#And I should also wrap the science team up into it too

[bonefall]

What are the breeds of the dogs that Tigerstar sicked on Thunderclan?

Honestly I didn't really give it much thought, but if I had to pick what they'll be in BB, I'd want to choose non-bullies. Most folks choose rottweilers or pits because they're "scary" but I like to buck trends.

Also, for BB, I've got a thing going on where I make "mixes" of real breeds or just make up new ones. I should start doing that for more than just felines. Beyond the limited setting of the Clan cats, I'm in LOVE with the idea of world history being slightly different because cats are so intelligent.

Butterfly effect and OOPS the holstein cow never existed <3 good timeline <3

WAIT HANGON what if they're Talbot Hounds. The extinct dog breed featured in manuscripts

Oure Good Dogge.

[theresattrpgforthat]

Games with an atypical division of Player/GM responsibilities? For example, in Fellowship, the players have final say in lore/world building questions, not the GM. (Not counting GMless games, which have atypical GM duties by default)

Alternatively, if that's too niche: any games explicitly designed for rotating GMs and/or 'West Marches' style campaigns.

THEME: Unique Player Responsibilities / Rotating GMs

Hello there! I hope to do your ask justice, although I feel more at home talking about the first half of your question than the second. I’ll ask my followers to supply some more suggestions in the tags/reblogs, and throw at you what I have!

Fae’s Anatomy, by Hebanon Games.

Fae’s Anatomy is a comedic storytelling RPG wrapped around a challenging logic puzzle, recreating the high-stakes melodrama of medical procedurals like Grey’s Anatomy, House, and General Hospital. 

Anybody can be an expert in Fae’s Anatomy. The game is set in a world where all forms of magic, spirituality, and mysticism are science. Science? Just another form of wizardry. Quackary, superstition, and pseudo-science work, but so does chemotherapy, antibiotics, and sound medicine.

In many ways, I’d say Fae’s Anatomy feels like a typical ttrpg: you have one person giving hints and clues to the rest of the players, who will use certain skills and abilities to solve a problem. But the closest role to the GM role - the Patient - is simply different from the doctors in what limits them. The Patient is suffering from some kind of mysterious illness, and while they have a little bit of information available to their general illness, the app presented to them to help them run through the diagnosis keeps the solution obscured enough to keep them on their toes. The Patient also has to role-play their symptoms well enough to help point the doctors in the right direction. In some ways, it feels like Fae’s Anatomy is an elegant form of charades - and if you want to hear how this game plays, you can check out the special episodes that Lawful Great Adventures recorded using this game!

Apocalypse Keys, by Rae Nedjadi @temporalhiccup

The Doomsday Clock is ticking down and emotions run high as you and your team of DIVISION agents struggle to find the Keys before the villainous Harbingers unlock the Doors of Power and bring about the apocalypse.

As an Omen class monster, you are the only thing capable of holding back the apocalypse. Combat occult threats and investigate supernatural phenomena alongside your team of supernatural agents working for the shadowy DIVISION. But in a world that shuns monsters like you, only your deepest, most heartfelt bonds can grant you the power to stop those who seek to unlock Doom’s Door.

There are two ways in which Apocalypse Keys uniquely empowers the players in ways I consider slightly unorthodox. Firstly, there’s the fact that the lore of DIVISION, the shadowy government agency that holds your monsters leash, isn’t fully fleshed out at the beginning of play. It’s slowly uncovered with each mission and playbook advancement, with the players being presented with questions and workshopping the answers together.

Second is the mystery mechanic, which was popularized by Brindlewood Bay and The Between, and also made its way into games such as External Containment Bureau and Bump in the Dark. While the GM designs clues and thinks about what kinds of Harbingers might be responsible for this specific apocalypse, it’s up to the players to decide what the answer to the mystery actually is - and it’s the player’s roll that determines how accurate they are.

Brinkwood, Blood of Tyrants, by Far Horizons Co-Op.

Mask up. Spill blood. Drink the Rich.

The world is not as it should be. The rich feed, literally, upon the poor, as blood-sucking vampires who barely bother to conceal their horrific, parasitic nature. The downtrodden peoples of the world struggle under the burdens of rent, payable through the sweat of their labor or the blood of their veins. Evil has triumphed. Many have given in to despair. But all is not lost.

In Brinkwood, you take on the role of renegades, thieves, and rebels struggling for freedom and liberation in a castylpunk world controlled by vampires. Radicalized by tragedy, you have taken up arms and fled into the forests, where you were taken in by unlikely allies - the fae, forgotten creatures of myth - who offered a different path and the means to fight back against your oppressors. Masks, forged of old wood and older magic, are the final tool left to fight a war long ago lost. If you wear them, they will take their price, etching themselves upon your very soul. But they will also let you spill the blood of the rich and powerful vampires that now rule the land, and from that blood strengthen yourself and your movement.

There’s a lot of things about Brinkwood that I absolutely love, from the way the mask playbooks are meant to be swapped among the characters/players with every mission, to the slow but steady revolution that you build by fostering connections with various factions in the Bloody Isles. But for the purpose of this request, we need to talk about Your Exquisite Fae.

Your Exquisite Fae is the process by which the group collaboratively creates a faerie patron, otherworldly and uniquely powerful. It’s inspired by the game Exquisite Corpse, which has each player draw a piece of a drawing without knowing what the others have already created. In Your Exquisite Fae, the players receive answers to prompts written by other players but aren’t given hints as to what the context was - and then they elaborate on what those answers mean. For example, one player might state that the Fae has eyes that reflect the night sky, gleaming like a thousand distant starts. The second player might decide that those eyes see the deepest fears of the enemy, giving the group an advantage at finding weaknesses and secrets when spying on vampires.

Ars Magica, by Atlas Games.

Ars Magica is the award-winning roleplaying game by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein•Hagen about wizards and their allies in Mythic Europe. This flexible, deeply built world can support games that are historically accurate or fantasy-based, epic or small scale, political or personal.

Players work together to tell the story of their covenant — all of the magi, their companions, and grogs. This history can span decades. It might be heroic, tragic, or both in turn. The covenant could influence the entirety of Mythic Europe or the fates of a small corner of the world.

Spells will be cast. Duels won and lost. Houses may rise and fall. But magic is forever.

The last time I talked about this game, one of my followers pointed out that this was an incredibly complex game that was designed to accommodate rotating GMs. The game styles itself as a troupe-style game, which means you’re not just responsible for your mages, but also your companions and servants. If you want a game with complex relationships and big-picture conflicts, this might be the game for you.

Slugblaster, by Mikey Hamm.

In the small town of Hillview, teenage hoverboarders sneak into other dimensions to explore, film tricks, go viral, and get away from the problems at home. It’s dangerous. It’s stupid. It’s got parent groups in a panic. And it’s the coolest thing ever.

This is Slugblaster. A table-top rpg about teenagehood, giant bugs, circuit-bent rayguns, and trying to be cool.

It may look like a small thing, but during crew creation, each character playbook has specific roles in determining the crew’s resources and relationships. The Grit picks a faction that trusts the crew. The Guts chooses a faction that the crew has somehow annoyed. Each player draws a portal between the known multiverses, but the Smarts draws two. The Chill has final say over where you hang out when you’re not Slugblasting, and The Heart has final say over your crew name.

I’ve drawn direct inspiration from this setup in my own game that I’m playtesting, by giving each playbook final say over some element in the world, and I think it really boosts player agency and gives them control over the kind of story the group wants to tell.

Planedawn Orphans, by Sharkbomb Studios.

Planedawn Orphans is a campaign kit that helps you prepare a campaign for the fantasy role-playing game of your choice. It provides a flexible and versatile framework to start a campaign. The campaign kit will help you get started and provide structure and support, but some assembly is required.

Set in the Planar City, a strange melting pot that connects the vast diversity of the multiverse. You all play Planar Orphans stranded in this city, your original home worlds destroyed, corrupted or lost. A mysterious Patron has brought you together, provided you with a base of operations and tasked you to complete a Planar Key. This key will let you create a new plane for you and your fellow refugees. Your quest will bring you to exotic places filled with strange creatures and bizarre phenomena.

This isn’t a standalone rpg, but rather a campaign kit for whatever system you like - or even multiple systems! I’m recommending this toolkit because I’m actually planning to use it to run a series of rotating-gm games later this year, with a friend of mine. You’re building your own custom dimension by jumping into a series of vastly different worlds, and your home base is built collectively. There’s a lot of player agency and GM agency here, as players have plenty of control over their home dimensions (since they can’t ever go back) and the GMs can take turns designing custom worlds for the party to jump into. I definitely recommend checking it out.

Also Check Out

Asymmetrical Games Rec Post

[unblissfulawareness]

What do you think of ray as a character ?

I think Ray is a very complicated person. On the surface hes silly and flirty and overzealous and it doesn’t seem like there’s much to him apart from that.

I also think his intelligence is deeply underestimated and undermined by the way he gradually gets worse throughout the series because he’s so impressionable and those impressions are coming from teenagers, which probably comes from a lack of steady adult figures (save for one) and homeschooling for purposes of having him around to experiment on which I’m pretty sure falls under child abuse. He might not be the inventor but he understands how things work and picks up fairly quickly, enough to give detailed explanations and show some level of understanding to what Schwoz is saying even when it’s mostly science talk. I mean he grew up with a scientist so that doesn’t surprise me but again, highly underestimated in that regard.

I also think he’s really sad and afraid of being alone and that’s why he clings so desperately to his connection with Henry, but he’s also way too proud to admit it and his ego was the death of team danger whether or not anybody likes it. Keeping Henry out of school and giving no thought to his actual problems because of his “I didn’t graduate and I turned out fine” mentality. Being able to relate emotionally and offer solutions on even just a basic level probably could’ve saved him an extra year.

Ray is a character that knows no consequence and when he comes upon them he lashes out because he has no level of emotional maturity, didnt have a proper role model, and can’t pull himself out of a tantrum so he has to fight it out because he literally was trained to put all of his anger into his fists for the sake of others. The person who was supposed to protect him from the world as a kid subjected him to years of science and training and potentially lots of misogyny due to a lack of a mother figure and as a result, Ray is more than likely a carbon copy of all the worst aspects of his father, hence why he treats women the way he does and the line between good and evil rests solely on the back on anyone bold enough to reject him in any sense of the word.

I also think Ray truly believes he means well. He’s doing his best but unfortunately his best is not great. He’s irresponsible, apathetic, and self-pitying but he’s also the opposite of all of that and when wrapped into one person, it’s a display of black and white thinking that can confuse people on whether or not they should actually be dealing with it. Because sometimes the good outweighs the bad and when you grow up with that like Henry and Charlotte and Jasper, it’s hard not to idolize and take from it, and he does, to a degree, take advantage of that.

Tl;dr

I think Ray is an extremely flawed person who mostly acts in his own self interest but tries so hard to be someone worth looking up to.

[astro-duck]

I feel like I’ve been too hard on DT87, it’s not bad, it’s just not quite as good . Here’s some things I actually prefer about ‘87 to the reboot.

1) Triplets do more together

I think the biggest fault of DuckTales ‘17 was that Huey, Dewey and Louie didn’t do anything together towards the end. For a lot of Season 1, Dewey is keeping a secret from his brothers so he mostly interacts with Webby. In Season 2, Louie is doing his money arc which means he spent a lot of time not with his brothers and instead trying to make money. In Season 3 Huey spent a lot of time with team science, and ever individual storyline is getting wrapped up in the last 7 or so episodes so the triplets don’t get that much attention.

Even in the finale the triplets don’t interact much. Huey is separate from his brothers for like half the first episode, the entire 2nd episode and half the third episode. Honestly their reunion didn’t even matter that much because the episode’s focus was more on Scrooge.

Obviously they don’t need to do everything together, but I personally feel like for all the episodes the triplets got with all three of them together, we needed wayyyy more. They split up too many times for my liking, which is especially a shame because they interact so well when they are together. It would also make episodes like “Day of the Only Child!” (S1 E16) more impactful, because they would actually be getting some needed time apart, and the conclusion that they love each other but can still be their own people would be justified.

2) A little wackier

Just a little, but I think that wacky stuff should happen more often, especially to characters who aren’t the main cast. Like DT87 has a whole episode where Dufus has a superhero arc and it’s because of aliens evading the space police and the aliens talk like Yoda? Like, okay?

Or Gyro goes to the past and wants to be a knight but he can’t do he has to be a “gadget man”. And he just takes the triplets with him on accident? And he just makes a bath tub in to a Time Machine?? Idk I feel like DT17 just lacks some goofiness, not all the time, but sometimes.

3) All the kids are literally so cute

That’s really it. The whole gang is adorable in DT87, Webby and the boys in particular. Like absolutely I’d let them get away with their shenanigans look at those beady little eyes.

Also it’s really sweet how they like, are actually nice to people sometimes. I’ll just use the “Sir Gyro De Gearloose” again, but they won’t leave him in the past, even though they could return, because he’s their friend. But they’re worried that Uncle Scrooge might be worried?? They’re so sweet sometimes, it’s adorable.

That’s it

I still prefer the reboot, but the original has this charm to it that, while I wouldn’t sit down and binge, can still be appreciated. I love these little guys.

[miss-andromeda]

All's Fair in Love and Science

Chapter 1: The Very First Night

Andi has a freak encounter with some weird androids, which results in her meeting…turtles? And a rat? Ah, well, maybe they could help her find April.

~

"There you are." April smiled as Andi made it over to her. "I was about to call you again and ask if you were gonna stand me up."

Andi rolled her eyes with a little smile. "No need to send the SWAT team after me, April." She then smiled at April's father. "Hi, Mr. O'Neil. Long time no see."

"It has been. How've you been, Andi?" Kirby smiled at her, making her sigh defeatedly as they began walking.

"Defeated, sir. This new prototype has me being driven up the wall. I can't figure out a plausible way to have this laser gun I'm working on gain strength and momentum depending on the distance it's fired from. And what bothers me most is that I've been working on this for months on end, and yet..." She sighed quietly, wrapping her arms around her waist. "...I'm a certified genius. How can I not figure out something that should be as simple as programming a laser gun?" She glared at the sidewalk, scowling at nothing in particular. "I mean, if it was a nuclear bomb or a self-driving car, that would be different. Those kinds of things are notoriously hard, and I don't have a good amount of experience with stuff like that. But a laser gun? No, Andi Rhodes is incapable of doing that..."

April frowned at her in sympathy and put a hand on her shoulder. "You can't be too hard on yourself, Andi. You're not expected to have to solve something as crazy as world hunger. And besides, you call it simple but believe me, I could never do anything like that. I'm only passing trig because of you and your insistence to do practice problems whenever we do homework together."

Andi smiled the tiniest bit at that. "That's also because I took trig last year and can teach you everything, since Mrs. Biers is and was our teacher."

April beamed at her; clearly, she was succeeding if she could make Andi smile after a monologue like that. "My point is, you're the smartest person I've ever met in my life."

"Even more than I am, and I'm the psychologist." Kirby interjected, making Andi chuckle a bit. She couldn't exactly argue with a point like that, and she was not about to argue with someone that was clinically trained to analyze her brain.

April smiled at her father, then back at Andi and squeezed her shoulder gently. "You'll figure something out. I know it." She then let go of the girl's shoulder when they turned the corner.

~

Amid their conversation, four turtles were standing atop a building, silently scanning the area to ensure that no danger or crime was occurring - as well as getting a final view of the city.

Leonardo was the one to finally break the silence. "All right, guys. It's getting late. We should probably be heading home now." He was met with protests and groaning from his younger brothers, but he knew that Splinter would want them home by then. It was the middle of the night, and this trip was only meant to be a reward for them. He didn't want to abuse the privilege that Splinter had given them.

Right as they were about to turn around and leave their posts, Donatello gasped as he noticed the trio walking around the sidewalk, then pointed them out. "Guys! Look at that!"

Specifically, his gaze was fixed on the short girl in the pink sweater dress. She looked so pretty, and with the cardigan, she looked positively soft and sweet. And when he noticed her smiling at what her friend was saying, he felt his heart hammer against his plastron, his eyes go wide, and his jaw go slack. If he was in a comic, hearts would surely be forming out of his head.

He was smitten with her.

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen..."

"Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?" Raphael interrupted his brother's daydream as he stared at him incredulously. He had a very good point though. This was the first time that Donnie had ever seen this girl, and yet he was immediately in love with her? Give him a break. But to be fair, Donnie was always the hopeless romantic type out of the four of them.

Though that didn't really justify Donnie having feelings for this girl the first time he saw her, especially considering she didn't even know he existed and that he didn't even know her name.

Donnie huffed, his trance now entirely broken and his tone now assuming a more annoyed one. "My point still stands." He was about to go off on an hour-long tangent (long enough to make Raph want to be put out of his misery) before he noticed something...weird.

A white van pulled up in front of them, and three men (that looked exactly the same, almost like they were clones of each other) jumped out of the back, quickly cornering the three of them.

"What? What is this?" Kirby's tone was a mix of confusion and anger, while April looked entirely scared and Andi was doing her best to keep a straight face. But it was clear by the look in her eye that she was just as fearful, but also frustrated; the one time that she didn't bring any kind of weapon, it was the one and only time she ever got jumped.

Go figure.

"We've got to save them!" Donnie gasped at the three of them, already willing to jump into the fray. His main reason was that he hated seeing the look on the girls' faces as they were being cornered. But the more selfish side of him was saying to jump in only so that he could have a chance to talk to the girl with the caramel hair. If she was as cute as she looked, he had a feeling that he would do nothing short of completely crumble around her.

Leo gave him a pointed look to try and stop him. "Splinter's instructions were very clear. We're supposed to stay away from people...and bathrooms." He dramatically put his fists to his chin, but the point he was trying to make was deadly serious. He always took whatever Splinter said as the word to abide by just about 95% of the time. Being the eldest brother, he always felt that was the way of life; take whatever Splinter said as the word to live by. Was he a goody-two-shoes? Yes. But he would've rather lived that way instead of a label like a troublemaker, a rebel or a screw-up.

"I thought you wanted to be a hero? Since when do heroes ask for permission?" Raph was alluding to that stupid show "Space Heroes," the one Leo watched like it was a religion. He idolized Captain Ryan (almost as much as he idolized Splinter) and always took any opportunity he could to show off his prowess as a "hero." Plus, he had a good point. It felt a bit contradictory for Leo to want to obey Splinter's every word, but also proclaim he was a hero. And besides, it always felt good to be able to sass Fearless with a good point, rather than just a threat of violence.

"They don't, but-"

"Well, I'm going!" The looks of fear on the girls' faces became too much for Donnie to bear witness to. Plus, he always hated hearing Raph and Leo bicker like little kids. So he leaped off the building and into action. This prompted Raph and the youngest, Michelangelo, to follow suit. Leo sighed and shook his head ever so slightly. If anything ended up going wrong (which was very plausible now that they broke Splinter's #1 rule,) he was not going to be the one blamed. He finally gave in and jumped from the building to help.

April struggled against the grip of one of the clones, screaming for help for anyone that could hear. She gaped in horror as she witnessed her father rendered unconscious, then being tossed into the van like a sack of potatoes. She then struggled even harder when the clones remembered that they didn't need Andi, so they tossed her aside, making her slam against the wall and slump to the ground, pale and unconscious. "Andi!"

"Hey!" Raph engaged with one of the men, before delivering a hard punch. When the man stood back up and gave him the same deadpan stare as before, as if nothing happened to him, Raph scowled at him and revealed his sais. "Still standing, huh? Well, I'll fix that!"

The four of them fought like clumsy ducklings instead of a well-oiled machine. Constantly bumping into each other, hitting each other with their weapons...it was, frankly, an unmitigated disaster. Which was a bad move, considering that April and her father were basically in the midst of being kidnapped. And speaking of April-

"Hey! Cut it out! Ow!" She protested as she tried to fight off the clone that was still fighting to get her into the van.

Hearing her protests caught Donnie's attention, making him panic a bit. Out of desperation, he threw his bo staff at the clone, then caught April before she could hit the ground. When she glanced at him, he smiled to try and calm her down, but all she did was scream in fear. He couldn't say he really blamed her, but he still screamed in response as he dropped her out of panic. When he realized why she freaked out, though, he shook his head as he tried to make her relax. "No, no, no! Don't worry, we're the good guys!"

April only screamed again and crawled away from him. "It's okay..." Donnie tried to reassure her, but the creepy pose he was in (the hunched back, the arms bent and near his head like a traditional monster's design) was not doing him any favors. It was probably a good reason why she was having so much trouble trusting him. But then she noticed that the clones were surrounding her again, but...so was Donnie. And he was holding a hand out and offering her a smile. The look in his eye seemed genuine enough and besides, maybe he could help her with Andi?

She was just about to take his hand, until Mikey (in the midst of fighting another clone) accidentally hit Donnie in the head with his nunchucks, making the older brother growl and glare at Mikey. The latter let out a sheepish apology before noticing what was about to happen and yelled "Watch out!"

The two were promptly kicked away by the same clone, before using their being distracted as a good time to grab April, tape her mouth shut to keep her from making any further noise, and throw her inside the van.

"They're getting away! They got the girl!" Donnie exclaimed, grabbing his bo and about to chase after them. But then he remembered something. The cute girl, the one in the sweater dress...she wasn't in there, was she? He turned around and gasped quietly as seeing her slumped over and losing color in her skin. "Leo, Raph! Chase the van, I need to treat this girl!"

Leo gave him a confused look while Raph gave him a little smirk (it was just Donnie acting on his very apparent crush on this girl,) but both agreed and started chasing after the van, bickering again on the way.

Donnie shook his head slightly but diverted his attention back to the girl. He was quiet when he approached her; judging by the state she was in, she very likely had a concussion. The last thing he needed to do was scare her and make it even worse. Besides, being quiet like this allowed him to observe her much more carefully...he had to admit, she was even prettier up close than she was from afar.

Get a hold of yourself, Donatello! The girl was clearly in pain! Now was not the time to see how cute she was!...even if it was true.

"Ugh..." Andi stirred as she began to wake, the pounding sensation in her head too blatant to ignore. A migraine, it seemed. And everything looked and felt fuzzy, and she passed out on top of it...great, the perfect concoction for a concussion. "I'll need to conduct a self CT scan when I get home..." She mumbled, weakly looking around - completely ignoring the turtle 6 feet away from her and watching her carefully. She then tried to stand up, but her legs were so weak that she nearly fell over into the trash pile next to the stairs of an apartment. It was only because of Donnie catching her that she avoided having a face full of garbage. "Oh, thank-" She then finally acknowledged the one who saved her (and who was now smiling at her) and nearly keeled over again. "Wha...w-who are you?" If she wasn't dealing with a massive headache, she would've screamed as loudly as April.

Donnie gently sat her on the stairs of the apartment, still smiling at her - mostly in an attempt to calm her down. "My name's Donatello. I'm a turtle, and trained in the art of ninjutsu." He then put his hands up in surrender when her eyes widened from panic. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you."

Andi groaned, cradling her head to ease at least some of the pressure. "I'm either hallucinating or this concussion is worse than I thought...why else would a turtle at least a foot taller than me be talking to me in perfect English? The only thing that could astound me, well, even more, is if you knew a Diophantine equation, like-"

"-x³+ y³+z³=k? Also known as one of the most challenging problems in the world and one that has no known solution?" When Andi stared at him in shock, awe, and a hint of being impressed, Donnie giggled a bit. "I'm pretty smart, you could say."

"You just said a Diophantine equation like it was nothing. Whenever I ask anyone if they even know what that is, they stare at me like I came straight from the Paleolithic Era and asked them a question in Neanderthal."

Donnie grinned a bit at her, the gap in his teeth being exposed ever so slightly. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

Maybe it was that look. Maybe it was the brain fog. Maybe it was the look of sincerity in his eye. Oh, who was she kidding, it was all three that made her tell him. "Andromeda. Rhodes."

"Wow, that's a, um..." Donnie tried to think of the right words to say, but it was hard when she talked so...sweetly. "...beautiful name." He couldn't help but admire her for a moment, but he finally regained his composure and went back to smiling gently at her. "Now, um...the family that got kidnapped, did you know-"

"April!" Andi immediately started to freak out again, triggering an even worse headache - and even a bout of nausea. "She and her dad were kidnapped?! By who?!"

"We're gonna find out, but you need to relax." Donnie reassured her, gently grabbing her shoulders to calm her down. "You won't be of any help in finding them if you have an even worse concussion." When Andi slowly nodded in both understanding and agreement, he smiled at her. "Here, how 'bout I take you back to my, um...my house? I have the necessary equipment to treat your concussion. Plus, it'll be a safe place for you to hide from those goons in case they come for you."

Andi's eyes widened a bit at that possibility, but in her messed-up brain, she thought about it. If they needed her, why did they not kidnap her too? Maybe they forgot about her. But considering the glassy look in all of their eyes, she doubted that sincerely. But...there was that possibility nonetheless.

So she bit. "All right."

Donnie grinned in relief, the gap now on full display. "Cool." He helped her stand up (and blushed the slightest bit when their hands touched), but when her legs got shaky again, he hummed in acknowledgment and decided to do something a bit drastic. He picked her up and held her in a bridal's carry, making the both of them blush (but him a lot more.) "Um, close your eyes, Andromeda. You'll feel more grounded that way. Plus, resting your eyes is one of the best things you can do for a concussion."

"I know..." Andi mumbled under her breath, but obliged, closing her eyes - quickly falling asleep afterward.

Donnie smiled softly at her relaxed features but found himself blushing again at how content she looked. She was so much prettier than he gave credit for. Besides, he had reasons beyond his interest in her for telling her to close her eyes. He didn't want to tell her that he lived in the sewers, and he didn't want her freaking out when she saw his brothers - until she finally saw them when she was forced to.

Almost as if on cue, Leo and Raph caught up to the two of them, taking glances between the two of them. Like before, Leo broke the silence again. "Donnie, why do you have one of the girls with you? And didn't you remember Splinter's rule? No talking to a stranger and exposing who you are! And what did you do?"

Donnie huffed a bit indignantly. "Well, excuse me if I wanted to help a girl with a concussion, Leo. Besides, she's a friend of the girl that got kidnapped. Maybe she can help us find them."

Leo seemed to relax a bit at that (though he still looked a bit mad at Donnie), while Raph looked at the girl again more closely. "So what's her name? Or was she so enamored with you that she forgot to tell you?" He snickered when Donnie glared at him. It wasn't entirely often that he made fun of Donnie for his tendency to fall in love easily out loud, but when it was obvious like this, he needed to take a cheap shot at least once.

"Her name's Andromeda Rhodes. And for your information, she's really cool and smart and seems really nice and-" Donnie was promptly shut up by Raph giving him a look and throwing his hands up in surrender.

"All right, we get it, wonder nerd. You like her. Now let's go find Mikey and get Donnie's counterpart back to the lair so he can flirt with her some more."

He and Leo shared a little snicker this time as they left to find Mikey, letting Donnie chase after them and deny flirting with Andi, as well as the astute observation that she was not, the key word being not, his counterpart. But when he looked down again at her, still asleep and as peaceful as ever, he smiled again.

This girl, he could tell, was something else.

~

Andi groaned a bit again as she started to wake back up. She appreciated that the light around her was much softer, and that she was laying on something that felt like a mattress. Granted, it wasn't as comfortable as her bed, but it was fine for a girl with a concussion. It was probably a type of cot.

But...wait, there was no way she was in school. And where was that turtle that she met before?

"Oh, good. You're awake."

That voice.

"Donatello?" Andi let out with a hint of grogginess in her voice. "Where am I?"

Donnie gave her a bit of a nervous chuckle. "Um, in my lab actually. At my house."

"You have a lab in your house too?"

"Y-wait, you do too?"

Andi slowly nodded, a smile beginning to form on her face. "I do." She sat up carefully (with Donnie's help, as she was still fairly weak and groggy) and looked around, in awe of everything. There were monitors, prototypes, and tools strewn everywhere - just like her room. The only difference was that Donnie's lab was a dedicated space; her lab was more of a makeshift one that was tucked away in a corner of her room. It was expansive and beautiful; if she could, she'd probably ask to live here. "Not as nice as this, though."

Donnie grinned at her. "Really?" When she nodded again, his smile turned bashful. "Um, maybe sometime, I could see it?" He then realized how...wrong that sounded and turned a scarlet red. "T-The lab, I mean!"

Andi blushed a bit as well but not nearly as intense. "Sure, just...not when I have a concussion, okay?"

Donnie was just about to respond until Mikey pushed open the door - essentially ruining the moment between the two of them.

"Uh, Don? Sensei's calling all of us to the dojo pronto." He then noticed Andi and gave her a friendly smile and a wave. "Hey, girl! What's up?" He then looked at Donnie after Andi hesitantly waved back at him. "So this is the girl you didn't-"

Donnie rushed over there as fast as light, clamping Mikey's mouth shut and giving him a sharp glare. "Okay. I'll be right there." He looked at Andi and his face relaxed exponentially. "I'll be right back, okay, Andromeda?"

"O...kay." Andi watched as they left in a hurry, opting to lay back down and close her eyes. This day was getting both worse and weirder by the minute.

~

In the dojo, Splinter was not happy with them for a myriad of reasons. "And so your inability to work together allowed them all to get away!"

"Well, maybe if I didn't waste time arguing with hero boy, I'd have saved them!" Raph argued, glaring at Leo.

"Hey, if you hadn't gotten in my way, I could've done it." Leo sassed back, then turned to Donnie. "And you went flying off on your own, and then brought one of the girls to our home. How smart was that?"

"I told you, she had a concussion!" Donnie yelled, then glanced apologetically at Splinter. "I'll explain in a minute, sensei. But it would've turned out great if someone-" He turned to Mikey with a scowl. "-hadn't hit me in the head with their nunchucks!"

"Well, none of this would've happened if-" Mikey turned to his left, then noticed no one next to him, making him panic for a moment. "-somebody hadn't trusted us to go up there in the first place!"

When they all realized who that was, Mikey immediately tried to retcon it. "Oh, jeez...sensei, I didn't mean to-"

"No, Michelangelo. You are right."

"I am?" "He is?"

Splinter glanced at them for a moment. "You were not fully prepared for what was up there. I trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team. And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility for that is mine." He began to walk away with his jade staff. "Perhaps in another year we can try again."

Donnie was utterly flabbergasted. "Another year?!" He then let out a little scoff. "Has everybody forgotten that people were kidnapped? They don't have a year! Sensei, we have to do something now!" He looked directly at Splinter. "You weren't there, sensei. That girl with a concussion in my lab - she isn't stupid. The other girl that got kidnapped is her friend. And even if she's not totally thinking clearly right now, she's scared! And she's counting on me-" He rephrased his sentence when he received either glares or exasperated head shakings from his brothers. "-er, us, to save her best friend!"

Splinter hummed in acknowledgment. He could tell, based on how Donnie was talking about this girl, that he liked her. Even if he didn't overtly say it. He then looked at a forlorn picture; him, a woman, and a baby girl...his family when he was still human. Before they...

He sighed as all of the memories washed over him. But he knew what he needed to do.

"Yes. You must save her."

"I agree, Sensei. But during that fight, we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine." Leo, being the teacher's pet he was, added.

"Like that robot with the brain thingy." Mikey said once again; before, he had brought up to his older brothers that those clones were robots with weird...alien brain things in their chests and stomachs. And how did he know? He saw it himself. But being Mikey and having the reputation of the most childish one of the four, his discovery was brushed off as nothing but fiction. This was only exacerbated when Raph shook his head and remarked, "Give it a rest."

Splinter stroked his beard as a wise master would. "If you are to fight more effectively, you are going to need a leader."

Once again being a teacher's pet, Leo raised his hand excitedly. "Can I be the leader?" That way, he could demonstrate to Splinter that he was more than capable of being a great ninja and a hero. It was practically fate!

Raph immediately objected to that. "Why should you be the leader? I kicked your butt, I should be the leader!" Brawn was an essential key to leadership; being a model to others as far as physical performance and fighting abilities.

Donnie objected to that reasoning as well. "I'm smarter than all you guys put together, it should be me!" But so were brains; how could you be a great leader if you didn't have a strong plan (and multiple backup plans) to complete missions?

"No way, it should be me!" Mikey interjected, but when the other boys waited for a reason, Mikey smiled innocently. "I don't really have a reason, I just think it would be neat." This went without saying.

"This is a difficult decision." Splinter commented, walking to his room. "I will meditate on it." He then closed the door.

Five seconds later, it opened again. "It's Leonardo."

"No hard feelings, Raph?" Leo asked, noticing that Raph was definitely angry about the decision. And that was confirmed when Raph growled, stood up, and stalked away. "Ah, stick in your shell."

"And Donatello?" Splinter called out as Donnie was about to stand as well. When he got the turtle's attention, he had a ghost of a smile on his face. "The young lady that you're looking after - tell her to see me. I'd like to have a word with her."

Donnie turned a bit pale but nodded obediently. "Hai, sensei."

~

Andi gave Donnie a weak smile and a 'thanks' as he walked her to the dojo. She was still a bit disoriented, but the rest she had in the lab definitely helped. "I can take it from here. Thanks again, Donatello."

Donnie only smiled at her as he walked back to the lab.

Now that she was alone, Andi used the wall as support to stabilize herself as she breathed in a few times. It wasn't that she was scared (okay, that was a lie, she was), but she needed to get her balance back before talking to who she assumed was their father. It was intimidating; she hoped he wouldn't be angry at her for being here. She felt like she was intruding, breaking into something not meant for human eyes, when she stepped into the dojo.

"Hello?"

"Ah, hello there. You are the girl that Donatello is caring for, right?"

There was a figure sitting comfortably on a pillow in the center of the mat, facing another pillow, this one empty. It was a bit jarring; he sounded completely human, but his physique was that of a...rat? This was as weird as seeing a mutant turtle.

"Um..." Andi could barely process two words. The brain fog was definitely not helping either. "...yes..?"

The figure chuckled to himself. "Do not be afraid, my dear. My name is Hamato Yoshi, but you may call me Master Splinter." With a single paw, he gestured for Andi to sit across from him, which she did without a second to hesitate. Whoever he was, she could tell he was respected and revered. "And you are?"

"Um, Andromeda. Rhodes." Andi introduced herself, her head still swimming a bit. "It's a, um...pleasure to meet you, sir."

Splinter smiled at her. He could tell she was polite and respectful naturally, and he appreciated that. "No need for that, Miss Rhodes. Or would you prefer Andromeda?"

"Andromeda, please." She started to give a hint of a smile back. Like Donnie, Splinter made her feel welcome. And she liked that.

"Then no need for formalities, Andromeda. I called you here because I'd like you to know a few things. Number 1, you are permitted to stay here as long as you need. I can tell my son Donatello has, ah...taken a liking to you."

Andi blushed at that but smiled regardless. Donnie seemed like a good friend to her as well.

"Number 2, I appreciate the fact that you have not judged us based on the fact that we are not humans. I was once human, but a chance encounter with a strange group of sorts left me exposed to a substance that mutated me into a common rat. And turned my sons from your average pet shop turtle to the boys they are today."

Andi listened with as much focus as she could. It was hard when you could barely remember anything that happened 5 minutes after they occurred. But considering Donnie ruled her concussion as stage 1, it wouldn't be that serious. She would only need to deal with brain fog like this for a few days.

"And the most important, number 3. We are not meant to be known to humans, or really, anyone above the sewers. Now that you are aware of our existence, I beg of you. For the sake of my family, do not share our existence with anyone." Splinter looked her dead in the eye as he said this, showing just how serious he really was. "Can you do that, Andromeda?"

She could tell, even with the concussion, that it was serious. She nodded slowly and carefully, holding her right hand over her heart to symbolize she meant what she was about to say. "I promise, Master Splinter."

He smiled in satisfaction. He could understand why Donnie liked this girl; she took things to heart and was completely genuine in what she was saying. He didn't need to worry about her. "Thank you. Now, Donatello did inform me that you were dealing with a concussion." He stood up, as calm and poised as ever, and walked over to something in his room. A tea set; a beautiful white tea pot with some type of black symbol on it along with small china mugs, all on a bamboo tray. "Tea, especially green tea, is a very effective solution in remedying some of the trauma your head sustained. Would you like me to make you a cup?"

Andi was a bit on edge at first. But like Donnie, she could tell Splinter was being completely genuine in his desire to help her. And, well...a cup of tea did sound really nice right now. It could give her a bit of time to rest her head before she tried to help the boys in finding April and Kirby.

So she bit.

"That sounds nice. Thank you, Master Splinter."

[hlvrfreakyfriday]

HLVRFF: Chapter 9

Okay. So.

The whole 'clear head with fresh air for easier thinking' thing is completely backfiring on Benry. Instead of clearing his head, it’s just gotten full of even MORE thoughts he’d really rather not be thinking.

Mostly ones about that last week at Black Mesa.

Thinking more about how scared Gordon was the whole time, and how oblivious Benry himself was to Gordon’s very justified fear. Thinking about how he just kept making shit more stressful for the guy, like how he’d purposefully get in the way of progress, and not help out during fights, and making jokes about his missing hand... that he’d caused Gordon to lose in the first place… acting like he was going to straight-up kill the Science Team…

He also thinks not just about how scared Gordon was, but how angry Gordon was, at him. All the times he’d shoot Benry in the face, and slug him with the devil gun so hard he went flying, and how he’d be near constantly telling him how much he hated him and wanted him dead. How much he wished he could kill Benry himself. How elated he looked when Benry got sucked into that funky portal as he died on Xen…

Benrey feels like he’s going to be sick.

Or, at least, he thinks that’s what this feeling is. He never felt sick in his own body, but he knows it’s not a good feeling, and this one he’s got now is absolutely awful. Benry stops walking, and yanks his beanie down over his borrowed eyes, knocking Gordon’s glasses a bit askew, as he lets out a low-pitched whine. He tries to reason with himself, that’s all in the past now, Gordon doesn’t say or act like he hates you anymore, and you’re even roommates with him now.

Unfortunately, Benry’s brain is in full-on self-loathing mode, and immediately counters with it’s in the past but it left lasting damage- he still has nightmares about you. Just because he doesn’t show it as much doesn’t mean he’s still not harboring hate for you- he hid his fear of you all this time. You’re only living with him because Tommy asked him to let you, and he just happens to like Tommy more than he hates or fears you- Tommy saved his life when you only threatened it.

Even when you’re not actively trying to, you’re still giving Gordon nothing but grief by simply existing in his life.

.....

Benry pulls the beanie back up off his eyes, and just stares at the sidewalk.

Maybe... maybe he should ask Tommy’s dad about getting... different living arrangements, once he’s back and has fixed the body switch. Part of him is telling him he should probably discuss this with Gordon too, but... he’s scared of Gordon being all 'oh thank GOD, finally’ over hearing Benry’s considering moving out. Not like he wouldn’t deserve that, though.

There’s also the possibility of Gordon expressing guilt over making Benry feel he has to leave, ‘cause Gordon’s the Big Hero Man, and caring too much is what he does, even when he shouldn’t be the one feeling guilty, since Benry’s the one giving him fucking death nightmares and- guh...

Wrapped up in these thoughts as Benry is, he completely fails to notice there’s a man approaching him, until the guy barks out a gruff ‘hey' at him.

Readjusting the glasses on his face, he turns to the man before speaking. “uh… can i help you, sir?”

“Dr. Freeman,” the man addresses Benry with a frown.

Oh fuck someone who knows Gordon that Benry’s never met. Uhhhh shit. What the hell does he even do. Benry supposes he could just play dumb; say he isn’t Gordon, that this guy’s got the wrong dude. But then again, whoever this is seems to already be in a real bad mood…

“uhhh yep, the One Free Man, that’s me- GH-!” Benry replies, and is cut off when the scowly guy grabs him by his shirt.

“You miserable piece of shit,” he snarls in Benry’s borrowed face. “You should be dead right now, you know that? How is it that my entire fucking squad is gone, but some fucking out-of-shape egghead like you is still walking!?”

Ohhhh fuck, this is one of those bootboys from Black Mesa, that were sent in to… kill everybody for some reason? Benry never understood why. ‘Mesa being overly worried about ex-employees spilling their secrets, but also being cheap bastards and wanting to avoid paying hush money for their silence, he guesses. Yeah, that sounds about right.

But, hold up, didn’t they kill all the soldiers that were sent after them? He’s pretty sure Coomer said as much. So then who is…

Wait.

Aw fuck.

“forzen?” Benry says dumbly. Which was apparently a mistake, as that just makes the guy angrier.

“MY NAME,” he shouts at close range, causing Benry to wince, “IS TRAVIS. TRAVIS ESLA.”

Esla? Oh, ha ha, he almost forgot. That’s how he came up with the name ‘Forzen’ for this guy. Esla. Elsa. Frozen. Forzen. Man, he is so fucking clever.

Travis (formerly known as Forzen) doesn’t seem to agree. “That security bastard friend of yours got into my head and yanked me around like a god damn puppet!” he yells again as he swings Benry around and slams his borrowed back against a nearby wall. Benry groans in pain when Gordon’s already bad spine hits the bricks with such force. “But he’s not here now, is he? And you don’t have any weapons or that hazard armor, either,” Travis continues, a dangerous tone entering his voice. “I think it’s about time I finished my mission.”

Travis reaches for his back pocket, and when Benry sees the man pull out a rather sizable knife, his borrowed heart nearly stops.

This guy intends on killing him. Which, in any other situation, would be like, whatever. But in Gordon’s body, things are 200% more serious. If Gordon’s body is too damaged, Gordon won’t be able to get back in it. And… while normally having his physical body destroyed doesn’t truly kill Benry… considering that he can’t use any of his usual powers, it’s very possible that his connection to the cosmic void and its boundless energy has been temporarily severed. If this body was killed, Benry might not have the juice to form his old pure energy body, and keep his consciousness together…

If Benry dies right here, right now, there’s a very real chance he’ll stay dead.

If he didn’t already have a good idea about how Gordon felt during the ResCas, he certainly does now.

Adrenalin rushing through his borrowed veins, his fight or flight kicks in, and lands on fight. Which, uh, might not be the best choice. Black Mesa never trained him in unarmed human-style combat, they just taught him how to use a gun.

So Benry just goes with what he knows.

Before Travis can get his stabbing on, Benry knees the guy in the crotch, causing the man to loosen up his hold on him. Benry then does the first thing that comes to mind and bites down hard onto Travis’ left forearm. A scream is pulled from the man as Benry's borrowed teeth sink into the limb, his mouth filling up with the metallic tang of blood. He very briefly notes that, like everything else, it doesn’t taste as good on Gordon’s tongue as on his own.

Turns out Benry overcompensated for Gordon’s comparatively duller teeth when he bit down, as when Travis yanks his arm away, a small chunk of flesh is left barely hanging on. Benry doesn’t have time to dwell on how he almost kinda-sorta made Gordon a cannibal, before he gets a punch to the gut and sweep-kick to the legs. Benry topples over, Gordon’s glasses falling from his face as his head hits the concrete, making him see stars.

Travis spits out some profanities, and maybe says something else too, but Benry doesn’t register any of it. He certainly registers the sudden kick to his ribs, though. And being rolled onto his back. And a boot being pressed to his chest. And the glint of metal from what is probably definitely that knife shining up above, roughly in line with his neck. He tries to struggle against the foot pinning him, but he’s still too dazed from hitting his head on the sidewalk so hard to get Gordon’s body to cooperate. His eyes stay locked on to the blurry image of the knife, unable to look away.

Travis raises the blade, preparing to plunge it into Benry’s borrowed neck, when someone else comes up from behind the soldier and violently yanks him off and away from Benry. The new person growls out a ‘motherfucker’ as he tosses Travis to the street, and Benry recognizes his own voice, despite it sounding a little off with Gordon’s particular angry tone behind it.

He may not currently have a direct connection to it, but it seems the cosmos is still looking out for its wayward child.

-----------------------

Benry being out of the house somewhere, alone, with no powers and in Gordon’s body, was more than a little worrying, to say the least. The rest of the Science Team seemed to agree on that, and thus wasted no time in helping out on the search for the alien.

At first, they thought they all wouldn’t need to- Sunkist can detect and track life energy signatures, and Tommy was going to have him sniff out and find Benry that way. Unfortunately, something about the switch had apparently muddled up Benry and Gordon’s signatures in such a way that the giant dog couldn’t get a bead on Benry. Sunkist was, at the very least, able to point them in the vague direction Benry went- somewhere into town. And now, they’re out looking for him the old-fashioned way. Tommy and Darnold in one car, Bubby and Coomer in their own, while Gordon himself is searching on foot.

The rest of the team had actually advised Gordon to stay home; both to meet Benry there should he come back on his own, and to avoid the risk of Gordon accidentally making a scene from Benry’s powers getting out of his control.

Gordon agreed to… initially. But he couldn’t ignore the way his borrowed guts writhed with his anxiety and worry, or the feeling of uselessness that kept nagging at him as he sat (well, paced) around the house doing nothing.

So instead, he’s moving down a random street in town, in the general direction Sunkist indicated, eyes peeled and ears tuned.

He’s honestly not really expecting to find Benry himself, as the other two search pairs are both in cars for faster ground coverage, and have been at the search for longer than Gordon. Hell, who knows? Maybe they’ve even found him already, and are trying to call Gordon to tell him. Too bad Gordon forgot his fucking phone in his haste to get out and start looking himself. Which… probably wasn’t the best move, really. Shit, what if Benry and the others already are back home? And then, upon seeing that Gordon isn’t, are now out looking for him? He could be on a wild goose chase while simultaneously putting the others on one as well.

It’d… prrrrobably be a good idea to head back home. And if they aren’t there, he can at the very least grab his phone before heading back to the search himself.

That’s what Gordon’s thinking anyway, before he hears a strangled cry from a ways ahead and around the corner, in a very familiar voice- his own. He's tearing down the sidewalk in an instant, and upon rounding the corner, he’s greeted by a very distressing sight.

Benry, borrowed mouth dripping with blood as he lays pinned to the ground by a heavy boot. The owner of said boot (with a huge bite on his left arm, explaining the entity’s bloody mouth), getting ready to shove a combat knife straight into the Benry’s throat. And by Benry’s throat, Gordon means his throat. The scene conjures up very unpleasant, very specific memories. His fingers tense, nails sharpen, and feet carry him forward without even thinking.

Benry’s attacker has his back to Gordon, and thus doesn't notice he's right behind him, until a disproportionately large clawed hand grabs him practically by his whole head.

“Motherfucker,” Gordon straight-up growls as he throws the bastard off Benry and onto the street.

With the pressure off his borrowed chest, Benry attempts to sit up, and groans in pain after he apparently did it too fast. Gordon turns his head to Benry, about to ask if he’s okay, and what the fuck he even did to tick this guy off so hard. But before he can get the question out, Benry’s attacker speaks up first.

“You...” the man with the knife says, eyes locked on Gordon. Gordon turns back to him, and sees a small look of panic behind the man’s eyes. More importantly, though, he finally recognizes who this guy is. It’s the one that got away- that soldier that tried to hold Sunkist hostage, and claimed to be former friends with Benry. Still can’t remember his fucking name. There’s something off about his voice, though. Gordon distinctly remembers him sounding much less gravely, and more... well, more like Benry, really. Which Gordon always thought was kind of weird.

That panicked look only lasted for a second, as the soldier is now looking outright pissed. “You’re that freak who was in my fucking head!” the soldier yells as he gestures his knife right at Gordon.

Gordon’s borrowed brow furrows. In his head? ...Wait- no way, he doesn’t mean...

Before that thought train can leave the station, the soldier lunges at him. Distracted by his own thoughts as he was, Gordon fails to react in time, and the soldier’s knife slices deep across his borrowed throat. Gordon gasps as dark sanguine blood sprays from the newly acquired slot in his neck.

But only for a little bit.

The flow of blood quickly comes to a stop as Benry’s body’s rapid regeneration does its thing, the slash wound knitting itself back closed right before the soldier’s eyes. They both just stand there in stunned silence before the soldier quietly breaks it with a “What the fuck?”

That manages to snap Gordon out of his state of shock, and he quickly takes advantage of the one the soldier’s in. He grabs the soldier’s right arm, and gives it a rough, sudden twist in directions the human arm is definitely not meant to go. The soldier screams, knife falling from his hand and clattering to the ground as the bones in his forearm audibly snap. Said forearm is now bent into an acute angle, and the skin around the break is torn and looks partially ‘de-gloved’ thanks to all the twisting it underwent.

Now, normally, Gordon would probably regret having so badly underestimated the sheer strength Benry’s body packs. But this guy was straight-up about to fucking kill Benry (and likely thought he was killing Gordon), which ain’t really helping him in the sympathy department. Boot boy’s buddies certainly didn’t seem to regret severing Gordon’s own hand, that’s for sure...

And like, honestly. Fuck the troops, man.

Completely fucked though his arm may now be, the soldier's still standing (and screaming), so Gordon attempts to shut him up by knocking his ass to the ground with a swift kick to the stomach. The guy hits his head when he falls, and it seems to knock him out cold.

“daaaamn, you really fucked him up, huh.”

----------------------

“daaaamn, you really fucked him up, huh,” Benry speaks up behind Gordon, who turns to face him. Benry’s still sitting down on the sidewalk, but his head’s feeling better, and he found the fallen glasses and put them back on his… still very bloody borrowed face. Which Gordon is staring at, with much concern.

“Benry! You good? Nothing broken?” Gordon finally gets to ask. Benry just gives him a quick nod and a thumbs up as he starts trying to wipe the blood off his mouth, now that he’s remembered that it’s there. He’s expecting ‘why did you sneak out?’ to be Gordon’s next question, but the man instead hits him with something entirely different.

“Hey... what did that soldier mean just now, when he said you were ‘in is head?’” Gordon asks. Benry freezes up at that, casts a guilty look at Gordon, and then looks away. Fuck. Shit. He really, really should’ve told Gordon about this earlier, during a much less sensitive time...

“so, uh. remember hoooowwwww that guy said me and him were friends?” he starts. Gordon nods. Benry continues. “yeah well. we weren’t. didn’t even know the guy. i uh. mindjacked him? just grabbed a random boot boy and pretended to be one. thought it’d be funny. even got sunkist to play along when he showed up lookin’ for tommy,” he says, wincing at that last bit. “we, uh, we both apologized to tommy after, since he got so upset… buuuut i guess i forgot to tell you, huh…” Benry goes quiet, still not looking at Gordon. He’s not sure what expression the other man’s aiming right at him, but he really doesn’t wanna see it.

What he also doesn't see is Travis, clutching the knife in his left hand, coming up behind an oblivious Gordon.

Somebody else sees this, though.

“SURPRISE ATTACK, GORDON!” Coomer bellows just as his fist connects with Travis’ face, sending him sprawling to the ground for the umpteenth time this evening, and finally down for the count.

Gordon whips around at the sound and Benry looks up, both seeing not just Coomer, but Bubby as well, standing by his souped up custom cadillac. How the hell they didn’t hear that noisy piece of work drive up is anybody’s guess. “Dr. Coomer, Bubby!” Gordon calls to them.

“Yeesh, good thing you weren’t that unobservant in Black Mesa, otherwise you never would’ve made it out of there,” Bubby remarks. Gordon says something in response, but Benry’s already checked out of that conversation, still hung up on the disappointment he could feel radiating off of Gordon just a bit ago. Coomer briefly grabs his attention, offering Benry a hand up off the ground and asking him if he’s okay. Benry just shrugs. They all pile into Bubby’s caddy, give Tommy and Darnold a buzz to tell them Benry’s been found, and then it’s an uncharacteristically quiet drive back to Gordon’s place.

Benry’s not sure if he appreciates or hates the silence the whole trip back, but he is sure of one thing.

He should definitely go away once this body mix-up is all over.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Brief (?), Rapid-Fire (??) Musings on the Current State of the Monthly Superman Titles

Challenging myself to NOT go on a bunch of different long-winded tangents...we'll see how it goes. XD

Gonna start with the bad so that the post ends on a positive note. XD

The twelve part weekly Waid Action Comics just wrapped, and I gotta admit, it was kind of a huge letdown, at least in my opinion.

Lots of talented folks working on it, but ultimately the whole thing felt pretty boring/boilerplate. I guess 'filler' might be the easiest way to describe the whole thing.

And that's kind of been the vibe of this 'Action Comics Superstars' initiative. The rotating roster of creators means that the book feels like it's in a constant state of shuffle and has very little connective tissue between storylines.

Like. Is John Ridley gonna build on this recent Mon-El/Phantom Zone arc stuff? Probably not! So unless I'm a big fan of the writer or artist involved, why should I remain subscribed to this book on a monthly basis?

DC has essentially made one of the two ongoing, monthly Superman titles skippable. Which sucks.

Also, NGL, the Tamaki/Patridge Supergirl backup story was a whole lotta nothing. XD

I've seen complaints re: Tamaki's characterization of Kara, but honestly that wasn't even my issue with this story. The pacing was really bad and the new character they introduced was needlessly cryptic for entirely too long.

Also, Power Girl did not need to be here. XD

Supposedly the whole secret mission is like. Tied into her Krypton trauma and I really wasn't getting that from the writing or art.

Anyways. I bring this all up because we get a promise that Supergirl's adventures 'will continue in 2025!'

No indication if this means a miniseries, an ongoing, or another backup feature, nor if this creative team will be returning.

...Put a pin in this, we'll get back to it at the end. XD

I'm not reading the Power Girl series. I'm sure it's fine. XD

Saw that Jon Kent will be appearing in a new Secret Six title, which...uh...okay.

(My personal opinion on Jon currently is that he's annoying in the same way that Dick Grayson is annoying; T*m T*ylor has turned the both of them into unproblematic soft bois, too affably bland to really care about anymore.)

Absolute Superman is fine. I'm personally not nearly as enamored as everyone else is with the Absolute line --it feels like a glorified Elseworlds title to me.

Also, Jason Aaron's 'new take' on Superman is that he grew up on Krypton, and his family was part of the labor guide as opposed to the science guild.

(You put Kara in glasses and people won't shut up about how she's a Clark clone, meanwhile Absolute Clark is just New-52 Supergirl and the book gets critical acclaim.)

*insert eyeroll here*

(I'm halfway convinced that if they ever deign to introduce an 'Absolute Supergirl', she'll be part of the snobby, scientific elite and her character arc will be learning that 'classism is bad, actually'.)

*insert eyeroll here*

(Who am I kidding, if they do announce new Absolute titles starring women, they will almost certainly be either Harley Quinn or Catwoman.)

Art's cool, though!

Okay, time to get to positive stuff.

I genuinely enjoyed Superman #21. Like. Full stop.

Am I a sucker for any book drawn by Dan Mora? YES. But also, this might be the first time in nearly two years that the book slowed down and focused on the internal lives of Lois and Clark.

Finally, FINALLY, we see how the plot stuff is affecting these characters on an emotional level.

Also, the fan-servicey cameo serves the plot instead of being there for the sake of being referential.

(Helps that Mora is a modern master who can balance the dynamic action stuff with genuine character acting. His panel pacing is also a nice mix of big, flashy set-pieces, and quieter, character focused beats.)

I still think 'Time-Trapper-Is-Doomsday' feels really stupid...and I live in mortal fear of this:

But generally, I dig the cliffhanger introduced at the end of the issue, and I'm actually engaged with the title for the first time since Campbell left the book.

Okay, so. This next one is kinda weird.

In the recent issue of DC Connect that contained the March 2025 solicits, it was revealed that PKJ has a new Superman book coming out, and the blurb says that it'll follow up on the threads introduced in his Action Comics run as well as his Future State stuff.

So like. EXCITING. Right???

But PKJ himself has not shared the news, and, weirdly, all the sites running the DC solicits left it out.

I wonder if this means it'll be pushed back or resolicited? But it's currently slated for release in March, so...?

I guess we might get more insight/info in the next round of solicits, maybe? Like, if we see that the second issue is there with a release date, or if it's absent, etc.

Either way, PRAISE BE.

Even if it does get pushed back, just knowing that we'll be getting more PKJ Superman is wonderful, and frankly? Is why I'm not going into the 2025 DC titles completely demoralized. XD

So by now we've done the bad and the good, time to get into the speculate-y. XD

As mentioned, we got the little tease that Supergirl will have some sort of presence in 2025. Time to ruminate on what that could look like.

Worst case scenario, and entirely too possible for my liking: Either another backup feature or oneshot with the same creative team of Tamaki and Patridge. This would be easy, from a scheduling and money standpoint, and is in line with the scattering of appearances Kara has had since Woman of Tomorrow.

Slightly better scenario, and still arguably likely: mini series with this same creative team. DC's current go-to with characters outside of the trinity/classic JL lineup is like. Six issues with their non A-List (read: not the same five or so white guys) creators. We saw it with Steel and Superboy; I'm halfway convinced the only reason Power Girl is an ongoing is because they were really banking on Geoff Johns' JSA being more of a Thing...and if they canned their only other ongoing Superman title, starring a woman, it'd be a bad look, so here we are. XD

Now, WILD CARD ELEMENT: Kris Anka recently posted THIS

With the accompanying text: 'first little cover tease on this site'

Now. Some Thoughts.

Obviously, it's a super character. It's got the 'S'

I've seen folks speculate like, 'NEW SUPERGIRL SUIT???' I don't think that's the case; important to keep in mind that Anka has largely been working in animation for the past several years, out of the monthly comics game, so this is *most likely* a variant cover.

Variant covers are the Wild West of canon content; does it even match what's inside the comic? POSSIBLY, NO. XD

(Also it would be wild to tease a big new costume change for their current in-continuity stuff in a random Bluesky post.)

ALSO. Let us not forget that some of that aforementioned animation work that Anka did involved designs for My Adventures with Superman.

And I don't know about y'all, but that sure looks like a cape scarf to me...sort of similar to the look MAWS Kara was sporting at the end of season two.

HmMMmmMmmmMMMm.

My best guess: We're getting more MAWS tie-in comics. That are unrelated to whatever they were teasing at the end of Action Comics.

As a reminder: this is all just speculation, it's entirely possible that I am WAY off (heck, Anka didn't even really specify if this was a comic cover, it could be ANYTHING) so you know. Grain of salt, etc. XD

But anyways, thus concludes this lengthy list! I think I did a pretty good job of keeping it focused, though. XD (I deleted so many tangents. So. So many.)

TL;DR: I'm looking forward to PKJ's return, whenever that will be, and I suppose I'm...morbidly curious about the future of Supergirl comics??? XD I guess we'll see!

[sil-and-seals-blog-something]

I love that. They need supervision when in a work room with each other. They’re insane enough to somehow make a weapon that could kill a god just for the purpose of making cooking more convenient on long term missions. The team hates when they only mention a concept without explaining how they’ll go about actually making it (they’re keeping Danny’s ‘believe it into functioning’ thing under tight wraps, it would just complicate them being able to work together more).

Also, Danny probably understands because he grew up with mad scientist parents who didn’t have a spotter restricting them, and that eventually ended up with a purposefully made hole in reality. He… understands the necessity even if he doesn’t like it.

Tim being grumpy over not being able to do mad science is great.

I feel as though Jason one day got dragged into being their spotter. He was promptly banned after that day because he only egged them on because he found their mad science highly entertaining, like a whole drama.

Edit: I should add that Arsenal (Roy) is completely and utterly banned from inventing in the same room as them as he’s also the type to make something just cause. Does he listen to that ban though? Not really, the two are too good to bounce ideas off of.

Danny didn't know how this had happened. He really didn't. All he had done was befriend the Young Justice as a civilian in order to throw them off the scent of some small time vigilantism he was doing. Now his rinky dink college apartment was like a hub for all the young superheroes. Both the Young Justice and the Teen Titans would stop by all the time. Hell, even the Outlaws and Titans popped in on occasion.

He won't lie, he does enjoy their company quite a bit. It's just that it's becoming increasingly hard to hide his former heroic tendencies with everyone constantly dropping by.

[lollytea]

What are your thoughts on Luz bringing the hexsquad to school for them to check it out? What would they enjoy, what would bamboozle them, would they absolutely have to sneak in like Luz had to Hexside?

Asgdhjkl Luz is only one person and Willow and Gus still got caught sneaking her in. Imagine Luz's efforts to discreetly smuggle in four kids, all of whom have a bad habit of being....peculiar by human standards. It would be hard not to arouse suspicion.

Leaving for school in the mornings is hard for Luz cuz they linger in the doorway with their big sad eyes. They miss her not being around.

I could see them longing to explore Luz's school. Their curiosity to see what she does all day is insatiable. It's only Gus that's shameless enough to beg. He'll wait at the door to ambush her. He'll spit out his pitch rapid-fire as to why Augustus Porter should attend human school for a day. He negotiates and he bargains his ass off until eventually he is on the floor, gripping Luz's ankles, pleading.

Hunter takes this moment to pop up and say "I don't recommend taking Gus to school with you. Who knows the kind of trouble he could get himself into."

"Exactly! Thank you, Hunter!" Luz exclaims trying to shake Gus off her leg. "It's too risky to just-"

"Unless!" Hunter powers on. "He was supervised. By somebody older. Somebody responsible. Somebody who knows how to handle him."

Luz is thoroughly unamused.

Hunter blushes "Somebody liiiike...."

"Me!" Declares Willow, scaring Hunter out of skin as she suddenly appears next to him. "Once Gus's hyperactivity contaminates Hunter's brain and you know it will, you'll need somebody to supervise both of them."

"You're not coming either, Willow. I'm sorry."

"Aw man..."

"Guys, you gotta stop bugging Luz about this. If she's gonna bring anyone to school with her, it's gonna be her girlfriend."

"Amity..."

"We could hold hands in the hallway 🥺"

"Don't do this to me, sweet potato..."

See THIS is why they're all huddled around an ipad here

They get restless when Camila and Luz are gone for the day so they give them a screen that mezmerises them until they get back so so they're not inclined to go stirring up a ruckus.

Anyway in the chance that they DO get to explore the school, I figure they'd be enthused but bewildered.

I'm kinda drawing a blank on the big things that would confuse them cuz for the most part Hexside is very similar to a regular human school. They have a bell, an intercom, lockers, clubs, ridiculous teen drama. So they're accustomed to a lot of stuff.

I think the biggest thing that the kids just cannot wrap their heads around is the lack of Boiling Isles flair.

"So you guys have a grom..."

"It's called prom actually."

"Right, right, but there's no monster to fight??"

"Exactly."

"Then what's the fucking point???"

I don't think any of the kids can fathom that sports can exist without magic. They're fucking gobsmacked to learn about human sports. Like?? No chance of dying?? No annihilating the opposite team with offensive spells?? What do they even do then??

I think, despite the initial confusion, it would fascinate both Willow and Hunter and they would stick around to watch a football or basketball practise or whatever Luz's school's main sport is. I think Hunter would be interested in any activity that makes you look awesome and badass without needing magic, while Willow just thinks it's really cool and innovative how the game revolves entirely around your strength and speed and stamina. As somebody who loves working out, she can appreciate that.

I could see Amity being really intrigued by whatever business is going on in the science lab. Chemistry specifically. Being an abomination specialist, she'd be eager to mix some weird human shit around and see if she can bring something to life. Luz is pretty sure she can't do that so it's safe to just let her at it, but also keeps an eye on her just in case.

Gus just...Gus loves everything because of course he does. Goes apeshit over a GLOBE. Willow, Hunter fucking LOOK AT THIS!! THIS IS A DIORAMA OF THE WHOLE HUMAN REALM!!! AND IT SPINS!!!!

Sees a poster of the whole solar system and loses his entire goddamn mind.

Stumbles upon the library and gets kicked out after ten minutes for squealing and yelling from the overload of human culture everywhere but it was the greatest ten minutes of his life.

Gus discovers whiteboards and markers and learns that you can scribble all over the board and then wipe it off. He's amazed. He has his fun with it until the marker dries up.

Once he finally wanders back to the rest of the gang, he informs them that he has joined the chess club, the DnD club and the anime club. No, he does not know what any of these things are but he's enthusiastic.

Hunter, meanwhile, has been staring at an algebraic equation on a whiteboard for the last hour now. He doesn't understand what kind of code it is but he's determined to figure it out.

Luz is like "You really don't know math?"

"I can count. But what does math have to do with this?"

"Hunter...buddy...this is human math..."

"No way..."

"Yeah way."

"Why the fuck are there letters in it???"

[grasshopperdoingdogpaddle]

Do you have any Katnappe/ Ashley headcanons? I really like her temporary alliance with Omi. Do you think they would be friends if Ashley wasn't a villain? I like to imagine Omi playing with her kitties once in a while.

I loved Katnappe and Omi’s bond too! Omi personally stepped in to take care of her when he thought that she’d been seriously injured. 

I love how empathetic and worried Omi is about the wellbeing of most of his enemies. He’s always the one to say they should help Jack, he said they shouldn’t stand by and let Wuya get eaten, and he set up a whole room for Katnappe to recover and wrapped up her sprained ankle himself, even when all the other monks make it clear they’d by pretty fine with those enemies outright dying. It’s a sweet side of Omi that shines most when he’s interacting with a Heylin enemy on neutral or friendly terms.

As for whether or not they’d be friends in better circumstances... I don’t know if either would ever call the other a friend, but they’d be on relatively good terms. Omi would see her as lovely but wily, and Ashley would see Omi as cute but gullible. A kid that’s useful for leading by the nose, and while Omi’s not as oblivious as she has him pegged, he’s usually happy to help either way. 

If ever Katnappe wanted to defect to the side of good for some reason, the other monks would be doubtful, but Omi would be eager to give her a chance. So a bit like the situation with Jack, although Omi’s not as close with Ashley as he is with Jack.

Anyway, onto Katnappe headcanons:

She’s older than Jack. Not by much, barely even a year, if that, but she proudly lords that over him, along with the fact that she’s taller than him since he still hasn’t hit his growth spurt. She taunts him for immature things like being scared of clowns and sleeping with a teddy bear. He argues that she sleeps with tons of cat stuffed animals, but she insists that’s mature and classy and incomparable.

She’s a perfectly normal human; no superpowers or anything. Her superhuman levels of strength, agility, reflexes, flexibility, and speed and skill with close-quarters combat comes from her athleticism. When she was younger, she did gymnastics, and now that she’s older, she’s a cheerleader. She’s basically a mix between Batman and Kim Possible.

Her position on her cheerleader squad is main base, since she’s the strongest one on the team

All her kittens are rescues she found on the street. They were very sickly runts when she first found them, barely able to survive on their own at all. She not only nursed them back to health, she personally researched day and night until she could perfect a way to genetically engineer them stronger and fluffier and healthier.

Tubbimura’s chihuahua is also a rescue, which is something Katnappe and him bond about.

She’s brilliant at science, specifically genetics and biology. She easily excels at all things STEM, but the humanities bore and confuse her. Her grades across the board are fantastic though; for the stem classes, she handles them herself with ease. Everything else, she either cheats at it or makes other people do them for her (usually by flirting with nerdy humanity guys or blackmailing other students).

She has her own lab at home.

Her position on the cheerleader squad is main base, because she’s the strongest person on the team.

She designed her catsuit herself, including the claws and shuriken. She wanted to make sure it was something that covered her well enough to hide her identity, since unlike Jack, she has a reputation as Ashley that she doesn’t want tarnished by her evildoing side gig

Has extensive underground connections, since she deals in stolen art. She’s actually met Pandabubba before because of shenanigans involving this. They said little to each other, but complimented each other’s outfits and nails.

Comes from a very rich family. Her parents have their hands in countless businesses and political dealings. Which has resulted in Katnappe being dragged to a lot of stuffy parties and formal dinners as the only child there. It’s what’s fueled her rebellious streak, but her parents have the resources and connections to cover for her if she does mess up.

She’s the biggest troll on the Heylin forums aside from Kimiko.

Constantly makes the cheesiest catpuns possible

She’s a terrible cook, but since she’s willing to eat catfood and whole raw fish, that doesn’t matter much. Her favorite food is expensive sushi.

Cats are the only animals she gets along with, for the most part.

Has a furrsona she commissioned from her favorite online artist. She is unaware that this artist was Kimiko’s friend, Keiko.

[carefreemonk]

Azama is also unoccupied, though how surprising that was depends on the given day and whether or not he'd already had a second nap. And on whether his boss at the academy was watching. (Lady Hinoka knew better. An Azama without his daily naps, plural, is no Azama at all!)

"I think our Soren would make the best funny noises," he speculated as he drew nearer, hands typically pristine dark with dirt. His poor nails... Well, there's something humbling and cathartic about playing with earth, feeling it slip through your fingers.

There's something cathartic about getting a rise out of people too, though.

One arm wrapped around Python's shoulder, half rotten potato in hand, followed by a mass of fluffy hair intended to tickle.

They'd have to be crafty if they wanted to catch the young mage unawares. Can't just run up and yank on his hood and hope for the best. Not unless they got desperate. It will take time, and a lamb willing to take one for the team...

Chiron watches movement behind Python with innocent eyes wide with anticipation.

"We should have something to compare it to, first. A baseline of funny noises. For science."

And down the hatch (back of Python's shirt) goes the worm.

Dig Up Dirt [Team Pi OPEN]

[whatudottu]

The Classic Ben 10 series had a lot more mutants and otherwise unexplained creatures and happenings that do not directly relate to aliens, and it’s with that absence thanks to UAF retconning a lot of mutant and magic stuff (as well as not even acknowledging the blatantly weird that just seemed to be so accepted) that I generally prefer OS over most other iterations of Ben 10. It also might be why I actually enjoy what I watched of the reboot, because there’s some stuff in there that is rather unexplained and bizarre.

But I come with this post with an idea, one based in the original series and also inspired by what Kai does in Omniverse much later in the show’s continuity. What if the Ghostfreak arc of Ben 10 was not based entirely on alien monsters?

This thought mainly came from the idea that it’s generally bizarre to have not only an alien mummy - which connects in a different way than most to the ancient alien trope especially around Egypt - AND a Frankenstein’s monster construct, based on a very independent and specific story written by Mary Shelley in what’s considered to be one of - if not THE - first science fiction novel. The concept of a bipedal wolf alien is hardly odd at all, considering the logical steps that one could evolve in such a way aren’t too high for leaps and bounds, but I suppose also a ghost alien may be a little too out of reach, but the twists that are made towards ectonurites in their function and form made me think of a curious idea.

So what if, within the context of OS, that the only aliens of the Anur team were Zs’Skayr himself and the Werewolf/Yenaldooshi, for I find from both the modern idea of the werewolf and the yee naaldlooshi that the name has been derived from, that the entire concept of Ben shifting from boy to lenopan in a weird error of the watch fits the concept of man-wolves and witches turning into animals. For whatever bullshit that happened for Ghostfreak to dip out of the watch, whether it be some shred of ectonurite DNA finally regaining it’s sentience or perhaps something else, anything directly affecting Ben and the Omnitrix in this instance at least should maybe be alien fuckery, and Ben having another Omnitrix glitch out causing the DNA absorption mode to slowly come into affect (maybe from the damage it sustained) would probably lead to a new alien in the selection.

But what of the others? What of thep khufans and transylians? What do I do now with the existence of the mummy and doctor Viktor himself?

Well, we have other main characters don’t we? We can’t have everything be just about Ben, now can we?

Perhaps I’m looking too far into this, but in the debut episode of the mummy in ‘Under Wraps’, Gwen made the attempt to cast her spells from within the containment suit... failing because of the suit. But that brought up the idea that, within this arc, while Ben faces against a lenopan and ultimately gaining a new skill set, that Gwen may find her arc-based rival in the mummy as a being of ancient magic, born of the funerary practice of ancient Egypt so long ago.\

With some searching, the rituals of ancient Egyptian burial - the mummifying of the body, the grave goods to send across to the afterlife, the casting of spells - were believed to be necessary in ensuring immortality after death. Hah, if you think that’s interesting, just wait until I tell you this! It was believed that, if the bodies were mistreated after death, that the buried would rise again and look who we find walking around playing quest finder to a team of monsters.

The fucking mummy, that’s who!

Now we essentially have the ancient body of a disrespected undead, perhaps a mage themself responsible for casting spells of their own for the funerals of others, of someone who probably was only a mere serf who has found themselves back in the world of the living and come face to face with a man made of other men and women staring back with eyes in the wrong colour. Yes I am back on my Frankenstein bullshit, and yes, I’m making Viktor the modern Adam by some modern Frankenstein fanperon who accidentally found themself with another crime to humanity.

And baby, this lad is now Grandpa Max’s rival of the Ghostfreak arc.

Of course, the visual design of Viktor is very much influenced by the modern and more bumbling beast takes on Frankenstein’s monster, but he also appears - at least pre-reveal - to have taken on the interest of the academic that the original Shelley monster had. And also, maybe the uglier and disjointed Viktor looks correlates to how much the disrespected mummy wants to work with him rather than target specific assholes who shat on their grave or whatever happened (US archeologists do it like the British and fucked over another country’s historical grounds and got a mummy sent on their asses?), but regardless of that, I find it interesting that he has that dynamic between monster and man.

His debut episode, he is very much a doctor who has found his way into the graces of NASA, and that alone could very much parallel Max in the perspective of a human reaching their hand out towards the stars. But if the grand Dr Viktor is a being made of the parts of people very much passed, a created life searching for life outside of the planet and between the expanse of space itself, boy howdy the modern Prometheus has gotten futuristic and DAMN if that isn’t interesting you can fuck right off i’m joking i’m joking i just think this is very cool-

It is also in this episode, that Max and Viktor are both of their team’s ticket to get within NASA and - very much for the latter than the former - get their hands on rather limited Earth developed space tech, even if Dr Viktor and the mummy don’t have experience of otherwise. And on that note, for as much as Viktor may be reaching to discover more about the stars above, it is Max who has known and met more aliens than the constructed man learning the theories and building the tech to reach them, the two - in this context - parallels of the scientist seeking to learn and the front-liner on the field getting first hand experience of intergalactic contact.

But all this comes to ahead with whatever the fuck ectonurites and Zs’Skayr are in comparison to team monster, what is he and what fuckery are his people?

Well, Zs’Skayr is integral to Ben as the alien that never felt his own and made his skin - it’s not his it’s not HIS - crawl whenever he had become Ghostfreak. But with his multiple showings within Omniverse, his significance in association with magic began to spawn and thus, Gwen too gets involved with the schemes of Zs’Skayr, not only from just being occasionally possessed that one time. And reversing back to his reintroduction into the series in UAF as a prisoner kept under watch for crimes unknown to us, but perhaps to Mr ‘top of the board’ galactic police Max Tennyson; dealing with the reincarnated DNA of a ruler of a nation and a criminal of interplanetary degree has never been more Plumber business, but with Zs’Skayr directly impacting on the lives and mental states of his grandchildren, it just got personal.

But what the fuck is up with that? How in the world does Zs’Skayr just do that? To essentially spawn copies of himself from shreds of DNA not just from stored data like the Omnitrix, but from the scattered remains of his ash against the brick and mortar of a preppy... high school? Collage? Whatever it was it was some form of clock tower.

Well, my dear friends, ectonurites are just built like that... because of their exposure to Legerdomain.

How I see it, certain locations within the universe have thinner barriers between dimensions (as actual dimensions and not alternate timelines like Dimension 23) and the thinnest between most planes is within the Forge of Creation, worn thin by the powers of celestialsapiens rather than a naturally fragile veil between realities. On Galvan Prime, for example, there was a veil thin enough for the galvans to discover and experiment with, developing the technology responsible for traversal into the Null Void.

For Legerdomain, a few notable planets have a thinner veil between them and the magical dimension, that being Anodyne, Aldabra and now Anur Phaetos (oh look they all start with ‘a’). The presence of Legerdomain in such proximity is equivalent to UV radiation from the sun, and much like the green grass upon our own planet being the colour suited to reject the majority of Sol’s light, beings like anodites and geochelone aerio have adapted to be filled with mana to the point where they’ve become resistant to the effects of it. In fact, because the veil is thinnest across Anodyne, even breaching the two realities and serving as gateways, anodites have completely converted into energy beings built from the mana itself.

In contrast, ectonurites on Anur Phaetos have become the equivalent of orange/red/magenta grass growing on a planet with an Earth like star, adapting to diametrically oppose mana to take in all of the background mana like a sponge. And akin to UV radiation, mana in such intense is very much a radiation of life energy, and for ectonurites to welcome it with open arms with their anti-mana bodies... well.

You might find that they have more life in them for one person to enjoy...

Between being rather adept with magic should they so try to develop the skills for it and being biologically more welcoming to extraneous life force, a lot of their ghostly powers are the result of mana manipulation in quite the opposite application of anodites, and are magically capable of retaining memories and intelligence in strands of DNA instead of being purely centralised in a brain; possessing one primarily for motor manipulation rather than for sentience. And it is with this intense exposure - what is equivalent - to mana radiation, there is no one form an ectonurite is nor is formed to be.

It is an anomaly to regenerate as one was before, being that the power of regeneration from particles is a form of asexual reproduction were the high presence of mana turns the pieces that used to be you into people entirely new, a planet-wide acknowledgement that - at least to them - reincarnation is very real. It is that anomaly that is why Zs’Skayr is so intrigued by the Omnitrix, because inherent as a machine there is no shred of mana within it, regardless of how much life is stored within it’s database.

The appeal of immortality, of existing as a constantly regenerating being through the use of the Omnitrix, is what led his DNA being gathered and stored within the watch. Though rather unfortunate, the Omnitrix did not end up being simply a DNA storing device as it was planned to be, as a very particular warlord interrupted it’s path towards the Omnitrix’s final and true destination.

And that’s a compilation of what I think might be cool if OS kept with the mutants and magic addition with aliens for I guess a rewritten Ghostfreak arc, with some exploration of ectonurite biology for a bonus, perhaps in some way a series of headcanons I can drag to the more canon settings of the Ben 10 series as a whole. I mean, I certainly am proud of that exploration of anti-mana and the fucked up things it can do to a species’ development, but do tell me what you think of that and my other ideas.

I don’t know, this was ultimately rather random and I just thought I’d share it, haha!

[nygmcbblepot]

"I Know What You Did"  Part 1/2

Frederick ChiltonxFEM! Reader

Warnings: Murder and Gunshots Mentioned

It was like any other day; You got up before Frederick, made breakfast, and got dressed for work. Frederick is not at all a morning person so when you’d be leaving for work, he’d just be getting up. When you were grabbing your coat out of the closet, you felt arms wrapped around your waist. Just as you began to panic, you heard a voice,“Please just stay home today. I’ll call off too. There’s so much snow and the ice is probably all over the roads,” Frederick said setting his head on your shoulder.

“Jesus christ you scared the shit out of me! Freddy, please. You know I can’t stay home. Jack expects me to be there. Especially with the Chesapeake Ripper still out there. Ever since Will got arrested, Jack’s been expecting me to do both Will and I’s work. they just found Miriam Lass last night so god only knows the work i’ll have to do today.” You grabbed your coat from the closet and removed the hands around your waist to put it on. 

“Fine. Have a great day at work. I’ll see you when you get home tonight.” He kissed your cheek before you left for work.

…

You stood behind the two way mirror with Jack and Miriam as Alana questioned Hannibal. You watched Hannibal get close to the glass.

“It’s not him,” Miriam said looking at Jack.

“Are you sure,” Jack questioned looking at you.

Ever since Frederick had brought up the idea that Hannibal may be the Chesapeake Ripper, you kept trying to prove it to Jack. But of course he didn’t believe you, nobody except Will and Fred did.

“Yes. He’s not the ripper.”

You smiled at Miriam and walked her out. “You did great,” you said to her with a smile. 

“I can take her back to her hotel room. I need to go pick up Will anyways. He’s being let free from Baltimore State Hospital since he was found innocent.”

You let Miriam leave with Jack and you started filing paperwork until anybody needed you.

…

After a few hours of filing paperwork, you heard a knock on your office door. 

“Come in,” You shouted as you tried to quickly finish signing off on something.

“Hey! I brought you some coffee,” You looked up and saw Frederick, standing there with a coffee and a visitor pass. He came and sat at one of the seats infront of your desk, sitting the coffee down.

“Thank you so much, darling! I need this today. Everything is just so stressful with Miriam lass but enough about work, what are you doing here?”

“I came to speak to Jack Crawford about Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham. I believe that I could bring back Miriam’s memories like I did with Will Graham.I still just have a gut feeling that Hannibal is the ripper. It just all makes sense,” he said fiddling with his cane. 

“Good luck with that. I’ve tried everything. He still doesn’t believe us.But good luck.” You got up out of your seat and walked to the opposite side of the desk. “Thank you for the coffee. You should probably go talk to Jack.”

Frederick stood up and kissed you before leaving.

…

You were called down to there lab just over an hour after Frederick stopped by. The science team found a fingerprint match. 

“We found a fingerprint on a flower petal. a partial, smudged, not enough points for a courtroom, but it triggered a match in the system. Hannibal Lecter,” Jimmy Price announced to the room with you,Jack, Brian Zeller, and Alana.

“After all these murders, the rippers going to leave a print now,” Jimmy questioned.

You smirked and looked at Jack, hoping that this finger print might help to make Hannibal Lecter crack.

Jack sighed before speaking, “Will said that whatever evidence we found, it would lead us away from the ripper.”

you rolled you eyes and looked to Brian who was opening a file.

“We also found Sodium Amytal and scopolamine in Miriams blood,” Brian said before looking up from his papers.

“Dr. Chilton also used Scopolamine and amytal on both Gideon and Will during their therapy,” Alana said. 

“You’re kidding, right? I don’t think he would be-“

“One claimed to be there Chesapeake ripper and the other accused Hannibal,” Alana interrupted you.

“You’ve got the right box, but you’re looking in the wrong corner,” Jack stared at the ground,” Gideon pointed me to Chilton, told me he was the Ripper.”

“Wait, I’m confused. So, who are we saying is the Chesapeake ripper? Dr. Lecter, or Dr. Chilton,’ Price asked looking very confused. 

“Dr. Le-,” You were interrupted again but this time, by Jack.

“Detective, please go wait outside,” he demanded looking extremely displeased. 

You walked outside but were still able to hear them all speak.

“Bring them both in,” Jack insisted. He walked out of the lab and to you. “Please wait for me in my office. We need to have a chat.”

You looked up at him with a pissed look and started walking towards his office.If you were being honest, you were nervous about what he was going to say. But you were more worried about your innocent boyfriend. You knew he couldn’t do any of the things he is being accused of. You were in a train of thought when you heard the door to his office open and slam closed. It startled you.

“I need to put you on a leave,” Jack said sitting down at his desk.

“What? Why?”

“Your boyfriend or whatever he is to you is a lead suspect in a murder case that you are a detective on. How am I supposed to trust that you haven’t already tried helping him. You both are pretty consistent on the theory that Hannibal Lecter is the Chesapeake Ripper.”

“Jack you know me. You haven’t seen me plant anything of Hannibal’s or do anything! Chilton's innocent! You barely have any evidence on him! You literally have Hannibal Lecter’s god damn finger prints! For gods sake, Jack!”

“We can’t have you working on a case that Frederick is a lead suspect! Do you need me to repeat myself!?”

“I can work other cases! I won’t come into contact with him until he’s found guilty or innocent!”

“How can I trust you won’t go tamper with any evidence from this case?”

You opened your mouth to begin speaking again before somebody opened Jack’s door.

“The agents we sent to Dr. Chilton’s home never came back. They should be back by now. We’ve tracked the cars and it says they’re still there,”Jimmy Price said. “I’m sorry to interrupt.” 

“You’re fine, Price ” Jack got out of his seat and started walking towards the door. “Go. I’ll call you when you’re able to come back.” He watched you get up and followed you out to your car to make sure you wouldn’t try to stay. “Don’t go home yet,” Jack pulled out a checkbook and started writing,” go to a hotel until we have everything under control. We will put a patrol car on the block to make sure that you’re safe.” He handed you the check through your car window and you drove away. You weren’t able to come home and grab your stuff so you went to the hotel to book a few nights. When you arrived and talked to the desk person, you booked four nights.  You went upstairs to your room and took a nap.

…

When you woke up, the first thing you did was look at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was now 6:00 PM. You sighed and reached for your phone noticing that you had one missed call from Jack Crawford. Hoping that was him calling to tell you that there wasn’t enough evidence against Frederick but there was against Hannibal. So you called him back. After three rings, you heard him pick up.

“Hello,” you said getting up out of the hotel bed. 

Jack sighed,”I need you to meet me last my office. As soon as possible.”

“Why what’s wrong,” you asked putting the phone on speaker as you opened your purse and grabbed your hairbrush.

“Just come please.”

You hung up and continued to make yourself look presentable before leaving. When you arrived in Jack’s office, he gave you a sort of a sorry look. 

“Sit down please.” You gave him a weird look and sat down. “When you left, did you go straight to the hotel?”

“Yes… what’s happened, jack?”

“We found multiple FBI bodies mutilated in your home. Do you know how this looks?”

“Jack, I had nothing to do with this and neither did Frederick!”

“Than why were there bodies in your house” he shouted. “We have Frederick being interviewed by Alana.”

You sighed and crossed your legs, “Does he have a lawyer? I know he’s innocent! Hannibal had to have broke into our house and framed him.”

“Stay here. I have to go take Miriam in to identify him.” Jack got out of his hair and started heading towards the door.

“Jack? Do you think you could let me see him?”

You heard Jack sigh before opening the door to exit, “Leave your purse here and come with me.” You got up out of the seat and Jack guided you to the interrogation room. Frederick sat there with Alana looking absolutely miserable. But I mean after everything, he has the right to feel miserable. He was being framed for a crime he didn’t commit. You were just wishing that you could find something that would prove his innocents. 

“So i’m not allowed to actually go see him? I have to stay behind this two way mirror?”

Jack nodded his head. “It’s for the best. I should probably go get Miriam and bring her in here. I would rather not have you in here for that part.”  You nodded and gave jack a smile before leaving the room with him. “Wait here until we’re done. I have more to talk to you about.”

You sat on the floor as Jack went to go get Miriam and waited as he brought her back in the room. You were just about to fall asleep before you heard a loud bang; A Gunshot…

Tag: @lilyevans1

[nrrrdgrrrl2002]

A little short story from Of Mutants And Monsters

“So what did this guy supposedly do?” April asked as she floated next to Casey. The team entered the recently abandoned lab to investigate.

“Well. From the reports we were given” Donnie started as he looked at his tablet. “Some of the suspected crimes of this man are-“

“They don’t need to know the specifics” Raph interrupted Donnie, knowing just how twisted some of the accusations were.

“What? Why not? You guys get to know” Mikey whined. “Me and Donnie are adults who don’t care. You three are teens that are, quote, “easy to traumatize” apparently. All you need to know is the accusations are very bad” raph responded.

“I went to high school. I’ve seen some crazy things. Some mad scientist can’t be that bad” Casey retorted.

“Yeah yeah. Whatever. I don’t care. I just don’t need middy giving me another spiel about being “insensitive”” raph stated as they started to investigate.

“Could she also give Donnie that spiel?” Mikey asked. Donnie raised an eyebrow at Mikey.

“I’m not insensitive” he responded defensively. “You’ve stabbed all of us with needle’s multiple times without warning” Casey chimed in.

“I needed blood samples” Donnie retorted. “You couldn’t ask first?” April asked.

“It’d take too long” Donnie responded. “It’d take 5 seconds!” Casey growled in annoyance.

“Exactly. Too long” Donnie finished before turning his attention to a cabinet full of chemicals.

Casey glared at the fish/turtle man. “You know it’d probably kill him” april told Casey, reading the boys thoughts.

“I know I know” Casey grumbled as he picked up a couple of crates so him and april could see if there was anything hidden under it before opening the crates.

April used all four of her arms to grab some chemicals from the crate. “What do you think would happen if I mixed these?” She asked as she looked at the chemicals.

“I wouldn’t recommend it. I tried something similar in science class once and it didn’t end well” Casey responded, opening another crate.

“How bad?” April asked, still finding the idea tempting. “It caught my dad’s attention” Casey responded.

April was confused at that response but decided to not go through with the idea.

Mikey noticed a big metal door to what looked like a giant freezer. “Wonder what’s in here” he asked to himself as he shocked the electronic lock, shorting it out and letting the door open.

Everyone in the room jumped as they heard screaming mixed with electrical shock sounds. “What is it?!” Raph asked as he ran to the freezer.

“Jesus Christ!” Casey yelled. “AHH!” April screamed as she jumped into Casey’s arms. Raphs eyes widened with slight horror as he saw what happened to the missing victims.

Donnie had a neutral expression as he walked into the freezer to collect evidence/samples.

“Ok. Time to wrap up this little field trip” Raph exclaimed with wide eyed and a fake smile as he noticed the others mortified expressions.

“I’m still in the middle of collecting samples” Donnie stated. “Don” raph gritted through his teeth as he signaled towards the others.

Donnie noticed the other three shaking and scared. “Oh come on! It’s not that bad. You don’t see humans being mortified by seeing meat lockers with cows and pigs and stuff” Donnie said.

“Donnie. LOTS of humans are freaked out by meat lockers” raph said. Donnie rolled his eyes.

“Get” raph said as he extended his branch arms to grab Donnie and move him towards the exit.

“Fine fine” Donnie said as he left first. “Come on you three” raph said as he took Mikey by the hand to guide him out.

“How could someone do something so horrifying” april cried. Casey didn’t want to admit his fear, but he carefully hugged april closer, still holding her.

Raph looked back at them as they walked out. “You guys are gonna see stuff like this a lot so you should learn to control your reaction now if we’re gonna continue with these missions” he said to them.

“We’re gonna have to get used to this?!” Mikey asked in worry. Raph sighed.

“You don’t… you don’t really get used to it. You kinda just.. I don’t know. You kinda learn to… poker face it? You’re never gonna get used to it. It’s horrifying. You kinda just… figure out when to react to it, I guess.” He tried to explain.

He didn’t want to lie but.. he was connected to all plant life. He feels living things die everyday. It still hurts. He still thinks about it but.. well he can’t dwell on it everytime it happens so..

Maybe he wasn’t the right person to explain something like this. “Let’s just go home. Middys a lot better with verbal stuff” he said as he led them out.”

[merakiui]

Okay okay okay I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now here’s my list of genshin boys most likely to least likely to become a yandere and why:

-xiao. Millennia of suffering and he meets somebody who makes the pain dissipate? Hell never let go.

-diluc. People have died in his arms, he can’t risk losing another loved one... it’s not like he doesn’t have the wealth and resources to keep his beloved by his side.

-Childe. I think he’d be the most dehumanizing yandere - he treats you almost like a child (haha) as be manipulates his way into your heart. And god knows that he gets what he wants.

-albedo is obviously in the top half of this list. We’ve talked about his yandere tendacies before so I won’t relist them but jeez get this boy some therapy.

-razor. Now this sounds surprising but after years of protecting his Lupical, do you really think he’d let somebody he loves and sees as helpless wander alone? I feel hes less captor and manipulative and more of a stalker if he becomes a yandere

-venti. Freedom is his entire world, but can he let his beloved have freedom if it endangers them? One of the most manipulative ones on this list, except he has no clue that he’s doing it.

-kaeya. Maybe you’d gotten to close to one of his secrets. Maybe you’d figured out something he wanted to die. It doesn’t matter much now, all you know is that you were tried and declared guilty by the knights of favonius and were sent into a dungeon protected by the Calvery captain himself.

-zhongli. Has the yandere desires, but refuses to give in. He’s loved and lost so many times over the years and he figures he doesn’t want to take that away from his beloved.

-chongyun. I’ve gone back and forth between him and xingqiu for this one, but I feel like these last 3 are all pretty much tied for not being a yandere. However, if he met someone who could somehow null his congenital positivity than he might move up on this list...

-Xingqiu. He has a strong sense of justice and honor, the idea of manipulating, stalking or god forbid kidnapping his S/O is appalling to him.

-Bennett. Literally just tryna vibe. Devotes as much time as he can to make sure any relationship he has is healthy.

So basically:

Everybody on this list: *frothing at the mouth, thinking of ways to keep their S/Os with them*

Bennett, Chongyun, Xingqiu and to some extent Zhongli: what the fuck

Your list... Simply amazing. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m beginning to wonder where other characters would sit on the list. Mainly Scaramouche though aha oops Anyways, please never stop sharing your thoughts!! They are so GOOD!

Xiao’s backstory and past is just perfect material to fuel his yandere desires. He’s suffered for so long and has never really experienced positive emotions, let alone love itself. The poor adeptus is always brooding on his own and here comes his darling, bright and happy and just...perfect. They’re like a glimmering star in his murky darkness and he wants to treasure them. There’s no way he’s going to let go of the feeling he gets when he’s with them, nor is he going to let them leave his side.

It makes sense that Diluc would also be at the top of that list. He’s got the making of a yandere, especially considering all of the people he’s lost in his life. Now that he’s found someone so important to him, he can’t risk losing them. It would destroy him if he found out that his darling got hurt or was even killed because he wasn’t taking enough precautions to keep them safe. He’d definitely blame himself if something like that happened.

Childe, pspspspsp!!! The power this man holds... Omg he makes for such a terrifying yandere. On the outside, he seems warm and disarming—just your normal, happy-go-lucky kind of guy. He’s not dangerous at all! No way. But under all of that falsified charm is someone who knows how to pull strings. He’s a Fatui Harbinger, so of course he has the means of getting you wrapped around his finger. It’s not all that hard when he’s got money, power, and strength. Plus, when he wants something he’s not going to stop until he acquires it; Childe lives for the thrill of chasing after you and it’ll be even more fun once he catches you. Someone should send me more thoughts about yan!Childe!!! orz orz

Albedo also qualifies as a neat yandere! Something about yanderes who are into science is just...fascinating to me. It’s also cool because Albedo’s rumored to be a homunculus, so that adds to the intrigue! Albedo has the resources to get what he wants as well. It won’t be all that difficult, and if it proves to be challenging he can just think of other solutions to pacify his darling. He is a researcher, after all, and a good researcher seeks to find the best solution to a problem.

Razor would be a feral yandere. He’s more action than words. He doesn’t put much thought into what he does because it feels more like an instinct to him. He’s just protecting his Lupical. There’s nothing wrong with that! So why are you acting so difficult? D: 

Like you said, Venti’s not aware of his manipulation and he just does it because it works. His belief that everyone deserves freedom is probably what really holds him back. He doesn’t want you to feel caged, but that feeling is practically inevitable since he’s always hounding you. Venti is a very suffocating yandere and he doesn’t even realize it.

KAEYA! KAEYA! I love the idea of Kaeya having some sort of blackmail on you—something so bad that you absolutely can’t let the world see. And so he uses that to keep you quiet. If you did stumble upon one of his secrets, he can’t possibly have you running that pretty mouth of yours. But if you do end up spilling his secret, it’s only fair that he shares yours, right? An eye for an eye, as some would say. Kaeya’s very smooth and calculative when it comes to handling blackmail. Whenever it feels like you’re trying to one-up him and possibly escape, he’ll flirtatiously remind you of the power he holds over you. Blackmail is rather compelling, is it not?

Zhongli does have the motive to be a yandere, as you pointed out, but he’s a strange case. On one hand, it makes sense that he’d want to protect his beloved at all costs, but on the other he’d probably be aware of these unhealthy tendencies. Although he probably uses the idea of a contract to keep your relationship going, even if it’s clear you don’t want anything to do with him. But if you do, that just makes it easier on him! 

NO BECAUSE I THOUGHT THE SAME FOR CHONGYUN!!! Not the yan!Chongyun piece rotting in my drafts for a month or two now ehehee I had some thoughts about Chongyun but never bothered posting it for some reason. Anyways, I do think Chongyun has potential to be a yandere! As you mentioned, his congenital positivity can become an issue and he doesn’t want that to seriously affect his daily life. So he’s probably very pleased to find someone who can nullify that positivity. It’d be similar to Xiao’s case; Xiao likes someone who can be the light in his dark world. Chongyun falls for the person who can null his congenital positivity and is someone who he gets along with. 

The only way I can see Xingqiu being a yandere is if he wants a noble, storybook romance. Okay, that sounds strange, but consider it! He’s a huge bookworm who probably doesn’t exactly experience romance aside from what he reads in his novels. Although he doesn’t dabble in the romance genre all that often, he does like the idea of being a hero and sweeping someone off of their feet. So when he meets you—another fellow bookworm or maybe the two of you are thrown into an arranged marriage—he just feels an undeniable connection. This must be some form of fate or a sixth sense. Maybe he can be the main character of his own story! You’ll just have to cooperate and you can be the valiant knight’s love interest!

Bennett’s vibes are so nice. How could he be a yandere? He’s just too sweet and pure. He’s really just here to chill and gather an adventuring team full of great friends! But if anyone has any thoughts...please share them! 

That’s it. I’m writing about Scaramouche even though he’s not on the list. Please, why do I simp so much for him? Anyways, we don’t know nearly enough about Scaramouche to determine his backstory or past. But he just oozes yandere! Most of the Harbingers are probably the same, to some extent. He’s like Childe with all of the power and resources, but whereas Childe relishes in the chase Scaramouche refuses to put up with it. It’s just way too inconvenient for him. He’d rather catch you when you least expect it and then keep you for himself.

Gosh, he’s a very determined and possessive yandere with a strict agenda; this man probably cheats in order to get you. He’ll send his underlings to do the work in his place. They’ll stalk you and report back to him and it isn’t long before he learns of your friends, certain family members you’re close to, and even where you live. It’s terrifying, but this is Scaramouche we’re talking about. For someone so short, he sure knows how to intimidate and beat fear into those below him. Good luck to the poor soul who catches his eye. 

I must thank you for making that list! It was lots of fun to consider their mindsets and behaviors as yandere. :D

[fandomwriterstuff]

“We’re a well-oiled team of military-grade kindergarteners,” his best friend, and the only other human on the ship who would understand what kindergarten was, continued chastising him and his companions. “The level of education and training among the three of you eclipses that of the entire rest of the members of this operation,” Annabeth continued, pointing her finger individually at himself, his pilot Jason, and his Chief Science Officer Nico. “You know, I’m not that surprised with you, Percy, but you are our XO so you should really be more responsible,” he winced at that, still feeling a bit of imposter syndrome at being the Commander of the USS Olympus. “Jason, shouldn’t you be piloting a ship or something?” At that, he saluted her and did an about face before scampering off to get into more trouble. “And you, you’re definitely way too responsible to have gotten mixed up with this Seaweed Brain and Sparky, so what’s in this tomfoolery for you?”

Nico, the only Neptunian on the ship, shifted his large black wings self consciously under the scrutiny of their Chief of Operations. Percy, as the Commander of the vessel, felt obligated to protect his usually stoic and well-behaved… acquaintance? Di Angelo was reserved, almost standoffish, and resented anyone who tried to stick up for him for some reason, but that didn’t stop Percy’s stupid seaweed brain from doing so. Hence the acquaintance. Percy was 99% sure Di Angelo didn’t consider him a friend. But he was nice to Percy and a great officer, so Percy considered him his friend.

“It was my fault, Annie,” he used her childhood nickname carefully, not knowing whether it would soften her up or piss her off more. He was hoping for softening. “It was just another one of Jason and my dumb ideas that we thought we would need a scientist to help with, and we didn’t want to piss off Leo by involving him in it. You know how he is about his engineer and warp cores and whatnot,” Percy held his hands up placatingly. “Leave Di Angelo out of this, he has sciencey things to do, isn’t that right?” Percy side-eyed his companion who (not surprisingly) rolled his eyes.

“I try not to get involved with human pranks or even Jovian mischief, but Officer Grace and First Officer Jackson were about to be meddling with my linguistics team. It isn’t my duty to tell my superiors what to do, so I sought out the next best option, supervising and ensuring no lasting damage was done to the physical or emotional state of the linguistics team. Now,” Here Percy held in a smirk as Di Angelo shrugged. “If they caused interference with the machinery of the ship, that wouldn’t be my expertise, so I allowed it to happen and-” Percy held back a laugh as the other male started speaking even faster to get everything out as Annabeth turned redder and redder. “I’m very sorry about that, truly, but I had no control over the situation.”

“No control over the situation? You three broke our LIT machine and now we have to go back to Earth as soon as we pass close enough to fix it. Soon enough nobody on this ship will understand each other,” the woman across from them crossed her arms and Percy shrunk back a bit.

“I want to make a joke about a machine being called “LIT,” but I feel like it isn’t the right time,” he muttered. “I know the Linguistic Inhibition Technology is important, but most of us have a working understanding of at least one other language, so it shouldn’t be a huge issue, right?”

“You know it works by connecting to the implant technology in our brains, so as it shuts down one by one, members of this ship from spaces stations and planets far and wide will have no clue why they suddenly can’t understand their XO, or their Chief Officer, or their best friend. So you better explain this. And you have to tell them that we’re going straight back to Earth to fix it because no nearby planets have the same brain implant tech as us. Damn Terrans and their brand name technology copyrights,” Annabeth grumbled and finally turned around to walk off.

“Hey, you’re Terran, too!” Percy shouted after her, but she just flipped him the bird.

“She can do that?” Di Angelo asked, side-eyeing Percy.

“Yeah, she’s been my best friend since we were twelve. As long as she doesn’t undermine my authority in front of everyone else, I don’t really care. I’ve done way worse to her,” Percy laughed at the other man’s frown. “Nothing bad, just pranks and things of that sort. Maybe when we get back to Earth we can show you where we’re from. You never set foot off of the training grounds while you were in school.”

“I would… like that,” Di Angelo paused and gave Percy a soft smile.

“Great,” Percy patted the younger male on the shoulder and made his way to the Command Center.

Percy sat himself down in the rotating chair and pressed on the comms device.

“Gooooood evening crew of the USS Olympus, this is your Commanding Officer, Percy Jackson, speaking,” he smiled at the engineering crew that was scuttling by, only for one of them to pause and look at him like he was speaking a different language… Whoops.

“There was a malfunction with the Linguistic Inhibition Technology and we will be returning to Earth henceforth to repair it before the damage becomes problematic. You may experience glitches with your implant technology and may revert to only understanding your first language and those you have studied extensively. If somebody looks like they’re not understanding what I’m saying right now, please escort them to the linguistics team in Science Bay 3. Carry on. Jackson, out.” He clicked again and the mic turned off.

He sighed, this would be one of his bigger mistakes. They were supposed to be exploring, but they couldn’t do that if nobody could speak to one another. One trip home couldn’t hurt him, and he was sure Annabeth would be happy to see her father.

It wasn’t until later after the Chief Officer meeting when someone finally asked Percy about Earth. For many of the non-humans on the ship, Earth was a place to get education and training to go out in the star fleet, and they never set foot outside the campus grounds, just like Di Angelo. But people had stopped asking him questions because Earth was basically “Space Australia,” as Annabeth had explained to him. The adaptability of humans and their need to pack bond astounded many and horrified many others. So, he stopped talking about home.

It was a new member of their ship, Novax (a Vulcan who was a part of Leo’s engineering team), who asked him about it first.

“I hear Earth is 75% made of pure salt water, and is filled with animals of all kinds. Do you have a favorite water animal?” he asked Percy excitedly.

“Definitely dolphins, though they aren’t underwater creatures. Like humans they need oxygen to breathe, and come up for air very often. My favorite actual underwater species would have to be a hippocampus from Neptune. I’ve always wanted to go and see one, but my human anatomy prevents me from going on-planet,” Percy explained and sipped on his hot tea.

“There are a million creatures in the ocean and you pick one that doesn’t breathe underwater?” Clarisse grunted. His Chief Tactical Officer was a brutish Martian, but very specialized in weapons. “And your second favorite isn’t even Terran.”

“What else do you know about the ‘ocean’?” Novax breathed, leaning forward.

“Eh, not much,” Percy shrugged.

“I’m not sure I heard that correctly, maybe my LIT unit isn’t functioning well,” another member of engineering asked, Nyssa. “Your planet is 75% water and you don’t even know what is inside it?”

“I could tell you about the people who spend their life learning about what survives in the deep depths,” Percy looked up, knowing he had all of the non-Terrans hooked on every word. Even Di Angelo had paused in his note taking and was staring wide-eyed at Percy. “But I don’t know if you’d want to know.”

“No we do!” Nyssa exclaimed. “There are people who dedicate their lives to a place that’s literally not navigable by humans, the main inhabitants of the planet?”

“Well as you said, most of the planet is water. Which means that coastal communities are filled with fisherman, whalers, swimmers, and more. I could tell you about some of those. I could also tell you about the scientists that spend years of their lives building bots that can’t even come close to withstanding the pressure at the deepest depths without imploding, or I could tell you about those that do come close,” he shrugged.

“What happened to those?”

“The video feed cut out after only seeing multiple rows of sharp, jagged teeth,” Annabeth answered, her sharp grin frightening those who hadn’t noticed her. Some forgot that she was Terran, because she was also half Minervan.

“I could tell you about whales. Beautiful, they come in black and white or grey or blue. But they can be as big as almost 100 feet long. That’s as long as most pirate ships. And they could fit about 400 average sized humans in their mouths. You don’t want to cross one of them. And they only live on the surface. The things that live in the deep,” Percy shuddered for effect. There were no Neptunians on the ship, so there were no natural water dwellers there, so all of his rapt listeners were shocked by this information. “There’s the anglerfish. They light up the dark with an antenna on top of their heads, and the light lures in prey. But it’s so dim elsewhere that you don’t see their big sharp teeth until you’re right up against them,” he murmured. “Giant squids are almost as big as whales but not nearly as peaceful and beautiful. They have eight arms and two tentacles that could wrap around any boat and crush it.”

“Ten limbs?” Nyssa whispered, clearly disturbed.

“Plus, the Portuguese Man o’ War,” Percy shrugged nonchalantly. “Also known as the floating terror. It’s like a big blue jellyfish that sits innocently on top of the water with huge blue tentacles that sit just underneath with a sting strong enough to kill a full grown human.”

“Don’t worry,” Annabeth grinned that shark grin again. “Percy won’t tell you about the stories of the old days. He doesn’t want to scare you.”

“That was the not scary part?” Novax gulped.

“Anyway, I just got notified that we’ll be back on Earth in a few days, so brace yourselves,” and with that, she stood and left them all staring after her. When the door clicked shut, Percy had all eyes back on him. He shrugged.

“Don’t look at me. I wasn’t going to tell you about the kr- nevermind,” he stood. “Di Angelo, with me,” the younger officer stood, back to business and was at Percy’s side again in a moment. “Clear your schedule, you’re spending shore leave with me, pal.”

“Great,” came the deadpan reply.

“Don’t sound so somber,” Percy rolled his eyes. “I’m just going to show you the beach and maybe a good gay bar. You need to let off some steam my dude.”

The other male reddened.

“That is so… That is…” he huffed. “Highly inappropriate.” he glared down at the ground and Percy felt a little bad, maybe the guy wasn’t out? But it was clear he had a preference for males. Oh well, that foot was already in Percy’s mouth.

“Fine. But I will be attending and I am a great dancer so you’re missing out,” he winked at the flustered officer and made his way back to his cabin. It would be an interesting few days.

He made a plan with Annabeth. Day one before shore leave, Percy would spread a rumor to Novax about the kraken. Bigger than a giant squid and meaner. Known to crush entire pirate ships in the olden days.

Day two, Annabeth would mention sirens to Nyssa. Hideous creatures that could lure you in with their voices and lead you to believe you were bringing your ship in to everything you ever wanted, when in reality you would crash your ships and then drown.

Day three, Percy would tell Leo about the Megalodon. A definitely very real shark so big you couldn’t even imagine it. Percy shuddered at that one.

“But, there are some good things,” Percy was speaking to Nico Di Angelo from his Commander chair, in ear shot of some of the participants of the conversation a few nights prior. “Mermaids, the siren’s nicer cousin species. And the lost city of Atlantis. Known to be a great and bountiful city, lost to the sea and cursed by the gods to be stuck down there forever. Some believe it still exists, but it’s within the Bermuda Triangle.”

“What, pray tell, is the Bermuda Triangle,” Clarisse sighed.

“Hard to explain. Ships just… go in… and they never come out,” Annabeth shrugged. “Planes go down. Ships wreck. People who go in don’t come back out, so we don’t know if Atlantis is really there or not.”

“That’s… terrifying,” Novax whispered as he walked by.

Percy was sure he had created a healthy fear of Earth’s oceans in his crew. And he meant to, because while he loved the beach and swimming, he did want to make them shy away from the depths. They wouldn’t do well to explore it.