#I sure it's fiiiiiiiine

[uniquecrash5]

The GURPS Cyberpunk and seizure of Steve Jackson Games' computers was a part of an FBI initiative called Operation Sundevil if I recall correctly.

I was a playtester for GURPS Cyberpunk. I half suspect my name is on an FBI list somewhere.

There is another section from the song "Gamers", and I'm curious if it refers to a specific incident.

I'm a live-roleplayin' gamer, I used to play out in the woods. Twilight 2000, Shadowrun, I'd play whenever I could. I'd put on my costume, shoot tin cans, and make firecrackers fly. Then my front door got kicked down again -- This time it was the FBI.

They stole my guns, my video tapes, every book I’d ever read, And a couple of bags of fertilizer out of the garden shed! They told the press I was a terrorist, who planned to blow up half the town. They called me a right-wing militia nut, and a neo-nazi clown.

The details are not the same, but I think this is a reference to a well known incident in 1990, where Steve Jackson Games, best known these days as the maker of the Munchkin card game, were raided by the Secret Service under suspicion that their game product, Cyberpunk, a roleplaying game, was actually a manual for computer crime. Agents literally walked out of the building holding the game company's computers.

Because this story is so well known to gamers, and spread at a time when word of mouth was so potent, there are many details that are altered by the telephone game. Many say it was the FBI instead of the Secret Service, for instance, or it was Cyberpunk 2020 that was raided (which was put out by R. Talsorian Games, not Steve Jackson).

To quote Steve Jackson:

In the course of that visit, it became clear that the investigating agents considered GURPS Cyberpunk to be "a handbook for computer crime." They seemed to make no distinction between a discussion of futuristic credit fraud, using equipment that doesn't exist, and modern real-life credit card abuse. A repeated comment by the agents was "This is real."

"Careless, illegal, and completely unjustified," the raid happened because author Loyd Blankenship ran an irreverent, anti-authority computer USENET BBS dedicated to computers and yes, hacking, and Steve Jackson was struck through guilt by association. It's exactly the kind of overreach that happens when the malevolent Eye of Sauron that is federal law enforcement fixes itself on you. In the course of investigation, the Secret Service justified its own warrant by saying that they would find evidence to justify the warrant, which is circular reasoning.

Due to the raid, Steve Jackson Games had to lay off half the staff and was close to bankruptcy fighting the charges. However, for once, they were able to countersue the Secret Service, because several committed technology lawyers, partially in response, formed the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

This is not the first time this happened. In 1980, a decade earlier, TSR was raided because of the spy game, Top Secret, due to suspicion of aiding international terrorism in Lebanon (!)

[prettymediocrewizard]

I am physically incapable of going longer than a week without drawing them.

h. help. .

[axolkitkat]

jojo's bizarre adventure: stardust crusaders if it was WOKE

stardust cruGAYders

BItaro kujo's star COMMUNIST

GAYseph WOKEstar' hermit purple

mohammed ABORTION's magician's BLUE

NONBINARY kakyoin's heirophant VACCINE

jean-PAN polnareff's silver chAROMANTIC

enya the... no... i shan't say...

HOMO horse's EMPRESS

DEMOCRAT'arby (both of them)'s I FORGOT WHAT THEIR STANDS ARE CALLED

DIO'S THE WORLD

[why-the-heck-not]

Just signed up for the bachelor’s thesis course (today’s the deadline; very on character, gotta leave till the last possible day) Crying screaming throwing up??? I’m hella stressed abt it

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

Everyday I think how shanks and buggy are both 39 which is dying age in OP world

🙃

[orcelito]

anyways i love writing shit set in a definite place with very few options of what it Could be but bc i know very little about how things are at this place i dont want to Definitely say that it's this place for plausible deniability. this is fiction. it just happens to be fiction that is not so secretly based on a real life college. oh well!

[syxnewt]

very glad to be done with the new prophecy now cuz now i can read the power of three

[skippingstonez]

could I possibly ask for anything with four? honestly anything you'd like, I just want some nice fluff with my favorite link <3

I'll admit, this is the first time I've ever written Four! I've only played Minish Cap so I tried to focus more on that but he was a lot of fun!

A Little bit of Luck

(Four x Reader)

“Hey Smithy!” Four looked up from where he was polishing his shield. You jogged up to him, sitting down so closely that your shoulder pressed against his. Your cheerful voice pulled him in like a spell. Enticing him to lean against you. Casually of course.

“Got a question for ya!” 

“Yes, no and no.” 

“I haven't even asked yet!” You whined. Four just chuckled, nudging you with his elbow as he kept working.

“Yes I've made armor before. No I don't have the tools for it, so NO I'm not making Wind a suit of armor. No matter how ‘cool’ it would look.”

You held up your index finger. “First of all, I will never understand how you do that.”

Four rolled his eyes lightheartedly, having yet again predicted exactly what you were gonna ask him. He didn't quite understand it either. You had only known each other for a little while but it might as well have been a lifetime. The way he could just look at you and know exactly what you might be thinking. Predicting your moves effortlessly as though he had studied them for years. In return, it was as if you could read him like a book. Always one step ahead of him. Ready with whatever it was he needed when working or watching his back in battle. 

“Secondly,” you added another finger. “It would be extremely cool.”

“It'd be a pain is what it would be” he corrected. “I'd like to just stick to weapons, thank you very much.”

“Fiiiiiiiine. Now can I actually ask the question I came over here for or not?”

Four put down the shield, giving you his full attention. “I'm not making you one either”

“Seriously?” You hit his arm playfully. He laughed at the downright adorable way your face pouted. 

“Okay, okay I'm sorry” he raised his hands in defense, still chuckling. “What's your question?”

You stuck your tongue out at him before pointing to his belt. “I noticed these things on your belt. What are they?”

“My kinstones?” He held up the small chain hanging on his hip. The small, broken halves of incomplete kinstones dangled from the thin chain, clinking together. He placed it into your outstretched palm, letting you take a closer look.

“Kinstones…” you repeated curiously. “They look broken. Did something happen?” Picking at them carefully.

“They all start off like that” he pulled out the small bag he stored the rest of his collection in. “Everyone in my era has some and are always trading them around.” He explained, picking out a few more from his bag.

“See, every piece has a matching half” he explained, placing a blue one into your hand. “If you can find the other half you can combine them together. We call it fusing.” You hung onto every word he said. His heart fluttering at the way you pressed against him to get a closer look. Holding the small pieces between your fingers up to the light.

“Do they do anything?”

“Rumor is,” Whispering in your ear like a child telling a secret. “If you can find a match, something good will happen to you.” Your eyes lit up.

“Really? Like what?

Four shrugged. “Hard to say for sure. I think it depends on the holder. Someone from my village told stories of finding hidden treasures after fusing some together.”

“Wow…” you said breathlessly, admiring all the small pieces in your hand. Part of him wished you would look at him that way. A part of him that the others quickly called a sap and tried to get to shut up before he did anything dumb. 

“You have so many! You must get pretty lucky with all of those.”

He looked at you gently. The red in his eyes scanning the soft features of your face. If only you realized just how lucky he really was.

“(Y/N)!” Warriors called out. “Collector wants a word with you. Something about missing one of his rings.”

“Like he needs help looking for it or is he accusing me of taking it?” You asked but Wars just shrugged.

“Let's hope for your sake it's the former.”

You groaned, taking a last look at the tiny stones on your palm. You grabbed one of his hands, carefully handing them back with a smile. “Wish I had my own right now. Knowing how prickly he is about his stuff the Vets probably losing his mind.”

Four chuckled, keeping his hand perfectly still in yours until you pulled away. You stood up, dusting off your trousers. Your fingers brushed his shoulder, guiding his attention up to you. “Tell me if you find a match, okay? I'd love to see it.” He nodded, watching as you walked off. Your fingers lingering on his shoulder for as long as possible. 

Four trembled ever so slightly. 

“You okay there Four? You aren't cold are you?” Wars asked. A shit eating grin on his face.

Four glared at him. Stuffing the stones back into their pouch, and hooking the chain onto his belt.

____

You regrettably woke up. Your body felt sore from the tumble you took downhill yesterday when stepping through the sudden portal. You were already planning out your revenge on the cook, who had been the reason for your little mishap, as you sat up. 

The usual sounds of the others getting ready filled the space of camp. Most of the others are already up except for Sky and Wind. The smell of breakfast hit your nose, making your rather empty stomach grumble in response. Your body stung in protest when you attempted to get up. The bruises you no doubt now had begging for you to simply lay back down.

You ran a hand through your hair. Flinching at the multiple knots your fingers caught on. The thought of brushing it out made you groan. Maybe you could convince Wars to do it for you. He still owed you from taking his shift the other night.

“Good morning,” Four appeared in front of you. His hair lacked its usual headband along with the multicolored tunic which meant he had likely just woken up as well. He held out a small plate of food which you gratefully took. “Thought you might want some breakfast.”

“You truly are the best, did you know that?”

“I’ve been told as such before” he teased, taking a seat on your bedroll. “Sleep alright?”

You nodded, taking a few bites of food. “Mhmm. Bit sore but nothing serious.”

“That's good. We're a bit of a ways from Castle Town so not gonna lie, probably gonna be a long day.”

That’s right, this was his era. The portal you all had walked through yesterday had led to a place Four referred to as the Wind Ruins. Which, based on the amount of crumbled stone pillars felt rather fitting. 

You both chatted as you finished the food. Putting down the plate to lean back on your hands. You flinched as something dug into your thumb. Pulling it up, you noticed a small red stone had lodged itself into your skin. You recognized it as the little stones Four had shown you a while ago.

“Look!” You shuffled closer. Excitedly showing off your newest find by shoving your hand in his face. “I found one of those stone things you told me about!” Four lowered your hand. Examining it thoughtfully before plucking the stone from your skin. He rolled it over a few times before passing it to you.

“Yup, that's a kinstone. They're everywhere if you know where to look.”

“Maybe you have the other half! Can we check!?”

Who was he to deny such a simple request? The way your eyes had lit up at the possibility, had him rushing back towards his gear. Snatching up the bag to bring back over to you. You practically flung yourself on his back. Resting your chin on his shoulder as you watched him sort and try different pieces. He pulled out another one, touching it to the one you had given him. They melded together with a small chime.

“It worked!” You cheered, hugging Four in your excitement. Four chuckled, reciprocating by patting your forearm that had his biceps trapped to his sides.

“Guess we should expect some good luck coming our way.” He winked, holding it up for you to take once more.

Your smile brightened even further as you planted your lips against his cheek.

“I'm gonna go show Hyrule!” You jumped up, shouting out to the Traveler who was talking with Legend across camp. 

That, he hadn’t been expecting.

Four sat there on your bedroll. His eyes swirling in a rainbow of colors as he processed what had just happened. Was he still dreaming? Surely that hadn’t just happened right? The logical part of him assured him that it did in fact happen. Making his mind even more chaotic than it had been a moment ago. 

He shook his head, failing to collect himself. 

“Smithy! We're leaving in a little bit, you ready?”

“Uhh yeah…yeah just a sec.” He shot up, putting away the bag of kinstones with a sly grin.

“Lucky indeed” He mumbled.

[therealandian]

nah norway has a good chance of showing up since evan's in this. and if they do i'll probably make the same joke i did in stts about their name lol

so on one hand, i want to bring back binora and elaive into the space gays story, just for funsies. on the other hand, with the changes i've made to sturik anatomy, their names are not linguistically possible in their native tongues...

soooo guess i'm gonna have to rename them lol. zuru can at least stay the same

[miss-tc-nova]

Stressful - Azul Ashengrotto x Reader

This is another discarded idea from THIS REQUEST that I enjoyed enough to write out more. Kinda enjoying the minis. Anyway, watch octo man run. Lol.

Premise: The Prefect gives Azul some stress

Words: 581

~~~~~

            Azul’s quill scritches across the paper, trying to finish this contract before he’s off to see his beloved.

            With a slight creak, the door to his office opens and Floyd pokes his head in.

            “Hey Azuuuuuuul,” he drawls.

            “What Floyd?” Azul keeps his eyes down, eager to be done.

            “Are you busy?”

            “Yes Floyd. Very.”

            The young man leans his head back out of the office and yells “He’s busy!” There’s a muffled response. “No, he’s busy!” By now, Azul’s full attention lies on the absurdity that is Floyd. “Okay fiiiiiiiine.” The eel returns. “So, shrimpy had to be taken to the infirmary and—”

            Ink spills across the desk and the chair topples as Azul stands.

            “WHAT?!”

            Without hesitation, Azul shoves past Floyd, racing through the lounge and straight out of Octavinelle. The poor octo is far from athletic, but he gives it his all as he runs all the way up to the castle and to the infirmary. Even as the door gives way, he stumbles inside, gasping so hard he’s on the verge of passing out.

            “Oh, I see Floyd delivered my message.”

            Azul ignores Jade as he stumbles towards the bed on which the prefect sits—looking perfectly fine by the way. His knees hit the floor, his iron grip on the bedrail keeping his face from meeting the same fate.

            “Azul, are you okay?!”

            He can’t even speak past his heaving. Though Jade makes another few jabs at the state of his housewarden, he excuses himself. A few moments pass, but composure eventual reaches Azul again as he stands straight. His grip on the railing is still white-knuckle tight.

            “What happened?! Are you okay?! Who do I have to ruin?! I’ll—”

            Frantic hands rise, one clearly bandaged. “Woah, calm down! I’m okay. I just cut my hand a little in the kitchen. Jade brought me to make sure I didn’t need stitches.”

            Azul’s brain is only just starting to slow down. “The—what were you doing in the kitchen?”

            Anxious fingers fidget. “I was helping out in the kitchen.”

            “Why would you need to help in the kitchen?” A gentle hand interrupts the nervous behavior, but it only continues with his fingers instead.

            “The rush was pretty crazy and the kitchen was falling behind. I didn’t want you to stress, so I thought if I cut some of the fruits and vegetables, they might be able to catch up. But I think I just made things worse…”

            The young man stares. He understood all those words, but it takes him just an extra few seconds to fully comprehend the implications of this whole ordeal. Then, soft laughter passes his lips.

            “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

            That beautiful, bashful face he could stare at for eons.

            “Azuuul…”

            “And while I appreciate the sentiment, I’d say that learning you were sent to the infirmary was far more stressful than any dinner rush.”

            “I know. I’m sorry.”

            Daring to finally release his grip on the bedrail, Azul draws in his beloved for a gentle kiss.

            “I’m just glad you’re not seriously hurt.” Noses brush together as he dons a teasing tone. “Now, shall we return the Octavinelle? I’m going to have to rewrite an entire contract, but I’d prefer to be able to keep an eye on you.” He earns himself a sharp glare. “I’m kidding. But please, I’d appreciate your company.”

            He places another kiss, this time on his darling’s hand.

            “Fine.”

~~~~~

Nova’s Twisted Wonderland Masterlist

[taradiddled]

Ada, sketching out building lines on paper: Even if the shield holds up and keeps out anyone radiating ANY ill intent towards the Hotel, you still want to have it fortified, so, if, Hell forbid, someone DOES get past the shield, it doesn’t topple down like a house of sticks.

Lucifer, watching over her shoulder: Maybe some battlements would work. The palace has them.

Ada: Not a bad idea, but Charlie gets the final say, and I don’t think she’d want that. Better to install some extra security on the grounds, and make sure the walls are reinforced. Brick and stone would be nice, if we can manage that.

Lucifer: You’ll have to be specific on what kind. My magic needs references if it’s going to last.

Ada: Don’t worry. We’ll do the research. But this is just a rough draft for now. I’m thinking…towers, and maybe a few turrets. A basement that can act as a bunker and place for underground storage…

Lucifer: Is that an apple-shaped tower?

Ada: Morningstar motif. Do you not like it?

Lucifer: I LOVE it! And—hey. Wait. What’s that tower there?

Ada: The radio freak needs a place for his own shit, Lucifer. Don’t give me that sour-shit look. It’s his magic that’s powering the shield, too.

Lucifer: Fiiiiiiiine. But at least make another apple tower if you’re going to mar your beautiful work with that radio monstrosity. For Charlie and Vennie.

Ada: Vaggie, Lucifer. Remember. Her name is Vaggie.

Lucifer: But YOU still call her a whole bunch of different names.

Ada: I’m an asshole. She’s used to it. Fine. I can add another apple tower. But you know that Bambi is going to want a second radio tower, just to spite you, too.

Lucifer: We don’t have to give him it?

Ada: We’ll see. I’m not playing referee in your guys’ little shit-talks. Neither is Rainbows, and this is all ultimately up to her.

[dvilsdesire-a]

thinking about haarlep fixating on someone who's ace and theyre just like ?????

Random asks || always accepting

As an ace myself, I find this really interesting to think about. And I think some of this would come down to the pure manipulation that IS an incubus/succubus.

(Warning for potentially triggering sexual content) If you wanna skip the serious stuff, just go to the final para lol.

Talking realistically here, this would be something that would have to be done with long term manipulation imo. Not a casual fling like anyone else. Haarlep can likely sense the desires, pheromones and 'weaknesses' of others who want sex and are easily manipulated when it comes to sex. Easy victims would be those that are already feeling low, easy targets like those who may have broken up with someone, on the rebound, drunk, people who simply crave physical touch and attention, or seek validation so they feel good about themselves, etc. It makes it ten times easier for Haarlep to pull that victim in because they WANT that attention, and Haarlep will give it to them.

Charm plays a massive part in what Haarlep is, though. Haarlep oozes it. Charm isn't just... charisma either, it's literally the spell charm. Haarlep will charm them and put them under that spell. So, it's even easier if the prey is attempting to resist.

Despite that, this all comes down to sex, which, if you're ace, you're still not going to have that desire for sex with another individual (especially if you're anything like me). Haarlep may be able to manipulate them just like anyone else when it comes to other things, but you can't just switch a person's desire unless actually put under a spell that would force them to desire that certain thing. But this also comes down to manipulation. There are a lot of ace people who feel that they must have sex to be considered in a relationship, society pressures them, or their partner guilt trips them (it's an awful thing, but it does exist). Manipulation is a powerful thing, and... Haarlep is a fiend. Just because one does not desire sex, doesn't mean they can't be manipulated into giving it :( Most succubi and/or incubi we see in media generally manipulate their prey in any way or form that they can, it is simply the monsters that they are (I won't RP any noncon here, but it also isn't something I will just deny about Haarlep's kind--Haarlep also has had Raphael to feast upon, so thankfully he's never really needed to, but that's not to say he can't and won't--you've got to remember that he's an incubus, and they're not creatures written for their kind souls). They are, unfortunately, born of evil.

At the end of the day, it's likely not worth the trouble and energy for Haarlep, and he'd just end up picking another victim. Unless this was someone of UTMOST importance that he was trying to manipulate, then it's just not worth it. Plenty of fish in the sea that are easier to catch.

Haarlep, a creature of sexuality, knows that asexual people exist, and whilst he, personally (ofc), doesn't GET it, because he's MADE for sex and that is their curse that they must bear, it IS a part of who he is as an incubus.

I'm so sorry this got a lot longer than you probably intended, but since it was asked, I did want to give you a proper in depth answer for Haarlep, because I do prefer to keep things as realistic as possible and remind people that Haarlep is an evil aligned character, and whilst we don't like to admit these things out loud, it is a part of what their kind.

BUT... hey... maybe they can just be BFF's :) Haarlep like: "Why don't you like me!?" "Because I don't care for your silly sexiness, pls put some clothes on" "Fiiiiiiiine >: Can we at least cause some chaos together?" "Sure, why the hells not!"

Haarlep and evil aligned ace go on chaotic adventures together and the Hells hates it!

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 15 thoughts without interludes (interludes need their own post):

EVERYTHING IS FIIIIIIIINE

My daughters boss didn't actually try to assassinate her, her just planned to do it and then did it in one reality but kept the reality where he didn't! So it's ok! I'm fine. Not worried at all that Coil knows Skitter was planning on double crossing him and that he found a way to screw with Tattletales powers.

It's fiiiine (eye twitches)

I want to say I'm glad she got her full team on board, but given that there is a chance someone on her team ratted on her it might not be good.

Skitter goes a little bit far at the end with Triumph. Just a tiny itty bitty bit far. Child you almost KILLED HIM! And then you let him sit there dying when the threat isn't that he'll die now, but that you will come back if needed (mayor ain't going to say what you want him to say if you kill his son, the point is if he doesn't say it you'll come back)! I'm worried about you.

Brian I understand why you like my daughter and she seems to like you and I'm glad having someone you feel safe with is helping you process your very valid trauma (important note, you could have done the same with your sister, she was trying to help you but you wouldn't open up to her, you should open up to her). But please don't get in the way of her relationships with her girlfriends. Just understand in terms of long term stuff Chatterbug and Wolfspider 100% trump . . . Darkbug? Fuck what are you guys called?

(I've been informed Shadeswarm, Nightcrawler, Night Biter, Creepy Crawlies, or Carapace. I think Creepy Crawlies might be my preference among that.)

MOAR DOLL LESBIAN CONTENT!!!!!

Parian is one of my absolute favorite characters! Flechette is pretty cool as well. Being a hero hurts her. Stabbing my daughter also didn't build good marks with me, but I understand why she did it. Cause GAAAAAAAAAAAY. I have a hard time being too mad at a lesbian stabbing someone to protect her girlfriend.

I'm glad Parian isn't joining Coil full hog at least, she's too pure to be a villain (or a "hero"). I kinda wish she could just move to New York and be a fashion designer and live her best life, but I do enjoy the idea of getting to see her more.

And to be honest, I don't think anyone on Earth Bet is really going to be living their best life in the long run. Sorry guys.

The fucking shutdown the team gives to the Nazis is AMAZING! Like ya no Hookwolf or Purity this time, that obviously would have made it harder. But still, comparing the previous fight to this just really shows how much the team has increased in power. They didn't even bring Grue.

Skitter and Tattletale being able to work together to find all the people in a few block radius and figure out which groups are Nazis, all while just standing in the middle of the street, is so fucking cool. I fucking love watching them work.

I don't love the girlfriends fighting with the whole "Skitter wasn't told about the plan to have Regent yoink a Nazi". But they seemed to make up pretty quickly.

Skitter fucking running multiple bug clones, with cameras and microphones, all across her territory, and using them to talk to people and check in on things, WHILE getting surgery on her shoulder??! FUCKING HELL. Like ok yes, please love yourself child and let yourself take it easy sometimes. But also holy shit that is so god damn amazing. I am 100% convinced (I mean, I have been since like Arc 4 TBH) that she uses her bugs to basically offload her pain. Or offloads her mind to her bugs so she can ignore the pain in her body. Same idea. Like even if it's never confirmed it is true to me. And the multitasking! Give Taylor a Thinker classification!!

Just fucking attacking the mayor's family to intimidate him into telling people in Washington to not condemn Brockton Bay huh? I mean sure it kinda worked at the end (assuming he does what he said he would) but it really seems like a terrible plan. Like, the people in Washington are gonna hear about the attack and wonder about everything the mayor says. But fine, that's the plan.

Skitter making the bug clones complex enough that Trickster and Genesis don't even notice she's a clone at first is super cool! Also it does drive home that she is always just covered with so many bugs and using swarm speech so much that when a version of her shows up that is completely covered in bugs and speaks fully with swarm speech it doesn't throw anyone off.

Coil had to know that Triumph was the mayor's kid. The fact that he's the one who pushed to have them attack during family dinner.

I'm really proud of Skitter for figuring it out though! I pegged him as a cape pretty much right away and was able to figure out it was Triumph not long after, but she was in the heat of the moment. Also she got the girlfriend pegged as a either Prism or Ursa while I was still uncertain if she was a cape.

Holy shit that fight was so fucking cinematic! Perfectly built for Triumph to look cool by exploding bug clones with his shouts. And with Prism splitting and combining constantly. Just fuck. I'd love to see an animation of that fight. It was super cool.

And again, Skitter got dark there. And sadly I'm worried she's gonna get darker.

[whymustyouhurtmeinthisway]

Sonic IDW 67 was pretty good, I liked it a lot. No Surgeamy hints unfortunately, and the imposter siblings getting hired by Clutch instead of being a third party's kinda lame (though I'm betting there's a good chance they'll end up rebelling against him). Something I did like a lot was Surge's attitude throughout the whole thing:

Despite seeming like she'd be a terrible actor, she sells it wonderfully by not trying to avoid suspicion. She knows Sonic and co. will be suspicious of her no matter what, so trying to act all buddy-buddy with them would probably make them way more confrontational about her and Kit's intentions. The attitude she instead chooses is less "I've had a change of heart, I want to be a hero and change the world now" and more "Yeah living in Starline's old shack blew chunks and we knew you suckers were dumb enough to let assholes like us live here if we asked, so here we are" which is much more believable (and for good reason, as that's basically the truth of their situation give or take a couple important details). Throughout the entire tour she's constantly pestering Sonic about how letting them in was a bad idea, saying stuff like "Man you've really built up a nice place. It'd be a shame if someone burned it down". When he brings up introducing Surge and Kit to Whisper and the rest of the Diamond Cutters and Amy says that might not be the best idea, Surge's response is basically "What? No, I'm sure Sonic knows exactly what he's doing, this'll go fiiiiiiiine. C'mon big shot, let's see you try to sell them on me, this'll be fun."

Her scene with Whisper was especially interesting, I loved it. The last interaction Surge had with Whisper was beating the shit out of her and kidnapping all her wisps to use as living batteries, so she knew Whisper'd be the most distrustful of anyone there (further increased by the fact that she's much less forgiving than all the other resistance members in the first place). Surge handled the seemingly impossible task of getting Whisper to even slightly trust her the best way possible: make no attempt to do that at all, and in fact tell her she shouldn't. Upon hearing Whisper's flat out refusal to accept Surge and Kit's redemption, Surge bursts out laughing, hands her her wispon, and goes something like "Finally! You're the first one to show a little sense around here! The rest of these schmucks would trust a bear trap if it looked sorry enough for snapping off the first leg, but I can tell you wanna kill me right here and right now. I like you. Here's your gun, if I stay here you could aim it at the back of my head as long as you want. I don't blame you. I encourage you." I love this bit of writing, and it's a genuinely brilliant strategy from Surge, going "You're a lot smarter than everyone else here for wanting to kill me, if you let me live in your base I'll be really easy to kill if you want to." is probably one of the few ways on earth to convince someone who wants you dead to let you live very near them. Also, through flattering her on her superior sense of reason, Surge subtly makes Whisper like/trust her just a tiny bit more, and I feel like she could slowly but surely build onto that more and more until she eventually ends up winning Whisper over. I'm sure her and Kit won't be "undercover" for very long but if they were really in it for the long haul I could totally see that happen. Maybe she inherited Sonic's natural ability to make friends with even one's worst enemies, except she goes about it in a much more fucked up way.

Finally, I really liked the one moment of hesitation Surge has upon hearing that the Resistance wouldn't give her and Kit a single order if they didn't want them to. Though she fully came with the intention of maliciously taking advantage of Sonic and the rest of the Resistance's kindness, she hesitates upon hearing how far that kindness goes. In Surge and Kit's eyes, there hasn't been a single person in their life who doesn't see them as

A: Dangerous targets to kill, or

B: Powerful tools they can use to use to their advantage.

Hell, they know that even the partnership they're in at that very moment with Clutch is an example of B and they still accepted it. But then, for the first time in their life, they're offered a home of their own with a solid roof and good food, rehabilitation and reintroduction to the rest of society, an actual normal life for the first time they can remember, all of it for nothing in return on their part. Amy tells them the Resistance helps everyone in need out of the kindness of their hearts and (though they always appreciate more volunteers) not a single person is required to anything to repay their help, it's all free. For a brief moment you can see Surge drop the shithead mannerisms and genuinely consider the proposition. Her internal monologue isn't shared with the audience, but I imagine it must be very conflicted. She then regains her composure and moves on with the tour as before, but I imagine that moment's gonna affect her heavily in the issues to come, and I'm very excited to see how that plays out.

Anyways, good issue all around, can't wait to read the next one.

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

Glass has been in Bad Situation limbo for over a year now so I thought I'd like to just draw him and Strike cause I'm sure he's fiiiiiiiine........

[jadedresearcher]

Can graces become wasted?

p sure they can in sburbsim, they just need someone else to waste them

outside of sburbsim, their narrative arc is sort of the inverse of wastes.

wastes lay waste, cause a Cataclysm and then go "whoa hey this was DANGEROUS i should STOP doing that" and then basically stop being wasted in the sense of actively hacking reality

while graces feel like, hey this is dangerous, i shouldn't do it, but i'm sure if the MASSES know how to it'll be fiiiiiiiine. and then its not. so they waste themselves so they can undo all this damage and take responsibility for it.