#if they ever teamed up the universe would be doomed i tell you. doomed

[aecholapis]

Cringetober Day 9: Crossover Ship/Rarepair

The worst crackship of all time, ladies and gentlemen

[dayseternal-blog]

please, I would love to know if you have any recommendations for naruhina fanfic that takes place in a high school universe?

I hope you made use of my tagging system in the last 5 months since you sent this 😅. Check out #naruhina high school au on my blog for all the posts I've ever made with that tag.

Here are some of my faves:

“you totally almost killed me that one time (it’s okay I still love you)” by @itachiboutit - Rated G, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Complete.  Naruto, a promising baseball player, returns to Konoha Prep, and, without so much as even a “long time no see,” hits a ball into Hinata’s face.

“It’s High Tide, Baby” by @spyder-m - Rated T, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. “Despite everything that happened around it, the water would continue to flow. It was majestic and free, so unlike the nature of his own existence.” Could their love withstand the test of distance and time, or was it doomed to slowly fade away?

“Accidentally in Love” by lagseeing1123 - Rated M, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Incomplete.  Naruto was supposed to help Kiba get a date with Hinata, but in the process finds himself falling for his best friend’s crush.

“cheerful” by @vegebulsoup - Rated M, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Complete.  Naruto and Hinata join the cheerleading team!  Love drama ensues.

“October - Horror” from “Still Falling for You” by @chloelapomme - Rated T, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata has an unhealthy obsession.  Naruto does, too.

“Uninhibited” by EroPrincess - Rated M, High School AU, One-shot. People have said confidence is gained through inebriation.

“Asynchronous With You” by @bunny-hoodlum - Rated E, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. Hinata is done pining for her foster brother, Naruto. And yet, maybe that’s the best time for him to pick up right where she left off.

“Jealousy” by Cheating Death - Rated M, High School AU, One-shot.  Naruto realizes he’s really into Hinata, but who’s that senpai hanging around her?

“Chapter 25″ of “Between the Trees” by @utsus - Rated G, One-shot. Naruto is getting used to his new prosthetic arm.

“Promise” by @linisen - Rated T, One-shot.  Writing on your own skin will appear on your soulmate’s skin.

and I've written several high school aus. here are a few of my most popular:

“Friend of Mine” - Rated T, High School AU, One-shot. When Naruto finally decides to confess to Sakura, Hinata begins to reevaluate her close friendship with her longtime crush.

“It’s No Secret” - Rated M, High School AU, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. Hinata returns to Konoha to enjoy her last year of high school, but her secret grows too heavy to bear. 

“Tell Me of Forevers” - Rated T, High School AU, Two-shot. Delinquent Naruto is trying to change himself for the better.

“Awkward Jocks” - Rated G, High School/1990s AU, 3-Shot. She knows that if he were to ever ask her out, she would accept in a heartbeat. After all, he’s the star quarterback and basketball player. Plus, she’s liked him since…forever. But when her home phone rings, and he’s on the other line, she hangs up.

Anyone can add on with their favorite high school au!

[pepsiconcoction]

hi hi, i enjoy reading your content so much that I wanted to make a request! A Lee Know Fluff inspired by this song “Take A Chance With Me” by NIKI. It can literally be a drabble, one shot, series or whatever pleases you! thanks again <3

hi i'm so sorry i disappeared for like, so long? idk honestly, so i have no idea when you posted this, or if you even still want it lol. i finally have some free time AND i'm feeling creative again so that's fun! anyways hope you like this, i did it in like an hour and a half and its barely proofread, i hope u love it tho <3

Take A Chance With Me - Lee Know x Reader

pairing: Lee Know x gn!Reader

tags: non-idol AU, fluff, tiny amount of angst if you squint?, lee know is a goofy guy i guess

wc: 891

Being in love with Minho was hard. Unfortunately, it was a hardship you had been dealing with for a while now. He was everything to you, your best friend, your soulmate even, although he would always say that soulmates don’t actually call each other that.

The moment you finally realised you were in love with Lee Minho, the two of you were nursing hangovers, a bowl of sundaeguk steaming your face. You had both finally graduated from University, the same place you had met almost 4 years ago. He had finally introduced himself to you after sitting next to you every Tuesday at 9am, after the professor had introduced the fact that group work was required for a project. You hadn’t even heard him speak up until that point, you were kinda beginning to think that was a figment of your imagination until he spoke. 

A year later he told you that he decided to sit next to you because you were the first person who seemed ‘normal’ when he first entered and looked around the room. This confession, of course, had the two of you in fits of giggles at how neither of you turned out to be normal. You had realised you both shared a passion for dance despite your degree studying computer science and had even attended each other's dance showcases and competitions, watching him dance was like nothing else. The way he moved with such practiced precision was so captivating, that it was almost impossible to ever look away.

Beyond that, he was the kindest person you knew. He cared in ways that you had never expected of him. When your boyfriend cheated on you in the summer between years 2 and 3, he showed up to your apartment with kind words and snacks, and he did your dishes for you and even ironed your shirt for work the next day so that you could cry.

Back to the sundaeguk. It was still steaming.

The glint in his eye as he threw his head back giggling at some stupid joke you made you realise. It made you realise a lot of things actually. 

“What happens now?” you ask.

“I don’t know about you but I’m gonna eat this,” he says pointing at his bowl with the chopsticks in his hand.

“No, I mean, now that we’ve graduated.”

He stops mid sausage-to-mouth and blinks at you. 

“We get… jobs, I guess.” The sausage reaches his mouth. You laugh. You let the moment pass.

A month later you’re at a party, he asked you to be his plus one to the after-party of one of his dance shows and you’re talking to one of the other members of the choreography team. She tells you how Minho talks about you and has such admiration for you. When Minho waves at you from across the room, she asks you how you’re not dating. You manage to ramble off something about just being close friends but even you don’t fully believe it. You don’t want this night to end the way it always did. He walks you home, you hold his arm, you let go, and you both say good night. 

You watch him from across the room, the room blaring with music, the sound of voices almost competing. He’s beautiful, you know that, everyone who has ever met him knows that. He’s talking to a friend, one you vaguely recognise, and you feel a pang in your chest, a feeling of impending doom. There’s a fear in your heart that something will take him from you, a job, a person, you don’t know, but you need him to stay with you. You need him.

You finish the drink in your hand and put the empty glass back on the table. You excuse yourself from the group and walk over to him. He notices you and his smile grows wide. 

“Hey! I was just talking about you.” He’s grinning as he says it.

“Only good things I hope.” You raise your eyebrows.

“Of course.”

“Can I talk to you for a second?” you turn a little more serious for a moment. He excuses himself from his friend and the two of you walk outside into the quiet of the night, the cool summer air refreshing.

“Are you okay?” he asks, a hint of concern showing in his eyes.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about things.” you sigh.

“Oh, that’s never good.” 

“I was thinking about you, dumbass.” You roll your eyes.

“Okay, now I’m interested,” he smirks.

You pause as you look at him. You spare a moment thinking of what to say, and how he’ll react, will he accept or reject you? You don’t know. The only thing you do know is Lee Minho, you know him as if you are him, as if you’re connected somehow. You feel like this is already written for you.

“I love you,” you say. He blinks.

“I love you too.”

“No, like, I love you Minho. More than just besties.”

“But if we date, who will be my bestie?” Of course, he jokes. Of course, you laugh.

“You’d have to find a new one.” You giggle.

“Well, looks like I’ll have to get started then.” He leans into you. “I wasn’t kidding,” he says in a softer, quieter voice. “I do love you.”

Being in love with Minho was suddenly so easy, but it always was.

taglist: @lethallyprotected @lieslab @jeyelleohe @lilykatelyn-blog @mimiibear @jisungfanpage47 send me an ask if you want to be added!!

[rev-wrath]

I've seen a piece of fanart about the in-universe Gothamite's guide to ships Bruce is part of and it got me thinking about that with the albatross duo (who are looped together cause have u seen them interacting with each other. like they'd ever break off their bond). The average Gothamite discusses the duo's potential/speculative third on at least a bi-weekly basis cause there's literal no other gossip in the god-forsaken city-

I think the most popular person that they're shipped with is Harvey- both pre & post Two-Face. Older Gothamites remember seeing the three of 'em running about the city when they were all pups and younger ones saw pictures and tabloid articles about Harvey and Bruce and R. Post Two-Face tho... it's childhood friends + doomed lovers and just tragedy all around so it's still a popular ship I think.

Some other ships include- one with that Metropolitan Journalist, Clark Kent- who's the only one to have gotten an interview with both their pathetic lil mew mew Bruce Wayne and his knight R, at the same time. And the fact that he left the grounds of R's mansion wearing very different clothes from when he first came to the city really didn't help. (Batman needed help from Superman for a thing, and one event led to another and ruined all of Clark's clothes. It was only by pure chance that R had spare clothes in the man's size in the storage.)

Another one is with Batman, the city's Dark Knight. Now, R and the Bat think they're being subtle but everyone knows they chase each other across the city's roofs. Some people speculate that R's being unfaithful to Bruce but that's like a minority opinion (Alfred laughs at that when he unwittingly comes across those kinds of posts).

Post JL formation though, the duo- as they're the main investors for the League ofc- would get shipped with. So. Many. Of. The. Heroes. Superman? Yeah, everyone's seen the way he carried Bruce Wayne out of a building princess-carry style. And the way he caught R whilst they were falling from a high place. Wonderwoman? She curls around protectively around the both of them during press conferences. The Green Lantern? The Flash (Barry and R have a laugh at that)? They all play into it tho. Maybe there is an underlying attraction there somewhere or maybe they're focusing the attention (of being many superheroes' 'weaknesses') on R + Bruce bc they can protect themselves.

Post Damian introduction tho, I feel like Talia would become more and more of a popular candidate for their third. She does linger around Bruce and R often, and later on it would be more of a public knowledge that Talia is Damian's birth mother so they all speculate that the three of them were in a secret courtship when Bruce and R were both out of the city.

The kids all have their favourite candidates and they make their picks known on Twitter.

(Did u know I had this ask in my mind last night and I wrote in my notes tell myself to send it to you in the morning bc I know that our short timeframe together is around that time)

I love all of this.

Everyone not involved has a stake in it. R gets dragged into YouTube compilation with Bruce. “The Prince and Knight of Gotham being the IT COUPLE for 6 minutes”. Then it expands into “A Deep Dive into Gotham’s It Couple” which then continues into who they’re potentially dating or hooked up with up. There’s a casual comment from the commentator about how they wouldn’t mind being a third.

The kids hang it over each other’s head anytime something happens. Jason would vote Diana but thinks she’s too good for Bruce so he’s with Damian in the Triple Parent team. Dick is with Clark and always has been. As a bit they do also say Batman isn’t any good for their parents, knowing that Batman is literally one of their parents.

[hayconrisa]

HEY. you. you’ve opened your asks this is a win (was contemplating sending you a DM at this point. you cannot just go through my blog and compliment mari and NOT expect to be bothered!!!)

ANYWAYS. hey. tell me about that oc idea you have. this is a DEMAND!! (silly)

- @kodak-2-percent

YES I REALIZED I DIDN'T HAVE THEM OPEN. because im fucking stupid. u should totally send me a dm anyway we can be ill together. anyway HIIII thank you for submitting an ask hello hello.

OKAY. sitting down and taking a deep breath. i just figured out her backstory AND drew her so drum roll please....

here she is! first pass of her design it'll probably change, but. felicity "cici" lapointe!

bare with me this is going to be LONG. for your convenience i will put the rest under a cut.

so, she's a version of my OC/sona thing that i put in basically everything. her whole deal is that she's unlucky. she's obsessive over four leaf clovers, she's got this belief in her head that she's Doomed By The Narrative when really she's just doing it to herself, but she believes in it because it gives her an excuse for why her life is so shitty.

she's a stork. she believes that her lifelong curse of having bad luck started when she was storked as a baby, so even though her adopted family was never horrible to her, she was horrible to them. she held a grudge and belittled any affection they gave her because she's incapable of believing that things can be good for her. eventually her family has enough and signs the triplicates.

she kicks AWOL because even though she believes unwinding is the most logical end to her story, she doesn't want her curse of bad luck to be passed on to anybody else. she escapes unwinding not to help herself, but to prevent the rest of the world from being cursed. she literally believes she is cursed. she's a little fucked in the head i would say.

when she's on the run she falls prey to a parts pirate's trap, and as she's trying to escape them her left foot gets chopped off (rabbit's foot, lucky charm, do you get it?) and she almost dies bleeding out in an alleyway after she escapes. by some miracle someone from the underground resistance finds her and takes her to a safe home, and she can't believe that she managed to evade death twice. she wonders for the first time in her life if the universe might actually be on her side.

when she gets to the graveyard she meets hayden and they become really close friends because he entertains her fucked up narrative of being unlucky and no one else ever has. she becomes part of the combom team, and also hangs out with the stork club on occasion. risa also takes care of her leg and helps to make her a better prosthetic than the one she ended up crafting for herself while in transit to the graveyard.

there's more but this is already insanely long. this is all first - pass stuff and i would like to make her not so tied down to the canon plot but hey... i literally just birthed her an hour ago i think i get a break.

oh! also! she's always associated with the number 7 (sorry i had to do it) and she has a four-leaf clover necklace that she bought for herself on her 15th birthday that she never, ever, ever takes off.

So fucking sorry if i just yapped your ear off. more of her to come... i hope you all like her !!!!!❤️

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Crack Treated Seriously Masterlist

and a tiny horse in a christmas tree (ao3) - phegetarian

Summary: Daniel Howell is living a work-centric life in the city. What happens when he reluctantly agrees to go back to his hometown for Christmas and meets a new resident?

blow a kiss, fire a gun (ao3) - The General Phanchild (orphan_account)

Summary: "If I don't improve... he'll absolutely obliterate me. And there's nothing I can do to stop him." Secret Agent “Gold,” or Dan Howell, is less than thrilled when he is forced to team up with new recruit “Amethyst,” Phil Lester. Phil is a former trainee; clumsy and overly apologetic, while Dan’s six years of experience have left him skilled and stealthy, yet completely emotionless. Throughout their mission to bring a mysterious super-villain to justice while travelling the city of Tokyo, Phil tries to come to terms with his illogical fear of Dan, while realising what Dan's true intentions with him are.

Fuck The Past (Dan vs Phil vs Daniel) (ao3) - phandomsub

Summary: Daniel and Phil decide to mess around with a book of spells for their new video. It’s all just a good laugh, until they somehow end up transporting 18-year-old Dan from 2009 into 2017. The only logical solution is: threesome.

Haunting My Life (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: Any of you ever play that online game, Haunt the House?

Ghost!Daniel is antisocial as all heck, but when his house is flooded with potential buyers, he decides there's only one way to deal with it- flush them all out. Which would of course work better if he could stop getting distracted by PJ's uncomfortably pretty friend, Phil, who isn't even here to buy the house.

HOTline (ao3) - outphan

Summary: When Phil's computer breaks, he calls a hotline...

How Dan (Almost) Stole Christmas (ao3) - skygremlin

Summary: “It was a serious oversight, in stealing from the rich, that you couldn’t really tell if they were unbothered because the money never mattered, or unbothered because they had so much cash they were using it to insulate their walls.”

For thirty-three years Dan’s lived up in the hill districts outside Who-ville, watching the wealthy elites celebrate their Christmases in the valley with glitter and food and an unfathomable amount of expensive gifts while the rest of the world was left cold and hungry, completely ignored. Between the off-key choir concerts and the way he could feel the icy wind through his uninsulated walls on Crumpit Lane, he had enough of it. It’s time for Who-ville to see what Christmas is like for everyone else, even if that means taking it by force.

A How the Grinch Stole Christmas AU

How To Find Your Missing Husband, or, The Amazing Crossover is Not On Fire (ao3) - N_Chu4Ever

Summary: In the year 2063, just as International Rescue finally recovers from the absolute mess that is the Hood's attack on Tracy Island, an event known as the Great Restructuring occurs. Multiple universes are merged together, a teen who is supposed to be dead is revived (and promptly adopted), Sportacus is there... and two longterm partners, famously described as 'actual soulmates', are torn apart.

Will Phil ever find Dan again? Or are they doomed to be separated forever?

ph is for phlebotomy (ao3) - serendipnpipity

Summary: u/johnnyharker:

AITA for accusing my flatmate’s partner of being a vampire?

Prey for the Wicked (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: Phil isn't the worst demon ever, but he's hardly the best. That's why he's not super thrilled about his newest assignment. After all, everyone knows that nuns are notoriously difficult to tempt.

Stuck in my Jeans (ao3) - uglyhowell

Summary: Dan runs into a predicament Phil is all too familiar with.

The Disappearance of Daniel Howell (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan and Phil go out to make a purchase instead of using the internet. That's their first mistake. Their second mistake is taking a free Wishing Stone from a shady vendor at Portobello Market from whom they purchase a bootleg Hatsune Miku figure.

The Rise of Susan (ao3) - ablonimous

Summary: There are in fact many Susans across the universes. Sometimes you're a nurse, other times you're a fish... This is a bit embarrassing but you're actually my wife in a lot of realities."

"I'm your wife. In other realities." Susan repeated.

"NOT in this one!" Dan yelled from the kitchen.

"Ignore him, he's just jealous," Phil whispered cheekily to Susan.

———

An AU in which psychic Phil and his helper Dan find different versions of Susan to save the world.

VRP (ao3) - RabidRabbitsRabato

Summary: Dan is a bad boy.

Phil has a crush on him.

And Phil has a big secret.

But so does Dan.

[lokiondisneyplus]

You might have done a little happy dance upon learning that Ke Huy Quan — who first left his mark on Hollywood in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as Short Round and most recently won an Academy Award for his role in Everything, Everywhere All At Once — was joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Well, when Quan found out an invitation for him to join the MCU was being extended he had to pull over to the side of the road because he was getting teary-eyed and couldn’t see. 

“I’ve been a fan of the Marvel Universe for a long, long time, and I always fantasized about joining the MCU family but that was only a fantasy that I didn’t think it would ever come true, it was a distant dream of mine.” Quan explained. “I watched Loki season 1 on Disney Plus and I thought it was one of the most creative and just best-looking cinematography, costume, production design; everything was just top notch. It was one of the most creative shows that I’ve ever seen in a long, long time.”

After his role in the Oscar-winning Everything, Everywhere All At Once caught the attention of Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, he reached out to Quan with an offer. 

“One day my agent told me, ‘Kevin Feige is going to give you a call from Marvel Studios’, and he told me between a certain time, between 5 and 7, and I was so nervous but at the same time I was also very, very excited. I remember I was in a meeting at that time, and I told the person I was having the meeting with, ‘I’m so sorry, but at 4:50 I’m going to have to leave,’ but I didn’t tell them why, so I set my alarm clock at 4:50. And when it rang, I got out of there, expecting this important call from Mr. Kevin Feige. I was just driving home and all of a sudden, my phone rang, and I picked it up, and on the other end I heard this voice, hello, hi, I’m Kevin Feige, hello Ke.”

On the phone, Feige praised Quan’s performance, which tugged on his heartstrings so much he couldn’t contain his emotions. 

“I started getting teary eyed and I was driving, and I couldn’t see. And I had to pull off to the side of the road and we’re talking, and then he said, would you like to join the MCU family? I was ecstatic, I was so happy and to get that call from him meant the world to me.”

Quan now joins the MCU in the second season of Marvel Studios’ Loki playing Ouroboros — or O.B. for short. He works, all alone, in the very bottom basement of the Time Variance Authority, but “he’s super happy with his job, he doesn’t sleep, and he works 24/7.” 

It might be intimidating joining the ranks alongside long-time Marvel star Tom Hiddleston and his on-screen best friend, Owen Wilson’s Mobius. But Quan fit right in. 

“He's a dream, I can't imagine anyone else playing this role,” Executive Producer Kevin Wright explains. “What you see on camera is what we get behind the camera. He slotted right into this team, which is already a fantastic ensemble. He's just a beautiful, inspiring person to work with.”

Wright notes that what Hiddleston and Wilson created with Loki and Mobius is “beloved,” and adding a third person might make for a third-wheel situation. But not with Quan. Quan, “came in with his own kind of unique aspect to that trio. It was just honestly being true to himself, being true to the character. He just adds this extra ingredient that wasn't there before. There's almost this whimsy. He just felt like a natural part of the team.”

It might have been a seamless fit, but that doesn’t mean Quan didn’t come prepared with a ton of questions about his character and the world of the TVA. 

“In the beginning I was quite nervous because it’s such a well-written character and I wanted to do it justice,” he continues. “I had a lot of creative meetings with our producers and with our directors. I would sit down, and I would ask them all these kinds of questions because I wanted to give justice to this wonderfully created character by our writer and producer.”

Looking back, Quan calls the whole process memorable, adding, “Every day I walk on set in a great mood and that’s how I finish the day as well. Every single person — the cast and the crew, has made this journey so memorable.”

And as for where he fits into the larger MCU? Quan’s already passed the first test of not talking about spoilers — not even asking about them. 

“I’m only familiar with what Loki Season 2 is about but I don’t want to know too much,” He jokes. “I want to be like a fan and discover it just the way everybody else does.”

Editor’s note: The following interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began on July 14, 2023.

[clonerightsagenda]

lucy carlyle for the ask game!!! :)

(Ask meme here)

We are 2 for 2 for teen girls hanging out with the dead tonight huh. Maybe Aradia should be Lucy's next dead girlfriend.

First impression

Stroud likes his scrappy teen girls, huh? I respect that. A man can have worse stock characters.

Impression now

While she clearly shares DNA with Kitty (insert the 'he she lost her whole squad' meme) she is her own character and I like that she's petty and irrational and unfair in ways that make sense for her age. Honestly she is so extremely 13-15 it is hard for me to imagine what she will be like once she is an adult. But yknow. Tossup whether she'll make it that far anyway.

Favorite moment

I go on about all the CEOs she kills but siccing a guy's dead ex-girlfriend who he murdered on him after he threatens to kill you because he thinks you're the weak link was a great move. Really set my expectations.

Idea for a story

While I respect Stroud writing technology out of the world because he simply does not want to deal with it, I would love to see Lucy Carlyle unleashed on social media. I think she'd do numbers (derogatory). She'd write lengthy screeds about ghosthunting procedures and then tell people disagreeing with her to kill themselves. Meanwhile Lockwood has a google alert for his name and George is on fantasy Sci Hub. They can still have their intervention like 'Lucy you are putting too much trust in mysterious beings whose true faces and intentions you can't ascertain, it's drawing you closer to a realm inimical to human life that will warp you beyond all recognition if it doesn't kill you outright' but it's just because she has some weird tumblr mutuals.

Also don't think I didn't notice that when Lockwood goes "yeah I told Barnes there's no way we're doing anything with the other side ever again" and the rest of his team loudly agrees with him Lucy is conspicuously quiet. She's keeping her options open. Maybe she wants to go beat up Marissa Fittes again. She deserves to.

Unpopular opinion

Leaving the agency when she did was probably the right call. She and Lockwood's clashing personality traits and priorities were bringing out the worst in each other and making everyone else miserable. (I am so sorry Holly.) They didn't really resolve everything either, so if that workplace relationship is going to work out they should probably get therapy. Bright side is there must be loads of child therapists in this universe right. They'd probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming though. Maybe if you told them the office was haunted and then locked the door behind them.

Favorite relationship

If Lucy and Lockwood have clashing traits that bring out the worst in each other, Lucy and the skull just share a lot of their worst traits already, and I think that's very funny. Instead of saying she is so empathetic and pure of heart that she can befriend sinister ghosts Stroud was like yeah they just both suck in similar ways and thus get on, to everyone else's confusion and dismay. Honestly surprised they got anything done during their flatmates era besides coming up with mean burns about their neighbors.

Also this is a hostage situation. I appreciate Stroud's willingness to make his leads complicit. Marissa delivers the classic "we're not so different you and I" villain speech, but she has a point. They're both trapping and exploiting the dead to protect their lives and careers; it's just a difference of scale, and once you've justified something, scale is negotiable.

However I'm very invested in Show!Lucy's doomed girlfriend so watch this metaphorical space for whenever I finally meet her.

Favorite headcanon

Talent seems largely random but Lucy is described as being connected to the other side even before she crosses over, so I think maybe she was a preemie or almost died some other way as a child and that's why she's Like That.

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

🎵 Protorave

"I should let people still working in there know about this. They might be affected."

No -- It's better they don't know.

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "You mean... Plaisance and the dicemaker? There was almost no one left when we packed up."

"No, just the dicemaker. I don't think Plaisance would survive this knowledge."

"No, just Plaisance. I don't think Neha is playing fair in this game."

"Yes, both of them deserve to know."

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "Then go tell them." She smiles, suddenly encouraging.

New task: Inform Dicemaker about the Source of Doom New task: Inform Plaisance about the Source of Doom

Maybe we should also tell Garte? Bookstore's closed by now, though.

3. "Tiago -- under the roof -- he said he's circling the spot, like a saeraff. He seemed to have lost his mind."

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "The crab-man... From what I've heard, his state could be reminiscent of pale over-exposure. Time-perception related illnesses, memory malfunctions, thought insertion."

SUGGESTION [Easy: Success] - She's agreeing more and more. Partially because she *wants* to.

INLAND EMPIRE [Trival: Success] - And then there is you. And what happened to *your* mind. Are you not a saeraff in worship too?

4. "I think I've had this thought before. That's how I know."

KIM KITSURAGI - "An amateur-entroponetic police officer... I'd like to say I've heard stranger things, but I'm not sure. This is a hell of a guess, however. Well worded I might add..."

+1 Reputation

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "Yes, it is *very* interesting, but I wouldn't say you *know*. This is a guess. One that's going to have to be *proved* -- by entroponetic scientists."

5. (Conclude.) "One day all the world will be like that two-millimetre hole."

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - She falls silent. The wind blows in through the hole in the stained glass window. Cold and moist.

+5 XP

Thought gained: Clearing Out the Rooms

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "I'm going to leave that out -- but the rest... some of this I can use to *start* to explain this to the rest of the team. Maybe I'll sound mad, but..."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Ma'am, you will *certainly* sound mad."

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - She shrugs. "One more thing -- maybe a club for anodic music isn't the *worst* thing you can erect around this particular... *point in space*?"

"Perhaps not."

"Yeah, that's still insane, but then again -- so am I."

"The club is the only thing keeping this place -- and the rest of reality -- together."

"Actually, now that I think of it, maybe it's dangerous?"

EGG HEAD - "YEAAAGHHH! ONCE THE LIGHT IS ON IN THE UNIVERSE -- IT WILL NEVER GO OUT!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Thank you, Egg Head. Let's leave it at that, shall we? We have un-entroponetic detection to perform in this district."

"I do have one mystery that still needs solving... the radio ghost in the Doomed Commercial Area's electronic doorbell."

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "The creepy woman!" She slaps her forehead. "We were wondering about that when we worked there... but I had completely forgotten about it ever since!"

"It must be entroponetic crosstalk. The one you get in radios and long-distance calls… Now it makes sense, with the pale right on the doorstep."

+5 XP

KIM KITSURAGI - "Incredible..." the lieutenant murmurs. "This would also explain why we get it on the police radio all the time."

"Entroponetic crosstalk?"

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "It's quite common actually. When the signal gets routed through pale, all kinds of irregularities take place. You may hear snippets of someone else's conversation, or the voice of your former lover, or an echo of an event that took place 100 years ago."

"Pale is a shroud of memories and it doesn't really distinguish to whom those memories belong to. You could hear anything."

"That makes sense. Thanks for explaining that to me."

SOONA, THE PROGRAMMER - "Anytime." She smiles.

4. "Right, I'll let you work in peace now." [Leave.]

Cold wind blows in from the broken gallery... makes your skin crawl.

CLEANING OUT THE ROOMS

Temporary research bonus: None Research time: 5h 35m

Someone's been walking around in your dreams lately, looking for something. Tidying up, rearranging. Storing away all the unrealized dreams, putting old pains in boxes. The worst nightmares have settled down for a while. A spot of light on the bedroom door after the dark. The fluttering of eyelids in the spring sun. A thought that arises, only to disappear again. And yet there's a pattern emerging…

None of the speedfreaks have anything to say about what just happened, except...

EGG HEAD - "Good morning, comrade! Yeaaaaaah!" He waves his hand in the air. "Harder core!" The words echo magnificently throughout the nave.

"Whoa, that was a crazy sound we heard before."

EGG HEAD - "Yeah! It was awesome, and scary. Very hard core!" His voice booms through the chamber, then gets silent.

"Too hard core, in fact." He brushes his hand through his hair. "I couldn't control it. At all!"

"What happened?"

EGG HEAD - "It sucks up all the air in the mix until its the only thing left! Starts compressing itself and everything around it. Completely fills up the headspace. Extreme!"

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Medium: Success] - Inside your chest, the heart beats still with the after-effects of the sound. Imagine if you could harness that power... making it pulse.

"What if this is the answer to van Eyck's jam? We could use the sound for the bass…"

EGG HEAD - "Ooh. Ooh!" His puzzled face turns into a wicked grin. "But how?!"

LOGIC [Easy: Success] - What about the compressor the one with the spiky hair was setting up... to achieve some sort of *parallel processing*...

7. [Interfacing - Godly 16] The audio onslaught can be tamed. Connect the dots.

+1 Andre's compression algorithm.

INTERFACING [Godly: Failure] - *Bzoot-bzoot-bzoot* goes the track in the background, never-ending. You can't grasp what's missing. But you can try to make something up anyway.

Just make it up. No way this speedfreak can tell the difference.

Whereof one cannot speak, one ought to remain silent.

INTERFACING - You scrape the mouldy recesses of your brain for some technological sounding jargon. It'll impress the large-headed speedfreak.

CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - Isn't that what *real* artists do? Make it up as they go along?

"You should crank up the, uh, oscillator matrix."

"Dude, you gotta reroute the sound juice through the fluxifier!"

"I don't know the technical term, but it needs less bzoot-bzoot."

EGG HEAD - "Oscillator matrix?" The man's brow furrows with concern. "Where is that?"

"Oh, you don't *have* one? Maybe it's just top-secret cop-tech."

"It's nowhere. I just made it up."

"Here, let a pro show you how it's done." (Turn some knobs at random.)

EGG HEAD - As you fiddle with the knobs on the mixer, the young man stares with amazement...

"Cop-man can ride the knobs! SO COOL." He gives you a thumbs up.

INTERFACING - Whatever it is you did, it seems to have helped slightly. Maybe now you'll be able to make sense of it?

+1 Andre's compression algorithm. +1 Fiddled with some knobs.

7. [Interfacing - Godly 16] The audio onslaught can be tamed. Connect the dots.

INTERFACING [Godly: Failure] - Here's an idea -- say what you said before. The exact same thing! OR. Or, wait! Say something that's only marginally different! It will yield a drastically different outcome.

3. "I don't know the technical term, but it needs less *bzoot-bzoot*."

EGG HEAD - "YEEEEAAARRGGHH. PUMP OFF THE *BZOOT-BZOOT*."

INTERFACING - It's hard to say for sure, but the digital throbbing seems ever so slightly louder than before.

This one doesn't unlock the check again.

8. "Alright. Goodbye, Egg Head." [Leave.]

ANDRE - "Oh, hey, man! It's good to see you." He dances over to you in an inexplicably soft-core manner. It's embarrassing.

3. [Savoir Faire - Impossible 18] No words. Just dance.

+1 Higher quality audio. +1 Dance fever incoming. +1 Found the melody.

This check is still impossibly low, but with The Precarious World we do have a *slightly* better chance. You know, a 3/36 chance instead of 1/36.

SAVOIR FAIRE [Impossible: Failure] - You close your eyes and dream of the shapes your body should form to bring this strange music into life. For now, such ferocity of motion is beyond you...

LIMBIC SYSTEM - ...but just *imagine* the moves you could pull to this futuristic beat!

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Easy: Success] - Puts a grin on your face just to think about it. Even a failed attempt gets the juices flowing and repairs some of the damage done by battles lost. If you up the dose and TRULY DANCE, who knows what will happen?

+1 Morale

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - SALVATION!

4. "That's it for now." [Leave.]

ANDRE - "Goodbye, officer."

Looks like we're not making any more progress in the church until we can pass one of these checks.

We still have half an hour before we're due to meet with the Pigs, though, so let's take care of one other thing.

🎵 Disco Elysium, Pt 2

This door is closed for today. Time to put the kids to sleep.

Lilienne is still here, however.

LILIENNE, THE NET PICKER - "Aye, the sea's gonna calm down soon. I can feel it. The wind is turning southeast." She nods. "What's on your mind, officer?"

4. [Suggestion - Heroic 15] She needs to go on a date with *another* drunk. Badly.

-1 Kim's presence makes it awkward. +2 Dresscode: Man of charms.

SUGGESTION [Heroic: Failure] - Alcohol-man? That's *exactly* what she needs! Now make her see that.

3. "Since the dawn of mankind, Al-Gul has watched over the re-procreation of our species. Lay with me. Let's celebrate the Gul."

LILIENNE, THE NET PICKER - "Now there's a whole shipment of big words." She looks at you from head to toe. "May mankind be plentiful, I guess? Can I get back to my nets now?"

SUGGESTION - She doesn't even *understand* you asked her out. Perhaps you're too sober to pull it off right now? Try again later.

Ah well, we can still come back here without Kim.

5. "Be seeing you." [Leave.]

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

Let's Rewind! Toast Watches Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984)

Season 1, Episode 41: There Will Be A Royal Wedding Season 1, Episode 42: The Sand People

Episode 41: There Will Be A Royal Wedding I think I recognize this episode title, PART THREE LETS GOO

recap timeee

THERE HE IS SVEN IS SO BACK

"I am a wild man, I live in this tunnel eating roots and mushrooms!" SVEN PLEASE

Romelle recognizes him!

Oh god, he's breaking down over his trauma for getting hurt and trying to heal but then he got enslaved all over again without being able to fight and still hurting

the start of the only couple ever, Keith and Allura could never happen because Keith would never stop self sabotaging himself and Sven is willing to be a malewife

he's so scared to call the force because he's scared of them seeing him broken like that he's calling them anyway

WHY IS ALLURA IN A TAN DRESS?? WHAT HAPPENED

oh an escaped slave ship full of slaves is getting recaptured

"do you think princess Ro-MEAL could survive down there?" Zarkon PRONOUNCE HER NAME RIGHT

oh also they're planning to take over Pollux while she's gone

WHY DO THEY KEEP CALLING HER RO-MEAL

new robeast, it's literally an iron woman that they called iron maiden pretty cool though OH GOD IS SHE CRUSHING PEOPLE IN HER HANDS?? THAT'S HORRIFYING

Romelle is trying to stop it, but Sven is stopping her because if she shows herself then their whole plan is fucked time to steal another slave ship to get her home!

The doomites have worse aim than storm troopers

poor Romelle she's crying for the other slaves who helped her and Sven escape, nobody else was able to make it with them BUT THEY GOT IN CONTACT WITH THE TEAM AND THEY'RE MEETING UP

voltron formed up early,,, it's getting serious folks

"so she wouldn't have me, but she runs away with some slave!" WHY ARE YOU SALTY ABOUT THAT LOTOR

Romelle and Bandor finally get to speak again, JUST GET THOSE BABIES TOGETHER DAMN IT

space battle with the iron maiden guys please you spoke too early now the real fight is starting with her gold form instead of her silver one

that's a cool attack, the crown tied up voltron after it hit his head

WHY IS BANDOR OUT THERE WITH A SINGLE SHIP THIS IS WHY HE GOT HIT

oh wow Voltron is taking such a bad beating Sven doesn't even want to help but Romelle is girlbossing so hard he can't help say yes

Voltron is freed by dumb luck, formed up blazing sword and the fight is over with a lot of explosions

Now they're back on Pollux and Romelle and Bandor finally get to hug again! Sven is officially Romelle's malewife "she gave me back my life" GOD HE'S SO IN LOVE

this episode went by so fast

/episode end

Episode 42: The Sand People oh man I remember some stuff from this episode

OH NOW YOU WANNA CARE ABOUT OTHER PLANETS CORAN

sand people lore: they're timid and sweet people and look like turtles Zarkon wants to turn them into weapons

"my horoscope tells now the time to be nasty" ZARKON'S LISTENS TO HIS HOROSCOPE?? ASTROLOGIST ZARKON CONFIRMED

PIDGE OSTRICHED INTO THE SAND AS GREEN THAT'S SO CUTE also Keith told him bless you after he sneezed, they're adorable

how are the team getting sand peoples tracks to scan on it accurately so can the lions 'smell' in order to do scans?

UNIDENTIFIED MY ASS, THAT SHIP HAS SKULL ON IT, IT'S FROM DOOM oh cool underground base- NO PIDGE GOT TAKEN DOWN BY SNAKES

ARE THEY UNSCREWING GREENS LIMBS FROM HER?

PIDGE STOP QUESTIONING PEOPLE WHO ARE GIVING YOU ADVICE ON HOW TO GET OUT OF AN ATTACK I KNOW ROMELLE ACCIDENTALLY BETRAYED YOU BUT STILL

oh the sand people definitely died if they got taken by those snakes

Pidge saying he needs to call them team, but Keith was already running towards his location He knows when his son is in trouble,,, there was a disturbance in the force

what are they even riding, I think those are the most alien looking things we've seen in this show ever

wow they really are like turtles, digging underground Allura is already treating them like puppies

I know they're trying to make the sand people humanized, but they're treating them like toddlers or animals

Allura wore a bracelet under her gloves this whole time? Well it's a gift to that one sand person now

"all sand tanks in formation!" all tanks are for the sand dipshit,, they have caterpillar treads

god now i'm humming one of the themes of the show

LMAO DO THEY KEEP COMMS OPEN SO LOTOR AND THE FORCE CAN TALK SHIT TOWARDS EACH OTHER SO PETTY

wow just like the first episode, everyone as their heads in the sand after being smacked back into the ground

THE TANKS CAN FLY?

Is avalanche just a word for snow? Because the team is getting covered with a ton of falling sand and I feel like avalanche fits for these scenes

Lotor grabbed one of them to turn into a robeast OH NO THE POOR BOY IS SO SCARED, AND HE'S THE ONE WITH PRINCESS ALLURA'S BRACELET

does yellow lion have fire breath?

How do the doomites know what Earth moles are

HOW ARE YOU GONNA STOP GIANT ROBOTS BY SHOOTING AT THEM WITHOUT A SHIP

THE COCKPITS HAVE SAND PEOPLE IN THEM NOW, THEY'RE SO CUTE

how is that bracelet still on the sand person, that some weak ass magic if it can't break metal Allura named him sandy

she's trying so hard to call out to him, but they have to form voltron anyway, this is going to get so depressing

oh they realized the S on him was keeping that robeast transformation on him so they ripped it off, and now he's in a "coma"

nobody ever dies in dotu

/episode end

[denimbex1986]

'Doctor Who writer Phil Ford opens up about "The Waters of Mars" fourteen years later and reveals why David Tennant's penultimate Tenth Doctor story remains one of the show's scariest episodes to date. The 2009 special starred Tennant as the Doctor, alongside Eternals' Gemma Chan, Dune's Shanon Duncan-Brewster, and Andor's Joplin Sibtain as member of the crew on the first Human colony on Mars. In "The Waters of Mars," the Doctor arrives at the doomed Bowie Base One, forcing him to question what he can do as a time traveler.

While Tennant's return is imminent for Doctor Who's 60th-anniversary specials, Ford sat down with RadioTimes.com to reflect on his contribution to the actor's initial run and why it features one of the Tenth Doctor's most terrifying moments. When discussing what makes the show scary for audiences young and old, the writer stated that many viewers had spoken to him about their appreciation for "The Waters of Mars" before citing it as a personal favorite and explaining how showrunner Russell T Davies aided him in achieving a perfect level of terror for young audiences. Check out Ford's full explanation below:

"I'm not so sure that it's moved away from that so much, I have no doubt that there will be another Doctor Who story coming down the road that will be every bit as scary, if not more than The Waters of Mars. I think scaring kids is what I've always enjoyed doing! Whether it's in Doctor Who or Sarah Jane [Adventures]... I think Russell put it to me a long time ago that it's OK to scare kids, what you don't want to do is terrify them and scar them!

I've met at conventions an awful lot of kids that admitted they were scared by The Waters of Mars, but not so much to traumatise them! They loved it because it's scary.

The Waters of Mars, from my point of view, was always going to be scary because that's what I like to do. I think the team around Doctor Who then and now is just so good at what it does, I think we all have confidence in each other in knowing just how far we can go.

And certainly, whenever I went too far, I knew Russell was going to pull me up on something... my memory of Russell is not so much hauling me back on The Waters of Mars, but on other episodes, him pushing me harder to make things even scarier and even bleaker in some cases! Which is just wonderful, because he has this amazing opinion – and talent to back it up – that really there is no story you can't tell for kids. It's just a question of how you tell that story."

What Makes "The Waters of Mars" David Tennant's Most Scary Doctor Who Story

Tennant's initial Doctor Who tenure had no shortage of standout terrifying episodes that still rank high among the franchise's darkest moments. These episodes range from the Weeping Angels' terrifying debut in "Blink," the unstoppable mimicking menace of "Midnight"'s still an unseen entity, and the gradually worsening bleak what-if scenarios of Donna's alternate timeline in "Turn Left". Despite these story moments, "The Waters of Mars" stands out as the already-overpowering Flood virus is superseded in scariness towards the end by the Tenth Doctor himself, as the show's main hero loses himself.

After grappling with his role in the universe, the Tenth Doctor casts aside every lesson he learned and changes history by saving them, declaring himself as the sole being who could change the Laws of Time. Left with the knowledge that these events should have never happened and would impact her loved ones' fates, Bowie Base One's captain, Adelaide Brook (Duncan), sacrifices herself despite the Doctor rescuing her, leaving him emotionally shattered. "The Water of Mars" isn't just a scary Doctor Who story because of its monsters, but for how far the Doctor falls, as well as showing the negative impact his actions can have on the universe should he ever give in to his darker sides.

While the following adventure, "The End of Time," may overshadow Tennant's other 2009 Doctor Who specials, "The Waters of Mars" stands out for how far it pushes the show's leading character. Rather than relying on monsters, the Tenth Doctor going too far leaves a greater impact by breaking the hero and twisting him into a barely recognizable figure. As such, it is understandable why Ford and viewers continue to rate the Tenth Doctor's penultimate adventure as one of the character's darkest stories.'

[dontcallmecarrie]

thought exercise that apparently refuses to leave me alone: NHDD characters in a scenario that could only happen in the MCU [so, an AU where the Avengers are a hot mess instead of a team and this is way closer to a Bad Ending Timeline than NHDD]. AU of an AU, basically.

This time, featuring the Soul Stone.

Heads up: what some might consider suicidal thoughts [...because of circumstances in-universe, but people get Very Very Concerned]. Unreliable narrator, as well, between Justin’s inferiority complex and the Soul Stone’s influence.

.

This was it.

It had to be, because the other Infinity Stones were now beyond their reach and this wasn’t something Cabal was willing to leave up to chance. Justin Hammer’s faith in his rival notwithstanding, hell would freeze over before he trusted anyone with something of this magnitude.

Not when Loki’s latest trip through the branches of Yggdrasil somehow ended up with him staggering home covered in blood and ichor, hands shaking and the light only returning to his eyes hours after Justin’s best efforts.

And then Loki had found his voice and, in between sips of lukewarm tea, haltingly spoke of what he’d seen. Of a Mad Titan’s conquest, and a gauntlet equipped with two of the most powerful weapons in existence.

It had been the work of moments to put SHIELD on high alert. Even less, to kick the hornets’ nest that was the magicians on Earth via Loki ducking into their artifact storage and moving every piece of furniture a few inches to the right. But.

That still didn’t feel like enough.

Not when that still left one Infinity Stone with nothing but a huge question mark hovering over it, and the grim awareness that if nothing was done then the Mad Titan might very well come to possess three of the six Infinity Stones, and if that were to happen?

Nowhere in existence would be safe.

.

It wasn’t enough.

Advanced warning, all the magicians on Earth working together up to and including the Sorcerer Supreme and it still wasn’t enough.

As it was, they were at a stalemate, and... everyone in Cabal exchanged grim looks as they silently agreed on what they needed to do next. Even if Ivan glowered at the prospect of resorting to magic to counter this latest threat, but by now all signs pointed to the last, still-missing Soul Stone being the best counter to the Power Stone that was the main threat when it came to dealing with the Mad Titan.

.

Merely locating the Infinity Stone ended up being a challenge.

And then, when they finally succeeded?

“You should know...the Stone extracts a terrible price. A sacrifice.”

And with that, the air around Justin Hammer started to glow.

.

“Well, that’s that, then,” the Winter Soldier said with a heavy sigh. “And here I thought this couldn’t get any worse than the end of the world.”

At his side, Loki scoffed, and they both glanced back to where Victor von Doom continued to read Justin the riot act. It was the most furious any of them had ever seen him— and the most scared.

His voice had cracked at least twice, and the grip he had on Justin’s shoulders would undoubtedly bruise later, but no one blamed him. Not when even now, Justin was eyeing the ledge with far too much consideration for comfort, and that?

No one could tell how much of it was the stress of the situation, and how much was...

They’d all known Justin had Issues™— it was practically a requirement for entry into their fucked up little friend group, the one he’d created— but nothing like this. Sure, Winter sometimes made cracks about his self-preservation instincts, but. It was supposed to be just Ivan Vanko and Loki who’d had to contend with those particular demons, not—

But that didn’t change the fact that Justin Hammer had been the only one not to react to the Soul Stone’s immortal envoy.

Or, rather, the only one who hadn’t immediately scowled and said some variation of “fuck no, and fuck you too”; the only one who’d just. Stayed silent, and tilted his head, frowned in consideration, and okay, maybe it’d been an overreaction when Winter had yanked him away from the alcove with the creepy hooded figure, but nobody else was complaining.

.

The crack of a gun stole all their attention for a moment, only to see Ivan storm away from the creepy hooded figure who’d started this mess to begin with.

“I thought you were trying to get more intel, what happened?” Winter asked, and Ivan put it away with a scowl.

“I’m Russian,” Ivan deadpanned. Then, at Winter’s raised eyebrow, he continued. “And he’s one of the most famous Nazis in history.”

Winter’s eyes widened for a moment. "You’ve gotta be kidding— just when I think things can’t get any worse. Fuck, really?”

Ivan glared back towards where the figure was slowly picking himself up again, the dark stain on the his cloak receding. “I hate everything about this. And he just kept repeating that bullshit about a life for a life. And if it wasn’t that, he kept going on that the Stone wants Justin, something about how his wisdom mirrors its own? And I’m pretty sure Victor’s two minutes from going nuclear, and—”

He cut himself off because for a moment, ran a hand through his hair, and started swearing under his breath because he could deal with the potential end of the world bearing down on them, just.

Not this.

.

Justin hadn’t said a word since the Soul Stone’s envoy had mentioned the offer.

They knew it was freaking out everyone else who’d come with them, but...

They’d be a fool if they didn’t at least consider it. Even if just the thought seemed to have fired up everyone else even more than the Mad Titan’s rampage had, but someone had to, since the others insisted on acting like it was some unthinkable and impossible thing.

But death came for them all, and faced between an inevitability and an undeniable advantage...

What did the Soul Stone see in them?

Justin Hammer was no one important, not... as horrible as it sounded, it would’ve made more sense if the Soul Stone had been interested in literally anyone else in Cabal. Sure, it would’ve been a whole other brand of nightmare scenario, but at least then Justin could follow the train of thought that led to that conclusion. They could easily understand it if the Soul Stone had been intrigued by Winter’s strength, or Victor’s power; could easily see how anyone could have been caught up by Ivan’s genius, or Loki’s particular brand of chaos. But Justin?

The closest thing he had to a superpower was his bank account.

In the great scheme of things, it was nothing. They were nothing, considering they regularly interacted with superheroes and gods, were surrounded by the best of what humanity had to offer, and encompassed so much of the worst.

So why was the Soul Stone so interested in them?

And— okay, yeah, they were still avoiding the question. To be fair, though, it was not easy to keep one’s cool when faced with the prospect of either death by apocalypse, or death to obtain artifact of immense power. But at least it’d be worth it, one life weighed against the universe was nothing. It’s not that they were suicidal by any measure, exactly, but Justin had enough self-awareness to be able to take a step back and do the math.

Yet the mere suggestion of it had even Victor— calm and collected Victor, who took pride in his nonchalance and didn’t bat an eye even in the middle of assassination attempts on his life— up in arms at the idea of losing the weakest member of Cabal, and never before had Justin resented their over-protectiveness quite like now.

Really, wasn’t it a bit much?

These were normally the people he could trust to be most capable of looking at things objectively like him, able to separate emotions from the equation when weighing the cost between means and ends and collateral damage.

Sure, it was always different when hypotheticals stopped being hypothetical, but this reaction felt off, somehow; had the the rest of Cabal acting in a way that went far beyond worry for losing a useful ally. Had them more caught up on whatever it was than on thinking of alternatives, and for quite possibly the first time they could remember, they were at a loss as to how to approach this new variable.

No matter, Justin could still work with this. Somehow.

...once they got out of a certain someone’s crushing embrace, anyway.

.

“Let’s talk.”

“Your life is not up for negotiation.” Victor immediately said, eyes flashing and the ensuing conversation only went downhill from there.

.

“Well, that went well.” Justin leaned back into the outcropping with a quiet groan.

The others had unanimously chosen to put him on the closest thing they had to suicide watch, and he had no idea where to start with how to feel about it and now they weren’t even listening to him.

Just. Kept dismissing everything he said out of hand, and it would’ve been bad if it had been anyone else but this was Cabal, the people who, up until today, had always been the ones he could trust to at least take his words into consideration. Could trust in general, because they’d all seen him at his best and worst, and had never so much as flinched.

But now Victor could barely look at him without his hands shaking, and Ivan and Loki had taken to sharing increasingly unreadable looks and Winter had spent the past hour alternating between questioning and pummeling the Red Skull, who apparently had been the person selected by the Soul Stone to be its guardian.

Presumably as punishment, but Justin had yet to understand anything about it, so.

Now they were here, heavily monitored while everyone else made plans to leave and blatantly ignoring the fact that the Mad Titan was very much a pressing threat and they were just going to be leaving behind one of the cornerstones of the universe because nobody bothered to listen to them.

Justin had thought he’d gotten over that hangup from his childhood.

He was not happy to discover otherwise, especially at the end of an exhausting day, on the heels of the stress that came with the impending apocalypse and everything else.

‘It is a heavy burden, is it not?’

...and now came auditory hallucinations on top of everything else. Great.

.

This was nothing less than a nightmare.

Somehow, despite literally everyone being half a second from losing their shit and keeping an eagle eye on Justin goddamn Hammer, he still managed to give them all a heart attack.

Winter hadn’t questioned it when the man of the hour had decided to take a nap, but everyone heard his freakout when Justin didn’t wake up. A frantic check showed no signs of self-harm, but his eyes shone a brilliant gold when they checked his pupils as a last-ditch measure and now the situation was officially out of their control because nobody knew what would happen next.

All they could do now was wait, and hope, and Winter hated every second of it.

.

“Why me?” Justin asked, and he could almost feel the Soul Stone’s amusement.

‘You understand what I am, in a way few could ever dream.’

Justin called bullshit.

‘I offer respite, weary one. You carry the weight of two lives, the loss of one would be a kindness.’

Wait a minute. How had it— oh, of course, Soul Stone, no wonder it was able to see the echoes of a past they’d long since left behind to gather dust. Their deepest and darkest secret, laid bare to the one entity uniquely suited to see it. Well, now they felt foolish.

“And here I thought you called for my death.”

‘It could be, if you so chose.’

Translation: it would be, for literally anyone else. For anyone who didn’t have faded echoes of a life they’d never been able to remember, no matter how hard they’d tried. Justin Hammer had tried to put it out of mind for their own sanity after grad school, but... now that though thought about it, the more they remembered even as their headache grew worse.

A time before Justin Hammer, another life.

One with a family that actually cared, and they’d always been an older sibling but the first time it hadn’t been entirely on them because the child they’d once been had aunts and grandparents, and the nice librarian who hadn’t laughed when the stack of books they’d checked out was almost taller than they could look over, and the neighbor’s dog had always wagged his tail even faster when they were around because they knew where to scratch behind his ears, and their high school had asbestos but also the English teacher who thought their shitty poetry was worth something—

Another life, one where life hadn’t quite gotten around to stamping out their faith in humanity. Or, rather, hadn’t had the chance, even though the hospital visits and bills and part-time jobs had all been steadily chipping away at it, the despair of knowing their paycheck was barely enough for groceries but it’s all they had, since their parents’ went straight towards meds—

Another life. One that was just as much a part of them, as the decades they’d lived as Justin Hammer, and apparently both were equally appealing for the Soul Stone.

They couldn’t help but break down, at that.

In laughter, and tears, and all the layers of fear and grief and tired but still-burning desperate hope because it couldn’t be that simple, could it?

‘Peace, weary one. You have my favor.’

It could.

He’d been scared to hope, but...

“Okay then. Let’s do this.”

.

Ivan was the closest thing they had to a doctor, so he was the one who startled back with a yelp when his not-patient opened his eyes with a gasp. 

“Did it work?”

Ivan was half a second from swearing a blue streak, but his attention was caught by the dazed look on his friend’s face.

“You— what did you do?!”

Because before he could even start on his well-deserved rant about stupidly self-sacrificial idiots, Justin unclenched his fists and in his right palm was the unmistakable golden glow of what could only be the Soul Stone.

Justin looked at him and made to respond, only to pause.

“I... you know what? I don’t actually remember.” He looked around with a vaguely confused frown. “Where are we, anyway?”

.

aka this is the AU where Justin gets an Infinity Stone, gives Cabal several heart attacks, and ends up losing the echoes of his past life [...and a good chunk of his childhood memories, because of how much the echoes were part of it].

All in all, Vormir’s technically a net gain in that taking down Thanos is fairly straightforward afterwards, but nobody in Cabal’s ever going to so much as speak of it. It doesn’t help that no one quite gets what exactly went down, since Justin’s still alive but his memories are a mess for a while afterwards, and now there’s an Infinity Stone that randomly pops up around him. Just. Spontaneously shows up in desk drawers, behind the mug he was about to drink, by his keys and he rolls with it but it really freaks most of Cabal out for obvious reasons.

I don’t picture it really affecting Justin, though. Mostly because the other Infinity Stones are being basically deus ex machina plot devices, but the Soul Stone’s presented as this very very Mysterious Mystical Artifact in what I remember of the MCU, instead of the plot device that can be used as a weapon of mass destruction.

Since my brain refuses to let go of this idea, I figure the main offensive potential the Soul Stone has is basically curses like “may you feel all/a fraction/a sliver of the harm you have or ever will inflict on others” and “may you never know a day of peace”, which sounds probably underwhelming but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I’ve got nothing else. Plus I figured it’d be fitting, because stuff like that would be a non-issue for most people, but devastating for a bloodthirsty conqueror-type character like Ronan the Accuser or whatever.

hey if the Mind Stone’s whole schtick is mind control, this sounds vaguely plausible, right?

Also, while I’ve finally excised this what-if from my brain and don’t intend to poke at it anymore for now, anyway, feel free to imagine the potential for chaos that is Justin ‘sky-high charisma stat’ Hammer, with an Infinity Stone.

[edupunkn00b]

Arizona's Journal, Ch. 7: I Wanna Come Home

Prev - I Wanna Come Home - All - [ AO3 ]

June 25, 2018 

It seemed like maybe, maybe the fourth time was the charm. The Kid went back to work, nothing under his own name, he said that was too much pressure, made it too easy to let himself drown in his work. In fact, he almost quit, but Dino had convinced him to stay and he did, mentoring and supporting the new batch of designers who’d come in back when he took his leave.

“It’s good,” he’d said. "It's real good." I couldn’t tell if he was trying to convince or himself. Maybe both. “Somebody’ll notice right away if I don’t get up,” he’d said. He was out on his patio, with enough silences between his words that I could hear the crickets out in the grass. I didn’t say his brother would notice. His brother did notice, every time. It’s what had kept him going before.

Now, we talked each night. Well, night for him. And maybe I needed it, too. I fiddled with the ribbon on arrangement the Kid had sent for Jamie's birthday. Whether he visited or not, he sent them every year for her birthday. And her funeral. “So tell me about the new game, Kid.”

“It’s a shooter,” he sighed. “It’s beautiful, snow-covered… Snuck in a little shot of the woods out behind my old school." His lighter clicked and he sucked in a deep breath. "Doom, this is not, but…”

He got quiet again. The team had decided on the overall gameplay while he’d been at Hovedstaden. He never would've okayed guns in one of his games. All it did was make the whole fucking project a reminder of shit he’d rather forget. I listened to him smoke, waiting him for to continue. He didn't. “Are you still working on your other design?”

The insects answered for him. “Yeah,” he said after another slow exhale. "When I can."

After a while, the calls, the hachee warmed over in the microwave, all the stone cold hotties of Denmark couldn’t fill in all the cracks living alone had left him. “I just… I’m not gonna, I swear, Arizona, I’m just…” 

My heart broke at the crack in his voice, this sweet kid. He’d fought so hard every day. And he woke up every morning, wading through those same slimy thoughts asking him if it was worth it.

Another night he’d put me on speaker, the phone resting somewhere near a drawer. I heard the clink of silverware, something sizzling in a pan. His voice echoed against the empty walls of his beautiful apartment. He had everything in Copenhagen, a dream job, money to take care of himself. His last boyfriend had even proposed. The Kid had everything he wanted. Everything but what he needed.

“I just…” He was hard to hear past his tears. “I miss you and Ro and… and Janus. I miss the shop, I miss the stupid Seattle traffic… I miss it all,” His words were choked and he sniffled like he had that day we’d met. “I wanna come home.”

“Then come home, Kid. Come home.”

---

Chronologically, Happily Ever After comes next in this universe:

[dova-70]

Let me tell you something about Squirrel Girl. Doreen Allene Green first appeared in Marvel's super-heroes 1991 as a joke character who helped Iron Man defeat doctor doom, and would only make short appearances until the series "Great Lakes Avengers", who were all joke characters, trying to work to be taken more seriously. She would leave them, because she felt that she was holding them back. How, you ask, was she doing this? She was beating the bad guys so bad, the others didn't have a chance to fight, so they never improved. She would often beat the bad guy before they got there. She defeated Thanos, who, I believe, had the infinity gauntlet, during this time.

She was also part of the U.S Avengers, was a nanny to the New Avengers, and was shown to be, at some point in the future, the leader of the main team of Avengers.

As you might guess, her powers are all squirrel themed; proportional speed, strength, and agility of a squirrel, retractable claws that come from under her nails, knuckle spikes, constantly growing teeth, love of nuts, and the innate ability to speak squirrelese, the language of squirrels. Her most powerful ability, however, is her "cosmic level empathy", which is used to make friends with Tony Stark, a Sentinel, Kraven the Hunter, Galactus, The Rhino, The Hippo, and a skrull, as well as being able to see the good in t-rex-Ultron, and allow him to regrow into something nicer; namely, a metal, laser eyed, oak tree.

She had her own stand alone comic run from 2015-2019, involving an 8-issue short series, a full 50-issue series, and a graphic novel, "Squirrel-Girl Beats up the Marvel Universe", as well as an in-character podcast on Spotify, named "The Unbeatable Radio Show", after her title, "The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl", In 2020, where she had started a radio show, and would answer listener questions, have celebrity guests, and solve an overarching plotline of an art thief who would call in to the show as they were stealing.

She isn't alone in her fight against crime, with her superhero friends "Chipmunk Hunk", "Koi Boi", "Brain Drain", and her non superhero friend, Nancy Whitehead. She also has had several squirrel friends throughout her life, with the standout two being Monkey Joe, (RIP Monkey Joe), and Tippy-Toe.

In her own comic, she's a student at Empire State University, studying computer science, and living with Nancy and her (their) cat, Mew. She teaches a beginner level computer science night class, and has been known to enjoy sightseeing, such as when she travelled with the Silver Surfer to see the Living Tribunal.

There was production on a "Young Avengers" TV series, which would show Doreen in a main role, however, it was cancelled before ever showing. It's largely speculated that The show's female lead, and apparent queer themes, were largely to blame for the show being cut.

Everyone reading should go read squirrel girl. She has the powers of squirrel and girl! She eats nuts and kicks butts!

favorite character from any media BUT it has to be a woman. in the tags now go (pls talk to me about your favorite fictional women pls pls pls pls)

[anthonybialy]

Kevyn Adams Generally Manages Buffalo Sabres Poorly

You’ll tell me the two previous Sabres coaches were a developmental guy known for guiding players who couldn’t drink legally and a soccer executive.  Then you’ll tell me the general manager previously ran a hockey school.  There’s now a contest to see how long one can hold the same undeserved title.  Kevyn Adams proves that continued employment may not be tied to results.  The tendency would be as baffling in anything else as in sports.

The question of why the disappointing worker who hires other workers with the unrelated background keeps his job while the disappointing coach with the unrelated background didn’t has defined this particular depressing offseason.  Adams was presumably involved in hiring the erstwhile bench boss who got canned after another underwhelming campaign, which in turn prompts concerns about whether he knows what he’s doing, either.  Everyone wonders but those in charge.

We’re waiting for Adams’s talents to transfer like the payoff for tanking.  It’s theoretically inspiring to apply expertise from other jobs to a new one.  But universality is not universal.  Even if, say, an usher had the potential to make squad alterations, it still might be wise to go with an established hockey guru.  Hiring someone who’s previously performed the actual tasks is the policy of 31 franchises.

Panic is best focused into motivation.  The Sabres should be acting like they’re trying to locate a kidney.  But they’re still not racing around to find the most experienced hockey officer possible.  I wish Terry Pegula pursued a skilled manager like he does taxpayer money.

There’s more hockey after the regular season.  The chance to keep playing seems like a dream as wild as finding the city of gold.  The team of blue and gold is stuck reviewing questionable draft choices and trades.  At least, they should be.  A decade of ineptness was just the start.

Applying financial principles to personnel might motivate an owner who’s deeply invested in winning money.  The false economy of hiring a bargain manager leads to less revenue.  Seats are as easy to obtain as merchandise.  Spending money to make money is one of the oldest notions in business.  But Pegula can’t get past the first part.

This will also be the last time Adams is a general manager.  Determine qualifications by asking how quickly he’d get a similar role if we ever got our dream of him getting fired.  Imagining him ever serving as another franchise’s general manager is slightly less preposterous than the concept of ever again seeing Ralph Krueger behind a bench.

Like Adams, I’m hoping his job is saved by Lindy Ruff.  It’s nice to share common ground.  We also both want this team to win, although his questionable actions have made that outcome elusive.  The sole source of inspiration will be able to yell about his disappointment in a cathartic release on behalf of us.

Prophets of hockey doom are hoping to be wrong.  No Sabres followers who anticipate despondency are pleased with the prediction.  That’d be like claiming the world will end then being glad when it happens so you can gloat.  We call that the Jerry Sullivan standard.  But noticing regrettable patterns does not mean those who perceive reality correctly favor those repeated lousy occurrences. 

The problem of precedent has rendered hope obsolete.  This continually disappointing team conditioned its followers to be exasperated.  The Sabres are successful if conducting obvious scientific experiments counts.

Downcast Sabres fans aren’t negative: the team’s performance is, and they simply notice.  True negativity comes from excessively optimistic fans who set themselves up for disappointment.  This is the definition of an organization that needs to prove they offer an upside first.  If they acquired players who picked up on tendencies as proficiently as fans do, they might make the postseason.

The cheapest option possible embodies the franchise’s brand.  A manager executing the owner’s vision is great if that means making transactions that’ll lead to a parade with a trophy as the grand marshal.  But trying to win sounds pricey.  The Pegula way is to hire someone without proper abilities so they can spend as little as possible on someone who’ll do the same.  The combination of meager qualifications and gratitude for having the job means Adams will always do his boss’s bidding.  It’s not like he’s able to do more.

Exile has been unparalleled for awhile.  No fan base has ever endured this.  Sabres diehards who claim their woe is unique aren’t exaggerating while venting on social media: going at least four presidential elections between nabbing a playoff slot is an extended ongoing shameful league record an Eighth Amendment violation.  Sisyphus had too rosy a perspective to cheer for the Sabres.

The all-time exclusion tally should inform every single discussion.  Everyone’s noticed but those capable of remedying it.  Staffers don’t seem too concerned.  They reflect the culture created by the proprietor.  A level of dreadful consistency that’s classified as historical hasn’t inspired the Sabres to make massive renovations in the present.

Actions are the important part, which is bad news for the side in question.  They can claim they’re out to win and certainly mean it, but hiring decisions don’t match.  Nonchalance from a team we used to enjoy decades ago is a sign they don’t care about us even if they’d plead otherwise.  Incompetent indifference from the front office makes it sure seem like they don’t care.  The Sabres shouldn’t feel surprised when fans offer their own version, namely apathy.

[dilesxpressions]

Justin Koh

1. Name, Year, Major, and Hometown

Name: Justin Koh | Year: 4th Year | Major: Cognitive Science (Computational Emphasis) | Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia

2. What’s your roman empire?

When was the last time I drank water? (YEAH I SEE YOU GUYS REACHING FOR YOUR BOTTLES NOW)

3. What is the best compliment you have ever received?

"I'm proud of you." - My Dad

4. If your life was a movie what genre would it be (comedy, horror, drama, etc.) and what actor would play you?

I'm by no means a cinephile, but my life is probably a documentary type movie about a monkey trying to fit in with humans. I would play the actor, "3rd monkey" from the movie: Rise of the Planet of the Apes at timestamp 1:47 as shown below.

5. What is something on your college bucket list?

None really, but if I had to pick: DJ a bass house/trap/dnb set at Davis.

6. What’s your guilty pleasure? (song, movie, food etc.)

MY GIRL KATY PERRY HONESTLY MAKES SOME ABSOLUTE BANGERS

7. What are your bad habits?

Time management :^)

8. What are your favorite song lyrics?

"Tell your boyfriend, if he says he's got beef, that I'm a vegetarian so I ain't f*ckin scared of him" -3OH!3

9. Defend your unpopular opinion/ hot take

IN AND OUT IS KINDA MID WHEN DISREGARDING THE PRICE. THE PRICE TAG IS THE ONLY BIG W COMPARED TO OTHER FAST FOODS.IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE YOU ARE WRONG AND IGNORANT.

POPEYES CHICKEN SANDWICH IS BETTER THAN CHICK FIL A. IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE YOU ARE WRONG AND IGNORANT.

CANES HANDS DOWN HAS THE BEST FAST FOOD CHICKEN JOIN. IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE YOU ARE WRONG AND IGNORANT.

SALT AND VINEGAR AND HOT CHEETOS ARE THE BEST CHIPS AND HOT CHEETO PUFFS ARE GOATED. IF YOU SAY OTHERWISE YOU ARE WRONG AND IGNORANT.

COME CATCH ALL THE SMOKE, I'M READY.

(kidding everyones entitled to their own opinion :^), just your opinion is wrong)

10. Describe a time where you had to step up and be a leader?

During my freshman year, the game Overwatch was at the height of its popularity. Being somewhat proficient in the game, I decided to try out for the school's team. Upon my acceptance, I observed two distinct facets: exceptional individual talent that was rarely seen, and the unfortunate suppression of that talent due to an excessive emphasis on individuality and ego. Our early season games and practice scrimmages were disappointingly unfavorable, and the future appeared bleak. However, I recognized the potential for the transformation of individuals into a cohesive unit and took it upon myself, despite my rookie status, to attempt to unite the group of misfits.

Through careful curation of each player's talents and personalities, we slowly but surely cultivated an environment where each individual had the opportunity to express their strengths and opinions. As we built rapport and visibly improved our cohesiveness, the issue of players maintaining their egos in the face of a self-declared rookie team captain gradually dissipated. The initial doubts that plagued each player soon transformed into respect for my leadership, both in and out of the game.

Although we started the season as one of the weakest teams among 180 competing universities, we managed to qualify for the single elimination bracket: ranking us as one of the top 40 teams in North America. Still, we were seeded as one of the worst teams and now faced low expectations from others while the pressure on the team to advance through the competition without dropping a single match was at its peak.

But my appetite for victory (and money :^)) was obvious and insatiable; the team quickly took notice and adopted this zealousness for success.

Without losing a single match, we ascended the "Towers of Doom" and began to catch the attention of casters, analysts, and coordinators. However, it was too late for them to underestimate us. Soon, we were bestowed with the nickname "The Dark Aggies" (Aggie Gaming + Dark Horse of the competition), and we secured a spot in the live quarterfinals held in Phoenix, Arizona. Although our journey concluded with a 5-8th place finish, we were proud of what we had achieved, defying all expectations.

[link if curious to know more]: https://liquipedia.net/overwatch/Tespa_Collegiate_Series/2017