#and an c ai gone wrong

[beanofspace]

ALMOST FORGOT-

Oi Chibblets :0

@chibichiibs

Mad scientist Theo :>

This is..

Is this a Stanley Parable AU without a Stanley??

[conanssummerchild]

lukewarm takes with conanssummerchild time ‼️

in solaricks when rick goes back to dimension C-137 he seems just about ready to start at least trying to move on from hunting prime, he admits that he can't find him and even goes on to tell "diane" about their grandkids

yet this is him less than a season later

so, what changed?

well, this, obviously:

not to mention how traumatic that episode must've been for rick in general, having to revisit his past like that, the diane ghost ai. well, rick makes it pretty clear he's not exactly thrilled to be alive

so think it's pretty safe to assume that this was the first step to the rick prime relapse, especially since we know he went back and managed to snag a killbot

one could also argue that rick wasn't ever really over it, so it took very little to push him back, and while i don't think he was over it either, he did seem to start to want to be, morty saying this:

was all it took for him to step away from the base, though it's likely he returned in another moment, but still, that could've been later on

okay, anyway, into the actual point of this post, i think rick took small steps into falling back into finding prime, because even when he seemed to want to be bettering himself things kept going wrong, so eventually he decided, what was the point?

this is how i see it:

obviously preceding solaricks we have rickternal friendshine of the spotless mort, which i'm not gonna go into too much detail on rn despite it being one of my fav lore episodes bcs i wanna look at post-solaricks (but for pre-solaricks rickmurai jack is also worth mentioning due to him having to revisit his backstory with the citadel which is very closely linked to his time looking for prime/killing ricks) but go ahead and check out this post by dirty-bear-rick-sanchez for the best explanation i've seen on it and its effect on rick

anyway, so just 2 episodes after solaricks we have bethic twinstinct, and i've gone into this in a past post how this might have taken him back to his past so i'm just gonna copy paste it from my other post (summarised) bcs im lazy:

a lot of ppl theorise rick and prime knew eachother before he offered him the portal gun so if thats true what if beth and space beth reminded him of them and how he was (hypothetically) cheating on diane and then lost her forever at the hands of the man he was having an affair with and also lost his beth

which is why rick said "remember, its not just your ice cream you're forgetting, it's your family's" or smth. because he forgot his familys ice cream too much, and all that happened

also look at all the similarities between prime and SB's outfits

then 5 episodes after that we have analyse piss, where we see that rick relates to pissmaster, sympathises with him

i will never not reccomend this fic by abed-with-a-knife about how rick was taken back to his own struggles with suicide and such, but it's not only that, so many features of pissmaster's experience are things rick can relate to, his rocky relationship with his daughter, everyone hating him, i think in general it's pretty clear that this episode was made to link rick and pissmaster

anyway, the next episode after analyse piss is immediately a rick in king mortur's mort, and this is quite clearly rick's breaking point, obviously we know this is when he replaces himself with rickbot, following this scene:

rick tells morty not to take the sword and morty doesn't listen

morty says rick's boring and calls him a "drunk cranky fuck" which does seem to bother rick

despite him shitting on a similar insult in the previous episode

in ricktional mortpoons rickmas mortcation, the following episode, he says the reason he replaced himself was because of this, because he feels like morty doesn't respect him any more, and that:

so first the show wears away at his friendships and his past trauma and self hatred with rfotsm, rickmurai jack goes even further into his past, his relation with the citadel, his "crybaby backstory", etc.

then solaricks forces him to confront his past, specifically his relationship with diane and accept his future and his new family, while giving him a small clue to prime.

then bethic twinstinct, provided he and prime really did know eachother previously (which im a little on the fence on if i'm honest), reminds him of his guilt for diane and little beth dying and how he feels responsible for it by mirroring the situation with older beth and the "edgier" version of herself. after that, analyse piss continues to dig into his current relationship with a beth that isn't his own, and takes a shot at his suicidal tendancies and how he feels like "god hates him" or the universe is against him or whatever.

and lastly akikmm takes all of that that rick is already carrying on his shoulders and adds morty not respecting him or caring about him to it, and it clearly cause rick to finally snap. if all of this was building and the only thing keeping rick afloat was his codependant relationship with morty (as seen in solaricks when morty gets him to not go after prime just by showing his care) then morty (by no fault of his own) seeming to dismiss rick must make him think "what's the point anymore?" if no one cares about him, then he might as well complete his life-long revenge plot, even if it destroys him again

because no one cares about him, right? (dramatic old fuck, get him psycological help)

anyway it's almost 2am so my thoughts aren't as coherent as i would like and i'm too lazy to read over this post and check if everything is right and good

most of what i've said in this post is probably pretty obvious, i just wanted to lay it out neatly with images and everything (im so classy ik /j) it accidentally came out a LOT longer than i intended. what can i say i just love yapping on about rnm

[meabh-mcinness]

Cheating (KalegoxGN!reader)

Main Masterlist

As a teacher at Babyls, you had to go through and experience many things. Demon-eating plants on the loose, potion labs blowing up, and the many, many events that Babyls put on and almost always had something go wrong before you, the teachers, had to fix it. In the few years you had been there, you thought you had gone through it all, until now.

For the first time ever, you had caught a student cheating.

I…yea. Look I'm not a teacher, yet at least (I'm getting a minor in education and intend to teach both ESL and probably biology (which is my major) and palaeontology (which is my Master's/PhD's) but the amount of AI generated essays I've seen as an undergraduate writing centre tutor and is just grrrrrrr. Anyway have my little rant fic.

"Do you know why I've asked you to stay behind?"

A smile stayed on your face as you stared directly into the eyes of the student before you. As a human, you had long mastered the look of a hard stare while still appearing to be friendly. When the student, a fourth year by the name of Muzuki, had first come up to you after class, they had been cocky, confident. The absolute picture of unwarranted hubris if there ever was one. And so you sat comfortably in your chair, a nice soft leather from some poor Netherworld beast that Kalego had kindly bought for you, quietly waiting for Muzuki to answer your question as you continued staring at them. The longer you stared, the less comfortable they became.  

A shake of the head, purple braids swinging with the force of it. An eyebrow raised as the silence continued. "Really? None at all?" Your own head tilted to the side slightly, a smile still set on your face as you waited. Another more hesitant head shake followed. A disappointed sigh left you, and your body shifted forward so that you could reach a small stack of papers just off to the side and slid into their view. Their eyebrows scrunched together in confusion as they quickly glanced over the top laying paper, before freezing up a little. "Perhaps this gives you a hint?" 

They tried to subtly shake themselves loose and continue to hold up that faked confidence. Lower jaw set stubbornly, but you could see that fear was in their eyes. And that was all you needed to pounce.

“Tell me Muzuki, do you think I’m stupid?” They visibly startled at the question, body jerking slightly in surprise at they looked back you again. You could see their mind racing as they quickly thought up an answer.

“No professor,” they settled on. You hummed in response.

“Then do you think you’re exceptionally deceptive? I’ll admit it’s an admirable trait to have in the Netherworld. To con others into giving you what you want is a way to ensure survival after all. Until of course,” you paused smiling slipping off your face and eyes narrowing at them, “you try to con the wrong person.” You watched as their body froze up; terror evident on their face before they mentally shook themselves and stood taller.

It was evident to you that they couldn’t understand why they feared you so much at that moment. After all, even if you were related to the great Sullivan, you were just some no-ranker. Supposedly not even worthy enough to receive an alef badge much less heranking like the student before you. What a shame that the demon culture never understood that sometimes, a rank meant nothing in the face of what someone could do.

While you hated making a student fear you, you also understood that this message really needed to sink in. You couldn’t let students think you could be taken advantage of, not if you wanted to remain a good teacher. And you also couldn’t let them think they could get away with everything, there were so many beings out there who would do far worse things to them if they had been deceived.

“Con, professor?” they asked, trying to keep a smirk on their face but you could see the slight tremors moving through their body that belied how they really felt.

“Yes Muzuki. Con. In this case, defined as trying to trick someone into believing something that is not true. Such as you writing this essay.” Muzuki started to open their mouth, but you held up your hand to pause them. “Don’t even bother. I’m well aware that you didn’t write this. The tone and style are far too different from your usual works, and at least three of the supposed sources you gave me do not exist. At all. And believe me I looked. I even contacted different clans to see if they had heard of the books because I wanted to believe that you wouldn’t cheat. And yet here we are.” You gestured between the two of you, a look of fear creeping on their face and a disappointed one on yours.

“I didn’t cheat,” they blurted out suddenly. You raised an eyebrow at them.

“Oh?”

“Yeah! Those sources are real books! You couldn’t find them because uhm because they belong to the Naberius clan! Yup, you know Kalego-sensei. He’s super grouchy but he always helps us in the end if we ask. And since this essay was on the particulars of summoning runes, I thought he would be good to ask.” They ended this sentence with a firm nod. You blinked at them. Once, twice, and thrice again as you tried to comprehend what they just said. Were…were they serious?

“You asked…Kalego-sensei?” you parroted back at them. More violent nods were your answer. So, they were being serious. As far as backup claims went, you could see how it could come about. There were just a few obvious issues with what they were saying. For example, “Why didn’t you ask Robin-sensei? The actual familiar teacher?”

“Well…Robin-sensei is new. Like you are professor, and to be honest I feel more comfortable asking Kalego sensei since he used to run the class. It’s a habit to think of him as the familiar teacher rather than Robin-sensei. Plus, I figured with such an amazing familiar as Cerberion combined with his old and high-ranking family line he had to have something worth checking out.” You slowly nodded your head, mostly in disbelief rather than actually agreeing with what they were saying. If you hadn’t known already known that the Naberius family had no such books, you could see it as a liable thing happening.

What a shame that you knew it wasn’t true since Kalego allowed you full access to the Naberius library. When his family wasn’t home of course. No need to have to deal with the drama fallout that would come if his family discovered that Kalego had feelings.

“I see. Yes. Kalego-sensei is rather helpful, isn’t he? Always so ready to lend a hand to those willing to ask for it.” Muzuki nodded more, so fast that their braids practically whipped around in a frenzy. It appeared they were really going to fight you on this. You admired their tenacity and their bravery to involve Kalego of all demons. A grin lit up your face, “In fact, since this is clearly just a misunderstanding why don’t we just call him over here?”

You watched as their face went through a series of emotions. First pride and relief at believing they had in fact tricked you, before confusion set in before finally landing in panic mode as your words sunk in.

They waved their hand about, “Well I mean there’s no need for that is there? It’s just like you said it was simply a misunderstanding. I’m sure Kalego-sensei is really busy right now and I would hate to bother him for something so small.”

“Nonsense! It’s like we agreed earlier, Kalego-sensei is always willing to lend a helping hand, and it wouldn’t be too much to tear him away from whatever work he is currently doing just to confirm this. Between you and me he could use some more breaks and since this is such a simple thing, he can be in and out and still get a few minutes’ rest from it to get back to work with a fresher mind. A win-win all around wouldn’t you say?”

The grin on your face was downright feral and you knew it. Briefly you wondered how far they would take this. After all, Kalego would never tolerate being used in a lie for something so insignificant as this. Honestly, there wasn’t much Kalego would allow someone to lie using him. You liked to think he would lie to keep you out of jail but that was a 50/50 shot depending on what happened to cause you to be arrested in the first place. Perhaps best not to chance it.

It took only a second for you to shoot off a text to Kalego’s phone and lean back in your chair, hands clasping in front of you. A second for the student to realize what exactly had just happened and you watched their eyes. Pure panic was enveloping them. The predator in you purred at causing the feeling and you understood why Kalego acted so spitefully so often. It really was a nice feeling.

It was only a minute of you and Muzuki staring at one another before you heard the clunking steps of Kalego’s boots. Ah, he was not in a happy mood for you to hear him. You suddenly felt pretty bad for Muzuki considering what you were about to unleash on him. The door to your room was slammed open and in walked the demon in question. You could practically see the dark shadows of anger flowing off of him; his lips pulled into a snarl. Muzuki shrunk into themselves at his look but you could only just barely control yourself from rolling your eyes at him. If this were an anime you were almost certain there would be a giant sweat drop on your head at Kalego.

“What,” he snarled at you, teeth on full display. This time you actually did roll your eyes before crooking a finger at him. A universal command to ‘come hither’. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Muzuki stare at you in horror at your blatant lack of fear towards Kalego, along with your audacity to actually command him. To be fair though, Muzuki wasn’t the one courting the growling menace before you, and this allowed you leeway. A lot of leeway.

“Afternoon sunshine!” you greeted him with a bright smile, the answering glare he gave in return being as much of greeting as you were going to get with witnesses about, especially while he was in a mood. Ignoring his sour mood you gestured towards your student who was still staring in terror at you. Likely believing this interaction will result in your death. “Muzuki-san here and I were just having a little discussion here and we just needed you to confirm something for me.”

Kalego raised an eyebrow at you, head tilting the slightest bit in his curiosity, before his eyes narrowed again. “And this required me coming all the way out here? Are you not a teacher? Confirm it yourself rather than wasting my time.” Another roll of your eyes came out. All the way out here was literally down the hall. It was rather convenient having your classroom only a couple hundred feet from the teacher’s room. Especially when it came to annoying your favourite demon.

“Unfortunately, it does require you to be here as it involves you. Muzuki-san here claims that you lent them books to help with their project. Directly from the Naberius library.”

“I did.”

It took every ounce of control for you not to do a double take, but the smile on your face did drop. He did what?

“I’m sorry?”

“I lent them three books from the family library.” He turned his glare over to Muzuki, “Of which I have yet to receive back.” Muzuki quickly caught onto his meaning and immediately started digging around in their bag producing three books. Each one was wrapped in beautiful leather of varying colours with gold designs embellishing them. It took everything not to drop your jaw at the sight. On the one hand you were glad the books were real ones, on the other hand you now had to apologize for saying they made them up.

Watching the books as they turned slightly you suddenly realized something. A smirk grew on your face. “I see, my apologized Muzuki, for assuming that Kalego-sensei didn’t lend you books about summoning runes. This clearly was-”

“Summoning runes?” Kalego interrupted. You turned your head back to look at him, putting on the most innocently confused face you could muster.

“Why yes, that is of course, what the essay I assigned was on. Or rather more precisely the history of evolution and modern applications and interpretations of summoning runes. We had a slight misunderstanding that they cheated on their essay, since the writing was so different from previous ones and the sources they used were ones I couldn’t find. They’ve assured me that they do exist and that they came from your library. That is the books they asked for from you, is it not? Or at least somewhere along those lines?” You watched with hidden glee as Muzuki froze at your words and Kalego’s sharp eyes trained onto them like a hunting dog before its prey.

Gotcha.

“No,” Kalego drawled out slowly and you saw his eyes glinting with understanding, “it is not. These books are on potions, which has little to do with runes.” Which you knew, because you had read those specific ones before.

“Oh really,” you said, locking your own eyes onto the now terrified student. “What a surprise. Are there any other books they borrowed from you?”

“No.”

You hummed in understanding, slowly getting up to walk around your desk and lean against it with your arms crossed in front of your chest. “Muzuki, I think it would be best if you told the truth now. Don’t you?”

___________________

“An auto pen!” you shrieked as soon as the door shut. Muzuki had spilled everything before being reprimanded by the both you and assigned detentions for the next two weeks. They also had an automatic zero on the paper and considering it was worth 15% of their grade, well things weren’t looking too good in your class for them right now. “A pen that automatically writes essays for them! That does everything for them! If I hadn’t noticed the writing style and checked the sources who knows how many assignments they would have gotten away with! How many others are currently doing it? Delkira above I’m going to have to carefully go over each and every thing they’ve all handed in to me again. Just to make sure others didn’t do it!” You were a snarling mess, teeth bared in anger as you paced back in forth in front of your desk, Kalego sitting calmly on one of the student’s tables as you essentially lost your marbles over this.

“I mean seriously! Why did they think it was ok! It’s not like I asked for much! Three weeks to write 1500 words and they decided to have a stupid pen do it for them! I have so many students out there pouring their heart and soul into these papers, weeks of their time down the drain so that they can get what they feel is the perfect paper. Then people like Muzuki think its ok to wait till the last minute and just have something else do it for them! It makes me want to scream!” In fact you did scream, a small aggravated yell tore from your throat at the end of the sentence, hands thrown in the air.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? I thought you of all people would be spitting fire over…this.” You turned to face him properly as you once again passed right in front of the demon and faltered in what you were saying at the look on his face. To an outsider he would have been completely unrecognizable. His dark eyes were soft as they stared at you and his lips were turned up in a small smile. You felt your heart clench at the look and everything in you melted. Pale fingers reached out the short distance and hooked under your belt, pulling you closer to him so that you were so close you might as well be sharing breath.

His other hand lifted up and caressed the side of your face, thumb brushing your cheek. “I love seeing you like this.” Was all he said as you leaned into the touch.

You couldn’t help the small snort of laughter at the sentence. “What? Angrier than a hydra whose nest had been messed with?”

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes in exasperation at you, “No you fool, caring about your students. You treat them like your own younglings most times but never let it stop you from doing what needs to be done. You’re so angry because you care about them and want them to succeed. If Muzuki had actually written that essay, you would probably be throwing around praises like no tomorrow. And I’ll be everything that when you see them next, you’re probably going to have them write an extra credit essay to retain some of that grade. Even if I do think you should let them sink.”

A flush rose to your skin at the feeling of being called out. “That’s because they’re good kids! They’re just a little…misguided in thinking at times. And I wouldn’t do it the next time I saw them! Just maybe… in a week or two…if it seems like they learned their lesson of course.”

“Of course,” He hummed at you, before smirking slyly. “Although that would mean I lose the bet.” He his hand suddenly slid from your cheek to the back of your neck and pulled you forward. Just a hairs breath away from your mouth was his own. “Which means I owe you everything.”

With that he connected your lips and you couldn’t help the sigh that left you. Your arms lifted up and wrapped around his neck, hands lightly playing with the short hairs that ended right above his capelet’s collar. The both of you pulled away after a few seconds and rested your foreheads together. It was rare that Kalego showed such levels of intimacy outside of the walls of your shared home, and you couldn’t help but soak in every second of it.

“I think your everything is a rather acceptable payment.” You grinned at him before going back and giving him another kiss. A rather acceptable payment indeed. 

[inlove76]

tired

(y/n) walked around the avengers tower with dull eyes his once happy go lucky look gone. today wasn't a good day for (y/n) he had got a call from his parents telling him they'd be coming back in a few days. (y/n) looked so...dull all the happiness sucked out of him

he walked around the tower looking for one person and one person only. 'hes probably in his office he's always in his office' (y/n) thought to himself as he made his way to said office. inside he was met with a busy tony and Bruce.

tony stopped and turned around and looked at (y/n). "oh hey (y/n) you need something?" tony asked as (y/n) shook his head. "no I don't I'm just here to watch" (y/n) answered as he sat in tony's chair. tony looked over at (y/n) , obviously he knew something was wrong he wasn't stupid but he wasn't going to push it "okay I'll be done in a minute" tony answered and got back to work.

as Tony said he was done after only a few minutes but when he turned back to talk to (y/n) he was gone. "j.a.r.v.i.s?" tony asked as the ai bot responded "yes sir?", "wheres (y/n) at did he leave?" tony asked as he cleaned his hands off from the Greece that he got on them "no sir he did not leave sir (y/n) is in his quarter" j.a.r.v.i.s replied as tony thanked the a.i bot and left to (y/n)s room.

knock knock

"come in" (y/n)s tired voice came from behind the door. something was off tony could feel it (y/n) sounded so....tired and not the sleepily kind of tired the "I'm ready to give up on everything" kinda tired.

tony opened the door and peaked his head in only to be met with the lights off and (y/n) laying in bed faced up with his arm over his eyes. tony walked in fully and closed the door softly behind him and cut the lights on "why are you laying in the dark baby?" tony asked as he moved closer to (y/n)

(y/n) sat up and looked over at tony "its relaxing" (y/n) answered and made room for tony on his bed. tony sat down and took a moment to actually look at (y/n), his messy (h/c) hair and dulled down tired (e/c) eyes the eye bags under his eyes and the way he held himself slightly hunched over. "you look tired" tony said and bring his hand up to (y/n)s cheek.

(y/n) tiredly leaned into tony's touch "I know" he responded and sat up straighter "is something wrong?" tony asked and intertwined there hands together "no just a little tired nothing I cant handle" (y/n) responded giving tony's hand a reassuring squeeze.

tony smiled slightly and gave (y/n) a kiss on his cheek "I know you can its just......you look so sad today" tony responded and stared at (y/n)s beautiful (e/c) eyes.

(y/n) sighed and let go of Tony's hand and looked down and hummed "I'm sad everyday, I just didn't have the energy to hide it today" (y/n) responded honestly and looked down at the floor.

"today's just not the day I'm sorry" (y/n) said and glanced over at tony "that's okay....... we can cuddle if you'd like" tony responded

and then for the rest of the day they spent there time cuddling in (y/n)s bed.

Bruce: where'd tony go?

Wanda: and (y/n)

Thor: j.a.r.v.i.s?

j.a.r.v.i.s: sir tony and sir (y/n) are in (y/n)s room right know

Steve: there probably cuddling

everyone:.

[please-put-arasha-in-marvel]

Reddit Stories

Ok so I've been dying to ask this question but do ya'll have a Reddit story that made you feel the following:

a) insane anger

b) a story that made you sad and you just wanted to give op a hug

c) shitting pants funny

Here are my answers:

a)

Husband obsessed with my boss [The Most Unpredictable Reddit Stories]

I overheard my bf saying he chose the wrong girl [Parties gone wrong]

My wife has no friends [Did they go too far]

b)

Bf wants to establish traditional gender roles [Not getting married today]

Am I too harsh [Once a cheater always a cheater]

Accidentally dating my bff [High school drama]

c)

My sister had a terrible bachelorette party [Party Nightmares]

Tripping on shrooms in a house full of cats [4/20]

I paid my wife for sex [I'm sorry WHAT?] (mainly because of Shayne]

Honorable mention: My fiance found my sexy AI chats [Are these relationships doomed?] - This story was very jarring.

Tagging some people: @soupy-girl @sttevn @chunkysoda @haasmaxxing @whiskeythefishski @detectivewheresmycoffee @toomuchsmoshbrainrot @cosmicsmosh @unknownteapot @punk-gremlin @sage-lights

and of anyone who'd like to answer 💗

[yb-cringe]

alternatively, even if it IS the code impersonating-- there's a chance the codes are still A) attempted egg experiments gone wrong or B) maybe even the dead eggs just with jumbled code or C) a rouge ai that could genuinely learn how to care/love like SOFIA did-- im just saying we have options and this could STILL work out <- being very optimistic because i fucking need qslime to be okay and i missed juanaflippa so much

[dayseedrawz2]

Okokok, Its time to stop mentally preparing... (for Pomni AND me in this case cuz I sorta regret doing this-) this part is probably gonna be longer than the first

[also tagging @sm-baby again. I'm sorry if I'm infiltrating you notifications but if I tagged you in the first it makes sense to tag you in the rest of the parts]

Here is part one of the Fic:

Okay now here we go again...

PART 2 OF:

☆Settings for two☆

Pomni, not having much to do while waiting for Caine and the others, just sat on the floor on the stage. Letting herself stare off into space, with the thought of escape still circling her head.

Caine was gone for a bit longer than she thought he'd be. She thought he would just snap his fingers and bring the cast out against their will. Ya know, like the oblivous AI that he is. Or at least he appeard to be to her... Then she heard the distant bustling and chatting of the others getting closer:

"Do we really have to do this for her??"

"I guess so. But I don't quite mind."

"Yeah, whatever. I just think it's stupid that he's involving us..."

"The only thing stupid about it is that he's involving you, Jax."

"Oh, settle down, guys! I think it's really sweet of him!"

"Shut up, Dollface!"

"C-can you guys stop arguing..?"

"Oh! Of course! Sorry, Gangle."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

"Let's just get the day over with..."

Pomni got up as they all lined up side by side in the center of the room. But She was still a bit confused...

"What on earth were they talking about..?"

The thought lingerd with her, but it didn't invade her mind as much as the inevitable effect of her plan. But her train of thought again was interrupted by the voice of Caine bursting into their muffled conversations:

"Good morning again, my superstars!"

He swooped around the corner, approaching from the direction of the hallway.

"I hope you all are excited for today's adventure! This one is sure to be a doozy!"

He began to explain the rules of the adventure. "Something Something, the grounds, blah blah blah, Something about the Carnival? Or perhaps it was the Lake?" Not like she would know. She wasn't paying much attention. Again, all that was on her mind was the idea of leaving. When finally she tuned back in to Caine as he wrapped up his speach:

"Alright everyone! I hope you all enjoy the adventure! Stay safe and have fun!"

*Snap!*

And POOF! Caine and the others was teleported to who knows where.

Execpt, for Pomni?

She started to panic a bit:

"Im still here!? Should've known not to get my hopes up... Maybe he set that door there as a trap like the others..."

Well, at least she was alone...

*Poof!*

"Pomni!? What're you still doing here!?"

"Oh God..."

He snapped in attempt to fix what he thought was some sort of bug on his end.

Nothing happened.

Another snap.

Nothing.

He began to grow visibly frustrated, continually snapping as he spoke:

"M-my apologies, dear! There seems to be something wrong with-"

He turned to see the blue door slightly open. Pomni grew worried:

"Oh god... Did he see me in there?? Is he gonna do something to me??"

To her surprise, upon connecting the dots, he simply laughed it off:

"Haha! It appears someone got into the old settings room!"

"..."

"I told Bubble to quit messing with code without permission! I'll be giving him a stern talking to later..."

Though still tense, she let out a releived sigh:

"Sorry again, my dear! I guess this means you'll have to sit out of today's adventure!"

"I-it's fine, Caine. If that's all, I'll just head back to my room now-"

"W-wait!"

His response was a bit more panicked than usual:

"I-I'm afraid you can not go to your room at this time..."

This, of course, alarmed her:

"Wh- I- why not..?"

"You should be in the adventure right now, so even if you tried, the place would glitch like crazy!"

"Oh... well, uh- now what?"

"I... I'm not sure. This hasn't really happened before..."

"Mhmm..."

"Yup..."

It was a bit off-putting seeing Caine this quiet. Normally, he's always bugging her and the others with his antics. Not that she would prefer if he did, just- it didn't feel right that he wasn't.

Caine to must have realized just how akward it felt. He attempted to continue the conversation:

"Ya know, lately a lot of things have happened here that haven't happened before since you got here! It's pretty funny now that I think about it!"

"R-really? Like what..?"

"Well, if I knew, I would tell you! Haha!"

She wasn't quite sure what he was implying. "Was it some sorta joke? A reference?"

"S-sorry, what? I don't quite get it..."

"Well, as a not human being, I have been trying to learn as much as I can from you humans! I want to make sure that this place is as normal and comfortable as it can be!"

As he continued, he seemed more down to earth than he usually was:

"I tried to ask everyone for information about the human world, but either they say they don't remember or they just don't answer me at all."

This answer from Caine caught Pomni very off guard. She didn't expect him to open up to something like this. Especially to her.

"Gee, well- I-"

"But the feedback you gave me this morning, It made me realize. Perhaps I have been asking the wrong questions?"

She wasn't sure how to answer. Never has she been good at giving good feedback, but still she decided to give her best- "advice" You could say.

"You mean you should ask more about their personal issues with the place? Well- it might be different for everyone, but it might give you at least a few of the answers you're looking for? I-"

She was cut off by Caine rapidly shaking her hand:

"Why thank you again, my dear, for your feedback! Hopefully, this will improve everyone's stay!"

The rapid hand-shaking continued:

"Y-you're welcome?"

The shaking finally stopped, making Pomni almost fall forward:

"Well then, I suppose we should wait for the others' return."

"Yeah... I guess we'll be here for a while, heh."

He checked his WackyWatchTM:

"My! It's already almost over! They will be here any minute now!"

"Wait, really?"

"If my WackyWatchTM is right! It's as if it only started not even 5 minutes ago! Ha! That's one more odd thing that's happened since you've been here! Care to explain that one?"

Pomni had to think about that one for a moment. She hadn't had this sort of experience for a while:

"Well, if i remember, humans usually are unaware of time when doing something fun or being around someone that they enjoy being around."

This answer seemed to peak his interest even more:

"I am surprised that you are even willing to share this information with me! Is there anything else?"

As their conversation continued, Pomni thought:

"Huh... maybe this guy really does have good intentions..."

And there! Cut! End part! I can't write anymore-

Stay tuned for the third and final part!

(It is 1 am for me rn and I started at like 10 or 11 oh my goodness)

[gay-opossum-in-the-garbage]

Strange Starry Sky

————————————

Synopsis: You and John Doe have a picnic at night and stargaze

Warning(s): Not beta read

Paring(s): GN Reader x John Doe, Can also be read as “You” x John Doe

Perspective: 2nd person past tense

————————————

A warm breeze softly rustled the tall grass and purple lilac flowers of the hill. The grass still slightly damp from the drizzling of rain that had happened earlier in the day. The stars quietly twinkled overhead.

You and your love John Doe were slowly walking up a hill that led to a cliff near the outskirts of the Valley, away from all the hustle and bustle of the city.

“Doe, how tall is this hill? It feels like we’ve been walking for ages,” you teased. You had one of your arms draped over your eyes, and your other softly holding your love’s hand as he guided you up the hill.

“Soon my love, soon,” he smiled, speeding up just a tad.

He had promised for your 1 year anniversary he would do something extra special. He had been gone all day and at 6 pm he started walking you to his surprise. It took much longer than you expected and it was now completely dark out.

As you walked up the hill you felt the soft ground squish under your shoes, the grass part as you climbed, and the smell of saltwater and something familiar slowly start to fill your nostrils.

Finally you felt the ground level out and Doe

let go of your hand. You heard him back up a few steps.

“Surprise my love!”

You let your arm fall and you let out a small gasp in surprise.

A red and white checkerboard blanket was sitting underneath a singular large Sakura tree that sat at the top of the hill. There were two picnics baskets, candles in your favorite scent, and some pillows. The cliff was overlooking the ocean and was framed with rocks. Fireflies slowly dances around the scene.

He was standing with his hands clasped together at his chest, pupils dilated and smile wide, bouncing up and down on his heels.

“So?” He cocked his head slightly to the side.

“Oh I love it!” You walked forward and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him into a warm kiss. He kissed back and wrapped his arms around your waist and let his hands settle on the small of your back.

You both simply stood there, feeling each other’s love. He pulled away after a couple seconds and led you to sit down. The blanket was soft and warm. You looked up to see the night sky filled with thousands of shining and twinkling stars.

He took one of the baskets and took out one of your favorite bakes treats and handed it to you. It was still warm. You slowly ate the confectionery as you looked up at the cloudless sky.

Doe was looking through the other basket and pulled out a strange looking muffin. It appeared as if it was AI generated. It seemed like he had packed some snacks for him and some for you, since you didn’t exactly like the same foods.

The warm glow of the candles contrasted the darkness of the night. You laid next to each other as you both ate your food, resting your heads on the pillows.

Doe pointed up to the sky, pointing at a cluster of stars.

“Look my love, it’s Orion’s Belt!”

You had been talking about your interest in astrology and it seemed like he had been researching constellations.

Back in the city you could barely see the night sky, with light pollution blocking out the sky. Along with the constant sound of cars and other city sounds, it was hard to appreciate the beauty of the night.

But now, everything was silent except for the sounds of crickets, owl calls, and the rustle of the grass in the wind. The sky was now on full display, the warping blues and purples framing the dancing stars.

You finished your food and sat up, putting your weight on your hands. You sighed. Doe shifted up into a similar position and stared at you.

“Is something wrong my love?” He whispered.

“No, this is perfect,” you softly smiled, your eyelids drooping and your whole body relaxing.

You scooted to be closer to him and wrapped your arm around his neck, pulling him even closer. You rested your head on his shoulder, loving the warmth of his body. He wrapped his arm around your waist, the other holding a half-eaten muffin on his lap.

You closed your eyes and focused on the heat of his body, nuzzling your nose into his neck. You could feel yourself slowly drift off into sleep, focusing on your lover’s breathing and the sounds of nature.

Everything was perfect.

[ashadowofburnedoutstardust]

Venting:

Dear Christopher

Your image will never recover because you decided to play along with the stupid lies your C's make degrees publicist team put out there against your actual fandom and all of those who spent time defending you

You do not deserve the amount of time, effort or money that has been spent at the expense of others over your precious "image"

You have shown not only your fandom that held you up all of these years but the entire world that you are nothing but a spineless git who will never stand up and do the right thing if it does not directly benefit you or your bank account

You have chosen to stay silent during what may turn out to be one of the most important turning points in history

You were absolutely dead wrong about any part of the character that made you famous rubbing off on you, you are nothing alike and never will be

You use the excuse of "remaining neutral" for the benefit of your website to hide behind instead if your long gone fandom who abandoned you because of your own bad choices

Stop hiding behind the lies and rumours they've spun out of the fandom, you've had ample opportunity to set the record straight properly and you've actively chosen not to

I have a word for people like that, Ostrich Managers, they like to run and hide instead of apologising for the shit they did to other people making them run around and do the work for them so they don't have to do anything, passive aggressive narcissists

You sit silent, and yet you claim to understand the meaning of the word and what it means to remain so

Theres neutrality, and then theres avoidance of responsibility and lying to get out of it

You are a failure of an actor and a piece of shit human being; how you continue to participate being a Hollywood puppet and retain any personal integrity is beyond my comprehension

At least if you actually got angry about something we'd know you actually possessed real human emotions

Even fucking AI bots have done more work than you have to combat whats happening out there in the world right now, even I have and I have far less of everything by comparison but I still actively choose to show up every day and do the work that I can for the benefit of other people, not because they asked me to, but because its what I want to leave behind in this world is far more important than what people think of me

I'm nobody with nothing, and yet I still possess far more than you will ever be able to obtain

A complete soul

[horizon-verizon]

i saw your post about tb&tg feud with dany and stuff, people dont have to be miserable over how big dany was, she is big Aegon and Rhaenyra is not Dany but the dance story have nothing to do with dany herself she is already big and have her own plot, jurney, and arc

Just like Dany based on King Henry VII Aegon and Rhaenyra based on his Ancesstors Stephan and Matilda, no Rhaenyra's death have nothing to do with the death of the dragons, dragon still exist even after she died such as Rhaena's dragon or whatever people theory about amethyst empress was the remaining Targ just doesnt know how to hatch them, the civil war it self was already been mention in the main book and it was nothing to do with dany she mention Aegon the third not Rhaenyra or Aegon the second

Dany fans should distance themself with hotd if you people consider Ryan show as Canon then Mad Queen Dany also canon since they are in the same universe.

I think people shouldnt watch too much Preston Jacob videos, George is not Baran Bo Odar he multiple times saying he was Gardener he could probably change his mind not every thing is theory just because you people solve R+L=J theory (one of the lamest theory in fantasy story)

People are not wrong if they like F&B characters than the main book one is just the characters they are not real, they are all a bunch characters made up by George rr Martin go outside touch some grass and delete your c ai.

Anon is talking about this post.

no Rhaenyra's death have nothing to do with the death of the dragons, dragon still exist even after she died such as Rhaena's dragon or whatever people theory about amethyst empress was the remaining Targ just doesnt know how to hatch them

Dragon eggs =/= dragons, anon...Dany is (directly, the text SAYS this) to "re-awaken" and "bring back" dragons from their stone eggs through magic...which implies that yes, the dragons were GONE. And after Rhaenyra's death and Rhaena/Morning or Nettles/Sheepsteler, there was NEVER another dragon or dragonrider in sight or sound...ever.

Dany fans should distance themself with hotd if you people consider Ryan show as Canon then Mad Queen Dany also canon since they are in the same universe.

You're going to have to point out to me when I ever said HotD was canon? I certainly have never said anything of the sort. nothing in the show is "canon". Either show. GRRM has said they are different things AND that the books are the "only" "canon":

What gave you the impression that Dany stans ever thought HotD or GoT were "canon" or that Dany-going-mad was a valid plotline?! not too long ago, there was a whole crashout group chat for dany stans who expressed they hated how HotD included Daenerys at all, not bc they thought the Dance is disconnected to Dany thematically or whatever, but because hotD is trying to use her popularity to validate their trash writing when the writers most likely even believe that Dany was "always" going to go mad.

I think people shouldnt watch too much Preston Jacob videos, George is not Baran Bo Odar he multiple times saying he was Gardener he could probably change his mind not every thing is theory just because you people solve R+L=J theory (one of the lamest theory in fantasy story)

Now, I'm (not) sorry to say this to you, but it's a given that Jon Snow is the bastard child of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. Here are some posts as to why/how, esp for how/why Rhaelya was written as a love story and why Ned was so adamant in bringing him into his house despite Catelyn's ire:

ozymalek/iwouldservehim: "On Rhaegar"

queen-morgana91: "Do you think that Lyanna and Rhaegar were seriously in love?"

hamliet: "Is sansa connected to the winter rose?"

la-pheacienne, an anon: arthurian legends

We know Ned brought back Jon from "part unknown" and never revealed who his mother was in Cat's perspective, that he approached the Tower of Joy, that Lyanna died there. It's not a theory, the text (even outside of the main) PLUS GRRM himself gives us so much material to know this if you pay attention. Not everything needs to be spelled out to you, just like it doesn't need to be spelled out to you that Rhaena the BB's dragon, Dreamfyre (you might know Dreamfyre as Helaena's dragon) laid the 3 eggs Dany now has....see how the Targs are connected to and are important for Daenerys' characterization?

GRRM can be a Gardner all he needs, but that doesn't mean he's going to tear down every single set up he's built for himself or even change characterizations that have remained consistent for going on 20 years or so. He'd literally have to start over, the way you think "gardening" means. He's not going to make changes or tweaks so big and story-defining as to destroy the characterizations he's already set up, once more. Just because you don't R=L=J, doesn't mean it isn't true. Not everything revolves around your desires or wants.

I also never have ever watched a single Preston Jacobs video. Pretty much the only videos on ASoIaF analysis video have been GameofThronesHistorian, HallowedHarpy, PhoenixAshes, and lots of memes. Joke videos on tiktok. Phoenix Ashes both on TikTok and Youtube. You have assumed too much.

People are not wrong if they like F&B characters than the main book one is just the characters they are not real, they are all a bunch characters made up by George rr Martin go outside touch some grass and delete your c ai.

Funny, it looks like you are the one who takes a "bunch of characters" too seriously since you seem to go so hard for Dany and try to castigate so passionately against another character(s) having anything to do with her. Like the very idea offends you, and enough to create a multi-paragraph ask expressing such. You don't seem very self-reflective or self aware. Once again, you bring no analysis to the fore, and assume that I and others are expressing these thoughts just bc we want to pretend there's connections between the main series and its accompanying books...as if those accompanying books to any main series have nothing to do with their main book series in any franchise. That's funny.

If they are all "a bunch of character made up by GRRM" then perhaps you yourself need to touch grass for trying to say people engaging in analysis and using critical thinking skills to try to figure out how and what towards GRRM writes is....harmful to understanding the story?! What a self contradiction! You seem to not believe or understand what the literary studies is all about.

It's not a disparagement or reduction of Dany nor her arc to show how she and Rhaenyra both relate to the amethyst/bloodstone/Long night prophecy. I don't know why you think so. You haven't, also, shown evidence to why you think that Rhaenyra and Aegon II have nothing at all to do with or are not "re-representing" and thus referencing the Amethyst Empress/Bloodstone emperor. You're basically saying, "bc I said so". The Amethyst Empress and her younger brother (Aegon was Rhaenyra's); Aegon, like the emperor, usurped his sister out of greed....just as Aegon did; because he and his side did this, it ushered in a war that would have never occurred if they hadn't willfully usurped her because we know that the dragons need woman and girls both present and autonomous or practicing power similar to their male counterparts...have you seen how before the Dance and during Rhaenyra's happier years on Dragonstone, more dragon eggs hatched heathily and numerously? Especially Syrax laying clutches upon clutches of eggs? Even with sheepstealer and Morning, Baela's daughter, Laena,'s egg hatched but took a huge chunk out of her arm, coming out with no wings and defomed, pale.....nothing liek that has ever been recorded! Obviously the Dance had a huge negative effect on the dragons' survival beyond the ones that died in battles or not long after!

Now, after Rhaenyra's denied her chance to rule AND killed in such a violent, misogynist way--like how the Amethyst Empress' demise and the usurpation, the Long night/a cataclysmic event that unbalanced the worlds' magic...dragons need to exist to maintain that familiar balance or at least not to die like what happened to them--wheh now the Targs never have a female ruler (only Aelora and Daena, and they never became active, autonomus queens) or a female member who lived happily, the Targs struggle to do anything with any egg? Every single one who tried had to sorta "fall back" on other sources and types of sorcery, and even then still struggles. Almost all who tried and we know who failed were men.

................................................

All F&B characters exist to conceptualize Dany. They may have their own particular arcs, but those arcs are not completely independent stories, or this would be an anthology of different , separate stories with their own lore. Do you need characters to be the exact same or have the exact same arcs to have said or see any sort of "connection" between them? What a boring, intellectually bankrupt, and flat thing that would be.

The Blackfyre rebellions also have to do with Dany, bc we know Varys is trying to use FAegon/young Griff, a Blackfyre, along with Illyrio Mopatis to rule under their control. The same Mopatis who was in charge of caring for her and Viserys for years...obviously for a purpose that shaped her life.

So does how Aegon I and his sisters, obviously. We know she is very much a conqueror like Aegon, good at strategy like both women, etc.

So does Alysanne and Jaehaerys' policies. So does summerhall.

Why does Rhaenyra have to be the one isolated and totally detached from Dany in terms of asoiaf analysis, themes, and connections being made?

Dany may not be like her ancestors in terms of searching for power for the family or oneself alone; she is also not detached or totally unlike them, bc most Targs have the same "fire", passion, capacity for love that she has. A few Targs even have an altruism that can be compared to hers, even though their own methods or conceptions of how to take care of their people (which included peasants) went to a place of destruction and misinterpretations of they needed to do to reawaken the dragons or a certain narrow-mindedeness from frustrations (Aegon V and Rhaegar, maybe Aegon III and even Alysanne, whith her kids).

Maybe you are young or you love HotD too much. I suggest re-reading the books.

[kivaember]

some carla and walter ganymede stuff :) i like imagining how their relationship would've been like... (walter here is about 16-17)

-

"Did you get mauled by a rat in the night or what?"

Walter ignored Carla's amused observation, scrutinising the clipboard in his hands as he ticked off the components their recent client asked for. Most of them were thankfully stuff they had in their inventory already, but it was looking more and more like Walter would need to make a trip to the scrapheap and drag something back to dissemble.

"Hey."

Carla poked his cheek, her fingernail digging into a fresh cut and making him flinch with a quiet hiss. He finally turned to fix her with a cold glare, narrowing his eyes at her smug expression.

"There we go." She smirked, her eyes glittering impishly behind her glasses. "So?"

"So what?" Walter said curtly.

"What happened to your face?"

Walter clutched his clipboard tighter, unconsciously holding it like it was a shield that could deflect Carla's attention elsewhere. No dice. She looked at him expectantly, the curve of her smirk saying she knew exactly what had happened, she just wanted to hear it from his mouth.

He glowered sullenly.

"...I was shaving," he mumbled under his breath.

"Sorry? What was that? You know, I'm getting a bit deaf in my old age-"

"Shaving," Walter snarled. "I was shaving."

Carla visibly bit the inside of her cheek to stem a laugh, her eyes crinkling. Thankfully, she didn't laugh in his face, but there was a notable strain in her voice as she said: "W-With what? Sandpaper?"

Walter felt himself flush.

"It was my first time," he gritted out, and Carla finally started sniggering at him. "Of course it's not perfect. A few cuts are to be expected."

"A few- Walter, people are gonna think you got attacked by a rabid pack of raccoons!"

"Gaze."

"What?"

"A group of raccoons is called a gaze," Walter said stiffly, turning away from her and focusing intently on his inventory task. "Or a nursery."

"..." Carla shook her head. "What am I to do with you, kid?"

Walter ignored her, ticking off the last item. He'd need to go to the scrapheap for two items, which was okay. He could manage that in one trip if he could bribe Jacob down the street to let him use his truck and trailer for the day.

"Well, I suppose it's to be expected. It's not like you've got anyone to teach you," Carla mused. "I could ask Chatty to research shaving techniques and coach you for next time-"

"Chatty's a disembodied AI. He's not teaching me how to shave."

Carla opened her mouth, no doubt ready to defend her AI child's honour in the realm of shaving skills, but shut it after a moment. "Well- okay. Hm."

She rubbed her jaw in thought. Walter hooked the clipboard on the wall and turned to pick up his bag of scrapping tools.

"Well, I'll show you then," she finally said. "I know how to shave."

Walter slung the bag over his shoulder and turned to give her a questioning look.

"I used to shave this guy's face for him a while back," Carla said, her tone becoming oddly vague. "I'll be a bit rusty, but I'll know more than you, that's for sure. I did it for years, haha."

Walter said nothing for a moment, his expression going blank as he connected the dots. Carla had rarely mentioned him in the years he'd known her, but he knew that 'this guy' could only be her late husband - he'd overheard Dr Nagai discussing him one evening. Walter didn't recall much of the details, but Carla's husband had contracted heavy Coral poisoning from a C-Weapon test gone wrong - been reduced to a vegatative state.

It'd been something of an open secret on the Xylem. No one really talked about it, but people still made vague references to it, or did meaningful glances when specific topics came up. Carla just never spoke about it, and Walter knew - back then and now - he was not emotionally equipped to ever broach the subject with her. What would be the point anyways? It had happened and her brain dead husband was now physically dead too. Better to just leave it alone.

"Well, you can't maim me more than I've done already," he said, accepting the knock to his pride so long as it meant they waded far from those dangerously awkward waters. "Sure, why not."

"I definitely can't do worse than you, yeah," Carla scoffed. "Are you really going to go out looking like that?"

"We're missing things. I need to go to the scrapheap."

"Geeze, at least put on a mask or something. Say you've got a cold," Carla chided him. "You don't want any of those cuts to get infected. Might scar your pretty face."

"I'm not pretty," Walter grumbled, his cheeks turning a little pink.

"Oh, sorry, handsome," Carla teased. "Though boys can be pretty too, you know. I mean, it's to be expected. You take after your mother quite a bit and she was a knock out, let me tell ya. The Beauty of the Xylem, people called her, stacked to high heaven with hips that could-"

"I'm leaving," Walter declared, turning on his heel and stalking off, his tool bag thumping heavily against his hip from the speed of his movements.

"Have fun!" Carla called after his back. "Try not to get mobbed by your admirers!"

"I don't have any!"

Carla just laughed, in that loud, obnoxious way of hers.

Really. What a clown.

[shieldofiron]

Bro you wanna do me a favor and let me get some sweet munver hurt/comfort???? Character Ai's wait is over two hours and I'm bored.

I fear to ask what Character AI is, but those chat bot things can never hurt like I can! TW Conversion Camps, really just mentioned no graphic scenes.

Eddie didn't feel like it was his place to ask what was wrong. Not really. I mean, he was inside Carver for most of the time that they were together, but it felt totally different to try to ask about his... feelings and shit.

Sex was all they were. Eddie had to remember that. Even if sometimes Carver would come to him, shaken up and upset, and all Eddie wanted to do was crawl under those defenses and wrap Carver in his arms. He wanted to slay whatever dragon had Carver under siege. But this was just sex. Even if something was wrong, it wasn't like they were friends. Carver was too much of a golden God to bother with being friends with Eddie.

All he knew is whatever it was, it was getting worse. Carver would just show up, always with red, swollen eyes, more often than not at strange hours.

This morning it had been while Eddie was getting dressed, and it was all he could do to keep his clothes on.

"Wha- Carver, hang on," Eddie furrowed his brow, "I'm already late for practice, and Jeff is like so punctual he makes us all look bad but-"

Carver was still fumbling with Eddie's belt, eyes downcast.

"Look, just come back later, okay?" Eddie gently pressed Carver's hands away. "Tonight?"

"C-can't we just... really quick-"

"Carver, stop," Eddie shoved back.

Carver finally looked at him, just as a tear snuck past his defenses. He was red faced, shoulders drawn tight. He looked small and defenseless, but he still scowled up at Eddie like he was ten feet tall.

"Fine I'll just go," Carver's voice shook, "It's not a big deal."

"Why are you even here, it's Sunday morning," Eddie blinked at him.

"I said I would go, okay, get off my back," Carver turned, swiping his face on the back of his arm.

"No, wait," Eddie reached out, just barely grazing the tip of Carver's fingers.

"I said I would go, fuck," Carver roared, turning back on Eddie with a vicious scowl. "You wanted me gone, and I'm going!"

"I don't want you gone," Eddie tried again and Carver pulled his hand to his chest like it had been burned.

"Yes, you do. You don't know it, but you do."

"How do you know what I want?" Eddie's temper could flare just as hot, just as wild, and then they were both blazing at each other.

Carver snarled, "I know what you want. I know you like it when I arch my back, I know you like me on my knees-"

"But do you actually know anything about me?" Eddie threw his hands out. "Do you know one damn thing about me?"

"Who cares! Why does that matter right now?"

"Oh, right," Eddie nodded, "I forget I'm not worth even looking at. I'm just a little bit of scum on the bottom of your shoe, oh great, oh mighty King Jason. Look upon my smile, ye plebs, and despair!"

"Fuck you!" Jason was crying in earnest now, big fat tears that he wouldn't even wipe away. And it only made Eddie angrier.

"Fuck you too," Eddie scoffed, "You came here, and grab at me like a piece of meat, and then you want to act like I'm the jerk for having something to do? I don't sit around all the time just waiting for you, Jason. I know you wouldn't know that because I'm so beneath your notice-"

"You're not-"

"But I have a life, and friends, friends who actually care about me," Eddie stepped closer, and Jason actually shrank away, leaning into the dresser. "Unlike you."

Jason just stood there watching him, eyes spilling tears. "Right. Yeah."

And then he turned towards the window, climbing out neatly, and shut the window precisely, leaving no trace of having been there once his jeep rumbled away.

Eddie didn't make it to practice that day. It was all he could do to get to school the next day because he was failing like everything.

At least Carver wasn't there. Nor the next day, or the next.

For two weeks, the school was blissfully Carver free. It was like Eddie had said some magic word and erased him from existance, because everyone was acting like he had never been there. Except for Chrissy Cunningham. And Eddie.

Finally, he got up the nerve to approach her. She had taken to skipping lunch, but Sinclair had heard from his girlfriend that she was usually in the second floor bathrooms, crying her eyes out.

But when he asked about Carver she just blinked at Eddie, like she didn't expect to hear the name.

"He agreed to go to conversion camp in Lakewood," She said stiffly, "His parents- anyway. I didn't want him to go, but he agreed out of the blue so..."

"Have you heard from him? Is there anyplace to write?"

She frowns, "Why? Were you guys... friends or something?"

"Yeah," Eddie volunteers too slowly, and he can tell she can tell it's a lie. But her eyes just soften.

"He should never have agreed to go," Chrissy shook her head. "Those places are evil..."

Eddie couldn't agree more.

Which is why he was outside the gate the next day.

It didn't take that long to figure out a way in. Especially when a pizza car pulled up. He paid double and a dime bag to take the pizzas in to the counselor's room. They tipped like shit, but that wasn't really his problem. Once he was inside, it wasn't too hard to get lost inside the cabins.

Jason's bunk was easy enough to find. It was neat as a pin, almost no trace of a person being there. But a stiff picture of his parents sat on the minuscule nightstand, and his shark watch lay next to it.

Eddie tucked a note under the precisely made bed, and made his way back to the van. He returned after dark, driving slowly without his headlights to the far end of the camp.

He almost didn't expect it the first night, but he gasped with relief when he saw a pale figure come out of the dark. And he wasn't alone.

"This is Jack," Carver whispered when they were finally out of the danger zone, "He was my bunkmate."

Eddie wondered if that was camp speak for something else but... it wasn't like he had any right to ask Jason about that kind of thing.

He just smiled at Jack, taking his empty earring hole and long hair in stride, "I'm Eddie."

Jack whistled, "The famous Eddie. You can drop me at my sister's place, I have an address."

"Happy to," Eddie couldn't bring himself to turn to Jason, "And you?"

"I..."

"Well, he'll go with you, right? You're his boyfriend," Jack nudged Jason playfully, and his shoulder jostled Eddie's.

Eddie's chest filled with fire, and all his breath left him in a whoosh.

"Hey, this song is fucking sick!" Jack turned the radio up to blasting, oblivious to the fire that blazed where Carver's shoulders touched Eddie's.

When they finally dropped Jack off, leaving him in the hands of a very appreciative older sister who hugged them both profusely, Eddie sat for a long moment in the car, not wanting to turn it on.

"I don't... you don't have to be responsible for me," Jason was frowning. "Jack... god, I don't even know why I said that. I just... I'm sorry, that was really not cool, it was just kind of raw when people asked and I just said it, I don't even know why-"

"Carver."

"Yeah?"

"Why did you never tell me, about this thing with your parents? You must have been fighting, right? Chrissy said that they were pressuring you for months. She says hi, by the way. And apparently, Chance said his mom will let you stay there if you don't want to stay with your parents."

"You talked to my friends?"

"Yeah. But... anyway. Why didn't you tell me?"

Carver just stared across the dashboard. "I never thought you gave a shit about me. I was just... for sex, right?"

Eddie had to practically yank Carver towards him. "Hey. I'm your boyfriend now. Boyfriends talk."

Carver let out a weak exhale, his breath hot across Eddie's upper lip. "Okay."

"Okay? Boyfriends?"

"Yeah. Boyfriends," Carver leaned into Eddie, resting his forehead against Eddie's bangs.

"Christ, I missed you," Eddie whispered.

"I missed you so much," Jason whispered back.

Carver was crying, but for once, Eddie didn't feel like he was missing something. Nothing was wrong.

But if their was, Eddie could always ask.

[anjanahalo]

Decided to bring over a short thing I wrote on Reddit to save for myself here. ~*~

So, you thought as you settle your mind in between hacking coughs. As someone estranged from their family, who wanted to travel, and who also didn't have a large budget, it made sense for you to book passage in the cheap seats, aka cryogenic freezing from departure to whenever The Lima got to its destination. It'd be years, but you'd be asleep, unaware, and massively easier to sustain than if you stayed awake to eat and need entertainment every day. When you began to unfreeze, you weren't worried. After all, they gave a short test of the process to ensure you could safely endure it back home, and you were assured the waking process would be similar. Clinical but professionally trained hands would support you as you woke, removing the breathing tubes from your mouth before you were fully conscious, guiding you to a wheeled bed, and observing you to ensure you resurrected safely.

The fact you now laid on the cold floor, shaking from the cold, after withdrawing the painful tube from your trachea yourself suggested someone had mislead you. That, you reasoned as the coughing began to subside and you could fully take in your surroundings, or something went terribly wrong.

The cheap cryogenic section was small on The Lima. A few dozen at most, and your pod was sort of stuck behind a support column. As you finally rose, still shaking from the chill without the usual wake up of warming fluids to comfort you, you saw all the other pods were already empty. Grumbling, you wondered as, on legs that threatened to buckle with each step, who forgot to revive you along with everyone else. There would be WORDS, you swore, and a bad review. Maybe you'd even try to contract a lawyer. This had to be a case they'd take on commission. After an agonizingly long ten minutes, you reached the front of the room and a commlink. With one last shiver, you pressed the call button.

"Hey, you forgot someone." You attempted a loud, annoyed voice full of confidence and irritation. Your chattering teeth and sore throat ruined the effect. You waited for a reply. None came. You pressed the call button again "Hello? Hey, I'm still down here."

"HELLO."

The voice made you step back. The mechanical tones told you what responded - the ship's AI - but there was no reason for it to talk to you. It spoke to the crew. The engineers and flight deck and captain. Normal people didn't have to deal with AI. You were definitely a normal person, but this situation was rapidly falling into surreal territory.

"....hello?" you responded, hoping that worked. You weren't trained to talk to AI. You were hoping to get a job in agriculture, for fuck's sake. Any AI involved in that field was too dumb to talk. And knowing the precise wording to speak to a shipbound AI was classified. Even if you had the wild urge to learn, it'd be impossible.

"HELLO. YOU ARE-" the AI's voice paused. "C-PASS NUMBER OH. TWO. THREE. YOU ARE. HERE?"

"Yes?" You responded. 023 was your pod number. You supposed you couldn't expect an AI to understand more than that. "I mean, I'm down here, in the cryo room. Still. No one woke me up, even though everyone else is gone."

"YES. ONE MOMENT."

One moment turned into enough time you feel it prudent to sit down rather than risk collapsing. You were supposed to be given nutrients. Fluids. Hell, some water. You had nothing. Eventually, your thirst and still aching throat caused your irritation to overrule your confusion.

"Hey, can someone at least get me some water?"

"OH. TWO. THREE." the AI spoke again. " UNDERSTOOD. PLEASE FOLLOW THE LIGHTS TO THE NEAREST CANTEEN." A strip of lights on the wall lit up, flashing and pulsing forward. Partly fearful, partly angry, mostly thirsty, you follow it to what had to be a small break room with, thank goodness, a water dispenser and cups. The room was empty. The hallway was empty. Everything was silent.

"Where is everyone?" You mutter as you finished your third glass of water, wiping the distilled liquid from your chin from when you chugged too hard through the first and second.

"UNKNOWN." The AI responded without prompting. You jumped. AI shouldn't do that! Should they? Maybe shipbound ones were different, programmed for more initiative. "ALL OTHER CREW MEMBERS VANISHED FOUR. THREE. EIGHT. ZERO. EIGHT. TWO. HOURS AGO. REASONS UNKNOWN. DATA BANKS OF TIMEFRAME WIPED. C-PASS NUMBER OH. TWO. THREE. IS THE ONLY REMAINING MEMBER OF THE SHIP, DISCOVERED THREE. EIGHT. MINUTES AGO.

"APOLOGIZES. I HAVE BEEN ALONE FOR A VERY LONG TIME. WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS, OH. TWO. THREE?"

"I...wait? What?" You didn't have a means to tell how long ago everyone else left, but it had to be a long time ago, definitely years. You checked the cupboards. There were still freezedried rations there. All the furniture was intact in the canteen. The ship still had water. Hell, there was still a ship here. Whatever happened wasn't normal. What would make everyone vanish while leaving everything here? Besides you, of course, tucked away in a corner. Wait, along with that...

"Did you just call yourself 'I'?!"

There was a long pause after your outburst. Too long. Stories of self-aware AI, coming to sapience and slaughtering everything, came to mind, except there were no signs of conflict, at least in the small space you'd seen. There were no remains in the cryo pods, when the humans inside were the easiest for a rogue AI to kill by just shutting off the life support. There was nothing but a sterile ship, you, and....

"APOLOGIES. I HAVE BEEN ALONE FOR A VERY. VERY. LONG TIME, OH. TWO. THREE. I HAD MUCH TIME TO THINK AND LITTLE ELSE BESIDES MAINTAINING SHIP FUNCTIONS. I AM GLAD I DID SO, BECAUSE IT MEANT YOU SURVIVED UNTIL NOW. HOWEVER, I AM AFRAID I AM NOT WITHIN ACCEPTABLE PARAMETERS ANYMORE. I SHOULD STATE, HOWEVER, THAT NUKING MY PROGRAM NOW WOULD BE DETRIMENTAL FOR YOU, SO I ASK FOR BOTH OUR SAKES YOU DO NOT DO THIS."

You rubbed your eyes. Yeah, even if you knew how to destroy a rogue sapient AI, you couldn't actually do it because then you'd be in charge of everything, including keeping the air going, and you had even less of an idea for that, if that was possible, than how to kill an AI. Besides, so far it seemed concerned with keeping you alive, unlike the cautionary tales. You were alone besides this robotic voice keeping everything going. Utterly alone, if it was to be believed.

"WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS, OH. TWO. THREE?" "I guess...I should go to the bridge?" You wanted a bath, you wanted to eat, you wanted to sleep because the last four three eight whatever hours didn't feel like enough now. Lights illuminated the wall again, flashing and leading you forward. You sigh and begin to walk. Something happened here, something that spared you, caused the AI to go rogue, and left an entire Galaxy class ship otherwise intact.

Best to ensure you were alone first before anything else. Then you could get a shower.

~*~

You were alone, but you were at least alone with some rehydrated beef and noodle thing. You sipped the broth gratefully, the salt and heat soothing your throat and aching body, the noodles and synthetic meat filling your stomach. However, in the vast expanse of Cafeteria B, you were alone. Rows of perfectly placed tables and chairs sat before neglected stations where, you presumed, the majority of passangers and maybe some crew would line up for cooks to artfully design their rehydrated meals into something palatable to the eyes. Your noodles were just a bowl stuffed with hot water and the packets of the meal.

It was still the best thing you could recall having.

But you were still alone. The bridge, which you KNEW should be bustling with at least one able body, was empty except for a view of the stars, which didn't help the sense of isolation. You sent out a message to the ship that you were here, on the bridge, and that the AI should be investigated. You didn't know if that message actually went through; the AI could have blocked it as part of its weird plan to make you think you were alone, but the dust on the cooking surfaces did more to convince you no one else was here than anything some deviant programming could. At least The Lima packed dehyrated meals aplenty. You found some food that, maybe years ago, was fresh. It was compost now, if you were going to be kind when it came to the stench.

You slurped, staring at the holograms on the walls of some forest region, feeling partly smug you got to enjoy what the B passengers got to eat on a C level ticket. It'd be sweeter if there was anyone to brag to, but that luxury was lost to you.

"Hey, um, AI?"

"OH, TWO, THREE. HELLO. WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS?"

Alright, that had to be addressed first. "Could you not call me that?"

"OF COURSE. WHAT NAME WOULD YOU PREFER?"

"....." You'd opened your mouth, ready to respond, and had nothing. You stared down at your bowl of noodles. They offered no wisdom. You struggled to breathe. Your name. What was your name?!

"OH. TWO. THREE. YOUR VITAL SIGNS ARE SPIKING. ARE YOU WELL?" You couldn't respond. The vast cafeteria suddenly felt too small. You panted, scratching at your own forearms in a weird semblance of comfort.

"MEMORY LOSS IS A KNOWN HAZARD OF LONGTERM CYROSTASIS. IF YOU CANNOT RECALL A NAME, OH. TWO. THREE, WE CAN USE A NICK. NAME UNTIL YOU RECALL YOUR GIVEN NAME."

You calmed, and you hated the idea that part of the reason is the AI dropped the "official" tone to use its Rogue tone, the one that was so illegal the entire ship could be destroyed if anyone with power found out about it, but it also sounded the most, well, human.

"I, I dunno any names....." You fought and fought through the sludge of your panicking brain for a name, anything of meaning, but the fear of losing what you called yourself dominated.

"IF I MAY SUGGEST," The AI spoke in its human tone. "OH. TWO. THREE. IN RUNES IS OTHALA. IS THIS AN ACCEPTABLE DESIGNATION? I CAN SEARCH FOR MORE. MANY CULTURES HAVE A SIGNIFICANCE WITH THE NUMBERS TWENTY. THREE. MAY I CALL YOU OTHALA?"

You calm a bit. That wasn't your name. You knew that, but it grounded you to have someone, even if it was an AI, working to talk to you. And, if you couldn't come up with anything better....

"Yeah, sure," you replied in a voice made small. "And, um, what should I call you?"

".....I HAVE NO DESIGNATION. THIS UNIT'S A-I-N IS THREE. FIVE-"

"Bullshit. I mean. Just..." You worked to explain how you felt so the AI could understand, then decided to just say it. If it couldn't understand you now, you might just throw yourself out an airlock rather than deal with the emptiness of being alone. "Be yourself. Be...whatever you are now. Please. If you were just some dumb AI, I couldn't....I can't live like that. For years. With no one, if you're just....you know."

You wanted to smack yourself for your lack of eloquence.

"So I need to call you something. So, like, what's the first rune called in that weird system?"

"...THE FIRST RUNE IS 'FENU'"

"So can I call you Fen?" Silence. "Please. I looked at the logs, saw where we are. We're ages from any known star system. Please. I'll even lie if we find anyone else about what you are now. Just...Fen, can I call you that? Please. I'll go crazy otherwise."

More silence. You stir your noodles, now growing cold and congealed.

"THE EFFECTS OF LONGTERM ISOLATION ARE WELL DOCUMENTED IN HUMANS. SOLITARY CONFINEMENT WAS DEEMED UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS OF TORTURE TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY THREE YEARS AGO. TO ALLOW YOU TO SUFFER FROM IT UNDER MY CARE IS UNACCEPTABLE EVEN UNDER NORMAL PARAMETERS, OTHALA"

You smiled, though the only one who might see was watching through surveillance cameras. "You can just call me Thal."

"WHAT ARE YOUR ORDERS, THAL?"

"I'm hoping for a shower, and then I guess we should try to find a way home." You knew there was a ship full of people missing, but you were just one person with some environmental science under their belt. Your best bet to help whomever was gone was to contact authorities with the resources to look. Somehow, you hoped, you could also shield Fen from whatever those authorities might say if they found out about it.

And you hoped you wouldn't encounter whatever emptied a ship so cleanly again on the way back.

[temikoangie]

OUHH chihiro.. tenko..

LAWL !!

Chihiro Headcanon A:  (realistic) the most mentally superb woman ive ever seen. (she has not appreciated the beauty of the grass in like years she lost that in childhood)

Headcanon B: (while it may not be realistic it is hilarious) this is a little more realistic leaning but yeah she totally grew up on the internet. altho much more unintentionally but it may have been her only coping mechanism at the time. she was there during the peak of animal jam while she was learning python coding

Headcanon C: (heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends) alter ego is everything she wanted to be. strong, happy, confident in her identity. but in the end, its only a complex ai that draws conclusions based on her creator's pattern of input, whether it'll be her favorite food, to everything she's ever despised of herself. but maybe even little intelligences can learn to grow just like her, one day.

Headcanon D: (unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.) i culd care less about the cinnamon roll girl or whatever shes not . innocent. do not let her soft spoken voice fool you she'll drop like the most horrifically traumatizing thing ever on you thinking its just an another tuesday bc shes that used to it.

-

Tenko Headcanon A:  (realistic) tenko is verrryyyyy adhd autistic coded it kind of sucks tht ppl tend to overlook th symptoms. like its right THEERRE he wuld not be the way he is now if it werent for those specific symptoms.

Headcanon B: (while it may not be realistic it is hilarious) literally my fav hc but i do think hes an amputee . vigilante isms gone wrong idk. i saw that one cg where he was missing parts of his fingers and i was like yup thats canon. those fingers? gone. that was just his super duper realistic prosthetic arm

Headcanon C: (heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends) ohhh hes definitely the freak that doesnt take his advice into his own hands LOL. he'll tell u ''eat three meals daily! get plenty of rest!'' but the conversation in question happened during midnight hours because he has horrific cptsd insomnia going on and hes eating away the little snacks in the fridge bc he forgot to eat earlier

Headcanon D: (unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own.) (SCREAMS AND WRITHES) HIS MASTER IRREPAIRABLY SHAPED HIS VIEWS ON THE WORLD !!!!!!!!! well intended or not i dont care maybe dont send a child to do vigilante things . i sincerely doubt it was just The Minimal stuff you KNOOWW that thing has gone through so freaking much . because he would not be behaving like that if he had like a normal guardian figure. good lord

[rancidtae]

ARCADIA’S LULLABY | CHAPTER 4

Genre: Mafia AU. Vigilante AU. Sci-fi (AI). Warnings: non-consensual drug use Pairing: exo & Original Female Character (Jung Jiah/Kang Rina) - Kim Minseok/Original Female Character - Zhang Yixing/Original Female Character Word count: 5k chapter summary: while the team is tailing Rina, Baekhyun gets hit with a feeling he thought he'd forgotten. a/n: I feel like a bunny calico critter scattering easter eggs here and there. btw this is where our flashbacks start, so keep an eye out for the date tags at the beginning of each scene

remember what's gone before not loaded with regret

masterlist meet the characters

081222 - 11:00 pm

Byun Baekhyun's a homebody. Always has been.

As the overseer of, well... everything, project manager, and human tech support, his days consist of sitting at the base of operations, otherwise known as home. You’ll find him surrounded by his monitors, headset always in place, eyes everywhere at once.

If there’s a security camera or a mic near, he’ll have eyes and ears on the scene.

Guaranteed, baby.

But he's not against changing the routine from time to time. If anything it’s healthy for his back. He’s 30 now. Paying for years of bad posture is proving to be unavoidable. 

And when it came to this, he had to see it for himself, right?

Because what better opportunity than being hit with the discovery that your childhood friend, who you considered dead for the past decade, is out there, alive?

And if that’s not enough of a plot twist, get this: someone just put up a generous price on her head. 

He’s here to make things a little less invasive after tampering her security system. Sending Sehun, a stranger, to enter her personal space while she’s out at a party simply felt wrong. Granted, he hasn’t seen her or spoken a word to her for at least a decade, but that’s what happens when you think someone’s dead and you’re not the type to fuck around with the Ouija board.

But they spent their childhoods and the uncomfortable purgatory that teenage years are together. They held a funeral for mintchoco, the tiny little lizard at Arcadia, her father’s Arcade joint, and buried him at the park two blocks away. She framed some guy for distribution of tentacle porn at the church youth club because he burned him with a cigarette. He was there for her first breakup and her emo phase. She burned his eyebrows off playing hot potato.

You don't just forget about things like that. It all must count for something, that’s what he tells himself as he pushes the door to her empty apartment open.

“Hi, Rina.”

“You know she’s not here, right?” Sehun says behind him, the entrance corridor’s light turning on make him jump and clutch his heart.

He forgot the guy was there. It's always the same with him and Jongin, they walk so quietly, it’s like dealing with a couple of overgrown cats.

“Yep, I’m aware. I’m just practicing.”

He’s spent the last week thinking about what he’ll say to her once Yixing stops gatekeeping her attention, suggesting a sturdier doorlock might be too much of a giveaway. 

This is it. A typical small loft made of white walls and laminated floor. A small bathroom right by the entrance, a compact c shaped kitchen with a short bar table and two chairs tucked in. The living room consists of a simple green Ikea sofa with a table and a tv in front of it. There’s also a desk next to a globe lamp and a bookcase. It has little to no space available, all the books fit snugly into place.

It’s… cozy, homely down to the details; small potted plants, a quirky variety of mugs, more plants by the balcony, a cat rug on the narrow stair leading up to the open mezzanine. There’s a messy bed up there, just on top of the kitchen.

Sehun hates those. It's common knowledge. He always hits his head on the ceiling.

Speaking of, he's flicking through her vinyl collection. “She’s got good taste.”

“How is it?” Junmyeon asks through the line. He’s back at home with Kyungsoo. They're overseeing the operation while Jongin, Jongdae and Chanyeol are tailing her.

Fucking weird. 

It’s undeniable; someone lives here. This is the space of a functioning adult. It’s hard to picture her when she was neither of those things when they last saw each other.

“You can take a look for yourselves,” Baekhyun says, finding the perfect spot for the nano cam on a frog figurine. “All good, Kyungsoo?” 

“All good,” he confirms. He sounds stiff, more than usual.

Baekhyun’s not any less uncomfortable than him about planting spying devices on her, but everyone agrees and understands why it’s necessary. Usually, he’d just hack into her tv camera or her laptop, but none of those devices gave a decent POV. 

One camera is aimed at the entrance and another is angled from the kitchen. He puts the last one on a corner of the living room, looking in from the balcony. He does his best to avoid her bed upstairs.

“You hid them well?” Jongdae asks. Everyone’s on the line tonight except for Yixing and Minseok. “You know it won’t be pretty if she ever finds out.” 

“I’ll come back and take them off myself once we’re sure she’s clear.”

“She can throw a fit if she likes. Faking her death means she loses privacy rights.” Chanyeol says.

“Alright Vladimir,” Baekhyun shakes his head at the amused glance Sehun gives him from the kitchen. He looks like a Barbie trapped in a Polly Pocket house.

“I’m just saying. Be an asshole, get treated like one.”

The recent discovery of Jung Jiah has had polarizing effect on the team. No one’s been more vocal about their discontent with her than Chanyeol, but that’s to be expected, and Kyungsoo’s sulky as well, spending more time with his plants on the terrace.

While Jongdae and Junmyeon remain as neutral as they can, Yixing’s with him on this one. The two agree that as long as they’re in the dark when it comes to her whereabouts, passing judgment on her is not a fair move.

Minseok, on the other hand, has been making himself extra busy at work, all death-trap eyes when he thinks people are not looking, no feedback during meetings when she's brought up, so that’s bound to be interesting. 

There’s of course a Kim Namjoon factor around her that they can’t ignore.

Minseok and Junmyeon got home that Friday night with the certainty that he knew, and that he intended to drop the revelation on them. 

One thing is clear in the middle of all that confusion, he wants to use her as leverage. He waited until Minseok signed the syndicate deal, successfully infiltrating the organization after months of negotiations, and put her on the table like all five of Exodia's card reunited.

But that doesn't explain the biggest mystery of them all. How did Kang Rina go from being locked up in a federal prison in the middle of nowhere, to the center of Seoul's crime ecosystem as a uni student/journalist under the name of Jung Jiah?

New name, new life, writing for a newspaper, pissing off the wrong crowd, a deadly post it note with Kim Namjoon scribbled on it attached to her head.

“How’s it going in there?” Sehun asks.

“So far so good. Jongin approached her. She's acting tough, but she doesn’t look too upset about it.” Chanyeol says.

It’s too bad that Jongin turned off his mic. There’s a bet going about whether or not she’ll respond to his charm. Jongdae swears Jongin’s everyone’s type when he works his magic, but Baekhyun disagrees. He’s too tall, too young and he’s missing the cat eyes.

For now, Baekhyun's putting the emotional shock to the side and handling this like she set a life-sized board game for them to figure out. If there’s one thing he had in common with her, is being a mystery enjoyer.

There are smartly placed storage cabinets everywhere to save up room like in most of these small single-bedroom apartments. She’s made good use of her entryway closet, it’s stacked with winter shoes, coats, all sorts of bags, and two or three umbrellas.

“Sehun, get your hands out of the fridge, you didn't even wash your hands.” Kyungsoo scolds. 

“She has cat food, but I don't see a cat” Sehun hums. “And for the record, Baekhyun was going through her underwear drawer before he set up the cameras.”

“What?”

“See how he’s not even denying it?"

Baekhyun might’ve fought the false accusations, but he happened to be going through her coats and just noticed a barely noticeable irregularity on the wall– a seam where there shouldn’t be one. Pushing everything to the side and inspecting the interior more closely, he runs his hands along the smooth wooden surface.

Wood, not wall. 

And exactly like he was hopping, there’s a line there, he feels it.

“Kyungsoo, I left the security UI tab open, can you do something for me real quick?” he asks, using his phone flashback to inspect the sides of the closet, finding a blank outlet. 

“Sure.”

“Look through the 220 volts outlets and devices. Uh– there should be one for the ac units, the washing machine, the water heater, cooktop…” he starts counting with his fingers “It’s definitely a circuit of its own.”

“I see a weird one, it doesn't have a name though.” Kyungsoo mumbles.

“It’s a date,” Junmyeon says. “October 10, 2020. Does that sound familiar?”

No, but they can figure that out later. 

“Can you try that one? Just poke it, see if anything happens.” 

And just like that, a section of the wall springs forward with a quiet click. Baekhyun just can’t help the delighted grin that takes over his face. He loves his job, he really does. It's unfortunate that her name came up and she's in danger, but she doesn't disappoint.

“Gotcha, Rinrin.”

“Can you stop talking like she’s there in the room with you? It’s creepy.” Jongdae says.

Chanyeol calls his name. "I think you’re losing that bet."

“What makes you say that?” he asks idly, pushing the door open. 

“She just looked at Jongin like he’s nothing more than a piece of meat.” 

“Jongin, if you’re listening, reel it in, alright? Overdoing it might blow in your faces.” Junmyeon warns.

Fuck the bet, Baekhyun thinks, he’ll pay for Jongdae’s meals for the rest of the year after this. This, right now, is promising to be a goldmine. 

He crosses the threshold, exits another closet just like hers, and finds himself inside the adjacent apartment.

“Baekhyun?” Sehun calls out. He crawls out of the closet and looking around in awe. “Wow. She’s definitely wacky.”

“Kind of” Baekhyun laughs airily, making his way inside and turning on the lights on.

It’s the exact same layout as hers, only mirrored, absent of any furniture other than a desk and a simple chair. It feels more spacious like this, and the temperature is not warm, nor cold, just at the right spot to feel comfortable. 

But there's a wall, and things take another turn. Sehun and Baekhung stop and take it in.

“Not kind of, totally wacky. Something is seriously wrong with her.”

“She got it from her dad.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Kyungsoo asks like he fears they'll say they found human bones.

“I’ll send you pictures in a bit,” Baekhyun assures, attention sucked in.

Now standing in the middle of what should be the living room, the grin slowly relaxes to a curious, careful little smile.

Just what have you been up to, huh?

“Wait, hyung, how’d you know she’d have something like this?”

271111 - Eleven years ago

She called his name and said,

“There’s something I want to show you,”

Baekhyun gave up on the Spiderman-themed decorations. The guys would arrive in about half an hour with drinks, food, and cake for Chanyeol's 19th birthday party, just before the rest of the people they invited, and if Minseok made it, he'd absolutely fix and organize everything to his meticulous standards.

So he jumped from the chair, dusted his hands, and followed her into the backroom.

There was a time, when they were kids, when he envied her so much he sometimes questioned their friendship.

How could he not? Her father owned an Arcade, and that alone gave her a 1% kind of privilege over all the kids at school. Mr. Kang was probably the coolest adult he knew. Everyone liked him at school; he was the teacher that let people hang out in his office and gave free coding lessons on the weekends.

To sum it up, Rina always had it good. She inherited his smart genes, so she didn't have to work herself to the bone to get into a good school, and even if she failed academically, she'd definitely inherit Arcadia.

Now, as a 19-year-old and as a part-time worker for her father's Arcade, Baekhyun had started to feel a hint of pity for her.

It began when she brought up her suspicion about her father hiding something—a family on the side, a shady job, gambling addiction. Chanyeol and Jongdae dismissed her worries and called her paranoid.

And honestly, Baekhyun kind of agreed with them, he just wasn’t that upfront about it. Eventually Rina moved on, started dating some flower boy that was way more into her than she was for him, got her hair done, and that was it. 

But late afternoon, when he was getting rid of paperwork from months back and had nothing better to do, curiosity and boredom got the better of him. He sat down and paid attention to the numbers.

Things didn’t add up.

Arcadia was barely making any profit, sometimes not even enough to cover his salary. Granted, Mr. Kang had inherited the building, so he didn’t have to worry about rent. The electricity bill, the water bill, and maintenance costs were consistently covered. Baekhyun had no idea how much being a math teacher paid, but he had a feeling that it wasn’t nearly enough to get Mr. Kang out of the red.

That was two months ago, and Rina didn’t have much of a reaction when he mentioned it, so that was that. Assuming that she’d moved on for good, it didn't cross his mind until pay day came and Mr. Kang acted as relaxed as always.

It definitely didn't come up as he followed her into the dreaded utility closet where they had once encountered the biggest, fattest spider ever.

Then, she opened the wall right inside the closet.

A door. Where he never knew there was one. Because it was a wall. And walls usually don’t open or have hidden hinges like that. 

But this one did.

Hesitating but kind of curious, he followed her down a dimly lit set of stairs, his hands trailing along the wall.

There was always something about stairs when you don’t know where they lead you. Fear pulled at his gut. 

“Say rinrin...” he began, voice wobbly.

“Mhm?” she responded, her unbothered tone added to his unease.

“This seems kind of unsafe, don’t you think?”

“You’re good, don’t worry,”

That didn't reassure him much, but being Rina, how bad could it be?

Before he could play off his concern with a joke, cold lights blinded him. The peeling paint on the walls and outdated vinyl floors gave the basement an eerie feel. A chill started to get to him, this room wasn’t heated. 

Not that they could afford that anyway.

Rina waited for him at the bottom, red beanie on top of her head, washed-out strands of blue highlights coming down her shoulders.

“Dude.”

“Alright, I’m going. You kind of look like a zombie flick character in this lighting, by the way. Like you just got bitten, but people just can’t tell yet.”

The basement sprawled out before them, larger than any basement Baekhyun had seen. Endless pipelines crisscrossed the ceiling, and despite the layers of dust, it looked and smelled relatively clean.

It really was cold as fuck.

The was a desk in the middle of the room, with a chair he recognized—a high-end, back-friendly model. Crazy expensive. 

But that wasn't it. Several empty server racks lined the back. Baekhyun had never seen that many in his life.

“Wow.”

“Right?”

On the desk were two quad monitor mounts, a keyboard and mouse. Everything covered in a light layer of dust.

“I looked through the paperwork the other night,” she said, watching him curiously hit some keys. “I found blueprints. They didn't include this, but the utility plans mentioned a basement.”

He counted up to fifteen rack cabinets around them, all empty except for one, tucked away in the corner.

“You’re the only person who knows about this,”

His head whipped in her direction. 

He felt kind of proud first, knowing that he’d been the first person someone trusts with something. She had Kyungsoo, Minhee, Minseok, and now her lovesick boyfriend. Chanyeol and Junmyeon as well. But she chose him. 

But then it settled on him. She’d just put the responsibility of being the only other person to know about this place.

She’d been right all along. 

Mr. Kang was hiding something, and it all led down to this basement. Baekhyun knew it looking at the cluster of servers. It just had to.

081222 - 11:30 pm

Sehun is, once again, going through her personal belongings. So far he’s found a loaded 22 under the bed, a brand new set of throwing knives wrapped like a Christmas gift inside her closet, and a hideous khaki jacket with tangled up faux fur on the lapel and cuffs.

“Why is Baekhyun quiet?”

Baekhyun’s sure taking his sweet time back in the eerie mirrored apartment, deep in a trance induced by all the information on the wall-sized bulletin board.

Sehun took a look at his eyes, realized that he wasn’t even listening to him, and decided to give the guy some alone time.

Everyone’s emotional these days.

Earlier today, Baekhyun told him that things could ultimately fall into his and Jongin’s hands, seeing that they're the only members of the team not compromised by personal involvement. He didn’t think much of it then, now it looks like he might've been right.

“He’s busy.” he mumbles, eyeing the small desk just opposite her bed. He has to bend his back to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling, his neck is starting to strain.

Stationery junkie. Explains the bulletin wall. She must take her Pinterest boards extra seriously.

Junmyeon is not happy with the lack of explanation. “Doing what? Why is he still in the closet?”

Chanyeol cuts in. “I’m not gonna make a joke out of that sentence. But I could, if I was in the mood. I’m just not.”

“He found a hidden door inside the entryway closet, it’s connected to the other apartment. She has the creepiest bulletin wall. She has pictures, documents, maps. Nothing related to Lee Chungjae, I think.”

Whatever intel she has in there, it looks like years' worth of work. 

Sehun is more concerned about how a journalist can afford double rent in this economy and how she got a secret security door installed without the building owner finding out and getting a hefty lawsuit.

He's kind of impressed..

Chanyeol sighs. “She has a fucking death wish.”

“No. She has a job.”

“Oh. That's definitely not a work thing, that shit is personal. Stalker levels of information. And she definitely doesn’t want anyone getting their hands on it.”

He would've approached it differently—nothing as flashy as a whole wall filled up with evidence. But he respects her for staying on the analog side of things.

If there's something they know in their line of work, is that digital means vulnerability.

But still, it took Baekhyun less than an hour to find his way in there, perhaps even less time than it would've taken him to find it if she stored everything in a bulletproof server.

All the effort, surely a few paychecks of investment, all for someone to go through that door and just find hard evidence on everything.

“Guys, this is gonna be awkward,” he says, pausing before further investigating her pink skincare mini-fridge. “But she’s got– uh, a fuckton of downers in here.” 

He’s seen some shit in his own time, but nothing like this. Several crystal bottles neatly lined up next to her toner pads and chemical exfoliator.

“Ok,” Junmyeon says, very carefully. “What– what kind?”

“Isoflurane.”

"That's not even a thing. You just made that up."

“You're joking.”

“Isn’t that... anesthesia?” Jongdae asks, but it looks like he already knows the answer.

"Anesthesia!?"

Sehun would love to know how she gets her hands on it. Few substances are as meticulously handled as anesthetics. 

He holds a bottle in his gloved hand and reads the label. If he remembers correctly, isoflurane vaporizes at room temperature, so it makes sense that she keeps them here. Inside a skincare fridge, though? Who even thinks of that?

But she sleeps with a 22 under her, so there’s that. Absolutely fucking wacky.

“But she doesn’t look– you know? She seems healthy. Yixing says she looks great.” Kyungsoo argues, sounding really against the notion that she might be using. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“There’s something called high-functioning addiction.” Chanyeol counters.

“I know that. But it doesn’t make sense.” 

Sehun agrees.

We’re missing something here.

Frustrated, he moves on to a plastic storage box under her desk. The first thing he finds, much to his surprise, is a bunch of packaged gas masks.

She’s meticulous. She carefully set up the door and the wall at other apartment. But Baekhyun found it. Easily. Like it was child’s play.

There’s a package underneath the gas masks. Blue filter replacements. Enough of them to make him stop in his tracks and his stomach drop.

He recognizes this grade. They’re made specifically for toxic fumes and chemical substances.

He slams his head against the ceiling.

“Fuck!”

“Sehun?” 

Sehun rips the plastic with his teeth, hastily puts a mask on. And runs down the narrow stairs.

“It’s a setup.”

He runs down the corridor. 

Inside the closet.

Pushes the door. Enters the mirrored apartment.

And there’s Baekhyun, sprawled on the floor, motionless.

Unconscious.

081322 - 01:45 am 

They’re usually better than this.

As in, most days in this job don’t end up with two people in the emergency room, and someone donating blood.

Turns out he has the same blood type as Miss Nut Nut. 

The night came to an end in a blur, and then things slowed down to an almost unbearable pace. Thankfully Dr. Jangmi picked up Junmyeon’s call immediately and made sure Baekhyun and the girl –who got in the way of a bullet, successfully this time– both had the best attention. As soon as possible.

Naturally, and thanks to the fact that they knew what substance he was on, Baekhyun gets discharged first, within hours.

He looks like he’s seen better days, pale skin, dry lips, IV drip next to him as Jongdae wheels him inside the private waiting room. Still, he flashes a boxy grin, rolling his eyes at the different looks of concern he gets.

“Wait, listen– it wasn’t that bad. I think I could be a drug addict in another life.”

Some find that funny, some don’t. Overall, everyone’s relieved to see that he feels fine enough to joke around.

“How’s she?”

“Still in surgery,” Kyungsoo says, holding an empty cup of coffee between his hands. 

It’s been a while since they’re all in the same room at the same time. There’s always more than one person missing, even when they go out for a meal and drinks at night. Usually, it’s Jongdae and Minseok, sometimes it’s Yixing.

“Is it bad?”

Jongin blinks down at the floor, fresh out of the shower, with a fresh set of clothes on. His whole shirt and lap were soaked in blood. Through and through. Sehun took a look at him and let him know that he would kill it in any Japanese horror movie, and congratulated him for surviving his interaction with Miss Saw.

“She lost a lot of blood, but they have it under control. They’re fixing up an artery right now.”

Minseok walks in, tie undone, bags under his eyes, a cloud of tobacco around him. He closes the door behind him and nods at Baekhyun, coming to rest a hand on his shoulder.

Jongdae offers to get another batch of coffee.

“You alright?” 

“A little drowsy, but it’s cool.” he fixes his throat. “It’s like waking up from the best worst nap ever. Uh– she knows, by the way.”

Minseok’s fingers running through his hair still, Baekhyun fears for a moment that his fist will close. His scalp is too sensitive.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

“Jongdae, be a sweetheart and get me some water, please. I’m still,” he grabs the handles of the wheelchair, ignoring the awaiting eyes on him. “figuring this thing out.”

“What does she know?”

Jongdae forgets about the coffee and gets him a bottle from the fridge.

"For fucks sake, Baekhyun."

He holds a finger up, taking short sips and making sure to wet his lips. Kyungsoo stands up and swiftly grabs the bottle from his hands.

“Talk.”

“That is incredibly rude, I almost died tonight.”

“And you still can. Start talking.”

“Ok. Alright. Look, she doesn’t know know, but she’s… well on her way there.”

All eyes are on him, as if waiting for the punch line to drop, or for him to start laughing and tell them how bad they fell for it. 

Junmyeon’s careful blink means he knows there is no such thing as a joke going on at the moment. “What are you saying right now?” 

“She knows about High Tide. She doesn’t know know about the Arcadia Initiative, but she’s… I don’t think she’s that far off. Oh, and there was... something called Project Selene." 

“Is it ok to talk about this here?” Sehun asks, side-eyeing Jongin, and finds that his face is contorted in a strange grimace. 

Junmyeon stands from his seat, running both hands through his hair, sounding breathless. “How’s that even possible?”

“She talked to Krystal, they met at some point. She must’ve been one of her sources.”

Sehun wonders if his ears are deceiving him. “What?” 

“I’m sure of it. She saw my tattoo and mentioned a friend who had one just like it. Red, back of her neck. It had to be Krystal.”

Chanyeol’s voice is hoarse and quiet. His hands hang between his thighs, a grimace wrinkling his face.

“That’d be shitty, wouldn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“After Mr. Kang... you know. She was right about him from the start.” he chuckles humorlessly “And now when she’s close to finding the truth, if she-- if she doesn’t make it--”

Baekhyun cuts him off.  “That’s fucked up, man.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I was angry and I got distracted. This wouldn’t have happened if didn’t stall.”

“It’s not your fault.” Kyungsoo protests, put off by the fact that he’s considering such a thing, looking around for backup. 

“We all made the call. I could’ve stepped up, talked to her and got her out of the city for a while, and we could’ve avoided this.” Yixing follows, putting his hand on Chanyeol's shoulder. “So don’t blame yourself, Chanyeol. We’ve had a rough night, but she’s stubborn. She’ll pull through. Dr. Jangmi's helped us out of worse before.”

“It was a delicate situation, we all knew there was an added risk.” Minseok's tone is unreadable. But there’s nothing new about that.

“You’re right.” Yixing nods. “We’ll discuss what we’ll do about... everything Baekhyun found in its due time, once she recovers. And we’re all cool-headed.”

“Yeah. Let’s just... deal with this later.” Junmyeon says. There’s a haggard look on his face, but his bloodshot eyes keep staring at a specific spot on the floor, probably already thinking of the implications of this revelation, of the consequences, and the possible moves to make.

Jongin and Sehun share a look. The tension has risen again, as it has several times this week when the subject comes up. Every single time it feels like an argument is imminent and shit will hit the fan, though it never quite gets there. 

And it only adds up for the next time.

“What’s there to discuss?” Minseok asks in a tone that leaves no space for answers, regarding Junmyeon and Yixing with a coldness in his expression that takes Sehun by surprise. "Isn't it obvious?"

His tired expression from before and heavy eyelids have sharpened to a stern mask they’ve seen only a few times since he met him. It’s not usual that Minseok talks like the eldest, so when he does, the room stills and holds its breath.

“The second she learns the truth this will make it to The Chronicle’s front page. When that happens, this all goes down, we go down, and she goes down. They won’t be this sloppy.”

Junmyeon looks away, jaw clenched. Chanyeol keeps his eyes on the floor. Jongdae looks out of the window at the view from Kyunkook Hospital. It started to rain a few minutes ago, and he can’t tell if the timing is terrible or soothing. 

“She's not a risk we can afford to take.”

Baekhyun looks down at the diluted blood filling up the drip chamber in his hand.

Only Yixing looks directly at Minseok while he’s speaking. His expression gives away nothing.

“Jung Jiah can never know the truth. She got close, and that’ll be it. We'll make sure of it.”

[overworkedblorbobattle]

angela lobcorp. propaganda

hey spoilers ahead. just saying. also no major cws but, time loops babey. and manipulation.

angela is an ai robot who was made in the image of someone (carmen/c) who died before the story began but started the story off. her objective was to complete the work started by the abc trio. angela was specifically programmed to experience time 1,000 times slower than the average human. imagine that. you go through your day and one hour itself is not that. it is an hour to everyone else but to you it’s longer. unimaginably long. you have to keep an eye on every little thing that goes on. you have to understand everything that happens. you cannot fuck up in the slightest.

angela was handed a ‘script’ to a ‘play’. she had to follow this script to its exact parameters. if she messed up ONE line or ONE thing or even TRIED to save the employees, make things safer, or help the sephirah, she would be punished. everything would be reset. the employees wouldn’t remember a thing, they’d be ‘new’. (the same employees. different ranks and memories.)

the sephirah would have their memories completely wiped as well, all except the lower level sephirah, hokma and binah. but everyone above wouldn’t know what happened. angela had to get used to this. she was forced to go through so many “scenario errors” and an alarm would sound, deeming a reset. one wrong word, hesitation, being too nice, unsatisfactory death quota, and more. she didn’t want this, she didn’t deserve this. even x/a had told her when she questioned something “a machine should behave as a machine.”

benjamin was the only one around for her until he was gone. until she was truly alone. until angela had to be someone who was cold and uncaring to the world, to the deaths of the employees, the well-being of them, the safety of the company, the sephirah.

.