#oh and zer0's house

[saym0-0]

shout out to my mom for, when i showed her my rabbit drawing from earlier on my phone, scroll through all my screenshots and photos of spg in my camera roll to look at my inspirations. realising this sounds a bit invasive but it wasnt it was cute i love my mom

[mr--zer0]

*everything seems to have calmed down... The planet no longer exists... victory? *

*But then the unexpected passed. The earth on which you were is restored, along with all the inhabitants, as if... The whole planet has repented back in time, to the place when you first entered Mr. Zer0's house*

Oh, what?

*tries to understand what's going on and tries to get out*

What is the figure? Who are you?

*Crashes Vubro-E11 into room*

How do you want to proceed with this, least numerical digit?

(OOC: Since I can write it to you in private messages, I will ask here. Sorry, please, I didn't fully understand your message. First of all, what is Vubro-E11 and where did it crash, In the room where my character is or what? Secondly, is the second part said to my character?)

[littledraga]

The Golden Frisbee of Eternal Dreams

Having a new dog was the best! They had almost as much energy as Zer0 did!

The two of them could run along the manor grounds all day and still have time to get practice in with the band. Though The Spine insisted they go play elsewhere. He said them singing along was too distracting.

But when Zer0 wasn’t at practice, his dog was always at his side. Today Zer0 had gotten a hold of an old frisbee. Something that, likely, fell into their yard years ago, but the owner was too afraid to retrieve it. Not that that was something a happy bot like Zer0 thought about. He was just happy to have found it in a pile of junk that had been forgotten instead of thrown away.

Running outside with his best friend, Zer0 tested his throwing arm as they got ready to play. “Come on, buddy! I’ve seen this lots of times on the TV,” he excitedly explained as they found the perfect spot to play. “I’ll throw it across the yard, and you run after it and bring it back!”

And just like in the shows on the TV Zer0 swung with all his might, flinging the frisbee as far as he could. Only, he was a lot stronger than the people on the TV. He was built to topple Copper elephants and hold his ground when they charged at him. The piece of plastic flew and flew. So far it went over houses and well out of sight for both of them.

The dog looked up at Zer0 with sad, dejected eyes for having their toy thrown so very far away. With a soft whine, they laid down, head at Zer0’s feet.

Zer0 frowned a little at that. “Sorry, buddy. Guess I forgot how strong I am,” he giggled. Not that it made his furry friend feel any better. Looking back out to where he threw it, Zer0 squinted his eyes. It couldn’t have gotten that far, surely? No one would miss them so long as they hurried there and back. “Come on! Let’s go get that frisbee! I’ll be more careful this time,” he promised.

Following the path of the frisbee, the duo started their adventure! It wasn’t a bad plan, save for some yards being in the way. Luckily, the fences weren’t too high for him to climb over while his dog jumped. The first few yards were empty and easy to pass through, but eventually, they found humans.

Humans that stood up in shock and still in awe when a robot clamoured over their fence.

Walking past them, he waved and smiled brightly. “Don’t mind us! We’re on an adventure to find a frisbee!” he would explain as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which of course, to them, it was.

Eventually, the houses gave way to businesses and busy streets full of shops he wouldn’t be able to walk through anymore. They just needed to be careful and look around the buildings.  It couldn’t be much further now, surely?

While they walked, a group of kids came up to them. “Mister Robot!” chirped one while the dog stepped over to sniff at the new people, “can we play with your dog, mister?”

Said dog was already sitting down, tail wagging as some of them had begun to pet him already.

Zer0 laughed and nodded. “Of course! I think they like you already!”

Now stopping to play was never a bad idea, and it was a lot of fun! Even if they eventually had to stop for shop owners coming out to scold them. It was dangerous to play so close to the road, and they were deterring business.

“Sorry! We’ll be on our way, then!” He waved to the kids as they hurried off before getting caught. That was a good break, but they still had a frisbee to find. Now, if only he remembered which way to go. Or even which way they’d come.

That was a problem! It would be hard to find the frisbee if he didn’t remember and harder still to find their way home! Looking down at his dog, he smiled. “It’ll be alright. Do you remember where we came from?” He asked.

Said dog looked up at him and sneezed, shaking their head.

“You either, huh? I guess we’ll just have to walk around until we find our way home!” And that’s exactly what they did! The two of them walked and walked, trying to find the way they’d come. A familiar shop, a familiar face.

After a while, even the ever optimistic Zer0 was getting a little worried, and low on water. “Come on, let’s see if we can get a drink, buddy.”

He tried to bring his dog into a nearby restaurant but was quickly chased out. Glaring at them both, the man pointed to a no dogs sign before shutting the door in his face.

“Wow! Rude.” Zer0 stuck his tongue out at the door before guiding his friend away to find somewhere nicer. They both needed water. The next shop, he went in first, ducking in the door and looking around at a small sandwich shop.

“Sorry to bother you. But can I get a couple glasses of water? Me and my friend are really thirsty trying to find our frisbee and way home,” he explained, wringing his hands together a little.

They looked curiously at the robot and looked around them to see the dog looking through the glass and panting in the California heat. That was more than enough. “Just a sec! I got a bowl in the back.” Putting a cup on the counter for Zer0, they shuffled off to fill up a bowl with cool water.

Grateful, Zer0 got himself some water from the fountain and topped up his boiler. A fresh cloud of steam poured from his vents, and he let out a happy sigh. He really should have brought some water with them, but he didn’t think they’d be gone so long.

When the cashier came back out with a mixing bowl of water, he beamed. “Thank you! I bet they need a lot of water.” He held open the door for them to come out and sit down the bowl for his dog.

While they both got their fill of water, the cashier got curious. “What are you guys doing out here anyway? Shouldn’t you, I dunno, be at home with whoever made you?”

Zer0 laughed at that but nodded to agree. “I was playin’ fetch with my friend here,” he gestured to his dog, who had taken to laying on the sidewalk for now, “like they do it on the TV. Only, I forgot how strong I was and it went pretty far. We’re trying to find it and head home to play some more!”

They looked up to the setting sun. There wasn’t much playing left. “And does your owner know where you are?”

A shake of his head. “We were gonna be super fast! But I think we took a lot longer than I thought, and now we’re all twisted around, and we can’t find our way back.” It was quite the dilemma. And yet, he didn’t seem particularly fussed about the whole thing.

“Well, do you know where you’re supposed to be?” they asked, hoping to get them home before it got too late.

“Of course! At Walter Manor,” exclaimed Zer0 proudly. His head tilted to the side when the cashier sighed and leaned against the door.

“What about an address? Do you know where you live?”

“At Walter Manor,” he said again.

“Guess not,” they sighed. “Okay, well what about calling them?” They tried, pulling out a cellphone. “Do you know your owner's number?”

“Oh, that’s easy! It’s Six!”

The cashier Googled the Walters and found a ‘Call if found’ number. Apparently this happened pretty often. They sat out with Zer0 while they waited for the Walter Workers to come take him home.

[much-obliged-timothy]

Dad Tim & Uncle Rhys Part 2

It’s me, back to self-indulgent fic writing!! I’m just going to call this mess Dad Tim & Uncle Rhys, so if you’re curious, here’s part one of it! 

Rhys didn’t know what to do with Timothy’s son.

For the most part, no one around the building, Rhys included, ever saw or heard Phoenix. He would sit quietly in his father’s office, entertaining himself while Timothy worked diligently. 

And he was a good worker. Still too paranoid and awkward to really talk to anyone around the office much, but surprisingly skilled in negotiations, meetings, and presentations. Rhys was sometimes chilled by how much like Handsome Jack that Tim could manage to sound. But he always got his work done on time, usually early. He seemed to enjoy having a purpose again. 

But on the occasion that he had to go into some type of meeting, he couldn’t bring his son. Rhys, taking pity on him, had agreed to let Phoenix sit in his office and tell him some of the stories from Pandora that the kid wanted to hear. 

He had just meant to do it a few times, really. Just while Phoenix adjusted to the separation from Tim. The poor kid always paced anxiously until Tim returned to collect him, and then he’d cling to Tim for dear life. 

But now it had somehow become a common thing for Tim to drop Phoenix off with Rhys. And, quite frankly, Rhys didn’t know what to do with him.

Even now, Phoenix was pacing on the other side of the office, tattered bear clutched to his chest as he waited for Tim to return. Tim had, thankfully, taken to telling Phoenix he’d be an hour or so longer than he actually expected, just in case he ran late. It kept Phoenix from panicking most of the time. 

Phoenix slowed his pacing as he noticed Rhys’s bookshelf. He approached it curiously, glancing at Rhys for permission as he held his hand out towards it.

“Uh, I don’t think you’ll be able to read any of those,” he said. “But go for it, I guess?”

Phoenix pulled down a book with the Hyperion logo on it. He sat on the floor and flipped the book open, looking through it. After a few minutes, he lifted it and carried it over to Rhys’s desk.

He pointed at a picture of Helios. “That’s Helios? That’s what you crashed?”

Rhys had tried to water down his adventures on Pandora to a child appropriate level, but he had admitted to crashing Helios and destroying the eye that Handsome Jack had been trapped in. Hey, it wasn’t a bedtime story, but the kid didn’t seem to mind.

“Yes,” Rhys said.

“Did’ja kill anyone when you did it?” he said.

Rhys jerked back, startled by the question. Phoenix looked genuinely curious, like killing a bunch of people was just another part of the day for most people.

Rhys didn’t think he’d ever adjust to the fact that this kid had lived his whole life in a casino full of homicidal maniacs that wanted to kill his dad for looking like Handsome Jack. How the hell had he gotten stuck babysitting him?

“Um, well, uh, I’m s-sure some people didn’t...exactly...uh...make it out?” he said nervously. 

Phoenix nodded, like death was expected. He flipped the pages, stopping as he came to an image of Handsome Jack. 

“Asshole,” he said quietly.

“So, um, you l-like picture books?” Rhys said, not wanting to go down shared trauma road with a little kid.

“Uh-huh. I dunno how to read good yet,” he said, flipping to the next page. “Dad’s trying to teach me. But I like the pictures.”

Picture books. Right. Rhys could do that.

He got up and went over the bookshelf, scanning through everything until he came to a guide to Promethea. He took it down, flipping through it to make sure it was primarily composed of pictures, and then went over to his desk and handed it to Phoenix.

“There, that’s a guide to Promethea. It has pictures of a lot of the things here,” he explained.

Phoenix’s eyes lit up a little and he clutched the book tightly, tucking his bear under his arm to have a better grip. He went into the corner of the room, sitting down with the new book and angling himself so that he could see both Rhys and the door. He began to flip through it.

Rhys had to give it to the kid that he was at least quiet and out of the way. Rhys was able to work well even with Phoenix in the room.

He always did feel pity whenever someone came into his office, though. Phoenix would freeze, going so still and silent that most people didn’t even notice him there. On the rare occasion that someone did see him, Phoenix would tense up, looking ready to flee if they took a step towards him.

Now, though, he just sat there and looked through the book. Relieved to have quieted him for the day, Rhys returned to his work.

But after a while of silence, he looked up to make sure Phoenix was even still there.He was surprised to see Phoenix sitting with a hand pressed to his mouth and tears on his cheeks.

“Hey, you okay?” Rhys said in alarm. Tim would kill him if anything happened to Phoenix. 

“It’s so much.” Phoenix’s voice cracked as he spoke. He looked up, fresh tears spilling onto his cheeks. “There’s- There’s-” He gestured to the book. “It’s so much.”

Rhys was mortified when Tim chose that moment to enter the office.

“Hey, I’m b-” His eyes widened and he hurried over, dropping beside his son and immediately pulling him into his arms. He shot a deadly look at Rhys. “Rhys, why is he crying?”

“I don’t know!” Rhys said in alarm. Oh, god, Zer0 wasn’t even here to keep Tim from killing Rhys. This was such a shitty day. “He said something about that book being too much! I was just trying to give him pictures to look at! Please don’t kill me. Or please wait until Zer0 gets back so I at least stand a chance.”

“Hey,” Tim said, and it always shocked Rhys to hear Jack’s voice so soft and soothing. “Hey, pal, what’s wrong? Why are you crying? Can I make it better?”

Phoenix swiped an arm across his eyes and pointed at the book again. “Dad, it’s so much.”

“That’s all he keeps saying,” Rhys babbled nervously. “I don’t know what he means. It’s just a book about Promethea.”

Tim’s expression turned sad. He flipped through the book, balancing Phoenix in one arm before standing up.

“Sorry I kinda snapped at you there, Rhys,” he said. He set the book on Rhys’s desk. “He lived his whole life in the casino. Since we got to Promethea, he’s only been in our house, the store, and my work. He...didn’t know how big it was here. It’s got to be overwhelming.” 

“Oh.” Rhys felt stupid for not realizing. “Sorry, Phoenix. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“We can see it all?” Phoenix asked, wiping at his eyes again.

Tim gave him a small smile. “Sure, pal. It might take us a while to see it all because it’s so big here. But if you want to see it all, that’s what we’ll do.” 

“There’s a park about twenty minutes from here,” Rhys said without stopping to think about the words leaving his mouth. “I could show you tomorrow since you’re off.”

Phoenix’s eyes lit up a little. “Really? You’ll take us, boss guy?”

“O-Oh, I, um, I can...circle it on a map?” Rhys said weakly.

“He’ll take us,” Tim assured Phoenix. Tim smiled pleasantly at Rhys. “Especially because Rhys here knows I don’t like to see you cry, and you’d be very upset if he redacted the offer.”

“What’s that mean?” Phoenix said. “You used a big word, dad.”

“Don’t worry about it, pal. Just know that Rhys will take us tomorrow. Say thank you to the boss guy for being so nice, Phoenix,” Tim said.

“Thanks, boss guy!” Phoenix said. He looked so damn excited that Rhys couldn’t bring himself to argue. 

Tim nodded to Phoenix’s excited face. “That? That’s what I like to see, Rhys.” He grinned smugly. “See you tomorrow, boss.”

He left the office with Phoenix in his arms. Rhys stared after them, groaning as the door shut.

He was supposed to be the boss guy. How the hell did Tim end up sucking him into being a tour guide?

He thought of that excited little face and groaned again. Phoenix had taken a liking to him, which meant Rhys better play nice if he didn’t want to face Tim’s wrath. He was never hiring without a damn interview again, that was for sure.

Part 3

[halspur]

tagged by @sunburntkeith !

A: age - 19

B: birthplace - dallas, texas

C: current time - not too late

D: drink you had last - water babeyyy

E: easiest person to talk to - myself lol. or my mama

F: favorite song - morning glow/changing my major OR edelweiss

G: grossest memory - having my wisdom teeth taken out :/

H: hogwarts house - slytherin

I: in love? - i might be

J: jealous of people - no

K: killed someone - killed characters ;)

L: love at first sight or should I walk by again? - i think love at first sight is fictitious buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut [doesn’t finish thought]

M: middle name - madison (both of my names are gender neutral, i know)

N: number of siblings - zer0

O: one wish - to have a writing residency at a theatre/film company lmao

P: person you called last - my dad

Q: question you are always asked - are you mixed/do you know you look like zoe/y des/chanel

R: reason to smile - v0ltr0n season 4 is in less than 3 weeks :’)

S: song you sang last - oh god... “merry christmas maggie thatcher,” the elton john version, if you must know

T: time you woke up - before 8 sometime

U: underwear color - grey i think

V: vacation destination - nyc & disney always :) also western europe so i can see where my dad grew up

W: worst habit - eating sweets & buying stuff

X: x-rays - just my teeth!

Y: your favorite food - chocolate cookies & rice are tied tbh

Z: zodiac sign - sagittarius D-->

tagging @goldtrek, @notdexterousatall, @remusluvin, @cycloramas, @croutonfanclub, @partydress, @allmyfavesarecapricorns, @dolokhovcocktail if ya’ll wanna

[saym0-0]

stupid little doodle of spine on an off day

okay so i forgot to finish this but i cba to make another post so um uh this is the original under the cut the top one is actually finished

[saym0-0]

like this is all well and good but zer0's house was definitely in the 90s, they definitely said that. idk im rejigging

i think im just gonna shift his solo career back like thirty years,, like he was in the band up until the 70s or something then he began his solo career? its a struggle cos you don't wanna disrupt the established timelines of the other bots too much,, i want him around at least in the 50s because of that one throwaway line in the 10 year show that i took and ran with that implied he was one of the bots when clockwork vaudeville takes place,, hm okay i think i know

alright, proper timeline under the cut because 120 years is a lot to cover and it got long

1894/5- the bots he was made from were built, but their power cores weren't strong enough, and they were never powered on

1896- after Rabbit and The Spine were built, Col Walter came back to the prototype bots and fixed them up into one bot that did function- Zer0!

1897- after the war, just like in canon, he was put down in the basement and largely forgotten.

1939- after hatchy was vaulted, they didn't like that they only had four bots, so Col Walter was like 'oh yeah! i forgot about the other guy!' and brought Zer0 up and fixed him up to be able to play music. because he was unknown to the military at this point, and still getting used to the world around him again, he was not enlisted into ww2.

1956- clockwork vaudeville! at the new pennsyltucky worlds fair. ill be honest i have no idea where The Jon would be at this point, maybe the war properly put him out of commission for like eleven years or maybe hes off becoming the mayor of biscuit town idk.

1963- Zer0 strikes out on his own! starting a small but successful and long running career performing at various venues around the US.

1965- Zer0 dodges the draft for vietnam, because nobody knew where he was.

1969- Zer0 briefly meets up with Upgrade, who's attempting to start her own solo career, and they perform a few shows together before parting ways.

1986- Zer0's career finally starts picking up, and he begins performing for bigger audiences and appearing on television shows

1992- february 29th- the first episode of Zer0's House airs. despite the first episode airing on a saturday, the show was on every other thursday year round. the show was met with overwhelming positivity, with Zer0's fame skyrocketing

1993- facing enormous backlash at the initial plan to only air on leap years, Zer0's house is renewed another year.

1997- popularity of the show dwindles, but a devout following remains.

1999- as the audience grows ever smaller, the final episode of Zer0's House is annonced for the following year.

2000- february 29th- the final episode of Zer0's house airs. Zer0 returns to his solo career roots and returns to the musical stage, keeping up a small but devout following.

2008- i cant decide whether he should rejoin the band and stick to canon from there or if he should continue his solo career until it all crashes and burns ://

2012- if he does rejoin in 2008, he leaves again now, if not then idk he gains a boost in popularity or something

2014(?)- he invests all his money in the abstract concept of love

2015- he releases an autobiography, titled 'How I Lost All My Money By Investing in an Abstract Concept'. it only sold one copy.

2017- broke and alone, Zer0 returns to Walter manor and rejoins the band.

aaaand after that its all the same as canon :3 this took a lot of brain power but hey, at least now i have a concrete Zer0 timeline to reference and hopefully not forget that its not actually canon :3333

if you also want to use this, no need to credit back to me, all i did was shift some dates around and flesh out Zer0's House, but a link might just generally be helpful for reference purposes c:

and if ive missed anything vitally important let me know! like, say, bebops entire friendship with zer0 that i couldnt figure out how to fit in

realising Zer0's timeline doesn't make a whole lot of sense so im keeping the important bits and rejigging it, stay tuned