it. …He needs to be reassured, no matter how much Airman might scoff at such words. He needs it.

[Mikhail was silent.

Siam eventually sighed, drumming his fingers against his arm. (Gemini, meanwhile, was already over working on Tobias.)]

Siam: …We need to make Tobias our main priority.

Siam: While the research of the virus is important—and the need to find replacements for the supplies Cardinal raided is just as critical—there’s just no real use, since we won’t be able to APPLY such information. Not until Avi is better.

Siam: And for that matter—if Tobias is still unwell by the time they rescue Avi, how much more will that twist the dagger into his heart?

Skull: {You have a very good point, cousin…}

Siam: -Vents a heavy sigh- We need Tobias to be repaired. It is the one thing we can do independently, and… it is so very important. So I propose that we focus on that, exclusively.

[Nods of agreement around the table. Mikhail seemed to be thinking things over.]

Mikhail: …We still need to have something to report to them, should they come back in contact before them. Siamini and I are really the only two that can work on Toby’s coding. With Kalinka safely in the care of Lady and Lt. Nighthawk, and David and Shadow both Offline…. And, of course, Cardinal gone…

[He turns to look at Jaden.]

Mikhail: Jaden, next to your oldest brother, you are the greatest strategist. I want you to go over potential tactics to give as advice. …If you truly feel it important to keep in contact with MNN-006, then that is your prerogative— but be warned. Pushing him too far may have very bad consequences.

Jaden: Yes sir, Doctor Cossack.

Mikhail: {Keltso, I want you to look into getting some more supplies. Help Nico to contact the friends of the Rebel Angels—some of them may have supplies or equivalents.}

Keltso: {Yes, sir.}

Mikhail: That’s it for now. Let’s get started.

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[enkisstories]

The android cemetery (Chapter 12)

They were not done with the landfill yet, after all. Safely out of the floodlights’ reach Gavin had put up an improvised shelter from the rescue blankets he had brought. He had remained outside the lean-to himself, having a quiet smoke while allowing Daniel to gather himself. For some time it had been quiet in Gavin’s back, but now he heard noises. The man grinned, because the sounds were strongly suggesting that Daniel’s gathering himself had entered the kicking up the garbage and cursing humankind stage. Gavin finished his cigarette and turned around. And predictably Daniel was just sending a very surprised and very annoyed rat flying across the dump. “That wasn’t a human, though”, Gavin remarked. “But close enough.”

“And how’s YOUR relative doing?” Gavin asked, referring to the android corpse that was lying to both their feet. The PL600 hadn’t moved or so much as blinked since they had excavated it from deeper inside the landfill.

“That depends on whether he has lived a good life or was more like us”, Daniel answered. “He’s dead, Gavin. Soul fled, won’t return, sings with the angels and so on.”

Gavin let out a relieved sigh. So their efforts hadn’t been in vain, at least.

“Only complication, I accidently hit the corpse, too, when I fired into the shaft. It’s leaking thirium now.”

Curiously Gavin drew closer. They hunkered down next to the corpse where Daniel took advantage of the other PL600’s leakage by smearing the blue blood all over its shirt, arms and face.

“You wouldn’t have phone pictures of me?” Daniel asked while working on making the dead resemble himself after getting shot. “You know – from when I was in the archive? Nah, forget it. Stupid question.”

“You might want to ask Connor to share memories with you”, Gavin suggested. “And I don’t know why I said that now!”

“Good idea, though. Ask him to upload the images for you to open in a photo viewer! Then you and Tina can give the corpse the required finishing touches. Myself, I won’t get anywhere near the DPD before this isn’t out of the world.”

Gavin said nothing. How come his partner could be so damn unfazed while everything inside the human was like ice? Probably because there were so many PL600s in the USA. Unlike the RKs there were far too many of them for any two individuals to consider themselves close relatives. Gavin remembered that on the Adeline Daniel and Simon had not shown any interest in perceiving each other as siblings. Of course Daniel had accused the latter of drug smuggling, what had put quite a damper on their relationship… Anyway, another PL600 was no closer to Daniel than any Caucasian male would have been to Gavin.

The other way around, however… Gavin did not see a random out of commission PL600 lying on its back. Maybe if the other one had been walking around, speaking in a different mode of speech than Danny, wearing something other than the iconic uniform… but the way he was stretched out there, Gavin saw his boyfriend. Dead.

“Okay, that’s it. I think I did a pretty good job”, Daniel chatted away. “We’ll keep the legs attached for ease of transport, you can hack them off once you’re in the archive. Now help me smash the head in! Right here, please!”

“Help you do… what? And what was that about chopping off your legs? Daniel! I cannot do that!”

“Hello? Is that still Gavin Reed in there?” Daniel asked, pointing at his boyfriend’s head. “Why would you of all people be shy about cutting up an android?”

“Dammit, Danny! How come you cannot tell? It looks like you!”

“It isn…”

“Yes, I know, I know! It isn’t you. I still can’t do it!”

Daniel stared at his partner for several seconds. Eventually he asked, calmly, yet with an undertone Gavin could not quite place: “Do you love me or not?”

“I do! That’s why I cannot mutilate your twin.”

“So, you can’t.”

Still so deceptively calm… but the next moment Daniel grabbed Gavin and pushed him to the ground next to the dead PL600.

“I asked you if you love me while I’m sitting her ALIVE and need your assistance to STAY so, goddammit!” Daniel shouted. “This is serious and no time to get emotional! Or are you a fucking millennial?”

Gavin wasn’t. He was a “digital native” who felt uneasy in the presence of androids, as contrary as that sounded. And he also really, really, didn’t like getting doubted or, worse, getting pressed into the trash. The man brought up his knee, but it didn’t have the intended effect. Daniel switched off the drivers to the parts this particular move targeted whenever he left the house.

“That was low, Gavin”, Daniel growled while shaking the human.

Gavin kicked again, this time in an attempt to wiggle himself free. The man knew he was stronger than a PL600, but that knowledge did not do him any good when the environment was against him. Already the ground below Gavin was moving. There was a real chance that the trash below might give way and swallow its victim alive. But Daniel held his boyfriend in his grip and on the surface, if only to accuse him:

“Stunningly good looking family android, remember? That’s what you called me!” he shouted. “And now you do not want to damage that pretty face when you see it on someone else? It comes on newer models, too, you know! Maybe you’d love a BL100 better than me anyway! All the looks, none of the trouble…”

“I was “low” just now, but YOU dare ask if I love you?!” Gavin cried back. “Fuck, ey, you KNOW I do! I did so all the time when you were “without makeup”! I never deserted you… or conspired with a deviant army behind your back like SOMEONE I could name!”

“Grrrrrrrr…”

No more words, just that primeval growling. With his opponent allocating too much computing capacity into coming up with a reply that would shift the blame back to Gavin, the human saw his chance! He freed his arm and brought it up between them. Then he grabbed Daniel’s vest, to pull him down towards himself. And there their lips met, while they were laying with their heads half buried in the garbage and with Daniel still wearing the surveillance goggles.

“You are mine!” Gavin gasped after the kiss. “Don’t think even for a moment that anything could change that, because that’s the only choice that’s not fucking yours to make, deviant!”

Gavin took Daniel’s head in his hands. It was a little more fragile than one made of bone and the machine at work inside generated far less body heat. Gavin had noticed that last bit after he had held Daniel in his arms for the first time. Of course he had known about this little detail before that moment, but never really paid attention to it. After experiencing the sensation for the first time it had reinforced the man’s desire to make this co-worker his.

Fumbling with the headband Gavin at last managed to pull the goggles down. They were dangling around Daniel’s neck now and Gavin was able to look his partner into the eyes.

“I’m Gavin Reed, the selfish one”, he said. “If I want something, I take it. Sometimes there’s minor setbacks or I don’t understand what it really is that I want. But one thing I do not: make excuses. Not. Ever. If I wanted a BL100 or exclusive rights on Tina I’d take that.” The man paused, allowing what had been said to sink in before he added: “If there was someone else you’d know it.”

“Okay”, Daniel whispered. “I believe you.”

Feeling for each other’s faces… caressing the skin… swatting the occasional bug and centipede away, because this was still the goddamm landfill… kissing. When they parted again, Gavin’s lower legs were buried in plastic cups and bottles and wrapped in a torn kitchen apron. Daniel was sitting on him with half a solar system mobile dangling from his ear. They grinned at each other.

“You wanna make a Uranus joke first or shall I?” Gavin teased.

“No need for more jokes when we’ve just made fools of ourselves”, the android replied. He removed Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter from his head, then asked: “What the hell happened?”

“You got jealous, my dear.”

“What? No way! I didn’t!”

“Jealous!”

“No!”

“Jealous! Jealous! Je-a-lous!” the man said in a sing-sang. Now that the episode was over it was hilariously amusing.

“Maybe… a little”, Daniel admitted. “And it’s totally a great relationship milestone!”

Daniel rolled off his partner and onto his back next to him as if they were about to watch the stars together. They needed a breather, but they also needed to get away from this place before it consumed what was left of their sanity.

Gavin moved his head towards Daniel’s shoulder.

“See?” he said. “No other android I’m cuddling with, least of all our prize body.”

“Really not? It was lying to your left.”

“No, to your right!”

“There is no android here…”

Gavin groped around for the PL600. There was none.

“There’s none here, either…”

The partners pushed themselves up in unison. Frantically they looked around and then they saw it: The ruckus they had made had sent deeper tiers of trash moving. Small crevices that had existed down below were getting filled, leaving behind free spots for different pieces of waste to pour into. Detroit’s domestic waste was swapping back and forth and on the wave the dead PL600 was drifting.

“Our android carcass gets away!” Gavin cried. “Quick! Grab it!”

Them getting back to their feet only served to accelerate the tectonic movement. Here and there the crust broke open, even. Gavin stepped in one of the gaps, but got grabbed and pulled out by Daniel. The PL600, however, slowly sank down another hole. They dived for it and Daniel got to grab it by one arm. Gavin held it while Daniel used his glove’s claws to dig through the trash until they could pull the body out together without running the danger of damaging it.

“That must have a deviant”, Gavin commented. “Even in death it tries to escape!”

Beyond caring about right or wrong Daniel laughed and the human joined in. They were once again in a place where they shouldn’t be, once again making inappropriate jokes.

“And to think that I was afraid of entering a museum room only yesterday”, Daniel mused.

“Oh, is it tomorrow already?”

“Yeah, past midnight.”

For some reason that was re-assuring. Neither man believed in the hour of ghosts or in pretty much any transcendental stuff, except when displaying acts of faith granted them freebies at festivals of various religions. Daniel also hoped there was some sort of afterlife, but that covered them both already as far as spirituality went. But despite this, the knowledge that from now on they were moving away from the darkness and towards dawn echoed in both men and touched some ancient part of all people. They were feeling their determination return and, in some strange way, also gratitude. But they would not have been able to say what they were feeling grateful for or even naming that sensation as what it was.

#non sims #detroit become human #sims4 dbh partfive #sims4danielgavin