#and my lab results very much confirmed that in a lot of ways
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britneyshakespeare · 1 year ago
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ok but like do i wanna know by am coming out ten years ago is craziness
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destinationtrekk · 1 month ago
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How would Wesker react if his shy, inexperienced girlfriend walked into his office just to give him a blowjob?
barking growling chewing on my cage yowling and howling for this. it's pretty long but wow!!
18+ mdni gn!reader but can be read as afab if you want anon <3
he'll be very focused on work so you haven't seen him for a few hours, or maybe a few days! the relationship is relatively new, so the two of you haven't done much past kissing and some heavy groping. but you miss him, and really really want him, so you risk going into his office to just say hi
he acknowledges you and plants a sweet kiss on your cheek but goes back to work pretty quickly. you stay behind him watching what he's doing but honestly none of it makes sense and you have more on your mind than paperwork and lab results.
you start to slide your hands over his shoulders, down his chest, and very, very slowly over his stomach. you can feel him tense and he stops you immediately, turning to face you while he pushes your hands away
he speaks before you can feel to rejected about it. his eyes are full of concern but also dark with something you haven't seen enough of to name. he asks what you're doing, says he misses you too but he doesn't have a lot of time for you right now. you have to push past your own feelings and muster up a bit of confidence because, no, that's not what you wanted at all.
your voice is quiet when you ask to give him a blowjob and his eyes are immediately black, pupils dilating so fast you barely catch it. he asks if you're sure, no, are you really sure? the last thing he wants is for you to feel uncomfortable or forced, so it takes a few tries to confirm that yes, you really want to do this.
he abandons his work immediately, pushing his chair back and spreading his legs to invite you between them. he holds you still and kisses you for a few minutes to ease you into it, and you shakily slide your palms over his bulge and blush at the low groans he lets out. he's usually quieter and a little cocky, but you've been able to tell how pent up he is from not having you. he wanted you to go slow and get used to each other, but you're well past waiting any longer
you drop to your knees and watch as he pulls himself out. you knew he was big, just his bulge was enough to surprise you, but next to your face he seems like too much for you to handle.
he talks you though it, oh god does he talk you through it. literally step by step - lick the base, that's it, baby, all the way to the tip. kiss it for me, your lips are so soft, fuck, do that again
you think his hands are trembling when he finally cups your cheek and tells you to stick out your tongue for him. your eyes are locked on his face and you look so innocent, all pretty and soft tucked between his thighs. he can't help but slap his cock on your tongue a few times, letting out a shaky breath before he meets your eyes. he asks softly if you're ready, and when you nod enthusiastically with your tongue sticking out he nearly cums right then
he lets you pick the pace, telling you how to move your tongue and stretch your jaw, wincing but moaning when your teeth accidentally scrape him a few times. it's soft and slow, but so sloppy - you're spilling drool down your chin and taking shuddering breaths around his cock. your mouth is so warm and wet, he doesn't think he's ever been this hard in his life
he lets you suck and lick and kiss all your want, but eventually he has to pull out of your mouth and jerk off next to your face. your head is laying on his thigh as you watch him tug on his cock, studying how he likes it so you can do it next time. he doesn't want to tire your mouth out too much the first time, but he does grab a handful of your hair to pull you back up when he's close, stroking himself with your tongue kitten-licking his tip.
he cums all over your tongue, cleaning up the small drip down your chin and pushing it back into your mouth. he groans when you suck on his thumb now, and he's still hard just knowing you have a mouthful of him. he makes you swallow it and immediately kisses you, and of course drags you to bed to return the favor
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sailorrhansol · 7 months ago
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One in the Grave | 00
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❀ Pairing: Vampire!Vernon x Dhampir!Reader (f) 
��� Summary: Immortal problems require immortal solutions, but you never expected the unlikely help from a vampire lord and the destruction that might come with it. 
❀ Word Count: 1,366
❀ Genre: Supernatural, Dystopian,
❀ Type: Unlikely allies to lovers, slow burn, angst, eventual smut
❀ Rating: 18+ Minors are strictly prohibited from engaging in and reading this content. It contains explicit content and any minors discovered reading or engaging with this work will be blocked immediately.
❀ Chapter Warnings: Descriptions of a viral pandemic and global shutdown, depictions of sickness, death and disease, brief mentions of grief and general destruction of the world, mentions of murder and fear, a note that implies suicidal intent, collection of items that are somewhat nonsensical and not necessarily supposed to make sense
❀ A/N: I got the idea for a collection of items that show a little of the world before we dive into it, though a lot of it won't make sense until one reads further. I liked the idea of showing different sides of the event that takes place before this story with the articles, discovered notes and lab sheets, and then at the very end you see some notes to our characters that you'll find in the story later :) IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW I'M NOT A SCIENTIST AND SO MUCH OF THIS IS NOT ACCURATE LMAO. I know little about biology or viruses but I did try to look stuff up to be... somewhat believable.
❀ A/N 2: Huge thank you to @daechwitatamic and @eoieopda for beta reading for me and letting me plague them with this unhinged project. I love you both and I really enjoy when we three way smooch in the comments of the doc okay bye
❀ Disclaimer: Disclaimer: All members of Seventeen are faces and name claims for stories. Any scenarios or representations of the people and places mentioned in works are not representative of real-life scenarios. Moreover, none of my works accurately reflect, represent or take a stance on the nuances of Korean culture, cities, people etc. Seventeen members are not Seventeen culturally, intellectually, physically, or representationally in my stories, and should be considered name and face stand-ins for made up characters.
❀ Disclaimer 2: The names and emails in this specific chapter are not real and for the fictional purposes of this story!
❀ Series Masterlist ❀ Main Masterlist ❀ Tag List Request Form ❀ Ask ❀ Playlist ❀ Next Chapter ❀
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Excerpt from the New York Times
Global Shutdown Imminent as WHO Declares VAHS a Global Pandemic
Thursday, October 1, 2063
…In a historic announcement today, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak of Vampiric Acute Hemorrhagic Syndrome (VAHS) a global pandemic. This declaration has sent shockwaves across the globe, prompting governments and health organizations to initiate unprecedented measures in an attempt to contain the spread of the deadly virus. VAHS, a highly contagious and fatal disease, has been rapidly spreading across multiple continents, causing widespread panic and overwhelming healthcare systems. The WHO has warned that without immediate and decisive action, the virus could result in catastrophic consequences. In response to the WHO's declaration, governments around the world have announced plans for a global shutdown in an effort to curb the spread of VAHS. This shutdown will entail stringent measures aimed at reducing social interactions and limiting the movement of people in order to minimize the risk of transmission. Public gatherings including… 
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Excerpts from emails at the Center for Disease Control
From: Jelena Suarez <[email protected]> To: Alison.Murphy <[email protected]> Date: September 1 2063, 2:12 PM Subject: [SECURE] Report 09-01-2063-11 Mailed-by: CDC.org
Alison,
Please find the attached report as requested. Confirm receipt upon review. 
Regards,
Jelena Suarez Lead Biologist, Team 6 Center for Disease Control [email protected]
[IMAGE] Previous Report Subject 990 shows signs of degradation in cognitive condition. Lateral views of the brain demonstrate lesions in the frontal lobe. Subject shows signs of hydrophobia and increased hemorrhaging. Internal temperature remains stable at 110 Fahrenheit. Fever continues to degrade.  [IMAGE] Current Report Subject 990 experienced a spike in fever and internal organ failure. Lateral views of the brain demonstrate further decay in the frontal lobe. Subject died at 0200 and reanimated at approximately 0523, showing signs of clinical vampirism unrelated to Renfield’s syndrome.
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Excerpts from the journal of Nathalie Wharton
October 20, 2063
… This isn’t like those old-school movies Mom and I used to watch when I was little. These vampires are real, and they don’t sparkle in the sunlight. Tara says that the older ones, the real vampires, don’t go crazy like the new ones do. I say they’re all the same. We’re leaving to go to the cabin tomorrow. Mom is worried that we’ll get stopped at the checkpoint and sent back because we’re technically in a quarantine zone, but Tara said the checkpoint south of the city fell last week.  There’s not much news. We’re the only family on the street now, and Tara’s radio doesn’t always work.  I’ll miss home, but maybe the woods would be nice… 
October 25, 2063
… Tara was right, there was no one at the quarantine fence south of the city. The roads remind me of those zombie movies with abandoned cars on the side, full of stuff people left. Thankfully the National Guard cleared the road on the way up north. No one has driven this way since it looks like.  Dad keeps looking for Carriers but we haven’t seen any. It’s like humans don’t even exist out here anymore. Mom says it's because all of those infected have gone to the big cities where the human population is higher.  She said Memphis collapsed last week, with no radio signal going in or out but the screams can be heard for miles.  It’s hot all the time now. The air outside makes me feel breathless like that one time we went to Florida and it makes me tired. I’m going to miss Tara but the radio said there was a breakthrough on a vaccine.  I’m so tired… 
October 26, 2063
… I had nightmares last night and could barely sleep. It is so hot in the car that it feels like my skin is on fire. Dad is making us ration our water and food. All I want is a cold shower to wash the sweat off and to not be starving. It’s just water. I just want to cool off.  We have two days until we get to the cabin…
October 27, 2063
… I hate this trip. I want to go home. It’s too hot down south and I’m hungry all the fucking time. Mom and Dad look at me like I’m crazy, but I just want to not be hungry. They won’t give me any more food.  I can’t sleep. It’s too hot. I’m too hot. Why is it so hot… 
October 28, 2063
It’s too hot to write. I just want to go home. I’m hungry. I just want more food. 
October 29, 2063
It’s so hot and I hate my fucking parents. They won’t let me eat more. I’m starving. I’m hot. It’s too hot. 
October 30, 2063
I didn’t mean to kill them.
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Bloodied note in abandoned warehouse, Columbus, Georgia 
To whoever finds this note, Are humans still alive? I hope they are. If they’re not, I understand. They didn’t tell us that this would happen. They told us that it would be okay. It isn’t okay. It was never okay. They told us to stay inside and wash our hands as if that could ever stop the virus from spreading.  I’m alone now. Mom died in the first wave of the virus. Dad died a few weeks later after Mr. Johnson attacked and tore out his throat. Daniel and I made it to the quarantine center in Albany with his friends from high school, but a week after Atlanta fell the Rabids showed up and tore through the quarantine. Those older vampires - the ones not infected - they didn’t even help us. They just keep fighting each other in the big cities. Daniel died yesterday. He wasn’t even a Carrier. He just starved. I don’t have anything to bury him with, so I’m going to leave him here and hide him the best I can. The vampires won’t bother with dead blood. It’s the Rabids who will eat him but there aren’t so many away from the big cities.  I hope that Daniel forgives me for not giving him a proper grave.  I don’t want to starve like Daniel. I don’t want to keep walking either. My shoes are busted from running when we left the quarantine. I know we passed a canyon on the way here. I thought it might be a nice place to die. I’m going to go right before sunset so I can watch it one last time before I jump. I’m not afraid to-
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Crumbled lab sheet in Buenos Aires, Argentina
[ORIGIN]: Bloodline, turned [NAME]: Leanna Cordova [DOMAIN]: Eukarya [KINGDOM]: Animalia [PHYLUM]: Chordata [CLASS]: Lamiae [ORDER]: Carnivora [FAMILY]: Hominidae [GENUS]: Inmortui [SPECIES]: Vampiris
[ORIGIN]: Natural, birthed [NAME]: Manuel Onzari [DOMAIN]: Eukarya [KINGDOM]: Animalia [PHYLUM]: Chordata [CLASS]: Mammalia [ORDER]: Primate [FAMILY]: Hominidae [GENUS]: Inmortui [SPECIES]: Dhampiris 
[ORIGIN]: Fever, turned [NAME]: Leandro Trejo [DOMAIN]: Eukarya [KINGDOM]: Animalia [PHYLUM]: Chordata [CLASS]: Lamiae [ORDER]: Carnivora [FAMILY]: Hominidae [GENUS]: Inmortui [SPECIES]: Rabidus
[ORIGIN]: Unknown, turned [NAME]: Unknown [DOMAIN]: Eukarya [KINGDOM]: Animalia [PHYLUM]: Chordata [CLASS]: Lamiae [ORDER]: Carnivora [FAMILY]: Canidae [GENUS]: Inmortui [SPECIES]: Canis familiaris
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Ripped sheet of paper, abandoned home, Yunnan Province, China
Weaknesses:  Sunlight Stakes Holy water Beheading Batrachotoxin* Fire Chest damage  ripping out heart Carrier blood *Temporary paralysis that only affects vamplings and Dhampirs. Older Bloodline vampires seem to have higher resistance to paralysis. 
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Unaddressed note smeared in blood, Seungcheol’s Blockhouse, Southwest of Black Harbor, Red Republic 
Find me, motherfucker. You owe me. -GR
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Neatly folded note, Vernon’s office, The Tower, Black Harbor, Red Republic
Lord Chwe, Your request for documents regarding the sect of Grim in the Undercity has been denied by Master Archivist Ilsa per security clearance IA-45-KL7. My recommendation is to seek a writ of clearance from your Lord Father or any member of the High Council. Alternatively, I suggest seeking an audience with Lord Hong, who has extensive experience with the Grim that pre-dates the existence of the Undercity.  Yours in loyalty and service, Lead Archivist Jeon
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Crumbled note, Chan’s pocket, The Tower, Black Harbor, Red Republic
I need you to steal something from the archives for me. Meet me in the Shadow Grove one minute after midnight.  -V P.S. Don’t bring Mingyu 
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TAG LIST:
@hipsdofangirl
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not-ishmael · 2 years ago
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A (not so) Brief Study Into the Nature of Deltarune
TL;DR:
For some time I've been quite intrigued by the appearance of some very particular leitmotifs that Undertale's and Deltarune's OSTs have in common. This took me down a rabbit hole that ended with the realization that it's quite possible that DR Sans and UT Sans are one in the same, and the Reset Theory on Deltarune is probably right.
This forces me to believe that Deltarune is a prequel from the perspective of the characters, and a spiritual sequel from the perspective of the Soul/Player.
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The Pre-Sequel Theory
First and foremost, pardon my english. I'm quite proud of my english skills, but it's not my first language and sometimes I mess up.
This is a LONG post. There's a lot -a LOT- of text and no images at all to ease the reading. I advice jumping into it only if you don't have anything better to do for a bit. The PDF I firstly wrote this on is 6 and a half pages long.
Index:
Motivations.
Clues in Undertale.
Clues in Deltarune.
The Delta Rune.
Conclusions.
Problems with this theory.
Blood (This part is skippable).
Discussion of the problems.
1 Motivations:
I've always been fascinated by soundtracks and ever since Undertale came up, its soundtrack wasn't an exception.
More recently I've been a bit more focused on the leitmotifs that Toby Fox uses in both game's soundtracks and, as many people have found, they share a lot of common themes. For many of them it's easy to understand why (for instance, for common character's themes, like Sans') but for some others it's not so much.
Having a more or less clear relationship between the games through the music, I tried to study the nature of this relationship, and what elements outside the music can be used as proof of this connection. This got me to Sans ,because of course it did.
Trying to justify this took me down the rabbit hole that theory crafting around Sans has always been, and the musical side of my reasoning ended up being a small part of the whole thing. Regardless I'm quite happy with the result, albeit it's not free of problems that I'll address and discuss at the end.
I'd like to also thank @determinators, who's incredible character analysis on Chara inspired me to write this whole thing.
With that out of the way, let's begin by talking about small details that Undertale gives us and hints to it being connected to Deltarune in some way:
2 Clues in Undertale:
There’s a lot of non-music related hints that point towards a possible connection between both games in Undertale. I tried to make a small summarize of all the most important signs I’ve found.
To begin with, there are a couple of small details that show that Sans Undertale seems to have quite the interesting backstory, these being:
Both him and Papyrus appeared one day in Snowdin, seemenly out of nowhere.
In Sans’ lab there’s a broken machine and a poorly drawn picture of 3 people we don’t recognize with ”don’t forget” written on it.
Sans insists a lot about about how he gave up trying to go back (somewhere, sometime, or both).
On the other hand there’s the famous Gaster’s Entry 17, that could imply some knowledge of the Dark Fountains by the former Royal Scientist. Gaster related as well, there’s Clam Girl, who mentions a monster named Suzy. Soon before the release of Deltarune, in the Switch version of the game, Clam Girl would turn grey and says that the time to meet this Suzy ”... is fast approaching”, before disappearing with the sound Mystery Man makes when disappearing himself. Although Suzy is not written the same way as Susie, there’s no reason to believe that Clam Girl is not talking about Deltarune’s Susie. This not only hints to Undertale and Deltarune being connected, but to Gaster being behind the whole connection, since Clam Girls turns into a goner sprite and disappears the same way Mystery Man does. I know Mystery Man is not confirmed to be Gaster, but it’s definitely related to him in someway.
There must be something going on with Papyrus as well, since he’s Sans’ brother and comes to Snowdin with him, but in Undertale he doesn’t seem to know as much as Sans knows. This could mean, since Papyrus doesn’t bleed, that Undertale Papyrus and Undertale Sans are not the same kind of being, and don't share a past.
2.1 Sans’ lines during combat:
During the fight against Sans, nearing the end of the Genocide Route, we get some clues about his backstory within his lines of dialogue. He begins, after the Player’s first attack, by saying:
our reports showed a massive anomaly in the timespace continuum. timelines jumping left and right, stopping and starting...until suddenly, everything ends. heh heh heh... that's your fault, isn't it?
We don’t know who is he working with, but it seems they know very well about the power to control the timeline, since they were monitoring it.
Sans continues with:
knowing that one day, without any warning... it's all going to be reset.
look. i gave up trying to go back a long time ago. and getting to the sur-ace doesn't really appeal anymore, either. cause even if we do...we'll just end up right back here, without any memory of it, right?
to be blunt...it makes it kind of hard to give it my all.
Here we get a bit more information. Sans is -understandably- depressed about the whole reset situation, but mentions ”going back” somewhere. We know it’s not somewhen since he doesn’t remember earlier timelines -besides the occasional déjà vu- and it’s not the Surface because he mentions it right after that line. So, where else would Sans be trying to go back to? It can’t be anywhere in the Undertale world, since he can move freely through the Underground - even through teleportation- and he specifically states that it’s not the Surface. Thus it can only mean somewhere outside the Undertale world.
A bit after that he continues with:
all i know is... seeing what comes next... i can't afford not to care anymore.
What does he mean by ”seeing what comes next”? He doesn’t know the future, nor what the Player did in other timelines. So, what is he seeing? I have no clue for what he could be referring too, but I do think that the answer lies within Deltarune’s story. We’ll have to wait for future chapters to know.
2.2 Sans’ secret lab:
After Sans gives the Silver Key -which appears to be a reference to a book about timetravel by H.P. Lovecraft- to the Player, we can access the Secret Lab hidden underneath his house. Inside of it we find:
A covered up broken machine.
Blueprints for a machine written in un- readable symbols.
A badge.
A photo album with:
A picture of Sans, happy, with other people the Player doesn’t recognize.
If the Player already fought Asriel: A second picture appears, showing Sans, Frisk and their friends.
After the v1.001 patch of the game, if the Player has talked to Clam Girl and knows of Suzy, from the back of the photo album sticks out a poorly drawn picture of three smiling people with the words ”Don’t Forget” written on it.
The first three items, although interesting, don’t give us much to work with. The machine is covered up and the blueprints are unreadable. The badge could become another huge hint in the future, if during Deltarune’s festival Sans happens to win a badge for winning at something, but this is purely speculation so I won’t be taking it into account.
The pictures and the drawing, on the contrary, give us much more information. Let's discuss them a bit more in depth:
2.2.1 The photo album:
By the time the Player gets the Silver Key, possibly after the battle with Asriel, they (and Frisk) have met every main character in Undertale’s story. Thus, the people in the first picture, who neither the Player nor Frisk recognize, can’t be anyone we know. They could be people from other places in the Underground Frisk hasn’t met -although from a storytelling perspective this doesn’t make much sense- or they could be from the Deltarune world -which makes a lot more sense storywise-.
Furthermore, there’s the poorly drawn picture. Since this picture only appears after talking to Clam Girl, a character heavily tied to Deltarune -specifically to one Deltarune Character-, and it has the words ”Don’t forget” -words that don't mean anything special in Undertale, but are extremely important an present in Deltarune from the very beginning- written on it, it’s safe to assume that the three poorly drawn characters are a trio from Deltarune. Due to Frisk not recognizing them, they have to be characters that only appear on Deltarune. What trio of characters do we know from Deltarune that fit these characteristics? I’m fairly sure Kris and Susie are two of the three, but the third is a bit more complicated. My first suspect was that it was Ralsei, but since he’s a darkner and we don’t know if darkners will be able to get to the Light world somehow, nor if Sans will end up in a Dark world; I’m more inclined to leave that third character’s identity up for debate. My other candidate is Noelle, since Berdly dies in the Snowgrave route of Chapter 2 -and Toby Fox likes to keep all possible endings as canon- and we don’t know any other important lightner that doesn’t appear in Undertale as well.
3 Clues in Deltarune:
Since we have just 2 chapters -out of Toby knows how many-, not many hints to Undertale appear in the second game. Still, much can be said from the leitmotifs that can be heard in the game’s soundtrack, which was the main motivation for this analysis.
3.1 A brief introduction to leitmotifs:
*This part is skippable if you know what a leitmotif is*
To those who don’t know, a leitmotif is a small piece of melody that appears many times in a composition, and is associated to someone, somewhere or an idea. Examples of this are the main themes of characters: a recognizable simple melody that is associated to a specific someone-For instance, the melody in Nyeh Heh Heh!, which would be Papyrus’ leitmotif-.
Soundtracks are rigged with leitmotifs, and neither Undertale’s nor Deltarune’s soundtracks are an exception. Since each one is associated to a specific character, place or idea, the use of the same ones in both games is something to keep in mind.
3.2 Leitmotifs that appear in both games:
The first song that plays inside the world of Deltarune, in Chapter 1, is Beginning, which has 2 leitmotifs in it: Once upon a time -from Undertale-, and Don’t Forget, -from Deltarune-. This second leitmotif appears in several other songs in Chapter 1, and in some of Chapter 2.
The song that plays in the menu after you finish Chapter 1 is called Before the Story, which has the exact same melody as in Once upon a time. This leitmotif is one of the most -if not he most- used in Undertale’s soundtrack. For me, it’s kind of the ”Undertale theme”, for how much it appears in the soundtrack of the game -same as Don't Forget would be Deltarune's theme-.
There are some other Undertale leitmotifs in Deltarune’s OST that I won’t be taking into consideration. These are the character’s leitmotifs, like Sans’, and other that represent important emotions like determination, despair and hope-These leitmotifs are a bit difficult to recognize if you’re not deep into the music side of the games. Determination can be heard, among others, in Undertale’s Determination and Deltarune’s Rude Buster; Despair corresponds to the melody in Undertale’s Burn in Despair, and appears in Your Best Nightmare, Vs. Susie and at Queen’s basement, right before the Spamton NEO fight; and Hope is sometimes called ”Snowdin’s theme”, which appears in Undertale’s Snowdin Town and Hopes and Dreams -thus why I prefer to call it Hope’s leitmotif- and in Deltarune’s A Town Called Hometown-. These leitmotifs being in both games is to be expected, since they either represent common characters or common emotions to both games, so they're not really relevant to the theory.
Going back to the theory, the use of ”Don’t Forget” as a title for the most present leitmotif in Deltarune is a bit on the nose, taking into account the poorly drawn picture in Sans’ Secret Lab. The soundtrack acts as a constant reminder to not forget -pun intended- that drawing. But this isn’t the only insinuation Toby’s left in the game’s music. There’s another, much obscurer clue, it being the name of the song Before the Story. Since it plays in the menu only after you play Chapter 1, it can’t be referring to ”before the story” of Deltarune, since that story has already begun. So, what if the Story is Undertale’s? If so, since it uses the most important leitmotif of Undertale in a song called ”Before the Story”, this would imply that Deltarune’s story happens before Undertale.
3.3 Non-musical clues:
How the Player interacts with the world seems to also indicate a relationship between games. Specifically those lines that point to the Player knowing characters -or things about characters- that Kris doesn’t know yet. This in and of itself is not enough to prove that the games are a direct sequel and prequel of each other but, in combination with everything else already discussed it does add to that idea.
4 The Delta Rune:
Both the appearance of the Delta Rune in both games and its name are big indicators of this connection between games. Even though in Undertale it’s not known what its original meaning was, there’s a prophecy that sounds remarkably alike to the Delta Rune Legend from Deltarune. In Undertale there are two interpretations: either the Angel will murder all monsters, or free them all from the Underground. Additionally, in Deltarune, the Legend Ralsei tells us says that the Angel is to be defeated by three heroes: two lightners -a human and a monster- and a darkner.
Since the Delta Rune is older than written history in Undertale and it’s original meaning was lost to time, that one of the 2 interpretations for this symbol is so close to the Legend Ralsei gives us, with an evil Angel instead of a benevolent one, could mean that, originally, both Runes had the same meaning behind.
5 Conclusions:
With all this in mind, I’m quite sure now that at the end of Deltarune Sans will end up being stuck in Undertale’s world, possibly using the machine he keeps covered up in his lab. Since Papyrus doesn’t seem to be much different to any other monster in the Underground I don’t think he comes from Deltarune’s world, so I fear a tragic end for the Papyrus we’re yet to meet.
This ending would make sense of the whole ”Your choices don’t matter” thing. The Snowgrave route seemed to contradict this statement but, if just Sans is going to Undertale, whatever you do on Deltarune’s Universe won’t matter to Sans’ end. Undertale’s story is already written and the end we got will remain untouched, as Toby said. This also implies that our actions don't matter to Deltarune’s world end too. This, plus the possible death of Papyrus, points to a violent end of the game. Being blunt: I think the Roaring is inevitable.
But if Deltarune is a prequel, how is it that the Player recognizes the characters that both games have in common and it’s advised that the game is played after Undertale? I believe the game is a prequel from Sans’ perspective, and a spiritual sequel from the Player’s. The Player, being the meta-being that it is in the games, doesn’t need to abide by the same temporal rules the characters are forced to follow. Thus there's no contradiction in Deltarune being a prequel to Undertale.
6 Problems with this theory:
To prove this theory we need for Papyrus to die and the Roaring to happen. It’s a grim condition, perhaps too much so that I don’t see Toby having a dream about it and deciding to dedicate the next +10 years of his life to make a game about it; or perhaps it's just the kind of dramatic and emotive ending that would motivate someone to do exactly just that.
UT Papyrus seems to not know anything about his brother’s possible past in another world, and acts as if they had been together since forever. They both appeared one day in Snowdin and his past seems as mysterious as Sans’, but they can’t be directly related since Papyrus doesn’t bleed.
I don’t know how will Sans get to Undertale’s world (my guess is Gaster, but he’s a bit of an easy-way-out in theory crafting).
Naming a song doesn’t need to be a very thought out process, even if Toby Fox has a tendency to be very attentive to details. The name of Before the story could just be a synonym to "Main menu".
Grillby’s. Sans’ convenience store, ’Sans, appears to have the same façade as Grillby’s in Undertale, with the name of Grillby rubbed off. This small detail is a possible proof against the sequel thesis, albeit it could just mean that Hometown had a Grillby’s before Sans’ convenience store and it closed down for some unknown reason.
It’s debated whether monsters from Deltarune have magic or not. There are some indications that they do have magical powers, but for some reason seem to have forgotten about them and it’s been left as an obscure thing very little people know about. Anyhow, Sans does have -very powerful- magic powers in Undertale, so this uncertainty could disprove the whole theory.
7 Blood.
*This entire part is skippable, after reading the TL;DR*
TL;DR: As always, blood seems to be the biggest issue around Sans’ theories. To summarize, unless we get undeniable proof that DR monsters do bleed in some way before turning into dust, Sans bleeding could be a huge weak point for this theory.
Before I finish this post, I'd like to address one of the biggest conundrums in Undertale: Sans' blood. Throughout the post I've gone with the assumption that Sans can bleed without proving it in anyway.
It’s fair to say that Sans does bleed in Undertale before turning into dust outside the screen, and he’s the only Undertale monster that does. We know he bleeds because he does it from the mouth as well, far from where the Player cuts him, which would only happen with regular bleeding around a digestive system rather than with ketchup stored in his rib cage. But, is there any indication that Deltarune monsters bleed?
This is highly debatable, but there are some unused sprites that show Susie bleeding. Even though they are unused, why would Toby Fox make them if the thought of bleeding monsters wasn’t in his mind? There’s a monster kid - not the Monster Kid- that asks Kris if it hurts to be made of blood, which implies that monsters are not; but the bleeding Susie sprite is a huge indicative that Toby had this idea of monsters bleeding in Deltarune.
Regarding the ”everybody bleeds” quote, in the Japanese version of the game Susie doesn’t mention blood but ”wounds”, using a word in no way related to blood or bloody wounds. Because of this, the quote is probably just a figure of speech. It’s a bit odd that a monster would use a figure of speech that mentions blood, but it’s probably because the script is written by a human, for humans to read; or that she comes from a human community, as some have hypothesised.
7.1 Berdly’s death:
Anyhow, monsters in Deltarune do seem to turn into dust after they die. Gerson, for instance, had his dust buried with his hammer, following a similar funeral ritual to that of Undertale. But Berdly, who is presumably dead after Chapter 2 if the Snowgrave route was taken, didn’t. At least, not for a long time, from after he died until Kris, Susie and Noelle leave the Librarby.
The toy in the hospital’s waiting room appears to confirm to Berdly’s death, since one of the blue beads breaks off after Snowgrave -this means there's more than 1 blue bead, possibly 2: one for Berdly and one for Kris-. But can we be certain that this means death? We do know this toy symbolizes the state of the game: the beads’ colours are the same as the main characters’, it’s said that they each ”march along their set paths", reminding us that our actions don't matter, and in the end of Chapter 2 - if nobody died- it says that the beads "march on". Berdly’s coloured bead being broken and off the rail after Snowgrave, and him appearing to ”not be awake” in the Light world indicate the end of the road for that character. It’s safe to assume that this detail does confirm that he dies after Snowgrave. But if so, how is it that his body didn’t turn immediately into dust?
In the Neutral route, Berdly’s arm gets burned and, after the Dark Fountain gets sealed, his arm doesn’t seem to respond. It’s not burned, just not moving. From this we can assume that injuries in the Dark world have physical manifestations in the Light world. This explains why Berdly is just dead and not frozen after Snowgrave. But it also could mean that he’s not completely dead, but fallen down, a comatose fatal state. This could mean that the broken bead does means certain death, just not right away. If so, then there’s nothing pointing to Deltarune monsters being any different to Undertale’s in nature, other than their apparent lack of magic powers, and this whole theory crumbles to dust -pun intended-.
As always, blood seems to be the biggest issue around Sans’ theories. So, to summarize, unless we get undeniable proof that monsters bleed in some way before turning into dust, this will keep on being a huge weak point in this theory.
8 Discussion of the problems:
Regardless of these problems, including the blood one, I still believe that this theory holds. There’s enough evidence to back up the thesis. Even if monsters don’t bleed in Deltarune, it’d make perfect sense for Sans UT to be from this world and not Undertale’s.
Nevertheless, if the blood problem isn’t explained through Deltarune, new theories will have to arise to explain why Sans is so different from any other monster.
Furthermore, if bleeding is not something Deltarune monsters do, then it’s possible that UT Papyrus is the same as DR Papyrus, like Sans, since the main reason for that distinction was that Papyrus didn’t bleed. This would imply an ending a bit less grim for the skeleton duo, although the inevitability of the Roaring still looks unavoidable to maintain the whole theme of the game: ”Your choices don’t matter ”
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oraclememehacker · 2 years ago
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This is just going to be a ramble and talk about Futaba’s childhood growing up since I find that fascinating. A lot of this will be my headcanons/interpretations of things sprinkled in with the canon stuff that is said. I probably will forget stuff so please forgive me. Anyways, Futaba as a child growing up I imagine was as fun as it was stressful. When she was a very small child, Wakaba would read her some bedtime stories, also reading her some stuff that probably shouldn’t be read to such a small child. As in, more advanced stuff than she was ready for because Futaba would insist.
Wakaba saw that she had a love for reading and learning from such a young age. Instead of trying to push down her a preordained path; you know, following a certain “this is when your child needs to learn stuff” sort of deal, Wakaba taught her that stuff. Futaba would understand it quicker than she expected, and that’s when Wakaba learned a little bit about Futaba’s eclectic memory that was passed down from her. Eventually this would culminate in her going to a doctor and confirming this. She did also see signs of what could be autism but declined to test for that specifically. 
Some of the first books that Futaba came to love growing up were about UFO’s and aliens. She would read them thoroughly and whenever she would see something with a UFO on it, she would want to look at it. Something about the designs of them drew her in.  Same with Egyptian mythology.  Something about seeing hieroglyphics and the way that those images were painting an entire language must've been fascinating. After all, all she was taught at that point was Japanese which are just words. This is pictures creating words!
Of course, her fascination for both crossed over at times, but for the most part she learned about them seperately. As she grew older, she started to get fascinated in other things and was really learning how smart she was and her eclectic memory. But, as talked about in canon, her intelligence  and the way that she wanted to share what she enjoyed resulted in her getting constantly bullied. She couldn’t understand why and it gave her anxiety. Plus, she always felt like she was closer to a book and her mom than anyone else.
That resulted in her being an incredibly lonely child. She would always be off by herself whenever not in class, eating meals in some other part of the school and taking any opportunity that she could to hide herself in a book. Eventually, however, she found herself gathering an interest in computers as well. There was a computer lab in her school, and they had classes in there, learning the basics of computers. How to use a keyboard and mouse, how to use a word processor, etc etc. In typical Futaba fashion she learned all of that incredibly quickly and also played games on it as well (3D pinball anyone?) Her love of video games started from here and grew to console gaming as well, eventually.
Computers made sense to her. People did not. Computers were (mostly) predictable and there was so much information contained within them combined with the power of the internet. She used it to learn more about her favorite subjects and probably get into a bit of trouble as she tried to bypass the school firewalls and restrictions put on them in order to get closer to the lower levels of the computers and operating system. Once she learned about coding that’s where she really wanted to learn more.
Coding was structured and once again, it made sense. Input some code and for the most part assuming there wasn’t some weird things going on, it would display some things on screen just like how she wanted them. The stuff that she created would be incredibly basic programs, including a pong game that at the time, she was really proud of. She rushed home and showed her mom her programs and other assorted things that she had made through a usb drive on the computer that Wakaba had for work related and personal stuff. She felt like she was truly accomplishing stuff. And that’s when her love of computers would blossom more towards how it is in her current day life.
Of course, she didn’t always get the chance to show off her love for things because of Wakaba’s increasing busyness. Often Futaba was left to her own devices though sometimes Sojiro when he wasn’t busy would look after her for a bit. At least until Wakaba came home. Or sometimes the other family members would look after her. Futaba didn’t realize that she would come to despise them as they would end up seeing her as nothing but a waste of time and space.
At some point Wakaba realized that Futaba’s love of computers needed to be nurtured more. And that’s when she would end up giving the young girl her own computer. Was it particularly powerful? Not really. It was a mid-range machine at best. However, just the fact that she had her own machine that she could do whatever she wanted with, assuming she took any and all responsibility for potentially breaking it? Was great.
So, you had a child who at this point was lonely and a little bit jaded because other kids would pick on her and make fun of her for being so smart and having an eclectic memory. She tried to demonstrate this by saying stuff from memory about a book and it just caused her to get even more bullied. There was only one person in her life besides her mom who didn’t immediately bully her. However, that whole thing is in itself a whole can of worms.
Plus, she was seeing less and less of her mom, and was assuming incorrectly that her mom didn’t see her as a high priority. The reality was that Wakaba was an overworked single mother trying to do everything that she could to support her daughter and ensure that she had nothing but love and support at every turn. She would help upgrade her computer a bit and still gave her all the books and stuff that she could ever read. It was just when it came to physical affection and being there for her that she would sometimes fall flat.
Most of her time was now focusing on reading, coding and just trying to get through school. That feeling of loneliness and isolation never left her, just was left to fester and grow inside. It was on the day of her mothers death that everything changed for her. She desperately wanted to spend more time with her mom, someone who she trusted completely. She suggested a family trip and was being insistent on it. Wakaba then told her that she couldn’t do it now, probably a bit harshly and that when her research was done then they would do what she wanted.
Of course, that would never happen as her mother was about to be killed in the cognitive world. But from Futaba’s perspective, it was like her mother suddenly was giving her the cold shoulder. That she had done something really wrong by insisting on going on that family trip. It didn’t matter where they went in particular, the point was she wanted to go with Wakaba and maybe Sojiro if he was available. She liked Sojiro since he was nice and friendly, and was like a father she didn’t have to some extent? Though mostly just a nice and friendly guy.
Speaking of that, there’s no mention of Futaba’s real dad at all. My interpretation of this was because he was a deadbeat that Wakaba had a short relationship and then realized he was a real scumbag. Especially once he refused to do anything with taking care of Futaba with her. She told him to go to hell and they mutually parted ways. Whenever Futaba would ask she would say that he was just a bad person and not worth talking about. Futaba eventually stopped caring about her father.
Everything else we basically know in canon. Futaba getting taken from family member to family member, getting neglected by her Uncle and then being brought in by Sojiro. I imagine that Futaba really doesn’t remember much from this time. It’s all a massive blur to her since it was happening so quickly. She wouldn’t have much time to even process the fact that her mother was dead, and that she got blamed for it and was harmed so thoroughly by this that it left her feeling absolutely devastated and dead inside.
Those feelings of isolation, guilt and not being loved that she had left simmering inside her was growing incredibly fast and it resulted in her getting a palace. It was so overwhelming that of course it ended up with her hallucinating. Her memories of her mom that she loved was replaced with those of her hating her and it left her just feeling like there was no point in anything. This resulted in her in being a neet and not wanting to interact with anyone. At first, her sleeping a lot was because it was the only way that she could escape her intrusive thoughts.
Eventually it just became something that she did a lot because of a lack of energy due to her lack of doing much of anything. She didn’t have particularly great stamina growing up and would find herself getting tired more than some children, but for the most part she was a normal child in that regard. However, her isolation really amplified that, plus there was a thyroid problem that goes undiagnosed, because getting a doctor to see her was hard and when Sojiro would get doctors to see her, they wouldn’t exactly do a great job addressing her problems and not suggest any sort of help. Plus, Futaba was incredibly socially adverse at this point.
Sometimes she had the energy to actually go out but she was incredibly shy and would try to do everything that she could to not stand out. That’s how the café was bugged, and she looked in on Sojiro. He was upstairs grabbing stuff and cleaning the attic a little bit and she installed them. It was her way of keeping tabs on him and to know when to call him when she needed something. During this time her only social interactions were online and that molded how she talked to people in real life for a long time after. It’s something that she takes with her even after the events of persona 5 strikers.
I do think however, she does at some point get an appreciation for how people act. Not so much about what they go through but there was something about watching people and seeing them go through life that was fascinating to her. Once her change of heart happens, she gets into the habit of doing people watching now that she doesn’t hate people and just finds the whole thing fascinating. Social interaction of course takes her a while still.
There is absolutely so much more that I could mention but this post is incredibly long as is. I just kind of wrote and wrote and was putting my thoughts down on paper. As you can see, I’m fascinated by a lot of Futaba’s stuff and especially her childhood since we never really get to see tiny Taba and her relationship with her mother and Sojiro all that much. I really wish I did because it would absolutely be adorable for sure. But yeah, this was just a ramble I decided to make on a whim.
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molykica · 1 year ago
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Ambient pressure temperature superconductors!!! I'm shaking like a Chihuahua rn,
Before I go overboard I gotta say I don't think this has been like, confirmed officially yet, I think South Korea is claiming they have this but haven't shared enough specifics for it to be like, completely confirmed that their work is credible, but for sake of my interest in the subject I'm gonna talk about it like it is legit!
BECAUSE if it is legit that means we can revolutionize power, making basically every electrical system more efficient and as a result more productive and sustainable, less heat/energy lost through resistance and generally heat diffusion!!!!
Computers can be designed super efficiently, they won't need any/as much dedicated to cooling systems like fans or whatever, and overheating wouldn't be an issue/as big of an issue.
Apparently they claim that a combo of certain materials, when heated, react to form a superconductive material, but they showed a video of their mystery substance only sorta levitating on a magnet, and they claimed that their sample was off a bit because of impurities which makes me skeptical about the whole thing because could they not have made a more pure version and showcased that, how can they claim they exhibit the meissner effect if their own video only sorta shows it. Although apparently South Korea shared all this info with the intention that other people would replicate their experiment and get better results and I don't see why they'd share an imperfect test result and encourage others to do it better if they were just trying to trick people so I feel like it's probably good faith but you never rly know.
But also the magnet test was very eh to me, like, it's very easy to replicate that effect so idk, plus the magnetic effect isn't exclusive to superconductors, it could indicate a lot of things.
But theoretically if we did have a superconductor that can work under ambient temp and pressure conditions then thats really fucking cool. The way they did it too it's very easy to produce and uses basic lab equipment that most labs of that discipline would already have which makes mass production (probably years away tho) a hopeful possibility, like, imagine a phone/computer that doesn't overheat, also the amount of energy we can actually use will be increased a lot, which makes sustainable energy sources more viable and allows us to get more use out of other energy sources we already have!
It will also help us develop new tech for limiting temp gradients in a large variety of applications!!!
But again, this isn't by any means proven yet, it's just a claim that still has to be peer reviewed and replicated so we will see but it's an exciting concept! There are still a lot of issues with their credibility rn but it could be due to other things so hard to say now, I'm fully aware that theres a good chance this isn't the real breakthrough and it's just a mistake or a fluke, but the concept of superconductors that can operate under standard conditions is so exciting I want to talk about it!!!!
@4doatmeal
what are your thoughts on this?? You used to study physics specifically so you might know more and/or also be interested in the concept
I myself am not fully educated on this topic, physics is not my specialty, some of my info might have been misunderstood or something, I will be discussing it and learning about the topic further in the coming hours/days so I might update later.
References for reference:
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dr-carlosrobles · 1 month ago
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Cecil is blushing, blushing so much, and Carlos can't help nudging his nose against the man's cheek, resting his forehead against his temple.
He just wants to stay in contact with Cecil forever, somehow, even though he knows that might not be possible— Radio and science are such different jobs on a base level!
Suppose he'll just have to keep a radio switched on while he does his work in his lab, and wherever else his work may take him in Night Vale!
"I am thanking you," Carlos insists simply in return, only sitting back once he realises he should probably definitely let Cecil be able to focus on the road while he's still driving. "You came to get me, so you are to be thanked— Because you started it."
A childish argument, maybe, but a true one! Outside of whoever wrote the prophecy, Cecil did start this.
Cecil continues to speak and Carlos listens attentively as he hugs his bag close to his body, as though he absolutely needs to be hugging someone or something right now to keep him tethered to the Earth, to reality.
When Cecil trails off, he smiles, and stays quiet with him. He thinks he understands what he means, and thus understands why it's difficult to say.
"I have been told I'm a force of nature," Carlos confirms once it seems Cecil is done rambling (oh, how he loves listening to him ramble!). "I think… that very few things are truly impossible, and most are just improbable. If I'm told something can't be done, then I will keep at it for as long as I have to, as long as my brain can keep thinking up new ways to approach it."
As a result, he has one many bets against himself! Which is normal to be proud of, right? He's proving himself!
He's just also consistently doubted, for some reason.
"So if you came and something didn't work out," The scientist continues, thoughtful. "I would just keep trying. If you had to rush off or something, and we were not in the car together like we are now, I would find my own way to Night Vale to find you again. Even if I don't entirely understand where it is. I'll find it, because I won't stop trying. You're worth searching for, just like you've searched for me."
A beat.
"But I don't have a third eye. So I might take a lot longer, I guess."
@dr-carlosrobles [continued—]
Oh, my—
𝑂ℎ.
Cecil is struck 𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 when Carlos leans over and kisses his cheek in return.
He doesn’t remember the last time he was kissed. Literally, he does not remember it; the last time he was kissed was years ago, by Earl Harlan, and Cecil doesn’t remember a single second of it, wiped clear from his mind after several ensuing— though unrelated— sessions of re-education that left Cecil blank, Earl heartbroken, and their relationship a broken, half-gone mess.
Regardless.
Being kissed now— and being kissed by perfect, perfect Carlos— on the cheek is the most tremendous feeling he’s ever had. And he had such fear when Carlos didn’t respond, at first, but now—
He couldn’t be more thrilled. He couldn’t be happier, really, and—
And he gets a second kiss.
And a third!
And three is one of his best numbers. He can’t help but sigh happily, tugging Carlos’s lab coat closer around himself. It feels so grounding, perfect, warm.
Though Cecil has never liked facial hair on men before— oh, he loves it on Carlos. He loves the friction against his own skin; he hopes it leaves a mark behind. He hopes Carlos is burnt into his skin forever.
“You don’t have to thank me,” Cecil insists, blushing furiously. His blood is rushing so fast he feels like he might lose consciousness— but, he can’t! Carlos is here! He wants to spend every second he can together with him. “I’m just so grateful you’re coming! Thank you, Carlos! I’m—”
He hesitates, then admits— “Prophecies are never guaranteed. Nothing is ever guaranteed. But I… I saw you, and I couldn’t live without you anymore. I feel so lucky that… that this prophecy was guaranteed. That you are…”
He doesn’t want to say guaranteed, even though he, himself, is guaranteed. He’s not going anywhere, not while Carlos is anywhere else.
“There are many prophecies,” Cecil informs him, rather than picking up his previous line of thought. “And many of them… Many of them, I hope would not come true. But I would have endured any of them— all of them— to make sure you would.”
The smile that comes onto his face is sharp-toothed and inhuman and irrepressible.
“But I didn’t even need to. You are your own force of nature, aren’t you, Carlos?”
Just like Cecil is. They are meant to be.
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a-flickering-soul · 2 years ago
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i've been getting into spg for the last few months now, and i'm noticing there's really not much about these characters on the internet. (the spg wiki is Very Short.) you mind unpacking some lore about the bots?
(this is also an invitation to infodump. believe me when i say i Want to hear about these funky little automatons)
Sorry about the two lengthy SPG asks in one day! I'm putting this one below the cut because it is LITERALLY 2.4k man I did NOT come to play with this one! For what it's worth, you may find this ask interesting, as I've linked some good lore sources I frequent a lot :)
Rabbit: The first to be built! She named herself Rabbit after one of the animals in the lab she was built in, which I think is very endearing of her. She's Victorian clockwork/steampunk-inspired, and out of all the automatons is the one to maintain the most of her original vintage workings, which means she's also the one to malfunction the most <3 girl things fr. Rabbit is a wonderful character because she is Bunny Bennett's special special OC and gets to have so so many problems because of it. I am serious when I say most things usually happen to Rabbit. She is the Special Girl of SPG lore. This is NOT my own bias showing up, I PROMISE.
Rabbit has everything bad happen to her. Red Core, which is THEE Rabbit comic and something I read on a semi-regular basis to experience shrimp emotions through, goes through her backstory being trans (this robot is trans) and it peels me every time. I won't recap it but I think everyone who likes trans robots should read it even though it is as of yet incomplete. Lore-wise, it's interesting because it establishes that she was originally meant to look like Delilah Morreo (certainly a choice, Peter Walter I), and was sent to war in an incomplete, half-broken body which I certainly have a lot of thoughts about (it's the lack of AGENCY it's the way she spent the war VOICELESS it's the way she was denied the chance to be finished for a CENTURY it's--). Following that, about half a century later it was her core specifically that was stolen by the Beciles in 1950 in an attempt to replicate her Blue Matter power source. This tinkering inadvertently sent a beam of pure energy ripping through time and space, causing an explosion that claimed the lives of Peter Walter II and Guy Hottie (real name), and injuring Peter Walter III, Ignatius Becile, and Norman Becile. Rabbit, to this day, still blames herself for this because god forbid women have one good day. This also was the point in time that split the events of the Vice Quadrant into Timelines A and B, due to the generative power of Blue Matter, and also maybe created Cosmica? Which begs the question if Rabbit is sort of like Cosmica's mom in a weird way, but that's beside the point. In 2014, her original blueprints were discovered after a series of worsening malfunctions led Peter Walter VI to search for a way to repair or upgrade her, resulting in the confirmation of what Rabbit had known all along--that she was in an unfinished and slipshod chassis, that she was a girl, and she deserved to be recognized as such. Which is cool :') and a really neat way to work in her creator's IRL transition :') and for sure doesn't make me feel things.
Some cool facts I've just gleaned about Rabbit over the past eight-odd months are that she has memory problems, fell in love with a toaster, knows what BDSM is (SWEAR to god this is true), likes feeding ducks, and has a laser cannon in one eye, hence the heterochromia. There also is this cool series of drawings showing Rabbit's evolution drawn by Bunny here, which is really interesting to look at! In case it's not obvious, she's my favorite and I love her and I think about her too much <3
The Spine: The Spine is a special, special old man. With a retro-futuristic aesthetic, he was built with a titanium alloy spine (that's his Back Story), and before he got upgrades in 1955, was fashioned with a high amount of steam vents running up and down his vertebrae that kind of looked like old-fashioned train smokestacks, which is very endearing. In 1955, as I mentioned earlier, he got a ton of upgrades funding exclusively by the US government improving his weaponry, as well as an upgrade to his AI and programming making him much more humanistic, more personable and more able to mimic how humans moved in order to make it easier, once they were inevitably drafted again, for him to take up dangerous military operations without risking human lives. It's to my knowledge unclear if he was built like this or if this was part of that 1955 upgrade, but he is also able to detach his head and spine from his torso and limbs and actually slither around like a snake, which some people think is weird but I think is very endearing and fun! He hangs out a lot in the Hall of Wires since he's one of the few inhabitants of Walter Manor that can actually climb up towards the ceiling and presumably debug or repair the AIs, and also because it's the only room in the entire Manor with a door.
I love the Spine because I think the evolution of his role in the band is incredibly funny. If you watch the earlier Balboa and Zoo-era performances, he plays the straight man of the band in a stoic, but also kind of dumb way. He doesn't really know what's a bit and what's serious, but it's okay because he's really trying his best. Now, as the straight man of the group, he's so so old and tired. He really just wants to go back home and power off and who can blame him? By dint of the current lineup being a Black robot, a trans gay robot, and a white guy robot, he is now the butt by default of most jokes which is delightful to Me and boy, does he shoulder that weight with begrudging grace. My special, special old man. Watching him get made fun of onstage is kind of like watching someone give a very old and tired dog a pill, and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible.
Cool facts about the Spine include the fact that he's really into cowboys and the Wild West, he has actually never really been in love, he secretly thinks Saturdays are Just Okay, and he actually swears the most out of all of the members of the band (at least as of now).
The Jon: The Jon is an interesting little guy. He has a cool Art Deco style and is known for being a little more whimsical, young, and off-the-cuff as opposed to the others. What's interesting about his backstory is that while Peter Walter I was mucking around with his power core trying to bring him to life, some switch flipped or some level was triggered and a minor explosion occurred. By the time the smoke cleared, the Jon was alive and sentient and there was a void in his chest instead of a power source. Unlike his siblings, he didn't run on clockwork, or hydraulics, or anything of the sort. He appeared to sustain himself on the void sealed in his chassis, which contained only a koi fish and a hot dog floating in space. He tends to have a certain effect on people blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, and odd coincidences seem to follow him like a well-trained dog.
In 1992, the Jon went through his own upgrade--Walter Robotics, always looking for ways to boost their quarterly revenue, signed an ad deal with PepsiCo advertising Crystal Pepsi. The Jon was modified to run solely on Crystal Pepsi, which. . . as you can see by the popularity of Crystal Pepsi right now (sarcasm), it obviously didn't go well. The Jon's efficiency is tied to an out-of-production soda and his machinery refused to be retroactively fitted to water again. To prevent the inevitable from happening, he left around 2012 through one of those Blue Matter portals through to a sister dimension (in fact, the same one Peter Walter I discovered back in 1896) known as Kazooland, where we are assured he now serves as the Mayor of Biscuittown (presumably, it is up to us to determine how much of this is true and how much of it is the Jon trying to sound cool).
Cool facts about the Jon include the fact that he and Zer0 are besties, animals love him, and that the very first show that Steam Powered Giraffe did all the way back in 2009 was about them going back in time to get him more Crystal Pepsi.
Upgrade: I used to be neutral about Upgrade but then I watched all the busking videos and also the 10 year anniversary show and now I love her. She was the Girl Of The Group (TM) all the way back in their busking era in 2009-2010 and her ongoing bit was that she was in love with the Spine and also knew exactly how adorable she was. However, she can be stubborn when she wants to be, and her AI is permanently frozen in the QWERTY 1996 OS because she really just liked the 90s I guess.
I for one am completely fascinated by Upgrade's lore because it's noted that during the Weekend War and WWI, she served in the military presumably doing the same sort of things the other bots were doing, then as a medical nurse in WWII, indicating that the governmental military contract really played fast and loose with whether or not they could enlist woman-coded robots in the war effort. What's notable to me, though, is that during the Vietnam War, Upgrade specifically went on to protest the war with the hippy movement while the others served in the war. How did that happen? Were they just allowed to opt out whenever they wanted? Are these robots really willing Vietnam War vets? Did Upgrade out of all of them just have enough guts to run away? Anyways, she was brought back into the fold about four years after the war ended, just in time to a few decades later get Sharpied with facial hair while the robots trial-ran a boy band concept. She ultimately left to go be a princess and become actual royalty. I swear to god I read somewhere that Upgrade killed Princess Diana but for the life of me I cannot find it. Know that it haunts me.
Upgrade facts include the fact that she is an actual princess, her makeup out of all of them is most inspired by classic vaudeville, and it was her and Rabbit's roles during their busking era to banter with the audience while the Spine and the Jon tuned their guitars.
Hatchworth: Hatchworth was built in the frantic few months before Peter Walter I had to face Thaddeus Becile in battle and presumably the poor man was turning anything metal into a robot. Hence, Hatchworth's design--he was initially constructed out of an old-fashioned bronze wood stove. Walter chose this robot to experiment with his Blue Matter levels, and with one tiny change in concentration he accidentally created a Blue Portal into another dimension in his hatch. This was incredibly useful in battle, as almost any weapon could be summoned through the hatch--after the war, it was used to summon sandwiches for the growing Walter family. All was well and good, until an as-of-yet unnoticed hairline fracture in his core began making the portal act unstable, coming to a peak in 1938. After accidentally summoning a pack (herd? flock?) of badgers into the middle of a tea party he was serving, he was determined too damaged to fix for now by anyone other than an ailing Peter Walter I, and locked in a lead vault deep below the manor while Peter Walters II and III tried to find a fix. Decades later, he was found hallucinating and lonely by our boy Peter Walter VI, who was stricken with his own Blue Matter mishap and had an inkling of how to fix the old robot. One thing led to another, and now thankfully we are all 99.9% Hatchworth acclimated!
Hatchworth facts….he left the band to go Gold Fishing (with some degree of success), he has incredibly fancy shoes that are also inexplicably tiny sometimes, he has a Hello Kitty cell phone, he does know how to cross himself, and Zer0 tried to microwave his head once.
Zer0: Myyyyyy sweetest and most special boy Zer0. Zer0 was actually technicallyyyyy the first one built, since he originated from three separate rudimentary prototypes Peter Walter I fused together after testing out various weapon designs. As a result, he's incredibly robust, very powerful, and has a cobbled-together patchwork appearance. Unfortunately, as he didn't have much by way of singing at the time, he fell to the wayside after the Weekend War and was forgotten down in the basements and testing labs sealed miles below Walter Manor. In 1992, the AI Beebop found him while archiving documents and turned him on. Zer0, enamored with the evolution of music over the past century, taught himself how to sing exclusively from the old Motown records in the basement with him. Peter Walter V, upon hearing his voice, was so awestruck that he immediately repaired him and Zer0 became the face of the band (#Zer0OurShiningStar). Zer0 then absolutely skyrocketed in popularity, signed with a TV show, and subsequently became so famous Walter Robotics had to erase all content of him from their market because they lost the rights to his appearance and voice. Sadly, our sweet boy invested all his money in "the abstract concept of love", lost all his money, sold one single copy of a bad autobiography, and came back home to Walter Manor with naught but a yacht to his name. He very graciously returned to performing in Steam Powered Giraffe, where his lovely vocals can be heard to this day.
Zer0 facts include the fact that he got a brand deal to sell his own kind of overly sugary cereal, he fell in love with a "large-chested lamppost" once, he likes possums, he would collect worms on strings if he could, and his defining characteristic is joy <3
I hope this was somewhat readable and comprehensive! I think…..I covered everyone out of the automatons, unless there is another member about to crawl out of the woodwork somewhere. Best of luck in your lore-hunting! I hope this helped :)
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lugialagia · 3 years ago
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The New Recruit
Summary : Y/N is working with Tony as her lab assistant. One day Thor brings in Loki to be part of the team. But the God of Mischief has a very weird way to show his affection toward Y/N. Ship/Pairing : Loki x reader Words : 3,311 TW! Mention of death
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“Y/N come down in the lab, I need you.” Tony called thought the intercom of the building. Y/N put down her writing book and hurried in the elevator, not wanting to make Tony wait.  
It had been several months now that she was working with him. Having an engineer diploma, Y/N had been searching for a job right after. Tony had been searching -of course it was an order from Pepper- a lab assistant so he could be less in it and rest more. It was after months of researches that Tony and Pepper found Y/N. With a famous boss like Tony Stark, lots of people applied to the job but none really convinced them both. Too arrogant -which would result in a war between the assistant and the boss- too proud and with apparently ‘too much knowledge' when it wasn’t the case, the couple had rejected them all.
But one afternoon, Y/N came to apply. She was calm and sweet but she very much knew how to deal with Tony and wasn’t afraid of talking back to him when it was needed. And obviously, she was as clever as expected for the job. Pepper new that she was a rare flower and exactly what her lover needed. Since then, the two worked together very well and everyone was satisfied. “Ah, here you are. I found out what was the issue with that canon.” announced Tony.  
“Then let’s get to work.” replied Y/N with a smile.
* * *
After two hours of working on the new canon for his suit, the two friends made their way back to the lounge where they finally relaxed, a drink in hand. “Y/N I need to tell you something important. I really wish I could’ve said it sooner but...I can’t wait anymore.” Tony started, scraching the back of his neck.  
“Tony, you’re scaring me.”
“Well, how can I say that... Hum... Were’re gonna have a new member in the team.” Tony finally said.  
“But it’s a great news! How did you find them?” Y/N asked happily.  
“Let’s say that he’s an old friend of Thor.” he continued with a grimace.
“And who is it?” Y/N asked.  
“Hum, Loki.”  
“Wait what?”  
“And he’s coming tonight.”  
Obviously, Y/N was shocked. “What? Are you mad Tony? You really want to welcome the same person that destroyed New York and tried to kill you by throwing you out of your own tower?”
“I know, I know. But everyone deserves a second chance, right? Thor confirmed that he has changed and that he was under Thanos’ control at this time.” Tony explained.  
“How can you know it’s the truth?” Y/N asked, still suspicious.  
“We need to try. And even if he tries anything, he wouldn’t have time to say ‘kneel’ that he would be KO.” the genius stated.
Y/N sighed, she didn’t want to see that God again, but this was Tony’s choice and there was nothing she could do but accept. “I suppose I don’t have my word in this.”  
Tony placed a hand on her shoulder. “Y/N, I promise everything will be fine.”
“I trust you Tony and I hope for you that you’re right or else I'm gonna kick your iron ass.” Tony raised his hands up in the air, laughing.
The two colleagues then went back to work for the rest of the day. Then, came the moment Y/N feared. But she was not the only one, some others Avengers didn’t agree with Tony’s decision. Mostly Clint who still wanted to shoot an arrow in Loki’s eye socket. Surprisingly, Steve accepted, after a long and heated conversation with the genius, of course. Everyone was in the lounge, weapon hidden but close.  
A light beam appeared on the balcony, burning a strange drawing in the stone. Two silhouettes came out of the light. One with broad shoulders, a hammer in hand; Thor. And the other, thinner and darker; Loki. The Gods walked in the room, joining the Avengers. “My friends! How are my favorite Midgardians?” greeted Thor with his big voice. Loki rolled his eyes at Thor’s annoying joy. Tony greeted him back first, smacking his shoulder. “Hey PointBreak, you came with a gift for us?” he said looking at Loki who was standing a few feet behind.  
“Hahaha, don’t be shy brother! Say hi.”  
“Greetings, mortals.” Loki replied blantly like he already wanted to go home. Some groaned at the nickname the God used. Loki let his eyes roamed across the group of human and was surprised to see a face he didn’t know. “I see you have a charming new recruit.” he started with a wolfish grin. “Let me guess, electricity powers? Fire? No, poison?”
“She doesn’t have any power, Reindeer Games. She’s my coworker and you’ll have trouble if you ever touch her.” Tony stated with narrowed eyes.  
“I will not touch your precious. Unless she does want to.” Loki replied with a nasty smirk. Tony was already fuming, so much that one could almost see vapor escaping his ears. “Loki, be nice. Unless if you want to go back to your cell.” Thor scolded him.
The God of Mischief hissed like a true cat. He certainly didn’t want to go back in the dungeons and preferred to stay on Midgard with those mortals. And maybe he could have some fun with the man of iron’s pet. She would be an interesting thing to play with. “Well...hum Romanoff, show him his bedroom.” The assassin nodded her head and Loki followed her without a word.  
The God didn’t leave his room the whole night. He didn’t even come down to eat. So it was with surprise that Y/N saw him in the kitchen the next morning. She was eating her bowl of cereal alone, most of the others having already ate their breakfast an hour before. Loki arrived in her back without a noise, so she obviously jumped and let out a small scream when she finally noticed him. Of course, the God liked it very much. “Good morning, mortal.” Loki needed to talk a bit to her if he wanted to play with the little mouse.  
“The mortal has a name.” Y/N stated coldly.  
“Ah, amazing. She knows how to talk.” Loki mocked. “But I don’t like your way of talking to me.” he continued with a threatening voice.    
Scared and feeling useless in front of a God, she apologized. “I- excuse me.” It was Loki’s turned to be surprised this time. No one ever bent to his threats that easily. Hiding a mischievous smile, now he knew that she would be a nice toy to play with. “Apologizes accepted, Y/N.” he hummed.  
“How do you know my name?” she asked with wide eyes.  
“I heard Stark pronounced that name, I supposed it was yours.” Y/N was relieved to know that he didn’t have some weird telepathic powers of some sort. Well, she wasn’t sure if he could do it, he could have lied to her, after all, he was the God of Lies.
After a few minutes of silence, Tony walked in the room. “Ah Y/N, here you are. I need a hand on the ACE prototype.” he then looked at Loki while he walked away with the young woman. “He didn’t...disturbed you, right?” he asked.  
“No, he simply greeted me, that’s all.” Y/N replied.  
“If you need to speak about me, be sure to be in another room, Stark.” Loki stated.   “Keep talking Reindeer Games.”  
Y/N knew she could trust Tony, so why did she lie to him? Why didn’t she tell him that Loki was scaring her, that he was intimidating? She didn’t really know. Maybe she was scared of what could happen.
Work made her think of something else. She even completely forgot that the God of Mischief was here, until he made his presence very...annoying, throwing her a small ball on her head from the couch he was seated in. Y/N turned back quickly, observing Loki who hadn’t even lift his eyes from the book he was reading. “Why?” she asked.  
“Why what, mortal?”  
Y/N let out a frustrated sigh. “What did I do to receive this ball on my head?”  
“I find this amusing.” Loki replied. Y/N left the room after that, annoyed by the Prince’s response. She locked herself in her room for the rest of the evening. The woman ran into him only twice and he was already annoying her. But she was not the kind of woman to get angry or reply back, so from now on, she would try to avoid him as much as possible.
* * *
Weeks went on and whatever she did, Y/N always ran into the God of Mischief. It seemed like he knew all of her move every time. And Loki continued to play tricks on her, throwing some things at her or making sarcastic comments. Even playing with his seidr to surprise her. Like the night she came back really late at night, exhausted like never. Y/N only wanted to take a shower before going to bed. Loki had sensed the presence of the mortal right when she came back into the building. He hadn’t saw her all day so he wanted to pay her a visit. So he teleported into the room she was in. But what was his surprise when his eyes landed on her naked body in the shower. A wild smirk drew on his lips as Y/N finally noticed that someone was in the bathroom. She yelped in surprised and quickly grabbed her towel to hide her body. She had wanted to scream at him because this time he went too far, but only one glance from the God and she swallowed back every words.
This afternoon, Y/N came back after a night at the hospital. Her mother unfortunately deceased after a long fight. Eyes red and puffy, she prayed for not running into anyone and mostly not Loki. But of course, it was too much to ask. As soon as she walked in the elevator, Loki appeared at her side. “Finally I find you, pet.”
“Not today, Loki, please.” she pleaded, her head hanging low. Loki chuckled, she could even beg on her knees, he wouldn’t let his toy get away.
“I do not recall ordering you to command me.” Loki said.
“No, seriously Loki, I’m not in the mood.” The God suddenly asked himself why she was rebelling. She always had been very submissive. Oh he would put her back in her place. Using his seidr, he stopped the elevator and pinned the young woman against the wall, his hands on each side of her head. “Do not talk to me like this, pet.” he said with a low threatening voice. “Do I need to make you remember that you are only a twig for me? I could break your neck without even touching you.”
Y/N kept her head down, hair falling into her face. She was scared, deep down, but today, she didn’t care at all. She didn’t want to be stepped on. To hell this powerful God, he could kill her, she wouldn’t care because the most precious person in her life was now gone.  “Fuck you. Now let me get out of here, I want to be alone.”  
Surprisingly, Y/N was very calm when she pronounced those words, but it was all an act because she was desperately trying to hold her tears. Of course, this attitude didn’t please Loki. He reached forward and wrapped a hand around her throat, but not choking her, forcing the girl to look at him. Surprised flashed in the God’s eyes but this lasted only a short moment. Y/N had cried. And he knew it wasn’t his fault, her eyes were dry at this moment. Loki wanted to ask why she was in this state because in the end, he cared for her, but this wasn’t very...Loki. “Oh my little pet is sad?” he said in a mocking tone. “But this doesn’t give you the right to talk to me like you do with your friends.”  
“Maybe you can’t quite understand this because you don’t have a heart, but my mother just passed away so yes, fuck you!” Y/N spat. Loki’s reaction was quick. He retreated his hand and let the elevator open, letting the young woman stepped out to hide in her room.  
Meanwhile, the God stayed here, as immobile as a stone. Y/N’s words hit him hard like a truck. He remembered the day of his mother’s death, the anger and the pain he felt. This was exactly what the mortal was facing right now. Remorse crawled into him, a feeling he almost never felt in this life.  
Loki then took a decision. He would go and talk to her, but he would wait tonight so she could calm down a bit and not be too angry at him. So he walked to his room to read, but his mind wasn’t focused on the book at all. Evening came and he didn’t see Y/N at dinner time, thing that usually never happened. Obviously, everyone noticed that something was wrong, but no one knew what was happening. Anyone but Loki, except, he didn’t say anything.  
Being her closest friend, Tony went to her room to talk to her. But the door was his only company. He could’ve asked Jarvis to unlock it, but he didn’t want to intrude unless she was in danger, which was not the case. He would give her the time she needed.  
Natasha was the second one to try, she used her talents to make Y/N speak even if she didn’t want to see her. But only silence replied to the spy.  
Loki was the last one to try. He knew he would find nothing but a closed door, but he still knocked on it. “Y/N I know that you probably don’t want to see me, but I would like to speak to you.” he said with the softest voice he could manage.
On the other side of the door, Y/N’s body tensed when she heard the Prince’s voice. It was his fault if she was in this state. Well, not really but he deepened her sadness. She never wanted to see him again. And if it meant that she would need to leave the tower, she would do it, no matter how hard it would be for her in the end.  
Seeing that his first try failed like the two previous Avengers, he decided to go further. With the use of his seidr, he teleported himself inside the bedroom. The woman obviously let out a yelp and jumped in surprise when she saw the God suddenly inside her room. Loki observed her face a few seconds. She was looking terrible. Her eyes were red and puffy by her tears and her cheeks were wet. Sighing, he finally spoke. “Y/N I know it’s against my personality to be sincere, and you probably won’t believe me, but I truly am sorry for what I said and for your mother.”
“Go away.” Y/N replied coldly without looking at him.  
“I know how you feel and I won’t go away until you released everything.” Loki stated.  
Y/N finally stood up and stood in front of the God. “You know what, I’ll tell you what would make me feel good! It’d be for you to get out of my room! You pretend to know how I feel but you can’t because you’re just a heartless monster!”
Loki watched the Midgardian burst out for the first time. And her words hit and hurt him as much as a spear in the chest. His jaw tightened and his seidr flood into his hands, ready to be released. But he didn’t want to hurt her, so he restrained himself, trying to be as calm as possible. “I might be a monster, but I am not heartless.” he started coldly. “My mother was killed because of me. She was the only person who loved me for who I am. While everyone was rejecting me for the blood running in my veins, she was the only one to accept me.” Now, his hands and neck were starting to turn blue because of the anger. “I told her she was not my mother, and those were my last words to her. Don’t you think that my heart broke when I learnt her death, that I do not feel remorse for rejecting her?”  
When he was finally done, Y/N started to cry again and wrapped her arms around Loki’s neck. The God hesitated for a moment before wrapping his own arms around her. They stayed like this for a few minutes, calming themself into their embrace. “Darling?” Loki tried.
Y/N finally looked up, staring at Loki’s green eyes. “Speak to me.” Seeing that she was going to protest, he placed a hand on her cheek. “Please.”
“Why?” she asked quietly. Loki raised a brow, not really understanding her question. “Why are you suddenly so nice when you always tricked me and tried to scare me?”
“I simply have a unique way to show my affection.” Loki finally admitted.
“What?”
Loki then softly and gently pressed their lips together. He was scared that Y/N would reject him as well, but he was surprised to see that she kissed him back.
***   Days and then months passed and a small routine built up between the two. Loki was still taunting Y/N, playing the cat and mouse game. Like nothing had changed. But Natasha, being a very talented spy, noticed that the game wasn’t really the same than before. She saw the tiny changes in Loki’s behavior et the biggest one in Y/N, her character. Usually sweet and calm, the young woman was starting to fight for herself with words, at least. The rest of the Avengers thought it was because of her loss, but Natasha knew the truth.
So when the sun was bright up in the sky, Thor wanted to organize something outside with the whole team. It was with his happy smile that he walked toward Loki’s bedroom and opened the door without knocking –because Thor- and leaned against the door frame. Then, he noticed someone else was in the bed and it seemed to be a woman. She was pressed against the God’s chest so it was impossible for the blond to see her face. He told himself that it surely was a random girl that Loki found out during their little escapade from last night. Since the woman was still sleeping, the two Gods started to whisper. “Good morning brother! The sun shines brightly in the sky, join us outside!”
“As you can see, I’m not sure I can even move. Have fun with your little Midgardians.” Loki replied, hoping to see his brother leave.
“Loki! You’re in the team too, come with us.” Thor continued.
“Thor-”
“Loki.” Thor scolded like he was talking to a child.
“Loki, honey, give me one of your daggers so I can throw it at him. I can’t sleep anymore because of him.” Y/N pleaded with a poutty voice.  
Thor was obviously surprised to recognize the voice. “Lady Y/N?”
“Yes, hello Thor.” She sighed.
Mouth wild, Thor didn’t seem to get this information into his brain. “Since when you two are courting?”
“A year. Now mind your own business and leave.” Loki said with a shooing motion. Without another words, Thor left the couple alone and walked back downstairs where most of the team was. “Why are you making this face PointBreak?” Tony asked with a laugh.
“Loki...and Lady Y/N...” He simply replied. Everyone turned their head toward the God. “What?!”
“Yes, since a year.” Thor announced, still very shocked. And everyone then was making the same face.  
“I already knew it.” Natasha chimed in with a smirk.
“What?!”
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nitw · 3 years ago
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Can you explain what you mean with misinterpreting Chara? I've always been confused about that character and you seem to have a pretty solid read you alluded to in that post about Snowgrave.
of course!!! as your local chara defender since the ripe age of 13 i hope you don't mind me doing a small essay on this. please bear with me tho because i sometimes can't articulate my thoughts well on stories that deal with philosophical themes ;;
UHHH SPOILERS FOR UNDERTALE AND DELTARUNE CHAPTER 2 BELOW
first let me make a few things clear so i don't have to repeat myself a bunch:
only tobias radiation fox himself has The Word of God privilege when it comes to things that haven't been explicitly confirmed in the games yet, EVEN if they're strongly hinted at. don't take anything i say about the plot as more than firm personal interpretation based on the info we have right now!
i cannot stress this one enough: undertale is a game that was never meant to be experienced from a singular perspective/mindset. the genocide route doesn't JUST exist for the sake of "enjoy your personalized edgy fuck-you run for being a serial killer in a video game", every one of the total 93 endings (look it up) in this game exists to reflect the player who achieved it in one way or another. the genocide route is really no different from any of the others, because in the end, no matter what, the player who decided to go through with the things they did will ALWAYS be rewarded for it. the question the player will have to ask THEMSELF afterwards is "is this what i wanted?"
OK MOVING ON-
let's think back to the little but vital amount of info we have on who chara actually was, like, as a person. we know pretty much all of this due to 1) the tapes in the royal lab 2) asriel's additional dialogue at the end of true pacifist.
while we'll never really know why frisk fell into the underground, asriel tells us explicitly about chara's hatred for humanity, and how they jumped from mt. ebott for "not a very happy reason"; supposedly a suicide attempt. chara "never talked about why", it's left intentionally vague because their reasoning isn't really what matters. what DOES matter is how this is relevant to the genocide run, ESPECIALLY with the new obvious parallels in deltarune's snowgrave route. i'll get to that.
when you finish the genocide route, chara will talk directly to the player in person. they talk about your (you AND chara's) success, despite "their plan (having) failed". this "plan" is one they secretly made with asriel when they were both still alive, as revealed from the tapes. chara got terminally poisoned from eating buttercups (whether this was fully intentional or not is still kiiinda up for debate), and while on their deathbed, asriel says that he doesn't like the plan anymore. yet despite his fear, he still fused his soul to chara's when they died.
the actual plan here was to become a monster powerful enough to slaughter humanity, specifically chara's home village by their own dying request - this all ties into their mysterious spite and hatred mentioned before. but due to asriel's resistance against chara, their fused body was killed by the humans - which eventually led to the creation of flowey, and asriel's inner demons after death.
but back to the genocide route. during chara's monologue to the player, they give us a LOT of important exposition. basically:
at the very start of the game, frisk's own determination is literally what brought chara's soul 'back to life'. we know how human and monster souls are different and how "determination" in this universe is something only humans possess, so it makes sense why it awakened them. i won't get into the whole narrator theory because i feel like it's not that relevant to my point (it's fun tho), but chara is always present from the moment frisk falls down, and stays regardless of the player's actions.
if you managed to finish undertale at all you'll already kinda know this (thanks sans), but the EXP and LV you (can) gain throughout your journey aren't just numbers on your screen - they're genuine in-universe manifestations of power that increase when you kill someone. and in genocide, chara explains how they were directly affected every time your stats rose. they could FEEL their spirit growing stronger for every life you decided to take (REMINDER THAT THE GENOCIDE ROUTE CAN BE PERMANENTLY STOPPED AT ANY POINT BEFORE SANS. YOU DID THIS.), so is it really that strange that they felt the desire to grow even stronger?
and once you do reach this point, there's no return. all that excessive time and effort you put into killing off a civilization OBVIOUSLY has some consequences. the consequences HERE being - if you paid attention to chara's life story - you took advantage of a traumatized child who was already at the breaking point and making irrational choices on their own, and you led them to believe that this was what they needed!
this is VERY MUCH SUPPORTED by the snowgrave/weird/pipis/whatever route of deltarune chapter 2 that was discovered about 2 days ago as i'm writing this. i'm gonna go ahead and assume you know what happens in it and i don't care to go into details if you don't, since this post is about chara, but surprise: THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO NOELLE, TOO! even in a completely normal run, noelle makes it clear multiple times that she wouldn't mind staying in the dark world; that in spite of how scary and dangerous it seems at times (something something horror movies), she started to feel at home. POSSIBLY even more so than her ACTUAL HOME, with her dying dad and negligent mom. like chara, noelle is a young person with low self esteem and her fair share of trauma, even if it's not as apparent. and like in the genocide run, the player's desire to ruthlessly kill in order to grow stronger affected her already-poor mental state.
someone else already pointed this out specifically, so don't credit me for it, but the main difference between chara and noelle is that noelle managed to break free in the end.
if you're like Most People Who Played The Genocide Route Back In Like 2016 and you played the genocide route with no further knowledge about it than "i have to follow these specific steps to get a harder fucked up version of the game", i don't blame you. you didn't actually know what you were doing in the end, did you? but did the outcome disappoint you, make sense to you, or did it just leave you with an empty/confused feeling? i love undertale because it WILL force you to think about things like that. i mean, if the result wasn't gonna affect you in SOME way, why would you go through all of that trouble in the first place? you had your reasons, as the player of any video game where you know your choices matter. would you have carried out the entire thing if you knew what was coming? the answer to that is only relevant to yourself.
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shiroganeryo · 4 years ago
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Komui's Discussion Room content (DGM 27)
Volume 27 has been released recently here in Brazil and I realized the remaining of Komui’s Discussion Room were nowhere to be found in English, but after reading all of it, I thought there are very interesting things hence why I wanted to share!
Please bear in mind this is not a direct translation, but a summary.
I have a lot of criticism when it comes to Viz Media’s release (official English), but I’m quite content with the work Panini, the distributor of D.Gray-Man in Brazil, has done so far with the official Portuguese release. If there are any mistakes, please bear in mind I translated the information directly from their version.
There are 11 questions covered in this summary. For the others, please check Jeidafei’s translations on them (totally recommend it!): Part 1 | Part 2 | Author's note & Thanks Corner | Extra
Without further ado, let’s get into it! This got very long.
≫ Kanda hasn’t reached the “critical point” in synchronization yet (+ why Allen isn’t a General)
In the question “How did Kanda hide having gone past the critical point”, Tiedoll answers that he actually has the potential it takes to do it but hasn’t done it yet. Still on the same question, they answer a related question about Allen’s critical point: “If Allen has reached the critical point, why wasn’t he appointed to become a general during the Order’s reconstruction?”
Allen replies that it was impossible at that time since Central was keeping watch over him. Tiedoll adds that he’s also too young and the only one able to operate the Ark, the latter making Central even more suspicious of him. General Cross’s reputation also seems to have played a part in this, having the higher-ups deem Allen as someone they couldn’t trust enough.
Ryo’s note: Allen thanks Tiedoll for putting his thoughts about Cross into words and Cross simply laughs it off. XD
�� Sleeping positions
They get asked about their sleeping positions. Tiedoll describes how Kanda sleeps with detail (when younger, in fetal position; nowadays, he sleeps lying on his side, preferentially the right side).
Allen comments that Johnny sleeps sprawled on the floor or the desk and that everyone in the Science Division sleeps like this; when he first saw it, he got concerned thinking something tragic had happened. Johnny says it’s comfortable to sleep like this, but Allen isn’t so sure.
Cross comments on how Allen sleeps; he mentions he likes to sleep hugging something and when he can’t do it, he complains until falling asleep. Allen gets flustered and claims that he got used to sleeping with Tim because he used to be big, but is over it nowadays. Johnny remembers Link used to tell him not to sleep with the piggy-bank, to which Allen replies that it was “not a sleeping position, but survival instincts”.
Kanda comments on how he brought a ton of food to the infirmary one time and says it was annoying to listen to him eating nonstop. Allen replies with sarcasm (“sorry for needing to eat to recover my energies”).
Cross sleeps naked, with his arms open (according to Allen).
Tiedoll sleeps on his stomach, blanket over his face.
Ryo’s note: The time Kanda is referring to is in Chapter 135 (135th Night: Repose, Partly Cloudly).
≫ The symbol on the CROWs' foreheads
Cross replies that it’s probably the compulsory mark of the procedure that transforms regular people in CROWs. Tiedoll says that Cross knows a lot, as expected of someone who’s able to use magic –he shrugs off the compliment – and Kanda asks when and how exactly someone like him learned it. He angrily says he didn’t learn it anywhere and ends the question at Allen’s remark that he always gets angry when people ask.
Ryo’s note: This is interesting. Could imply he was the one to teach magic to Nea (and the Earl himself?), and not the other way around. But, it’s also possible he just didn’t want to answer.
≫ “What is something you find impressive on the other, but have never admitted?”
Johnny decides to start with Kanda and Allen, and the two exchange insults for several lines.
Johnny then passes the baton to the Generals, who do the exact same as their apprentices.
Johnny ends the question with a thank you and sweating nervously.
Ryo’s note: By “insults”, I mean things like Kanda calling Allen a crybaby, and Allen saying Kanda’s dumb. Tiedoll calls Cross a delinquent; Cross calls him “doting dad”. The list goes on…
≫ The time Kanda spent with General Tiedoll right after becoming his apprentice (+ Allen’s time with Cross)
They are asked what was the most outstanding episode from such a time, and Kanda absentmindedly says he forgot. Tiedoll seems disappointed, stating they had made so many marvelous memories together, to which Kanda replies “please stop talking in this weird way”.
Allen asks how the travels were, and Tiedoll says the most important at that time was to take care of mending Kanda’s heart. They spent much time talking about amenities, having contact with plants and animals and admiring beautiful landscapes. Tiedoll believes that getting in touch with beautiful things can help to connect with the world, despite carrying the burden of being a Second; he wanted Kanda to feel like regular people feel about the world.
Johnny and Allen are touched, and the latter comments how jealous he is. Cross then reminds Allen of how many bedsheets he had to wash because of him, making him flustered. He then goes on to remind how not only he did that but also had to feed him – Tiedoll comments on how it seems impossible to imagine Cross doing all that – and even help him change many times.
Allen’s embarrassment reaches the maximum and he threatens to beat Cross if he keeps talking about that.
≫ Stories of when Kanda and Lenalee were little
Kanda tries to shrug the question off, but Johnny insists they answer. Tiedoll says that the two of them were really cute, just like two lilies that bloomed inside the gray scenery of the Order; Kanda tells him to stop.
Allen is uninterested in Kanda, but wants to hear about Lenalee. Cross asks him if he likes her, and says he thought he had a girlfriend in the Asian Branch already. Allen denies it and says both LouFa and Lenalee are his friends; Cross laughs, saying he doesn’t judge, and Allen nearly snaps in irritation (again).
Johnny moves on to answer the question; Kanda is against it, but Tiedoll holds him in place. Johnny tells that Jiji told him that at first, Kanda would be asked if Lenalee could train with him, but he would shrug her off saying he didn’t want to train with a girl, which would make her cry.
Every time Kanda made Lenalee cry, she would run off to Reever. In reality, Johnny thinks she wanted to talk to Komui instead, but she thought he was busy and didn’t want to bother him, resulting in her crying at Reever’s desk. Tiedoll and Allen are weeping at it (they thought it’s cute).
While Reever comforted Lenalee, Marie would appear bringing Kanda along, who had no idea how to apologize, while Lenalee would bashfully hide inside Reever’s lab coat. This kept happening until he eventually accepted to train with her.
Johnny starts telling another story involving Kanda’s meditation and Lenalee coming back tired from a mission, but Kanda interrupts him. Allen says it’s being fun and tells him not to bother.
Kanda tells him to shut up, calling him a bedwetter. Allen snaps (again).
Ryo’s note: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
≫ “Who amongst the Noah would Allen best go along with? Hypothetically speaking.”
Allen and Kanda are worn out from fighting (see the previous question); Johnny is giving them calming tea. Tiedoll says that it seems Allen and Tyki Mikk looked friendly when talking to each other, and Allen interjects saying they’re not friends and that Tyki doesn’t respect the notion of personal space.
He then goes on to say he doesn’t imagine himself being friends with any Noah because they lack common sense. Cross mentions Road and how she’s always being flirty with him, which makes Allen tell him to stop implying things, while sounding unsure about being friends with her or not.
Johnny asks if Allen is embarrassed and reminds Road kissed him. He denies being embarrassed and says that kissing is just a form of greeting for her (he’s sweating nervously while saying so). He adds that, on top of that, he feels like Road sees someone else when she looks at him.
Cross seems amused.
Ryo’s note: This answer is very interesting. It seems to confirm the theory that Road had some kind of connection with past!Allen. We won’t know for sure until it’s revealed, but it does seem to imply such a thing.
≫ The taste of Innocence + the Crystal Type Innocence + Exorcist supplies + Cross suspiciously knowing about the Bookman clan
A reader asks how did Innocence taste like when liquefied; Kanda says it tastes like nothing, similar to water.
Johnny points out the wounds that formed after their Innocence became Crystal types and if they don’t hurt. Kanda says that at the time they don’t, but such wounds won’t heal even with his healing ability – which he concludes makes sense since it’s from where the blood comes out to form the weapons.
Johnny mentions that the Science Division (Komui, more specifically) made Lenalee pills that will prevent anemia. Still on that subject, Allen remembers people had asked what goes inside the bags the Exorcists carry on their uniforms. Johnny says they carry first-aid kits, disinfectants, anti-hemorrhagic meds, and things of the sort. Miranda and Timothy carry sweets with a high intake of calories, Krory carries Akuma blood sweets and Lavi and Bookman asked for migraine meds.
Tiedoll says they are nothing without the support of the Science Division and thanks them. Allen asks about Lavi and Bookman getting migraines. Cross mentions it’s probably from an occupational disease because storing that much information and memories can wreck your head over time.
Allen comments again that he seems to know a lot about the Bookman Clan, and that it’s very suspicious. Cross magnificently shrugs off the question.
≫ Allen’s cheating
Allen gets asked if he becomes bad at luck games (i.e gambling) in case he doesn’t cheat. He says that a bet on luck always rewards something even if gains are small, but Johnny says he’s really bad at things like rock-paper-scissors. Kanda thinks he was just in denial about admitting he’s unlucky.
When scolded by Kanda, Allen says it was a matter of survival and that he never cheated good people on; just bad people.
Johnny says living like this is dangerous and that he should stop; Allen apologizes and says he needs money, and if anything, he can use his Innocence.
Cross is amused and sounds proud. Tiedoll regrets Cross’s influence on Allen.
≫ About Link
Allen gets asked if he has ever seen Link smile, to which he responds he has tried making him laugh/smile, but never could do it. Johnny says that everyone from Central is very serious, especially Link. Tiedoll thinks that it might be forbidden to smile when their superior is Director Lvellie.
Allen goes on to ramble about how Link complained about everything: when he had food on his face after or during eating, asking him to redo reports because they were illegible despite Reever being able to read, scolding him for not drying his hair after going out of the bath because he could get a cold, and how he was a shame for not folding his uniform properly before putting it away.
Cross asks him, “what was he? Your mother?” and Allen says he didn’t get annoyed at him. He wonders if all moms are like this.
Johnny says people were worried when he was assigned to watch Allen, but in the end, Link went along well with everyone and confirms that Allen liked him as well. He also states that Allen’s reports became a lot easier to read thanks to him.
Ryo’s note: Ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary folks: it’s Link appreciation time! *tips hat* Also Allen wondering about how mothers treat their children was just precious, even if it’s a throwaway comment.
≫ The vibe at the Black Order
In the question “Who runs faster, Komui or Reever?”, Johnny says that he thinks Reever is faster; Allen adds that Komui cheats by using Komurin, though. Kanda gets annoyed and tells them they (at the Science Division) should make Komui behave accordingly to his role. Johnny sniffs and says that they try.
Tiedoll says that it’s actually good that Komui is cheerful because the Order used to be a very different place until he took over the post, and that he (Tiedoll) disliked the gloomy aura it used to have. Allen remembers Lenalee commented about it once and asks if the Order was really this different back then. Tiedoll says that even if it’s been built with a noble purpose, human beings aren’t perfect and a lot of things get distorted over a hundred years. He recommends Allen to ask For about it, as she has existed ever since the Order was founded and protects it to this day.
Allen is sad and comments he wants to visit the Asian Branch again someday. Johnny says he’ll go with Allen, but the latter says he would want to eat Jeryy’s food again before that. Cross sneers and wishes good luck.
They wrap it up at this, and both Kanda and Allen look very happy about being done with the Discussion Corner (as noted by Johnny). Tiedoll bids Cross adieu, and says “rest in peace, Marian” – to which he replies “don’t treat me like a ghost”.
Allen says he knows Cross is an illusion created by his weakness, but that he was happy to see him (in reference to the 222nd Night: Searching for A.W - Hypokrisis). Cross tells him not to exaggerate.
Johnny is content that they could finally keep it to the ideal number of pages – something the Discussion Corner is known to usually have trouble with. Tiedoll says that if they had gone overboard, the next issue’s Discussion Corner would be canceled, and wraps up thanking everyone who has cared about Yu so far and asks that people keep cheering for him.
Johnny thanks the readers for sending their questions. Allen and Kanda are relieved it’s over.
Ryo’s note: And that’s it! Man, this got LONG. Thank you very much for reading until the end. Can’t wait for the next Discussion Room, the way Tiedoll worded it makes it seem like it’ll be on the next volume, 28. I’m excited!
If you're interested in seeing more DGM content from me, feel free to check my masterlist here.
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beyondspaceandstars · 3 years ago
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While You Sleep
Chapter 16
Relationship: Bucky Barnes x Reader Warnings: mentions of violence Summary: Soulmate!AU - Throughout life, you’re given glimpses of your soulmate through dreams. As you sleep, memories flash in your mind showing you the life your soulmate has lived. Everyone around you raves about how their soulmate reads great books or volunteers in their spare time. But you can’t relate as your dreams end up being more like nightmares. Through initial images of death and violence, you come to learn your soulmate is the Winter Soldier.
Masterlist | Series Masterlist
“You’re coming to me about soulmate bonds?” Bruce Banner asked for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Once again, you and Bucky nodded in sync, standing awkwardly in the middle of his lab. 
Bruce let out a sigh as he turned back to whatever he had been working on. He hadn’t totally dismissed you two yet, thankfully, so you were just forced to stand there, waiting.
When Bucky had told you this was who would potentially help you, you were a bit hesitant. You had only encountered Bruce briefly in your time at the compound. In fact, you hadn’t really gotten to know anyone outside of Bucky and Steve. So, coming to an Avenger, let alone a literal nationally recognized genius, for help with such a thing...made you nervous, to say the least. You’d have to confess your troubles to a third party once more. 
But Bucky assured you over and over again that Bruce could be trusted. He didn’t know the scale of his research on the topic but he felt he was a trustworthy person for this. Eventually, you agreed. After your first shift back at work - a new addition back to your routine as you worked to regain some stability - Bucky took you over to the compound. You had thought he had gotten an appointment or at least gave Bruce some kind of rundown on the proposal but, apparently, no.
“What makes you think I can answer any questions on that?” Bruce grumbled as he furiously wrote notes on his current project. You and Bucky shared a look. 
“I heard you did some research on it,” Bucky explained. 
Bruce huffed. “So?”
“So,” Bucky sighed, “we think we… we have a problem with ours.”
This vague statement was enough for Bruce to perk up a bit. His writing had stopped. He was looking forward now, away from the project. “A problem?” Bruce asked, slightly glancing over his shoulder.
You shifted your weight as you stood a bit uncomfortable with the admission out in the open. Bucky, though, was the definition of cool, calm, and collected. You were just a little bit jealous of him.
Bucky nodded. “To put it simply, my girl has nightmares.”
Bruce seemed very interested now. He finally turned back around, facing you two fully once again. He looked intrigued but not really excited. You wondered greatly what his research really encompassed. 
“Nightmares?” Bruce was beginning to sound like some sad echo. But you and Bucky just went with it, nodding your head in confirmation. Bruce continued, “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of nightmares. They’re dreams we have — soulmate dreams.”
You sighed, greatly out of annoyance. You’d been hearing the same thing day after day after day for years. “I know,” you finally said. “I am well aware of that but it just isn’t how ours work. I’ve only ever seen the…bad things Bucky has encountered. And for a while, after we met, they stopped.”
“As you would hope.”
You nodded. “But then that…thing happened. And it’s all started over again except somehow stronger. I’m seeing it all through Bucky’s eyes. Through his feelings. Through his — his everything. I’m back there twice over and many times after.”
Bruce shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it. You didn’t know what to do. Bucky was very tense beside you, hands balled into tight fists waiting as anxiously as you for Bruce to just say something about it. But he didn’t, not yet, as he raced over to his desk. From one of the drawers, a very particularly locked one, Bruce pulled out a file. He flicked it open and began reading, his finger roaming over the pages wildly, hunting for whatever it was he needed. You and Bucky just watched the situation unfold, practically holding your breaths. 
Eventually, Bruce walked back over, a very specific page opened in the filed documents. You couldn’t make out what it was about from your sneaky glance so you waited for the genius to begin. He looked between you and Bucky, jaw slacked in amazement and concerned. 
“Before I get into this, I want you both to promise me this knowledge doesn’t leave this lab unless it is on my account, okay?” He spoke strongly and seriously. You two nodded. Once he was pleased, Bruce looked back at the file and began, “Gosh, I can’t believe I forgot about this… You were right, Bucky, I have researched soulmate bonds. I didn’t do it for long, God knows it’s a hot topic, but part of my research involved what I nicknamed toxic bonds.” He looked pointedly at you two. “It just started out as a little theory stemming from the old stories about soulmates ‘moving on.’ It’s really a bit more than just not liking someone. This theory revolves around stories of soulmates, in these cases, receiving unflattering or uninteresting dreams from their partnered mates. I was basing these off the accounts of long ago as there are no known partners that fit this mold. At least, until now.” Bruce motioned between you two. You didn’t like where this was all going. “I believe what you two share is a toxic bond, a sort of glitch in Fate. Except, where you two fall flat in this is the fact the nightmares have come back. All dreams change after meeting your soulmate, right?” No one said anything. Bruce continued, “Yes, they technically should. Something has in fact fallen off with you two. I can’t say what but it doesn’t add it and could be significant to this research. With permission, I would like to run some tests on each of you.”
You stiffened. “T-Tests?” While you should be kind of relieved there’s some answer - or idea - for what you’re experiencing, you were suddenly hung up on the prospect of being an experiment. Bucky’s hand reached out to grasp yours, trying to offer some comfort. The thought of being strapped to a chair flashed through your mind. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Bucky shoot Bruce a harsh look.
“Nothing harmful, I promise,” Bruce insisted. “I would just like to take a peek into your brains, into the bond.”
“That’s possible?” Bucky asked. You were glad he at least had the strength to speak.
“It’s attached to the brain function in various ways,” Bruce explained. “A look into your brainwaves can tell me a lot. Or nothing, if that's the case, too.”
You knew you were doing an absolutely horrible job at hiding your worries but, thankfully, neither man was bringing much attention to it. They just looked at you, waiting for an answer. You were quite impressed by how Bucky was just going along with this. But, at the same time, there was a reason he came here instead of seeking a true outsider. If this was okay with Bucky, it was going to have to be okay with you. At least this time, you weren’t being thrown in a chair alone. 
“Okay,” you nodded. “Let’s see what we can find out.”
***
You didn’t know which was more daunting: the actual test itself or waiting for the results. 
The test was more like a true test of patience. You basically just had to sit there as Bruce wrote notes and saw things you never could make out from the weird squiggly lines on the monitor. All while he’s doing that, you’re trying not to just break down from being in a lab again. Thankfully, Bucky offered more comfort the best he could. He let you squeeze his non-metal hand, never flinching once no matter how much your nails dig into him. He even tried striking up conversations with you, trying to distract you. He tells you about the new romance movie he thinks you two should go see. You try to stay engaged, feeling a bit bad you couldn’t focus well on it, but he didn’t seem to mind. 
When the roles were reversed, Bucky didn’t ask for any help from you. You still tried to offer something by taking his hand in yours. But he just didn’t need distractions, perhaps a bit too familiar with being subjected to testing. This had to be on the easier side, you figured. 
Once you both were finished, Bruce instructed you to take a seat and wait. He had some things to double-check. The longer you sat, the more you were worried it was bad news - but you didn’t even really know what bad news would actually entail. What was he looking for? How much of the bond could actually be seen? You hadn’t heard of this ever. If you did, you probably would’ve looked into it a long time ago just to clarify if you were fucked in the head or not.
“How are you feeling?” Bucky asked, gently. You fiddled with your fingers, unsure. 
“It wasn’t so bad,” you said. “Just not sure what he’s going to find.” Bucky agreed and you two fell back into your silence as you waited. 
Minutes later, Bruce finally re-entered the room. You two must’ve been wearing hopeful looks because he motioned for you to calm down. Bruce wasn’t matching your excitement. Something twisted in your stomach. 
“I’ve reviewed your tests,” he said, holding up a folder labeled with your names. You two nodded. Bruce motioned towards you first and said, “Your test came back perfectly normal. Everything is fine with your part of the bond which quite surprised me but I checked and rechecked. The issues aren’t with you-,”
Bucky sighed, cutting Bruce off as he mentally pieced it together. “They’re with me.” 
You felt your body tense as Bucky looked defeated beside you. He wasn't meeting either of your gazes despite you trying to reach for his hand again. He shrugged it off, you quickly turned to Bruce. 
“What’s the problem?” You just about demanded. Bruce didn’t look very phased by your outburst. He pulled up a seat in front of you two looking like he had to mentally prepare himself for this.
“There’s an unnatural disturbance in Bucky’s side of the bond,” Bruce explained as he flipped open the folder. You didn’t even try to understand the printed results. Bucky was fully disconnected at this point. “I can’t say for sure what caused it, but if I had to guess when he underwent what...Hydra did, it affected lines in the transmission process. They probably thought they were severing the lines but they were really just scrambling them, hence the nightmares. They’re the dominant memories the bond reads in transmission. Bucky’s missions and recent healing process didn’t help anything. All in all, to put it simply, any intense moments Bucky experiences will be projected back to you due to a disconnect in the function of the bond.”
“So, I really was the cause of all this?” Bucky finally spoke up. His voice was hoarse, almost weak. You knew he thought his hair hid the look of distress written on his face but you could feel it. Boy, could you feel it. 
You immediately began shaking your head and reaching for him again. He didn’t move under your touch but at least he was allowing it. “This isn’t your fault, I promise.”
Bucky looked like he wanted to protest further but Bruce stopped him, “You couldn’t do anything to prevent this.” He looked back at you. “Either of you. These were the actions of some deranged individuals and they are the only ones responsible. I’m just sorry you two have to pay the price.”
“I-Is there anything we can do to fix it?”
Bruce closed the folder, looking more uncomfortable - if that was even possible. “I’m afraid not. It’s hard enough to damage soulmate bonds, essentially impossible to bandage.”
Upon hearing that, Bucky abruptly stood up. You jumped at the sudden action, suddenly convinced he was going to walk away. Forever. But instead, he made his way over to the window, his back towards you two, lost in whatever self-deprecating thoughts were flooding his brain. You’d address that later but were currently focused on pressing Bruce.
“There’s really nothing at all?” You were sounding desperate at this point but Bruce didn’t seem to mind, giving you the most sympathetic look.
“My best advice would be that Bucky finish his healing treatment and then get him out of this...profession.”
You could feel Bucky’s eyes on you two now. “What, like retirement?”
Bruce shrugged. “Whatever you want to call it. Essentially, the less he fights, the less traumatizing situations he’s put in, the fewer nightmares you’ll have.” He glanced back at the folder. “In theory, you could be rid of them all. Get back to having actual dreams. It’s an optimistic take but you’ve already proven it’s possible to some degree.”
You looked over your shoulder, your worried eyes meeting Bucky’s intense ones. He wasn’t exactly protesting but you saw the hesitancy. You turned back to Bruce.
“Thank you for all your help,” you said.
He nodded. “I’m glad I could be of some assistance. If you ever want to look even further into it, I think I know someone else that could help.”
“I think we’ve learned enough for a while.” 
“Of course,” Bruce agreed and then stood from his chair. “I’ll let you two go. Probably got a few things to discuss. Call me if you need anything.” With that, he exited the lab, leaving just you and your soulmate to move forward. Somehow. 
Bucky had turned back to the window. You shifted in your seat, unsure of what to say now.
Thankfully, Bucky was the first to speak. “Do you want to get some dinner?”
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naminethewriter · 3 years ago
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America’s Favourite Gameshow!!
Day 2 and I’m still on track! It’s way too late though and I hope I get done with the other prompts sometime before 12am 😴 Anyway, have fun with this silly little fluff story 💙💚🥰 @intrulogicalweek2021
Here on Ao3
Masterpost | Intrulogical Week 2021 Masterpost
Characters: Remus, Logan
Relationship: romantic Intrulogical
Rating: G
Words: 1,480
Summary:  Logan just wanted to make sure his boyfriend ate something. Remus wants entertainment more.
Logan walked along the halls of Remus’ castle in search of his boyfriend who had run off after breakfast to continue some project of his. Now, hours later, Logan wanted to ensure that he had eaten since then because while they didn’t require to eat, considering they were just figments of Thomas’ overactive subconscious, it had proven to be beneficial to their wellbeing as well as Thomas’. It had taken Logan almost a year of research to come to that conclusion but it had been well worth the effort.
 But both sides of Creativity were prone to forgetting the passage of time while working on one of their passion projects, hence Logan’s decision to check on Remus this afternoon. He had already looked through most of the grounds and was now on his way up into a tower. It was pretty much separated from the rest of the castle and nobody but Logan and the Duke himself had access and Remus spend a lot of time up there doing whatever he wants without disturbance. The only reason that Logan had put off checking there first is because he disliked the long, long staircase leading up. About three fourth of the way up, Logan could hear cluttering sounds, so it seemed reasonable to assume his search would soon be over.
After another five minutes of climbing he finally reached the top, only one door separating him from whatever mess Remus has caused this time. Logan took a few deep breaths before pushing it open.
 Pure Chaos laid before him. He couldn’t even begin to describe it. Furniture overturned and broken. Paint or something colourful had gotten everywhere. Glass shards, papers, confetti, everything scattered randomly around the room and Remus in the middle of it.
 Logan didn’t even attempt going any further in. Instead he called out to his boyfriend who turned to face so fast, his head rotated more than it should with a sickening crack.
 “Lolo!” he grinned, pulling his head back into the right position before climbing over the rubble to the door. As soon as he got into touching distance he wrapped himself around Logan in a tight hug. His boyfriend just patted his arm until he let go. “What brings you here, starshine? You horny?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Logan to roll his eyes.
 “No Remus, I am not horny. I simply came to check on you since I haven’t seen you since breakfast.”
 “Ah shit, is it already evening? Damn time flies when you’re busy, huh.”
 “What were you doing in the first place? This entire room is a mess.” Logan immediately regretted asking when he saw the smile spreading across his boyfriend’s face. “No, Remus, please-“
 Too late.
 Remus snapped and suddenly there was a spotlight on the two of them, two more swinging across the room that was now notably darker. Some kind of jingle started playing and an invisible audience started applauding. Remus, now in a suit, brought a microphone to his mouth.
 “Ladies and Gentlemen! You have waited patiently and now it is finally time to play America’s favourite gameshow! It’s” – the fake audience yelled along the next words –
 “Art or Science!”
 “The rules are simple,” Remus continued alone. “Our returning champion, Logan ‘Logic’ Sanders, has five minutes to survey the room and then he has to decide: did I cause this chaos in the name of Art or Science! He is allowed to ask me three things to specify, not one hint more. Our contestant has a success rate of 66% so far and I’m sure we are all curious to see the result of our fourth episode of-!” Remus held the mic away from him and again the imaginary audience shouted:
 “Art or Science!”
 “Now, Logan. Are you ready to start?” Remus held out the mic to Logan this time who groaned and levelled him with an unimpressed glare.
 “Is this really necessary, Cephy?” Remus laughed and threw his arms open.
 “Of course not, but it’s fun so we’re doing it!” Logan massaged his temple. Ever since Thomas had taken to binge watching SNL sketches on YouTube, Remus had been practically enthralled with their game show parodies. Especially if Bill Hader (Remus’ favourite cast member) played the host. His top spot shifted between ‘What’s that Name?’ and ‘Who’s on Top’ every five minutes and Logan couldn’t deny that the chaos of those concepts fit Remus very well, so it should be no surprise that he thought of his own little show. It just annoyed Logan that he was the only contestant ever having to deal with it.
 Well, at least it was short. He could play along for five minutes.
 “Fine, start the clock.” Remus cheered, as did the audience, and the light returned to how it was before, with the entire room evenly lit.
 “As always, please don’t hesitate to give us play-by-play commentary on your thought process, Sherlock,” Remus giggled and Logan nodded absentmindedly, already scanning the room for clues. He took the first minute to simply think and his boyfriend let him but Logan knew he would grow impatient eventually.
 “Clearly there is both art supplies as well as lab equipment present and I have witnessed you using both for the others intended purpose, so that does not provide any essential hints. The furniture is mostly broken and out of place. Especially that table that seems to be hanging out the window and only hangs on with one leg anchored inside. The glass was most likely smashed by said table. This could point to a possible explosion that resulted after a failed experiment, favouring science as its cause. Though again, I have seen you set off an explosion to create an art piece of yours so it is not concrete proof either.” Remus nodded along to his descriptions and a spotlight also shone on the areas he talked about.
 “Now for my first question, I would like you to confirm whether the dark red substance in that corner is blood or not.”
 “It’s not, though I tried my best to get it to smell the same.” Logan nodded, again falling silent for a moment to think. The quiet was broken by a croak and something moved though it was hidden enough that Logan couldn’t quite make it out.
 “You used live specimen. Not unheard off for your art but more common with experiments. Especially frogs.”
 “Toads, not frogs actually.”
 “I can tell apart a frog croaking and toad doing the same, Remus. That sound was a frog.”
 “Nah, you see, I like how toads look better but frogs sound more appealing, so I made a toad that croaked like a frog.”
 “Fascinating. Could you show it to me later?”
 “Sure! Also that counts as your second questions.” Logan glared at his boyfriend for a moment but relented.
 “Fine.” He continued to point out other details about the room and whether they pointed towards art or science and soon Remus announced that he had only 30 seconds left. Logan contemplated in his head and came to a decision at the same moment Remus called:
 “Time! Five minutes are up, Ladies and Gentlemen! Now Logan, give us your answer, please!” The room had darkened once again, with a spotlight on Logan and Remus and two others moving around the room.
 “I say it’s art.”
 “Is that your final answer?”
 “Yes, Remus, please do not drag this out any longer.”
 “Yeah, yeah.” He waved his hand around before getting back into character. “His answer is locked in! Now let’s see if he’s right. Is it art?” A drumroll played and then a bang. Even more confetti poured out of the ceiling, along with balloons, the normal, oval ones and those long ones with two of the former tied to one of the latter (I’m sure you can guess what that symbolises, we’re talking about Remus here after all).
 “Coooooooorrrreeeeccccctttt!” Applause roared and Remus threw an arm around his boyfriend, pulling him close. “Another win for our returning champion! With this his success rate is now at 75%! How are you feeling, are you proud?” He held out the mic to Logan, who rolled his eyes.
 “I am alright, now please wrap this up.” Remus giggled but complied.
 “That was it for this episode of-“
 “Art or Science!”
 “See you next time, folks!” And with another snap, things returned to normal, the lights, the sounds and Remus’ outfit. “Wasn’t that fun, starlight?”
 “It was fine, Remus.”
 “You just don’t like admitting it~”
 “No matter, that is not what I came up here for anyway.”
 “Oh yeah, why did you come here?”
 “To ask if you have eaten since breakfast.”
 “Oh, rotten shit, I forgot.”
 “I thought as much. Come on, I secured you some leftovers from lunch and the rest of the hot sauce.”
 “You are the best, moonlight.”
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ofhouseadama · 3 years ago
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Thoughts don't come to completion in my brain very well, but maybe when Lorraine first finds out she's pregnant? How happy but also scared she is (cause you know she's gotta be) and then her telling ed and how happy and scared he is as well? 😅😅
Like I said idk how to form complete thoughts about a lot of things 😅😅
In hindsight, she knew the moment she conceived. Laying there in the darkness, she felt the moment a piece of Ed joined with a piece of her. It wasn’t even that she didn’t recognize it for what it was, but that she couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t believe it. In the eight years they have been married, her cycle had never been so much as a day late, arriving like clockwork every twenty-eight days. Textbook, really.
When it didn’t come, she held her breath. After eight years, she’s become a master at refusing to get her hopes up. She remembers the ambivalence she felt, the morning she realized she had gotten her monthly courses after their honeymoon and she was back at her parents’ house and Ed, back on a ship in the Pacific. She’d been relieved then.
In the years that followed, after buying a four bedroom home they’d hoped to fill up with babies, relief had turned to confusion, then to frustration, then to grief. And it became tolerable, with time and prayer and faith, but oh how she yearned, and yearned, and yearned.
And learned to fill up the space that she wanted to fill with her and Ed’s children with ghosts.
Lorraine Warren finds herself bouncing her leg on the linoleum floor of the doctor’s office on her lunch break, two weeks after the first missed period of her life. And she knows, some heady mixture of mother’s intuition and all her other gifts from God. She knows with a painful kind of clarity that she carries a life inside her. She wonders if Ed’s noticed that she never drew her little red dots on the calendar, hasn’t complained about cramps and bloating, hasn’t brought home a box of Motrin and menstrual products. He rarely misses anything about her, but it’s just been Christmas and they’ve just had a case, a real one. The kind that drives him to distraction.
She pees in a cup and the nurse, in her starch white uniform and impeccably clean shoes, tells her that the results will take at least three days and possibly up to a week to come back, that it will depend on how busy the lab is. The nurse smiles conspiratorially, like she’s gotten a tidbit of insider trade knowledge, and tells her that she thinks she’ll know by New Year’s Eve whether or not she’s going to be a mother.
Lorraine vomits in a bush on her way back to her car.
---
New Year's Eve is a Sunday, in 1961, and Lorraine’s last day of work before the holiday is that Friday, when the nurse from the doctor’s office calls her desk. It is almost, exactly to the hour, four days since her appointment.
Somewhere between, “Congratulations, Mrs. Warren,” and “we’ll need to schedule you for a follow-up appointment in the next four to six weeks,” her vision blurs, and her legs drop out from under her. Clumsily, she manages to catch herself on the edge of her desk, lowering herself gently down onto her chair.
“Yes, yes, I can make the week of January 29th work,” she says, furiously wiping away tears as she flips through her planner, frantically reaching for a pencil. “Yes. One in the afternoon is fine. Thank you.”
Slowly, she hangs up the phone.
Lorraine makes it another twenty minutes at her desk, thumbing through the Diocese of Bridgeport finances, mindlessly sorting purchase orders and invoices. Before slowly, then all at once, it hits her. Pressing the back of her hand against her mouth, she swallows down a sob.
They’re going to be parents.
---
They had just given up. Because of course they had.
But God had other plans.
---
She drives home in a daze, glad that it’s the middle of the afternoon. She’s not sure how she would have made it from Bridgeport to Monroe if she had waited until five o’clock. It feels as though she’s experiencing the world from underwater, from the inside of an upturned snowglobe.
You’re expecting, Mrs. Warren. The test came back positive.
How is she going to tell Ed? She never thought this far. Not since they were newlyweds and she was dreaming of the little clothes she had sewn for her trousseau. She had plans back then, of cooking him dinner and sitting him down over candlelight and a nice meal, and telling him with a silver rattle tucked into tissue paper in a box, or with a silver spoon, a baby’s hair brush. Now she has half a mind to just drive straight for where she knows he’s teaching art classes at the VA, march inside, and drag him into his office like a madwoman and tell him straightaway.
Damn ceremony, they’ve waited long enough.
Pulling into the driveway, she turns off the engine and sits there for a long moment, fighting back tears. She’s going to walk into their home, and she’s going to know which room they’re going to clear out to turn into a nursery.
She’s known which room they were going to turn into a nursery since the first time they walked into the house with the realtor.
After a moment, the tears win.
---
In the end, it goes like this:
Lorraine makes lasagna, because it’s hard to screw up and she’s having trouble concentrating on anything for more than a few minutes at a time. She knows how to make sauce, cook noodles, and assemble layers. Ed likes lasagna. Ed does not like lasagna so much that he will be immediately suspicious when he comes home to find her making lasagna. She’s usually home before him anyway on Thursdays, the only day of the week he has a four o’clock class.
Ed comes home a little before six, his forearms speckled with paint.
He talks enough for the both of them, and if he notices anything’s off about her, he’s kind enough to wait until after dinner to bring it up. Kissing her cheek sweetly, he loops his arms around her waist and pulls her close.
“I missed you today.”
Then he’s pulling away again, taking down plates and cups from the cabinet and pulling out silverware to lay the table.
Then, despite all the ways she’s been practicing all afternoon, Lorraine turns from the stove to look at him folding napkins at the kitchen table and feels such a warm burst of affection in her chest that she can’t not say it.
“I’m pregnant,” she blurts out, holding onto the counter for support. “The doctor’s office confirmed it today. I’m -- I’m pregnant. Like really, really pregnant. And I’m a little terrified, because it doesn’t feel real, but it apparently is real.”
The red napkin he’s been folding into a triangle falls from his fingertips, face freezing with shock.
“Wait--”
“We’re having a baby,” she says, realizing that she’s rambling, but unable to stop herself.
His brow furrows, confused. “Lorraine? Are you telling me--”
Biting her lip, she nods. “Yes.”
“Really?”
Crossing the room to her, she can see comprehension dawning on his features. This isn’t a dream. They’re both awake. It’s not a joke. Lorraine wonders if she should have driven by the doctor’s office to get a physical copy of the test results. Ed’s always liked being able to see things on paper.
“Really,” she says, as a smile splits his face and he reaches her, sweeping her up into his arms and lifting her off her feet, spinning her. “We’re gonna have a baby.”
She’s so happy, she’s lightheaded.
And she wants to kiss him, so she does, framing his dear face with her hands.
“I love you,” he murmurs against her lips.
---
With a look of reverence on his face that drives her back to tears, Ed drops to his knees right there in the kitchen, pushing up the hem of her blouse.
“Hi,” he says, pressing his lips to her stomach. “Hi baby.”
Wiping the tears from Ed’s face, Lorraine thinks she might never stop laughing, might never stop crying.
---
In the end, they eat their lasagna on the kitchen floor, right out of the pan. She’s half in his lap, and there’s not a candle in sight.
It’s perfect.
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arctimon · 3 years ago
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By the Grace of Granville
(Warning: This post is long.  But what else is new when it comes to character analyses?)
One of the bigger mysteries that gets introduced into Big Hero 6: The Series made their introduction in the very first episode, got a little bit of expansion into their background, and then didn’t really see much daylight for the rest of the series sand her becoming an even-numbered wheel. No, I’m not talking about Obake.
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I’m talking about Professor Granville, the newly-installed dean of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology.
People, including myself, play Granville up as some sort of Nick Fury-esque figure.  She’s always in the know, gives advice to the team, and seems to have a general understanding of everything at once.
This is further helped by the fact that we don’t know a lot about what she has been up to since she resigned after Obake’s accident. It’s hindered by the fact that there may be some misinformation going on at the Big Hero 6 Wiki.
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Here’s the introductory blurb for Professor Granville on her page:
Grace Granville has been a professor at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology for at least 20 years, having taught Wendy Wower and Trevor Trengrove among other modern day geniuses.
She used to teach robotics and had her own star student, Bob Aken, but once he began an experiment to build an energy amplifier, it went awry as the amplifier exploded on his face, the result of which sent him to the hospital.
Though Bob survived, Granville felt extreme guilt from the incident and resigned. However, she kept the remains of the amplifier, possibly unaware that it still worked, as a reminder to not repeat the same mistakes.
She would return decades later to teach thermodynamics when Robert Callaghan, the dean of the institute at the time, was thought to have died, then resurfaced as the villain Yokai and was arrested for putting San Fransokyo in danger. Professor Granville became the college's new dean as she settled into her new role quite well. Now, after rewatching “Mini-Max”, I call into question the very first part that she’s been a professor there for at least 20 years.  As far as I am aware of, that has never been said or confirmed in the show.  She said herself (and the yearbook and Callaghan confirm this) that she worked there 20 years ago.  That’s not the same thing.  Working there for 20 years is not the same thing as being there 20 years ago.  So is that a discrepancy or am I the one who doesn’t remember things correctly?
And let’s go to what Callaghan said about the incident when Hiro went to visit him in prison in “Mini-Max”:
Robert: “She was in the lab after hours.  Something went wrong.  There was...an incident.”
Hiro:  “What kind of incident?” Robert: ”Officially, a pipe burst.  But there were rumors.  An unsanctioned project gone wrong.” Hiro:  ”So she was fired?”
Robert: “She resigned.  The matter was not pursued further.  That’s all I know.” OK, first of all...was Callaghan not the dean twenty years ago?  And even if he wasn’t...
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Does anyone think that was caused by a simple burst pipe?  What was in said pipe?  Lava?  TNT?  Mentos and Coke?
That leads to the second possibility: Callaghan was Dean at the time, knew about it, and “pushed” Granville to resign to avoid a messy lawsuit.
But we’re getting away from the original point, which is...what exactly has Granville been doing this entire time? I find it hard to believe that Granville was still at the school when Tadashi, Go Go, Honey Lemon, and Wasabi were there.  You’d think that one of them would have said something about it, and all through the conversations in “Mini-Max” gave no indication of that as well.
So she’s been gone for twenty years (presumably).  Which begs the next question... Why did she have to become the dean? Endangering a student’s life is a very serious thing.  Something like that can’t be just forgiven.  So, why did it have to be her? It’s not like there’s not other candidates:
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(From left to right: Monica Rambeau [one of the Physics professors], Grace Granville, Robert Callaghan, Linda Carter, and Timothy Dugan.  Note that these are merely names I’ve given them based off of who I think they are and not canon names.  However, for the sake of simplicity, I will refer to them as such from here on out.) Monica might have been a good replacement.  Linda’s just the nurse, so unlikely.  Dugan’s the Dean of Athletics, so probably not.  The dean doesn’t have to be the robotics professor, right?  Granville teaches Thermodynamics. And then you have Professor Kameela from the comics, who appears to be another Physics professor:
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So why her?
Granville’s been out of the game, as far as we know, for a long time.  Did the board at SFIT really have no other options other than Granville?  Why give the top job to someone who hasn’t even stepped foot in SFIT for decades?
And the worst part is that I don’t really have a good answer for that.  The show delves into Granville’s history with Obake a lot and not enough into her actual history with SFIT, so that part is pretty much an unsolved mystery.
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And if the info on the Wiki is true, then that means...what?  Granville was teaching for 20 years, and then took a 20 year break.  Wouldn’t that put Granville in her 60s, at minimum? (She looks pretty good for possibly being in her 60s.  Maybe she got some Infinity Formula from her possible Marvel counterpart.)
I think it’s much more possible that she’s in her early 50s.  That gives her enough time to be a professor, have an actual working history, and then have to leave with Obake’s accident. So my personal timeline for her career would be something like this.  For the sake of being simple, let’s assume that Granville is an even 50, and also that Big Hero 6 the movie takes place in the year 2031 (as per movie screenshots):
1981 - Grace Gretchen Granville is born 2002 - Graduates college (perhaps at SFIT; haven’t thought that far ahead) Sometime between 2002 and 2004 - Granville begins her work at [Redacted] 2005 - Granville become a TA in the Thermodynamics department (as per Highway to Hell Chapter 2, “In The Details”) 2006 to 2007 - Given government assignment to [SORT OF Redacted] 2007 - Returns to SFIT 2007 to 2011 - Becomes thermodynamics professor at SFIT; continues periodic work at [Redacted] 2011 - Obake’s accident; Granville resigns from SFIT 2011 to 2013 - Takes a position with [SUPER Redacted] in Symkaria 2013 - Returns stateside and [Redacted] 2013 to 2031 - Various jobs and positions, including start-up at Fathom Blue Incorporated and a instructor at the San Fransokyo Police Academy with Sara Pezzini 2031 (Current Time) - Granville becomes Dean at SFIT (Keep in mind that this is a sliding timeline which is subject to change.  Probably.) Man, that’s a lot of redacted information.  It’s almost like she worked for a secret government organization and did a lot of things that aren’t on the public record or something.
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I am going to delve into Granville’s history in future stories, and that will include something that I’ve done a fanart on. Mainly this:
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The Wakanda story is going to happen at some point, and it’s going to involve one of the redacted items above (from 2002 - 2003).  What exactly she was doing there is going to stay secret for a little bit. Speaking of which, I had done research on a few pieces of Wakandan technology.  Guess which one I found of particular interest.
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The Kimoyo Beads.  A bracelet given to every single Wakandan citizen that stores all of their medical information and serves as an everyday tool for them. It also notes that it doesn’t work outside of Wakanda because of its reliance on tapping into Vibranium as a power source.
Now, what would happen if a very realistic version of Vibranium were to find its way out of the country and into Granville’s orbit?
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I wonder if her bracelet would start working again. Mysteries abound when it comes to Grace Granville.  If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll solve a few of them before too long.
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astro-rain · 4 years ago
Text
delicate; b.barnes
chapter seven - “the king is dead”
delicate masterlist
word count: 1.7k
synopsis: shuri has awful news. the reader is terrified but bucky is strangely calm. the world is turned upside down, and not in a good way.
pairings: bucky barnes x fem!reader
[A/N]: this was so fun to write omg get ready it’s finally getting interesting!!! (as always, OC on my wattpad @ / typicaldaze)
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Months had gone by since that day at the lake. Countless therapy sessions had been endured, several hard questions asked, many many issues worked through. Bucky suffered through a few more anxiety attacks along the way, but they never hindered his resolve, thanks to (Y/N). They had made progress, good, solid progress. Bucky was pleased; (Y/N) was thrilled. It's hard to see change when you're the one going through it. However, to the person guiding that change, every step forward is recognized. She was proud. She was genuinely proud of him. He wasn’t “fixed,” he still had struggles, but he was a lot better off then before.
There was something peculiar, though. Their relationship was strictly professional, (Y/N) knew that. However, she couldn't help but feel as though along the sidelines of their progress, they had grown to become friends. She knew that, clinically, this was not appropriate, but there were no corporate guidelines she was working under. She was helping him. So, what would it matter if after all this was over, they were friends? What would it matter if his therapist also operated as his friend? Hell, she didn't even have an official therapist position here! Sharon just sent her to help. (Y/N) had decided she didn't care about the boundaries being crossed. Nothing ever went wrong with someone gaining a friend. It's fine.
Regardless, the two of them had thoroughly addressed the anxiety and the PTSD, and he now officially had both diagnoses. He understood himself and his brain so much better, and with (Y/N)'s help, he not only acknowledged his disorders, but accepted them. She taught him to not see them as the enemy, not something that was wrong with him. They were just a part of him, same as his brown hair or blue eyes.
Bucky was so much more open now. He was less on edge and more comfortable, especially around her. In all honesty, he was usually his most comfortable with her. He had coping skills and everything!
This was all grand and good, but (Y/N) hoped with everything in her that it wouldn't be ruined by the present disaster.
-
"I thought he was automatically supposed to be king?" (Y/N) asked, confused.
She was at her weekly meeting with Shuri for Bucky's treatment plan, and the young genius had just told her she couldn't make it next week due to T'Challa's coronation.
"He is," Shuri started, "but it's Wakandan tradition to open the position up to a dual. So, his rule isn't set in stone."
"Oh... What if someone... challenges him?"
"Then they will fight! However, I have no worries. T'Challa is a great warrior, and though I doubt anyone would challenge him, he would win if they did."
(Y/N) admired the faith Shuri had in her brother. She could tell their bond was strong.
"Couldn't you technically challenge him?"
Shuri revealed a kind of devilish smirk that only a sibling can muster. "Oh, I have thought about it. But I am much more useful in my lab, and T'Challa wouldn't know what to do with himself if he wasn't in charge."
(Y/N) looked back on the memory anxiously as she stared in horror at the look on Shuri's face. A wicked mix of fear, grief, and stress drained all the color from the princess' normally dark, beautiful skin. Shuri had always radiated confidence and composure; seeing this change worried (Y/N) deeply.
"The King is dead."
Her face became void of any expression and all she could process was fear. She thought she gasped but she couldn't remember breathing out again. Her brain was frozen. (Y/N) was in a foreign country that just lost its monarch. She was alone, and all the people she was relying on to protect her just had their kingdom invaded and taken over by someone with the word kill as part of their nickname. She was almost certain that this would be her end.
"Dr. (Y/L/N)?" Shuri said unsteadily. "Did you hear me?"
"Y-Yes I... What are we going to do?" her voice was weak and small. Pathetic and afraid.
Then, thoughts of Bucky crossed her mind. What would happen to him? He could fight, she supposed, but he doesn't have any weapons or gear and he'd be against an entire regime. What if they killed him? What if they tortured him? Different scenarios quickly flashed through her brain, but she could only one concrete thought.
I have to find him.
"My family and I have a plan, but we can't take you with us."
Any remaining semblance of hope dissipated from (Y/N)'s body, and she swore she could feel her veins quiver with apprehension.
"What?"
Her voice felt far away.
"It is not ideal, and I'd never leave you unless I had to. But Agent Everett Ross is here. It's a long story, but as you know, he can't find out about Sergeant Barnes. He can't know that either of you are here. If we take you with us, it could compromise everything we've been working for," the nervous princess explained.
"So... what of me and Bucky?"
"Again, it's a long story, but there's a... sort of fallout shelter - I guess you could call it - that was built years and years ago when the first tribes of Wakanda were constantly at war with one another. I will give you supplies and directions, and you two must go there and remain hidden until this is all over."
Fantastic. (Y/N) would get to play Cold War nuclear fallout in Wakanda.
"How will we know?"
Shuri gave her a somber look. A look of uncertainty and immense guilt.
"I wish I could apologize enough, my partner, but I do not know. I promise I will try to contact you as soon as I get any information, but for now we must hurry. We do not have much time."
With that, Shuri took (Y/N)'s arm and quickly led her her outside. It was late afternoon and the air was beginning to cool. They ran, locked together, until they met the Queen under a large tree among the outskirts of a nearby forest. The woman looked just as shaken up as Shuri.
(Y/N) could see bags of different shapes and sizes at the base of the tree. She could only hope whatever was in there was sufficient for survival.
Shuri immediately embraced her mother, but the moment was short lived as she then bent down to gather the bags.
The Queen placed her hands gently on the sides of the psychologist’s face. "I am so sorry, child. This does not involve you in the slightest yet you are swept up in the middle of it."
Shuri handed her mother the bags and they both geared (Y/N) up with all her supplies. It was heavy. Really heavy. She realized she was carrying supplies for two. Then, there was panic.
"What about Bucky?"
"Barnes doesn't know about any of this yet. I thought it best he heard it from you," Shuri expained, "and we cannot afford anymore delays. Us or you. You must go now, tell Barnes what is happening and go. I wish I could be more help, but we simply don't have the time."
(Y/N) nodded, trying to process all the chaos. She was internalizing every bit of it. As a result, she was once again, frozen.
"Dr. (Y/L/N)!" Shrui exclaimed.
Her head shot up, snapped out of it.
"Go! You must go!"
And with that, (Y/N) took off. She had been in Wakanda long enough to know her way around the castle's surrounding land. Her speed didn't last very long as she was carrying for two, but she tried all she could to keep going as quickly as possible.
Eventually she found herself outside of Bucky's living quarters. She didn't know what to do, so she knocked.
An array of different emotions went through Bucky's face. At first he looked pleased, but then he saw the horror etched into (Y/N)'s features, and the bags she was carrying. He could tell something was wrong.
"What happened?" he asked, surprisingly calm, while immediately taking some of the bags from (Y/N). He still only had one arm but that really didn't seem to matter to him.
She was out of breath, face flushed and eyes wide.
"The King is dead," she said breathlessly. "Someone... someone killed him a-and took over."
Bucky didn't look as scared as (Y/N) felt. In fact, he looked... totally fine?  She was so out of it she wanted to curl up in a hole and allow natural death. How was the anxious man she was accustomed to so at ease? The world was flipped upside down and (Y/N) had no control. She wished there was a word stronger than fear because she couldn't even describe what she was feeling.
"Okay," Bucky said, gently taking another bag, leaving her with only one to carry, "What did Shuri say? What do we have to do?"
She shook her head, trying to regain her breath and her composure. "There's um - there's a fallout shelter thing we have to go to. Here."
She handed  him a crumpled up piece of paper that Shuri gave her. A map with directions. (Y/N) knew he would've been better at locating it than she could at that moment.
"Alright," more of the calm voice filled her ears. "Anything else?"
"There are more details, but - we don't have time," she sighed, restlessly. Her voice began to shake ever so slightly. "Bucky, I'm so sorry. We have to go now. I promise I'll tell you everything."
"Okay," he said again. He bent down slightly, looking her directly in the eyes. " (Y/N), we're fine, okay? We're good, and we're gonna be fine. I will get us there. Are you ready?"
She nodded, steeling herself.
Bucky looked at the map, then glanced up in the direction of the shelter. He took (Y/N)’s forearm firmly. She gave him a look, confirming she was ready. And off they went.
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