#as a team they'd carry often I guess

[rustyhubris]

Dragon Age Spoilers below the cut re: endgame and Mass Effect comparison. Just finished the game and I have thoughts and no one to talk to about it.

And I mean like, original Mass Effect.

It's interesting how people are complaining so much about the story beats here, but there's actually a LOT of similar points to the original Mass Effect game. Part of the trick, I guess, is that Mass Effect was setting up a trilogy, while Veilguard is in the not enviable position of needing to write a soft reboot while also wrapping up some key story points from Inquisition.

The key similarity is the Kaiden/Ashley vs Harding/Davrin choice. The Veilguard choice is honestly way more difficult because of the legacies that you see these characters need to carry on. With Mass Effect it's a matter of, "These two soldiers are in your command, and you have to make the call." What's intriguing to me is that the impact of the choice in Mass Effect hits a bit harder in the moment, likely because it's more in the midpoint of the story, as opposed to right near the end. You lose Kaiden or Ashley, there's no getting them back. They stay as an empty hole in your team picker for the rest of the game.

With Veilguard, it hits hard in a different way, especially if there's a romantic entanglement (NGL, I picked Davrin to die because I didn't want Taash to be left alone), but it feels a bit cheapened by the fact that their sacrifice is NOT telegraphed well at /all/ up to this. Plus, with the aforementioned legacies, it more feels "not fair" rather than a meaningful sacrifice.

Maybe with the suggestion of them disappearing "without a trace" into a red hole of oblivion, there's a chance that they'd return in another form in the next game. A spectre of a previous choice made. THAT, I can get on board with. Similar to Ashley/Kaiden having survived and turning up in ME2 like, "What the fuck, man. I'm so happy to see you, but what the fuck?"

On a side note, it's funny how people are complaining about making a choice on who becomes Archon when for me, it's just, "Dorian's the Archon now" and I'm like, "Okay, cool! I like Dorian." The choices are meaningful in this game, but because it's so hard to tell what's going on in the "other version" of the game you're playing, it doesn't feel like it very often.

Anyway, I just think it's very funny that they did another Kaiden/Ashley choice, and arguably better (just with worse timing) and people are complaining about it like it's the worst thing ever to happen to an RPG.

I think the key complaint is that we're forced to lose things and deal with the consequences, re: Treviso or Minrathous, even though we had very little agency in being able to make things right. Which I suppose is a more *real* thing to have in a game: things can't always go right. You're going to lose people. The point of, "Well it's fantasy, it should be allowed to go well" doesn't hold because literally the same thing happened with Kaiden and Ashley.

Also, I really like how they did the thing with Varric. Genuinely caught me by surprise, but also felt right, story wise. I'm going to need to do an angry Grey Warden playthrough to properly do Solas in for that, though.

[scrollonso]

Magnetic — Lawhan

pspspsps @ellearts

Jack never thought yearning could feel this intense, let alone directed at someone he’d been friends with for years. This was Liam, after all.

Liam Lawson, his closest friend on the track, his fiercest — favourite — competitor. They'd grown up racing side by side, knowing each other’s moves almost as well as their own, sharing stories of victories and defeats. Jack had always looked up to him, admired the way Liam raced with such confidence, as if the whole world was nothing but open road, his to conquer. But somewhere along the way, something had changed. That admiration had turned into something deeper, something that tugged at Jack every time he saw Liam’s familiar smile or heard his laugh ring out in the garage.

Jack found himself watching Liam more and more, captivated by the easy way he carried himself, the way he leaned into his teammates with that same grin that had once been Jack’s to share. Racing alongside him had once been enough, but now, watching Liam soar through challenges, standing out among everyone in the VCARB paddock, left Jack feeling hollow. His gaze lingered, too often and too long, trailing after Liam as he moved through the crowd, every laugh, every smile lighting up something in Jack’s chest that felt both thrilling and painful.

And the ache — God, it was impossible to ignore. Watching Liam laugh with others was like a punch to the gut, every casual joke or fleeting touch sparking something sharp and possessive inside Jack. He wanted to be the one making Liam laugh, the one who knew him better than anyone else. But that role was slipping away, and he couldn’t stand it.

One evening, the two were sitting in the Alpine garage after a long day of practice. Liam was scrolling through his phone, laughing at a message from someone on his team, oblivious to Jack's quiet stare. Jack could barely focus, his mind swirling with thoughts he couldn’t quite voice. The silence stretched on until he couldn’t take it anymore.

"Liam," Jack said, his voice a bit rougher than he intended. Liam looked up, still smiling, but Jack couldn’t match it. "D’you ever think about…what we’d be like on the same team again? You know, spending more time together?"

Liam shrugged, his expression casual. "Yeah, sometimes," he said. "But, hey, you’re doing amazing with Alpine. You’re gonna make headlines before you know it." He nudged Jack playfully, but Jack barely felt it — he barely felt anything besides want when it came to Liam nowadays.

"Right," Jack muttered, glancing away. He tried to summon a smile, but it felt strained. "I just miss it, I guess — when it was just us, you know? Feels like we barely have time these days."

Liam laughed, the sound light and carefree. "C’mon, Jack, it’s not like I’m going anywhere! Besides, you could always hang with the vcarb guys if you’re that lonely." He grinned, but Jack’s chest tightened.

"Maybe I don’t want to hang with the vcarb guys," Jack replied, more bluntly than he meant. Liam’s smile faltered, a hint of surprise flickering in his eyes.

"Then what do you want, Jack?" he asked, voice softening, as if he could sense there was more to it. Jack’s heart thudded, panic rising as he realized just how close he was to admitting everything.

"I… I don’t know," Jack stammered, forcing a laugh that sounded hollow. "Forget it. It’s stupid."

But Liam didn’t look away, his gaze steady, questioning. "You sure about that?" he asked, and for a moment, Jack swore he saw something else there — an invitation, a spark that made him want to say everything.

But Jack only nodded, swallowing the words that threatened to spill out. "Yeah," he whispered, looking down. "It’s nothing."

The realization settled in gradually — Jack wanted more than friendship, more than the shared laughs and camaraderie they’d had for years. It was a slow, quiet ache that grew every time he saw Liam, lurking beneath his every smile, every laugh, every word. It was impossible to shake off, coming alive whenever Jack caught Liam chatting animatedly with his teammates, or throwing effortless grins to rival drivers in the paddock. But as bad as that longing felt, it was nothing compared to the jealousy that flared up when Liam was with his own team.

The vcarb team was tight-knit, practically family, with inside jokes and unspoken bonds that Jack felt he could never understand. They celebrated the small things — like one point or making it to Q2 — together, rallied around Liam and Yuki, Jack couldn't help but feel like an outsider looking in, even with his own success at Alpine. They had something Jack wanted — a closeness with Liam that went beyond the race and the track. He'd see them congratulate him after every race, hands on his shoulders, laughter and cheers surrounding him. It cut Jack deeper than he wanted to admit, this constant reminder that Liam belonged somewhere he couldn’t reach, no matter how much he tried to hide the ache.

Race days were the worst. Watching Liam out there, pushing himself, his eyes blazing with focus and determination — Jack knew that feeling well, but this was different. His heart twisted as he watched Liam celebrate with his team, every cheer, every pat on the back a reminder of his own isolation. Whether Liam won or lost didn’t matter; his team celebrated him anyway, lifting him up, and Jack stood there alone, forced to bury his feelings beneath a layer of polite applause and tight smiles. He should have been happy for him — really, of course he was — but there was an undeniable urge to be the one beside him, sharing those highs, claiming even a small piece of Liam’s world as his own. Claiming a small piece of Liam as his own.

Jack wanted to be the one Liam looked for after every race, someone he’d come to with that lopsided grin, laughing or venting or sharing a quiet moment, win or lose. Instead, all he got were fleeting glances and polite messages, the kind you’d exchange with any friend in the paddock. Jack knew he had no right to feel this way — Liam was his own person, and Jack’s feelings were his problem. But knowing that didn’t make the ache go away.

One evening after a particularly grueling race — though, aren't they all grueling? — Jack found Liam alone in the garage, resting against a stack of tires, looking out at the darkening track. There was a quiet calm in the air, and Jack knew he couldn’t let this moment slip by, not without saying something.

"Hey, Li,” Jack called softly. Liam glanced over, eyebrows raised in surprise, but then his face lit up with that easy smile that made Jack’s heart skip a beat.

“Hey! Wild race, right?” Liam chuckled, the excitement still lingering in his voice. But Jack couldn’t bring himself to join in; instead, he swallowed and took a breath, feeling the weight of his feelings pressing down harder than ever.

“Yeah… crazy,” Jack muttered, his gaze dropping to the floor. He hesitated, his heart pounding, but finally, he looked back up, locking onto Liam’s curious gaze. “Sometimes I… I wish things were different.”

Liam’s smile faded as he tilted his head, brows knitting together. “Different how?”

Jack’s mouth went dry. He hadn’t planned on saying this, but he felt like he couldn’t hold back any longer. “I just… I see you with your team, and you’re all so close, like a family. And I…” His voice wavered, but Liam stayed silent, watching him intently. “I want to be closer, Liam. To you. Not just as a friend, but… more than that.”

The air between them grew thick with the weight of Jack’s admission. Liam’s eyes widened in surprise, and Jack could feel his pulse hammering, wondering if he’d gone too far. But Liam didn’t pull away — instead, he seemed to be searching Jack’s face, taking in the vulnerability there.

“Jack…” Liam’s voice was barely above a whisper, tinged with uncertainty. “I had no idea.”

Jack tried to force a casual smile, as if he hadn’t just laid himself bare, but the ache in his chest was almost unbearable. “It’s okay, really. You don’t have to say anything. I just… I needed you to know. Because watching from a distance… it’s been harder than I thought it’d be.”

Liam didn’t answer right away, just kept looking at Jack, his expression softening. After a long pause, he reached out, placing a hand gently on Jack’s shoulder. “You mean more to me than just a friend, Jack,” he murmured, his voice barely audible. And then, almost as if testing the waters, Liam leaned forward, his breath warm against Jack’s skin.

Jack’s heart stuttered, and before he could second-guess himself, he closed the gap, his lips pressing softly to Liam’s. It was tentative, a brush of warmth that held every ounce of his longing, every unspoken word he hadn’t dared to say.

For a heartbeat, Liam seemed frozen, but then he responded, his hand sliding up to cup Jack’s face, deepening the kiss with a sweetness that sent a shiver down Jack’s spine. In that moment, the world around them melted away — all the noise, the crowds, the endless races — none of it mattered. It was just them, finally stepping beyond the unspoken, finally giving in to everything they’d both been holding back.

When they finally pulled back, breathless, Liam’s hand lingered against Jack’s cheek, his eyes soft and a little dazed. “Maybe… we don’t have to watch from a distance anymore.”

Jack’s lips curved into a smile, hope lighting up in his chest as he tightened his grip on Liam’s hand. “I’d like that.”

[argumentalist]

I guess I've got kind of mixed feelings about 08th MS Team. The first half or so is pretty damn good. I really enjoyed seeing the ground war. I liked the obvious Vietnam vibes they were going for. But the second half just feels kind of weird. The Shiro/Aina lovestory seems to develop almost out of nowhere and completely take over the series.

Anyway - this week I've built the RX-79[G]Ez-8 Gundam Ez8.

This is clearly an older kit, so I wasn't very surprised to see polycaps in the box. But I was kind of surprised at just how many polycaps there were...

Look at that huge PC-001 runner!

It really kind of feels like this kit was designed on a dare or something. Somebody just wanted to see how many polycaps they could cram into a single HG kit.

There's a polycap in the knee to articulate a bit that barely moves. The ankle has two polycaps itself, and then plugs into a third.

It's almost ridiculous.

There's a surprising bit of detail here in the chest. That vulcan pod is a separate bit of grey plastic. And there's molded details in the chest for some sort of turbines or vents - that get completely covered with an armor plate.

I do not love this head, and it provides a great contrast to the Lfrith Ur I built last week.

There's only five pieces of plastic in this head and they're all white. The red bits for the chin and camera are both stickers. The eyes are all sticker. If I hadn't done any panel-lining there'd be no detail here at all.

The backpack is kind of weird... There's a kind of equipment-rack backpack that goes directly on the Gundam, and then the parachute pack hooks into that. It's a nice detail from the anime. I like the obvious versatility of being able to equip different backpacks and carry different equipment.

But this parachute pack has a big strap that's supposed to attach to the Ez8's shoulders... And the strap fastens with a couple stickers, which obviously limits how often I can attach/remove it.

Ultimately I decided not to use the strap at all and I think it looks fine.

Decent accessories with this kit. There's the backpack, two different guns, a shield, beamsabers, two holding hands, a trigger hand, and a closed fist.

The blades on the beamsabers are oddly short... I don't really recall them being noticeably different in the anime?

The legs open up to store the beamsabers, but just barely. There's no hinge or anything. They open up, but they're not secured in any way. It's basically a balancing act to keep the outer bit from simply falling off.

I'm not sure how much sense a folding stock makes on an 18m tall robot... But the stock actually folds on this gun, which is a neat gimmick.

This kit poses very nicely. Feels very solid. The articulation is a little limited, but not in any way that really feels restrictive. I was able to get the poses I wanted to.

There's not a lot of surface detail... The panel-lining doesn't do much... But the included sticker-style decals add just enough flair to the kit. And even though I don't love the design of the Ez8, it certainly looks good up on the shelf.

Now I'm wishing they'd do some Hard Graph reprints... I'd love to get my hands on some of those Ground War sets.

[trashprinceward]

EVERYONE LISTEN UP, THIS IS IMPORTANT!

I'm going to talk about the history of Tumblr, the current state of Tumblr, and why you should get out.

And you can call me a hypocrite, sure. But as an artist who depended a lot on commissions and art sales, I only came back to Tumblr because this is where the audience and active fandoms are. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be here.

So, you've probably heard people calling tumblr "the queerest place on the internet". Probably more ironically that sincerely, lately. But the reason for this is that, at one point, it was true. Tumblr was synonymous with gay shit, all over the internet. That was this site's reputation. To the point that what the right wingers call "woke" these days, used to be called "tumblr shit". Tumblr was the BIGGEST resource for LGBT+ communities, information, advice and connection. That was here, on this site. Ask boxes thrived with friendship and fun games, artists got regular commissions and their work was shared. And, as much of a cliche as it may be to say this, Tumblr was a 'safe space'.

Then everything changed in 2018. I don't know how many of you were here for that, but that's when all this started. That's when we had porn bots. They'd start reblogging random posts, adding pictures of straight up porn. Naked people, straight up fucking. No tags, no warnings. Just uncensored porn and those stupid "click here to fuck me" captions. They were everywhere, constantly. And staff did nothing about it. No moderation, no kind of adding verification or new accounts. They just let the problem fester. Why should they care? Until they were threatened with being kicked off the app store, at least. Then they moved to do something about it.

So, instead of pulling together a human moderation team, or temporarily limiting new accounts, or doing any kind of intuitive policing of these spam bots, they just decided to make a blanket ban of all NSFW content, the enforcing of which would be carried out by AI bots. This, as you can probably guess, was a monumental failure. Anything that remotely looked like naked flesh was tagged as mature (a particularly infamous example features a picture of sand dunes being tagged as mature). And perhaps most tellingly of this failure, it didn't get rid of porn bots.

What it did get rid of though, was artists. Myself included. I was a mature artist. I had a NSFT sideblog. I sold commissions, I made money. It wasn't exactly career level, but I made enough that commissions helped me to eat when all my money went on bills. Then that was gone. Even SFW art wasn't entirely safe, because if the bot decided that your art had too much "skin" in it, you were flagged. (And at the time, I drew a lot of Jojo art, so I was screwed on that front.) So I had to leave. To find a new site where I could post my art, and try to continue selling commissions. The problem with this? Only a handful of people followed me offsite. I had roughly 300 followers on here. About 5 came with me to twitter. And then about 2 came with me to pillowfort. I had lost everything. Artists all over lost their following, lost their support, lost their income. All because people couldn't be bothered to boycott their funny fandom website.

But that wasn't all. Because now staff saw they had an opportunity. This bot they had created, was going around flagging anything mature, sometimes outright deleting posts or banning blogs that were too 'NSFT'. So... What group is often inherently seen as NSFT or sexualised? Yep, you guessed it. The queer community. And so that's what they did. They struck it all down. The biggest LGBT community on the internet, and they used the "porn ban" excuse to start flagging and deleting blogs. Never touched the nazi blogs, or the white supremacists, or that one blog that would doxx gay people in homophobic countries. Nope, they were left alone. But the most prominent, notable and well known queer blogs were gone. And again, the majority of the userbase was ok with this. They stayed.

I left this site for 5 years. And I tried to make it work elsewhere, I really did. I went to twitter. But over there nobody retweets work, nobody comments on your art. I only had like 2 regular supporters. I haven't gained followers in YEARS. Literally the only reason I still post to twitter is because Airdorf retweets FAITH fanarts. I tried going to pillowfort, which is honestly like a BETTER version of Tumblr. But, it was empty. Nobody was there. I even offered to give out free invite links to pillowfort so other people could join up too! Nobody ever responded to me. So I gave up. After 5 years with almost no interaction, almost no commission sales. No friends, nobody to talk to, nothing to do, nowhere to go... I came back here. And interaction is so much better (even though it's still a struggle to get people to actually talk to me). But I hate being here because I know what this site is like.

Also I know how complacent people are. The things they did back then, they're still doing now. Flagging trans women as mature, straight up banning them for no reason, spreading around campaigns of hate. Its STILL happening. And you're all still here sitting "oh this is awful, this website is transphobic" and then go back to reblogging memes. I saw a poll recently that asked what people would do if tumblr closed down or kicked them out, and the majority answer was just "give up social media completely" and it's like, really? There are plenty of alternatives out there. Artists and creators, and LGBT activists and whoever have been BEGGING you to join us, but you just wont. People would rather sit in this sinking ship till it goes down than make the leap and follow us into the lifeboats.

And I'm saying this again now because there have been talks about tumblr making a deal with midjourney. Because they want to feed all our art, our selfies, our hard work into the AI slop machine. So history is repeating itself again, and once more artists will be begging you to please come with us. Please get off this site. Please come to a place that isn't actively trying to get rid of us.

Me... I'll be staying here as long as I'm able because this is the only place I have any kind of audience. But if you can, if you care about friends, if you care about artists, if you care about queer people. PLEASE come with us. If the worst comes to it, then I'll be leaving for pillowfort. Please, PLEASE come with me. I have invitations, I can send you one so you can join. Send me a message and ask me. Just please, don't die with this place.

[stardusksx]

BECAUSE OF YOU, spencer reid x named!oc

— part two .

( summary! ) Spencer & Lydia where best friends, until they weren’t. Having to see each other at work everyday was certainly an exercise in professionalism, but when Reid is arrested in Mexico they can no longer ignore each other.

( warnings! ) Canon typical violence, discussions of drug use, best friends to lovers with a whole load of angst in the middle, dysfunctional family dynamics, talks of past neglect, future mentions of sex/smut, let me know if I missed anything!

next part

EMILY HAD BEEN FAIRLY ACCURATE WITH HER GUESS ON WHEN THEY'D BE BACK, THE THREE OF THEM RETURNING WITHIN THE HOUR. The woman had ran over what had happened at the motel, detailing the gruesome scene that could only be born out of intentional malice. It was out of Spencer's capabilities, obviously, but Emily didn't look too excited about their odds of proving that considering the evidence which had been planted on him.

"You okay to do his cognitive interview?" Emily nodded towards the cell that was holding Spencer, where Rossi and Luke were talking him through something.

Lydia was usually the designated cognitive interviewer whenever they went on cases— her area of study had been heavily focused on it, so she was slightly more specialised on them than her teammates. Granted, she'd never done one on Spencer or any of her teammates for that matter. "Yeah, I'm okay with that."

Emily let out a relieved sigh, "I've asked Luke to take you over to the motel, first. There's a possible witness on the front desk that would have been working around the time Reid arrived. She agreed to let you do a cognitive." Emily didn't look hopeful, "She might not have seen him at all, but it's worth a shot."

"No, yeah, of course," Lydia nodded, "How far is the motel?"

"Only twenty minutes," She glanced at the cell holding Spencer, "Shouldn't take too long, but it'll give Spencer a chance to sober up more before you do his."

Lydia followed her gaze, a frown falling on her features. She hated seeing him like this. Hated it. When she looked back to Emily, the woman was already watching her, an expression on her face that said she could read her like a book. "You sure you're okay doing his interview, I can—"

"I'm fine, Emily. This is about Spencer, not me," Emily went to speak again, but she cut her off with a slightly teasing smile, "Plus, I'm better at cognitive's than you."

"Okay miss masters degree," Emily rolled her eyes, grinning as she nodded towards Luke. The man waved some car keys at her, offering a small smile, "Go put it to some good use."

Lydia gave her a salute, "Yes, ma'am."

He led her out to a black SUV, rambling on about how Garcia had been giving him hell for accidentally pronouncing a word wrong in the hurry to get some information. Penny had tried to get her in on the whole "only refer to Luke as newby," thing, but she'd affectionately told the women to leave her out of her Luke-targeting-glitter-maffia.

"I don't know what to tell you," Lydia laughed slightly, "She's normally over her transition period of the new team member by now, you're a special case."

"Great, that makes me feel a lot better." He said dryly, looking down at her seat belt to make sure it was buckled before pulling out of the parking lot.

"I'll handle any Garcia calls we need to carry out in the next hour if that will make you feel better."

There was a quiet, fond, smile tugging at his lips as he said, "No, that's okay. I got it."

Lydia grinned knowingly. She occupied herself with looking out the window, taking in the landscaping— it wasn't often she travelled for anything other than work, so she liked to absorb the unfamiliar scenes when she could. About ten minutes passed before he broke the silence.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Luke said, only glancing at her briefly before he returned his eyes to the road. Lydia hummed her confirmation.

"What happened between you and Reid?" He said, and her eyes snapped to him in surprise. Part of her felt like she should feel annoyed at him for prying, but Luke wasn't the kind of person to seek out information for his own entertainment. His eyes were soft, and she understood that he just wanted to understand them better, "When I joined the team I just figured that you guys aren't as close because, I don't know, you don't have things in common or something. But after today... it seems like there's some history there, and when you said you'd stay with him, Rossi said something on the way to the motel..."

"What did he say?" She asked quietly.

"Emily was nervous about how Spencer was holding up, and he said something about you being the best person to comfort him. It didn't make sense to me, because, well..." 

"Because we act like strangers." She supplied, and Luke nodded.

Lydia let out a sigh, "Spencer and I became friends pretty quickly when I joined the BAU in 2006. We were younger than everyone, so we related to each other easily, helped each other out where we could. Work meant we basically saw each other every second of the day, then we started to do things together outside of work. He was just so easy to be around, and growing up everything was so busy that I'd never really had friends like that before. I think he was the same, so becoming best friends wasn't really a surprise to anyone. We were kinda inseparable. But then a couple years back something happened, I can't really explain it without giving away a story that isn't entirely mine to tell. After that, things were pretty broken between us, and I don't think either of us know how to fix it."

"Do you want to fix it?" He asked softly. Lydia was surprised at the way a lump instantly formed in her throat, an overwhelming sense that she was going to cry making her eyes burn. She squeezed them shut for a moment, then decided that just this once, she would share the weight of this thing she'd been carrying alone for so long.

She managed a small nod, her voice barely audible, "I miss him all the time."

He sent her a look of sympathetic understanding, "Was it ever..." Luke hesitated, "More than friends?"

She felt her walls go back up, "It's complicated."

He knew how to sense when someone was done with a subject, so he didn't question any further. They arrived at the motel shortly after, and Lydia conducted the cognitive interview on a women named Sara. It didn't produce much helpful information— all she managed to give was the sound of two car doors slamming at roughly the time Spencer was there, which she had said was strange because it had been quite other than that. She let out a sigh as she got out of the car back at the jail, rounding it to join Luke as they walked back into the building.

"Do you think Rossi got a hold of Gareth's team yet?"

He held the door open for her, "He said something about giving them another call before we left—"

Luke cut himself off as Spencer's cell came back into view, two figures standing there that hadn't been before. She smiled fondly at them, relief flooding through her like a tidal wave. "Matt, Clara, hey."

"Good to see you," Matt offered, returning her smile, "We've been waiting on you. Could really do with that cognitive interview."

"Yeah, of course. As long as—" She hesitantly glanced at Spencer, who actually did seem to be significantly more present than he had been when they'd left, "— as long as you're ready."

"Yeah," He said softly, "I think I ... I want to give it a try."

She nodded, turning to Emily, "Alright, got a quiet place we can use?"

Emily hummed, and soon she was directing them through the building, opening a door that led into an almost empty room save for the table and chairs. "I promised you'd record it, for their records. It was the only way they'd let us do this."

Lydia fished her phone out of her pocket, pulling up her voice memos app and placing it flat on the table. Once Emily made sure they were okay, she left them alone to get on with it.

It was obvious to both of them that they hadn't been alone like this in a long, long, time. She pushed through the tension, however, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. He gave her a small one in return. "Alright," She sighed, pressing record, "You said you landed in Houston, but that leaves a gap between getting across the border. Can you talk me through how that happened?"

His brows furrowed in concentration, eyes training on the ceiling as he muttered to himself before they closed fully, "Took a bus to Brownsville," He said finally, "Then I walked across..."

She gave him a moment to give any more answers, but he  didn't seem to find anything noteworthy. So she continued, "How was the traffic, busy? quiet?"

He hummed, "... it was... busy. I was late for the meeting..." His eyes snapped open, "Rosa." He whispered quietly, more to himself at first before he repeated it firmly, "I met Rosa at the border the first time I crossed. Had to... had to call ahead to tell her I'd be late. She was understanding."

She waited, he continued, "But she said that next time... she couldn't afford to wait around by the border. It was too risky. So, we set up a meeting place. A motel."

"Is that where you met her the last time you crossed?"

Spencer nodded, "Yes. Yeah. She... she doesn't have an office here, that's why she picked the motel."

"It wasn't the first time you'd met, then. Why do you think you wrote her name on your arm?"

"I don't remember," He whispered, then repeated it like a mantra. She could tell he was losing focus, so she redirected him, "How did she act when you saw her? Did she seem... cautious?"

His brows furrowed as he thought, nodding slowly, "The curtains were closed," He said, "She ushered me in quickly."

"Then what happened?"

"She gave me the vials... the ones I'd been giving my mother... three drops a day... I thanked her. Gave her money..." His eyelids screwed tightly shut, and she noticed that his fists began to clench. She knew he was getting a breakthrough, so she let him work through it without interruption.

"There was a noise, car tyres... she... she looked panicked. We're by the window, it— the door. It opened abruptly, we didn't see them approach it."

Lydia's brows raised, but she attempted to hide the shift in her demeanour, not wanting to break his focus. If Spencer could recall a third party, it would help towards proving that some else was present to have committed the murderer. "Who opened it?"

"I didn't see..." he murmured, "They must have knocked me out... I'm on the floor... Rosa is on the floor too..." He muttered to himself for a moment, "Someone else is definitely there... there's knife. A lot of blood."

"Where is the knife?"

"My hand..." He was struggling, shaking his head, and Lydia could see crimson began to stain the bandages, "I-I'm trying to stop them. It's in my hand."

"Trying to stop who?"

"They're stabbing her... I'm trying to... it's in my hand."

"They're stabbing Rosa?"

"Yes." He said, "I'm trying to stop them. It's in my hand."

His breathing picked up, hands shaking like a power drill. The blood seeped faster. It almost looked like he was drowning.

"Spencer," She said, but he didn't seem to hear her, so she reached out and took his hand to stop him from hurting himself, "Spencer."

He blinked, chest rising and falling heavily. It took him a moment to re-associate himself with his surroundings, but when he did it was her his gaze remained focused on.

"We'll take a break," She said, nodding to the blood that had seeped through the bandages, "Someone needs to take a look at your hand again."

Lydia gave him a look of reassurance before she slipped out into the hall, instructing the guard in Spanish that he'd need medical attention. Emily, Rossi and Luke stood waiting.

"Spencer just remembered that there was another person there—" She cut herself off, features falling at their expressions. "What? What happened?"

"They just charged Reid with the murder of Nadie Ramos." Luke said grimly.

She blinked at them. Her hope for a way out of this was already merely a pile of embers, but it felt like his words had doused them in water and put them out for good. "Jesus," She murmured, pinching the space between her brows before she looked back up to them with a questioning expression, "Where the hell do we go from here?"

Rossi sighed, attempting to morph his hardened expression into a more optimistic one, "You said Reid spoke about a third person?"

Lydia nodded, but then as she thought over the interview more and more with the hindsight of the murder charge, it began to feel incriminating rather than exonerating. "He did, but... he also kept repeating that he had a hold of the murder weapon," Lydia skipped ahead in the voice memo to a point where Spencer kept repeating it's in my hand, sighing, "This...this makes him look guilty. Even with the context, they can just take what they need and ignore the part where he claims there's another person."

They all exchanged looks of agreement, and she pocketed her phone again. "We should go talk to Matt and Clara, see what they've come up with."

After Spencer's hand had been seen to, he'd been escorted back to the cell where everyone was waiting.

"Lab reports on the vials came back," Clara said, "But there aren't any illegal substances— some things that haven't been approved by the FDA, but nothing that can incriminate you."

"It's great news." Emily smiled at Spencer, and through his slightly lingering disorientation he looked relieved.

Clara watched him silently for a moment before she asked, "Is there anything else you can remember about being here?"

"I remember my mom threw out the vials," He answered, "I must have been here to get more."

Matt nodded, "Well you're off the hook for that, there's no contraband."

"Yeah but... we're still looking at the planted drugs and murder charges that could keep you here for a long time."

Emily sighed, "So what can we do to delay the transfer?"

A calculating expression overtook Clara's features, "You said you met Nadie, who call herself Rosa, in Houston. Why didn't she just give you the vials there?"

"I don't know... but she helped us, and I trusted her. I know I was right to do that." Spencer said softly.

Matt's brows furrowed, "But she convinced you to cross the border multiple times, had you risk your life."

Clara brightened slightly, "Because she must have had something to lose too."

"You said in your cognitive that Rosa set up the meetings at the motel instead of the border because she was scared of the risks," Lydia nodded her agreement, "We just need to figure out what those risks were."

Spencer looked at her thoughtfully before he asked Matt, "What was in the vials?"

The man looked at the slightly crumpled paper in his hands,"There were some nootropic compounds like Ampalex, but also some more natural stuff like Coral Calcium, Jimson Weed, coconut oil, a variety of vitamins... B12, D3."

Spencer blinked, "Where are we right now?"

"Matamoros, Northern Mexico."

He nodded, like puzzle pieces were falling into place in his mind, "Jimson Weed, also known as the Devil's Snare, originated in Mexico but it's natural growing region is further north or south of the border."

Lydia felt her lips push up at the corners as Emily said, "Now that sounds more like you."

"So it isn't from here?"

"Then where'd she get it?"

Emily pulled out her phone, the receiver picking up instantly, "Garcia, we've got some questions."

Matt spoke, "Hey, Penelope."

"Oh, my god. It's the dulcet tones of Matt Simmons." Her slightly breathy voice returned. 

His lips quipped upwards, "I'm trying. Clara's here too."

"Knowing we have you guys as backup is providing me with some much needed hope and I work better that way." The sound of her fingers against the keyboard accompanied her words.

Clara interjected, "Hey, lady. We're trying to catch up on a few things. Where is Nadie Ramos from?"

Only a few seconds passed before there was an answer, "She lives with her family just north of Matamoros."

"That must be where she got the jimson weed."

Penny continued, "What's weird is she crosses the border, like, a lot."

Emily brows pulled downwards, "Why?"

"Well, she works at a clinic in Houston and also helps at a low income healthcare centre. I can't find a visa on her, which is double weird. And finishing the weird trifecta there is a social security number on her W-2 form..."

"She has dual citizenship?" Lydia’s eyes widened, feeling those embers that had been doused earlier begin to catch alight again.

"Yeah, she was born in Houston but her family had to move back to Mexico and she lives with them but works in the U.S."

"That changes everything, if she's an American citizen we can get jurisdiction." Lydia said quickly. She glanced at Spencer, who met her eyes with a mix of relief and trepidation.

Emily nodded, "We need to talk to the consulate—"

"It's time for his transfer." The guards started towards Spencer, and he looked at them in helpless panic. Her stomach churched at the fear in his eyes, and Emily hastily pulled out her phone.

"We've had a break in the case, the victim was also American and that calls for extradition."

He shrugged, "I've got orders. Sorry."

Lydia could only watch, blood roaring in her ears as Emily exchanged words with the person on the other end of the phone, “With the victim having dual citizenship we now have concurrent jurisdiction. It was my understanding the official order to extradite SSA Spencer Reid would be evaluated." She heard her say, watching them lead Spencer away. There was a paused before Emily spoke again,  "I understand, thank you." She hung up, "They're taking it into the brass, go get him."

Luke wasted no time retrieving Spencer, and Lydia could still feel the beat of her heart in her throat. She let out a breath, willing her anxiety to calm down. This was good. It wasn't solved, by any means, but it was a step towards it and away from disaster.

Emily put a hand on her shoulder, and she could see that the older woman was going through similar emotions, "You want to go gather the bags from the lockers?"

Lydia could tell she was trying to provide her with a task to occupy herself with instead of dwelling on any negatives that attempted to creep into her mind, and she was grateful for it. By the time she'd collected all their go-bags, the extradition had been approved and they made their way to the tarmac.

She hadn't realised how exhausted she was until she stepped foot onto the familiar Jet— her body felt like concrete, as if her limbs had been filled and were too heavy to move. "Thanks for the ride home." Matt spoke, Clara nodding along in agreement with an appreciative smile.

"Thank you for your help." Emily returned, and Lydia could see her exhaustion mirrored in the older women.

"Of course, we were glad to." Clara said.

Lydia flopped into the window seat, allowing her head to loll onto the back of it. She wasn't too sure why her next thought occurred to her, "God dammit, my ice cream will be spoiled."

She was vaguely aware of the three of them turning their questioning gazes towards her, "When Emily phoned me, I didn't have time to put away my grocery's." She muttered tiredly, and if there was a response, sleep had taken her too quickly to hear it.

Still, they chuckled just as Luke and Spencer boarded the Jet. Once the latter had thanked them for helping, Emily had explained that he'd need his handcuffs on for any other eyes but theirs, and considering no one else would be setting their sights on him for afew hours the cuffs could be taken off.

They all settled into their seats for takeoff, and as Luke watched Spencer, he felt slightly inadequate in his profiling skills— the look on his face as his gaze skated over Lydia could not be mistaken or misinterpreted. He wondered how he had ever missed it before.

Complicated, indeed.

[alicepao13]

Hudson and Rex S04E03 - Rex Marks the Spot - PART A

This is where we finally meet Charlie's definitely not blonde ex-wife. Usually when they show a photograph of an actress playing that role and then in the next season they show such an episode, I expect the same actress to play that role. But no, apparently they made a different casting decision.

Black letters in quotes: Actual show quotes.

Green letters in quotes: What I come up with my twisted brain.

Joe is... treasure hunting? With an actual metal detector and everything.

Superintendent Joe Donovan, everybody.

And because no one can actually have fun non-murderous hobbies or life or anything like that, there's a body.

"Get out of the fucking way!!!"

Sarah already knows a lot about Charlie's ex-wife, and including her book. Which means those two are even closer than what is shown on screen. I wish the writers had established that they're best friends at some point.

An absolute nightmare. When you split with someone and there's bad blood, the worst thing would be to have a reminder of them everywhere.

Supportive work wife.

"Pet me, peasants."

"I'm not a police dog anymore. My life is at the sea now. Arrr!"

Soon, like in this century?

Keep your dog hydrated.

Nightmare complete lol. Classic ex-is-a-person-of-interest trope.

Charlie: "Oh, this is how it is, huh? Traitor."

Julia: "You put up such a fight when I wanted to adopt a rescue!" Sarah: "Oh, you're gonna tell me that story!" Poor guy, being double teamed by the ex and Sarah. He is not having a good time. If I had to guess the reason behind Charlie's refusal, it would be either because, a) his house looks too neat now, which means that the previous one was always supposed to be an interim kind of house post-divorce until he found something he liked, which is why he didn't put much of an effort in the old one. Which means Charlie was probably a neat freak, something that definitely clashes with owning a dog, and adopted Rex because they bonded and Rex was going to be put down otherwise (which is not factual but that's the explanation we're going with on the show). And b) he was more self-aware than Julia and knew that they'd leave the poor animal for hours alone at home. Charlie gets to take Rex to work every day, they're practically joined at the hip.

Charlie to Rex: "Don't get too attached, buddy." Like you, you mean?

Joe: "She cheated on him." Jesse doesn't know? Charlie has been practically yelling it in every case revolving marriage, divorce, or dating. See S2.

Oh, yeah, the Jeep. I know there were reasons for using it and then removing it, but it fits so well with Charlie's sort of erratic behavior in S4 that I have headcanoned it to be part of it.

Rex: *thinks that one day he will manage to play pinball* Charlie: *is sure that one day Rex will manage to play pinball*

I misspoke, y'all. This is definitely the worst nightmare. Your ex with the woman you like and your dog being friendly? Are you kidding me?

Jesse: They sure seem friendly. Charlie: "This must be how Caesar felt."

It's not very noticeable but in the same scene when Charlie gets surly and leaves the table, Jesse distracts Julia so that Sarah can slip away from the table and go to Charlie.

You can tell that Charlie is losing it when he talks to Sarah like that. But in the end he chooses to trust her and to trust what she's doing.

It's actually very interesting that no one even mentioned the thought that maybe he should have recused himself.

Your Honor, I don't know how much more of this I can take, actually. It was easier when I watched the episodes without micro-focusing on their every interaction.

You know, part of me believes that Charlie is a closed off oyster, but then we have Charlie's rare moments of oversharing and... I don't know if I'm the one mis-characterizing him or the writers often are.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions."

I just wanted to give notice to this no-nonsense look really quick. Carry on.

He put a dog vest on Rex!

"I need to inform you we're gonna board..." *Rex jumps on the ship because he doesn't give a fuck* "We've boarded your boat." lmao

Rex, no. We don't shake paws with Beckett's sniper. Which was my biggest clue about who the murderer would turn out to be, by the way.

I hit the limit again. Show, what are you doing to me? To be continued in Part B.

[roseworth]

pls elaborate on ur dream outlaws team im entranced 🥺

blushes and twirls my hair 🥰 im so glad u asked

basically its jason rose lorena connor & kara. and its exactly as messy as it sounds

so first of all one reason i like these 5 is that there is representation across the spectrum of thoughts on killing. jason kills (relatively) often, rose kills very deliberately and not as much as jason, lorena (to me) is willing to kill but doesnt really do it, kara wont kill but may step aside and let someone else kill if she thinks they deserve it, and connor wont kill and doesnt like it if anyone else kills

also in my head this is NOT red hood and the outlaws. its just outlaws. because connor's in charge. i dont think any of them have any leadership skills (lmao) but connor is so much more able to rein them in than anyone else, and everyone likes him so hes a neutral party to be a "leader"

heres where im gonna get annoying and go over everyones individual dynamic with each other:

jason & rose: i literally talk about these two like once a day so im sure you can guess but theyre toxic besties. if one of them gets into a fight then the other joins. theyre haters together and theyre also both the worst ever

connor & jason: i dont think connor would ever hold a grudge so he doesnt hate jason for kidnapping his sister and blowing her up. HOWEVER. hes certainly not happy about it. jason respects connor as a hero so he doesnt deliberately try to get on his nerves, and connor is just a good person so he usually wont cause problems. but he doesnt like jason (for the mia thing and the fact that hes. yk. awful) so theyre not exactly chummy. but because of jason respecting connor he wouldnt kill in front of him

kara & connor: theyre close given that theyre the "Heroes" on the team. like,, theyre all good but kara and connor are the ones that are unequivocal Good Guys since they dont kill and they have the family name n all. i think they would bond over carrying on a legacy (connor as ga after ollie died, kara with krypton in general) and they'd get along rly well

lorena & kara: LESBIANS. listen to me. they both have the same experience of having their whole life destroyed and their family dead, then coming out of that experience and immediately choosing to be a hero and help their new world. lorenakara is my best rarepair in the sense that they've never interacted but i KNOW if they did they would be gfs. theyre parallels of each other. i think that both of them (especially kara) would be so excited to have someone with such a similar experience that knows how it feels. they should fall in love

jason & lorena: she likes him (mostly) but he wouldnt like her at first. he would be annoyed by her at first bc she tends to be upbeat and he would get tired of that. BUT eventually she grows on him bc shes not naive shes just being positive bc what else can you do!!! she had a normal childhood for the first 17 or so years of her life so i think he would find it hard to relate to her (but also everyone else on the team has that problem bc. none of them had normal childhoods) but they'd be friends after a while, esp after he saw her in one of her "im so pissed off im gonna beat someone up about it" moments

kara & jason: she doesnt like him. pretty much just because hes an asshole, no personal grudge besides him being him. kara's not really willing to let it go when someones rude to her and jason is rude to everyone. they'd get into fights a lot bc theyre both stubborn and will not let anything go, and they usually have opposing viewpoints so it does not go well

rose & kara: rose hates women! she has never gotten along with another female character and shes not starting now. rose & kara would have a lot of the same problems that jason & kara do, in that theyre both stubborn and rose will go out of her way to pick fights with her. a big problem that rose would have is that she doesnt trust people and she doesnt like not having control, so having a kryptonian around would make her uncomfortable given that if kara decided to kill all of them rose knows she couldnt do anything about it. so shes very wary of kara and a little threatened, so when she gets nervous she gets meaner (<- cop car by mitski). i dont think kara would have a big problem with rose other than that rose keeps being mean to her. eventually they would get along better though :)

connor & rose: im sorry in advance for acknowledging connor in robin 2021. but these two met on lazarus island and sorta became friends so they would still be getting along here! he understands her pretty well and obv still tries to stop her from killing but they work well together <3 i also think that connor would try so hard to get rose to like. take care of her mental health. and be emotionally open. it wont always work but he'll still try

lorena & connor: honestly. this is the only combo that i have 0 thoughts on hkjafhadjfhf i dont think that they have personalities that would specifically connect or clash with each other. they'd get along but theyre also kinda just people that happen to be on the same team fhakjfhadjfk theres not a lot that just the two of them can use to relate to each other

rose & lorena: rose still hates women!!! rose would like lorena more than she likes kara, but they would still bicker all the time. tho their fighting would be more ribbing each other instead of actually being antagonistic, then moving on to heckling other people. basically ideal lorena & rose dynamic is statler & waldorf

uh oh shes moving onto trios now (not every possibility though fhajdfhsadk just my favs hehe)

jason & rose & lorena: uh oh the moral compass is gone! someones gonna die! these three are all haters and are willing to kill so bad things will happen when its just the three of them

lorena & rose & kara: they would have the most catastrophic girls' night in existence and it would be so fucking funny i need it

connor & jason & rose: basically the angel & devil on rose's shoulders. i also think that this trio would give connor the worst experience of his life

connor & kara & jason: pretty much the opposite of the previous one. honestly funnier to me that jason would be having a terrible day because kara and connor are essentially taking turns stopping him from doing whatever he wants to do

so thats the gist of their dynamics <333 in my head the team is in calfornia (and also we're pretending california is only like a mile long bc star city is in NorCal and san diego is in SoCal but i need them to be right next to each other so connor and lorena are in the same area hfjakfakdafh) which also means that jason would get to be pissy about it since hes out of gotham and out of his element

i also have arcs i made for all of it. that i wont go into detail about bc ill get embarrassed about how much ive thought about it hfksjdfhasdjkf but the big picture is all of them struggling with loneliness then coming together and all hating each other a little but still working well as a team. then eventually jason goes back to gotham bc he hates being away from it, lorena dies, kara kills someone then goes into a guilt-fueled self-exile, then its just rose & connor going hm. what now. rose has a breakdown because everyone left and connor is trying to stop her from becoming the joker

actually i am gonna talk about lorena because i have thought so much about how i would put her back into canon. first of all i would say that sub diego has just been there the whole time but everyone forgot about it :( lorena is basically the sole protector of sub diego since arthur left a long time ago and there are no cops or other heroes there. also everyone in sub diego doesnt like her (mostly because shes the only one that can go to the surface so theres a lot of people bitter about that). she spends most of her time underwater but she comes up because there are various problems making their way to sub diego, then she joins the team to have other people around while still looking out for the best interest of her city. also i decided that the way she finds out she can breathe above water is too boring so what happens instead is that she swims to the surface as a suicide attempt the realizes that she wants to live right as she goes above water but its too late but then its not bc omg she can breathe air!!!

alright i think thats all i have. if u read all of this...... im sorry. i dont think any of it is actually coherent its just my stream of consciousness directly onto the page

[iviarellereads]

Exit Strategy, Chapter 1

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which we find a true scandal of entertainment serial proportions.

When I got back to HaveRatton Station, a bunch of humans tried to kill me. Considering how much I’d been thinking about killing a bunch of humans, it was only fair.

Ship is on approach to HaveRatton, Murderbot waiting impatiently to access the station's feed, when a navigation alert comes in. Ship is ordered to take a different slot than its usual. The new one is right next to the Port Authority docks, and the station's security response team. If anyone is waiting for Ship, MB can't be aboard when it docks. It can't redirect Ship to a different dock without looking suspicious and raider-like. So, it'll have to be the evac suit that thankfully MB didn't ditch after boarding.

An aside, to think about escaping Abene's shuttle, and the memories MB wishes it could delete. Unfortunately, they'd still be stuck in its organic parts, like the ghosts of its mass murder incident are.(1)

Murderbot hustles into the evac suit with its bag, and out the airlock opposite the docking hatch. As it leaves, it deletes the last traces of itself from Ship's memory. It just hopes that forensic sweeps don't work like they do in the entertainment feeds.(2)

It finds a cargo bot working on a passenger transport with a bot pilot, replacing a module of the ship. MB asks the cargo bot if it can go inside before it installs the new module, and it agrees.

(Humans never think to tell their bots things like, say, don’t respond to random individuals wandering the outside of the station. Bots are instructed to report and repel theft attempts, but no one ever tells them not to answer polite requests from other bots.)(3)

MB then trades with the passenger transport's bot pilot, for "passage" out to the dock, which it agrees to. On the way, MB stows the illicit evac suit, and borrows a security camera to look at itself. It's clean, but it had no way to repair the bullet holes in its jacket, which only just covers the data port on its neck. It overthinks whether it could be caught as a SecUnit, just a little, because both the upside and the downside of being a murderbot is paranoid attention to detail.

Deleting itself from the transport's log as well, MB hacks its way through station security as it disembarks inside, particularly since it still has one of Wilken's weapons on it, rebuilt to fit in its bag.

So now I was not only a rogue unit, I was a rogue unit carrying a weapon designed to shoot armored security. Which is just playing to the humans’ expectations, I guess.

Fooling weapon scanners is getting easier, as it gets more practice. It's not just learning how different security systems can be, but doing it more often has retrained its organic bits to handle more. It noticed it on Milu, when it was handling everything without a Hub or SecSystem to shunt the big processing work to.

Unfortunately, blending into crowds is not getting any easier for our pal, no matter how much it thinks it should be "over this by now".(4) It makes its way through the station toward where Ship had docked, and finds twenty three heavily armed humans in power suits, with forty seven security drones buzzing around them. It borrows a drone to zoom in on the logo of one of the suits. It doesn't recognize it, but files it away for future reference. For now, it's more worried that someone contracted with HaveRatton to bring such a heavily armed team in.

MB checks the drone it borrowed, and finds an hour of comm traffic in the recording buffer. After listening to some of it, the fuss is definitely about trying to find it.

It was useful to be recognized as a SecUnit on Milu, but it doesn't want that to happen again. That's the whole reason it allowed Art to modify it. Fortunately, on Ship it was able to use Art's template to let its hair grow even longer, as an added buffer of human camouflage. It hates the effect, it doesn't feel like itself, but it can't deny the utility of the change now.

MB slips into a shop at the edge of the station mall. Its lack of knowledge in how to use such a facility is no barrier, as the feed includes instructions on even the most basic of features. It gets a booth, and chooses some clothes that it thinks will be less expected of a SecUnit, but still practical for its purposes. In the end, it kind of likes the choices it made, if only because it made the choices for itself.

Back outside, it downloads fresh entertainment and transport schedules and starts searching the news feeds, as well as information on the logo from the security company, Palisade. All this, while it tries to figure out how best to get all the memory clips back to Mensah, both the ones with the digger dump feeds, and the one from Wilken and Gerth, with their records of working for GrayCris, laid out as if they might submit it to journalists or corporate rivals.

At any rate, it would be more secure to deliver the clips in person, but it's not sure it wants to encounter Mensah again, though it won't elaborate on the specifics of why.(5) It's thinking about how to find out if she's still on Port FreeCommerce or has returned to Preservation Alliance when it gets a news feed result.

The headline indicates GrayCris has accused Mensah of corporate espionage.

MB's gast is flabbered, and it struggles to read past the headline. When it does, it becomes no clearer. GrayCris has apparently made the charge, though it's unclear whether actual legal filings have been made, and everything is speculation because Mensah's gone missing.

MB wants to punch the nearest corporate logo,(6) but when it calms down for a moment, it scans back through the news feeds for anything more enlightening. It finds that most of the Preservation team had left Port FreeCommerce about thirty cycles before, and Mensah was supposed to follow with the rest, but didn't. The next thing it finds is buried in an article about something else, but GrayCris made a news release that Mensah went to TranRollinHyfa to deal with their litigation, but Port FreeCommerce couldn't confirm.

Where the fuck was TranRollinHyfa?

Another search says that TranRollinHyfa is a station where a lot of companies have their corporate headquarters. More news results just confirm that she's there. MB knows Mensah wouldn't go into hostile territory without protection voluntarily, and the company's involvement means it would insist on proceedings taking place entirely on Port FreeCommerce, its home turf. Which means, she must be there involuntarily.

Somebody had tricked, trapped, or forced her to go. But why? If GrayCris was going to do that, why wait so long, why give all the witnesses involved time to bring their suits and testify and give their evidence to journalists? What had happened that had panicked GrayCris so much that … Oh. Oh, shit.(7)

=====

(1) I wonder if the ghost-memory effect will ever come back to significance in the plot again, or if this is just the "last time, on the Murderbot Diaries" recap in play. (2) A joke on how people expect crime and investigations to have the same level of detail as shows like CSI demonstrate, when the reality is much less impressive. (3) Which is a fun contrast from how humans treat their children in exactly the opposite way. All don't talk to strangers for the other humans, very little in the way of protecting the replaceables. (4) Sorry, Murderbot, but anxiety doesn't generally improve unless the root causes are addressed, and "being afraid of being caught out as a rogue SecUnit" is a legitimate thing to fear when you are, in fact, a rogue SecUnit. (5) Embarrassment for its actions and its inability to contemplate fitting into Preservation's culture, is my guess, with a side of fear of reprisal, since Mensah is its legal guardian. (6) Mood. (7) Yeah, uh, sorry to inform you, but you happened, Murderbot.

[apollos-boyfriend]

since your playing p5 whats your thoughts on the team members so far? :D

okay so! as a heads up i have already Experienced p5r so these r not initial thoughts necessarily. but i still want to rant about my favoritest kids <3 this got long so i'm putting it below the cut whoops ladkjf

ryuji! i fucking love ryuji man. i think a lot of people write him off as just the goofy sidekick character but he is SO much more to me. a lot of ryuji's trauma gets so overlooked due to the fact of him largely being comic relief, but like. that kid has gone through SO much!!!! between his father and kamoshida and his peers like. he is SO strong. i love his characterization of "people are treating me like a punk, i may as well act like it" bc it's not even him necessarily playing a role he isn't. he is a punk! he's disruptive and counter-cultural and has issues with authority. and that's punk, but also like, those are the parts of punk that society sees and demonizes. ryuji is punk not just because of that, but because he cares about others before all else and stands up for what's right no matter what, even if it means being punished for it, because he has a super strong sense of justice and is super protective over those he loves!! i feel like a lot of ryuji's character gets kind of. skipped over by a large majority of players. because his actions and presentation is very specific to fighting against japanese culture, meaning it gets lost in translation unless you're aware of japanese culture and norms. i love this boy so much <3

i have. a lot of thoughts on ann. largely her meta-treatment by the writers as opposed to her in-game self. you can find some ramblings if u scroll down my p5lb tag, bc i have. a Lot of thoughts on that aspect of her. on a lighter note, though, i fucking love ann. i think she also kind of falls into the mischaracterization of being ditzy at times. not as badly as ryuji, but ann is a very open character. she's extremely compassionate and wants to help everyone she possibly can, even at her own detriment at times, but as we're shown this sometimes leads her to being used by others. which i think leads to people making her just. overly trusting to a blind degree. or stupid. but ann is super smart! she immediately clocked that the painting was yusuke's, not madarame's, and is shown time and time again to be able to understand others' true feelings, even if they're trying to keep them hidden. i really like how she's blunt and honest, even if it comes off as harsh or insensitive. she speaks her mind! she's not going to hesitate and risk not being heard to understood! i really love that for her

i haven't gotten him yet BUT i am on madarame so. i will sneak in yusuke. because i love him. he is truly one of the characters ever. obviously he is one of The most autistic-coded characters in the game (alongside futaba). which is detrimental to an extent. bc people often just fully mischaracterize him due to his eccentricity. for me i just really love how unapologetic he is with it. that kid has never heard of masking in his life (/pos). he's one of the characters i feel for the most because like. god. he had his whole fucking world twisted. haru and makoto had similar experiences of people they'd known all their lives becoming corrupt, but like. haru's dad wasn't always like that. and neither was makoto's sister. they HAD good intentions. madarame never did. he's the closest to mirroring akechi in that sense, except akechi knew all along. yusuke didn't have that privilege. that sense of revenge. i think his story is so delicate and difficult because how do you even go about knowing your entire life was a lie? and not even in a way you can step away from. art was still his world. it's not just something he did for madarame. the knowledge of carrying that burden. of those memories that shaped you being corrupted in such a way.

morgana is there. i guess. wish he wasn't.

[thedissociatives]

okok out the shower now parents' footy stories under the cut cuz idk how long this'll end up being

guess i'll start with my dad because he's a man united fan so there's more here that you guys'll get. apparently when we talk about football yobs and consistently bring up millwall & leeds united as the worst of the lot (in all fairness they do deserve that title) we all conveniently leave out west ham. those guys apparently used to do insane shit like sharpen the ends of their umbrellas and hide razorblades in their shoes but idk if either of those were things only they did or not 🤷‍♂️ also idk if this was mentioned as a west ham story or not but based on what i just said it sounds right so i'm putting it here as well: some fans used to essentially make ninja stars out of fucking coins (they'd make em all sharp and spiky basically) and chuck em at the other team's fans. apparently this did A Lot of damage and one of my dad's mates ended up with a nasty gash in his head from this one time. was talking earlier today about west ham back in the day and apparently one time at upton park the home fans pissed on the man united lot in the away end. like literally pissed on them. kinda gross ngl (they were also doing the usual throwing shit too but that's kind of a given). apparently after that game the west ham fans chased the united lot away from the grounds. but that's not to say united fans were innocent in all this oh no way. the stand opposite the stretford end (the one where the scoreboard was (is ?)) used to get absolutely rammed full and a lot of the people in there used to carry baseball bats and used to attack the away fans. so yeah definitely not innocent in all this

changing to some of my mum's stories because while all that was going on in the first division (and maybe briefly the second because i know united spent a hot minute down there) swindon were up to their own shenanigans in the lower leagues. will never forget my mum telling me about a matchday back in the 80s when she must've been about 14 (?) and went to turn down county round (for those who don't know: swindon's home ground (the county ground) sits on county road). well she ended up turning around and going another way pretty quickly because they were throwing bricks down the road. i wasn't told who the bricks were being thrown at but knowing swindon fans there's a 50/50 chance it was at whatever away fans were there or each other 💀 also they used to let kids in for free into the town end at the county ground so it used to get pretty full with kids on a saturday afternoon. because let's be honest with ourselves what else was there really to do

have spoke to both of them about what it was like at the football pre-taylor report and either i've only ever seen people romanticising the terraces or some grounds were way better than others (which i find very hard to believe). both my parents are glad that the terraces have been replaced with seating because, in their own opinions, things could get very fucking dangerous. my dad remembers being at old trafford and making the conscious decision to stand either right in front of or right behind the barricades that were supposed to break the fans up a bit (very much fucking useless btw) because that way when the crowds surged forwards you weren't at risk of getting knocked over because the barricade was right there. my mum remembers the town end at the county ground (remember— kids got in free there) being crammed dangerously full and then seeing people at the front, more often than not children/teenagers, practically getting crushed into the barriers at the front of the stand whenever the crowd would surge forward (literally described it as "fucking dangerous" earlier today when talking about it)

[underwater-i-will-go]

something sweet from the top of my head while i do the laundry <3

the smile that was so bright it could light up a room, a smile that would stand out in a crowd of hundreds of people.

mackenzie hadn't seen that smile often, hadn't a actually played with him before, until tonight. but some of his teammates said how much they'd missed seeing that smile on his face, a genuine smile, coming straight from the bottom of someone's heart, whenever he scored a goal or one of his teammates did. just being a part of it all instead of watching it all happen from the bench.

mackenzie knew that michael had a tough time recently, not only in his personal life, but also the fact that he hadn't played for nearly two months now, dropped by his coach, dropped by the whole club, it naturally got to him. added more baggage, he wondered how much he could carry.

but he got called up to play in a u21 match tonight, and he arrived at the ground smiling - happy to start again, just happy to play.

mackenzie had always looked up to him a way, never admitted it, he's too shy to do so, besides him and michael had become friends ever since mackenzie had been called up to travel with the senior team a couple of times now and now he thinks it's too late to admit his admiration for michael - they'd become too close, it would be weird now. whilst they both sat on the bench, they'd talk about life a lot. mackenzie realised that michael is just a guy with problems, who struggles like any other person. he's not untouchable. still, mackenzie's admiration for his secret idol would not vanish.

he had arrived at the grounds with a positive energy, they chatted during warmup and mackenzie realised that despite this not being the senior team, michael took this match very seriously, he was 100% determined to give everything, just like he would for the senior team, which once again made mackenzie realise ehat good of guy michael was. they talked about transfers, about michael's uncertain future at the club, with sadness in his eyes. mackenzie listened closely, like the world around them was on hold, right now, it was just michael speaking and mackenzie listening.

all michael wanted to do was play, but he didn't get to do that anymore, for nine consecutive games now. it hadn't been the first time he'd been dropped by dyche, not the first time his bad performance had caused him to lose his place in the squad.

"you'll play again, you'll score again. you're good at it! you know what? you'll score tonight. just wait!" mackenzie told him before they walked onto the pitch, earning a smile from michael who nudged his shoulder.

the first half was tough, they conceded and were 0-1 down.

but the second half had begun bright - a goal was scored. a good goal, and it wasn't scored by just anyone, it was scored by michael. just like mackenzie had predicted. michael turns around and looks at mackenzie, the brightest, most genuine smile on his face. like he had just scored a winning goal for his country during stoppage time. THAT was the smile his teammates had talked about before, undoubtedly so.

michael didn't care that it wasn't for the senior team, all he cared about was everton. his club. helping them, getting to do what he loves, for the first time in a while.

mackenzie goes to hug him.

"told you so!" mackenzie says cheering.

michael smiles "i guess you're magic, kid!"

[phoebepheebsphibs]

NOOOOOOOOO LEO!!! NOOOO—

HANG ON—

Story time.

When the group had first arrived, it had been entirely confusing and chaotic. Firstly, they had no idea how they'd gotten there. Secondly, it had only been a day and a half since the "incident", and so they hadn’t been completely sure if this experience was real or not. Thirdly, they had been portaled here with the mushrooms. Which they'd destroyed completely. And it was here, alive and well. What.

It had simply appeared with them, popping up. And rather than let them destroy it, the attendant who had seen to their spontaneous arrival and given them the label "No Fun in Fungus AU" had gathered the mushrooms and spore clouds into a single container and ordered them to NOT destroy the mushrooms. Which they didn't understand at all, but apparently it was a rule for the competition. Donnie almost committed anarchy. Or arson. One of the two. Donnie wasn't happy about it.

None of them were happy about it. They knew what would happen if the mushrooms were to get loose... the spores would infect innocent people, their fears would come to life and haunt them vividly... They couldn’t let that happen. Leo would rather be stuck in the Prison Dimension again than let that happen! Okay, maybe that was a terrible exaggeration, but still... he knew a lot of Leonardos here probably went through those memories, or similar versions of them. He couldn't let them go through that again.

Leo had promised to be on guard. He had the fanny packs, he had the space to carry the small container. And he was the leader. It was only right.

But something they hadn’t considered happened.

Leo lost the container.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU LOST IT?!" Raph shouted with terror.

"I-I don't know," he mumbled nervously. "I-i-it was r-right here, I had it, ri-right here--"

"Where did you see it last?" Mikey asked.

"Did you at any time drop your fanny packs?" Donnie wondered. "There were some thieves around here, I think, did any of them get too close?"

"Could it have fallen out?" Raph offered, already on his hands and knees searching.

Leo was in a panicked stupor for hours while he looked for the container. They searched and searched and searched. Leo hoped against hope that the container hadn't been stolen, or worse -- damaged in some way, or opened.

And then they got word.

Someone had been spored.

The first reports began trickling in. Traces of the fear spores could be found. Donnie used his tech and goggles to follow the mystic and botanical trails left from the airborne fungus. But they always arrived too late. They'd always come upon the subject shivering, tear stains trailing down their cheeks as their loved ones comforted them dearly. And they would grieve with them, apologize profusely, and then continue with the hunt.

A lot of the spores hung about the medbay, for some reason. And they all had another interesting report... a hand. An oddly realistic hand, uncanny valley type of thing that threw the spores in their faces and then dashed away before they could know what hit them. In some cases it wielded the mushrooms like a weapon against them.

The boys had gathered around the medbay, Donnie creating another wall of photos and thread connecting the theories on where the fungus had struck and where it would strike next, similar to how he had years ago with the conspiracy of pizza week and pizzasaurus.

"...Well, I can safely conclude that... I have no idea what to do."

"You don't even have a clue?" Raph asked, wringing his hands.

"Not on how to find them. They pop in and out, striking randomly! The fact that they've hit the medbay so often is strange, but that was just for some members of a specific team, so I'm guessing the fungus just sort of... worked down the line until it spored everyone. Now it's moved on."

"Moved on?!" Mikey shouted, forgetting his volume. "You mean, we've lost it again?"

"Indeed. And I have no way to trace it. It seems that it just... spurts up randomly! It attacks a contestant, and then vanishes, almost like mayflies. I don't understand how or why, but... My best guess is that the spores travelled through the vents, and created growths in random places! We could try to destroy as many as we can find, but..."

"But who knows how many people would be spored in the meantime?" Mikey mumbled. "I can't believe this... I can't believe there's nothing we can do to stop the spores..."

"We can still hunt them down and eliminate the ones we find, but --" Donnie sighed. "I can't stop more from growing."

“Did…..we do this?” Raph asked, looking at all the list of all the poor souls who'd been entered into the med ward due to their panic attacks, and in some cases even psychotic breakdowns.

“We didn’t mean to!" Mikey pleaded, on the verge of tears. "They just got sent here with us! We tried to stop them!”

“It’s not as if we had a choice to be here,” Donnie added.

Leo stayed silent, standing at a distance from his brothers as he stared at the wall.

“Leo?” Raph asked, knowing all too well what silence meant from his little brother.

“I….started another apocalypse.”

...

It was funny how they never suspected. They never saw. What simpletons, what fools! It was right in front of them, right under their noses... it was even on that stupid little board they'd made. And yet, their thoughts never once considered me.

It was just too easy, too fantastic! The fun I've had. The thrills. To watch others, see their stories, their nightmares, to feel the rush of the adrenaline without ever having to experience the fear itself.

I am not necessarily a cruel being. I am not evil. I am simply like you, I enjoy to see others in their story. And angst, the sweet, sweet angst... I eat it up. Metaphorically, of course... You enjoy it too, don't you? You beg for it, plead and pray. We want the rush of excitement, or to feel validated in our own fears if we see that our heroes feel as we do. No, I am not a villain. I am a prompter, if you will... I deliver. And I feed off of these stories and emotions.

It was so simple to accomplish. As soon as I saw them arrive, I followed. I was so excited... but I had to keep my composure. So I followed them. It was almost too easy to take the mushrooms from Leonardo. He never saw me. That is my strength, you all have seen me, laughed, chortled, joked at my appearances. But you never considered, never even questioned how I got there, where my collection of the shrooms came from. No one even thought... And what is more, the grandest attribute to my scheme -- is that I am never in danger. Who can touch me? I vanish before they know I was ever there. Who can follow me? I am invisible to the naked eye. And who can blame me? I FEEL NO FEAR. I am immune to these spores, as I have no mouth, no nostrils, no lungs. Why fear to breath in the infection, when you needn't breath at all??

But now they blame themselves.

Now, these foolish children consider themselves responsible, as if they had the means and the motive to infect this whole little world as I have. What idiots. But I do mean that in the most loving of ways. We hurt the ones we love the most, don't we? Ah well, it isn't as if I can communicate this to them. It is not as though they shall ever understand me. And even if they could decipher my secret language, my invisible tongue, how could they ever understand what I was working for? That I did it for us, for our stories? I am a messenger, a deliverer, a great admirer of our stories. Yours, theirs, ours.

You cannot claim this apocalypse, Leonardo. You have no right to do so.

I shall claim that victory alone. And now, while I have you here, I may as well let you experience what you have been trying so desperately to avoid this entire time... your worst fears realized.

Have fun.

@boots-with-the-fur-club @daboyau @tmntaucompetition

Art by: @phoebepheebsphibs (Middle and bottom right), @the-golden-system (top left), @fairydragon (Bottom left), @pigeonsgrame2 (Top right) , and the Misa character from @littlemissartemisia (Bottom right)

“Did…..we do this?”

“We didn’t mean to! They just got sent here with us! We tried to stop them!”

“It’s not as if we had a choice to be here.”

“…..”

“Leo?”

“I….started another apocalypse.”

Even though it’s been amazing for me to see all the responses to the fear spores, the No Fun in Fungus boys are feeling a lot of guilt. Feel free to interact!

@daboyau

@tmntaucompetition

References for the edit/trace under read more!

[kitkatwinchester]

OMG I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN!!!

I feel like I need four separate reaction posts for everything I just watched, but we're too far in now, so I guess this is just gonna have to be a long one.

You know what? To help things out, I'll divide it up with gifs instead of putting all of them at the bottom, and then maybe just put a gif of my favorite scene at the very bottom (which is the Sciles scene, obviously).

That said, strap in. XD

MELISSA AND NOAH!!!

SCILES AND LIAM!!!

STALIA AND LYDIA!!!

SCIRA AND STILES!!!

I CANNOT RIGHT NOW!!!

In order of events?

In order of events.

MELISSA AND NOAH: I love you both so much, and I'm so glad you two are in the know now, because it's so nice to have you. Like, I love that they were both there to make sure that the killings weren't supernatural (although, unfortunately for them, given that I saw the thing that did it, I'm gonna say there's some supernatural elements involved for sure.), and I just loved everything about their interaction with Melissa referring to them as "the boys", and Noah saying he wanted to give them a day off, and then poor Melissa with her "When do we get a day off?" . Ugh. I just love them so much and their parental protectiveness over their kids. Literally the best. Also the fact that Melissa called Scott about it and told him not to get involved because she knew they'd see it and want to get involved is so on point lol. As an aside, I know that McStilinski is a ship, and while a cute name...nah. I like their relationship as platonic, just like their kids' relationship lol.

(I'm 95% sure this gif is from an earlier episode, but I'll take it. XD)

SCILES AND LIAM: Alright alright, you already know--this one is the favorite. I already love this new trio so much I cannot. But just...the DYNAMICS HERE, OKAY?! I love Sciles's approach to this little interrogation so much. Like, Stiles is the intimidation (which is amusing when you consider which one of them is the werewolf, but also fits their personalities very well lol), and Scott is the analyst, listening for the heartbeat and picking up on the lies. And then I love how when Scott does pick up on the lie, he and Stiles make eye contact, and Stiles gives him that little "that's right, you've got him, take him down" nod and then Scott comes in full force. And then Stiles is trying so hard to keep up the sass and intimidation, but Scott is already really quickly softening (as he often does lol), so when he says the "actually we could sort of use a couple" with that little cringe, and Stiles rolls his eyes with the quick little "shut up not helping" look and then gets right back into interrogation mode. Which just makes it BETTER, because then Stiles gets a LITTLE too carried away, and a LITTLE too intense, and Scott's eyes get sooo big, and he screams at him to shut up with his face, and Stiles doesn't listen, so then he scolds him out loud, and THEN Stiles shuts up, but begrudgingly. And THEN, once Liam realizes that Scott and Stiles are disagreeing, he knows he has them, and his earlier attempts at verbally fighting back finally pay off, because he knows where to hit them. And he IMMEDIATELY gets Scott's approval with the soft affection and respect he puts behind "made team captain when he was a sophomore, like you", only to bring his sass RIGHT back, FULL force, when he turns to Stiles with the "guess I'm just that good" and walks away with allll the confidence in the world. And the way the boys just look after him with Scott's "He wasn't lying that time." Scott likes him. Stiles hates him. It's perfect. Trio made. If Liam is my semi-Isaac replacement, I will happily take him. This is gonna be AMAZING. XD <3

(YOUR HONOR I LOVE THEM ALREADY!! XD XD <3 <3 <3 <3)

STALIA AND LYDIA: Just for the record, I relate to Malia on a personal level. XD That said, that was the cutest freaking thing OMG. I absolutely loved how she tried so hard to get out of the class and Stiles was right there to force her back in. And her little "I hate math, it's pointless" (see? I relate!) while Stiles is just like "nope, gotta do this school thing" (which is extra funny when you consider what happens with him five minutes later lol). And then the fact that he says math is important for tipping, and Lydia just rolls her eyes and then comes in with the "and less important things like medicine, economics, engineering" while staring pointedly at Stiles, but he just comes right back with "tipping" and his LITTLE WINK. XD <3 And then poor Malia, when she gets called to the board, and Stiles just tries to give her the most supportive little double thumbs up, and she just GROWLS, and Stiles looks mildly terrified, and I just... Yeah if I can't have Stydia yet, I'll take Stalia, because they're cute, and their chemistry is very fun. And then to have Lydia ultimately give her the answer, and to find out that Lydia's been giving her notes...I love our little pack and how much they help each other so much. <3 <3 Stalia is my other favorite Stiles ship. Sorry not sorry.

(Their facial expressions are just adorable I cannot. XD <3)

SCIRA AND STILES: I know I said order of events, but we're calling this Scira and Stiles because THEY KISSED! And it was ADORABLE! Okay pre-kiss, that ENTIRE interaction between the three of them I CANNOT. This is why it's so funny to me that Stiles was all on Malia's butt about attending her classes, because the SECOND there's a mystery to solve, Stiles goes "what school? What classes? Murderer? I'm on it." and I love that about him. XD I just love how determined he was to go, and Scott is trying to remind him that they have school, and their parents don't want them involved, and Kira's trying to tell him that the adults can handle it, and Stiles is not having ANY of it. And then to just have him say, like it's the most ridiculous thing in the world, "So the two of you, you just wanna stay here, in school, go to class...never heard anything so irresponsible in my life." XD XD BABY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! XD <3 <3 <3 Okay, and THEN we get the kiss (I think this scene is gonna need two gifs, because I need both sets of interactions lol), and it's PERFECT and ADORABLE, and GOSH how are these two not officially canon yet? Because the thing is, they keep saying they're not boyfriend and girlfriend when neither of them really mean it, and one of them just has to ASK and SAY THE WORD, because you're BOTH FEELING IT! Which is SO obvious by the fact that Scott literally INSTINCTIVELY kissed her goodbye! SO instinctively that he didn't even NOTICE right away. He got ALL THE WAY TO CLASS, sat down, and THEN finally processed that he just kissed her. And the happy surprise on Kira's face I just... OMG JUST SAY YOU'RE BOYFRIEND AND GIRLFRIEND ALREADY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! You're KILLING us. XD XD

(STILES I LOVE YOU! SCIRA I LOVE YOU!! THIS WHOLE SCENE, I LOVE YOU!! XD XD XD <3 <3 <3 <3 <3)

Uh...

Okay.

I think that covered everything. XD

In my defense, I DID warn you that it would be a long one, but there was just SO MUCH BEAUTY TO ANALYZE, OKAY?!

OKAY?!

I mean, LOOK at all those scenes. LOOK AT THEM!!

HOW can you NOT talk about them so much. THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL!!

...yeah I think Season 4 is pretty freaking awesome so far. XD <3

Anyways MY NEW FAVORITE TRIO! <3

(Isaac will never be replaced in my heart, but Liam can somewhat fill the hole left behind. :( XD Also I don't think this is actually from this episode, but oh well, I love them. XD <3)

Update: Most of those scenes are not on YouTube and now I am sad. That said, I think they will live rent free in my head just fine, considering it took me longer to type up this reaction post than it did to watch those scenes, considering I'm fifteen minutes into the episode and I started watching at 12:45a and it’s now 1:30a... XD

[thinkwithyourgut]

A Pokémon au for Touken Ranbu sprung to mind. Outside of headcanons I probably won’t do much with it but underneath is the basic starter swords stuff I thought up.

Kashuu is from a poor, unremarkable town. Fire Pokémon were heavily relied upon to help people around there survive. He admires contests and shows but isn’t interested in participating himself. He’s a hardworking trainer but fusses too much over his Pokémon’s appearance. He’s a loyal admirer of fire types but tends to only catch Pokémon he thinks are cute. On his travels, he ended up bumping into Yasusada a lot, they have a rather competitive but friendly rivalry.

Mutsunokami grew up on a Pokémon farm and was always helping take care of them. He travels more for the sake of adventure than to battle but still enjoys it. He’s weak for dog like Pokémon, they’re rather naturally drawn to him as well. He’s always wandering around in forests and mountain areas, he honestly doesn’t lose his way that often but people still beg him to catch a Pokémon that can fly just in case. He’s good at finding aggressive wild Pokémon and always has crazy stories to share from his travels.

Hachisuka is a rich kid, he was very spoiled and only began really learning about the world through his travels. Initially it’s because he was worried about Urashima eventually doing the same and having no advice to offer him, but he came to enjoy the freedom and softened up quite a bit. He’s drawn to psychic types but tries to always switch up his team. His Grumpig was originally a gift from Urashima as a Spoink and he will very quickly get mad at anyone who says it doesn’t suit him or his team.

Kasen at first thought he would get into coordination but discovered a competitive better suited to being a trainer. He considers himself an artist first, creating poetry and artwork inspired by his battles and travels. His preference is for grass types especially anything with flowers related to its appearance but anything that he sees as elegant can win a spot in his team. He’s might come off as strict but he’s a very caring and dedicated trainer.

Yamanabgiri is a trainer who spends a lot of time working hard with his Pokémon that love being active. He tries to shy away from proper competitions or gym challenges due to nerves and his aversion to attention. He’s a lot more comfortable with Pokémon over people but feels bad catching them unless they seem to want to come with him. He doesn’t have a type preference but admittedly feels more at ease with small and fluffy Pokémon.

The five end up running into each other on separate occasions, Kasen and Kashuu became quick friends. Mutsunokami figured Yamanbagiri must be lonely and went out of his way to try befriending him. Hachisuka was honestly curious about Kasen’s creative works and eventually worked up the courage to talk to him about them. Mutsunokami and Kasen always clash but Kasen is very concerned about his wellbeing when Mutsunokami walks off into danger and so they accompany each other sometimes. Yamanbagiri strongly resisted the group at first since Mutsunokami came on too strong but Kashuu was gentler with him often throwing him a lifeline when Mutsu was being too much and he became used to them after enough time. Hachisuka got more into treating and grooming his Pokémon after chats with Kashuu. Yamanbagiri became interested in photography along with Mutsunokami when Kasen talks about other art mediums. Mutsunokami challenges Yamanbagiri every time he sees him after a while since he feels it’s a better way to get to know him than trying to force him to talk.

[moodys-art]

I finally thought of my request!! Hopefully 3 characters aren't much of a count !! :"D how about headcanons for Diavolo, Risotto, and Prosciutto with a femme fatale reader? (She/her please ywy. Also she's not entirely their s/o or a part of la squadra!! She's just this mysterious mafia member no one's heard of. I'd like to see how they'd fall for her charms.) (U can look it up if you aren't familiar with the term :^) hopefully this won't be nsfw. If it is feel free to ignore this ask!!)

Thank you again :^}c

Yes, I was looking forward to your request ! I am a bit familiar with the theme, I think I get what you mean and the overall aesthetic of femme fatale, there's a lot about the subject and it can no doubt be sfw ! Notes in the tags 💗

Risotto, Prosciutto and Diavolo falling for femme fatale reader

Warnings : a bit of stalking and creepiness for Diavolo's part, but you know, typical Diavolo behavior...🙄

Femme fatale, definition : « an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who is likely to cause distress or disaster to a man who becomes involved with her.»

Risotto

No need to say, Risotto has noticed you. After all, he's a very observant man, and a very good Capo as well, so it's only normal he's aware of his surroundings and the environment in which his team works.

However, as he doesn't know anything about you, he thinks that it's only a matter of time before he has to introduce himself to you and try to assess if you're an enemy to his team or not. He's fairly comfortable with the idea of going up to you and engage in a conversation, but is reluctant to use his invisibility powers to spy on you, as you could be an ally.

Risotto isn't one to be easily attracted to people, but he has to admit that your extremely elegant and sharp looks is something he doesn't see quite often. He's really quick to guess that this is also a way for you to assert dominance in whatever mission or deal you may have to complete; you're in the mafia, after all.

He comes up to you on an ordinary day while you are out in the park, profiting from the shiny sun of the early afternoon. Risotto stays very diplomatic, sitting accross from you on the bench, introducing himself very clearly. "Should my team be involved in any business with you, and/or your teammates if you have any on your side, I sincerely hope it will be from an ally perspective." It could sound like a threat, except that the man is lightly smiling at you, meaning that he truly looks forward to seeing you again, and that if your businesses were to mingle, he hopes it wouldn't end up in you being his enemy. After discussing with you for a moment, he realizes that you're quite appreciable.

If you, on your side, make him know that you're willing to help him get some missions done - you're quite powerful, after all -, he could be interested in the offer. If it means his team can make more money, and gain an ally, why not ?

Your newly born 'work-mates' relationship is something that Risotto really appreciates, and not only that, but he also has a deep respect for the way you accomplish your work. It will maybe take a time before he finally decides to ask you out - on the account that you've already made him know that you're interested -, but it'll get there. Even Risotto cannot resist your charm.

Prosciutto

It's been a quite a time since Prosciutto noticed you in the streets of Napoli. Whether he was out in the evening, eating in a restaurant, or taking a stroll after his mission while smoking, it was difficult not noticing you.

You had an outstanding attitude, a proud look on your face, along with a very nice shade of lip color that looked like dark cherry. Prosciutto knew, someway, that you were part of the mafia as well, but he'd never heard about you in his team's reports, nor in the discussions he oftened like to partake in with a few other gangsters outside of La Squadra. No, he didn't know who was that mysterious, charming woman he'd seen several times before, but he was sure annoyed by that.

Prosciutto likes to assess people's personalities by looking at them first and foremost. Hence, that is with no surprise that both of your gazes come to meet each other a few times during the week. Except, Prosciutto holds himself to that. No more. He knows he shouldn't get involved in any other thing than work with another mafia member, as he's part of a team that has its own interests. So, no place for romance...

That is until one evening, you both end up in the same bar, sat next to each other due to nothing else than pure fate. So now that you're both here, why not seize the day ? Prosciutto thinks.

After having assessed your willingness to get involved in a talk, he'll engage in a conversation. "I've seen you around for quite some time now. What does a person like you does while wandering the streets of Napoli on her own?" It's up to you to answer him, but Prosciutto lives for quite mysterious auras like yours. He will not hesitate to make you know that he's interested.

Your bold and confident personality surprise him, in a very good way, and he doesn't refuse the drink that you offer him. Witnessing your seductive and charming manners, he can't help but to look at you, admiring how you present yourself.

If you two decide to follow-up on that encounter and to see each other more often, he's surely not against that. As the gentleman he is, one day will come when he'll be happy to invite you to eat in a nice, classy restaurant.

Diavolo

Well, it's a tricky situation, because first of all, in no way Diavolo would allow himself to let any person stay in La Passione if he feels like they are in for power and have too much ambition. Although he doesn't recruit members -as it's the job of a Capo,not a Boss-, he likes to do his own research on who is in the gang. He needs to know who could become a potential threat to him, after all.

After having spied on you from afar and collected some information on you as he does for everyone in the gang, he's a bit relieved. But for heaven's sake, he's Diavolo, so let's not forget that he still doesn't trust you, let alone anyone really.

The fact that you often encounter this pink-haired man at your local bakery is no coincidence. After a while, he'll come up to you to ask about the kind of bakery he should consider buying, because you seem like a regular here. The way you carry yourself is something that intrigues him more than anything, and maybe so much to the point of him being willing to consider letting you in in his life, - a very small part of his life at least.

Diavolo will not introduce himself. Even his outfit, for anonymity purposes, will be as discrete as possible, a dark costume and an ordinary hat. However, it will really be him, and not Doppio, unless he comes here a few times to look at you from afar. Diavolo will do everything in his power not to be noticed, or at least to be considered like nothing more than a civil; but he will allow you to ask him some questions as most people that come to you are usually from La Passione.

If you're risky enough to flirt with him, he'll maybe consider taking you out on a date. But you've got to be aware, that if you get to see his face, you'll no longer be ever alone in the streets of Napoli, and always looked over - if things turn to good, or to bad.

You two really make a classy and powerful pair. Your daring and smart looks is the spice to his overly secretive life. Watching you reapply your signature lipstick to readjust your femme fatale look makes him think that maybe, maybe, he could trust you enough to let you in the Unità Speciale and know that you will do a wonderful job.

[ibuki-loves-you]

Killed for a Hopeful Future (Nagito Komaeda x Reader)

Warnings: Angst, mentions of suicide, domestic stuff, detailed descriptions of murder, mentions of v/mit, potential spoilers???

Mod Ibuki: Another piece me and @call-me-ko worked on together! Execution based off this fan-made one! I hope you enjoy!

Sobs were all that could be heard throughout the small cottage.

Heavy, distraught sobs.

Nagito sat in his bed, the bed Y/N often accompanied him in. Heavy sobs racked his body. He doesn't think he's cried this hard in his entire life.

His love, his world, was gone.

It was like they were taken right out from under him.

One gunshot wound to the chest and bruises around their neck. Their leg looked broken, probably from the fall.

Y/N's body was hung from the door of strawberry house and dropped all the way to grape house's floor. Blood was everywhere due to the gunshot wound.

When Nagito saw, he thought he was going to die himself. No one told him that they were the victim. They just said they didn't know who it was yet.

He didn't get to say goodbye

He didn't get to tell them that he loved them.

He didn't-

"Nagito!" Fuyuhiko yelled. Nagito swung his head around, glaring at him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Nagito stated. Fuyuhiko stayed quiet. "Simple question. Is it really that hard to answer?" He snapped. Fuyuhiko didn't say anything. Kazuichi shakily sighed. "W-We didn't want to make you panic."

Nagito scoffed. "A little late for that, isn't it?"

Nagito investigated your body himself. He didn't trust anyone. You were loved by everyone here, and yet you still died. It didn't add up.

Bing Bong Bing Bong

Bing Bong Bing Bong

"Nagito... it's time for the trial." Hajime mumbled apologetically. Nagito nodded slowly.

"Give me a minute..." He responded. "Of course." Hajime said softly, moving to the elevator.

Nagito dropped to his knees in front of them. Tears started streaming down his face.

"Who did this? Angel...who did this to you?" He mumbled, stroking Y/N's head. "I promise...your killer will get what they deserve." Nagito placed a kiss on their forehead.

He began making his way towards the elevator.

Justice would be served

"The murder occurred at around 5:30 am." Hajime started.

"The murder weapon was a noose found at the scene, but they also had a wound in their chest. I think a gunshot. That could be the cause of death as well." Chiaki added.

"It was the cause of death." Nagito interrupted. "How else could they have fallen?"

"Fallen...?" Chiaki asked. Nagito scoffed.

"I'm not looking to play games this trial. I want to know the blackened as soon as I possibly can so let me tell you this so you can put everything together." Nagito said angrily.

"Strawberry house and grape house are connected. It's an elevator. Y/N died beforehand via gunshot. That means the killer went to the Final Dead Room. I would know because I went there. The elevator won't move if a living thing is detected. It moved because they were dead already. The killer tied a noose around their neck and tied the other end to the doorknob. Then, they activated the elevator. Eventually, Y/N would fall because that's how gravity works. Now, figure out who killed them." Nagito snapped. He explained the murder in perfect detail, no flaw.

With Nagito's explanation, soon enough they found the killer.

"Gundham...why did you do it?" Hajime asked, a solemn expression painted onto his features. 

Gundham stood silent. After a moment, he took a breath.

"We had a plan." He muttered. "Please explain." Hajime requested, taking a few glances at a fuming Nagito.

"Y/N and I agreed that we would allow all of you to escape at the expense of our lives. I completed the Final Dead Room, and we planned the murder from there." Gundham started.

"We wanted you to survive. Y/N didn't go down without a fight, nor did I. I request you remember that." Gundham looked towards Nagito. He dug through his pocket and pulled out a key. He walked over to Nagito and held it out.

"It is the key to their cottage. I didn't know if you had one or not, either or I assumed they'd want you to have it." Nagito took the key silently.

"I don't expect forgiveness, nor do I want it. But one thing I want you all to carry from mine and Y/N's demise is that you must always fight. Do not go down without one."

With that, Gundham was dragged to his execution.

And that's how he ended up in his room clutching a piece of your clothing while he bawled his eyes out.

Bing Bong Bing Bong

Bing Bong Bing Bong

"Please make your way to Jabberwock Park! Not attending will result in immediate death! See you soon! Puhuhuhuhu~"

Nagito looked at the monitor. Should he even attend? He didn't care whether he died or not.

After contemplation he decided to go. He dried his eyes and placed your belonging neatly on his bed. Nagito made his way out the door and to Jabberwock Park.

Upon arrival, everyone gave him pitied stares. He looked horrible, worse than he usually did, and he knew that.

"Are you alright?" Chiaki spoke. Nagito looked at her and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"No, not really. But you shouldn't worry! I'll be fine." That was a lie, even he didn't believe it.

"Allow me to introduce the new motive. Future visions!" Monokuma announced. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"We aren't gonna do that shit!" Fuyuhiko screamed. "Yeah, like we'd believe it!" Nekomaru hollered after. Nagito stayed silent.

Future visions? He didn't believe in any of that, but it's worth a look, right?

When everyone left Jabberwock Park, mainly out of anger towards Monokuma, Nagito looked at the vision motive.

A character select button appeared on a screen that seemingly came out of nowhere. He selected himself. A video began to load.

"Alright, let's go see baba." Nagito cooed. He took his daughter's hands and gently pulled her to her feet. The baby giggled in response.

"Ready? One step at a time." Nagito looked up at Y/N. They sat on the other side of the living room, smiling at the two. Nagito gave them a bright smile. With small steps of his own, he guided their daughter in Y/N's direction.

Their child shook their hands from Nagito's. Nagito let go and smiled, keeping close behind her.

Y/N opened their arms and their daughter stumbled into them. Nagito hurried over with a wide smile.

"You did it, baby! I'm so proud of you!" Nagito cheered. His daughter crawled out of Y/N's arms and into his. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"And you say she isn't a daddy's girl." Y/N teased. Nagito smiled and kissed his daughter's cheek over and over, earning a giggle in response.

"Yeah, I guess I see where you're coming from." Nagito leaned forward and gave you a kiss.

"I love you, angel." "I love you too, Nagi."

Nagito stared at the screen with a mix of horror and awe. He moved his hands towards his pale face and rubbed his temples. He took his hand and selected Y/N’s character.

“Daddy! Higher!” His daughter giggled, gripping the chains of the swing. Nagito chuckled

“A little higher, okay?” Nagito compromised. She giggled and nodded. “Okay daddy!”

Y/N smiled from next to Nagito, watching as he booped her nose every time the swing came towards him.

“Baba! Look how high I’m going!” Their daughter called. Y/N giggled and nodded.

“I see! You’re almost as tall as me and daddy from up there!” Y/N said, a smile gracing their features. Nagito nodded in agreement, a huge smile on his face. He turned his head to face his lover.

“Look how happy she is.” He mumbled, chuckling everytime she giggled.

“Daddy keep pushing me!” She said when he stopped for a moment. Nagito laughed and continued pushing the swing.

“She really is such a happy kid.” Y/N smiled throughout their sentence. Nagito wrapped one arm around Y/N’s waist and used the other to push the swing.

That was his future? Or would’ve been?

Nagito put his forehead against the screen and started crying again.

He couldn’t help but feel selfish because he wanted that more than anything.

Soon enough his tears turned to crazed wheezes, laughter shaking his body.

Hope and despair mixed in his eyes once again. He had nothing to lose…

So why not get himself killed? Or better yet get them killed. It's all their fault after all, Y/N did nothing to them yet they had to die.

Bing Bong Bing Bong

Bing Bong Bing Bong

“A body has been discovered! Please make your way to the warehouse on the fifth island!”

Everyone dropped what they were doing and made their way to the warehouse next to the factory while Nagito took his time. Everything went according to plan. Now all he had to do was wait. Whether he survived the trial or not didn’t matter much to him, since one way or another he would die.

Suicide or execution was the question now.

“The victim is Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager. The murder weapon is unknown, but definitely a tool of some sorts as he was taken apart.” Hajime started. 

“Trip wire was found at the scene.” Kazuichi added. “So we can assume that was definitely used, especially since he has scratched on his ankles. Well, as scratched as metal can be.”

“Killer probably pressed the power button after using the trip wire, right?” Fuyuhiko questioned. Hajime nodded. “Most likely.”

Sonia put a finger to her chin. “So what you are saying is the killer used tripwire, and then powered Nekomaru off?” Hajime nodded again.

“Who would want to kill Nekomaru? He was so kind to us all.” Akane muttered. “I can’t answer that, I wish I could. But for now all we can do is find his killer.” And with that the trial was officially underway.

“So this is how it happened.” Hajime started. “Nekomaru was lured to the factory’s warehouse by an anonymous letter. He assumed whoever it was he would be able to handle, so he expected a fight. What he didn’t expect was tripwire a few feet away from the door. With his height, I wouldn’t expect him to see it either. Nor would I expect it myself. After Nekomaru fell into the tripwire, his head slammed into the floor, causing him to be weakened for a moment. It may not have been a long moment, but it was enough for the killer to rush into action and press his power button on the back of his neck. When the power button was pressed and Nekomaru was officially powered off, the killer took him apart using a variety of tools found at the market. This explains the mess of oil we found. The killer scattered his parts all around the warehouse and factory, thus leading to us having to find the parts and put them together for investigation.”

Hajime turned to the podium across from his.

“Isn’t that right, Nagito Komaeda? The Ultimate Lucky Student��”

Nagito smiled that crazed grin of his. His eyes were swirling with hope and despair once again.

“Yep! You are absolutely right!” He laughed. Hajime winced while Akane banged on her podium in sheer anger.

“Why, Nagito?” Hajime asked. Nagito continued to laugh. “Isn’t it obvious? I wanted to die!” He said as if it was nothing. Akane growled. “So why didn’t you kill yourself!?” Nagito’s laughs died down, his emotions doing a complete 180.

“Because I wanted to kill you all as well.” He said simply. Everyone looked as if they’d seen a ghost.

“W-What?” Hajime whispered. “Did I stutter? You guys were the reason Y/N died! Y-You took them away from me!” Nagito screamed. He dropped to his knees behind his podium, sobs beginning to consume him once again.

“I-I could’ve had a life with them...We w-would’ve been happy a-and I w-would’ve had a d-daughter.” Nagito mumbled weakly. “I just want Y/N...I-I want to see Y/N. P-Please just kill me already.” He pleaded.

Everyone looked at him with a mixture of sadness, pity, and fear.

“Who am I to disobey?” Monokuma said. “W-Wait, we need to talk more! We have more questions, bastard!” Fuyuhiko cursed. Monokuma ignored him. Nagito continued sobbing and clutching his podium.

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got! It’s punishment time!”

Nagito was set up straight, strapped to a wheel similar to one you’d see on a gameshow. Every section other than him was either Monomi or Monokuma.

Monokuma spun the wheel, causing him to start spinning with it.

It landed on Monomi.

Monokuma spun the wheel again. A wave of nausea hitting Nagito like a truck as his head began pounding.

It landed on Monokuma.

The wheel was spun once again. Nagito laid cursing his luck as he began throwing up in his mouth from the constant motion sickness.

The torture continued for nearly 15 minutes. A vicious cycle of spinning and choking on his own vomit.

Monokuma spun one last time, the wheel finally landing on Nagito. He smiled, elated that the torture was finally over.

Before he could blink, copious amounts of spears fired towards him. Out of many, only three struck him.

Two in each of his legs, and one in his chest.

As he slowly bled to death, all he could think about was one thing.

He was going to see them again.