ru5t

[ru5t]

The Important Questions! (For Richie, Ollie, and Midnight >:3)

The Important Questions & Answers That May or May Not Elaborate

Richie

Is she comfortable teasing them? Does she expect them to understand it's teasing? would she explain it if they asked?

There is a definite banter element. I don’t know that she would specifically always be teasing him so directly, maybe poking fun at some of his more poke-fun-at-able traits/habits, or at least griping about them. I doubt he misses any of it but I doubt he’d ask even if he did to be honest. Like she might explain but I simply do not think he’d ask to begin with.

Would she build something for them unprompted? Would she build something if they asked?

It’s hard to imagine, if only because when their paths are crossed she’s got such limited access to things that even her little doodads are probably off the table. If (if?) they keep some kind of contact at a point where she’s not under eyes all the time I could see it.

If they pushed her about her boundaries would she push back? or retreat?

I think push back but I’m not sure how likely he is to push to begin with. Pros and cons.

Would she be able to sleep if they were the only two people in the room?

Yes.

When they have tech problems does she just fix them or wait for them to ask? (or make them plead/bargain something?)

First he has to apologize for accusing her of causing it.*

Are riddle games on the table? How many layers deep? What happens if they can't figure out the answer(s)?

I don’t think so. It’d only annoy him. Or he’d annoy her, refusing to play along. Whimsiless >:[

When she gets overwhelmed with touch, does she try to tell them gently or go straight for the harsher warnings/demands?

This is my own phrasing but I think it’s a secret third thing where she doesn’t have to kiddie gloves but she doesn’t have to get loud either I think just a flat clear stop of some kind. He's not the kind to take thing personally just because it's not in a friendly tone of voice, so I feel like she doesn't have to play nice or panic.

Does she think Jack trusts them?

I think they’ve never met and I think they never will but I think she thinks Jack would, yeah.

(Does she think Kobra trusts them?)

His name is Jesse in this verse and I’m very sure they’d hate each other.

Can they call her a nickname that isn't Tech/Techie (or Maddy)? Can they call her Madelyn?

Kit, and I expect “Magson” though it’d be less a nickname and more a professional thing in certain situations. Maybe could get away with Kid or Kiddo if he was inclined, because he reminds her of her brother. If he fullnamed her she would think she was in trouble but it’s not a Forbidden thing. (If there was a situation where he called her Maddy I think it’d probably mean he thought something horrible happened/was happening(?))

Would she seek them out as someone to keep company with in order to sleep?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaybe. Maybe.

If they got in a fight about something and hadn't yet made up, would she still reach out to them for help if she needed it?

…Probably?

Is she bolder/more confrontational when they're nearby to back her up?

Unfortunately for everyone, yes.

Does she believe their word when she's panicked or having a flashback (etc.)? Does she trust them to ground her with touch?

Usually trusts his word. They’re working on the touch thing (him knowing to offer it, her being okay with it.)

Are they allowed to apologize to her directly?

Nope. Shut up. Fuck off.

Would she drink alcohol with them?

I feel like the only time this would come up would be in a “well. There’s a solid chance we’re fucked, why not” kind of thing. It doesn’t really feel like they’d be crashing each others’ social moments you know? So. In that context, sure. As said, why not.

Could she leave Glitch with them?

Absolutely not.

Ollie

Is she comfortable teasing them? Does she expect them to understand it's teasing? would she explain it if they asked?

She is and I fear she generally does not expect him to understand. At least not at this juncture. She’ll explain some of the time, but the rest is more of a ‘nevermind don’t worry about it’ kind of vibe.

Would she build something for them unprompted? Would she build something if they asked?

As with Richie, limited access to things. But she’d build him a rocket ship to the moon if he asked, though.

If they pushed her about her boundaries would she push back? or retreat?

I don't get the sense he'd push? This may be a moot question. Perhaps we need to rattle them more.

Would she be able to sleep if they were the only two people in the room?

I think so? But she wouldn’t want to. If only to not freak him out.

When they have tech problems does she just fix them or wait for them to ask? (or make them plead/bargain something?)

Bust out the puppy eyes, buddy.*

*Unless, of course, this is something that comes up in middle of a combat situation/other mission thingy, in which case obviously she’s just going to fix it. That’s her role, watch her back.

Are riddle games on the table? How many layers deep? What happens if they can't figure out the answer(s)?

Not really.

When she gets overwhelmed with touch, does she try to tell them gently or go straight for the harsher warnings/demands?

Trying so hard to be gentle and polite and patient. Trying sooooooooooo hard.

Does she think Jack trusts them?

They haven’t met (yet?) but she believes Jack at least wouldn’t immediately distrust him. Which sounds like a dig but is a good thing I promise.

(Does she think Kobra Jesse trusts them?)

Ohhhh maybe we. Cross that bridge if we come to it and otherwise not make eye contact with it :)

Can they call her a nickname that isn't Tech/Techie (or Maddy)? Can they call her Madelyn?

He has “Kit” permissions but I suspect he mostly uses Maddy when he’s talking directly to her. Kit might be more of a comm call to him(? I am asking, I do not know why I have this vibe). “Madelyn” wouldn’t be bad but it would be… really weird.

Would she seek them out as someone to keep company with in order to sleep?

Probably not seek him out on purpose, no. Not at this juncture.

If they got in a fight about something and hadn't yet made up, would she still reach out to them for help if she needed it?

Yes.

Is she bolder/more confrontational when they're nearby to back her up?

Hmmm. Remains to be seen.

Does she believe their word when she's panicked or having a flashback (etc.)? Does she trust them to ground her with touch?

Words a little shaky -I think she thinks he’d tell her what he thinks she wants to hear, not necessarily the truth- but touch secure I think.

Are they allowed to apologize to her directly?

If he must.

Would she drink alcohol with them?

If it wouldn’t get him in trouble (yes and they’re keeping it from Richie. She is almost certainly the bad influence here.)

Could she leave Glitch with them?

…… To be determined.

Midnight

Is she comfortable teasing them? Does she expect them to understand it's teasing? would she explain it if they asked?

Absurdly so. Endless old man jokes aren’t exactly cryptic, so I doubt he’d need to, but if she ever aimed for something a little more off the wall I think she wouldn’t mind (trying) to explain it to him. Mostly he seems to get her gist even when she is saying things (not just jokes) he doesn’t get, though, so I’m not sure he’d need to ask. Good enough is good enough.

Would she build something for them unprompted? Would she build something if they asked?

Would and has, I’m sure, though I’m not completely sure what at this particular juncture. Might have -if he let her- upgraded his radio. Maybe helped him set up something with a wider net and/or stronger protections for his little shack. If he asked her to build him something she’d be a little surprised, I think -he’s so off-the-grid in so many ways- but wouldn’t hesitate.

If they pushed her about her boundaries would she push back? or retreat?

Usually push back. Definitely nonplussed about giving him a piece of her mind.

Would she be able to sleep if they were the only two people in the room?

Easily.

When they have tech problems does she just fix them or wait for them to ask? (or make them plead/bargain something?)

If he’s ever had any, she doesn’t know about them. If he asked she might needle and poke to learn more because if he’s having problems in this area that raises soooo many questions she didn’t know she could have been asking, but she would eventually help him out yeah.

Are riddle games on the table? How many layers deep? What happens if they can't figure out the answer(s)?

Mmmm sometimes. Usually not on purpose, though. We’re back at good enough is good enough but if he was really stumped I think she’d give up. Find something else to talk about.

When she gets overwhelmed with touch, does she try to tell them gently or go straight for the harsher warnings/demands?

I think, generally speaking, she’s more likely to seek out forms of physical reassurance, from him, than to run into a situation where she’d need to ward it off.

Does she think Jack trusts them?

Yes.

(Does she think Kobra trusts them?)

No (lmao)

Can they call her a nickname that isn't Tech/Techie (or Maddy)? Can they call her Madelyn?

Yes, though mostly in a we’re-not-gonna-talk-about-it kind of way. She would not… hate if he used Madelyn, I don’t think, but she’s not going to be the one to tell him so he’d either have guessed it or been told by someone or something else in that vein so it would at the very least be incredibly surprising.

Would she seek them out as someone to keep company with in order to sleep?

In certain circumstances.

If they got in a fight about something and hadn't yet made up, would she still reach out to them for help if she needed it?

Someone else (Mouse, Marcos, Omens, maybe binary anon(!)) would have to give her the advice to.

Is she bolder/more confrontational when they're nearby to back her up?

Sort of? She does try not to drag him into too much of her nonsense most of the time, they’ve got pretty different like… the circles and communities they need to work adjacent to for the work they do are pretty damn different, so it’s broadly not a good idea to mix all of it up I think, at risk of making things complicated and/or dangerous. But she would feel safer if he was around, backing her up! She just tries not to put him in the position of having to, lest it ruin something he’s got going of his own.

Does she believe their word when she's panicked or having a flashback (etc.)? Does she trust them to ground her with touch?

Yep.

Are they allowed to apologize to her directly?

No(t usually.)

Would she drink alcohol with them?

No he’s a boooooooooorrriiiiiiiiiing old man who’d kill the vibe

Could she leave Glitch with them?

…Maybe? … Yeah, maybe. Mouse would check in on them both.

[ru5t]

  This has not been going well. That is, every time she thinks she's made sense of it, the reasons Mazie stayed and the way the others hold that or their distance and the measure of every exchange, something else happens. Something new. Or something like this. Where she whirls and whirls, no grip on the world, until someone else steps in and sweeps her behind his back.

  At first she thinks it's Jack. But the frames don't match and the tread is soft, but too dense, so it must be— her hands nest for gravity. Tech hides her face in Midnight's back, clinging like something means to drag her away from him. Someone? Nothing. Her eyes are closed - is it helping? Or making it worse?? What is it? She feels sound in her throat but whether it shapes words or wordlessly shapes nothing but noise is lost somewhere in the distance between her ears and whatever within is asking what is it?

  ( “I don't know.” )

  What happened? What happened? That must be the question. It's always the question, what happened that happened? But she's too small to answer. Lost in the woods. No breadcrumbs, no baskets, no capes. Crossed wires and smoke. She glances backwards but gets only spots and a nauseating twist for it, not even a sense of what's behind, so she closes her eyes again and buries her face and clings all the tighter. Hunted– “What do you want?”

Midnight mostly tries to mind his own business when he finds himself in the Haven. He's not part of this crew, isn't privy to the ins and outs of dynamics and interactions. But he can't help but keep an eye on the ones he's got stronger ties to. It's why he finds himself pausing to take stock of a conversation Tech's having with the Haven's newest addition.

And then Tech flinches back, and the interaction goes from a passing interest to a point of focus. It... looks oddly lopsided, the way the situation is devolving. He's already moving to engage when he catches sight of Tech rearing back. Fleeing in a way he doesn't see from her with much frequency.

Midnight closes the distance with wide strides. A reach across Tech's body puts his hand on her far arm to tuck her behind him in one fluid pull. Put another body between them, diffuse things some. It's the plan, anyway.

Hands curl into the back of his shirt, her shoes bumping his as she shuffles in closer behind her. He made the right call to step in, then.

"That's enough." He meets Mazie's gaze evenly and without malice. He's heard about her, there was a passing greeting when he got in, but this is the first time they're having a meaningful exchange. "Think maybe some wires got crossed." Warning though it may be, his tone remains that of casual observation. Just making conversation, no need for hackles to go up.

[ru5t]

@hvndredbattles ( Rhys ) //> Blood, Blood

“Let's get you cleaned up.”

  Singh must have ripped someone a new one. Or just firmly reminded the powers that be how things were supposed to go. Either way, it’s all starting to sort out. To look familiar and make sense again. Rhys's address is the first one that hasn't startled her into the ceiling, though she still sits up fast enough to make herself wince lightly.

  She knows what he means. Cleaned up; clothes that are clothes, a decent meal, maybe a real hair brush. Still, she glances down, half expecting to see dirt and blood. Sweat and tears and rips and tears. It's just plain scrubs borrowed off a nurse, drawstring pulled so long she'd almost had enough to loop around her waist a second time. They hide most of it.

  She can’t bring herself to move yet. Just stares at him for a moment, counting both their breaths and the beeps of the machines in every corner of this cold place. Thinking he -all of them- should be sitting bedside, and she should be. Somewhere else. A place that isn't here. Out of the way. She pulls her arm off the bed, tracing the edges of the tape and bandaging.

  “D’you have to ask questions too?”

[ru5t]

wanting to branch out vs. every time i go to a blog it says "super private" "do not follow first" "friends only" then wHY do you have a PROMO that i saw on my DASH. GIRL (GN) HELP WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME.

[ru5t]

The Important Questions (in no particular order)

send "The Important Questions" and I will answer all of the following very important questions re: Tech(/Maddy)'s level of trust in and/or comfort with your character. And I may or may not elaborate :3c

Please specify verse if we write in more than one! insp.

Is she comfortable teasing them? Does she expect them to understand it's teasing? would she explain it if they asked?

Would she build something for them unprompted? Would she build something if they asked?

If they pushed her about her boundaries would she push back? or retreat?

Would she be able to sleep if they were the only two people in the room?

When they have tech problems does she just fix them or wait for them to ask? (or make them plead/bargain something?)

Are riddle games on the table? How many layers deep? What happens if they can't figure out the answer(s)?

When she gets overwhelmed with touch, does she try to tell them gently or go straight for the harsher warnings/demands?

Does she think Jack trusts them?

(Does she think Kobra trusts them?)

Can they call her a nickname that isn't Tech/Techie (or Maddy)? Can they call her Madelyn?

Would she seek them out as someone to keep company with in order to sleep?

If they got in a fight about something and hadn't yet made up, would she still reach out to them for help if she needed it?

Is she bolder/more confrontational when they're nearby to back her up?

Does she believe their word when she's panicked or having a flashback (etc.)? Does she trust them to ground her with touch?

Are they allowed to apologize to her directly?

Would she drink alcohol with them?

Could she leave Glitch with them?

[ru5t]

🐇

If you drop a 🐇 in my inbox I’ll give you some starter ideas for how your muse might fit into the Dustverse!

Disclaimer everything I know about W.atch Do.gs has come from your blog and wikipedia s;lfkjgs;dlfjgk;lkj but!!!

I think Squid ( @hvndredzones ) has more opinions about what's going on in europe in the dusverse than I do but in theory there could be kind of a lore blend thing going on where we more or less smash the two universes together and you wouldn't have to change anything (or much?) about Orion's backstory and what's going on the game could be what's going on over there. Then it's just a question of pulling him over — maybe trying to figure out what's going on since what's left of the US has effectively gone dark to the rest of the world, BLI doesn't like information coming in or going out. Going in search of allies or just to figure it out? or on a mission set by someone who does know what's going on and wants to start planting seeds to disrupt it maybe? General throwing-him-as-is-into-the-sandbox energy, you can learn about the universe through him kinda vibes? game to talk more about it !

Alternatively as just fitting into the (head)canon universe without busting out the blender, DedS.ec as more of crash queen kind of killjoy group, the ones doing really active rebellion stuff, trying to break the city down instead of just escape it. Given the way the setting is this would mean shifting it to be less technology focused to a degree, just by virtue of what's available in the zones, and more physical in their attacks - or, alternatively, one of the groups focused on helping people get out of the city?

or, and as my favorite non-blender option (because I think it's a fun space to explore that I haven't already heavily populated so you with your sick ass world building skills could do a lot of fun stuff with) De.dse.c as an underground group within the city, mainly operating from the outer city and/or Neon. Killjoy sympathetic, in the sense of working toward the same end more or less, but not really city or killjoy but one of those secret third things. More organized, probably, than most 'killjoy' efforts, and more secretive. Having to hide in the shadows and keep ahead of city surveillance and Spectre (Better Living's make-people-disappear force within the city which we (me n squid) are still building out but might be kind of like. a lot of people think it doesn't even exist kind of vibe.) Technology based, focusing on the literal system(s) part of things and trying to uproot it so that the few in power can be toppled, the means given back to the people, etc. etc. <- in this context also could still do some learning-with-him if he came from Empire City, the BLi city on the east coast, 'cause the city vs. rebels climate is similar and yet also different over there, i think more of the fight is inside empire as the surrounding zones are harsher and also a smaller overall area than the zones around Battery

[ru5t]

If you drop a 🐇 (or the phrase "Run Bunny Run") into my inbox I'll give you some starter ideas for how your muse might fit into the Dustverse (aka Tech's canon)

These will, of course, be suggestions you may take or leave! Or modify! Or start with and then let it run you completely all over the place and deeper into this than you'd ever though you'd go! That's how I got where I am ♥

[ru5t]

Andrew Dixon | CRT-Bot

[ru5t]

@lcfthaunted //> Where She Stops. . . ( Zones Edition )

+ shot (ray gun)

  “Don't,” she spits, more venomous than usual, “touch me.” Warning and brief glare before she turns her attention to the wicked burn splashed over the front of her leg.

  It occupies an odd, almost-wrapping shape, edging toward the outside of her leg just over her knee. Almost a graze. Instead it's not near or severe enough to stop her using it, but just enough to make even a slow, experimental stretch completely miserable - half pins and needles, half seared steak. Enough overall that her whole leg trembles. She gives a shaky sniffle. Fuck's sake, since when do dracs run around firing hot?

[ru5t]

smth smth fish in a birdcage

[ru5t]

  Her expression wavers. Lightly dubious. At first to tease, but as he goes on...unsure. One big pause. Waiting for it to make sense, or something else to happen. A signal. A snap. But he's just standing there, not finishing any of his sentences. And — is he blushing?

  Oh. Her eyes go a bit wide. Oh no. He means it. And- oh. no. She bites her lip and works really hard not to let it, but a giggle begins to creep up, and sneak out, and shake her shoulders.

  “And. You thought... this was the best place to be secretive?” Arguably the most traffic heavy location, other than the cafeteria.

"No," Oliver insists, wide-eyed and earnest. "I mean- I've thought about asking most often when we're here, but back around the others, you're busy, or I didn't wanna make things weird, or like-" He's misunderstanding her meaning, though not intentionally. Where she means that he's only asking because she's armed, he hears instead that she thinks she's only attractive to him while holding a firearm. Not the case! She nerdy; he loves nerdy!

And again, even more emphatically than the first, "No." God no. He wouldn't do that! "I haven't even told anyone I like you," not like that anyway, "Duke would kill me if he found out we did anything." ... Wait. "Not that you have to. Just- um. You can forget it, it's weird, I made it weird-"

[ru5t]

[ru5t]

[ru5t]

  There's a good reminder on top of the one she's given herself. He is not her brother. And his answer is an assumption, as if she asked will you not could it be done. A point to make, maybe, but not the point she's getting at. It sends her back to the far edge of the sky, new frustration in the set of her mouth. She chews her lip.

  He doesn't understand why she's asking, and she doesn't know how to make him. Not without putting him on the hook.

  “M'fine,” she says. The cold -the wind- is good. While she tries to think of who else, where else can she ask. Query. Go looking for the answers. (Too much? Not when you'd grown up with real monsters crawling around in the dark of your room, and knowing where the knives were and how the doors locked and when the lights went out and what sound the doors made was what it took to beat them.) “I wanna see it break.”

Even out here, with no one else, Richie maintains a certain level of detachment. Asset, and Yves and Rhys, and never his preferences. He smokes, and he lets her think what she wants, and he watches the horizon show the first hints of the sun, and he looks the way he does when most assume his interest is elsewhere.

It's hard to say, really. How big of a fuss would he have to kick up, if he couldn't point to something she'd done, or hadn't done, that made her a poor asset? Something feasible, surely. But it doesn't matter, really, because he's not going to. Richie grunts a sound bordering on irritation. It's a flash of the man underneath the cool veneer, who defends his team with tooth and nail and considers them His in a way that everyone else isn't. She's part of that, now, until she expresses otherwise. "I'm not giving you back unless you're keen on going," he settles on, firm and certain. Don't ask stupid questions.

"You worry too much, Kit." And here marks the end of their tete-a-tete, a wall sliding back up between him and the touchy-feely of a heart-to-heart. Richie stubs out his cigarette and casts it to the rooftop. His back pops as he stretches. "Come on, there's not enough meat on your bones to be out here until sunrise."

[ru5t]

i,, fixed it i am less unsure abt it now

[ru5t]

there's no point to this rb i'm just microwaving them in my brain dyou wanna see the other handful of old (old! old!!!) drawings

2012(? i think) ((p.s. this is what Bad reference tracing looks like (from a personal picture though! go little me))) and fun fact this is titled/saved as ''the reason'' as in the hoobas.tank song bc little me heard that and decided that sounded like jack's sentiments about his sister and the possibility that the song is meant to be romantic did not even occur to me (lmfao)

2013-14(ish) left to right is Dusty, Tech, Jack, Tox, Lith -- this one was brought on by a (technically designed for writing?) prompt someone sent me that was "the last time (Jack) laughed" and i don't know if it had full context but i do know the implication was dusty was mock-pouting about something s;ldkjg;sdlkfjg (this was in the old base! this couch that looks like a sack of potatoes is making me giggle)

2018 ft. left to right is Jack, Tech, Lith, Tox, Static -- Static is a friend's oc and she did a little request of Static hanging out with any of my characters and this is where I landed (+Lith even though she is not mine lmao)

i know for a fact there's at least one (1) more somewhere in the ether but i fear it's not on my computer and may be lost to the sands of time unless it is on what is technically an archive that we're not going to address

technically not relevant to this but also i have drawn jack n colton one (1) time also(!)

which is also old and makes me cringe a little but, c'est la vie when ur an artist

i don't remember when i noticed this but i have been thinking about how i noticed i've had these characters for foreverrrrr and only drawn them in the same place like three times. most neglected siblings of all time. anyway here's a scribble about it i gotta go be horizontal for a bit mwah mwah