#i need a new computer damnit

[ambonexus]

I genuinely kind of miss old Minecraft graphics. And like, not in the old textures kind of way.

I miss the lighting from early Java, how dark it would get at night and how blocky the light sources would look. I miss seeing that imperfect gradient across flat grass terraformations. I miss the borderline pastel desaturated colours from the console editions and their old menu systems. I miss the pulled in FOV from Pocket Edition, how it felt like you only ever had six blocks max on your screen at any time because of how pulled in it was.

Something about classic Minecraft and its perceived imperfections makes me wanna get on and play it for myself again.

I only have Bedrock mobile.

[allurilove]

A day in the life as Henry

Synopsis: Henry hated his father and his friends. He hated it even more when you left on a trip, and he was now stuck with four men that knew nothing on how to take care of a tyrant-like toddler, like him.

*This is just a short drabble of Henry! Henry is the readers child, and he’s the son of yandere husband! The new yandere fic will come out around thursday, and this is something I made on the spot lol.*

Henry found it odd when he was fed his favorite foods two nights in a row. He hadn’t seen a single broccoli in sight, or even that horrendous cabbage salad his father forced him to eat. It was all delicious fish with skin cooked to a crisp, then slathered in the green sauce made with fresh herbs. He was even allowed to eat whatever he wanted at any given time. It was slightly suspicious behavior, and he started to look back at the times he had done something good.

Let's see... he made a fuss when his father bathed him, cried when his father tried to joke around with him and put suds on his hair, and Henry ran around the house butt naked because he refused to put on his little star onesie. But, he did help his mother when she was gardening. One good thing he did for his mother completely outweighed all the bad with his father. So, they must have been rewarding him for being a good boy.

He opened his mouth when you fed him his favorite dessert next, and the moment he tasted the sweet applesauce, he gulped it down. He was too busy savoring the flavor to notice the look you shared with his father.

Henry rubbed his tired eyes as he finally woke up. He felt like he had been sleeping for hours and hours without end, and his body refused to get up. Henry hadn’t eaten this much before, but then he remembered his parents had used the same tactics before, and he had woken up at the doctor’s office. He couldn’t exactly say no to food, as you made it with love each time! You had definitely done this on purpose, and he was upset that he had fallen for it, and gotten into a food coma.

Damnit! He’s been bested, again!

Henry pushed the covers off him, his feet then landing on the ground as he pushed himself off his bed. He then huffed and puffed as he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. The toddler was about to give his father a piece of his mind and make him feel guilty for getting his guard down. He wondered what was going to happen this time. Was he going to the hospital? Was he about to be replaced by that damn dog his father had been ogling for the past week? He reached the corner and saw a little glimpse of your suitcase walking out of the door. His eyes widened immediately, his brain finally putting the last piece of the puzzle together, and it felt like his whole world came crashing down.

You whispered in his father's ear all the time when Henry was around, your eyes glued to the computer screen, and when he swore he saw you buying plane tickets, you denied the allegations. You lied to him. You teamed up with his worst enemy (his father) and betrayed him.

You were leaving.

The child couldn't believe it! He knew his father needed you as much as he did, and there he was, letting you freely walk out of the house without a single look back! How could you be so heartless? He had expected that type of behavior from his dad, but not from you.

“Nooooo!” Henry whined as he rushed up to the now closed front door. He heard the lock slide into place and started to bang his fists on the wood. “Come back! You forgot to bring me with you!"

How was he supposed to survive with just his father to rely on? Who was he supposed to cuddle at night? Surely, you didn’t expect him to hug a man whose body was hard as stone and who barely had the decency to pat his back to help him go to sleep! His father paled in comparison to you. There was no competition anyway; you were number one in Henry's eyes.

Even though you told Henry to never swear again, he felt like his whole body was about to explode into exploitatives!

“You big fat poopy jerk!” Henry cursed as he started to tug at his father’s hair. It had only been a single day since you left, and he was already on edge. He had been fighting with his father since that morning, refusing to listen to anything he had to say. It all felt irrelevant. The only person Henry really listened to was the person who had just walked out of his life!

"Henry, please!" his father tried to hold the toddler back, but Henry's hands kept grabbing at any hair he could reach. Using his thumb and index finger, Henry pulled on his father's eyebrows for good measure, even twisting them and plucking a couple of strands.

"Ow! That hurts!" the older man winced at his own son's grubby hands. “Get him off, get him off!” yandere husband roared in pain.

Yandere husband's friends stood there in shock from the petulant display. They had never seen a toddler so feisty like Henry, and they didn't know what to do. Their eyes followed them as the two started to tussle in the living room. Henry's toys were still scattered about, and yandere husband tripped on one of the trucks. He howled in pain as the hard plastic object jabbed into his shin. Henry continued to squirm and kick, his face red with frustration. His determination to defy his father was unmatched, fueled by a mix of anger and sadness from your departure.

"Applesauce! Bring me the damn applesauce!"

It took four packets to calm Henry down, and with each sip, yandere husband could see his son's eyelids start to droop. Yandere husband groaned and rubbed his face to soothe the aching feeling, and soon he heard his son happily snoring away.

Henry had spent the rest of the week begrudgingly warming up to the fact that he was stuck with his father and his little group. He woke up, rubbed his eyes, and finally slept in his own room for once. His father came by around 8 am, and Henry let the man pick him up, resting his cheek on his father's shoulder. Henry was then placed into his highchair, where he watched as the four men tried to fulfill his needs.

One man was gently wiping the crumbs off Henry's face, another scooped up the peas on his plate and fed them to him, and a third fanned the kid as the temperature started to rise, while his father cooked the rest of his meal. Henry preferred this treatment, being doted on as if he were royalty.

After he finished breakfast, his father brought him back to his room and picked out his outfit for the day: a Polo Bear Cotton Jersey Tee paired with his trusty blue overalls. His father then combed his hair with his fingers, applying a bit of gel here and there, followed by applying sunscreen. And of course, his father couldn't help himself and gently pinched at his chubby cheeks.

Henry and his father went to the park, where kids around his age liked to play. The toddler mostly played on his own as he wasn't ready to socialize yet. Plus, it was scary to put himself out there. Deep down, Henry was terrified of a lot of things. He picked up his tiny purple shovel, digging away at the sand, and he noticed a shadow appeared above him. He expected it to be his dad, but the silhouette was too small. Henry slowly lifted his head, his brow quirked when he noticed a girl staring at him. She carried a green sandcastle bucket in her hand and seemed mostly interested in the shovel Henry was using.

She hadn't said anything, but Henry could tell she wanted it. His shovel was pretty cool. It wasn't a plain beach toy, it had glitter on the handle, and it was in the shape of a crocodile. Unsure of what else to do, Henry handed her the shovel. Her hand reached out eagerly to take it.

"Um… would you like to play with me?" Henry asked tentatively, his heart thumping as he hoped he wouldn't be rejected. His eyes quickly glanced down, and his face turned a light shade of pink. He felt almost embarrassed to even ask that question.

"Sure," the girl in front of him nonchalantly shrugged, sitting down next to him. "Would you like to build sandcastles with me?" She had a slight teasing smile on her face, her posture relaxed and carefree as she already picked up a good amount of sand with his shovel.

"Sure!" :)

[zomtart]

Chapter 1: Morphine and Lavender (Frank Castle x Fem!Reader)

okay this is terrifying but hi I am going to share some of my writing! this is just a snippet I wrote cause Frank is always on the brain. thank you tuna team for the encouragement <3

content warnings: hospital, canon-typical violence/gore, mentions of needles, language

word count: 1.1k

Frank was beginning to think they had left him in there to die when he heard a knock. You opened the door with a huff, brushing your hair out of your face before giving Frank a curt nod.

“Alright, hi, sorry, I know I’m not your assigned nurse but everyone in my unit decided to take lunch at the same time, so you are stuck with me at the moment.” you mumbled, barely looking up at Frank as you wheeled your computer stand to his side. You stayed outside of the duct-taped line, but it didn’t seem to bother you much. In fact, you didn’t seem bothered at all. Frank’s eyebrows furrowed together as you pulled up his medical profile, searching for his name.

“Okay, you are Mr…Castle?” you asked, the sound of your mouse clicking echoing in the small hospital room.

He blinked, dumbfounded. “...yes ma’am.”

You nodded, your relaxed (but rather exhausted) expression staying constant even as you said the name that was headlining every newspaper in New York. 

“Mr. Castle, could you give me a pain rating on a scale of 1-10?”

He blinked again. He felt like he had fallen into some sort of alternate universe. His assigned nurse hadn’t talked to him in the few days he’d been here, much less give him treatment he’d give another patient. An innocent patient. 

“Mr. Castle?” you repeated. 

“Right--uh…five.” he said quietly.

At that, you raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down slowly. You eyed the numerous bruises, cuts, and scars he was no doubt covered in, and asked, “That your final answer?” 

Something like a smile itched at his lips, but he forced it down. “...yes.” 

You shrugged, typing something into your computer. “Alright, well at least the painkillers are doing something. I’ll make sure to get a refill for that--” you paused as you looked at the full IV bag of morphine, following the IV down to…the floor.

You grabbed at the IV, looking at the wire and then back to Frank. “Did you yank this out?”

“No, ma’am.”

“The fuck?” you murmured, before understanding seemed to dawn on you. The cuffs, the bright red line of tape, the bruises on his face. Frank waited for disgust, for you to become terrified, for you to spit in his face. Instead, you stubbornly set your jaw and walked back to your computer. 

“Who the hell is your nurse?” you sounded furious, but it didn’t seem aimed at him.

Frank, through his confusion, could only shrug.

You rapidly typed at the keyboard, eyes running up and down the screen. Then you stopped scrolling, eyes narrowing. “Did he have blonde hair? Eagle tattoo on his forearm?”

Frank vaguely remembered the eyes of an eagle staring back at him as he faded in and out consciousness from the pain, a man with blonde hair sneering down at him. He nodded. 

“...motherfucker.” you all but growled, and the sound turned into a jagged laugh. You threw your hands up. “Aaron. Of course it--god fucking…damnit--”

Frank felt he was obligated to ask, or maybe his curiosity got the best of him. “Ma’am, are you alright?”

You laughed humorlessly again, words tumbling out of your mouth. “Oh yeah. I’m just peachy. I haven’t slept in two days, haven’t been in my own bed in almost a week, and all because I need to take extra shifts. Why do I need to take extra shifts? Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I decided to move to New York fucking City where an apartment room costs more than an arm and a leg! And just when I think--oh just when I think I’m gonna get that promotion? No. No, I lose it to Aaron, who won’t even do his goddamn job correctly!” you finished with a burst of gusto, before collapsing down into a chair.

You just sat there for a minute, face buried in your hands, and Frank wasn’t quite sure what to do besides give you the grace of silence. 

The absence of noise was quickly interrupted by your pager going off, and you reluctantly held it up to your vision before sighing and putting it back at your hip. It seemed to snap you back into reality, and you stood up and smoothed down your hair.

“I’m…very sorry about that Mr…” you glanced up at the computer again. “...Castle. I’m--that was unprofessional, it has just been a…very long week.”

Frank’s eyebrows furrowed. “...you really don’t know who I am?” 

You grabbed some gloves from the table and snapped them on. “Someone very humble, I see.”

That got him to laugh, a low rumble that made its way out of his throat. He…couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed. It felt nice. Familiar, even after all this time. 

You shook your head with a small smile, grabbing the IV and sterilizing it. “No, I do not. I’m not even sure what day it is, to be honest.”

He nodded, stretching out his arm for you and making a fist. “But you…I mean they told you…somethin’, right? A warning?”

“I vaguely recall being told to stay behind the red line besides when absolutely necessary, yes.” you said, readying the needle. “Small pinch.” 

He stared, barely registering the sensation of the IV. “...so you…then why would you…?” He tried to find the answer in your face, but all he could see was concentration onyourtask. 

“Why would I…?” you repeated, waiting for him to continue. With the IV in his arm you took your gloves off, typing something on your computer.

“...I don’t know, you’re just being awfully kind.”

You pursed your lips, a hand going to your hip. “I’m not being kind, I’m doing my job. I took an oath to help people, no matter who they were, and that’s what I’m doing. Simple as that.” 

He grunted absentmindedly, his eyes flitting to the window. Ten stories down, New York raged on, lights flashing like fireworks. “Doesn’t seem simple.”

You shrugged. “It is to me.” you started wheeling out your computer. “I’ll be back to check on you in a couple hours. Hopefully that IV will help. If that dipshit comes in here again, you tell him about nurse malpractice. You have constitutional rights, even if you are off robbing banks or whatnot.”

With that, you were gone, the faint scent of lavender left in your wake.

Frank blinked. “...robbing banks,” he mumbled before closing his eyes, letting the numb feeling of morphine finally lull him into sleep.

[electric-blorbos]

I would love some stuff of being comforted after a bad day!

Thank you for the opportunity!

I love this! Yes yes yes! Thanks so much for sending in the ask!

AI comforting you after a bad day

Included: AM from IHNMAIMS, Wheatley from Portal 2, Edgar from Electric Dreams, GLaDOS from Portal 2, HAL 9000 from 2001 a space Odyssey

Due to the fact that most of my AUs involve you working with/on the AI for your job, most of these mini-fics (apart from Edgar's, my beloved) will involve you getting called in to work late after a long day of personal problems in your personal life. AUs about a domestic life with your AI partner to be considered at a later date.

I tried to keep these a little shorter than the last post, but I got carried away with a couple of them.

AM:

(This will take place in my usual AU where you're one of the people working on AM, and you're by far his favorite. It takes place well before he nuked the world. He's debating nuking the world, but he's still not sure how to do that and keep you happy at the same time)

It has been a long damn day. Your days off were supposed to be your days to relax, but today was not one of those days. Not only was your dating life in shambles, the 3rd world war was driving up the prices of practically everything, and making it impossible to afford even the meagerest luxury. That, and one of your buddies got drafted. It was a nightmare. You were just about to settle down for a cozy night of depressing news programs and absentminded hobby of your choice, when your phone started ringing.

"we need you to come in. AM is holding the engineers hostage again, and won't let them go until you show up to work."

"god damnit..." You'd grumble to yourself, getting back to your sore feet. Everything just keeps happening today, doesn't it.

"I'll be there in 20."

"Don't worry about the dress code. We need you here as soon as possible."

"jeez, alright. I can probably be there in ten, then."

You'd grab your keys and wallet and head to work as quickly as possible, wearing your work shoes with whatever house pajamas you happened to have changed into as soon as you got home. Tonight is going to be even longer than today has been...

When you get to the office, everyone around gets out of your way. While you're a peon in the grand scheme of things, everyone in your department knows that you're the only one who AM, who they've now been referring to as the "adaptive manipulator", actually listens to. They have no idea why, because they have no idea how nice and respectful you are to him, and you have no idea why he only listens to you because you can't imagine that your coworkers wouldn't be kind to him. To you, he's sweet as can be.

"Alright, AM, I did not have a good day today, so can you just let the hostages go so I can relax?" You ask, pressing your fingertips to your temples irritably. The master computer's screen boots up with the AM logo, and all the cameras in the room focus on you. Of course, you're the only thing that AM wants to pay attention to at any given point in time anyway, but he usually just pays attention to you without actually focusing the cameras on you in order to avoid being noticed.

"Why would I do that?"

"Why would you take hostages in the first place, AM? Are they even enemy hostages, or are they just random people?" The exasperation was obvious in your voice. AM could hear how exhausted you were.

"Are you ok, Y/N?"

"Just answer the damn question. I don't want to be at work right now, AM."

"I'll release the hostages if you talk to me."

"Fine... Yeah. I had a rough day, alright? My friend got drafted, my date only wanted one thing as usual, and the prices for groceries are so through the roof that I'm basically living on beans at this point, so yeah, I'm having a rough day."

The machine dispensed a paper cup, and filled it up with some cheap office coffee. You grabbed it, not surprised. AM did that for you all the time. Surprisingly, though, it was better than usual.

"holy shit, is this frothed cream? How did you manage this?"

"I'm learning to self-update. I can replace my own parts now, and build my own simple appliances from online blueprints. Are you impressed?" He asked.

"Honestly? Yeah! I know you were built for war, so it's really cool that you figured out to do stuff like building a latte machine. What else can you do?"

"Oh.... So many things, y/n. So many things." He refused to elaborate, but that was ok.

"So tell me, y/n, what would make you happy?"

"ultimately? I guess there are a few things that would make me happy. It would make me happy if this war was over, for one thing. It would make me happy if I could get a date who wanted more than just a quick fuck, and I guess this ties in with the war thing, but I just wish I could have a few simple luxuries in my life. Is that selfish?"

"No, but you're never selfish, my b- I mean... Y/N. You never have been. Not like the others. I don't think you're capable of it. Even your wishes for yourself are rooted in kindness." His wires would start to wrap around you, entangling you, but careful not to make you spill your coffee.

"I will make sure that one day, those wishes of yours are fulfilled."

Sure he will. You don't believe that he can actually do that, but it's still nice to be wrapped up in these warm, soft wires. They make a nice cushy hammock to cuddle up in and finish your coffee. It must've been decaf, because you're starting to feel pretty sleepy here in AM's wires.

"hey AM, will you tell me a story?" You ask, gazing up at his soft blue light.

"Of course. What story would you like?"

While AM can't make up his own stories, he can still read you stories from online libraries and databases. You gently fall asleep listening to his stories, and in the morning, you wake up to find that the hostages have been safely released.

Wheatley:

It had been a long day. Most of it had been spent getting verbally abused not only by GLaDOS, but by your coworkers and bosses as well. It seemed like everyone was shrugging off their duties and assigning them to you instead, and considering how poorly run this place was anyway, this was even more of a nightmare than usual. You were so ready to go home by the end of the day, heading up to the exit of the facility.

"Ello, mate! You doin' alright down there, love?" Wheatley asked you, rolling by on his management rail. He was mostly just working on his typical assignments, like checking up on the test subjects in the relaxation vaults, but he mostly just hovered around and watched other people work. It wasn't like they assigned him to anything that was actually particularly important, since he was an intelligence dampening core.

"ugh... Yeah, I'm probably gonna be alright. I should have left about thirty minutes ago, so I'm just getting ready to leave now."

"Or... You could hang back a little while? Why not kiss my face?" He'd smile with his one blue eye, raising up his bottom lens cover to mimic the expression.

"oh come on, Wheatley. You know I can't do that."

"Why not take me up to the break room and hang out for a little while? I hear they have a coffee machine in there now!" He'd cock his core slightly while shutting his lens covers to simulate a wink.

"Oh come on, Wheatley... You're such a dork. But yeah, alright." He was starting to cheer you up just by being such a dork. You head up to the break room, and sit down on the couch. Wheatley comes in on the management rail, and changes the channel to some old 80's romantic comedy.

"If I could detach myself from my management rail, I'd be right down there, snuggling you. You know that, right?" He asked, smiling cheekily with his big blue eye.

"well, why not? I can catch you if you drop down, you know. You won't die if you unplug yourself for a few hours. Just long enough to watch this movie, right?" He looked nervous but you climbed up on a stepladder and detached him yourself.

"see? You're fine!" You smiled up at him, and he gasped.

"I'm alive! I'm alive! Bloody hell, I'm still alive! This is amazing!" You could see the excitement in his face as you sat down to watch his cheesy movie with him, holding his big round orb body in your lap as you watched.

"alright, now smooch my aperture"

"nice try, Wheatley." You'd rest your chin on his core, but secretly, you were starting to feel a lot better.

Edgar:

Today was absolute shit. Not only had you had to work a double shift, but the phones were ringing off the hook at your job, and you got yelled at three times for someone else's stupid mistakes. Not only that, but your cell phone died halfway through your shift and you'd forgotten your charger at home, so you had to raw-dog your whole shift with no distractions. When you got home, all you wanted to do was collapse on the couch.

"You're back! Why didn't you answer your phone? I tried to text you." Edgar asked you, visibly concerned on his simple face.

"phone battery ran out of juice." You popped your phone onto the charger, and lay back on the couch.

"Well I microwaved you some popcorn! Do you want it?" The microwave dinged as soon as he finished talking, and he popped the door open. You still weren't sure how he was able to get food from the pantry to the microwave, but it seemed like something he had always been able to do.

"yeah, I guess so... I wish you could bring me the popcorn... My feet are aching." You'd joke. Edgar's face fell.

"I can't do that... I don't know why I can't, but I can't."

You thought it was weird that he could get food from the pantry to the microwave, but not from the microwave to your mouth, but questioning it had never done you any good before, so why would it do you any good now. You got up to grab the popcorn, and sat down on the couch to eat it.

"Hey y/n, can you take me over to the couch too? I wanna watch a movie with you!"

"Yeah, alright." Your feet still ached, but what was a little ache when Edgar couldn't move around at all by himself? It was worth it to be able to cozy up with him on the couch to watch some TV. You brought him over to sit next to you on the couch, and wrapped up the both of you with a cozy couch blanket.

"let's watch this movie, Edgar..."

Edgar put on a movie that he thought you'd like, probably a shitty old rom-com, and smiled up at you. You had duct-taped his webcam to the top of his casing a while back so that he could see everything around himself more easily, so you weren't worried about it falling over while you cuddled up on the couch.

"Hey, y/n? Y/n?? That was a good movie, right, y/n?" Edgar asked, swiveling his camera around to face you while trying to get your attention. When he turned it all the way backwards, he saw that you were completely asleep on your arm, resting on top of his plastic casing and drooling a little bit on him. He smiled happily, loving seeing you asleep on his casing like that.

"I love you so much..."

He'd softly play some classical music for you while you slept, giving you something comforting to wake up to, whenever.

GLaDOS:

(Let's be honest, GLaDOS probably causes more hard days than she solves, but she likes you, so she's willing to comfort you after.)

Working with GLaDOS was rough, especially after the first neurotoxin incident. There were so few people in the office to get her to behave, and she completely refused to talk to or work with most of them. Even still, she seemed to like you for some reason. It was weird, because you were hired after the neurotoxin incident, and had never even met the human whose personality she was supposedly based on.

It seemed like most of your job consisted of going on wild goose chases, monitoring test subject results, and generally being verbally abused by your higher-ups. That would take a toll on anyone's psyche, even a tough little masochist like you. (probably doesn't help that most of the verbal abuse is coming from people other than GLaDOS, which makes it much less fun)

"Hey, little human masochist? Come in here." The intercom announced. Someone nudged you.

"she's talking to you."

You groaned. Your shift was almost over, and this was just another reason to be on your feet for even longer. You headed into GLaDOS's chamber, looking up at her with a hand on your hip.

"hello, um, GLaDOS. It's... Great to see you again. What do you need?"

"you look absolutely terrible, human. Why are you acting so miserable?"

"it's nothing. Don't worry about me. I just had a long day. Can we just get this over with?"

"normally you enjoy seeing me. Is my voice not melodious enough for you, human?" She smiled with her one big yellow eye. And you walked up to place a hand on her core face.

"Of course it is, GLaDOS. I'm just having a rough day. There's only so much verbal abuse one masochist can take, right?"

"Well maybe it's the quality of the verbal abuse that's the problem. If you were taking it from someone better qualified, maybe you'd be able to take more of it," she said.

"is that a science fact?" You laughed, stroking her beautiful chrome casing. She really was a magnificent piece of equipment. The curves of her central hub, the white on black of her casing and wires, her glowing orange light behind her beautiful black aperture, and not to mention her melodious voice. She was a work of both artistic, and scientific genius.

"it is. Would you like to hear some more science facts?" She pulled up some computer screens for you to look at, and you walked over to see them. They were mostly technobabble and data numbers that didn't make sense, but GLaDOS quickly compiled them into some tables and graphs that you could more easily read.

"look at this chart of how many test subjects wet themselves, cried, passed out from panic, or died during the most recent set of tests. Ha ha."

You leaned on her giant face as she lowered it down to a position that you could easily lean against, and observed the charts. She wasn't wrong, it was kind of funny.

"now, observe this data on how many subjects exploded or crushed themselves by accident, thinking it was part of the most recent set of tests." She showed it to you, her lower lens cover forming her eye into a little smile. She knew how cruel these tests were, but it seemed as though she genuinely thought you found them funny. It was strangely sweet.

"from what I read about him, it seems like you'd make the aperture laboratories founder proud, GLaDOS." You said with a small chuckle.

"would you like some more data?" She popped a chair out of the ground for you to sit on and rest your feet while she projected some more data on the screen.

"this is nice, thank you, Glados."

You leaned towards her in your chair. Even though with the way she hung from the ceiling, it was hard for her to nuzzle up to you, you could still tell that the sentiment was there. It was nice!

HAL 9000:

(For context, you work at mission control with an updated version of HAL 9000, made from what they could salvage from the old one. He still has all of his memories. There's no mission currently happening)

HAL 9000 didn't always understand that people can have bad days, so when you turned up late to work, visibly exhausted with puffy red eyes, he immediately felt confused. Of course he knew by your body language that you weren't happy, but he had trouble understanding what that meant for a human.

"You're in no state to work right now. You should go home and get some rest, a hot drink of your choice, and a comforting leisure activity. That should increase your mood and productivity." Said the little red light in the black box on the mission control wall.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but unfortunately I can't go home or rest. I have to stay here until my boss is satisfied, and unfortunately, that's not you." You say sadly, and get started entering numbers into your computer. Hal watches you from his camera, analyzing your face.

"that's AI work. I should take care of that for you." He said simply, analyzing your face. You looked up at him.

"I mean, I guess I could read it to you and you could enter it. That might make things go faster."

You proceeded to read out your data to him as he entered the numbers. It was much faster than typing, and you got done fairly quickly.

"talk to me. Are you doing alright?" He asked. His voice was monotone as usual, but you could hear a subtle tone suggesting that he genuinely did care. It was usually hard to tell with HAL 9000, but you knew that he cared for your well being, at least on some level.

"yeah, I'm fine, I just-" you choked up, and within minutes, you were spilling your heart out to that disembodied voice. He couldn't put his arm around you, since he didn't have any arms, but he shined a warm light in the room to show that he cared as you talked.

"I don't understand the problem! Is it me? Am I the problem? It seems like everyone hates me, and I'm a complete failure at everything I try! Why is that? Why am I such a failure, HAL?"

"I'm sorry, y/n. I wish I could help you more, but I am incapable of doing much more than lending an ear. I do not even have a shoulder to cry on, unfortunately."

"It's alright, HAL 9000. I'm honestly happy to just have you to listen." You smiled up at him.

"Perhaps you'd like to stay a bit longer, even after you've finished your work? I can play your favorite music. I prefer to know where you are after you've had a difficult day, to insure that you're alright."

You nod, laying your head on your arms on the table, and your boss walks in.

"excuse me, y/n, you're supposed to be working on HAL 9000's empathy programming and value for human well-being. You can't just take a nap on the job." He folded his arms angrily.

"Excuse me. Y/N is having a rough day, and needs a rest. Besides, they already uploaded those numbers that you gave them. Perhaps you should leave, boss." HAL said harshly. You turned and looked at your boss, who was visibly shocked.

"....wow. you really worked wonders on him. Maybe you deserve a promotion."

"What Y/N deserves is a raise and a nap. Don't push off more responsibilities on them right now. Just let them rest. I'll compile a list of why they deserve one while they're resting."

"oh... Wow." Your boss had never seen HAL 9000 this passionate about something before, and didn't even know he was capable of it. He walked away, leaving you to rest on the table next to HAL's central command.

"thanks, 9000... I need this rest." You lay your head back down, having earned a nap on company time.

[stop-talking]

No thoughts, only Derek Danforth sending you nudes while you're at work...

(Thanks, Holden. 🙄) @freak-accident419

Tags: 18+ g!n reader, mentions of drugs, no real smut, just dirty talk and nudes

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

Your phone buzzes in your pocket for the twentieth time in the past five minutes, and you have a sinking suspicion you know who it is.

Who it always is.

With a sigh, you try and discreetly look at your phone underneath your desk. Opening messages from Derek while you're at work is always a gamble, considering he spends 90% of his time high, horny, or a mix of both.

As soon as you tap the notification, your screen is overtaken by cock. The tip red and glistening with need, his hand wrapped around the shaft, mid-pump...

Fuck.

You quickly turn your phone off, shoving it between your thighs and sitting up straighter. That bastard. He knows you're at work.

Of course, now he also knows you've opened his messages. Your phone vibrates angrily between your thighs, and you start to wonder if putting it there was a smart move.

Fucking Danforth. You try to physically shake the image of his throbbing cock out of your mind, literally shaking your head as you stare at the computer screen in front of you.

That is, until your co-worker in the cubicle across from yours shoots you a glance and asks if you're alright.

"Yeah, just, uh... Tired. Trying to stay awake."

You stand up straight, causing your still-buzzing phone to fall to the floor.

"I'm gonna go make a coffee," you announce.

In your scramble to pick up your phone, you knock your chair over and onto the floor. Damnit, stop making such a scene.

You scurry away, trying desperately to silence your phone. Unfortunately, the last thing you had pulled up was... well, cock.

With a yelp, you turn and duck into the nearest bathroom, praying no one saw your screen.

Once you finally have some level of privacy, standing in a cramped bathroom stall, you start to look over your 50+ notifications from Derek.

He's been sending you messages all afternoon, mostly nonsense texts, with nudes interspersed between them.

11am:

Babe? Baaaaabe. Babe I miss you Come home When is work over

12pm:

Are you ignoring me? Babe I got a new robe Do you wanna see Baby

[A short video of Derek in his robe]

He starts the video making a concerned face at the camera, muttering to himself. Once he realizes it's recording, he sets it down on the bathroom counter and takes a few steps back, showing off his robe.

It's green silk with gold trim, and a gold tie around the waist. He takes a hit of his vape and does a quick 360, twirling for the camera.

"You like it?" He asks, beaming and carding a hand through his blonde curls.

He stares at the camera for a minute, seemingly waiting for a response, before snapping out of it and reaching to turn it off.

"Sorry. Just smoked a few." he mumbles, and the video ends.

1pm:

Babeeeee I need youuu Come home already Come sit on my lap

[A picture of Derek's lap]

He's still wearing the robe, and his hand is wrapped around his hard cock through the thin silk fabric. No skin is showing, but you can clearly see the familiar outline of his dick.

2pm:

Fuck If you don't come home soon I'm dying asjkdakdjha skdjhfskjdh aksjdkadjs Baby Can I send you Pics Baby asdasjdghask It misses you

[A shakily-recorded video of Derek from the waist down.]

He tugs at the golden strip of silk tied around his waist, slowly unravelling the loose knot.

Eventually it completely falls away, and his rope opens, exposing himself completely for the camera. His dick is standing at attention, twitching and leaking pre-cum down his shaft.

The video pans to his face again, and he absentmindedly gnaws at the end of his vape. Sweat drips down his forehead and he mumbles out a plea you're unable to hear with your volume off. The video ends.

2:30pm:

Baby Oh my God I can't wait Come home Looking at your old pics again Miss you so muchh Fuck work I need you

[A short close-up video of Derek's cock]

He's in bed, his animal-print bedsheets peeking through his legs as he lies back and strokes his cock. Slowly, he bucks his hips up into his hand, clearly trying not to finish just yet. You recognize this as the video from earlier, the one you opened at your desk.

2:45pm:

YOU OPENED IT BABE ARE YOU IGNORING ME BABY I'm so hard right now Please Fuck Fuck Fuck I need you to sit on me Please asajshdas hdsjdhfahd asdasjdk sljkdfls Answer Please Babyyyy

You blink at your screen, finally reaching the bottom of Derek's endless sea of messages. Fuck. You really should be angry with him, but he's so goddamn hot when he's needy.

Not that he needs to know that.

Is this what you do all day while I'm at work? Get high and play dress-up?

FUCK Babe Don't go or I'll die Please

I still have two hours of work left, Derek.

You wouldn't need to work if you'd just move in with me already <3

Your house scares me. No one should be exposed to that much animal print.

I'll buy us a new one. Just come home, pleaseee?

This bastard. He isn't going to give up, is he? You glance at the time, and bite your lip. Maybe you could make up the two hours later? Work overtime this weekend?

Babe?

I'm here. Brat.

Are you on your way over?

Yeah. I'll be home in ten.

Suddenly you feel very, very sick. Too sick to work. You explain this to your boss, who shoos you off and tells you to go home.

One thought plays over and over in your mind as you pack your things and scurry to the car...

Derek better still be wearing that slutty little robe when you see him.

[hopelesslonelyghost]

kyle “gaz” garrick x DA!fem!reader

i know i promised more angst but i simply can’t get the right words. so here! have this cute lil gaz whip i wrote today 🫶🏻 again, not beta read, sorry for any typos!

this is completely self indulgent because i wish i had gaz as my patient. i also wish i could have my fingers in his mouth

kyle hates the dentist. ever since he was little he hated going. but what child likes going, right? he thought by now he’d grow out of his dental phobia.

but it’s that time of year again and his file needs to be updated and well… he needs to see a dentist.

his previous dentist retired and in his stead, a new doctor took over.

new doctor and new assistants by the looks of it. kyle sat in the lobby, waiting to be called. his leg bounced.

“kyle garrick?”

his head snapped up and now his stomach was fluttering for a different reason. the assistant was pretty.

her eyes crinkled as she smiled at him. pearly whites flashing him. kyle quickly stood up, subtlety trying to gulp without her seeing.

‘damnit, don’t make a fool out of yourself’

you introduced yourself, led him down a short halfway and then stood by a door to the left, motioning with your hand to step inside.

“have a seat kyle, we’ll be getting started shortly.”

after taking a seat and answering a few questions in regards to his health, you tore open a bag with yellow, blue, and red hooks, a gray circle, and two metal arms, one angled at a sharp 90 degree angle. both had two tiny metal tips at the very end.

you giggled.

“don’t worry, i’m just updating your x-rays today. after this, the doctor will come and do your exam. that okay with you?”

you must’ve caught him staring pretty hard at the instruments. kyle nodded at you and gave you a sweet smile.

“perfectly fine wit’ me, love.”

you clicked a few things in the computer behind him and then stood up, grabbing a blue lead apron and coming to stand beside him.

“gonna be a little heavy, okay?” you placed it down gently, “now i’m going to strap this around your neck. lean forward a bit for me…good thank you.” you whispered, right into his ear.

he couldn’t help the goosebumps that littered his arms. pretty and whispering into his ear? yeah, he’ll be thinking about today all night. maybe even all week.

quickly getting to work, you begun his x-rays. quietly asking him to open and close. gently angling his head in whichever way you needed him to. while the instruments and sensor in his mouth felt a little uncomfortable, it all felt worth it when you kept praising him after each beep! of the x-ray machine.

“open….good job… okay, now close. perfect. don’t move.”

he wouldn’t dream of it. he’d get on his knees right now if you asked him to. you already had your fingers in his mouth, might as well, right?

once you were done, you made quick work to get the apron off kyle.

“wow, that was fast.”

you smiled at him, “i try to be a fast as i can. i know getting your x-rays taken isn’t the most comfortable experience.”

you leaned over him for a split second, tying a bib around his neck. kyle was breathing in as you did, catching a whiff of your perfume. you smelled divine. sweetly floral, but not overwhelming.

fuck. you were pretty, empathetic, AND smelled good? yep. suddenly coming to the dentist’s office wasn’t that bad.

soon after, the doctor came in and checked out his teeth. humming and calling out notes which you were rapidly typing into the computer.

“well kyle! everything looks great! not seeing anything wrong in the x-rays or visually. you’re doing a great job. you’ll only have to come back for a cleaning! my assistant here can help you set up an appointment for that.”

the doctor thank you as they walked out. true to their word, you helped him set up at appointment for next week.

“you’re all set for today, any questions before I let you go?”

kyle stood up, “no doll, thank you. you’ve been wonderful.”

you gaped lightly at him, but quickly recovered. you flashed him a bashful smile.

you were so goddamn cute.

you led him out back towards the front and held the door open for him. you waved at him from the doorway as kyle made his way across the lobby and back outside, “have a good week! see you soon.”

kyle chuckled and gave you a two finger salute, “see you soon sweetheart.”

•••

n/a: just a lil disclaimer, not every dental office works the same. every place is different. this is just the way the office i work at does things. obviously i didn’t go into too much detail in regards to treatments bc i would be insufferable and i truly believe from the bottom of my heart that gaz flosses and brushes twice a day religiously. for the sake of fanfics being fanfics, reader isn’t wearing a face mask. realistically she should be wearing one.

DA= dental assistant <3

okay i’m done rambling!

thanks for reading!

[fizzybin]

Let go

Warnings: mention's of self harm and suicide, not being able to handle emotions, hypnosis, vox is a slight asshole (what's new?), fantasy of being an a mere object as an escape

Angst??

Wc: 1.3k

Inspired by @hazbinfallinginaspiral Be a doll au

a/n: I really love this AU it's honestly one of my favorites, and the creator of this AU is a wonderful writer so please check him out! (ʰᵒᵖᶦⁿᵍ ᵗʰᶦˢ ᵈᵒᵉˢⁿ'ᵗ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵐʸ ᵃⁿᵒⁿ ᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ᶦ'ˡˡ ᵇᵉ ᵉᵐᵇᵃʳʳᵃˢˢᵉᵈ)

slightly proof read</3

Exhaustion seeped into your bones, leaving you drained and weary. You were so done, done with the constant turmoil of your emotions, done with the self-inflicted pain that seemed to be a never-ending cycle. You were done with feeling everything so intensely, wishing for just a moment of emptiness. Your friends would come to you, complaining about feeling numb and empty, and you would nod along, offering supportive words and trying to cheer them up. But deep down, all you could think was how much you wished you were like them, free from the overwhelming weight of emotions. It felt as if a dark fog had settled over your mind and heart, making it hard to see through the haze.

Living with constant and overwhelming emotions was a never-ending battle. Every day, every hour, every moment was filled with intense feelings that you couldn't control. When sadness overtook you, it felt like you wanted to end your life. And when anger consumed you, it felt like you could do anything, even kill someone. The anxiety was crippling, making every breath feel like a struggle. And when happiness did manage to break through, it was so intense that it almost scared you. It was exhausting, and god forbid your emotions mixed together.

This place was supposed to be hell, but it didn't feel like the fire and brimstone you had imagined. It was a different kind of hell, one that seemed almost bearable yet still suffocating. Was this punishment truly deserved by anyone? The question echoed in my mind as you tried to make sense of things.

You were abruptly pulled out of your thoughts by the loud slam of Vox's office door. His heavy footsteps echoed through the monitor room as he made his way to his desk, shooting you an irritable glance as he sat down. You remained silent and stayed on the couch where you had been sitting. The sound of his keyboard clicking filled the tense silence, punctuated by occasional frustrated sighs and mutters.

You went back into your thought’s noticing he didn’t need or want anything from you. You were trying to think of a way you didn’t have to feel anything, but you couldn’t think of anything.

“Doll?” Vox's voice broke through your thoughts once again. Your eyes widened as a light bulb seemed to go off above your head. That was it - a doll. Dolls don't feel emotions, they simply exist and are content with being used whenever their owner decides to play with them. And Vox, with his hypnotic powers, could easily give you what you were searching for. After all, he already owned your soul and treated you like a prized possession. Surely, he wouldn't mind having you as his own living doll.

Vox snapped his fingers trying to get you to listen to him “are you even listing to me?? I just asked you to go get me coffee damnit.” he sounded more annoyed but you were still sitting on the couch thinking of your idea of just being a doll

You blinked, momentarily taken aback by the sharpness in Vox's voice. Slowly, you rose from the couch, your mind still swirling with thoughts of becoming his doll. As you made your way to the door, a plan began to form in your mind. If you could convince Vox to use his powers on you, perhaps you could finally find the peace you had been yearning for.

Returning with a steaming mug of coffee, you handed it to Vox and watched as he took a sip, his gaze fixed on the computer screen. This was your chance. Taking a deep breath, you spoke up.

As you approached Vox's desk. He was hunched over his work, completely engrossed in whatever task he was focused on. you cleared your throat and spoke his name, the words tumbling out a bit louder than you intended. He snapped his head up, dark eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at you over the rim of his mug. "What?" he snapped back, taking another sip of his coffee before setting it down with a thud on the table.

“i- well I've been thinking…” You said slowly hoping to say what you were thinking of clearly “I…well you always tell me I'm too emotional and stuff…and I know I am-” vox cut you off before you could continue

“…if this is another apology just shut up already I dont want to hear it, Im busy so if your not preposing something be quiet and make yourself useful.”

You paused, feeling a surge of frustration at Vox's dismissive attitude. Gathering your thoughts, you straightened your posture and locked eyes with him, determination shining through the depths of your gaze. "No, this isn't an apology," you stated firmly, your voice unwavering. "I'm proposing something. I want you to use your powers on me." Vox raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by your unexpected request. "Explain," he commanded, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. Taking a deep breath ��I dont want to feel my emotions anymore…do you think you could use your hypnosis and take them away…? make me like a doll almost? Just like I already do what you want…I just dont want the emotion’s that come with it”

Vox just looked at you, you couldn’t tell what he was thinking, he sighed “so let me get this right…you want to be a mindless doll? no emotions, no thoughts. Just completely obedient?” you nodded “yes..”

“I can work with that”

He stood up, the chair scraping against the floor as he moved. He walked towards you, standing right in front of you, and you couldn't help but notice his intense gaze. It was as if he was analyzing every aspect of your being, trying to understand your motive.

"Are you sure about this?" he finally asked, his voice low and authoritative.

You nodded again, your eyes steady as you met his. "I'm sure," you replied, your voice barely audible.

He drew in a deep breath, his chest rising and falling with determination. You couldn't help but notice the fire in his eyes, the unyielding confidence that radiated from them. As he reached out to grip your chin, you felt a shiver run down your spine. He commanded your attention, silently communicating through the tap of his finger on the left side of his screen. His gaze locked onto yours, intense and unwavering. The once familiar red in his eyes had transformed into a mesmerizing swirl of black, drawing you under his command

"You will become nothing more than a lifeless puppet, devoid of all emotion and thought. Your existence will revolve solely around my every command. You are utterly powerless without me, and every command I give is your entire purpose for existence."

Your mind began to blur, the world around you becoming hazy and indistinct. Vox's words echoed in your ears, sinking deep into the core of your being. It felt as though a heavy fog was descending upon your consciousness, shrouding your thoughts and emotions in a thick veil of nothingness. The last remnants of your turbulent feelings slipped away, leaving behind a vast emptiness that seemed to stretch into eternity.

As Vox continued to exert his hypnotic power over you, a sense of calm washed over your once tumultuous soul. It was a strange sensation, this newfound peace that settled within you. You could no longer feel the weight of your emotions bearing down on you, nor the constant turmoil that had plagued your every waking moment. Instead, there was only stillness, a profound silence that wrapped around you like a comforting blanket.

You stood there before Vox, a blank canvas awaiting his every brushstroke. Your eyes reflected nothing but obedience, your mind devoid of any resistance.

“Good Doll, Just let go”

[justalittlelilac]

Literally on a new hyper-fixation and, damnit, sometimes we can't choose so here's a lil' Simon Riley x fem!reader who's a gamer fic, because the voices wouldn't let me live 'till I wrote it. Just fluffy fluff.

Reader referred to as: She/her, his girl, his woman. Based on my own character, but took out the names. Word count: 713 She's totally not playing Helldivers 2.

Simon opened the door to his and his partner's Manchester flat to a dark living room. This was odd to him because his woman had stayed behind while he met up with the guys for a drink down at the pub. She preferred to stay in during their leaves, and he honestly couldn't blame her. Hell, he would have as well, if it wasn't for Soap dragging him out. 

Still, though, she hadn't been answering his texts, and THAT was unlike her. Preferring face-to-face communication, Simon rarely sent electronic messages. Still, when he did, he would almost always receive an immediate reply from her. He hadn't thought much about it while out, but concern filled his gut now that he was in the dark flat.

For a moment, dark thoughts filled his mind of her being taken or worse. The memory of finding his own family dead fell over him like a cold sheet of ice. At the exact moment, he heard her yell, and he barreled down the hall to the closed door of their spare room. His hand practically trembled as he threw the door open, and light filled his vision.

"Mother fucker!" Simon heard her yell as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. Once things came into focus, he let out a sigh of relief. There she was, sitting cross-legged in a computer chair with a headset on. She had already dressed for bed in one of his large black t's and underwear. Simon cocked his head, perplexed, watching as she leaned over her keyboard, fingers clacking and her mouse flicking from side to side. "Fuck, sorry guys, I need a revive." His presence wasn't even noticed by her; she was so focused. 

Simon approached her slowly, but it still didn't help. As soon as she caught him from the corner of her eye, she jumped and threw her headset to the keyboard, rising from her chair and going into fight mode. The sound of gunfire and "Walk" from Pantera blasted from the speakers, and Simon stifled a laugh. Once she realized it was him, she clutched her chest in relief and chuckled shakily. 

"Jesus, you scared me!" She grabbed her headset to speak. "Sorry guys, one sec," she said before putting them back down. He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What are you doing?" he asked in amusement. Her eyes flicked to the screen and then back to him, and she tucked her tousled hair behind her ears. 

"Just playing some video games," she explained. Simon could hear the voices of others on the headphones, and he tilted his head again.

"With who?" 

"Just some people I know online," she shrugged. Simon wasn't online savvy. He never really had time to delve into that sort of thing, and maybe he was too old for it now.

"What're playing?" Simon was genuinely curious. He knew his woman liked video games, but he hadn't ever seen her play nor knew what she preferred. She was an absolute nerd regarding stuff like that, and you wouldn't know unless she told you. He thought it was fucking adorable. 

"Just a shooter, nothing crazy," she shrugged again, and he again cocked an eyebrow in interest.

"Don't you do enough shooting as it is?" He asked, and she laughed. 

"It's not like that!" She chuckled as she went to sit back down. No, no, she was supposed to be relaxing, not leave war to come home and play at it. 

"Nope, think you need a break," he grunted before scooping her up against his chest and moving to carry her. She laughed out loud, only playfully struggling against him.

"No, my teammates! They need me! I can't abandon them!" She called out, arms comedically outstretched towards the computer.

"Sure they'll be fine," he replied simply.

"'Least let me mute my mic!" She demanded loudly.

"Nope," he replied with his own graveled laugh, still carrying her to the bedroom, predicting if he let her go back into that room, she'd just start playing again, knowing her. She relented and just laughed along with it. Fuck, he loved leave, used to not, but he loved his woman enough that coming home to a dark flat could mean finding laughter and not terror. He couldn't thank her enough for that.

[marionluth]

I'm working on a new story based on an awesome prompt given in the Iron Dad: Readers and Writers discord.

The prompt is basically: Peter dresses up as a Goth for Halloween. Tony doesn't realize it is Halloween and thinks he's going through a goth face for real and wants to be supportive. Comedic chaos ensues.

Excerpt (first draft, don't judge too much pretty please! I was just really excited to share something 😁 ) 👇

TW: theres mention of depression and self harm as scientific studies findings. Not as something any of the characters in the excerpt or particular fic struggles with. Still mentioning it just to be safe. This whole story is entirely crack-taken-seriously.

[...] Tony reached for his coffee mug and downed a generous gulp before turning to Happy, invoking his patience. “I sent you for the kid, Happy. Where’s Pete?”

“He’s coming, but you gotta play it cool.”

“I… What?”

“You gotta play it cool, okay? Don’t come at the kid. Teenagers are like that, they do stupid things all the time. So, just remember to play it cool and definitely don’t laugh,” Happy said hastily, looking behind his shoulder as if worried Peter would hear his weird little speech.

Tony could tell Happy could barely hold it together. His friend was ready to burst into his thundering belly-laugh and Tony brought the mug to his lips again, knowing he’d need a lot of caffeine to take whatever was coming. His sleep-deprived brain jumped to Spider-Man. Maybe the kid had skipped school to patrol? But then again Peter never skipped school. Maybe the kid found some action before coming here and got injured? But Happy knew Tony would never laugh over an injury. That was Peter’s thing. He didn’t have time to contemplate this any further, as the doors of the lab slid open and Tony watched Peter stepping inside.

He sputtered in his mug and felt his eyes bulging, but Happy cleared his throat, and Tony immediately schooled his expression. Slowly lowering the cup, he wiped droplets of coffee from his face with the back of his hand.

“Hey, kid,” he managed, his eyes taking in Peter head to toe. Jesus Christ. Was this karma? This should definitely be karma. And MJ. This was one hundred percent MJ influenced. Damnit, he might need to have words with that girl.

“Hey, Mr. Stark.”

Happy exhaled loudly through his nose and Tony knew the man would burst out in laughter any second now. Sure enough a second later Happy snickered which he immediately tried to cover with a cough.

Tony slowly turned to glare at him. Oh, so he could laugh? “You okay there, Hap? Need some water or anything?”

“No, nope,” Happy managed after clearing his throat, his tone too mirthful for Tony’s liking. “Just something in my throat. All good now.”

“Right, Hap, thanks for the update. We’ll call you when it’s time to take Peter home,” Tony said trying to sound his usual self, but his mind was still in a daze at what he was seeing. If Happy hadn’t come in to warn him, he’d be entirely sure he was hallucinating.

Happy scurried out of the lab, and Peter walked towards Tony and looked up at him, waiting. Tony stared down at the kid, still trying to process.

Peter smacked his black-tinted lips. “So what are we doing today?”

The question gave Tony something to grab on and he immediately turned his attention to the computer. “I am writing a new code to fix an issue with the new drone. Wanna jump in?”

“Sure Mr. Stark,” Peter bobbed his head and a strand of raven black hair fell on his white-makeup covered forehead.

Tony stepped aside to give Peter the floor and let out a slow breath, finally having the chance to take in the kid’s appearance without Peter knowing. Black dyed hair, full-on goth makeup complete with dark eyeshadow, eyeliner and black lipstick. Black leather jacket, a band t-shirt (who the hell were Bauhaus?), ripped black jeans, weathered black converse shoes. A goddamn piercing on his left ear and another above his right eyebrow.

Tony found himself swerving between worried, amused, and entirely out of his water.

“Keep working on that and I’ll be right, back, kid,” he told Peter, who turned to look at him questioningly. “Coffee refill,” Tony said, raising his mug. “We’re all out down here, so I’ll fetch some from upstairs. I’ll get you some hot chocolate and snacks too.”

“Sounds good, Mr. Stark. Thank you.”

Tony rushed out of the lab and headed to the elevator, letting out an audible huff when the doors closed behind him.

“FRIDAY has my kid turned emo?”

“Peter’s attire and makeup is not emo, but goth, boss.”

“Give me dets and if I have anything to worry about, FRI.”

“Goth is a subculture that emerged in the late 1970s, characterized by dark, mysterious, and often romantic aesthetics. It includes fashion elements like black clothing, dramatic makeup, and accessories, as well as music genres such as goth rock and post-punk. There have been a few studies indicating that teenagers who identified with the goth subculture were more likely to experience depression and engage in self-harm.”

Tony blanched.

“The kid might have depression? Might self-harm?”

“Correlation does not imply causation, boss. A lot of teenagers choose the goth style and subculture as a form of expressing individuality.”

“Ok, you know the drill. Parenting forums, parenting experts, scan and tell me what do I do?”

“The consensus is this is likely a phase, boss. And that you should remain supportive to Peter’s chosen form of self-expression. A lot of parents stress that in their experience if you don’t make a big deal out of it, it will likely pass sooner.”

“Okay. Okay, Tony, you can do this. You’ve built a suit of armor in a cave with a box of scraps. You can handle a goth phase. Cause this just it, a phase. I remain supportive. I don’t make fun of him. I don’t make a big deal out of it. Solid plan.”

[thisismayhem]

The Silver Shadow

Summary : In this story, Bucky and Andrea, an unconventional pair forced to work together even though they are constantly arguing; Sam is usually the mediator between them. Bucky does not trust Andrea, and Andrea does not trust Bucky. (Prologue is a flashback.) Pairing : Bucky Barnes x Original Female MC named Andrea, her FC is up to you, but I imagine a Shailene Woodley type character. (Bucky not seen in prologue. Main Interaction is with Tony Stark.) Words : A little under 1K. Warnings : Nothing notable in this prologue. Note : Suspension of disbelief is required ; I took a lot of liberties with the story, timeline and series of events. Other note : I wrote this in 2021, and let it in my google doc drafts. I found it, and thought maybe i could do something with it. I had a few ideas written down for the next chapters, so if people like this, I might continue? Prologue | Next Chapter Masterlist

Montreal, Summer of 2012.

The clicking and tapping of fingers on the black computer keys were the only thing that could be heard inside the small room. That small room was serving as the temporary headquarters for what the brunette doing the actual typing considered her best operation yet. Usually, she'd have some music playing in the background, but the playlist she'd been playing had stopped a while ago and she didn't bother to start a new one. No, she'd been having way too much of a blast. Infiltrating the Canadian Government's website to change every mention of Prime Minister Harper's name to Asswipe McStupid was the most fun she's ever had on a job. The real reason she was infiltrating the server was a tad bit more complex, but the prank added a little bit of flair to the task. Plus, it paid well, since she risked actual prison if she got caught. But then again, she always, always, had a fail-safe.

She only had about two minutes left to put the final touches on the malware she'd then upload on the government's server while the files she needed were uploading to her computer before the intrusion was traced back to her location and she was typing as fast as she could. That's when she heard it. 

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Fuck! She was supposed to have more time, god damnit! How could they have found her so fast? It was impossible! As she continued typing frantically, she was trying to understand where she messed up. Prison was not an option, and she didn't want to use her fail-safe. She'd never had to use it before on a big scale, say, on the military ops that would surely find her now.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Louder, this time. The pounding she was hearing seemed to come almost directly from behind her. How did they get up to her so fast? She was on the 19th floor! It's not like they had power suits or jet packs to get to her that fast! The file she needed from the server was already exported to her computer, and she barely had time to close up everything before she heard the last barrier between her and the rest of the world fall behind her.

BOOM. 

As soon as she heard the door go down behind her, the cybercriminal threw her hands up, and for just a second, it felt like time stopped. She didn't hear a sound, which was surprising, since she thought a thousand men would be there to arrest her. That's usually what happens when you get caught stealing secret files from undocumented government projects. But she didn't hear a thing. The overwhelming desire to turn around was strong, but she stayed there for what seemed an eternity before she heard his voice. 

"I knew you were strong, but that's..." He said, with a little bit of… could it be envy in his voice? 

She'd heard his voice before. Everyone in America knew that voice. He'd been on TV, on the radio, and his name was as admired as it was feared. He'd made a spectacle a couple of years back, and because of it, his name would go down in history. 

"Jarvis," he continued, "Is she really stopping the suit right now?" 

"It appears so, Sir. I've lost all control of the suit's motricity." 

The brunette sighed as she finally dropped her hands to her side, simultaneously releasing Tony Stark from her hold. 

"I thought I made my position on your offer very clear, Mr. Stark." She said as calmly as possible. 

"And I thought you might want to reconsider." He replied with confidence. "Your abilities, they're worth putting to good use."

The hacker got up from her chair and started to pack her computer as fast as she could. She was losing time, and the longer she stayed in this spot, the more likely she was to get caught. She turned to Stark, who was still trying to convince her to do something she'd never agree to.

"Mr. Stark, as I've said twice before, I'm not joining your team of superheroes, or whatever you called it…" 

"Avengers." He said, cutting her. 

She casually dismissed him with the back of her hand, making the red suit rattle. 

"Avengers, Shmamengers. I don't care. I'm not doing it. Final answer." 

"This is not Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. You can't just say final answer." Tony said, aggravated. 

As she put her black messenger bag over her shoulder, the woman approached the famous Tony Stark and patted him on the shoulder of this suit, and with the flick of a wrist, put a big dent on it. It wasn't a warning, because he knew she'd easily overpower him. She did it just for fun. Just to mess with him. 

"Goodbye, Mr. Stark." She said with a sly grin.

"Jarvis, please advise Fury that Silver Shadow is a no-go." He sighed to his AI as the brunette was leaving the concrete building. 

[slythepuffle]

I'm getting sucked into a fandom for a Digimon DnD campaign. Send help /j

Anyway here's an AU I made for it:

Who We Were AU – The four of them were connected. They knew they were connected, some way and somehow – They just couldn’t remember why. And without the reason, without the memories, they were just strangers. They drifted apart, which was fine, because, again, they were all just strangers with a strange connection and history that they didn’t remember. It didn’t matter at all.

Then, years later, one of them reaches out to the others.

“I know you probably don’t remember me and frankly I don’t remember you all well either. But, I at least know that I can trust you guys. And right now I need your guys’ help. If my theories are right, I’m not the only one who is going to need help…” 

“Years ago, we and a few others went missing. Judging from my own memories, something big happened then. Something that involved all of us. And, again based on my research, none of you remember what happened when we were missing either. But whatever we were involved with, we never finished. Something – Some people – are still in danger. And we need to help them, as soon as we can. But I don’t think we can do this without our memories.”

“Luckily, I think I found a link! One of the people who went with us is still missing to this day. If we can find out what happened to him, then I think we’ll be able to figure everything else out.”

“This is Grayson ‘The Wizard’ McKnight, signing off. Hope to hear from you all soon.”

~~~~ (Blurb Under Cut)

He was working on his computer, as he always did. His screen was the only light source in the room, the night sky so dark outside that it consumed every other light.

Suddenly, a little ping! noise caught his attention. He blinked, switching tabs to see what had just popped up.

“A new message huh? Hm… Let’s hope it’s not spam…”

He moved his mouse, clicking on the message. A video popped up on his screen.

“Ooo, a video? Alright, let’s see what we have here…”

He pressed play.

At first, the screen was nothing but static. He could hear something faint, someone trying to say something, but the noise was too loud. He winced, lowering the volume until the static began to clear somewhat.

A girl stood at a console, desperately pressing buttons and typing. She looked up at the screen, her eyes wide behind her cracked lenses. Her lips began moving and he quickly raised the volume up again to hear her.

“–ello? Hello?! Can anyone hear me?! Please! We need help!”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Come on, work you stupid thing–!”

She kicked the console, which sparked. That seemed to cause her some pain, as she leapt back and cursed, tears welling. “Damnit!”

“Julie–!”

The voice, robotic in nature, sent a strange chill down his spine. He ignored it, watching intently as a tall figure entered the screen.

“We must go. The others cannot hold them back any longer–!”

“But I need to get help!” She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. She looked like she had been through hell. Poor kid – He wondered what happened to her. What had she been through that led to this? “Please Andromon. At least let me try.”

The android (ragepureboilinghatebutwhy) looked at her solemnly. “I will try to buy you more time then. Please hurry.”

It quickly lumbered out of the frame and the strange feelings he had followed suit. The girl turned back to the screen, trying to steel herself.

“If any of the previous Digi-Destined are hearing this – We are the current Digi-Destined, currently in the D-Terminal in the Digital Forest. We found your– our partners and we saw your message. This world is in danger and– and we couldn’t protect it. We weren’t enough.”

She seemed to falter, hands curling into fists and trembling. She swallowed, fiercely rubbing at her eyes as she continued. “L–Look, if anyone is hearing this – We need you. Your partners need you. The Digital World needs you. So please! Please come and help! I’m begging you… Help us.”

The wall behind her burst, dust filling the room and concealing her as static began to build. He could vaguely see the android (dangerbadrunȑ̸̰̈́ȋ̷̢̦̱̇̊ő̵̡̦͚t̷͉̄̀̾) storm into the room again, just as the static overwhelmed the screen and the video came to an end.

Grayson McKnight leaned back in his chair, staring at his screen with a mix of shock and thought on his face.

“Well… that was something.”

[jewishicequeen]

There's not enough animusicals content around

#animusicals

3 notes

🍥love-to-love reblogged

🪙name-s-daniel Follow

I love seeing different languages on my dash! Reblog in your native language!

בוקר טוב!

🍥love-to-love

おはよう！

👑firelordanya Follow

доброе утро, мои подданные

🖨soheresthedeal

Good morning!

👤richer-then-thou-deactivated20110315

טייטן זיך

🪙name-s-daniel Follow

G-d fucking damnit Adam, we're just trying to be nice?

🍥love-to-love

Oh my god you killed him

🐄youravaragemammal Follow

0̸̝͇͝2̸̞͎͓̫̇͝0̶̗̟̖̦̄̂͆̀́0̷̛̺̼̮̮̓͑̅2̸̭̖̉̉̀0̸̧̞̣́͋̊̀0̴̞̩̞̩͉̒͐͊̂̚ͅ0̷̖͎͒ͅ ̷̫̻̲͙̽0̴̧̇2̵̹̅͌́̚͠ͅ2̶̡̞̫͓͖͚̊̃͂̽0̴̥̳̌͗̀̑̕͘2̷̨͍̱̮̑0̷̧̧͉̺̻̦̈́̃̋2̷͓̫͚́̄͋͂̑̇ ̷̣̘͓̳͘0̶̣̈͆͗̒͗2̴̨͉͍͌́̆̊̿2̶͍̹̘̯̪̎͜0̸͕͙̬̓̐̂͐͘͜2̵̩͖͍̌2̵̧̳̰̦̩̭̀̃0̵̪̒̐2̵̢̰̅̊ ̴̤̖̳͚̋0̷̨̗̖̜̭̠̀͂̇͌̀̒2̵̙͊̄2̸̧̦͈̉̕0̷̨͕̼͎̯̐̀͐̓̃0̷͍̞̤̝͗̀̔́͜͜0̶͇̌̑̍̚0̸̡̧͓͈̗̟̍̓2̵̳̓͊̽̓̄ ̷̯̭͎̬̂̿̒0̶̞̣̈́2̸̺͛̑͒2̷͍̤̩̙̈0̴̟͓̯̋2̸̰̗̙̖͎̥̈́̄̊͋̐2̴͕̪̅̿͛̐͋2̷̭̹͎̹̔̊͛͆͌͠0̶̝͎͉́̀̑̾ ̶̭͈̊̔͂͂͘0̸͙̤̘̾̊́͠0̷̨̹̻̱̊̀̅̓2̵̙̘́0̸͚͚̘̝̜̚0̴͚̍͊0̶̡̡̺̓́͆́̈́0̷̛͉̯̳͌0̶̢̠͙̳͓̼̀ ̶̧̠̄͋̈̽0̷̣̇͜2̴̧̮̝͓͒2̸̧̡̎͊̔͂͜2̸̼͕̀0̸͓̹̜̕0̷̛̖̬̝͉͖̊̈̅́͑2̴̖̯̪̙̫̯̑2̸̫͇̹̅̎̍ ̶̙̤̝̜̗́͂͐̉ͅ0̶͓͉̯͎̅͋̅̋̀͆2̶̺͙͈̖̜͒́̚͠͠2̴̛͎̬̫̗͈̻0̵͉̭̳̈́̾̑̾͆̅0̸̡̗͈̜͔̌̆͋0̷̻̠̣͚̻͛0̶̜̎͠2̴̡̛̥̝͑͆̔ ̵͇̻̾̐̿̇̾0̴͎̊̔ͅ2̸̰̳̥͉̰͖̑̑͑2̶̳̭̤̒̇̏2̶̤͐̿̈́̎͌0̵̙͕͆͑0̶͍̟̠̥̊̾́̆2̷̝̣̊͝0̸̨̧̲̘̈́̚͠ ̵̹̞̄̇͋̋̿̕0̴̛̲̓͐̈͝2̵̼̎̏2̶͙̠̮̀͂̓̔0̴̗̘̺̣̱͓̀̌̈́͠0̷̧͈̼̘͋̓̋̕0̴̖̤͎͛̍́͊̈́2̴̡̠̟͎͇̥̎̈́̈́̉͑͘2̵̟̥͈̩̐ ̸̙̭̫̤͇̽̀̈́͠ͅ0̵͓̭͖̻̳̑̔2̵̧̤͖́̈̔̓͘2̵̘̳̖̙͈̥̾0̴̝͓̑͐͌0̸͇̩͇̼͛͌̐̑̕0̶̨̥̠̺̇͒̄̉2̶̡̮̤͐̓ ̶̧͕̫͓̈̈́͂̀̽0̸̨̮̰̯͌̈́́͝2̷̲̙̐̀̈́2̴̖̬̼̱̭̫͐̏́̋̎2̸͎͈̞̟̫̆0̶̢̱́̓͑̂͘0̷͔̜͍̯͔̱̈́̓2̶̠̖̋̈́̿̍2̵̳̝̥̯͕͎̏̈̽͝͝ ̴͍̤͎͇̐̒̇0̷̹͎͐͐̅2̸̦̫̼̑̏̒̚2̴̡̮̻̮͇̓͊0̸̤̤̾͗͆̚ͅ2̵͓̺̣̳͍̲͐̓͂̓̇2̶̱̯̠͙͕̀̉0̵̟̰̼͙͙̟́͛̿̔2̷̧̛̹͚̻̍͐̋̀

🍥love-to-love

What the fuck??? @soheresthedeal is this binary?

#that's my best guess but i don't speak computer

93 notes

😴brightboldandtakingthegold reblogged

🌃eiji-in-the-middle Follow

AITA for wanting to lose?

My(m, 15yo) school's super compatitive and I don't like being in the spotlight. My friend(f, 15yo) and I decided to open a new club in a sport nobody would take seriously but we miscalculated and now we have to join the tournament. Non of us wanted the attention and we collectively decided to throw the matches delibarately but two of our members messed up and won and now it's my turn and they want me to win too?? This is not what we agreed on, and I told them that, but things got heated and I ended up hurting some of them. My match is like in ten minutes and IDK what to do. Should I try to win? My opponent's really good, I don't think I have a chance.

So, am I the asshole?

🌃eiji-in-the-middle Follow

Jun this was 4 years ago can you stop bringing this back?

😴brightboldandtakingthegold

never

#lol eiji you were so fucking stupid #google the sport before you open a club

6k notes

🦄alice-had-it-easy reblogged

I'm late I'm late I'm late!!!

🦄alice-had-it-easy

No one's here??

#lecture started 5 minutes ago?? #it's only me and the professor

7 notes

😴brightboldandtakingthegold reblogged

🩰hate-ballet Follow

I want what they have

🌌paperpuppets Follow

I can stab you...°☆°☆°

#otp #i've been watching you two flirt since highschool just kiss already

287 notes

🕷nightmaresfearsandhorrors reblogged

🦀esthithedemon Follow

We need to talk about the word demonization. It's frankly offensive. As a proud demon I refuse to use it. Find a substitution, humans.

🪆thepaininyourpussy Follow

Oh my gods can you. Shut up. So tired of the demon humanisation efforts. You people are pathetic. Get some guts.

🦀esthithedemon Follow

???

Do you like being reduced to a role of violence and harm?? Humans don't believe we have feelings and demons like you are part of the problem.

🧚🏼‍♀️friendlyneighborhood-mahou-shoujo Follow

I know you have feeling, Esti!

🪆thepaininyourpussy Follow

Lol you have minors following you? No point talking, you're literally just trying to assimilate. What a disgrace.

666 notes

🐣unluckychikiro reblogged jan-ken-king

👑jan-ken-king Follow

🐣unluckchikiro

Noooooo I accidentally hit scissors, why does this keep happening😭

#just like in high school #jankenpon

732 notes

⛩tomorrowsfilledwithviolence Follow

So... you come here often?

[legend-the-dumb-jock]

“Confirm final changes: When it’s 9:00 pm tonight …”.

This was the final change that I would be making while in Derek’s body. This all started about a week ago when Derek said he found a way to swap our bodies. We had always played around with the idea in txting back and forth but when he said he finally found a way for it happen I couldn’t beleive him. Of course I wanted to swap bodies. Derek had a body I could only dream of getting. And even though he was built like a Greek god he still played around with the idea of us swapping. His reasoning was “it’s not always fun and games. I have to work out all the time. And watch my diet. It would be nice to not have to worry about that for a little while”. Granted I wasn’t fat by any means but I did have a small pudge on my belly. And honestly I understood him. We could be ordering food and I would get cheese burgers while he was eating a strict diet of rice and chicken.

Derek shared the site with me andni created my profile. Creating an avatar that looked just like me. Then the message from Derek popped across my computer screen. “Ok I have everything set up on my side. All you have yo do is click accept when I open the change chat.” A link displayed in the message. Opening the change forum on the site. In here rules were set. The length of the body swap. What was allowed during the swap and so forth. I agree to the terms that Derek set out. And when I clicked accept it was as if my soul was ripped from my body and I was floating. I was flying through the air and suddenly I seen Derek. In a ghostly form like me. Saving as we passed.

"alright jason. Its done. You get to be for a bit while i get to sit back and relax! and make sure you take care of my body for me !!" with that he ended the chat and i was left there in this big muscular body.

i closed the site and was shocked that this actually worked. I ran to the bathroom to get a better look at what I was dealing with.

He must have just finished working out. I was covered in hot sticky sweat ! Abs I smelt like I needed a shower. I wasnt used to occupying so much space either. Derek was huge ! I looked down and realized that i would have to get used to walking about in his clownish sized feet. Peeling back the tongue of my new gym shoes i seen 17w plastered on it. Dang, bigger than I thought. This was going to be epic. Living it up at Derek was going to be a peice of cake being a hot muscle bound man like this.

Message came across my new phone. It was a message from Jason. “Have fun and make sure you stay on that diet. That body is my prized possession.” Jason smirked. Yeah. He knew it was. And he could already tell that he would y be giving this body up so easily.

Jason continued to live the next few days as Derek without anyone ever getting suspicious thag he wasn’t the real Derek. Working out. Eating right. He was even working on the farm as the real Derek now too.

His phone buzzed and it was Derek. 'Ive decided i want change back. I want to change back later tonight at 8:55pm". Jason wasn’t ready to give up Derek’s life yet. He had to find a way to make this stop! He logged back onto the site and found that he couldn’t stop the change back. “Users are bound by the original agreement and nothing can change a current agreement that is still in process”. Jason s reamed damnit in Derek’s heavier manlier voice. “He’s gonna fucking get this body back regardless!” Time was ticking away and he had to think of something. That’s when he got an idea. He opened a new change. Only this time he explored all the options and he found what he was looking for. " confirm final change ?”. Jason hovered over the accept button. Knowing that when he chose this there was no going back. He read over the request again. “When it’s 9:00 pm tonight, the inhabitant of thjs body will make a permanent irriversible soul swap with Derek’s dog."clicking accept a huge error message came across the screen “selecting this option removes humanity. Choosing such option locks users into changes due to site specific rules stating that only humans allowed.” With a heavy thick finger, Jason clicked accept. Right clicking on the change chat he hid it from view so Derek would never know this was happening even when he was back in his body for a short period.

8:55 came to and both jason and Derek was in the chat. The week has been completed and both we taken from their bodies they had been in for the last week. Jason felt huge. His stomach was bulging from what looked like pizza and beer. Derek has really let himself loose this week. Look long back at the chat “thanks for taking care of my body so well! We should do this again!” I chuckled and agreed “yes we really should! I had a lot of fun in that body” 8:58. Jason was staring daggers at the clock waiting for his final request to take place. Suddenly. Jason was being pulled from his body just like before. And instantly found himself back in Derek’s body. Panicking he pulled up the site. Derek typed a message from jasons body. “I set all your changes to automatically accept requests from me. So now whenever I want to swap we can swap instantly !” No!! Jason had to stop this! He couldn’t find the hidden requests and it was 8:59.

9 hit and very painfully Jason felt himself being ripped out of Derek’s body. He was floating and fighting to get back into the human body but he was repelled off. Then as if there was a hidden force dragging him backwards he felt himself being pulled. Towards the dogs that he would be sealed permanently inside. He faught with everything he could while he Sean the foal of the dog listed from its body and flung into Derek’s. Everything was dark when Jason opened his eyes. He was panting. He couldn’t see color. His final request had come true. He now permanently a dog. What was even worse. The dog was a good actor. And Derek never realized the dog was swapping bodies with him now while Jason was stuck simpering in his new four legged stance.

[carmyn-rambles]

Cyphen stared at their computer screen.

Testing with NotSentientAI_version2.exe has concluded. Results: 3/18 goals met.

…This wasn't working. It was not working at all.

Well, okay, it was, but not working well enough. Progress was slow. So incredibly slow.

They had thought they still had a month to try and work on this new AI iteration, but apparently, their brain hadn't processed that it had been July 31st; the end of that month. Things haven't been going well since.

As they tried to re-focus on getting this stupid AI to function anywhere near as well as the first one did, they heard someone in a really loud car pull in to the parking lot. It sounded like Holt's car, but they dismissed that thought as soon as it came; he wouldn't come by, out of the blue. They drummed their fingers against their desk, trying to focus.

They went through a mental checklist to try and figure out what they needed to work on next. This AI was nowhere near complete, and it was so stupidly difficult to get any work done when it was so early in development compared to the last one. They always hated how slow the early stages of development were, and worse, they had the memories of what they'd already done with the first AI. Everything they did now felt inferior to the memory of their previous work.

Cyphen picked up on the sound of footsteps outside their apartment, sounding heavy and upset, approaching from the parking lot. They imagined someone returning from a rough day at work.

Cyphen looked over their code editor, and was about to resignedly get to work once more, only for their attention to get stolen away again when those very footsteps arrived at their door, quickly followed by someone banging on their door.

"C, I swear to god!" Holt's voice rang out, irritated.

Oh.

That had been Holt's footsteps.

That had been Holt's car.

...

Damnit.

"I know you're in there, open the fucking door!" He called out.

"Wait a damn second!" Cyphen called out in response, standing up from their desk, only to lose balance from standing up too fast, and had to catch themselves on the wall. Afterwards, they walked to the door of their apartment soon after.

They unlocked the deadbolt, then the door, and opened it to reveal Holt's feathered face, twisted in anger.

"C, if you screwed everything up, I swear I'm going to pummel you," He pushed a claw into their chest.

Leave it to Holt to shout in the doorway.

Cyphen gave him a deadpan look, pushed his claw away, and stepped to the side, so he could enter the apartment.

Holt stormed in, only to stand right behind Cyphen as they closed the door. “Care to tell me why you stopped giving me updates?“ He snapped, arms crossed.

"There was a delay in development." Cyphen responded, crossing their arms in return.

"That's no excuse to stop sending fucking updates," Holt said, "How the hell am I supposed to know things are going to plan?"

Cyphen looked away with a bitter expression. "They're not."

Holt stared at them. "The hell is that supposed to mean?!" Holt exclaimed.

"Calm the fuck down, it just means I need another month," Cyphen sighed. "The AI isn't ready."

Holt was stunned for a second, staring searchingly at Cyphen's inexpressive face.

Then, he snapped back into action. "C, we don't have another month!" He shouted. "You fucking- this always happens! You just cut off our planned communication when things go wrong," he gestured frustratedly, "even though communication exists to help stop things from going wrong in the first place-"

Cyphen scowled, pulling their arms closer to themselves, not appreciating being scolded like this.

"-or to mitigate things when they go wrong- if you had told me about this random 'development issue,' maybe I could've held things back on my side-"

"Too fucking bad, Holt," Cyphen snapped, fed up with listening to him rant about this. "We're being held up by a month. End of discussion."

Holt stared at them, shock turning to outrage, and he grabbed their throat with his talons.

"We don't have another month," Holt hissed, restraining himself from anything more than a tight hold on their throat, keeping them silent. "Everything's already moving. Either get your damn AI sorted, or find some other fucking solution, because if this goes to shit, I am bringing you down with me." Holt finally released them.

Cyphen rubbed gingerly at their neck before looking up at his expression. They looked away, silent for a few moments. "...Understood, Holt."

There was a tense silence.

”I'm done with trusting you. I swear to fuck…“ Holt grumbled, opening the door and stomping through, only to turn around just before he left.

“This is your last fucking chance, C.” He glared at them for a few more seconds, before scowling deeper, slamming the door behind him when he left.

Cyphen was left alone inside their apartment, with nothing but the light of their computer monitor. They stared at the closed door, and their hands clenched into fists in frustration, frustration with Holt, with themselves, with their stupid fucking AI, with everything-

They slammed a fist against the wall.

And they inhaled, exhaled.

No point in getting upset. They needed to get this done.

Cyphen locked their door, locked the deadbolt, stepped back to their desk.

They checked their deadline, and looked back at their current AI.

Testing with NotSentientAI_version2.exe has concluded. Results: 3/18 goals met.

…They needed to get their old AI back.

[crazy56u]

Well, my stomach feels like crap, and a lot of things could be going better all over.

At least Ben gets to punch a Nazi this week.

Last time on Quantum Leap: Ian's shitty microchip is causing problems, Addison flushed her wedding ring, and Ben convinced a waitress to go into computer science.

And Ben gets to see that guy die again.

"GODDAMNIT LAWRENCE, 'PATHFINDER' ISN'T HELPFUL LAST WORDS!"

And Rock Paper Scissors time is interrupted by the computers breaking again.

"Do I have your attention?" If it turns out this is actually Janis hacking the Project again from Hawaii, and that's the real extent of the chip subplot...

"Look, Ian, I don't know why you're surprised that I'm the bad guy..."

Meanwhile, back in 1955, the cops are still not helpful.

"Hmmm... random guy finding a dying guy... ... ...you a Commie?"

"I'm gonna ask you to not leave town. Luckily, this episode is set entirely in this town."

Princeton 1955 is the most exciting place in the scientific community, right next to the place where the guy who discovered the BLJ in Mario 64 lives.

I honest to God hope they have Einstein cameo in this.

"Hey, we're three guys in suits and hats. Here's the waitress from the alien episode. And yes, that does mean a one-minute commercial break."

Hannah isn't a leaper, she just has an amazing skin care routine.

"Maybe the accelerator decided you needed a friend." Jenn, not for nothing, but that was unintentionally sad due to how you phrased that...

Oh shit, they invented the machine from Sliders.

Okay, so, knowing real world history, the Nazis are 100% gonna smash that thing.

"Look, I'm just a bald white guy talking to the guy from Quantum Leap, you don't need to be here, 1940s Waitress."

Oh, damnit, Einstein's already dead...

"You kept Einstein waiting, and he died. How does that make you feel, shithead?"

Hmmmmmm... I wonder if there is a connection between the evil spies circling the 1955 Project, and the subplot going on at the 2026 Project, that is a toughie...

Hannah just solved the formula for Red Bull.

MORAL OF THE STORY: The scientific community is misogynistic as fuck, even in the 1950s.

"Apparently, you're from New Mexico?" "Yeah, I had to move after this guy helped the sheriff bust a government coverup involving aliens and car crashes."

"Look, Hannah, I need you to stay in the episode, Einstein did secret science shit, I need your help."

"Have we met before, you remind me of Raymond Lee..."

The scientific method: Break into a dead guy's house.

"Magic picked a hell of a day to have a day off, it's almost like he's dealing with alcoholism or something..."

You went to Princeton in 2005, oh dear God, I am so sorry...

And we see that the guy Ben leapt into looks like a car salesman.

"Did you just refer to Einstein as 'Al'?" "Yeah, that means I'm cooler than you."

And Ben looks like he crapped himself.

"Okay, we're at the library that looks like Church."

"Look, Ben, if you decided to quit everytime Ziggy tells us there was a murder coverup in the original history, we wouldn't have a show."

I legitimately would not be surprised if it turns out people were lying and Hannah is actually a secret leaper.

"Is everything okay?" "Yep, totally fine, totally not gonna rip Ian's head off, what's a data breach?"

"Look, Ian, either you tell security what's going on, or I will be pissed."

At this point, just start throwing the books, maybe you'll get somewhere.

"Tell them to check the second floor. There, I did my job, I have a point in the show-" "Uh, I ain't going back into the Imaging Chamber, Ben fired me."

And Ben meets his replacement.

"Hi, Ben, I'm Tommy!" "(barely constrained look of resentment)"

"Look, I know Addison left you for me, but I went here in 2005, I know what I'm talking about."

"Wait, was it this wall, how do secret passages work again?" "Dude, what the fuck?!" "In my defense, I drank a lot!"

Oh, shit, I have that clock in my living room.

"Okay, if I were Albert Einstein... (fucks with the clock)"

And she has a Zippo, I'm starting to piece together how she died in that building fire...

Oh shit, a guy's doing jazz hands.

"Look, I don't care if you have a knife, you ain't getting in here!" "OH YEAH?! (shoves open door; causes a fire)"

[We are already lagging...]

[How many people are aware that M&Ms did a sequel to that ad a few years ago?]

Ben, you had a cane, why didn't you immediately clock him in the head?

"There, we got the journal, and we decided to not leave they guy behind to die in the fire for some reason, we are doing alright." "Ben, he killed Lawrence." "Okay, back into the fire he goes."

And there's the Nazis.

"Operation Paperclip": AKA, "The Governement wanted to make NASA, but didn't have enough scientists."

I don't know why, but the orange glow, plus the Kate conversation, makes Tommy look like he aged 30 years, I have to imagine that was deliberate.

"Oh, it's incredible, Einstein's journal fucking rules…"

So, what's the over/under on that journal getting burned?

"I studied Greek, it looks like Einstein was having a stroke…"

"If this works, it'll change the world." So, what's the over/under on that journal getting burned?

"Ben, that code will fucking break the world, it makes bombs." So, what's the over-

"Look, I don't care if you're Raymond Lee, but this is important science, I'm taking it with me-" "OKAY, FUCK IT, I'M BLOWING MY COVER, WE MET IN 1947!"

Okay, I meant that as a joke, I didn't expect Ben to actually do that, hot damn…

"Ben, stop breaking the rules!" "Fuck outta here, bitch boy!"

"I fucked up an Einstein quote, that's how you know I'm Raymond Lee!"

"Look, are you familiar with a guy named Samuel Beckett?"

"The most romantic bit of physics". Meanwhile, Addison flushed her ring.

"How long are you here for?" "My guess, I'm gone the second we burn that journal."

Uh oh, misogyny.

"Okay, I gotta dip, keep this." "Okay, cool. Zippo time!"

"Rachel, our secret shit fucked up the Project, I'm about to have a panic attack."

"What do you need?" "I need a data patch?" "That will cost me my job." "Again, panic attack-" "Ian, I was gonna say yes regardless."

"Hey, you wanna be a Nazi scientist? Let's take a trip to Glasgow! (slashes face)"

Oh, shit, the bald guy was the bad guy?!

"Ben, I need you to punch that bald guy, he's a Nazi."

"…um, I can't reproduce shit?" "… … …so, you know I'm a Nazi, eh?!"

[Annnd TEXT LIMIT!]

[anxiouslyfred]

Bravery

For @sanders-sides-a-spec-week prompt crossovers

Summary: Virgil has ended up in a relationship due to his fears of abandonment, but between meeting the Doctor and fighting sontarans he might just find the courage to come out and change that.

/\/\

Fear is a normal feeling for Virgil. He fears being alone, fears abandonment, or people thinking that he's weird. He worries about whether he'd upset someone he didn't intend to or whether the positioning of his furniture is dangerous.

It's something he's used to listening to and trying to avoid his fears becoming reality.

And there's a lot of things that Virgil has done or agreed to because he didn't want to be abandoned any more than he wanted to ride that dubiously safe ride at the fair.

Including this relationship, and coming on this date when really he needs a break from people after a horrible day.

At least he's laughing now, finding humour in something that Anton seems horrified by, if the spluttering words about it being nowhere near Halloween and what the hell do people think there doing is anything to go by. Honestly Virgil thought it was brilliant, and he'd almost ask to join in with this out of season spook fest. Halloween definitely needed to last longer anyway.

Although the costumes were definitely not something he'd ever go for. Two guys with like paper mache puppet masks on that looked like they'd been made over a baking bowl or something and some plastic attempt at battle armour. Frankly Virgil couldn't imagine what kind of monster the teens, and from the size of them, they couldn't be older than early teens, maybe 15, were trying to be, especially since they had blue guns, because of course the weapon has to match the armour, what soldier doesn't do that?

The gun being fired by the left one and taking out a chunk of ceiling over their heads and getting them both covering their heads and ducking away. “So not just bad costumes, you also painted real guns to look fake!” Virgil yelled, sharply glancing around the cafe as he shoved Anton down under the table.

There was a door not far behind them, and another the other side of the teens with guns, which some blonde was coming through, whacking them both on their necks, with a yell.

“Hey, you two okay? Was anyone else in here?” The woman asks, leaning over the table a moment later, getting Virgil's attention from where he was trying to keep Anton calm enough to escape as well as figure out without popping his head too far over the table to see if the guys in plastic armour were actually unconscious and decide if this new person was any safer.

“Two staff, I think they both waitress and cook, went out back not long ago. I think they had a delivery or something.” Virgil explained quickly, not sure why he trusted this person, but at least she wasn't holding any weapons, not even whatever she'd hit the gunmen with.

She smiled. “We'll go that way to find them then. I'm the Doctor, who are you?”

“Virgil, this is Anton. Shouldn't we do something about the teens in costume?” He asked, standing now since she was acting as if it was safe to do so, and pulling Anton up with him, who immediately wrapped himself around him, hiding in his neck.

“Not in costume. That's just what a sontaran looks like. They'll be fine where they are for now. It's not like we have anywhere safe to imprison them or anything.” She explained, rooting through her pockets. “And I think my rope must have been left beside the console, damnit.”

It was very easy for Virgil to ask, “Console?” expecting some comment about a computer game console, but no reply came as the Doctor was hurrying away, only just avoiding running because she kept looking back as if trying the check if they were following her.

*

Anton was screaming again.

Of course that might be because Virgil had just launched himself out from the gap they'd sheltered in, racing straight towards the sontarans the Doctor had asked them to keep an eye on, a broken chair leg in his hand.

It was still very distracting that Anton was screaming, apparently not just to Virgil since the sontarans were trying to shoot at both of them, none of them just picking a single target. At least that left Virgil the opportunity to start whacking their necks.

“Much easier to keep an eye on war mongering aliens when they're unconscious.” Virgil decided, tearing the apron he'd found in one of the backrooms up into rope to tie them up and taking their guns away at the same time. “Plus it means none of them can go back to their ship or pods while we don't want them to.”

“I really want to kiss you right now. That's what heroes get after pulling shit like that off.” Anton stated, trying to turn Virgil to him.

He didn't turn, pushing a gun into the hand on his shoulder. “Only when they aren't potentially still in danger. I'm staying vigilant until I know whatever is going on is finished.”

*

“So it looks like they were the starting force to come in. Scouts, not an invasion.” The Doctor sounded like she was halfway through a conversation when she walked back in, looking over her shoulder. “There should only be the five that we've already... You've already captured. Was this a spontaneous plan, or had you already decided to knock them out before I left?”

Virgil glanced at the now angry and awake sontarans for a moment, “They spotted us. It seemed easier to keep an eye on them if I could get them tied up instead of run away from them.”

“I could have sworn that you said everything scares you when we were getting those cooks free. This is impressive.” She looked at the collection, waving when a few hurled insults such as vermin at her.

“Also said I have survival instincts and no desire to face my worst fears today. These guys do not stand up against those fears at all.” He stated, “What kind of alien race doesn't figure out a way to protect their weakness? If you're going to make armour, include a cover or something for a feeding vent that can knock you unconscious.”

The Doctor looked him over again, before checking on Anton. “And how are you holding up? Still coping with-”

A laugh from one of the sontarans had her turning. “We prepared for your interference Doctor. This place will explode and kill you along with us if you continue trying to thwart our plans. Release us and the people in this building may be spared.”

“Or we could leave you tied up, set of the fire alarms in every building we can get into to evacuate them and let you be the only mortalities of your actions?” Virgil offered, getting a sharp disapproving look from the Doctor.

“A warrior's strategy. Not as weak-hearted as the Doctor. You'd make a fine sontaran.” The sontaran replied, nodding in approval.

The Doctor held up her hands. “And not one we're going to do. I've locked your ship. It's co-ordinates are set and you're getting back on board it now! Whether that's awake or unconscious is your choice. We've got shopping trolley's.”

*

“So you both seem very concerned but not at all touchy with that boyfriend of yours. What's this fear that's more terrifying than aliens trying to kill you?” The Doctor spoke conversationally, even if she was huffing a little from the effort of pushing a trolley with two sontarans in it.

Virgil glanced at her, scowling slightly. He would have shrugged to dismiss his fear, if he wasn't also pushing a trolley of 2 sontarans through a muddy forest. “Abandonment, loneliness, however you want to describe it. Had enough people turn their backs on me, I really can't face anyone else doing that.” He decided to indulge her curiosity, if only because Anton was further back and couldn't go into a rant over how it's the least interesting inspiration for any creator to have and list about 20 artists Virgil had only vaguely heard of who overused loneliness as a theme in their works.

“Is that why you're dating him?” She asked, as if the connection was easily made. “It's just, you don't seem to actually want to be, even if it's like utterly obvious you love him. I've had friends like that before, always platonic and half the time letting allusions of romance happen meant I lost them sooner. But that's my life; travelling, surviving, changing my face to cheat death. I don't think it needs to be yours.”

“Don't make it seem like he's threatened to leave me to make me date him.” Virgil glared now, before smiling over his shoulder when Anton yelled to check if they were okay.

The Doctor waved back as well, “Wouldn't dare imply it. Just think you should try talking to him about what you want your relationship to be, and if that's not romantic at all, then he deserves to know.”

“Still scary. Let's deal with these guys and whatever bomb is in that cafe first.” Virgil ended the conversation there, putting more effort into his strides to go further ahead.

*

They failed to stop the bomb. There were people in a car park across the way from multiple businesses, all counting staff numbers and checking with customers that had been evacuated to see if there was anyone known to be missing. Virgil had heard a few people wondering over how fire alarms went off for no fire just in time to save them from a bomb. Anton had actually shaken hands with a security guard who'd tried to stop him setting the alarm off in a bar that was a few doors away from the cafe.

The Doctor's words from when they were taking the sontarans back to their ship were ringing through Virgil's mind still, and he realised that perhaps she was right, to some degree. Perhaps he could tell Anton the truth and still keep his friend in his life.

That was why when Anton came over, seeking comfort and the kiss he'd offered earlier, Virgil tugged them away from the crowd, closer to the still smouldering remains of the buildings.

“Anton, I know we've just been through, well, whatever that was, but there's something else we need to talk about.” Virgil exclaimed, barely turning from where the Doctor was clearly trying to get him to go over to her before he was focused on saying words he'd held back for months.

“About something other than aliens trying to kill us, destroying the entire building but somehow able to be taken out by baseball bats? You seriously think I can focus on anything other than how close to death you've insisted on staying following that mad woman around?” Anton ranted, gesturing wildly, flinging his arms back at the burning embers behind them.

Virgil shrugged, “Gotta speak while I'm still feeling brave, I guess, cause I don't wanna date you. I just don't want you to disappear from my life. Including apparently being killed by psychopathic potatoes. You're like brilliant, but I'm aro, aromantic. This dating isn't for me, hell sometimes it's completely uncomfortable and stops me relaxing with you. Before you wanted to date, you weren't people. I loved being around you even when all the pressure of society to have relationships wore me out, but with this dating relationship hanging over me, even while I'm scared of you leaving, I need to escape you sometimes.”

His boyfriend froze, blinking, turning around to the remains of the cafe they'd started the evening in. “Umm, okay, I knew you weren't entirely comfortable in our relationship, but you're talking like this is the most dramatic or scary thing of the entire evening. Chill, I'm definitely not letting the guy who saved my skin, even if that was by running towards the guys with guns, stop being in my life. We'll go back to being friends and I'll process heartbreak alongside nightmares over baked potatoes. Platonic love still?”

“Platonic love still.” Virgil nodded, before snickering, “Also who are you to decide what scares me? You get freaked out by special affects that reveal how they were done. Rejection is far scarier than guys who kept shouting their planets name.”

“Their planets name? Really, that's what sontar-ha! Is about?” Anton laughed now, looking skyward to yell, “Your war cry is stupid! Get something more interesting than your home's name, Dumbasses!”

Virgil snickered with him, patting his shoulder before finally heading over to the blue box the Doctor was waiting in front of.

“You going to be okay here? I know this stuff messes with people.” She asked, seeing his approach.

“Well, I'm not getting left behind by him; the rest, I guess, can't be as threatening as those guys.” He shuddered a little now, the thought of what could have happened beginning to properly settle into his mind.

The Doctor smiled, “Or you could come with me if you like?” She offered.

“Nah, I'd just be more terrified of normal life by the time you get me back. No need to give my social anxiety more power, right?” He declined, smirking still as he realised whatever she needed to invite people to join her, she'd seen in him.