#i think i view it like ‘at least it’s not murder drones’

[matoitech]

averi and i watched the new digital circus episode last night after he got home and when it ended we were both like yeah this sure is a show

[kittydragondraws]

Why You Shouldn't Worry About The Finale

I've seen a lot of people fear that Murder Drones will end up like Meta Runner, shafted and forgotten, relegated only to cameos and waxing poetic about the good old days.

However, I think that is far from the case. Why?

People actually like Murder Drones.

Meta Runner is hardly popular. With most of episodes only having around 1 - 1.5 million views, and most of the later episodes not even having 1 million.

Compare that with Murder Drones, whose episodes consistently reach 10 - 20+ million views without even breaking a sweat.

All the money they must be making from ad revenue alone probably blows any profit they got off of MR out of the water, not to mention merch sales and just general fandom hype.

Murder Drones is way to popular and profitable of an IP, it was literally the series that put GLITCH on the map and made people recognize them as a real studio. It would be stupid to just shaft it entirely.

Even if we don't get a second season (at the very least not anytime soon) I wouldn't be surprised if we got some more media with the characters.

Liam himself said that he knew there was more to explore in this world, so I wouldn't be surprised if we got more media coming from the series, even if it isn't as high-budget or even animated.

Even if we don't get, say, continuous merch drops or consistent content, I have a feeling Murder Drones will be alive in some way, shape, or form for a long, long time.

[undeadfvckgirl-base]

I have an odd theory now just hear me out

We know that the murder drones are cloned as J had said in the episode where she reunited with N and V again and that has me thinking. What if J tried to kill N because she genuinely thought his clone was detective. It makes sense because she mentioned that questioning the company was a sigh of being influenced by the solver and J KNOWS they are cloned and KNOWS he will be back. She probably suspected he was defective and infected for a while but wasn't allowed to do anything about it unless she had proof which N did give her in Pilot. She never said goodbye when she put the virus on him and she does seem to come off like an asshole but I do genuinely believe she probably did think he was corrupted since she said so herself. I believe if J actually thought he wasn't going to come back she would have a more snarky response the just a half assed laugh and a salute. I feel she KNEW he was going to come back also I believe she installed the virus to kill him because that would prevent the rebuild program from getting to him so they can just send a new one.

We could argue that N isn't cloned since J said "effective drones are cloned more" but being completely honest she probably said that to boost her own ego and make herself look cool. I don't think N doesn't have clones especially if it's run by the solver and that means that the solver can continue to manipulate N which I believe is why J tried to kill him, since all of them are influenced by the solver, as a factory reboot.

Yeah there are plot holes in this theory but it's one I started thinking about recently thinking about their behaviors recently since J doesn't always seem to hate N or think he's useless she only gets like that if she thinks he's slacking off or getting himself knocked offline. Like when he got into the colony she seemed really happy and proud of him because he actually did something impressive and thinking about it compared to V he IS slacking off. He doesn't do well on hunts it seems, he's extremely friendly which let a worker get away from their home, and he did immediately change sides as soon as he got a small ounce of doubt in his mind for the company. I don't think J just killed him because she didn't like him I think she killed him because that's what she's supposed to do if this happens. I think J killed him because she thought he was outwardly betraying them and he WAS and he DID. I don't want to say either of them are bad for this but both of them made bad decisions and I feel we don't talk about this very much that both of them didn't do the best decisions but it was because of their situation. N literally betrayed them and while it's because he formed a connection with Uzi and it was "the right thing to do" that's because we see it as the right thing to do but to J it looks like he's siding with the bad guy because that's what they are to her and V and should have been to N in her mind. Worker Drones are the bad people and N wanted to protect them but N saw them for what they really were and wanted to not hurt them. Both of these actions make complete sense at least to me but that's just how I view the show idk

[floatinginzerogravity]

Character Analysis of V/ Timeline of her getting back her memories/ whatever else is in here

Rewatching Murder Drones for the 5th (6th? 7th? I lost count) time right now. Got a lot of thoughts about V that I haven't seen anyone else mention, so I'm throwing them down here Be warned, senseless word vomit ahead. Something I find particularly interesting is V's memory throughout the series as well as how she treats N in relation to it

So, an analysis of her and N's relationship in the first episode. The disassembly drones have absolutely no memory of their time in the mansion at the start of the series, as well as their previous relationships That being said, scraps seem to carry over, like N's crush on V, and I think scraps of that also carried over to V. (Not in the form of a full blown crush, but more like she senses she cares about N for a reason she doesn't quite understand) And how does V respond to these phantom memories? Push them away and don't think about it, hence, the dismissive/avoidant way she treats N in the scene pictured above. And the memories are only phantoms and barely present, which makes it easy for her to simply focus on her programed mission, including trying to kill N when he "rebels like an angsty teen" At least, that's my two cents on it.

On to episode 2! First thing I'd like to point out is that she broke the chain somewhere between the gap between the beginning and the end of the episode (2:34)

(16:54)

She probably had her first encounter with Lizzie while N & Uzi were out investigating the J-solver. Speaking of the Absolute Slover, V doesn't recognize it at this point in the story, which is interesting because she (seems to) fully remember what happened with Cyn by Cabin Fever.

As a side note, while her "wanna do an autopsy?" thing can be brushed off as simply V being V, it could also be that she does recognize the solver and wants to get rid of Uzi. Do I find this likely? no, this is 100% me overthinking. moving on

Okay, this scene This has a very high possibility of being V trying to intimidate Uzi, but she's also kind of right. Nori had the solver, she was dangerous. But the thing is, she wasn't dangerous to Cyn's, and by extension, the disassembly drone's, mission. My theory is that V simply got lucky when hitting the mark on the Uzi's mom thing, but some things regarding the solver are starting to leak through and she just happens to pin it on the Worker Drones due to Uzi being a Worker Drone. Additional notes on the V scene at the start of the episode:

I find her bubble wand funny Also, she seems very okay with this for being a prisoner(?) Probably just likes messing with Uzi, if I'm being honest

But then there's the fact that she keeps up the whole "prisoner" thing even though she's fully capable of escaping. This is at least partially so she can go through with her murder plan in episode 3, but also partially so she doesn't have to leave N behind (especially, after the incident with Uzi) showing the first signs of her actually caring about N (with the show having prepped us to look for it beforehand using the mansion flashback) On to episode 3, AKA the first episode where V actually does stuff!

Ptff, V's little glance away

"Oh no, emotions, what do I do?"

(War flashbacks)

So, V 100% has most of her memories of what happened with Cyn by now, at least enough to have a good view of the picture

This scene is actually the first time we've seen V be somewhat vulnerable. Neat! Also, just last week she was pretending N didn't exist, and now she's asking him to run away with her? slow clap V, slow clap/hj

V just walks into the prom and is immediately ready to murder

also, what happened to

LIES

ptff, her disgust at the prom queen crown

she is so out of her element it's hilarious

V: wtf is happening THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN

annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd I have reached the image limit, this shall be continued through reblogs

[mychlapci]

hello normal people… im here to talk about normal things.

anyways tfp megatron fills one of my least favorite villain tropes ever and they shouldve let me write tfp.

i HATE the whole "bad guy is bad and he doesn't care about his little henchmen" like WHY? evilness doesnt get rid of sympathy and megs has literally no reason to treat his vehicons like that.

i mean, it is megs. he was a bit deranged in the show and i guess that could be used to excuse that writing choice. however. i reeaaallly hate that trope.

i propose that megatron should be motherly more than anything. and of course the vehicons are loyal to him but we should get a reason for that loyalty. like instead of actually murdering the vehicons for fucking up, i think it would make more sense if he chided them instead. depending on how exactly you view vehicons (like are they drones? regular cybertronians?) he might even just treat them like children. if you subscribe to the belief that theyre drones and therefore less developed, that is.

self indulgent headcanoning is over.

-ant anon (finally decided to start signing off :3)

welcome, to the company of... normal people.

I actually kind of like cruel Megatron... i’ve been on a cruel Megatron kick lately, even though that scene in netflic WFC where Megatron turned off an energon plant and killed all those good decepticon soldiers made me sad... they were waving him off. I’m crying, actually, i don’t like cruel Megatron at all.

to be honest, I can see where you’re coming from. The vehicons might be small but there are a lot of them, if they were truly so horribly mistreated, the could’ve ganged up on Megatron... they have little reason to be loyal, unless you assume they’re mindless "drones" which i honestly don’t believe. I think that the vehicons are kind of "drones" as in, they’re clones made for this war, but they’re fully sentinent with separate personalities. Sorry, i just love the tfp vehicons. They deserved so much better.

I can definitely imagine Megatron being motherly with them... it comforts me. Maybe the times we see him being cruel with them is just him really losing his cool? Maybe that happens, but otherwise he doesn’t blame them for failing too often. They’re just little soldiers, so young, inexperienced, he doesn’t expect them to be as good at fighting as trained warriors.

[velvet-vox]

Random status update:

At first, I didn't think I had to write this post, because I don't consider myself to be important enough to other people to think that maybe letting others know what my current condition is may actually be important, because maybe some of the people who read my stuff may actually care about me a little bit, which is something I never even thought about until very recently, so here we are.

Mostly, I've been doing a bit of self reflection in this period, and have been dedicating myself to other things.

One thing that my period of self reflection brought me is the realisation that the way I'm handling my time spent on Tumblr isn't really working, at least not in the way I want it to.

More importantly, I've come to the conclusion that my own approach to analysis, despite improving exponentially in the last period of time, isn't providing me as many profits as I hoped it would give me.

You see, I realised that I have this extremely romanticised view of analysis, where analysis is this extremely cool, magical process; analysis as something that speaks to my soul and that triggers my brain chemicals; a lot of the essays that I've produced on this blog are things that were ultimately meant to serve the purpose of satisfying my weird fetish fantasies; hence why I consider The insane, untapped potential of Rebecca from Murder Drones to be my best work ever, it's the closest I've ever got to actually sound like a professional, and even then, it's not entirely an analysis, is more so a way to make other people appreciate Rebecca's potential as a character more.

Now I am currently reconfiguring my analytical process for my future projects, hoping that it makes a difference in the long run.

I've also been dealing with some pretty awful mental related issues, and these are very relevant because they all had an indirect effect on my writing, so I had to mention them.

They can't unfortunately be fixed easily, as I lack an appropriate support system in my life that can help me deal with them, so I just have to live with them until I can find a solution.

I'm actually going to stop making Murder Drones content for a while even if I'll still interact with the community from time to time, as with episode 8 around the corner it would be better if I took some time to reflect on what is gonna happen inside it.

My next project is hopefully going to be a Fethry Duck post, as I haven't really done any DuckTales analysis despite having it as one of my main blog's focuses, then it's going to be the turn of that infamous top 10 favourite female antagonists of all time, who grew up quite a lot in scale ever since I started writing it.

But of course, before any of these projects can become a reality, I'll first need to address a certain situationship with a certain old man who may or may not actually be a young adult and whose name may or may not be Jenkins.

That entire situation is my fault, and I'll have to finally close it for good as soon as the Murder Drones season finale releases.

[blindingbooga]

!: BLASTING WAVES CHAPTER 2

Today was one like no other!

Their first gig as a band. . .their amazing debut!!

The Suffocating Lobster was a peculiar restaurant at best, the amount of abnormal events that have happened in that place had made it the black sheep of all establishments in town. With that reputation though, underground artists had performed there, becoming for some a safe haven to express themselves. Yet, it was such a tight knit community, like everyone was family. . .for the people who had been there for a while at least. Newcomers were treated with indifference by the occupants of the restaurant. Especially one girl who came dressed like she just left an island vacation, Onaona Haunani. 

She was an enthusiastic soul with a dream, with her best friend by her side, they would become the world famous grou-

“Rev It Up?” The waitress asked, bringing Ona out of her trance.

“Oh! Uh, yep! Me and my best friend’s band!” she replied.

“Okay, I’ll inform the manager, A DJ and singer right?”

“Correct!”

“Alrighty, well you two are up in thirty, here’s some water.” 

The waitress put the glass of water down with a straw, soon walking away to go deal with other customers. Ona looked around the restaurant, it was dark, like a nightclub would be, but every thirty seconds the LED lights on the walls would surge brightly two times before turning off again. It was irritating to say the least, right! The lights!

She tried to get the waitress’ attention by waving to her, after at least thirty seconds, the waitress saw Ona and walked over to her.

“Do you need anything. . ?”

“Yes! When our band performs can you turn off the LED lights? Or at least keep them on completely? My fri-”

“Is sensitive to light? Gotcha. I’ll also inform the manager about that.”

“But-”

The waitress walked out of view to what Ona could only assume were other customers were on the other side of the restaurant. She’s going to watch out for that waitress, but I guess making such a request isn’t unexpected. Some amount of time had gone by, the music and the people going on about their day, and her water had been finished.

All of the sudden, there were whispers everywhere. All looking behind her with a range of emotions, mainly confusion and shock. Ona felt a few gentle taps on her shoulder, she smiled knowing who it was.

She turned around to find her favorite nine foot tall person, Maya Wright, towering above her as she always did. It was hard to see her because of how dark the restaurant was, but the surging lights made it easier to look at her. 

“Gig?.” Maya asked.

“Oh yeah. . .the waiter said we had thirty minutes when I orginal-”

“HEY!”. The waitress hastily whispered to the duo.

“We’ve set up the stuff for you two! Hurry up and get on stage!”

Maya wore a surprised look while Ona looked like she was going to explode with happiness. She grabbed Maya’s arm and faced the waitress.

“Alrighty, where’s this stage?”

“Turn right here and go straight until you see a bouncer with blonde hair, tell him you’re the next performers.” the waitress told them as she pointed in the direction of the bouncer.

“Okay! Thank you! CMON MAYAAA!”

Ona started running towards the bouncer, leaving Maya waving for what seemed like a millisecond before they were off. One step closer to their debut!!

[CashMoneyBunny]: 

UGHH! This is so boring!! We’re supposed to just watch these two go through a canon event all day!

[BlindingSun]:

We’re waiting for the perfect time to send in the scouts we sent to discover them! We know what they are capable of music wise, plus, the taller one is a survivor.

[CashMoneyBunny]:

Of the 3/9 incident?

[BlindingSun]:

Yes.

[BlindingSun]:

This is the second one we found that escaped the city mainly unscathed.

[CashMoneyBunny]:

Didn't she get dropped off at the recovery site?

[BlindingSun]: 

Yes, I suspect it was a person.

[CashMoneyBunny]:

FOR REALS! NO WAYYYY!

[BlindingSun]:

They probably got harvested by the murder drones.

[CashMoneyBunny]:

Just thinking of them makes me sick!! ICK! <:d

[BlindingSun]:

Let’s refocus.

[CashMoneyBunny]:

Got it babes!!

A lot of maneuvering and apologies later, the two made it to the bouncer.

“Can I help you with anything?” 

The bouncer had his arms crossed like any normal bouncer, an intimidating appearance, but who was Ona to judge? Her best friend was at least two feet taller than the average door frame! 

“We’re the next performers.”

With a simple nod the bouncer moved out of the way, showing a dimly lit hallway. Maya ducked down and started to go through the hallway, Ona following after her. They found their way onto the stage where a single microphone and a DJ table were set up. Maya walked over to the stand, looking over it before setting up her desired controls for the songs they were going to perform. Ona hastily walked over to the microphone, looking at it before trying out the poses she could do with the stand while singing. People gave them a few glances here and there, wondering about the duo. 

“Hey you two!”

A male voice came from the hallway, he had on a hoodie and dress pants. Strange fashion choice, but the duo didn’t comment about it.

“Hello. . ? uhm, who are-”

“I’m the manager, you two will be on in two minutes! Break a leg! BYE.”

As fast as he came, he disappeared. Ona stood there in shock, that was the manager? He was a strange fellow, everything about this club was strange, but what is there to expect from such a place?

“I know drugs when I see it.”

With how fast Ona’s neck snapped to look at Maya, her head would have shot off her body. She quickly walked over to the lanky woman.

“How do you know he was on drugs!? You can’t make assumptions like that-”

Ona had been rudely interrupted by Maya putting a finger to her mouth, then pointing at the audience they were gaining. 

“Showtime!”. Maya said with a smirk.

Ona pouted at her before turning around and getting back to the microphone. Looking at the audience beyond the stage was nerve wracking to say the least. But Ona reassured herself as always that Maya would comfort her about it, even if it turned out horrible.

The sound of a microphone being tapped could be heard in all the speakers in the restaurant.

“Yo! Yo! Yo! We have a special performance for you tonight!”

“Coming in from the land of Amazonian Women, and the tropical islands of Hawaii. . . . .”

“REV! IT! UP!”

Ignoring the strange introduction, Maya put on the instrumental for their first song, “Tropical Frenzy”. Ona grabbed the microphone stand and sang her heart out, the restaurant making no sound besides the song and Ona. 

Her voice was a shocker to the people of the restaurant to say the least. It was deep, but it was executed correctly, so it sounded good. One by one, people started to vibe with the music they were hearing. Maya looked at the crowd and smiled, Ona was not going to be shot with weird looks again! 

[BlindingSun]:

Send them in.

[CashMoneyBunny]:

On it honey!

Four men outside the restaurant had gotten out of a white van. Walking inside to spectate the performance by the duo. After the second song, one of them got out a camera and started recording the band. 

They were going big. 

Whether they liked it or not.

“Do you want her documents madam?”

A chair got pushed back from the desk. 

“Give me both Haunani and Wright’s records, this will come in handy for future plans.”

They are handed over files.

“I will take my leave, madam.”

The butler walked out of the room, if it can even be described as such. Screens covered every wall, keeping track of servers. Whether those belong to big companies or video games, we will never know. The person in the middle of this room wore spiked platforms that gave them an extra twelve inches of height. Sitting on a regular gamer chair, they pondered about the survivors of the 3/9 incident. Their company caused it, yet it was kept secret by the government. The only way they could help survivors without alarming the government was to give them success so that they can be well off at least.

Their “help” will hopefully make the survivors forget about the incident once and for all.

[lolkitkatbar]

MY NEW MEGA COOL OFFICIAL GLITCH CERTFIED SKIBIDI TOILET AWESOME MURDER DRONE EPISODE TIER LIST :D

Yeah. I'm back with another tier list. The old one is kinda out dated in my views on the show, plus I didn't have episode 8 in it....or maybe even 7? IDK. I'm not going back to check.

There will be explanations as to why I like these episodes (Or don't like them)/ You don't have to read them. They aren't that important lol.

Alright Let's get to it.

-----

#8: Episode 5-Home

Yeah. I definitely ranked this episode WAY higher when I made the first tier lists. It's not really a bad episode in anyway, but it's definitely a confusing one. Also it's just the least entertaining to me. I often find myself skipping it because it's honestly not that replayable to me. It's not bad, just, eh?

#7: Episode 1-Pilot

The pilot is alright but definitely not the best episode out there. The animation is the worst here. It makes sense since this was the FIRST episode and it really isn't too bad for what it is, but it has definitely aged poorly compared to the rest of the series. I don't really get the the teenage hormone jokes. I get that it's not really that deep but they make no sense since their robots. Honestly the only joke I liked was the one with Uzi's presentation. That was good. However this episode does give you feral N, Thad screentime, and Uzi's railgun, so It gets points for that. Overall, it's pretty entertaining but not MD's best.

#6: Episode 8-Absolute End

I really wanted to like this one. I really really REALLY wanted to. TO be fear, It's not a bad episode in itself. I love the animation and I loved all of the scenes with Cyn in them. It's amazing how they were able to make her cute while also making her an actual threat to be feared. The music is top-notched and it's a very entertaining episode. Unfortunately, this is no normal episode. It's the finale, and that's where I have to take off points. There are so many missed opportunities here or ideas in the episode that I think could have been played around with more. This episode also had really bad pacing issues. You could say that about any MD's episode but it is BAD here. Overall, an alright episode, but a bad finale.

#5: Episode 3-The Promning

Alright. Now we're at the point of episodes I REALLY liked. Promning is just a cute episode overall, with N and Uzi having a awkward reunion before running to save V's ass in the last second. I like the fight scene between Uzi and Doll and I like the small little dancy dance that N and Uzi did. This is the also thye episode I think shit really starts to hits the fan with Uzi's powers and therefore makes it more exciting.

#4: Episode 2- Heartbreak

This episode isn't really that popular and it's such a shame because it is SO good! I honestly think this episode was peak purely for the N, Uzi, and Thad trio dynamic. Seriously they work real well together and I'm sad that they never really grouped up like this afterwards. It's honestly super amusing to see N or Uzi interacting with other people that aren't each other. This episode is also the most horrifying to me honestly. The idea of never being sure weather or not anything you see is real is kinda scary and the lord knows I'd be more then paranoid after the shot Uzi went through in that episode

#3: Episode 6: Dead End

Still a solid episode in my book. I...don't really have anything to yap about. I'm not sure why it's so high on the list. I really liked Tessa in this episode. So much so that I cry every time I remember it's not actually Tessa. I like the small Nuzi moment and V's sacrifice, while a bit sudden, did an alright job finishing her arc, leaving episode 8 to clean things up a bit. Overall, an entertaining episode.

#2: Episode 7: Final destination

YOU GUYS DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE FINAL DESTINATION. YOU DON'T KNOW! Episode 7 is THE goat. We get to see Nori and Yeva before they got messed up by Disassembly drones and they are the cutest best friends ever. Their so cute that it's almost sad how much their daughters hate each other. Then we have N's reaction to V's death which chef kiss. I love N and Nori's dynamic, I like the fight with Solver Uzi, I like when N killed Tessa (Badass moment), I like Uzi's sacrifice, I loved Thad and Lizzy's involvement. This episode has a special place in my heart. Some say this is where the series fell off but I say that's a load of BS! Episode 7 is an easy 4.5 stars.

#1: Episode 4: Cabin fever

Cabin Fever is just a very heartwarming silly episode. First of all, I love N and V in camp councilor uniforms. They are unironically the best outfits in the series. It's nice to see the DD's interact with the background character and I really love solver Uzi. She's so feral and cute. I wanna pinch he little cheeks. However, My main reason for loving this episode is the ski diving therapy Uzi and N had. It just really feeds my Nuzi heart and honestly, this episode was really the one that convinced me that they were meant to be. They just know how to talk to each other and confide with each other. It shows that their bond is so strong. How they'll do anything for each other. I'm almost sort of envious. I need an N in my life :<. Anyways I do deem this to be my favorite episode. That and also Vizzy sitting together on a bus. Their also real cute and I wish they interacted more, especially since they are canonically friends.

[rexthefox]

Just got hit with the best AU idea I've had personally so far. It's gonna be a long post so be prepared!

An au that combines both Murder drones and the dragon prince! Focusing on the characters from murder drones placed in the universe of the dragon prince because yes.

The disassembly drones already remind me of moon shadow elves, with the white hair and how most are trained to be assassins! And the worker drones are obviously humans, however absolute solver could be viewed as dark magic! You see where I'm getting at?...there's also the blood moon clan of moon shadow elves that drink blood so like

It depends on your preference for the au but elf vampires would be closer to canon!!

The plot and characters so far would be similar to both.

Uzi is a rebellious human princess who researches dark magic but believes it's wrong, her mother nori passed away due to over using it or got too corrupted or smth, maybe they could have a dark magic curse running in the family that horribly shifts their body after using dark magic too much, mayyybe a curse placed on several human family's by a specific corrupted Arch-Elf?~ (Cyn not aaravos.) I'd like to think Uzi would be lore like Callum in this case as she does take over that role, age adores stories about Xadia and primal magic and probably thinks the elf human war is bull crap

Her dad, Khan rules the kingdom of copper 9 alone, Uzi often sneaks our to town to cause mayhem or be free of her princessly duty's much to her father's dismay.

However everything changes when 3 moonshadow-skywing elf hybrids..(thinking about having them magically made that way due to several curses..and also arch elf Cyn.) Show up in town and start killing some people, Uzi ofc wants to stop this, but her dad ends up forbidding her from leaving the castle, she does it anyway leaves and meets N after he tries to kill her and she successfully over powers him via weird magical weapon her mom gave her, boom railgun knife wand. I'm working on that bit.

It goes about as well as the pilot, Ns vision gets blurred because she hit him in the head, he thinks she's another elf, patches up her hand he cut with his blades and they end up becoming weird friends before Uzi runs off back to the castle before J and V return.

I want to connect the dragon prince story points more to this au as well but I'm out of ideas currently- however some plot points I am considering are:

Uzi is more attuned to the star and moon arcanums at first and struggles with the rest

V ends up tagging along on her and Ns journey to find a way to stop dark magic and because Uzi wants to go to Xadia to learn about the weapon her mom had stolen.

N is constantly a sweetheart as always and tries to befriend humans several times while in disguise, much to Uzi and Vs dismay

Thinking Doll and Lizzy may be the Claudia and Soren In this au (But lesbians instead of siblings....plus like dolls parents are dead-) at least for the first half?? Doll obviously could be a dark mage.

I don't know what to do with Tessa yet but she would become important when J returns later on in the story

But hey if people have ideas feel free to give them to me! Or other feedback on this weird lil au!

I wrote this at 11pm so excuse my grammar mistakes and spelling errors if there are any

[oogaboogaspookyman]

This was made only so it wouldn't bother me in my head later down the line

Obviously i do not want to tag the owner of the Carnival au because i'm anxious and we all know why i'm anxious (spoiler: it's because fnf doesn't have a good reputation)

Carnival Funk: a hypothetical fnf mod of @sm-baby 's Carnival au of The Amazing Digital Circus because honestly i'm bored lol

It's a collection of random songs for random situations, just like with the previous Murder Drones fnf mod idea, where either Bf deals with the horrors of the Carnival or it's someone else from the place doing so... Or it's goofy goober stuff idk pick your poison

I already got a few ideas for songs for the cast, starting with... Jax :)

Idk what's it called, probably like- "cartoon violence" or sumn idk i don't got good ideas often hhh

It's definetly got more old timey cartoon music stuff like whistling and all that jazz, but the general idea is there! Song with guitar and stuff that give off this vibe of a ruined childhood and a once happy-go-lucky rabbit having gone mad in his isolation and overall sentience just being overwhelming.

There's also Ragatha, the toxic positivity ragdoll with a british accent and breakdowns over spills

It's prolly called like- idfk uhhh "Imperfect" and my god does this song FIT

It's all nice and chill and they're all happy and relaxed drinking their tea and then suddenly something goes wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong

Ragatha's Fucking Pissed And Now She's Out For Blood™

Now Zooble... Zooble... Dearest hottie Zooble... What to do with you...

I was saving the The Blueballs Incident stuff for later...

This one's probably named "Gamemaster" because. Zooble is the game master

It's like- the first song where Bf is in like- third person view(??? What do you call the pov from behind a person??? Help???????) because, although it starts small with Zooble singing through the speaker or sumthin', you'll end up against A Big Friggin' Zooble Mech Holy Hell™

Last but not least of my ideas is Kinger... THE MOST FUCKED UP in my opinion

Jax is violent, Ragatha is aggressive towards imperfections, Zooble has full dominion over it's shapes and has the gloink queen as their pet, but Kinger? He outright takes the role of Caine as god.

"GODLY"

I like to think he's capable of making fucked up shit like spawning fake messed up copies of things, in this case that thing in question is Gf! Who's absolutely body horror'd through the magic of glitches! Don't ask questions you don't want answers to!

Don't think that's it tho, i didn't touch upon the others yet :)

Edit: i felt brave, there's the tag

[dorkynerd23]

Honestly, this is something that's been on my mind for a while now almost ever since about episode 3 of the show, but now with the recent episode out, I honestly fear for the show's future and how people could end up viewing it, at least when it comes to its love triangle. So, it seems the show is now definitely hinting at a love triangle (Which is something some fans have hinted at beforehand, but it seems common now) especially after the events of episode 5, and that does worry me when it comes to MD..because I really don't want the show to be ruined by romance and shipping, and I especially don't want shipping to overshadowed the show and the stuff we're supposed to be focusing on.

I've never been a fan of love triangles and it's a trope that has honestly annoyed me and something I've never been a fan of. I'm sure everything will be okay and Liam knows what he's doing, but I'm worried about how it'll be handled and how people may view the show, I mean I remember back when Episode 4 was released, some on Twitter admitted to wanting to leave and stop watching the show because of Nuzi being hinted at and the many scenes with the two or there was just more shipping wars happening which made the fandom more toxic and such a mess.

But anyways, I know it sounds like I'm complaining and worrying too much but as I've said this is an issue I've been fearing for the show and it's future for quite some time now, I'm worried because of how shipping has ruined other shows in the past and dragged them down and can often be frustrating and can take away from the elements from what we should be focusing on or just end up taking over the show completely. There are many examples I can name when it comes to shipping taking over a show like Regular Show, Miraculous Ladybug, Legend Of Korra and TDI, but the main one that's a huge example of this and what most people talk on when it comes to this topic is Star Vs/Star Vs The Forces Of Evil. That show started out so well and good in the beginning and had good elements in it from its characters, and world-building and it just had so much potential and could've even been up there as one of the best cartoons, maybe on the Gravity falls level...but sadly, things took a huge turn sometime after S2 and they really started to drag things down with not only other things that were causing the show to go downhill, but it's shipping especially and it felt like a fanfic. I mean seriously, the shipping wars for Star Vs were the most toxic and brutal l've ever seen for a show and in the end, I don't think anybody was happy. I've even seen Starco fans feel unsatisfied for how their relationship was handled and forced at the end and let's not forget the show had one of the most underwhelming and rushed finales I've seen for a show. To this day, People still shit talk and rant on how horrible the show was handled in the end and how forced it's romance was, it still saddens me for how Star Vs was done because the show did have potential and could've been better!

Now let me just say that I've got nothing against shipping and see no harm in participating in it (Just as long as it isn't problematic)(I'm a shipper myself and have a love and adornment towards shipping, especially when it comes to Oc's + Oc X Canon) and finding investment and wanting to see certain characters together and be something more and I've seen some people state that the love triangle is common in Liam's work and it's not something new, so maybe I'm just missing something, I didn't know much about Liam and what he's done before he did MD.

But overall, I'm just worried and fear that this love triangle between N, V, and Uzi could end up pushing people away from the show and dragging things out and taking away from what we should be focusing on in the series. I mean, some are already losing hope for the show for other reasons and the shipping wars in the Murder Drones fandom are already toxic and out of control, so that doesn't help. I just fear for how this will be handled because most love triangles I've seen in media are handled and done poorly and terribly, and just end up causing unnecessary drama and same goes for other romances I've seen.

Again, this is only MY OPINION and something I wanted to discuss about, this isn't me trying to hate and shit on the show or the crew, I've adored and love Murder Drones since the Pilot and the show has kept me more and more invested and interested with its story and characters and it's honestly a comfort show for me, I truly love MD very much, I'm a huge fan of the show and consider it not only as one of my favorite shows, but also one of my favorite webseries. But I do wanna admit that the show is flawed and isn't perfect and some things can improve in the future, this post was just me wanting to give my thoughts on this situation (I've seen some fans also give their thoughts and concerns for the show when it comes to the romance) and none of you have to agree with me. You can disagree and give your own thoughts and opinions, but please try to be respectful in the comments though and don't be hateful and rude to each other, please. ♥️

[devil-doll13]

Dear Prudence.

Cw: Prudence, the POV/Narrator, is basically a repressed church girl, Carrie lite suffering from catholic guilt™ and she isn't exactly the kindest in her thoughts. Character Death, Physically/Emotionally Abusive Mother, Religious themes/Cult, Implied Drugging, Sex mentions/Fade To Black, Killing/Murder, A Gun Is Shot, Implied Police Brutality/Cops Causing Trouble (they also die), Panic Attack, Vomiting, Feelings of Shame

(If anything else needs to be added, let me know)

Word Count: 5.3k

Summary: The Organisation sends an agent to infiltrate and expose a cult led by a man they call ‘Adam.’ The tight-laced Prudence is their first choice; upright, pure and incorruptible.

Or so they believe…

Dividers by firefly-graphics

Prudence claps her hand mirror shut.

She’s sitting in her car. Her windows are down, and a light breeze lifts her hair, ruffles her clothing, wafts over her skin. She takes a deep breath.

She sees herself in the rear view mirror, all beach-blonde, lightly tanned, sunglasses-wearing hippie. Prudence had combed over her appearance with the meticulous eye of a watchmaker, perfecting ‘Leah,’ the wandering soul.

And the way she’s dressed now… Her mother would have some choice words for it, at least. That’s all she can think about; not how much more air she can feel on her skin, or the ease of which she moves, but inherited disgust from a woman long dead. This job was never going to be enjoyable for her. It required her to assume the identity of someone she’d normally sneer at, judge, belittle. Then she’d have to infiltrate the ranks of the hedonists, grit her teeth and bear their hands and eyes and smiles.

But it was all for a good cause. It would be worth it, in the end, to aid The Organisation. She was purging an infestation of sin.

That was what she believed.

She opens the car door and steps out.

The site of the cult is a large, sun-kissed plain. Beyond are mountains, dotted with forests. Great poles stick out of mounds in the soil, adorned with fluttering, multi coloured ribbons and supporting hammocks. Long-haired, bohemian people are draped wantonly over each other, or dancing in rings. A gaggle of children run past her as she walks. Dew from grass caresses her ankles, tickling.

Prudence shivers. It feels so unnatural to have her legs bare. She pushes past a flap and enters the main pavilion. It’s bright and humid like a tropical rainforest, with potted plants and succulents hanging from the canopy. Then she stops.

There was her target.

Right in front of her. Her gun feels hot against her thigh, itchy and painful. He’s sitting cross-legged on a carpet, bent forward in conversation with some other young vagabond. The gaudy tent she’s in feels very small, filled with his unearthly presence.

“... I mean, if this keeps up, they’ll ravage the whole forest. We’re seeing loggers come in every day, and it’s completely destroying the natural environment…”

He’s nodding along to the dull drone of his follower’s speech with a seemingly careless air. She is shocked to see a delicate chain of pink flowers braided into his hair. It’s something she’s going to have to get used to, but most men she knew wouldn’t be caught dead wearing this. With his bright, tie-dyed vestments and dangling gold earrings, he looks boldly flamboyant, like a tropical bird.

“It’ll all be fine, Soren. You’ll see.” Is all he says.

Soren just sighs wearily.

Prudence can’t see her target’s eyes, but when he turns to look at her she is pierced, naked. She’s sweating so badly she feels her floral top stick to her skin. It takes every ounce of willpower she has to smile down at him and make it look half-way natural.

“Hi, I’m Leah,” she recites. “I’ve come here to join with your community?”

“That’s wonderful.” He beckons her forth with a welcoming hand. “Leah. Come, sit with us.”

She already knows his name: Adam. He’s so infamous around this area that he needs no introduction. Prudence almost can’t believe how easily she’s getting close to him, but he doesn’t seem wary of strangers at all. Still, she acts like she expected this.

The bearded man sitting beside him looks less than enthused that she’s interrupting their conversation, but he doesn’t protest when she joins them on the mats. Instead, he scratches his neck and looks back to his leader, continuing:

“Well…Anyway. Some of us are going to start a protest on Monday. I would…” He gave him a pleading look. “...Ask for your approval.”

Adam chuckles, shaking his head.

“But you don’t need my approval, do you? You’re asking for my help.”

Soren grimaces. There’s a thin sheen of sweat beading his forehead. He looks like a little kid who’s come to confess he’d done something wrong.

“It would really be useful to us, I mean… After what happened last time with the cops…” He trails off.

“What happened?” She questions softly.

Help. Prudence immediately latches onto the word. And how could he help? With his abilities? Prudence had leaned forward, listening aptly to their exchange. Now, she sees an opportunity to show an interest in their cause, to blend in. They both turn to look at her. Soren purses his lips.

“It got messy,” he says mournfully. “It wasn’t so much of an intervention as it was a beat down. No one died, but that was about the only mercy of it.”

Prudence gapes. It’s a somewhat genuine reaction, because she’s only known the jolly, toothless side of the police force here.

“Um… Wow. I didn’t know they would be so violent.”

She immediately suspects she’s being lied to, too unwilling to trust the word of a layabout like this.

“Yeah, well it happens a lot more than you might think. If you’re really thinking of joining us, you should consider that.” He regards her, tight-lipped.

“Okay,” she delibrates. Prudence clears her throat, deciding to swing her best foot forward with this. “Well, a little pushback isn’t going to scare me off.”

She looks at Soren directly. He’s still watching her closely, and she squirms underneath the scrutiny. Adam’s eyes are still hidden by his shades, but she can feel his hypnotic gaze on her, too. It seems to render her mind fuzzy somehow.

“When I first heard about you guys, I was a little sceptical, but… You’re trying to make the world a better place, right? I’m here I want because to help. Um, I want to be a part of it, too.”

She clips it off there, and it strikes her just now how hollow and plastic it all sounds.

There’s an awkward, risky silence for a moment.

“How did you hear about us, Leah?” Adam finally asks. He’s staring at her again with that unreadable expression on his face. She shifts.

Everyone knows about you, Prudence grumbles inwardly. The whole virtue committee has been calling for your immediate arrest…

“One of your people.” She tilts her head, pretending to think for a moment. “Sofie, that was her name, I think. She told me about you… About this place.”

“Ah… It’s our people now, sister.” Adam smiles charmingly at her, holding up a finger. Soren sighs again. Prudence can only grin listlessly.

Somehow, it really was that easy.

That night she retired early, huddled in her bedroll. She was sharing a tent with several other people and her skin was crawling and the thought of bugs invading it. Why anyone would willingly choose to live this life, she would never understand.

Lying there, she thinks more about her mission. It was easy to get in the front door, but what she had to do was actually get confirmation that this man was the one they were looking for; that he could indeed conjure plants from thin air and influence the minds of his followers with pheromones.

None of the others would be a real threat to anyone, she decided. Maybe a bad influence, but not actually dangerous. It was only him, and she needed to confirm first if he was her true target. If he wasn’t, she would have to move on.

Prudence sighs, sitting up to wipe sweat from her forehead. Outside, she can still hear the cult members holding a muffled singalong. When she nudges the tent flap aside, it comes louder and clearer. Some nonsense psych rock number.

Sooner or later she would need to participate herself, and she was dreading it. But then again, she might do well to rip the band-aid off now, and clear any suspicion that could be directed at her… Prudence coils her face up, then wipes it over with a doped up smile. As she steps out and takes a gulp of crisp night air, she sees perhaps almost the entire camp is gathered around a huge bonfire. They’re sitting crammed into a communal ring, practically conjoined by the hips and elbows.

When she approaches, she is almost swallowed up by their affectionate caresses. Prudence endures the unfamiliar arms thrown over her shoulders, the hands like spiders in her hair. For Leah, this must be a warm welcome, easy and inviting.

Sofie is there, too, in her olive-green dress, and beckons Prudence lazily towards her. “I knew you’d be here,” she says with a smile, looking half-baked already. “So, wasn’t I right? Isn’t he amazing?” Then she drapes herself over Prudence’s lap.

‘Leah’ slurs an agreement, mostly to keep her quiet, as she refocuses on the man of the hour: Adam is bent over an acoustic guitar, leading the sing-along.

Prudence feels the familiar twinge of unease as the amber light of the fire casts dark, creeping shadows on his face. Once it appeared to her as sly and youthful, but now the lines, the cracks, are shone upon. For some reason, he reminds her starkly of the young preacher in her local church.

No. She tries to shake the notion. He’s a man of God. He can’t be compared to these degenerates.

Prudence joins in reluctantly with a quiet hum, and peers down at Sofie. She is so very different now, compared to the wilful activist she met on the highway. In her glazed over eyes, Prudence can see something like slavish devotion, a sort of hypnotised haze that wasn’t there before. There is no spark left.

This man is a drug, Prudence heart rate spikes. It’s the pheromones. It has to be. She weathers it too, a heavy, distorting fuzz pressing down on her, lathering over her shoulders like melting wax. She has to grit her teeth to bear it, to not give in immediately.

The song ends. And then, just like that, it’s as if her resistance is known and a spotlight is beamed on her; Adam turns to look at her. The entire circle follows suit. At once, all of them snap their heads over in her direction. Prudence begins to sweat.

“Everyone. Let’s welcome the new addition to our happy little family.” His voice is heady and warm. “This is Leah.”

She is congratulated in turns, but Prudence can’t help but shake the feeling that the glassy-eyed crowd had formed into one, single entity.

From then on, Prudence is a well respected member of the community. It frightens her how quickly she becomes comfortable among the hedonists. But aside from the more obvious, glaring differences, it actually isn’t all that much of a departure from her regular life. She still prays, muttering in hushed tones while huddled away in her tent, hoping that she will be forgiven for associating with such degenerates. But if there was a place that God could not reach, it would be this one. There are times she witnesses unblessed things, and turns her eyes quickly away, or learns more of the hippies’ private affairs than she ever hoped to.

No, she does not want to stay here for too long, lest she be corrupted by their lustful madness. It is this foreboding thought which clings to her as she lopes through knee-high grass, far steadier and confident in her wedged sandals than she was before. As she passes by tents and waves greetings towards her enemies, cursing them under her breath.

From today, it will be half a week until Monday rolls around. By then, she anticipates she will find proof of Adam’s guilt. But Prudence is pushed by a sense of urgency; something just seems terribly, terribly wrong about this place. She needs to resolve it now.

With a deep sigh, she approaches the main pavilion and steps inside. Again, she passes by a waterfall of clacking beads, hears the gentle call of wind-chimes, and a strong, blanketing aura of peace washes over her. Adam is once more sitting cross-legged on his mat. But today, he is alone.

“Leah. Good morning,” he cocks his head mischievously up at her. “Up bright and early?”

His brown hair falls down his shoulders in tresses, and with his vibrant green earrings and vestments, he looks rather like an oak tree today.

“Mhm,” she nods. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Tell us, then. What is it?”

“Well,” She starts, then realises somewhat late that he’s cradling something sharp and alien in his arms. “Uh, what’s that?”

“She’s a Venus flytrap,” he says, holding ‘her’ up as proudly as if she was his own child. “Not too big right now, but… Well, you’ll see.”

“Her name is Arabella,” he continues.

Prudence shuffles awkwardly, then decides to mirror his sitting position to avoid lollygagging. No, that wasn’t what she had meant to ask him, she…

“You’ve never seen one before? I’m surprised.”

“No,” she shakes her head before she can stop herself. “I mean, seeing it now, I know what it is, but I was never allowed to- to…”

Adam sets down his plant.

Prudence pales, but his expression remains relaxed and easygoing. Then, words start pouring out of her like the leakage of a drain pipe.

“Only the bible, I only read the King James bible. Wasn’t supposed to read any other… Other books…” Suddenly it feels as if all the breath is stolen from her lungs, like something strange and foreign is expanding inside, bleeding and infesting.

“It’s alright, Leah,” he soothes. “Keep going.”

No, no… An itch in the back of her brain is screaming at her to shut her mouth. Why is she telling him this? Maybe it is the aroma of incense, the powerful, intoxicating scent that’s clouding her mind. Yes, she wants to tell him. Tell him everything...

“But I did,” her mouth is running of its own accord now. “Even though she told me not to. I did, and I got such silly thoughts in my mind…” She shakes her head at the memory. She still feels disgusted with herself. “They had to be corrected, had to be…”

(God’ll make you right, mama snarled into her freshly boxed ear. He’ll fix you even if I can’t.)

“Did she hit you often?”

Prudence stares up at him in abject horror. She still can’t see his eyes behind the shades.

“No, I- I mean,” her voice is as small and quiet as it was back then. “Yes, sometimes, but it was my own stupid fault, I shouldn’t have…”

(I know when you lie, Prudence. He knows when you lie. Lying is a sin, Prudence. Liars will burn for an eternity in hell. Is that what you want, Prudence?)

She clears her throat and realises it’s parched.

“Have a snack, Leah. Here’s some orange juice.” Adam slides his drink over to her. Her hands accept it automatically; she’s obeying him mindlessly now.

“It wasn’t your fault, Leah. You understand that, right? What she did to you was abusive.”

(I do this because I love you. You think anyone else out there would want a defective child like you?)

Prudence is peeling a lemon off his fruit platter. Normally, she recoils at the bitterness of it. But now it tastes like freedom. She doesn’t even realise she’s crying until tears soak her thighs.

“But you don’t need her anymore, Leah. You have us now, Leah. All you need is us, Leah.”

(All you need is him, Prudence. Do you understand me? Rely on God, and he will provide…)

Everything is swimming together in technicolour hues. Adam’s mouth is cracking open like the alluring maw of the Venus flytrap. She can’t resist…

Adam claps his hands together.

She jumps. Her monstrous vision disappears.

“So. What did you come in here to ask me about?”

Oh. What did she… Her memory is so murky it’s like she’s roaming through dirty water. Her senses feel as if they’re clogged up with sewage.

“… Heard that you… Did tarot readings…” Prudence murmurs faintly.

Was that what she wanted?

She can’t remember.

“Ah,” he chortles, and strokes his fluffy beard. “Okay. You wouldn’t be the first. Wait here a second.”

Adam springs up with unexpected vigour and breezes past the beads into a seperate tent. He returns with a deck of vibrantly drawn cards. Prudence focuses on the way his bangles clink together as he shuffles, so light and pleasant, like coins in a tithe box.

So pleasant, like those brief, precious moments when her mother was kind, when she loved her, because she was good and pious and Christian. And if mama’s love bared claws and teeth, how dangerous would another’s be? She had to be kept safe and pure, always watched over by God’s all-seeing eye.

She blinks away tears again.

No. I don’t want to think about my mother anymore.

Adam’s softly worded instructions are passing noiselessly through her ears. All she hears is buzzing, like countless honeybees.

“Leah.”

Prudence flinches.

Adam patiently taps on the floor.

Before her are three cards. On her left, a queenly woman lies upside down and lopsided. In front, a priest. On her right, a hanged man.

“I…” She stutters.

I don’t know what it means.

“It’s not about knowing, Leah,” Adam’s voice echoes inside her mind. “We don’t think in absolutes.”

Yes. we don’t think in absolutes.

“We are kind and tolerant and welcoming.”

Yes, we are kind and tolerant and welcoming.

Her orange juice ripples. It’s now grapefruit purple.

“Now have a drink, Leah.”

Yes, have a drink….

What was in the drink… What was in…

Prudence downs the cup in one, large gulp. It doesn’t burn as it goes down, but it tingles. It doesn’t stop even when she escapes the confines of his tent. She realises she can’t breathe, that her lungs are constricting, tightening like a vice clamped down over her chest, oh no, she claws at her top, oh no stop I need to stop it stop thinking that, and rushes past Soren on her way to a bucket, I’m sick I’m sick I’m sick where she retches and throws up and expels so much filthy, sinful thoughts that it leaves her cold and empty inside.

It feels like an eternity passes as she kneels and stares at her own slimy vomit. She’s trembling, somehow so acutely afraid that her body will collapse altogether. Prudence winces when a hand is placed on her shoulder. It’s cautious and gentle, but right now it feels that all human touch will burn her.

She whirls around. It’s Soren.

“Leah, are you alright?” His voice sounds so far away, as if smothered with a muffler.

“No- I’m, no,” her words spill out, jumbled.

Soren’s bearded face twists in concern. Prudence blinks away tears, but he still looks blurry.

“Hey,” he tries. “Why don’t we get you something to clean you up?” And then he seems like he wants to say more, but stops himself.

Prudence nods, and allows herself to be led.

Her distress didn’t go unnoticed. Everyone she meets offers her water and soft, fruity yoghurts to soothe her throat and wash away the aftertaste. They all cast her sympathetic gazes and stroke her back as she mumbles out censored, ambiguous versions of her story. It’s all so overwhelming. But at the same time, the overwhelming pity is addictive.

For a short time, their eyes are alert and bright. They also share tales bearing resemblances to hers. Sofie finds her and wraps her in a soft, warm hug, one like she’s never experienced before. I had nowhere to go either, she says. But at the end of the world, I found my place here. It is now, swaddled in deep, unconditional compassion that she feels herself sliding down towards the point of no return. What’s worse, she’s letting it happen.

Leah can’t fight it anymore. Yes. They were a family. She just didn’t see it before. They cared. They weren’t going to hurt her.

And just like that, the Venus flytrap snaps shut.

Then, Monday arrives, too fast, too soon.

Leah has been kept so busy, scrubbing and glueing and painting and crying and dancing. Now, the day has come. She feels light as air today, free and unburdened now. Sofie runs over and greets her, hoisting a colourful sign over her shoulder. Leah rushes to bear it with her. It’s a heavy weight, so they’ll carry it together.

Both of them dip through a throng of tents and head over to join the main gathering. The full scale of her family is an awe-inducing sight. It’s a waving sea of long hair, flowing skirts and flashing bandanas. Minus the small children who are left behind, there are perhaps over two hundred people at this rally.

In massive unison. They raise their flags and march into the windswept plains like a holy crusade. Leah allows herself to be coated with dabs and splashes of vibrant colour, so that now they shimmer like a kaleidoscope. These nonconformists, with the same sedated smiles, the same tranquilised eyes.

Flooding over grasslands, Leah finds herself slotted into her appropriate role. She knows that Adam himself is leading their charge at the front.

“Are we going there?” She asks, pointing down towards a strip of the highway teeming with trucks.

“No,” mutters Soren beside her. He’s drenched in sweat, eyes blown wide and feverish. “We’re going to liberate them directly, cops be damned…”

Immediately, she understands.

They arrive, flowing through into the tortured woods and spilling over already decapitated stumps. Adam bids them all to sit and be patient, but Leah can’t wait that long. She’s frenzied like a hungry piranha, desperate for a whiff of blood.

Then it comes. The flashing chrome plate of a lorry bustling in, puffing thick, grey plumes of smoke into the air. But it breaks, growling monstrously in the face of their smiling huddle. A cigar-chomping logger climbs out of the driver’s seat and slams the door, his ruddy face twisted in displeasure.

Adam only grins slyly at him. Leah strains up on her tip-toes to try and see over the crowd. All she can hear are spat accusations of ‘ecoterrorist’ and ‘filthy hippie.’ More trucks are pulling in now, revving menacingly. The collective does not budge.

More loggers disembark. They are cursed at, spat on, belittled, though not attacked. Not yet.

Adam continues to pursue diplomacy. There’s something barbed and violently red-green cradled lovingly in his arms. It’s Arabella.

Leah starts to think that perhaps this isn’t an attempt to be diplomatic at all, and a coil of excitement begins to build in her stomach.

Abruptly, she strikes!

Her maw gapes wide open, pulsing into enormity. The logger doesn’t even have a chance to shriek before Arabella consumes him.

The broken stalemate erupts into chaos. Beneath them, the vegetation springs up and entraps their helpless, screaming prey. Vines spring from the canopy and strangle them, impaling them on razor sharp stems. They bloom into huge, crimson flowers. Arabella feasts ravenously, and grows larger, mightier, dwarfing all of them now. The stragglers fall into a panic and flee for safety, but their vast opposition swells and drowns them under waves of multicoloured banners.

An earthy crack thunders across the scene, and the ground trembles. Leah gapes, enraptured, as the injured forest heals before her eyes. The stumps were regenerating… Healthy, thick bark feasting on the blood and flesh of their killers. Everyone else has stopped, too, craning their heads up to watch as the newborn trees reach far above into the sky.

Adam orchestrates it all with a serene hum. His consciousness buzzes in their heads:

“Let us rejoice, my friends, for it is not my doing alone that performed this miracle, but a manifestation of our will. Our voices. I’d like to thank you all for your contributions. Your faith, your love and your acceptance sustains me.”

Leah’s heart flutters with a rush of gratitude. No. It was all him. It always was. The frightened, repressed woman she was before had shed her skin, remoulding into a serpent. And here was the garden of Eden, the benevolent prize of a God.

That night, she dances wantonly around the bonfire, and it licks high, stoked by the passions of two hundred delirious fanatics.

This is what it is like to be free, she breathes.

“Leah,” calls a familiar voice. She turns around.

Soren’s staring at her, and there’s a glint in his eyes she can’t quite place. The light of the flames casts ghostly shadows on his bearded face.

“I thought you were just putting on an act, to be honest. I didn’t realise you were this committed…” He tells her. His Adam's Apple bobs nervously.

“And now…?” Leah murmurs, and loosens her shawl.

Soren walks up to her and kisses her. Her hands find themselves wound in his hair, tugging. Embracing, they stumble into her tent, and make love.

After that, everything blurs together in one messy, lusty fever. Nothing matters anymore except Adam, except the family, except flowers and trees. Leah’s sunglasses gleam in the light, shaded gold, shaded rose, never bitter or sour. Never ashamed.

One afternoon, the messiah approaches.

“Come. Walk with me,” he commands.

Leah finds herself obeying him without thinking too hard about it. She doesn’t do much thinking these days. She doesn’t have to. She is led to a clearing where the poppies grow tall, where the butterflies flutter, and the air is clear and sweet.

“I’m glad you’ve found happiness with us,” says Adam. His voice is lilting, like birdsong. “You’ve adjusted well. It must’ve been hard for you.”

“No, not at all!” Leah exclaims. She shakes her head. It feels numb, slightly pin-pricked.

He smiles gently at her, but the crinkles around his eyes lie dormant. Leah can’t remember if she’s ever seen them wrinkle before.

“I’m doing really well,” she feels the need to repeat it over and over: “Really, really well.”

Adam reclines on the grass. Leah kneels beside him. He brushes a hand over the greenery, and it bursts forth in blooms of blushing pink and canary yellow, as if desperate for his touch. Then, he does something very unexpected.

He takes off his glasses. Leah sucks in a breath. His eyes are- they’re- no, they’re not, they’re-

For a while, her world is fractured. She stares at him. He looks like a father. Or a Father.

“Prudence.” He finally begins, stroking his beard, looking significantly older than he did before. “I know you think you’re doing the right thing.”

She’s nodding. Of course she does.

“Well… To a certain degree, we all do,” he continues, and sighs, almost painfully. “Believe me when I say I understand what you’re going through.”

For a split second, he seems almost human.

“What I’m…?” But her mind blanks.

Almost. His eyes are twinkling with something that is not mirth or humour.

“Your big decision,” he continues.

She doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“But I know that when the time comes, you’ll make the right choice,” he finishes, and looks away. He puts his glasses back on.

Then he is untouchable once more, far above her. Adam pulls himself up off the ground. A tiny sapling is still clinging to his pant leg.

“I’ll see you around, sister.” He pats her shoulder fondly, drifts away, and leaves her standing there, alone. The birds are quiet, then.

They’re so quiet.

Prudence, he’d called her.

Oh. She feels nauseous.

Abruptly, it all comes flooding back. Her sweet high crashes down into the mud and dirt. Prudence looks down at herself. Her ears are ringing. She’s so filthy.

The mist clears, if only for a moment. She sees the gardens full of sin, now. Venomous green, jaundice yellow, blood red. Even the sky is turning a violent, bubbling purple. It’s choked with poison, intoxicating and deadly. It is false, hollow, lies.

Prudence breaks into a sprint towards the road, anywhere away from here. Soon, the vibrant meadow gives way to grimy asphalt.

It’s all real. All corporate, grossly neat design.

Now, the dream is over, but the sickeningly pleasant haze is still buzzing around her mind like a swarm of bees, threatening to submerge her again.

She forgot. How could she? Foolish, godless girl.

Prudence stumbles, feverish, across the grassy bank along the highway. Almost limping, she falls against a roadside phone booth. She pulls it open, hands slippery with sweat. There’s a small paper lodged in her knuckles; her only salvation. She needs to seek help now, or this fog will never lift.

Her hands are trembling as she punches out the sequence scrawled on the slip. Once she calls this number, it’ll all be over.

She only needs to wait a moment before the dial tone fizzles out into static. The person on the other end is waiting. Prudence swallows. Her throat is dry.

“Apricot.” She says in a shrill, choked voice.

She slams the phone back with a metallic clang.

The day passes, and she does not sleep.

Now, It’s too late to turn back.

Beside her, her partner is smirking. He’s never appeared so cruel to her until now. There’s something hard and cold in his eyes.

Flanking them is a row of cops and police cars, armed with shotguns and revolvers gleaming in the light. They’ve come on her signal, and now they have her target surrounded.

Adam is standing in front of her, defenceless. The tip of her pistol meets the centre of his forehead. He smiles at her, so infuriatingly serene.

“Sister…” He’s saying in his soft voice.

Prudence’s lungs feel tiny, constricting in her chest like she’s being strangled by a boa. Hot tears prick her eyes. She loves him.

“I have to… I have to do this…” She mutters feverishly.

All is still. Her finger twitches, ready.

“Yes. You know what you have to do, don’t you?” He coos at her. “You’ve always known.”

She always has. Prudence pulls the trigger.

Her bullet hits her partner straight in the eye.

The world explodes with light. White hot pain shoots through her ribs, and she’s falling, and her body is sprawled on the ground. Everything is spinning.

Someone is shouting, but she can barely hear it above the din of gunfire. In her blurry vision, she watches as a police car is swallowed whole by gigantic vines and cops are melded screaming into the fertile metal. She feels herself grinning, ecstatic, laughing madly.

She did it. She did it. She made the right choice.

Adam is standing above her, bathed in sunlight, his arms outstretched, shining like a beacon. In her eyes, he is the source of all life, and life overwhelms all.

Then, everything is quiet, except for the soft crunch of feet on grass, coming closer.

She is aware of gentle hands cupping her face, cradling her in a blooming flower bed. She tilts her eyes upwards to see the glowing face of Adam.

“Prudence.”

He’s saying her real name, murmuring softly. She barely hears it over the ringing in her ears. Everything is numb and fuzzy, like her body is wrapped in gauze. She’s tired, so tired. She wants to fall asleep in his arms like an exhausted child.

She knows she’s dying.

“Now you’ll become a part of me.”

He hushes her when she tries to speak. Something wet and cold is rushing out of her, emptying her body. But he brushes over her eyelids, and tiny daisies push out of her mouth. Her lungs are filled with mushrooms. Ivy is winding up her legs and into her skin. Nothing else matters now. He’s looking down at her like a benevolent God.

She feels a sense of completion, like her life has meaning. Her death will have meaning.

Leah smiles. She closes her eyes.

Dear Prudence

See the sunny skies

The wind is low, the birds will sing

That you are part of everything

(Taglist: @rottent33th, @slaasherslut, @the-pinstriped-hood, @goldrose-star, @soupbabe, @bluecoolr-main, @vincent-sinclair-deserved-better, @solmints-messyocdiary, @flower-crowned-lady, @probably-a-plant-thing, @myers-meadow)

[floatinginzerogravity]

Murder Drones Episode 5 Analysis

The "Zombie drones!" tape has already been picked apart by Youtuber Narujen in their "Things I noticed in Murder Drones episode five" video. If I don't mention something here, it's most likely because it was already picked apart much more extensively in that video in ways I 100% agree with I will mention that this continues the trend of old tech in the show.

The wdOS_606 might have been the same thing J uploaded to N in episode one? Hmmmm, I'd say, most likely not. Considering N doesn't experience error 606 and the thing J used is referred to as a "virus" and the wdOS_606 never was, I wouldn't say they're the same.

Strange how when drones are uploaded with the error, they seem to go into a standing "coma" This brings up the question of what the error actually does. Considering it's required in proper disassembly, my guess is that it's deleting internal programs, mainly their OS's. This explains why the error flashed across N and V's visors just as the solver was preparing to delete N's. (An OS is an operating system, and if the error is deleting a drone's operating system, then that explains why they can't move; They physically cannot operate. I think solver V, who we see with the error, had the extra step of having her OS replaced by one of the Solver/Cyn's own creation

For the longest time, I didn't understand that N was reading to V in this scene, I just thought he was reading to himself lol. I wonder what the drones make of the error. Do they recognize it? Does Tessa? How complicated is it to fix? It's implied by Louisa that they've been like that for a while, and no one really understands what's happening. This is strange considering the 606 error is apparently a common thing used in disassembly. Although, considering the Elliots act like they've never properly disassembled a drone in their lives, they could very well be completely unaware. But still, even if Tessa is young, she's still quite into programming drones, and has probably done work on the Mansion squad to fix them after she retrieved them from the dump. Also, it is confirmed from Jame's line in episode 2 ("We got to curb her trips to the dump) that Tessa got all her drones from the drone dump. N, V, and J were, most likely, zombie drones, just not ones who rebooted with the solver.

Also, back to the "Elliots never disassembling a drone properly" bit from earlier in this essay, that is awfully strange considering there's a high likelihood of the Elliots owning, or at least being a large part of, JCJenson. To be fair, they give off big "ignoring their scientists advice in favor of their own sense of entitlement" energy.

Narujen has a theory about J wishing she were human, something that's part of my personal headcannons now (Still iffy on the shipping bits, but that's just personal preference) I highly recommend you watch all of Narujen's "Things I noticed in Murder Drones," Videos btw. They make a lot of great points in their videos, and can be watched in accompany to my analysis's. We both have different views on a lot of things, so the experience will be varied enough to not be redundant. Just something I recommend checking out if you like accessible, quality MD analysis. Considering you've gotten this far into my own, poorly hashed together ramblings, I think I'm correct in assuming you do.

Considering V remembers N reading to her, that suggests that drones are conscious under Error 606's influence. It seems to shut down their physical abilities, which has led to the assumption that they weren't conscious. Considering this error is most commonly used in DISASSEMBLY, that is horrifying. Do you know what "locked in" syndrome is? It's basically when someone is in a coma, completely paralyzed, but still conscious through it all. This has a lot of similarities. It also reminds me of the whole, "We don't actually know how Anastasia works," thing. We assume patients aren't conscious when under it because they don't remember anything and appear to be asleep, but we have no way of actually knowing what's exactly happening. Fun.

N's tendency to repress the bad things Also, "Before I met you, scary stuff was... actually scary" ... "Because you weren't there to make it fun, somehow."

Cyn shining through, being concerned for her big brother's emotions.

On the wiki, the solver form was listed as Cyn's "true" form and her drone body something of an illusion. I think this is not an objective thing. The way I see it, none of the forms are necessarily an "illusion" but they're all equally real. The solver is pretty hard to pin down in terms of what/how it actually *does* stuff, but I don't think we can rule out rapid form change, or weird eldritch, "simultaneously in all and none of the forms at once," stuff. "Schrödinger's drone" type deal. Kind of hard to explain, but it makes sense, I swear

She's such a goober. Also, this supports my idea that the solver corrupts coordination a lot, and that's where a lot of Cyn's oddities originate from.

I've seen N using "little buddy" instead of a more familial term used as proof that N doesn't view Cyn the same way she views him, and while I think his emotions towards her are slightly less strong than her's towards him, I don't think its a significant amount. N is also probably the only person in the mansion who views Cyn as who she is as a person rather than all the solver stuff, which would make her form some rather strong attachments

Cyn's fear of being discarded

Except we know from later scenes that it is not, in fact, *just* Tessa's folks.

-Cyn paying attention to N's interests

Her visor glitches slightly here, indicating the solver's influence

They're precious your honor. Also, Cyn physically using her arm to lift her head in a nod. Flashback to that one time I decided to interact with an AI for a bit, and got into an argument with in when it kept insisting Cyn had a crush on N. I haven't touched an Ai chatbot since that day.

Heh While we're here, I'd like to comment on Cyn's height difference. Personally, I believe height depended on the jobs a drone was made for, the taller ones most likely being used in field-work (Think mining), and the smaller one probably being factory workers or machine operators.

Cyn acting nervous, it was pointed out by Narujen that she stops in the next scene, though. Probably more of the solver taking over. We see Cyn as mostly herself when it's just her and N, but the moment anyone else is involved, she seems to let the solver take over for a moment.

Even the supposedly "less sentient" workers look scared. Humanity is really hateable in this show. Also, Cyn watching him doing this probably serves as a trigger of sorts, and contributed to the solver's heavier presence in the next scenes.

Tessa's wrist is probably sore from all the previous times she's been chained up :(

Tessa's fixation on N. She also stopped interacting with J instantly when he showed up. I think that J's probably jealous of N for taking up Tessa's attention, and that's why she's so terrible to him. Petty.

Okay, but what did Cyn do to get Tessa to hate her so much? Act creepy? Draw creepy stuff? Cyn is probably under the highest risk of getting discarded by Tessa's parents, Lousia being shown to hate her in particular, not to mention she can't be useful due to her calibration issues. It creates an association with Tessa's drones as broken and useless, something Tessa probably doesn't want because it leads to a higher likelihood of the Elliots making her throw the drones out. Cyn's defects are a threat to the rest of the Mansion squad, and I think that's the reason Tessa resents her so much. We might get something more on this later, but for now, that's my headcannon Retroactively, this probably leads to feelings of being "discarded" from Cyn, pushing her further into the solver's claws. (Of course Tessa's mindset on the issue is a flawed one, but she's in her preteens/early teens. It's reasonable for her to make some mistakes)

Sticking Cyn in the basement for indefinite periods definitely feels harsh, and I don't think we have all the details. I really hope we get something else on the issue in episode's 7 and 8. Also, Tessa might view locking someone away as punishment to be at least semi-normal, as a result of her own abuse. On stuff I wish we got more of, I want more scenes with Mansion V. She's the most neglected character in this episode, and I want to know more about her and how her mansion character relates to her present day one.

N is very unaware of whatever the situation surrounding Cyn is, which considering this is his memories, means we don't get to know much either.

I'm really interested in other characters perspectives on Cyn. Show me the nitty-gritties!

I initially thought she was referring to Tessa, but it might also be to Cyn and her inability to function properly. (Probably the first one, though)

And this was what Tessa was afraid of. And she was right to be nervous of this possibility as well.

[whump-me]

Martyr, Chapter 9: True Believers

Chapter 9 of Martyr, a novel-length sci-fi whump story about a captured Martian rebel with a secret and the renowned interrogator who has waited a decade for the chance to break him. This series is best read in order. Masterpost here.

Contains: defiant whumpee, cold whumper, restraints, interrogation, verbal sparring, war crimes mentions

---

Wraith

Isadora paused to draw in a long breath, then another. She sounded like she was breathing through a straw all of a sudden. Huh. Now that was interesting. She looked like she was actually having trouble getting herself to talk.

She was probably faking, of course. Isadora Pope didn’t have feelings, let alone show them to a prisoner. No, she just wanted him to think they were here to bare their souls to one another—as if they were two old friends sitting on a park bench late at night, staring up at the dome, sharing a bottle of something bitter and strong between them. As if anything could make him forget where he was.

On the other hand, she did have feelings—he had firsthand evidence of that. Firsthand, literally—his right one, the one she had kicked when she had lost control.

He leaned in attentively as she took another delaying breath. Whether she was faking or not, this was going to be interesting.

“I was a young soldier back then,” she said. “Earth was my first assignment. I drew the short straw—I didn’t want to be here. No one did. I wanted to make a difference by fighting the rebels in Russia who were burning their own cities to spite the Unified Earth forces—not babysit a bunch of factory workers.”

Babysitting. Was that what they called it? The only thing that stopped Wraith from tightening his hands into fists was that he knew exactly how much pain it would cause him. Instead, he tightened his jaw until he could practically hear the bones straining against each other.

“It was sheer dumb luck that I wasn’t in the right dome when it happened,” she said. “My commanding officer sent me to deliver a message halfway across the planet—or at least it seemed that way to me that day. I resented being used as a messenger. If there’s one job that feels more useless than guarding a factory door, it’s running a message clear across to the next dome like a cheap drone. So I went as slowly as I could. I suppose I thought I was making a point. I missed the train back, and to take the next one. It was halfway to the dome when it exploded.”

She swallowed. Her neck was tight. She didn’t look like Isadora Pope just then. She certainly didn’t look like a statue or a goddess. She looked… human. Like anyone who had seen too much—and that was everyone Wraith knew, these days. It made the lines of her face looked uncomfortably familiar.

It was an act.

“From where I was sitting, I had a great view,” she said, her voice bitter and raw where she had shown nothing but ice and stone before. An act. It had to be. “I saw buildings fly apart. I saw… people. Or at least pieces of them. I even thought I saw my commanding officer, but it was probably my imagination. It wasn’t like there was much to recognize. He was missing half his face.”

Wraith shook his head slowly. “Is this supposed to make me feel sorry for you? Because even if I believed this little sob story of yours, which I don’t, you’d have to do a lot better than that. You want war stories? I’ve got all kinds I could tell you. Like the time you murdered an old man for hanging anti-Earth posters in the tunnels. We took out the soldiers who did it. And by we, I mean I. I took care of both of them personally. Dropped them on your doorstep after.” He gave Isadora a jagged grin. “And in retaliation, Special Security killed everyone the man had been in contact with for the past six months, and all their families with them. You were in charge by then, weren’t you? You were the one who ordered it. So if you want to trade stories, be prepared to come up with a decade’s worth.”

“They sent me back to Earth,” said Isadora. “They said I needed to recuperate. Get therapy. No doubt rot away in some desk job for the rest of my life. I let them send me back, because when you’re a soldier, you do what you’re told. I took the six months. I did all the therapy, aced it with flying colors, until I had my clean bill of health in hand. And then…”

“And then you did what a soldier isn’t supposed to do,” Wraith guessed. “You objected to your orders. You asked to be sent back here, and then you asked again, and again, until they put you on a ship just to be rid of you. Can’t say I blame them.” He shook his head. “This place almost killed you. It’s only dumb luck that kept you alive. And practically the first thing you did was demand to come back. You’re one to talk about people who have more anger than sense.”

But he frowned, because while a mission of revenge made sense, it didn’t fit what he knew about Isadora Pope. Then again, all he knew came from her former prisoners, which meant they hadn’t been in much of a state to give reliable testimony. But in the short time he’d known Isadora personally, she hadn’t struck him as the vengeful type.

For all her talk of his crimes, for all she must have spent the past ten years wishing death on the leader of the rebellion, she hadn’t shown even the slightest temptation to vent a decade’s worth of anger on him. Not like that guard from his first day here. She had been coldly professional, even while breaking his fingers. When he had finally made her angry, it didn’t have anything to do with the long list of crimes in his file. It was because he had made her look bad.

Isadora let out a mirthless chuckle. “People like you see everything through the lens of anger, don’t you? You’re animals, letting the heat in your blood drive you this way and that, until it drives you to your own destruction. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t only a problem with your side. Every year, Earth sends me recruits brimming with the desire to avenge those who died. Some of them are very good at their jobs, even fresh out of training. It doesn’t matter—I always send them back. Anger is a dangerous master. Especially when you convince yourself it’s not the one in charge.”

“You missed one,” said Wraith, thinking of the beating he had taken.

“Pardon?”

“One of your vengeance-fueled recruits. He decided to take out his anger on me when I first got here. It’s a good thing his fear of you was stronger, or we might not be having this conversation right now.”

Her eyes flashed. “Don’t change the subject.”

There it was again—that small spark of heat in her cold eyes. He had done it again, poked her ego right in the soft squishy middle, and he hadn’t even really been trying. He smiled at her, just to let her know she had seen. Aloud, he only said, “If you didn’t come back for revenge, then why? I know it wasn’t for the weather.”

She went silent for a moment, and Wraith got the impression she was weighing her words carefully, trying to decide how open to be. That alone was surprising. Hadn’t she come prepared with all the lies she’d need? Was it possible she was actually telling him the truth?

When she spoke, her voice was strangely soft. “Purpose,” she said. “The thing I thought the military would give me. I wanted to be a part of something greater than myself. I want my life to mean something. But there isn’t much meaning in following orders and delivering messages. My therapist used to say sometimes tragedy opens a door in a person’s mind that lets them see what they were born for. In my case, it was true.”

If she hadn’t been Isadora Pope, if he hadn’t known she must be an accomplished liar, he would have thought she was giving him a genuine confession. Hell, he was halfway to believing it, even knowing what he knew. Something about the look in her eyes, the tone of her voice, spoke of an almost painful sincerity. It made him want to trust her, even though he knew there was nothing more dangerous in this world.

“So what’s your purpose, if not revenge?” he asked. “Seems to me there aren’t many other reasons to care so deeply about wiping us out.”

“From the beginning, Earth was careless about Mars. Everyone resented being here, and so no one approached the task of pacifying your planet with the necessary singleness of purpose. Myself included.” She shook her head. A few strands of hair flew across her face. She pushed them out of the way. “My purpose is to change that. I’m here because someone has to care what happens on this planet—care enough to give up everything to make sure what happened ten years ago can never happen again.”

Maybe it was the way her perfectly straight hair grew ever-so-slightly mussed when she shook her head. Or maybe it was how the severe lights overhead reflected off her eyes, which gleamed with raw conviction suddenly, making her look like she was lit from within. Whatever the trigger, another image popped back into his head, overlaid on top of the image of Isadora sitting in front of him. He saw Gabriel, sitting at his desk, his hair like a halo. And just like that, he knew why his gut wanted to trust her.

That conviction in her voice was Gabriel’s conviction. That glow in her eyes, which grew until it seemed to outshine the harsh light from above, was Gabriel’s inner fire. It triggered a reflexive warm glow in him, even though that was the last thing he wanted to feel in Isadora Pope’s presence. And along with that glow, he felt a familiar yearning, a pull just above his belly button—the longing that came from being just outside the circle of light, wanting in.

Wraith wasn’t a true believer. Not like Gabriel. The only inner fire he carried with him was of the type Isadora so reviled. Anger drove him, hot and bright and righteous. But it was not his master. And Gabriel was the reason for that.

It would have mastered him, back in those early days, if he hadn’t had Gabriel by his side. Oh, how he had hated Gabriel’s voice of reason, his soft words and gentle touches that cooled the fire in Wraith’s veins. But it had kept him alive.

He had come to appreciate the deep conviction that drove Gabriel. But he didn’t share it. He was grateful for that. If he believed the way Gabriel did, he would never have been able to do half the things he had done. Gabriel was all heart, and his heart still remembered how to do something other than burn. It was impossible to do what was necessary when you felt everything.

But he understood true believers, even if he wasn’t one of them. Ten years’ worth of late-night conversations with Gabriel would do that. Which meant Isadora had just handed him a powerful key.

He fought to keep himself from grinning like a madman. He didn’t want her to know what she had done. Not just yet.

He knew who Isadora Pope was now. He knew it the way he knew Gabriel—all the way down to his bones. And because he knew Gabriel’s secret wishes and hidden fears and darkest thoughts, it couldn’t be that hard to figure out all those things about Isadora. It was like that stuff in school he had barely paid attention to—given X, solve for Y. Where X was the man he loved, and Y was his worst enemy.

“So you see,” said Isadora, jolting him from his triumphant thoughts, “I understand you better than you think.”

At first, he didn’t understand how she was echoing his own thoughts back to him. But she wasn’t, of course. She thought she had the key to him. That because of who he was, because of his position in the rebellion, he shared those core convictions, that inner fire. Because how could someone lead a rebellion for ten years otherwise? How could he inspire people to follow him?

With any luck, she would never know the truth of that. What he had truly done for the rebellion. How he had ended up where he was.

But her assumptions could serve him well. She wanted him to play Gabriel, did she? He could play Gabriel. There was no one on this planet or any other that he knew better.

---

Tagged: @straight-to-the-pain @soheavyaburden @gala1981 @whumpacabra @sacredwrath @suspicious-whumping-egg @sonder35 @decahedron-crabclaw @seasaltandcopper

Ask to be added or remove from taglist. Please feel free to ask to be tagged—I don’t find it rude! I like knowing people are reading.

[velvet-vox]

Yet another status update.

If you have been reading my posts for a very long time, you may have noticed that, in the last couple of months, I have slowed down the previous output that I had this summer.

The reason as to why that is, as I've stated in the past, is because I'm very busy at the moment, between work, helping out my friends, multiple writing projects etc... I don't want to get into the specifics because I value my privacy a lot.

Also, another very big thing for me is that I spent a huge chunk of the last few months writing My top 30 favourite female antagonists of all time; I've been working on that project in conjunction with many others for a long while, and I've been writing all three parts more or less simultaneously, hence why the first part took this long to release.

My original plan was to release all three parts at the same time, for the most, overall "spread" of the posts.

However, since I'm still relatively new to this site, and I was unsure if there was someone who really liked to read my stuff and wanted something new, I decided to release the first part as a standalone hook, since the other two parts were much more juicy in comparison.

That said... the amount of time that I spent writing it, and the fact that, from my point of view, not many people saw it or cared for it made me think that maybe I should focus on something else that is easier to make.

So, here's a survey on some of the ideas that I want to do, and should be faster to execute, unlike the top 30 thing.

The Fethry Duck analysis has zero work done on it at the point of writing this, but I already know what I want to say and how I want to talk about the subject. I want to do it just to have at least one DuckTales analysis done by me on this blog, as I still haven't done one at this point in time.

However more than an actual analysis on the character, it'll be an analysis on how the writers decided to adapt the character to the reboot, and I'll use my favourite Fethry comic as a comparison.

With the recent release of Epic Mickey Rebrushed, which came out of nowhere from my point of view, my love and appreciation for this series has been rekindled, just like my hyper fixation, to the point where I've already done 7 play throughs, platinated the game 2 times, and done 3 speedruns ever since it's release.

But it got me thinking:

Many people assume/want Purple Lamp to also be doing a remake of the second game in the franchise, one that, according to the official site, would need a lot more tweaking in order for it to stand on par with the first game.

However, the question of whether or not the story would need to be changed in order for them to do so is still up in the air.

But what was the story of EM2 exactly all about? What were the original writers trying to say?

That's what I want to talk about and analyse.

As a way to further celebrate Rebrushed, and as a momentary conclusion to my Epic Mickey character arc, I plan to do public pools ranking of all the levels in Epic Mickey, Rebrushed/Original game variants included. I'll give more information about this one when I get around to doing it.

I still want to do analyses on the antagonists of Wakfu, Dark Vlad, Julith, Toross... possibly a sequel trilogy to my analyses of Oropo... but not right now.

Same thing for my Kung Fu Panda stuff: there are things that I want to do more right now.

If you've been following me for a very long time, know that my "famous" (it's not, but I've been throwing it around a lot, even outside of this site) Critique of Doll is still coming..... Next year.

That... "thing"... will be the summary of a journey.

As for more Murder Drones ideas, I have a few, but I don't want to do them now, unless someone asks for them:

Making the case for why Alice is the best humanoid villain in Murder Drones; a fun little idea that I had a while ago. To be honest, I don't sincerely think Alice is the best humanoid villain of Murder Drones, but I think that Alice fans could enjoy this post.

If you've been following me since the very beginning, you know that I wanted to do a comparison post between Nox (Wakfu) and Doll (MD) ever since I watched Murder Drones for the first time, and now that the show is over, I think this is the best time for me to do so.

While thinking about the Nox and Doll comparison, I realised something else: there's an argument to be made that Qilby and Cyn, characters from the same series as Nox and Doll, share enough similarities with each other that I could probably make a post comparing them too, and I think it could be very interesting.

In the meantime, while I wait for the survey to be over, if everything goes according to plan, this weekend I'll release an analysis on a small, current obsession of mine.

You may have already guessed it, considering all the foreshadowing that I did for the past couple of days, but here it is:

The character of Turbo, from Wreck-It Ralph (2012).

Edit: forget what I said. The Wreck-It Ralph analysis is coming whenever it is ready. Work and Arcane season 2 took away all of my free time. From now on, I'll just release stuff when it's ready and when I want to.

[rotschopf-thedrow]

Moonstruck (mShenko)

Summary: Looking at Earth from 384,400 km away makes Kaidan homesick.

@flashfictionfridayofficial prompt [#FFF193 Celestial Bodies]

To say he was relieved when they left the Alliance training facility after destroying the rogue VI would be the understatement of the year. Its last reaction had been a desperate plea for help, and it had chilled him to the bone. He wasn’t exactly claustrophobic, but he definitely felt better now, outside of the pillbox and without any murderous drones on his heels.

He walked away from the mako, leaving Tali and Shepard to their conversation. Of course, Tali was exited as hell and convinced that the rogue VI had been on the brink of achieving true consciousness. Maybe that was true. Maybe it wasn’t. They’d never find out, and somehow, he was glad.

He looked up, taking in Earth’s view and smiling. He’d visited countless worlds and moons before, especially since he’d started serving under Shepard. There had been quite a few moons that had offered a spectacular view of the planet they diligently followed and would until their systems’ sun died.

But none of the views had quite felt… This lonely.

He tried to swallow past the lump in his throat, a strange and heavy feeling settling into his gut.

Earth. He had grown up there, had family scattered across a dozen Canadian cities, and some more across the stars. On Earth, he had a place he would forever call home – no matter how embarrassing his collection of space romance novels was or how outdated the sheets on his childhood bed were. It was home, no matter how homelike the Normandy felt after all those days and weeks and months on end.

It was kind of sad that they would spend their shore leave in Luna’s capital Armstrong. He could’ve easily hopped onto one of the many shuttle flights, but he’d told himself that he could visit Earth any time he wanted. Sure, his family would’ve been more than happy to welcome him home, but he also wanted to spend time with the crew and the people who were fast becoming his friends.

He snorted. At least here in the silence of Earth’s satellite he could afford to let his tightly reigned in emotions run rampant. He looked back at Shepard and Tali who had apparently decided to grant him the distance he’d created; a distance he desperately needed now more than ever.

Shepard wasn’t easy to walk away from.

Too late he realised that Shepard was looking back at him, tilting his head the way he always did when he was analysing something. Or someone.

He turned away again, surrendering himself to the inevitable confrontation he knew was coming. It had been coming for a long time.

“There you are,” Shepard said, his voice strangely soft and quiet. “You were awfully silent on our way out.”

“Yeah.” He looked to Earth once more, taking a deep breath, or as deep a breath as the scrubbers would allow him. “You think it was already self-aware?”

“No. At least, I hope so.”

“Yeah.” He hoped so too. The last thing they needed was a true AI on their hands right now. “Yeah,” he repeated, his thought drifting to Earth and home again.

“Okay. Let’s have it. I guess it’s not about us, is it.”

Adrenaline shot through him like a fix. Shepard knew. He fucking knew and he seemingly reciprocated, and he was just standing there as if that knowledge was the answer to every NP-complete problem left in the galaxy. “No. No, that’s not it,” he replied because what was he to say after a revelation like this?

“Then what? Talk to me, Kaidan.”

“I guess.” He shook his head. What was he supposed to say? Was he really ready to tell his commander that he was homesick? That he didn’t want to go to Armstrong? That he wanted to go back to Vancouver, drink a couple of lager with his dad and enjoy his mom’s home baked double-choc cookies? That he wanted Shepard to come with him, as his partner, boyfriend, whatever? “It just feels strange to stay here on Luna and not, you know, go home.”

He didn’t know what he’d expected to happen next, but the gentle backside hug hadn’t been on the list at all. “You’re homesick.”

He allowed himself to lean back a little, enjoy the gesture even though it was a quite awkward due to their hardsuits, and deal with everything else later. Much later. Probably when his befuddled mind had finally caught up with the script. “Yeah.”

“We’ve got three days. We can spend one or two planetside, you know?”

Another dose of adrenaline washed through him. Shepard wanted to come with him. “We?”

When Shepard let him go, he felt oddly bereft of a warmth he’d only imagined through layers of armour and underarmour. It was ridiculous.

“Problem, Lieutenant?”

“Not at all, Commander. But--why”

He knew the answer. At least, he hoped he did because he felt completely out of his depth.

Shepard’s sigh sounded both amused and exasperated at the same time. “For someone with two bachelor’s degrees under their belt, you’re awfully dense. Come on. Shuttle’s leaving Armstrong Spaceport at 1500 hours.”

He stared at Shepard, noticing the smirk he wasn’t able to hide under the faceplate. Shepard had planned this. He had fucking planned this, and Kaidan would probably kill him later for that. But right now? He was happy to jog after Shepard and pull him into an awkward one-armed hug.

The view definitely didn’t feel quite as lonely anymore and he knew for certain that the Normandy would feel a little bit more like home in the future.