#+1 alien in my inventory

[jester-w-n0n4m3]

Sure my frien now :3

I'm bringing u to math class w me 🫶

*puts u in my pocket*

WAIT WAIT WH WAAAIIIIIT WAIT NO WAIT WHAT WH

[ + 1 alien ]

[orteil42]

some undifferentiated thoughts about my Starfield playthrough as i have them. i am a game developer with a strong interest in procedural generation and i've enjoyed a bunch of other bethesda games so this might get pretty mean sorry

(this is a long one)

starfield dialogue is already exhausting me "oh you must've been living under a moon rock ;)" get it! because they're in space! this would've been too corny for the Jetsons

there's a kind of cheap dusting of space theme over everything. the food isn't salmon but alien salmon. it's not seaweed but alien seaweed. cooking alien stir-fry. come on

cannot get over how clumsily the theming is handled. books, board games, weapon names revolve heavily around space. these people have been living on alien planets for hundreds of years yet have this unending sense of novelty about it. the game takes itself completely seriously but feels like it's attempting to parody itself

people's EYEBALLS are CLIPPING THROUGH THEIR EYELIDS

a woman is speaking to me in french. her accent is about as believable as her haircut

these are some of the worst reflection maps i've ever seen

next to nothing is interactive. you can sit in chairs and sleep in beds and that is about it. can't even drink from people's toilets. disgraceful

game helpfully crashes 5 seconds after i decide i should get some sleep. very handy!

my character has not said a single thing since i started playing. not one peep. this is an unmitigated improvement over Fallout 4 i'm so glad honestly

the more i poke around the big city the more the NPC quips feel like something out of gen-1 pokemon. can't get enough of this coffee :) this city is where it's at :) spacesuits are comfy and easy to wear

very strange sense of altered reality from the quest dialogue too. has anyone at bethesda met a person before? i move on to some mission that has me scanning wildlife on a faraway planet hoping this will, somehow, feel less alien than human conversation

just as with No Man's Sky, every planet is uniformly dotted with equidistantly-placed points of interest that you slowly make your way to (no vehicles besides your jetpack) which always turn out to be some cave or building identical to those you've cleared before

unlike with No Man's Sky, the seamless exploration is faked and the biodiversity is nil. you do get an impressive amount of raw loading screens however

the prefab bases and power stations found everywhere on planets seem to have very sparse, very specific slots for spawning consumables, which results in encountering some giant industrial installation in the middle of nowhere with, i don't know, a loaf of whole-grain sandwich bread just casually sitting next to it all proper. there is no breathable atmosphere here. who is eating this

planetary traversal is a CHORE. i am saying this as someone who loved Death Stranding

heinous "hold to confirm" buttons sprinkled in various flow-breaking places throughout the interface

enemy AI is abominable. nobody is pathing their way to get my ass. "must've been the wind" taken to the next level. an infant playing peekaboo has more object permanence

hoisting yourself up on ledges when jumping is…nice

companions randomly nowhere to be found. persists through multiple fast-travels and loading screens until, just as randomly, they pop back up

storage space is now limited! unlike in Fallout 4 and virtually every other bethesda game, your containers now hold a finite item capacity. god forbid we let the player have fun

baffling inventory UI. i imagine there's a mod out there that completely overhauls it the way SkyUI did for Skyrim. this should not be needed! how are your UIs getting worse a decade later!

scanning the precious few species inhabiting some dusty planet; one of them is this arching red root i've already seen several times before. my job done in this biome, i travel (read: teleport with a loading screen) to the polar region to find some other species. the first one i catalogue is the exact same red root again but this time it's named "boreas root" todd howard is a genius

some alien horror comes at me full fangs out. i hop on a pebble. obscenely, i am safe

procedural terrain generation beyond dull, impossibly unimaginative. these people have not had one critical thought on what makes a procedural world interesting. beginning to feel validated in my belief that only i should be trusted with proc gen. along with perhaps tarn adams

jokes aside this is making me feel genuinely insane. there have been excellent procedural generation techniques that produce compelling explorable maps for decades now. bethesda absolutely has the budget and know-how to do miles better than this yet somehow they just…do not? the same way Pokemon has decided to just no longer bother with their mainline games despite being the highest-grossing media franchise in history? hello? what is for real going on

some of the most cynical breadcrumbing i've seen in years. approaching some random cave and this person in space gear, who in the vast immensity of the infinite cosmos just happens to be snapping pictures right here, tells me more-or-less verbatim "if you like this place, you should see this other place" [other random cave has been added to your map.]

i do not like how good this makes No Man's Sky's gameplay look. it depresses me how much i have to hand it to No Man's Sky for at least not fucking up this bad. please stop making me wish i was playing No Man's Sky instead this is grotesque

i think i've exhausted my interest and patience for this game at the moment. i'll get back to the main story at some point and try some other systems ie. crafting and base-building to see if there's any engagement to be found but so far, my god. my god

[twinsimming]

Energy Drinks by Twinsimming 🥤

This mod adds custom Energy Drinks to a new type of vending machine.

This is a script mod that can be placed in your Packages folder. It was built and tested on 1.69 but should work fine on 1.67.

Requirements

The Sims 3: Late Night

The Sims 3: Seasons

The Sims 3: Supernatural

The Sims 3: University Life

Overview

Soda-Lightful Vending Machine

Energy Drinks

Side Effects

Flavors

New Moodlets

Soda-Lightful Vending Machine

- Price: §1250 - Category: Large Appliances - Includes all 11 original swatches + 1 recolorable option (3 channels) - Poly Count: 2346 - Originally created for The Sims 4 by RAVASHEEN, converted to The Sims 3 by me

Like the vending machines that came with University Life, sims can Buy Energy Drink, Shake Machine, or Slam Machine.

Energy Drinks

Teen and older sims can purchase energy drinks from the Soda-Lightful Vending Machine for §5 each.

Energy drinks boost the Energy need, give sims the custom Energy Rush moodlet, and remove any moodlets related to low Energy (Tired, Sleepy, Exhausted, Buzz Crashed, etc.), similar to drinking coffee, but the effect lasts twice as long (6 hours instead of 3 hours).

Drinking multiple energy drinks in a row will boost how long the Energy Rush moodlet lasts, as well as increase the moodlet's value, up to 18 hours and +30 mood.

Once the Energy Rush moodlet expires, sims get the custom negative Energy Crash moodlet.

Side Effects

If your sim goes more than 24 hours without another energy drink, they'll start to suffer from caffeine withdrawal and gain the custom negative Craving Caffeine moodlet for the next 2 days. Drinking coffee, tea, barista bar beverages, or another energy drink will remove this moodlet.

Drinking more than 2 energy drinks at a time also carries the risk of a sim being electrocuted and dying.

Teens and Elders both have a 5% chance of being electrocuted, while YA have a 1% chance and Adults have a 3% chance.

Flavors

There are 8 different energy drinks to choose from. 6 provide flavor-related moodlets from the snow cone machine from Seasons and the bubble blower from Late Night. These moodlets last for 4 hours.

From left to right in the second preview photo:

Charged Cherry (Cheery Cherry)

Pineapple Power-Up (On a Beach)

Lightning Lemon (Laidback Lemon)

e-Lectric Lime (Lucky Lime)

Blue Raspberry Blitz (Raspberry Romance)

Gigawatt Grape (Gleeful Grape)

The Unidentified Fizzy Ooze energy drink replenishes Alien brain power, but makes non-Aliens nauseous.

The last energy drink is called Mystery Flavor and it works like the jelly bean bush from Supernatural; including carrying the risk of death, so proceed with caution.

New Moodlets

Energy Rush: Given when sims drink an energy drink, lasts 6 hours, +10, +20, or +30 mood

Energy Crash: Given when the Energy Rush moodlet expires, lasts 7 hours, -15 mood

Craving Caffeine: Given when sims go more than 24 hours without another caffeinated drink, lasts 2 days, -30 mood

Tuning

All of the tunable values can be found on the mod download page under the header “Tuning”.

Script Namespace

If you want to turn a different vending machine into an energy drink vending machine, open your desired object in s3pe and replace the current script name with the following:

Sims3.Gameplay.Objects.Twinsimming.EnergyDrinksMod.VendingMachine

Conflicts & Known Issues

This is a new scripted object, so there shouldn’t be any conflicts.

All of the drink cans are different colors when placed in the world and during the drinking animation, but they all have a red can icon when placed in a sim's inventory. I'm not sure how to fix this right now, but that should be the only issue of note.

Credits

EA/Maxis for The Sims 3 and The Sims 4, mesh by RAVASHEEN, Visual Studio 2019, ILSpy, s3pe, Notepad++, Sims4Studio, TSRW, Blender, Milkshape, Gimp, and Script Mod Template Creator.

Thank You

Thank you to RAVASHEEN and everyone in the Sims 3 Creators' Cave Discord!

If you like my work, please consider tipping me on Ko-fi 💙

Download @ ModTheSims

[madraynesims]

The Sims 2 PSP Cut Content: Part 2

This is a follow up to my first cut content post, mostly talking about the cut Kine Dairy content there.

Missing Division 47 Scientists

Catelyn Lancaster

Catelyn is one of four Division 47 research assistants that are in The Sims 2 PSP. The two research assistants that still show up are Red Sands and Cristian Allard. All four scientists originally spawned inside the Laboratory along with the Curious brothers. Red and Cristian were later moved outside the lab to roam with the guards, leaving the other two scientists behind. This was likely due to performance issues in the lab. The schedule file indicates that Catelyn Lancaster would have spawned in the Laboratory only during the night.

This screenshot shows Red Sands when he used to spawn inside Division 47's lab. (Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures showing Catelyn)

As mentioned in part 1: Gender: 0 = female, 1 = male. The eye color is only specified if they're not the default brown. (I'll be using the Sims 2 PC to recreate them, as it shares a lot of assets with the PSP version)

Catelyn Lancaster's Details

Bio: "A research assistant at Division 47." social = 15, intimidation = 3, personality = 1, Her social score is higher compared to other Division 47 locals, and her intimidation score is at the max of 3, which would have made her one of the difficult Sims to do social games with. She has the Air personality type and she uses the serious idle set of animations instead of neutral. Her topic sets (interests) are dresses, makeup, medicine2, school2, politics2, spacesuit, travel2, money1, and the solar system. A visual of these:

Catelyn Lancaster's Secrets

 (Personal): "Does all of the work at the lab and gets none of the credit."

 (Intimate): "You were her first kiss … and after that experience, probably her last."

 (Dark): "Persists in enumerating common domestic fowl prior to emergence from their pre-natal habitats."

Terri Tortuga

As said above, Terri is one of four Division 47 research assistants that are in the game. The schedule file indicates that Terri would have spawned in the Laboratory only during the day.

Terri Tortuga's Details

Bio: "A research assistant at Division 47." social = 13, intimidation = 2, personality = 0, Her social and intimidation scores are average for Division 47 locals, so social games aren't too bad. She has the Fire personality type and she uses the serious idle set of animations instead of neutral. Her topic sets (interests) are dresses, makeup, classical, school1, alien, aliens, and birdbee. A visual of these:

Terri Tortuga's Secrets

 (Personal): "Has a HUGE crush on Pollination Tech #9."

 (Intimate): "Sometimes turns the radio telescope towards the city and pretends it's a laser."

 (Dark): "Tests new chemicals on herself, just for kicks. Once grew a second head."

Since we're talking about Division 47, I can add one more thing about TA7 (go see p6tgel's post to learn more about who TA7 is) The devs left notes here and there in the files.

don't worry, he's just (sleeping :P)

Random fact time: When you collect Roberta Rossum's parts, you can check your inventory and read the descriptions for them, but I don't believe you get a chance to read the description of Roberta's head before you give it to Isaac Rossum? But here it is.

There's also a toy horse story item that I can't seem to find any other information for.

[trash-gobby]

Ultimate Masterlist

Here is where you will find all the stories I've written along with each fandom as a header. If there are any new or old stories they can be found here. The old inventory system I had is dead. This will be the home of all content I've written or created from now on.

Fandoms

Action/Adventure

🔫 James Bond 🔫

Happiness Is a Warm Gun 🔞

All The Time In The World - *NTTD SPOILERS* 

Dario X GN!Reader - Yandere Headcanons 🔞

Dario X SadisticFem!Reader Headcanons 🔞

Drama

🏏 Heather's 🏏

Jason Dean - Yandere Headcanons 

Veronica Sawyer - Yandere Headcanons 

Horror

👽 Alien Franchise 👽

Bishop Headcanons

Bishop Headcanons - His friendship with the Colonial Marines 

First Snow on Earth 

How They Would Play Sims 2 & 4

Lance Bishop Fluff Alphabet

Dallas & J.M. Lambert Dating Headcanons

Colonial Marines W/ Virgin Reader 🔞

Scott Gorman NSFW Alphabet 🔞

William Hudson NSFW Alphabet 🔞

🎭 Behind The Mask 🎭

Leslie Vernon X GN!S/O who’s Jealous of Taylor

🎄🩸 Black Christmas 🩸🎄

Billy Lenz X Short Gothic GN! S/O

Harry Warden & Billy Lenz X GN!Reader with Short Coiled Hair

Billy Lenz X GN!S/O - Who Hides Gifts Around The House For Him To Find!

Jess Bradford - Fluffy Dating Headcanons w/ Trans Masc!S/O

🚶The Boy ����

Brahms X AFAB!Reader who is overly protective of him P1

Brahms X AFAB!Reader who is overly protective of him P2

Dating Brahms Headcanons (Possessive Brahms)

Brahms X GN!Reader - Trying to Leave The House 🔞

🚀 Farscape 🚀

Moya Crew w/ Artistic S/O

🪱 The Faculty 🪱

Zeke Tyler Dating Headcanons

🚑 Flatliners 🚑

Nelson Wright X AFAB!Reader Meet at a House Party

Nelson X GN!Reader - Cuddling For The First Time

🐺 Ginger Snaps 🐺

Ginger X Fem!Reader SFW & NSFW Headcanons 🔞

Ginger Fitzgerald Headcanons 👋

🎃 Halloween 🎃

Michael with a physically & verbally affectionate s/o

Michael Myers GN!S/O with Separation Anxiety

🔥 Hellboy 🔥

Poly!Hellboy & Liz Sherman X GN!Reader Headcanons

A Long Hard Day

Nuada X Agent!Reader Headcanons

⛓️ Hellraiser ⛓️

Pinhead - Hellraiser: Headcanons

💄Jennifer's Body 💄

Jennifer Check X Male!Reader

🦇🩸Lost Boys 🩸🦇

∞ When You’re a Stranger ∞ - Chpt. 1, Chpt. 2

When did Max get Thorn???

David - General Headcanons

David - Fluff Alphabet

Dwayne - Headcanons

Dwayne - Fluff Alphabet

Laddie - Headcanons

Marko - Headcanons

Paul - Headcanons

Descending Angel - part one, part two

♊ Malignant ♊

Gabriel May X GN!S/O - Who Writes Him Gothic Love Poems

🥀⚰️ Mortuary ⚰️🥀

Flowers For a Grave - Paul Andrews X Fem!Reader

❣️My Bloody Valentine ❣️

Harry Warden & Billy Lenz X GN!Reader with Short Coiled Hair

Harry Warden W/ Pregnant S/O

🦇🕶️ Near Dark 🕶️🦇

Severen Van Sickle X Pinup!Reader

Severen Van Sickle NSFW Alphabet🔞

👹 Nightbreed 👹

Dr. Decker X POC Plus Size!Reader Headcanons 🔞

Decker X Plus Size POC!Reader - Darkness Is A Stitch Away

📸 🔪 Scream 🔪 📸

Billy Loomis X Fem!Reader - Comforting her after losing someone close to her

Poly!Ghostface Finding Out Their Girlfriend is Pregnant

🚲 Stranger Things 🚲

Wipe Out

Eddie Munson - Fluff Alphabet

🥩🪝 Texas Chainsaw Massacre 🪝🥩

Christmas dinner with the Sawyer's

🌌 The Thing 🌌

R.J. MacReady NSFW Alphabet 🔞

Assimilation - Palmer X GN!Reader

Palmer - Headcanons

Science Fiction

👽💅 Earth Girls Are Easy 💅👽

Mac - Fluffy Dating Headcanons

🦖 Jurassic Park 🦖

Dating Ian Malcolm Would Include

🌠 Star Wars: The Old Republic 🌠

Two Bounty Hunters Walk Into a Guild Meeting

Superhero

☔ Umbrella Academy ☔

Luther Hargreeves X Fem!Reader - NSFW & Dating Headcanons 🔞

Fantasy

✨ Legend ✨

Wicked Game 🔞

🌊 Legend of Korra 🌊

Korra Dating Kuvira's Sibling Headcanon's

[incorrectbatfam]

Okay, so I want a little angst fic where Robs twins and Milo get kidnapped, and the kidnapper is doing the whole cliche thing with ‘cHoOsE oNe, will your twins or Milo live??’ and, Rob thinks, it should be obvious, right? Pick ur twins! But, it’s a difficult decision, he can’t let any of them die, and he’s stressing Tf out. Like, Milo is fourteen! And the twins love him! (Kinds? He bullies them sometimes but it’s fineee)

At the end, the bats come and save them, but it’s still an eye opening experience.

The Gooners Christmas kidnapping fic that exactly one (1) person asked for

Word count: 3,375

———————

“What’s the password?”

Milo chuckled. “Jackie, you’re only supposed to do that when you get picked up from school.”

“Dad said to always ask before getting in the car with anyone,” the six-year-old replied. 

“But you know me.”

“What if you’re a shapeshifting alien trying to abduct us? Or an evil robot clone?” 

He sighed. “Unicorn ice cream. Now are we going Christmas shopping or not?”

“Sure,” she said, “when Gunner quits being a slowpoke.”

As if on cue, the other boy stumbled out of the three’s shared bedroom, tugging his blue snow boots on. Since he didn’t know how to tie the laces yet, Milo kneeled down and helped him.

“Now remember, the mall’s gonna be really busy, so what do we do if we get separated?”

“Meet at the food court,” they say in unison.

“And what do we not do?”

“Go to a security guard.”

“And why don’t we do that?”

“Because they don’t work for people like us.”

“Good job.” He patted the pom-poms topping their matching hats. 

Once Milo buckled the twins in and put his favorite rock album on, they set off. There was a light dusting of snow on top of the salt laid down earlier that morning, but the fifteen-year-old managed to weave through the holiday traffic and beat the lights in time to snag the last parking spot at Gotham City’s shopping hotspot. 

“Any idea what you’re gonna get your dad?” he asked as they walked into the bustling shopping mall. 

“How about a watch?” said Jackie. “I saw a really cool gold one last week.”

“Hm… maybe,” he said. “Gunner, what about you? Any thoughts?”

Gunner stifled a laugh. “Pants.”

Milo rolled his eyes playfully. The kid was in that phase where pants were the funniest thing in the world. But in the nine months since he started living with the Steelers, Milo hadn’t seen Rob get anything—buying or stealing—for himself. It was always for the kids or to sell on the internet. And, frankly, the man looked like he spent a year on a deserted island. 

“We’ll start with pants,” he said.

“What about you?” Jackie asked. “What are you gonna get him?”

“I’m not sure.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Probably something as a thanks for, you know, not leaving me to the wolves.”

“Like what?”

Gunner said, “How about a World’s Best Dad mug?”

“That might work for you, but he’s not my dad,” said Milo. He shrugged. “Eh, I’ll figure it out.” 

They perused a few clothing stores, the twins pointing out pieces of clothing their dad might like. Milo kept a mental inventory as he fiddled with the magnet in his coat pocket. He also made notes about where the cameras and security guards were placed. 

After about an hour, the kids were whining about being hungry (breakfast wasn’t exactly filling—they shared an egg and a slice of toast between them). Milo took them to the food court and used some cash he pickpocketed the other day to buy them both kids’ meals from the Batburger pop-up stall. 

Once they sat down, he said, “I’m gonna go get the gifts for your dad. Do you guys have your phone?”

Jackie and Gunner nodded and pulled out matching rose gold and black smartphones, respectively, that totally weren’t stolen and jailbroken. 

“Good. Stay here and don’t move. I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes. Call me if you need anything.”

Milo still had a thing or two to learn before he could begin swiping electronics and jewelry, but shoplifting clothing was easy. He grabbed a shopping bag from behind an unoccupied register and wove through the aisles for the list of things from earlier. He took them to the dressing room and removed the security tags with his trusty magnet before putting the clothes in the bag. Then, for good measure, he stuck them back onto random clothes throughout the store before walking out while using his phone like any other teenager. 

When he didn’t see the twins at the food court, there was a small spark of panic. He called Jackie and it rang three times before she answered. 

“We’re in the bathroom,” she said. 

He should’ve noticed the quiver in her voice. When he stepped into the all-gender restroom, he was met by the kids pressed against the wall with a haggard middle-aged man towering over them. 

Gunner cried out, “Milo!”

As the door fell shut, the stranger whirled around, pointing a sawed-off shotgun at Milo. “You with them?”

Stunned, Milo nodded numbly. He wasn’t sure if that was the right move or not. 

The man’s hands trembled. “Do as I say or I shoot.”

Milo reached for his batarang—the one he found on the street—inside his jacket, but before he could grab it, the man walked around him and prodded Milo in the back with the barrel. 

“I know you heard me. Now all three of you move it.” 

The bathroom was five steps from the exit, so there wasn’t any chance to make a getaway without putting Jackie and Gunner at risk. They were ushered roughly into a white van with the peeling logo of an electric company. A second person was in the driver’s seat so the guy with the gun got into the seatless back with them. He slammed the door shut. Milo motioned for the twins to get behind him. 

The driver turned the radio up as they made their way onto the road. 

Smart. Milo thought. Mask any calls for help. This obviously wasn’t the kidnappers’ first rodeo. 

But neither was it Milo’s. Being a runaway street kid, he had his fair share of close calls with bastard adults who tried to manipulate him because of his age. While he couldn’t call himself an expert, he had a general gist of how these situations went. 

Traveling at sixty miles per hour in a windowless van with no clue where they were headed, Milo didn’t have an upper hand. He needed information. Something was better than nothing. 

He studied the man with them, who had tucked the gun away. Even in the dark, he could see the man wasn’t doing well for himself. The worn-out clothes plus the crudeness of his weapon ruled out the mafia. What would Falcone or Maroni want with some random kids from Burnside, anyway? Milo could also rule out some of the major Rogues—Riddler, Two-Face, and Mr. Freeze all had standards. 

The man’s graying blonde hair and beard were both overgrown. His face was hollow and his breath smelled like spoiled leftovers. Clearly, he hadn’t taken care of himself in a long time. Mental break? But unless it was a case of folie a deux, there’s no way he could’ve gotten a second person to be his getaway driver. More likely than not, he was on his last legs and holding people for ransom was his Hail Mary. 

Milo also tried to analyze the man’s body language, but the low light and the moving van made it difficult. Kellin would’ve probably deduced everything with their assassin training by now. 

He glanced over his shoulder at Jackie and Gunner. Gunner always had more braggadocio, but underneath he got more scared easily, and Milo saw it in the way the kid clung to his sister’s arm with tears running down his cherubic face. Jackie appeared calmer, but her big brown eyes looked up at Milo, silently begging him to do something.

Milo took a deep breath and turned to their kidnapper. “You mind telling me what you want with us?”

“We don’t want anything from you,” the man replied. 

“Then what? You gonna sell us? Because we’re pretty unmarketable.” 

“No,” he said. “This isn’t about you. It’s about your father.”

“Axel Carr? Good luck with that. I’m as dead to him as he is to me.”

The man pointed to the twins. “I meant theirs.”

“How do you know their dad?” Milo asked slowly, careful not to let a name slip in case the man was bluffing. 

“I worked with Rob Steeler under Scarecrow. When he left, instead of getting promoted, they let our entire crew go since we lost our key player.”

The man was clearly getting started and Milo hoped he’d keep going until the boy could formulate a plan. 

“My whole life torpedoed after that. No gigs meant no income. No income plus a disabled kid meant I had to give up custody.”

While unfortunate, Milo was more focused on the clock and speedometer up front. Eight minutes had passed since they started driving and the speed had stayed consistent. The hum underneath the wheels told him they were still on the highway. 

“Without that money, I can’t get my kid back. So here’s what’s gonna happen.”

They came to a stop and there was the sound of a garage door opening and closing. Gun back in hand, the man prodded them out. 

“I’m gonna make Steeler pay,” he said. “He gives me cash for his little tikes. Otherwise, if I can’t have my family, then neither can he.” He turned to Milo and cocked the gun. “As for you, I’m afraid I can’t have any witnesses.”

“Wait!” Milo exclaimed before the man put his finger on the trigger. “Don’t you think killing me right away will cause a huge scene? You’ll end up with cops at the doorstep before you can even ask for the money.”

The driver muttered something to the gunman.

“True,” the gunman said.

The driver whispered something else. The gunman’s face lit up and he nodded. 

“Better idea,” he said. “I was going for around thirty grand. That’s ten grand for each of you. For each one he can bring me, I’ll let you go home.”

Jackie piped up. “What if he can’t?”

The man smiled. “For your sake, little girl, you better hope he does.” 

The gunman forced the three to surrender their phones while the driver bound them with rope to a water pipe against the wall. The windowless garage offered no clues to the outside, but the fishy smell in the air meant they were close to the harbor. It hadn’t been used in a long time because every step someone took left a footprint in the dust. Off to one side, underneath a mountain of scrap wood and netting, was a speedboat with a gaping hole in the hull. On the other side was a small, messy work table where the driver and gunman were making the ransom call. 

“Milo, what do we do?” Gunner whispered. 

“Just stay here and don’t move unless I tell you to,” he replied. “I’m gonna get us out of this.”

“What if you get hurt?” Jackie asked. 

He smiled. “Remember when I did a cartwheel with a twisted ankle? A little hurt doesn’t bother me.”

His arms were pinned to his side, but he managed to maneuver them enough to grab his magnet and batarang. Normally he would have had a trunk full of inventory to work with but this was going to have to do. 

While the kidnappers were on the call, he sliced himself out of the ropes with the batarang. He also loosened Jackie and Gunner’s restraints to prepare for a quick escape. 

The only exit was the garage door, controlled by a red button on the wall. If he was one of the bat-people, he could easily throw the batarang and hit the tiny target far away, but as just Milo, the risks far outweighed his chance of success. Normally he would have tried anyway, but he had the kids with him. 

He gestured to Gunner’s boots. “I need to borrow something real quick.”

The boy nodded. Milo undid the laces, resulting in two long strings in his hands. He tied them together to create a single, even longer cord, which he then put the batarang on one end of. 

The kidnappers turned toward them and the gunman shouted, “Hey!”

Milo muttered a prayer to Wonder Woman on the off chance that’s her thing. 

He twirled the string and released it. It wrapped around the driver’s knee, causing the man to stumble and fall. His joint cracking echoed through the garage and a red stain grew on his cargo pants. 

He reeled it in before throwing it at the gunman’s face. The tip grazed the man’s cheek, drawing a thin trickle of blood, before spinning back around into Milo’s hand. Milo threw a punch, but the man caught it. The gunman twisted before shoving Milo to the ground and pointing the shotgun at him. 

“Had fun playing Robin?” the man asked, finger nearing the trigger. 

Stall. That was all there was left to do. 

“Heroes are overrated. They always have to follow some stupid code,” Milo said, doing all he could to keep his voice steady. “You and I have more in common than you think.”

“Whatever deal you’re trying to cut won’t work,” the gunman replied. “Steeler’s already on his way and he accepted all my terms.” 

“What if I tell everyone what you did? Then what?”

The gunman laughed. “Tell who? The same cops you’re always running from? Don’t think I didn’t do my homework on your little posse.”

The driver was pretty much down for the count because he was still on the floor with the pool of blood slowly growing. Plus, he didn’t seem like the fighting type to begin with. Unless there were more kidnappers lurking, Milo just had to make sure the gunman stayed focused on him. 

“Your kid. How old are they?” Milo asked. 

“He’s ten, and unlike you, he’s actually suffering. He didn’t bring it on himself after a fight with daddy.” 

That plucked a nerve. For a disheveled ex-henchman, the man knew a lot. 

Milo clenched his jaw. “And what would he say if he knew about this? Even if you get the money, what makes you think he’d want anything to do with you?”

Smack. 

Milo fell back as the gun met his temple. His head throbbed and black speckles swam in front of his eyes. His fingers traced over the spot and came back red. Through the dull ringing in his right ear, he heard the twins cry out his name. 

He turned back to the gunman, still kneeling. “If you’d do this to us, what’s stopping you from doing it to him?”

This time, a kick to the stomach forced the wind out of him. He doubled over, gasping. He reached for the batarang but the gunman kicked it away. 

The man raised his gun for another strike but the garage door interrupted him. 

“Step away from the kids.”

The twins exclaimed, “Dad!”

Rob made brief but reassuring eye contact with them before turning to the kidnapper. 

“I got as much as I could, Frederickson. Now let go of my kids.” 

The kidnapper walked over and snatched the water-stained blue duffel bag out of Rob’s hand. He opened it and counted through the banded bills before turning back to Rob. 

“I said thirty grand. This is only twenty-five.”

“That's all I got, I’m telling you! Just take it and let my kids and I go home.” 

“We had a deal.”

While the two men went back and forth, Milo crawled over to the batarang. The open garage door meant the bright lights inside flooded the harbor with nothing blocking the way. The bright lightbulbs dangled from the ceiling. 

It was sheer luck the batarang flew over the adults’ heads and wrapped around the base of the brightest light bulb before dangling in front of it. It wasn’t very distinct, but his makeshift Bat-Signal would have to do. 

The man cocked the gun. “Now you gotta pick. It’s them…” He pointed it at the twins. “Or him.” He pointed at Milo.

What kind of choice is that? Milo thought. Of course pick them.

Rob stood there as if nailed to the spot, fists clenched. 

“Fredrickson, think about this,” he said, his normally firm voice edging on pleading. “Is five thousand dollars worth having this on your conscience?”

“You were always the soft one,” the man sneered. “You never let it on around the boss until our last sting.”

“There’s ransom and then there’s this,” Rob said. “Fredrickson. Darren. You’re not okay.” 

“Rob,” Milo said. 

The men’s heads both swiveled around. 

Milo swallowed. “Give him what he wants and he’ll be out of your hair. It’s obvious. Pick the twins.”

Rob sputtered, eyes wide. “I-I…” 

“You trust me on the field all the time,” he said. “So do it again.”

“I can’t.”

The gunman said, “So the little ones go.”

“No!” Rob yelled. “I just—I just need…”

“Take. Your. Pick.” 

His eyes darted between Milo and the twins. Milo knew his boss was an idiot at times and the proof was right here. The twins were younger. There were two of them as opposed to one of him. They were actually Rob’s. 

Before the gunman could repeat himself again, a brand new voice chimed in. 

“I’ve seen this trope before. Spoiler alert: the good guys win.”

With a swish of her purple cape, Spoiler released her grapple and knocked the shotgun away. She coiled the rope around the gunman before kneeing him in the ribs. Milo didn’t think much of heroes given how they beat up people like him and Rob, but he couldn’t help but marvel at each fluid strike. As easy as one, two, three, four, and five. 

The gunman hit the ground and she clasped a pair of handcuffs on him. Nearby, Orphan collected the driver. 

Spoiler crouched beside the twins and freed them. “Are you guys alright?”

They nodded. Gunner said, “Is the supervillain defeated?”

“I’d hardly call him super, but yes,” she said. “He’s not gonna bother you anymore.” 

As red and blue lights flooded the room, Milo’s head pulsed even harder like a kick drum at a rock show. Some of the blood from his temple dripped onto the floor. His stomach rolled. 

Rob answered some of Spoiler’s questions before she set them loose. Of course cops would be at the scene. Why didn’t Milo think of that?

The twins ran into their dad’s arms and he scooped them up. Milo had never seen his boss so relieved or so scared. He staggered to his feet, one hand in the brick wall for balance. His head spun and a sharp pain was finally sinking in. 

Rob put the kids down and turned toward Milo. 

“I’m sorry,” Milo said. “It’s my fault we got into this mess and—”

He was cut off by a pair of arms wrapping around him. 

“Rob, what—”

“Just shut up and take it.” 

The hug ended before Milo could fully register it. After one of the medics patched his wound, all they had left to do was go home and pretend this never happened. Business as usual. 

“The car’s still at the mall,” he said. 

“I borrowed one from Otto,” Rob replied. “I’ll get ours in the morning.”

Once they were back at the apartment, Rob tucked the twins into bed with an extra-long story. Meanwhile, Milo cleaned himself up in the cubicle-sized bathroom and changed into something more comfortable. 

He tried to sleep after that but wound up tossing and turning for hours, replaying the night’s events in his head. What if he hadn’t left the twins alone? What if he’d brought a better weapon? The Steelers were already hanging by a thread and he just cost them twenty-five grand. If one of the others was in his position, they could’ve figured a way out by themselves. Blaise would’ve siphoned the gas from the van and turned it into a flamethrower. Booker and Molly would’ve been better negotiators. Kellin would’ve fought their way through.

The door opened. The thin bar of light cut between his side of the room and the sleeping twins’ bunk bed. 

“It’s two o’clock,” Rob said. 

Milo propped himself up on his elbow. “And?”

“I could hear you down the hall. You’re gonna wake the twins up at this rate.”

“Not on the clock, not my boss.”

Rob quietly chuckled. “Get some sleep. I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”

[missvelvetsstuff]

https://www.tumblr.com/missvelvetsstuff/719658565357420544/i-have-a-request-please-if-its-open

Thank you so much for taking my request.

So Steve and the reader met while he was on the run and he fell in love with her and Thanos blipped the people but she was there for him no matter what

He proposed to her before they got married Scott lang showed up and etc

Steve saw Peggy and started acting weird with the reader and after returning the stones he came back old asf😭

But the reader had a surprise for him (a pregnancy) what he wanted all those 5 years he spent with her and she got mad and he argued back saying he deserved after everything he did for the people😭 so she didn’t tell him about the baby and left

After a few months she was at the grocery store and ran into Bucky and his eyes were on her swollen belly and she saw the look on his face and said “yes it’s his baby” on the way to his apartment the thousands questions on his mind “did Steve knew his girl was pregnant? Why would he leave her? If i was him I would’ve never left her. Okay stop she is /was your best friend’s girl but he left her someone he once kissed.

There was a lot going on Bucky’s mind, so decided to locate her and find where she lives so he did find her and she was shocked to see it was bucky on the door

So he demand to help her and they became closer and more comfortable around each other and ofc Bucky told Sam about the situation and Sam told the old Steve 😤 and Steve tried contacting her but couldn’t but Sam told him where she lives and he saw his Best Friend and best girl kissing while she was carrying his baby he got mad and possessive/obsessive so he went back and came back younger you know take what was his before he got selfish and left🙄

You can add more angst I wanna cry😭

I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to respond to your request. It took me a minute to flesh it all out and it'll be 5-6 chapters. Hope you like it.

This story was getting too long for me to manage so I've broken it up into chapters and will be posting each when I finish editing. I'm almost done writing so it should be posted by the end of the week. It's been a minute since I saw Civil War so please forgive me if I mess up any details.

Apparently I'm unable to write short blurbs or drabbles, sorry.

As always reader is female and above average height.

Hope y'all enjoy.

The Wrong One

Steve Rogers x Reader, Bucky Barnes x Reader

1. Meeting

Warnings: swearing, angst

Y/N had watched the news about the Avengers fight in Germany. All the anchors calling it a 'civil war' but she was in NYC in 2012 and saw the aliens trying to invade. She knew that the world was less safe with the Avengers fighting amongst themselves.

After losing her brother in the Battle of New York she felt her mortality acutely so quit her office job, packed up her apartment and put everything in storage and left to see the world. She had no other family or close friends to keep her in the states and yearned for something different. At this point she had seen most of Europe but lingered in Ireland, entranced by its beauty and the wonderful people.

The bar in Dublin where she was working was quiet with only a couple of customers, typical for suppertime in the middle of the week, so she worked on inventory and organizing the storage room to make room for tomorrows delivery.

The bell rang and she went up to the front to see who was there. It was a couple, the man was taller than her and took off his cap as he walked in. He had broad shoulders and a tight t-shirt, sunglasses covered his eyes and he walked to the furthest corner booth, facing the door.

The woman, pretty with blonde hair, came up to the bar "4 shots of whiskey and 2 pints of Guinness." and handed her a bill "keep the change"

Y/N nodded "Thank you. I'm Y/N if you need anything else."

Y/N knew who they were even with their attempted disguises but she certainly wasn't going to help any crooked government catch some of the Avengers so kept her mouth shut.

The next night the captain returned with another man who was black and had an easy smile, obviously the Falcon. He came up to the bar to order their drinks and flirted a little with her.

This kept up for a few weeks. Always the Captain but he had a few companions that seemed to be on a rotation, Falcon, the Scarlet Witch and a tall slender blonde man that Y/N couldn't place. Black Widow hadn't returned since the first night.

One night the Captain finally took off his sunglasses and smiled at her which made her knees weak and stomach flip, he was beautiful. Every night after that he graced her with that smile. She wanted so badly to talk to him, outside of drink orders and thanks, but didn't want to intrude.

Then she saw something on the news about them being sighted outside of Dublin and they stopped coming in. She hoped they could avoid the authorities. When the pub was slow she daydreamed about the Captain coming back to sweep her off her feet in some grand romantic gesture and she would go on the run with him.

She laughed at herself for her childish fantasies but figured they weren't hurting anyone. It wasn't like she had men, or women, knocking down the door to her apartment above the pub.

A couple of months passed uneventfully and life stayed predictable. Until the Captain came back in by himself. She felt her heart speed up, butterflies swarming her stomach and a tingle in her core.

She smiled at him "Evening. Would you like your usual or are you feeling adventurous?"

He looked at her, right into her soul and smiled, making her feel faint. "I'll take a pint and..." He paused awkwardly and she waited patiently "and, your, uh your number?"

Y/N laughed and the Captain felt his heart clench, he hadn't seen anyone like her since...

"Are you sure? You don't seem like-"

He interrupted her, almost shouting "NO!" Realizing how loud he was he spoke softly, giving her a chill, when he said "I mean yes, definitely yes" and looked at her hopefully.

"How could any girl refuse a request like that?" and took his offered phone to put her number in, naming herself 'Barmaid'.

His grin grew until he realized something "You don't have an Irish accent. Where are you from?"

She laughed lightly "It's called an Irish brogue and I keep hoping it'll rub off on me but no such luck. It's been almost 2 years and some of my regulars tease that even an Irish brogue can't overpower a New Yawk accent."

"New York? Whereabouts? Brooklyn here."

She smiled knowingly at him "I already knew that, learned about you in school. I wrote a term paper about your friend Bucky Barnes."

Steve blushed and chuckled "When did you realize who I was?"

"The first time you came in with Natasha Romanoff, you were pretty easy to recognize. Don't worry, I won't sell you out. I've always been on your side."

Steve looked at her seriously "Not always on my side if you wrote a report about Bucky." He teased.

"I seem to recall you always being on the same side. I noticed you never bring him in, is he ok?"

Steve nodded, touched by her warmth and concern "Yeah, he's uh somewhere safe, getting help to get rid of the Hydra programming."

She smiled "I'm glad he's being cared for. What about you? Are you taking care of yourself?"

He sighed "Not many opportunities for that on the road. I'm more concerned about my friends, if we were caught....."

He left off and looked at his hands, not wanting to contemplate that possibility.

Y/N reached out to touch his cheek gently, smiling when he leaned into her hand, and pulled his face up to look at her. "You'll be in just as much trouble as they will." She cupped his other cheek "You need to take care of yourself too."

Steve closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying her soft touch. Feeling sparks where her skin touched his, a stirring in his groin making a small moan slip out. When he realized it, his eyes snapped open and looked into hers.

His eyes darted around the room, confirming that no one else was in the bar before he leaned forward until his lips brushed hers, his eyes fluttering closed.

Y/N could feel her heart racing, was Captain America really kissing her in a pub in Ireland? She moved her hand from his face to the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

He smiled into the kiss and teased her lips with his tongue which she accepted and the kiss intensified until they were both out of breath.

Steve pulled back, smiling "I've been wanting to do that since the first night I came in."

She tskd him "And we've been wasting all this time? For shame Captain."

He leaned in to kiss her again before she put a finger on his lips. "I'm actually still on the clock but closing in an hour. If you want to hang out until I'm done, we can get some food and eat at my place." She asked holding her breath. She hadn't taken many men home since she stopped here but how could she not.

His grin grew and he blushed bright red as he nodded "Yes, absolutely."

They spent that night talking, getting to know each other in between making out and discovering each other's bodies.

The next few weeks they spent as much time together as possible, both dreading the time when he would have to move on.

One night a month after they first kissed, Steve came later than usual and she could tell he had something on his mind.

After she gave him his drink he grabbed her hand and looked at her sadly. She knew before he said anything. "You have to go, don't you?"

He tried to keep the tears in his eyes from falling and couldn't find the words so just nodded. After a few minutes he composed himself and spoke softly "I'm so sorry. I never meant. I can't find the words."

She nodded sympathetically and held his hand "I know Steve it's alright."

"No" he shook his head "It's not alright. None of this situation is alright but my time with you has been the only real peace I've had in, well ever really."

He pulled his hand away and stood suddenly "I'm sorry but I have to go. I'll try to come back soon."

She stood up and went up the stairs. When she came back she was on her phone. She finished her call and looked at Steve with a smile on her face, then grabbed his hand, a backpack in the other hand "So let's go."

Chapter 2

[homestuckreplay]

GRAND SNACK FUCKYEAH: Radioactive DLC

(page 679-695)

9/23/2009 Wheel Spin: Dramatic Irony Verdict: There's A Light Dusting

9/24/2009 Wheel Spin: Movie Reference Verdict: Movies Aren't This Good

I found that the 500s in pages dragged a little, but the 600s have honestly FLOWN by. Getting 32 pages in 4 days doesn’t hurt that. The Wayward Vagabond is such a fun character to read about, and also to look at - a little guy wrapped up in rags with only their beady, darting eyes exposed is the absolute peak of character design.

As well as being fun, I’m wondering what this WV section is doing for the story. After cycling through three human teenagers with lives that are strange but still grounded in reality, what does it mean for the story to be taken over by someone who’s not human, isn’t living in our time and place, and doesn’t hit the typical beats of ‘having a name,’ ‘having interests’ or ‘having a family member’? What does it mean for someone who previously gave story commands to become their recipient? What does it mean in a story called ‘Homestuck’ to suddenly center a character who is defined by their ability to wander?

In part, I think this is establishing mechanics for temporality and causality in the story. In much the same way that Homestuck took time to establish inventory and alchemy mechanics, we are now seeing the ability of the future to impact the past. (And all three of these mechanics relate to programming – you can tell this story was written by a computer science major). WV’s world is a future state of something, possibly Earth – although this could be leaving room for another twist – and it seems like their interactions with the Sburb terminal and possibly the bunker in general will contribute to causing this state. It raises more questions about how WV’s actions in the future will intertwine with John, Rose, Dave and GG’s actions in the present to cause this future, and if it is definite, or if it can be avoided.

WV’s perspective also zooms the story out further. Act 1 began by zooming in very close on John Egbert in a single location at a single moment, but Act 2 has zoomed out to show other people’s lives, across space, time, and even species – the only link between them being Sburb, this all encompassing throughline of the story. Going from John’s very real and relatable experiences (for many), to Rose and Dave whose lives are less likely to match those of any given reader’s, to WV’s post-apocalyptic location and alien biology, feels like a story signposting that things are constantly getting weirder and further away from reality.

The mentions of the etiquette book being eaten (p.679) and inquiries regarding a can opener (p.682) neatly clarify where we are relative to John’s timeline, so we can slide quickly onward to what WV gets up to when they’re not playing games on the computer. And that something is constructing a beautiful world made of and for cans, where cans of all contents can live safe and happy lives, celebrating the best mayor a can could ask for.

It’s SO good, and it’s so reminiscent of games I played as a kid. It makes me wonder if any of our other characters played games like this when they were younger – I think John, Rose and Dave are on a borderline generationally as to whether they’d be more likely left to entertain themselves or more likely surrounded by technology and activities. I can definitely imagine Rose playing pretend games, left alone to explore a huge house with her love of books and creative writing.

Regrettably, most of WV’s troupe of diverse citizen cans are foods that are actually sold canned, though some are more appetizing than others. I couldn’t find any evidence of mayonnaise being sold in a traditional can, although to my horror it has been sold in a spray can.

Common Can Items: BEANS, GRAVY, SHRIMP, ASPARAGUS, RICE, CORN, PEAS, HAM, POTATOES Rare Can Items: MUSTARD, BREAD, CHEESE, FLOUR, CHESTNUTS, SQUASH Legendary Can Items: MAYO

Can Town feels like a distraction from some more important foreshadowing that’s being done around it, and it works as a distraction because Can Town is the coolest shit ever and I would like to build it too. However, here’s a few other things I think will be important in future.

WV’s knife is ‘an old rusted one of those red mailbox arm-swing flappy doodads’ (p.683) while the ‘little red arm-swingy-dealy thing’ of John’s mailbox was highlighted on p.28. Are these from the same mailbox?

WV discusses their hatred of kings (p.687) with a black king chess piece stamped over their head. WV has probably had a previous run-in with the king of the ‘kingdom entrenched in darkness’ (p.424) which has led to their being a runaway.

WV finds four objects conveniently placed in a circle at one end of the bunker (p.688) – a firefly encased in amber, a can of motor oil, a box of chalk, and a nugget of uranium. These potentially all have use in this bunker – firefly to provide light, motor oil to open the storage units(?), chalk to track time(?), uranium to power the battery – some of those feel like a reach, but I’m guessing these objects will have other relevance later.

WV has a favorite color!! They eat a green-stemmed pumpkin (p.668), a potted plant (p.678), the uranium nugget (p.689) and two green sticks of chalk (p.691). Previously, WV said that a potted vegetable in John’s kitchen ‘LOOKS DELICIOUS’ (p.277) and that ‘THE GREEN TEXT WAS ATTRACTIVE’ (p.294), referring to GG’s messages. Eating the green things always happens so fast after noticing them that it loos instinctual. This inability to hold back from eating green things might be deployed for plot reasons later.

[gophergal]

Author Commentary - I Know Where to Look (Chapter 1)

Howdy y'all! I just posted the first chapter of my first tf2 fic, and figured that rambling about my thought processes from writing it would be fun. So, enjoy?

Welcome to my first Author Commentary post!

Regardless of if anyone other than my best bud (and partner in word crimes) @cursed—alien read these going forward, I thought it would be fun to explain references and thoughts from the process of fic writing. These are the sort of thing I love to know about my favorite art. I’m a great lover of artist interviews (specifically the ones where the artist in question explains the development of the concept and reasoning for the techniques they use) and an avid reader of author’s notes, so I hope that if anyone reading my fic is like me that they will enjoy this addition to the story.

Formatting

I feel that the most notable thing about this fic is that, despite being rated as explicit, every explicitly sexual scene is under a cut. Why do this instead of just making the scenes fade to black or formatting it in a standard manner? Because, dear reader, I have had the experience of reading explicitly rated fic solely for the buildup to the smut scenes. I experience fluctuations between sex favorability to neutrality, all the way to aversion. When I’m feeling uncomfortable with explicit sexual content, I often wish there was a way to just skip those scenes entirely. But on the other hand, I also acknowledge that sex scenes CAN have narrative and character importance. For the specific dynamic that Corey and I envisioned for Red Oktoberfest- that being a relationship that starts as professional and sexual before becoming emotionally involved, those scenes would be a shame to ignore entirely on my part.

Behaviors and thoughts during sexual intimacy are rich with characterization, and I wanted to be able to express that. So, the best of both worlds, to me, was to have a second layer of opting in to reading those scenes. I may have to redo them later, however, because the way I had to go about it doesn’t work with pdf downloads and likely isn’t screen reader accessible. My current thoughts in regards to those problems is to encourage folks to download as some other format, and eventually create a podfic of this story.

Headcanons Involved

Something you may notice about this is the amount of headcanon I’m trying to cram into it. To be frank, I use most fic writing as a vehicle with which to go “look at my headcanons, boy”, so this isn’t surprising.

The first of which I would like to note is Heavy’s love of pulp romance. I couldn’t tell you why I first thought of it, but it’s grown on me like moss. Mikhail is a lover and a fighter. To me. In my heart. He views all art for what it is, and values the stories themselves pretty equally. The only important difference between the two books he’s carried with him from Russia and the pulp he’s collected in the US is sentimentality.

Speaking of those books, why the two I picked? Brothers Karamazov is a pretty obvious choice. It’s a classic and widely studied. Tsar Hunger by Leonid Andreyev, however was actually mentioned by name in Poker Night At The Inventory. In one conversation, Tycho asks Heavy what his favorite book is, to which he replies that he “prefers war.” Eventually, though, he does end up saying that he likes Tsar Hunger. I wanted to know if this was just a book picked at random, or if it actually meant something about Telltale’s interpretation of Heavy’s character. After all, the tumblr side of the fandom LOVES Heavy’s PhD in Russian Literature. It was. A BITCH. To find any information about that book. There isn’t a goodreads page for it. Or a wikipedia. Or even an amazon page selling copies. Like, what the fuck? Eventually, I found that the Internet Archive has it available to borrow by the hour. The particular copy that was archived was originally from the University of Texas and has a fabric cover. So no synopsis.

At this point I was thinking “oh my fucking god I’m two hours into this research process,” and decided I wouldn’t be reading King Hunger. I’ve skimmed it a bit and, filling in the blanks with some guesses based on the information Wikipedia provided about the author, it’s a symbolic/expressionist criticism of the monarchy, but one which also criticizes bloody revolution. Please take that with a pound of salt though. Once again, I spent a solid three hours getting to that amount of understanding.

This actually leads me to discussing another element that’s important to my interpretation of Heavy. Namely, who is father was. On r/TF2, I constantly see people arguing back and forth whether its fine to joke about Mikhail being “Heavy Communism Guy” or if that’s a gross misunderstanding since his father was declared a counterrevolutionary. (Meanwhile these same dimwits are happily joking about Medic being a member of a certain fascist regime, but I digress)

Personally, I think Mikhail’s father (who I will be calling Ivan Melnyk going forward, as I headcanon Heavy’s full name to be Mikhail Ivanovich Melnyk) was counterrevolutionary, but not anti-communist. That venn diagram isn’t just a circle my friends. In political matters, it’s very easy to get stuck in black and white thinking- and that’s fair for large matters- but, when it comes down to how people believe they should go about making changes, that’s where you get in-fighting between allied groups.

More clearly, I believe that Ivan was a man who believed in progress and common good, but found disproportionate violence distasteful. And he would have tried to impart those values on his son. However, Ivan’s death and his family’s imprisonment would really sour that for Mikhail. It adds a level of complexity where he is both someone who hates senseless violence (see: the sparrow story in Poker Night), but is extremely wrathful (see: the engineer story in Poker Night).

Switching gears, let’s talk respawn. Personally, I like the idea of it as something that exists in universe, rather than just being a game mechanic in the Documentary Video Game About the Gravel Wars. It adds some more leeway for goofy shit the mercs can get up to while also opening up more avenues for mentally trauma. Angst my beloved.

Respawn

Respawn, in my mind, works by teleporting the remains to a mechanism that then recycles the matter into a pre-programmed form. I imagine that this is updated every day for the TF2 mercs, but only by the week or month for the Classic era systems. Upon exiting respawn, subjects may experience “respawn sickness,” which includes symptoms of nausea, diziness, anxiety, sensitivity to light and sound, disorientation, soreness, ect. One can become accustomed to respawn over time, and this is expedited by the modern systems, but some might remain sensitive to respawn even after years of use.

TFI standard protocol is to switch respawn systems over to the older system in order save money and perform diagnostics/maintenance without risking the permanent death of one of their “specialists.”

Another book note

The passage Heavy reads at the end is from a novella called Special Nurse by Lucy Agnes Hancock. It is Yet Another book I haven’t read, but decided to reference. Originally, I had wanted to reference a Harlequin Romance published in 1960-63, as I really didn’t want to include that flavor of anachronism. Dont fucking ask me why, but it mattered to me. However, the vast majority of what I could find online to read was published between 1975 and 1998. There were three books that technically fit my requirements, but the two from 1961 were either vacation romance or noble romance. Which just didn’t fit the vibe I was looking for. And the one from 1963 was published in November of that year. Which would have been fine, but I envisioned this chapter taking place in late May or early June.

In the late 40’s to mid 60’s Harlequin published SOOOOO many hospital romances. And this amused me, so I desperately wanted Heavy to be reading one. But I searched multiple times and just. Couldn’t find any that I could skim through. Fuck, dude, I couldn’t even find samples or excerpts. I COULD BARELY FIND SYNOPSES. I got desperate and dug through my mom’s old romance novel collection and lo and behold, there it was. Special Nurse. It’s not Harlequin (published by Pocket Books) and it wasn’t technically from 60-63 (originally published in 1948, but received 5 print runs from 1950-19060. Mine is from August 1960), but it WAS A DOCTOR ROMANCE. HUZZAH.

Dear fucking lord why do I do this shit to myself ahhhhhhhh

[ethicaltreatmentofcowplants]

Bachelorette Form

final edition. just getting myself organized - nothing to see here ;)

Contestant

Name: Include any nicknames Age Group: Young Adult preferred, but the odd Adult is fine. Pronouns: Any Orientation: They should have women listed as one of their preferences to have a chance with the bachelorette, but other than that, anything goes. Hometown: If applicable Occupation: If applicable Skills: Please set skills to zero, as skillbuilding will be part of their total. I will allow VAMPIRE LORE for vampires, then subtract their level from their total. (Ie. if Caleb Vatore has a 10 in Vampire Lore and and 17 total skill points, he will have 10 subtracted and only 7 skill points added to his total.) If you already have skills, don't sweat it. I'm fairly certain I can use UI Cheats to remove them. Traits: One negative trait at minimum. No romantic traits. Nothing from Lovestruck as I do not have that pack. I’m pretty flexible with what constitutes a ‘negative’ trait (anything from ‘clumsy’ to ‘evil’) but just for the sake of having a diverse cast, one is encouraged.  Also since skill building is included in their total, some bonus traits are allowed (ie. 'physically/mentally gifted') but if I feel that the amount is excessive and will overbalance them too much, I may ask to remove a few. Aspiration: No romantic aspirations. Life State: If occult, list what level they are (runt, acolyte, etc). No aliens allowed. Likes: No set amount, just try and have a balance. These may impact where they go on solo dates so please try and include some hobbies 😉 Dislikes: No set amount, just try and have a balance. Gifts: Depending on rolls, your contestant may have the opportunity to give the bachelorette a present (no, your 'eggplant' or 'peach' doesn’t count 😘). List three inventory items in order of preference that your pixel puppet would select. [LILAC'S BIO with likes and dislikes] Misc: Anything not covered above.

In Depth: This is where to leave a bio/backstory (both optional) and to give us Watchers a feel for the contestant beyond their stats. Feel free to include why they entered the competition in the first place. I will read as much or as little as you choose to write!

Other: This Watcher is a relative cc novice, so please try and keep it Maxis Match for the sake of my hard drive and to a minimal/modest amount (I’d recommend prioritizing hair, jewelry, skin details and tattoos). No skin, eye defaults etc please.

They can have more than one outfit per category, but the less cc, the better. I may be adding additional outfits for themed events so please use OUTFIT 1 in each category as their ‘default’.

In terms of vanilla items, I have all cas packs & kits installed except for Luxury Party and Lovestruck. If you are purely a vanilla player, I can also give your Sims a slight cc glow up if requested.

Watcher

Are you comfortable with your pixel person:

Flirting with other contestants? (The bachelorette will have the ‘player’ trait cheated and her boundaries set to no jealousy, so it will not impact your sim’s relationship with her.) [Y/N]

WooHooing other contestants? [Y/N]

Flirting with/and or woohooing NPCs?  [Y/N]

Flirting with the host?  [Y/N]

Changes to traits via gameplay prompts? (ie. Evil to Good, depending on what your Sim does, or adding traits)  [Y/N]

(Humans Only) Becoming an occult?  [Y/N]

(Werewolves Only) The Fated Mate mechanic? (If a werewolf ends up winning the challenge, I will cheat out that sentiment)  [Y/N]

please send your pixel to me in a sfs zip file - i may have to take my ea account offline to avoid updates ;)

[blossom-sims]

Jam Legacy Generation 4 - Plum

You’ve always believed that the universe has the answers to the questions you’ve always wondered. Like why is the sky blue? What really happened to Bella Goth? Was my parent really killed for the insurance money or the inheritance of the ranch? Sometimes these questions are left unanswered which is why you investigate the truth, supernatural or not, because it is waiting out there to be solved. Might as well document it for the views. 

Plum Recipe:

Private Investigator

LTW - Pervasive Private Eye

Skills: Logic & Social Networking

Have a sour relationship with living parent

5 Star Blog

1 Death Flower in inventory and beat death once

1 Death Cure

Be turned into a supernatural

Be abducted by aliens

[snailsdraw]

[Start ID: 4 more pages of HLVRAI doodles about Darnold joining the Science Team and Half-Life creatures. Warning for blood in the 4th page.

Before the Science Team leaves the Mixology Department Lab, Darnold has to arm himself. He holds a conical flask and wine bottle with a silly straw stuck through the cork, both containing sleep potion, looking around: "Hmm…I'll need somewhere to store these…something…" He spots a box of decorations on the nearby shelf and his eyes light up: "Oh!" He picks it up with a delighted "Aha!" and sets it down on his lab table. "I know everyone's been telling me to stow these away somewhere, but I always knew we'd need them someday," he says, beginning to rifle through the contents and past a coil of fairy lights until he finds what he's looking for and exclaims, "Ah, there we go!"

He raises a transparent glass bulb ornament with a string attached on top out of the box with a huge grin. Later, he proudly shows off the now sleep-potion-filled glass bulbs hanging from a belt he's since buckled around his waist. He now has a defense weapon he can throw at hostile creatures to knock them out without killing them. Bonus drawing: Gordon is disturbed by how Darnold seems to never run out of his potion-bulbs even though he's been slinging them consistently. "How do you keep replenishing those so quick?? Weren't you just out???" he asks. The four potion-bulbs strapped to Darnold's belt haven't gone down in numbers despite having taken two in his hands. He looks at Gordon, puzzled: "I have an inventory, Dr Freeman. Don't…don't you have one?"

Separate scenario: Benrey shoots a reproachful look at the Snark creature he's holding in his hand, his other hand it bit held away from it: "ow, aw wuh the hell bro, no biting." The one-eyed, bug-like alien hisses at him, ready to go again. Benrey begins shoving the Snark into his mouth, only delayed in progress by the angry, screeching creature holding itself back with its two hooked front legs. Gordon yells at him: "Wh- DON'T FUCKIN' EAT IT?!!"

Separate scenario: Darnold holds up a docile Spore Launcher, the puppy-sized, toothy, lungfish-like creature quiet in his hands. It has a smooth rounded skull crowned by spikes, two spindly front legs, gills along its side and trailing tentacles. Darnold looks at it, the nervousness melting from his face. His mouth turns up in a little smile: "H-huh, I…You might just be the only thing that hasn't tried to kill me today..." Extra drawing: Darnold, with the right side of his head sprayed with blood and wearing a tight-lipped smile, pets the Spore Launcher cradled in his arms to soothe himself as fighting and gunshots ring out around him.

End ID.]

Previous parts to the Darnold saga found here: [Part 1.]

I love Spore Launcher so much *hands it gently to Darnold* your emotional support, sir.

Thanks to my friend for imparting to me the wonderful knowledge of Half Life creatures <3 [heart] (you know who you are >:))

[ts2cambremon]

ROS (Random Occurence Scenarios)

For extra mayhem and the introduction of a little randomness to gameplay, nothing like an ROS!

Here is the one I've been using for my game, heavily inspired by a lot of great ROS out there, but tweaked to suit my game. In case it can be helpful for anyone, here it is! It's a d12+d6 roll:

-> 1

CONFLICT : war with another faction

PESTILENCE : make 3 people sick

PLAGUE : make 5 people sick

PENITENCE : to atone for bad deeds, a Sim willingly joins the Monastery for d10 days and makes a sizeable donation

NEW PET : create a new pet

LOOTING : bandits take all goods in inventory+cash, lower relationships with members of the household

-> 2

FOREIGN ENVOY : create a merchant/ambassador

SETTLERS : create new Free-folk family

SURGE OF MAGIC : one random person becomes supernatural

DISAMOURED : break up a couple

NEWCOMER f : create an NPC

PRISONER : bandits take a person hostage and ask for ransom

-> 3

THIEVING : a playable low class Sim takes 5 things from household

ROTTEN WATER : the well becomes unusable for a season

FIRE : fire breaks out, let it spread 3 tiles before fighting it

SNOWSTORM : stuck inside for 2 days, venturing outside is death

SPIDER ATTACK : combat roll for survival chances, scars, if mage, chance of reward

ANIMAL SICKNESS : all lifestock dies

-> 4

TREE ROT : all trees must be cut down in 3h or otherwide have to be deleted

LENIENCY : can avoid paying rent for 1 day

PILGRIMAGE : entire household goes to a community lot to pray

FOUND TREASURE : one person in the family finds a hidden treasure of 20K

SUDDEN WISDOM : a Sim gets 5 skill points to distribute

LEVYING : taxes are doubled for a day

-> 5

FERTILITY : a Sim in the family has twins

SPECIAL GUEST : someone joins the household

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE : if Serf : freed, if other : jump to upper class, if Mage : give gift to lower class

FOUND HEIRLOOM : a Sim acquires a rare object

BOUNTY OF WOOD : 10 wood stacks added

BOUNTY OF FOOD : 10 foodstuff added

-> 6

CAPTIVE : add a Serf to the clan

PLANT ROT : all crops die

FEASTING DAY : organize a party with music and 3 dishes

WOLF ATTACK : summon wolves, roll for chance of death/becoming a werewolf

REJUVENATING : add 3 days of life to a Sim

FALSELY ACCUSED : a conflit erupts with the Sim with the lowest relationship score

-> 7

DEADLY ACCIDENT : a Sim dies

BLOODLUST : a Sim must kill another within the season

CAUGHT A SPECIAL GOOSE : obtain the goose with the golden eggs

CAUGHT A RUNAWAY BEAST : obtain a farm animal

BRAIN WORMS : obtain Insane trait, randomize personality points, aspiration failure, gain friendship with a spirit

TASTES CHANGE : change turns on/off and aspiration

-> 8

CHARITABLE : make a sizeable donation to a needy serf or to the Monastery

SERVICES RENDERED : gain 5K+ friendship with Starschin or Intendant

SEDITION : Sim becomes enemy with 1 Sim of upper rank and badmouths them

NEW LOOK : change clothes + makeover

SPECIAL DRUGS : maxmotives+motivedecay off for 1 season, d2 roll for aspiration failure at the end of the season

BANISHED : 1 Sim is banished from the clan, becomes wolfshead

-> 9

NEW MEMBER : a Sim from the household must join a group (Watch, The Blades, Brothel, Monastery, Secret Society (if available), Merchant Guild (if available))

QUARANTINE : 1 Sim is stuck inside for 1 season

PREMATURE : 1 Sim ages up (closest to birthday)

PRISON : 1 Sim is locked up by the Guards or a Mage

SACRIFICE : 1 Sim is designated for sacrifice

CLAIMED BY THE SPIRITS: alien abduction

-> 10

UNWITTING INSULT : enemy with a Mage, must build up the relationship to a friendship within 1 day or be sacrificed

WIDE HIPS : have a child with a Mage

UNLIKELY FRIEND : become friend with someone from another class

BLESSING : gain 10 skill points to distribute and 2 badges

ALLIANCES : contract a marriage between your child (or younger family member) and a friend’s child, throw engagement party

GIFTS : get 10 ingredients from catalogue

-> 11

BLACKMAIL : either blackmail another Sim or be blackmailed by another Sim

REUNITED : organize a family get-together, if no extended family, throw a big party

CORRUPTION : must give a member of the Watch 10K or face (legitimate?) detention

HIDDEN TALENT : 1 Sim gains a badge

SAILOR’S CALL : a Sim from the household must become a sailor (if river or sea travel is available)

LOCALISED CONFLICT : initiate a conflict with a neighbour over property/behaviour of children

-> 12

LOST HERD : add d10 farm animals, roll again d4 : 1 : owners never found 2 : nearest neighbour is owner, claims them- can give the herd back or refuse 3 : owners are passing merchants (if manage to keep herd inside for 5 days, the herd is yours) 4 : if Mage/Watch walk-bys for next 5 days, hand over the animals to serfs on magelands

CURSE : go into aspiration failure

NEWCOMER m : create an NPC

ASYLUM : hunted down or persecuted, claim asylum in the Monastery

LOYALTY : add 10 customer stars/make a friend linked to occupation

IMMORTALISED : get a portrait done

[kiwioala]

so many thoughts abt etoiles and the code i can't put into words but 1 thing i can't get off my mind is how i'm curious to know if the codes want their shit back because arin is returning to the server ?

we know via arin's messages that he's trying to make his way back to the server and with the alien structure randomly appearing behind luzu's house, i wouldn't be surprised if it was a result of arin trying to "open a door" like he said:

"a door is opening"

"i have to escape"

also, in his recent binary messages, he frequently talks about a "they," a they in which we can safely assume is the codes based on the way he's talked about them in the past. especially so when you consider the fact that he mentioned the codes being after him and trying to keep him from being in/returning to this dimension:

previously (2023-04-14):

recently (2023-09-02):

"they won't be able to keep me"

"i see them watching us"

the message arin sent saying that there's something "watching us," i'm starting to wonder if he meant the codes or the "hidden danger" at this point. purely because there's just so much proof that the codes has been watching the members as of late. firstly, the one code that was watching the egg hotel and taking pictures. as well as it having pictures of the eggs and their families in their inventory. then, today with etoiles finding distorted images of various islanders at the new alien structure in it's inventory:

like it can't be a coincidence that so many things on the island having talked about being watched and today etoiles finds pictures of the islanders in the codes inventory once again. plus the code just monitoring the new structure.. literally just lingering around and not necessarily attacking anyone (besides like punching etoiles a few times) sus

[colinlegameboy]

Yammering About Dropsy

As a writer, I love to see innovative ways of telling stories, through any medium, but especially video games. I'm also a big fan of point and click adventure games, a genre that hinges on story to work properly. Dropsy is great at both of these things.

There is no proper dialogue in Dropsy. Instead it is entirely hieroglyphics. This works for the most part, but there are a couple that didn't convey themselves properly- For example, the hieroglyphic for "job" was a sign man digging a hole. I, and I have to guess others, initially thought it just meant "dig". I dunno how you'd convey that better, admittedly.

That said, there is a language in Dropsy- Its own alphabet, spelling out words in I believe English in various spots in the game. I'm sure there's game theorists who delight in going back through and translating every instance of actual words, but I'm not one of those people.

As for the actual story told? It's really good. A lot of really emotional moments and heartstring tugging, very palpable stakes, and uh... We'll get to how I feel about the rest later.

Let's briefly touch on the gameplay, which... I mean, it's your basic inventory object puzzle point and click. Pick up everything that isn't nailed down, use it on the environment. The main difference is that 90% of the puzzles are entirely optional- They only serve as a form of side quest that rewards you with making happy, which is a good reward. That said, you really can just zoom through the game if you want, but from what I understand there is some form of light narrative punishment for it.

Speaking of narrative... Spoilers follow. Not just for Dropsy, but for the first season of Superman and Lois. You'll, uh. You'll understand in a bit.

OK, so. Dropsy's ending is foreshadowed pretty well- Something weird and scifi is happening in this small town, and poor Dropsy is just bumbling into the mystery in hopes of curing his dad. Once you do so, he tells Dropsy that he is essentially Superman in terms of his origin story- Alien baby crashlands on Earth and is found by childless couple. Also, turns out, the CEO who wants to hire you is actually evil (shocker). But it goes a bit deeper than that.

After looking it up online, because it is NOT clear without further context, it turns out that the CEO is Dropsy's half brother who was also sent to Earth, but as banishment for killing his father and brother and trying to usurp the throne of the planet they're both from.

So... Yeah. Bit of an escalation there. Here's the thing, though- It mirrors the plot twist of Superman and Lois Season 1 almost exactly.

In Superman and Lois, the evil CEO Morgan Edge turns out to be Superman's half brother, who was sent away and instructed to rebuild Krypton on Earth by being a jackass about it.

You... Can see where I'm going with this, right?

I want to stress that Dropsy was released first, way back in 2015. Superman and Lois Season 1 came out in 2021. I don't know if it was on purpose, or a complete and utter coincidence, but Dropsy ripped off Superman, only for Superman to turn around and rip off Dropsy.

That is just insane to me. And whatever my feelings about this game (they are positive, let me stress), I will never be able to think about it again without thinking of this insane connection. Just wild.

[xf-cases-solved]

S1E10: Fallen Angel

Case: A meteor crashes outside of Townsend, Wisconsin. Or maybe it was a downed Libyan fighter jet. Or maaaaybe it was a... dun dun... UFO? (It was a UFO)(Probably) Mulder goes to investigate without clearance, a plan, or his partner/carrier of his only brain cell, and ends up captured, leading to Scully picking him up from jail for the second time in five episodes. Before that, though, he meets Max—a nomadic UFO fanatic who may be suffering from psychosis or possibly the effects of being repeatedly abducted without his knowledge, and is the only part of this episode I care about. Mulder wants to prove the crash was a UFO before the government erases all the evidence, meanwhile Scully wants desperately for Mulder not to lose his fucking job. Will things all work out in the end? (no) Will they get the answers they seek? (also no) And will the audience be any closer to unraveling the mystery being spun? (absolutely not)

Does someone die in the cold open: Yes. All we see, as the man screams in agony while losing his life, is a giant flash of light, leaving me to assume that he was killed by the LED headlights on some asshole's pickup truck.

Does Mulder present a slideshow: No, this was one of those "my informant sent me here with very little context and I kind of just do whatever I'm told bc at this point I'm desperate for any crumb of information" episodes.

Does the evidence survive the investigation: There never was any evidence, and if you don't want to be sent to the reeducation center in Area 51 you'll agree with me.

Whodunit: -vague gesturing toward the government or mb aliens-

Convictions: I'm pretty sure Mulder had to have broken at least a couple laws, not just Bureau policy, and technically he was arrested, but afaik he wasn't charged with anything, so. Nah.

Did they solve it: No, but they leveled up in experience points and added Max to their inventory.

[how do i determine if a case is solved? check the scale here: x]

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: Fisheye lenses. Is your character having supernatural flashbacks, being chased by an invisible alien, and/or is maybe having a psychotic break? Are you filming from the perspective of A Creature? Do you need to indicate that things are Wonky and Weird but it's the 90s and you're on a first season budget? Look no further than fisheye lenses!

***

General Total Stats:

(green means stat has changed since last ep; red means new stat added to list)

Total Cases *Definitively* Solved So Far: 3

Total Number of "Mulder/Scully, it's me" phone calls: 1

Total Number of Times Scully Has Conveniently Not Seen Something Crucial: 4 (in her defense, i was barely watching either)

Total Number of Times Mulder Has Been in Mortal Danger: 2 (not upping the stat because i don't think they ever really planned to kill him, and the fisheyed alien ghost wanted Max, not him)

Total Number of Times Scully Has Been in Mortal Danger: 3

Total Number of Sexually Charged and/or Flirty Moments Between Friendly Coworkers: 5 (Scully was too gd annoyed with Mulder to do any flirting)

Total Number of Autopsies Scully Has Performed On Screen: 1 (though she did get to play doctor—in a literal way, not sexy roleplay way—and that's always fun. maybe i'll make that a stat)

Total Number of Times Scully Plays Doctor: 1 (if i missed any before this episode, no i didn't)

Total Number of Times Mulder Talks to an Informant: 5 (though it was technically a flashback, but it was a flashback to something we'd never seen so)

Total Number of Nosebleeds: 4

Total Number of Times Someone Says "Trust No One": 1 (i sat here for a while trying to remember if anyone else had said it before Max, and i am almost certain they haven't. if i'm wrong, then idk, stone me to death or something)

Total Number of Cigarettes Cigarette Smoking Man Has Smoked: 2

Total Number of Alex Krycek Sightings: 0 :(

Total Number of Times I Had to Look Up What State the Episode Takes Place in Even Though I Literally Just Watched It: 3 (yeah, not even an inkling of an idea of where this was until i looked it up)

Total Number of Times I Had to Look at an Episode's Wikipedia Page to Fill This Out Because It Was Fucking Confusing and/or Too Boring for Me to Pay Attention: 2 (i had spent so much time worrying about Space that I forgot about Fallen Angel. this episode was both boring AND fucking confusing, so yeah, wikipedia answered a lot of the above)