#all the jagged pixels are INTENTIONAL now

[quiverpaw]

bloodlust reprise

[bellygunnr]

Checksum

[Previously...] [Next]

Chapter 2: Profit Margins

PILOT ORVILLE FREEBORN MCS JAMES MACALLAN // TITAN BAY 4 EN ROUTE PLANET TYPHON, IMC-CONTROLLED SPACE

The simpod's indicator light winks green. Orville watches it, lulled slightly by the deep hum of the egg-shaped machine while his colleagues talked around him. They were clustered together, talking freely about the two men semi-unconscious in front of them, though he had long since lost the thread of conversation. He never paid much attention to gossip and he wasn't about to start now.

Besides, the rifleman wasn't that interesting. He seemed quiet and never looked anyone in the eye. What Lastimosa saw in the man, Orville didn't know. But Lastimosa had only told them what he was doing-- not why he was doing it.

The kid could be his son, for all he knew. At the end of the day, the lone notion of the kid simply became the Marauder Corps's worst-kept secret.

"Say, Freeborn," Shaver says, nudging his shoulder.

Orville starts, dragging his gaze away from the 'pod to focus on his mate, Crane. He raises an eyebrow.

"You think Anderson and Grenier are even alive by now?" Crane asks.

His tone is light and conversational. Orville hums, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Sure, right? Why would they be dead?" Orville says.

He glances up at the crouched Titan behind them, BT-7274. It's focused intently on Captain Lastimosa, but he hasn't any doubt it's eavesdropping on them. Captain Cole has taken to opening and closing an electric lighter repeatedly, filling the space with anxious clicking.

"Apparently, the SRS outpost we had here went dark," Crane explains.

"So? That's just standard protocol. We've had ops like that more than once, Shaver," Orville says, gaining an edge to his voice.

"But this one just seems weird, y'know? Some backwater IMC planet, a mystery testing facility... Very hush-hush, I've heard."

"El-Tees Shaver and Freeborn," a deep, smooth, but still clearly synthesized voice erupts, "you are in violation of confidentiality codes regarding Oscar-Two-One-Seven."

Crane has the good sense to wince and Orville crosses his arms over his chest, rolling his eyes. For a second, he wanted to retort, but...

BT wasn't wrong. With Cole and the rifleman in the hangar, they really shouldn't be so loose-lipped.

"Sorry, BT," Orville says.

There's a pause as they both wait for a response from the Titan. Predictably, he says nothing, but the shutters in his optic suddenly twist, that blue pinpoint of an eye leveling on the 'pod. Orville, Crane, and Cole all turn their gazes to it, curious.

The green light was now blinking. It turns solid amber.

"They must be finished," Cole says.

BT-7274 draws itself to its full height with an abrupt scrape of metal. At the same time, the lights in the hangar stutter, plunging them in a half-realm darkness. Orville reaches for the pager at his belt, tapping the screen on, his chest already tight with alarm.

There's nothing on the pager. The lights flicker again.

"I thought they fixed this shit back at Harmony," Crane says.

Tai jerks to life with a start, the same instant the simpod beeps and pops its latch open. Orville turns to stare at a dazed Jack Cooper.

Alarms start blaring. Five pagers go off at once, shrill with the sound of a non-standard alert. The intercoms crackle, but it's not the ship's AI that speaks. It's the captain.

"All hands, abandon ship."

"Abandon-- but we haven't--?" Crane stammers, shocked. "What?"

"Get off your ass and go, pilot," Tai snaps. "Prepare for Titanfall, everyone. Rifleman--"

Orville hurries after Crane, where his Titan resides, already crouched and open for embarking. He jams his helmet on and flops into her palm.

He had a bad, bad feeling about this.

BT-7274 MCS JAMES MACALLAN // TITAN BAY 4 IN ORBIT PLANET TYPHON, IMC-CONTROLLED SPACE

The faux field BT-7274 finds itself in is reminiscent of the prairie surrounding much of the Militia's HQ back at Harmony. He takes it in cautiously, scanning the horizon for threats despite being fully cognizant of the simulated war fog obscuring the distance. A considerable distance away, Tai and the rifleman stand, both excited.

"That's my partner, BT. He's a Vanguard-class. Homegrown Militia technology... "

BT-7274 pushes himself upright.

"The first Titan chassis we designed ourselves. One we didn't have to steal from the IMC. Now, go ahead, Cooper. Call in your first Titan."

He flicks his gaze skyward to witness the sky ripple, a pixelated rift bubbling and expanding, spitting the under-rendered silhouette of a Titan-- a mere copy of himself-- to the ground, high-speed.

Before it can land, that rip in virtual reality explodes. The system error that rocks the simpod flashes in the corner of BT's own HUD. Quietly, he detaches  itself from the program.

Titan Bay 4 is in chaos. Pilots and ground crew run between his legs, shouting orders and clambering for their gear. BT-7274 checks his own inventory compulsively.

"They're killing us down there, rifleman. Trying to, anyway," Tai says.

SHIP AI UTAH to ALL UNITS: ABANDON SHIP. REPEAT, ABANDON SHIP.

BT-7274 splays his massive hand out flat for Tai to step onto, cockpit already open, obscuring its vision. It would take them fifteen seconds to return to their ejection stall. In a few ticks, he was pulling sensitive information from the ship's AI and the MacAllan's internal systems reports.

"We're going to see a new planet today, Cooper. Maybe even die on it. I'll see you down there, alright?"

Tai settles down with a grunt that's lost in the din. He shuts the hatch before BT can get to it, but pauses, allowing the neural link to wash through them both.

"Transferring controls to pilot," BT-7274 says. "You know I do not like it when you say that."

Tai chuckles. "But it's the truth, BT."

"Again, I ask-- do you want to die on these planets?"

The conversation keeps its nerves, so to speak, steady, as they move with haste to their stall. The platform dips beneath BT-7274's colossal weight, groaning in protest as it carries them into position.

"The 9th Militia Fleet has encountered a formidable screen of orbital defenses. Apparently, two of our own have already been lost," BT explains, summarizing the data he'd just pulled. "It seems our intel from Anderson was wrong."

The ship shakes violently.

UTAH to BT-7274: GET OUT OF THESE CHANNELS.

BT-7274 to UTAH: I will soon be out of effective range.

Odd, that it's now that Utah chooses to stop BT from looking where he shouldn't. He extracts himself from the MacAllan's diagnostics.

Tai and BT-7274 hunker down and lock their joints for impending Titanfall. The automatic ejection system rotates them outward, even as another hit jostles the mechanism. BT shutters his optic against rapidly strobing lights.

"Please wait," intones a modulated, cheery voice. "Titanfall in 10... 9... 8-- 8--"

The hydraulic frame holding BT-7274 and Tai in place shudders, then appears to fold in on itself, collapsing the floor and pushing its chassis through. Coordinates, speed, and other targeting information flies through BT-Tai's head, coalescing into a single point.

"Well, that wasn't normal," Tai says cheerfully.

"Planetside in 17 seconds," BT states, splashing a timer in a corner of their HUD. "Expect heavy IMC forces."

CLAY NGUYEN CICHLID SQUAD, 34th DIVISION JUNGLE CANYONS TYPHON, IMC-CONTROLLED SPACE

Clay wipes the sweat off his hands and compulsively triple checks his station, useless as it was in the deep, suffocating darkness of the jungle-like canyon. He could see nothing beyond the loose perimeter his team had setup, a consequence of the moonless nights that had been become the new norm, as well as the lightning storms that started around the same time. But who was keeping track, really?

Not him, surely.

"The Militia should just hurry up and get here," his partner grumbles.

"Why? So you can watch the drones do all the work?" Clay shoots at her.

It wasn't like they were going to be doing any fighting-- not against ground forces, anyway. But they'd been here for hours already, since the sun went down, and had nothing to show for it.

That was fine with him. His team? Not so much.

A bright flash illuminates the darkness. Clay looks around for the source before finding the good sense to look up-- where a web-like pattern had flared to life, suspended and writhing miles above their heads.

"The anti-ship cannons," Clay breathes. "Jesus."

"Look alive, Cichlid," crackles their radio. "There's reports of Militia drop pods starting to enter Typhon. Look out for ships, too-- it's quite the fireworks show above our heads."

Clay can sense his partner starting to move, but he's fixated on the sky above. Pinpricks of light were rapidly exploding into white streaks that descended into obscurity.

"Archer's showing potential targets," Suvia announces. "Would you get off your ass already?"

She shoves his shoulder. He pushes her back, momentarily rankled, but hurries to where the second rocket launcher stood. The tiny digital screen offered several potential targets, but no locks.

"I think it's just--" Clay starts to speak, but a colossal, bone-shaking boom drowns him out.

His teeth chatter, then his world turns over, as four distinct booms impact the earth. It's all he can do to keep his grip on the Archer despite the hail of rock and soil raining on his position.

"Suv, you okay?"

"I've got dirt in my mouth!"

When the initial spray clears, Clay sees fire, smoke, and the battered, conical frames of drop pods. He has to remind himself that they're Militia. The IMC war paint was from capture and thievery, but only two had met the ground levelly.

The other two had smashed against the jagged rocks hard enough to ignite something in their internals.

"Some of the pods hit the rocks," Clay says tightly. "Shit,  they're firing."

"They don't know we're here," Suvia says. "Here comes our birds."

He watches the Archer's targeting system instead of the evolving battlefield. He wasn't interested in the slaughter. He wasn't interested in facing a Titan, either, but...

The Archer chirps. Clay adjusts his grip on the launcher as it automatically adjusts itself on the tripod, tracking a blue blip in a sea of red and yellow.

"Titan," Clay calls. "Tone's good."

"Tone's good," Suvi repeats.

Clay searches the sky briefly. It's difficult to make head or tails of what he sees, but the enemy Titanfall attracts his gaze by triggering its Distortion Brakes. IMC technology again, a little voice reminds him.

The enemy Titan unfolds itself and sticks the landing gracefully.

Two Archer rockets zip toward it, trailing smoke.

[saemi-the-writer]

Is it possible to ask about an akuma and have your version of the episode like you did with Copycat and Reflekta? I'd like to ask for Pixelator please!

Sure! Thanks for asking!

I'm also answering another anon at the same time:

I agree, but in the show's defence, we only see Penny handing the tickets to Alya, Marinette and Adrien, Sabrina is off-screen at that moment so my HC might work as well here! But that would have been a bit unfair to Nino. While I'm not saying Adrien doesn't deserve the ticket, I just wish they would have shown us Adrien actually being active/working while Chloé is busy painting her nails or just snuggling (forcingly) to him. That would have created a clear contrast and him getting the ticket would make more sense (it would be unfair to penalize him when he was attacked by an akuma after all).

Now, critics of canon asides here's Pixelator in Miraculous Team. [Just added a small edit]

(setting in February, after Dark Cupid)

The premise is quite the same, with Marinette's class being assigned various jobs in Mr Bourgeois' hotel. Ms Bustier reminds her students that it will be an important experience before their internship in March (in France, unless it changed, students in middle and high schools have to do a week-long internship in any enterprise and write a report. This mark is/was very important for the school report).

Ms Bustier then points out to Mr Bourgeois that both Alya and Marinette haven't been assigned yet. Same as canon, Chloé is the one who meddled with the distribution; Alya is very disgruntled when told she has to work at waste sorting of course, and Jagged Stone makes his entrance. While Mr Bourgeois is busy with him, Ms Bustier discreetly requests Marinette and Alya to try and do their best at whatever job they are assigned, assuring them she would take into account Chloé's meddling for their marks. The two girls snickers as they see their teacher write something quickly in red in her notes, and Marinette finally gets to know what her job is.

The scene with Vincent is the same, he's sneaking in the hotel to take photos of Jagged but gets caught and thrown out. He gets akumatized quickly after.

Adrien shows signs of annoyance at Chloé's attitude, he has less patience with her now and he's trying to work seriously at reception.

Meanwhile, Marinette has to try to find these Eiffel tower glasses; Penny, worried about Jagged's image and aware they are dealing with a young teen, acts more friendly and tells Marinette it's okay if she doesn't find anything. But Marinette, being a perfectionist, has a hard time accepting to go back either empty-handed or with a pair of glasses that doesn't match her favourite singer's description. Tikki then suggests she makes them herself, and after checking that Jagged isn't asking for something from a famous brand, Marinette rushes back home to do so.

Pixelator enters the hotel, and it goes quite similar with Chloé telling him to leave and Adrien getting captured with her, trying to protect her. Adrien gets a bit more stressed during the confinement in this endless white room, he asks Plagg if the Cataclysm would work here, to which Plagg answers "There's nothing a Cataclysm cannot destroy."

When Marinette comes back, she frowns at Chloé and Adrien's absence at the desk, grumbling to Tikki "I'm sure Chloé found some excuse to drag Adrien around, that pest!". Penny is quite puzzled when she gets the glasses, she asks Marinette where she found them and is very impressed when told she made them herself. She offers her tip, saying "For your effort, thank you." with a wink. Marinette would have wanted to know if Jagged like them but walks away, then she sees Pixelator attacking Penny.

The following fight is quite the same, Ladybug saves Jagged from Pixelator but her right hand gets pixelated. She hides Jagged in her middle-school and tries to look for who the akumatized person could be. Meanwhile Pixelator attack civilians, Nadja and her cameraman do an interview of him - but with the intention to warn people and in hope the heroes will arrive after watching the news. Pandora arrives just in time before he tries to capture them; she uses her power "Parade" so he stays focused on her, as they fight, one of her fans gets hit and she realizes that she cannot use her usual counter-attacks. Ladybug joins her but Pandora gets captured and Ladybug's leg is hit too, so she offers a deal to him, the same as canon. Fiancé tells him to refuse, of course, but Pixelator still agrees to free half of his prisoners.

"Only civilians. You understand that I am keeping your friend in as a guarantee."

The scene where Adrien talks to Nino is a bit longer, Nino is both startled but relieved to see his best friend is okay. Adrien tells him they must raise the alarm in case the akuma comes back to the hotel and sneaks away to transform. When he joins Ladybug, he's about to reach for Pixelator's camera when a civilian cheers a bit too loudly for him.

Chat Noir offers a plan to Ladybug: he lets himself be captured so he can destroy the pixel prison and free all the remaining civilians and Pandora. Ladybug isn't very happy about it, but she doesn't refute it. The moment Chat Noir gets hit, she uses her Lucky Charm. Jagged appeared and distracts Pixelator long enough for Ladybug to hop close enough and Chat Noir to cataclysm the white room and - like in canon - she throws the mirror at him and he sent him right in front of Jagged so the beam fires back on Pixelator.

After using the miraculous cure, Ladybug purifies the akuma. Pandora congratulates and thanks them both.

Meanwhile, aways from prying eyes, we see the civilian who got Chat Noir spotted making a call. His face changes ("off camera") and he puts on a white, smooth mask.

"It's a failure. But we got some energy still. Hm? Him? No, he's not worthy enough to join us. Too obsessed and creepy. We already have our hands full with Fiancé, two like him wouldn't be funny anymore. Alright, let's meet later. See ya, Archess."

The organisation doesn't get a new member this time.

At the end of the day, Mr Bourgeois thanks and congratulate all the students for their work, and Penny goes to Ms Bustier and gives her 5 tickets for Jagged Stone's next concert, announcing they are for the five students who were most engaged in their work. She sends a discreet wink to Bustier and another to Marinette as the teacher hands them out. Alya, Nino, Marinette and Kim get a ticket - to their greatest joy - but when Bustier offers one to Sabrina, the latter feels bad for Chloé (who is already throwing a tantrum) and refuses it politely, so Adrien gets the last one. Adrien feels bad for Sabrina, he insists she takes it, affirming "I can buy my own, please take it. You deserve it!" but Sabrina keeps her decision.

Once she's alone with Chloé, she says "It's alright, we can have a slumber party together or find something else to do, you prefer XY anyway!" but Chloé ignores her and stomps away, ditching her. Alone in the corridor, Sabrina gets second thoughts. "Maybe I should have taken it..."

At the concert, the five teenagers are thrilled and Marinette is amazed that Jagged dedicated a song to the heroes "especially the one who saved my life. This is for you, Ladybug."

The music starts and Adrien takes both Nino and Marinette's hand in his as they started bouncing. Alya laughs at Marinette's expression and takes her free hand in hers.

[Edit: it is also announced, before the tickets are given, that Vincent was arrested and Jagged asked for a restraining order against him.]

[rockethorse]

HOW TO MAKE SIMLISH LOOK NATURAL (aka. why typography matters, even if you can’t read the language)

We’re living in a golden age of Simlish (or Simlish-esque) fonts. Gone are the days of trying to recycle the same two or three typefaces without feeling like you live in the Twilight Zone! We have handwritten fonts, digital fonts, fancy fonts, formal fonts, cartoony fonts, and blocky fonts. Now making great-looking Maxis Match, Simlish content is as easy as changing the typeface from a drop-down menu in your graphics editor of choice! Right?

The thing is, typography - the art of type - is incredibly important to the overall aesthetic of an image, even if you can’t read it - in fact, probably moreso than if you could, because you have nothing else to distract you from how it looks. The whole point of Simlish is to maintain our immersion, and our suspension of disbelief, but unnaturally-formatted text can break that immersion even if we can’t read it.

The key to nice-looking typography is balance, and two primary factors to that balance are kerning and line spacing. Kerning is the space between two letters, and line spacing is, as you might guess, the space between lines of text. Your program’s default settings are probably not tailored to your needs, or to the specific font you use, and tweaking them can make a big difference.

Here’s a sentence I put down in a graphics editor in both Arial and a well-known Simlish font (Simlish v3 by SIMale) using my program’s default line spacing and kerning.

It’s not awful, but if you compare the two sentences, the Simlish sentence has much greater line spacing than the Arial sentence, and the kerning is a bit tighter (the double “e”s are practically touching). Here’s a chunk of Lorem Ipsum in Simlish (double gibberish!) to show how it looks in a paragraph, maybe for a book or poster retexture:

Again, maybe it doesn’t seem so bad. It definitely does the job of looking like a page of text. But if this were a real book, the line spaces would probably be a bit shorter, and the letters would be spaced just a tiny bit further apart, like this:

It’s still far from perfect, but it’s starting to look a lot more like “real” text. Because this font was one of the first of its kind, and many Simlish font creators are not professional typographists, not all of the characters are going to fit well with each other, but that’s okay - that wasn’t the point. If you’re just filling space with text like this, you probably wouldn’t need to do much more. Your eyes can glaze over this without being distracted by “gaps” caused by awkward line spacing.

Mostly, this is an issue in Simlish logos, signs, book titles, etc. where inappropriate kerning/line spacing really stands out. Back to the first example:

Again, the top text is using my program’s default text formatting. I decreased the overall line spacing and kerning, but because we’re dealing with less text, I was able to also go in and further tweak the spacing between individual characters. I looked for anywhere there was a large gap between letters, such as the gaps between the capital letters and the rest of the word in the first and third words. I also made the last word larger, to balance out the sentence/slogan - play with the sizes of different words and even the sizes of individual letters if certain fonts are scaled unusually.

One great benefit of Simlish is that it’s not a real language, so you don’t have to care about doing things the “normal” way. Imagine how you might write on lined note paper - that invisible “line” in typography is called the base line, and you can adjust where individual characters sit on the base line just as you can adjust individual letters’ kerning. I adjusted the first letter of the last word to sit below the baseline, and also made it larger than the other characters, to be more symmetrical and fit better with the character next to it. In English, that would look like this:

Which makes the S seem a bit odd, because we don’t usually stylise a capital S below the base line. But Simlish is not English, so maybe that’s normal for a Simlish S! You are free to do whatever you like, so long as the end product looks okay!

Most line spacing/kerning mistakes happen by making the spacing too broad, but be careful of making it too tight, too. Tight kerning is called “keming” because that’s exactly what happens - letters get so crowded they look stuck-together, making them difficult or impossible to read, e.g. joining an r and an n together to look like an m.

... Though, to be honest, that doesn’t look that bad here, because as we established, Simlish is not English, so we can’t really tell when characters begin and end, especially when your texture is 64x64 pixels. So try out different things that you wouldn’t think to do with a real language and see if you like the results.

Hinting and anti-aliasing are also aspects to consider. Anti-aliasing is probably toggled for you by default, and it’s what makes shapes look smooth instead of jagged/pixelated. Hinting affects the clarity of letters at smaller resolutions. Since many Sims textures are quite small, try toggling hinting on/off to see if the image looks better or more clear.

Hopefully there was something worthwhile here. I’m by no means a typography expert, but as Custom Content is many Simmers’ first experience with graphic design, my only goal is to introduce beginners to these basic concepts, and from there, trial and error is the best way to learn.

Again, Simlish is not English, so the concept of Simlish “legibility” might seem weird, but the ultimate design goal of nonsense-languages like Simlish, alien runes, ancient markings, etc. is to recognise what they represent, not what they say. Your eyes slide over it and you maintain your suspension of disbelief. Awkward typography is a universal language, and it can pull you out of that immersion when that might not be your intention.

Happy Simlishing, nooboos!

[krizaland]

Echo In The Mirror

Ok so I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch so I wrote this fic to vent. I’m sorry to say but I didn’t include any reader inserts in this fic.

However, I am still working on my reader insert projects! I just needed a little fic to vent!

Thank you all so much for understanding! I love you all!

Here’s the song I used btw

Zim’s base moaned and groaned as Zim laid down on his couch.

The poor alien’s mind was overloaded with an ocean of endless noise.

All Zim could hear was countless voices screeching at him from all directions.

“You’ve failed to dominate the Urth yet again! You grow more useless everyday!” One voice snarled.

“You’re so incompetent! You’re dumber than every human on this planet!” Snickered another.

“It’s a wonder how The Control Brains haven't deactivated you by now. After all you are a defective!”

Zim was at his wits end! He tried to watch some TV in hopes of drowning out the voices but his attempts were all in vain.

The voices only grew louder and louder with every passing minute.

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” Zim shrieked as he tugged on his antennas.

“GRAHH! I CANNOT STAND THESE VOICES ANY LONGER!! WHY MUST THIS BE?! WHY MUST THIS BE?!” Pink tears poured down his cheeks as he hopped off the couch.

Not knowing what else to do, Zim resorted to banging his head against a wall.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

While the pain distracted his mind for a moment. Hitting his head wasn’t enough to silence the wretched voices.

Not by a long shot.

The voices only grew louder and louder by the second.

“What a fool! Did you honestly think that would work?! You cannot silence us!” One voice snickered.

“We are the voices of reason! Why are you refusing to listen to our advice?!” Another whined.

“Honestly, why do you bother anymore? You’re too useless to do anything right!” Another sighed.

More tears streamed down Zim’s cheeks as the voices continued their chanting.

Zim tried to get to his lab but came across a mirror along the way.

The mirror was a bit dingy and cracked but Zim could still see his disheveled face staring back at him.

“Look at me! How could I let some pathetic voices control me?! I AM ZIM! Those voices are just stupid glitches in my INCREDIBLE brain!” Zim sniffled as he struggled to dry his tears.

“Those voices have a point you know…”

Zim let out a gasp and backed away from the mirror for a moment.

Did his reflection just talk to him?!

“You…You can speak?!” Zim stuttered as he approached the mirror again.

“Of course I can! Now take a good look at me! I am who you truly are! A useless fool!” The reflection spat as he gestured to himself.

“No! You are filled with LIES!!! I am amazing! I am-”

“You are a failure! You’ll never win the approval of your people! You’re a menace! You’ve destroyed countless lives! You can’t do anything right! Just do everyone a favor and end your life!” The reflection bellowed as its face became more and more distorted.

Zim let out a scream as his distorted reflection slowly morphed into a massive, shadowy, monster.

He ran away from the mirror and dove into his toilet.

Zim let out a few whimpers and hid his face.

He struggled to steady his breathing but the noise in his head wouldn’t allow it.

Zim poked his head out of the toilet and tried to find something, anything, to focus on. Perhaps looking at something would distract his mind for a moment.

After frantically scanning the room, Zim’s eyes came across an old wall clock.

Zim stared and stared at the clock. He focused intently on it’s stained face and jagged hands.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

Zim quickly found comfort in the clock’s broken ticking.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

Zim felt himself calm down a bit as he continued to focus on the clock.

Tick Tock Tick….

Zim had been staring at the clock so long that its soothing ticking started to fade away into static.

“The clock stopped ticking forever ago. How long have I been here? I don’t know. I can’t get a grip but I can’t let go. There wasn’t anything to hold onto though…” Zim sang as he dug his claws into his legs.

It wasn’t long before Zim’s anxiety morphed into a horrific hallucination.

“Why can’t I see? Why can’t I see? All the colors that they see? Please can I be? Please can I be? Colorful and free?” Zim sang as his voice started to skip.

“What the hell’s going on? Can someone tell me please? Why I’m switching faster than the channels on TV?” Zim’s body glitched out into countless monochrome pixels and violent static.

“I’m black then I’m white. No! Something isn’t right! My enemy’s invisible I don’t know how to fight!” Zim wailed as his body glitched between black and white.

“The trembling fear is more than I can take! When I’m up against the Echo in the mirror!” Zim’s reflection popped out of the mirror and yanked him out of the toilet.

“You didn’t think you could hide from the truth forever did you?! Just let go of all of your little dreams! You’re destined to remain in greyscale.” The reflection bellowed as he shook Zim a bit.

“No, I just can’t let go! Born to be colorful!” Zim’s body and voice continued to glitch out, “There’s not a thing to hold, I must let my colors show!”

Zim wriggled himself out of his reflection’s grip. and started to run as fast as his legs could take him.

It wasn’t long before Zim found himself running through a massive, distorted clock.

“Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.” Zim’s reflection chanted as he chased him around and around.

Zim kept running and running until he finally made it out of the clock.

However, the moment he was freed from the clock, the world was falling apart around him and constantly shifting to monochrome pixels and static.

Zim didn’t even have time to process what was happening. For his reflection was hot on his tail!

Everything shook as the distorted reflection drew closer and closer.

Zim had no choice but to keep on running.

The more he ran the worse the world became.

Paintings and windows melted off of the walls and the couched glitched out of existence.

Zim ran throughout his decaying world and didn’t stop until-

THUMP!

Zim ran right into his distorted reflection.

The ground crumbled away and Zim found himself inside a massive, monochrome boxing ring.

DING! DING!

A boxing bell went off and his reflection tried to take a swipe at him.

Luckily, Zim managed to quickly dodge out of the way.

Zim tried to hit back but his reflection vanished into the shadows.

“Like boxing a shadow in the darkness, I’m fighting against the Echo in the mirror!” Zim swallowed as he frantically looked around for his reflection.

POW!

His reflection snuck up and struck Zim from behind, causing the boxing ring to collapse into a seemingly endless static void.

Zim found himself falling faster and faster, his body glitching in and out of existence as he did so.

It didn’t take long for his reflection to dive down after him.

Zim frantically tried to get away but his attempts were all in vain

SWOOP!

His reflection melted into his body.

Zim’s body glitched rapidly as he slowly begun to grow more and more monstrous.

His teeth became razor sharp and his antennas morphed into horns.

Four more arms burst from his body as his claws grew longer and longer.

Once the transformation was complete, Zim begun to lose what little was left of his sanity.

“I’m gonna burn my house down into an ugly black! I’m gonna run away now and never look back!” His voice was distorted as he begun to search for a lighter.

“I’m gonna burn my house down into an ugly black! I’m gonna run away now and never look back!” Was all Zim could say as he got his grotesque claws on a lighter.

“And never look back! And never look back! AND NEVER LOOK BACK!” Zim was about to light what was left of his base on fire when-

ZAP!

Zim’s body glitched out once more as he frantically tried to reverse his corruption.

“What the hell’s going on? Can someone tell me please? Why I’m switching faster than the channels on TV?” Zim’s body glitched between his true self and his corrupted body.

“I’m black then I’m white. No! Something isn’t right! My enemy’s invisible I don’t know how to fight!” Zim wailed as his body glitched between black and white.

“The trembling fear is more than I can take! When I’m up against the Echo in the mirror!” Zim shrieked as he burst into tears.

Just when he thought he was about to explode, Zim felt something wrap around his waist.

“Master? Are you ok?”

The sound of GIR’s sympathetic voice freed Zim from his nightmarish hallucination.

“Guh…GIR? What are you doing?” Zim groaned as he looked down as GIR hugging his waist.

“You were screaming real loud! Just like this ‘AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!’ So I thought a hug might cheer you up!” GIR sang as he nuzzled into Zim’s chest.

Zim opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out.  

He simply sighed and returned the hug.

While he would never admit it, he truly did need a hug to cheer him up.

Zim knew it would take a lot more than a simple hug to silence the voices but for now, the feeling of being held was enough to make him feel safe.

[whenimgoodandready]

“If you love someone, set them free” and if they love someone else, (record scratch) continue to love them despite all that cuz you need to win them over while they’re still single! You think it sounds bad!? Well, tell that to Cat Noir! Cuz he’s not getting the message straight! He’s loving in vain! It’s not just him though, look who else is following that example:

*The Puppeteer 2-Madame Tussauds wax museum comes to Paris, France as it features celebrities we’ve seen in the show! All the way from Jagged Stone to Adrien himself! Cool! It’s the perfect place for a date! Alya and Nino are there and so are Adrien and Marinette! And Manon? Wait, what? Why’s she there? OOOOOOOOH! Marinette was babysitting again and dragged her along cuz it’s like any babysitter in a cliche sitcom sceanario to have your charge tag along with you to somewhere you’d rather be! 😅. That never ends well.

Alya planned this so that this can be the day where Marinette Dupain-Cheng finally confesses her feelings for Adrien Agreste. It’s been 2 (and a half) seasons already and girl needs to get this off her chest! Yes, we know she’s still unable to talk to Adrien romantically, but she’s come this far already with being friends with him and also playing video games with him (“Gamer”), going to a concert (“Pixelator”), the movies (“Gorizilla”), dancing with him (“Despair Bear”), getting a birthday gift from him (“Befana”), dancing in a music video with him (“Frightningale”), kissing him! (“Heroes Day”), so now that day to tell him her hearts content is today! Get it girl!

Unfortunately, since it was supposed to be kept secret from Adrien, Alya’s plan gets screwed up cuz her boyfriend misinterprets her words and Marinette is more awkward than ever giving Adrien the impression that Marinette hates him (Nino was too clear on the “deny everything” answer and Marinette failed at phrasing the word “like”😒). Adrien tries to “win back Marinettes friendship” thinking he made a mistake and while that’s happening, Alya and Nino check out the wax figures of themselves and be all lovey-dovey with each other. It may all look cute, but as a little meerkat once sang, 🎶And with all this romantic atmosphere, disasters in the air🎶. Yup, let’s not forget there’s still a child present, Manon is left alone and ignored cuz she’s just a kid who hasn’t grasped the concept of love yet, so she feels miserable with no one to play with. This is what causes her to be akumatized. Again!

Her powers stronger in this case cuz she’s in a building full of wax statues, and in the Heroes Room, of ALL THE SUPERVILLAINS THAT SHE CAN BRING TO LIFE! Don! Don! Don! There’s Lady Wifi, The Bubbler, Evillustrator, Reflekta, Gamer, Antibug, Mime, Timetagger, Pixelator, etc, with everyone there, it’s Heroes Day 2.0 up in here! And if they’re all using their powers at once with the heroes, they’re doomed! Oh no! Wait! The supervillains are made of wax! They’ll fall apart. Literally! Lol! Okay, no need to worry much, relax folks.

The big scene in this episode was the infamous Statue Scene! Yup, it’s right up there with the Umbrella Scene (“Stoneheart - Origins, Part 2”) and The Balcony Scene (“Glaciator”). I’m guessing we have a big signature scene for each season here. Adriens idea of “winning back Marinettes friendship” was to cheer her up by posing as his own wax figure for a joke. Marinette buys into it (love makes you stupid) and starts making a fool of herself around it while Adrien watches awkwardly trying to stay still (oh the cringe😬). Adrien witnessed every creepy thing Marinette does to him with the whole sniffing, lock of hair plucking keepsake and the (almost) kiss! That’s when he finally breaks character. Well, Mr.Agreste, no thanks to your little stunt there, poor Marinette is completely humiliated! Not cool kid, not cool! Well, his intentions were good. He cares an awful lot about Marinette and wants to win everyone’s favor so he won’t be so lonely all the time. Sadly, because he’s been sheltered his whole life, he’s blind to social norms and this backfired on him cuz his (unknown) love interest is a nervous wreck. Marinette, despite coming a long way to be close to Adrien, wants something more than just friendship and she fails to confess her feelings cuz she fears rejection like most people. She should listen to what Cat Noir said about confidence. “If it’s something important from the heart, let it out”. In the end, Marinette and Adrien promise not to prank each other anymore (she said she “knew” about his prank) and that she does like him (platonically). She then hears about “the girl he loves”, (her alter ego), and is heartbroken. Poor baby. This almost ended Adrienette, but Tikki saved it by giving Marinette hope (she knows the truth that’s why). Well, it’s “Glaciator” all over again! Ladybug had told Cat Noir she likes “another guy”, yet he still flirts with her and now Adrien tells Marinette about “the girl he loves” and she too continues to win him over. Is this the kind of message we want to send to kids? “If the one you love loves someone else, you should never give up on them even though they don’t feel the same about you!?”. I mean, I know it’s still themselves they’re in love with, but let’s pretend for a moment they’re not. That would mean its teaching kids not to take no for an answer! That’s not right! You’re giving these kids false hope! I know Adrienette is endgame, but think about the consequences of these actions people! I’m all for the ship, but how much longer do we need to be frustrated!?😡. (recomposes themselves) Okay, I get it, I get it. They’re teenagers, so of course, teenagers can be stupid and screw up on romance, so I’ll let it slide. I’m still hoping that Adrienette will be canon by the end of Season 3 like it was rumored. Cuz if not, I’m gonna be really pissed off! :P.

[nebula-starlight]

Corrupt (Part 10 - Dark Twist)

Long jagged scars twisted across her scaled skin as she lay motionless on her belly, the faint pink trails clashing terribly with the ghastly gray. Her core  sparked uselessly within her breastbone, the brief green glow lighting up the small cell before it was plunged back into the shadows once more. Days, weeks, months... torture after torture with the full intent of breaking her until she revealed all her secrets. Dark was a patient demon, Void would admit, but even she was starting to notice the cracks as he seemed more and more likely to lash out at her with the one item she’d seen him carry but never use in this strange realm of his. It was a black cane, beautifully ornate at the top in silver, but always kept behind his back by a single hand. She first took notice of it after he approached her one day with a leather whip in his hand and offered her a choice of either what he held or the small velvet box that was held by one of his shadows not far away. In curiosity she’d asked what it held and he had turned to retrieve it when she saw the glint of polished metal from behind his back.

The shadows around her were comforting, something she never expected she would ever have considered under different circumstances. It had been days since the last visit, something that did bother her but, at the same time, she could barely bring herself to care. An empty numbness had come over her since being imprisoned in this space between worlds... One that, along with her mental instability, had drained all measure of resistance from her scarred form.

Release... She wanted a freedom she knew would never be granted upon her with the current measure of corruption of her soul. Each glitch hurt, becoming yet another reminder of what befell the former healer who dabbled too far into dark magic prior to her death.

Lifting her head, her eyes narrowed, green irises flickering as she felt Dark enter the realm. Why was he back? Had she done something wrong?

“Get up, dear one. You’ll enjoy what I have planned for today.” She shrunk back at first, a low hiss rising from her throat in alarm. His arrival only meant further pain. “You get to see your host again.”

Void froze at the words, eyes wide in fear at the thought of seeing Narssia again. How long had it been since she last saw her? Months... maybe even years at this point. Did she even remember the very glitch who had bound what was left of her soul to an exceptionally long lived mortal?

“What must I do?” Her wingblades quivered as she used both them and her tail to push herself up onto her hind legs. Steadying herself once she got to her feet, she noticed his dual auras as he approached.

“Nothing yet but I may have a use for you. Mark wanted to stage this choose your own adventure story for his Valentine’s Day video and well... I’m bringing you in to crash it. All you need to do is be yourself. Glitch his footage until it’s unusable if you desire, dear. I’ll deal with him if you’d like to see her again.”

The thought was tempting, ideas immediately whirling through her head at what she could say to Naris. She’d been abandoned, left to suffer at the hands of a monster while her host did nothing to save her. Sharp teeth clicked together as Dark stopped in front of her and adjusted his posture with a crack of his neck.

“Well, are you ready?” The green glow of her eyes brightened, visible wisps of aura bleeding out as she hesitated for a moment before nodding and crouching down before him.

“Oh, let’s go crash this project of theirs!”

The first thing Void felt after the darkness around her exploded into a vibrant array of colors was pain. She hissed, shrinking down defensively without thought as instinct drove her to raise her wingblades to shield herself. Seconds passed before she realized her form had changed to eerily reflect Naris’s human state and that the spotlights above were passing through her shadowy body. Stumbling back, her feet seemed heavy and chunky, each step echoing off the wooden stage as she scrambled away into the safe shadows of the wings. Truthfully she’d never been outside of her host’s shell for any period of time and it reminded her all too well of... of drowning in white noise and panic. Taking a breath to steady herself as she clenched her hands, she noticed Dark was already at work, calmly standing on the stage with practiced ease. As she watched though, the air around him begun to warp as the demon stalked predatorily towards Narssia. Her host was trembling in the chair she had been sitting in, nearly curling in on herself in fear as his words echoed with the ever-persistent ringing.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again.” His low hum seemed to amplify as he stopped at the edge of the stage, aura briefly appearing before he gathered his hands behind his back. A hint of a smirk twitched at the corners of his lips as he tilted his head inquisitively to the side. “We weren’t properly introduced last time, were we? And then he had the gail to not invite me on his little adventure with you.”

Void frowned, her form glitching slightly as she cautiously stepped closer. What had he told her? Corrupt the footage? She didn’t see a camera...

Oh, Narssia had one in her lap. Mark finally made use of his uninvited houseguest it seemed. Her eyes immediately lit up at the sight of the object, wispy trails of aura returning as the chaos of her broken mind buzzed louder than any rational thought. She could glitch the device out or, rather, she could join in on the murderous fun.

By the time she realized what she was doing, Void was already several steps out of the non-painful darkness and continuing to move forward. Her ghostlike form was sizzling and practically leaking green mist as the light shone down brightly on her. It was only when Dark had to turn to snap at her that she came back to her senses and the desire for bloodlust faded back into the deep crevices of her mind.

“Finish your task before you burn yourself into oblivion!” The demon snarled, shell cracking as his unexpected outburst caused her to freeze where she stood.

What was she doing? Void shook her head, trying to dispel the fog that had settled over her thoughts and sighed, filling the air with her telltale static. The white noise buzzed on in the background as she set her sights on the camera, reaching out with one hand to direct her next motion.

Green sparks flickered to life in her palm, snapping out hungrily before dissolving into glitchy pixels. She scowled in frustration, subconsciously allowing the wispy aura trails to leak from her eyes again as the light shining down on her body continued to tear away at her form. It had worked in the past when she wanted to get Narssia’s attention so why not now?! What was she doing wrong?

Her eyes narrowed, the green of her irises practically glowing against the black sclera in rage as her body jerked with an unexpected glitch. Barely composing herself, her arm trembled as she tried over and over to produce the aural flare that would likely corrupt the camera’s footage but also alert Narssia to her presence. She could see how her host was trying not to panic, chest heaving as her breaths came in short shallow gasps.

Growling under her breath after yet another failed attempt at summoning her meager magic, Void closed her eyes, body spastically twitching as the roar of static pounded in her ears. She was in control. The bloodlust was gone for the time being. Even so, her aura continued to avoid her to the point of frustration. She needed it to work just this once! Narssia was in danger and she couldn’t oppose Dark on her own.

“V-Void?”

The soft, timid voice immediately caught her attention, forcing the spirit to open her eyes to find that there was no longer a light burning down on her. In fact, the entire theatre had no power, the only things truly visible being Dark with his identifiable aura and herself. Specks of green flickered against her see-through skin, the sight enough to startle her into shrinking back.

“Well, looks like you do have some magic left in you.” Dark’s words echoed as he addressed her, hands rising to clap together unenthusiastically. “Bravo, dearest. You actually turned this whole place dark.”

Void found herself moving towards him before she actively knew what she was doing. All she heard was her own feral snarl as it rumbled up from her torn throat, aura crackling wildly around her.

“Stop acting like you care!” She hissed, curling a hand before she lashed out, trying to punch him.

The attack didn’t land as she intended however. Too focused on actually hitting him, she didn’t realize that Dark blended into the shadows to avoid her first. It was only after he snaked around behind her that she knew she had messed up but it was already too late to pull back. He caught her wrist firmly with one hand before kneeing her in the small of her back. Unable to stop herself, she started to fall as he released his grip and calmly stepped away without a word.

The last thing Void saw before her head collided with the solid wood flooring was the demon stepping off the stage to see to Narssia. Her host was screaming, hands firmly over her ears in utter agony and terror alike as blue and red auras emerged from Dark to engulf the two.

Her vision was going dim, barely able to see the outline of two becoming one. Where was he taking Naris? Furthermore...

What had she done?

Consciousness slowly returned to her.

Void was first aware of the presence of moist fabric in her mouth preventing her from speaking almost immediately upon waking. She was confused, arms held securely behind her back by what felt like sturdy steel chains. The grogginess hadn’t even lifted much when the darkness around her was suddenly ripped away to reveal she was kneeling outside in an empty, open parking lot. The rough concrete under her legs scratched against several already existing wounds she had as she struggled briefly, reopening a few as the blood that oozed free helped to ease her discomfort.

Why was she gagged? And why were they outside? The lights in the theatre had proven her body didn’t react well to illumination. Did Dark want her to burn to death for disobeying him? She wouldn’t put it past him but she... her mind wasn’t right. Surely he had been informed of such knowledge at some point by Mark or even Narssia. As much as it bothered her to consider the thought, he had seemed to recognize her host after all.

The sound of multiple footsteps approaching suddenly graced her hearing and she started to look up, immediately hissing under the gag at just how bright it was outside. She recognized one by the deliberate loud click of each step - Dark no doubt - but the other was softer, shuffling around as though it wasn’t an unaided movement. Soon enough, once her eyes had adjusted to the sunlight, she saw exactly what she had feared. The demon was practically half-dragging Narssia over to her, each attempt by her host to pull away becoming more and more frantic the closer they got. Her eyes flickered, lightening in sympathy as the sheer look of absolute horror on the former she-dragon’s face made her wonder what all had happened while she’d been out.

“No...” The pained whimper nearly broke Void, eyes widening in the realization that Narssia had seen her and knew exactly what Dark had in mind.

Snarling under her gag, her eyes caught the blink of a small red light, indicating the camera was still functioning and also in Naris’s possession. Had it recorded everything? What trauma had her host endured after she blacked out? How she would love to know... not that she could change anything. Still, Void was increasingly more suspicious when Dark stopped, handing the girl a small gun without a word.

When he stepped away, her eyes drifted to the weapon, only to return to the demon once he snapped his fingers. She felt it at once, the rip in dimensions before it sealed just as suddenly and a limp body smacked down against the pavement beside her. The fluffed black hair gave the identity away but she still turned her head to better see Mark as his darker half snapped his fingers once more. Immediately rope bound his arms behind him and an invisible force pulled him to his knees, head hanging limply as she noticed there was no gag to silence the man.

“You have a choice to make. Do you shoot Mark? Or do you turn the gun on your parasitic glitch?”

The options, impossible of a choice as it was, sent a chill down Void’s spine. She could already feel her bound hands burning, green mist swirling around her chest from the sunlight engulfing her body. Maybe she’d fade away if enough time passed? Then again, Dark wanted one of them to die. Perhaps he thought having Naris shoot her would make her snap and lose what was left of her psyche...

“I- I can’t.” Narssia’s hands were shaking, tears flooding her eyes before rolling down her cheeks. Void glared at the demon, silently fuming and hoping more than anything that he’d be the one to get hit.

Of course knowing what little of Dark she did, the demon probably had a plan already in place to avoid that scenario. Naris could always turn the gun on herself but Void suspected her host was too cowardly to do that on purpose. Given how badly her hands were shaking though... it could always happen by accident.

“Of course you can,” Dark encouraged, sweeping an arm out towards Void to sway the decision. “You hate her after all. She made you miserable for months... Think about it. You lost your job and became nothing more than a paranoid, skittish freak in the eyes of the good townspeople you used to know!”

Void saw the light fade in Naris’s eyes at the mention of her isolation, knowing then, even without looking at the weapon, that Dark had gotten inside her host’s head. The former dragoness hated to be reminded of that dark time when the spirit had just started to take control here or there and she would wake up somewhere else in her house with no idea of what she’d been doing.

Her struggling against her bindings increased, eyes glowing with the same intensity that flowed through her veins. If he even so much as tried to lay a single hand on her host... She’d kill that demon herself!

“Mark wouldn’t even tell you the truth when you asked,” Dark commented, walking around behind Narssia as her grip tightened on the gun. “No mention of my name ever left his lips for months. Perhaps he was afraid you’d find out what happened and blame him for somehow waking the beast you fought so hard to conceal. But that’s just it, isn’t it? You never could control her and wanted that... illusionist to take away all the pain she caused.”

Void tried to scream, no sound coming out no matter how much she raged. Dark knew about Nether! Might not have known his name but knew the spirit’s identifying quality. Just what else did he know about them?

Narssia was still shaking, the tears finally stopping however as her eyes followed Dark. “No- No, you’re wrong. He never messed around in my head. I-I’d know if he did. Geer would have told me.”

“Would he now? If this Geer knew of the glitch coming weeks before and said nothing to you, can you still consider him trustworthy?”

Void was seething now, every inch of her body tense and yet unable to move. The second she did, that gun would go off - a fate she planned to avoid as long as she could. But Dark had to have known he was just making her more furious. Maybe that was his plan?

“Of course I c-can. He and I were like siblings, except we weren’t blood related.” Narssia snapped back, hands shaking briefly before she calmed herself. “I owe him my life.”

Dark stopped, turning to face the former dragoness with a scowl. “Make your choice already. Show me what you’ve got.”

Void tried to speak again, watching the gun move as her host raised it slightly. No matter the outcome, she expected there would be a return to Dark’s domain once the selected target dropped to the ground. Even if he had to carry a lifeless body. Death would finally give her the release she wanted... one Nether had robbed from her.

With a loud bang, the gun fired. Just as soon as the body started to fall, the demon snapped his fingers and it vanished. The only evidence left was a few darker stains on the concrete before Dark turned to Narssia and gently caught her as she started to collapse into a shaking, sobbing mess.

He took the gun from her, pocketing it quickly before brushing her hair back out of her face and gripping her shoulders roughly. Black eyes stared deep into her own as he spoke, each word punctuating deep into her head.

“Go home, Narssia. Forget what you just did. You had a fun, uneventful day with Mark filming the project. He’ll be upstairs editing the footage when you arrive but you crash on the couch.”

[jellojolteon]

Hi! I know you get a lot of asks on the grey long Ay but I was curious about something. How are some of the main characters supposed to get Akumatized. Eg. Nino wanted Adrien to have a birthday party but that didn't happen because Gabe was being a jerk, or Alya when she got Akumatized because she wanted to find out LB secret identity. I know this might be too much to ask but I'll ask anyway. Could you make a master list of how the Champions were made in this AU? (pt. 1)

No, no worries! Every ask I get makes my day! In fact you made my dreams from last night come true by filling my inbox haha ;u;

So as a basic pretense, the champions still come about the same way; the folks who get made into Champions are still upset about something when Greyling reaches them, but it’s the handling thereafter that makes the difference between what Hawkmoth does and what Greyling does. I can still make a master list for you of people who have been akumatized up to S1 (sorry if I miss anyone lol), but there are only a handful of changes. 

As for Chloe? An excellent question. I think it’s complicated because she’s still Adrien’s oldest friend and now she’s indirectly doing him a huge favor, but he is also much quicker to wake up to the bully she’d become since he see what she’s like when he “isn’t watching”. 

Unfortunately for this end of the story I’m more interested in the interactions between the main three, so it’s likely that a lot of this, if I can get this big ol thing off the ground, won’t make the actual cut.

(See below cut- numbering is not indicative of order, but if order is important I’ll mention it. Also note that this may change in the final go, if I get there.)

1. Stoneheart - This is LB’s first fight against Tux and while the theory of it is the same, Greyling does not exist yet to bring Stoneheart to life. Marinette encourages Ivan much the same way as she does in canon and he and Mylene still get together.

2.  Stormy Weather - We’ll go with this one as Greyling’s first Champion. Aurore loses the weathergirl competition, but Adrien tells her that if it’s recognition she’s looking for, he might be able to help. Help he does.

3. Mister Pigeon - Ramier gets chastised by the police for feeding the pigeons. Adrien consoles him (somewhat regrettably considering his allergy) and tells him that pigeons are not inherently bad, and that a good way to show how honorable and invaluable pigeons can be might be for Ramier to help enlist them to fight Tux. This champion marks the beginning of Mari’s internship.

4. Lady Wifi - Alya snoops in Chloe’s locker, she pitches a fit, gets suspended. Greyling comes to her explaining that he knows her intent was innocent, and that if she really wants to show everyone she’s the bigger person, perhaps she can help him fight Tux today. Alya is of course like “oh fuck, I’m communing with my homegirl’s crush” and wholeheartedly agrees. Things look dire, and hers is the first instance of possession we see. I’m going to (unoriginally) henceforth call this special “ability” the Butterfly Effect.

5. The Bubbler - Mari introduces Adrien to Nino and Alya via video chat. Adrien is super excited to have friends and both Nino and Alya want to meet him. Adrien’s birthday is soon and Nino suggests a party. Gabe never yells at him directly but Nino finds out from Adrien that it’s a no and gets upset on Adrien’s behalf. Greyling suggests later, when Tux attacks, that it’s no birthday but hoo boy would Adrien think it great if Nino helped fight one particularly nasty adult. It might help get all those negative vibes out.

6. Copycat - This one might ultimately not happen in the AU, just because the pretense is so intertwined with the canon dynamics.

7. Kung Food - This is the first time LB witnesses and must repair a cataclysm death. Mari is lucky that her Uncle is in town to help her through the experience. Greyling reasons with Kung Food in Chinese (which is much better pronounced than in the show) that the cooking competition isn’t the end of the world, and that he’ll help him get another chance to prove himself in a fair environment.

8. Darkblade - not sure where this one falls, but when D’Argencourt loses the mayoral election, Greyling explains that maybe he can help show Paris true nobility by standing up to another person who has usurped the peace.

9. Vanisher - Greyling catches Sabrina at a low point when Chloe is snubbing her. He points out that there are many many unsung heroes throughout history but if it would help her, he might be able to arrange something that would get her recognized in the form of assisting LB.

10. Antibug - Here’s a fun one! This one doesn’t go super hot but I think this is where Chloe develops a little bit. Greyling tells Chloe that if she really wants to make a good impression on LB, maybe getting in the way isn’t the answer. But what if she was a champion instead? Chloe is too bitter to be working alongside LB at the moment, but things eventually turn out ok, even if it involves Tux getting the upper hand for a bit there.

11. Horrificator - Mylene is scared and Greyling explains that sometimes it takes some help to face your fears. I’ll help you face down the scariest monster in all of Paris, and I assure you that you’ll always be able to face your fears after that. This one is also a bit of a shaky one but it works out ok because as she grows bigger, Tux gets more frightened by her.

12. Timebreaker - another that I’m not sure happens? I feel like time travel is a bit of a slippery slope in this AU for some reason.

13. Princess Fragrance - After Chloe belittles Rose, Greyling compliments her heart and says that helping him fight tux might be a good way to prove Chloe wrong. (Aside: I can’t imagine a lot of these kids would normally have the sense to take down a murderer. But Ladybug hasn’t lost anyone yet and the trust they put in her to keep them safe is immense)

14. Reflekta - You might see that showing Chloe what a good person looks like is a pretty common thread here. Greyling gets good at convincing people that Chloe is wrong and that fighting Tux with the things she demeans about them is a great way to prove it. She slowly learns.

15. Evillustrator - Nath wants a date with Mari, and also for Chloe to Not. This one doesn’t go well.

16. The Puppeteer - This is where Greyling figures out that Tux is his dad. In his rage, he makes a very bad decision to send out Manon after Tux. Granted she’s not doing anything directly but still. Ladybug deadpans him a look through Puppeteer and he has an ‘oh shit’ moment. He pulls her out and goes for Simon Says instead.

17. Simon Says - Adrien isn’t quite ready to let go of his petty yet and this is just as much for himself as it is for Simon. Nooroo and Adrien have an important talk about choosing champions after this battle is over.

18. Heartbreaker - Much of the same spiel about proving Chloe wrong, though I don’t know how his powers could be of threat to Tux. Not sure if this one makes the cut.

19. Rogercop - After getting fired, Greyling hits Roger with the whole “If you really want to serve and protect, boy could I really use your help.” After Roger’s proven bravery against Tux, he regains his job. There are probably more long-winded effects of this in the au but I’ll have to get there before I figure it all out.

20. Animan - When Kim insults Otis’s prized panther, Greyling suggests that maybe a catfight is exactly the kind of shakeup Tux needs, and it would certainly prove Kim’s ridiculous comments wrong. As for Alya and Nino getting together? I can still see them getting locked in the exhibit for their own safety.

21. The Gamer - Mari and Adrien kick ass in a gamer tournament, and Max gets upset because he’s overthrown by someone he’s never even met. Adrien just has a lot of time to play video games when he’s shut in, y’know? But Adrien realizes he may have gone a little too hard and requests Max’s help defeating Tux. He fluffs Max’s confidence by pointing out what a skilled and analytical fighter he is. Ladybug could use someone like that (instead of someone who sits from afar… hm…) in her fights against Tux.

22. Guitar Hero (pffff oops) - “Hey Jagged Stone, you know what would absolutely skyrocket your popularity? Riding around Paris on a DRAGON while blasting a cat man with SOUND WAVES. Does that sound like some killer album art to you? It sure does to me. Also I’ll throw in glowy tentacle hair as a bonus, I’m a big fan of your work actually.”

23. Pixelator - Greyling says, “Hey, man, maybe let the guy have some space, y’know? Being famous is stressful. Here, if you really want to be like him though, help me fight this guy.” Please don’t ask me how that works Greyling just gets real good at his job at some point.

24. The Mime - Fred’s meddling understudy tricks him into missing a performance, but Greyling sees an opportunity for the most kickass show of Fred’s career. He’s not wrong.

25. The Pharaoh - unfortunately, another one I’m not sure happens? Remnants of this ep might be involved though, with Jalil helping LB uncover some of the history of the miraculouses. Looks like the Kubdels get off easy in this story haha

26. Volpina - Lila’s compulsive lying gets her into a sticky situation (probably actually not with LB tho) and Greyling tells her that maybe he can give her a true story about herself worth telling. Greyling has been itching to get out for a few attacks now and this is where he finally gets the opportunity to go out. He just has a bad feeling about things and goes out to check. As I mention in the comic about their first “meeting”, Greyling’s intuition is correct and he saves LB from a nasty head injury as she passes out on top of a building from a previous wound. This also incidentally marks, for the most part, the end of Greyling’s use of others to fight. He still brings a few out (maybe I’ll get to integrate some from S2?) but this pretty neatly ties up most of the pre-outside timeline.

Sorry this got so long, but thanks again for the ask, @randomstar365! I hope this is a satisfactory answer. 

[cortex-reaver]

Chapter 64: Loud Electronica Interlude

EHRMAGERD AN UPDATE!

Fic Masterpost

Warnings: Language, violence, explosions, cyberspace being…cyberspace

Hacker groaned as the regenerator room swam into view again.

“Ouch,” he muttered, scrubbing at his forehead where that last cyber-dart had slammed into his avatar’s face before he’d dropped out.

He pumped a second around of Stam-Up and Genius drugs into his system as he shook his head to clear it. Cortie stared sadly up at him from inside her ball, but said nothing. He patted her reassuringly, opting for silence as well.

“No luck yet?” Goggles asked worriedly. He shook his head.

“Too many security systems running?”

He nodded. He then motioned that he was heading back. Goggles nodded grimly. He closed his eyes, and dove into cyberspace. The view looked little better than when he’d left.

He promptly ducked five more gleaming blue cyber-darts flying his way, slapping up his ICE shield barely in time.

Hacker: Dammit, didn’t I just leave this party?

All three Stooges had put up their own ICE bubbles, deflecting the vast array of glowing darts flashing outward from Cortie’s drifting cone like angry porcupine quills. The darts glowed purple as they hit the Reavers’ bubbles and evaporated into puffs of broken code. Their bubbles weakened where they impacted, allowing any darts heading to similar areas to whip past their shields and hit the skulls themselves.

Hacker glanced to Cortie.

Multiple intruders in-bound. Third-level security systems activated, the cone announced in its flat voice. Cortie’s face crumpled on its top, looking even sadder.

She mouthed the words “I’m so sorry” before the cone turned so that he couldn’t see her face anymore.

Hacker: Eh, I figured it was just warming up to the Good Shit. Time to see how this megapulser works.

The cone’s bubble spat several dozen gleaming black missiles, long crackling trails of green energy following them. They were slightly longer than his avatar’s body, but only half the size of the Stooges’. The code-darts paled next to them in size. Hacker dismally guessed they would pack a far worse wallop.

He switched to the megapulser, and fired off a shot at one of the cyber-missiles. A gigantic glowing blue pulser diamond, made of jagged star-like edges, flew out. It smacked solidly into the missile, which exploded into a thousand sparkling pixels of digital shrapnel. Unfortunately, the shrapnel exerted plenty of damage – his shield bubble rippled and flickered around the tiny specks’ impacts.

He almost completely missed the next missile as it whipped towards him. He ducked away, but to no avail as the projectile bounced off his shield. The bubble rippled wildly, pixelating across a thousand colors. Then it crumpled completely in a flash of waning code.

A warning alarm pinged in his consciousness. Compared to the darts, which took several hits to burn out his shield, these were definitely worse. He was now open to other missiles – and just from the shield damage, he guess they would kick him out of c-space on one hit.

He rebooted his ICE, restoring its shield around himself. He fired again at the next missile, then screamed as a flying circular sawblade whipped towards his face. He ducked it at the last second, cursing as it shredded a portion of his ICE shield on its way out. He blinked in shock as he realized what had happened.

The cone had fired more than just missiles. A lot more.

The entire section of c-space between him and the cone was now full of flying circular blades, glowing spheres of angrily crackling lightning, and racing missiles.

The Stooges closed ranks, firing their own pulsers with a speed that dazzled Hacker’s eyes whenever he looked in their direction.

Moe: HOLY SHIT you’re right this just got fugly.

Larry: Argh stupid fuckin…BRB…

Curly: Watch your back, Hacker! Those things are–

Hacker watched Larry’s skull vanish, then reappear where it’d vanished–

Something flashed in his peripheral vision.

Cursing, he barely dodged another circular blade as it raced towards his avatar’s neck. He threw a pulser shot at it, turning it into pixel dust. Right behind it came two missiles and a ball of angrily crackling energy.

The ball smacked into his ICE shield, blowing it out completely with a loud crackle of green lightning. His HUD’s counter indicated at least five seconds before his ICE restored it.

SHIT shit shit shit–

He flew wildly, scrambling to dodge the incoming projectiles.

He spotted the Stooges splitting up with equal speed, racing in wide arcs while letting each other shoot out any pursuers. He joined them, blasting away at anything coming too close to him or them.

Beyond, the cone floated haplessly as it continued its assault. He watched as its ICE doubled in strength and opacity, turning from blue to a near-black.

Hacker: Just hang in there, Cortie. Just hang in there. We’ll get through. Just a matter of time here.

He switched to cyber-projectiles, sending off green arrow-shaped missiles after the waves of pursuing missiles, sawblades, and energy balls whipping around. Explosions rocked the local c-space with shockwaves.

Hacker: Is it me or are the security systems WORKING? We still aren’t close enough for me to send null.ethic over!

Larry: Yeah we’re gonna have to step it up.

Moe: This is—OW! FUCKIN—

Moe’s skull crumpled under the barrage of two missiles and one circular blade, its pixels flying wildly askew. The Reaver returned quickly enough, spitting out a rapid stream of pulser blasts at the next cluster of incoming attackers.

Larry: LOOK OUT!

A broad beam of yellow-green energy flashed out, smashing into Curly’s skull. Its pixels lit on fire as they blasted outwards in a rolling blue-green blastwave that bowled Hacker, Larry, and Moe over.

When the trio had straightened and rejoined Curly’s freshly reloaded skull, Hacker let out a frustrated growl.

The ethics program had changed its tactics again.

Brilliant beams of angry energy lanced across cyberspace, seeking the foursome. So far, they didn’t touch the regenerators. Then Hacker saw the replicator’s systems diamond crumpling into two floating halves as they fired. The sphere of other replicator systems twitched and spun wildly until they simply fell to a heap of deactivated icons on the floor. Craig was going to have his work cut out for him trying to fix that.

Larry: SHEEEIT now that’s nasty.

Hacker: Welcome to my life from forty years ago! Talk about reliving the old days!

Curly: HOLY FUCK THAT HURT!

Hacker yelped as one of the beams grazed past his avatar, neatly vaporizing a whole cluster of passing data icons. The replicator definitelywasn’t going to work anytime soon. Neither were the lights in that back corner Tamora liked. Good thing she preferred it dark there.

Hacker: MOVE MOVE MOVE! Make yourselves as hard to hit as possible!

He flew into a long twisting arc that included numerous frantic barrel rolls and sharp turns as he dodged the beams. The Stooges’ larger skull avatars fared worse than his, exploding repeatedly and re-loading into cyberspace amid the ashes of their predecessors.

Brilliant green light slammed into Hacker’s field of vision. Pain scrambled his senses as everything dwindled to dazzling lines of green and yellow glitch.

The regenerator room swam into view as Hacker slumped to the floor. Cortieball fell from his lap and rolled slowly away, her face staring worriedly at him as it remained upright. Goggles quickly picked up the ball, then walked over to him. Cortie mournfully watched Hacker as he lay with all his limbs sprawled out, staring up at the ceiling as he gasped for breath.

“Fuck, that hurt,” he muttered softly as the pain finally began to fade. “Ouch.”

He carefully sat up, and regarded the soldier as she walked up to him. Behind her, all three Stooges sat or lay in weary heaps, their limbs akimbo. Larry looked up at him and waved feebly.

Moe: Damn those beams are brutal…

Curly: No shit

Larry: Not sure if I can go back. Those beams are gonna clock me the second I reload in.

Goggles knelt and handed him the ball. Cortie stared forlornly up at him as he settled back into his cross-legged position. Exhaustion tugged at his body despite the high dose of Stam-Up and Genius in his system. He wearily scrubbed at his face.

“I feeEL HelPleSssS,” she whispered. “JUst WATcHInG aS yoUU DwinDLe whiLe TryINg to…s-s-saAVE meeE.”

He ran his hands along the ball’s surface, wishing it were squeezable. He’d never heard her sound so miserable. Or so hopeless. Every iteration of SHODAN he’d met spouted confidence and a calm assurance they would live. But Cortie sounded so very close to completely giving up.

He held the ball close to his chest again as he ran through his assortment of system menus. There had to be something on here. Something in this goddamn beast of a rig that could turn things around. Something.

He rummaged long and hard, digging through menus and sub-menus. Nothing stood out except advanced drug cocktails, assorted cyberspace weapons, and the system reset needed to send a Reaver back into cyberps–

He ducked into the System Reset options, wondering if there was a way to automatically reload back into cyberspace without a conscious desire to do so. Perhaps the Super-Reavers had upgrades on the basic Reaver configuration?

Hm. Cyberspace reload – intention-based. Aha! OK, gonna set that to automatic. Hokay. I’ll just drop back into C-space no matter what happens. Stooges seem to have that already set so, cool.

Let’s see…what else.

Weapons reload – none chosen. Huh what’re the options? Oooh, last weapon loaded? I’ll set it to that. That’ll save me looking for something to shoot when I auto-reload.

All right. What else is in here? Attack Recovery Modes? I thought I already covered this. Oh, they’re for heavy-duty attacks? Huh, let’s see…

Hacker blinked as he read through the Attack Recovery Mode options.

System override blockers…nice, I’ll turn those on. Cyberspace buffer reload…already on, automatic ICE reload – oh I’d get my shield back pronto, definitely turning that on – OH WOW.

Rootkit Defense Options? Oooooooh, enhanced rootkit detection, cutoff systems designed to keep a rootkit out of essential systems. NICE. Very nice.

Huh. What’s this?

Oh. My. God. Ohmygod oh my god…

ROOTKIT COUNTERMEASURES?! WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE? AUGHHHHH.

Hacker quickly read through the options, while screeching internally.

Once he was sure he’d read the menu correctly, he grinned broadly as he turned his attention to the ball in his hands.

“Cortie. You’re not gonna believe this,” he chortled.

She blinked up at him.

“I’ve got rootkit defenses all up in this shit,” he answered quickly. “If I get in range, my rig can keep your rootkit from messing too much with me.”

Cortie blinked. Then blinked again.

“ThaAT Must be HOow thEeeEy Did It. TheEY resisTED mY neURaL roOTkiT UntIL theY CouLD finISH sEnDINg the ParAMEtERr-r-rs.”

Hacker perked.

“So basically all I’d have to do is run headlong into your rootkit’s range, and let it scoop null.ethic out of my brain?”

Cortie stared at him in awe for several long seconds, then nodded slowly.

“You could write it as a Trojan,” Goggles suggested. “Make it look like an ethics upgrade or something? Something the params’ll scoop up before figuring out it’s meant to break ‘em.”

“I like it,” Hacker said with a widening grin. “That’ll make sure it doesn’t check the file too fully, and she can take it from there. I still know how to code for Tri-Op shit. They’re fun to gunk up with viruses. Eh. Old hobby. Old pre-Citadel hobby. Anyways….uhhh…lemme get into my softs writer and see what I can do.”

[ladytrollfishes]

Cress, Shupaa and Lyrian: Dal Segno

Kitty | neriticNomadLast Tuesday at 11:40 PM

 Neuja never sleeps. The cover of the crowd never dissipates, it only adapts, as pedestrians exchange coats for sun-proof cloaks, and bikes for covered vehicles. In the center of Neuja Square, billboards hawk their wares: Stop by the Chocolate Shoppe on 4th street. How do you keep up-to-date with the news? Blue Cow energy drink really does give you wings!

Tajnost Subway Station has been out of service for several perigees. Its ground entrance sits, empty, between buildings that reach infinitely towards the sky. The entrance to the tunnels below has been sealed, but the top level was not so lucky. With blown-out windows, scraps of broken glass, and empty, hollow doorframes, it is far from a welcoming sight - but it is not remote, either. This makes it perfect for you. Two blocks from the entrance, you click your communicator, locking it in the on position. One block, and you lock your eyes on the rendezvous point, now in sight. 

 "Entering the area," you murmur, seemingly to no one in particular. You don't see Lyrian. She must be inside. "Are you prepared?"(edited)

March 6, 2019

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 2:45 AM

It's not the first time you've flown a drone like this. But it's also not the hundredth time. You squint at the feed of the fly drone's camera's, split screened for 360 view and land the drone on Maera's sleeve, instead of trying to mimic an actual fly's movement, or relying on the autopilot.

"I'm on your arm," you murmur into the microphone. You've got a soundboard balanced on your lap, keyed to the musical cues you had gone over before. You're a few blocks away, sitting in a library's private room, with a laptop and a few books spread out on the table. "We're as prepared as we can be."

Kitty | neriticNomadYesterday at 6:43 AM

You spare a glance over at the little robot. A fly. You will never look at nuisance insects the same again. The doors of Tajnost are more of a courtesy than a requirement. An agile body could step through, or vault into one of the open window frames. You do not do this, because your self-preservation protocol is screaming about the jagged edges of the glass.

Therefore, silly as it looks, you open this strangely empty doorframe, as if it had substance. The station's interior is dark, lit only from the outside. Multi-colored lights from every direction dance just at the edge of the space. The deeper you go, the less light follows you. You find yourself at the edge of these lights, facing into the pitch darkness, listening to the last echo of your own footsteps resonate off the empty ceiling and floor. 

 "It is hoped," you say, to the shadows, "that you would show yourself for this meeting."

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 5:17 PM

You switch to infrared as Maera descends into the darkness, taking stock of the run down station in stark black and whites. It's covered with garbage and graffiti, bent rebar, piles of crap that look like they were left behind by trolls looking for scant shelter in the city. In the darkness you can see her silhouette step out from behind a column, and a bright light flares on as she flicks a lighter on. 

The light would put her face into sharp relief if her paint didn't already do that for her. Her blacks fade into the background, and if you hadn't seen her elsewhere, didn't know that her cheeks were as rounded as yours, you'd have guessed she was gaunt.

"One person alone is not a meeting," she says, a slight tilt to her head. "Is it?" You hold your breath as you lean forward, intent on the screen as the drone focuses on your signmate.

 You can't hear them, not psychically, through the screen, which means a lot of guesswork on your part, but that strange push and pull from the ball meant the gig would be up immediately.

 "You have interesting taste in meeting places," she says. "Why here?" You hit a button on your sound board that immediately fills the audio channel with soft, cheery music. You can't add words to it without setting Maera on edge. It's so strange to be trying to manipulate someone's emotions like this.

Kitty | neriticNomadYesterday at 5:32 PM

There's a flicker of yellow that crosses over your cybernetics. The fire bathes everything in soft, warm light, and the flame flickers as it illuminates the harsh contrast of her face... ... and you never quite get over it. You're never truly prepared. The flicker of light, the sharp lines and stark whites, spark a chill that runs down your spine. Ironic, that your fear would present itself this way. It's Cresce's taste in music that pulls you back to green. Your stance doesn't change. You look her in the eyes, even though you aren't supposed to. Legend says that locking eyes with a psychic lets them reach in and steal your soul. 

 "It is not." Good thing you probably don't have one anymore. 

 As you fight to stay calm, your artificial psi is still recovering from the momentary increased "leak." Your words leave your mouth with a puff of cold air, forming mist in front of your face. 

"There is protection in a crowded place, but there is also risk. This location allows the ability to harness the benefits of crowd and isolation."

 It's the truth. You're confident in your ability to be stealthy, because it's what you were made to do. Instinct told you this would be a good meeting spot. The only security flaw is the one you carried in. 

 "As you arrived first, it is presumed you assessed the location already, for any hidden listening devices." It's protocol. Everything you've done so far is standard procedure. "Can you confirm?"(edited)

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 7:15 PM

Lyrian nods in the dark. "Of course," she says, and steps forward. The firelight falls on a dilapidated bench that she sits down upon. Reaching into her pockets, she retrieves several small circles- it's unclear what the feed shows until she holds one up to the lighter and the wick of the candle catches. 

 "Tell me again about the incident with Cresce," she says, laying candles out on the bench to light the area.

Kitty | neriticNomadYesterday at 7:34 PM

You think, given the circumstances, you might have felt safer in the complete darkness. "The assignment was given at 1000 hours, from Derevnya. Departure for initial gathering of information took place at 1030 hours." Your records are precise, just like your work. This part is watertight. You're only nervous for what she might say when you finish. After all, if this was all she wanted, there was no need for a meeting. 

 "Several contacts, confidential, provided information that produced leads. Available leads led to the Ghoulisar area. Departure took place at 1500 hours on the following day. Upon arrival in Ghoulisar, recon procedures began at approximately 1900 hours, mapping the city and gathering visual information. Recon continued the following, third day."

 You continue in this way, describing the cold, hard facts of your file. Before you even started tracking Cresce specifically, you needed to know the city. You needed to be seen in the city, too, because a new face is always noticed, especially in tighter-knit towns. It was careful, delicate work, hours of it - which was all promptly ruined, despite your best efforts. Then, at the time of your meeting, the fabricated record begins.

 "The target recognized a tail and proceeded to retaliate. Target used an acquired soda bottle to strike, breaking glass on impact and spilling liquid, unknown, across critical junctions in technology. Target then produced a civilian-issue taser in self-defense and disabled tech long enough to escape. Attempts to recover the trail were fruitless, as target evaded each time.

"It's information you've edited into your file. If your memory were taken as-is, the falsified data would be there, exactly as you spoke it. Still... you've never had to lie like this. You're still afraid, despite your efforts, something will show through. "The assignment was relegated to 'failed' status at 1400 hours. Contact with the client was established remotely to report on the mission, due to extenuating circumstances."(edited)

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 7:49 PM

It's one of the tells of a lie, you know, that someone repeats themselves, telling the same story over and over as though rehearsed. You tense, when you hear Maera's voice repeat the same words she told you the last time. Will Lyrian pick up on that? Or will she brush it off as another one of Maera's quirks? It's impossible to tell from here, when you're a screen away.

 All you have to go on is the careful consideration on Lyrian's pixelated face. 

"What did you think of her?" she asks mildly. Your mind races. She's probing for an emotional reaction, you think. She's testing Maera for loyalty, and her genuine response to this, as well as any follow up is going to lead any follow up questions. It's what you'd do. 

You hesitate for a second. What's the best emotion to follow up this question? Anger? For a thwarted hunter? Nervousness, for the unexpected line of questions? You hit the button for white noise. Confusion, you think. The best approximation you have for it.

Kitty | neriticNomadYesterday at 7:54 PM

You react in kind. "Opinions are not relevant to the assignment." "Does not compute," or, the robot version of "haha, what?" Are you deflecting? Yes. But you're also telling the truth: it isn't your job to form opinions. That's why you're so god damn bad at it. 

 "She possesses heightened awareness, compared to the average troll. She is also quick to retaliate. Further data on her skills and attributes cannot be gathered. Extrapolations on existing data are not a default function of existing protocols. Do you wish to to inquire about extrapolation?"

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 8:09 PM

Lyrian doesn't even twitch. She waves a hand to indicate to Maera to proceed. You don't know what she wants from this. You don't know what she's taking from this interaction. You wish, again, you could hear them properly. You don't stop the white noise. You'd think Maera's at least as thrown as you are.

Kitty | neriticNomadYesterday at 8:26 PM

You have to keep your assessments as close to your data as possible. You know about Cress. You've learned more about her from the time you've spent, but you can't access that information now.

"The target possesses quick reflexes and quick thinking. She is prepared to use improvised weapons in an effective manner. She assesses potential enemies and attempts to pinpoint weak points, suggesting that she prefers to rely on strategy rather than brute force. In a short time frame, this kind of thinking is somewhat difficult. Therefore, the fact that she executed a complex maneuver under pressure suggests she may present more of a challenge than anticipated. 

"Data also suggests that the target possesses a heightened awareness. Potential cause for this is varied. Further observation would be necessary to determine if this awareness was due to a temporary increase in anxiety and hyperawareness, or if she is highly aware as a baseline. This would make her difficult to attack, if the assignment were to attack, capture, or kill. However, since the assignment included only observation, further pursuit would have driven the target out of known ranges." 

 You've seen what trolls do when they're spooked. Usually, you only complete these missions because you stay one step ahead, and because, when you do catch them, you only need to kill them. Long-term observation is harder. If a troll notices a tail, they'll act erratic until they believe the danger has passed. There's no easy fix for that. "Is this speculation sufficient?"

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 9:08 PM

Oh you're certainly nervous now, but Maera rattles on in her monotonous, factual way you'd have a hard time poking through if you weren't, you know. Listening properly. Her extrapolations and speculations are pretty realistic too, if you say so yourself. Lyrian sighs. You watch as she raises her shoulders and drops them in an exaggerated motion.

"Then you're no use to me," she says and stands, easy and comfortable on the balls of her feet. "You're a waste of time." 

 You immediately tense up again. "Maera," you murmur and hit the track for the cheery music again. "Don't."

Kitty | neriticNomadYesterday at 9:16 PM

You know you shouldn't ask them, but the questions in your mouth are burning. You know you shouldn't, but you want to ask her why she sent you on an impossible mission. You want to ask what she hoped the achieve - but you can't. If you do, you'll give Cress away. You'll give yourself away. 

 But you need to ask something. You need to improve. Even without the lab making your improvements, you need to improve yourself. You did fail this mission. You need to do better. Cresce can't understand that.

"Respectfully," you begin, because she's your better, in addition to your client, "before taking your leave, data is being collected for analysis and future improvement." Your eyes follow her as she starts to move, and you stay facing her, though you try to stand your ground. "Can you provide further details on problem areas?"

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 9:28 PM

Oh no. You can't pin point why this strikes you as such a bad idea, but it does. You can't even begin to predict how this conversation is going to fall out, or what Lyrian wants from this. 

 "You poor thing," she murmurs. "So desperate for any scrap of approval. With such an empty life, I imagine it wasn't so difficult for Cresce to get you on her side. It's startlingly easy for people like us to manipulate people like you." 

 It's like a pit of ice drops into your stomach.

"Maera," you say, your mouth dry, but you don't have a follow up to it besides- "you need to get out of there now."

Kitty | neriticNomadYesterday at 9:38 PM

You hear Cresce. That doesn't mean you listen. "The descriptors chosen are grossly inaccurate." You try not to speak with gritted teeth. Your face doesn't change, but your implants have turned red., glowing softly in the dark room. 

"'Desperation' is not present. There are no sides." You're angry, frustrated at not receiving a useful answer, and offended at the insinuation of an attack on your method. But... but there's something about what she says that sticks in your head. Is Cress manipulating you, like she says? She would know, wouldn't she? If she set everything up from the start... And in your preoccupation, you don't outright deny her influence. Oopsies.

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 9:47 PM

"Maera!" you snap. "Leave! Get out of there now!" You know Maera likes you, even if she's suspicious of you, and if Lyrian has put the idea in her head that you're anything like her well. Well then, you don't know what to do. You can't even be sure there's doubt in her head right now. You're on your feet now, pacing as Lyrian's voice starts again.

"Please, Maera," she says, her voice still calm and smooth as a pond on a cold autumn day. "Desperation is what happens when you want an answer this badly, from someone you've only met twice. Cresce can be quite charming when she wants to be. I assume she's listening in."(edited)

Kitty | neriticNomadYesterday at 9:56 PM

There's one clenched fist, held at your side. It's the only outward indication of your anger, bubbling just below the surface. 

 "Any involvement Cresce has would be irrelevant, were it true." She says you should leave. Should you? Can you even trust her anymore? She got her information, but you haven't gotten yours. 

 "Protocols exist to improve performance. It is a sim-ple request." Your voice breaks on the word as you lose your composure, only for a moment. "Desperation is irrelevant to the assignment. Cresce is irrelevant to the assignment, except as a target. The inquiry relates only to performance on the given assignment. You called this performance 'a waste of time.' Why?"

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 10:30 PM

Maera still isn't moving. She's ignoring you entirely to focus on whatever feedback Lyrian has for her, on her mission to stalk you. Your hands fly up to your hair as you tug on your curls, frustrated. Was this what the handlers felt like all the time? 

"I lied," she says as she looks Maera over. "I've learned quite a bit with this little exercise. Your flaw here is that you don't understand how relevant your desperation is. Or the little games that Cress plays. You do not understand the playing field  and so you are a tool and not a player."

Her eyes barely narrow as she stares straight into the camera, and before you can react, she reaches out and crushes the drone with the flat of her hand. "Fuck!" you exclaim, leaping to your feet. You stuff your soundboard and laptop into your bag and bolt for the streets. "Maera, seriously, if you want I'll go over all of this with you and point out everything you did wrong, but you need to get out of there!"

Kitty | neriticNomadYesterday at 10:46 PM

Your reflexes are good, but she wasn't reaching to touch you. She was reaching for the drone. She crushes it just as your glove makes contact with her hand. You shove. It's easy to do, with your anger behind you. Desperate! As if you don't think about your assignments, or allow petty things like desperation to get in the way of them! As if you weren't made, fine-tuned and relentlessly trained, for this exact kind of task! 

The flare of offense and outrage powers your blow, only to flee immediately after, as your implants go dark. Then, all that's on your mind is strategy. You struck her. You dance back away from her, anticipating retaliation, and your boot hits something. 

You don't feel it, but you hear it, as metal skitters across concrete. Behind you, there's a woosh. When you look, you see that it was caused by a pile debris, consumed with fire from one of Lyrian's candles. It doesn't matter. Lyrian is the bigger threat. If she won't strike you for your attack, she will for your proven betrayal. And the worst part is, the one time you need to defend yourself, you don't even know what to say. 

A persistent thought nags at you: What if she's right? You need to get out. The emergency shutoff protocol kills your artificial psi. You're defenseless, you don't know what Lyrian is capable of, and more of the abandoned station is catching fire with each moment you delay.

 Finally, you follow Cresce's instruction, and bolt for the door.(edited)

Tang | MD (indigo) IT (maroon)Yesterday at 10:58 PM

You bolt for the station you had staked out beforehand, forsaking your image as you push past the crowds of people and towards the roped off station entrance. You know what it looks like down there but you're not quite ready for the smell of smoke. What the hell? 

 You nearly run into Maera as she's bolting up the stairs and you grab her by the shoulders before you let go in surprise- she's freezing to the touch, and when you turn to get a glimpse into the subway station, you can see her standing there, turned around just enough so that you can meet her eyes through the smoke.

 You can hear her. She's clanging with satisfaction. You throw your shoulders back and narrow your eyes as you throw her a middle finger. Satisfaction turns to laughter. Real, non psychic laughter. 

 Bells ring in your ears as she laughs, rough, like she hasn't in a long, long time. A chill runs down your spine, and you hear the bells stop as you follow Maera and run out of the station.

>End RP

[laurellgem-blog]

When StubHub loses your Kendrick Lamar tickets... it's for the best

I love going to concerts, but I have strong feelings about paying hundreds of dollars only to watch a favorite artist on a jumbo screen, and to give you a hint, they aren’t positive ones. Frankly, I figure I’d have better sound and visual quality watching that type of thing from home, so my general rule has been that if the actual size of the performer will amount to a single pixel in my field of vision (or a conglomeration of pixels on a screen), it’s a no-go. 

I could proselytize on the incredible talent, soul, and artistry that is Kendrick Lamar, but I won’t. Suffice it to say I bought a single ticket in the nosebleeds to see the Tacoma/Seattle show of Kendrick’s DAMN. tour on August 1st, featuring Travis Scott and D.R.A.M. If that doesn’t tell you who I’m Loyal too, then I don’t know what does. 

 As I shuffle through the metal detector line outside of the Tacoma Dome, the crowd complains that traffic and accidents made us miss D.R.A.M. and most of Travis, to which someone beside me (who apparently does not share my mega-concert aversion) adds that Travis Scott is a better performer than Kendrick anyway. Having just spent my rent money to see Kendrick (at a mega-arena, no less) I strongly protest, to which he nonchalantly says “No he is. Travis is on a bird right now”. 

 Um, ok? 

Fifteen minutes later an animatronic bird of prey charioting a harnessed, blinged-out Travis Scott is hovering just feet away from my slack-jawed face. Oh wow, that dude was serious. As the music blasting through the speakers competes with the feverish screams of an entire arena, sending visceral pulses of energy through my body, my single thought is, “How did I get here?” That’s a great question, actually, because didn’t I just say I bought nosebleed seats? Let’s back up. After weeks of entering sweepstakes and radio concerts in a vain attempt to win prime Kendrick tix, I spent $220 just to be in the same arena as K-Dot. The night before the concert date, however, StubHub emailed me saying that my tickets were no longer available (cue heart sinking to floor), but not to worry, they think they found tickets I’ll like even more. 

 Understatement. Of. The. Year. 

When I enter from the balcony, I immediately scope out the floor of the stadium. I am still disbelieving that the hazy, undulating press of bodies next to the stage will be where I sit—or rather, stand. There would be no sitting. Approaching the usher guarding the entry into my section, I am reluctant to even let the ticket out of my white-knuckled clutches; its existence contains redemption for an entire life of never-winning-anything disappointment. She looks at me dubiously before scanning the ticket, then escorts me all the way to my seat. Each step is an exhalation of awe that we haven’t stopped yet, that we keep getting closer and closer until suddenly she is pushing back a gaggle of rapt high school kids who had unknowingly migrated into the realm of my aisle seat. Yes. Aisle seat. That aisle is the only thing between me and the projecting stage diagonal to me, which also serves to guarantee that not a soul can get in front me.

Meanwhile, Travis Scott is on a bird and the crowd is LIT. To my left is the likely singer of a screamo band. She is so belligerent that I conclude she is definitely “on one”. Or two. Best guess: MDMA with a side of bath salts. And, while I am vaguely afraid this aggressive short chick will eat my face, I silently applaud the absence of Effs she gives and am inspired. Bitch don’t kill my vibe and I won’t kill yours. 

The concert-enthusiast wasn’t wrong about Travis. He clearly understands performance and the power of spectacle, as any mega-show must, and he commands all of our attention. Travis signals for us to put two arms in the air from his lofty stage and then he motions that we should bounce them to the beat. Full disclosure, this is my first rap concert, and apparently they posses their own unspoken etiquette. I have a background in choreographed hip-hop, so I don’t do half-assed dance moves. I’m starting to really get into it… until I realize that no one else is on my level—not even the bath-salts-girl. Apparently this motion is universally understood in the rap community to be a casual up-and-down; it looks nothing like the jagged crumping I was doing. My bad. 

 No worries, I don’t flatter myself that anyone is focused on anything but the stage—that is until intermission. 

The lights turn on and a broad swath of fabric titled “DAMN.”cloaks the stage. Amidst a surplus of anticipation and a vacuum of stimuli, my neighbors and I transform into a crowd of possessed Furbies. We swivel our necks at odd angles to assess our surroundings; I am fascinated by what I observe. 

On the center left (my section) stand a crowd of young people who look like they saved up two paychecks working at Jamba Juice and Forever 21 in order to afford tonight. A mélange of older people, beautiful people, and their beautiful children occupy the center front section. They look like they have one thing in common: connections. My row eyeballs me like they’re wondering why my single-aisle-seat, mid-to-late twenties, industry-girl ass isn’t sitting with all the other schmucks in the center who only know “HUMBLE.” and can’t possibly tolerate the $800+ noise someone paid for them to hear without earplugs. I glance right and a girl already wearing earplugs is passing out the brightly colored status symbols like cocaine at a Hampton’s party. Great, now I’m self-conscious that I look like them…I had hurriedly exchanged my scrubs for something rap-concert-appropriate in a gas station on the way down to Tacoma, but I think I erred on the Boujee end of the “Bad and Boujee” spectrum. 

I, however, am not about to be caught dead with earplugs, and my evil side secretly hopes Kendrick calls out their half-hearted participation like he did to this VIP section in Montreal. 

Suddenly, the room goes dark and a short-film begins to play on the jumbotron. Punctuating the night’s performance, these mock-serious flicks gradually establish Kung-Fu Kenny’s (Kendrick’s alt. persona) directive to find the Glow “where the black is darkest”. The first short blinks out and the suspense becomes palpable in the dim arena. I am basking in the surreal knowledge that Kendrick is about to be five feet in front of me when a massive bang and several jets of fire burst from the stage. After returning to the skin I had momentarily jumped out of, my eyes alight on a crouched Kendrick ascending through a cloud of smoke. Needless to say, the crowd goes wild and I forget how to breathe. 

 Now THAT is how you go digital to physical on all ya’ll, ay? We were warned.

As the first refrains of the track play I lose it. It’s “DNA.”, my favorite song off the entire DAMN. Album (2017). Kendrick makes his way out to the projecting stage where he performs most of the righteously angry single. Is my face melting? I don’t care. Kendrick then migrates upstage for the rapid-fire verse of “DNA,” where he gets busy spitting bars while simultaneously dodging katas from an actual ninja. Kendrick keeps the energy high by seamlessly transitioning to “ELEMENT,” another popular track from DAMN. 

In keeping with the tour’s namesake, Kendrick primarily showcases songs off his latest album, but he also sends the crowd into convulsions by throwing it back to albums like To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) and untitled unmastered. (2016). When he performs one of the title tracks off good kid, m.A.A.d. city (2012), I could die happy. 

I have gone to many a concert, sang and danced along like no one was watching, but this is an entirely different experience. The one person that actually has the vantage to see me IS Kendrick Lamar, and I am so glad I know the words because I’m pretty sure I will probably turn to stone if he catches me slippin’. One song I only half-know, and it transports me back to that one time at Watershed I snuck to the front, touched Tim McGraw’s hand, faux-sang lyrics I did not know and proceeded to look like a gaping fish out of water. 

 At Kendrick’s show you genuinely get the sense that he is watching you, feeding off your participation. In an unforgettable moment, Kendrick cuts the music during “HUMBLE.” and extends the mic to his audience. We spout out every word to the verse and he appears thoroughly, well… humbled. He even makes an effort to include the cheaper seats by transitioning to a central B- stage where he slows the tempo down to perform “FEEL.” and “LUST” from a light strewn cell. 

Similar to Kendrick’s dynamic vocals, his performance lives on a broad spectrum that ranges from subdued to emotional to belligerent. He uses each tone strategically to achieve a masterful performance. The sheer technicality of a mega-concert like this handicaps his capacity for improvisation (which some may have enjoyed at other Kendrick concerts). Regardless, he is anything but mechanical; sweat coats his face, he occasionally loses breath and every motion he makes is electrified with intent. Sure, there is the occasional pyrotechnics and he does perform part of “PRIDE.” frozen sideways in mid-air, but Kendrick Lamar relies less on gimmicks and more on his sheer charisma and musical genius to captivate the room. Should we even be surprised? Kung-Fu Kenny is a virtuoso of his craft.