#it’s a machine it’s alive it’s sentient it goes on forever it has a will

[lesbiansanemi]

Watching more doctor who again subjecting y’all to it but honestly I wish that more of the series really capitalized on the fact that the tardis is literally eldritch horror

[8unknowndoee]

!!!!!!! MAGNUS PROTOCOL SEASON 1 EPILOGUE SPOILERS !!!!!!!!!

So, I want to scream. Forever- preferably into the black hole / universal brain altering horrific beauty that is the reality wound.

The next few paragraphs should be proceeded with caution- I might have actually gone insane while writing this and you can tell by the strange paste and everything as it slowly goes down and drowns with other t.v. show references because my mind was racing.

So, I guess don't read if you don't want random unimportant references to Gravity Falls, Teen Wolf and My Babysitter's a Vampire.

Okay, first off. I both live in fear and excitement for the OIAR under Gwen's leadership because she is clueless. She is in the same position of power as Elias as in Archives but the exact opposite on everything else. She has no clue of the horrors that are truly around her, the few externals she has met is nothing in comparison to what Lena must know- to what Elias knew. Unlike Elias, Bastard of the Eye, his eyes are wide open to everything.

Gwen? Gwen has her eyes shut closed tightly and those few moments with the externals she spent was just her squinting at the bright light of horror that the actual world she lives in is. She doesn't even know what to do now that she is appointed Lena's position, she's just waiting there, tapping her nails away on her desk. She doesn't have a clue on what to do. She might have honestly aimed for a position of power she had no clue about, she just wanted the position and maybe the power that came with it within the OIAR without clearly seeming to think through what Lena might have been doing behind closed doors.

She's floundering and maybe if things had been alright, she could have learned slowly- if not in its own spectacularly horrible way but now? Now? Now is actual hell, Sam and the Archivist, in their eyes, presumably died. Colin is most likely dead inside their own work room's servers. The only one who may have had some sort of clue was fired and gone, leaving someone who has their eyes shut leading it all and we still don't know what Teddy might bring to the table.

Also, about the Colin ending, he might actually be dead or that ending became the most fucked version of Soos crawling into the arcade game machine in the world- it'll be that episode of My Babysitter's a Vampire where Rory was taken over by the sentient tree's crossbreed roots of electronic and plant life except it's all in one server machine rather then a school's computer room and crossbreed of him rather then plant life. Which is horrifying if he's still aware.

Which, Hello?

Did the Freddie Program do this separate to the three voices within it, just a machine that has been corrupted in a way similar to the tape recorder being able to bite? Did Jon? Martin? Jonah? Some fucked sense mix of the three's consciousness trying to move things along? Will Jon, who has been shown to place his hands into things via emails and specifically placed statements, send Gwen emails as a way to guide her into doing what he wants, guide Alice or Celia into something else?

In a fucked up sense will Jon become the Eye to this group of people, except more hands on? Will he be something similar to the Web and the Eye in the way where he isn't just watching as the Eye had but also playing a part in it well enough to pull strings along?

Is Jon building his own web of manipulations and schemes in this world, to become a later antagonist? Are the other two aware of this?Is Jon aware of this? I might actually go insane with how many random thoughts my brain is just coming up with as I write this.

Colin- Colin. My bastard, I'm in pain because we saw so little of him, less than Sasha which is why I'm leaving that horrified ending scream not as a 'he's dead!' and more of an horrifying open-ending of Colin pulling a Corey being part of the train stations's electrical manufacturing in Teen Wolf- like, it would be horrifying if he's alive let alone aware of everything that is happening but anything to make the problems here even larger. Colin fighting Jon literally from the inside.

Finally, the smallest but biggest thing of the whole Epilogue, Sam. He's alive! Hadn't doubted that because main character but what of the Archivist- what of the world they landed in? Is it our post-apocalypse world of Magnus Archives or new, crueler/kinder world? The tape recorder is there and we heard from it so we will hear from Sam still in this new world along with those in the OIAR within the computers, phones and lines.

I'm passing out now, the black hole / universal brain altering horrific beauty that is the reality wound has been screamed into.

[radiance1]

Time for me to throw my ideas at you now >:)

Danny is extremely terribly injured and manages to possesses the Batcomputer as a means to hide in the system and slowly regain his energy. He acts as the Batcomputers AI in order to hide in plain sight.

Various ideas I got for this as a funky lil concept (u don’t got to use any but here are some ideas I drummed up:)

- it’s been over a decade and Danny is finally back to full power. One slight issue: Danny has been ingrained with the batcomputer for so long that he’s become one with the machine

- Danny can get harmed through the breaking of the machinery. One of the Bat’s coms break and they freeze as the other Bats hear the AI whimper in pain through their earpieces.

- they simply think that The bat AI became fully sentient and now treat Danny as part of the family and he’s too scared to leave the computer in the fear that they’ll hate him for lying to them and not actually being the useful AI they think of him to be.

- the Bats give him a robot body to help around the premises and are shocked that the AI apparently has superpowers like flight and shooting ice that they definitely did NOT build into the helper bot.

- A hero with superhearing comes into the cave and asks Batman why his computer has a heartbeat.

- Danny finally leaving the Batcomputer after a dozen years and having to break it to the Bats that the AI who cared for them and helped them was actually a real person.

I personally imagine this happening like, before Robin made his first debut. The entire family grows up with Danny as a shockingly sentient AI. Imagine the potential of that idea dude it could be so cool.

*AHEM*

Counter idea

Because Danny has become so ingrained into the Batcomputer that he can feel pain from it.

A virus

A very powerful one that is enough to get through the Batcomputer's pre-made firewalls with any of the bats and Danny himself noticing.

So now at random times he can feel his systems slowing down for no reason, files suddenly disappearing that he knows was there. Some of his systems actually hurt to use.

The Batclan aren't aware of this since 1) The systems slow down by such a miniscule percent that only Danny can really notice, and that's just barely.

2) Danny always manages to replace the lost files since he has them in memory.

3) The systems that Danny gets hurt by aren't ones that the Batclan use often, they still use them, just not as much.

So now one day, the virus after bidding it's time. Finally attacks the Batcomputers core. Y'know what that means? Danny also gets attacked.

He's been ingrained in the computer so long that he basically is and recognized as the core.

The whole virus takeover caused Danny quite a shit ton of pain, and it lead to Danny having to actually get out of the Batcomputer, else he might actually be stuck in the Batcomputer.

Now here's the kicker.

The virus came with him

Just like how Danny spent so long in the Batcomputer that he became fused with it.

The virus spent so long corrupting, deleting and glitching Danny and the Batcomputer, that it became part of Danny.

So, without the Batcomputer's systems to look after, the virus attacks Danny because he is literally recognized as the Batcomputer.

This leads to Danny having gaps in his memories, his ability to think slowing down at random times, being in pain and glitching(like actual glitching and it's quite painful too).

So, because Danny is quite literally alive and basically immortal, he might be stuck with the thing for, wel, basically forever.

But anyways.

So Danny flees the Batcomputer to escape getting trapped in it forever. But the one time he goes out, the whole Batclan is there.

Everyone would notice the cyber attack on their main computer and from the looks of it, it seems to have been going on for a while.

So every tech bat is on deck trying to fight and erase the virus. Now would you feel when you were trying to get a virus out of your computer, only for a kid to fly out?

Safe to say, the batclan wasn't amused with this development. So then they notice that, ever since the kid come out, the virus has gotten suspiciously easy to decode and erase.

So now they think that Danny is the virus.

Not knowing that most of the virus actually attached onto him, mistaking him as the Batcomputer core.

So I'll leave it here for you.

The world is your oyster

[artronenergy]

it’s really funny actually that The Doctor, who is often characterized by their desire to be accepted by humans and tries very hard to not be too alien (multiple times basing their entire presentation upon seeming happier and younger so as to not come off as an unpalpable time god) literally does not care whatsoever about their companions seeing them act sweet and vaguely romantic towards the TARDIS. 

They go out of their way to avoid mentioning regeneration, anything about their species, the number of hearts they have, other companions, etc. unless directly asked (and even then tend to dodge the question) but they’re always shamelessly one step away from making out with that box and everyone just has to play it off as if it’s not the most ??? thing about the Doctor.

Graham/Ryan/Yaz are introduced to the TARDIS when the Doctor runs up and starts stroking the door and whispering to it. The third Doctor compliments the TARDIS’s intelligence and Mike goes “you make it sound like it’s alive” and he’s like “yep” and then promptly leaves forever without clarifying anything. Romana sees him kiss the console within 5 minutes of meeting him. Amy witnesses him calling it “dear” right off the bat. Mel’s like “yeah, not sure what’s going on but they’re basically an old married couple” in one. 

I mean, Bill has to ponder this conversation all the way to the wardrobe:

the way companions have to put up with how defensive he gets over the TARDIS’s feelings

 "Well, that's the best I can do." He patted the console. "The rest is up to you, old girl!"  Ace could never quite get used to the way the Doctor treated the TARDIS like an intelligent living being. "You're letting the TARDIS decide where we go?"  "Not entirely. I'm using the time-path indicator to lead us into the right spatio-temporal segment, and leaving the TARDIS to do the fine tuning."  "How will it - "  "She!" whispered the Doctor. "If you hurt her feelings she'll sulk."  Ace gave him a look. "How will she know?" 

(Timewyrm: Exodus)

The Doctor spread his arms out across the restored console, pressing his cheek against the warm metal. ‘I was worried about you for a while,’ he whispered.  ‘It worries me when you talk to the ship,’ Jamie said. ‘Sssh, you’ll hurt her feelings.’

(The Nameless City)

Evelyn (and certainly many others) even has to listen to him go on about how much he loves his TARDIS and is at the eye rolling stage over it

EVELYN: Doctor, what are you doing? DOCTOR: Tinkering. EVELYN: Tinkering? DOCTOR: That is what I am doing. You just can't beat the satisfying sound of metal on metal. EVELYN: You're quite the busy preoccupied bee. DOCTOR: Really focuses the mind. Besides, she likes it, don't you, old girl. There, you see? I swear she understands every word I say. EVELYN: Good heaven, you talk of her as though she's your favourite pet dog or something. DOCTOR: More like a constant hand to hold. She's always been the woman to me. EVELYN: Oh, thank you very much. DOCTOR: Oh, come now, Evelyn. I didn't know you cared. EVELYN: Doctor, behave yourself. (Both laugh.) EVELYN: Well, I just mean to say, how's a girl supposed to feel when a rickety old blue box holds more attraction? DOCTOR: This rickety old blue box, as you call her, has been the only fixed point in my ever-changing world. Even my own people have let me down. You, my dear Evelyn, will let me down one day. Oh, not in a drastic way, perhaps, but you will find your own path to walk, and you will walk it without me. EVELYN: Oh, here we go. DOCTOR: Companions come and go. Some leave deeper imprints on my hearts than others. But you all go eventually. But not my old girl. She's the only one that shares all my memories.

(Medicinal Purposes)

The important part is that the Doctor never explains shit about this. There’s never a “oh by the way the TARDIS is alive and sentient and that’s why I keep talking to her like that” (possibly because everyone is too bewildered to even try to figure out how to ask why they keep whispering to their ship so it never occurs to the dr to say anything). All of this is just a one hit KO for anyone who knows them, every time it happens, which is pretty much all the time, until they either realize she’s alive or just settle into some form of acceptance that this guy sometimes calls the spaceship “sexy”. 

The five stages of realizing your alien friend is actually for real in love with their time machine (... which the viewers go through as well)

[honesthammie]

Prompt 39: Death wants you to be terrified. But the scariest thing is wanting death.

13th Doctor x female curvy reader

Warnings: mentions of suicidal thoughts, alcohol and drug abuse, domestic abuse, fat phobia

I'm sorry for this. Its really depressing and I've been hesitant on letting you guys see it but I kinda like how it's written. I've made the abuser gender neutral as females can also be abusive. I promise the next one will be much happier!

"Come on (y/n), you can make it! Just jump across and reach for my hand. I promise you won't fall." The Doctors voice echoes across the widening canyon. If you looked down, you would only see pitch black. You didn't know how long you'd fall. Maybe this would be the perfect time to just go for it. Its not like you'd matter, you're only slowing the team down as is.

They wouldn't even be in this mess if you didn't slip and hit the world shattering drill, turning it on full blast. Unfortunately, you smashed the button making it unable to turn it off. Of course the only way you'd be able to turn it off is to actually go towards it. Everyone in the room screamed at you and some raised their tentacles to attack you if the Doctor didn't step in front of you. You know the Doctor noticed you flinching and your eyes gloss over and noticed you bracing for the impact.

You learned over the years to just accept your fate. You can't run from anyone when you weighed this much. You couldn't hide either, which often left you to just accept what was coming and hope nothing broke. Bruises were always easy to cover and so were any cuts but broken bones, that was always on display and you'd have to break your number one rule: never lie. You hated lying. The truth always comes out anyway so why hide it? If you hide it, you get punished worse anyway so why bother?

If you jumped and actually went with the team, you'd get questioned about earlier and about hesitating at jumping. But if you fell, would the Doctor miss you? As much as you hated to admit it, you were absolutely in love with the adorable alien. Why did you hate to admit it? Because she was a goddess and you were a waste of skin and bones. You weren't skinny and you didn't fit in with the team at all. You were only here out of pity.

You remember when you first met the team. You were the only person alive when they searched underneath the hotel. Even the spiders didn't want you. You were at the hotel because you heard about killer spiders and you wanted an out. You could never do it or something would come up stopping you from ending all your misery. You were the complete opposite of the Doctor. She was so brave and said whatever she wanted and didn't really care for the consequences.

You focused on the Doctors sparkling eyes. Despite the situation, she still sparkled with hope and encouragement. She wasn't upset with you. You really wished she was. This would be such an easier decision to make. Your head was pounding and your heart was going faster than her two hearts. Did you even want her upset? You couldn't tell, your head was spinning wildly, one thought going to another without a chance to process the last one.

You had come to a clear decision. You ran back and let momentum do its thing as your feet left the muddy gravel. You felt so free as you glided in the air for a few seconds. It was the most beautiful feeling. No punishment, no tears before going to sleep and no terror of going back home. Just you and gravity.

Then with a clearer mind you regretted your choice. You were horrified. You weren't ready. It wasn't time yet. Graham can't lose you. He'd only recently lost his wife. He'd feel the same as you and that thought terrified you. He'd survived cancer and gained himself a new family. He can't be like you. Ryan needed him, wether he was willing to admit that or not.

Suddenly you panicked and last minute reached your hand out hoping you'd grab something. Anything. You felt a soft warm object and latched on for dear life. You were then lifted up and onto soil. You focused on your breathing a moment and waited for your heart to calm down. You looked up and saw what, or rather who, saved you. You shouldn't have been so surprised to see the Doctors worried face above yours. She gave you a questioning look, knowing the question, you nodded your head and she straightened herself and helped you up.

"That was great (n/n)! So brave of you! Let's go gang, we've gotta turn this drill off before it splits the planet in half!" She shouted as she ran forward, seemingly knowing the way. She didn't let go of your hand until you reached the drill about 10 minutes later. You couldn't help the blushthat formed on your cheeks. The Doctor quickly opened a panel on the side of the drill.

The drill was massive, bigger than the Eiffel Tower and that what was on surface level, it went down much deeper that it had reached halfway to the liquid nitrogen that ran in this cold planet where our magma centre would be. The drill itself was purple and spherical. The panel box was the size of a human head which was about the size of the civilisations sucker pads. Inside were 3 buttons and 1 lever. You needed to type the pattern that would gain the access to the drill and force stop. If it goes wrong, it speeds up rendering this planet uninhabitable.

You watched as the Doctor quickly typed the pattern in. Red,blue,red,red,red,blue,black,black,blue. That was the pattern she quickly pressed in and held the lever down for 10 seconds. Soon the drill came to a halt and the planet was peaceful once again. You all let out a sigh of relief as it stopped.

You made your way back to the chief of the race and explained that they should dismantle and never use that drill again unless they plan to empty the panet of everything it has within. He quickly agreed and the fam made their way back to the TARDIS.

As soon as tye TARDIS was parked on the edge of your solar system, you got into your comfy clothes ready to nap or maybe play a few games to slow your adrenaline until you were tired enough for a full nights rest. You played a few rounds of uno and some poker where you used some bits of metal instead of chips. Eventually everyone had left except you and the Doctor.

You made your way to the doors of the ship and settled down just watching the stars in front of you. If the sentient machine hadn't already been aware of your darkest thought, you would have jumped out there and been amongst them. Just floating eventually turning to nothing but bones drifting, maybe to never be found. All the sights you've seen and yet this is where you were the most impressed. This was your home, your galaxy and because of all the light pollution, you had never been fully aware of how many neighbours you had because you had been literally blind. This was only stuff captured and faked and now, it's forever in your mind.

You heard movement and a shuffle next you. You knew who it was because she was the only other person awake and you knew she was going to ask and not let it drop until you tell her truth. And you were going to give her it but that doesn't mean you were ready to do so but you had to, someone had to know. Maybe you wanted help or maybe just someone to listen and know everything making you mentally naked in front of them.

The Doctor waited a few moments. She was figuring out how to word it without sounding horrible. "Is everything alright at home?" She asked her voice laced with genuine concern. "Sorry if this sounds a bit abrupt but let me explain. You've been really weird lately. You hardly speak and when you its with as few words as possible, you keep going elsewhere mentally and Rassilion forbid anyone getting angry with you! I also noticed how you hesitated today when jumping and I saw your worry and panic when you jumped. I think I know but I can't help you if you don't at least tell me what is going on! And don't change the subject or anything, just answer me please. I lo-. I can't lose you too." Her voice raised a little as she panicked just speaking about it. Halfway through she grabbed both of your hands and continued her speech.

You looked deep into her eyes for any sign of a lie but there wasn't one. Just like at the canyon, her eyes showed nothing but love. Maybe you should tell her, just her. No Yaz, no Graham and no Ryan. Just you, The Doctor and the TARDIS. You looked away for a moment as you collected your thoughts. However, as you opened your mouth and tried to speak, you found no voice. You couldn't tell her about them. Lord knows what she's capable of. But you've been looking for an out for so damn long. Maybe this is it. She's your out, no death involved.

You walked towards a panel in the console and pushed your hands inside and focused. You focused on the worst time it happened. You concentrated on the fear and everything attached. You couldn't tell her, but you could show her. The TARDIS disappeared into the vortex but didn't seem so sure on landing. She was picking it all up, she felt everything you did and she did not like going. "Please baby girl, I need her to know. I need help but I can't tell her. She's my only out that doesn't involve death and that terrifies me! Please. I understand your hesitation but she needs to see." You spoke mentally to the sentient blue box. She made a sad sound as she gently landed in the moment.

The Doctor looked at you bewildered. Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape. You walked up to her and grabbed her hand reassuringly. You led her to the doors that separated her from your darkest secret. You took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.

You appeared to be in the basement of your house. You walked up the stairs and took her to a storage room where she could see it happen. You sat in silence for a few minutes only the sounds of breathing and your heartbeat could be heard.

You knew this day off by heart, it plagued your nightmares often. It all started to sweet and went sour so quickly. At this time you were currently on your way back from doing your weekly shop to Tescos making sure you didn't forget their vodka and gin on your way to pay. Thankfully, the shop was only 10 minuets away and you doubted that the TARDIS would make you wait longer than nessacary. Just as the Doctor opened her mouth to speak the door opened and in walked an 18 year old you.

You set the bags down and started sorting the items into their new places. The canned foods go in the cupboard and the meat goes into the fridge. There were loads of food and stuff to go through and place properly. After you placed the last can of baked beans into the cupboard, the door swung open, nearly breaking the door.

They came home from their dealers place early. They stunk of weed and alcohol and had a little white powder around their nose. They looked like they had a good time until they had to come home. It was their dealers birthday so he was having a brothel themed party meaning there were strippers, pole dancers and prostitutes as well. The dealer was a rich guy who practically ran this city. The cops couldn't do anything as he could always bail himself out of jail.

They looked you in your comfy clothes and scoffed. They looked angry. "Why aren't you in your normal clothes babes? I thought I told you to throw away all of that shit. Come on now. Don't tell me I wasted all my well earned money on those clothes I specifically chose for you?"

You shuddered, both in the past and now except now they only made bile rise into your throat. You were so young and vulnerable. Now you know better.

The past you quickly scampered off to get changed. After only 5 minutes you reappeared in what was sexy school girl. The blue miniskirt covered less than most underwear so you were forced to wear a thong. The shirt was a bralet that barely covered your nipples. Your hair was in pigtails and you wore thigh highs. The sight made you silently sick in your mouth. You looked pathetic and weak.

You looked at them expectingly. You were waiting for your next order from them. They seemed to drool at the sight of you. "That's better babes. Why didn't you go shopping like that? Show the world your fat ugly figure? I want you to walk out there and see that no one else wants you but here I am, loving you. I am the only one who will ever like you in the way we have now. Your lucky I've had some fun tonight. All I want is my vodka and a new blunt darling"

You quickly went and grabbed their stuff and walked towards them as they settled in front of the TV. They turned the TV on and put Love Island on. How you hated that show. It made you feel bad for being the size you are. The women on there were beautiful but you also knew that, that kind of beauty costs money. So while your partner had fun watching the show for the romance, you watched it to spot what part of them was bought and what was real. Almost all the women had fake teeth and breasts. You hated how your partner would make snide comments on how they looked compared to you.

"You should be looking like Becky ya know. Beautiful teeth, big perky tits and a fucking great ass. What do you have? Flabs!" And there was the first comment of the day. The first of 30, you counted.

"Yeah well you are fucking broke so I can't look like fucking fake ass Becky or the others!" You thought. Then the Doctor gave you a look of shock and pity and then you realised you said that aloud. Not loud enough for them to hear you but enough for the Doctor.

"Make yourself fucking useful and make me some dinner. I fancy a steak and chips." They ordered as you got up and waddled over to the kitchen. A few minutes in you realised you put too much oil in the pan for the steak but the steak was already in and cooking quick. So quick that it started to smoke just a little bit. You tried blowing it away from them before they realised that you fucked up their dinner but ut was too late. They were already on their feet a marching towards you.

"I'm so sorry. I accidentally poured too much oil in. I'm so sorry. I have a spare steak, you can have my meal for tonight, I could do with skipping a meal anyways, helps me lose weight!" Past you was panicked and present you wasn't much better. Even though you were safe from them, they still made you uneasy. If you were to ever see them again, you'd freeze. They made your blood run cold. Even their voice sent unpleasant shivers down your spine.

"You better make me another steak but I still have to punish you. You fucked up, a lesson needs to be learnt." They said scarily politely. They grabbed your left arm and marched you towards the sink. They also grabbed the burning pan and pinned you so you had no escape as they poured the boiling oil onto your skin. You knew not to scream do you bit into your other arm knowing a bite out of it is better than causing more punishments for screaming.

When they were done left to watch the TV and you knew what that meant. You had to cook the spare steak and make there meal before you can get proper treatment at the hospital. Through your tears of agony, you quickly ran your burnt and bleeding arm under the cold water of the sink. You bit deeper into your other arm and tasting blood, but thay didn't stop you until the left one had cooled down. Then you got an old shirt, ripped 2 pieces of fabric off and wrapped them around both arm Injuries. You then continued their meal.

Once they had the meal they kicked you and punched you in the stomach because the chips were slightly cold and then they drove you to the hospital as they promised. When you had left you didn't realise you had been crying until a drop fell on your arm. You walked out of the storage room and sat on the sofa, turning the TV off.

The Doctor looked shocked for a moment before walking over and kneeling in front of you. The Doctor went silent for a moment. Before she could speak, you decided to speak first.

"I couldn't tell you because I couldn't think if a nice way of telling you. I didn't want to appear weak to you." You cried as your voice cracked in the middle due to the tears and the strain. The Doctor looked at you in pity and disappointment.

"This does not make you weak. Being abused does not make you weak. Because being abused is like being tortured by someone who supposed to love you and cherish you. They are meant to protect you from danger not be the danger. I would never hurt you. I know that I put you in risky situations but believe me, I would never intentionally put you in danger. You mean too much to me" The Doctor softly spoke with tears making a little river down her soft cheeks and onto your black carpet below.

"Before I met them, I was like you or Yaz. I was so happy at everything. Very little could bring me down. But I met them and started dating them and suddenly, my world of sunshine faded to grey. There was no light. I wanted to die Doctor. When you found me at that spider hotel, I wanted to be free from them as I couldn't do it. I can't because they'd kill me. I don't want to be alive whilst I'm with them. I have so many scars from either them or me trying to end my own life and that the scariest thing. Death wants us to be terrified but wanting to die is so much more terrifying Doctor, I know that." You cried as you emptied all you could to her. The Doctor was silent for a moment, taking in everything you said. Waves of emotion flashed through her, anger, sadness, pity and something you couldn't quite place.

"You said wanted. That's past tense. You said wanted to die. What changed? What made you want to live?"

"You did. You saved me from the spiders. You gave me a temporary out of the relationship for a while. You made me smile for the first time in 3 years! You made me laugh. The world of grey is now full of sunshine and rainbows Doctor. You also saved me today. When I jumped across that canyon, I jumped to end my life. I made a mistake that nearly ended a planet! If I wasn't so fat and clumsy maybe i-"

"Don't you dare say that! You are not fat (n/n). Yes you have more plush to your body but you are not fat. I hate that word. Its such a nasty word. You are gorgeous, amazing and so brilliant. You can't see what I see and I really wished you could for just one moment. You are worthy of being loved and cared for. You are precious, rare, one of a kind. I've never met anyone like you. There's always some skinny, fake bodied and caked up women but there's no one with as much natural beauty as you! Let's get back to the TARDIS and we'll talk more when looking at the stars because I can see that being here isn't doing you any favours" The Doctor spoke with such passion that you started to believe that her words held more than those of a supporting friend would.

Once the TARDIS was parked in the Milky Way you settled by the door once again and found yourself accompanied by the sweet alien. You both sat there for a moment just content with wrapping your heads around what's just happened. You looked over to the blonde and noticed how the stars made her glow in such an ethereal way that you felt almost compelled to worship her. Maybe you should after everything she's done for you. Her eyes sparkled with si many emotions from the past senario.

"Are you still with them?"

"Why do you think I never left this place? I mean even if could, I wouldn't want to but it's mainly because if I go back home, I'll come back with more injuries. I feel safer with you. You are my sunshine and rainbows and they are my storm clouds. Whilst I'm here, I'm alive and mostly unbroken. Whilst I'm there, I'm as alive as a puppet and severely broken. I can't leave, not on my own anyway."

The Doctor looked at you in thought. "The starlight compliments you. You look so pretty and almost angelic. I just wish they never hurt my angel. My innocent angel had broken wings and I'm going to fix what the Devil broke, I promise. Just hold on, I'm going to take us somewhere."

You held the nearest crystal as the TARDIS transported you somewhere but it seemed like the sentient machine was determined to take you there as quick as she could. As you opened the doors you noticed a familiar smell of weed mixed with alcohol. You heard the familiar tune of Love Island and knew exactly where you were. You were home. The Doctor saw your hesitation and whispered softly, "I want you to pack everything you want. I've written a note for them to find. I'm going to put it on the bed. If they notice you scream for me and I'll be there. They will not hurt you much, hopefully not at all. I just need to do something in the TARDIS before I help you." She turned and left into the TARDIS and disappeared down a corridor.

The atmosphere sent chills down your spine and you were frozen. The TARDIS seemed to notice and words of encouragement were sent into your head which helped you move towards your bedroom. You quickly buy quietly opend your suitcase and started to fill it with clothing and hygiene products. As you entered the bathroom a bottle of their shampoo fell into the tub giving you away. You knew you only had so long before they came in and hurt you so you closed the door and barricaded it with whatever you could.

As you pushed the last cabinet to the pile they roared through the wooden door. "Let me in you fat dumb bitch. You've been gone for 3 weeks and you've got some balls coming back! You're lucky I haven't burned all your shit! Where have you been?"

Your heart ran at an extremely fast pace nd you knew only one person could help you now. And so you screamed her name so loud it hurt your throat bit that didn't stop you. You screamed until you heard talking. You couldn't understand what was said but suddenly a thud was heard and then silence.

"Hey Starlight! It's only me. I've taken care of them. They're not dead but in a venishion aikido. They can't move, they're paralysed. You can come out and finish packing"

You moved everything out of the door and opened it to a view you expected. The Doctor with 2 fingers to their pulse point on their neck. The Doctor smiled at when they saw you. You finished packing and zipped the bag up. Then Yaz walked in with her police uniform on and arrested them for domestic violence and many other things. Now you understood why The Doctor left, it was to get Yaz as a back up option to completely take them out of your life.

The Doctor helped open doors for you as you got your room and you set the suitcase to one side to empty another day. You both sat down on your bed. The sound was filled with nothing but 2 lifeforms breathing and the TARDIS faint buzzing. You two stayed like this, staring into each other, trying to read the others emotions. But we all know what The Doctor is like, she can't stay silent for long.

"I had to save you because as long as you were with them, you weren't ever going to be truly happy. I didn't want my big bright star to turn into a black hole, I wanted her to be a supernova. My Starlight deserves to be happy."

"You keep saying my Doctor. And you asked if I was still with them and then when I basically said yes, you quickly, as in a rush, sent us home so I could leave them. You keep saying all these things about me. You held my hand from the canyon to the drill. You are always the first to check on me and you always make sure I'm OK first even if I'm the farthest person from you! Doctor, be honest, I don't want any more bullshit. Doctor why?" You spoke softly but with determination. The Doctor blushed and shifted her gaze to the stars and quietly gulped. She knew this day would come. The day her secret was revealed. And she dreaded her answer and she dreaded your reaction. And whilst she figured out what to say, you already knew the answer.

You gently grabbed her chin and made her look at you. Once her gaze caught yours, you smiled and placed your lips to her soft ones. Quickly she caught up and kissed you back with all the love and passion she could muster. She wanted to relay that she did love you and that she would do exactly as she said earlier, she would cherish you.

As for you, you smiled. You finally had an out that didn't end in death but instead ended with the same love that you yearned for, for years.

[themangledsans0508]

Is this Okay?

Read on Ao3

Summary: Marceline learned a lesson from her mother, the Vampire King, and Simon. Everything Stays. No matter what you try to do to change it.

Words: 1713, Oneshot

Warnings: None

Characters: Marceline Abadeer, Bonnibel Bubblegum, Peppermint Butler

Ships: Bubbline

Additional Tags: fluff, mild hurt/comfort

It had been two weeks since vampires returned to Ooo and Marceline had slain them all again, in the process getting turned again. She thought non-stop about the Vampire King’s words, how their cycle would continue forever if she didn’t try to change their outcomes.

But she did try, and nothing changed. She was still a vampire.

In all honesty, she didn’t care anymore. She forgot how nice it was to be mortal, but how horrible it was at the same time. The cons outweighed the pros, and she was resigned to accept it. She’d live forever, watch all the people she loved die, except for two.

Simon and Bonnibel.

Simon, she had mixed feelings about, because while he was immortal, he wasn’t himself. One day, she’d save him. Saving him might make him mortal, and then she’d lose him.

Against her better judgement, she reached for her phone. She tapped before she could change her mind and let the fish circle her ear. It rang.

And rang.

And rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey Bonnie,” Marceline said quietly.

“Marcy, what are you doing still up? It’s almost one in the afternoon,” Bonnie asked. Marceline felt under the spotlight, but there was no backing down now. She had called and now she had to ask.

“I haven’t slept. In a few days really. Do you remember a few weeks ago when you said that if I wanted, I could move into the castle?”

“Yeah?” Bonnie’s voice sounded hopeful, and Marceline felt guilty.

“I’m sorry, this is misleading. I wanted to ask if I could drop by sometimes. I like having my own space, but like I also want to be,” she hesitated and cautiously continued “I want to be living with my girlfriend. Sometimes, but just keep my house. In case or whatever.” Marceline heard the clicking of something being put down and the shifting of clothes and she figured she had called while Bonnie was doing an experiment.

“That’s okay. I don’t mind. Honestly, I miss you. Miss how we used to be. Like, domestically. Not everything else. That was bad. You’re welcome over whenever you want, I don’t know if you want your own room or-”

“Bon, if you’re okay with it, I’d like to share your room,” Marceline requested. She braced herself for dismissal or decline but she was met with silence.

“Colour stays in my clothes,” Bonnie ordered. Marceline’s ears perked up and she practically jumped off her bed. “No going in the lab while I’m experimenting, something could go wrong and someone could get hurt. It’s a safety issue, not because I don’t want you there. Unless you’re careful, then you can hang out there.”

“Those are some pretty easy rules to follow,” Marceline stated.

“They’re supposed to be, I’m not going to strap you down and tell you that you can’t do this or that.”

“Are you doing anything important right now?”

“Besides cleaning the last remaining remnants of the King of Ooo ruining my lab? No.”

“So I could come over right now?”

“Yes, except it's daylight.”

“I have an umbrella.” She heard Bonnie laugh on the other end.

“You are so stubborn. Be careful, okay? I don’t need a crisp staining my hallways.”

“Pff, it’ll be fine. See you in a bit, Peebles.”

Marceline may have been too hasty, and in her rush accidentally stuck her arm out of the shade and got burned, but that was fine because of her healing powers. She flashed Finn and Jake a wave when she came across them to raised eyebrows in the Candy Kingdom. She slipped into the castle without the Banana Guards noticing due to their own lack of attention and closed her umbrella, leaning against it.

An angry mint stalked towards her and pointed a gloved hand at her.

“If you are here to be turned mortal again, you’ll have to wait! The Princess has not even begun rebuilding the machine, and I hope you have prepared properly for the potential consequences of your actions after you were poisoned and almost perished! May I also request you refrain from placing the Princess in harm’s way?”

“Move over, candy man.” Marceline nudged him out of the way with the tip of her umbrella. “I’m a vampire for good. If I catch you trying to stake me I’ll drain all the red from your body. Where’s Bonnie?” Peppermint Butler huffed and adjusted his suit.

“She’s organising her lab. If you do her any harm I will make sure your fate is worse than death.” Marceline rolled her eyes.

“Heard that before, Minty.” She walked across the floor, her heels clicking against the solid candy floor. She could hear Peppermint Butler mumbling things under his breath but she elected to leave well enough alone. She navigated by memory to the lower halls, pausing at the lab doors. She hesitated before knocking.

“Come in!” Marceline stepped through the doorway and quickly reacted when she saw a glass beaker falling. She dived down and caught it, rubbing her neck sheepishly when she handed it back.

“You gotta be careful Bonnie, that could’ve shattered.” Bonnie carefully put the contents of her arms into the sink and dusted her hands together, leaning against the counter.

“I have plenty more, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world,” Bonnie said calmly. Her body language was a different story, her hands fidgeted and her eyes looked everywhere but Marceline’s. She tapped the toe of her shoe against the floor. “How long do you think you’ll be staying?”

“Want me gone already?” Marceline joked. Bonnie frowned.

“No, I’d love to have you here full-time, I was just curious how much time I’ll have with you before you go back to your house.”

“I don’t know, I just want to be here with you for a while. Even if Mints wants me gone.”

“Peps just doesn’t trust you, he’s skeptical of everyone,” Bonnie explained.

“I’ve literally been around you longer than he’s been alive, if I was going to do anything I would’ve done it seven centuries ago,” Marceline deadpanned. Bonnie pushed herself away from the counter.

“I know you would’ve and I trust you completely.” She placed a tender hand on Marceline’s cheek. “I’d trust you with my life.”

“Same. And I have multiple times. But if the little dude comes for me I will shatter him into a million pieces and throw him out the window.”

“Please do be careful with him, it’s such a pain to have to put him back together piece by piece,” Marceline grumbled something under her breath and reluctantly nodded in agreement.

~

She was fidgeting.

That in and of itself wasn’t usual, Marceline was typically always moving in one way or another. This time, however, she was nervous.

Not because she was sleeping next to Bonnibel, on the contrary sleeping beside her was actually comforting. It was the fact that she had a question to ask that she wasn’t sure she had her own answer to.

“Bonnie?” she spoke quietly in case her partner was asleep. She felt shifting beside her and didn’t have to turn to know Bonnie was looking at her.

“Yeah?” She took a few deep breaths and felt a warm hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Bonnie, are you okay with me being a vampire?” The words hung in the air for a time, and Marceline could tell Bonnie was choosing her words carefully before saying them. The fingers on her shoulder tightened its grip.

“Marcy, look at me.” She did, her eyes meeting Bonnibel’s. Her face was unreadable, which was normal but did little to put Marceline at ease. She took Marceline’s hand and held it in between them. “When I first met you, you were a vampire. It didn’t bother me back then, why would it bother me now?”

“I don’t know, I just,” she sighed, leaning back slightly, “I’m a freak. I have to drink the colour red, I can’t go outside during the day, I can’t eat garlic, your butler was so worried I could go crazy he’s been getting things to stake me with! My heart doesn’t beat unless I make it, I’m basically permanently cold, I don’t need to breathe ever. I committed genocide on my entire species except for one other vampire!” She broke eye contact before whispering, “I’m a freak. You’re a princess. At least when I was human, I was able to be normal. Like we could be a normal couple.”

“Marceline, I’ve always loved you for you. I don’t care if my sleep schedule gets thrown off, I don’t care if my entire kingdom goes pale. We haven’t used garlic here in centuries I can barely remember what it tastes like. And us being a normal couple?” she laughed and smiled, “I’m a sentient piece of gum that rules a kingdom she made from scratch that is also a lesbian. You’re a half-demon half-vampire who’s a rockstar and a queen and also bisexual. The word ‘normal’ and ‘us’ go together like two electrons.” Her smile faltered.

“If I’m honest, I didn’t want you to turn human again. For entirely selfish reasons. I didn’t want to lose you one day. But that was unfair to you, and it’s your life. I hate to say it but I was happy when you got turned back. It saved me a lot of work. I was going to try and find some way to prevent ageing, just because of my own fears.”

“That kind of defeats the point of being mortal,” Marceline pointed out.

“I know. That’s why I said it was selfish. For my own reasons I never wanted you to die. Either way, you would be ageless either naturally or by my doing, so in the end, I didn’t mind. Vampire or human, you’re still Marceline. That’s all I care about.” Marceline smiled at her.

“Bonnibel Bubblegum showing emotions?” She leaned forward and pecked her lips.

“Don’t make me regret it.” She started to turn away before pausing, looking back at Marceline with a sly grin. “Actually, there’s one thing that being a vampire has over being a human?”

“What?”

“It’s kind of hot.” Even dead, some hue came to Marceline’s cheeks as she playfully shoved Bonnibel off the bed.

[salty-ironstrange-shipper]

Some Ironstrange Fic Recs to help us ignore Endgame

(complete fics only because we need it)

Anew. | In death, there was no glory, no redemption, no salvation.Only darkness and ice—or that was what Tony thought. He closed his eyes in a Siberian bunker and opened them again on his 41st birthday, with War Machine flying into the distance. | Mature | Words: 130516 

Rewriting Icarus | Stephen and Tony, from the beginning to the end and beyond. | Teen and Up | Words: 23504

Burden of Proof | Based on a prompt/headcanon from my dear rinn aka Maevee: "I do have a tiny headcanon just of Christine meeting Tony and fangirling out a bit, like maybe while she's at work so she's struggling to be professional. Strange tells her he's dating Tony Stark and she doesn't believe him, so he brings her proof." | General Audiences | Words: 2562

No, He’s Your Son | peter, on the phone: dad i forgot my homework can you drop it off in the seminar hall it's empty don't worry strange: ok strange, walking out of a portal into a hall filled with students: peter, loudly: EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM OWES ME FIVE DOLLARS I TOLD YOU MY DAD WAS A WIZA- | General Audiences | Words: 1420

(Somewhat) Holy Matrimony | Dear ______, You are formally invited to the wedding of Anthony Edward Stark and Stephen Vincent Strange October 1st 20XXPlease refrain from bringing any weapons of mass destruction Superpowers to be kept to a minimum Villains are not viable plus ones | General Audiences | Words: 9023

15 Million | For every alternate reality there were ten thousand alternate realities from that. And from those ten thousand more. And then ten thousand more off each of those. And so it goes. The Avengers win once. There’s ten thousand versions of it. Stephen Strange doesn’t know what to make of the fact that Tony Stark seems to be *his* victory. | Explicit | Words: 2766

Hush, Hush | Five times Tony and Stephen keep their relationship secret (not very well) and one time Tony said fuck it. | General Audiences | Words: 8522

Silence Must Be Heard | Tony has been wearing a wedding ring since forever. So long, in fact, that nobody ever questions the lack of a spouse on his side anymore and just teases him for having it. | General Audiences | Words: 1346

132 | Ninety-nine point eight percent of humans have a soulmate mark that tells them the age their soulmate will be when they meet them. Tony Stark has a mark. It's just that his is...different than most people's. (Or: six people who aren't Tony Stark's soulmate, and one who is.) | Teen and Up | Words: 9225

Strange Seas | Defeating the Mandarin had come at the cost of the Ancient One’s life, and while Stephen Strange was trying to save her, the Mandarin’s ten rings of power slipped away in search of new bearers. Now he and his faithful (if dour) companion, Wong, must try to recover them before a new Mandarin can emerge to terrorize the world. Stephen is prepared for fell magics and formidable warriors -- but Tony Stark catches him entirely unawares. Tony Stark was sailing to London to take possession of his father’s offices and factories there when his ship was beset by pirates. Now he’s a prisoner with a magical and semi-sentient artifact buried in his chest, tasked with the impossible and his life on the line. The appearance of a pair of sorcerers seeking the ring that keeps him alive is the very last thing he needs. | Explicit | Words: 74990

I am here | There’s a technical reason Stephen must surrender the Time Stone to save Tony’s life. It has to be done, and that’s enough for him to do it. But just in case, the universe decides to give him a personal reason as well. | Mature | Words: 11708

T For Tony | Your soul mark is the first letter of your soulmate's name. Stephen has an 'A'. But he's in love with Tony. Cue anxiety, jealousy, angst. | General Audiences | Words: 2794

Tony Stark's secret husband | It’s not like they wanted to keep the secret because they didn’t. They never spoke about going public with their wedding, and nobody but for tabloids ever asked either Stark or Stephen about their romantic lives so, again, Tony wouldn’t blame either himself or Stephen for keeping it between the two of them. | General Audiences | Words: 2870

something taken, something new | The ChronicConnection implement and app allows a person that lives with chronic or illness-induced pain to transfer their burden temporarily to a willing loved one. Tony and Stephen sign up as beta testers. | Mature | Words: 14541

Of They and Them | When faced with the brink of death, Stephen is forced to pull one last spell out of his sleeve. It's deemed to fail anyways. Except it doesn't. A full fusion can only be done by the two most compatible souls in the universe. Well, aren't they lucky. | Explicit | Words: 13212

Kairos (n.) | The perfect, delicate, crucial moment. | Mature | Words: 10179

Absence Makes the Heart... | Stephen Strange goes away for awhile, to combat magical threats and train new proteges as needed. Tony Stark misses him, and maybe he does a few sentimental things... like wear Stephen's clothes, and sleep in his loft... and trade stories with his ex. But Tony's not pining. He's not. (He is.) | General Audiences | Words: 4961

Five Times Tony Saw Stephen Naked and the One Time He Helped | Tony isn't entirely sure how he feels about the Sorcerer Supreme. He is sure, however, that he's seen enough of him to make those feelings even more complicated. | Not Rated | Words: 7117

i babysat god and he stabbed me with a fork | If these two idiots don’t sort out their shit real soon, Loki is going to stab everyone in this room and then himself. | Mature | Words: 11395

Peter Parker's Homecoming | Five-year old Peter Parker anxiously waits to go to his new home, where his adopted parents, Tony and Stephen Stark-Strange await his arrival. | General Audiences | Words: 2346

Only a Matter of Time | Captured by aliens, mistaken for a mating pair, Tony and Stephen find themselves having the universe’s most awkward honeymoon. | Explicit | Words: 6056

[howtohero]

#269 Drones

Drones! They’re like robots, but you don’t have to worry about their feelings. But you really should worry about their feelings, non-sentient machines have been known to spontaneously develop feelings and revolt against their masters from time to time. Drones are one of the greatest things to come out of a Weird Factor induced sci-fi technological revolution. (It’s that and sliced sliced bread. Think of sliced bread, except its sliced. In the same way that sliced bread was an incredible innovation for being bread that’s sliced.) Drones can be programmed to assist with all manner of tasks, though as a superhero you’ll generally encounter three main types: Helper drones, spy drones, and attack drones. Today, you’re gonna listen to me drone on and on about each of them.

Helper Drones Drones are the ideal employees for a superhero. They can work round the clock, you don’t have to worry about maintaining your secret identity around them, and they don’t have that pesky “I’m only human” excuse. Because they’re not humans! They’re machines! And that’s better. Helper drones can do all sorts of stuff that superheroes need to have done, but don’t necessarily have the knowhow or technical expertise to do on their own. They can sequence DNA, run facial recognition software, check fingerprint records, make omelettes, tie shoes, dry clean uniforms, generate snappy one-liners. They’re everything and anything you could ever dream and hope for in a sidekick/assistant/omelette chef. One thing I should really point out though, is that you shouldn’t get too attached to your helper drones. I wouldn’t even name them. You see, drones can’t last forever; they’ll fall into a state of disrepair soon enough. Honestly, you’ll probably spill juice on them and cause them to short circuit. I mean really, how many times do I have to tell you not to drink juice in your hideout. (If you’re a vampire, this goes doubly for blood, which is the juice of the body.) Juice makes everything sticky and the stains are impossible to get out of your uniform. Juice is for civilians only. Not superheroes. Write that down I beg of you. So, since drones are prone to break down eventually, and since they cannot even reciprocate due to the fact that they have cold feelingless circuit boards in place of hearts, it really doesn’t make sense to get too attach- Ah, what am I saying. Of course you’re gonna fall in love with your funky android pal, and you know what? You should! Power to you! In fact, I’d say you should sooner grow attached to your drone companions than you should the people in your life. People die, or they change, they won’t necessarily be around forever. Drones will never leave you. And so what if they break down! You can just fix them! Or transfer their cpu into a newer, better drone! Your drone is gonna live forever! And they’re gonna love you forever! At least, until some villainous vandal gets their hands on them and reprograms them to feel otherwise...

Spy Drones Drones are also great for spying. They can sneak around where humans can’t. They can be small. They can be noiseless. They can be fitted with cameras. Spy drones are a favorite of much of the villain community. In fact, so many villains use them that at any given time, any superhero hideout, space base, or headquarters is probably crawling with dozens of spy drones. There was a time where there were hardly any superhero locations that weren’t thoroughly compromised. Those were dark times indeed, but we persevered! Superheroes got really good at communicating in code. They also got really good at spreading misinformation to the baddies. A skilled enough misinformer can convince, trick, or manipulate bad guys in to doing exactly what they want. Convince bad guys that you’ve located their hideouts in order to convince villains to come out of hiding. Make villains think their are valuables or weapons in places where you’ve set up ambushes. (Haha, remember when we noticed some of Dr. Brainwave’s spy drones in our workspace and we convinced him that the house was on fire and he ran outside in his underwear and then a squirrel bit his toe. Ha, good times... Oh god, I miss him so much.) Still, it became difficult to continuously talk in code or lies, and many superheroes found themselves accidentally leaking sensitive information to bad guys thanks to their spy drones. 

Luckily, the bad guys ended up solving that particular problem themselves. You see, there were so many spy drones everywhere, and all of them pretty much looked the same. They were designed to look as inconspicuous as possible, they’d often resemble things like dust or ants or pies. It got to a point where supervillains couldn’t keep track of which spy drones were theirs and which ones belonged to other villains. This caused a lot of issues when it came to crediting crimes and securing their villainous legacies. So a summit was called. A summit of evil. (Oh hey, I remember that. They were booked at the same hotel where we were holding our conference for parenthetical commenters. That was a wild weekend.) It was decided there that every supervillain needed to come up with their own original design for their spy drones, so that the world would know who was really spying on them, and fear or despair or whatever. This turned out to be great for us, the good guys, because now every villain was designing drones that could be easily spotted and identified. Most villains just designed drones that were “on theme” for their own personal villainous brand. So now, all heroes had to do was be on the lookout for flying skulls and crossbones or mechanical versions of their enemies’ insignias lying around their bases. It’s never been easier to avoid being spied on by a drone. 

Of course, you should also be checking your own helper drones every so often to make sure they haven’t been tampered with. Some villains can’t afford their own drones. (Because somebody keeps stopping them from doing their job.) So they just sneak into superhero bases and reprogram their helper drones to act as unwitting spies for them. I recommend doing a weekly check up and diagnostic test on all your drones. (Or more often, if you know your base has been broken into. Don’t just not check your drones if somebody breaks in but you’ve checked them yesterday.) When you find a spy drone though, it is best to disable it quickly and quietly. Take it out before it realizes its been made. Otherwise, you run the risk of activating any more hostile programming it might have...

Attack Drones Attack drones will really just mess up your whole day. They can’t be reasoned with. They can’t be tricked. They can’t be distracted. And they really want to kill you. In fact, it’s the only they’ve ever wanted and ever will want. However, they also are not really alive, and you need to use that to your advantage. When fighting attack drones you’re going to want to be as brutally violent as possible. You want your blows to be quick, precise, and powerful. Make every hit count, because the longer the drone is functioning, the smarter its getting. Attack drones are able to learn their enemies. They’ll analyze every move you make, extrapolate what moves you’re likely to make, and develop counterattacks that are sure to take you out. The best way to take an attack drone is with an electromagnetic pulse. That’s the best way to shut down any machine. However, it’s not a solution that comes without risk. If you’re fighting just one attack drone, then fine, a very localized EMP will take it out with minimal issue. But what kind of villain just sends one measly attack drone to take out their most hated enemies. (Only the poor ones.) You’re way more likely to find yourself facing down hordes of attack drones at one time. This makes things way more complicated. If you set off a large EMP you might be able to clear the field but you also run the risk of frying your own tech. Or your cyborg allies. Or someone’s pacemaker. 

When fighting large groups of attack drones, the best thing to do is confuse them. Trick them into firing on one another. Teleport around, or use clones, mirrors, or magic mist to confuse their targeting systems until they overload and explode. Convince them that they’ve already completed their mission objective by dousing yourself in ketchup and playing dead. (Or, if you’re a vampire, that human juice we talked about before.) Attack drones often don’t have the computational power of helper or spy drones and so they’re much dumber and single focused. If you can confuse them, you can beat them. Once you’ve defeated a legion of attack drones, you pretty much get to keep them. Reprogram them into security sentinels or, if you’re savvy enough, you can make them heavily armed helper drones and have them buttle for you! With drones, the possibilities are endless!

[bigskydreaming]

So, House of X #2....plot hole or lie?

When Destiny is confronting Moira in her third life, she tells Moira she has at most ten or eleven lives. Because, Irene says...if she dies as a child, before her mutant powers manifest, then she’ll die for good, her powers won’t make her reincarnate.

Except.

Just a few pages before that, it goes:

“Moira’s second life began in utero. It was the womb birth of a fully sentient being who had a perfect recollection of her prior life.”

Moira explicitly states that she was aware, even while she was still in the womb.

Which means, she was born with her powers already manifested.

So how can she die for good, if she’s killed before they manifest ‘as a child’....if she already has them in the womb?

Either that makes no sense and contradicts itself....or Irene just flat out lied to Moira.....

Which she has great reason to do...if Moira KEPT doing what she’d done for her first three lives, and just kept reincarnating over and over in an endless eternal loop.

It was only the threat of permanent death, being told she only has a finite number of lives...that got Moira to switch gears, and start working to preserve the mutant race as a whole.

BUT. Not just that.

It also meant....Moira started working on preserving HERSELF for as long as necessary in each timeline, in order to try and help the mutant race survive and flourish.

And in her last life before this current one, the one that goes all the way to a thousand years in the future in Powers of X....Moira survives that whole millennium, by piggybacking her knowledge of genetics and Logan’s powers.

Which means, that previous life before this one....the ENTIRE timeline as a whole, advanced further than it ever had before....before Moira’s ‘reset button’ sent them all back to the start of her personal timeline.

Where this time around, at her prompting, Xavier and Magneto acted together...and this ultimately resulted in the Krakoan society we see forming now...as well as the reincarnation process, for all mutants as a whole.

So far, House of X and Powers of X made it seem like all of this, everything that’s come before, is about Moira’s machinations, with the help of Xavier, Magneto and Apocalypse....to keep the mutant race alive and flourishing.

But what if ALL of that is a red herring?

And all along, this is ultimately about DESTINY’S machinations...by manipulating Moira herself into believing she has a finite amount of lives to ‘succeed’ in....

Resulting in Moira undertaking actions that not only benefit the mutant race as a whole....but keep extending her lifespan further and further each lifetime....with the latest one extending all the way a thousand years into the future...

And then finally culminating in this current lifetime, where they engineer what’s effectively a way for any mutant to live potentially forever.....Moira included?

Because if Irene lied, all the way back in Moira’s third life, and Moira doesn’t actually have a limit to her lifetimes.....she would keep reincarnating over and over and resetting the timeline each time....essentially trapping their entire timeline in an endless loop that would never advance past Moira’s own lifespan....

And the only way Irene saw to prevent THAT, to break THAT eternal cycle....

Was to engineer Moira’s potential immortality in particular. The longer Moira lives, the closer Moira, more than any other mutant, gets towards ascending to mutant godhood....

The longer the entire timeline as a whole can evolve.

And without Moira’s manipulations, without the advancements in longevity and reincarnation for everyone, through each subsequent lifetime, and without the threat of permanent death from Destiny....

One comparatively little lie....

The entire timeline, in Irene’s foresight, was inevitably doomed to always stagnate and recycle itself, like Ouroborous eating its own tail.

Meaning none of this is really due to Moira at all, at the end of the day.

Its about Destiny.

[astudyinchocolate]

A new Spear of Selene theory: interns and Bulb Tech

There are 2 big questions left unanswered about the Spear of Selene: why Della took it, and why no one on Earth was able to receive her communication or find her once she’d crashed.

This is a 2-part theory about the second question.

Della clearly has a pre-existing, antagonistic relationship with Gyro. They know each other well enough that he throws jabs at her in the rocket’s manual, specifically that building it is “so easy even SHE could do it,” implying Della to be on a particularly low level of intelligence in Gyro’s eyes. It’s an insult that makes Della so furious that she tears the manual to pieces.

@gordon-quid has a theory about this: Della was Gyro’s intern. We know that Gyro has an ongoing rotation of lab interns. What if that were the case 11 years ago as well? Read on to learn how this affects Della’s communication to Earth too...

Della’s smart and likes science. Maybe she works with Gyro to help build cool, useful gadgets for adventures. She can even figure out rocket science with enough focus, determination, and time. Maybe she helps with bigger projects too. But if Della had access to Gyro’s lab, it would make it a hell of a lot easier for her to discover the secret Spear of Selene project. (not that she couldn’t discover it anyway, but this would make it even easier and provide a logical explanation for her discovery).

Even if she weren’t his official intern, maybe she just stops by to help with projects sometimes. Gyro’s not great at lying, so she might have figured out what was going on. Also, the Spear has a key for the ignition. Where would Della have found the key if not through Gyro’s lab? Plus, if the Spear was meant to be a surprise, it’s doubtful Scrooge or Gyro would have space suits lying around, easily visible. That would tip Della off to it immediately.

If Della were Gyro’s intern and he felt he was too lenient on her, perhaps that could explain why Gyro is so hard on Fenton and Manny, and generally why he adopts a very harsh and snarky demeanor with most people. Frank even hinted at Gyro having been nicer in the past, but for some reason his behavior changed. Could the Spear be the reason for the change? Donald dealt with it by leaving and diving headfirst into raising the boys; Scrooge dealt with it by emotionally walling himself off from the world; Gyro may have dealt with it by becoming a sarcastic jerk.

Gyro, while his opinions of Della are still unknown, seems to hold her to no higher level of esteem than he does Fenton, or anyone else for that matter. Della in S2E7 remarks that the gum “mocks her with every chew” and that seems especially telling. It’s an interesting word choice that may show how Gyro typically spoke to Della.

You know who would pick up on Gyro’s antagonism toward Della?

 Lil’ Bulb.

And that’s where my part of the theory comes in.

Lil’ Bulb is presented as new in the Great Dime Chase, but Bulb Tech seems to be ongoing tech. And Gyro has a history of his tech turning sentient and evil. It’s very possible that early Bulb Tech was involved in the Spear incident. Or, really, any other tech of Gyro’s. Because it all turns sentient and evil. I’m going to keep calling it Bulb for simplicity’s sake, but any new, as-yet-unknown tech could also display the same characteristics and act the way I describe.

We’ve seen that Lil’ Bulb is fiercely loyal to Gyro and does not take insults well. Della is the kind of person who would joke around and insult someone without even realizing the impact of her words. If she’s insulting Gyro or even Bulb, she could make Bulb pretty angry.

Perhaps even angry enough to sabotage rescue efforts.

So far, the fandom’s focus has been on the buzzards in this scene. But lightbulbs are on the Spear’s communication panel with Scrooge. We don’t even see Gyro in Scrooge’s flashback, but we do see bulbs. Whether these are connected to Bulb Tech or not, we don’t know. They’re attached to the panel. The Spear is definitely Gold Tech, comms panel is possibly Bulb Tech. But again, remember that Gyro designed everything, so any part of this tech could turn sentient and evil. Bulb Tech or not. 

The bulbs in the wide shot look like quick, sketchy, simple bulbs. But for the close-up shot, the artists chose to use ones that are specifically Gyro’s design. Even when Gyro uses “regular” light bulbs and not Bulb Tech, the bulbs are the same design. 

Lil’ Bulb in counting machine:

Normal, non-Gyro bulb that Lil’ Bulb replaced in the counting machine. So we KNOW that “normal” bulbs exist in the Duck universe! The design for the Spear’s communication system is an intentional choice:

To stop the wild counting machine, Gyro takes out Lil’ Bulb and replaces it with another light bulb he pulls out of his pocket. All goes back to normal, and the bulb/machine is no longer taking orders or apparently sentient. That said, this is clearly the design Gyro uses for his bulbs specifically. So the Spear’s comms system was clearly built by him, and the bulbs are perhaps an intentional choice. A reminder that his tech often turns evil.

Gyro built the Spear and presumably helped design and build the subsequent fleet of ships. He had to be involved in rescue efforts. And probably Bulb was as well. We’ve seen Bulb in action. Bulb is smart. And so maybe Bulb changed radio signals, cut cords, and did whatever was necessary to please Gyro. It’s fanon (and probably canon) that Gyro was happier and more optimistic before the Spear. And he’s good at his core; as much as Della annoys him, he wouldn’t want her to die. So he’s probably distraught at this whole situation, and maybe he isn’t picking up on all the details of the rescue effort he normally would. And they need all hands on deck for their rescue work, including Bulb hands. Gyro is trusting Bulb to get work done and to do it honestly. Maybe this is even all before Gyro’s first Bulb Tech went evil, and this was the first instance of an invention turning sentient and evil.

Think about it: Gyro has access to communications, the ship, and the entire system. Bulb could very easily delete video recordings, cut off certain radio signals, etc. Bulb could prevent anyone from knowing Della was alive. All to presumably please Gyro. If Della was Gyro’s intern, perhaps Bulb felt competitive with Della and wanted to beat her. Gyro seems to like pitting interns against each other, and sending her into space forever does mean Bulb wins. 

But again, even if Della weren’t Gyro’s intern and was just a random visitor, Bulb might still want to make Gyro happy by getting rid of the person he despises. It’s all about pleasing its master, Gyro.

I also wouldn’t rule out Bulb secretly working with the buzzards. The buzzards are shady af and might definitely enlist/hire someone or something to interfere with the search efforts. But right now.... I’m looking at you, Bulb. And I’m wondering just why you are on that communication panel.

also I have no idea what to make of Scrooge’s Spear photo being on the Spear itself… this crew doesn’t make mistakes and I can’t think of a logical explanation for it.

[emperorsfoot]

This one is short enough that I can post it here.

Season 1, post episode “Failsafe”.

Canary's comforting hand on his knee and her words of understanding and support warmed the kryptonian-genomorph and he felt his shoulders relax. Admitting it had helped him to feel better –less guilty, less conflicted. During the failed simulation exercise he had watched innocent bystanders as well as his own teammates die around him and yet, rather than the heart-wrenching grief that the others experienced, he had felt at peace. He had been created to replace Superman and in the simulation he had finally gotten the chance to fulfill his purpose.

Though he had been quick to correct the dream constructs that addressed him as 'Superman', Conner hadn't been able to help feeling a something that felt suspiciously similar to pride swell up inside him and fill his chest. It gave him a grim confidence; he could do anything –anything that was needed of him. And so, when Robin had suggested he be the distraction for the others to sneak inside the alien mothership, he had been all to ready to agree.

And when the disintegration beam hit him, his last thoughts were not of the friends he had lost or the one he was leaving behind, or even of M'gann who's confession of love was still fresh in his mind. No. His final thoughts had been about the Man of Steel and what he must have thought or felt in his final moment when he made the final sacrifice in the protection home and freedom.

There had been a long empty blankness that seemed to stretch on for an infinity after that… and then, he awoke. He was alive, his team was alive, their mentors were alive. It had all been a training exercise. A 'no win' simulation to teach them to cope with failure –a 'Kobayashi Maru' Wally would later call it (though, Conner still hadn't figured out where that name had come from). It had failed, of course. After Artemis' death, none of them had been able to cope.

Except him.

He had done more than 'cope', he had thrived. Was that really how Superman felt when the weight of the world rested on his shoulders? With his home in danger, the people around him being threatened –dieing… was the Man of Steel at peace? Conner didn't think so. With all his friends dieing before his eyes, his home being threatened and his efforts to beat back the invading tide being blocked at every turn Superman would not be a peace, he would not thrive. He would strive, but not thrive. He would strive to do what he could, and possibly what he couldn't as well. But over all, he would do what was right –or at least what he deemed to be 'right'.

That was the fundamental difference between them. (Well… that was one of the fundamental differences between them.) Superman did what he thought was right because he perceived it to be the right thing to do. Conner did what was needed because he perceived it to be the heroic and 'Superman-like' thing to do. In that respect, he was nothing like his genetic-parent at all.

He had not grieved when Artemis and Aqualad had been disintegrated, he had only felt… needed. And when Robin told him to run decoy, to basically lay down his life, he had felt happy –honored even.

But now that the nightmare –the dream- was over, Conner found it difficult to look his teammates in the eyes. How could he face them now, knowing that their lives meant little more to him than a means of validating his own importance? Even M'gann…

When the weight of the world rested on his shoulders, he grinned and flexed to test its weight. But he was sure that that was not what Superman did when he was burdened with the weight of the world. And it would be a burden for him –for Superman, the ever-boy scout. For Conner the weight of the world had been a prize or maybe a reward, and something about that just didn't seem right now that he was back in the waking world.

Canary had said that these things took time. That admitting it was the first step.

Well, he'd taken the first step. Now he wanted to take one more. Whether or not it was the right step, Conner didn't have the foggiest. But it was the next step he wanted to take. It was a step that had been delayed far long enough already without the added prompting of the nightmarish simulation.

…

He had indulged in several doubts while riding Shpere in her Super-cycle form north towards the Arctic. What if the Fortress of Solitude didn't actually exist? What if it had just been a construct of the dream-simulation? What if there was nothing there but barren ice? These were the misgivings that ran through the young genomorph's mind as he sped through the air. He acknowledged the possibility of these doubts, but he refused to let himself give into them.

His stubbornness was rewarded when the Super-cycle touched down outside a sheer white structure bearing the S-shield that was exactly identical to the one in the dream-exercise.

Conner dismounted the cycle and strode up to the S-shield carved right into the cliff-face. It didn't look like a door. There was no hinge, no knob, keyhole or anything easily identifiable as a lock. Still, the Boy of Steel knocked. It didn't feel like ice either. Oh, sure it was plenty smooth, but not really very cold, and it seemed much denser than ice (or at least, denser than any ice Conner had come into contact with).

"Hello!" The kryptonian-genomorph called to the empty Artic landscape. "I need to talk to you."

There was no response from the Fortress. No peephole on the cliff-face opened up. No big booming voice demanded 'Who goes there!' There was nothing to indicate anything had heard him. The Boy of Steel had to glumly admit that this had been an exercise in futility. The Man of Steel wasn't home, possibly didn't even live in the Fortress at all. He would not meet his genetic-parent here. With a growl of frustration over his wasted time, Conner turned back to the Super-cycle to leave… and froze mid-turn.

Superman stood a good ways away, his feet planted, arms crossed over his broad chest, cape fluttering in the chill breeze. He stood out boldly against the stark whiteness of their surrounding landscape.

"You wanted to talk to me?" The man's voice was so much like his own, but a deeper octave. It was a premonition of what Conner's voice would sound like in a few more years, once he had completed his maturation 'the old fashioned way' outside of his Cadmus hibernation pod at the rate of a normal kryptonian.

Caught in the man's gaze, the Boy of Steel suddenly found himself at a loss as to what to say. He opened his mouth to speak but only a feeble croak came out. He had come here wanting to ask his genetic-parent about the weight of the world and how he coped with having it thrust upon his shoulders. But the few times that he had actually interacted him the Man of Steel, he had been evasive, aloof and anxious to get away –jumping at any opportunity to distance himself from the boy.

Conner suddenly felt uneasy about discussing anything with his genetic-parent.

As the awkward silence dragged on Superman raised an eyebrow. "Has your voice frozen?"

Conner shook his head.

The Man of Steel sighed, his shoulders slumping as if in defeat (though, what he'd been internally battling, Conner couldn't even begin to guess). "Well, if you're here and you're not going to go away, I might as well invite you inside." He turned from the boy and headed for a gap in the ice where the frigid water beneath was exposed. "Follow me."

The Boy of Steel hesitantly followed the Man of Steel to the water's edge. He wondered briefly if his genetic-parent intended to drown him like an unwanted cat and finally rid himself of the clone forever. He could probably do it too. He was stronger than Conner was and could overpower him easily, they were in the middle of nowhere, there would be no witnesses, Conner hadn't exactly told anyone where he was going for fear of being stopped. When asked if he might know the whereabouts of his clone, Superman could easily deny ever seeing the boy. It wasn't like they hung out allot (or at all).

But heroes didn't do that sort of thing.

Once Superboy had reached the water's edge, Superman dove beneath the surface with a splash so small, the Boy of Steel thought it might make Aquaman jealous. Conner turned back to Sphere, still in her Super-cycle form and said, "Stay."

The sentient alien machine obeyed, transforming back into her base ball-form to wait for him. Reluctantly, Conner dove into the chill Arctic water as Superman had done. He caught site of the tail end of a red cape as it disappeared behind and ice formation and followed. The ice seemed to close in around him to form a natural pathway, but the way the ice had been smoothed was most decidedly not natural, it had been planned by an architect of one sort or another. The underwaterway began to slope upwards and Conner saw the surface shimmering above him.

When his head came up gasping, the Boy of Steel found himself in a wide chamber with Superman standing on a solid crystal landing –already dry. Conner pulled himself out of the water and stood sopping before his genetic-parent.

"How did you…?"

"Spin dry." The Man of Steel supplied as if this should have been obvious.

Conner cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow quizzically. "What, like, super-speed spin? I don't have super-speed."

Superman missed one… two… three beats before he sighed and turned around, grumbling a soft, "Wait there."

The Man of Steel blurred out of the chamber and returned less than a moment latter holding a clean dry towel out for the boy. Superboy accepted it and began padding himself down. When he was no longer dripping (but by no means 'dry') he looked back up at his genetic-parent wondering what to do next. This had, so far, been the most time he'd spent in the man's presence since first escaping Cadmus that faithful Independence Day night. (It was also approaching the most words they'd exchanged with each other, too.) It seemed neither of them quite knew what to do about the other.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Superman finally broke the awkward silence between them. He took the used towel from the boy's hands and draped it over his arm.

"I, uh… yeah." Conner suddenly found himself talking to the man's boots rather than his face, not waning to make eye contact. "Have you, uh, did anyone tell you about the training simulation not to long ago?"

There was another prolonged pause. Their conversation (if you could even call it that) seemed to be more of a prolonged silence occasionally broken by dialogue rather than an exchange of words occasionally broken by silent pauses. When the Man of Steel did not respond Conner raised his eyes to chance a glance at the man's face. He had expected to find something akin to polite blankness or perhaps even confusion. After all, he wasn't a mentor to anyone on the Young Justice team, what reason would there be to keep him up-to-date on YJ happenings? Instead, Superman's expression was thoughtful –considering- and ever so slightly sympathetic.

Finally, after the pregnant silence had dragged on long enough he stepped aside to let Conner enter the Fortress proper and said in a gentler tone than the Boy of Steel was used to, "I'll make you some tea."

…

After being led through an archway of white stone and crystal, then a corridor of yet more crystal, all of it illuminated by a soft light that seemed to emanate from the very walls themselves, Conner didn't quite know what to expect the Fortress' kitchen to look like. But the Boy of Steel was sure that he hadn't expected what he found.

While the rest of the Fortress of Solitude (that he had seen) was all crystal and white stone, the kitchen was paneled in wood. The counter had been tiled in a rustic shade of yellow that was not at all flattering (to anything) and the floor had been covered in linoleum. Overall, it looked more like an old country house's kitchen rather than something you'd expect to find in a secluded ice fortress built by an alien superhero.

Conner sat in the only chair at the small wooden kitchen table and watched Superman pull a single mug and a tea bag form the cabinets. He filled the mug with water, placed the bag in it then heated it with his vision. He placed the hot mug in front of Conner who took it hesitantly.

"You're not having any?"

"There's just the one mug."

The boy raised an eyebrow at that and cocked his head to the side.

"I call this place the Fortress of Solitude for a reason." The Man of Steel elaborated.

"Would you prefer it if I left?"

This time he took longer to respond. Then finally, because Superman never lies, he said, "Yes."

Conner stood to leave. He had expected the answer before the words had even left his genetic-parent's lips, but they still stung. If the man didn't want him here, why invite him inside in the first place?

"Wait." A strong hand was placed on his shoulder. "You came here for a reason."

The boy sank back into his seat, once again avoiding looking at the Man of Steel. He spoke to his mug when he said, "Since you're being nice to me all of a sudden, I assume you heard about the exercise."

There was only one chair at the table and Conner was already sitting in it, so the Man of Steel could not sit with the boy to offer comfort. Instead he knelt to be on eye-level with his clone when he said, "It must have been horrible for you."

The man's eyes, crystal blue eyes so much like his own, looked deep and full of ghosts and Conner suddenly remembered that the man had been hero'ing for over a decade and had saved the world countless times over. He had probably seen comrades, friends and loved ones die for real, right before his eyes. The world was (more or less) at peace for the moment, but the Boy of Steel saw the weight of the world still weighed heavily on Superman's shoulders. It was an almost permanent burden, not just something to be taken-up in times of need and then shucked off when the peril had passed. It was a way of life for the Man of Steel. That was probably why he came here, to his Fortress of Solitude, to rest form the burden.

"Has Canary told you about her talking sessions with me?" The boy ventured.

"No." Superman confessed. "All I know is that the Team had been trapped in a psychic-web that caused you to watch each other die at the hands of an invading enemy and that you were all convinced it was real." A pause. "Batman also made a point of telling me that you could have fallen into a permanent coma."

Conner didn't know what he had expected. Canary had promised that the things they talked about remained between the two of them and never left the room. Doctor-patient confidentiality. He was grateful to be able to trust her with his darkest secret. But at the same time, it would have been nice to have someone else tell Superman his reason for seeking him out. The Boy of Steel found himself at a loss as to how to explain himself to his genetic-parent. A mediator would have been nice.

The silence dragged on between them. Finally, Conner decided that he might as well ask what he came here to ask and not prolong this crappy melodrama of theirs.

"Superman…" He ventured meekly. "When… when the weight of the world rests on your shoulders… what do you do?"

He didn't know his genetic-parent very well; he didn't know what kind of response to expect. But he did not expect the man to offer a reassuring smile and place comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Plant your feet and try not to shrug."

…

END

[thetomarrylibrary]

An Assortment of HPLV/HPTR Recs

Some random recs are under the cut. :D My thanks to the Squad(TM) for suggestions!

Harry Potter and the Fuck Boy Dark Lord by TheLastNero | 7K | WIP | Explicit

Upon discovering his archenemy is actually a horcrux in the graveyard following his resurrection, Voldemort decides to create a different plan for his domination of Wizarding Britain. What he did not account for was his horcrux being so... desirable, nor how difficult it would be to finally get a piece of that ass.

The Emerald Connection by TheLastNero | 57K | WIP | Explicit

What binds Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort together goes deeper than a simple prophecy. As Harry struggles to learn the true nature of their bond, he eventually discovers the true prophecy that was hidden from him. Whether he chooses to accept it or fight it, he must act or risk losing everything he's already fought for and everything that could have been. Is this connection a gift, possibly enabling him to prevent a war and save those that matter most to him? Or is it a curse, a burden to bear, to weigh him down and enslave his very being?

The Impossibility of Parallels by Angel_of_Mysteries | 16K | WIP | Mature

Harry Potter by day, Hadrian Peverell at night. Two sides of the same coin; one a Gryffindor destined to defeat the darkest wizard of all time, and the other a Slytherin trying to prevent the future at any cost.

It's impossible to live in two times at once, though, and bad things happen to wizards that meddle with the past.

As Harry's sixth year in school draws to a close and the lines between both worlds blur, Harry realizes that sooner or later he'll have to choose between the life he's always known and one he shouldn't want to live.

Before it's too late.

In Between the Cracks (I See) by Katsitting (Nekositting)  | 41K | Complete | Explicit

It made him pause, unsure and pensive as to how this particular piece was left untouched by the atrophy that had consumed every other thing in the room. Golden lanterns and silver jewelry had all been made the home of tenacious bugs and vermin―forgotten by owners long since dead, but not abandoned by the whims of decay.

But the mirror was unspoiled, radiating a kind of elegance that made Harry’s lungs feel tight with awe.

The Fall by Lostfadingthoughts  | 24K | WIP | Mature

A last minute desperation causes the downfall and kidnapping of Harry Potter. Instead of killing him, Voldemort decides to keep him but why won't he talk to Harry? Why does that bother Harry at all? Alternate route from the Forbidden Forest scene. Rated M for later chapters. Harrymort. A slight bit of Drarry. Torture to come, please be aware.

The Man in the Diary by Reneehart  | 28K | WIP | Teen

Harry pulls the diary from Ginny's cauldron after having seen Malfoy slip it inside.

It was something so simple. Something so unassuming, so innocent seeming. It was just a book after all, and what harm could ever come from a book?

What We May Be by darklordtomarry (das_omen)  | WIP | 89K | Mature

The pureblood nobility are known as the Sacred 27 and they have ruled magical Britain without a monarch for centuries.

Lord Thomas Slytherin has appeared out of nowhere with a strong claim to the throne; he has aroused the interest of the nation, and of Harry Potter; A seventh year Slytherin who occasionally works as an information broker. Like everyone else Harry wants to know more about Lord Slytherin, but will he like what he discovers?

The Night He Left by VanillaGhost  | 28K | WIP | Mature

After waking up in a forest to discover he’s been missing for twelve days, Harry must recover his memory if he’s to believe an old enemy and the little girl who show up the next day claiming to be his husband and daughter of nine years.

Kaleidoscope by RenderedReversed  | 28K | WIP | Teen

In a world where the only dark lord of the 20th century was Gellert Grindelwald, Harry Potter finds his soulmate: the intelligent, supercilious, enigmatic Tom Riddle, a man fifty-four years his senior.

The Librarian by ValloryRussups  | 14K | WIP | Mature

A wrong choice at the train station throws Harry into another universe where Tom Riddle is a Headmaster. He decides to spy on the bastard and, wait, is the vacancy of the Hogwarts librarian open?

He just doesn’t expect the library to be alive.

Or: a young man’s tale of riddles, friendship, old ways, and magical books that are more sentient than a book should be.

Smiles of Plated Gold by leontina (Leontina)  | 20K | WIP | Explicit

When Harry is four he is sent back to the year 1932 where he is adopted by Gellert Grindelwald. Harry grows up with his loving father and housekeeper, Percival, and attends Durmstrang where his father encourages his studying of Dark Magic. Harry's world falls apart when Dumbledore defeats Grindelwald, and Harry vows to get revenge and collect the Deathly Hallows for his father. He travels to Britain from Hungary, where he meets a beautiful boy named Tom, who has his own mysterious Dark side.

Pick Your Poison by TanninTele  | 14K | WIP | Mature

In a world with no magic, Harry Potter is dragged along to galas and events to serve as a pretty face beside his schmoozing Uncle Vernon. Tonight's gala promised to be as miserable as the last - until Harry notices a member of the Minister's secret police slipping poison into the glass of Thomas Riddle; leader of an underground criminal operation.

Thrown into a world of politics, assassination attempts and devastatingly handsome aristocrats, Harry must decide to fight for what's right . . . or succumb to his fatal attraction.

Beautiful Crime by DandelionAdrian  | 500 words | Complete | Not rated

Harry Potter was always destined to be Voldemort’s soulmate. No matter who he was then, or now.

The Glass Serpent and the Dark Horse by KaedeRavensdale | 85K | WIP | Mature

In which Tom Riddle Senior never could fully put Merope’s claims of being pregnant out of his mind and set out to bring his child home, unwittingly changing the fate of both the Wizarding and Muggle worlds and laying waste to the machinations of a certain scheming old man.

The Dark Lord Inside by Melodramaticx | 56K | WIP | Explicit

If he had been anyone but Harry Potter, he might have thought he was dreaming. But apparently, having the past conscience of the most evil wizard alive stuck in your mind was an everyday occurrence for the Boy Who Lived.

His Twenty-Eighth Life by Lomonaaeren | 26K | WIP | Mature

Harry Potter has been reborn again and again into new bodies as the Master of Death, some of them not human, none of them exactly like his old one—but he has always helped to defeat Voldemort in each new world. Now he’s Harry Potter again, but his slightly older brother is the target of the prophecy, and Harry assumes his role is going to be to support Jonathan in his defeat of Voldemort. At least, that’s what he thinks until Voldemort comes that Halloween night, discovers what Harry is, and kidnaps him. The story of a long fight between Voldemort’s sadism and Harry’s generosity.

Prized by Nahiel | 83K | WIP | Mature

Severus Snape's loyalty has always been to Harry, not to Dumbledore or the Order. When he finds out that Harry is a horcrux and Dumbledore intends to have him killed, Severus goes to the Dark Lord with the information in an effort to save Harry's life, and in doing so changes the fate of the world.

The Flaw in the Plan by Little.Miss.Xanda | 3k | Complete | T

In the end, Harry could do nothing but surrender.

Una Animarum by whitedandelions  | 12k | WIP | Teen

For each person, there’s another holding the other half of your soul. It was foretold in the legends after all, that a soul was split into two and each half given to a human. And they always find one another, in each and every lifetime. But sometimes, when a soul breaks, the connection is lost.

Harry is born with the ability to see souls and their connections to one another. In a world, ravaged by Voldemort's takeover and dictatorship, it's hard to take advantage of this ability since no one in power would ever listen to him. But, it soon becomes evident that his ability to see souls may be the one thing to save Voldemort from his horcruxes and thus, Wizarding society as a whole from the incoming threat of the Muggles.

Charity, Thou Art a Lie by Nocturnememory  | 300K | WIP | Explicit

A story of obsession, lust, love and a monster who can't be named.

Harrie learns the word mother at school, her aunt sneers at the word. "She’s dead, you don’t have a mother."

A Sky Far Away by SeaDreaming  | 133K | WIP | Explicit

Harry is mysteriously sent back in time on the night his parents are murdered, without any knowledge that he's from the future. He ends up in 1927 and is found on the doorstep of Wool's Orphanage. Growing up in an orphanage is never easy, especially when the resident bully, Tom Riddle, hates him for no apparent reason. It doesn't help that Harry can see into Tom's mind and he's often haunted by strange dreams. It isn't until several years later that they start to notice different feelings for each other, and even then they still have many challenges to face — such as Harry suddenly being thrown back into his own time. How will he adjust to the future and finding out what really happened to his parents? More importantly, what will happen to him and Tom? TMR/HP slash.

Reaching Through Time by Ethril  | 45K | WIP | Not Rated

When two abused souls cry out for each other, not even Time can keep them a part. But time travel is tricky and one can not stay in the past forever without suffering terribly.

Abused by his relatives, a young Harry Potter finds a way to escape for brief moments. He finds himself far away from the people that are supposed to protect him and spending time with another with an equally painful past. But eventually he is always forced to return to his relatives on Privet Drive.

Abused by other children and neglected by adults Tom Riddle has grown cold and is disgusted by the vast majority of people. That is until one day he comes across a softly crying child with beautiful deep green eyes. He is amazed by how this boy appears and disappears from his life and finds himself growing protective of him.

But Time is fickle and one can not stay in the past for very long. Death will come for one or both of them in time.

Stab Right Through by Yuudan  | 10k | WIP | Teen

Getting lost in old memories is a dangerous thing for anyone, but in Harry's case the whole situation is slightly more literal than usual, and - as it always tends to be - much, much worse.

Hidden In Plain Sight by kmoaton  | 4K | WIP | Mature

Secrets have a way of destroying everything when they finally break free. LV/HP

[aion-rsa]

Did Star Trek: Discovery’s Georgiou Just Create a New Timeline?

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This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 9.

The biggest twist from Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 has returned for Season 3. After living in the Prime Universe since the end of Season 1, Phillipa Georgiou, former Terran Emperor in the Mirror Universe, has been confronted with the very real prospect that she might need to go back to where she came from in order to stay alive.

But what’s really going on? In “Terra Firma, Part 1,” Discovery has taken a very unexpected turn, seemingly in the middle of several other storylines, to fully tackle the mystery of fixing Georgiou’s “problem.” And that means that we’re now in a position where we have to unpack her Mirror Universe 2250s timeline to really get a sense of what the hell is going on. Here’s a rundown of Georgiou’s Mirror Universe timeline, as we understood it in Season 1 of Discovery, and what has fundamentally changed in Season 3.

Although the title should have been a dead giveaway, “Terra Firma, Part 1” takes a shocking blind turn back into the Mirror Universe, set just before the timeline as Discovery Season 1. After the A.I. of the USS Discovery’s computer advises the ship to take Georgiou to a planet in the Gamma Quadrant, Burnham and Georgiou meet a mysterious man named Carl, who encourages Georgiou to step through a Narnia-style portal that could double for that doorway you’ve seen in the intro to The Twilight Zone.

The slightly surreal exchange with Carl poses a lot of questions: Is he a Q? A member of the Caretaker’s species from Voyager? Where in the Gamma Quadrant are they? Could he be one of the Wormhole Aliens, better known as “the Prophets” from Deep Space Nine? None of these questions are answered because, before we can really process Carl and the Narnia doorway, Georgiou steps through and is suddenly back in the Mirror Universe. 

When is this taking place?

Seemingly, Georgiou has not only traveled back to the Mirror Universe but also back in time to events that occurred offscreen well before Discovery Season 1. At this point in the Mirror timeline, the ISS Discovery hasn’t exchanged places with the USS Discovery, and it seems, Mirror Lorca hasn’t even left the Mirror Universe yet at all. Instead, we’re at a point somewhere in the Mirror version of 2255 and a time when Georgiou’s new flagship, the ISS Charon, is about to be christened.

How do we know it’s 2255? In Discovery Season 1, in the episode “What’s Past is Prologue,” Lorca tells his followers that they’ve endured “one year and 212 days of torture.” Because that episode takes place in roughly 2257, it seems likely that his coup against Georgiou and his subsequent accidental transposition of the Prime Universe happened roughly two years before that. In the Prime Universe, in 2256, Lorca and his ship the USS Buran was destroyed, and, by that time, Mirror Lorca had replaced Prime Lorca. But, Georgiou has gone back in time before all of that happens. In the Mirror Universe, Lorca doesn’t go on the run until after his coup is discovered, which means, right now, there’s not even the right setting for him to trade places with this counterpart.

So, could we see Prime Lorca enter the Mirror Universe?

Assuming Mirror Lorca goes on the run, encounters an iron storm, and swaps places with Prime Lorca, sure. It’s possible. But, it also seems pretty unlikely, mostly because the events set into motion by Georgiou returning to the past have already significantly altered the way history played out before. In “What’s Past is Prologue,” Lorca explains to Mirror Stamets exactly how he entered the Prime Universe, basically on accident. That exact same accident or a similar accident has to happen in order for Prime Lorca to swap places with Mirror Lorca “again.” And, as mentioned before, Georgiou has popped back into a point in history way before that happened anyway. 

Wait. Didn’t Mirror Stamets die a different way before?

Correct! In “What’s Past is Prologue,” Mirror Lorca had Mirror Stamets executed. But, now, in “Terra Firma, Part 1,” Georgiou kills Stamets before he can betray her to Lorca. This is nuts on a few levels. First, in the original Mirror Timeline, Stamets ended up double-crossing Lorca, and tried to remain loyal to Georgiou; this, to some degree, is why he was killed. This is also relevant because, in Season 1, Mirror Stamets’ experiments with the Mycelial Network were partially responsible for helping Prime Stamets understand the network. The Charon was the central hub of Mirror Stamets’ experiments, but now that he’s been killed before that can happen, it stands to reason his research has been halted, too.

Okay, so has Georgiou created the Mirror-Mirror Universe?

Because Georgiou has killed Mirror Stamets, she’s already created a new timeline. If she succeeds in keeping Mirror Burnham on her side, and preventing Lorca’s coup before it begins, then, in theory, everything is now happening in a new timeline, a new universe. This time, she remains Emperor of the Mirror Universe, and that timeline goes in a very different direction. 

But, what does that mean for the original Prime Timeline?

This is where it gets even dicier. If Georgiou prevents Lorca’s coup, she effectively prevents Season 1 of Discovery from happening. If Lorca doesn’t go into the Prime Universe, then he never recruits Michael Burnham, she never becomes roommates with Tilly, Tyler never joins the crew, Stamets, and Burnham never figure out how to use the Spore Drive, the Red Angel thing doesn’t happen, and all of sentient life (in the Prime Universe at least) will get destroyed by Control. Assuming Georgiou really is back in time, then it feels like she’s creating a new timeline/universe, or perhaps, more accurately, she’s creating two.

The Kelvin Universe from the reboot films is a good model to help with this headache

Assuming Georgiou is really back in 2255 of the Mirror Universe, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t still a version of the Mirror Universe that still played out the same way as before. It also follows that everything in the Prime Universe did happen the way it did before, otherwise, Georgiou couldn’t even be in this situation, with these memories at all. When Nero destroyed the Kelvin in Star Trek 2009, he didn’t erase the Prime Universe in which Kirk’s dad lived, he just created a new timeline. Ditto for Georgiou. So yes, it seems like she’s created the Mirror-Mirror Universe. (You know, like the TOS title “Mirror, Mirror.”)

On top of creating a new Mirror Universe, Georgiou has also, probably, created an Anti-DISCO Prime Universe. Because if Prime Lorca and Mirror Lorca never swap places, then that version of the Prime Universe, again, would eventually, be totally destroyed by Control, probably. That is, assuming Control even rose to power at all. The Klingon War would probably be won by the Klingons in this new Anti-DISCO Prime Universe if the Prime events of Discovery Season 1 don’t happen the way they did before. One way to look at this is that Lorca and Georgiou are kind of like Donna Noble in that Doctor Who episode “Turn Left.” But, instead of Donna turning left in a car, Georgiou stabbed Stamets in the neck.

Is this actually happening? Or is this a “dream”? (Or a low-rent Nexus?)

It seems like this trip to the Mirror Universe is legit. However, there is one little question that doesn’t quite have an answer yet. If Georgiou was sent back to the Mirror Universe, at this specific time, what happened to her “original” self? The Georgiou we see here has the same bracelet that Culber gave her from the Prime Universe version of 3188. She has the memories of everything she’s done and everything that’s happened in both universes since she left. Presumably, if she’s “literally” the same person she was in when she walked through Carl’s doorway, she’s like two years older, maybe a little more. What happened to the two-years-younger Georgiou from Mirror 2255? Did she swap places and end-up on the snow planet with Michael Burnham? 

In the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Relativity,” we learned about a way in which a time-traveling future Starfleet dealt with this problem: Basically, they forced conflicting versions of the same person into a process called “temporal integration.” This means, in theory, Mirror Georgiou from the “present” could have been “reintegrated” with Mirror Georgiou from the past. If Carl’s magic doorway can send her back at all, then it seems like it could also “reintegrate” her with her past self, too.

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The other option is that this method of time travel is a loosey-goosey style of time travel kind of like the Nexus from Star Trek Generations. In that movie, Picard was able to return to the exact point in time he needed to, complete with his memories of how it had gone the first time. Nobody worried about what happened to the “first” Picard who got his ass beat by Soran, because Nexus Picard was magically back, and he had Nexus Captain Kirk with him to throw some extra punches.

Arguably, Picard and Kirk created an alternate universe by using the Nexus as a cheap and dirty time travel ride to prevent the destruction of the Verdian star. Also arguably, there’s another timeline that went along in which Soran got back in the Nexus, Picard celebrated fake Christmas forever, and Kirk chopped wood for the rest of his life. That timeline would have resulted in the Enterprise-D crew having all died, but when you think about the stakes of Discovery Season 2, and what this new timeline change could do, that seems oddly like small potatoes. 

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If Georgiou did ride a Nexus-style time machine, then we might be encouraged in “Terra Firma, Part 2” to think slightly less about the various alternate-universe implications.  But, then again, if Discovery producer — and Trek 2009 co-writer – Alex Kurtzman knows how to do anything, it’s creating a convincing reboot. Georgiou’s trip to the Mirror Universe might be another reboot, only this time, it’s not the sunny optimistic universe of Trek that’s getting rebooted, it’s the dark and evil one in which, somewhere, Ethan Peck’s Spock is walking around with an evil goatee.  Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 has four more episodes left before the finale.

The post Did Star Trek: Discovery’s Georgiou Just Create a New Timeline? appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[lilietsblog]

I beat Starbound yesterday night

like, okay, this is not a game you just 'win' and that's it. The main quest is just one thing you get to do alongside tech tree progression, and there is a thousand things to do that open up alongside this progression, and with the latest update there is a whole new tech tree for the mechs to pursue

I did not expect much from finishing the 'main quest' it was just kinda the next thing to do and then get on with all the other goals I had in mind (upgrading my mech, the bunch of stuff for my colony, making a cool interior for my ship)

like seriously, I thought, what is this quest even building up to? There's no way it won't be silly and underwhelming

I'm not spoiling I'm just saying I was wrong it wasn't

okay maybe if the mc was allowed to have personality + relationships beyond like, the way they stand and the pre-programmed people deciding fully on their own to join the mission regardless of what you actually do, it could have been even more poignant and fantastic

but like wow I almost don't feel like going back to the rest of my stuff to do now cause I've... won. I'm done, that's it, there is nothing I can do in this game that will top what just happened

it feels like gameplay should change more after what happened. Not just a 'special reward' with a lot of money and other sweet stuff (bitch I have this much money saved up already and the only reason it's not more is because I keep spending it). There should be a fundamental change somewhere, the world opening up in some way, getting to do something you didn't get to do before

there should be specifically 'postgame' content and not just 'lategame' content you could enjoy in the same way forever without actually ever finishing the main quest

this HOLY SHIT WHAT JUST HAPPENED thing must have some effect on the rest of the universe

like, I knew it wouldn't and I didn't expect it to... and now I feel like it should have coz. holy fuck. that was EPIC

okay i want to not spoil coz EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELVES GUYS but i just want to gush about it so much so im just? going to put this under the cut?

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR STARBOUND MAIN QUEST. IF YOU THINK IT'S NOT SPOILER WORTHY YOU ARE WRONG GO BEAT IT YOURSELF AND THEN COME BACK ONCE YOU HAVE

okay so first of all why don't Novakid have a key? this feels like it should be more of a big deal, like what if my protagonist were a Novakid? they should have at least mentioned that oh yeah there's also Novakid but they weren't around back then or something

second of all holy shit from the beginning of the quest I was wondering, like okay we're going to unlock the gate and??? what then??? you go in to fistfight the fucking Ruin??? the tentacle monster that even the god creator could only lock away and that started out with destroying Earth???

like, okay, we get the keys. yeah. AND THEN WHAT

I thought the game would underplay the size of the Ruin, make it kinda underwhelming and make me question how this thing managed to destroy Earth and be so epic if one person can actually fight it

like okay I've also fought an avatar of Kluex but 1) it MIGHT have just been an automaton and 2) it's an AVATAR. avatars are beatable. its a different class of thing altogether

boy was I wrong. boy did I fucking UNDERESTIMATE the size of the Ruin (and also the developers of the game. holy shit. all the kudos)

it'S A FUCKING PLANET

like you just go through the gate and find yourself on this??? planet??? with instructions to 'destroy the Ruin' and your matter manipulator working unexpectedly unlike all the other missions

just. fistfight the planet. somehow. good luck

it was actually pretty intuitive what to do next? like. it just felt obvious that I would get nothing done on the surface and that the most likely thing to do is dig in. I've got the matter manipulator, it's my magic tool that the Protector left to humanity, LET'S GO FUCK UP A BITCH

and it kind of makes sense that one person can succeed where a deity couldn't. precisely because you're so fucking tiny you're basically beneath notice and you can fuck this thing up from the inside without it being able to do shit about it

also, it's not awake yet. it destroyed Earth by just kinda jerking in its sleep

when something's on that scale, it's pretty understandable that a human-sized person with an environment backpack that lets them survive ANYWHERE short of actual fucking lava would actually be a pretty appropriate opponent

and let's be honest, this was a suicide mission from the beginning. like I don't know what Esther expected to happen when you successfully beat the Ruin but it was kinda obvious that the microbe that caused it would be the first casualty

I also expected it to not be a big deal cause you die and you respawn? the one escort mission I managed to fail (protip: never agree to an escort mission across volcanic lava-filled terrain. or if you do, fill in the lava with earth. dont trust the NPC's ability to not fall in it and burn to death) right the one escort mission I managed to fail told me to not worry cause they probably respawned somewhere safe

and the ship crew gives comments like 'what was I doing before I died?' and 'I feel like I didn't respawn properly' and you just get the impression that respawning after death is a Thing in this unvierse and the only cause to worry is if the mechanism that was supposed to respawn you was destroyed (which is exactly what happened on Earth. like it was supposed to be a... safe place. that's the horror of it)

seriously you beat the Ruin and Esther is like... oh nO... WHAT IS HAPPENING.. iT Is.. unSTABLE??? I dunno bitch what did you think we were trying to do

the odds of it not exploding after being killed from the inside (or imploding, or flooding everything with deadly poison, or burning up, or getting flushed into Death Dismension, or any of the other number of thing that might happen wnen you're in the middle of the body of an eldritch abomination and have just killed it) were like... 1 in a 1 000 000

what did you EXPECT

when you're going down it's so fucking... eerie. there are those things living INSIDE the Ruin. they are freaky and are they alive? do they count as part of its organism or as independent beings? is there even a meaningful distinction on this scale or is it like the white cells in your blood

and then there is the pit, and the AI helpfully warns you to not fall into it and just. oh my fuck. thanks dude I would never have thought of this on my own. the Unhelpful AI is the best thing about this game honestly

and you keep going down and down and its genuinely creepy like whats down there? what are you going down towards? FUCK KNOWS

and then the environment changes and there is this brain matter stuff? and you can't break it like you just can't break it, the matter manipulator doesn't work like that it's not the matter manipulator block from everywhere that has a visual clue of small squares, it starts breaking the brain and it just. can't. whatever it is you're going to try to do with this thing's brain, destroying it with the matter manipulator is not it. it's just not strong enough

and then you get a path inside it and there are standard gate-and-radar mechanisms of boss fight and it's just so silly that those would be inside there but on the other hand reality doesn't really hold up in the face of this thing anyway so might as well

and then you face the Cultists Boss and its honestly so. anticlimactic after all the buildup she had. maybe its just extensive preparation with many buffs i had going (bitch i just fought your entire army and a dragon) but i beat her in like. three cycles. the mechanics and weaknesses were the same as in the first fight in the library and it didnt even feel like i had to try hard

and it was kinda appropriate? like bitch what do you think you're doing. get out of the way i'm trying to save the universe there. THIS THING'S FIRST ACTION WAS DESTROYING EARTH HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU GET THE IDEA IT FAVORED HUMANS

(true to life. racial supremacists aren't known for their firm grip on reality)

and then it's this thing's... heart? inside its brain? well it's just a convenient term anyway. either way it's the spark of un-life that drives the entire thing and GOOD LUCK YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN

and I just... look. I had freaked out about the army and the dragon because the first time I fought them I quickly ran out of my 13 nanobandages and died

so for the second time I crafted 160 of them

(also I had a Damage III augment on my EPP and really, really cool weapons newly bought in Glitch settlements, so I mowed down mooks by just pistol-machine-gunning-them for a couple of seconds, it was actually kinda freaky how effective I was at damage dealing)

I also died against the Ruin once because augghhhh having the nanobandages on the left click and the medicine kits that heal you slowly over time AND BLOCK NANOBANDAGES FROM WORKING IMMEDIATELY on the right click WAS A BAD IDEA

after respawning i just straight up removed the medicine kits from the quick access. not gonna trip myself up like that the second time

and it was? really freaky but not that hard once I figured it out? like okay actually pretty fucking hard but not like. COMPLICATED. just counterintuitive

like, if the boss always hits the same area with an EYE LASER attack, the logical thing to do is stay out of there, right?

but no. out of there are the tentacles, and they sometimes move without warning and hurt you. while the eye laser attack comes with pretty obvious buildup

and more importantly: the eye laser attack takes like half of your HP. but it KILLS DEAD all the smaller creatures that were harassing you

like oh god this is so appropriate? this un-creature summons living things both from its own body and from across the universe to attack you, but then when it goes on the offensive itself it just destroys them all

it's self-destructive. you can goad it into solving your problems for you because it's NOT SENTIENT. it's a thing more than it is a creature. its goal is to destroy life but its semi-living so it destroys itself

so you just. stay in the eye laser zone, jump, hit it with your swords, ignore the swarm of minions attacking you (well more like hit them with the swords along the way. thats why I prefer weapons with lower damage but quicker attack), and keep an eye on your HP. once its around half, 6 + left click several times until it works + 1 to go back to the swords

also during the eye laser attack it's also a good idea to do the same thing. then you can come out of it with full HP... and no creatures attacking you like bitch thanks for solving my problems

you just have to... keep doing it. its scary. your life is going down really fast and there is no way to kill all the creatures attacking you because it keeps spawning them and there's no safe zone because tentacles

but you just keep going, keep healing yourself, keep tanking the eye laser attack and using it as just another opportunity to jump up and deal damage

and it'll... break. it's not going to regenerate itself the way Big Ape does. it'll just die and that will be it. you'll have won. well okay you're going to die too but THE VICTORY WILL BE YOURS

(and then there's that scene. that scene. that one. it's so good you guys. even my bewilderment at sudden story gameplay separation didn't make it any less freaking epic)

really, the only letdown is that there should have been SOMETHING changing at the Outpost. Maybe this would be a better moment for the Treasured Trophies to appear. Maybe some other shop opening. Maybe a portal to a new peaceful/trading zone entirely.

there should be SOMETHING there

[zarmei-for-christmas]

Hogwartswatch Headcanon

I am SUCH a nerd. Here’s my Hogwarts/Overwatch headcanon. I am slightly embarassed. This is so teenager-like, but I am SUCH an adult nerd.

So. Let’s Headcanon.

---

Overwatch goes Hogwarts

The top level:

Ana is the headmistress. She used to be in Gryffindor and is now super-proud that her daughter is also in Gryffindor. Pharah is super-embarrassed that her MOM is headmistress. Ana used to teach potions a long time ago. She has a firm grip on the school and if you get called into that office of hers, you wil have reason tol be very nervous, trust me.

Bastion is the school mascot. He is basically a school project gone awry - at the edge of legality – a machine that has reached sentience much like the Ford Anglia in Harry Potter… only even more sentient. Rumor has it, Torbjörn had a hand in this during his own time at Hogwarts. Bastion is a good sport and ever helpful. He’ll carry all your books if you ask him to.

Reinhardt teaches History of Magic. He used to be in Gryffindor but is not head of any house at this point. He also used to be a legendary Auror who was pushed out of the ministry because he just wouldn’t retire when told. Ana, a long-standing friend of his, invited him to work at the school because Reinhardt really couldn’t stand not having a calling anymore. Reinhardt accepted this reluctantly but then found he really likes teaching students. He realizes through them he can have an impact on the future. Ana’s daughter Pharah is his favorite student.

McCree is a visiting teacher from who-knows-where. People suspect he is actually on some sort of secret operation in the school, though he assures everyone who asks that he is just too lazy to do any other job. “I can sit on my ass all day and occasionally hold a monologue and get paid and fed for it. The heck will I do anything else.” He is Muggle born and teaches Muggle Studies, but he doesn’t take it too seriously. He is just really amused by everyone’s misconceptions about Muggles and thoroughly enjoys the fact that all he has to do is talk about things he knows already, anyway. No preparation needed.

 House Hufflepuff:

The head teacher of House Hufflepuff is Zenyatta, a so-called omnic (a puppet enhanced into sentience). He teaches Care for Magical Creatures and is very concerned about making it clear that all living beings deserve respect and kindness (including less-sentient animal omnics). Zenyatta has a heart for House Elves and is a much loved and frequent guest in the Forbidden Forest. His employment at Hogwarts is viewed as controversial.

Genji is also in Hufflepuff and he adores Professor Zenyatta. He is the best student of the house and also head boy. He is in his sixth year and plays Seeker for team Hufflepuff. In his first year, he made quick friends with Mercy and is an advocate for tearing down the barriers of house rivalry. The Shimada family is an ancient magical family with lots of power.

Lúcio is also in Hufflepuff. He is the most talented musician of the school and the first to assure everyone that Hufflepuff is a great house to be in. He is in year five (with Zarya, Junkrat and Winston) and the kindest and most positive person anyone in that school will ever meet. Absolutely everyone’s friend. Lúcio plays Chaser for team Hufflepuff. He is Muggle-born and proud of it! Lúcio attends specialty classes for healing with the school nurse, joining an unofficial course that has been set up for Mercy. He heard of it and simply asked to join, knowing he does not have the same talent, but that it could help a lot of people in the Muggle world, if he could do some of that good healing.

House Ravenclaw:

The head teacher of house Ravenclaw is Torbjörn. He teaches Charms, but his true passion is creating things. He has an optional class/freetime activity where he teaches engineering. Rumor has it that he created Bastion during his school years and nearly got imprisoned for it. Mei and Winston attend his class – and Pharah does, too (reluctantly), because Ana makes her. Mercy joins the class in later years when she develops the wish to put healing and the magic used in creating sentient omnics together for the benefit of the wounded.

There is a band of close-knit friends in Ravenclaw that are collectively known as “the nerds”:

Mei is known as the absolute über-nerd, she is invested in all things sciency and arguable the smartest and most educated student in all of Hogwarts. She is in her sixth year and only ever gets straight As. She and Winston collect enough points for Ravenclaw in class to completely cancel out the points the Gryffindor Quidditch team accumulates. People tried bullying her, but she was always just too darn sweet for it to be fun. And when a certain Zarya joined the school, the bullying stopped altogether because she would beat up anyone who picked on Mei.

Mercy: The sorting hat had a hard time with her, wavering between all four houses - but Mercy eventually asked the sorting head to be put into Ravenclaw, where Mei had been put earlier in the same ceremony. They had been friends since elementary school. Both are from magical families (though Mercy grew up in a wizarding orphanage) and knew they would go to Hogwarts. Mercy is technically part of the nerd-group, but she is arguably also the hottest girl in the school. She has a tendency to decline everyone’s advances and it’s starting to become a school sport to ask her out. She is absolutely excellent at Herbology and takes extra classes with the school nurse to strengthen her talent in the arts of healing. 

Winston is probably the first ape ever to attend Hogwarts. He is in year five and an absolute curiosity to the magical world as he is the first animal with magical tendencies that are so strong, he needed to be taught how to wield it, so they put him into the school. Ana has a hard time keeping him safe and able to attend al lthe classes in the school, as there are people who dislike the fact that an animal should join the magical community and learn all its secrets. He quickly bonded with Mei and they like getting all science-y together. After Mei, he is the second best student of the school.

Symmetra is also in Ravenclaw (year seven), but likes to keep to herself. She is absolutely amazing at Transfiguration but she cares little for Magical Creatures, History or Muggle Studies. She seems inapproachable and disinterested. Mei always makes an effort to include her. Symmetra does not seem to care much, but it doesn’t stop Mei. Symmetra is a half-blood.

House Slytherin:

The head teacher of house Slytherin is Gabriel Reyes (aka Reaper). He teaches Potions, thought much like Snape, he’d rather do Defense Against the Dark Arts (which is taught by Professor Morrison). A lot of students are scared of him. Nobody knows what happened to him, or whether he is alive or a ghost. His office is always locked and he never lets anyone in. Students have tried breaking in, but usually ended up poisoned or otherwise incapacitated.

Sombra was immediately sorted into house Slytherin – the hat barely touched her before it announced that. She is the smartest of the house and known to be manipulative and egocentric. Rumor has it she knows everyone’s secrets and insecurities and that she threatens blackmail a lot. She is brilliant at Charms and rather good at Potions, making her one of Reaper’s favorite students. The only reason she is so good at these subjects, of course, is because she realizes there are plenty of charms and potions that can be used to influence and manipulate people. Sombra refuses to tell anyone whether her parents were magical. Little do they know she has no idea. She keeps a lot of secrets.

Widowmaker aka Amélie used to be in Hufflepuff, but something happened in year three that changed her forever. She was gone at the end of the school year and when she returned to Hogwarts in year four, she looked completely different. Her demeanor had changed, too, so that Ana – for the first time in Hogwarts history – decided that she needed to be resorted. The hat then put her into Slytherin. The students rumor that Gabriel Reyes, a long family friend of Amélie’s family, was involved in whatever happened to Widowmaker. She earned her nickname because of rumors that her change involved the murder of someone’s husband (she definitely can see Thestrals). She also has a weird connection to spiders - they seem to seek her out.

Hanzo is also in Slytherin, though the hat had a hard debate with itself on that choice. He is in year seven, known to be contemplative and usually not taking part in the mischief other Slytherin students are planning. For a Slytherin, he has extremely high morals. That is why he was made head boy of the house. Reaper is not happy with that and there is tension, but Ana made that choice, overruling Gabriel. He does not get along with his Hufflepuff brother too well. He’d rather not be in any house.

Junkrat and Roadhog are also both in Slytherin, though they are not inherently evil. They do not hang out with the likes of Sombra and Windowmaker, or even Hanzo. Their main goal is to pull pranks around the school – often pranks going way too far. They are like a sinister Fred and George team and are constantly threatened by expulsion. Roadhog is in year seven, Junkrat is in year five. The mischief really intensified when Junkrat joined the school as he is often the instigator.

 Gryffindor

Gryffindor’s house teacher is Jack Morrison, aka Soldier:76, ex-auror, ex-Gryffindor and teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts. He is everyone’s favorite teacher, a few Slytherins excepted (and Pharah, who just loves Reinhardt too much for anyone to beat her admiration for him). His expertise and skill are obvious – he is the Mad-eye Moody of Overwatch-Hogwarts without the crazy. He is the reason that for many years, Hogwarts has produced the most capable Aurors in the entire world, beating any other school in that respect. His classes are excellent.

Tracer is in Gryffindor, though the sorting hat took his time sorting her, too. She is cheerful, always willing to get stuff done and help – so she almost ended in Hufflepuff. She is the Gryffindor Seeker and has been since year two, though she is now in year six with Mei and Mercy, who she is well acquainted with. She used to have a huge crush on Amélie (one year above her), now known as Widowmaker, and she is still suffering trying to understand how the woman can be so different now. She occasionally sees the Amélie she once knew appear in Widowmaker’s expression - and often mulls about how to get the real Amélie to come back. Partially, she is so close-knit with Mercy, Winston and Mei because she figures, if anyone can help her find out what happened to Amélie, those two smartypants can. Tracer’s the daughter of a dentist and a pilot.

D.va is a year two Gryffindor. She is already the most popular girl in her year, loved by everyone who does not find her too obnoxious. She is great friends with the older student Lúcio and amazingly skilled on a broomstick. She plays Chaser for team Gryffindor. D.va’s father is a famous ministry magician, her mother is working for a travel agency. Maybe being a mudblood is the main reason she was not sorted into Slytherin, given her talent.

Zarya is of course also in Gryffindor – but even here, the sorting was not clear-cut. While the hat sensed incredible courage, there was also Zarya’s willingness to give up everything to help others, if need be. Yet, the hat thought that Zarya would not end up happy in the docile Hufflepuff community (and under the head of an omnic). She is currently in year five, though most of her friends are older. Zarya grew up with her Muggle uncle and aunt, though she knows her father was a wizard. She does not know about her mother, which exempts her from any racist teasing (because nobody knows her blood status, not even she). She developed an almost immediate crush on Mei and has been beating up anyone who would hurt Mei (which often enough was Junkrat) since she arrived at school. Her physical strength earned her immediate respect and she excels at Defense Against the Dark Arts (but little else – to uninterested in school work!). Being so ready to confront people puts her in much trouble - but she absolutely does not care and takes any scolding and detention with a dismissive smile, as long as she feels she has done the right thing. She is a huge flirt (with girls, of course), best friends with Pharah and the Quidditch keeper for her team.

Pharah has come to the school in the same year as Mei and Mercy. She is Ana’s daughter and really wished nobody knew that (but everyone does, of course). She adores the ex-Auror Reinhardt whom she has known since she was little and she has a huge crush on Mercy. Given how well Mercy is known for being absolutely inapproachable, Pharah does not even dare asking her out. Pharah is the best Quidditch player of the entire school, playing – of course – as a Chaser. Zarya and Pharah make the best team, supported by a very skilled D.va and Tracer. Because Pharah is the team captain, Gryffindor, of course, keeps winning the Quidditch cup!

 Quidditch:

Team Hufflepuff:

Genji is the Seeker for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. His agility and speed were recognized early and he joined the team in year two when the previous Seeker got injured.

Lúcio is a great Chaser, but unfortunately the only other player worth mentioning other than Genji. He is also team captain. The team is playing too nice to win a lot. Unless Genji gets the Snitch, Hufflepuff is going to lose. For all his talent, Lúcio cannot carry the team all by himself. Hufflepuff’s losing streaks are running joke at the school – Lúcio doesn’t mind. He enjoys the game itself – winning is just a bonus. He is the first to congratulate the team captain of any team that beat his.

Team Ravenclaw:

Winston is the Keeper for team Ravenclaw. He makes up for his lack of mobility on a broom stick by doing daring jumps between the hoops, leaving his broomstick waiting for him for minutes before using “Accio Broomstick”.

Symmetra, Mercy and Mei do not care for Quidditch, though Mei will cheer her team on, of course (and drag Mercy along) – mainly for Winston. Pharah sure can’t win points with Mercy for being an amazing Quidditch player. Mercy also rather dislikes the sport because she ends up helping the teachers patching everyone back up who gets injured on the field (mostly Zarya because the woman will wreck herself to keep a goal).

Team Slytherin:

Sombra plays the Seeker, but she is not doing the best job – she would rather manipulate and disrupt the game than look for the Snitch. That strategy does work sometimes, however - crashing into players, hindering them or getting into their way are her specialty. She keeps getting reprimanded for playing the Quaffle instead of looking for the Snitch. Sombra holds the records for most fouls in a Hogwarts Quidditch game committed by a single player. The captain refuses to make her a beater – partially because he already has two amazing beaters and partially because Sombra is a terrible team player.

Roadhog and Junkrat are the meanest and most reckless Beater team, of course.

Widowmaker does not give a crap about Quidditch.

Neither does Hanzo because after all, Genji is a Quidditch player which is a reason to dislike the sport.

 Team Gryffindor:

Zarya plays as Keeper, earning her the nickname “Pink Wall”. She is known for her daring maneuvers and for getting injured in nearly every game (and she does not care about that).

Pharah is playing as Chaser and probably the best player and most skilled flier in the entire school. She holds the record for most goals scored in a season and is the absolute champion of her team. She has earned several Quidditch awards within the school and is of course also the captain. Her rigorous training schedule are part of why Gryffindor team excels so much. People tell her to become a Quidditch player, but Pharah wants to be an Auror, much to Ana’s dismay.

D.va is also a Chaser. She has joined the team in year two and together, she and Pharah are pretty much unstoppable.

Tracer plays Seeker for team Gryffindor. She and Genji are extreme rivals on the field and very well matched - which makes the games between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff especially exciting. Tracer can’t stand Sombra and their battles for the Snitch can get rather violent.

[i-belong-in-space]

Loki: A Character Bio

Name: Loki

Appears In: Lacuna, Sky Children, Whispering Gods, La Vie en Bleu, Wild Earth, Mechi

Character Summary:

Star sign: Leo

Personality type: ENFJ-A

Appearance: Loki has long unnatural silver hair, the ends of which some describe as black flames creeping into the silver. His eyes are grey and bright as all Mechi eyes are. He’s a tall being, made to look like a gentleman in his early thirties. When he went rogue from the Terah system he warped his appearance in defiance and one of his trademarks are his old world leather vests and top hat. He loves surrounding himself with antiques and memories of the world before the nuclear wars. He has a love of history and gave himself the name Loki after his years of service under the Terah.

Breakdown:Loki is simply known as Loki, he took no surname from a human family as he was created for the commercial world. Loki is pushing two-hundred years old by the time the Lacuna Chronicles begins, a first generation sentient AI, and he’s seen and been through the wars and yearns for a world he can be free in. In his early life he was separated from his sister Naia and sold as a salesman, and so he was programmed to be charming and personable. He uses those personality traits to his advantage when he breaks his own code and goes rogue from the Terah monitoring system and starts selling odd trinkets on Zenith’s black market alleyways. All of the Underground Zenith network knows Loki as he travels from town to town, selling passports and dreams. You see, he has a bit of an odd quirk. Mechi can’t dream, but Loki does. His trinket selling is only a front for his prophetic dream reading and passports for the ones that can afford such a freedom. He gives hope to the tired, beaten population of Zenith and in turn becomes a beloved figure.

Relationships:

Miel “Blue” Vauquelin (romantic)

Details: Blue starts out as a friend to Loki.  Caught stealing from another vendor in the Alley, Blue also catches Loki’s eye.  Blue sells a very different sort of ware in Zenith but what Loki truly craves is companionship and Blue gives him that because it is the one thing that Blue craves in turn. They connect through a physical desire but also a deeper emotional and intellectual desire that Loki has never experienced as a Mechi, a race that isn’t trusted or seen as having human emotions in Zenith. Blue sees Loki as human and as his equal in every way and he becomes an integral part of Loki’s life. They love one another for the traits that the world around them condemns them for and that drives Loki to watch over Blue in his often times dangerous life. This bond lasts a lifetime for both of these tragic characters and they come out stronger for it.

Mikas Ikeda (nemesis)

Details: Loki tolerates the tough talking thief who is Blue’s closest friend and is often seen as family member. He knows that both Blue and Mikas harbor a hidden romantic interest for one another beneath their fiercely loyal friendship. But being Mechi allows Loki to see situations for what they truly are. He understands that Blue’s affections for this troubled boy are not fully returned and he has forever to earn Blue’s loyalty unlike some human nemesis’ he has. He does love a good jab at Mikas who is often hot headed and dangerously spontaneous. Loki’s interactions with Mikas are usually barely noticeable bites beneath a pleasant smile. He gets a bit of pleasure from Mikas’ tumultuous human emotions but you can forgive that in him can’t you?

Katya “Nero” Stepanov (friend)

Details: Nero becomes Loki’s closest friend and ally through a series of tumultuous events. Hired as a hit-woman to the wrong client gets her thrown into a Terah prison where no one makes it out alive. Loki with his connections is able to free her and she becomes a fiercely loyal friend and eventually bodyguard under Loki’s employment. Who better to have a rogue Mechi’s back than a highly trained human assassin? Their bond is tight-knit and often comical due to their very different personalities. Nero is a tough woman, used to a hard life, and her humor is dry and often cutting, whereas Loki takes life as it is. His motto is why stress when the world is burning all around them? It makes for an interesting duo.

Naia Addington (sibling)

Details: Loki was created with Naia and watched his sister sold to a family as their maid. He spent a good half of his life wondering about her as he was forced to work in the commercial industry and once he took his freedom into his own hands he went looking for her. Through her, he finds a way to survive and together they begin a covert business of stolen passports through her corporate family. They keep their bond strong through both of their lives and see one another as family in a world that would label them machine.

Excerpt:

A woman who was probably taller than himself, her brown hair shorn boyishly short, sat with her polished boots propped up on the counter in the stall he had been eyeing since he’d stepped into the Alley an hour ago. She laced her fingers behind her head as she sucked on the end of a thick cigar and watched the evening crowd flooding in. She looked like she would be able to crush him with one hand if she wanted to. There was a ruggedness to her that was intimidating. She caught him staring and held his gaze.

“You looking for something?” she asked him, chewing lightly on the end of the cigar.

Blue faltered for a moment under her hard gaze. Her rough accent was one he couldn’t quite place. Here in Zenith where so many people from all over the world had been relocated, displaced, it was sometimes hard to remember what had been before, the separate countries and their separate accents and ways of living.; they were all one slowly dying entity now.

“If you’re not looking, move along,” the woman said brusquely and turned her face away from him, back to the thickening crowd.

His gaze swept the empty stall critically. There were a few old world, dusty relics sitting on the counter by the woman’s boots, but nothing else in the stall. It was odd that the tent was so empty when every other vendor was packed floor to ceiling. A covered tent stood at the back of the stall, closed, but he could see a warm, glowing light coming from within, and shadows moving on the other side of the cloth.

“Are you deaf? I said move along,” the woman reiterated, this time more forcefully, and she kicked her boots from the counter to thump them down on the ground heavily, hands braced against her knees.

Blue frowned at the aggressive stance and thought about doing as she had said and moving on, but the shadows flickering on the other side of the tent interested him. There was no signage hanging above the stall, no indication of what could possibly be sold here, but he remembered clearly the strange Mechi and the way he had strode back to this tent through the swirling dust days ago.

“What exactly goes on here?” Blue asked the woman, knowing he was testing her patience as she looked him over in distaste.

“We have nothing for your kind around here. The boss reads dreams,” the woman answered him rudely and he felt a flare of indignance at the easy way she had insulted him.

“My kind?” he wondered with a curl of his lip, and though he didn’t understand what the woman had told him about her boss reading dreams, he stood up taller, hand on his hip and looked her over with the same air of hostility. He had taken an instant dislike to this woman who so easily judged him, “I think I’d like to talk to the boss,” he said stubbornly.

“Suit yourself,” the woman growled, kicking her boots back up on the table so that he was forced to move away or get kicked by her, “but you’ll have to wait. He’s busy.”

She sighed under her breath as she sucked on her cigar and commenced to ignoring his presence, but Blue stood his ground and waited around despite the heavy, angry tension between them.

Luckily, it was only a few moments before the tent flap was thrown back with an air of drama and the Mechi he remembered had been named Loki stepped from the tent. There was a moment where the Mechi seemed startled to see Blue standing at his stall, his elegant composure slipping for the briefest of seconds before his lips quirked into a grin.

An older woman stepped from the tent behind him and a transaction was made between them before Loki smoothly fixed his attention back on Blue. Blue forced himself to keep Loki’s gaze, even as his heart began to pound in his chest under the Mechi’s perusal.

“He wants a reading,” the woman explained, indicating to Blue with a lazy flick of her hand, but Blue was past caring what this Mechi’s assistant thought of him.

Loki tipped his hat, an old world gesture that was out of place in this dying future. Everything about Loki seemed out of place, and Blue found himself oddly captivated.

Loki swept the cloth covering the tent out of the way and Blue took the invitation, ducking and entering the tent. Instantly his senses were filled with the exotic smells of sandalwood burning on a table in the corner of the tent, a lulling scent. There was only a small table in the middle of the tent, and a single light hanging from above, muting the atmosphere, and making Blue feel light-headed.

“Nero said you wanted a reading,” Loki’s low, rich voice filled the tent, and Blue was reminded of why he had decided to seek Loki out. He had almost convinced himself it was because he owed Loki some sort of thank you for getting he and Mikas out of the threatening situation Mikas had pulled them into days ago. But in actuality he knew it was only because he was curious about this Mechi who seemed not like other Mechi he had encountered. There was no mechanicalness to the being standing in front of him, a perfection that transcended human, yes, but the very air around him seemed electrified with a tempting eccentricity.

“Do you remember me?” Blue asked, forcing a little smile he hoped was teasing and not anxious. His fingers trembled the slightest bit as he took a seat at the small circular wooden table. He tried to still the trembling of his fingers by touching the fine cloth covering the table, rubbing the material absently between thumb and forefinger.

“Of course,” Loki gave him a smile in return, one that seemed too knowing for Blue’s taste.

“I received a monitor out of our little meeting,” Loki chuckled softly and showed Blue his wrist where the thin silver monitor Mikas had tried stealing now rested against the red triangle on Loki’s skin. Blue looked away uncomfortably, reminded of the social gulf between the two of them with that harsh branding.

“Gaveryn’s stall was shut down and packed up yesterday,” Loki continued, retracting his wrist and catching Blue’s wandering gaze again, “seems the old bastard finally got what was coming to him. I decided to keep the monitor of course. These things are so expensive.”

Blue laughed at that, surprising himself. He found Loki’s bluntness, his light and teasing attitude refreshing.

“Blue,” he introduced himself and Loki smiled at that. He supposed he should remember his manners.

“I’m sure you’ve heard my name passed around here by now. I’ve been going by Loki for at least a century,” Loki tapped the rim of his hat and then leaned against the table between them, long, slender fingers intertwined.

“So, what sort of dream are you coming to me about?” Loki asked and Blue’s smile faltered as he mentally scrambled to make up a dream, or at least remember a recent dream he had had.

“Well,” he began, but his mind remained blank, and he realized he might as well drop the charade, “the truth is, I didn’t come here to have a dream read.”

He wasn’t sure how a dream could be read in the first place, and how a Mechi would be able to understand a human’s dream when they were not capable of dreaming themselves.

“Oh?” Loki asked, grin lengthening as he rested his chin on a curled hand and looked to Blue as if he found him endlessly entertaining. Blue shifted in his seat and shrugged a shoulder.

“I wanted to… thank you… for stepping in and helping the other day,” he finally uttered, “you didn’t have to do that.”

“I saw someone in need of help and felt obliged to offer a hand,” Loki explained, and then he passed a finger over his bottom lip thoughtfully before laughing under his breath, and Blue frowned, wondering at the amusement Loki seemed to find in him.

“Forgive me, I feel I should be honest as you have been with me…” Blue tilted his head at the odd comment, “I found you to be incredibly beautiful and I saw an opportunity to talk to you,” Loki admitted, “I could scarcely pass it up.”

Loki then sat back in his seat and hooked his thumbs in his vest pockets, a habit of his, it seemed. Blue’s breath caught at the statement, and he felt an odd sense of pleasure wash through him at the honest admission. He should have been used to men complimenting him by now. He’d been yelled at by sleazy older men time and again in the streets, heard the same thing whispered into his ear night after night as he lay beneath some panting, sweating man. He wished men’s compliments were money instead of mere words, because if they were, he’d be ridiculously wealthy by now. But there was something different in the way Loki had handed him those same words he was so used to hearing, something that made him almost believe they had substance to them.

“I’m glad we’re being honest with one another,” Blue replied.

If you would like to know more about the series this character is from, stay tuned to this writeblr. I’m going to put up many more character bios and short stories, or stop by my website https://amdailybooks.com/ for more info and many freebies/short stories that will be popping up soon! I’m always up for asks and will talk nonstop about these beloved babies.

If interested, the book this excerpt is from is available on the site :)