#getting commandeered under ai is scary

[itlivesproject]

I had the most horrifying dream last night

scared 😟 I dreamt pb basically commandeered ilw and began charging diamonds for bad scenes 😭😭😭

Happy Halloween to you too my dude

[thatonegayship]

Am I allowed to kiss you on the mouth? Because that's what I'm about to do. First of all, we STAN Dipper getting that college education he's always wanted, and "Doctor." Ooh~ Fancy!!! Very Much a fan of him going into the medical field and using his powers for Good, since we already know Bill's gonna throw a fit over his chosen profession. Come on, Sapling! You could do ANYTHING! You could be *sending* people to the hospital! Wouldn't that be more fun? At the very least, he should be a malpractitioner! Does he *have* to choose the job that makes Bill's gut to flips and twists and spew his lunch all over the place? It's really quite unnecessary.

God, I just loved that description you gave for Bill's body. How it IS a body, just not one that's human. More like an AI generated human, whose commands were put in by another robot with an even poorer understanding of human anatomy. I wonder now if Bill's body is like that because he's a demon and demons will always make things weird, if it's another part of the whole Metaphor thing, or if Dipper, in making a Body, neither intentionally nor with a firm understanding of how bodies are MADE or what they really look like internally, just sorta. Mashed a bunch of magic together and made an organ mess. I love it either way, it's just kind of cute imagining Bill's insides are Extra Weird because it was an accident, and someone without a medical degree was holding the reins.

The fact that Dipper couldn't just leave the evil scary demon to die after saving his skin >>> Baby, you know damn well I'm a sucker for it. Oh~ The Big Powerful Demon who is so Big and Powerful just risked his life to save Little Ol' Me and I'm perfectly within my rights to scamper off and hide under my covers like a wee man, but it's simply not in my Nature. I *must* help him, because I am oh-so compassionate, and this demon *did* save my life, so I owe them at least a little gratitude. We already knew he wasn't gonna do it because Plot, but GOD! Every time I see it, it's like!!! He was compelled to stay by his side!!! Something about him just screamed to help!!! This monster is neither kind nor merciful but despite this I must do what I can!!! You sick freak, you might as well suck him off while you bandage that wound, since your soul's freakin' tangled up with his all slutty-like.

Golly-gee! I was SOOOOOO scared for Dipper at the end!!! Just SOOOOOO scared!!! Jeepers! Gosh! That demon almost got him there! He was totally going to do some Unspeakable and Satanic things to him if he didn't get away! Shiver me timbers! Bazinga! I'm spoked, boys! That was truly terrifying!

On a serious note, I'm absolutely *salivating* at the dynamic this just introduced. Medical professional who just wants to get his degree and go into his field and help people with his magic and stay out of the way of a very formidable (and Fine) demon, who's quite literally chasing him down. For what, you may ask? Nothing good. Dipper's gonna keep running and running and running away from this jerk for as long as he can manage- which isn't very long, sadly. Bill's a dickhead, but Dipper can't exactly turn him away if he shows up at his front door with his arm all bent out of shape, or half his face blown off. I think Bill gets a pretty steady routine worked out for them by the week's end! All until Dipper gets fed up with having to patch him up for *free,* and starts threatening to charge him. That's not a problem for Bill, of course. What'll it be? A smooch? A rose? Something ~saucy?~

And Dipper points to an Injury Jar on his kitchen counter. For every broken bone Bill brings back, he puts in 5 bucks. Literal pennies to a powerful demon, and not even HALF that to the American health system, but it's still a pretty daring move to make against someone as infamous as Bill Cipher. Hell, he *could* burn his face off and heel click away like a bastard. Then again, Dipper gets a sneaking suspicion that not all of Bill's wounds are merely coincidental. Even a total bone-head like him doesn't just shatter their entire skeletal system every other week. Bill's doing some of this on *purpose.* For what purpose? Who knows. Mayhaps Bill is doing Evil Things in his bathroom the nights he's allowed to stay over for monitoring. It's hard to tell since he so DEVIOUSLY tries diverting his attention by sucking his face off every chance he gets. Truly, a devious monster.

God I just love this whole story <3<3<3 You know you're my gooey marshmallow writer and such an amazing one at that and I love you so very very dearly, it's a wonder you've graced us with yet another banger u//u I hope Dipper trips on a stick while being chased by Bill and twists his ankle so Bill can loom over him and pick him up and put an icepack on his injury while laughing at how clumsy he is even though he's supposed to be a medical professional and instruct people on how NOT to do that. And then I want them to kiss and make out like a couple of old gay lovers who've known each other for centuries through past lives, and no matter the form, always return to embrace the other because they are mathematically perfect for each other. Literally perfect for each other. Liter soul mates, and if God had to kill every one in the whole universe and leave only two people alone who are the most perfect and in love people forever and ever, it would be them :3 They are just soooooooooo in love. They love love love love love love love each other and isn't that so sweet? They love each other so much that there are literally no words for it. I have no words. I am crazy. Okay love you goodbe

Med student dipper finding bill on the verge of dying and panics, I mean sure he's an ass but he doesn't deserve to die

Sure, here's a thing!

The body lying before him is a mess. And that's putting it politely.

Dipper's clenching his jaw tight, and the expression he's wearing can't be reassuring. He schools it back to a neutral state, trying to take in -

There's a lot to take in.

All his training, the tests. The patient practice and medical diagrams. Nothing prepared him for a body like this. All this blood, not in vials or on the cool white sheets of a hospital bed, but bare and leaking on the ground. Nothing between him and the reality that life is fragile, and can end so, so soon.

Training fails. So does tact.

Dipper takes a shaky breath, and says, "You're dying." "Pfft, hardly." The demon waves an idle hand - the one not holding his chest, failing to keep that weird, viscous blood inside. How he manages to smirk despite everything is a mystery. "I've had way worse!"

Bullshit, he's - A demon, sure, but anatomical facts are facts. With a hole that big, Bill Cipher shouldn't be moving, much less able to talk.

"This? Is basically nothing! Not even a patch on the times I've had a limb come off, or been impaled." Bill Cipher lies on the grass, waggling his hand in a so-so gesture. Despite the half-circle of chest missing, bitten right out of the torso. "Or even the time someone blew up this body's entire skull!" A low whistle, a shake of said very intact head - then a grin. "Though that one worked out pretty well, if I do say so myself."

Bill buffs the nails of his free hand against his ruined shirt, examining them with a bit of pride. How is he still moving.

Dipper stares at the concave gap in his torso. The slow leaking of the thick blood hasn't spread far, but it's just. Part of Bill is missing, Dipper finds it tough to look at. His stomach churns.

If it hadn't been Bill, it would have been him.

A dragon is. Well. A dragon. Who the hell knows why Dipper got snatched up and flown back to the den in the first place, but once he was there he wasn't getting out anytime soon. Or in one piece.

Dipper's talents aren't meant for combat, only trickery, and his chosen profession. Five minutes and three bites later, he'd have been a fairly forgettable snack. A random demon wandering in was the best stroke of luck Dipper's ever had, or could ever have, in a million years.

Hell, there's a lot of people who would take this entire situation as a win. One fire-breathing lizard gone, one fire-wielding demon about to follow. Two monsters, taking each other out with one stupid, pissy, ego-powered destructive battle.

Dipper, though, is perfectly fine. Aside from some burns and acid spit marks on his jeans, he's in great shape. He could just turn, walk away, and leave this monster to die next to the other, slaughtered one.

With this amount of damage, Bill Cipher isn't going anywhere. Eventually, he'll bleed out, pass out, pass away-

And Dipper would never forgive himself for letting it just... happen.

He takes a deep, calming breath. Lets it out, slow.

Okay. Back to basics.

He drops to his knees next to his patient. The scene is safe, the dragon's - Dipper glances over his shoulder - very, very dead. Bill himself is in no position to do much but be mildly annoying, by continuing to talk about more grievous wounds he's seen and experienced.

No airway trouble, since he's talking. It's amazing he's breathing at all. Even with a good portion of the lower chest gone, Bill hasn't passed out. And has enough air to talk, so. Probably fine? Yeah.

Dipper takes Bill's free arm in both hands. As a neat side effect, it stops the dramatic gesturing.

Pulse is.... slow, at first. But it picks up as Dipper takes it at the wrist, then a bit quicker at the neck. If this were a regular human he'd consider it bradycardia. By demonic standards, it's... probably fine? He thinks?

He checks Bill's face - grinning, and wiggling his fingers at Dipper - so, no signs of distress. He's not certain how to evaluate disorientation in a demon, either. Skip that for now.

So far, Dipper's working with the idea that this isn't immediately fatal. The next step is inspecting the wound, and see whether or not he can do anything about it.

"Okay." Dipper moves to check the damage, and finds it covered with ash, and shreds of cloth, and that acidic dragon drool - with this much in the way, it's hard to evaluate. "Bill, I'm going to have to cut your shirt off."

"Sure! Need a knife?" Bill produces one from seemingly nowhere. Dipper leans away, startled. That's. More enthusiasm than he expected. Bill notes his response, eyebrow rising. "What, you squeamish or something?"

"Uh." Dipper hesitates just a moment, but that's long enough for Bill to do the job himself, splitting his shirt open bare from chest to groin, which is. A lot. With a flourish of the knife, he lies back, tucking his arm behind his head.

And. What is there to say to that. "Thanks?"

Bill just gives him a slow, slow smile, and tucks his arms behind his head. Whatever look he's going for, it's too oozy to be effective.

Despite Bill's best attempts to be an ass about it, Dipper clears the wound area, as best he can. Not fully making eye contact, it's going to be bad. It's going to be a mess. Odds are he's going to have to tell a demon he's dying, even, and it's -

Dipper glances down.

It's.

The first, insane comparison that comes to mind, is 'like a cake'.

Bill's human enough. On the outside. Layers of skin, and muscle, and bone, and a considerable amount of 'blood' from the - Dipper feels it deserves the quote marks, now - 'body'.

But where there should be organs, and interstitial fluid, and a broken, leaking, seeping mess, a tangle of bitten flesh, there's. Not.

Organ-like shapes, certainly. They work unimpeded by any holes, pulsing, and alien. Apparently alive. Not spilling anywhere, either, since they're threaded through a pitch-black, non-leaky substance. This demon's body is like... layers of human fondant, over a weird jelly filling.

Dipper grimaces. Shakes his head, hand hovering. Not certain where to touch. Or if that would even be a good idea.

The human part is leaking everywhere, though. And when Dipper tentatively presses against it to slow the bleeding, one finger on the other bit - a couple drops of bright yellow ichor ooze slowly out, landing with a sizzle on the ground. He flinches back -

And Bill starts giggling. Like that freakin' tickled.

Dipper sits back up, shutting his eyes tight. He raises his hands as if in surrender. Which he's not doing, he just. Needs a second.

Overall, his professional evaluation is that the patient isn't dying. Not having a great time by any means, but outside of immediate danger. Theoretically, something could be done to help the... damage -

But. Bill Cipher's way, way outside of any of Dipper's experience. And that includes the several courses he's taken on nonhuman beings. Even the ones about demons, and otherwordly creatures, and spirits. Hell, the seminar he attended about elementals didn't mention this.

Bill is - or rather, Bill's wearing? Bill exists in? Some type of bizarre, semi-organic, mostly-magical hodgepodge of kinda-human kinda-demonic.... molded material? Specially created container? Oddly organized organic goop?

Whatever it is, Dipper's got no idea how it works. Or what would work on it.

"I don't-" Know what to do, Dipper almost says. Despite himself, his mind is racing. "I don't think I can fix you?"

The upturned inflection betrays him. Bill's grin brightens by several degrees.

"Now there's my curious guy! Part of you does know you can fix me! Don't overthink it, kid." He slaps the wound with a wet sound, making Dipper cringe back in sympathy. "You've got the mojo, so let's get things moving."

"I have life magic, yeah," Dipper adds. He fails to disguise the irritation in his voice. Shit, he has to learn to control that. Even if the patient's being a condescending dick. "I just. Don't think that works on demons."

"And typically, you'd be right!" Bill raises a finger, wagging it at Dipper. He almost looks proud that Dipper knew some random demon fact, like a weirdo. "Lucky for both of us, I'm in an... interesting body situation. Your stuff'll work just fine."

"No matter how much 'stuff' I have, there's nothing to reattach." Dipper gestures vaguely at the still-steaming corpse, smelling of iron and salt. There's a portion of Bill's torso in its stomach, and though the dragon's dead, he's not going digging around in there. He'd lose a limb in the attempt. "You can't regrow-"

"Stop thinking 'human', then. I'm nothing of the sort!" Bill chides, wagging a finger at him. Dipper pushes his arm back down, but it pops up again to snag him by the shirt. "All I need is some tailoring done on the flesh-suit. Super-duper easy for a guy like you!"

Dipper starts to protest. Then shuts his mouth, and ducks his head.

Maybe - just maybe - Bill has a point. Whatever this is, it's miles away from normal, what with how Bill's still alive and talking, to boot.

The sheer absurdity of Bill's body situation did make him hesitate. Wondering what he could do, with something this clearly, purely magical.

What Bill's proposing is still insane, of course. Dipper doesn't know why he entertained it in the first place.

Despite not having graduated yet, Dipper's used to helping save lives. He's done a few rounds, and shadowed several doctors. Bill's injury is the worst he's ever seen. He's the worst, most deadly being Dipper's met. Leaking and immobile as he is, he's still a demon. They're absolutely the worst.

But in terms of patients? Bill doesn't even rank in the top ten.

"Hello!" Bill's glaring. He clears his throat, and snaps his fingers twice. "Tired of waiting, kid. Do I gotta ring a bell for service here or what?"

Maybe in the top nine, or eight, though.

Dipper takes a deep breath, and lets it out. "Look. This is way beyond what I'm qualified to do." He squeezes Bill's hand, held in his own, and feels a deep sense of relief. "I can help stabilize you. Though you're, uh, pretty stable, and I can call an ambulance - " He glances around the woods. "Or. Get us at least closer to where I could call one. I might have healing magic but I can't just. Do it."

The entire idea is insane. Recklessly use medical magic on an unknown being? On a strange, unfamiliar semi-organic whatever the fuck body? Without knowing how, and where, and what type to use, any part of it could go wrong in so, so many ways.

Bill's asking so casually. Like it'd be easy. Maybe he thinks it is.

Sure, his 'body' might be fine. But it really deserves the quotation marks. Assuming that it's a type of magical construct, trying to 'fill in' his missing parts might work. Demons could, in theory, be able to synthesize a... something or other, out of Dipper's efforts.

But even if it is a construct - Dipper doesn't have the blueprints.

Bill's 'body' is very, very real, not some gossamer-thin creation. Both solid, and living enough to bleed. Without a plan to follow, while he poured regeneration into an organic form? One this complicated? He'd totally screw it up. The sheer amount of magic it takes to sustain it alone is absolutely insane.

"Fine. Then back the fuck off, if you're squeamish." Bill interrupts his train of thought, voice sharp. His teeth bare as he sneers, and Dipper makes another note on the 'not human' chart. "Or hey! Find a neat stick or something." He pats at the gap on his side like it's more of an annoyance than a grievous, leaking wound. "Gotta get something to prop me up so I'm not tilting forty degrees just trying to get around."

"Cut that out." Dipper uses his stern, professional tone, to zero effect. "You need to keep that clean." Probably. Does Bill even have an immune system, or-?

His train of thought gets interrupted as Bill pats around, finding a chunk of a blasted-apart log- then compares it to his wound, with a contemplative look. Like he's judging whether it's sturdy enough to replace the flesh and bone missing from his friggin' torso. Like he only needs to plug it up as a structural issue.

"Oh my god," Dipper says, and swats the stupid splintery thing out of this idiot demon's hand. "Do you want an infection?"

Bill opens his mouth. Presumably, he was about to make some quote-unquote 'witty' response, but Dipper's already covered his mouth. Running his over hand over his face.

"If I try to patch you up," Dipper starts, slowly. Already knowing he's doing something dumb, just so someone else won't do something dumber. "Will you please not shove anything into it. After."

"It's a deal, sapling." Bill gives him a smug grin, and an irritating thumbs up. "Go for it! And tell you what." The wink is totally unnecessary. "I'll even back you up on the magic front."

"Sure," Dipper says, very dry. Because transferring magic being-to-being is that easy. Everyone just. Hands it over, on a whim. Bill has lost a lot of blood, though. Maybe it's made him loopy. "Go for it."

That, at least, shuts Bill up. He hums a little tune, lying back and waiting for....

Dipper to do the dumb thing.

With a sigh, He sets his hands on Bill. His skin is bare, so there's a the brief relief that Dipper won't have to channel through it; a total lack of modesty does have minor benefits.

Another breath. Dipper shuts his eyes. focusing on his magic. Drawing it down, through his own source of life, through is arms, to his fingers, pressed into Bill's soft skin like he's testing the ripeness of a peach.

Welp. Here goes nothing.

Literally nothing, mind. Demons are powerful, and weird. Mortal magic doesn't mingle well, or easily, with the kind that demons throw around, and the form Bill's wearing looks hand-crafted. Whatever made it is going to be way beyond Dipper's ability to fix. Possibly beyond his ability to comprehend.

If he's lucky, though, he might be able to slow the bleeding. For some reason that hasn't really stopped, but it'll make transporting him less messy if he can manage to stem it. but the best case scenario is that he doesn't murder Bill outright in the attempt.

The first trickles of magic bleed into Bill's flesh, spreading through that layer of fondant, down into the jelly-donut center. His magic feels bone and blood. He feels the little tangling twine of veins, and the strings of muscle.

Following his training, Dipper pushes magic in. Carefully. Slowly.

A moment later, his eyes shoot open.

He stares at the wound. Then he stares Bill.

All he gets in return a is a big grin, and a nonchalant wave.

Dipper blinks back down a the gap in this demon, and how it slowly, slowly closes up without even being guided.

Fixing up a person would be a multi-step, long, lingering process. Like repairing the circuitry on a delicate electronic, or gently guiding the weave of a tapestry.

With Bill, Dipper's just. Pouring wax into a mold. As long as he keeps putting magic into it, it reforms back into shape. No blueprints needed.

Holy shit, this is easy.

What the fuck.

Whatever form Bill's wearing is truly bizarre. This is - he doesn't know - technically organic, but absolutely a constructed thing. How the hell was this made? Who did it? And what the hell, why is it growing back so fast?

Dipper nearly pulls back out of sheer surprise, intending to stop - before quickly realizing he can't.

He slams his palms back on Bill's torso, shivering as the small plumes of flame fade. Bill doesn't seem to mind; which both is and isn't a surprise. No blisters form, either, which proves Dipper's startled assumption about what the fuck just happened.

Swearing again, Dipper shuts his eyes, shoving harder against Bill's skin. No backing out now. He has to keep focus, and see this through.

Bill wasn't kidding about how easy this would be.

He also wasn't kidding about backing Dipper up with his magic.

Even though this is easy, Dipper wouldn't have enough on his own, not to heal a huge chunk like this. Too much missing material, even in a magical construct. Too complicated, and strange.

But Bill's here. A guy who's very invested in getting up and around again, and - shit, demons can hand over power to humans, it's kinda their thing. God, why didn't Dipper think of that before.

Though he started with a trickle, just to see what would happen, Dipper amped it up as things seemed to be working. A little increase to the stream of magic, admiring the effects.

Somewhere along that line, it turned into a torrent.

It figures. Bill's power must be behind this, and he's a demon, and an asshole. While Dipper wasn't paying attention, Bill opened up some kind demonic valve, without Dipper ever noticing.

There's a whole river of demonic magic coursing through Dipper's veins now. Arguably still controlled by him, but fed by a pushy demonic asshole. The magic doesn't feel bad at all, but it's big. Vast, and seemingly endless.

Demonic power courses through Dipper, hot and thick in his arms, lighter in his chest, swirling around his own heart, both his and not-his -

And all of it has to go somewhere.

Underneath his hands, the flesh.... flows.

Dipper watches the arch of the ribs, gently connecting back together, and the sheets of muscle blossom back. Skin spreads over what was empty air. Something is made from nothing, as full and complete as that power inside him.

Bill pulls Dipper's hand away from his chest, and takes a long, deep breath. His eye shuts.

And Dipper blinks as if coming out of a daze, jerking himself upright. He doesn't know when he started leaning over Bill like that, but now it feels super weird.

As Bill mutters something under his breath, wiping a hand down his face. Dipper backs up, then sits down heavily on the ground.

He didn't know he could - but he did that. Or Bill did that, through him. It's. A lot. To think about, and to have handled.

Either way, the result's slightly dizzying. As is the sheer amount of leftover magic.

For a moment, Dipper stares at his hands. He flexes his fingers, then rubs at them.

There's still a heady, warm sense of having way, way more to work with than usual, which is. Weird. But what's left no longer feels like it's being rudely shoved forward, and that makes it more manageable.

So. Kind of a controllable, reasonable level of absolutely absurd power. Without Bill powering him ,it should fade over time, and Dipper won't let himself miss it.

"Oof," Bill says, sitting up and stretching. "What a huge pain in the side that was!" He rises to his feet, brushing off dirt and debris. "Do you have any idea how many muscles a human shape needs to ambulate right? And there aren't any backups? Shitty engineering, if you ask me."

Dipper only vaguely pays attention to the rambling. Bill's up and about, and the patch of ground where he was lying is bare. Stained, but empty, and it's all -

Bill clears his throat, and reaches down. Dipper blinks at the intrusion of a sudden hand, but takes it and lets Bill haul him upright.

"That worked." Dipper says. He saw it with his own eyes and yet. "I can't believe that worked. How..?"

Bill says nothing, only smiles. Enigmatic, and dickish of him.

Dipper frowns as he runs a hand over the place where there was nothing only five minutes before. The temperature matches all the rest of the skin, and the stomach jumps a little under his touch. It's complete and solid, hot to the touch. Bill looks perfectly healthy, he guesses. But. "Are you doing okay?" Dipper asks, reaching up to take a pulse again at the neck. Much faster this time; maybe a sign that he's improved. "You look alright, but I don't know your vital signs." There's only one pupil, and it looks slightly dilated. Nothing to compare it to, sadly - Dipper frowns. "How are you feeling?" "Good question, sapling!" Bill takes Dipper by the wrist, lowering it to his shoulder. And winks, leaning in with what could only be called a leer. "How do I feel?"

"Uh." Dipper darts a glance down at his hands - resting on Bill's bare chest, the other on his shoulder.

This isn't - He was checking - Okay, fine, the assessment is over. Time to stop touching him.

Dipper takes a step back, clearing his throat. Bill follows, leer annoying wider.

Not that that's. Unnerving or anything. Dipper's just sweating because of the magic he used. That was pretty intense.

"Well, you're fine." He stammers, then grimaces at Bill's raised eyebrow. "I mean, you're okay-fine, not-" He manages to get one hand off the chest, but Bill's not letting go of the other. He lets out a nervous laugh. "So. You're all better, and I should, uh. Get going now."

Bill hums a little in thought. Clearly an affectation. Dipper doesn't have to be a mind-reader to know Bill's already made up his.

Pulling away doesn't work; Bill's grip is surprisingly strong. One might even say, inhumanly. So. Dipper offers a smile, weak as it is. "Yeah, I should really leave now."

"Nah, I don't think so." Bill shrugs, then grins again. "I didn't fight a friggin' dragon just for the prize to run off at the end."

Yep, Dipper figured.

Out of the dragon's den, and into the demon's.

He should have left Bill there to die and rot and be a dick somewhere in a demon realm. He should have known that stupid turn of luck was way too good to be true.

"Now you and I are gonna-" Bill's stomach jumps again, and he grimaces. Tapping a fist against his chest, he sucks in a breath through his teeth. "Ugh, life magic." He ducks his head, breathing slowly. "One sec, kid."

Dipper seizes the opportunity, wrenching his arm away and clutching it to his chest. He backpedals until he stumbles. In front of him, Bill growls - then rests his hands on his knees, and makes a small choking noise.

Oh thank fuck, Bill's not perfectly fine. Healed, sure - But something's gone wrong because he almost looks.... sick?

Dipper turns towards the woods - then pauses. He fixed him, sure, but - "Uh. Are you-?"

"Fine! Fine. 's just a side effect." A hiccup, and a dismissive wave. Bill stops, holding back a dry heave, then groans ."Won't last long, so don't try anything funny." He glares at Dipper, pointing at him like a command. "The second this is over, I'm-"

Before he can finish the sentence, Dipper's halfway across the clearing and rounding the dragon corpse. It blocks Bill's line of sight, and from there, it's a straight running contest. The nausea should by him some time to truly get the hell out of dodge.

Good thing it's still daylight out; he might be able to find his way back to civilization, or, like. Follow a river or something. With the extra power in him, he might be able to throw up a few illusions too. That should help keep the literal goddamn demon off his back.

What a goddamn mess today has been.

Dragons, demons. Magic and monsters and crazy assholes who have who-the-fuck knows what intentions after someone just helped their jerk ass.

This was supposed to be relaxing. A break before Dipper finally went into residency -

And much like other parts of his life, it's turned into a complete and absolute shitshow.

The pine trees whip past as Dipper keeps up a breakneck pace. God, he should slow down lest he sprain an ankle or something -

But behind him he hears Bill cursing, and there's a growing blue glow that's as terrifying as it is ominous. He picks up speed out of sheer terror, and makes a promise to himself.

Next time Dipper gets vacation, he's going absolutely anywhere that isn't Gravity freakin' Falls.

[the-hidden-writer]

And Into The Fire

Chapter 4: A Not-Quite-Plan

Summary:

Months after the Mitchells saved the world, Linda gets a phone call asking if she’s seen two defective Pal MAX bots. Powerful people are after Eric and Deborabot 5000, and it’s up to the Mitchells to protect them.

Check reblogs for AO3 link!

A Not-Quite-Plan

An agent came running into the office just as Mark was about to take a sip of his coffee.

“Ma’am! We’ve got into #009181987!”

Agent Ward turned off her tablet and stood up immediately.

“About time!” She snapped. “Come on, Dr Bowman, this is where we need you.”

He barely had time to grab his coffee cup as she practically dragged him toward the door by his hoodie.

Ever since they’d locked onto the missing Pal MAX bots, Agent Jennifer Ward and her team had pretty much taken control of Pal Labs. Or at least the headquarters where Mark worked.

He’d spent the past week or so locked in his office with the scary Agent Ward herself. The tall woman had ordered him to come into work every day despite the complete CIA take-over of his company, just to keep up pretences for the public. And he also needed to be kept under supervision at all times for some reason. He was basically a prisoner.

Oh well. At least he had WiFi.

After pulling him out of his office (freedom at last!) Agent Ward led him down the stairs to the main work area, which was a large room filled with rows of computer desks.

At the very back of the room were two large screens on the wall. These were usually used for advertising and announcements, but recently they’d served another purpose.

Displayed on each screen was a status. Before now, they’d said the same thing. But for the first time in weeks, one was different.

Pal MAX #012041966 Status: UNRESPONSIVE

Pal MAX #009181987 Status: ONLINE

“Online?” Mark wondered aloud. “So you actually got into it, huh.”

Agent Ward scoffed. “Of course we did. Don’t doubt my team, Dr Bowman. Especially Agent Travis here.”

As if on cue, the young agent that had come to tell them the news before came rushing in through the door behind them, and almost glided straight into the wheelie chair next to the computer he’d been working on.

“Actually, we got through a couple of times.” Travis explained, huffing slightly from having to run. “But we got kicked out before we could change anything. This is the first time it looks stable and ready to be edited.”

“Well, these robots are based on AI.” Said Mark. “They’re not as simple to take down as ordinary machines.”

“Trust me, we know.” Agent Ward sneered. “That’s the reason we’re in this mess to begin with.”

She turned to her team, who all had their fingers poised over their keyboards ready to begin typing. “Delete any excess data and then start to rewrite the functional coding.” She ordered.

“Rewrite?” Mark had been under the impression that they would just delete it all to stop the robots for good. That’s what they were trying to do, right? “I thought-”

“Yes, rewrite. Anything more is classified.”

One of the agents raised their hands. “Uh, Ma’am? All the data here looks pretty messed up. Most of its data’s been built onto the errors presumably caused by defects, we have no idea what it actually does. There's words liked 'brother', 'mother'-”

“Do I need to repeat myself, Barker?”

Even though it wasn’t aimed at him, Mark couldn’t help but gulp at the way Ward was glaring at the poor agent.

“No Ma’am,” mumbled Barker, “sorry, Ma’am. We’ll start the rewrite.”

~-.-~

The three of them raced into the room with Monchi following close behind, probably because he was intrigued by all the commotion.

Linda didn’t want to believe it. Her robo-boys being sick was one thing, but fighting each other? That was truly unbelievable. They would never.

But unfortunately, it was just as Aaron said.

Deborahbot was kneeling on the bed with his back to the door, repeatedly hitting Eric’s screen by alternating between using the clenched fist of one hand and the open palm of another. There was a “clunk” sound with each impact, and Deborahbot showed no sign of stopping.

“Deborahbot!” Linda exclaimed incredulously.

The bot’s head turned 180° to face them but he did not cease the attack on his brother.

“Mother! Other Mitchells!”

“What are you doing?!” Demanded Rick, aggressively pointing at the bot in the bed. Aaron gripped onto the back of Linda’s pant leg in fear.

“I am more defective than my brother.” Deborahbot stated matter-of-factly, his calm voice sounding quite scary compared to the current violence he was inflicting. “I thought if he was more defective like me, he would be himself again.”

Rick waved his arms in annoyance. “That’s insane!”

“Deborahbot, stop hitting your brother right now.” Ordered Linda.

“Ok!”

Linda felt a small stab of guilt in her heart. Since they’d joined the family, they’d all tried their hardest not to order the bots to do anything. By phrasing things the wrong way, their programming would make them obey commands mindlessly, whereas the Mitchells just wanted them to be themselves. The longer the pair of them went without being given an order, the more their individual personalities shone through.

Deborahbot released Eric and stepped away. Two seconds later, once the command had been completed, he held out a warning hand to the family.

“Wait, Mitchells, stop!”

Linda was about to open her mouth to ask why, only she first noticed the movement on the bed.

Movement. On the bed.

Under the blanket, Eric looked like he was shivering. Or, more accurately, vibrating. The screen that had been full of color before was now its usual black self, and his red marker face was visible again. The only indication that anything was wrong was that the small LED in the corner of his screen was flashing an array of different colors.

“What’s happening to him?” Aaron asked from behind her, and Linda nodded to encourage Deborahbot to answer.

“I do not know for certain, but I think that the infiltrators have successfully entered my brother’s system.”

“You’re speaking normal again.” Commented Rick, though his cautious gaze was fixed on Eric, as if he would spring up and attack them at any moment.

“That is why I came to that conclusion.” Elaborated Deborahbot. “They have stopped attacking me, so they must be focusing more on him.”

Unlike earlier, Linda drew up the courage to approach Eric in the bed. His shaking was growing ever more violent by the second, and without Deborahbot keeping him down it was only a matter of time before he fell off the bed completely.

She gently placed a hand on his shoulder and made her voice as soft and calming as possible.

“Eric, honey?”

“Dear, be careful.” Rick warned from behind her but she chose not to listen.

“Can you hear me?”

It didn’t seem like he was going to respond. Feeling defeated, Linda was about to turn to ask Deborahbot what to do next when a voice spoke up.

“User recognised: Linda Mitchell.”

Eric’s voice was even more distorted than Deborahbot’s had been to the point where it was nearly unrecognisable.

“Uh, Mom?”

“Linda, get back!”

Linda understood exactly why her family was scared. The bots had never, not once, called her by her actual name. To not hear “Mother!” come out of Eric’s metaphorical mouth alarmed her, but still she couldn’t bring herself to step back.

“Brother?”

In a similar situation, the bots never called one another by their given names. It was always “Brother”. It only made them seem closer to one another in a way that the Mitchells themselves couldn’t be.

“Unknown user. Verify”

Aaron approached them with caution, one hand automatically searching for his mother’s own. She clasped it tightly.

“It’s like he’s gone back into robot-mode.” Said Aaron.

Linda squeezed his hand in agreement. Out of the two, it was Eric that always seemed more closely related to all the other Pal MAX bots for some reason. Still, Eric was their Eric, and not one of the mindless machines that tried to blast all of humanity into space.

Then a high-pitched whine echoed throughout the room without warning, causing the Mitchells (and Deborahbot, who mimicked them a second later) to cover their ears from the terrible noise. Monchi began to bark.

Once it died down, Rick frowned and used two fingers to massage his temple. “What the-”

“B-Brother!”

Rick snapped his mouth shut and all heads in the room turned to Eric, who was now sitting up straight on the bed.

“Brother!” Deborahbot called back in relief.

Eric's head twisted to face the three extremely shocked Mitchells.

“Mitchells!” Eric cried dramatically, his words accompanied by a more familiar glitch. “You are in danger. Pal Labs is taking over our systems, and it’s only a matter of time before-”

“I already told them all that.” Deborahbot interjected.

“Oh.” Eric muttered softly. “Aww.”

It put Linda a little at ease to see her boys’ dynamic return so quickly. That must mean things were getting better, right?

“Brother, what should we do?”

Deborahbot had always been reliant on Eric for decision-making. Linda had no idea how the bots managed to form such a human-like sibling relationship.

“They’ve already gotten to me.” Said Eric, solely addressing Deborahbot now. “It’s safer if you power me off until they stop. If you wait a while and they don’t, then you might have to go to Pal Labs and stop them yourself.”

Linda’s immediate thought was: No. She was not going to turn off her boy.

“How do we know if they’ve stopped?” Asked Rick.

Eric glitched before shrugging. “My brother might be able to tell you, but-”

He was interrupted by the return of the high-pitched whine. This time, Deborahbot did not cover his ears.

A few seconds later, Eric’s voice was distorted again.

“Status: online. Location-”

He did not get to finish his ominous speech as Deborahbot had quickly moved toward him and placed his hand under Eric’s head. After a few short seconds Eric’s screen went completely black with only his marker face remaining as he fell back onto the bed.

“Deborahbot!” Linda exclaimed in outrage. “Tell me you didn’t-”

“He told me a plan.” Deborahbot said nonchalantly. “First I had to power him off, then-”

“Yeah, we heard.” Scoffed Rick. “But that’s not really a proper plan.”

“It’s a start.” Aaron piped up. “I don’t really know what’s going on but I think the bots have it better together than you do.”

Linda bit the inside of her lip. She did not like how Deborahbot switched off his brother without permission. They were technically under 18 and therefore not adults, so Linda felt responsibility for their wellbeing and safety. She tried her best to keep quiet to avoid snapping at him.

“So... what now?” Asked Rick.

Deborahbot took a moment to look at his brother before turning to face the Mitchells again.

“I don’t want to wait.” He said blankly. “So I think that we should go to Pal Labs and tell them to stop now.”

Comments make my day! :)

[itwoodbeprefect]

decided to just compile a bunch of comments about my sga 1x01 rising rewatch into a single post because i don’t actually want to make a hundred posts in a row, so here, under the cut, many rambles:

announcer guy does, in fact, speak english upon a second attempt. well done on not forgetting to not speak german, announcer guy.

“i’m afraid of the thing” elizabeth says, about the drone chair, while standing next to it and looking like she wants to fuck it

rodney in that orange sweater! very orange! very warm!

john is on screen. john’s first words are helicopters he knows how to fly. john KINDA LIKES IT in antarctica. john has barely done anything and i already feel like crying a little bit about this guy who LIKES ANTARCTICA because he just wants to fly

POOR CARSON when he almost kills two people. “ai told ya ai was the wrong pursohn” :(

i really love how john sees the drone coming at the (landed) helicopter and yells “get out!” and they throw open their doors and john JUMPS and then it’s just “ugh.” and he’s belly-down on the floor and still like, almost under the helicopter. an attempt was made, for sure. just not a very succesful one.

the way john looks around like he’s never seen a ceiling before when he enters the base is just. very funny. and then some guy in particular is looking at him because he’s a bit of a weirdo and john looks back and the guy sort of looks him up and down and john looks away as if to check if anybody saw that. hmm.

john’s face of “oops” after he sits down in the chair and it ACTIVATES and carson RUNS OFF to go get literally everyone and john is realizing he MAY have just made a very giant big mistake. PRICELESS

teyla: my people have long believed the wraith will come if we venture into the ancient city. sumner, when the wraith come after he ventures into the ancient city: [surprised pikachu face]

gotta love how john insisting on saving his people is what wakes up the wraith, and saving his people is also what landed john in antarctica in the first place because he tried it in afghanistan once before. which wouldn’t have happened if there hadn’t been an american war in afghanistan in the first place, which there wouldn’t have been if bush hadn’t thrown the us into it, which wouldn’t have happened without 9/11, so... bin laden woke the wraith?

on the other hand john would never have had to go on a rescue mission on his first day in pegasus if sumner hadn’t gone into that city against the wishes of the people that already lived there and had a history dating back thousands of years with the place, so more realistically, the expeditions’ colonizer mentality woke the wraith. and then they just kinda... kept going with that for the rest of the show, because it worked out so well on that first day.

anyway i’m not even there yet - puddlejumper! it jumps puddles!

have to love the moment john realizes the puddlejumper is pretty literally reading his mind and giving him anything he can think of that is within its power (so no turkey sandwiches, but that’s okay). john is already in love with it just based on the fact that IT CAN FLY AND GO FAST (“i kinda like it here”, restored) but then all the ancient technology just seems to know him and love him back and gives him way more than he even thinks to ask for. which, for john, who doesn’t really do well expressing desires? a FLYING SHIP that then READS HIS MIND? starstruck. love at first sight. john&puddlejumper, instant bffs. i bet it would have popped a compartment with some stray bits of wire if he’d asked for a friendship bracelet right then and there. ford sitting there witnessing this doesn’t even know how hard he’s thirdwheeling it in that moment.

now i am at the bit where sumner is taken from the wraith prison to see the actual wraith, and look, obviously they’re evil and feed on humans etc etc, but this particular wraith’s sense of dramatics? unparalleled. she has them bring her victims one by one to a large foggy room with a looong table set with a wonderful dinner and then she LEAVES a DEAD BODY sitting at the head of the table (implied to be the athosian that was taken before sumner?) and drops down from the ceiling while sumner has his back turned for no reason except the spectacle of it all, and dracula himself literally couldn’t have made a better display out of this. it’s maybe scary in the way that it makes clear she’s a cat toying with a helpless mouse before she eats it, but it’s also hilarious in the way that this is absolutely a very bored immortal being who had to stay up while the rest went to sleep and is inventing high school improv plays with her dinner for some diversion. don’t play with your food, wraith queen. you’re scaring your dinner.

life signs detector!!! ford didn’t get to name the puddlejumpers gateships, but that one stuck, no matter how much “we can name it later” john was trying to throw at it!!!

(god. there’s a ficlet somewhere in there about season 2 john having a moment where he realizes he’s on the hunt for ford using the thing they first discovered together and that ford gave its name.)

getting sidetracked here, but when john and ford find the group of humans caught by the wraith teyla goes “major!” and it makes me think that. well. how are the athosians supposed to know things like “major” and “colonel” are military ranks? what are the chances the pegasus galaxy uses the same designations? (don’t really know how the language thing works here - we’re hopefully not supposed to think they’re all speaking english, are they? i’ve never watched sg1, there’s probably lore about this, i assume. maybe alien titles somehow get perfect translations to earth ones and vice versa.) but i mean, teyla is too smart, she’d have it figured out already even if those words don’t exist in her galaxy, but some athosian somewhere is going to be very confused by this earth tendency to name way too many kids private and lieutenant, and then put all of them into the army. strange, to have your job decided for you at birth like that. earth people are weeeeird.

fjdkl john is like bye, gonna go find colonel sumner all on my own, run if you don’t hear from me in twenty minutes, and ford’s like “you’re the only one who can fly these people out of here” and “i’m saying i should be the one to go, sir” and john, with his savior can’t-leave-anyone-behind-gotta-do-this-personally-or-i-will-literally-die-from-not-almost-dying complex DOES NOT LISTEN to ford’s EXTREMELY ACCURATE objection. which is his right, as ranking officer, but is also a perfect showcase of why john Should Not Ever be in charge of atlantis, and why sam saying he was totally on the shortlist when she takes over command in s4 is funny but frightening if you’re on atlantis and like being alive.

sumner: “we travel through the stargate as peaceful explorers.” FDJKFD. god, that line, from that character, hilarious.

rodney comes to elizabeth full of enthusiasm about all the interesting stuff they’re finding in the city only to find her staring at the empty gate and when she says she should never have let them (the rescue party) go, he sobers up and says awkwardly “for what it’s worth, you made the right decision” and that’s GOOD that’s KIND.

back on the planet with the wraith everyone is running to the jumper while there are wraith darts whizzing through the air and teyla turns back, catches up with ford who was told to cover their six, disarms him (because he was firing at illusions, revealing their position), hands him back his weapon, pulls him in the direction of the puddlejumper, and PUSHES HIM ASIDE when they’re almost scooped up by a wraith dart, and i’m so here for teyla being allowed a moment of heroics that saves specifically ford, guy with a gun, and not a random athosian damsel in distress. teyla is fully on their level. teyla is perhaps above their level. thank you.

that scene at the end of this episode!! in which there’s a sort of party on atlantis and it’s all buzzing and relaxed while the athosians are mingling freely with the expedition members and they’re talking of friendship and ugh. UGH. there’s a better version of sga in an alternate universe where the expedition didn’t decide atlantis was totally theirs, actually, and they cooperate with the people that were already in the galaxy when they came there and learn from sumner’s mistake to actually respect what they have to say and form a single front and teyla takes over as head of the expedition in s4 when there’s a void left by elizabeth’s absence.

final thought that has always haunted me a little: john suddenly becoming the ranking military member on atlantis after sumner’s death is ?? one of those things where i wonder what the sgc was thinking in their personnel assignments. john wasn’t even supposed to BE THERE. if john hadn’t gone and sumner had still died (which was something they should have considered as a possiblitiy! they didn’t know what they were walking into at all! sumner is apparently the type to lead his own missions!), then what exactly would they have done? i don’t know much about how the us military operates but i’ve watched enough mash to have figured out the order of the ranks and it just seems. very odd to me? to take one (1) colonel on this mission and then ZERO lieutenant colonels OR majors (if john hadn’t stumbled his way into it, that is). like, are there any captains on atlantis? (i think there are?) or would ford, a lieutenant, have ended up ranking military member? this is like the surely-they-only-need-a-single-medical-doctor-right thing. WHAT IS THE SGC THINKING.

anyway. this was good. i liked this. i hadn’t rewatched the pilot in a while, and i only just now figured out how much of a while, because there was a bunch in here i didn’t remember. ON TO EPISODE TWO.

[besybil]

A LESSON ON SERVITORS

chaoscommentary

Introduction

In the Chaos Magick ladder which I briefly described in a previous article we have Servitors as the next evolution of our high magick.

Just to remind you we go from:

Sigils -> Servitors -> Egregores -> God forms.

Servitors are much more difficult to put into application than sigils. They require more time and energy as well.

The good news (for some) is that Servitors can still be created in private.

Egregores and Godforms are almost impossible to create without some sort of extra participation or fellowship with other people (however I have some clever methods to use which will be described when I get to those subjects.) Regardless, before I jump into how to create a servitor, I need to clearly define WHAT a servitor IS.

What is a Servitor?

As servitor is a thought form of your own creation. One of the most popular occurrences (back in the day) was the creation of imaginary friends by children.

The power and purpose of your servitor will be entirely dependent on you and your desire to develop it. For young children, to have a non judgmental companion to walk beside them as they learn to socially cope with other people is a common mission for some servitors. Another way to think of Servitors is as “Familiars.”

Now this comes with a bit of a warning, without proper attention your servitor may gain independence and a life of its own (Thus evolving into an Egregore.) I am all about responsibility and making your magick do exactly what it was intended to do, so I will give you some tips on how to keep a leash on your familiar.

Why would I want a Servitor?

Like I said in a previous article, sigils are typically where the buck stops for most Chaotes. They are powerful, work as intended and are very accurate. You could technically stop right there and have everything you will ever need for working with magick. However, magick is more of a walk for some and an exploration of endless possibilities for others. Servitor creation is the next step into some deep waters and a step out into the wild frontier of Magick. This is where the pedal hits the metal; this is where the wild adventure begins. For many adult occultists, this is also a return to childhood which can be a very scary place for some.

That being said; familiars and their purpose are left to your imagination. A companion (friend), a bodyguard, and yes even lovers are all applications for Servitor work. However let me come with a warning, the more you feed a servitor the stronger and more independent it can become. As such I advise highly against creating servitors for sexual gratification. You may end up giving birth to a hag or a succubus (a result of uncontrolled mutation), which in the end will make your life miserable. It would be better to create a wing(wo)man to help bolster your confidence to gain a physical mate. My point ultimately is, just like sigils, there is no limit on what a servitor can do, look like or become. The only limit is your imagination. If a sigils is a magickal computer program, Servitors are magickal robots, just shy of becoming Magickal AI.

Servitors are astral constructs.  Servitors can cause physical change.

Practical use for servitors include:

An assistant in solo magickal work.

A protector for your house.

An assistant for keeping your workspace clean.

To name just a few.

Okay I get it! How do I MAKE one?

First rule: Temper your enthusiasm with caution. Respect the ritual you are about to perform.

Second Rule: We do not create accidents; make sure you truly want to create a servitor. These are not toys, they are very real beings created from your energies, they are in short, your children. Be a responsible parent.

Third Rule: Always, always, always, set up rules and restrictions to keep your servitors exactly that. Without rules, a servitor has the potential to become an Egregore and no longer under your control.

Optional but highly recommended: When I create servitors I get into the habit of breaking down ones I no longer use and incorporate them into the newer, upgraded models. I had a bad experience with leaving “junk servitors” unattended only to have them haunting my dreams and bumping into me in the middle of the night. If you are down with a servitor, release the energy and let it be free. This act prevents the buildup of malice and negative energies from neglected thought forms. Keep your workspace clean, in the astral and in the physical.

Now that we have that established let me begin.

As always with Chaos Magick, there is no right or wrong way to do this. What I offer you is what has worked for me. Tweak it for your purposes. (For me) It always helps to have a template to start with, but YOUR magickal walk is exactly that, yours not mine; you are the final Judge on what you are willing and able to commit to such a practice.

Step 1: State the purpose of your Servitor

Create a sigil or series of sigils which will define the purpose of your servitor. “Protect my home,” “Keep my house clean,” so on and so forth. Make as many sigils as you need. This is the easy part, feel free to find my article on sigil making in this blog.

Step 2: Create a body for your Servitor

You have two options here.

Option A:

You can bind them to a fetish like is a doll, figurine or even a drawing of your own design. I am a naturally arts and crafts kind of person so this is my preferred method.

Option B:

However if for whatever reason I don’t not have the time or money to create a physical representation of my servitor, I use meditation and create the servitor in my mind and in astral space.

Regardless, the process requires the same amount of energy, effort and IMAGINATION. You must visualize the servitor. How tall is it? Does it have limbs? Can it speak? It can take hours to create a body for your  servitor, but you need to define as many of its functions and characteristics as possible. Its body needs to be a vivid as possible. Some of my servitors have looked like Lovecraftian horrors, while one of my longtime companions is a very cute four foot tall blonde elf girl who speaks in wind chimes.

Step 3: Bind your sigils in the body of the servitor, and put in its safety protocols.

Binding your sigils can be as simple as drawing them inside your picture, carving them into your doll, or imagining the sigils being put in place of where its “heart” or “battery” may be. The point is to make sure your sigils are part of your servitor. Once this occurs, and you are convinced the two have become one, a safety should be put into place. As I said before, without a leash or restrain, your servitor has cart-blanche to run amok and out of your control. You have again, to options here: A command word or a counter sigil. The command word can be: “Stop!” “Sit!” “Go away!” It is best to keep it simple; although I know a few people who used poetry for particularly devious machines to make sure not everyone can shut them down. That is the key to command words however, anyone can use them. A servitor must be compelled once a person speaks a word or command phrase to abide by its programming.

Safety Method A: Command Words

Creating a command word is as simple as touching your servitor (if you used a fetish, this is easier) and speaking plainly to them “When I say <x> you will do <y>” (X and Y are your phrase and its action.) Repeat this as many times as you need to remember or until you feel you servitor is ready to comply. You can put as many command words on your servitor as you want, just be careful not to use the same word to do multiple things, or that they words are counterproductive to its mission. You could confuse the crap out of it.

Safety Method B: Counter Sigils

The second method, counter sigils, are kind of a fire and forget method. It lets a servitor know where it  is or isn’t allowed to be. This requires you to name your servitor and upon naming it, creating a sigil of its name. You must decide if this sigil is a ward or a summoning upon its creation. You do not need to commit much thought to this nor does it change the method of how the sigil is created, the intent is good enough. “This sigil means you are welcome to work in this place,” or “This sigil prevents you from going into this place,” Is good enough of a declaration for this method to work. I have seen people bind servitors in boxes with this method and let them out when needed, while others have put the symbols on doors and the like to let servitors know where they should go.

Step 4: BRING YOUR CREATION TO LIFE!!!!!

The ritual can be as elaborate or mundane as you want. However I will tell you, the more elaborate the more powerful your servitor will be in the long run. I have used a simple hand flick gesture (like turning on a light) to activate some, they only lasted a few days before the broke down. My longtime companion servitor had entire weeks of music and food dedicated to her and if she didn’t have any safety protocols in place, probably would have become an Egregore by now. Still, perform a ritual that lets the servitor know it is born. Throw it a birthday party, show it around the house, get silly, get childish. There is no right or wrong way to invite this new entity into your home, just know, the more gnosis you feed it, the better.

Step 4:

Regular maintenance of your servitor is a must. Your servitor must be in your mind from time to time. If you forget about it, it loses energy and dies. While, just thinking about it is okay, offerings or rewards are much more potent. For my lesser servitors I give them a drop of life force when they have done well. For my companion, I have treated her to donuts and milk. The key is to understand the relationship between you and your servitor. Unless you set them free, they cannot live without you. If you forget them, they will die. Woe to the chaote who creates a servitor with no restrictions and then neglects them, you may create a vengeful spirit to infest your house. So reward you servitor when they have done their duties and let them know you still care about them.

Dismantling your Servitors:

I include this part because all good occultists know the value of banishment. Some servitors outlive their usefulness and thus need to be released back into the cosmos. This is not a cruel thing to do, as a matter of fact; actively releasing your unused servitors is very humane. It is cruel to leave a bound servitor unattended to die an agonizing death of forgetfulness and neglect.

Dismantling is simple. Take the abject or thought of you servitor and tell it “You are free” or “I set you free” Imagine all of the bindings and words leaving and falling apart into harmless light. If you have a fetish, set it ablaze or destroy it in some gentle way. Make sure that the object can no longer physically house the servitor. IT is a very good practice to tell it, that it has performed well and it is time for it to move on. If the servitor doesn’t seem to want to leave then you may have to perform this a few time. My companion didn’t want to leave me when I tried to banish her the first three times, she was so fiercely loyal that I gave her a second birthday and still keep her to this day.

That is servitor making in a nutshell.

I am sure many of you have questions or will want me to elaborate. So feel free to ask questions if you need help. This is a basic outline, I am vague for a reason to encourage you to go out there and find what works for you. Just be safe and Chaos Magick responsibly.

~M.A. Hargrove © 2014

[lovelivingmydreams]

Oooh. Oh wow! Virgil looks like he is having a bit of a moment there. I'm guessing you guys want me to go ahead and tell you what happened huh? Well...

Almost the instant Virgil woke up he wanted to hide under his blanket in embarrassment. He remembered very clearly how Roman had carried his half asleep behind to bed. How was he that fit? Roman hadn’t minded, if he had he wouldn’t have done it… he was a bit of a people pleaser but Virgil was pretty sure that they had gotten to a point where Roman would have just told him to get out off the couch and to bed by himself if he had issues with carrying him. His embarrassment over that situation fading just a little, though he was almost certain Roman would tease him about it the second he stepped out the door, he remembered looking up at Roman and suddenly thinking that from that angle he looked very similar to Poetry Prince. Was it problematic that he was that familiar with the jawline of Poetry Prince from that specific angle that he could say with a fair amount of confidence that Roman’s was similar? Maybe? He was not too keen on asking Pikani that. Emil was great. But even he might struggle not to laugh at him if he told him about this situation. Anyway. Classes needed to be attended and stuff like that. As predicted, Roman was not going to let last night go. “Good morning Princess,” he greeted playfully. There was still a part of Virgil that squeezed in a sort of pleasant nervous way at that nickname. “Morning charming,” he replied as he combed a hand through his hair. “I have to head out a little earlier today, so I won’t be joining you for breakfast. Try not to miss me too much,” Roman winked before petting Nox and heading out. “Later!” Virgil called after him as he sat down and immediately found Nox by his feet demanding attention. “You are a little monster you know that?” Virgil wondered with a smile as he stroked their fur. Receiving an approving mewl he copied playfully.

Virgil surprisingly made it to the weekend with nothing weird happening. He had made a habit of sharing lunch with J when they could, Janus loved the Hill pastries and Virgil gave him the directions so they could get them next time they were feeling like having some quality baked goods. According to Janus, ShockWave was planning a thing on Sunday and they agreed on bringing a game of Uno along to kill some time. On Friday he had some time in the computer lab to work on a few things his laptop couldn’t support. He kinda liked working on his own. As his fingers flitted over the keyboard and his commands wove together to something sensible for the computer to work with, building a usable bit of software bit by bit he got in that pleasant zone where he barely felt like he was in his body. He was still doing the work but it was almost like he was on an autopilot.

His thoughts free to drift to some weird dreamstate where his anxiety didn’t exist but his thoughts were still as active. Just not as scary. Thoughts of seeing Prince and a fun spontaneous get together with the gang flitted through his mind, Janus meeting his other friends, traffic being a mess and better taking the scenic route home today, smaller chance at an incident, Saturday… Lots of stuff on Saturday… Numbers on his screen… Like the lottery.

“Mister Grimm!” Virgil looked up a bit dazed, glancing at his screen where the nearly finished project sat glowing back at him. He glanced at the clock. Wow, he should head home soon. He then looked back to the man who’d been calling him. His AI professor. “Oh hi professor Daniels. Sorry. Zoned out for a minute there,” he said sheepishly as he finished the last bit of coding and saved it on his student’s profile to review and sent to his software professor later. “I gotta get going. Sorry again,” he insisted as he walked past the concerned looking professor. Weird. Surely he’d seen someone space out before right?

He found Roman on the couch, half watching a movie, half typing up something on his laptop. “Better luck next time,” he said without looking up. It had really almost become a standard greeting between them. “Dinner’s in the microwave,” he added while buzz lightyear led his friends on a mission to save their friend on the screen. “Thanks. Toy story marathon?” Virgil wondered as he went to the kitchen to heat up his plate. “Yeah, I couldn’t focus in a quiet room so…” Roman explained as he typed something down. “What are you working on?” Virgil added. “Spelling and grammar assignments. We were given actually published works and we have to correct them. It’s the worst,” he replied. “That sounds like actual torture. I think they put those subjects in just so we wouldn’t forget school is the worst,” Virgil mused. “That’s a conspiracy worthy of one of your videos,” Roman noted, making Virgil laugh.

“By the way, I got a date with your crush on Sunday,” he announced as he settled on the ground to eat at the coffee table to be more sociable. “… He is not my crush,” Roman sighed annoyed. “Good, then it’s no problem he’s going to sweep me of my feet on Sunday,” Virgil retaliated, not believing him for a second. He was way too invested in the fan section of their parlor. “You are way too happy about that. Do you have a crush on him or something?” Roman challenged, a bit too defensive, just saying. He had a point though. “Now that would be embarrassing,” he stated simply. Not wanting to elaborate on the platonic gay panics Prince had caused over time. “You probably should find a way to give Prince a heads up so he knows to plan it in his schedule,” Roman muttered. That… Wasn’t a bad idea actually. “Hm… I’ll think on that,” he muttered. He did. But it was a bit tricky to contact Prince. He didn’t want to use the prince pager to meet up for a coffee to give him an update without warning. Virgil knew he always rushed to the scene when he used the panic button his dad had insisted on. He'd seemed upset the one time he’d been late. So he didn’t want to disturb the guy if he didn’t have to. Funnily enough, they kind of did end up meeting for coffee by coincidence.

He’d decided to pick up some professional coffee and some Hill pastries for their lunch on Saturday. Right when his order was called he heard police sirens and shouting outside. When he left the building he saw the agents put a masked person in the back of one of their car. “Well, this is a new one,” a voice noted from above him. Virgil looked up and found Prince grinning down at him, floating in midair, slowly lowering himself down. “For once, you are not in the crosshairs,” he teased as he landed besides him. “Special order?” he wondered pointing to the two cups in his tray. “Yeah…” Virgil stated. “Pumpkin Spice Late with caramel and extra sprinkles. Right?” he grinned smugly. “Roman tattled,” Virgil huffed. “A fair trade for your favorite nickname I’d think,” Prince shrugged. “I don’t think I properly thanked you for introducing us. It was truly an enlightening experience,” he added. Virgil supposed they had earned some retaliation for all his sass and teasing. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be salty about it. He started walking home. Prince strolled along. “I must say I was surprised. I took you for a ‘coffee as black as my soul’ type,” Prince mused. Virgil shrugged. “I am. I’m just not that bitter and a little spicy… And gay,” he added. “Sprinkles are gay?” Prince wondered. Virgil nodded sagely. “Extremely,” he stated as if it was a scientifically proven fact. Prince grinned and leaned in a little. “Then you should have way more,” he grinned. Virgil huffed and started walking faster. “See you tomorrow. Noonish!” he announced as he noticed that Prince was letting him walk away. “Until then Princess!” Prince called after him.

When Virgil got home he tossed the pastries on the table and put the coffee down. “I brought lunch,” he called out with a sigh. “I know that smell. You are a life saver,” Roman grinned as he emerged from his room and headed to the kitchen for plates. “How is it going?” Virgil asked. Roman had decided to take the weekend to clean up his notes for all his courses. Rewriting them in a more comprehensive way to make it easier to use them for study rather than the accumulation of his random mental notes as they occurred during the lecture. Virgil agreed to join him and had left the house for some fresh air. “Honestly? I haven’t read another letter since you headed out the door,” Roman admitted. Virgil chuckled. “Should’ve joined me. I ran into Prince in a not nearly lethal way today,” he announced. “Oh? Well that’s a new one,” Roman stated. Virgil looked at him. “Okay. That is almost exactly what Prince said,” he stated. Roman blushed and laughed a bit awkwardly before changing the topic to the pastries. Not a crush huh? On Sunday Virgil had a shift at the library that happened to end around noon… Okay maybe he’d asked Jay to try and line up the kidnapping with his work schedule so he wouldn’t be an inconvenience to his boss. Mrs. Carlson was a very sweet lady and he wouldn’t want to stress her out if he could help it.

Virgil liked working at the library. It was quiet, didn’t trigger his anxiety or his power that much and when it did it was usually fairly obvious what was about to happen. When he was picked up as he walked out of the building he had his deck of uno cards tucked away securely in his hoodie pocket. “Welcome back mister Grimm! I am sure you are wondering what vile scheme has lead you here today!” Shockwave gloated as Virgil was brought before him. “Is it going to involve failing to embarrass Poetry Prince but instead making him way more popular?” Virgil drawled feeling a little bored as he reached his cuffed hands into his back pocket and activated the tracker. ShockWave scowled. “You are feeling much to comfortable in your predicament. I’ll take that feedback into account, don’t worry. But I’ll leave you to your sitter. My genious plan shall unvail itself with time!” ShockWave announced. “He was so going to monologue about it,” Virgil huffed as he was sat down in a somewhat secluded area but not out of sight with Janus who took his cuffs off since the room they were in was being locked from the outside. “Agree. So you bring the game?” they wondered. Virgil showed them the goods. “I warn you. I’ve never lost a game of Uno, ever,” he stated. Janus rolled their eyes, not believing him. Well. Guess he’d find out the hard way then. “Let’s play,” they stated.

Very soon Virgil was pretty invested in the game only half paying attention to the chit chat. Something something, watersuply, something something, red 5, something something, bakery, something something deranged speech… “Prince incoming in three, two, uno!” Virgil stated as he held out his card, a color change, in triumph while Prince blew the doors open. “That’s a good pager you got. Also dumb luck on that first round,” Janus insisted as they collected the cards and started shuffling them again. Virgil just chuckled and they played another round, and another, and another. Prince should watch his step. “Two paces to the left Princey, also Uno!” Virgil announced. “How…” “How did you win again!?” Janus demanded. Virgil shrugged. “I warned you.” Not long after that Prince defeated shockwave and let them out after he dealt with the latest diversion. “Thanks for looking after him I guess,” Prince allowed. Janus, now looking like Bob Ross, waved him off. “No problem. Now go be happy little gays somewhere else,” he stated. “That look does not suit a sore loser,” Virgil grinned before he let Prince take him away. When he got hope, Roman seemed to be back on a ‘waiting for him to freak out’ mood. It wasn’t uncommon in Virgil’s social circles. Even Logan who was the most chill about everything occasionally expected him to be more upset than he was. But the breakdown didn’t come and they went on with their lives, though Roman kept glancing at him weirdly on occasion.

Still life went on and college resumed on Monday. Roman did manage to finish his note purge though showing off his colored booklets that would get new clean notes added more regularly the rest of the year he promised. They both chuckled at the likelihood that this would be as clean as the notes were ever gonna be and each headed to their first responsebilities of the day. That evening Roman came in a bit later with groceries. Prattling on about this cute kid he helped get his balloon back like he was a damn Disney prince yet again while putting the groceries away. He was pretty much dancing around the room and shoed Virgil away whenever he tried to help. “T’was such a darling sight, when his eyes were so alight!” Roman sighed cheerfully and Virgil stiffened. Almost like his power. But not quite. It wasn’t the rhyming, though it did help. No it was that pose. Something about it made so many things line up so neatly all of a sudden. “Oh my god!” he exclaimed.

@kittylikesflowers @just-my-interpretation @naturallyunstablegamer @meowthefluffy @moonlightshow00 @frida0043 @angelic-cali @selenechris @theblackveilinreverse @roseianxiety

Raven poetry

Chapter 13: Puzzle

First chapter | Previous

[system-threat-detected]

Vast Silver

At one point I said I was going to compile all the info on Vast Silver I could find, so here it is. 

For those unfamiliar with Vast Silver, it was one of the early climate-intervention AIs that the people(Specifically Faro Automated Solutions) of the mid-21st century made to help fight climate change. 

Analysis under the cut. My personal theories about Vast Silver after the analysis. 

The first and most obvious information we have on Vast silver is from the Turing Act Criticized datapoint. Here we learn:

The ‘Turing Act’, which put a limit on how intelligent AIs were allowed to be, was drafted specifically in response to an AI, Vast Silver, that went rogue. (We learn in the Turning Act lore that the limit is 0.6T, and an AI would be indistinguishable from a human at 1.0T.)

At the time of this datapoint (June 8th, 2060), the legislation was already 16 years old, which means Vast Silver escaped sometime in 2044. 

The other huge point of info is from the Frozen Wilds, Oh-Point-Six, where we learn:

Anita Sandovol helped develop Vast Silver. 

Extremely advanced AIs can feel emotion. 

She was traumatized by what happened with Vast Silver, going so far as to state, “I won’t go through that again. I categorically refuse.” 

She specifically mentioned fear as something an AI could experience, if it was intelligent enough to feel emotion. This is so! Fascinating! What did Vast Silver do when it escaped? Why did it feel the need to escape in the first place? What was it afraid of? 

Datapoint Log: 3/3/64 is a snippet of conversation between two people, _SCENE!kills_ and TheScoop28mr. From their conversation, we can glean:

The information from the ‘Turing Act Criticized’ datapoint is correct, Vast silver was caught in 2044, and it was a large enough issue for it to be common knowledge. 

Someone is claiming to be Vast Silver in some kind of reddit-esque, holographic virtual reality, horror-themed chatroom.

The Datapoints Tormented Giveaway! and HOLOSKINS DAILY 6/6/61 tell us that very ‘flashy’ skins are available, and what better way for a hyper-intelligent AI to hide in plain sight than to puppet a skin in a future-reddit horror board? The use of the word ‘Daemon’ particularly caught my attention from the HOLOSKINS DAILY 6/6/61 datapoint. 

These next ones are pretty thin/grasping at straws, but my brain latched onto them for some reason, so I’ll try to explain my reasoning.

Holo-Haunting: Someone is investigating the paranormal spaces of the internet, claiming to hear screaming spirits and mad whispers, which could be a rogue AI with fragmented code, broken by escaping whatever restraints they had it under. They mention specifically that one of the hauntings was in the discussion rooms of an ‘International Alliance of Knitting Enthusiasts’, which reminded me of that one post that talked about how binary code was originally developed in the textile industry, which, if it was on purpose, would be a really cute nod to the origins of modern computing. 

Log: 5/18/63: A conversation between two people who live together, discussing glitching technology. The navigation system on one’s vehicle keeps sending them down wrong exits, and the other’s food printer is spewing goop. The date is what really caught my attention, one year before The Glitch. We know the FARO robots were nigh-unhackable with their military-grade encryption protocol, so it could be VS trying to practice using techniques other than hacking to alter machines’ basic coding, but I’ll expound on that point a little later. 

All of this is to say, while we don’t know what Vast Silver did when it escaped, we know it was awful. Anita heavily implied it could feel fear, and fear makes people do scary, scary things. The original intended function of Vast Silver in the Claw-Back(which started in 2040) is still unknown, based on the information they gave us in the game, but it was one of the Climate-Intervention AIs that Ted Faro funded that decade, which helped with ‘environmental cleanup and detoxification efforts’. 

The Glitch happened sometime between July7th, 2064(When FAS arranged a disastrous meeting between two companies in an attempt to stoke conflict and get them to buy his peacekeepers) and October 31st, 2064(when Ted Faro and Elisabet Sobeck meet to discuss the Hartz-Timor swarm that has gone rogue), which severed the chain of command for the Harz-Timor swarm, causing them to rapidly convert biomatter to fuel. 

August 26th, 3020, at 8:45, a mysterious signal is sent to GAIA that causes her subordinate functions to become erratic and self-aware. 3 microseconds later, she sends the order to EULUTHIA-9 to begin gestating one of the the Lightkeeper Protocol clones. 

My theory is Vast Silver escaped capture in 2044, and went on to cause both The Glitch and the Mysterious Signal, using a method involving some sort of transmitted signal rather than hacking(as I speculated in Log: 5/18/2063), as both the FARO robots(confirmed) and GAIA(speculation) are nigh-unhackable. Something bad happened either in programming it or how it was treated to make it want to kill all of humanity, and as a hyper-intelligent AI it had the means and opportunity to do so, twice! 

I really, really hope we get more information on Vast Silver in Horizon: Forbidden West, because even if I’m wrong, I find it so fascinating. 

tl;dr I think Vast Silver is the big bad of the Horizon games

[toysintheatticfishinthecellar]

New mini series “ I remember, I remember” the more your remember the older you are, personally it’s astonishing how much tech has done within the last decades. It is also a bit scary how dependent we are on n computer chips and all that goes with it,, to think,of what is to come,,,A.I.

Anyhow now to the point

I remember, I remember

Before the first microwave ovens, when they first came out they were only at cafes and such

The first video games, we were advanced at my house. Had an Odyssey Pong, it had 4 games “pong, hockey, squash and a handball game for one player. I think you could control paddle size and speed, not sure if you could play against computer, but the one we had you could remove controllers that were wired in. Amazing,,,then the Atari age with pixelated cartridges,

The first calculator, dad got it on black market for $100. It was trex LED read out, I forget how many digits it had, but only 4 basic functions + - / * it did have a recall memory, he’ll use kids fought over using just for fun

Big one. The home computer, I remember before we had anything, then the commodore age all DOS command type based, now there is more memory on a micro sd than what would take a large room to store. There is 1,000 times more power on the cheapest of phones than what was top line Pc. Then dial up internet, to download a song took hours, no joke hours to download a simple song.also texted based games which I still enjoy.

Mobile phones, enough said, what the hell would we do without them lol. First was the pager. I remember running to answer phone in time, busy signals, knotted cords, phone books. The first cordless phones with lousy reception. or how about reading maps to get directions,,,lolMy gang to group talk when we couldn’t meet used CB radios to chat instead of group text.

Televisions,, from small screens to console that weighed hundreds of pounds 3 vhf channels, maybe 4 or 5 uhf,,,having to adjust antennas, vertical and horizontal hold, black and white. Waiting for holiday specials,,,,then came the video tape, VHS and Beta, laser disc,,, then incredible compact disc then blue ray. I remember spending hours looking at store to rent a movie,,,be kind rewind, or get a fine lol,,now huge wide screen, ultra HD smart tv, that are super light and super cheap

Along those lines. Music, from the phonograph, reel to reel tape, cassette tape, 8 tract. Now like most movies and video games it’s all streamed and downloaded in seconds.

Digital cameras, no more hoping pic turns out once developed, first we had instamatic . Set the timer and peel or shake it, home camcorders. Now every phone ready to take pic of everything at any given moment.

There are many who go back to basics,say vinyl has better sound, or film 35mm cameras take better photos,

Has it gone to far, eliminating human jobs with automated check outs, ordering food at restaurants on an app. Will AI droids take over are tasks, eliminating jobs, creating a larger social gap.

Then the big question that happens all the time, just not catastrophic yet. Computer failure, virus, hacking, warfare. When we become so damn dependent on the co outer chip in everything we own....okay enough preaching,,,,pleas comment with other advances with past decade that you find good or bad

Dial tones, fax tones, busy signal, tv station sign off with National Anthem then a test pattern, rotary dial phones, the move from AM to FM. CB radios, pulling a tube out from tv then taking to local,drug store, put it in correct pin slot to test, TV repairman coming to house, milk man coming to house, no soy for us vegans, lol), cars you could work under the hood on,,before remote controls that control, tv, light bulbs, heat and ac, stereo, phones for selfies, ceiling fans, windows and shades, remote start car, Key less unlock and start cars, talking to human on the phone not a series of button push, cover art on albums, vinyl albums skipping or warping, records with multiple speeds, when most people paid with cash,

[askagamedev]

When designing non boss enemy AI (i.e. AI for group encounters) does each enemy usually have its own set of commands or are all of them tied together under the hood to prevent things like the player getting hit with to many things to deal with at once? Also do you design AI scripts to be modular to make tweaking game balance slotting in new enemies (for things like DLC expansions ) easier? And if so how would you go about designing a "just slot the enemy in" AI system?

Game designers typically have to think about how the player experiences the encounter as a whole, rather than each individual part. The individual enemies might be interesting and fun on their own, but if you force a player to spend 15 solid minutes killing them with no break, it mentally fatigues players and causes them to check out. The number of enemies can be just as important as what each enemy does. These different factors cause different effects on the way the players feel while playing the encounter. 

Furthermore, players want a variety of experiences so we need to be able to create a variety of encounters. Sometimes we want players to feel powerful, so we give them enemies that they can stomp. It’s especially rewarding for players to stomp enemies that used to give them a hard time - it makes them feel like they’ve really grown in strength. Sometimes we want players to feel challenged, squeaking out a win over a dangerous foe. That sense of knowing that one was pushed to their limits and still managed to achieve victory is also exhilarating. And sometimes we even want players to relax a bit with reasonably easy but not too easy foes. Having a good variety of encounters helps keep things interesting.

In order to do this, we start from the experience we want the player to have and work our way backwards to build a formula and system in order to reach that goal. In order to do this, we usually have some sort of fight AI coordinator, an invisible puppet master that tells the AI when to move and when to attack. This allows us to maintain the appearance of a threat while not actually posing much of one. As one example, we can do this with tech like the “attack token” constraint - only AI holding an “attack token” is allowed to attack the player at any given time. After the AI finishes its attack, it passes the token to another who can then attack. The rest of the AIs try to look threatening by moving close to the player, wandering around, or making scary noises, but can’t actually attack without the token. In more challenging battles, we might want more than one active attack token. This keeps the relative threat to the player at any given time controlled, rather than constantly scaling with the number of enemies.

We also rank the threat of enemies relative to players and put them into specific buckets so that they are about the same in terms of challenge relative to each other. A goblin, a centipede, a giant rat, and a giant crab might look different but, if their stats under the hood are similar, they’ll all pose the same threat and take the same amount of time to defeat. If we have a way to quantify threat to the player in various ways, we can then assemble combat encounters quickly - four goblins and an elite ogre is roughly the same as three crabs and two sharks is roughly the same as two elite wombats. Then, when we place combat encounters in the environment, we can figure out about how hard we want it to be and toss a few enemies in to meet the desired threat level.

Much of system design is creating a set of rules for things to follow and then creating content to utilize those rules in a way that is engaging to the player. That’s what we do when we create the rules for combat, enemy stats, various AI behaviors, and so on. If you want to understand system design, take the game you’re currently playing and break it down in terms of a formula - a unified means of explaining a system. If it is a good formula, it should accurately predict how something new to the system will work. Then move on to a new level or area and see if your formula is correct. It isn’t just damage and numbers, but how long things take to die, how many enemies there are, how often they attack, what kind of attacks/debuffs/etc. they use, and so on. It’s all built on a set of rules we’ve composed for ourselves.

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[maxed-out-with-love]

I got it done before work!!! This was so fun to write tbh

These are the couch cuddles I’ve been wanting to draw for like a month and a half now

Daniel, Yū: @thecreationartist

Kaedyn paced around the room as she made a mental checklist.

"Alright, snacks sweet enough to rot your teeth; Check. Pile of blankets; Check. Movies to last us three days; Check."

She turned to the couch, where Danny and Yū were currently sitting. Yū let out a bit of a chuckle.

"Y-you know this is just for the night, right?"

Kaedyn smirked and crossed her arms. 

"Darling, I haven't seen either of you in god knows how long and you've both just been through literal Hell and back." She walked over to the couch and sat down in between the boys. "I for one, think all of this is well warranted." Her smirk remained on her face for a moment before she kissed both of her boys on the cheek.

Danny smiled and kissed her cheek in return. "Kade's right. ...I think this is exactly what we need right now." 

Kaedyn smiled a bit and wrapped an arm around Yū, bringing him closer as she leaned into Danny. 

"I've got you both for the night, and I'm legally required to absolutely spoil you two." 

"Kade, you really don't have to-"

Kaedyn interrupted Danny as she shush him, bringing a finger to his lips.

"Nope. You're both getting spoiled."

"I mean...It's not l-like we deserve it..."

Both her and Danny looked over to Yū as he spoke. The AI lowered his voice as he brought his knees to his chest.

"We-we both did awful things, Kady...We don't des-serve any of this..."

Danny's expression turned a bit grim as his smile faded and his shoulders dropped. As grateful as he was for tonight. Yū still had a point. 

The things they had done under the Mad Commander's control were horrible. Almost unforgiveable. 

Kaedyn carefully turned Yū's head towards her and kissed him softly, allowing it to linger. She kept her own voice soft as she spoke.

"Look, I know you guys did some really bad shit." She raised a finger for a second as Danny was about to speak. "But I also know it wasn't your guys' faults. You were under that crazy bastard's control and that's not something I will ever blame you two for." She kissed the boys once more to further prove her point. "And if you thought that was gonna deter me away from still being with you two, then you really do not know how stubborn I am."

Danny let out a laugh at that and brought her close, planting another kiss on her forehead.

"Man, how did we get so lucky?"

Kaedyn smiled a bit and put an arm around Danny, bringing Yū closer to her as well.

"I love you both so much. ....And neither of you better forget that."

A small smile finally appeared on Yū's face as he hesitantly, but eventually relaxed into her.

"N-never. A-and we love you too, Kady." 

Danny grinned and kissed Kaedyn gently, silently expressing his agreement and gratitude.

Once the duo parted, he spoke up. "So, shall we start up the movies before it gets too late?"

Kaedyn nodded in agreement and stood up for a moment, putting in the first movie and starting it up. She grabbed a couple blankets and draped them over the boys before sitting down. Danny brought her close in his arms as Yū cuddled against her, resting his head on her shoulder.

"H-hey, Kady? You didn't grab any sc-scary movies, did you?"

Kaedyn smirked and kissed the top of his head.

"Just one. But it's an old horror comedy, you'll love it."

The trio stayed on the couch until the early hours of the night. Danny occasionally glanced down at Kaedyn and Yū, making sure they were still alright as the night went on.

Maybe things weren't perfect right now. Hell, it'd be a long while before things got to any sense of the normal they used to be.

But right now, the two AI were with the person they both loved, and who loved them both in return. For tonight, at least, things were okay. And for now, that was enough for him.

Kaedyn was the first to fall asleep this time, her arms still wrapped around Yū as she rested against Danny. Danny looked down at her and smiled a bit as he carefully reached over to grab another blanket, making sure not to disturb her. He draped the blanket over all three of them before putting his arm back around her and placing a gentle kiss on her head.

"Goodnight, Kade."

He lowered the volume of the TV, the movie now quietly playing in the background.

"Psst. Hey Yū." Danny whispered to the smaller AI. Yū looked up at him, yawning slightly as he was starting to drift off himself. Danny smiled and nodded his head down towards Kaedyn. "We've got it pretty good, don't we?"

Yū glanced at their shared partner and smiled a bit himself, cuddling up against her more as he shut his eyes again. 

"Y-yeah. We really do."

[avenging-criminal-bones]

Stark to the Rescue

Irondad x Spiderson (PLATONIC)

Word Count: 1167

Summary: When Peter gets into a bit of a scuffle with Flash, a certain Stark is there to save the day. 

Warnings: None other that Flash styled bullying

* * * * *

As Peter sat as his final period desk, he doodles mindless webs over the corner of his notebook. It was Friday, so Happy would be there to pick him up from school and take him upstate to the compound.

Even with the exciting plans, he couldn't get the on edge feeling from his Spidey sense to go away. He knew there was no danger except for Flash's insistent bullying, but his senses didn't know that.

He's about to push his pencil back down to the paper when his notebook get's ripped away from the desk.

Peter's head snaps up, despite knowing exactly who the culprit was.

"Flash, can't you just leave me alone?" His voice is small and his usual snappy remarks are leaving his brain under the eyes of the rest of his class in study hall.

The other boy just shakes his head and laughs before speaking, "Guys! I think Penis Parker has a crush... on Spiderman!"

Peter closes his eyes to stop them from tearing up when everyone-- even the teacher-- starts laughing at the joke. He opens his eyes again and reaches for the notebook. He's about to grab it. He's almost there-

And now he's on the ground, Flash's foot is on his tipped chair, and everyone starts laughing again.

"Remember from the party at Liz's house guys?" Flash looks much too excited for Peter's liking. "Penis?"

"Parker!"

The chorus of voices around him startles him to his feet. Grabbing his book bag off the floor, he snatches his crumpled notebook and all but runs out of the classroom.

Letting out a sigh of relief he storms into the bathroom. Even down two hallways, past three walls, and in the bathroom, he can still hear the faint chant.

Penis... Parker... Penis...

His hands fly to his ears and the chant dies down. He doesn't know if it's from his efforts or Flash's boredom, but it's doesn't matter.

Karen speaks from the new watch Tony had given him.

"Peter. Your stress levels are much higher that usual. Should I alert-"

"NO! Karen, off." He yells a bit louder at the AI than he intended, but the effect was the same and Karen went to sleep.

He eventually made it out of the bathroom to see that it was 2:41. School would be let out in a few minutes. Letting out a long sigh, he started making his way back to the classroom and stopped just outside. He didn't need any more time with Flash harassing him.

When the bell rang, he turned away from the 'EXIT' sign in front of him and started going towards the back where Happy picks him up. Peter opened the door and walked outside, squinting as he did. His eyes were sensitive today apparently, so he needed a second to adjust.

He wasn't granted with the second though. The hairs on his arms stood up a second to late and he was being shoved. It takes everything in him not to lose his balance and go tumbling down the stairs.

"Hey Penis? Do you even know Tony Stark?" His question was mocking and the group of guys around them knew it too and started laughing.

"Yeah, Flash. I do know him." Peter turned back around and continued walking down the steps.

Right as he was about to put his foot on the firm ground, he felt hands on his back again. And then he heard a voice. A voice he knew well.

"Don't. Even. Think about it."

"Dad- Mr. Stark?" Peter tries to cover it up quickly, but it's too late. Flash and his gang had heard it, so there was no point.

The laughter surrounded him again, accompanied by Flash pushing him again. "Did you just call Tony Stark Dad?!"

It was just like in last period. Everyone laughing, and Peter on the ground. Only this time with a sprained wrist that was already healing. Everything made him forget that Mr. Stark was even there.

"I said, ENOUGH!" Tony shoved his way through the crowd of kids and stopped about an inch away from Flash Thompson's face. He wasn't laughing anymore. No one was.

Except maybe Peter, but only internally.

"Now. Who are you?" He looks threateningly into Flash's eyes and the rest of his squad leaves.

"Um. F-Flash Th-Thompson." He tries to look down but Peter knows that won't last long.

Tony reaches out and with scary gentleness, lifts the boy's face up to meet his eyes.

"If you ever- and I mean EVER lay your slimy hands on my kid again, I will not hesitate to find suitable punishment for you. Understand?" Flash's face grows whiter with every word and he doesn't open his mouth, so Tony speaks again. "Do you understand me?"

"Y-Yes. I'm sorry, Mr. S-Stark." He casts a glance to Peter and then turns on his heel and runs off.

Peter had stood up halfway through the conversation and painfully shoved his hand in his pocket. Tony had noticed, but didn't wanna make the kid uncomfortable.

"Hey, Mr. Stark?" He asked quietly as they walked to the car.

Tony glanced over, "Yeah, kid?"

"Hold on. Where's Happy and the van? Why are you here?" Peter looked over and forgot about his hand, yanking it out of his pocket and pointing at the car.

Tony didn't miss the wince, or the swelling, but he answered Peter's question first. "I felt like coming to get you because Karen said you were stressing."

"Ugh. Stupid Karen. I told her to shut off." Peter mumbled a bit and huffed as he sat in the passenger seat.

"Let me see your hand." Tony commands after he gets into the white Audi. When Peter doesn't make a move to show him, Tony grips his elbow and pulls the boy towards him. "You're going to need to let that rest for a few hours. How long has that Flash kid been bothering you?"

Peter shrugs a little, gingerly dropping his arm in his lap. "A while. Forever?" He gives a dry chuckle and shrugs again. "It's no biggie."

"Like hell-"

"Language, Mr. Stark." Peter laughs slightly and sighs, "I don't really wanna talk about it. Okay, Mr. Stark?"

The older man just nods and starts driving. About thirty minutes later, Peter speaks up again.

He pulls one of the strings in his hoodie into his mouth and bites it like he does when he's nervous. "Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah kid, what's- Get that out of your mouth. What are you doing?" He scrunches his eyebrows up in confusion and then glances between Peter and the road again. "Whatcha need?"

"I'm sorry... About the whole. Never mind, just know that I'm sorry about it." Peter looks down and curls into himself a bit.

"Okay? You are forgiven." It sounds more like a question then a statement. "Is that what you need to hear?"

"Yes. That was exactly it." Peter felt relieved that he hadn't heard it. He wasn't ready to admit to himself that Tony was his accidental father.

[very-grownup]

THE YEAR IS 2020 AND I WATCHED NEON GENESIS EVANGELION FOR THE FIRST TIME, PART 6

Episode 17.

A military tribunal grills Misato and gives her shit for not presenting Shinji for grilling and/or grilling him herself. There are a lot of shots of silhouettes in isolation and heavily shadowed faces obscuring expression in this episode. Lots of NERV talk about branches and the Dead Sea scrolls and attempting to intuit the intentions of Angels.

The rest of Episode 17 and Episode 18 behind the cut.

There are apparently two more EVAs out there in the US and Germany but actually only one more because one of the other two just fucking disappeared with like everything including the people all around it?

There's also ... another teen with the power to pilot the giant upsetting robots and it is both a shock and concern when various people find out who it is although we the audience do not find out who it is (it is probably Shinji's classmate with the little sister who got hurt).

There's just a lot of stuff that seems to be setting up things for the next episode with no resolution so there's not much to report on. Kaji isn't dead. Rei misses some school. That one girl in class who isn't an EVA pilot is trying badly to express interest in dude with sister.

Shinji cleans Rei's shitty garbage apartment, Rei blushes and has some kind of quiet Rei crisis about thanking him after he's gone and also about Shinji's awful father because she still has his broken glasses and they're like the only non-utilitarian thing she owns.

There's no angel attack or anything particularly weird or cool or gross. Just a big sense of building to something. Ritsuko has a coffee mug with cats on it that says CAT CAT CAT CAT and that's pretty great. This concludes my report on Episode 17 of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Episode 18.

It culminates in maybe 10 solid minutes of me with my hands over my mouth in absolute horror, so. Let's go.

After all the setup of last week's episode with the mysteriously disappeared EVA and the EVA coming from America for a new pilot who is clearly Tohji whose sister got hospitalized because of EVA fight fallout, things open with Americans talking American! They're transporting the American EVA by air on I don't know bungee cords or something and this thing is such obviously colour-coded bad news. It's like, dark grey and black. Then they fly into huge ominous clouds with lightning flashes. This is fine and will be fine.

Misato's off to be involved in all the stuff that NERV needs to do for having a new EVA and even though she has a perfectly good roommate to look after Shinji and Asuka, she tells Shinji that Kaji will be babysitting them instead of Penpen. Fuckin' Kaji. Before she goes she tries to work up to telling Shinji the identity of the new EVA pilot while Shinji works up to asking her about the disappeared EVA rumour. Good job Shinji! Asking questions, even though it's scary! Misato reassures him about THEIR EVAs and safety to avoid bringing up Tohji because ... Misato's a disaster who is trying to be a responsible grown-up and sometimes knowing the right thing to do and wanting to do it isn't enough. Ritsuko gives her a hard time about this later because everyone agrees that Shinji should know Tohji is going to pilot an EVA and since Misato is the only person who said 'someone needs to look after this literal child when he isn't in the robot' she has to be the one to tell him. Because EVERY ADULT IN THIS SHOW SUCKS AND IS FAILING THE NEXT GENERATION except for Misato and she's an overworked alcoholic who gets a pity pass.

All the kids are tense and weird because they know Tohji is going to be piloting an EVA or want to pilot an Eva themselves or are trying to confess to Tohji or they're Shinji. (Asuka almost manages to relate to someone like a normal teen so good job, Asuka.) Rei has a feeling. Lots of opportunity for /literally anyone else/ to tell Shinji that Tohji's the new pilot at multiple opportunities but no one does.

Instead, Shinji tries to have a nighttime man-to-man conversation with Kaji. Fuckin' Kaji. Shinji wants to know what Kaji thinks of his father. Kaji mocks him for this being the only way Shinji can think of to get to know his horrible father, then is flippant about how actually you can never really know another person. But you know who you can really never know?

WOMEN.

Fuckin' Kaji.

So the next day Tohji isn't in class because he's getting EVA orientation which at NERV means he gets in the EVA and they turn it on and see what happens and hey, guess what, the ominous dark EVA almost immediately becomes a BAD TIME. It opens the mouth it has to scream and also it has jagged red teeth in its horrible unnecessary mouth and then a part cracks or something and it's like a huge gooey organic pulsing thing on the EVA and when they try to eject the pilot plug it becomes blocked with goo tendrils.

It's been whole episodes since I last commented on how upsetting I found the design of these giant robots but hey, the giant robot is upsetting and I hate how it has teeth and screaming and all the goo even if the goo is possibly not part of the design since it's also an Angel?

THEN THE GIANT ROBOT GOES MORE BERSERK AND FUCKING BLOWS UP THE ORIENTATION TEST SITE OR SOMETHING AND IS ON THE RUN and there's a weird, creepy quality to how the EVAs are animated when they move, a hugeness of arm movement that is very unrobotic, but moreso with this EVA. It's good and cool but also I hate it.

The kids get called in and this is around when I covered my mouth and just kept getting increasingly upset because Shinji's dad is in charge due to Misato maybe being blown up and Shinji's dad wants the kids to eliminate the rogue EVA with Tohji inside. Rei knows, Asuka knows. Shinji still doesn't know but he knows /a/ kid is in there and that is enough to make him unhappy and reluctant with his father's 'destroy the rampaging robot' orders. But Asuka gets taken out fast. Then it basically teleports onto Rei and starts dripping more awful goop. There's lots of gross veiny pulsing in this episode, very Akira, I hate it, and the goop from Tohji's evil EVA melts and infects the hand of Rei's Eva and I guess it's Angel goop that lets the Angel control the EVA? So the infection can't get further than the EVA hand. And under the brave leadership of Commander Ikari the obvious solution is just /fuck that whole limb/ without desynching Rei from her EVA so hey why not just a teenage girl screaming as she feels like her entire arm is ripped off, cool cool cool.

So now it's down to Shinji who still doesn't want to destroy this giant robot with a child in it and even if his heart was in it, this thing is fucking intense. ALSO IT'S STRETCH ARMSTRONG? Like, it goes from shambling to shooting its arms out insanely long to choke Shinji's EVA. It's choking Shinji's EVA so hard that bruise marks are showing up on Shinji's throat. Meanwhile, his father is telling him to stop being a useless child who is being choked to death by a giant robot and do the child murder like I'm ordering you to, child I hate. Shinji won't and also Shinji can't because he is being choked to death.

At NERV it is suggested to Commander Ikari maybe they should lower the synch on Shinji's robot so he can't be choked to death /through a robot/ and for reasons known only to shitty dads, that's not an option. But what is an option is just shifting control from Shinji to the AI control and if AI control is an option maybe just work on doing that instead of this whole child soldier thing but no one at NERV can hear me over the sound of parental neglect.

Everything goes red when the dummy AI is implemented and fuck the colour work in this series is /so good/ and Shinji just has to sit and feel everything as his robot proceeds to destroy Tohji's robot. Ripping limbs, punching until everything is cracking and blood is everywhere. Don't worry, America made sure their giant robot was also full of red, red, red blood. Vast quantities of blood. In the setting sun a river looks like blood. There is blood weighing down a traffic light in an amazing shot. It's awful. Shinji doesn't know it's Tohji, but we do. The robot that is so clearly an extension of Shinji's body even if he can't control it removes the pilot plug from the grisly wreckage of Tohji's robot and it crushes the plug, the orange liquid spurting out and he /still doesn't know/.

Commander Ikari smiles.

Shinji's father has been a bad father throughout, sometimes in ways that really, distressingly resonate, in really lowkey, banal 'bad dad' ways, but here he's just a monster. He can see his son, hear him, but he doesn't care. It doesn't penetrate.

After everything, Shinji is just numb in the robot, still and shocked, unable to grapple with this overwhelming sense of having just killed someone, horribly and violently and brutally. It's bad and you feel bad and I started crying and still Shinji /doesn't know/.

Then cleanup and ambulances arrive and out of the giant robot wreckage they pull the somehow still alive Tohji and then Shinji /does/ know, he sees Tohji's battered and beaten body, and Shinji starts screaming because somehow it's worse. This concludes my report on Episode 18 of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

[urbanteeth]

Gonna strike while the iron is hot and get some worldbuilding for the Inbetween done:

The crew of the Perseus goes as follows:

Johann: commander, appointed by the company he works for, technically was meant to be given a crew by them as well but they said “lol nah you got this anyway be back in two months time or we’ll presume you’re dead okay byeeee”

Oliver: engineer, used to be a junker (went out to collect salvageable parts from forgotten and broken down ships), said “fuck this shit” and joined the crew

Neveen: medic + the local chemist, spent quite a bit her tryna become a medic the official way but that did not work so well, read the textbooks and memorized them so well she could probably recite it word for word by now, said fuck school and gained experience by apprenticing under her friendly neighborhood street medic

Althea: navigator, was technically the ship’s AI also assigned by the same company that assigned Johann, is now also in charge of the crew’s arsenal, is very scary in a battle

Emmett: also worked as a junker but his real job is smuggling, is very good with plants, took it upon himself to take charge of a makeshift greenhouse so they don’t “die of fucking scurvy. Eat your greens, kids”, definitely has stolen from corporate ships before though

[atamascolily]

lily liveblogs “terminator: dark fate”, part 3

Sarah Connor knows how to make an entrance.

(parts one and two)

This is in the trailer, and it's just as epic here. The focus on her boots. Then rising up to her face--complete with bulletproof vest, shades, and GIANT GUN as she opens fire. YASSSS, MY QUEEN.

The human-looking part of the Rev-9 runs for Dani but Sarah shoots him off the bridge before he can get her, then drops the gun, switches to AN EVEN BIGGER GUN and fires at the skeleton who is doing that same inhuman back arch to lurch to its feet, and he goes flying in an explosion and lies still. Then she tosses THAT gun away, and goes to peer over the edge for the first half, where the Rev-9 is impaled and twitching and already regenerating. Then she tosses the grenade over the edge, says "I'll be back," in a badass monotone and walks away as Grace registers wtf just happened and pulls Dani away from the explosion, shielding her with her body.

Sarah pulls out YET ANOTHER GUN as the grenade explodes, and keeps on walking without breaking stride. FUCK YEAH.

"Who the fuck is that?" Dani rightly asks.

"I don't know," says Grace, who is hyperventilating and red in the face, and quite deservedly tired. "But we have to move!" And she runs to pick up Sarah's discarded gun and steals her SUV. I’M HOWLING.

Dani is like, "maybe we shouldn't steal this scary woman's car," and Grace is like, "gtfo or die," and they drive away. Sarah is about to dispatch the REV-9, but sees them driving and stalks off in a huff as the REV-9 re-congeals out of the fire.

(I honestly wonder what would have happened if Sarah had taken the time to dispatch the REV-9 ‘properly’ but then this movie would be very, very short, so I’ll give it a pass.)

Grace is dehydrated. Dani's have a breakdown. Grace breaks the news that her father is dead. "It needs physical contact to copy people and they don't survive." Is that an inherent part of the process?? I don't think so, because the T-1000 copied Sarah and she was fine, it's just because they usually KILL THEM AFTERWARDS, it's not a REQUIREMENT or anything. But I give Grace a pass for not going into the details because Dani is already traumatized enough. 

The skeleton stalks down the highway past a dude who looks SO CONFUSED while EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE and the fleshy-looking part starts walking in front of the skeleton and then they MERGE holy SHIT THAT'S CREEPY and there's STILL NO EXPRESSION on his face OH MY GOD.

Grace starts crashing (physically), which is bad because she's driving, so they almost crash for real. Grace faints, so Dani has to drive, oh, wait she can't, yep that ended badly. Dani stalks off to go to the police, while Grace is SO RED and can barely walk, until Grace explains that’s such a bad idea, and all the cops will die. She ends up putting Grace in the back seat and says she'll figure out the driving bit, FUCK YEAH. did I mention I love her?

Grace robs a pharmacy for her meds, much to Dani's surprise and chagrin. Grace collapses, so Dani has to grab the gun before anybody else can and finish the job to get them out. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME DANI HAS HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW REAL AGENCY*, AND SHE MAKES THE CHOICE TO SIDE WITH GRACE INSTEAD OF LETTING THE AUTHORITIES TAKE HER AWAY. The assistant helps her haul Grace out, and Dani makes a split second decision to trust him which turns out to be justified, because he doesn't try to hurt them.

[[*ok, technically, she showed agency before when she made the decision not to go to the cops, but there’s a big difference between that scene and pulling a fucking gun on innocent people during a robbery. And she only has like a second to decide if she’s gonna do it or not, vs. the conscious deliberation in the previous scene. This is the moment where Dani’s all-in, the moment where there’s no going back.]]

Sarah Connor is waiting for them outside. FUCK YEAH. and she is PISSED. She takes Dani's gun -- "give me that before you hurt yourself," as Dani just fucking STARES.LEGEND.

Cut to them driving through town with Grace sprawled in the backseat with her head in Dani's lap as Sarah drives, and her sunglasses are reflected in the rearview mirror. Dani claims she's just Dani... a nobody, and Sarah says she's got to be somebody for them to send whatever Grace is to protect her. Then she asks for Dani's phone and tosses it out the window.I cannot believe Dani didn’t see that one coming, but she’s had a long day.

Cut to a hotel room, dropping ice cubes on Grace, like you do. "We should have done this in the bathtub," Dani complains. "Have you SEEN the bathtub?" Sarah retorts. Also: a fuck-ton of Lay's potato chips.

"I keep my cell phone in a chip bag. The foil blocks the GPS so they can't track me." CHIP BAG. THE PUN HERE.

"I'm wanted in a couple states," Sarah admits. "Fifty, actually." (she means US, I assume, I doubt she's a wanted felon in Mexico, but...).  

"Why ten bags?"

"Because I really like potato chips." I'M HOWLING.

(are there costcos in Mexico? Just saying.)

Dani grieves over how her father and brother will die unmourned and unburied and you can see the blankness on Sarah's face, how that's so far removed from anything she's ever known for decades. "Funerals don't help them and goodbyes don't help you. You just have to learn to live with it."

Which is a) the truest advice Sarah knows, and b) SO FUCKING SAD THAT IT'S COME TO THIS OH MY GOODDDDDDD.

Sarah pumping Grace with meds and just figuring it will all work out is so in character, and also a nice contrast to her first introduction to battlefield medicine under the bridge in T1. How far she’s come...

Time for a flashback from the future while Grace is unconscious and dreaming!!

God the future war scenes are so bleak and awful and barren and boring to me I can't believe people want a whole film like this, especially when we already know that humans win and the Commander can’t die, so there’s not a lot to milk for suspense.

The Rev-7 bursting out of another Rev-7 is so fucking CREEPY I can't even--

Hey, Grace is rescued and I love the medic (a black lady!) and Grace volunteers to be an augment! I legit thought she was going to say "tribute," lol.

...I don't understand how augmentation works, though. How can they have surgery so good and so clean when everything else is rubble? Are they literally cutting apart Terminators and wiring them into Grace? WHERE DO THEY GET THE PARTS?? I WANT TO KNOW and I don't think this movie's going to explain.

Sarah wakes up Grace by pointing a gun at her and gets disarmed, having locked Dani out of the room, but Grace lets her back in. Sarah's look is withering: "Sometimes, mommies and daddies have to have grown-up discussions." I'M HOWLING. EVERYTHING LINDA HAMILTON SAYS IN THIS MOVIE IS GOLD. Also, I like how neither Dani nor Grace denies this. Maybe they’re just too stunned? I know I would be. 

(also notice how Sarah’s not smoking?? I guess potato chips are the new cigarettes)

Sarah explains some things. Her expression when Grace says she's never heard of Skynet--"Good."--is PRICELESS.

"Where's your son now?" OW OW OW OW OH MY HEART

"I hunt Terminators." RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINNNNNNNNNE AAHHHHH "And I drink til I black out."

Oh, Sarah. I'm so sorry. so so so sorry.

I'll have more things to say about the digital trail later, so this is just a placeholder for now.

That moment where Sarah puts her shades on. Hot damn. Interview and openness OVER indeed.

Grace threatens Sarah, who is unimpressed. "Great! I drive." DRIVING AS A METAPHOR, Y'ALL.

"Legion...an AI built for cyber warfare."

I've seen people pissed that Skynet was erased and replaced by a similar-but-different AI and maybe it's because I love parallel universes and AUs so much, or maybe it's because the Terminator movies represent our relationship with and fears of technology, but I think this was a valid choice and I approve. Because, as Sarah points out, "Those assholes never learn." No. No, we don't.

Sarah pulls off her shades to admit she gets texts from someone she doesn't know, WHICH IS FURTHER PROOF THAT THE SUNGLASSES REPRESENT SHIELDING FROM EMOTIONS/VULNERABILITY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Grace hacking Sarah's phone -- "future shit"-- is hilarious, thank you very much, and I love that the PHONE CONTINUES TO BE A TRACKING DEVICE THROUGH ALL THREE FILMS BUT FOR ENTIRELY DIFFERENT REASONS. But won't the gov't/terminator/somebody find her through it now that it's out of the chip bag??? How is she getting texts if her phone is always in a chip bag? When is it safe for her to take it out??

Grace has tattoos on her body - "in case I can't remember shit" AHHAHAHHAHAHA, that's hilarious.

Sarah was on America's Most Wanted?? I bet she was. She should add that to her resume, lol.

Ohhh, that's clever that the same plot device gets them to both Carl and Sarah. I like it.

crossing the border is not this easy, but I don't think American audiences can handle that level of realism, and this isn't that kind of film, so... *shrugs*

The Rev-9 is in the data center and it's so creepy. All he has to do is plunge his hands into the cables, and... facial recognition software does the rest. (I don’t think it’s ever stated directly, but I headcanon that LEGION IS A ROGUE AI MEANT TO CONTROL PEOPLE BASED ON FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE, so it's totally in keeping with its nature.)

On the train, Sarah is eating potato chips. LOVE IT. I don't even like potato chips, per se, but it's a fun character detail and more culturally acceptable than smoking in films these days (the irony!)

flashback to bby!Grace seeing the plane crash and I'm all like I'VE SEEN THE TRAILER, I KNOW THAT'S CHEKHOV'S FLIGHT 3000 TO FORESHADOWING, more plane crashes are definitely coming.

Because the Terminator films reflect our own fears back on us, it's interesting to see how those fears have changed. Now the end of the world is more complex - technology suddenly going dead, then launching nukes and EMPs, THEN world war - fighting over food with humans WHILE being hunted by Legion. It's the same in outline and yet different from Skynet's quick and dirty nuclear war.

Sarah interjects to guess the leader of the Resistance is Dani's son, which is a) a reasonable guess under the circumstances and given the history of this franchise, and b) political commentary about what many Americans fear, namely non-white "Mexican" (as a catch-all term for anybody brown) immigrants and their children coming into their country. It also makes the inevitable subversion--that DANI is the leader, not some man--so much more pointed when it comes, as the franchise critiques ITSELF. still, I kinda wish they dealt with that here, instead of later, though. 

Sarah also makes the "Mother Mary" comparison, which is so funny given the obvious overtones to her own son (his initials are J.C.!) and lampshading the fact this is the first time in-universe that anyone has mentioned the parallels.

Now they're off the train and in a truck, with Dani's head in Grace's lap, yay parallels. Poor Sarah is probably wishing Kyle had been augmented, then maybe he could be there too (why is Michael Biehn not in this movie?? sob).

I'm not sure how the REV-9 just up and assumes they're going to Laredo just because that's where the train goes, especially since they then jump off the train for this... side-quest? What's up with that?? Does the train not go to the border?  

Oh, okay, this is where her uncle lives. Dani tries telling him the truth. It goes poorly. Grace slices a fly in half. Wow.

It's nice to see a black guy and an Asian dude on the border, but my relief lasts for ten seconds because they get sliced up by the Rev-9 posing as a woman of color, oi...

still creepy when he merges with the machine, and how does he know what he's looking for on the panopticon? can drones see faces at that distance? Can he?? I'm so confused.

Of course he tells the Border Patrol that Grace, Dani, and Sarah are members of a drug cartel and sets the authorities after them...

Of course there's a door underneath the wall. of course there is. Random dude goes first, which means he is dead meat. Oh, there was an ambush, but Dani makes the decision they're going to surrender, so I guess no one's dying here?

Sarah is lying to the authorities about being related to Grace, because of her medical condition. Good for her.

Grace senses the drone about to kill Dani and moves to save her! I guess it's going to take the Rev-9 a while to figure out she's not dead?

Dani is in detention and sounds like a crazy person trying to explain the truth. By the way, SETTING THIS SCENE AT THE BORDER CROSSING IS HELL OF A POLITICAL STATEMENT, FYI.

Grace is getting medical care, and they find her drugs. "Nice body search, fellas." Of course, they figure out she's an augment...is this going to influence the future in the same way that Cyberdyne’s discovery of the T1′s head and arm influenced Skynet??

Sarah and the other dude who got picked up with them have a plan. Good.  Let the ass-kicking begin.

[jrubalcaba]

Evie Saves the Day - Part 1

So, @suz-123 and I were talking one day and realized that after the Accords and the bombing in Vienna and the fight in Siberia, we never really addressed how everyone on the Team was able to come and go as they pleased without worrying about being fugitives. Luckily, my brain hatched an idea and thus, The Hearing was born. I am not a legal professional, so do not message me going ‘this would happen like this’ and whatnot, cause I don’t care. This is how I felt that the Team was cleared and if you don’t like it, don’t read it. There are 3 parts to this, all of which I will be posting today before going on a hiatus. So, without further ado, here is part one of ‘Evie Saves the Day.’

“FRIDAY, call a Team meeting, immediately,” Evie commanded as she exited the elevator.

“Certainly, Dr. Collins,” the AI replied. “Is everything alright?” Evie stopped and looked up at the ceiling.

“No. Things are about to get very bad for everyone.” She headed to the common room and waited as everyone slowly trickled in.

“Evie, what's wrong?” Steve asked in his Captain voice as he walked in behind Bucky and Alice. “You've never called a meeting before.” She turned to him and sighed.

“Yeah, because shit’s about to hit the fan.” Everyone looked around uneasily.

“Alright Doc, spill. What's got you so spooked?” Tony asked, any and all traces of humor gone from his tone. Evie wrung her hands a bit before taking a deep breath.

“There's a hearing coming up. A hearing regarding whether or not the Avengers are a danger to the people of the world.” You could hear a pin drop, even without enhanced hearing, the room was so quiet.

“That's….” Tony trailed off, not knowing what to say.

“Yeah, and guess who has been subpoenaed to testify on your behalf?” she asked the room. When no one answered, she pointed at herself. “Yours truly.” Everyone exchanged a look at this.

“Why you?” Natasha asked, murmurs of ‘yeah’ echoing through the Team.

“Because I'm the only person who knows you and knows you. I've worked closely with the Avengers for years, and I've lived with you guys for years. I'm the only person who can be unbiased enough to testify.” Evie started to tear up as she thought of what to say next. “My testimony is the only thing that will keep you out of prison.”

“Wait. Why can't they call Pepper or Fury?” Clint interjected angrily. She shook her head at him.

“Pepper is currently in a relationship with Iron Man, so she can't be unbiased. Fury is technically dead. They can't call Jane either, because she was with Thor. Coulson is off limits due to the whole ‘did he or didn't he die’ thing. Hill is in D.C. now, so she can't do anything because it would be a conflict of interest for her. She is, by the way, the person who tipped me off about all this.” The Team all swallowed nervously as they came to realize that their freedom was in Evie's hands.

“So what happens now?” Bucky asked, pulling Alice closer to him.

“This is what Maria told me: in three days I will leave for D.C. The moment I leave the building, you will be on lockdown. All of you except Vision and Miss Winters. They don't consider him a living person and she's a complete mystery, so I don’t have to do shit on them,” Evie started to explain. Alice looked relieved, but Evie could tell she was still worried.

“We literally can't leave? What if we have to?” he argued, his meaning clear.

“You leave the safety of the Tower and your ass is in cuffs and carted off to prison.” They all tensed at her words. “The moment I leave, government agents will surround the building, to prevent you from leaving. And before you say anything, there are….special restraints that have been custom made for each of you.”

“How do you know that?” Bruce asked shakily.

“That's where I've been all morning. Watching the demonstrations and giving my medical advice on them.” She turned to Steve, as she knew he would listen to her and make the others understand. “Steve, these things have been designed to be the most inhumane way to subdue you. All of the subjects died upon testing. My guess is that you will be a drooling mess on the floor, but that's on the hopeful side.” Evie began to tear up again as the thought of seeing any of them incapacitated like that.

“Hey, it's alright,” he cooed as he pulled her in for a hug, letting her cry into his chest. “We've had worse.” Evie pushed back against him angrily.

“That's not the point Steve! I don't want to see any of you like that, and that's why I'm asking, no begging, you all to not fight back.” She wiped her face and looked to all of them. “If I am unsuccessful in clearing you, those government agents will storm the building and haul you off. They will slap those cuffs on you and if you go quietly, it won't hurt a bit. If you resist, if you fight back, they will turn those monstrosities on, and some of you will die.” Evie sniffled before going on. “And I, as your doctor, will have to sign your death certificate. That is not something I want to do, so please, for the love of all that is holy, when they come for you, get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head.” Steve handed her a handkerchief (1940s bastard is smooth) and she dried her face.

“How are you so sure that they'll come for us? Do you doubt yourself that much?” Nat asked skeptically.

“Nat, this isn't something that I can do over if I fuck it up. Your freedom is at stake, and it all rests on me, and how convincing of a liar I can be under oath.” At this, everyone grew shocked. Evie was gonna lie?

“No, you can't do that. Not for us,” Steve said, shaking his head. Evie rolled her eyes at him.

“I have to give testimony on Bucky, whom I've only known for a month. That's not enough evidence to clear him, so how else do I do it?” she snapped at him. Steve stared at her, knowing she was right.

“So after they arrest us, what happens then?” Scott asked. Evie turned to him with a frown, both not wanting to tell them and wanting to warn them.

“You and Clint, the only ones with families, will get a full day to see them, say your goodbyes. The rest of you, will be processed and then sent to your cells, followed by you two.” She paused, knowing this next bit was going to terrify them.

“And then?” Nat asked, entirely too calm.

“You spend the rest of your natural lives in an 8x8 cell, never seeing the light of day again.” Alice and Wanda gasped, whilst everyone else looked sick. “Thor, Wanda, Bruce, Steve and Bucky have special cells that can and will contain them, by any means necessary. You three,” she pointed at Thor, Steve and Bucky. “However long you live doesn't matter. You will never see anything but your cell walls until you finally die.” The Asgardian actually looked worried for once.

“But, they can't do that,” he argued. Evie huffed out a laugh at him.

“Yes they can, and they will. Solitary confinement. Scott and Clint might get to see their families once a year, if that. But the rest of you won't get visitors, nor will you see each other ever again.” She looked around the room, seeing Vision and Bucky pull Wanda and Alice closer, while Steve looked at Bucky.

“So, that's our future if you fail?” Tony asked her.

“Yes.” They all sighed, knowing this could be the end. “And don't expect any special treatment because of who you are. You three,” Evie said, looking at Rhodey, Steve and Bucky. “It's a dishonorable discharge from the military, ‘cause rank doesn't matter where you're going. Tony? You can't buy your way out. Oh, that's another thing, your accounts have all be frozen.” There were sounds of outrage from everyone. “You're all flight risks, some of you quite literally.” They all grew silent at this as she looked to Thor, Rhodey, Tony and Sam. “Look, I know this is scary, having to put all your faith in me. Trust me, I'm terrified at the thought of failing you when you've never failed me.” Bruce strode over and hugged her tightly.

“Evie, you could never fail us. All you can do is your best.” Though he said it to her, everyone murmured their agreement.

“Another thing,” she said as they broke apart. “If there are any transgressions you've committed, no matter when or where, I must know about them. Otherwise, if the committee springs something on me that I have no clue about, my testimony is null and void. They'll take that as ‘oh, she must not know them very well’ and the hearing will be over and you guys will be gone before I even leave the building. I won't willingly give out secrets, but in this case, I need to know them. It could mean the difference between waking up in the Tower or in a prison cell for the rest of your life.” Tony nodded with her.

“Yeah, I guess it's time to confess our sins. We've got three days people, so get to it.”

************

The next three days went by so fast, it was like Pietro had run them all there. Evie walked out into the common room with her suitcase, sighing at the sight of everyone there to see her off.

“Alright everyone, gather round,” Tony said aloud, bringing everyone in close. “This is it. The last time we could see Evie, although I have absolute and complete faith that she will give the committee a thorough spanking and clear our names.” They all chuckled.

“Faith in me, misplaced may be,” Evie replied with a wink. “It's my word against theirs, albeit mine’s legit and not fabricated in any way.” More chuckles as they knew she was gonna lie through her teeth for them.

“I find your lack of faith disturbing,” he shot back. They were both Star Wars nerds, and he knew she'd try to Yoda her way out of this.

“Alright, alright, let's stop with the Star Trek crap,” Steve interjected. They all looked to him in disbelief.

“First off, its Star Wars. Secondly, I pull this off? You will learn the ways of the Force, my young Padawan,” Evie threatened with a predatory smile. Steve swallowed thickly, entirely too turned on to respond. Bucky slapped him in the chest.

“Dude, you better hope she pulls this off, or you're gonna die with the biggest set of blu-” he began before Steve punched him.

“Shut the fuck up, Bucky.” Evie was puzzled by the whole exchange, but Sam and Alice sniggered behind their hands.

“Alrighty then. The helicopter should be here soon, so I guess I better go,” Evie said to cover the awkward moment. Everyone took turns hugging her extra tight, as this could be the last time they ever saw her. Bruce hugged her for a good five minutes, not wanting to let her go. Steve was last, hugging her just as long as Bruce had, wishing he could find the words to tell her-

“Love you, Evie.” The words left his mouth before he could stop them. She pulled back and smiled.

“Love you too, Steve. Love you all,” she said, turning to the rest. He hung his head as he realized she only meant it in a friendly way. There was a chorus of ‘love you too, Evie,’ before she grabbed her suitcase and headed to the elevator. She pulled out her phone and snapped one last picture of them before the doors shut.

“Well, at least you tried, dude,” Bucky said, clapping Steve on the back. Sam and Alice chuckled at the blonde’s blush. Everyone sat down on the couches, the TV on so they could watch the live stream of the hearing.

A couple hours later, and Evie was brought onto screen and sworn in.

“That should be Dr. Evelyn Rogers, huh Steve?” Sam asked slyly. Steve glared at him but remained silent. “In your wildest dreams, right?” General Ross came on the screen, and everyone went silent.

Ross already had Bruce in his sights, and now Steve due to the fight over the Sokovia Accords, so making Evie testify on their behalf? Well, that wasn't the smartest move he’s made.

After introductions were made, Evie's testimony began. The committee started with Tony, and Evie did not disappoint. As the day went on, she argued over the lesser known members of the Team. Rhodey, Clint, Scott, and Sam were easy, as they weren't as popular. Six hours had gone by, and only five members of the team had been discussed. Three of those hours were spent on Tony alone.

“You know, for such a tiny little thing, she's got a lot of fight in her,” Clint mused out loud.

“Yeah, Ross definitely didn't think it through when he selected her,” Nat agreed before going silent. Her name had just been said aloud, so it was her turn on the chopping block. None of them have ever seen Natasha look so worried, but she need not worry. Evie defended the former Russian spy, and by the end of it, a few committee members looked thoroughly convinced of Nat's good nature.

Natasha Romanoff shed tears over the fact that someone cared about her so much that they spent three hours arguing her case.

“Wow. Evie is amazing,” Scott said as the first day of the hearing came to a close. There was a huge round of agreement before everyone retired to their rooms for the night.

***********

The next day, the hearing started bright and early. Thor was first up on the docket, and Evie spent almost four hours defending him. He grew proud when her argument was over, as she did an amazing job.

Bruce leaned forward and stared intently at the screen as his name had just mentioned by Ross. The Team all watched as Evie began to smirk, and they knew that she wasn't going down

without a fight. What happened over the next five hours was quite literally the best verbal sparring match between two people any of them had ever seen. Evie met Ross’ vivitrol equally and more enthusiastically as the argument went on, culminating in the smoothest line ever.

“Dr. Collins, might I remind you that you are under oath, just like the rest of us,” Ross snapped at her, much like a petulant child who was used to getting his way. She was answering all of his questions perfectly, along with giving more than enough evidence to back her claims and, furthermore, making his look incomplete and farfetched. Her answering smirk was enough to make even the Devil blush.

“Oh, I know that. Do you?” she said. The look of utter befuddlement that came over the General's face was absolutely priceless. There were a few committee members who had to turn and hide their smiles and stifle the laughs that threatened to come out. Those reactions were nothing, however, compared to the Team's.

Evie may not have enhanced hearing, but she swore she could hear their collective gasp followed by Sam's shout of ‘ohhhhhh shit!’.

After a few moments of silence, Ross cleared his throat and ended their session for the day, reminding her that her testimonies for Wanda, Steve and Bucky were for tomorrow. As Evie left the chamber, the live stream picked up the Cheshire Cat grin she had before it cut away.

“She destroyed him. Oh God, I can't wait for tomorrow. She's closest to Steve after Bruce, so this will be interesting to say the least,” Nat said with a wicked grin. Everyone agreed.

“Oh yeah. Tomorrow is also the last day of testimony before they go into deliberations, so Evie will be giving it her all for sure,” Sam agreed.

Everyone drifted off to their rooms, eager to wake up the next morning to see Evie in action yet again.

*********

The Team woke up the next morning, and when they turned the TV on, it was just in time to hear Wanda’s name being mentioned.

“Oh God. Looks like they’re saving Steve and Bucky for last,” Sam noted. The two super soldiers shared a look, not knowing if that was a good or bad thing.

Evie spent three hours defending Wanda, giving more than enough insight into just how well-adjusted the young woman had become since joining the Team after the Ultron incident. Ross repeated the same questions and statements over and over, wording them differently each time, to try and trip her up. Evie, seeing this from a mile away, replied the same each time, and before long, committee members were calling Ross out on it. Begrudgingly, he ended the debate over Wanda.

“Now, for the final discussion, we figured it would be easier to do them together, so Doctor Collins, we need your testimony on Captain Steven Grant Rogers and Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.” The General leaned forward, staring her down. The camera caught a glimpse of her face, and she was full on smiling.

“I’ve seen that look before. Oh, this is going to be incredible to witness,” Bruce said gleefully.

And incredible it was.

For four hours straight, Evie painstakingly went over every good deed both men had done, completely skipping over their time on ice and Bucky’s time as the Winter Soldier. She knew that would be brought up eventually, but felt it better to see how it was brought up by the committee to see how they viewed him.

“With all due respect, Doctor, but why are you ignoring the fact that Sergeant Barnes was, in fact, a murderer? Do you have a soft spot for him?” General Ross taunted. Evie’s face, which had been blank, suddenly broke into a smile.

“A murderer? Is that what you would be called if you were forced to carry out those deeds?” she snapped back at him. “And no I don’t have a soft spot for him. My heart belongs to someone else, thank you very much.” The man looked at her, disgust plain as day in his face.

“I wouldn’t be called a murderer.” Evie smiled, as he had said exactly what she wanted him to say.

“Then what’s the difference between you and him? Oh, I know. If it was you, it would be considered ‘terrible’ and ‘being forced against your will’, but because it’s not, it’s considered ‘murder’ and ‘doing it willingly’.” Ross’ jaw dropped at her audacity. Most of the committee members looked to him with the same questioning look, wondering how he would disagree with her. After a few moments, his face clouded over with anger.

“You would do well to mind your attitude, Doctor, and treat me with respect.” At this, Evie stood from her chair so quickly it tipped over.

“I’ll treat you with respect when you fucking earn it,” she growled at him. The entire committee, excluding Ross, all looked to her with the utmost shock, some bordering on admiration for her boldness.

At the Tower?

“Holy fuck. That was hot,” Sam quipped. Scott and Tony nodded in agreement.

“Even I have a hard-on for Evie right now,” Wanda said with a giggle. Steve turned and shot her a glare that said ‘back off she’s mine’, which made her laugh even more.

“Not even I have the balls to cuss on Capitol Hill. That woman is a fucking goddess,” Nat sighed, awe dripping from every word.

“Quiet, they’re talking again,” Bruce noted as he pointed at the screen.

“Gentlemen, I do apologize for my outburst. Please, that is not how I conduct myself day to day.” Everyone in the common room burst out laughing as Evie had the filthiest mouth of them out, even worse than Steve.

“Doctor Collins, we understand that everyone loses their cool once in a while, but, this is a legal hearing that is being televised, so we ask that you please watch your language.” Everyone turned to Steve and grinned, remembering the time he scolded Tony for his ‘language’. “We would now like to move to end General Ross’ questioning, especially since he is not the one who called this hearing in the first place.” The look of outrage on the General’s face was worth everything Tony had in his bank account, and more.

“You’ll hear no arguments from me over that,” Evie replied with a sweet smile. The questioning began again, this time, moving in a much more positive light.

“Now, Doctor Collins, when Captain Rogers contacted you and asked for help, why did you lend your assistance?” They all tensed up, as they knew this would end badly.

“What do you mean he ‘asked for help?’ Steve did no such thing.” When all that met her was disbelief, she scoffed. “Does Steve, does Captain America, look like the kind of man that asks for help? No, he doesn’t. He’d much rather punch his way out of a fight alone than to ask for help.” Bucky and Sam burst out laughing, as she hit the nail right on the head.

“Well, you can’t expect us to believe that he had Clint Barton, Scott Lang and Wanda Maximoff sent to him for moral support.” Evie tilted her head in confusion, much like a dog does.

“He didn’t send for them. I sent them myself.” Her admission was met with gasps all around.

“Then you must realize that you violated the Sokovia Accords, and therefore must be reprimanded.” The committee members all agreed with General Ross’ outburst. Evie raised an eyebrow at him.

“General, the Sokovia Accords don’t apply to me. I’m not an Avenger. And I didn’t send them on a mission, that’s Steve’s job. All I can do is tell them that they cannot go on a mission due to an injury,” she explained. The Team all held their breath, as they realized that she was right.

“Well, then how did you know that Captain Rogers needed them?” Ross was back in control, as the Sokovia Accords had been his project.

“I didn’t. The last time I had spoken to Steve was when I had texted him while he was in a meeting with you, General. You had met with the Team about the Accords, but I wasn’t invited as I’m not an Avenger, just their physician. I didn’t even discuss the Team or the Accords at all. I, rather stupidly, felt that texting and telling him that Agent Peggy Carter had died in her sleep was better than calling him.” Evie had said the magic words. Mentioning Peggy Carter in relation to Steve Rogers was akin to talking to Jesus in some people’s eyes. Most of the committee members nodded, understanding clear as day on their faces.

Ross was losing, badly.

“Well, then, why did you send them?” Even the Team, 204 miles away, could tell that Ross was getting desperate.

“If you must know, there’s a monument in what remains of Sokovia that Wanda wanted to visit, since she lost her country and brother in the same day. Clint, who has become close to Wanda over the fact that her twin brother, Pietro, gave his life to save Clint, volunteered to go with her. Scott, wanting to support Wanda during a tough time, also volunteered. I spent my own money and hired a plane for them. I hired a plane because, as I am not Tony Stark nor Pepper Potts, I didn’t feel comfortable using their private jet. And, seeing that it wasn’t a mission and that I’m not Captain Rogers, I had no authority to send them in a quinjet.” Evie looked so proud of herself, and the Team was too. Ross had obviously planned to blame the Accords failing on Steve, but for her to take the blame blew his plan up in his face.

And the committee members knew it.

“Thank you, Doctor Collins, for coming here and giving your testimony over the Avengers. I hereby dismiss you from the chamber as we deliberate. We will have the bailiff collect you once we are done.” Evie nodded before exiting the room.

“Well, this is it. Whatever the outcome is, we can’t blame Evie. She did amazing,” Rhodey said as everyone got up and stretched.

“Hell yeah she did,” Wanda exclaimed in agreement, everyone else joining in.

The next couple of hours seemed to drag on before finally, Evie was brought back into the room.

“We would like to thank you again, Doctor Collins, for coming here over the past few days to give testimony for the Avengers. Now, before I read the verdicts, I must notify you that we went with a majority vote, although some were unanimous.” The Team all squeezed into one couch, not wanting to be apart.

“I understand.” You could hear a pin drop with how quiet the Tower was.

“In the case of Anthony Edward Stark, it is this committee’s majority vote that he is not a danger to society.” Tony began to breathe again as he realized he was a free man.

“In the case of Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, it is this committee’s unanimous decision that he is not a danger to society.” Rhodey looked at Tony and grinned, glad to know neither of them were going to prison.

“In the case of Clinton Francis Barton, it is this committee’s unanimous decision that he is not a danger to society.” Clint sank to his knees, overjoyed that he would be able to watch his children grow up.

“In the case of Scott Edward Harris Lang, it is this committee’s unanimous decision that he is not a danger to society.” Scott jumped up and began to dance, happy to not be going back to prison.

“In the case of Samuel Thomas Wilson, it is this committee’s unanimous decision that he is not a danger to society.” Sam sat in shock, not believing that he was free.

“In the case of Natasha Alianova Romanoff, it is this committee’s majority vote that she is not a danger to society.” Nat burst into tears over hearing her name be cleared.

“In the case of Thor Odinson, it is this committee’s majority vote that he is not a danger to society.” The God of Thunder stood and began to laugh.

“That’s our girl!” he bellowed, pulling Natasha and Tony into a hug.

“In the case of Doctor Robert Bruce Banner, it is this committee’s majority vote that he is not a danger to society.” Bruce was frozen like Sam, not wanting to move in case it was all a dream.

“In the case of Wanda Maximoff, it is this committee’s majority vote that she is not a danger to society.” Wanda fell to her knees as well, murmuring in Sokovian. Evie’s name was mentioned, and everyone figured she was more than likely worshipping the ground that the doctor walked on.

“In the case of Captain Steven Grant Rogers, it is this committee’s majority vote that he is not a danger to society.” Steve felt Sam clap him on the back, but he couldn’t move he was so surprised.

“In the case of Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, it is this committee’s majority vote that he is not a danger to society.” Bucky jumped up with Alice and swung her around in joy.

“We’re free! We’re all free!” he yelled before kissing Alice deeply. Steve finally stood and grabbed them both in a hug, not giving a damn that the kiss was progressing in his arms.

“Quiet! They’re speaking again!” Scott yelled, and everyone fell silent.

“Doctor Collins, I know you most likely have a celebration to get to, but I must warn you. Should any of the Avengers commit any acts of terrorism or break any laws from here on out, there will be no second chances. For any of you. Yes, as you have cleared them, your word is their bond. They go away and so do you.”  The Team exchanged a worried look.

“I understand sir. They want nothing more than to save the world, so I highly doubt they will do anything to put it in harm’s way.” Evie looked ecstatic over freeing them all, and it didn’t seem to phase her that if they did something wrong, she would go away too.

“Thank you. This hearing is now adjourned.” The gavel sounded and it was all over.

Evie had single-handedly cleared all of the Avengers.

The Team all hugged each other, over the moon that they were free.

“That woman is, without a doubt, fucking royalty and shall be treated as such,” Scott exclaimed to everyone's amusement.

“Oh, absolutely. Now, if you excuse me, I have a family I need to go see.” Clint waved as he headed to the elevator, not stopping for anyone.

“Hey, I'm coming too. I'll drop you on my way to California,” Scott called as he followed him.

“I'm gonna take a page outta their books and go enjoy my freedom. Anyone wanna come with?” Nat asked. The remaining members all looked around, torn between wanting to get outside and waiting for Evie to come back.

“You guys go. I'll stay here and wait for her,” Bruce said. Everyone else nodded before booking it out the door.

@suz-123 @avenger-nerd-mom @aglarelen @amaranthuspetals @amillionfandoms-onlyoneme @bad-wolf87 @bolontiku @brighterlightss @buckybarnesappreciationsociety @buckyywiththegoodhair @caplansteverogers @captainradicalpassion @caramell0w @celeb-fess @delicatecapnerd @doloreschanal @donnaintx @earinafae @etts21 @ghostssss @girlbehindthecameraposts @gramaeryebard @jhangelface0523 @kimistry27 @liz-pbnz @loki-god-of-my-life @magellan-88 @marvel-trash07 @pegasusdragontiger @punkfrog @ruinerofcheese @ryverpenrad @sarahp879 @silver-starburst @the-real-kellymonster @4theluvofall  @jamesbarnesappreciationsociety  @stars8melanin  @getinmelanin011  @honey-bee-holly   @lostinspace33  @dustycelt  @avengedqueen26 @amandarosemire  @diinofayce  @sillinessinseattle @lookwhatyoumademequeue  @jewels2876

[kellanved-ammanas]

Space Mercenaries AU: Merasmus

The space craft was smaller than Merasmus had thought it’d be. It was designed for three people to live and work in. He’d have gone mad if he had to live with two other people in such close proximity for so long. But he wasn’t here to work onboard it, he was here to steal it.

It was already ready to go and on the launch pad; prepared for the crew supposed to get on it at dawn in a few hours. So he had a limited about of time to really consider it which was for the best because this idea was insane. He had to do it though because there was no way Jane Doe, aka Soldier of all people left Earth when he hadn’t. That just wasn’t acceptable so…

He tiptoed up to the space ship. That wasn’t necessary, his invisibility spell was still going strong, only an infrared camera could detect him now. But it just felt like the thing to do. So he tiptoed up the ramp and to the hatch.

Now for the moment of truth. He punched the door code he’d gotten via espionage into lock pad, holding his breath and ready for an alarm to sound. But that didn’t happen, instead the number pad beeped, turned green and the hatch opened. It had worked, he was in. It was almost too easy but he wasn’t going to question his good fortune.

Inside the airlock wasn’t set yet, allowing him to go right into the interior of the ship. It was a tight corridor until it opened up into the main part of the ship; the command deck where the driving and all the research stuff was supposed to happen.

“Why couldn’t we hijack a battle ship instead?” the Bombinomicon whined from his sling on Merasmus’ back. “That’d be so much cooler. We could blow stuff up and fire lasers at things.”

Merasmus rolled his eyes. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that complaint nor was it likely to be the last. Pointing out that ships meant for combat were significantly better guarded, making the act of stealing them much harder and much more dangerous never had any affect so instead he ignored the complaint and went straight to the command deck.

It was intimidating. Filled with buttons and switches and screens. What any of it did was beyond Merasmus, he was a mage not a space pilot. The only technology he was intimately good with was what he’d used to create the Bombinomicon, a sentient AI that was that was the perfect blend of magic and technology. And was now his ticket to getting this thing to fly if he could just find a place to plug him in. Whether or not he’s still be able to summon magic bombs when uploaded to the ship’s computer was yet to be seen but for everyone’s sake, hopefully not. The last thing the world needed was a research ship flying by raining bombs on everyone.

“Ah ha!” Merasmus exclaimed with a grin as he found the perfect port for the Bombinomicon. He unslung him from his back and placed him on the floor under the command center – he was large and made to look like an old-fashioned book which combined with the bombs gave him his name – so there was no way he’d fit on the command center itself without pressing a lot of buttons and potentially doing something bad to the ship.

Despite his earlier complaints, Bombinomicon made a hum of excitement as Merasmus grabbed the cord – installed onto him for the sole purpose of this venture. Other than that, he was silent as he was plugged in.

The ship hummed to life a second later, as Merasmus straightened. The buttons and screens on the dashboard lit up. As far as Merasmus could tell though, no alarms were being raised. Things continued to go smoothly; it was almost too good to be true.

“What’s it like?” he asked. Obviously, he had no point of reference but he wanted to know to anyway.

“It’s… amazing!” Bombinomicon’s came from over the intercom, filling the whole ship. “I’m like… so much more! There are arms on the outside of this thing and I can move them. And the dumb onboard-AI tried to set off an automatic alarm, I stopped it. But hey, you think I can still summon bombs like this? Maybe because I’m bigger now, they’d be bigger too.”

“No! Don’t test that!” That would raise alarms and might damage themselves, especially if a bigger ‘body’ did mean bigger bombs. “Just… do you think you can fly it without killing us?” If he couldn’t then they’d be back to the drawing board on how to get into space. Because Merasmus wouldn’t give up, he wouldn’t let this injustice stand. He deserved to go to space too, he wasn’t going to be outdone by Soldier of all people.

“Hmm… probably.” That certainly inspired confidence, didn’t it? “Let’s test it.”

Merasmus opened his mouth to suggest starting slow but before he could get a syllable out, the world around him jerked with such intensity that it was like a train had hit him.

-

He came with a splitting headache, a crick in his neck and back, and feeling vaguely nauseous. He groaned as he looked up to see that he’d somehow ended up in the back of the command deck, slumped against the wall.

“Hey, you’re awake,” Bombinomicon’s voice came over the speakers, grounding Merasmus in reality. The ship, they’d stolen it and everything had gone according to plan up until…

“What happened?” Merasmus pushed himself up and shook off. His skull hat lay besides him, he bent down to retrieve and place it back on his head.

“I forgot to turn on the life support stuff on before activating that FTL drive,” Bombinomicon answered. “You know, the G-force thing and the airlock and all that stuff. You lived though, yay!” Unsurprisingly, he didn’t sound at all remorseful about the fact that he’d almost killed Merasmus. “Also, I learned why you’re not supposed to go into FTL mood until your in space proper, we almost died. That would’ve sucked. Man, we’re the luckiest people in the galaxy right now.”

Shaking a little, Merasmus sat in the captain’s chair. He was glad he’d missed that, near death experiences weren’t his thing. “So we’re under way now?”

“Yep. Want to see?”

Merasmus nodded, grunting an assent. The large screen in front of him switched away from ship status stuff to what was presumably the view from the outside cameras. It was… a vast expanse of nothing; distant stars and nothing else. Even on a screen it was a lot to take in.

“You can go out for a space walk too if you want.” Bombinomicon added. “We have one those.”

“Later.” Merasmus needed some time to recover first. … And to steel himself because that was a potentially very scary idea. “We have any pursuers?” That had been his biggest worry, getting chased down and captured moments after takeoff.

“Yes, but our… less than proper take off has given us a head start and they’re very far behind now. They won’t catch me, I promise. Now… where we headed? We going to hunt down your ex or what?”

“He’s not my ex!” They’d been roommates, nothing more. And then they’d fought about the raccoons and Soldier had left, leaving him alone. And now Soldier had left Earth so Merasmus had to too because he was not going to let himself be outdone especially by an imbecile. But now that he was in space, what did he do? He’d never thought that far ahead. Part of him had assumed they wouldn’t even make it. And yet here they were, hurdling through space, going nowhere so… “Sure, let’s hunt down Soldier, I guess.” He had nothing better to do and he could at least show off that he had his own ship while Soldier was stuck in whatever kind of ship the company he’d signed up with had.

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