#Drive Genius License Key

[rivalsforlife]

Franziska and Edgeworth are so interesting because for all accounts on paper SHE’S the more accomplished and prestigious one, she’s an international prosecutor who got her law license 7 years younger than he did etc, and she pretends it’s true and he humours her.

But deeper down she knows he’s smart in a way she isn’t AS good at and that drives her NUTS. And not a small part of it is her own self worth issues comparing herself to an impossible-to-legally-achieve-standard set by her dad, and the general existence as a young girl/woman in the public eye in a male dominated field, but you know it’s also partially her and Miles looking at evidence and he just…figures it out like a magic trick while she can’t. Or at least it will take a longer (Again, she was SO MUCH YOUNGER then him it’s not fair to compare them when they were ��competing” at those ages).

And Franziska is better and smarter then her brother at many things, but she isn’t better at EVERYTHING and that grinds her gears so much haha. And I think there’s this meta that was going around that that “Franziska is a better lawyer when she’s using her OWN techniques rather then falling back in her dad’s” I can recall the exact details of but I think she’s so blinded by her own perceived shortcomings she can’t see her strengths. Like her declaring she “isn’t a genius” at the end of AA2, is of course incorrect on its face, she at the very least is very good at studying and learning facts past the ability of the average person, but she feels like she doesn’t have the same “natural instincts” maybe? that Miles has and her dad had? But her own “natural instincts” have not been nurtured enough for her to trust them so she feels like she doesn’t have them?. The whole “technician vs performer”* dichotomy that Miles also is on one side of when he’s pared with anyone other then Fran haha

(Tho, I wonder if it’s Miles’ skill at investigating or his skill in the courtroom (or both???) that she feels left behind by? The Investigations Games makes it seem like 1. Miles is special and smart at Investigating but 2. he’s even MORE impressive (or seems more self assured) IN the courtroom if Kay’s reaction to him in court at the end of AAI1 is to be believed? He seemed to have stopped going out to crime scenes himself at a certain point, as he did in his first case and wasn’t doing it by AA1. He’s the hardest prosecutor to tangle with that isn’t like, 100% cheating lol so him being a terror in the courtroom with just his mean mean words vs Fran needing her whip and all that…)

(Also, which of them has the better EQ I wonder? Both have their moments but both can be…so bad at it. Maybe Miles is better at knowing the emotional state of people he’s close to vs Fran knowing how to deal with strangers (when she’s not whipping them??) or they both have such huge blind spots it’s hard to say who’s ahead lol)

* https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TechnicianVersusPerformer

I'm so sorry it took me like a month to answer this asdfgfdsfg

I think the tricky thing with comparing the skill levels of the characters is that in most of the Edgeworth vs Franziska situations, Edgeworth has to win, usually because he's the player character (in Bridge and in Investigations - there's no game if Franziska figures out the case before you, the player, do) or Franziska's role in the story means she has to lose (Big Top being an example, where Edgeworth figures out the key to the case behind the scenes, because Phoenix is the player character, he's on Phoenix's side, and Phoenix has to win). As well, Edgeworth's always at least one game ahead on character development than Franziska; when she takes the "opponent" role she automatically has to fall behind, and she's always in that role.

And like you mentioned it's hard to compare when Franziska has naturally been behind Edgeworth her entire life by virtue of being seven years younger, and is only just catching up in terms of maturity by the original trilogy (though there's still quite the mental difference between 18 and 25), but at the same time Franziska being able to pass the Bar at thirteen and maintain her cases well enough to keep her record until Phoenix automatically puts her as a genius.

I always had the impression that, at least to Franziska, winning meant getting praise or attention from her father. We can sort of see this in Turnabout Reminiscence when MvK mentions being there to see Edgeworth's first trial, and Franziska immediately asks if he'll go to see hers, which he's ambivalent to. This is veering into personal interpretation territory but I kind of had the sense that MvK was more invested in getting his perfect revenge on Gregory by raising his son to be the perfect prosecutor, and this would manifest in what seemed like MvK caring more about Edgeworth's career than Franziska's, and Franziska had to compete with him for the attention and usually lost.

Also, I feel Franziska's insecurities about being "left behind" are less about some objective measure of her being "not as good" as Edgeworth, and more that she's more emotionally dependent on Edgeworth than he is to her. She describes their relationship as Edgeworth "always [leaving] me alone and [walking] on ahead without me", and we don't get the details of specific incidents, we can kind of extrapolate that Franziska has always wanted to be closer to him but is very, very bad at expressing that outside of "Miles Edgeworth I Will Defeat You."

She does seem to tie a good amount of her relationship with Edgeworth to her relationship with prosecuting, too, given how when Edgeworth gives up his badge in aai2 her instant reaction is "So you're leaving me behind again?" So I think that her skill in prosecuting + her father's legacy and her relationship with him + defeating Edgeworth + her relationship with Edgeworth are all tied together really messily and it expresses itself in her perfectionist tendencies that she'll never really be satisfied with. No matter how good she is in court she'll never win as much of her father's approval as she wants, and that's not going to make her and Edgeworth closer as siblings, either, and she's not emotionally at a point where she can fully realize that throughout the trilogy, I think.

(I also think it's worth noting that while Franziska refers to him as her little brother, as far as I can tell she doesn't do that to Edgeworth's face, and Edgeworth doesn't ever refer to her as his sister. She doesn't call him that during Reminiscence, either. There's all sorts of interesting implications you can play around with with that.)

As far as emotional intelligence goes... I think Edgeworth has to win because of having the leg up on character development arc, and also for that one scene at the end of Bridge where Edgeworth can deduce that Maya is trying to be strong for Pearl while Franziska can't comprehend it. (There is the moment in Reminiscence when Kay is crying and Franziska tells Edgeworth to comfort her, but Edgeworth was having flashbacks to his father's death at the time, so he wasn't at his most aware.)

I don't think I've seen the meta you're talking about but I do find it interesting how Franziska was working with Interpol in the Investigations games, and I think that's an interesting direction to take for her character. It's distinct both from what her father and Edgeworth are doing and is a good chance for her to figure out her own identity as a prosecutor without being in the shadows of either of them. And she's overall more emotionally stable in the AAI games than in JFA, I think at least partially as a result of that. (though that's not saying a lot. she was not in a good place in JFA.) (and also she's, like, 19, so she's still got a long way to go in emotional maturity.)

If we ever see Franziska in later games, it would be interesting to do a comparison, since there's way less of a gap in brain development and emotional maturity between 28 and 35 compared to 18 and 25. ... But I don't have a lot of faith that Capcom would care about how Franziska would have matured over the last decade if they made AA7, so. Maybe not.

[offthewoptunes]

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[valleyrunearchives]

Binary

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Fandom: Boku No Hero Academia/My Hero Academia Pairings: Aizawa Shouta/Yamada Hizashi Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Chapter 2/?

“Binary code is a series of zeroes and ones strung together in a specific sequence. On paper, it’s useless. Annoying. Worthless. But put that same string of zeroes and ones into a computer, and suddenly it’s a language far more complex than the human mind can comprehend. I was the same way. The world decided I wasn’t good enough in the physical plane, so I went digital. That’s why I chose the name Binary. And you should be very,” He smirks at the underground hero on the screen, “Very afraid of the reach I have here. Aizawa Shouta.”

Or

Midoriya Izuku is tired of the world treating him like nothing. So he decides to becoming a hacker to show the world that nothing can be anything.

Featuring Midoriya Izuku as the Genius Hacker Aizawa Shouta as the problem child wrangler Yamada Hizashi as the moral support to his husband Tsukauchi Naomasa as the man who needs a long vacation PLEASE Shinsou Hitoshi as the intentionally adopted one Toga Himiko as the unintentionally adopted one Dabi as the really didn’t want to be adopted one but he guesses this is his life now and Nedzu as the Rat God of UA

<=Previous | Next=>

Click here to Read on AO3!

Aizawa Shouta is having an average patrol night. Nothing too out of the ordinary has happened so far. He honestly thinks it’s going to go smoothly enough that he’ll be able to leave on time. Which is why he knows he jinxed himself when he walks into the police headquarters and Tsukauchi comes rushing up to him. That usually means a case but the amount of urgency lining the man’s face is certainly concerning. “We may have a problem,” is the first thing the detective says to him when he approaches. 

Oh fucking hell… Can’t he have just one night?

He sighs out deeply through his nose but obediently follows Tsukauchi to his office without complaint. As soon as the door closes, he asks, “What’s going on? Has something happened?”

The detective walks over to sit at his desk, a box sitting open on top of it, "This box was sitting outside of the front entrance last night after a freak power outage occurred that was about five blocks wide all around headquarters. The secretary on duty thought that maybe it had just been dropped by the postal service and kicked into the open by someone passing by in the sudden darkness, so she brought it in. It was addressed to me."

"Okay, and?" He prompts.

"The contents were… somewhat shocking," Tsukauchi holds out a piece of paper. He takes it and looks at the contents on it.

[Thought you could use this, detective. Try not to wait too long to follow up on it. I don't know how long it'll be before this info isn't valid anymore. Have fun! - With love, from Binary]

"Who's Binary?" He asks.

"Don't know. Never had any contact with them before this. That's not what concerns us, concerns me, though." He turns to his computer and types at the keys on the keyboard. He also clicks on something before continuing, "In the box along with the note was a flash drive. The content in the drive was especially interesting to us." The underground hero raises an eyebrow as Tsukauchi motions him around the desk. Aizawa rounds the desk, leaning against the top of it with one hand to look at the screen of the detective’s computer. His eyes slowly widened at the contents, "Is that-?"

"The Yamaguchi Brothers and their new syndicate? Yep. One of our tech guys verified that the videos and photos are legit and the flash drive it came on wasn't bugged or filled with viruses. It contains their hideout location with visible landmarks around plus coordinates, some photos of some of the crimes they've recently committed, and even photos of their cars license plates along with who owns them. There's also a list of identities and known quirks amongst the group as well as the best heroes to bring to apprehend them. This ‘Binary’ managed to solve one of our highest profile cases in the course of a night as well as put together a practically full proof plan to apprehend them."

"And all of it is legit? Every single piece? Nothing’s been tampered with at all?" When the detective hums an affirmative, Aizawa furrows his brows, "Well that's too convenient… anyone spotted after the box was left?"

"Nope. Just some kid waiting for his mom to pick him up after gymnastics class apparently. Secretary on duty said she felt bad for him because apparently his mom couldn't come get him and he had to walk alone in the dark. Said he was pretty freaked out about it but got embarrassed when he noticed her. Also," Tsukauchi reaches over and grabs something off his desk. He passes it to Aizawa, "We did a bit of digging and found that the power outage that occured? It was planned. Something pinged in the system at the same time that the power went out. It was gone by the time the power was back on."

"Sounds like a hacker then. So… Whoever Binary is, they found out information on one of our most dangerous criminal groups, planned a - however large wide five blocks is on either side of the station - power outage, and then, under the cover of that darkness, placed down a box of sensitive information addressed to you specifically so that the police would get it?" He reads over the report from the power company, noting that the foreign intrusion on the power grid was only there long enough to spot it but not track or trace. Binary wasn't just good at what they did, they were phenomenal at it. Probably had years of practice under their belt.��

Tsukauchi nods, "Seems like it. Can't confirm if it's a hacker with a quirk for it though. Could possibly be someone with an intelligence one that picked up hacking as a form of entertainment for themselves."

"Can't confirm anything at all until we can find an identity for them, right?"

"Correct. I was also questioning myself as to why me," the detective leans back in his chair.

"Why you? What do you mean?"

"Yeah well... Why address the box to me? Was there a reason? Is it random? Should we expect the MO of them to be that they'll always contact me somehow? Either via a box or otherwise? Or will it go to anyone in the station?" Tsukauchi questions. 

"And what other information will they be sending? Will it all be major crime group info like this or will info on petty crimes or even info on A list villains come through as well?" Aizawa adds, puzzle pieces appearing in his mind but none of them lining up with each other.

Tsukauchi grins up at him, "See, this is why I wanted to consult you and ask if you wanted this case! Do you want it by the way?" 

Aizawa sighs as if being put out, “Yeah, I’ll take it. I’m sure I can find out who they are eventually. Maybe get a meeting with them and talk them out of their hacker ways.”

“Thanks Eraser!” The grin then drops from his face into a frown, "What about what we do when we find who this is?"

"Don't know. Offer them a job as a tech analyst for the police?" Aizawa gestures to the monitor with his hand, "This is good info, after all. Especially for a freelance hacker."

"Haha…" The false laugh is accompanied by a deadpan stare. Tsukauchi sighs deeply before shrugging, "Guess we'll just have to wait and figure it out when we catch them. I don’t think a job will be an option though. I don’t know if jail time would be either though. Maybe just a fine for hacking into the power grid and traffic cameras? Oh well, I’d better get started on the Yamaguchi Brother’s arrest plan."

Tsukauchi turns back to his desk, picking up his phone to start coordinating the necessary heroes for the Yamaguchi Brothers’ case. Aizawa mentally catalogs all of the evidence about Binary that they've already collected. He’ll get a physical copy anyway but it’s good to commit it to memory in case he needs to recall it at any point while he’s investigating. He moves his gaze down to the note in his hand and he glares at Binary's name. They better watch out because Aizawa’s about to start hunting them down.

______________________________________________________________

Izuku lets out a snort as he comes awake suddenly, shooting up from where he was slouched against the coffee table. Goosebumps ripple all along his body. "What the fuck…" he mutters to himself, looking around for any kind of danger. His brows furrowed as he didn't see anything immediately around him that was wrong, "... Am I missing something? Did I forget to do something? … Did I forget to do my English essay that's due tomorrow?!"

He looks down and thinks. Then pouts to himself, "No wait. I did it back when it was first assigned at the beginning of the year… I even went three pages over the required limit…" He shrugs dismissively after thinking about it a bit more, "Eh what the hell ever. I'm going to actual bed this time." He stands up, grabbing his phone. 

"CATRA, get the lights please," he calls out in a yawn as he slinks into his room. The lights to the apartment cut off behind him with a small meow sounding after he closed the door to his bedroom.

[headinthestarz]

And Breathe.

Pairing: Frankie Morales x fem reader

Summary: It's been the world's shittest day and Frankie wants to show his gratitude.

Warnings: mentions of coke, depression, Frankie self doubt/guilt and a bit of fluff maybe?

Notes: truly idk what this is, it’s very self indulgent bc I’ve worked like a dog for a solid month at work and just crumbled the other day. And again, I’m not a writer, this just came to me in the bath 😭

4 months exactly had now passed since Frankie had returned from Colombia, and credit where it was due, he was striving to be the better man that he knew you deserved. He had found a therapist, stayed clean and was trying to regain his license. But things had been tough, especially on you... With no money from Colombia and Frankie still not having pilot's license, you had to start working overtime and also pick up weekend work to cover everything. You were barely getting by but all Frankie could think about was the fact that you had stayed by his side - once things were back on track he was going to put a ring on your finger, that was for sure.

It was late into the evening and he was sitting on the couch, half heartedly paying attention to whatever was on the TV when his phone rang. Your weekend job was quite a drive away and sometimes you rang Frankie to chat on the phone whilst you drove - it warmed his heart that you still talked like lovestruck teenagers despite everything that you had been through together. He had not however, expected to pick the phone to you sobbing down the other end of the line.

"Querida what's wrong?" he panicked, his military brain kicking into gear. He immediately assumed the worst and jumped quickly off the couch to grab his keys to come and get you. You quickly found a breath to explain it was fine, even though your wavering voice said otherwise. You just explained how today was just one of those days where it was one thing after another, and it had ended with a customer hurling verbal abuse at you which had just topped it all off. You were exhausted, and it didn't take a genius to see that. Working long hours for 7 days a week had finally caught up to you and Frankie was awash with guilt. This was all his fault and he just wished the ground would swallow him whole. But no, that was the easy, cowardly option and it wouldn't make your life any easier, but Frankie could damn well try right now.

As you drove home, venting all of your angers and frustrations of the day, Frankie walked into the bathroom, put the plug in the bath and turned the taps on. As water began to fill the bath, he pulled out your favourite bubble bath concoction: liquid yoga and a lush bubble bar. Once that was bubbling away, he dimmed the lights and began lighting the tea-lights in all around the bath. Scents of lavender and vanilla swirled through the bathroom as he tidied everything away, and he then walked into the bedroom. He put fresh sheets on the bed, occasionally chiming in to your rant with a "I'm sorry that happened to you amor" and "that bitch"; pulled out your softest pyjamas and socks and gently laid them on your side of the bed. He grabbed the fluffy towels and placed them on the heater for you after.

You told Frankie you were just pulling in and hung up the phone. You were barely through the door when he pulled you into the tightest embrace. His nose resting gently in your hair, breathing in the lingering smells from a shitty day at work. He could feel his shirt dampen slightly with the tears you were too stubborn to shed right now, so he just held you.

After what felt like an eternity of standing there, slowly swaying, he took your hand and led you to the bathroom. It looked and smelt like a spa in there and when he turned around you had tears in your eyes again. He walked up to you and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead before silently peeling the layers off of your body. Once you were completely bare he led you into the tub. You turned to look at him, asking if he too would be joining you. "I will mi amor, but let me take care of you first".

He laid you back and grabbed your shampoo and conditioner from the side. Then he began to slowly wash your hair with the gentlest touches - as if you were made of glass. As he lathered up the shampoo in his hands and gently massaged it in, he heard you let out a long deep breath, as if you had been holding it in for months. Some people find silence awkward but not you two… Both of you can be so similar sometimes it was uncanny. Neither of you were strangers to feeling so down and exhausted, that your body couldn't even form words. Nor would either of you put pressure on the other to speak, knowing that your love for each other can be conveyed through other means. Which is exactly why Frankie was knelt down at the end of the bath, washing every single morsel of anger, fear, exhaustion and sadness away.

Once he could see you were visibly starting to relax, he began to slowly remove his clothes, adding them to your pile on the floor. He then slid in behind you in the bath, wrapping his arms tight around your middle and pulling you so you were laid on top of him. The water lapped over the sides of the bath but neither of you cared - neither of you cared about anything when you were wrapped up like this. This is where you were both supposed to be. His thumb was stroking small circles on your forearm, and his chin rested on your shoulder. You turned up to look him in the eyes, and all of that sadness and hurt had gone. Your beautiful green eyes now filled with love and adoration, things he'd never thought he'd see from you for a long time. You placed a gentle kiss on his lips and for a moment, neither moved. "I love you so much Frankie, it will always be you no matter what" you said as you looked into his dark brown eyes… and with that admission, it was his turn to breathe.

[emilianopavone]

@parasympathic

If wiser men warned against premature celebrations, Emil thought they were also more boring men and far less deserving of such indulgences. Montgomery, on the other hand, was well overdue for some good news, and he had no intention of being modest about sharing it. Not when it was their first excuse in too many weeks to carve out something properly happy instead of surviving on silver linings to the grim and daunting. 

So he picked Monty up with a broad and utterly conspiratorial grin, refusing to share the where or the why of their excursion except to say he never needed an excuse to take a beautiful man out for a night. Their current arrangement, of course, limited most of his usual favorite places to wine and dine a date, but Emil could still think of a few spots more exotic than their bedrooms and less distant than the city. So a short drive later, he pulled into a private driveway of a modest but nice residence, the smell of the bayou hitting as soon as he opened the driver’s side door. “Don’t worry, she works for me,” Emil assured as he headed towards the backyard rather than the door, “And she’ll probably assume you’re a business associate.” 

It had been a genius arrangement, in the bartender’s never humble opinion, one that he had concocted two years ago when Marlene had come to the Voodoo to complain about her pretentious neighbors. The rising prices of waterfront homes had left her as an outsider to her own community, one she refused to leave after eighty-two years, but one she wanted to loudly stake her claim to. And she wanted to stake her claim with a boat. And not just any boat. Marlene wanted the nicest goddamn boat on the whole bayou, and she was willing to bankrupt her savings just to buy it. Emil, however, saw an opportunity, one that would get Marlene her boat, and his customers a private, off-the-books meeting spot to both impress and hide clients. The rest of the arrangement was easy enough: Marlene bought her dream boat with a small loan from a certain bartender, and she paid back the loan with her discretion and extraordinarily loose adherence to licensing policies. 

The keys were waiting between the second and third post of her porch railing, scooped up by Emil as he walked by, spinning them around his fingers as he turned to Monty, walking backwards towards the sleek and oddly ostentatious boat sitting at the dock. “Now have I mentioned how good I look on boats?”

[45paperplates]

More about Olivia Rodrigo: On her Lyrics

Starting some time in 2018 or maybe a little earlier, Olivia Rodrigo began to play original songs, or more often pieces of songs, one verse and a chorus, apparently unfinished, for her followers on Instagram Live. She was about fifteen at the time, although one of the more complete songs (“Naive Girl”) can be confirmed to date back to 2014 or 2015, when she was twelve years old. I began to listen to these songs, all but one of which are available to hear conveniently compiled into a single twenty-five minute Youtube video, when my appetite for her music was only beginning to grow to its present size, after I had listened to the album on repeat for a good three or four days straight. They are the kind of thing only obsessive fans can really gush over, something akin to Bob Dylan’s early Minnesota Hotel Tape from 1961: badly recorded and casually created by a young artist who never intended them to be anything more than they are, a fun and easy way to show off their talent at a time when a wellspring of inspiration was already pouring forth with no better available outlet.  

These little pieces, however, establish finally for sure what a major label pop debut with other ambitions, no matter how special it may be, can only hint at, which is that something within her is driving a preternatural attention for detail, currently unmatched in it’s free naturalism, imaginative power, and consistency, only possibly consistent as a result of its being deeply possessed and long established, despite her youth. I have already touched on what I think that something may be in my first post about her. But whatever it is, it is immediately apparent in her performances here, an instinct that had already cemented deeply considered vocalization as her default, as a simple creative necessity, although a few of the earliest recordings have added even another layer of Broadway-like drama that has since been stripped away, I am guessing as a result of the nascent growth of some level of creative confidence.

Songwriting, then, is to some degree shown to be a third result of that engrained ability, after said holistic sincerity and its resultant vocal intuition, and yet a good chunk of the songs are lyrically composed as well with a just as holistically sincere and intuitive affect, presenting very well-understood conundrums, pared down to koan-like solids one would think by years of rumination. A few are, I would dare to say, more tightly constructed and figuratively multivalent than the songs on her album, many of which share their succinctness but not the violently prismatic irony that seems to be able to overpower the sincere creative drive that gave it life in its brightest inspired flashes. “drivers license” in fact excels by flattening that figurative prism into a simpler and more benign shape, allowing the casual listener to both easily understand and retain some wisp of hope in the end, even if it is only implied.

I would not be so stupid as to claim that Olivia intended these best-written of her unreleased bedroom productions to be metaphysical poems somehow toeing the line between classical balance and baroque terror in their meditation on the reciprocal quality of human sin. That would be silly, not because I don’t think a teenager is capable of such a thing (teenagers have, in fact, always been capable of making high art) but because these few songs focus on themes common to all of her songs: teenage insecurity, uncontrollable jealousy, and betrayal both social and self-inflicted. The depth of her imagery comes instead, I think, from an intuitive understanding of where the cultural meat of an issue lies, and when she writes a song her drive craves and so aims for power and gets rid of whatever there is that lacks it. Perhaps working with a co-writer somewhat slows that drive.  

“Pretender” is a song about being “fake” and how it works both outwardly and internally. It’s personification, the “pretender” of the title, is accused, envied, pitied, and ultimately, understood. It moves through four key lines.

Pointing her finger at this automaton, about whom she alone knows the truth, Olivia first wishes vindictively,

If only they knew what I knew.

But then, now envious of the figure, she prays,

I wish I knew what you knew.

Maybe as a result of these two contradictory desires, she is forced to admit with regret that the pretender can only be a fantastic image rather than a full person, a strawman created by her mind to both embody her sublimated desire and reflexively maintain her own superiority when it goes unfulfilled:

I created you to be plastic and deadly.

Finally, in a relentlessly logical conclusion, she must admit, as the construction falls to pieces, that this is obviously all about herself:

I created you to hide my own envy, ... Maybe I’m a pretender like you.

With her catalog in mind, the canonical interpretation is pretty obvious. The pretender is someone who is perfect and happy and Olivia is jealous of that. By the guilt left in the wake of her accusation, she realizes, indeed it should have been quite apparent from the start, that perhaps the person who seems to be happy is actually not happy. She perceives by juxtaposition that maybe others see her, Olivia, the same way, and in a sinking conclusion, perfect happiness, the other’s and hers as well, is shown to be only truly possible in image and never in the fullness of experience. It is a song about the difficult process of empathy and its bitter personal rewards. This interpretation prevails in Youtube comments, specifically in reference to her other songs about the jealousy encouraged by social media. “I’m happy for them, but then again, I’m not.” Maybe Olivia’s own fun and carefree public-facing presence is just as false?

The genius behind this songwriting, however, is that this other person does not need to exist for the song’s structure to function. This is by design, no doubt; she could very well be speaking only to herself the entire time. If Olivia is pretending too, as the final line suggests, then why could she not have been the pretender all along? Indeed, how else could Olivia be the only one who knows “the truth” about this figure in the first place? A personal struggle with identity, that is the meat of it all.

Her first wish for the pretender’s exposure is based in personal remorse, for lying to the world about who she really is. That her own social facade might be justly but violently forced open to expose the truth would be a painful but cathartic release. She makes her second wish as she recoils in the face of such an embarrassing prospect, hoping against reason that maybe it’s somehow all avoidable, that by abandoning any loyalty to the truth and to herself altogether she might in fact achieve the paradise that the pretender affects, soulless but free of the pain of having a soul too. Third is the realization that this is evil, that her desire is sinful, both grotesque and inhuman (“plastic”), and cruel (“deadly”). Fourth and last she can no longer pretend that her original finger-pointing isn't itself the result of this same worldly desire, as narcissistic an attempt at personal redemption as the outward facade is itself. Insecurity and jealousy, no matter how embarrassing or ugly, no more compose an understanding of identity than any more knowingly-constructed and performative self-image, and are just as self-serving in their own twisted way.

So in this song she is deconstructing herself, from outward composure to cryptic narcissism, shattering layer after layer in an alarmingly accelerating regression. Unfortunately, all that is left in the end is what she has done after what she is—performatively, emotionally, intuitively—has fallen away, specifically the intended result of the accusation she threw at the pretender to begin it all: once again, guilt. What else but guilt is exposed now to be the substance left of the human individual? For Olivia, deep down at least, guilt is always the together creator and eraser of human pleasure, the identity that is desire, and the only thing that fears the emptiness that would be left without it.

That a teenager could write such a penetratingly self-critical work is of course impressive, but the fact that guilt, desire, pleasure, happiness, identity, and fear are shown ultimately to be one and the same generative source is far more exciting. Here she exposes the potential versatility of her created and creative ability, that in maturity this raw power without singular definition could be manipulated into many other things completely new, things only Olivia and not I can imagine now.

[neverdoingmuch]

I’m here for the ‘swords not as pets’ agenda. Swords as cars: solid, get you from place to place, potentially dangerous, customizable, something people name. Wwx losing his license taking the fall for a mistake jc made (idk, dui maybe?) and just choosing to mod the hell out of a self-balancing scooter or segway or something so it goes dangerously fast. Alternatively: spending 3 months inventing the first functional actual levitating hoverboard, with an insane top speed. 3 months in the (1/2)

sawdfert this is delightful!! i saw segway and i immediately started wheezing,, there was no time for laughing i went straight to the wheezing. i think it would make more sense if wwx lost his car and got a motorcycle? like hoverboards and segways are cool but motorcycles have that big reputation of being dangerous and there’s the whole ‘rebellious teen gets a motorcycle and becomes a delinquent’ thing? like motorcycles are fast and if you crash it’s so much worse than if you were in a car and there’s no airbags or anything. but also?? wwx rocking up to school on a segway while playing his flute like the shittiest entrance ever? iconic. but let’s stick with chenqing as a motorcycle/scooter (motorcycle-esque scooter not the ones that try and take out your ankles).

okay so all the major sects are super rich so in a modern au it would make sense for all the sect heirs to get cars. i’m not saying that jc and wwx complain about jzx being stuck-up bc he was given a porsche for his birthday even though they were also given cars for their birthdays,,, but i am. at first it would have been this major point of contention between yzy and jfm bc wwx isn’t even their son so why is he getting a car too but wwx is like ah it’s so i can drive jc and jyl to school! you wouldn’t want their cars being left outside the school all day would you? someone in my maths class had their car get keyed and it was super expensive to fix,, and yzy is like yes wwx may have a car only to protect my children from parking hassles,, also wwx must pay for his own parking. so wwx and jc both get given cars for their bdays.

now wwx gets bored easily,, so you could translate him being a cultivation genius to him being really good at driving. im talking that jc is still getting the hang of switching gears and wwx is out there casually drifting around corners. (this does mean he has to get new tyres really frequently but he’s friends with wen ning, whose family runs the mechanics that wwx likes to go to so he just helps around the shop for a bit and gets a discount (yes its the family discount)). anyway wwx really enjoys driving, also! he just rocks up to wen ning’s place one day and is like dude, i wanna pimp my ride, wanna help and wen ning is like heck yeah. so wwx pays for some upgrades with his own money and he spends hours doing some custom work to make it look cool,,

it’s all going well until wwx and jc go to wen chao’s party one night and jc gets absolutely sloshed,,, like completely hammered. wwx had walked in, grabbed a cup of lemonade or something and was gonna hang with his friends but lwj was there for some reason so he spent the entire night talking to him in the back garden. which means that when jc wanted to leave he saw wwx hanging out with lwj and went ew gross and just decided to drive home himself. he crashes and when wwx comes home the next day jc gets super pissed at him bc he was meant to be the designated driver and if he hadnt been screwing around with lwj jc wouldnt have tried to drive home and now his parents will be super pissed and wwx is like woah chill my grandmother is a mechanic and she can fix this up just give me a couple of days. 

so wwx goes to baoshan sanren mechanics (which is just the back entrance to the wen sibling’s mechanics) and spends the next three days getting rid of all of his customisations and mods so his car looks exactly like jc’s. does he cry when he has to spend like five mins spraying the inside of the car with axe body spray to get the jc stench going on? maybe a little. but he does it and returns the car to jc! and jc is like oh wow my car is fixed, your grandma is a miracle worker and wwx is like haha yeah (:

anyway wwx mysteriously and suddenly discovers a passion for public transport,, it’s a good way to stay humble jiang cheng, he says, also i used all my petrol money buying porn from nhs or whatever. anyway wwx is doing the whole pt to school thing but then one afternoon wen chao and wzh find him and idk maybe the party got too rowdy so the cops came and wc got in trouble with his dad? he assumes wwx called the cops on him so he shoves wwx into his car and drives him out to the middle of no where and dumps him in the burial mounds scrap metal recycling place or whatever. 

the train line isn’t running that day and there’s no phone service either so wwx is stuck there overnight. he gets super bored. so what does he do? he finds an abandoned scooter and starts scavenging for parts. he’s not expecting it to actually work but by the time the sun rises he’s found some actually decent parts and he thinks that he could get it working. tbh he kinda forgets to go back home and just walks into town to buy some food and then goes back and continues fiddling with the scooter. he doesnt live there for the three months but the people in yiling just accept that this random teenager has all but moved into their scrap heap and adopt him anyway. so he goes and visits the burial mounds every day after school so none of his friends or family really see him anymore. 

until! one day he rocks up to school on his scooter. scooters,, are kinda like sad pathetic motorcycles,, but wwx mods his scooter with like a powerful engine and new steering and everything so people see it and go oh! a motorcycle! even though it’s not actually (can you do that with a scooter? idk but suspend your disbelief pls). so lwj is like hnnngg wwx in a leather jacket on a motorcycle but also wei ying, stop riding a motorcycle, *enter statistics about motorcycle crashes here* and wwx is like no! you cant take chenqing away from me. and jc is pissed bc they were meant to be brothers and have matching cars and be able to work on them and give them cool paint jobs together! but now wwx has this bike which has been modded to hell and back and refuses to drive his car bc it’s not as cool as his bike. so we get to have the whole ‘everyone thinks wwx is doing something dumb and dangerous’ bc he has a motorcycle and why isnt he just driving his car anymore? but we also get to keep some of the nuance of the demonic cultivation bc yeah it’s more dangerous than driving in a car but wwx doesnt have a car anymore and scooters are a loottt safer than motorcycles (if my two seconds of research is correct).

so! wwx won’t abandon chenqing and he did most of his work using scrap parts so he goes back to the wens and is like wen ning my best bro check her out and he’s like oooooooh and they start modding chenqing together. wen qing doesnt know why wwx is constantly over at their shop all the time but jc keeps arguing with wwx and wwx grows more distant with his family and friends bc he’s making ~bad decisions~ and a motorcycle is a gateway to idk teen delinquent shenanigans like smoking and doing graffiti so he’s kinda ousted from respectable rich people society and wen qing is like i have two (2) brothers now and they’re adorable not that i’ll ever tell them that. and wwx modding chenqing got him a reputation in yiling like everyone saw him walk in one day and then drive out with this sexy sexy bike so people start coming to him for mods and stuff and wwx earns the title yiling patriarch and wen ning, his trusted best friend and helper, gets called the ghost general bc idk he helps a lot but the customers never meet him. so they become some dynamic duo for car and bike mods!

anyway,, yzy delivers him an ultimatum one day: the car or the bike (or more accurately: the family or the bike) but wwx can’t drive the car anymore so he just gets quietly disowned and drops out of school. (we’ll save jzxuan the suffering in this au he can keep his car). he goes to the wens and theyre like hey whats up? wait no you cant live in a scrap heap,, not even if you buy a tent,,, just live with us please. and then wwx gets adopted by the wens and idk i want them to have a happy ending so wwx and wn go off and do some actual mechanic and modding training with some expert (sqdcfgt imagine if it was the real baoshan sanren who just happened to be in the market for some apprentices and saw wwx and wn’s work and was like them and then later realised it was her grandson). so they get their apprenticeship and they disappear off somewhere for a year or two - when wwx had been disowned he’d deleted everyone’s contacts and was like if they text me i’ll add them back but im not gonna have a contact list cemetery. (no one contacts him). 

eventually the 13 years pass and wwx has been helping the wens raise their little nephew a-yuan who is showing a real aptitude for being a mechanic even though he’s just a kid and just generally enjoying the quiet life of being a mechanic while doing fun mods and lil baby projects. then one day lwj’s car breaks down while he’s driving through the area and he calls up the local mechanic and guess who rocks up? it’s wwx. and then we get to have them dance around each other and wwx being like lwj doesnt trust me, he’s just sitting here and watching me work all day ): and lwj is like dont let him go dont let him go dont let him go,, and eventually they get their romance but this is way too long already so im im gonna end this here

i didnt mean to make this an entire au but i adored your idea so much anon so i kinda had to!!

[queenkrissy11-fandomaccount]

Trouble Maker - Part 1

Peter Parker x Reader Au

"You wanted to see me, sir?" You ask, stepping into the pristine office.

"Yes, please sit." Director Fury sits behind his desk. He's a highly respected man and you can feel it in the air surrounding him.

I tip my head and sit across from him.

"Agent L/N, I've been impressed by your recent work in the field." While he shows no emotion, that's a side effect of extended work in this field. You know he means what he said.

"Thank you. It means a lot coming from you, sir." He cuts you off before you can continue.

"I have a new assignment for you," He says simply, sliding a tablet towards you.

You're met with a screen asking for your identification code. After typing it in, the file opens.

The top of the page reads Parker, Peter. It lists his stats, everything from his weight and height to his education and IQ. You would be be quite impressed and assume he was being recruited if it weren't for the picture that followed. A mug shot. A mop of brown hair and pretty brown eyes above a cheeky grin. Who smiles for a mug shot? And what kind of criminal is as attractive as the one you're looking at?

You skim the page. He was some kind of criminal genius. He was arrested for managing to hack into the CIA's database then moving onto the FBI's.

You dare a glance at Fury, hoping for an explanation.

"Your assignment," He has a hint of a smile on his lips.

"He was arrested a month ago for a serious crime, isn't he locked up?" You ask, trying to get answers for atleast one of the hundreads of questions swimming in your mind.

"He should be. He has ties to Tony Stark and was released within hours of his arrest." He explains.

You take a deep breath, realizing where this was going, "And my assignment is to-"

"-To go undercover and get close to him. Find out what he's up to and if he's a threat to SHIELD. If he is, you can lead the arrest and this time we'll make sure he doesn't get out."

You chew on your bottom lip, "When do I leave?"

"Tomorrow morning. A car will pick you up at 7 o'clock. Don't bother packing much. We have an apartment ready for you near Parker's ready to be moved into." Fury takes the tablet into his hands, "His file has been forwarded to you. You'll report to me weekly and tell no one of your assignment. This boy is practically a Stark and we'll be stepping on a lot of toes when we get into this."

"Yes, sir," You collect yourself and leave the phone. You open the database on your phone and find the file added amongst others in your drive.

You return it to your pocket and make your way to your car and then home. In no time you're taking your frustrations out on the boxing bag in your basement.

Deliverying an extra powerful kick and the bag is swinging, "Damnit Fury!" You're panting as you collect yourself. A hot shower is all it takes to wind down before you fall asleep.

You wake up just before 5 o'clock. After a couple mile run and another shower, you make yourself a bagel and settle in front of the computer. You have to log in multiple times to assess SHIELD’s database. You print everything you have on Peter Parker. You read through the file thoroughly, noting even the smallest details. Someone had watched him closely. So closely you had a schedule of where he would be at what time the majority of the time. He seemed to live by a pretty set schedule.

You look up and see it's 8 o'clock. You quickly stack the pages and collect them in a manilla folder and set it in a briefcase that had a combination along with your usb. You couldn't be too cautious. If Fury was the only one you were authorized to speak to about your assignment, it was highly classified.

An inconspicuous car is parked out front to drive you to Queens, your new home.

You noticed Maria hill was driving the car so you took shotgun.

"Y/N, you look well," She comments, a small smile on her face.

"Back at you," You chuckle.

As you hit Queens, you notice a moving truck pull in behind you. "They're quite thorough," You mutter.

"You're telling me. Fury had me add you into the government's database with a thought out back ground and the get this hunk of metal and register it under your name. Speaking of, you have a social security number, drivers license and birth certificate in the lock box back there. You've also got a small armory in the apartment. If you need anything text me or call Fury. This is pretty hush hush."

"I got that." You laugh, glancing into the backseat to see the box. You open the jockey box and find registration for the car and insurance.

"Keep your SHIELD ID locked up. Don't blow this." She pulls into an apartment complex, saving you from having to respond. You both climb out and she throws you the keys. The fob is attached to a keychain with a giant diamond looking thing hanging from it. You give her a look and can see the humor in her eyes.

You look at the other keys dangling.

"One is for your mailbox, one for your apartment, and the little silver one is for your second closet." The way she said closet lead you to believe it wouldn't be holding clothes.

You each grab a cardboard box from the moving truck and haul it upstairs, letting the movers bring up the rest while you looked around the space. The space is pretty big and already furnished. The fridge and pantry aren’t stocked so you'll be making a trip to the grocery store shortly. As if Maria could hear your thoughts, she holds out a debit card.

The movers were long gone but Maria stayed to order a pizza. It was getting late and you were walking her out. As she heads for the elevator you watch from the doorway. The elevator closes and you're about to shut your door when the one across the hall opens and Peter Parker walks out.

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

The Goonies: The Story

So, considering that this is a charming children’s adventure movie about a bunch of kids trying to save their town, opening up with a jailbreak is kind of an unusual move, but I’ll say this: at least it gets your attention.

The movie starts outside a prison, where one of the inmates, Jake Fratelli, (Robert Davi) has faked his own suicide, tricking the guard in order to knock him out and make a break for it.  Outside, his brother Francis (Joe Pantoliano) and his mother (Anne Ramsey) are ready with the getaway car.  Jake gets in, and Mama Fratelli peels out.  The cops give chase, and the Fratellis zoom through the town of Astoria, Oregon to evade them, passing:

Andy Carmichael (Kerri Green), a cheerleader practicing on a football field…

Clark “Mouth” Devereaux (Corey Feldman) watching a car chase on television while helping his father fix a sink…

Stefanie “Stef” Steinbrenner (Martha Plimpton), washing her hair in a barrel on the pier…

Richard “Data” Wang (Ke Huy Quan), testing out his latest invention…

And finally, Lawrence “Chunk” Cohen (Jeff Cohen), enjoying a slice of pizza and a milkshake, and immediately becoming enthralled by the car-chase.

The Fratellis lose the police and get away, scot free, as the camera pans away, cutting to a big white house, in which Michael “Mikey” Walsh (Sean Astin), complains that nothing ever happens around here, making himself feel better about the sad fact that his family is moving away from Astoria.  His brother, Brandon “Brand” Walsh (Josh Brolin) continues exercising, admitting that he knows how Mikey feels.

A knock at the door brings the boys downstairs, opening the door to Mouth, who immediately begins bemoaning that they’re not doing anything on “their last weekend together…last Goonie weekend”.  Following him is Chunk, who begins describing the police chase to the others, but, as he has a history of telling tall tales, the others don’t buy it.  Meanwhile, Data zip-lines into the house from next door, and just like that, the gang’s all here.

This is all within the first ten minutes of the movie.

I usually wait until we’re further along in the film to stop our summary, but I want to point out some of the really interesting things that happened right away, setting up almost everything about to come:

First, that opening.  I pointed out how unusual it is to start off a kid’s adventure movie with a jailbreak and a police chase, but, besides setting up the Fratellis for later, it also served as a great brief introduction to a ton of characters, whose personalities we’re beginning to see fleshed out here: Data as the Gadgeteer, Chunk as the excitable boy who cried wolf, and Mouth as a kid who’s not quite as cool as he wants to pretend he is.  We know all of this, got all of these characters here, found out about their houses being foreclosed on: and the movie has just started.

This is an excellent example of pacing, keeping the audience engaged without wasting any time, but furthermore, it’s also a master-class in introducing characters without it getting confusing: each kid, as he appears, brings with him the brief flash of recognition: we’ve seen him before, and we know something about them in order to help them stick.  It’s a genius tactic, and the film reaps the rewards of it throughout the entire rest of the film.

As the boys bemoan their houses being foreclosed on and their inevitable move, Mrs. Walsh comes home with a new housekeeper, Rosalita, who doesn’t speak a word of English.  Thankfully (or not) Mouth does, and proceeds to abuse his skill ‘translating’ Mrs. Walsh for the sake of comedy.  This is a throwaway joke, yes, but it is important that he knows Spanish.  Keep it in mind.

Mrs. Walsh and Rosalita depart again to do some shopping before the move, and Mrs. Walsh instructs Brand to not let Mikey outside because of his asthma.  

The instant Mrs. Walsh leaves, the boys stampede up into the attic, apparently undeterred by the veto of any outdoor activities.  It turns out that Mr. Walsh is the curator of the Astoria museum, and as a result, there’s all kinds of old odds and ends cluttering up the Walsh attic, some items that the Goonies think are pretty cool: pirate hats, steering wheels of old ships, swords, clothes, and other stuff.  During the exploration of the attic, Mikey stumbles upon an old picture frame, inside which appears to be a treasure map.  Handing the frame to Chunk (and waiting the few seconds for him to inevitably drop and break it), Mikey pulls out the parchment: the treasure map of One-Eyed Willy.

One-Eyed Willy, as it turns out, is a topic that Mikey happens to be an expert on.

Mikey tells the others the legend of One-Eyed Willy, a pirate who sailed his ship into Astoria, on the run from the Spanish Armada, where he, and his treasure, remained buried after he killed his entire crew and set up a series of traps in order to protect the treasure forever.  While Mikey is telling them this story, the boys stumble upon something else: a newspaper article about a man named Chester Copperpot, who claimed to ‘have the key to One Eyed Willy’, right before he disappeared.

Before there can be much discussion on what this means, the doorbell rings, and after pocketing a doubloon that had been hidden in the same frame as the treasure map, Mikey and company go downstairs to answer the door.

At the door are two men with foreclosure papers, who drop them off for Brand to give to their father to sign before leaving, already remarking about the buildings about to go in over the Goonies’ houses.

Back inside, Mikey bemoans the fact that One-Eyed Willy’s treasure would sure be helpful in paying to keep their houses, but Brand’s not having any of it.  He can’t afford to let Mikey run loose, he’d get grounded, not with his date with Andy (the cheerleader from before) coming up, which he can’t drive to because he failed his license test.

The Goonies, undeterred, jump Brand and tie him to his chair with his own exercise equipment and make a run for it, while Mouth lets the air out of Brand’s bike tires so he can’t follow them.

Some time later, Mrs. Walsh and Rosalita return to free Brand, but it’s too late: Mikey and Company are already well on their way to another Goonie adventure.  Brand eventually frees himself and steals Data’s sister’s tiny pink bike to go after them.  In the process, he runs into Troy, the son of one of the guys who’s foreclosing on them, with Andy and Stef.  After a dangerous moment involving Troy’s establishing character moment (running Brand off the road), Brand manages to get away and continues searching for the boys.

Meanwhile, the Goonies use the map to figure out that it’s guiding them to the coast, where Mikey holds up the doubloon, finding that it’s markings (Three holes) match a trio of landmarks, concluding that they must be in the right place.  Mouth translates the map, and the boys follow it up to an old abandoned summer restaurant.

As they approach it, they see two men in trenchcoats enter.  Assuming this means the place must be open after all, the boys follow, continuing to count paces until they hear two gunshots.  After convincing themselves that it was probably nothing and certainly wasn’t gunshots, they approach the window and peek through.  Meanwhile, Chunk has spotted the car parked in the garage and recognizes it from the police chase he saw that morning: riddled with bullet holes.  Realizing the danger that they’re in, Chunk starts trying to convince the others to make a run for it, but the others, knowing what Chunk is like, ignore him and drag him into the restaurant.

The Fratellis make a show of being actual employees of the restaurant (aside from Mama Fratelli threatening to cut Mouth’s tongue off, which, to be honest, he had coming), before Mikey manages to get away to look around.  While wandering around the basement, Mikey pulls the map out and tries to figure out what to do next.  His train of thought is interrupted by a loud roaring sound: going over to one of the rooms, he sees Jake Fratelli singing to…something, chained to a chair.

Mikey, understandably frightened, freaks and runs back upstairs, where he runs into Brand, who’s finally caught up with him.  He and the rest of the Goonies are promptly kicked out by Mama Fratelli, and outside, the boys try to convince Brand to let them stay and explore.  From a safe distance, the Goonies watch the Fratellis carry something out in a bag (a body-sized bag), and Chunk again tries to convince the gang to go home.

“Mikey, Mikey, come on, our parents are worried. It’s dinnertime. Why don’t we go home?”

“Home? What home? In a couple more hours, it ain’t gonna be home anymore. Come on, guys, this is our time. Our last chance to see if there really is any rich stuff. We’ve got to.”

After Mikey’s compelling speech, Stef and Andy jump out of nowhere to scare them, and just like that, the gang’s all here.

With the Fratellis gone, the Goonies head back inside the restaurant to look around, with Andy convincing Brand to let them stay so they can spend more time together.  Mikey tells the others about the ‘It’ he found in the basement, and he leads the Goonies down to get a look at it.  They take one look and, scared off, the kids close the door on the ‘monster’ and rush off to another corner of the basement, where they discover a secret tunnel under the fireplace.  While they’re there, Data discovers a counterfeit money machine, and Stef finds a newspaper that includes the names and pictures of the Fratellis.  The boys recognize them, and for the first time, get an idea of exactly how dangerous the situation is.

Chunk, feeling vindicated, berates the group for not believing him, before he’s interrupted by the smell of ice cream.  Following his nose to the freezer, Chunk discovers a stash of ice cream: and also a body.  This, combined with the sounds of the Fratellis arriving upstairs, send the kids into a bonafide panic.  They shove the corpse back into the freezer (and Chunk too), and hide in the tunnel under the fireplace.  

The Fratellis come down into the basement and notice a water-cooler that Chunk had broken.  Thankfully, they think it must be the creature they had chained up, and go to investigate, giving Chunk the chance to get out of the freezer and go for the police, while the rest of the kids head into the tunnels.

Chunk manages to get out of the restaurant and out to the main road, where he flags down an approaching car, spewing everything he knows about the Fratellis: only to discover that, of course, the car is being driven by the Fratellis.  They throw him in the back with a stiff (the same one from the freezer), and immediately turn the car around, heading back to the restaurant.  Once there, the Fratellis begin to interrogate Chunk, with the handy assistance of a blender for incentive.  Being told to spill his guts, he immediately breaks down crying and tells them that the Goonies went down into the fireplace, but the Fratellis don’t believe him.  After threatening him again, Chunk, not made of the strongest stuff, immediately tells the Fratellis every bad thing he’s ever done.

Meanwhile, Andy, apparently unable to take the strain, has a minor breakdown after finding a human skeleton crushed underneath what appears to be a booby trap.  After searching his wallet, the group discovers that it’s the body of Chester Copperpot: the man who said that he had the key to One-Eyed Willy.  Approximately half of the group dissolve into hysterics: if an ‘expert’ like Chester Copperpot couldn’t survive, what are the odds of a handful of kids making it?

Mikey, undeterred, takes from Copperpot’s possessions a handful of candles (dynamite) and a skull-shaped key.  Data, in order to make sure nobody follows them, heads to the rear to set up booby traps to make sure they aren’t followed without them knowing.  Mikey accidentally sets off one of the booby traps already set by the pirate crew, and the Goonies, in what has to be the one-hundredth near-miss of the day, escape just in time.  While they catch their breath, Brand accidentally startles a nest full of (fake looking) bats, which fly past them, and explode out of the fireplace in the room where Chunk is being interrogated.

Realizing that Chunk was telling the truth, the Fratellis tie him up and leave him in a room with the It, and head down into the tunnels after the Goonies, and, more importantly, the treasure, which Chunk also told them about.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Goonies continue through the tunnels into a cave with a waterfall, where the ground is covered in coins.  At first, the kids are elated, thinking they’ve found the treasure, but it turns out they’re underneath a wishing well, and the coins are just loose change thrown in over the years.  Aboveground, Troy and his friends, who are hanging out by the wishing well, discover that Andy herself is down there, as well as the rest of the Goonies.  The Goonies persuade him to help them up via the wishing well bucket, but as they begin to make their ascent, Mikey stops them, saying that they’ve already gotten further than Chester Copperpot.

“Don’t you realize? The next time you see sky, it’ll be over another town. The next time you take a test, it’ll be in some other school. Our parents, they want the bestest stuff for us. But right now, they got to do what’s right for them. Because it’s their time. Their time! Up there! Down here, it’s our time. It’s our time down here. That’s all over the second we ride up Troy’s bucket.”

The Goonies decide to press onward, and send up in the bucket Andy’s jacket instead, officially branding her a Goonie.

Meanwhile, Chunk discovers the It in the room he’s trapped with: Sloth, the Fratellis’ deformed brother.  After another screaming fit, Chunk manages to throw Sloth a candy bar, a Baby Ruth that he’s had with him.  In order to reach it, Sloth tears the chains binding him right out of the walls, freeing him, and then Chunk.  Now released, Chunk goes to place a call to the police station to try to let them know what’s going on, but just like earlier on, Chunk’s stories have given him a reputation, and the cops don’t believe him.  Chunk’s connection is lost, and after Sloth begins lowering himself into the fireplace to go after his family, Chunk, unwilling to abandon his new friend, follows suit.

In the tunnels, Mikey, Mouth and Data take another look at the map and the key that Mikey found, trying to figure out what to do next.  Mouth’s translation of the words on the map lead Mikey to spot a series of rocks protruding from the tunnel.  He fits the key to them, and turns it, setting off yet another booby trap.  Data falls through a trap door that opens underneath him, only saved by his ‘Pinchers of Peril’.  Dangling through the trap door, Data spots a new opening in the tunnel.

Once the Goonies safely move down into the tunnel, they take a break from adventuring (a break that is mostly important because Andy tries to score a first kiss with Brand.  In what is the best example for why you should always do it with your eyes open, she gets Mikey instead, without realizing), which is cut short by the Fratellis, who have caught up.  Now in an outright chase, the Goonies book it across a log that is suspended over a stream.  Data leaves behind an oil slick from his ‘Slick Shoes’, which stalls the Fratellis while the group presses onwards into another room with a skeleton organ.

The group flips the map over to discover that there are musical notes written on the map, and luckily, Andy has taken piano lessons, though she’s a little rusty.  Although she makes a few mistakes, causing the floor to start to crumble away, she manages to play it well enough to open the passage at the end of the room.  The Goonies tumble through and land in a giant waterslide which drops them into a lagoon where there waits the pirate ship of One-Eyed Willy.  The Goonies climb aboard and explore, uncovering one or two more booby traps, and finally, a secret room where the skeleton of One-Eyed Willy sits at a table, surrounded by tons of gold and jewels.  Mikey shares a moment with Willy alone, dubbing Willy the first Goonie:

“Hi Willie. I’m Mike Walsh. You’ve been expecting me, haven’t you? Well I made it. I beat you. I got here in one piece… so far.”

The crew starts loading up from everywhere except a scale, loaded with treasure at the center of the table, which Mikey tells everyone not to take from.  That, he says, belongs to Willy.

Just as the kids finish stuffing their pockets, shirts, (in Mouth’s case, his mouth) and marble bags, the Fratellis enter, armed and dangerous, and force the kids onto the deck.  Data, proclaiming that he won’t be taken alive, tries to fight them off with his gadgets, but ultimately, the kids are forced to turn out their pockets, shirts, and even Mouth is forced to spit out his string of pearls and handful of jewels.  Mama Fratelli ties the kids’ hands together before starting to make them walk the plank, starting with shoving Andy overboard, which prompts Brand to dive in after her.  Mama Fratelli next pushes Mouth and Stef (who have decided to quit arguing and bickering with each other now that they’re about to die together) out onto the plank, but before she can push them in too, Sloth and ‘Captain’ Chunk appear.  Sloth rescues Stef and Mouth and then takes on the rest of his family while the rest of the Goonies untie themselves and dive overboard to make a swim for it.  In unimportant and mildly related news, Brand and Andy share a first kiss, prompting them to realize that she got Mikey the first time.

Meanwhile, Sloth ties up his brothers and tosses his mother overboard, diving in after the Goonies while his mother climbs back aboard the ship and releases her sons, heading for the loot.  Showing none of Mikey’s restraint, she takes some of the gold from the scales at the center of the table, triggering one last booby trap: causing the cave to start to collapse.

The Goonies head for the cave wall, using one of the sticks of dynamite to blow a hole large enough for them to squeeze through.  With Sloth holding the path open so that the Goonies can get through, the kids escape, reluctantly leaving Sloth behind while he goes to save his family.  One-Eyed Willy’s ship, still affected by the trap, pulls up its anchors and starts to head out of the lagoon.

The Goonies, wet and worse for wear, but safely on the beach, are spotted by a few cops (one of which is played by director Richard Donner), who call it in.  Soon enough, the kids are surrounded by parents, grandparents, and various other family members (many of whom are played by actual cast members’ families), all of whom are happy that their children are alive and well, if a bit disheveled.  Brand has brought Mikey home safely, Chunk’s family brings him a pizza, Data’s father, evidently as much of an inventor as he himself is, embraces his son, and Mouth and Stef make up, displaying some feelings towards each other that aren’t blatant aggression.  Andy shares a heartfelt talk with Mikey, and happily prepares to head off into the sunset with Brand.  Mikey apologizes to his father:

“Sorry, Dad, we had our hands on the future, but we gave it up just to save our own lives.”

Everyone’s home safe, breathing a collective sigh of relief, when the Fratellis (Sloth included!) show up.

After Chunk convinces the cops that Sloth is a good guy, the Fratellis are led away in handcuffs.  Chunk tells Sloth that he’s going to take care of him now.

“Sloth, you’re gonna live with me now. I’m gonna take care of ya, ’cause I love ya.”

Just as it looks like things are winding down, Troy’s father, Mr. Perkins, (and Troy himself) show up to force Mr. Walsh to sign the foreclosure papers, completely ignoring the fact that he just now found his missing kids.  Reluctantly, Mr. Walsh prepares to sign, but before he does, Rosalita, the housekeeper, stumbles upon Mikey’s marble bag, full of jewels.

Mouth manages to translate fast enough to stop Mr. Walsh from going through with it.  The marble bag is emptied out, revealing enough of a fortune to save the Goondocks.  Mr. Walsh tears up the papers, and One-Eyed Willy’s pirate ship, breaking free of the lagoon, floats off in the distance as the Goonies, and Sloth, gather together and cheer.

The End.

So….that’s The Goonies.

So what?

All in all, the movie, on paper, doesn’t seem very special.  There’s not much by way of ‘plot’ past the initial setup.  It sounds like a concept film on a roller coaster, without much in twists and turns.  It moves very quickly, from scene to scene to scene (I didn’t even cover all of it), one after another in a way that progresses the story, but doesn’t really add to it.  That’s not even mentioning all of the very lucky coincidences and oddities, such as the pirates building a water slide into the caves, apparently, or the fact that, throughout the story, everything just seems to work out for the main characters.

This isn’t to say that’s a bad thing.

On the contrary, the movie is an exciting, fun ride from beginning to end.  But as far as the plot goes, it may be a little hard to see where the charm is in this story that seems like Indiana Jones for kids.

Here’s the thing about The Goonies.

The story is rock solid in its simplicity, in its initial setup.  Four kids who care about each other very much are about to be separated, and in a desperate grab to prevent it, go treasure hunting, racing against a criminal family after the same thing for selfish reasons.  The rest: Sloth, booby traps, ‘Goonies Never Say Die’, etc. is all trimmings, icing on the cake of a basic story that, boiled down to its essentials, is extremely bare-bones.  Even in practice, there isn’t much added to it: there are no real character subplots that tie into the main story, just minor things: Chunk finally being believed, Data proving himself a capable inventor, Mouth and Stef��s bickering growing into mild mutual respect, even Brand and Andy’s romance doesn’t really add up to directly influence the story much at all.

But that’s the stuff we remember, almost as well as the bone organ, or the first time the kids see the pirate ship.  The question is, why?

The Goonies is not a mind-blowing story.  It’s very basic, with less twists and turns than many contemporary kids movies, but in the end, that’s the brilliance of it.

I don’t need a long, drawn out reason for why Mikey’s father has a map in his attic.  I don’t need to know what brought these oddballs together, or where Data gets the stuff for his inventions.  The movie cuts right to the car chase, introduces you to the main characters, and throws you into their plight immediately.  And although the problem is more small scale than plenty of other adventure films, it’s incredibly high stakes, at least, to the main characters.

The idea of losing your home to foreclosure, while not a reality for everyone, is something that an audience can instantly relate to: you don’t want to be separated from where you are, and Mikey’s passion for staying together is such that he drags his friends into a life-risking adventure to save the Goondocks.  As an audience, we understand that this is maybe a little extreme, but we go with it, because it makes sense to him, and therefore, it makes sense to us.  The Fratellis are incredibly easy to grasp as villains: they do nothing but bad things (albeit often in humorous ways), including mistreating Sloth, who again, is simply presented as a victim.  There are no moral ambiguities in The Goonies, no moments of decision beyond ‘go forward or quit’.  Once the Goonies discover where the treasure might be, the story is launched on a forward trajectory with no signs of stopping until the very end, when, of course, the Goondocks are saved, and the Goonies themselves return safely to worried parents.

You can describe the plot in a sentence, and there’s no deviation from it: kids trying to save their homes by finding a buried treasure before a criminal family does.

And yet, it works perfectly in its simplicity.  Like I said, you understand exactly why the main characters do what they do, and you understand who they are, nearly immediately.  The story doesn’t need to go into explaining it, or the characters, as it goes along, merely to build upon what’s already there.  That forward trajectory allows the story to always keep moving, keep pushing characters forward with chases, booby traps, lucky stumbles, and so much happening at all times that it’s easy to go along for the ride, enjoying the little moments added onto the basic premise like the wishing well scene, iconic because it directly attaches to Mikey’s goal and is a turnaround point for a few characters.  Nothing changes here, but things are reinforced: the initial goal and motivations, and the decision to keep moving.  When Chunk meets Sloth and follows him into the tunnels, nothing feels like it’s changing, exactly, except his actual physical movement, going forward instead of retreating.  

There is no ‘switching gears’ in The Goonies.  Everything pushes forward, building until the climax, and the near instant the goal is achieved, the movie is over.  We don’t need to see, (as much as we might like to) Sloth moving in with Chunk, or Data’s next invention, or Brand and Andy’s relationship’s next step, or even Mikey’s next Goonie adventure, because that story is over.  We can close the book on these kids, and although sometimes it’d be nice to know what happened to them years later, we don’t need a winddown of a conclusion.  All we need to know is that they kept their houses and stayed together.

Again….why?

Why do we care so much about these kids?  It’s not like they changed, or grew as people.  There’s no ‘Hero’s Journey’ for Mikey, he gets what he wants and throws away his inhaler.  He never changes goals, never overcomes a character flaw.  If most good stories are dictated by dynamic characters who change, it seems like The Goonies falls flat.

From beginning to end, the characters in The Goonies seem to end the film the exact same way that they started: Mikey’s an idealistic leader, Mouth’s a loudmouth, Data’s an ‘absent-minded professor’ type, and Chunk is a boisterous, easily-panicked kid.  There are subtle differences, sure, like Chunk becoming a braver person and Data proving his inventions, even Mouth settles down a little, but for the most part, there’s no arc, no beginning, middle and end, no big changes that show what all has happened and how it affects each one of them.

Because it doesn’t have to.

We care about these kids because they, and the story, are simple, without being stupid, and easily grasped.  Everything in this film is tailored for quick accessibility: grab an idea and move on so we can play with it.  As I pointed out with the initial chase scene: instantly, you have an idea of what’s going on, and who each character is.  With that in mind, especially with an ensemble cast, ‘character arcs’ don’t matter quite as much.

You can have good stories without good character arcs.  Back to the Future is a great example of a protagonist who doesn’t change, but is within a deeply compelling narrative, and in the end, that’s the secret.  The plot for The Goonies is deeply compelling, because we as an audience like these kids and don’t want them to lose their home.  We want them to stay together, whether it’s from Stand By Me-like nostalgia for old friends, or feelings towards friends we have right now.  The goals are rock-solid, and after that, the story is too.

I’m not talking about things like the skull carved into the cave face: I’m talking about the forward trajectory.  Every single story beat henceforth is tight and fast-paced, each scene sliding right into the next without any real breaks.  It’s a waterslide in its own right, full of excitement and consistent characters and goals, with understandable stakes and villains, and in the end, when the kids make it home safe, achieving their goal by the skin of their teeth, we cheer with them.

As it turns out, the recipe for successful filmmaking isn’t always ‘thought provoking plot + well rounded, dynamic characters’.  Sometimes the way to make a good film is ‘simple, interesting plot + simple, likeable characters’.

With that in mind, The Goonies is 100% a classic.

There is a reason that this movie stuck, and it all revolves around the streamlined simplicity of its design.  With so little ‘fluff’ getting in the way of the main conflict, the film is free to devote its entire focus to these goals and these characters reaching them.  Thanks to this single-minded drive, the film is memorable in everything: iconic characters, great lines, wonderful setpieces, with no part being overshadowed by all of the rest.  

It’s not hard to see why this movie became such a milestone for so many.  It resonates with people who can find themselves in a specific character or plight, whether children themselves or considerably older, who can allow themselves to be sucked along for the ride and believe, for just a little while, that there’s still such a thing as pirate treasure.

And it’ll continue to resonate for decades to come.

Thanks so much for reading!  If you enjoyed it, please stay tuned to join us for the remainder of our study of The Goonies. Don’t forget that my comment box is always open.  Thank you guys so much for reading, and I’ll see you all in the next article!

[leo-gold-hotchner]

The Sinner -2

Any criticism on spelling/grammar mistakes, character description (trying my best to describe them in characters), facts (especially region, I’ve never been to America before), etc. are all welcome! Though, be lenient on me :) 

I had to change ‘mate’ to ‘pal’ lol...

Criminal Minds BAU x Reader

Warning: Explicit description of blood, death, mutilation, swearing etc.

Word Count: 3.1k

Previous parts: 1

“A glutton lives to eat instead of eating to live.” – African Proverb 

 Tik tok. Tik tok. 

The large man cried as the silent room filled with the clock ticking. He wanted to stop the clock, wanted to smash it. But it will never happen, that's what the abductor said to him. He’ll never see the daylight while alive, and it scared him. Regretting ever joining the club. 

 The figure appeared without light, its face covered in a black mask, and a hood. He begged for the mercy, but the figure held out a red bloodied pliers without hesitation. Soon, painful screams filled the dark room along a sound of something being forcefully torn. Both predator and prey knew the pitiful scream can’t be heard from the outside.

2nd Day 

Detective Lee was already at the scene, covering his mouth while yawning. It was a freezing morning of November. The detective greeted the BAU kindly, explaining they were waiting for the CSI to be arrived. The team decided to wait for the CSI too, trying to wake fully from drowsiness. They were at the National Park, where everything looked peaceful except for the bloody body found on the large rock near the small waterfall. The Sun was rising slowly over the dawn sky while Lee explained the situation after scribbling something on his note. 

“The forest ranger found the body while patrolling the area,” the detective nodded towards a young ranger who looked very ill. “He stated there was no one except him when he found the body. The driver’s license says the victim’s name is Benedict Lewis, 46-year-old. Whoever did this, drove a long way to dump a body,” he cringed, “’gula’ is written on the body.” 

“Which is gluttony, just like lust, it’s the Seven Deadly Sins.” Rossi informed the detective. 

“So, the killer is really on an extreme religious mission or something?” Lee asked incredulously. During his 5 years of detective life, he’s never seen such murders before. 

“Maybe,” Reid replied. “Does the victim have any unusual thing other than the word?” His pocketed hand playing with the sobriety coin. The young genius was actually glad he was called in the early morning as he was having a nightmare. The nightmare where Tobias Hankel drugged him. 

“If you mean by a large rat, frog, snake shoved in his mouth, yeah. Is this also the Seven Deadly Sins thing?” the detective asked when Reid’s eyes sparked in realisation, pushing his nightmare to the back of his mind. 

“Yes, actually gluttony is punished by eating rats, snakes, toads eternally.” 

“Gross,” Prentiss frowned along with JJ and Morgan. 

“Prentiss and Morgan, check out the area, if there’s anything call me. Reid and JJ, talk to the ranger. Rossi and I’ll wait for the CSI here with Detective Lee.” After Hotch ordered his team, he called Garcia -who was asleep- to look up the victim. 

                                                         ---BAU---

Just after the agents were dispatched, an SUV parked near the scene. A person with several protections including a face covering mask walked towards them with large rectangular containers in hands. 

“Don’t they at least have courtesy to kill in the daylight?” The person said in an irritated tone with a yawning. 

“F/N?” The detective’s jaw hung up in surprise. “What the hell are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be on leave?” 

“I’ve been resting for two months, Leon. Fucking two months!” F/N held two fingers to the detective with frustration. “And it drove me crazy!” 

“What happened to Harrison?” 

“Apparently, our newbie is sick since he saw the ‘luxuria’ bodies.” The forensic scientist sighed deeply, shaking head. “Anyways, I’ll need your time of arrival and names. Did you touch anything?” 

“Yeah, I already wrote that, you drilled me too much it became a habit.” Detective shrugged as he showed his friend his note. “Had to touch to find his identity, but other than that I was really careful not to touch anything.” 

The scientist just walked into the scene, placing the containers far from the body and the scene. With gloves on, F/N looked through the scene, quickly theorising what to gather first. The scientist quickly but efficiently started to prepare by photographing the scene and the body, scribbling on the note. 

“That’s F/N L/N, one of the best forensic scientists we have. Sorry about the manner, F/N is usually polite.” Lee gave the two agents a sheepish smile. 

“Something happened?” Hotch asked, watching the scientist working, barking orders not to step closer to a young officer. Rossi raised his brows at the younger man, but Hotch ignored Rossi. The BAU leader could sense something from the scientist, but he wasn’t sure what was making him stare at the person. But his gut told him he had to know about what happened to this scientist. 

“Well,” the detective shoved his hands in his suit jacket, sighing deeply. “My partner, he was F/N’s husband. Has been on leave since Nick’s been shot, I’ve never thought F/N would suddenly appear here.” He checked on his watch. “Do you want coffee? I think we have time till F/N finishes the job.” Lee glanced at the scientist who was taking tweezers out from the equipment box. 

“Perhaps later,” Rossi replied pleasantly as he saw JJ and Reid returning from interviewing the forest ranger. 

“The ranger found the body around 5:40, he remembers clearly because he was texting his friend.” JJ informed them. 

“He didn’t see any vehicles while patrolling before he found the body. The UnSub probably visited the park before,” Reid said. “But he said he hasn’t seen anyone at night.” 

“Did you get when and where he patrols the park?” Rossi asked, looking at the pale ranger who was talking to an officer. 

“I asked him to draw on the map, and estimated time.” Reid showed the checked park map. Rossi noticed the trembled writings of the ranger and wondered if anyone can read that. 

Hotch’s phone suddenly rang, and he could hear the scientist curse along with the detective’s. Rossi coughed drily to hide his laugh, but Hotch could see the veteran profiler was amused that the phone call startled them. 

“Garcia, you’re on the speaker,” Hotch replied quickly before the technical analyst say something to embarrass herself from the detective. 

“Hotch, sir,” Garcia said, her voice still covered in sleep, “Lewis was a newspaper reporter before he changed his career to a food blog writer. He was a single, and there are no known connections between the first victim.” 

“Did he write criticisms on food?” JJ asked. 

“Yes, apparently,” Garcia paused for a moment, “a few restaurants closed due to his harsh reviews.” 

“Are the owners still live here?” 

“No, they all moved to other states and never returned to Philly.” 

“Thank you, Garcia.” Hotch ended the call, knowing Garcia will fall asleep as soon as he ends the call. “The UnSub associated the victims’ careers and the Sins, but we don’t know why the UnSub chose these people.” He frowned deeply. “What does UnSub want to tell us?” He saw Prentiss and Morgan returning, briefly informed what Garcia told them. 

“The area is just perfect for family picnics,” Prentiss shrugged, “there’s a wedding mansion, nothing much.” 

“This area is open space; the UnSub knew the body would be found easily.” Morgan said. “The mansion was locked tight, so I don’t think the UnSub used the facility, no hint of forced entry too.” 

“The UnSub could’ve been using some kind of transport. The victim has a large physique, moving the body here would’ve been difficult even for a muscular man,” Rossi hummed. 

“About that, Prentiss and I found tyre marks over there.” The muscular agent pointed over the crime scene. 

The detective went to the forensic scientist and told about the tyre mark and the scientist lazily walked to the scene to take several photos. 

                                                        ---BAU---

“Hey, can we enter now?” Lee yelled impatiently, checking an hour has passed. He shouldn’t urge his friend, but the scientist looked finished from his view, if not he’d just apologise to his friend and will be gladly yelled by the scientist for urging the work. But, without a word, the scientist only gestured to okay to come. 

“Not many insects and the body didn’t even reach bloating stage yet. So, you can say it’s rather fresh. But, you never know in this bitchy winter. I’ll send the traces and the animals to the lab as soon as I arrive.” 

“You finished real quick today, not much?” 

“I’m wondering this guy maybe learned from Dexter or something and thinks himself Dante or what.” L/N rolled eyes, shivering from the cold winter. “I hate winter,” the scientist muttered, “I’ll be in the lab if you need me.” 

“That’s it,” Reid exclaimed as he stared at the scientist’s back. “It’s Dante’s Inferno. In Inferno, after the first circle of Limbo, Dante visits the second circle where Lust is punished by devils. Then, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, Treachery. It’s rather fitting because this victim’s name is Benedict and in Inferno, Pope Boniface VIII is punished due to gluttony and his name was Benedetto which is equivalent to the English name, Benedict.” The young doctor talked fast which the detective watched the agent with his mouth ajar. 

“If the UnSub is killing according to Inferno, then it’s not about the seven sins?” Lee asked with a confused frown, he heard about the classic but never read. “I, I’m not sure about that.” Reid stuttered. “The Seven Deadly Sins are consisting of Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride. So we can’t be sure what the UnSub is imitating until the killings reach to either Wrath or Sloth.”

“Let’s hope we catch the UnSub before that stage,” Hotch mused rubbing his chin. “Rossi and Morgan, could you go and check Lewis’ home?”

“You drive,” Rossi threw the car key to the muscular man who caught it easily.

“I’m going to read Dante again,” Reid shrugged. “There might be hints.”

“I’ll be visiting the M.E., JJ and Prentiss are you going to the station?” Hotch asked.

“I thought about calling the victims’ family and friends,” JJ informed the unit chief. “Emily and I can split the job if that’s okay?” Prentiss nodded next to the blond agent.

“Alright, let’s get going.” Hotch nodded towards his team and everyone was ready for another long day.

                                                        ---BAU---

“Our victim knew how to clean,” Rossi looked around the small apartment. Lewis’ apartment was very clean, everything in order. 

“Hey, Rossi, look at this,” Morgan called the older man from the bedroom. Rossi saw the expensive watches in the drawer. “I wonder where he’d got money.” 

“They’re authentic,” Rossi examined one of the watches. “With salary of reporter or food writer he could’ve afford one or two, but not all of these.” 

“Maybe he was part of something?” 

“It’s possibility. We need to know if the first victims had anything like this, maybe that might be a connection between the victims.” 

“That might be, but the first two earned more than Lewis,” Morgan reminded the veteran agent. “They could’ve afforded as much as this if they wanted to.” 

“Perhaps that’s why they could get clients who’d pay them handsomely. If Lewis was payed for being a part of organisation, Smith and Olson may have introduced to their clients.”

“Urg, if that’s right, maybe that’s why both of them didn’t have any information on their clients.” Morgan huffed, thinking there was no information to gather the first two victims’ clients at all. No memo, no digital logs, none.

“But, let’s focus on Lewis’ life style shall we?” Rossi clasped his hands.

                                                       ---BAU---

Hotch saw the forensic scientist talking with Doctor Bear when he entered the pathologist lab. Surprisingly, the scientist was sitting on the metal table for corpses, and the M.E. was leaning back to another table where a white sheet covered a body on it. The place seemed to be grotesquely peaceful. 

“Agent Hotchner,” the doctor greeted the stoic agent. The forensic scientist just nodded to Hotch, but said nothing. “I sent the toxicology and autopsy report to Detective Lee.” The doctor shrugged before Hotch could reply, “but, I’m sure you’re here to see the body for yourself.” 

“Yes, I wanted examine the body before reading the report.” The doctor hummed. 

“Where’s that young man? He was rather interesting to talk to,” the doctor good-heartedly laughed uncovering the white sheet from the body. 

“I’m going, have fun,” the scientist said sarcastically before exiting the lab. 

“Ah well, F/N is still angry.” Bear said like he was talking to himself. 

Hotch stopped observing the Lewis’ body, and asked why the scientist was angry. 

“We still didn’t catch Nick’s shooter.” Bear frowned deeply. “Nick’s F/N’s husband, and he was a good man and friend.” 

Hotch nodded, but he took a mental note of that. He didn’t know why, but it felt important to know both Hotch and L/N lost their spouse to criminals. But for now, it was time to focus on the doctor’s explanation. 

                                                       ---BAU---

JJ was staring at the board with crossed arms over her chest and Reid was reading Dante’s Inferno with his usual reading pace. Prentiss was pressing her chin on the brown desk, wrapping her head with her arms as she stared at a black phone blankly. It’s only been second day, and everyone could feel this case will take a long time to solve. The BAU knew they will catch the UnSub eventually as they usually did, but nonetheless it was a hard process to find any lead on this UnSub. 

“The family couldn’t find anything strange, or found anything from their homes,” the brunette groaned as she muttered about the first victims’ possessions. 

‘Expensive possession’ was circled and a red question mark was drawn next to it where the white board was filled with words and photos by the agents. 

“Only connection we currently have is, MO.” JJ tilted her head as if she was about to burn the word ‘torture’ on the board with her eyes. “So much anger, but on what?” 

“Smith and Olson’s families say they didn’t have any enemies, and Lewis was a loner, no family, no close friends.” Prentiss tapped her finger on her the desk. The young man closed his book and looked up. “Finished?” 

“Yes,” the genius replied dully. “I don’t think there’s any hint in the literature yet.” 

“We need a break, coffee?” JJ whirled around and asked. 

                                                       ---BAU---

Detective Lee sighed as he threw his jacket off. The BAU was here, but the case wasn’t really cracking as he thought. But it’s only been second day no need to rush. The killer left literally nothing other than the body. Whoever it was, the guy knew how to hide evidence. But still, not even one single hair or fibre? It was so frustrating, killer among people, looking for next victim. It made his skin crawl and wanted to catch this bastard as soon as possible. 

“Tired day?” Morgan asked from behind where he and Rossi returned from Lewis’ place. 

Rossi entered the BAU room, throwing his empty coffee cup into the bin where the younger three agents whined about not having coffee yet to the older man. Morgan quickly smirked at the scene but turned his attention to the detective. 

“Yeah,” the detective replied casually. “I still have other cases to solve. You guys are just like rain during drought for me to help catch this guy.” 

“Hey, we’ll catch this guy,” Morgan encouraged the younger man. “That’s why we’re here, to help you catch this guy.” 

“Thanks, pal.” Lee quickly grabbed several files from this desk and handed to the FBI agent. “Here’s the copies of reports for the autopsy and toxicology of Lewis.” 

“Thanks.” Morgan thanked. “By the way,” he then stopped and asked, “Any recommendation for coffees?” 

“Two blocks right when you exit the station, you see one small café.” Lee used his thumb to point the direction. “If you need a hand, I’ll probably be here till late.” 

Morgan thanked the polite detective and joined his team. “Hey, Lee told me there’s a good café here. Let’s grab some coffee.” 

“I’m in,” Prentiss replied quickly as she grabbed her coat. “You two wanna stay here?” She asked JJ and Reid. 

“I need some air,” JJ followed the brunette and turned to Reid expectantly. 

“Could you grab me a coffee, I still want to see if there’s anything I missed.” Reid asked. 

“If Hotch comes, tell him we’ll get his coffee too,” JJ told Rossi and Reid who nodded. 

                                                       ---BAU---

The BAU unit chief’s eyes swiftly turned to the captain’s office where Detective Lee was having a conversation with the Captain. His eyes met with the Captain’s eyes, the Captain stiffly nodded towards Hotch, but soon he blinded his office. It was none of his business whether the boss and his subordinate to have a talk, but Hotch felt the talk was about this case. This case was something big. He didn’t know why but he was having this strange feeling about this case. It was as if in deep down, he knew why the UnSub was killing these people. But he didn’t know. It was irking him, frustrating him to no end. His sense was telling him most of important pieces of the puzzle were already gathered. 

The team greeted him as he entered the room, Prentiss handed his coffee that was still warm enough to drink. 

“Have you found something?” Reid asked the leader. 

“No,” Hotch leaned back on the wall. “But, Lewis was less tortured than Smith and Olson. Unlike the other two, Lewis’ death was due to blunt force trauma on the back of his head.” 

“Maybe the UnSub is looking for information about potential victims. Torture is the method the UnSub is using to extract information, and Lewis maybe gave the UnSub that information easily without retaliating further.” JJ suggested, thinking back when she was deployed in a secret mission in Afghanistan. 

“That’d be plausible after Rossi and Morgan found expensive watches Lewis couldn’t afford,” Reid nodded. 

“So the UnSub may be annihilating members of this secret group.” Prentiss quickly scribbled ‘group’ on the white board, arrows pointing from the victims’ photos. 

“For now that’s the best theory,” Rossi leaned front, “but we have to be careful not to focus on this theory. We have to be flexible.” Rossi reminded the team. 

Hotch checked his watch that was already pointing 6pm. 

“Let’s grab dinner, and you can work or rest at your room for today.”

[cryptonewsmanuelakanji]

Genius Tokens Cryptotoken A.I. Processing

Genius Tokens Cryptotoken A.I. Processing

More than a CryptoToken. Genius tokens are at the heart of a unique blockchain and software system.

https://www.gnus.ai/ #Genius #GNUS #Geniusventures #ICO #cryptotoken

Introduction:

Every day, more advanced technologies emerge across the business landscape. They bring innovation and disruption that continue to drive growth. Over the past few years, cloud service providers have helped businesses transform their extensive processes. Cloud solutions are a powerful industry that is rapidly maturing and becoming mainstream. But over time technology advances and developers need better tools and methods to handle the additional processing required for high volume data processing, which has increased the need for advanced computing and performance. Although cloud computing resources can support global applications, the centralized architecture introduces scalability problems.

Distributed computing solves the problem of scalability by spreading the demand for compute processes across multiple high-powered machines. To solve this problem, Genius Ventures is here.

How to Take Part in the $80 Billion AI/ML Industry Using Crypto | Machine Learning and Blockchain.

https://youtu.be/2cBU1mM0DWk

What is Genius Ventures?

The Genius Ventures system infrastructure serves as a distributed multi-purpose service with a cryptographic payment system that allocates computing resources and integrates them into real-world projects.

Genius Ventures utilizing unused cycles of Compute Devices on computers, mobile devices, and IoT devices, the system processes Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning data on an end-user device. The end-user is then paid in Genius Crytpotokens that can be reused for In-App purchases or converted back to other currencies. In addition, the entire system easily integrates into Computer and mobile games and applications.

Aim of Genius Ventures

Genius Ventures seeks to implement a scalable, high-performance, secure, and a manageable infrastructure side chain that promotes a new form of distributed management, which includes key leaders in computing, large data, and cloud industries.

Genius Ventures aims at providing a system and method for distributed general-purpose computing with a crypto token payment system. This payment system integrates a slow blockchain crypto token with a fast DAG-based crypto token. This technology is based on smart contracts “Genius Tokens” from Ethereum and allows the creation of a virtual cloud infrastructure that provides high-performance computing services on demand.

Genius Tokens Blockchain

Utilizing unused cycles of Compute Devices on computers, mobile devices, and IoT devices, the system processes Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning data on an end-user device. The end-user is then paid in Genius Crytpotokens that can be reused for In-App purchases or converted back to other currencies. In addition, the entire system easily integrates into Computer and mobile games and applications.

01 TRANSACTION

Customers request processing of data for Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning and pay into an account that converts the currency into Genius Tokens. The transaction happens via a distributed web interface and payment / cryptocurrency conversion system. The customer then uploads or references data to be processed.

02 DATA TRANSFER

The data to be processed is uploaded to a encrypted area in a distributed file systems. As part of the transaction, the costs of storage are charged against the deposit. If the customer has storage for their own data, the system then references this data through secure SSL transactions with the individual customers own SSL public key

03 A.I.PROCESSING

Using a distributed networking system, similar to what peer-to-peer games use, the transaction is communicated to participants that have games and or apps installed that can process the A.I. Data. The workload is divided and distributed to indivdual nodes for processing either in a standalone app or while running a game.

04 VALIDATE AND ADD

After processing ,all nodes report back results to a fast blockchain that aggregates the results data and verifies that nodes aren’t cheating the system. The data is verified with a parity verification node and encryption verification. The data is then stored in the distributed files system or returned to the customers data storage area.

05 COMPLETE

After the data has been validated, a transaction complete is sent to the main blockchain. The blockchain moves the payment in Genius tokens out of escrow ready to be distributed to the individual nodes that processed the data

06 PAYMENTS

Once the process is complete the blockchain contract then distributes 70% of the Genius tokens to all the individual nodes wallets. The publisher of the app or game will then receive 20% with Genius Ventures receiving 10% The users can convert the tokens to regular currencies or use for in-app purchases.

FEATURES

The Genius Ventures system is truly cross-platform and can be integrated into most devices.

Works everywhere:

Code and SDK works on all devices, including Windows, OSX, iOS, Android, Linux, Windows Mobile, XBOX, Playstation, Nintendo, and IoT Devices

Customizable

A.I. or Machine learning algorithms can be selected by the customer through a customer portal and data can be uploaded or on customers secure servers

Fast

The hybrid Cryptotoken system uses a fast internal Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) based blockchain that executes transactions in microseconds.

Always available

Stand-alone applications, embedded systems, or games with the SDK integrated can run the processing.

Organic

Growth is organic in two ways

1, User Acquisition costs are almost zero

2, Users get paid to process data, enticing them to use your game or app more.

Mobile-first

Development of the SDK is targeted for Mobile devices first and uses the compute devices on any system.

GNUS TOKENS

Token Sale & Values

Genius (GNUS) system is a hybrid token system with the GNUS token being released on the Ethereum network and the internal fast SGNUS token using a proprietary internal blockchain for fast processing

Start: July 15, 2021 (12:00AM PST)

Number of tokens for sale: 29,252,000 (59%)

First 12,500 ETH: Receives 1000 GNUS Tokens per ETH

2nd 12,500 ETH: Receives 800 GNUS Tokens per ETH

3rd 12,500 ETH: Receives 640 GNUS Tokens per ETH

4th 12,500 ETH: Receives 512 GNUS Tokens per ETH

Token Allocation

Funds Allocation

ROADMAP

The official Genius Ventures site features a roadmap with everything the team did so far with the platform.

It started with game development back in 2018, when the idea about this project was born. More than two years later, in October 2020, the team began developing a fast blockchain solution. In 2021, the team concludes working on a slow blockchain solution and connecting it to Ethereum’s dapps.

All in all, the stage is set for this ambitious project to take off, and the ongoing ICO is just one of the many planned stages for the future. If all goes well, Genius Ventures might become the next big thing in the AI and blockchain spheres, as it features some world-changing ideas, especially for gamers worldwide, who would get an opportunity to earn tokens doing what they love.

Genius Mobile App

Once you’ve entered our ecosystem, you can manage everything. Anyone with a smartphone. Computer, IoT devices, and an internet connection can participate in the global system.

Out Genius Wallet acts not only as an ERC20 Wallet, but it also acts as an independent DAPP built right in. This allows you to participate in the AI/ML global Processing and collect fees.

See your earnings in the App

Charts showing GPU Processing power

Transfer GNUS <-> SGNUS directly

Transfer GNUS tokens to another wallet

No more expensive fees

The Leadership Team

The ICO Crypto Team combines a passion for esports, industry expertise & a proven record in finance, development, marketing & licensing.

Kenneth Hurley: CEO

Brent Arias: CTO

Denis Trofimov: Director of Software Development

For more information please follow the link below:

Website: https://www.gnus.ai/

Whitepaper: https://www.gnus.ai/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Genius-Tokens-Whitepaper-1.0_Final.pdf

Telegram: https://t.me/geniustokenschat

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VenturesGenius

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/geniusventures.io/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/geniusventuresio

Author:

Bitcointalk Username: Manuel Akanji

Bitcointalk Profile: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2954998

ETH Address: 0x176a48a2Eb8FF8dfa46e58741E4A7b642C90F512

[astyle-alex]

[Fanfic] Museum Mishap | the BatFam

Museum Mishap  |  Chapter 5/6

Fandom: the DC Universe, Batman & co. Pairings: Jay x Tim Characters: Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson Rating: Gen Audiences Warnings: None

Total Word Count: 38,590

Summary:

Middle-School Tim Drake is on a field trip to the Science Museum, but with a WE exhibition of top-secret new technologies being staged in the basement, Tim separates from his classmates and breaks into the staff-only areas by using the skills he's developed over years of stalking Batman and Robin.

Current-Robin Jason Todd catches him in the act, but he's not there to confront Tim for trespassing or truancy - he's there because there's a rumor on the street that Tim Drake knows Batman's real name. And the rumor's gaining ground, quick, drawing in the wrong kind of attention.

When a Drug-Lord decides to take the rumor seriously enough to kidnap the little genius, Jason jumps into the crossfire. It all goes downhill from there. Fast.

(Jason is 14, Tim is 12)

||  Read on Ao3 | Read on FF.net | Follow my updates on Patreon  ||

Museum Mishap Chapter 5: Checking Up

     Dick is the first to notice something’s different about Jason.

           Which is fair, because even though Bruce is the first person to see Jason after he wakes up on Saturday, a full 27 hours after being rescued from Sabini (ten of which he’d spent sleeping peacefully in his own bed instead of the Cave’s infirmary) – and even though Alfred is the first person to talk to him after he comes downstairs for breakfast – the bulk of what is actually noticeably different about Jason is aimed directly at Dick.

           Literally.

           Because Jason is starting.

           At Dick.

           From across his plate of scrambled eggs and sausage and toast piled high with strawberry preserves instead of the peach marmalade Dick likes and has on his own plate, Jason is staring. At Dick. Directly.

           He’s not even glaring at him, he’s just… watching.

           Which actually makes Dick more self-conscious than if Jason had been glaring, makes him think he’s done something wrong. Something especially wrong.

           Dick had never asked for a little brother, and to be perfectly honest he could admit that he hadn’t exactly been very nice to the one he’d acquired unexpectedly. While he had concrete and valid reasons to be pissed at Bruce for how he’d handled things, Dick wasn’t quite self-centered enough to miss how he hadn’t done right by Jason either.

           He’d screwed up their relationship in the beginning and now he spent most of his time trying to avoid making it worse. Which meant most simply that he spent most of his time straight up avoiding it…

           The longest span of time Dick had spent alone in a room with Jason since storming off to California a few weeks before his sixteenth birthday – to go be Robin with people who appreciated him and his skill and his right to wear the R, because it was his and always would be – was about the length of a Star Wars movie. The longest they’d spent together without such a specific and effective distraction was about twenty minutes.

           In which Alfred usually checked in on them halfway through.

           Because Jason does deserve the R.

           And he’s always resented that the older brother he’d never asked for thought he didn’t.

           Which isn’t exactly true, but Dick has never been able to explain that before Jason – brilliantly observant, woefully astute, and brutally willing to cut to the quick as he was – said something that made Dick get defensive. Which is when the yelling always started.

           And the quiet moments in between the yelling had always been punctuated by glaring.

           But now Jason is staring – and distinctly not glaring – and Dick doesn’t know what he did, or what he should do now. So, he sits in silence and plays with his eggs and worries.

           Because something is different about Jason this morning, and he doesn’t know why – or what it has to do with him. Or what Jason thinks it has to do with him.

           Because if Jason’s pissed with him for not getting to him quicker last night, for not jumping in earlier – early enough to stop Sabini from breaking his leg perhaps – then Jason would already be yelling. But he’s not. He’s staring.

           And Dick doesn’t know what to do.

           “Do you have a driver’s license?”

           Dick is so startled by the question he nearly drops his fork.

           Actually, he does drop it. He just manages to catch it before it skitters off the counter.

           “B won’t let me in the Cave with my leg and Alf won’t let me have the keys to any cars topside until I’m legal,” Jason explains – without explaining anything.

           “Yeah, I’ve got my license.”

           Dicks voice doesn’t squeak or waver. He’s moderately certain that some sort of magic or robotic voice replacement tech is behind the phenomenon. Or maybe his Robin conditioning is finally proving useful outside of the dark allies where his calm could comfort victims.

           Jason nods. He’s still staring.

           But now he’s squinting, evaluative. Not quite a glare, but closer.

           “Cool. Can you drive me somewhere after breakfast?”

           Dick nods. He decides not to ask to ask why Jason isn’t asking Alfred to drive him.

           He also decides not to ask where Jason wants to go until they’re already in the car.

           They don’t speak again until after Dick pulls into the circle at the end of the Drake Estate’s mile-long driveway, and even then, it’s just a gruff C’mon to hurry Dick along while Jason hauls himself out of the car on his own.

           Dick is slightly distracted as he cuts the engine. He nods to Jason – who’s paying him zero attention – as he marvels openly at the fact that they do, apparently, have neighbors.

           The Drake mansion isn’t quite a massive or effortlessly grand as Wayne Manor, but it’s a decently imposing imitation. There’s wealth here, excess. And no hint of the soft touch that Alfred has to bring a human element into the aching chill of life with money.

           Dick wants to ask what they’re doing here, of all places, but Jason is focused.

           It’s a feat for Jason to wrestle his crutches out of the car and limp his way up the wide steps of the ostentation front stair, but he manages. He does it without even making Dick feel terrible about not offering to help – though he knows if he did offer, Jason’s only response would be to curse and try to whack him with the pointy end of his crutches.

           Dick follows silently up the stairs after him and waits as Jason rings the doorbell impatiently, pressing it again after only a few seconds of silence.

           He’s not quite scowling at the Drakes’ front door, but he’s not smiling either. Whatever he’s thinking about is serious enough to warrant asking Dick for help instead of Alfred. Dick is definitely concerned by that, but there a hopeful anxiousness twisting in him too.

           Because Jason needed help, and he asked Dick to provide it.

           It’s not much, but it’s something.

           Jason’s leaning on the doorbell again when Dick hears a shuffling inside that indicates someone coming to check the matter. Dick hopes it’s not an elderly butler – Alfred moves around pretty well for his age, but it’s a big house and it takes even him a minute to get to the door on the bizarre occasion Wayne Manor has unexpected security-approved visitors.

           The Drakes’ equivalent can’t possibly be as light-footed or quick and Dick wants to tell Jason that it’s not whoever’s fault that it takes a while getting from one end of a mansion to the other on a Saturday morning for an unanticipated guest.

           There’s the sound of the lock being turned, but the door doesn’t open immediately.

           Jason is about to lean on the bell again – and Dick is seriously considering how counter-productive it will be to stop him from being overly rude – when the knob finally spins and the massive solid-wood structure sweeps inward.

           Dick plasters a smile on his face and –        

           It’s the kid from Thursday night.

           Dick’s whole being freezes.

           It’s the kid that took a beating because Sabini thought he knew something about Batman.

           Dick is stuck in a sudden mental rut of wondering why this kid – and Dick know he’s a tough one, he’s seen it, but he’s a head shorter than Jason and probably weighs as much as Dick’s leg and he’s just survived a torturous kidnapping and should be on bedrest with soup and blankets and stuffed animals – why this kid is answering his own door.

           Especially in a house like this. His family is clearly rich beyond reason and could have a flurry of staff to care for the household’s daily needs and to fawn sweetly over the poor injured young master. So why is he answering the door?

           When his door costs as much as the entire Trailer the Flying Graysons called home in Haly’s Circus. When there are still bruises on his face where Sabini’s fingers gripped him that haven’t quite gone ugly and greenish from healing. When the butterfly bandage on his cheek is still the only thing holding the skin together beneath the antiseptic goo.

           Jason’s brain is clearly doing the same acrobatics as Dicks, asking questions it’s not really keen on getting answered because the answers can’t be good, but Jason recovers faster.

           Which is good because the Drake boy – Timmy, Dick remembers, except no, that’s just what Jason called him, he introduced himself as Tim in his brief moment of lucidity on Friday morning – is looking between the pair on his doorstep like one of the rescue dogs Dick remembers Haly bringing into the circus fold on their first days of being treated well.

           They were cautious and skittish and quick to shy away, but also a little bit awed by the care and attention being paid to them – slightly overwhelmed to say the least. And Tim Drake is clearly in a similar state of mind.

           Dick is frozen on the doorstep.

           Tim is frozen in the doorway.

           Jason falters too, but only for a moment. Then he’s using his crutches to nudge Tim out of the way, so he can swing himself through the door and into the Drakes’ imposing foyer.

           Dick follows.

           Tim remembers to close the door – and lock it too, with a sturdy deadbolt that Dick knows will provide actual security – and then shuffles after Dick and Jason.

           Silent on his feet – impressive, given the floppy sneakers he’s wearing – Tim allows Jason to lead the way through the mansion’s sprawl to its kitchen. Tim is watching Jason’s back as he swings forward on his crutches, which gives Dick time to look around the mansion as they walk. He knows Jason’s scoping the place out too, and he’s glad Jason can manage it with that subtle street-wise skill he’s got ingrained. Dick could probably be subtle – he was trained by Batman – but he’s finding it hard to rein in the reaction he’s having to the place.

           It’s absolutely sterile here.

           More like a museum than like a house.

           Nothing looks soft, or like it’s meant for people to sit on, and the few chairs and cushions Dick has clocked as they move through the sprawl don’t look like anyone has ever used them. There’s not a speck of dust, but honestly that just makes it worse. There are people that come through here, in order to clean it at least, but nobody lives here.

           “What’re you saying about your face,” Jason asks bluntly when he stumbles upon the masterwork that is the Drake kitchen. Dick can tell that finding the kitchen has help Jason relax a little, that being in a place that’s meant to be sterile has helped at least as much as the prospect of diving into the soothing rhythm of cooking, but Tim doesn’t pick up on Jason’s new degree of ease and relax himself. If anything, he tenses more.

           “I’m going to say that I tried to launch a rocket in the back yard and it blew up in my face,” Tim explains. He watches as Jason moves to investigate his fridge.

           He notes when Jason stiffens, flinches as he realizes what he just said to prompt it, and he whips his head around when Dick is the one to speak up about it. “You’re ‘going to say’?”

           Dick knows the way he blurted it in aching disbelief is rude. Not calm. Not helpful.

           But he’s lost sensation in his limbs and his stomach is still sinking towards the center of the earth at supersonic speeds.

           They had dropped Tim back into his bed at 2pm on Friday afternoon, once Bruce had convinced Alfred that he was stable and well on his way to healing. That was almost 20 hours ago. Dick’s stomach churns as he realizes that no one’s been to check on him in almost a full day.

           Tim survived a brutal beating, and he’s been dealing with the mental fallout of his kidnapping – not to mention the physical aspects of his recovery – entirely alone.

           Dick is staring at Tim, wide-eyed and worried, and he knows it isn’t helping as Tim looks down and toes at the marble floor.

           “Mrs. Simz doesn’t work on Fridays,” he mumbles. “She thinks I spend Friday nights with my school’s chess club.”

           Jason snorts. “Of course, she does. That sounds perfectly reasonable.”

           He pauses. Anyone but Dick probably wouldn’t be able to catch the way he steels himself and forces down a mix of rage and worry before he asks lightly, “Hey, kid, you got any flour hiding in this joint? Baking soda?”

           “Why?”

           “I’m gonna make pancakes, obviously,” Jason replies, shouldering open the fridge and pulling out milk and eggs. He spreads his haul on the island and shoots Dick a look that he hopes means that he should start investigating the Drake cabinets for mixing bowls and a griddle and such. Because that’s what Dick starts doing.

           “Pancakes?”

           “Yeah, they’re kinda like pizza – you eat them,” Jason replies, a gruff amusement in his voice that tells Dick there’s some sort of inside joke involved.

           Dick wants to think that there’s no part of the joke where he should be legitimately concerned that Tim doesn’t eat, but he also remembers how easy it was to pick the kid up when they rescued him. Sure, he’s only twelve, but Dick is fairly certain that he weighed at least twice what Tim does when he was twelve. Comparing him to Jason – even the emaciated twelve year old Jason that had first been brought to the Manor – would be too tragic to let him keep the smile on his face, so Dick consciously fights the urge.

           Tim jumps in to help direct Dick and Jason around his kitchen, Tim acting as Jason’s legs while Jason barks orders. Dick didn’t know Jason could cook, but he’s not as surprised as he thought he’d be – even when Jason whips out the fancy tricks like cracking the eggs one-handed and twirling his spatula as he times the flips perfectly.

           Butter and syrup appear on the island as Dick tries to help put the finishing touches on their meal. It’s been over an hour since breakfast, so Dick can definitely eat – and he knows Jason is probably already starving. Tim is looking at the looming stack of pancakes warily, however, and Dick is pleased with himself for not shooting Jason a worried look.

           It gets even harder to resist when they actually settle down to eat and Tim expends a painstaking amount of effort on arranging the careful stack of pancakes on his plate instead of making any move to dig in.

           “So, Timmy,” Jason says around a mouthful of pancakes, “Find any cool new toys since you’ve been home playin’ with your rocket?”

           Both confused, Dick and Tim look blankly at Jason – who rolls his eyes. Then he taps his ear and makes a wide gesture about the kitchen. He’s asking if Tim’s found any Bat bugs.

           Dick knows Batman must’ve left some – Tim was suspected of knowing his secrets for a reason, after all, and Bruce would certainly want to keep tabs on any future developments that might potentially occur. What Dick does not know is why Jason’s asking Tim if he found any listening devices hidden in his home – why he’s referencing the plausible option so casually, so openly. Unless… unless Tim knows.

           Scandalized, Tim looks between Jason and Dick – redness creeping up his neck until his ears are bright ruby – and then stares down at his pancakes. He nods.

           Like he’s pulling teeth, Jason waits a beat to make sure Tim is still alive and then asks with the same casual air, “Find any in here?”

           This time, Tim shakes his head, still staring resolutely at his pancakes – and still making no move to actually eat them.

           Jason nods, satisfied.

           Tim waits, but Jason doesn’t say anything else.

           Eventually, peeks up. Looks at Jason. Waits.

           Then he slowly, sheepishly turns his head to look at Dick. He’s waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the accusations and yelling to start. Tim does know their secret, and he expects to be in serious trouble for it.

           Jason levels his own look at Dick, daring him to break the tenuous trust they’ve developed in the last few hours by voicing any sort chastisement.

           When they’d first brought Jason and Tim back to the Cave, Batman had been on Jason about getting to the truth of the rumors around Tim – to the point of absurdity, considering that there were two traumatized and injured kids to care for, considering that Jason himself was being questioned before Batman would give his broken leg the medical attention it needed…

           Dick had spoken up in defense of Jason – asserting his own opinion that Tim was ignorant of the secret that got him wrapped up in this mess – mostly because he was pissed at Bruce for being so callous. Dick knew that Bruce cared, that he cared so much he buried all of his feelings deep beneath an impenetrable layer of cold practicality so he could deal with the pragmatic details of resolving the situation.

           But it was really hard to remember that he cared when it felt more like he wanted answers in his own interrogation rather than to help the adopted son he’d just rescued from a drug-lord who’d been asking the same questions.

           But Dick had defended Jason’s stand against Bruce.

           At the time, he hadn’t realized Jason was lying – that Bruce honestly did have a valid reason to worry about Tim’s ability to threaten Batman’s secrets. He knew Jason wasn’t being entirely honest, but he’d brushed it off as embarrassment at getting caught and needing rescue.

           Knowing what he does now, that Tim is aware of much more than he should be, Dick isn’t certain he would’ve made the same call. On the one hand, he wants to trust his brother’s judgement – to stay focused on Tim as a victim rather than a threat – but he also feels the urge to trust his mentor’s trend of caution, because if Tim threatens Bruce’s secrets he’s also threatening Dick’s. And Jason’s. And possibly Barbara, and the Titans, and any other mask they’ve ever worked with… Tim could be very dangerous if Jason’s wrong about trusting him.

           But Tim is waiting to be yelled at – waiting to face the good guys’ wrath for simply being clever. And Dick had seen the R on Tim’s sweater. He’s a fan, and he’s been clever, and he’d taken one hell of a beating for a twelve year old kid to be expected to handle.

           And he hadn’t talked.

           It was more than Dick would’ve expected from most grown-ups. It was as much or even more than he’d expect from adults trained to withstand interrogation.

           If Dick needed proof that Tim wasn’t a threat, that was it.

           Tim was still staring at him – waiting for his anger. Waiting to be punished.

           Jason was staring too – waiting for a reason to get angry himself.

           Resolved to let Tim continue to fly under Batman’s radar, Dick doesn’t say anything. He just takes another bite of his pancakes. The bite goes down easier than he expects, validation that his gut trusts Tim on a level beyond instinctual. Something more like kinship.

           Tim keeps staring – like he doesn’t quite recognize what it means that Dick is just going on with eating like a major secret affecting both of their lives hasn’t just been exposed – but Jason relaxes. He even flashes Dick what could pass for a smile.

           It makes Dick feel like he’s made the right decision all over again.

           He’s got very little good history with Jason, but he’s working on his own issues and he thinks that, just maybe, he and Jason can work with this – can use Tim’s hush-hush existence as a bit of common ground to try standing by each other instead of against each other.

           Tim is still staring, though.

           Still waiting, still worried, still convinced that he’s in trouble.

           “Pancakes not to your liking, Tim?” Dick asks, flashing him a grin. It’s not the dazzling, thousand-watt smile that’s always made him shine as a media darling, but it’s still bright and teasing enough to startle Tim. And genuine.

           Jason growls before Tim recovers, retorting, “Hey, my pancakes are fantastic, asshole.”

           Dick gives a shrug, his smiling building as he feels out Jason’s grumble and realizes that there’s almost no real malice in it – none of the gritty defensiveness he’s used to from Jason.

           “They’re, um, great,” Tim replies in a squeak.

           With another snort, Jason says, “You haven’t even tried them yet.”

           He reaches across the island and swoops a smear of butter onto Tim’s topmost pancake, giving the terrified youngster a mild heart attack. He pushes the syrup across the table with his fork – it’s good stuff, real maple in a ceramic jug – until it clicks pointedly against Tim’s plate.

           “Eat.”

           Tim picks up his fork, obedient but still anxious and pushes a few bites around before he finally picks one up and forces it into his mouth and down his throat.

           Watching as Tim swallows and waiting until it looks like he might take another bite of his own volition, Jason says, “You gotta relax, Timmers. We’re the frickin good guys.”

           Dick gives a supportive smile as Tim forces himself to nod.

           His eyes jump guiltily to Dick for a moment but then he settles and takes another bite of his pancakes. This time he looks much less like he wants to throw the food back up immediately.

           “How’s, um, how’s your leg,” Tim asks. Guilty, which makes Dick’s lungs tighten, but at least he’s speaking up – which means he might be able to be convinced he’s not at fault.

           “It’s good,” Jason replies with a shrug. “I’ve gotta stay off it completely for the next week, and I’m benched for the next three, at least, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

           Dick snorts. “You’re supposed to stay off it for three weeks,” Dick counters automatically. He lets himself fall into older-brother over-dive to add, “And B wants to keep you benched for the next two months. Alf might actually put you in a coma if he sees you trying to go down to the Cave before the cast comes off.”

           With a shrug, Jason says, “So like two weeks and we call it even.”

           Dick tries to claw back the sigh that’s threatening to cut off all his air.

           “It was a pretty bad break,” Tim pipes up. He looks slightly guilt-ridden, but he forges on to add, “But it was direct contact to the bone, instead of to a joint, and I’m guessing it was a stable, simple tibia fracture – no skin penetration or muscle tears – and it was either transverse or very slightly oblique, so it should heal cleanly.”

           “Not if he bungs it up by trying to do cartwheels on it too quickly,” Dick counters.

           “I’m gonna leave the cartwheeling to you, Dickiebird,” Jason replies with a chuckle that’s warm and teasing and so much nicer than the conversations he’s used to having with Jason.

           It almost sounds like they’re just talking about your average sports injury, and Tim even joins in a few more times as the discussion shifts to Dick and his penchant for cartwheeling down the long halls of Wayne Manor. Tim’s a fan of the Flying Graysons, and after a little figuring, Dick actually remembers meeting him before – before the show for a picture and a hug and a somersault promise, before Zucco, before his parents fell… before life got so complicated.

           Dick and Jason and Tim stay gathered around the island in the Drakes’ kitchen until Tim has completely finished his plate of pancakes without needing to have Jason force him through each bite. And they stay an hour after they’ve cleaned up, and an hour after that too.

           They stay until Alfred sends Dick a text to warn him that Bruce is getting antsy with their absence, antsy enough to start wondering where they’ve gone.

           Tim looks sad as they start gearing up to head back to the Manor, but Jason assures him that they’ll be back tomorrow – and after school on Monday, assuming Tim actually goes to school on Monday. Neither vigilante would blame him if he wanted to take a day off.

           “Why?”

           “Because you got beat up by a drug-lord,” Jason told him with a gruff, but affectionate exasperation Dick can hardly believe he’s hearing from the ill-tempered teenager, “That totally warrants a fucking vacation day or two.”

           Tim shakes his head. “No, I mean why are you gonna come here? Why’re you here at all, if I’m not in trouble for… you know.” He mumbles through most of the words, falling back into the timid little thing he was when he first saw Dick and Jason standing at his door.

           It’s only now that Dick realizes how much he’d managed to come out of that shell.

           “We’re checking up on you, baby bird,” Jason huffs, “Duh.”

           “But why?”

           Tim stands there like the question is perfectly innocent, like it’s not one of the most heartbreaking thing Dick has ever been asked.

           If Jason didn’t have a broken leg and crutches to wrestle with, Dick is sure that Tim would be trapped under Jason’s arm getting his hair mussed beyond all possible repair. As it stands, Jason looks halfway to smacking Tim with one of his crutches.

           Or smacking whoever made him feel like his current state of being is somehow one that is in any way an acceptable situation for a child.

           But Dick smiles and slings an arm around Jason’s shoulders.

           “Because we’re Robins,” he says, promising, “And that’s what we do.”

           There’s a pause.

           And then Tim nods, smiling back in a way that makes Dick’s limbs feel gooey as he goes all warm and fuzzy. He can feel Jason lean into his side, can see that he’s smiling too – not as broadly as Dick is, but the expression is just as genuine. A bit surprised, perhaps, but happy.

           The door closes behind them and Jason clambers into his side of the car without beating Dick with his crutches for helping. The drive back to the Manor is just as quick as the one away from it this morning, but not as quiet.

           The Robins get themselves on a united platform about having gone to visit Drake as civilians – he’d recognized Jason as a Wayne and they’d gone to commiserate with Jason as a fellow victim of random, rumor fueled violence. They explain again to Bruce that Tim doesn’t know anything about Batman and latch onto Alfred’s concern that the boy’s parents are still out of the country. The Robins volunteer to go over and check on him tomorrow.

           At Alfred’s insistence, they agree to spend most of the day there, and several days next week – and bring over some of Alfred’s amazing, high-nutrition cooking.

           With all three of them set against Bruce in this, he relents to giving full approval to their plan – assuming that Nightwing patrols with Batman for the next three weeks while Robin remains obediently on bedrest.

           The butler sides with Bruce on that one, but he gives the boys a wink behind Bruce’s back and it makes Dick get that warm and fuzzy glow again.

           He’s halfway giddy all through that night’s patrol.

           Batman notices.

           But Dick doesn’t explain when he’s asked about it.

           He just says that he and Jason are finally seeing eye to eye about what it means to hero in Gotham, to be Robin… to be a good Robin.

           He smiles into the sunrise after a long night of beating up petty thugs on Gotham’s street corners – of looking into and utterly quashing any remaining rumors that Timothy Drake has any information on Batman. And maybe the throws a few extra flips into the maneuvers that carry him from rooftop to rooftop of Gotham’s city skyline.

           It’s a beautiful day and Dick resolves to make the most of the chances he’s been given – however unfortunate the circumstances around them. The world is already a slightly better place, and Dick is determined to make it more so, bit by bit.

           Because we’re Robins. And that’s what we do.

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[detectivejigsawpines]

Relatively Relativity-part 2 (Some adjustments required)

Eventually, the worst of the noise subsided.

Only for Mabel to take another look at her boy grunkles, and make them nearly jump out of their skins with her amazed and delighted squeal of, “Oh my gosh, you guys are so CUUUUUTEEEE!!!!”

“Gah!”  Stan saw the impending doom, and tried too late to escape from one of her arms snatching him up into a hug.  Seconds later Ford was grabbed by her other arm, and made a strangled noise as he had what felt like all of his air squeezed out of him.

Mabel actually lifted both of them off their feet in her enthusiasm, swinging them back and forth with far more strength than someone her age should have been capable of when they hadn’t spent years living on the streets or traveling the multiverse.  “You guys are just the most precious little pair of sweeties I’ve ever seen!  As soon as we get home I’m making you both tiny sweaters and taking a hundred pictures!!”

“Mabel-leggo-we need air-” Stan struggled, and finally just rolled up her sleeve and licked her arm.  Even though she was more often than not guilty of using the same tactic, it was enough to make her release them.

Dipper was by now curled up in the fetal position against a tree, rocking back and forth and gasping, “Not again, not again, this can’t be happening again!”  He glanced down at himself.  “I mean, at least I’m still in my own body, so that’s nice.”  He resumed rocking.  “But this still can’t be happening!”

“Okay, okay, everybody STOP!”

Ford waited until all eyes were on him, and then climbed up onto a nearby convenient tree stump.  He adjusted his glasses in a way that looked soothingly Ford-like even in his tiny child body and higher-pitched voice.  “Let’s all just calm down for a second.”

He glanced over at the flower, and saw with concern that it had wilted, with all the petals lying in a heap around the stem.

That can’t be good.

“...I think we all need to go home so I can examine that-” he pointed to the remains of the flower- “and figure out what kind of spell it cast on us.  This is nothing to panic over.”

“Nothing to panic over?!” Dipper demanded.  Fascinating; even with his voice fully developed he still managed to make it crack to an astonishing degree.  “Look at me, Grunkle Ford!  I’m old!”

“Yeah, and if ya don’t figure out how ta calm down you’re probably gonna start giving yourself a heart attack!” Stan said.

“Stanley!  That is not helpful!” Ford snapped, hopping off the stump and going to his nephew’s side.

“...Sorry.”  Stan joined him, and Mabel crouched down on Dipper’s other side.  Three hands rubbed his shoulders as he pushed his head between his knees.

After a minute Dipper took a few deep breaths, and then slowly got to his feet.  He still looked shaken up by the situation, but at least he had calmed down a little.  “Ugh, ow.  Do your guys’s joints creak this much when you have to stand up?”

“Oh yeah.  It’s even worse first thing in the morning.”  Stan stretched his back, and then his eyes widened in delight.  “Whoa, wait.  It’s been years since I’ve been able ta do that without it feelin’ all messed up!”  He looked down at his legs, and a wide smile stretched across his cheeks.

Before Ford could stop him, he took off running back down the trail with a whoop.

“Stanley!  Stanley, get back here!  We have to-”

Stan was already practically out of sight.  Ford groaned, and shrugged off his now-giant backpack which he had barely realized he was still wearing.  He glanced at the-well, technically the children, they still had the minds of thirteen-year-olds.  “Find something to put that flower in, would you?”

Then he chased after his brother.

****

Ford was disconcerted when he realized, very quickly, that his body had reverted back to the physical limitations he had possessed at this age.

Back then, while it was all well and good to go running around on the beach with Stan, chasing the waves or the sea gulls or each other, he had hated exercise when there were far more enjoyable options available, like reading his books or just sitting and drawing something.  He hadn’t gotten into the habit of going for long walks in the woods, or been forced to spend a lot of time running for his life from interdimensional bounty hunters.

Soon enough Ford was forced to slow down because of the stitch in his side, and double over gasping with the need to get more air into his lungs.

He clenched his fists against his knees in frustration, because he knew that he was capable of running faster than this, at least when he was in his regular body, he’d done it a million times, and now he couldn’t.

A few moments later he heard the thud of boots pounding against the ground, and a familiar out-of-breath voice.

“Whoo!  What a rush!  If I tried doin’ that when I was old I’d have ta sit on the couch for a week afterwards!  Ha!  Who’s an old fossil now, Mabel?”

Coming from the man (boy?  Shoot, that was going to get confusing pretty fast) who was capable of punching out giant squid monsters and outrunning angry leprechauns while carrying a heavy treasure chest, that was definitely an exaggeration.  But Ford was too busy trying to stop wheezing to call him on it.

“...You okay, Poindexter?” Stan asked, reaching out and touching his shoulder.

Ford lifted his eyes until they met his twin’s.  “W-We...should probably...go back to the kids.  I realize...you’re excited...about rediscovering your youth...but they’re not enjoying this as much as you are.”

Stan gave him a chagrined grimace.  “...Oh yeah.  Sorry.”

Ford patted his arm as he straightened up.  “‘S’ okay.  I get it.  It feels good to get some of those aches out of my bones.”

“Yeah, no kidding!”  Stan looked down at his arms with wide eyes.  “Can you believe these things were ever this skinny?”

Ford snorted.  “Your face is back to being mostly nose, though.”

“Hey!”  Stan slugged him in the arm.  “Take a look in the mirror, genius-you’re not much better off!”

Ford punched him back, giggling.

He was a little surprised by how natural a sound that felt to make, now that he was no longer an old man.

****

It turned out that Dipper had emptied out part of one of the water bottles, and then dug the flower out-roots and all, just in case-before placing it and its petals inside.  He’d even managed to get some pollen samples and add them to the inside of the bottle.

“Good job, Dipper!” Ford praised him, accepting it and slipping it into his backpack.  Then he straightened up, puffing out his chest.  “Okay, let’s get this back to the lab, and turn ourselves back to normal!”

Mabel cooed and clasped her hands together at her chin.  “Awww, you sound so adorable when you say stuff like that now!”

...Ford couldn’t help feeling like she was spoiling the gravitas of the moment.  He tried to ignore Stan’s wide smirk, and adjusted his coat collar with a cough before he started marching back the way they’d come.

****

A new problem arose when they reached the car.

Stan dug into his pocket and pulled out the keys, and just as he was unlocking the car Dipper grabbed his shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Stan raised an eyebrow at him, in a way that was still very grunkle-like despite his young face.  “Gettin’ ready ta drive us home.”

“Grunkle Stan, you’re thirteen now!  You can’t be the one driving!”

The boy folded his arms.  “Uh, last I checked, you didn’t exactly have a driver’s license, kid.”

Dipper faltered.  “I-I know how to drive the golf cart!”

“Not the same.  Besides, remind me how many times you crashed it last summer?”

“Oh, like your driving is any safer!”  Dipper lunged for the keys.

Stan jumped out of reach.  “Fair point, but this is still my car!  And nobody but nobody is allowed ta drive it but me!”

Dipper chased after him, meaning that they were suddenly running around the car, with Stan defiantly holding the keys out of his elderly nephew’s reach.  “We’re gonna get pulled over if the cops see you behind the wheel, Grunkle Stan!  Be reasonable!”

“Never!  I’m not lettin’ you scratch up my car cuz you-”

Mabel finally stepped between them.  “Boys, boys!  I have a solution that’ll fix everything!”

****

Five minutes later, Dipper was in the driver’s seat, with Stan sitting on his lap, head tucked against his shoulder.  Dipper’s feet worked the gas and brakes at his grunkle’s command, while Stan did the steering and watched the road with his newly improved vision.  Neither of them looked pleased with this solution, but they’d had to admit that they hadn’t been able to think of a better one.

Mabel and Ford sat in the back, with the water bottle containing the flower clenched in Ford’s lap.  He stared at it thoughtfully, scribbling notes in his journal and thinking about other experiences with enchanted plants, and how they might compare to this one.

Unnoticed by him, Mabel had pulled a cloth tape measure out of her pocket and was taking his measurements; already she was thinking about what kind of sweaters to make him and Stan.  Because on the one hand, both of them seemed to like the color red, and looked pretty good in it; on the other hand, this was a special occasion, and maybe she should make something in blue, or green, or gold.  Maybe all of them together?  Decisions, decisions…

She was still thinking about her options when the car pulled up in front of the Mystery Shack.  Stan turned the engine off, and unbuckled himself and Dipper.

“Geez you’ve got bony knees,” he said dryly as he looked up at his nephew.

Dipper snorted.  “Now you know how I feel.”

Fortunately Stan’s mood had improved enough for him to grin before opening the car door and bounding up the steps of the porch.

“Soos, we’re home!” he called as he opened the door.

A few seconds later there was a startled yelp, and a thud.

A little bit after that, the front door opened again, and Stan peered uneasily out at his family.

“...Guys?  I think I just killed Soos.”

********

Don’t worry, I didn’t actually kill Soos.

I’m not that much of a monster.

Usually.

[antiques-for-geeks]

Game Review: Aliens

Electric Dreams /  1987 / C64 

Also released on Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX and C16

With one eye firmly on Halloween, we’re going to review some games that used to make us breathe heavily, grasping our joysticks tightly in our sweaty palms...

Based on James Cameron’s sequel to the archetypal sci-fi body-horror Alien, Aliens is possibly one of the most panic-inducing games of the 8-bit era. It goes without saying that it’s hard to actually scare anyone on an 8-bit computer, unless blocky, jerky and flickery graphics bring you out in a cold sweat. What you can do, however, is force the player into having to make a series of quickfire decisions under stressful conditions, juggling resources and trying to keep order in the face of the impossible, like an air traffic controller in a power cut.

Aliens is played from a first-person perspective, and at first glance seems like a fairly simple game. You start in the middle of the operations room in LV-426, in control of Ellen Ripley and a team of 5 space marines who’ve been sent to find the alien queen and rid the base of her menace. You get a cross-hair, which is where your bullets will go. You can look around to the left or right, and you can step through a door to another room with a press of the space bar.

Nothing much is happening right at the start of the game, but don’t worry, it won’t stay that way for long!

The queen sits in a room right in the depths of the base. You use the keyboard to select individual team-members, but you can only directly control one at a time. Each member is represented by a nice little image and a stat bar showing how tired they are. There are no practical differences between each team member, which is a bit of a wasted opportunity, but the images are still a nice touch if you’ve seen the film, and help the player identify with their soldiers. Your team grows weary if they move too far without a rest; they’ll be unable to move and will aim more slowly until given time to recuperate. 

You can issue orders for any team member to move a number of rooms in any compass direction, and they’ll carry out your instructions to the best of their ability once you switch out. On the way you’ll encounter alien warriors, eggs and face huggers... or they’ll encounter you as they’ll actively try and hunt down your group. 

When one of your characters is in the same room as an alien you’ll hear a warning noise. This is a sinister beeping when you’re not controlling the character directly, and a panic inducing klaxon when you are. What ensues next is a desperate fumble to find the correct key to select the character who is in trouble, followed by an anguished pan around the room in search of the invader. Obviously you’ve only got a limited time to do all this, and the warning tone gets quicker and increasingly agitated to make sure you’re well aware of this fact. 

I see you!

Once you spot the alien, you’ve got to line him up and blast him before he gets to you. One head-shot should do it, but you won’t get a clean shot, because by now your heart rate is sure to be through the roof. He’ll run right at you too, making you waste a bunch of (limited!) ammo on him.

If you’re super lucky, several team members will be attacked at the same time, which is probably more tense than doing a driving test naked with a wasp in the car.

If the alien gets you the warning tone will change to a forlorn peep. That signifies your character being bundled up for immediate xenomorph oral impregnation. You’ve got a short time to get someone else to the room to take the alien out, but if you don’t get there in time you’ve lost them for good. Their little picture will disappear and you’ll get nothing but static if you switch to their screen.

Another nasty twist: if you blast an alien in front of a door it’ll leave a pool of acid blood which will kill your character outright should they try to exit that way.

There are a few things you can do to keep yourself alive. You can shoot out the control panels next to any door, which will prevent aliens coming through for a time. This is a one-time only deal, because you’ll have to blow the door open if you want to use it again. You can also re-stock a team member’s ammo at a specific room in the complex. This is useful, because running out of ammo is as good as a death sentence. You’ll also need a map. There’s no in game map provided, though the room number each character occupies is shown next to their image. The full price release provided a fold out map in the box, and you’ll need this. Make sure you have a copy handy, because the game is almost unplayably hard unless you have one!

One last thing. The aliens spread a sort of fungal growth around the rooms, which can cover doors and must be blasted away. There’s a generator room somewhere in the complex, and if the walls there get covered by alien fungus the LIGHTS WILL TURN OUT!

I can’t emphasise enough what bad news this is, because hunting for aliens by shadows alone is probably about as much fun as falling into the sharps bin in an STD clinic.

Film licenses had a pretty bad reputation for the discerning 8-bit gamer, tending to be shoddy and quickly thrown together efforts. Aliens is both an excellent game in its own right and perfect at evoking the tension and atmosphere of the film. There’s also quite a bit of tactical depth here too. Do you keep your group of soldiers together? Move as quickly as possible to the queen chamber? Maybe try to fan out and secure the generator room and armoury?

Ripley is looking a bit off colour today.

It’s also worth mentioning that there was also another Aliens game released for 8-bit micros, developed by Activision in the U.S. This takes a different approach to the license, presenting the film as a series of mini-game levels such as landing the drop-ship, fighting your way through the base to save Newt, the last surviving colonist, and the climactic one-on-one mechanical loader duel with the alien queen. This is also a good game, and well worth seeking out if you're a fan of the franchise, though for my money not quite as well conceived and executed as the U.K. version.

Playing it today

If you don't want to follow the obvious route of emulation and you’ve got a real C64, Amstrad CPC or Spectrum to hand, this should be easy to pick up for a few quid online. If you fancy something slightly more polished, there’s a fine looking windows PC remake ‘LV-426’ by Derbian Games that can be downloaded for free.

Commentariat

Tim: Ah, Aliens. Back when the franchise was actually scary and not a pastiche of itself.

As I suspect many others, I bought this on budget when it appeared on the Ricochet label from Mastertronic. This release really lacked the one thing that helped gameplay. A map.

The full price release had pull-out one included with the game; Mastertronic however, probably decided that including a separate sheet for just one title would have cost too much. And been yet another inlay for the staff at Menzies in the Clydebank Shopping Centre to lose. Zzap 64 published one for those of us without, but as I didn’t have that issue, I was in the dark. Quite literally, as it was more fun to play with the lights off.

Life is too short to make maps, so instead I ended up creeping about the complex, not really knowing where I was. Sounds dull, right? Well, no. The game oozes atmosphere; the graphics are tight and well executed, and though the C64’s SID chip is hardly taxed, the sounds that are there do the trick. The throbbing noise when an alien approaches, your exhausted marine out of ammo but still you frantically pull the trigger of their Pulse Rifle in the vain hope that maybe, just maybe there will be one last shell in there to give you a fighting chance. What I particularly like though is the freedom of gameplay, choosing to use your team as individuals or cooperatively as squads, investigating the different parts of the base separately. Pretty cool, when you consider it’s all done in just 64k.

Do I have fond memories of it? Yes. Would I play it again? Absolutely.

Meat: This game is an intense experience, likely to elicit some strong swear words if you’re not in the right mood for it. It’s certainly engrossing stuff though, and tough to beat. One thing though. Which genius decided that the ‘m’ key should restart the game? You know, the one next to the ‘n‘ key you use to tell your soldiers to move north? Nice one.

Pop: I played this a few years before seeing the film, but in retrospect it’s a very clever use of the license. It was also a really tense experience for an 8-bit game, particularly later on when your soldiers are assaulted by wave after wave of aliens and face huggers. Like many games of the era, it’s perhaps a little arcane for today’s audience, what with having to use the keyboard to select the different team members, but still playable and still enjoyable today. It’s the kind of game I can imagine working perfectly on a VR helmet, though that might be a little too much immersion for comfort!

Strangely enough, one of my strongest memories of this game was actually waiting for it to load off cassette tape. The Mastertronic re-release copy I played (borrowed off Tim, of course!) had a neat game of space-invaders that you got to play while waiting for the loading process to complete, accompanied by some very atmospheric music. This ‘invade-a-load’ appeared on a few C64 tape games, but in my head it’s always tied to playing Aliens.

Score card

Presentation 4/10

Very basic indeed. No intro screen, title crawl or music. The box contained a map, which is essential and should have been a part of the game itself.

Originality 8/10

An extremely novel use of a film license. The mix of first person perspective, team management and light strategy elements put this in a class of its own. Sadly, most licensed games of the 8-bit era tended to use cookie-cutter gameplay which was usually executed better elsewhere.

Graphics 7/10

Very clear and atmospheric, you’ll have no problem working out what everything is. The images for the team members are well drawn and clear for an 8-bit system. On the down side, rooms are drawn predominantly in a single colour and a little more variety in the room designs would be nice. The aliens walk like they’re going for a relaxing afternoon stroll, but the animation when they rush your position is very effective.

Hookability 7/10

Immediately intriguing, but the use of the keyboard and advanced controls for commanding team members require the investment of time to enjoy.

Sound 3/10

Played in near silence, except for gunfire and the alien warning siren. This actually makes the game more atmospheric. A title tune would have been nice.

Lastability 7/10

A decent challenge, it seems impossible until you form a good plan on how to tackle the assault on the base. Like many other games of the era, how much you get out of this game depends on how much you’re willing to put into working out how to play it effectively.

Overall 8/10

A fine example of how to compress the tension and drama of an action film into 64K.

[chipster-321]

As much as I love Mary and Kate’s sisterly relationship grown. There’s one thing that’s bugging me. It’s just how quickly Mary goes from “Kate is worst sister” to “Kate is best sister and always has been.” Key example

That. She was implying that Kate never accepted Mary as a sister figure and hated her which made Mary sad. She had even said to tell Alice she didn’t need to worry about her “stealing” her sister because they weren’t at all close. But in more recent episodes they were getting closer at a fast but still tolerable pace considering all the shit going down. (Even before Mary was a genius and pieced Batwoman’s identity together.) But in one of the most recent episodes she says this

After listing all these super badass things Kate did for her when they were growing up. I’m sorry but a sister who locked a jerk up in the bathroom after he ditched you at homecoming and taught you to drive when she didn’t even have her own license and managed to sweet talk you out of a ticket sounds like a pretty badass sister, and not at all as distant and cold as you made her out to be. Don’t get me wrong I love these two being close sisters and I LOVED this scene. But they spent quite a bit of time in the beginning establishing that Kate never paid much attention to Mary or cared about her in a sisterly fashion when growing up. Or at least that’s how Mary felt. To ignore it all like that feels like a quick cop-out to have them be close sisters. I love Mary being on the bat team. I love her and Kate being close. But it feels pretty rushed.

[lilliloves]

5 and 27 from the prompt list if you’re still doing requests - thanks ❤️

Sorry this took me forever!!

**

"Are you sure about this?" Annie asks in concern. She looks over her shoulder for the hundredth time to make sure no one is watching them. She gnaws on her bottom lip feeling nervous - wishing that Beth reciprocated her feelings. There's harmless fun and than there's breaking into the apartment of a scary, gang-banger and Annie's not sure she's cut out for that type of excitement.

Beth nods her head and squats down so that she is eye level with the knob of Rio's front door. "Very sure."

"You know I'm not usually one to talk a person out of bad ideas but would you be as sure if you weren't drunk as shit right now?"

Beth turns her head to look up at her sister and pins her with an intense stare. "I'm not 'drunk as shit' I'm buzzed. And I'd be very sure in any state, intoxicated or not."

"I feel like this can't end well." Annie whines, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently. She crosses her arms over her chest making no move to help her sister.

"It will end fine. Will you relax." And the irony is not lost on either of them that Beth is the one telling Annie to relax. Beth ignores her sister's groan and demand to hurry up and turns to focus on the task at hand. She has a bobby pin in one hand and a credit card in the other and she's sure she can figure out a way to break in if she just concentrates.

"Maybe you could YouTube some tips for me." Beth suggests smiling at her seemingly genius idea.

But Annie shakes her head, the pit in her stomach growing the longer they stand in the hallway of this building. "Beth, it's really late."

"No, it's really early. It's only 2am."

Annie rolls her eyes and tries a different tactic. "Are you sure his kid isn't in there?"

Beth freezes and drops her hand. She lowers her head and covers her face with both hands and let's out far too loud of a groan considering the time and the fact that they are trying to be stealth.

"Oh my God! I didn't even think about that."

"Oh wow, Annie to the rescue." Annie praises herself and she smiles smugly because finally she seems to have talked some sense into her sister.

"Shit. This was a bad idea." Beth says mostly to herself than to her sister. She stands up and throws the credit card she‘s holding into her bag. She turns to her sister and frowns when she sees her nodding emphatically in agreement.

"Are we going?" Annie asks but she's already moving down the hall towards the exit.

Beth's shoulders sink but she doesn't make a move to follow. "I really wanted to get my pearls back. And my underwear!"

Annie stop in her tracks and turns back to her sister but doesn't move back in her direction. She whisper yells instead. "Right but maybe you could ask him for those instead of breaking into his apartment in the middle of the night. Let's go!"

"I can't just ask him to give me back the panties he stole when he screwed me in a bar bathroo-."

The click of the door behind her and the pure look of terror on Annie's face cause Beth to swing around in a hurry. She comes face to face with a pissed off looking Rio. He's only half dressed in a pair of sweatpants that hang low on his hips. His upper body is naked save for the tattoos on his neck and across his arms and Beth can't keep her eyes from skimming over his lean body. She hadn't gotten the opportunity to see him during the bathroom romp after all.

"Do I even wanna ask?" Rio deadpans, and Beth can tell he's trying hard not to snap. He looks equal parts exhausted and agitated and she suddenly wishes she would have listened to any or all of Annie's warnings.

She had been out earlier that night with Ruby and Annie celebrating her new partnership with Rio. It had started off as dinner and than turned into drinks late into the night. They had wrapped up after midnight and while Annie had been under the impression that Beth was driving her home, Beth had other plans. She'd driven in the direction of Rio's house not really even sure why. She had only known where he lived because she'd gotten a look at his license one day when she was meeting with him at the warehouse.

Annie had been too tipsy and tired to realize they were headed in the wrong direction until they'd pulled up outside of his building. She had followed Beth inside, warily listening to her scheme to steal back the belongings of hers that he possessed. It was an awful plan, not thought out in the least bit, and it had been destined to fail from the very beginning.

"I believe you have something of mine." Beth answers and she tries her hardest to sound more confident than she feels. Her voice wavers slightly and her cheeks flush but otherwise she stays composed.

His eyes skim down the length of her, payback for her earlier perusal. Beth hears Annie clear her throat behind her and it's only than that Rio's attention snaps to the blonde at the end of the hallway.

"I'm gonna go wait out in the car." Annie says, point over her shoulder. She scurries away before Beth can even think to stop her.

Beth turns back to Rio and meets his dark gaze. She swallows at the look in his eyes, she can't tell if it's lust or annoyance, and waits for him to make the next move.

"Can't imagine what you think I got of yours." He says sounding interested. He leans his shoulder against the door frame and crosses his arms over his chest. His bare feet and crossed at the ankles and he’s the picture of relaxed. Beth on the other hand is starting to sweat.

She peaks around him ignoring his comment to try to get a better look inside. "Is your son here?"

"Not sure why that's any of your business."

Beth sighs and meets his gaze. “I was going to try to break in but than I realized he might be here and decided not to."

Rio chuckles although it’s dry and he’s clearly not amused. “That was real nice of you. You think the only security I got on this place is a dinky doorknob lock?" He says, glancing briefly at the bobby pin she still holds between her fingers.

She shrugs and drops the pin into her bag. "I hadn't really thought the plan all the way through."

"Hm, why don't that surpirse me?"

She purses her lips. “Ok, well, I think I'll go now.”

But he reaches out to grab her arm before she can turn to leave. "Whatchu think I got of yours?"

Her cheeks flush bright red and it moves its way down her chest. His eyes trail down as he smirks at her reaction but his grip on her arm is tight and there’s no way he’s letting her off the hook.

“I’d like to note for the record that I’ve been drinking.”

He nods and bites back a smile. “Noted.”

“I may also have been looking for a reason to see you.” She admits quietly, wringing her hands together.

He hums in acknowledgment and waits for her to continue.

“There was a brief moment where I thought breaking in to try to retrieve my pearls and panties was a good idea.” She lowers her head in shame because when the words are coming out of her mouth for him to hear it sounds insane and ridiculous and oh my God when did she become this lunatic?

He lets out a loud laugh and she can’t help but crack a smile because at least he’s entertained and not holding a gun to her throat.

He reaches forward and grabs hold of her hips, pulling her towards him. “If you want a repeat, sweetheart, you just gotta ask.”

She rolls her eyes and tries to pull away but his fingers are digging into the skin between her jeans and her shirt. She relents, letting him pull her the final distance towards him so that their chests are touching.

“Annie’s waiting in the car.” She argues but it’s a weak argument and his hand moving up to wrap around the back of her neck makes it clear he doesn’t care.

“Think we both know we can make it quick.” He says, his voice is rough and thick and it makes her thighs clench in need. This is what she had been hoping for when she had driven over here.

“I don’t want quick.” She mumbles and his hold tightens around her neck. She reaches out to skim her fingertips along the waistband of his sweatpants and he lets out a shaky breath.

“Go give her your keys. I’ll drive you home in the mornin’.”

So she does. She practically skips outside and she ignores Annie’s outrage when she tells her to drive herself home - that she’ll be staying. Annie mutters something under her breath but takes the keys out of sister’s hand. Beth all but runs back inside but stops dead in her tracks when she sees Rio standing in his doorway holding a string of pearls and a scrap of blue underwear.

“You come in here you ain’t gettin’ these back.” He says with a smug smile across his lips and she just rolls her eyes because - more likely than not - she’ll be adding to the collection.