#and they all collectively turn towards him like a hivemind

[realbugmom]

POV: Bennett arriving to the birthday party his dads threw him

[pedgito]

𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐘 — one: beginnings | Joel Miller x reader

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chapter summary | You're dead weight, a burden on Joel's shoulders after the death of his daughter and the collapse of the world. But, if there's one person to challenge him, it was you.

author's note | this spurred from jo (@undercoverpena) and i, a conversation over kinks and wanting to explore them in separate chapters but somehow create a cohesive story and here we are. she spun for me and gave me a collection of beautiful kinks to try out. this is going to be BIG one for me, so if you plan on staying along for this ride, i love you so much.

chapter warnings | 18+, early outbreak, age gap (early 20s, mid 30s), canon character de*th, canon typical violence, m*rder tw, morally grey!joel with trust issues, tommy is buffer, use of weapons, weapon training, unjust decision making, reader is such a nuisance to joel, sex as a distraction, joel is so emotionally stunted he can't help it, awkward aftercare

word count —6k

SERIES MASTERLIST, PLAYLIST, AO3

You’ve never seen so much blood.

His shirt was soaked to his neck, expression blank and void as Tommy rounded the truck to open the door—it wasn’t the same one you’ve seen pull into their driveway for years now. It was new, unfamiliar. Joel’s weighed down, his arms straining as he heaves whatever he’s holding up in his arms, finally coming from around the door and into view. Her curls fell first, body limp in Joel’s arm as he held her close–it was Sarah. Little Sarah who you would babysit in high school for extra cash when the Miller brothers had to work a few extra jobs to pay the bills, little Sarah who always had the biggest smile on her face. Not so little anymore, years gone and passed as you graduated and went off to work some dead-end job to stay afloat in hopes that you could attempt to pay a college tuition.

But, that all seemed futile now. 

It was late September when the world ended—Joel’s birthday, you’d know that from the fact Sarah had mentioned it to you that morning as she checked the mail that Joel had forgotten from the day before. A normal day for you, for everyone else. But, for Sarah and many others, it was their last.

The neighborhood was quiet now, the hoard of freshly turned infected heading for the inner city and toward the noise, like one singular hivemind following a predetermined path. 

And your parents—they weren’t even here. They had left for vacation a week prior, spending the next two weeks out of the country, celebrating their anniversary far away from responsibility and the barrage of news from all over the world. But, they would come back to nothing. You couldn’t stay, you couldn’t wait around—it would get you killed; starvation, lack of resources, it would only get you so far. 

The infection was worldwide, incurable—it was the last thing you heard before the satellite on your television cut out, snuffing out any last bit of hope you had left.

In the midst of Joel’s mindless walk to the front door of his home, Tommy glances over his shoulder to survey, likely for more infected. But, he spots you.

His eyes squint slightly, like he’s seeing a vision of you. They widen as he realizes you’re real, you here—you were shaking, arms crossed over your chest and your fingers digging into your biceps as you hid by the shadow of your door.

Tommy knows that look, your eyes go wide but soften as he approaches. 

You can’t say you’ve held a conversation longer than five minutes with either of them, even after living next to them most of your life, but his hands are held up as he approaches and carefully, almost as if you were going to scurry away like a feral cat.

“You alright, honey?” His voice is quiet, a hushed whisper as he comes closer and stops a few inches, peering inside of your house and finding it empty, “Are they—did they—”

He looks over at you wearily and your fingers dig into your skin, peering over his shoulder and staring at the open door, Joel no longer in sight, “They left on a trip and I—I don’t,” You sigh through your nose, closing your eyes to blink away the stinging tears, “They’re dead either way, aren’t they?”

He doesn’t answer, but his hand reaches around to rub at your back and you fall into him easily.

“Sarah–” Tommy tenses up, pulling away slowly to look at you as you peer up at him, noticing the near permanent frown on your face, your expression unchanging as you attempt to process and fail—it wasn’t fair, none of it made sense, “is she dead?”

The sound of something fragile falling and breaking in Joel’s house startles you both, sending you both apart and rushing toward the house without thinking. The idea of being alone now was more fearful than anything else—no survival instinct, no plan or method to stay alive. You’d be dead by next nightfall if you stuck around though, that much you knew.

The sight sends your heart into your stomach. Joel was hunched over Sarah’s lifeless body, his arms sticky with blood—some of it dried and some of it not. There were a few broken picture frames on the floor at Sarah’s feet and you felt your breath catching in your throat, watching as Joel brushed her hair from her face and cried, silently.

“Joel,” Tommy begins, slow and careful, “we’ve gotta figure out a plan.”

“We’re buryin’ her first,” Joel tells him, “not leavin’ her like this.”

Tommy nods in understanding, looking over at you briefly.

“Listen, Joel…”

“She ain’t our problem, Tommy.” He bites harshly, resting Sarah down gently as he rose from his knees, “Kid’s got her own family.”

“Joel,” Tommy stresses, motioning toward you subtly—Joel looks reluctantly and he can see the fear, practically smelling it on you—it’s the last thing he needs right now, “they’re gone—can’t leave her here.”

“We can.”

“We won’t.”

You take a few careful steps back, quiet and timid, away from the brothers.

“Jesus, Joel,” Tommy moves in, blocking his brother’s face from view as you lingered near the open front door, staring out toward the street as you couldn’t bare the sight of Sarah’s body laying a few feet to your right, “she used to babysit Sarah—helped you out in a pinch a hundred times. I understand this—”

“This is my daughter—”

“She’s my niece too, goddammit—don’t try and spin this, Joel.” Tommy rocks on his heels, hands hugging his hips as his shoulders stretch out, broad and wide, “We bury her, we get our shit and we go–I’m not losing you, too. I will drag your ass out of here if I have to.”

There’s a sliver of Joel’s face that comes into view as he peers over Tommy’s shoulder at you, eyes dragging over you carefully before he returns to Tommy, “She’s ain’t worth the trouble.”

He’s completely tossing aside the fact that you were an adult, young but still—you sigh shakily, “I can carry my own weight, you know?”

He’s stoic, a long stretch of silence as Tommy stares him down, lingering and waiting for Joel to come to his senses, but even when he does—it’s forced.

“Then start loading the truck,” Joel tells you, “anything—food, water—”

“Yeah, I got it.” You respond in a pinched tone, trying to stifle your own emotions.

Joel doesn’t argue further, picking up Sarah with a sudden gentleness that returns at the sight of his daughter while Tommy disappears to the attached garage and you linger for a brief moment as Joel admires her, knowing that this was all he had. Knowing that eventually even this memory would fade over time.

His guard softens as he looks at her and you find that was the right time to speak more candidly.

“I’m sorry, Joel,” You tell him, your voice quiet as you approach and he looks at you briefly, acknowledging with a nod as you move beyond him and toward the kitchen, “she’s a sweet kid.”

His voice breaks but barely wavers, a subtle sign of emotion that he was suppressing deep down.

“She was.”

His departure after that is quiet, meeting Tommy at the backdoor as he reentered from the garage with the shovels and blanket in hand, a sorrowful look on his face that furrowed his brow.

They both worked silently in the backyard while you loaded up what you could. Their house was mostly scarce, knowing Joel was probably creeping up on a shopping day that would never come. There’s a few canned goods you manage to scavenge along with a decently untouched pack of water bottles and while you couldn’t brave the other houses in fear that something else might be lingering, you gather what you can from your own. 

By the time you’re closing up the truck bed they’re both walking toward you, a gun tucked away in both of their waistbands and a rifle in Joel’s free hand—his arms were cleaner, albeit still dirty.

He’d changed, rid himself of the bloody clothes and brushed past you silently, his eyes dark and empty. 

Tommy stops at your feet, offering up a knife sheathed in a leather casing that you could attach to your jeans, “Ain’t got another gun, but it’s somethin’.”

You nod slightly and take it from his grip, “Thank you,” You tell him, turning to find Joel waiting with the door open, expecting that you would climb into the middle as there was nowhere for you to go, unless the truck bed seemed like the better option—it didn’t.

It was blind trust, putting your life in the hands of both brothers. 

But, you had no choice. All that mattered was living.

—

And for Joel, the cost didn’t matter.

It’s jarring, frightening. His emotions are like a light switch—when on, he’s calm and able to hold small talk, but even that was forced and uneasy. But, when your supply dwindles down after a week or so of driving and camping in the deep brush of forest, you find what the light switch is like when it’s off.

It was a stranger, a helpless guy alone and clearly on the verge of death. All of you were on edge, the dwindling September heat still lingered into October and you had blew through your last bottle of water the night before, sweat dampening your clothes as you sifted through the aisles of the convenience store that was bare bones and empty by now but you were hoping, praying—but then you hear it and to Joel, it was prey. 

He yanks your knife from where it’s secured at your waist, so quick you barely even feel the tug as he carefully steps around the corner toward the counter, finding an older gentleman with feeble hands and energy that was dying out by the second. He was starving, dehydrated. But, so were you. And so was Joel.

“Joel, don’t.” You speak from behind him, “There’s another store in town. It’s bigger.”

“Hand it over,” Joel demands, the knife tucked away in his right hand behind his back as he held out his left, beckoning with his fingers as the man stared on, bottom lip trembling in fear as he squeezed at the plastic bottle, “now.”

There’s a moment of hesitation where the man begins to speak, shaking his head, but Joel is on him before he gets the chance, shoving the knife through the center of his throat—quick, quiet, efficient. You sigh deeply, knowing it was already coming. Joel wipes the blood away on the now dead man’s pants and snatches up the water bottle before he’s shoving it into your chest and sliding the knife back into the holster.

“You killed him,” Joel looks at you torsely, eyes half-lidded as he waits for you to continue, “you—you didn’t have to kill him, Joel.”

“You’re welcome,” He answers with finality, “Tommy’s waiting’, let’s go.”

You glance at the dead body with a grimace, the weight of it pulling down as the man slumped to the floor and his blood pooled closer and closer toward you. You step back quickly and follow after Joel who’s already ringing the bells on the door above the entrance.

“That was quick—no trouble?” Tommy asks when you return to the truck, climbing over Joel’s lap as he refuses to move, digging your knee into his thigh out of annoyance.

He takes it in stride, though. Doesn’t even react.

“No,” You lie easily, “Last one, though.”

You’ve learned to not speak on it—Joel’s quick tendencies for anger and bruteness. Hell, most of the time you could just ignore it, like now. Arguing never worked, Joel didn’t care enough.

Besides, you were just a waste of resources. Joel said it so often that it echoed in the back of your mind every time he slashed, stabbed, or gutted someone for something you needed, or wanted.

It started in small glimpses, you or Tommy could say a word, make a noise, and Joel’s brow would pinch together and the scowl on his face would deepen. 

And Tommy was objectively selfless, which bothered Joel more than it should—but given how things were, it made sense. Good karma wasn’t going to do anything for your conscience in a world that was based on self-preservation. In Joel’s mind, it was kill or be killed. And he always killed first. He learned not to take chances, hold out on good faith. It didn’t exist anymore.

And he didn’t just attack on his own behalf—he’s done it for you on a few occasions. You’ve never killed an infected, Joel always got the first hit in. Your knife would be at the ready, shaky in your grip and he would look over at you with dismay, knowing that if you did manage to have a shot you would ultimately miss. So, instead of coaching, he yanks the knife from your grip and plunges it into the skull of the infected. 

He hides his tendencies from Tommy well for a while—you always sensed Joel’s underlying itch for conflict after Sarah’s ultimate death and the few weeks you spend together on the road. You didn’t stay anywhere longer than a couple days, different cities throughout Texas as you made your way upstate. Utah, Boston, Pittsburg. Anywhere but here.

The early mornings in the forest after an uncomfortable sleeping arrangement—no rain meant sleeping in the bed of the truck or setting up camp in the one tent you had to share. But, when it did, the three of you would be forced to hunker down inside the four feet of truck cabin with nowhere to angle yourself but one of the brothers. Joel almost always shrugged you away, so by default, Tommy was the one you always chose. He didn’t seem to mind, thankfully.

Regardless, early mornings usually meant that Tommy would take his time teaching you a few things while Joel slept heavy in the truck, the low rumble of his snore heard as you both paused and Tommy readjusted the position of the knife in your grip.

“If you’re gonna hold it the way you gotta keep the dull side close to your arm,” He tightens your fist around the handle, “that way you ain’t accidentally cutting yourself with your own blade.”

You nod, squeezing down on your grip until it feels comfortable and Tommy leads your hand back toward you before guiding it through and back towards him slowly, “Always aim for the head on infected—right to the brain, kills ‘em instantly.”

You already knew that, but the reiterating is a nice reminder. 

Everything had a weakness.

“People,” Tommy starts hesitantly, “I mean, they’re livin’ and breathin’—if you let them close enough anywhere is gonna hurt them, but try to aim for the neck or the face.”

The stark image of Joel forcing the knife through the center of the man’s throat is heavy on your mind and Tommy pats on your arm as you lower it, but your eyes focus on his waist.

“Can you teach me how to shoot?”

Tommy looks at you wearily—not because he doesn’t trust you, but there’s something there.

“What happens if one of you is in trouble?” You ask him, pressing on the issue. “And I’m the only one who can do anything? I don’t even know how to shoot a gun. I’m not asking for everything, just enough to know. Tommy, come on.”

Tommy sighs, scratching at his slightly grown-out facial hair. It wasn’t nearly as thick as Joel’s, but it was clear you had all been deprived of basic hygiene over the last several weeks.

“Alright,” He relents, but holds up a finger at you, “Just the basics, for now.”

“I mean, Joel’s planning to drop me off at the nearest QZ anyways,” You joke, shoving your knife into the casing at your waist as Tommy pulls the gun out of where it’s tucked into the back of his jeans, “might as well learn as much as I can before then.”

“He won’t,” Tommy assures you, “we’re not abandoning you like that.”

You didn’t agree, but you push the words back down and take the gun that Tommy is offering as he comes to your side, arms coming around your back and around you. He’s positioning your fingers alongside his own and speaking over your shoulder and neither of you hear the car door that opens over your shoulder.

Within seconds the gun is being yanked from your grip and into Joel’s, his fingers dangling through the loop of the trigger and his eyes locked on his brother, “You lost your damn mind?”

Tommy snatches the gun back from his brother, tucking it away into his waistband.

“She’s got just as much reason to learn,” Tommy argues, “—I don’t see you makin’ an effort to teach her anything.”

“It’s not my problem,” Joel says dismissively, “we’re better off just doing the work ourselves. Kid can’t even kill an infected, she’s not gonna save your ass in a gunfight, either.”

The frustration in you boils, simmering over the edge as you push through both of them and toward the truck, closing the door with a slam as their angered voices muffle into the cabin of the truck.

“She’s not our problem, Tommy,” Joel tells him, “the sooner you realize that the better.”

“That why you plan on droppin’ her off on the doorstep of the first QZ we stumble into?”

There’s a long beat of silence before Joel speaks, “I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to,” Tommy answers, his voice laced with smugness that even you could hear, “she’s already got it set in her mind that you will and you know what—don’t blame her, either.”

Eventually, the argument settles. It’s abrupt and both of them sandwich next to you in silence as Tommy follows the path back to the road, his fingers drumming quietly against the steering wheel. But, you can feel the charge of Joel’s frustration as his fingers twist around each other. You tune it out eventually, the silence drowned out by the low hum of a cassette tape that was playing a song you had heard a thousand times by now.

You knew your own weakness was hope and it was dwindling every day.

-

By Denver, you’re all irritable. Eleven hours cramped in a truck on days of very little sleep and small scraps of meals you’ve made stretch for weeks. All the tension, arguing, and frustrations comes to a head when you stumble upon an abandoned cabin on the outskirts of town, close to the mountains and secluded. It was perfect. 

There was a large, brushy forest to hunt and it was right beside a stream. You knew it was better than nothing and that the three of you could make it work for a time—the only problem, it was already occupied.

“Stay in the truck,” Joel orders to you, cocking his gun in his lap before he’s stuffing it back into his jeans and nodding at Tommy to follow. You almost expect him to argue, but he doesn’t. He follows, like a dutiful little brother as they both stalk toward the cabin calmly.

It was one car, clearly hot-wired and stolen alongside its broken windows.

It was clear that whoever was in the cabin wasn’t the original owners either, spotting the pile of dead infected burned to a crisp beside a stack of logs that you assumed were to keep the fire burning inside the house, watching as the black smoke creeped out of the chimney.

The minutes that pass feel like an hour and you begin to wander if they both decided to keep going, abandon you and try their chances down the stretch of highway without you.

You scoot into the driver’s seat and open the door, stepping out carefully as they muddy ground causes you to slip until you regain traction and as you close the door you hear it—a loud crash, a scuffle, and then Tommy’s voice alongside Joel’s.

You run in without thinking, crashing through the slightly open door to find them both with their arms around the neck of two other men, the strangers your eyes set on are already fading. They claw, scramble for air but they’re losing. Joel slams the butt of his gun into the back of the head of the guy he’s holding before they’re both twisting at their necks in unison, the signifying crack louder than the bodies as they hit the ground.

It isn’t shocking as it should be, having seen so many people on the other end of Joel’s violence—but for Tommy, the guilt of you having to witness that is immediate.

“Kiddo, I’m sorry,” He approaches, his hands out in front of him—he was approaching you the same way he had on outbreak day, timid and careful, “you shouldn’t have had to see that.”

You glance at Joel briefly who’s gun drops to the floor behind him as he heaves the dead man up in his arms and drags him out the back door of the cabin, there’s a subtle shake to his head at Tommy’s words that makes your ears ring, drowning out his profuse apologies.

“It’s us or them, right?”

It cuts off his line of speech and his eyebrows raise slightly, “What?”

“Us or them—I’m always going to choose us, for as long as that is. Joel would too.”

Suddenly he realizes that his justifying is naut as Joel rounds the corner and continues to drag the other body out before he’s joining you both in silence as he rubs his hands against his jacket.

“Alright, uh—I want you both to settle in here, try and make it more homey for the time being. I’m gonna drive into town and see what supplies I can scavenge, should be back by nightfall.”

“I’ll come with you,” Joel adds, but Tommy stops him.

“No,” He tells his brother, a quick shake of his head, “stay here with her, get another fire going.”

And for once, Joel listens to his younger brother. His tongue is poking at his cheek as he looks away with a begrudging annoyance as he stalks toward the fireplace.

“Keep an eye on him,” Tommy whispers to you, “alright?”

You nod and smile at the gentle squeeze to your bicep that Tommy offers as he departs.

When he’s gone, the silence is deafening. Joel’s gun was still on the floor, somehow forgotten by the man who never let anything slip past him, always on guard, always ready to attack.

His back is turned when you pick up the gun, the deafening click making his head turn on a swivel.

-

He’s on you in seconds, standing from his crouched position but you were quicker, stuffing the gun behind your back with a faint smile, taking a few steps away.

“Give it to me,” Joel commands, palm extended in waiting.

“Not like you to leave stuff layin’ around,” you comment jestingly, “I think I’ll keep it for a bit.”

He stalks, heavy footsteps against the hardwood floor as you retreat further and further until you’ve ultimately cornered yourself and Joel lunges for it behind your back but you take the opportunity to sweep under his arm and slip from his grip, dangling the gun from the grip of it with two fingers.

“What? You don’t trust me with it?” you taunt, “Think I’m gonna shoot you, don’t you?”

“I’m not askin’ again,” He charges and despite your quick reflex his hand is on your wrist first, the other coming around your neck as he presses you against the back of an old, dusty couch. It creaks under your weight and sends a cloud of dust up with the movement, “drop it.”

“Say it to my face,” you retort behind a strangled tone, feeling the heavy pressure of his thick fingers around your throat, tilting your chin up at his face where he towers over you, “say it and I’ll go—you won’t see me again, hear from me. I won’t be your responsibility anymore.”

Joel shakes your wrist and squeezes and the gun drops, clattering against the floor but he doesn’t let go, not yet.

“You’ll die out there.”

You squint your eyes in disbelief, a soft laugh bubbling from your chest.

“Yeah, I’ve heard you repeat that to Tommy a million times over the last few months.”

You pull at his grip but find that it only tightens, your fingers clawing at the hand around your throat, his fingers tucked under your jaw as it pulls your chin up and up, nearly touching his chest with how close he is to you now, your feet scrambling slightly underneath your for proper footing as you leaned against the couch. 

You speak again, hoping to crawl under his skin and make him uneasy, bothered.

“What? Sudden change of heart?” you ask, “Suddenly I’m worth protecting? Tommy would love to know about the handful of men you’ve killed in my honor, you know?”

Joel’s face twitches at that, his eyes dragging toward the gun on the floor—that was your window.

You force your knees up and into his stomach, shoving him away as he stumbles but the feeling of his arm coming around your abdomen has you squirming, turning and hitting him with weak, balled up fists that didn’t amount to half the strength he encompassed. It was barely a struggle for him.

Eventually you give up, waiting and waiting for him to let you go. His gaze is heavy, almost curious in the way he watches you go through the stages of resistance to acceptance and then finally giving up before your eyes are peering up at him, pressed against him at every point of contact, the cold metal of his belt buckle digging into your stomach.

“You’re stuck with me and I’m sorry,” you tell him out of desperation, “I just want to learn and you could teach—”

It takes you a second to process when his lips press against yours, a biting kiss that is forceful and startling, gasping into his mouth at the action but your body reacts instinctively, arms wrapping around his neck and hands fisting into his hair, the subtle essence of salt and pepper that was only noticeable this close. Joel groans softly, the first true and honest sound that has come from him all evening.

“Irritating,” Joel speaks against your lips, mumbled as he leads you, bumping your legs against the arm of the couch before you’re both tumbling over, “—do you ever fuckin’ shut up?”

He’s coined you vexatious in his own mind, not realizing how impossible he was to be around either—stubborn, impossible. An unmoving force of rigidness, but here he was—pliable to the fingers that slip under his shirt as he settles between your open legs, his own pulling at the button of your jeans.

You don’t need words, knowing that you both have communicated off eye contact at a level that was never spoken about but just worked. It clicked and when he pushed, you gave into the blow.

Silently you work alongside his own hands, pushing your jeans down and off. You kick them to the floor, working at your underwear while he undoes his own jeans, feeling like you were both working against the clock with your heart hammering in your chest. He was eager, impatient—still Joel, but it was a new look. It was the dynamic that, for you, felt like the missing piece.

Weeks of constant bickering and side-eyed glances all boiling down to one break in his mulish personality, this was the resolve.

The warm touch of his palm against your upper thighs pull your attention to him and he breathes out harshly through his nostrils, his jeans shoved down his thighs and his free hand palming himself over his underwear, squeezing at your skin as he offers only one word in acknowledgement. A question.

“Yeah?”

You nod shakily, answering with a soft, “Yes.”

-

There is no build-up, no gentle touching that leads to soft caresses as Joel presses himself inside of you. His hand is gripping the arm of the couch above your head as he grips himself at the base of his cock before he’s pushing in with one solid jerk of his hips, a hurried and desperate movement to bury himself inside of you. Your fingers pull at the hair by his nape and he grunts, head pulling back as he snapped his hips back and pushed into you again, sharp and angered. His jaw was tense, the subtle peek of teeth bared behind his lips

It’s a harsh disjunction; a man you would watch from your window on weekends as he spent mornings chasing Sarah out in the lawn—softer, happier. Her protector.

With reluctance, he’s become your own. Whether he would admit it aloud or not, he knows. But, it isn’t the same—you were extra baggage, a burden, but one he felt chained too. And more importantly, distraction.

You could see his humanity slipping week by week, a dull shell of himself most days. He won’t even look at you now, his eyes squeezed shut as he thrusts into you, your eyes dragging from his face to his cock, your hand traveling down to fist at his shirt, dragging it up his stomach. 

The dark, coarse hair at the base of his cock traveled up his stomach, across his thighs. Big, strong thighs that held your legs apart and the thickness of him ached, stretched you open after months of unintentional celibacy forcing you to grip him tight, wincing with every continuous snap of his hips, feeling a hand come around to cup the back of your head, cradling it as his forehead drops and presses against your own, blocking your line of sight and forcing your eyes closed. Just feel, he’s trying to convey. Don’t think.

And it works, lingering thoughts fading away as pleasure bleeds in. His top lip grazing against the round part of your nose, his hot breath fanning over your mouth as he huffs and you moan against him, a soft and broken noise that only forces his grip to tighten against the back of your head and the other hand at your thigh, finger digging into the flesh so harshly that the ache would linger for days.

You feel the crest creeping up on you but it isn’t enough, slipping your fingers between your body silently, but the fingers around your wrist startle you, dragging you back to the surface and opening your eyes to his, his expression earnest but stoic.

“Don’t,” He shakes his head, “—just close your eyes, I got it.”

You can’t find the energy inside to argue, feeling the hand cradling your head circle around to the crown of your scalp, fingers digging into the hair and pulling taut, forcing your head back and then he’s touching you, two thick fingers circling your clit in time with his harsh, hurried thrusts.

You do close your eyes, feeling the soft tuft of his hair against the side of your face as buries himself there, his movements jerkier as his fingers work quickly, squeezing around him as your fingers dig into his forearm, hips working against his fingers instinctively to search out more and more until you’re tipping over the cliff and free-falling, coming with a soft gasp as he pulls away suddenly, fisting his cock tightly as he came over your stomach, hastily shoving your shirt out of the way as he grunts quietly, his face pinched and completely unreadable when you do finally find the energy to look at him, eyes dragging toward the ceiling as you breathe and try to process what the fuck just happened.

There’s a distant rip of fabric somewhere to the right of you and far away, noticing that Joel’s already redressed when he approaches and wipes gently at the mess of cum dressed across your stomach, shoving your jeans back into your hand in the same movement. 

You look at him oddly, shuffling the jeans and underwear in your grip as you rise, eyes following as he moved around, started building the fire Tommy had told him about a half hour ago and is so glaringly ignoring what had transpired just now—you move quickly, redressing to avoid the judgment if he looked back and you were still staring.

And you notice the itch, the unavoidable twitch in his shoulders as he can’t settle with his movements, occupying himself to keep running on the clear adrenaline high he was on—he’d killed a man and immediately directed his frustration at you and used it as a means to stall, distract, satiate that monster dwelling inside him that always came out around you.

“So, can I leave now?” You ask him, his eyes peeking over his shoulder as he shoved a new pile of wood into the fireplace, “Are we finished?”

“You’re not leaving,” Joel tells you—you weren’t moving, weren’t planning to, but you wanted to see where the conversation would go, whether Joel would admit that he cared more than he let on, his emotions so stunted since Sarah that they came out in bouts of violence and rage, “I’d never hear the end of it.”

You offer a smug chuckle in response, “So, I was right. You don’t want me around.”

Joel turns on his knee, allowing you to see the remnants of flush in his cheeks, his messy hair and his response that rips a hole straight through your chest, “I’m stuck with you because Tommy wants you around.”

It wasn’t a direct answer, but you could read into it enough.

You glance over the back of the couch, wondering if the gun was still laying on the floor where Joel had squeezed it out of your grip, but the click to your right has you turning in an instant, staring down the barrel of Joel’s gun.

“You got a lot to learn,” Your glare is less than impressed as it lands on him, petulant and annoyed, “Don’t ever touch my gun again, alright?”

“Oh,” you respond airily, an impish smile creeping onto your face as you tilted your head slightly, “so—you fucked me as punishment or because of some silly little fantasy you've always had of fucking your neighbors daughter?”

And to your surprise, Joel's response is less angered.

“You could do with a little punishment,” He rises on his knees, pocketing the gun back in his jeans, and smirking at your dumb-founded expression, “—couldn’t you?”

Joel approaches closer, motioning with his fingers for you to stand and without thinking, you follow. His subtle smirk grows wider and he’s reaching for the forgotten knife on the floor, having fallen off your pants in the midst of your hurried undressing.

“I ain’t here to teach—I’m keepin’ us alive. The sooner you learn to shut up and follow, the better,” He reaches for your hand, placing the knife into your open palm, “and you kissed back, so that look on your face, that regret—”

“Who said there was regret?”

Joel’s eyes stick to you, meeting yours fiercely for a moment as you take the knife from him and reattach it to the loop on your jeans. His tongue licks at his bottom lip briefly, watching the subtle grin spread across your face.

Your words were a challenge. 

And for you, that meant game on. 

-

dividers creds: @/saradika-graphics

[yuesya]

Verifying…

Finalizing…

100% complete. No errors found. All systems are operational. Proceed with activation?

…

Affirmed.

Control unit will be activated in 3… 2… 1…

AR-000 wakes up.

Her body does not move. Her breathing does not change. Her eyes do not open.

But all the same, awareness floods her senses –an abstract awareness consisting of the myriad mechanisms feeding input of the surrounding environment into her mind. It is only instinct, then, to grasp control of these external devices intricately linked to her systems, the knowledge of how to do so flowing automatically from instructions in her core.

The first thing that she ‘sees’ is the sight of her creators. Men and women wearing white lab coats, outfitted with various mechanical devices and other such technological augmentations. Their gazes are collectively fixated on a single point in the bright, sterile room–

On her, AR-000 realizes, turning her gaze in the same direction as her creators.

Curiosity. A vague sense of something being out of place, except she doesn’t know what it is. Confusion, and befuddlement.

Unit AR-000, designation Titania, looks at the white-haired girl sleeping behind the reinforced glass casing of an experimental capsule, countless wires connected into her body, and wonders why there’s a strange trickle of dissonance that she feels, echoing faintly in the back of her mind. As if there’s something that’s–

“Did it work?” One of the scientists, a woman with a robotic eye, leans forward anxiously. “I’m not seeing any response from her.”

“That’s because she has zero mobility, you know the schematics of her design.” Beside her, a man rolls his eyes. The woman scowls.

“You know that’s not what I mean,” she snaps tartly. “The previous attempts failed because the subject couldn’t properly develop a consciousness and maintain its sense of self in the ‘hivemind.’ Based on our data, the tuning should be right this time… but if she’s still not responding…”

Responding?

… To what?

Another scientist coughs. “U-um! Good morning, Titania…?”

“… What are you doing? Like that’s actually going to–”

[Hello.]

The voice that echoes out with her quiet greeting to her creators is strange. Artificial. She thinks that her voice shouldn’t sound like this, but why would she–?

“Oh, by the Aeons.” Movement fills the room. The scientists explode into a flurry of movement, rushing to check various contraptions and devices. “It worked! Gelos, it worked! Ha, who was the one saying that–”

“I get it, I get it! Less talking, more recording! We need to collect the data for–”

“Thank goodness, thank the heavens, thank the Monarch of Myriad Machines…”

…

In contrast to the other scientists who rush about the room like busy bees in a hive, with varying degrees of excitement and elation, there is one who approaches AR-000 silently. It takes only a fraction of a second to identify him: Chief Scientist Polus Meliseus.

He does not say anything. For a moment, the Chief Scientist only looks up towards AR-000’s unmoving body silently. He gently places a hand against the glass, and the movement is familiar, somehow.

(Why?)

The Chief Scientist blinks. A clear liquid trickles down from his eyes.

Tears, AR-000 identifies. A sign of sadness. Is there an error in her that he is upset with?

[Why are you crying, Chief Scientist?]

“Because I’m happy,” he tells her with a choked voice, thick with emotion. “Finally… it’s finally done. Thank you for being born, Titania.”

… Titania thinks that she is happy to be born, too.

[destinysbounty]

Huh. I just dug up an old fan-theory i came up with back when i was like 15. And while its definitely way too weak to hold up against any real scrutiny, it at the very least makes for some mildly interesting fanfic fodder so i thought id share it with the greater fandom hivemind.

(Dont come at me about the holes in this theory btw, i was practically a baby when i came up with this and it was one of my first attempts at theory-crafting. Trust me, ive come a long way since then)

Anyway, the theory goes like this:

While in the lighthouse, Dr. Julien builds a replica of his son. But try as he might to get it to turn on, it never actually works. Whatever special spark brought the first Zane to life is inexplicably absent from this one. So he locks it away in his basement, and never gives it the light of day again. This is the reason Dr. Julien never told Zane about Echo, or brought him with them - because at the time, Echo wasnt even functional. Wouldnt even turn on. Was nothing more than a lifeless shell collecting rust in the basement.

So how, then, did Echo become sentient by season 6? Great question! But uhh heres where the theory kinda starts to go off the rails. So buckle up, folks.

Basically the theory goes that when Zane died at the end of s3, his soul still lingered in Ninjago. And his disembodied spirit eventually found itself drawn to a vessel that was similar to the one he'd lost - one his father had built yet long abandoned. But his new body lacked the memory storage contained within his old one, and his resurrection effectively gave him almost complete amnesia. All he could remember was his name and his purpose (to protect those who cannot protect themselves).

Meanwhile, when Titanium Zane says hes a replica, hes actually completely right about that. Some fragments of his code left behind from his visit to the Digiverse gained sentience and inherited Zane's elemental power, creating the Zane we know and love today.

But the original Zane, the one that died fighting the Overlord, actually ended up becoming Echo Zane. Which then would have explained why Zane had so many holes in his memories after being resurrected, and why his sixth sense became much less active as well - he was only made from fragments of the real Zane's code, after all.

Now, as the big smart grownup i am today, i can look back at this theory my baby self had crafted and poke about a million holes into it. But...idk, i always feel nostalgic about this theory in spite of all that. Not just bc it was one of my first fan theories ever, but also bc it would have such fascinating narrative implications if true.

Like, the idea of Mr. E being Echo? Well, if we apply that to the concept of Echo being the Original Zane, then his hatred for Current Zane takes on a whole new dimension. It also gives me a lot of emotions about the whole Ice Emperor situation, as well as Zane's apparent discomfort towards his own statue.

And what kind of position does that put the rest of the gang in? If they had to choose between saving one or the other - the Zane who died for you, or the Zane who lives for you - which one would they choose? Could they choose? How long do you have to love a replica before it starts to feel more authentic than the original? And in that case, who becomes the 'real' zane? The one you love, or the one you lost?

Again. This theory has more holes in it than the Titanic. Cut me some slack, i was an idiot child and also a novice at making theories. But giving credit where its due, i do think it at least raises some interesting concepts. And Ive always casually wondered what would happen if it turned out to be true.

Like i said. Fanfic fodder.

[chickensoupleg]

-pokes head in with a prompt- Hi, it me, Brightside!

Billy gets brought back 'wrong', Eddie gets brought back 'wrong', but one thing Vecna underestimated was the homoeroticism of one Steve Harrington. Now all three are on a cross country road trip in a stolen bus or RV to save the world. These are their stories -dun dun-

Your thoughts?

STEVEN NOT AGAIN.

Okay so what I'm imagining is the Upside Down after Vecna's defeat is repairing itself back to what it used to be, and since everything is a hivemind it just repairs everything. That includes whatever was left down there, including Eddie and Billy's body. Billy's body technically isn't physically there, but since he was hive-minded and kept in one piece at one point there is a Billy somewhere down there.

Except of course humans don't naturally exist there so they get revived using non-human materials. My idea is the UD repaired them like they did the Mind Flayer body so they're semi... liquid. Not entirely! But whatever was lost was filled in with evil putty. And the evil putty may or may not be controllable.

To make it cool it looks like tattoos once their bodies (forcefully) accept the goo. I am a sucker for sun scar Billy and bat scar Eddie, so that's what the 'tattoos' look like, which are entirely black. They're not entirely controlled by the Upside Down, but there's a part of it still in them. It freaks Billy out way more than it does Eddie since he's half convinced that he's not in control of himself again, but Eddie manages to calm him down and get everything explained for him.

After a while Vecna (>:() gets a hold of himself and decides to try yet again! Man is as stubborn as a toddler in search of ice cream. Eddie and Billy find out somehow, perhaps through a democreature they managed to befriend to their side and decide 'Yeah no that's not gonna happen again' and figure out a way to portal back into the real world. They're not the greatest at it (all hands on deck), and only manage to open a rift near the closest person they could imagine.

That being of course a Steve Harrington. Steve of course is besides himself because not only is Eddie alive, so is Billy. They're both supposed to be dead! Eddie and Billy find out that after Hawkins was destroyed Steve stayed just long enough to help with reparations until he disappeared with Robin out across the country, back in sunny California because where else would it be. Perhaps Steve wanted a taste of the sea, reminiscing about stories Billy told him by the quarryside and needing to see it for himself out of memoriam for both him and Max.

Except, well. Turns out he's back.

And after a tearful reunion and some relaxing they explain what was going on in the UD and Steve decides (after a lot of griping) that he's going back into the fray.

Lucky for him, he's gotten the RV of his dreams and now his Billy and Eddie back. He finds out about their new abilities a few hours in when a bump in the road knocks over a cup and before it shattered Eddie caught it with a black vine shooting out of his side.

... So there's that.

For a lingering danger over their heads they sure do take a long time getting there. Why stress? The world is their potato. Perhaps the black duo still have a connection that tracks how close Vecna is to coming back again and know there's a lot of time (Steve and Robin get a lot of congratulations for defeating Vecna so hard he's taken this long to collect himself). Steve's learning a lot about his feelings towards the recently revived and also a lot about his body's feelings towards the recently revived.

Robin comes along as well. She has to leave the RV often for the privacy of her best friend. Perhaps even picks up a girlfriend on the way who is oddly very okay with what's going on in the studio. Maybe even two girlfriends, Robin has two hands.

They have a lot of souvenirs as they go along and the RV is just filled with trinkets by the time they return to Hawkins to save the world a fifth time.

[dmwrites]

“Doc, lemmie ask you a question real quick- ouch!”

Doc yelled in fright so loud that several birds off in the distance took off into the sky. He turned just in time to see someone slam directly into the side of the redstone machine he had been working on, thus, obviously, the ouch.

“What the- Pearl?”

Doc pulled off his redstone-crusted work glove to help the spindly girl out of the machine (sighing internally at the smudged redstone lines he could see now) and onto the scaffolding where he had been sitting.

“Hey Doc!”

“Pearl.” Doc swatted his hand across her shoulder to get rid of some of the redstone dust that she had collected in her fall. “It’s a pleasure. You had a question? Please, sit!” He took off his other work glove and indicated to the spot next to him on the scaffolding. It was a good view up here, with the perimeter yawning out to one side, and the sun just starting to set on the other.

“Ah yes, question.” Pearl sat, and took a breath before continuing. She took several, actually, before speaking again. “Do you remember when you did all that crazy stuff in season 8? Like that lighting rod thing? Where it rained on hermitcraft even though it never rains here?”

“How could I forget?” Doc chuckled. “It was so loud. And crazy. Me and Rendoggie could hardly hear each other speak for a week.”

“When you did that, did you feel like… a god?” Pearl spoke hesitantly, looking down at her feet and kicking them out into the air. “Is that what being a god feels like?”

“A god?” Doc debated giving the stupid, arrogant answer, which he definitely would have normally, but this was Pearl, and she had a kind of calculated lightness to her voice that made him drop the jokes. “I feel like a god, but I know I’m not. It’s redstone, it’s science, it’s the effort of a group of marvelous minds. It’s incredible, but me, we, the hivemind, we are no gods. We just act like it.” He grinned at her.

Pearl smiled back, but her eyes were far off, thinking of things.

“Do you ever feel like a god?” Doc felt compelled to ask. “Are there things that you do that make you feel powerful?”

Pearl looked him right in the eye with her blue ones, and it wasn’t a look of curious hypotheticals, but rather the look of someone who was very, very old.

“Powerful? No…” Pearl ran her fingers through her hair, looking away and past him. “I feel like the idea of being a god is a lot more nebulous then we think. Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Pearl, are you alright? You know I’m always here to help you, right?” Doc asked, quite worried.

Pearl smiled at him. “Thanks Doc. It means a lot.” She hasn’t answered the question. Doc watched her stand up. “I think I’m gonna head back now, though.” She started walking towards the edge of the scaffolding.

“Hey Pearl?”

“Yeah?” She turned half back to look at him, and the sun, like the universe had been listening, shone behind her head in a perfect halo, and for a moment Doc was stricken with the overwhelming certainty that he was indeed talking to a god.

“I never noticed, but your eyes have yellow in them, like, in petals around your pupil. It’s very pretty. Like a sunflower or something. Complements the blue of your eyes.”

Pearl was silent for a moment. “Thanks Doc.” She finally said. “I hadn’t noticed. It must be new.” There was the sound of rockets, and she was gone, just a smaller and smaller figure in the sky. Doc watched her go, a hand shading his eyes, almost a salute.

She was a nice girl, Doc concluded, getting back to the redstone. A strange girl, but nice.

[rexc0re]

Gen Loss: The Unofficial Files

File Two: Locating the Hivemind

- UF!Ranboo

A/N: HELLO AND WELCOME TO FILE TWO! first of all id like to say sorry this has been so delayed cuase things going on in my life and writing was not my main focus and this has been on the back burner of being finished for the longest time. Blah blah blah moving on let’s get onto the story no more ranting smile

Summary: College student Ranboo has found some old tapes in the floorboard of his apartment. Over the course of a year we follow along with his discoveries of a organization that isn’t all that it seems…

Warnings: None

< A CLICK, FOLLOWED BY THE ROLLING OF A TAPE>

[RANBOO CLEARS HIS THROAT, THE DISTANT SHUFFLING OF LEAVES IS HEARD]

Ranboo: March 16, 1990. 12:35 pm, finding out the truth File two side a.

Ranboo: Welcome back! lovely..listener?……i don’t even know if anyone’s going to listen to these what am I doing..

[RANBOO SIGHS]

Ranboo: Anyways, hello. It’s been about, almost, three months since my last recording. In that time I have investigated more into the mysterious Symphony Industries and their project, Generation Loss.

Ranboo: Now this company has been pretty good at covering their tracks. All public records either say they don’t exist, or they’re just some mom and pop tile company. Which I doubt.

[A PAUSE, THE LEAVES STOP RUSTLING. A PAPER IS HEARD PRESUMABLY BEING PULLED OUT.]

Ranboo: Is this…..aha! It is, great!

[A THUMP IS HEARD FOLLOWED BY THE SOUND OF AN ZIPPER BEING UNZIPPED. A BEAT, THE SOUND OF A SCREW BEING UNSCREWED IS HEARD]

Ranboo: As I was saying, this company is very good at hiding themselves. All the recent public records have no trace of them, all of the locals look at me like I’m crazy when I ask them about it, and even town hall had no record of any building under the name of Symphony Industries.

Ranboo: But who they aren’t good at hiding from is Old man Jim who runs a newspaper,magazine,comic, and whatever other random paper material there is shop.

[RANBOO PAUSES AND THE *PRESUMBLY* SCREWDRIVER IS PUT BACK INTO THE BAG. THE BAG IS ZIPPED UP AND HOISTED BACK ONTO HIS SHOULDER. A GRUNT AND THE BANGING OF METAL CAN BE HEARD AS RANBOO CLIMBS INTO A VENT]

Ranboo: Now, Old man Jim is weird. Like weirder than me weird. That dude keeps all kinds of old records. According to him he collects these paper records from town hall as soon as they were made public. Theoretically, he should have a copy of the record for Symphony Industries.

Ranboo: So about a week ago I went to his shop, and low and behold…he had it. Normally he has multiple copies but he told me that a few years ago-

[A BANG IS HEARD FOLLOWED BY A STRING OF CURSES FROM RANBOO]

Ranboo: what the hell….anyways. A few years ago Jim was visited by these dudes in suits who asked for all his copies of this record. They didn’t say why, but Jim found them suspicious so he kept one for himself. Long story short, I had to pay an arm and a leg for this paper.

Ranboo: But I got it, and here we are now. In a vent. Crawling through it. To get inside this building that is supposedly abandoned. I’ve got my friend [REDACTED] outside whose timing me for an hour. So if I don’t get out of here within an hour the police will be here hopefully coming to fish me out. Woo!

[HE GOES SILENT AND CONTINUES MOVING UNTIL A BUMP IS HEARD AS THEY JUMP OUT OF THE VENT]

Ranboo: Mission accomplished listeners. We’re in! Now, all that’s left is to find definitive proof that Symphony Industries exists and Generation Loss and it’s weird potatoes are real!

< HALLWAY 3, 1:20 PM. MARCH 16, 1990 >

The camera flickers on, Ranboo is heard talking presumably to a tape.

He turns suddenly, looking at the camera.

He stares.

He whips around as the [REDACTED] team approaches.

Ranboo turns back towards the camera.

As the [REDACTED] team approaches they hold up a paper.

“I KNOW YOURE THERE. GENERATION LOSS HAS BEEN FOUND.”

< A CLICK. THE CAMERA SHUTS OFF >

A/N: hi smile. anyways hope you enjoyed i had fun with this one even if I had to rewrite half of it!! Told you it’s get more interesting smile. Anyways see you next week hopefully, praying to god, on time on saturday!!! bye bye yippie

[bitimdrake]

I'm so sorry, but how did my boy Cyborg turn into a planet??

Phew, okay, it's been a minute since I've read it all, but let's see if I can still do this. Because obviously we are taking the long way through this explanation.

A History of How Cyborg Became a Planet

Once upon a time in 1980, Cyborg was introduced in New Teen Titans as the cyborg we all know and love, and remained as such for about a decade.

Then he got blown up and lost much of his memory in the terrible Titans Hunt storyline, and subsequently ended up far more like a lifeless robot and less like a person for a very long and awful stretch of comics. Eventually it was determined he was still alive in there (yay), but was basically trapped inside a fully mechanical shell, unable to do anything beyond mechanical responses and only sometimes aware of things around him (aw).

Then Technis appeared--a moving computer planet slash dying cybernetic hivemind in need of...souls to assimilate or something? Look, I do not remember the technicalities of this very old comic, but essentially Technis determined that Cyborg, being compatibly machine-like but also with a soul, was exactly what they needed to adapt and survive.

Good news: they can finally help Vic to not be trapped in his own body and be a person again. Bad news: turns out he's in a bad place anyway and won't be able to sustain power (i.e. survive) if he leaves Technis. Vic gets absorbed into the cybernetic hive mind planet, and they fly off into the space sunset. Vic's last appearance for a couple years is New Titans #107.

(this is how the comic gives a tragic and heartfelt goodbye to Cyborg...with his face weirdly formed on the computer-planet's surface)

Now I hear you crying foul, because Vic is only a part of a hive mind that occupies a computer planet here, and not really a planet himself. Don't worry. I'm getting there. He's gonna be a totally different planet.

Technis and Vic reappear in the run's final storyline (New Titans #127-130), where we find out Vic has been reborn in an energy construct body and is going by Cyberion.

(that’s him, the black and red man with glowing eyes and cyber-dreads)

Blah blah dramatic storyline here. Technis gets destroyed, but Vic/Cyberion decides to stay in space, following Technis's old directive to explore and rebuild. Gar (a.k.a. Changeling, a.k.a. Beast Boy) stays with him, and the pair stop appearing in comics for another couple years as they do things in space.

However! Gar reappears without Vic towards the end of Teen Titans vol 2, having apparently left his best friend because things started getting too weird...

Cue JLA/Titans (a mini I genuinely enjoyed, for the record) where a strange planet made of debris from ruined worlds comes to earth, interrupting computer systems, kidnapping Titans left and right, and absorbing the moon into itself for strange and esoteric reasons that seem to convey an unexpected sense of loneliness and...okay, yeah, it’s Vic.

(a portrait of a man)

You see, Gar left because Vic was getting a little too into the Technis drive to reassemble/repopulate after his hivemind space family’s destruction. He got his hands on a mech suit made out of fully morphable metal, which he took over rather than remain an energy construct. And as he collected materials around the galaxy, he absorbed them into his new body, collecting more and more, growing larger and larger, trying to recreate the Planet Technis until, you know. Planet Cyberion.

And that’s how Cyborg became a planet!

[respectable-username]

Because I'm obsessed with Hivemind Etho, here's another little story with them for the @hermitcraftheadcanons Hermitopia AU. As before, this is just a quick piece that's only been lightly edited because of the time constraints of this community AU.

This is also some setup for a potential future confrontation for somebody else to write.

---

The two Ethos stood at the door to the apartment, waiting for the hour to strike.

It was all they could do to not to brush the hastily cut and dyed hair away from one of their selves' forehead, or fight against the overly tight suit and tie, or scratch at the cheap surgical mask that sat in place of their regular cloth face covering, or the makeup that tried to conceal their prominent eye scar. The other self pulled their jacket closer, trying to extract enough comfort from it for the both of them.

The clock struck 7am. Etho knocked.

A few minutes later, the door was pulled open by a bleary-eyed Mumbo in a dressing gown.

"Hello– oh no what are you doing here please don't hurt me please don't hurt me."

The undisguised Etho pushed through the doorway as Mumbo backed away from the Unrestrained villain, now fully awake.

"Your ID card," said the Etho, entering the room.

"What?" said Mumbo.

"Your ConCorp ID pass," clarified the Etho, holding out their hand. "Give it to us. Now."

"Um, I don't think I'm supposed to do that," said Mumbo, desperately searching for something to grab.

The Etho's eyes bore into Mumbo, cold, unflinching, unwavering. One looked right at him while the other seemed to look right through him.

"Um, right, ok," said Mumbo. "Uh, can you pass me my bag? It's in there."

The disguised Etho entered the apartment and grabbed the briefcase sitting by the door, opening it and grabbing the pass inside, clipping it onto their own trousers. They closed the bag and held it beside them.

"Um, ok," said Mumbo. "I– is that all you wanted?"

"Your phone too," said the undisguised Etho.

"Please no!" Mumbo pleaded. "I can't lose that. What if there's an emergency and I need to call for help but I don't have my phone so the apartment burns down or if somebody gets hurt and I can't call an ambulance or–"

The Etho took a step forward. "Your phone," they repeated.

"Ok ok please don't hurt me," said Mumbo, retrieving his phone from his pocket and holding up both hands.

The Etho grabbed the phone and tossed it over their shoulder at their other self, who caught it flawlessly.

The Etho looked between the cowering Mumbo before them and their other, disguised self. About the same height. Hair roughly similar enough to pass. The ConCorp-issued suit didn't fit quite the same, and the face mask was an obvious difference, but it was close enough if nobody gave them a second glance.

And, having been observing Mumbo for the last few weeks, there didn't seem to be anybody who would give Mumbo a second glance.

The disguised Etho turned silently and left. The other Etho shut the front door and turned the lock, trapping them and Mumbo inside.

***

The disguised Etho walked up to the ConCorp entrance at 8:53am. This seemed to be the average time of Mumbo's arrivals. They walked towards the turnstiles and swiped Mumbo's pass.

"Everything alright?" asked a receptionist behind the main desk, presumably concerned by the face mask.

The Etho coughed. "I'll be fine," they croaked.

"Sweetie, if you're feeling unwell, you should be at home, resting," she said.

"Got stuff to do," croaked Etho, walking forward into the elevator before any further questions could be asked.

"Where's your office?" the Etho at Mumbo's apartment asked, sitting in a corner of Mumbo's couch from which they could see the whole room.

"Um, at ConCorp HQ," said Mumbo, fiddling with a teabag.

Etho sighed. "Precise directions from the elevator please," they said.

"Oh, uh, straight ahead down the corridor, last door on the left," Mumbo said.

The "Mumbo" Etho followed the described path and scanned their pass to enter the room.

The kettle clicked. Mumbo poured the boiling water out into the mug. The Etho in the apartment tensed, ready to spring away at any sign the hot contents would be flung towards them.

"And what's your password?" asked Etho.

"For what?" said Mumbo.

"Your ConCorp laptop," said Etho, the faintest wisps of exasperation creeping into their otherwise carefully controlled voice.

"I am so getting fired for this," sighed Mumbo.

"Better your job than your life," Etho replied flippantly.

"Of course," said Mumbo hurriedly. "It's – oh gosh I can't believe I'm saying this aloud – it's BMX4lyfe95!"

The Etho at the office typed it in. Finally, the internal network was open to them.

They started working to set up a reverse proxy to tunnel out from behind the firewall. Another of their selves at home was already positioned to connect to the network tunnel as soon as it was opened.

Mumbo poured milk into his mug, throwing away the teabag and walking over to the lounge. The Etho already on a couch got ready to jump, but Mumbo just sat down across from them and took a sip.

Mumbo stared down into his mug. "You're a hacker, right?" he asked, his eyes not looking up.

"One of my talents," said Etho cautiously.

"Since they're gonna fire me anyway, can I ask a small favour?" said Mumbo, still acting like his tea was the most fascinating thing in the room.

"Depends," said Etho.

Mumbo drummed his fingers against the mug. "I have this friend, Iskall," Mumbo said. "He's one of the office workers at ConCorp. I made his cybernetics after he got injured. But they keep breaking in weird ways and I don't know why. His explanations don't make sense! The metal I use doesn't melt like that from accidentally touching a stove. They shouldn't buckle like that from tripping into a wall. They shouldn't shatter from falling down a flight of stairs. I'm... I'm just worried for him. Is he in danger? What isn't he telling me?"

The Etho on the couch was quiet for a few seconds. "You only have partial access to the VEX files," they said. "There's a lot I can't find here."

"It's so creepy how you do that," said Mumbo.

Etho ignored him.

The Etho at home let out a quiet cheer as they managed to connect through the tunnel into the ConCorp network. They started browsing, collecting, and saving as much information as possible.

The Etho in the office switched their focus to finding some sort of privilege escalation vulnerability that would let them access the more secure files.

"Erm, I probably should have asked before," said Mumbo. "Would you like some tea? Some breakfast?"

"I'm fine," said the Etho in the apartment.

"So, uh, do you have any hobbies?" asked Mumbo.

"Please don't small talk," said Etho. "I'm busy."

"Oh, ok," said Mumbo. "Can I go grab a book or something then? Since, y'know, I don't have my phone or laptop or anything."

Etho nodded. "But if you call for help," they said, "I will know about it and I will make you regret it."

"Of course," said Mumbo.

The Etho in the office kept prodding at the ConCorp intranet. What they needed were the credentials of a superior, maybe even the Director himself. Hmm, it seemed from this directory structure that the Director was Mumbo's direct supervisor. It would only take a few hours to set up some sort of spear phishing attempt that would let them pivot directly onto the Director's computer. As long as they didn't get caught first, of course.

Etho opened Mumbo's calendar and declined all meetings that day that wouldn't look suspicious to avoid. There weren't many meetings to sort through.

"How often do you get visitors to your office?" Etho asked Mumbo.

"Iskall usually comes for lunch when he's not swamped by a project," said Mumbo. "Otherwise, nobody else just pops 'round usually."

"How about your boss?" asked Etho.

"He's busy," Mumbo said. "I have to go to him if we ever talk."

The Etho in the apartment nodded, settling back to focus on what their other selves were doing.

***

Hi Cub, Etho typed. Can you review this interface I made? It should let us remotely view what's happening with our heroes through their cybernetics. With some extra work, we could get actual video from their perspective to send to the media!

Etho sent the message, then sent the file with their exploit. The exploit was covered by a very quickly and poorly thrown together interface which returned the live location of a GPS receiver they had found in the lab.

They left it a few minutes, stretching back in Mumbo's desk chair as they waited for a reply.

Finally, one came through.

Hey Mumbo. Great prototype! We'll probably need to pass off development to the actual software engineering team, but this is a great initiative. I'm proud to have a thinker like you on our team!

Etho allowed themselves a smile as they checked to see if their exploit had worked. There it was, a tunnel open on the expected port right into the Director's machine. Jackpot.

The Etho at home pivoted through the new tunnel and started scraping as much information as they could.

"Your friend is a mercenary," the Etho in Mumbo's apartment said, making Mumbo jump at the sudden sound.

"Wait what?" said Mumbo.

"Iskall is a mercenary and assassin for ConCorp, working for them in exchange for ConCorp saving his life," clarified Etho.

"Iskall, a mercenary?" Mumbo said. "No no no no no. That can't be!"

"That's what his file says," Etho said with a shrug. "Either way, I've got what I need. I've called you in sick for the next week, and I'm keeping your pass to enforce that. Your phone will be returned, but I've programmed it to inform me if you let any part of today slip. I hope you understand."

"Uh, thank you, I guess," said Mumbo.

"I'll be here with your belongings in half an hour," Etho continued, standing up.

"What do– oh, right," said Mumbo.

"And don't do anything stupid," said Etho, opening the door to leave. "As thanks for your assistance, the nHo will try to keep you safe from any upcoming confrontation. But if you break this trust, that guarantee will not hold."

"I understand," said Mumbo, gulping at the idea of having to further betray his company, his friends.

The Etho left his apartment.

[azure-wolf-227]

ML Snow White AU: Adrien Agreste and the Seven Faes

@princess-of-the-corner and I have yet again come up with a Disney Princess/Fairytale-inspired AU, this time on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with Adrien in the role Snow White since he’s pretty much s Disney Princess.

(The characters are 18 or nearly 18 because there’s an arranged marriage plot).

In this AU, Prince Adrien Agreste lost both of his parents and is now in the care of his Aunt Amelie, the kingdom’s regent. Amelie wants her son Felix to be the next king so she isolates Adrien and practically demotes him to a servant.

Nathalie and the Gorilla exist here but the reason why they don’t help Adrien is because Amelie fired them when she became regent.

One day, Adrien overhears Amelie and Felix plotting to kill him, so he runs away into the enchanted forest. Lost and scared, he comes across an empty cottage deep within the woods. After cleaning it up and preparing some food, Adrien falls asleep in one of the seven beds upstairs.

The cottage is the home of seven powerful Faes known as Tikki, Plagg, Trixx, Wayzz, Pollen, Nooroo, and Duusu; they return to find that someone is in their house.

The Faes look like humans but with animals features like antennae, wings, ears, tails, etc. They can also transform into the animal they have traits off: Tikki into a ladybug, Plagg into a cat, Trixx into a fox, Wayzz into a turtle, Pollen into a bee, Nooroo into a butterfly, and Duusu into a peacock.

While they’re all skilled at magic, they each have their own unique abilities: Tikki has control over plants, healing powers, and can give good luck to others; Plagg can destroy things, cause sicknesses, and give bad luck; Trixx can create powerful illusions, see through lies and disguises; Wayzz can cast powerful protective spells and sense auras; Pollen can create a hivemind between herself and any allies, as well as control weak-willed minds; Nooroo can sense emotions and temporarily boost others’ powers; Duusu can also sense emotions as well as summon all manner of creatures. The Faes also have the ability to speak to and command the animal that they are associated with.

After finding Adrien and waking him up, he begs them to not return him to his aunt since she’d have him killed. The Faes agree to let him stay in exchange for him keeping the cottage clean and helping them with whatever they need.

The Faes do various tasks around the enchanted forest like collecting food and materials or making things; while they keep some of the stuff they collect/make they also make deals with the humans from nearby towns, trading their magic skills and what they collect/make in exchange with whatever they need.

Just like with ‘Dragon Curse’ and “MermAdrien’, this AU has Lukadrigaminette as the endgame. Kagami, Luka, and Marinette are all various people Adrien meets.

Mari is a girl from the nearest town, and is the only one who goes this deep into the forest to hunt for food or trade with the Faes that live there. She meets Adrien while visiting the Faes to do their usual trading (ingredients for her parents’ bakery and silk for her tailor shop made by Nooroo’s silkworms) and, after taking one look at the rags that Adrien is wearing, offers to make him some new clothes.

Kagami was an arranged fiancé from a neighboring Kingdom. She hears of her Prince going missing and isn’t interested in his replacement (Felix) so she searches for the first in the time remaining before she’s forced to marry the new Prince. However she is drawn to the boy living in the woods with a bunch of Magic Creatures. She doesn’t recognize the boy as her fiancé because, the last time they meet was at a Gala/royalty meeting where he was wearing royal clothes and on his best behavior. This boy is goofy and kind of wild, and while the clothes Marinette made him are nice, they’re not really what a prince would wear. Also, Adrien wouldn’t be admitting who he is to anyone, not even his fiancé since he doesn’t know if she’s in on Amelie’s a Felix’s plan.

Kagami must find Adrien before her 18th birthday or she’ll have to marry Felix.

Luka is a traveling Bard, who’s part of a travelling band of musicians consisting of himself, Juleka, Rose, Ivan (canon Kitty Section), and four Faes known as Sass, Roarr, Daizzi, and Stompp. He originally met Adrien when his band traveled through the palace, though it had been after Amelie had demoted Adrien to servant so Luka didn’t recognize him as the prince. They run into each other again when the the musicians travel through the forest.

Due to their connection to Adrien; Marinette, Kagami, and Luka also run into and develop feelings for each other.

They later learn that Adrien is the missing prince as well as Amelie and Felix’s plot to murder him.

Some time later, Amelie and Felix acquire a magic mirror that they use to find where Adrien is hiding (cause they would have used it from the start if they had it already).

To kill Adrien they hire Lila Rossi, a cunning assassin with an affinity for deception and illusion/disguise magic. While she’s a colossal narcissist and as well as a bitch, Lila still has somewhat of a moral code and will only kill people who deserve it. So, Amelie and Felix lie to her about Adrien’s identity, telling her that he’s a treat to the kingdom.

Lila disguises herself as Marinette, both because it wouldn’t be odd for her to suddenly drop for a visit and because Lila wants some petty revenge on Marinette after the latter exposed a scam the former pulled in the past.

Lila-as-Marinette comes to the cottage at a time when she knows Adrien would be alone. She offers him some sweets laced with a poison that Amelie provided for her, and Adrien obliviously accepts one.

Once he bites into the treat, the poison takes effect and, as Adrien is about to lose consciousness, Lila drops her disguise and with a smirk says “Amelie sends her regards.” This is the last thing he sees before everything goes dark and he collapses, seemingly dead.

The others discover what’s happening when Kagami, who had seen Lila-as-Marinette heading towards the cottage, is confused when she sees that Marinette is with Luka. When Marinette confirms that she has been with Luka the whole time, Kagami tells them about the other Marinette she saw. Realizing that Adrien could be in danger, Kagami, Luka, Marinette, the Faes, and their allies rush back towards the cottage.

They arrive just as Lila is exiting the cottage and Kagami chases after her along with some of the Faes, while the others rush inside to check on Adrien. They find Adrien collapsed on the floor, not breathing and seemingly dead. Tikki, who had remained behind while the other Faes went with Kagami, checks him over and informs them that he’s still alive but under a powerful sleeping curse that even her healing powers can break.

Meanwhile, Kagami and the rest of the Faes catch up with Lila, who tries to evade them using her illusion magic. Fortunately, Trixx is immune to those tricks so Lila is quickly captured. They take her back to the cottage and interrogate her about her actions.

At first, Lila refuses to say anything but when she learns just who Adrien is, she reveals that Amelie and Felix were the ones who hired her, lying to her about who Adrien actually was and also providing the poison.

Tikki, who had remained behind while the other Faes went with Kagami, checks him over and informs them that he’s still alive but under a powerful sleeping curse that even her healing powers can’t break. It can only be broken by True Love’s kiss.

Since she’s Adrien’s intended betrothed, Kagami is deemed the best candidate to try breaking the spell. She kisses him and he immediately begins breathing but doesn’t wake up.

Turns out that Adrien has more than one True Love (Kagami, Luka, and Marinette); Kagami’s kiss only broke 1/3 of the curse and he needs a kiss from all of them to completely break it. Luka is the next one to try, his kiss causes Adrien to regain partial consciousness though he’s still out of it and unable to move. Finally, Marinette’s kisses Adrien, breaking the remaining bit of the curse and fully awakening Adrien.

Once Adrien is awake, he’s told what happened and they all begin planning on how to deal wit Amelie and Felix. They decided to ask Kagami’s mother, Tomoe for support and protection.

[danieyells]

Hey Danie! I was wondering if you had any thoughts on Nyarlathotep in TAS; I was playing through the segments where he's relevant in the story and I find it really difficult to understand a lot of what he's saying xD I'm sure that's the point, but I wondered if you had any ideas about breaking down how he talks, cause he seems almost normal when you meet him and then rapidly becomes more and more difficult to parse? And his description says that he does a lot of dipping into multiple guilds and implies that he has an insane amount of influence on things, so I'm curious as to what your opinions on him are, if you have any!

Hello hello 'u' I love Nyarl lol he's. He's silly--but also has his own things going on. I wanna see more of him, and I imagine we have to eventually--maybe when we get together with the Missionaries and take on some of the Rule Makers.

(Somehoe this got long lmao. . .i've been eriting it on and off for a few hours, erased like all of it ay one point. . .i ended up going through all of his main story dialogue lol but i feel like i've explained nothing ay all. Here's a readmore)

Nyarl is "Crawling Chaos" for a reason--a lot of what he says and does has little to no sense or has real 'reason' beyond advancing the story or making things exciting/active. It's not supposed to, he's largely contradictory and he serves only himself, so he's just trying to have a good time and make interesting things happen. As he said, he wants to make reality into "mind-bending fiction"--his motivation is 'make everything as fun and wild as possible' basically.

But there's 1000 Nyarlathoteps. So part of the reason he's somewhat all over the place in terms of speech patterns and actions is possibly that, at any given point in time, you're not dealing with the same Nyarl you saw last time. Thus why he says things like "We Nyarlathoteps" when referring to himself. He also says at some point that he's collectively lived many lifetimes--so Nyarl is all at once a hivemind and not. His Aoyama Guild aligned iteration said the other 999 Nyarls don't care about the Missionaries, but he calls them his friends and helps them(though, only after he makes a mess of things because he wanted to see an exception--he also, through provocation, helps Ryota to learn to use and strengthen hos artifact). So it's important to understand that he's supposed to be contradictory and he's supposed to be hard to understand. He's honest and dishonest all at once because there are multiple Nyarls and not everything is true for all of them--except, perhaps, their love/admiration for Azathoth and their misery at being abandoned by him. Even their heights and weights are inconsistent.

But they do have feelings and they do live a lonely existence because the father/world they love has no mind for them and no future. So when Maria basically says "I forgive you and I love you and I understand and don't hold any of this against you because to act on love is the way of the Missionaries no matter how that action may be" he seems to have had felt. . .seen? Heard? Loved for the first time. And while the other 999 Nyarls don't care for the Aoyama Guild, they all love Azathoth and know the emptiness of his lack of feelings towards them. So with their hivemind, they were willing to defend Maria and the Guild for being the ones who care about them when no one else did, even though he's also the one who instigated the attack in the first place. Ultimately it fell in line with his will anyway--it'd be less interesting to act because of his love than to change sides in the middle of the war.

(For the most part Tsathoggua and Dagon are the only like. Idk. Decently mentally together Old Ones. Nodens apparently used to be sane but he's changed.)

Uuuh as for parsing together what he says. . .idk i guess it depends on what he's saying that's throwing you off? Were there any lines in particular? He mostly speaks in slang, jargon, and references. If there's any part in particular you're confused about I can see if I understand it myself and try and explain! I assume you mean his exchange with Maria where he talks about his love for Azathoth?

Re: his introduction. Something that doesn't translate at all is that. Nyarl speaks English. A lot. Especially in his first scene, he speaks almost entirely in English, a language MC and the others are implied not to understand well. On top of that he still speaks in a lot of modern English slang(reminder: this Tokyo was cut off from the rest of the world starting from 1999.)--so even if they do understand English, they're probably even more confused because he's speaking in colloquialisms beyond their grasp.

But that's really hard to translate to English because English is taught in most Japanese schools afair--so Japanese speakers have a decent chance of understanding some English. And even without that comprehension, the English is in rubytext/furigana while the Japanese is on the main line--so they have a sort of translation key that we haven't been given. He could have spoke in another language but there's no language that most English speakers would probably know the way that most Japanese speakers know a certain amount of English. (And they could've given us rubytext but it wouldn't make much sense to most English speakers nor really work/come across the same way and it'd look out of place.) So Nyarl speaking normally in that scene is actually like.

You may or may not know another language very well (for all i know you're ESL)--so imagine you're lost and ask someone for directions. They speak to you in a language you barely know, although they seem to understand what you're saying even if you don't understand them super well. That's what that scene was.

Basically there was no way to get across that part of what makes him incomprehensible is literally a language barrier. Maria says "I don't understand him most of the time" because she doesn't understand English as he speaks it.

SO THAT'S WHY THAT SCENE IS SENSIBLE COMPARED TO THE REST.

He speaks in Japanese much more after introducing himself to Ryota(after the "Yeah, baby! The Nyarlathoteps are at your service, yeah?" line he speaks in more Japanese--so that's where his dialogue starts getting a bit more wild, since they're no longer just giving him most of the same lines as the Japanese version.)

There are a lot of things I don't get either tbh. For example "heroic band of Mr. Carters"--I assumed it was the character from a story of some sort. He says "Mister Carters" in Japanese in the furigana and the regular text says "物語の主人公気取りたち" something like "the ones we'll call/claiming to be the heroes of the story". It's possibly a reference to the Lil Wayne song "Mr. Carter" which would make sense since Nyarl's a DJ????

So a lot of what he does is make references(mythology ones, for example calling Azazel 'Mr. Scapegoat' because the 'scapegoat' tradition originated with Yom Kippur and throwing goats off a cliff 'for Azazel'--to send away their sins; and he also calls Azazel 'Shub-Niggurath', the name of an Old One who's i think described as "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young"--so because he has a friend who's a goat, he calls him the name of a goat he knows from home) speak in other languages(calling Hati 'Loup-garou', french for 'werewolf',) and says contradictory things or the opposite of what's 'normal.'

So just remember, as 1000 separate beings, you're supposed to see contradictions in most everything he does and says. So if you're struggling to understand then in a sense you're understanding perfectly lol

As for his influence on multiple guids, again, there are 1000 Nyarls. Each one may be part of another Guild, thus at their disposal should that Nyarl want to help--but usually they just wanna cause chaos, except now that Aoyama Nyarl's seemingly come to be attached to the Missionaries he seems protective of them(and the others will follow him when he calls for them). All of the Big Three Guilds as well as the Wisemen and Creators have a transient from Old Ones at their disposal.

So basically Nyarl can turn the tide but usually he doesn't care to help out that much because he has his own agenda. (He's also probably aware that the other guilds would sic their Old Ones on him if he attacked himself and it'd be a stalemate(and thus boring!) so he hangs out in other ways.

I feel like i definitely didn't say anything cohesive lol I REALLY LIKE NYARL he's just a very funny and interesting guy with no real barriers and he doesn't wanna admit he's jealous of Arc and he's just. Chaotic.

[fizzingwizard]

OK gang here we go, episode 33!

It was better than last week, which was better than the week before, so... make of that what you will.

Pic of the week!

A look of steely Dan determination.

More below!

Like I said, this episode is an improvement on the last one, by virtue of plot stuff actually happening, a few big happenings, and references to the other kids that suggest they haven’t been completely forgotten about (only mostly). Don’t get excited though - it still leaves much to be desired. I cry endlessly for the animation budget. But let’s get into it...

Taichi and friends are still in pursuit of SkullKnightmon and Hikari. We found our for sure last week that the creature in the little crystal is, indeed, Millenniumon, or rather a fragment of him, and his fragments fell all around the Digital World at the end of the great war or whatever it’s called and they’re the source of the miasma and they absorb energy from the human world etc etc...

So we find this big ass crystal which seems to be the central one, I guess? because it’s the biggest? and several creepy looking acolytes (dun dun DUN it’s VADEMON my FAVORITE DIGIMON) surrounding it and chanting...

Vademon: Find the horcux, kill Harry Potter, find the horcrux, kill Harry Potter,

In other news, there’s a lot of doom and gloom happening with Jou, who, bereft of his underwear, is forced to censor himself with his partners head. Gomamon you don’t deserve this

Jou: I need to get away from these Nanimon before I go prematurely bald too!!

Mimi, meanwhile, is Boxing Champion of the World.

Koushirou is the only one working. He’s on his way to pick up Jou, so I guess that means Yamato will get Mimi? That’ll be fun lol. We saw Yamato for half a second but it was the same frame of him riding Garurumon we’ve seen five times already so why bother capping it.

Koushirou is also keeping an eye on the satellite situation but doesn’t know what to do about it yet. Kabuterimon asks if he shouldn’t take a break about now and Koushirou says “I’m okay, besides, this is the only thing I’m good for” T___T you know this would be heart-breaking if I really believed the writers have ACTUAL PLANS to make good on Koushirou-related character development.... >:[

no this honestly pisses me off so much but I STILL do believe we will get SOMETHING for him and the others and probably not too far in the future... I think... I hope ugh

Back to Team A, they see lots of Digimon coming at them. Taichi’s like “it’s an attack!” but Sora, whose Fight Mode unlike Taichi’s has an actual Off switch, is about to figure out that they are in fact not interested in the kids at all and are running away from something.

Taichi: I can’t believe they didn’t want to kill us. Doesn’t everything in this world want to kill us?

The Digimon are fleeing from a suspicious crater with a familiar stone in the center. SkullKnightmon raises his own crystal fragment into the air and stuff happens.

By stuff I mean black lightning and purple-blue light which is meant to signify Evil which is mega DUMB because blue and purple are the most awesome color combo EVER I mean it throw some turquoise in there too and I will buy it whatever it is a necklace a shawl a codpiece

There are eight crystals that rise from the ground surrounding the central crystal and share energy with it. I thought the number eight might be significant you know for obvious reasons but it doesn’t appear to matter in this episode.

Evil crystals or not, Taichi’s on his way to save Hikari once and for all!

Hikari: Thanks, but no thanks, oniichan.

Taichi: H-Hikari! You don’t understand! You’re too young to go off with a strange man!

Hikari: But oniichan I love him

Taichi: Who do you think I am, Tevye!? You’re not marrying him and that’s final!

Hikari: waaah why don’t you understand me!!

ok back to the story...

Hikari abandons her brother for his muscular studly lover SkullKnightmon.

... >_>

Using Hikari’s powers, SkullKnightmon evolves to Gundamon DarkKnightmon. Meanwhile there’s lots of chanting and stuff about this being SkullKnightmon’s purpose or some such. I still kinda hope we get a redemption arc for SkullKnightmon or that he has something more to do with the story...

Agumon stops Taichi from wigging out and they go to save Hikari together, but before they can they are beset from all angles by henchmen.

Sora: Hey, you take care of Tweedle Dee and I’ll get Tweedle Dum!

Birdramon: *gets punched in the head* I hope you brought enough aspirin...

Then these guys appear. I’ve forgotten their names but evil as they look they literally just stand there till they get blown up and then more appear... I guess that’s a kind of talent

Takeru: Leave the small fry to me!

Pegasusmon: Takeru when I said I wanted a Happy Meal this isn’t what I meant

Hikari begins to be absorbed into a dark pocket dimension of DarkKnightmon’s or something like that. It seems like a very chill experience.

Taichi: I’ll save you! Take my hand!

Hikari: O... nii... chan... Fuck you...

ok so here’s my problem here.

This is meant to be all emotional and stuff right?? Hikari’s been blowing off her brother for an unknown reason (we all figured out what it was but look the main characters don’t know and that’s what counts) and he’s finally managed to catch up with her. His hand is inches away from catching hers and pulling her to safety. She’s got creepy glowing eyes. She mouths “o..nii...chan...” with a creepy smile before being pulled into darkness.

I know it’s for kids so it’s not going to be too scary or anything but there ‘just like... no build up here. The storytelling style is too mathematical. “We go from Plot Point A to Plot Boint B via Battles 1 2 and 3...” There’s nothing happening in between to make us feel Taichi’s desperation, or even to know what Hikari’s feeling in this moment. Is she really okay with this? Is she having second thoughts? It doesn’t make any sense for her not to be scared. I fully expected her to go through with it, but she can be scared and still go through with it... come on...

It’s like that scene from Utena except sapped of any and all emotional impact.

I don’t really remember how Greymon got up there in the first place since he can’t fly but at least we get a scene of him and Taichi plummeting to the earth after failing to save Hikari. The kind of thing that would be dramatic if there were any kind of animation budget at all.

The one thing the show is sure to do is show us Taichi’s expressions, which I guess is something... It’s just so rushed and the accompanying dialogue leaves something to be desired.

Greymon: Don’t give up, Taichi... Taichi... um. what are you doing...

Taichi: stop hitting yourself stop hitting yourself stop hitting yourself stop hitting yourself

Anyway, Taichi is Big Mad. I thought (hoped, to be honest) that we might get a glimpse of him going wild with dark energy like in the Devimon episode again... Or at least a hint that that was a possibility in the heat of the moment before Agumon snapped him out of it. But nope.

He takes a moment to be upset and then says “There’s no time to worry about what to do” and goes to save Hikari... from inside DarkKnightmon somehow :P

This does not go well.

Meanwhile Hikari is surprisingly okay for someone who was just eaten alive by sentient VantaBlack. She discovers a peculiar light inside... DarkKnightmon’s intestine??? Is that where we are now??? lmao

She recognizes the light as the voice that has been calling her and tries to head towards it, but is blocked by some purple jello.

There’s a kind of cool thing that happens here... We just had a scene where Taichi desperately tries to grab his sister’s hand and yank her out of the clutches of evil, but fails, mostly because she doesn’t do anything to help him since she is weirdly okay with the situation. Now we get a mirror of that moment with Hikari bursting out of the jello with her arm outstretched to grab what is clearly Tailmon’s paw.

Only Tailmon does take Hikari’s hand.

It was really cool to see the brother and sister paralleling each other this much. It shows the ways they’re both courageous and determined and caring.

Meanwhile Taichi finally whips out WarGreymon. Honestly, I feel like this should have been WarGreymon’s intro episode. This would have been a good time for a new evolution, rather than in a fight with a nobody that I’ve already forgotten. Idk. WarGreymon uses Brave Tornado to knock DarkKnightmon’s lances away and burrow into his armor. So, yeah, Hikari’s in his intestines, lmao.

Hikari is being chased by a two-headed monster who is in for the migraine of its (their?) life when the tornado crashes into it.

Hikari: Big brother! You look so cool!

Taichi: Promise me that no matter how many men come into your life, I’ll always be number one.

Hikari: okay that is creepy

WarGreymon explodes DarkKnightmon from the inside out x’D and Taichi gets a redo of his hand-reaching scene. First he berates Hikari for running off on her own and then smiles.

Hikari says she always believed he’d rescue her. Aww.

Sweet sibling love.

Then there’s this really hilarious sound which turns out to be the Vademon hivemind giving a collective cry of distress x’D it’s lmfao amazing. Then they start chanting “Next time next time next time” just in case you thought Millennium was defeated and we can go home now.

Taichi: Sora, do you know where I can buy a leash for this kid? I can’t keep chasing her like this. Aren’t kids today supposed to be glued to their phones and never go outside?

Patamon’s Girlfriend Radar piques at the bundle in Hikari’s arms.

And it is indeed Tailmon, and she’s been waiting for Hikari all this time.

Tailmon: I am Tailmon, a Holy Digimon.

Patamon: oh my god you can’t just call yourself holy ugh you’re so self-centered

D’awww.

They’re both sooooo cute. I’m annoyed they didn’t get a cool ending card like Takeru and Patamon did last week though. But still, this is a sweet moment.

So, there’s not a lot to complain about in this episode, comparatively speaking. I wish we had more dialogue and understood the value of a dramatic pause etc. Also wish Sora and Takeru had more to do than fight the henchmen. Like, if you can just erase an entire part of an episode and it still works fine, you clearly didn’t need that part so why waste time on it.

But at least we do get reactions from Taichi, and at least we got plot development. The Taichi/Hikari parallels were cool. And even though I had other hopes for how this arc would turn out, I’m glad it’s over because maybe we can finally do some other stuff now. Maybe. I want to get back to Koushirou SOOO bad but more than anything I am still gobsmacked by how long it’s been since Yamato’s had anything to do but ride on Garurumon. That is WEIRD. He’s YAMATO.

Next week...

... Looks like it’ll be a light-hearted undersea episode. I’m cool with that. The preview clips had a “Sebastian’s Calypso” vibe that I dig. It’s still about Taichi’s group but I think that’s to do more actual face time with Tailmon and Hikari. I hope we see the others as well and if not maybe the week after. I will be happy if this episode has some personality to it.

[star-strings-spills]

Dreamon Season AU

Well, it took longer than I expected @dtvibez and the Anon Fam, but when your mind runs with an idea, y’know? Might’ve lost some motivation and rushed a bit toward the end, but... It’s done. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’ll probably work on this a bit more as Halloween gets closer, but I don’t know how much since I have a fic I’m doing for that time right now as well. Feel free to add to this if you guys would like, this is just my take on the idea - enjoy~ 💕

Dreamon Season comes about by complete accident while the Dream Team are working on a video involving VR, heart monitors and the old faithful shock collars. Unfortunately - much like the original shock streams - things weren't wired and coded correctly, so when a system short-circuit occurred, more than just a crash of equipment happened.

The challenge had been simple: Minecraft, But We're In the Game… Basically, all three of them were to wear a VR headset and shock collars to simulate actually being "in the game," and the heart monitors were an added bonus for the fans enjoyment. When they got into one of their usual play punching matches, Dream actually wound up getting smacked in the face in the scuffle by accident. This actually jolted the wires loose and in turn short-circuited the system, causing a shared shock to go through all of their equipment, promptly ending the recording for the time being as everything crashed.

The unfortunate hit to the face resulted in a pretty nasty nosebleed for Dream, some fairly bruised knuckles for George, and a horrendous headache for all of them from the zap. Dream - being the almost ridiculous selfless idiot he is - was more focused on making sure George and Sapnap weren't seriously hurt by the shock. It wasn't the standard shock they'd get from the shock collars, but more of one you'd receive from jamming a fork in a light socket, and it was felt everywhere. Naturally, this was only met with them herding him to the bathroom to stop the bleeding and patch things up, calling him an idiot all the way as their equipment was left abandoned on the floor.

What they hadn't noticed is the error had been severe enough to log their brain waves within the code, and the shock had interacted with the blood left within the headset. Remarkably, this allowed the code to create something almost living out of these factors, it became less binary and instead more biological. A small collection of blood soon became an intelligent mass, reconstructing itself in the form of that it had been born of with the recorded heartbeat acting as its tick, but… This was a corrupted code, after all. It wasn't a perfect copy, and the thoughts that had fired off first weren't the most pleasant. Pain, frustration, anger, violence… It was easy to get caught on such intoxicating feelings, and it hadn't really known much else - not that its code knew or cared to learn it. That part was fundamentally missing from anything that wasn't "alive."

It knew of comradery, however, and it knew how to replicate itself being a living code and all. It wasn't difficult to create something in the image of the remaining brain waves' owners. While they acted independently because of this, they also functioned on the same nexus as a hivemind. Curiosity, it seemed, was stronger the more that shared it, and the trio slinked their way through the house's wiring to investigate their dopples.

While this miracle - or curse, as they would soon learn - had been unfolding, the Dream Team had been chuckling through their lingering pain while scolding one another for their part in things. Above all else, George and Sapnap still couldn't believe Dream could be literally bleeding out and would be more worried about them getting a papercut. Dream argued that it was because he felt bad that his idea had led to them getting hurt, and the last thing he wanted was to hurt his friends. As funny as it was now, that shock could've done some serious damage to all of them had it been worse, and George's knuckles were still pretty swollen, he could've broken something and-

Of course, Dream was being an "idiot" again, he was lucky his nose wasn't broken - George's hand would be fine after some ice and ibuprofen.

 Fear. It had been there when they'd been created, just not as strong as the rest, but now… It was almost satisfying to hear it in Dream's worried voice. There was somewhat of a twisted interest in what caused it and how they could replicate the feeling, and what better way to find out than trial and error up close and personal?

And so they waited, waited for the chance to extract more thoughts from the trio so they could receive their answers, lurking in the ether until they were all fast asleep, oblivious as ever. Once they were clear, they managed to slip the defective equipment back onto their little test subjects and fire up the system again, rewriting the code easily enough for the purposes. It only took a smack to each of their headsets to crash the system this time, but to a greater effect than it had before. This time, it wasn't just brain waves they were intent on transferring into the code - it was their subconsciouses entirely.

With their minds in the digital realm and their bodies in the physical world, they would be free to do whatever they pleased to learn more of their human counterparts. To those around them, it would appear only as though they were in a coma, as difficult to treat as it was to explain in some cases. No matter to the programs - there was little to be done on the human end, only on theirs. They had all the time and power in the world with this situation.

TLDR: "Dreamons" are essentially a living corrupted code created through electrified biological material and brain waves transferred into a shared nexus through a short-circuit in a system of gaming equipment which consists of a VR headset, a heart monitor and a rigged shock collar. When you're "possessed" by one, your subconscious is uploaded into the code on a server while your physical body remains comatose and a "dreamon" is created by copying portions of your brain waves and creating their tick by mimicking your heartbeat.

Even so, it was clear by the names listed in the server's code that there were more to be involved in this sick little game of theirs, and the prospect was too delicious to pass up… They would let their initial guinea pigs get their bearings before continuing to add new players first though - their fear of realization wasn't something to miss out on. After all, how much better could it get than the panicked terror one would contract when they found themselves trapped in cyberspace, never mind that space being Minecraft of all things?

They would begin shipping orders out to reach their future victims soon enough, but the source code - aptly named "Nightmare" in the weeks to come - wanted to savor the first batch… They'd only be able to survive so long in their realm, you know. :̵̛̹)̷̦̽

[ikebanaka]

The entire Batfam can turn their heads at the same deliberate, intimidating speed, completely in unison, and this sometimes terrifies people caught unawares because it has a real hivemind feel to it

Dick started copying the way Bruce Iooked at people when they walked in, and because he’s a performer at heart, he enjoys the way it looks practiced and smooth

Babs started doing it because of the psychological effect, and the bonding feeling that comes from judging people together

Jason and Steph started doing it because of the intimidation factor, and because it was creepy cool

Tim started doing it because he likes learning behaviors like nothing else, and for the intimidation factor

Cass started doing it because it feels good to act as part of a group, and because creepy and silent is her jam

Damian started doing it because clearly, it was a skill he was supposed to have as Robin, and also because he likes it when people fear him

Naturally, the first person to experience having eight people, of various ages and including at least one child, turn their heads to him in complete unison, with utterly blank faces, is Hal Jordan.

In the aftermath of yet another global disaster (not aliens for once, so no one was looking at Hal for information and direction, thank God), he saw the Bats assembled on what was left of a rooftop, debriefing. In New York. Again. Because fucking New York.

He’d had a reason to go over and try to talk to Batman. Really, he had.

He just couldn’t quite remember it past how creeped out he was.

The moment he’d touched down on the roof, all seven people standing on the roof, and even the person whose face was being projected from someone’s glove, had all turned their heads towards him, and only their heads, in a very pointedly and deliberately casual way that makes him think of eyes in the dark. Specifically, the kind of eyes that made him feel like he’d walked into a roomful of shadows that had just finished discussing the best way to eat him.

(Shut up, imagination was a good thing for a Green Lantern.)

The point was, he’d forgotten what he came over here to ask, and he didn’t really care any more. He’d been fighting uncanny valley murderbots and exploding fake children for almost two days, and wow, no. He’d had more than enough creepiness without adding Children of the Corn: Bat Edition.

God, they looked like little dolls, heads all attached to the same string.

Hal made the executive decision to remove himself from their creepy as hell collective presence, gave them the first excuse that came to mind (he didn’t even have an Uncle Jim, let alone one that owned a doll factory, and neither of those things would need a Green Lantern to solve their problems, what in the actual fuck was he thinking?) and got the hell out of Dodge.

Dick waited exactly long enough for Hal to get out of hearing range to burst out laughing, immediately followed by Steph and Jason, and then the rest. Even Bruce cracked a smirk.

“Did you—see—his face?!” He wheezed between giggles.

Steph was literally on the floor, rolling back and forth, as she responded. “I can’t—oh my god, that’s it everyone, we have reached the peak of the Batfam Head Turn, you can all go home now!” She lost the battle to her laughter, breaking down into the silent chest spasms that meant she was laughing too hard to make a sound.

Bruce shared a glance with Cass, and she smiled back at him, knowing how much it meant to him that they were truly acting like a family, smiling and laughing together, without anyone hurting anyone else.

And all because some stupid horror movie gag freaked out Hal Jordan.

Maybe he should thank him.

...No. definitely not.

[fandom-necromancer]

Let’s write together: Heart Reset

Chapter 1 - Substitute Detectives

Featuring:

@aurea-b with “Don’t tell me you watched me sleep all night.” @thetruefor3stspirit with “Not gonna lie... I’d die for these soft tiddies.” @rufina72 and Spirit with “Gavin’s cat” & “Reed900 cats” A baguette with “Ralph” @sparklingrainbowdragon with “Ralph/Jerrys” An anon with “Connor/Chloe” (more of them in chapter 3) an anon with “Gavin accidentally puts salt into his coffee. Drinks full cup without flinching” an anon with “Maybe an old friend/ ex from Gavin or Nines appears and causes drama™️” (more of him throughout the story)

Thank you all  so much for participating!

[Chapter 2]

-

Gavin was awoken far too early by his alarm clock. He pulled a grimace and groaned: ‘Phhhck.’ Without looking he tried to slap the damn thing off, only succeeding in weakly flopping his arm on his bedside table, annoying the cat sleeping on his chest. Still, the alarm stopped right then. ‘I love to watch your praised Detective brain work’, came the chuckled comment to that from his side. ‘Hey, tin-can, if you can hack my clock, why don’t you wake me up instead?’ ‘Oh, that’s an easy one. I love the way you scrunch up your face being all grumpy.’ ‘Hmm, yeah, I know I’m pretty.’ Gavin smiled sleepily, still not wanting to open his eyes. ‘You do that a few times in your sleep too. It’s cute.’ ‘Hmm, yeah, I’m phcking cute- wait what?’ That made him sit up and actually look at the android next to him. The cat, finally irritated enough, ran off towards the kitchen ‘Don’t tell me you watched me sleep all night.’ ‘Am I not allowed to admire my perfect human?’, Nines asked faking his hurt. ‘Nah, you are allowed to. Just don’t be creepy.’ ‘Oh yes? Well, if I may remind you of the time I was in stasis and you woke me up hugging me and telling me-‘ ‘No, I don’t want to hear it!’, Gavin laughed, covering his face in embarrassment. But Nines knew no mercy. ‘Telling me, and I quote: Not gonna lie... I’d die for these soft tiddies ?’ ‘I was super drunk this evening coming home from the bar with Tina, okay? Alcohol does these things to you.’ Nines just shrugged and got up. ‘Come on, we have to go to work.’ ‘Don’t remind me…’ ‘I’ll make you something to eat.’ ‘Thanks.’

They got to work perfectly punctual, as always. Ever since Nines took over their schedule, they wouldn’t be a minute late unless something happened. He had argued with Gavin so many times, he was tired of it by now and just complied. The toaster had good intentions after all, and Gavin knew he just liked to complain. The downside of this was that people knew when they would arrive and especially those earlier than them seemed to love bothering them when they just got there. One of these people was Connor.

Gavin had just put his jacket over the back of his chair while Nines downloaded the latest progress, when he practically felt the RK800’s eyes fall on him. ‘I’m off to the breakroom, puppy is coming and I need my coffee before that.’ Nines looked up and saw Connor stand up. ‘I’m coming with you.’ They escaped the android for approximately one more minute by this manoeuvre. Gavin had started filling the machine with water and waited for it to cook, while Nines watched him. ‘Ah, good to see you! Good morning to you two! I actually searched for you.’ ‘You mean you waited for us to arrive and the moment we were at our desks you struck?’, Nines corrected him, making Gavin smile to himself. ‘Maybe? Anyways, I need your help. So, me and Hank got this case and…’ Gavin sighed as Connor rambled on, pushing the button of the machine that made it spit out his life elixir, only half-heartedly listening. It was still too early in the morning for such talks. ‘and we have reviewed all evidence, we know nearly everything already, we only need to arrest him when we have enough evidence. And both of that will be possible a days from now, at the theme park just outside Detroit. I planned talking to some contacts at New Jericho who worked there, then plan a trap, but…’ ‘But?’ ‘Well, me and Chloe have our anniversary on that day and… Well I promised her to be there. Why did Browns have to choose that night for it?’

That made both Gavin and Nines give him his full attention, as they both asked simultaneously: ‘You are with Chloe?’ ‘Browns? Jayden Browns?’ Connor looked at them a bit surprised. He answered Nines first: ‘Well yeah, we met at Kamski’s villa before the revolution but after that a few times more and it just worked.’ ‘Honestly I thought you would tend more to Hank…’ ‘Wha- No! I see him more of a dad, I think. And yes, Gavin his first name is Jayden, how did you know?’ ‘Oh, nothing’, he brushed it off, taking his cup and taking a sip just to nearly spit it out. His eyes darted to the two shakers. Were they… Yes. Who the hell had switched sugar and salt around? But damn it, Connor was here, looking at him. And Gavin would never admit and error to the android and pointedly drunk the whole cup without flinching. ‘Old friend of mine’, he choked out. ‘Really? Well, that’s even better then! Because I really need you to take this case over for me.’ ‘What?’, Nines asked. ‘Why?’ ‘My date with Chloe? Also, you are way better suited with Gavin knowing our suspect! Come on, I’ll owe you one. Please?’ Nines looked over to Gavin, who nodded. ‘Fine, we’ll help you out. But just so you know, we’ll take all the credit, too.’ ‘Yes! Thank you so much! I’ll transfer all data we have so far to you!’

And with that he was off, leaving both of them standing in the breakroom. ‘Why did you accept?’, Nines asked. ‘We don’t have an active case at the moment. Also, Connor owing us? Can’t let that chance pass.’ ‘Quick thinking. Did you know you poured salt in your coffee?’ ‘I know.’ ‘Did you know Connor saw it too and chugging it did nothing to mask the error as we are not human?’ ‘I know!’ ‘I admire your stubbornness.’ ‘I know. Come on, let’s go read up on our new case.’

-

New Jericho, the apartment complex given to Markus after the revolution, wasn’t that far from the precinct. The drive there still felt overly long with the lingering silence neither of them knew how to break. It was Nines in the end, who prodded: ‘Who is the suspect, your “old friend”, really? You know him well.’ Gavin ducked his head. ‘Urgh, he’s an ex of mine. Don’t ask. I had a bullshit taste before you came along. Just… I mean I knew he could easily turn to illegal stuff, but mostly with androids and I didn’t care about your kind back then and-‘ ‘It’s okay.’ ‘It really isn’t, I should have turned him in earlier, even if it was just for property damage. But I was more focussed on getting away from him I guess.’ Nines could tell his human was uncomfortable talking about it. ‘He really wasn’t a good pick when even I realised it back then…’ ‘Well, you get your chance to arrest him now’, Nines said, trying to be comforting. ‘Yeah, right. Still can’t believe the idiot made it that far.’

It was impressive really. Jayden had been many things, but not intelligent. According to Connor’s research though, he had gotten his hands on data that could threaten all of androidkind. They didn’t know what it was exactly yet, but every goon they had managed to catch and interrogate had made a point in bragging about what was coming. Apparently, it would change the world as they knew it. Knowing the man, Gavin was sure though that that was an exaggeration. Maybe Jayden was convinced of it, but if he got his hands on it it couldn’t be that much of a danger. Whatever it would turn out to be though, Jayden was trying to sell it to the highest bidder and from what Connor had found out, the sum that was offered could make a man rich easily. The data would be handed over at exactly seven pm in tomorrow over at ArcaneWorld, a closed amusement park. The website stated it was closed for renovations, but Nines had found out the site hadn’t been updated in three years and the park had lost all investors. The owner had vanished mysteriously, likely because of the amount of debt the park had collected. But that would be a case for another time, now they needed to find out where exactly their suspects would meet on the roughly twenty-thousand square metre big areal.

‘You know, on a completely other point, I have never been to New Jericho. Do they even accept humans?’ It was meant as a joke, but Nines answered seriously. ‘There are certain areas you won’t be allowed in, yes. Although the majority is, not all androids have deviated yet. Some will never need to, being given freedom simply by prohibiting people from ordering them around. Those that do naturally without being converted mostly break their chains by trauma. Most connected to humans. You understand you won’t be let in there?’ Gavin laughed nervously. ‘Yeah, I understand that alright. Damn it, with the amount of hate-crime receding to the, well, to the normal levels, I thought that wouldn’t be that much of a problem anymore.’ ‘It got better the last years’, the android answered. ‘I think nowadays it’s just one floor that’s prohibited for humans. When I was awoken, there was only one floor humans were allowed to enter.’ ‘Shit…’, Gavin hissed, looking up towards their destination. The building could already be seen, although it would take a few more minutes to get there. ‘Our contacts, are they-‘ ‘No. One of them spent a lot of time away from humans, but he got better with time. I actually met him in my time there. The others never had a scarring experience with your kind, although maybe that’s also due to their programming. They are designed to be patient, easily forgiving and caring. No matter how drastic deviancy can change us, a few traits stay.’ ‘They?’, Gavin asked. ‘Just one person or how many are we speaking with?’ ‘Two persons’, Nines answered and smiled. ‘Roughly a hundred units. No one really knows how many there are.’ ‘Excuse me?’ ‘They share a hivemind. It was an interesting thought of Cyberlife as that made sharing information in a theme park much easier.’ ‘You androids are weird.’ ‘Says the human that is partially controlled by his intestine’s flora.’ ‘Yeah okay, point taken.’

They parked the car and went inside. Nines connected to the apartment buildings android network and announced themselves to the other androids. Nearly instantly he got an invitation back he translated for Gavin. ‘They are waiting for us in the gardens. They ask if you need anything.’ A bit phased, the human shook his head. ‘No, I’m good, thanks. Kind of forgot you can simply do that…’ ‘Believe me, it feels strange even to me. I prefer talking, too.’ They moved through the hallways towards the back exit and Gavin was surprised to see how many androids there were. It was normal to see them on the streets now, but without any humans around it still felt weird to him. Some of them didn’t wear their skin, all of them were openly interfacing on a regular basis. Still throughout it all, they acknowledged Gavin’s presence, some even waved or threw him a polite smile before going on with their day. It was so different to what Gavin had experienced with the human-only neighbourhoods that had formed after the revolution and androids had needed police protection entering. Gavin remembered the people living there just too well and how they reacted to Nines as the only android with them.

He honestly had thought of this to be similar for him.

Nines opened the door for him to step into a huge atrium mostly filled by a huge park-like area. ‘Over here’, Nines said, leading Gavin to where and android sat, plucking weeds. As they approached, he stood up, clasping his hands. His face was heavily damaged, Gavin could see that even from a distance. But the other android’s eyes were fixed on Nines, before he awkwardly waddled over. ‘RK900! RK900 is here, Ralph is happy to see you!’ Gavin watched his partner as the damaged android ran at him just to hug him. ‘I’m happy to see you too! Although my name is Nines now.’ ‘You got a name now? That’s good! Ralph likes it, it is a good name.’ ‘My friend here gave it to me’, Nines chuckled and laid an arm on Gavin’s shoulder. ‘Oh, you found a human? The one from the file you told me about?’ Nines blushed a little, refusing to make eye contact. ‘Yes. It all worked out.’ Ralph held out a hand for Gavin to shake. ‘Hello, friend! Ralph knows Nines from when he first got here. We are good friends.’ ‘I’m Gavin’, he introduced himself, not quite sure what to make of the android. Nines had never mentioned him after all. ‘I’m also a… good friend of him, we met at the DPD.’ ‘Oh! Ralph knows! You came hear to ask questions about the case, yes, Connor told me! But Ralph doesn’t know much, he just met Jerry there. Jerry can tell more; Ralph will call him!’

He did not call him loudly, but immediately five androids perked up, all looking exactly the same. They looked at Ralph, then each other, before three of them dropped their tools and came over. One went over to Ralph to hug him, while the other two looked curiously at Nines and Gavin. ‘Hello! Our name is Jerry. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Connor said you needed help?’ Gavin nodded in the general direction, not quite sure which unit to address. But Nines turned to the one who had just spoken, so Gavin followed his example.

‘Do you know the theme park ArcaneWorld?’, Nines asked. ‘Connor told me you would be the best to ask this.’ The unit in front of him nodded. ‘Yes, we were property of the previous park. Pirate’s cove was abandoned but gained the attention after we were found after the revolution. We were happy to leave the place, but we keep it in good memory. We liked working there and making people happy.’ ‘I’m sorry, but how are you an expert on ArcaneWorld when you worked in the previous park?’, Gavin asked. ‘We used the unique android network there. It helped us keep ourselves and not be lonely, much like the one installed here. But we have never been disconnected. And the person who bought Pirate’s cove after the revolution demolished buildings and attractions but kept the network to run the new park. We received regular updates until it closed again, including a detailed blueprint of the entire park and surveillance. Just a moment, please.’ Multiple other Jerrys approached them, pushing their hands together. Gavin had seen the holographic screen Nines and Connor could produce, but never something like this. Every individual screen connected, forming a map of ArcaneWorld. ‘There. What do you need to know?’ ‘We have to intercept a criminal selling off valuable data. We know it happens at seven, but not where in the park.’ A few of the Jerrys nodded in unison. ‘Well, the park is partly still functioning. The whole area here…’ a huge part of the map was marked. ‘This whole area isn’t safe. A huge ride there had been closed due to safety reasons and had to be renovated. That never happened, so now the ride has long collapsed. The old area of Pirate’s cove is still functioning, as well as the main attraction of the new park, a large area of medieval themed rides. Maybe that narrows it down a bit. Oh, and another thing, the surveillance cameras in a large part of the medieval area were shut down lately. May only be a coincidence, but when there are still some working in the collapsed ride, we don’t think this simply happened because of decay. We would search there.’

‘Sounds good to me’, Gavin shrugged. ‘As good a place as any to start.’ Nines nodded. ‘Thank you, Jerry, you helped us a lot. Do keep an eye on the park though and call us if you see anything.’ ‘Of course. Best of luck!’

Nines and Gavin left New Jericho shortly after that. Nines had stayed a bit longer to download the map from Jerry and gain access to the network, but soon they had taken their leave. ‘An old friend, huh?’, Gavin smirked as they walked towards the car. ‘Anything I need to know?’ ‘They really are just friends I made, unlike our suspect’, Nines shot back though. ‘Ralph had been with Jerry from the start.’ ‘Err.. what? How is that even… nevermind, I don’t wanna know.’ Nines looked at him, clearly disappointed. ‘Gavin, please, don’t try to judge them with human terms. I keep one of my processor cores reserved just for you, always. Jerry does the same, but with interchangeable units. It’s not that difficult to understand.’ ‘I said I didn’t want to know that, Nines. If it works for them, fine with me.’ ‘Good. That being settled, let’s get back and find out everything about this park.’

[>next Chapter]

[queenofcats17]

Shawn And His Inky Son 2

@bornoffireandwisdom asked for another story involving Grant and Shawn and I am happy to deliver. I’ve decided to make it a continuation of Shawn And His Inky Son, since it deals with Grant and Shawn again.

------------------------------------------------------

As happy as Shawn was to have Grant with him, surviving in the studio was still hard. Scavenging for food was difficult, especially with the roaming bands of Searchers. Grant could protect Shawn when there were just a few Searchers, but large groups tended to overwhelm his own will with the Searcher hivemind. It might have been easier if Shawn had just left him in the office. Shawn wasn’t going to leave him alone, though. Grant got sad and panicky when he was alone for too long, always worried that something had happened to Shawn. It made them both feel better to be together. 

Although, Shawn’s steadfast determination to keep Grant with him...Often ended up putting him in danger. Just as it had this day.

Shawn was getting ready to go on another supply run. He’d just about run out of bacon soup, which was pretty much the only thing in the studio to eat.

“Alright, ready for another adventure?” He asked, slipping on his bag and picking up the pipe he most often used as a weapon. Grant immediately perked up, rising out of the puddle he’d been in. 

“Whe...re?” He trailed after Shawn to the elevator. 

“Probably just the Heavenly Toys area or level P,” Shawn said. “Wouldn’t want to run into Alice or Drew.” He spat their names as though they were poison.

“Bad...” Grant agreed, screwing his face up. Joey’s name didn’t draw up good memories for him. Joey didn’t draw up good memories for anyone, really. And Alice was just mean. 

“Exactly.” Shawn nodded, pressing the button for Level K. In addition to looking for bacon soup, he also wanted to collect a few of his unfinished plushes. It got boring sitting in that office all day. He needed something to occupy his time. Grant was more than happy to just chew on a bone or a shoe, so he didn’t need all that much entertainment. 

The elevator began to lurch upwards with a sickening creak, which made Shawn tense. Shawn hated using the elevator. Tom had been right about it being unreliable. Even when the studio had been working, the elevator had always had mechanical issues. And now that the mechanics had been turned into ink creatures...Well, the elevator wasn’t really getting any maintenance anymore. 

But the elevator was enclosed and much safer than just trudging up the stairs, where they could encounter rogue Searchers or Butcher Gang clones. It was easier to haul big things in the elevator as well. Besides, it wasn’t like Grant could use stairs. If Shawn wanted to keep Grant with him, he had to use the elevator. And he did want to keep Grant with him.

Suddenly, the speakers in the elevator crackled to life, and to Shawn’s horror, a familiar voice spoke through them. 

“Well well well, hello, Mr. Flynn. I’m surprised to see you out of your little hidey-hole.”

“I’m not in the mood, Alice,” Shawn growled. He knew better than to call her Susie. Doing that would result in a meltdown of epic proportions from her.

“Oh, but I think you are,” she purred. The elevator shrieked to a stop. She’d been kind enough to stop them between floors, so there was no danger of them getting attacked. But she still had a captive audience. Grant squeaked, hugging Shawn’s leg.

“Sca...ry...” He whimpered.

“It’s okay,” Shawn whispered. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“Aaaw. You’re talking to it like it’s still a person,” Alice cooed, her voice cloying sweet. “That’s cute.”

“He is still a person,” Shawn snapped. 

“Are you sure?” Alice asked innocently. “Are you absolutely certain that the creature beside you is still Grant Cohen?”

“Of course, I am.” Shawn instinctively pulled Grant closer. Grant let out another whimper. He didn’t like the tone in Alice’s voice. 

“And what makes you so sure exactly?” Alice asked. “That it can mimic speech? That it ‘knows’ your name?”

“I’m serious, Alice. I’m not in the mood.” Shawn felt his heartbeat beginning to speed up. He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want Alice to give voice to all the fears that lurked in the back of his mind. 

“Grant Cohen is dead, Mr. Flynn,” Alice continued with malicious glee. “I imagine you watched him die, didn’t you?”

“Stop it!”

“That thing next to you is nothing but a sentient pile of ink. Maybe a reanimated corpse if I’m being generous. Certainly not Grant Cohen, though. Not anymore.”

“Stop talking!” Shawn roared, covering his ears. 

Grant pressed closer to Shawn, starting to get concerned. Why was Shawn getting so upset? What was Alice saying? He could hear her voice, but her words were indistinct and muffled. She had such a lovely voice, but it sounded...cruel.

“It’s hardly healthy to be galavanting around with a corpse, Mr. Flynn,” Alice cooed. “Especially when you’re pretending it’s still the person you know. They make horror moves about that sort of thing.”

“Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!” Shawn screamed. Grant whimpered, hugging Shawn’s leg. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like seeing Shawn so upset.  

“It might even be Joey stringing you along. Have you considered that?” Alice asked. “He controls all the ink, after all. He could just be luring you into a false sense of security so that it will be even more wonderful for him when he finally destroys you.”

Unfortunately for Alice, this didn’t have the effect she’d hoped. Instead of yelling or blowing up, Shawn slowly lowered his hands and smirked at the camera she was watching through. 

“It’s been months,” He snorted derisively. “Joey’s impulse control isn’t that good.” The thought had crossed his mind before, that this was just Joey stringing him along. But there was no way Joey would wait this long. If it really was Joey puppeting Grant, he would have pounced far sooner. Delayed gratification wasn’t something that Joey was at all a fan of. He’d been a nightmare to work for, certainly, unable to wait for anything. 

Alice was silent because she knew Shawn was right. Joey would never have waited this long. Perhaps that hadn’t been the best path to take. She’d been doing so well. Suggesting Joey’s involvement had been a misstep. 

“Maybe I was wrong about that,” she finally said, her voice soft as silk. “But I’m right about the rest. That thing is not Grant Cohen. Grant Cohen is dead. You can play house with it for as long as you like, but eventually, it’s going to end up killing you.”

“He’s not going to kill me.” Shawn narrowed his eyes at her, but she could tell she’d hit a nerve by the way his jaw clenched. 

“Maybe it’s fine now, but as soon as you run into more Searchers, it’ll turn on you,” Alice hummed. “Joey’s little hivemind is rather strong, after all. Your pet doesn’t stand a chance against it.”

The speakers crackled off and the elevator began to move once more. Shawn muttered some insult under his breath. 

“Ok...ay...?” Grant asked, tugging at Shawn’s pant leg. 

“I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Shawn patted his head. He would have preferred not to have that confrontation with Alice, but he could deal with it. It wasn’t like she could actually do anything to him. They all knew she didn’t leave her level. All she could do was play mind games. 

“Alright, here we are,” he said as the elevator reached level K. Grant made a happy noise, oozing out. That happy noise trailed off as he noticed the stairs leading up to the Heavenly Toys area. 

“Oh shoot.” Shawn grimaced. “Sorry, forgot about those stairs.” 

Internally, he was beating himself up. How had he forgotten about the stairs?! He’d worked here for years! He’d have to leave Grant to get the soup and plushes from his workshop. If he left Grant, he’d be unprotected. But Grant would also be unprotected and susceptible to being dragged into Joey’s hive mind. He could try carrying Grant, but that would occupy both his hands and leave him unable to defend himself. There was also the possibility of the ink soaking through his shirt sleeves or getting on his bare forearms. He had to leave Grant there.

Grant whined, clinging to Shawn’s leg. He knew Shawn would likely go off on his own. It was dangerous for Shawn to be alone. He could get attacked when he was alone. Grant needed to be with him to protect him. 

“I’ll only be a bit,” Shawn tried to reassure him. 

“Not..sa..fe...” Grant said. 

“I know. But I’ll be quick.” Shawn crouched down so he was eye level with Grant, patting his head with a gloved hand. He always wore gloves when touching Grant.

Grant whimpered again but still allowed Shawn to move away. He watched as Shawn climbed the stairs and disappeared into the Heavenly Toys area. Grant began to pace the little area next to the elevator, or do the closest thing he could to pacing without legs. He could feel other Searchers nearby. If they got close, he’d be overwhelmed by their influence. Then he’d probably end up hurting Shawn. He didn’t want that to happen. Shawn was his best friend. 

He kept pacing and worrying until Shawn returned, bag full of soup and a few unfinished plush projects.

“See? I told you it would be fine,” Shawn said. Just as the door to the stairs burst open. 

Shawn froze, his breath catching in his throat. There stood Sammy Lawrence, stumbling forward on legs almost completely consumed by the ink, flanked by several other Searchers in various stages of losing themselves to the ink. The Searchers stopped as they caught sight of him. Shawn’s eyes flicked from the Searchers to the elevator. Searchers moved slowly, so he could probably get to the elevator in time. Sammy was a bit of a wild-card, though.

“Ru...n...” Grant rasped, beginning to shake. “Wa...nna...hur...t...” He could feel the urge to attack Shawn rising up again. This always happened when other Searchers appeared. 

Sammy opened his mouth, a low growl coming out as he took a step toward Shawn. The Searchers stayed behind him, seemingly waiting for the signal to attack. Shawn’s heart pounded in his ears. He’d had close calls before, it was part of surviving in the studio, but he hadn’t come face to face with Sammy since the day of the outbreak. It was horrifying to see how Sammy had degraded. Sammy still looked mostly human. The ink had consumed parts of his body, yes, but his body wasn’t amorphous like the other Searchers. Shawn could still see his face, his limbs. It was a sickening sight to see one of his former coworkers reduced to little more than a slavering beast. 

Shawn bolted for the elevator, jabbing the button for level S. 

“Come on come on come on.” He muttered as the doors slid closed and the elevator began to lurch downward.

Most of the Searchers were too slow to catch the elevator, but Sammy moved quickly. He slammed against the door, reaching through the slats and yelling. Ink dripped from his mouth, spraying toward Shawn as Sammy yelled.  

“Hey! Get back!” Shawn swung at Sammy’s arms with his pipe. Thankfully, Sammy recoiled from the blows, groaning in pain. 

“I’ll catch up with you, Grant!” Shawn called out as the elevator descended out of sight. He just hoped Grant would be able to shake off the hivemind. He didn’t like leaving Grant on his own like that, but he didn’t have a choice. He didn’t want to get infected. Grant could take care of himself, right?

....Right?