#T800 ;Watch Dogs;

[ycurkxng-a]

Never had an intervention! But just know I'm never coming home.

And did I forget to mention.. when you call, you're wasting your time.

[ziracona]

T2 was okay and it could have been really good—had some real moments. But it needed more script iterations, and it was too goofy. Goofy is fine in general, but Terminator works best as a sci-fi action-drama-horror mesh. That’s the peak atmosphere. Also just, they gave their new Terminator scary powers to keep him relevant, but there’s just...no way to really make anyone on screen look like a threat to Arnold Schwarzenegger you know? And they never overcame that and it throws off the whole underdog atmosphere. He just. Wasn’t scary. Not when he was trying to kill heckin Arnold the brick house.

I’m not gonna talk about T3 bc I feel like I don’t need to and I think I have a lot of support for that in the fandom, and I’m not gonna talk any Genysis bc no one ever should, and I know I have support there.

Dark Fate was fine, but I felt like they really didn’t have to kill off their Kyle expy like at this point the surprising thing and interesting one would be /not/ to kill him. That role has died in /every/ other film. Like we get it. But plot rehashes are only good if you have some kind of spin. Mostly though I just...would have liked T800 man’s personality in another context but you couldn’t ever sell me on him after watching him gun down a 10 year old in the open. Like what, he found a soul by being...bored? If you want to convince me of fundamental change in a person, you /gotta/ motivate it better. Show me. Don’t tell me and expect me to take your word. And there just wasn’t enough meet in some spots. I wanted more firm lore and a little less action. Like I’m not even a science-heavy leaning sci-fi fan but it still wasn’t enough. I liked it more than most of the others but it just wasn’t quite...meaty enough. Sarah still a queen. But T800 man didn’t sell and that was a real weak spot, and so was expecting us and Sarah to just...like and forgive him bc he had accrued a family. But also like. I enjoyed having a new protag, but feeling like so much, no, /all/ of the work and suffering of everyone in other Terminator films was for nothing bc it’s not even Skynet anymore it’s some other robots?? It kind just...didn’t really work. It makes everything more hollow like it’s not even Terminator anymore there’s no more Terminators. They should have just had it be Skynet but a different rebel leader, or more. Sarah goes on to mentor Dani instead since John is dead, /something/ to make it more the same franchise and not so hollow. Or if it’s gonna be gutted, go all the way and let us feel that, don’t blip it as a plot point once and keep rolling. There’s decades of character attachment for fans; either make that matter, or make it mourned because it’s dead. Don’t skim it and make it cheap. Also on a meta level it was kind of weird how they handled time travel compared to the norm for the franchise but I’m not going into that.

BUT. The Terminator? A cinematic classic. It’s just...such a good film. The characters work is solid the whole movie, and Reese and Sarah are both truly excellent protagonists also given ample time to explore and exhibit that. There’s so much you get in moments that show tiny things about them. The way Sarah handles getting canceled on and goofing with Ginger, her having a pet iguana she loves to cuddle, talking to the statue at work? And she’s smart and normal (I mean normal in a very complimentary way). Kyle is introduced almost immediately running from the cops, but even in the middle of a chase scene, he’s stealing clothes in a mall while evading flashlights, and little things like hopping while he runs to check shoe sizes give you so much right away. He’s clearly out of his depth but he’s smart and methodical and he holes up in a car he hotwires and has a ptsd moment waking up from a dream because of some heavy construction machinery. You don’t have him say much about himself at all but you get him taking a second to be nice to the kids and guard dog on his way back before a T800 attacks. Even though if you’re watching it classic, you have no spoken goal for Reese and all you know is he’s armed and /also/ looking for Sarah, like the man who has killed three people already is, you kind of aren’t very scared of him by the time he’s creepily following her into a night club. That scene is iconic too damn. Anyway. Her reactions to everything are so great. Only film I ever saw where I 100% felt the person on screen was reacting like anyone would to almost being killed and then getting kidnap-saved by some other guy claiming to be from the future like I’d bite him too, but you know, I’d also be pretty happy he saved me and also decide he was crazy and not like, dangerous, and try to keep the cops from killing him. It’s so cute he thinks anyone is going to believe him like hang in there Kyle baby, king. Love as soon as the Terminator hits the police station, he breaks out and goes to find Sarah, and she’s immediately like ‘so fuck this actually’ and looking for him too. The deleted scene in the motel woods. The slow character build. Him falling in love with her because of the picture where she always looked a little sad and he wondered what she was thinking about and you don’t find out till the last scene it’s him she was thinking about in that picture. A family can be two complete trauma disasters making pipe bombs in a motel. The top 5 cinema shots moment where you think they won and they think they won and they’re both injured and stagger to each other and collapse laughing and crying and hugging and it holds for like ten seconds before that fucking thing gets up and you see the rubble in the fire shift and Kyle sees it first. And the hopelessness and despair. Sarah just screaming no in rage because it’s so unfair. The little scaffolding fight?? Kyle doing what he does? Sarah winning with a broken leg? The picture? The heartbreak? A work of art.

Also just. They’re both attractive but like, they are not remotely airbrushed Hollywood pretty. Kyle’s got that big scar on his lip and they’re both sweaty and bloody and dirty and gross the whole film??? God yeah.

Terminator Salvation? Also a classic. You have a film not about the core cast exactly, but it’s very ensemble. You get early days war. And it’s from the very open a solid narrative about second chances and what it means to be human and they really do explore that the whole runtime. Markus dies and comes back more confused than you are in the apocalypse. Baby Reese is absolutely perfect. You get formerly executed for murder Markus somehow adopting like 20 year old Reese and 13 year old kid Star and they’re amazing. Rebellion drama, lore reveals. Reese’s devout faith in the cause and how fast he looks up to Markus and starts learning and Markus is like :[ but then he’s like ... :] because he god assigned two family members now. The tag team fights—how incredibly talented Star is. Guilt trip on a look to dropping cars, she’s super effective. Tbh Markus is just O_O to >:-[ the whole movie as soon as Reese and Star are taken and I feel it. You’ve got a guy who was killed for straying too far from human, come back as a machine, but he doesn’t know it, wondering if he deserves another chance and if he can change, and it’s really neat the way it unfolds. Even after losing so many friends to Terminators that look human, Blair refuses to believe he isn’t a human even if he’s also a machine and risks her life to save him, when they barely know each other. Markus getting like, tortured by the rebels, and still choosing to help them and be who he has decided he wants to be this time, even towards John. Even with better alternatives. And you have Star never having a moment of doubt, or Reese, and him getting to save them both, and them trying to help the other humans in line for extermination before he arrives. The hand hold with Star when his hands just metal. And he decides to die for someone he doesn’t even /like/ and who has personally hurt him a lot of times, because he knows the rebels need him to win. Anyway death row to death row but completely different people in the same body facing that same death differently are amazing if done well (see TWDG I mean ow) and it was a very simple core theme to latch to and very enjoyable executed and it got snubbed by fans when it’s the best sequel Terminator ever had.

[ycurkxng-a]

Restricted Area

Character: (Watch Dogs) Dean King - T-800

Warnings: None

Notes: just got done with Watch Dogs 2 and motivation for this just fucking clobbered me

Hacker activists had been running around San Francisco for ages now, nearly all of them were working to expose the larger corporations and bring down corrupt monopolies, some others were too busy making attempts at stealing from different areas that were heavily guarded, either by street gangs or the police. While some of them did get their loot, others were killed, but there were some that were simply never seen again.

T-800 knew exactly what category he'd find himself in when this was all said and done.

Pulling up to a gang hideout in a vehicle would draw too much attention from the get-go, making Dean vulnerable to an ambush, but in that same vein, he could use it as an exploit. What if he wasn't driving the car? What if a vehicle managed to swerve off the road due to some unknown circumstances, crashing into the front yard?

It was bound to draw any of the Tezcas to the location, if there were any that didn't go over there then chances were that they'd be alone, easy to dispose of before anybody noticed. He just had to be careful in his approach, sneaking never was his strong suit. If he managed to piss these guys off so close to groups of their other members, then he'd be looking at an early death sentence.

Of course he wouldn't go in blind, T-800 had scouted the outside using their own cameras. He couldn't see the inside though, that would be the real issue, if he played his cards right though? He'd be looking at maybe one or two inside, those of which a few swift hammer strikes to the skull could bring down with relative ease.

The day grew dark, night settling in at a rapid pace. That was when he finally made his approach, he stood at the right side of the home, just next to the fence, it gave him a perfect view of oncoming cars. He waited, avoiding the motorcycles and smaller vehicles, they wouldn't be bombastic enough to draw out the ones he needed there. No, he saw the opportunity shine as a semi-truck came into his sight.

With his phone already out and aimed, he pressed down on the set key, the control no longer being in the driver's hands. The wheels shot left, and the front end rammed through the short, metal fences. It didn't stop immediately, pushing forward more and hitting the windows on its right side, T-800s left, shattering them on the spot.

That's when the shouting started, he couldn't decipher who was who in the midst of it all, but that was the least of his concerns. Footsteps from just next to him were hidden by the tall wooden fence, but he could hear them trailing past and into the house. When all he could hear was incoherent arguing from the front, he took it as his queue.

T-800 slid the phone back into his pocket while he turned to the fence, he looked and jumped up after a moment. His hands gripped the top of the fence tight, and he used the momentum from his initial launch upwards to swing his body over the fence and onto the ground. The landing wasn't nearly as graceful as the jump, his left side smashing against the grassy earth with a soft thud and curse under his breath.

Pulling himself back together, the hacker clambered to his feet and took in his surroundings, scanning the area for any unwanted Tezcas that hung back. Luckily for him, there was a desired lack of them. There was a little sigh of relief that left his lungs and sunk into his already pulled up mask, as much as he loved his fair share of violence, he knew that taking out even one in the wrong way would lead to more fighting than he could ask for in a month.

Dirt brown eyes managed to catch sight of the backdoor, a small red button on the side. He'd learned already that pressing it did nothing, all technological here, and he didn't have the key necessary to get through. So where could it have been? He'd already searched each Tezca during his stakeout prior, none of them had the original key that was shared, so it must've been on file somewhere.

By process of elimination, it wasn't out front or inside. It wasn't inside just due to the fact that if they had it in there, new members wouldn't be able to access the hideout. It had to be out back with him, and there was nothing on the porch that could've had it. That was when he came to his final conclusion, a shed.

Tucked away in a corner, at the other side of the fenced in backyard, there had to be something inside of it that would give him the access key. He'd seen it before but didn't think anything of it, just a shed, considering it was a gang hideout it probably held guns or some product. But he'd clearly written it off far too early, if he was right. But when was he wrong?

He moved quickly, his boots tapping gently against the grass underneath them as he lowered his entire body to a crouching stance. If someone did come back here, he would be far too visible standing upright, and being spotted now was a bad idea.

Upon reaching the shed, he took notice in the broken padlock that was tossed to the side. Maybe someone had lived here before them, they simply took over. T-800 tried to not think about what happened to the owner or owners if that was the case, instead paying attention to the inside of the structure as the door creaked open.

Weapons on racks adorned the walls, military grade hardware from grenade launchers to assault rifles to handguns. He could only assume they were all stolen or bought off the record, maybe both. The Tezcas were no strangers to either, so they were reasonable conclusions to come to.

What really caught his attention was the laptop on a small workbench, open and powered on, perfect for him, detrimental for the other guys. He pulled his phone out and held it to the device, quickly searching through the files on it brought him to the access key which was promptly downloaded.

"Jackpot." He mumbled with a grin, T-800 turned his head back to look at the door, the button next to it now a bright green. He aimed the phone at it and pressed down on the prompt that appeared on his screen, immediately the once locked door now opened itself for him, giving him access to the loot inside.

There was a sense of urgency with every breath T-800 drew, his heart raced in his chest and his hands trembled with an expectant nature. His entire mind began to prepare itself for war once he reached the door, the shouting had stopped and was replaced by simple talking in a language that was lost upon him.

"Qué hacemos con esto?" A gravelly voice spoke, their attention was hopefully drawn on something else and not the gentle footsteps that now travelled along the hideouts floors. "Él podría ir a decirle a la policía dónde estamos, o la Bravtas." Another voice, slightly softer than the last but only by a margin.

Well, at least he could make out Bravtas in that.

That stash had to be hidden somewhere, T-800 swiftly searched through the kitchen he initially entered before moving on to the living room. Couch cushions were taken off and set down, the table was searched thoroughly and even the TV stands drawers were ransacked. Once more he was forced to use the process of elimination, as far as main rooms went- he had a bedroom and a bathroom, and no one hid a pile of money where they went to take a piss.

T-800 flipped on the light switch upon entering the bedroom, the sudden change in lighting revealed a resting Tezca with a gun on the nightstand next to him, a goddamn P90. The gangbanger stirred for a moment, awakening after a moment to catch sight of the intruder. For a second, he brushed it off in a dazed state, but it was nearly immediately after that he realized that wasn't right. His eyes widened, and his mouth opened to speak.

He wouldn't be able to do so, as the hammer that T-800 had already pulled out from underneath his jacket came crashing down on his head. Rapid and deadly blows were delivered, the head driving itself into the others skull and crushing it underneath its powerful force.

The attacks stopped after the first contact, but better dead than sorry. There was no guilt for what he did, T-800 knew the Tezcas all too well, he didn't mind taking out one or two if it meant he could get through without starting a war with the rest of them.

When the blood began to pour, that's when his attention was drawn to what was just at his feet at the side of the bed while he set the hammer back underneath the layers. The straps to a duffel bag poked out from underneath, signalling to him that he'd found his prize. While he would've loved to see what he'd gotten out of it right then and there, it would be far too risky and downright idiotic.

Sticking around any longer just increased his odds of being found out, so he acted quickly. The bag was lifted up and thrown over his shoulder, hefty, so there was definitely something worth it inside. Going out through the back and over the fence wouldn't be possible with this kind of load, too heavy to throw over or climb up with, so he used the window in the bedroom. It led him back to where he'd started, at the right side of the house in a narrow alley of sorts.

The bag was thrown out first, then T-800 climbed out. He lifted his loot back up and ran as fast as he could away from the scene of his crime against criminals, taking himself and his haul throughout the neighborhood. By the time the Tezcas realized what had hit them minutes after, he was long gone.

They'd never know just who fucked them and ran off with a duffel bag full of money, and no one else would, except T-800 himself of course. As much as he would've loved to brag about it, he knew that they had a lot more firepower than him. A surprise attack with everything they had for the amount of cash he stole would be destined if he began to boast about his accomplishment, so he kept it on the down-low.

But even with him keeping quiet about it, that didn't stop another from figuring it out with the footage on the hideouts cameras, a rather infamous figure in the scene. While it didn't immediately draw him to T-800, it did pique his curiosity.

Wrench would have to look more into him, something like that wasn't something that every hacker had the skill or courage to do, or maybe it was stupidity. Either way, he'd learn soon enough.

[ycurkxng-a]

When I moved away from home,

100 miles or so,

I knew a change had grown, inside my awkwardly long limbs and bones.

[ycurkxng-a]

NEW VERSE: WATCH DOGS