#so Tech could start putting himself back together and live again

[mvrkieboo]

The Original Ending for Old Bloodhounds

lmao this is totally because of this ask right here.

so, lemme tell y'all how the original ending of old bloodhounds would've been like before i scraped it because it was too much even for me lmao

once yoonsu's had his fun of isolating her from the people she loves, he's going to kill her and commit suicide in an isolated spot, just to really drive the nail that she's always going to be alone with him, even when all that's left of them is their rotting corpse.

he kills her and kills himself, and y/n's friends and family are going to report her as a missing person because she's missing her classes and not seen anywhere else anymore. then, a few weeks* after, some poor hiker and his dog stumble upon y/n's and yoonsu's corpse. mind you, yoonsu executes this during the winter, so in that thick layer of snow, y/n's and yoonsu's bodies are perfectly preserved.

only then are they going to find out that junyoung wasn't junyoung, but actually cha yoonsu. especially because authorities in gangnam already uncovered the original junyoung's body. dna testing proved that the corpse beside y/n's was yoonsu. then as the authorities investigate this fucked up case, they'd find the messages y/n and yoonsu shared and the blackmail material yoonsu had over her. detective do kyungsoo who had helped you in gangnam gets involved in this case.

as detective do explains to y/n's loved ones what really happened to y/n, it would dawn on them that they had a hand in making y/n's worst nightmare come true—for the people she loved to abandon her once again when she needed them most.

jaehyun has a breakdown that would result in his debut as a soloist singer be put on hold. him and his dad were inconsolable, but he eventually realises he can't throw away his career as a singer because y/n had only ever hoped for him to become one and achieve his lifelong dream. didn't she die for this? the public notes that he's not as easygoing anymore, but rather closed off.

mark takes a break from studying, his world is put on hold now that he knows just how much y/n suffered up until her murder. jaehyun drags him in to get therapy, and mark only lets him because jae's his best friend. he always has y/n on his mind. once he actually graduates, all of the songs he helps produce and write with jae are about her. jae knows this. all of the sad songs jae created with mark couldn't be sang live he'd just choke up on those lyrics anyway

geonwoo and woojin were shut off from the world for a while. once they do get back on their feet and continue their work in helping loanshark victims evade their debt collectors, they'd always see her ghost in the backseat of their vehicles. they swore off in personally fostering any loanshark victims after y/n's death. they couldn't bear thinking that they could be replacing her with someone else.

yangyang, xiaojun, and aeri...yangyang—afraid of losing anyone else after just how brutally y/n was ripped away from his life—hired xiaojun and aeri into his start-up tech company. their ai assistant for their app is named after y/n, and even the model suspiciously resembles her. as if that's not enough, the three of them immortalise y/n by creating a foundation named after her that aims to help troubled teens all around the nation.

y/n's and junyoung's ashes are kept within the main jeong household, deciding that their resting space should be among y/n's family and kept together, and papa jeong keeps them both safe and clean daily. geonwoo and woojin comes and visits the jeong household when they can to visit y/n, yuno had left a framed childhood photo of him and y/n together near her ashes, mark always gifts her new phone charms when he can. yangyang, xiaojun, and aeri had gifted her a plush version of their app's ai assistant.

y/n's mom always visits the spot where y/n was murdered, leaving flowers there every month.

everyone eats ice cream during the first day of the fall season in y/n's memory.

they'll never stop mourning over her. each and every step of their life moving forward is haunted by how it could've been if she was still alive.

[hiddenlongingsfanfic]

Fresh Out of Luck (Lucky Boys 2)

“So…uh Hood? Are you okay?” 

Danny could feel the flood of fond exasperation that swept through the man across from him and he finally let his muscles loosen. 

The man may have been stand-up enough to pull him from electrified waters but that didn’t always mean much.  The fact that he seemed closer to laughter than anger after a pretty intense, if short-lived, fight was definitely a point in his favor. 

Maybe now that they’d sized each other up Danny could just slink out of this guys haunt without any further problems. 

I mean, he had a lot of problems actually, but this could be one less. 

Maybe? 

Possibly? 

As he struggled to regain his footing Danny felt the other man's full attention settle back on him. 

Absolutely everything throbbed on his body as he got back up. 

The fall and the electric shock would have been enough for him to retreat to his core even a year ago. He was tougher now, more used to pain. So he was up and on his feet even though it was nearly the last thing he wanted to do. If the ground had been just a little softer or the man across from him had been just a little less scary Danny would have stayed face-planted right where he was.  As it was, one of his feet dragged behind him a little as he started to stumble away. 

Ow. 

Ow. 

Ow! 

Behind him the man cleared his throat pointedly and Danny turned his head just enough to see him out of the corner of his eye. 

“I’m fine O; but we’ll need some sort of medical assistance for our…visitor.” 

Danny didn’t even try to hold back the rumbling bass of the growl that erupted from his chest. 

Like hell. 

The other man. 

Hood? 

Raised an eyebrow at him and after a breath of thought seemed to purposefully push a little hesitant reassurance towards him. 

Danny’s nostrils flared wide and on the exhale he pushed out a wisp of frosty air. 

Which hadn’t happened before when Hood had sent emotions his way. 

This was the first time it seemed intentional though. 

As though he’d put some effort into it rather than an instinctual response. 

Which, if this was the man’s first time meeting another ghost-adjacent person, was pretty impressive. 

More than just a very, pretty face whatever he was. 

But Danny had learned his lesson about being led around by pretty people who were able to beat the shit out of him without breaking a sweat. 

Danny relaxed his grip on his solid form and felt the dim shadows of the sewers recede just a little bit more as his skin started to glow. His legs merged together into his tail and he let himself start to float into the air with, if not ease, at least long practice. 

Hood’s eyes widened a little at the transformation but didn’t budge an inch.  Instead, he let his head fall back a little against the wall deliberately making himself look more relaxed and less threatening. Danny may not be able to speak because of the muzzle but his derisive snort spoke volumes. Hood held his hands up in silent surrender. 

“Okay. Fine. No hospital or anything. But we can help you with the muzzle at least. See about getting that off your face.” 

Danny snorted again and this time he let himself float back up towards a thin sliver of night sky that he could see. It wouldn’t be wide enough for his shoulders but the plastic would fit through easily enough through the small gap. 

The man’s voice was fading but he could still feel the surge of worried aggravation when he said. 

“Fine. Have it your way.” 

Whoever O was hadn’t had any sort of audible reaction to what Hood had said so they probably had cameras along with the other equipment that the man was packing. So at least two people in this strange new world had already seen his face and what the GIW had done to him. 

It took a little bit of wriggling, and the painful stretch of the plastic muzzle compressing on his face but Danny managed to slide back onto the streets. 

Camera’s didn’t tend to work too well around him but the tech from this world might be different. 

So with another shuddering effort Danny managed to make himself go invisible and intangible. 

From what he had seen while he was falling from the crumbling portal he had landed in a sizable city. 

The stars were all wrong and he couldn’t quite grasp where he was in relation to where he had been. 

Did this Earth even have the same number of continents? 

Countries? 

Not that it really mattered. 

There was no going back to the life (HA!) that he had had before. 

Wherever he had landed, it looked rough. 

A lot of the streetlights had been smashed, leaving deep pools of darkness that Danny purposefully skirted around.

Even if the only thing that was still visible was the muzzle he didn’t need anybody trying to grab onto his face. 

He flitted through the back alleys ignoring the deals for both drugs and bodies that were going on around him. 

Everything looked as consensual as it could be and he didn’t see any kids involved. 

Frankly, at that point he considered it none of his business. 

He was also just tired. 

Most of the buildings looked like they were occupied; with the occasional spot of warm flickering light from a television. But any city of even moderate size was going to have abandoned buildings. It took him a little while but Danny finally found what looked like an abandoned apartment building. Most of the windows had been smashed and the front door was hanging off of a single hinge at an angle that suggested it had been pushed inwards forcefully. 

Danny cautiously floated up a couple of stories and peered in through a few windows.   He could see the occasional sleeping bag and the small stashes of supplies that some of the city's homeless had left there but between the police tape and the blood stains Danny figured something violent had happened here. 

Violent enough to keep all but the most desperate of people out of the building. 

Perfect. 

The building was steeped in death and when Danny put a cautious hand on the bricks he could feel the treacle creep of the ectoplasm that inundated the porous surfaces. 

He carefully maneuvered the muzzle through the shattered remnants of wood from a boarded off window. 

The rest of his body slipped through the boards with no issue. 

The apartment had never been anything glamorous. 

Wall to wall carpeting in a shade that may have been beige but now had a noxious undertone of green from the mold and the water damage. The wallpaper had once had fat yellow roses peppering the wall in inconsistent rows, mismatched now where the sun had faded the once bright colors.  

Danny took in a deep breath of decay, it felt just like home. 

Danny let himself relax back into visibility as he scanned the room in front of him. 

There were water stains creeping up the drywall, heaviest around the window and in the corners leaving the once cheerful wallpaper peeling up and bubbling. 

He let himself spin around for a moment taking it all in. 

Not a single piece of rubble was anything even close to white in color. 

No medical equipment. 

No weapons, ecto or otherwise. 

Danny let out a low rumble of pleasure. 

Perfection. 

He’d go out and scavenge some blankets. 

See if he couldn’t cobble together some sort of generator. 

He had never been the brains of the family, but he was no lightweight when it came to cannibalizing what someone else had already built. 

Danny dragged the remains of a moth-eaten comforter into the darkest corner of the living room and let himself fully curl up onto it with a heavy sigh. Thin lines of ectoplasm started slowly leaking up out of the floor and made a beeline for his chest. When he finally dropped off to sleep Danny felt better than he had in years. 

When Red Hood slipped onto a rooftop across the road the stranger didn’t even twitch.

Pulling a small pair of binoculars out of one pouch, he also pocketed a small handheld device that was connected to the tracking device he had managed to slip into the folds of the black rubber hazmat suit the other man was wearing.

Whatever he was, and however he turned invisible the tracker had worked fine.

Wherever Jason might have been expecting this strange visitor of Gotham to go it certainly wasn’t here.

Crime Alley was one thing.

This building though was even more decrepit than the usual.

There’d been a mass murder at some point in the early aughts.

Nothing too noteworthy.

For Gotham anyways.

A drug deal gone wrong, amped up with some of the fear toxin that the Scarecrow specialized in.

Red Hood had managed to keep most of the homeless clear of the old apartment building just in case.

He’d funded several halfway houses in the Narrows and tried to keep everyone at least marginally housed and fed.

One thing about his little empire, Jason had no end of odd jobs that he was able to offer to anyone that needed some help to get back on their feet. He’d been deep in the weeds of getting a rehab facility set up for the last several months. Getting funding hadn’t been the biggest problem; if Bruce was good for nothing else he was at least usually willing to throw money at a problem.

He had also given all of his children a thorough education in business and whatever else they were interested in.

Finding good, i.e. non-villainous, counselors was proving to be tough though.

Nearly everyone with a higher education in Gotham seemed to be on a watchlist of some sort.

Anyone with common sense and a Masters degree tended to abandon the smog-filled skies as soon as they were able to graduate.

Hood didn’t feel like he was being particularly picky either.

He sincerely didn’t care about any sort of non-violent criminal history and even then it definitely depended on the circumstances.

A spouse beater wasn’t going to get into the Narrows to profit off of his little growing empire.

A girl that had killed her rapist on the other hand.

Well.

Some people got exactly what they deserved in death.

No matter what Batman thought.

Tossing his hair out of his face Jason finally knelt down to take in what he was seeing.

Oracle was quiet too.

He’d turned on the recording when he’d slipped into the sewers and hadn’t felt the need to turn it off since.

He had heard the gasp of outrage that had slipped out when she had seen the other man’s face.

Whoever had done that to him; it was malicious.

Torture on a human rights level, even if he wasn’t technically human, wasn’t going to be tolerated by any Bat or Bird.

“We’re going to need to figure out who did that to him.”

O’s voice was grim and Jason gave a grunt of agreement.

Tilting his head, Jason watched the throbbing glow of the Lazarus water as it seeped into the man’s chest.

He wasn’t going to lie, at least not to himself, that was spooky as shit.

“I’m not familiar with whatever tech or magic this guy’s got going on but I’d say he’s probably ingesting the Lazarus water to help with his injuries.”

Jason kept quiet.

Oracle was only marginally talking to him.

She was typing quickly; looking for commonalities.

Clues as to what the hell was going on with their newest visitor.

Jason’s voice was the barest whisper but he knew that the microphone would pick it up.

“How is he even collecting it? I’ve never seen the waters in this quantity in Gotham and he seems to be pulling it out of thin air.”

“I’m not picking up any sort of machinery or tech. The only metal I’m picking up is localized around his face. You tussled with him. Notice anything noteworthy?”

Jason bit his lip to hold back a bark of laughter.

Tussled.

Like they were kids on a playground.

Like the guy in front of him hadn’t managed to literally rip his helmet off of him in pieces.

At least Dick had finally managed to convince him to remove the bomb that he had stored in it for a while.

That would have been an interesting way to go out.

“You’ve been unusually quiet even for you. What are you thinking?”

“That he sets off the Pit.”

Oracle’s gasp was bitten off but Jason still heard it.

He ignored it though and plowed on.

“Not. Not in the same way that I’m used to.”

Less blinding rage and more. Jason wasn’t sure if he could explain it to anyone.

They knew about the rage that seemed to envelope him.

It didn’t always have a trigger; just came out of fucking nowhere to ruin his goddamn day.

Sometimes though.

Sometimes it was worse.

The scrape of metal on concrete seemed to be a pretty consistent one.

Green flooded his vision and he could feel that seemingly endless well of rage start to rise in his chest.

If he was in the manor or the cave he always tried to keep well away from everyone.

Jason didn’t know what he would do to himself if he somehow managed to hurt Alfie.

That strange feeling of fear mixed with curiosity had seeped through him like a warm mist.

A hiss from a frightened animal not a roar of intimidation.

Not a hint of malicious intent; even after that frankly epic blow to his mask.

The Pit had risen to meet it, enraged and tinted with his own fear, and then had paused.

Writhing in his chest like a physical being.

Like a heart attack made of magic.

And then.

A feeling he had never felt before.

A deep rumbling purr of recognition.

All of this in the span of moments while he had watched the other man try to catch his breath.

All of it a silent undertone that felt like an alien language that he had never heard before but that made perfect sense.

“I can’t explain it. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”

“Can you make a comparison? It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just, I’m trying to understand what you’re saying.”

Jason went silent for another long moment.

His eyes were still fixed intently on the other man.

Who definitely wasn’t breathing.

That fact didn’t seem to bother the stranger at all as he twisted into a deeper curl.

His entire body was molding to the shape of the used to be 90° walls and the man was about 70% cube.

Jason bit his lip hard enough that he could taste the faint tang of imminent blood.

What could he compare this feeling to?

He stumbled over his words for a moment, wetting his lips.

“It’s not…not quite the same. You remember the first time Martian Manhunter telepathically communicated with you?”

“Yes?”

“How it wasn’t just words.”

“Yes. There were undertones of his emotions too.”

“Right. That’s kind of what this was like. No words. Just emotions. Communicative emotions. He knew what he was doing and had some control over it.” “

So you felt his emotions but they weren’t just pressing into you the way the Martian’s sometimes do. He was using it as a form of communication that he had control over.”

“Yes, exactly.”

Jason nodded, even though he wasn’t sure if Oracle could actually see him through her cameras.

“I think he could understand what I was saying.”

The man’s sarcastically cocked eyebrows had also heavily implied that he understood what Jason was saying perfectly.

And that he was unimpressed.  

“He just couldn’t verbally respond to you because of that horrible muzzle.”

“Well that and I think I really pissed him off when I grabbed him.”

“No.”

Oracle’s voice is only a little dry.

“A person who doesn’t enjoy being snuck up on and grabbed from behind by a total stranger. Call Ripley. I can’t believe it.”

This time Jason snorted softly. He had always loved those Ripley’s Believe it or Not books.

It wasn’t Shakespeare by any means but he had always laughed a little bit at the sight of the monkey and fish body’s that had been put together to make a ‘real mermaid’.

The tv show was fun too.

In the right light the tv host, (Dean something?) had even looked a little bit like Superman.

Nowhere near enough jawline, but the resemblance was there.

Jason huffed the white patch of hair that hung over his forehead out of his eyes as he came to a decision.

“Listen. The tracker obviously worked. I’m just going to leave our guest a little present and then leave him alone. He hasn’t hurt anybody and he definitely could have knocked my whole block off if he had wanted to.”

“Okay, Hood. I’ll pass this along to everyone.”

As though B hadn’t probably been metaphorically champing at the bit and listening to the entire conversation.

The man was busy; but meta’s put his back up for some reason and he had been a little (psychopathically over-protective) of Jason ever since his miraculous return.

The man had also been trying.

Trying so hard to make up for his past mistakes with Jason and his other children.

A part of that was that he had basically ceded control of the Narrows to Red Hood.

Gotham at large may have been the Bat’s territory but all of his children had started to break it into pieces for themselves.

Nightwing was in Bludhaven, but Bruce’s adoption ‘problem’ was rampant enough that the others had managed to create their own sectors within Gotham.

Batman’s grip on the city hadn’t loosened as he aged but he had started to place his trust in his proteges.

That trust did not extend to keeping his nose out of everybody’s business but at least he had learned to occasionally keep his mouth shut.

Danny’s eyes were a little bleary when he opened them up as the sun slowly crept towards his dark little corner.

It took him a second to focus on the object that someone had placed in front of him.

He could feel the muted presence of the other ghost at the edge of his senses.

Long gone; but apparently fully capable of sneaking up on a (more dead than usual) Halfa in his sleep.

The bolt cutters looked to have been coated in rubber and were a matte black that looked expensive. There was a little note placed jauntily on top of the tool; the paper folded in half so it would stand upright.

THIS IS GOING TO HURT LIKE A BITCH. HOPE IT HELPS. RH

The handwriting was blocky but dark with good quality ink that hadn’t smeared or blotched even with the obvious haste that the note had been written.

Danny let his tail flick out and gently tip the note over so that he could look the tool over with more care.

Even with the rubber it was definitely going to set off that satanic little metal plate that was on his tongue.

The man was right. It was going to hurt like a bitch.

He blamed his exhaustion for why he hadn’t gone out and stolen something like this for himself though.

His brain had been too foggy and his body too damaged to try and figure out how to do anything except find somewhere to go to ground that he would be able to pull the plasma out of.

He felt healthier than he had in a long time after his impromptu nap/meal.

It was still going to be dangerous to do this.

If he hadn’t been able to feel the flood of emotions from the other man Danny might have hesitated.

Humans lied.

They lied all of the time.

The man could have coated the cutters with something nasty.

But it didn’t feel like something the man would do, somehow.

Danny reached a trembling hand out to the cutters and reluctantly pulled them closer. They were sturdy. Heavy-duty and hopefully capable of cutting the sutures and metal bars that wound through his face.

He took several deep breaths as he thought about how he was going to manage this.

The bars that went through his lips were close enough to each other that Danny was able to get two of them at a time between the blades of the clipper and he pushed down hard.

There was a moment of triumph when he felt the click of metal separating before his face lit up again with electricity and he writhed on the filthy carpet for several long moments waiting for the metal plate to stop shocking him.

It was lasting a lot longer than he was used to though.

It was hard to think through the pain and it took Danny several long seconds to realize that there was probably some sort of a failsafe on the tech that meant that if he managed to break any of the connections it wasn’t going to stop shocking him.

His whimpers were muffled as the remaining bars still kept his lips fused together and his hands clenched hard into the carpet and missed the handles of the clippers a couple of times before he was able to bring it up in fits and starts to clip the next two bars.  

Thankfully they split as easily as the first two but Danny was starting to smell burning flesh and acrid smoke tickled his nose as the tech fought against his attempt at freedom.

Two more to go.

Then he could hopefully pull the metal plate out of his mouth and the staples would be cake after all of this.

Horrible.

Bitter.

Poisonous cake.

The last two gave way at the same time as Danny lost consciousness. The plate sputtered out with a sullen click and Danny let himself slump down onto the floor and let the darkness take him.

At least there was enough ectoplasm to keep him going in this city even if he wasn’t conscious enough to reach for it.

Batman let his muscles slowly unclench as he watched the boy through his binoculars.

He hadn’t known if he was going to be able to stand by and just watch for much longer.

The glowing Lazarus water had started to slip back out of the carpet as soon as the meta had collapsed back into it.

The Narrows and Crime Alley were Red Hoods; but Batman was never going to leave his boy behind again and if this new boy, young man perhaps, was going to be a denizen of Gotham he deserved every bit as much of his protection as the rest of the population.

More than that, he needed to contact the League.

 Whatever sort of monsters, human or otherwise, had done this were going to pay for this if he had any say in the matter.

Batman’s lips tightened a little bit before he swung away on a grapple gun’s wire.

He was the goddamn Batman.

He had quite a bit of a say. 

[ronearoundblindly]

I’m feeling angsty 😈

For F.R.I Steve can I get

6. How do they make up/apologize after an argument?

18. How do they care for each other when one of them is wounded/sick

And 40. Do they have any regrets in their relationship

Question are from this ask game and for the Fools Rush In series with Steve Rogers x lab tech!Reader.

Angst? You want angst, you say? I shall endeavor to deliver...

*This series deals with mature and/or sexual themes not suitable for all-ages, and these drabble-answers are no exception! Also, sorry this took forever.

6

Well, there was that time when you called Steve a 'himbo,' or when Steve was repelled by the smell of a lab accident, or when you finally snap at too many classified secrets stacked between you and Steve. You have arguments, but not all of them are knock-down drag-outs.

It's important that you two do talk in order to come to an understanding of what is truly wrong or upsetting because, as we all know, sometimes neither of you starts off by saying exactly that.

Time together alone is critical. You two are not public in almost any sense of the word, so you are skilled is setting whatever feelings there are aside until you can openly speak. Being alone sometimes still means being physically separate. Touching can be distracting and avoids the crux of the issue (usually, except the first like half a year you dated, whoops), so sorting through your feelings and putting them into words may take a while but ends up best.

There have been arguments that even take alone-alone time, where you two have some space before coming together again. It's rare, but when frustrations run really high, Steve is not a fan of that energy bleeding into physical touch or everyday tasks. He hates associating any negativity with you. (You're human. He knows that. So is he. Just...no more than absolutely necessary.)

After all that--and only after all that is worked out--Steve and you are very tender to each other. You ease back into each other. Proximity is intimacy. Steve favorite small gesture is to put his arm over you while you two read on the couch. Yours is to tuck him to your chest as you fall asleep.

It's devastating to you that Steve censors his own future.

We all like to imagine the good in our lives lasting forever, and Steve does that, too. He simply...doesn't imagine ever getting any more of you than he does now. He doesn't think to expect that part of you two together ever evolves because that would be somehow demanding...anything. He feels ungrateful for how far you've come, and that is so much more than he ever hoped to have.

Thus, he censors what he could want and expect from you. Happy homecomings, enthusiastic reunions, intense and escalating sexual relations (yes, I know that sounds clinical, but that's how his brain thinks of these things) are, each time, welcome events. He refuses to explore his desires. Steve guilts himself into being grateful and that's it.

I mention this in conjunction with arguments and making up because it's not something you can be angry at other than it's a shame he cannot incorporate his physical satisfaction with general life.

(That gets explored in 'Not A Perfect Soldier But A Good Man,' a sex pollen exposure that breaks down Steve's defenses around that.)

18

Ack, ok, wounds are...yikes. Steve fusses an unbelievable amount, even if only internally. He will plan out like six levels of 'how much to help' as you recover from something. If he is the one who got hurt (because he doesn't get sick, nope, never), then just ignore it; he'll be fine in no time. The serum is the serum is the serum. He has no business needing to be taken care of.

Bullocks.

Obviously, Steve is completely full of shit on this subject.

Once you get past his guarded dismissal, he needs tender, loving care. Steve needs reminding that not only is he still human but that being human is enough, even if he heals quickly.

In all honestly, his worst wounds are psychological. Those take patience and encouragement to speak openly.

Though unrealistic about his own health needs, Steve is (usually) thorough in his focus on your healing. At first, in the very early days, he had to be subtle, like when you hurt your hand...twice, and he's been fine accessing your mental health needs since the beginning. Seriously that's...pretty much the whole setup to this series...

There are times--adjacent to the heat of battle, let's say--when Steve does default to trusting your own strength while he continues to handle something urgent. You're an adult; he doesn't baby you. He's just gentle and as doting as possible when you two have time to be alone.

There are ongoing snippy-convos, not arguments, about taking medications for various things. He isn't fond of you dismissing your own pain--ex: you have a headache but won't take a pill--but respects your choice to treat your body how you wish. (Healthy, though, because ((and he will use this language)) he won't fucking stand for disordered eating to control your appearance. Media can fuck off in this regard.)

40

No deep-seated regrets, no. There's little things, things you both wish you'd gotten over faster or learned earlier, but all-in-all, everything that happens to you and in your relationship happens for a reason and exactly when it's supposed to happen. Lord knows, the excitement and the sorrow of the life of an Avenger leaves very little desire to spice up your world much more.

Thank you for asking!

[Main Masterlist; Light Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

[xannador]

Would you ever write out what the alternate ending for Mostly (H)armless was, even if it’s too much to fully comic? I felt like my heart was torn out by the ending, even if the alternate ending is never realized I’d feel better knowing what else might have happened 😭

I have gotten this question a couple times now and wasn't sure if I should answer this. Because doing so would forever close the door on any alternate ending. But sadly I don't see myself drawing more HFR fancomics... so...

Up until page 41 the story more or less follows a set path. Or at least all roads would lead to page 41. After that I had a couple different scenarios and scenes that I could go for. The version that ended up being made was a mismatch of... basically all of the most horrific ones.

And here are the others:

Scenario 1: Almost got away

There was a version of the story in which Chai and 808 got separated again and Chai would end up on the ground floor rather than way up on the hanging platforms. And he'd lure V1-RS underneat one of those platforms and 808 would drop it right on top of the psycho robot, crushing it. This doesn't kill it but it would be stuck (and furious). And Chai and 808 had the freedom to just... walk away from it, while it's screaming bloody murder at them. However, one of its taunts would make Chai turn back; the one about him being nothing without Vandelay tech and he's lucky his traitor drone (808) saved his skin all this time. This would have pissed Chai off to the point of actually turning back to face V1-RS, wasting enough time that V1-RS frees itself. And this scenario would end tragically similar to the one we got: Chai beating V1-RS without any kind of technology but at the cost of his own life.

I didn't go with it because I didn't want to separate Chai and 808 twice in the span of a handful of pages.

Scenario 2: Only one has to die

In this scenario, V1-RS cutting the platform wires on page 46 actually results in the entire platform crashing to the ground. Chai managed to grab onto one of those Vandelay banners and although it rips it actually slows down his fall enough that he and 808 survive. But in this version the museum is also set ablaze.

Chai and 808 would use the smoke and debris (from Chai's fight at the start of the story) to hide from V1-RS while slowly trying to sneak away. A falling plaform would break a window and that would give them an escape route.

But just as they reach fresh air and can see the night sky, V1-RS would once again manipulate Chai into turning back. This time by saying it's going after the gang instead. Just like in the final story Chai realizes that if he wants to save his friends he isn't going to make it out himself. But this time 808 is still alive so he shoves her into a trash can against her will, apologises and disappears back into the fire.

Chai and 808 are into this adventure together so I felt that either both should live or neither. It became neither in the end.

Scenario 3: Xan cannot resist putting kaiju into everything

A different version of scenario 1. After getting crushed by a platform, V1-RS would have crawled out of its host body like one of those parasitic worms that brainwash insects (don't google that) and forced itself into one of the huge display robots. Then it would have ripped other giant robots apart and taken bits of them to enhance itself into something gigantic and monstrous. Chai and 808 would have taken that time to nope the hell out of the museum. They'd scare a few random civilians still out on the street with their unfortunate appearance and meet up with the gang who'd be glad, and horrified, to see them. The reunion would be cut short as an absolutely gigantic, multiheaded, many-legged robot chimera bigger than ZP-1500 bursts out of the museum.

A high octance chase scene (potentially inspired by godzilla 1998) between Roxanne's poor car and Chimera V1-RS and a climb to the top of Vandelay tower could have been next. And the only right way to end a monster like that would be to somehow skewer it on the old spectra tower.

This scenario would've been cool as shit and a spectacle of (literal) epic proportions.

It also doesn't fit the rest of the story at all. Maybe something like this could have worked had it been a robot kaiju story from the start, rather than a horror comic. Also beating the monster with team work was not the right way to end Mostly (h)Armless. Chai always had to beat V1-RS on his own. That is the point of this story.

Scenario 4: If only 808 hadn't broken

There was a way Chai could have beaten V1-RS without getting hurt (or at least not hurt as badly) if he had only been able to communicate with the rest of the gang. That way Peppermind could have figured out V1-RS obvious weakness... it's an AI. And an AI is only as scary as its database. if Chai had found a way to connect 808 to the old V1-RS computer, Peppermint would have been able to poison its database with random nonsense. She could really upload anything; useless trivia about dolphins, the entire anime bath scene wikia, SCR-UB poems, and all Chai would have to do is keep V1-RS busy and distracted until it was so poisoned it wouldn't be able to function anymore. Then it would be easy to finish off.

Although Chai would get help from Peppermint in this scenario rather than do it all on his own, I think this version of the story could still have worked better than the one I drew. Because Chai defeats V1-RS without his robot powers and while being technically on his own.

Perhaps had I taken more time to think the story over I may have gone with this last version. Although If I had been given time to reflect I would probably not have made a fan comic at all. The only reason Mostly (h)Armless exists is because I turned my brain on autopilot for 10 months.

It was a very weird time and the meme of it feeling like waking up from a year long dream-state wasn't entirely a joke.

So yeah, these are the scenarios I can remember. There were a couple of shorter scenes that got removed but story wise they don't add much.

[missinconsistent]

Glorious Evolution: Arcane Viktor S2 Act 2 Analysis

Since season 1, Viktor has always wanted to utilize hex tech to improve the lives of the people. Considering he is a disabled person from Zaun, this desire, of course, comes from a very personal perspective.

But the Viktor we meet in season 1 act 1, and the Viktor we see in season 2, feels so incredibly different despite having the same goals. Looks aside, there is something internally, *fundamentally* changed ever since he was influenced by the Arcane. And it's actually worse than it appears.

When we first saw Viktor, the man had colour in his skin, life in his eyes, and often dawned a smile. But as time passed by, and sickness started to overtake him, he looked sickly pale and tired. Frowning a lot more, with sunken eyes and cheeks. Yes, the literal explanation is his illness. But metaphorically, it was meant to hint that there was already a Viktor that died.

In Act 3 of Season 1, we see him running for the first time. Despite not having much time left, he continued to look for ways the hex core could be utilized to overstep mortal boundaries. However, it came at a cost. He not only sacrificed part of himself, he (unintentionally) sacrificed Sky. A person who, despite having affection for Viktor, he never got to know.

What's important about the running scene, though, is that Viktor doesn't *look* better. Despite "fixing" his limp leg he's always had since he was a child, his complexion is still lifeless.

Even in Act 1 of Season 2, when Viktor, who is brought to life thanks to being completely engulfed in the hex core, doesn't look "better" in terms of health. He can fully walk again, he can't feel cold, he possessed godly powers, but he still looks ill, and now his eyes are completely changed. Another Viktor did die in that explosion and replaced with another one.

He is never going to look like the Viktor from S1 Act 1 despite magic running in his veins and making him more able-bodied than he ever was in his life, because the Viktor back then, despite his disability or his incoming sickness, was more human than the Viktor now could ever be. But Viktor is too blinded and unhealthily obsessed with evolution to see that old part of him he lost.

To Viktor, helping people is making the disabled walk again, getting rid of deformities caused by shimmer, but how much of this is truly helping people? When we see Salo and the people in the commune who were "saved" by Viktor, they seem to have lost all sense of agency. They live in a dystopic utopia, where people have no emotion but listless euphoria. They could have a wild beast lunge at them or a weapon pointed at them, and no one bats an eye as if they lost all emotion. They lack humanity.

This could be foreshadowed with the death of Sky back in S1. Viktor never truly got to know her. Never got to understand her. Never felt the love she had for him. And in S2 she becomes something like a hallucination to Viktor. But even with that, even if their souls are linked together, Viktor doesn't know Sky as a person. Only as an idea. He doesn't know, say, her favourite food, what music she enjoys, her odd little habits, what made Sky a person to love. He doesn't fully understand intimacy (unlike Jayce). So when he kills Sky, he kills his ability to understand humanity with it.

Viktor only considers saving people from their physical limitations. He doesn't consider it odd or morally questionable (to put it lightly) that the people of the commune have developed a complete hive mind. He doesn't consider the ethics of being able to pop in and out of their consciousness to speak to Jayce or see through their eyes and monitor people. He only considers them to be "cured" from their ailments because physically, they're better, but inside, they are essentially lobotomized, completely devoid of their previous being.

This might sound like a stretch, but you can consider Viktor's motives of "glorious evolution" borders on eugenics. He is concerned about the "glorious evolution" of humanity by focusing on the physical limitations of people (edit: which is ironic considering he was one of Piltover's greatest thinker, he doesn't work towards improving Zaun through knowledge or education). His idea of evolution is disbanding what it means to truly be human and, with the influence of the Arcane, is implementing that onto other people to follow him like a herd of sheep without them fully understand what they'd be sacrificing when they turn to him for help.

And by the end of Act 2, it looks like Viktor is set for another rebirth, losing even more humanity to keep chasing "glorious evolution." His last little speech seems to indicate that human emotion is a weakness. Viktor feels emotion when he's with Jayce. He believes emotion leads to more destruction, as Act 2 ends in an emotional climax that leads to Isha's death. And Jayce and Viktor are total opposites. Jayce is acting on emotion, and Viktor is acting on (what he believes to be) logic.

In Act 3, Viktor will finally take up the form of the Machine Herald, not even possessing a human body, and will lack nearly all his humanity except some lingering affection for Jayce - as the two are two sides of the same coin (or in this case, a cog).

[britt-kageryuu]

The stream started abruptly, with the camera at an angle, with some papers partially obscuring the view. So it's fairly obvious that this was not an international stream. The first few to the stream wondered why this kept happening, especially with Dee (Donnie) being be into tech.

On screen is Leo in a lab coat with elbow length gloves, large safety goggles, and a face mask on his face. The only tell that it was Leo was the bleached blue/blond braids being held back with a long blue fabric strip.

This was the closest the audience has been to seeing Leo without the model overlay. Not that they know that his model is just himself with some anime filter on top.

Leo was using a mortar and pestle to grind and powder some unidentified plants and some minerals. He would either put the mixture into what looked like a small cauldrons, or a device that made the mixture into pills.

Leo pauses every now and then to look at what was likely order forms or prescriptions, before reaching for another couple items to mix together.

The only sound other than the friction of the pestle on mortar, was Leo incoherently muttering softly or making sounds while judging the mixture.

Though occasionally Leo would get louder and it was more clear what he was saying.

"Hey River, tell your Dad, I'm running low on the stuff to make his special skin cream." Leo says while the sounds of opening and closing drawers could be heard.

A "Got it Uncle Blue!" followed by a chirping sound could be heard near the camera. Leo moves to pour a mixture into a different container, while looking over a note.

"Ah yes, the lady who always complains about the taste of the medicine. While it might be possible to make the plant lose the taste, it will likely also lose lots of benefits. Just ask my botany obsessed brother, who also doesn't like the taste."

He gets up to grab something from nearby, which was a folder labeled 'Patients to Screen'.

"New Guy huh, notes: nicknamed 'Mr. You're Trying To Poison Me', fired and banned from most Doctors and Apothecary is the greater area... oh I wonder why?" Leo lets out a sigh before flipping to a new page.

"Well it's that time again, time to remind patients that I we don't have certain licenses or medical knowledge. I swear, they think I have the know how to do anything with a standard degree."

Some in the audience were treating it like ASMR, since the soft noise and ambient sounds were kinda soothing. Others were still amazed that Leo was crafting medicine the old fashioned way.

A bit later Leo is seen setting up a portable stove to heat the cauldrons on, making what looked like a soup, but others in chat insisted He was crafting potions irl.

There is a slight sound of hooves on flooring before, a person who was likely, Draxum appears with a big binder, and some scrolls. Draxum doesn't say anything, and just grabs a few items and gives a polite nod of the head.

Though before he leaves he does add, "You are aware that your streaming camera is on right? If not then I hope you didn't say or do anything incriminating."

Leo sits up streat before slowly turning to the camera. He seems to think over everything he might've done on stream before just unplugging the camera. Leaving the small number of the audience intrigued as to what might've happened.

The VOD does eventually go live, with little to no edits, other than to the model overlay so it's more obviously Blue/Leo, and jokingly titled, 'Blues' Apothecary ASMR (guest pop-ins by River & Father Goat)'.

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

Masterpost

I was half asleep when originally writing this, and surprisingly only had to change a few typos, and rewrite some that didn't quite make sense to my more awake brain~

[hexedevolution]

Zaunite Scientist - Viktor AU

// I've been here a week but already brimming with AU ideas. I was discussing this one with @jynxd and figured I'd flesh it out and make it an open AU if people were interested.

// TL;DR - Viktor was discovered and removed from Piltover Academy and forced to return home to Zaun. Not wanting his talents to go to waste, he returned to the closest scientific space he knew - Singed's makeshift lab. He became an assistant, his inventions of great help. Soon, as Singed was, he became roped in with Silco. Creating machines and equipment for Silco and his goons - in return for protection and a place to work. More details below:-

In this AU, Viktor's childhood remains the same. Following the canon, his parents work hard to buy him a second-hand Piltover Academy uniform that he uses to sneak into the University passing off as a student. Instead of being discovered by, and taken under the wing of, Heimerdinger - he was exposed as a liar. Instead of being given a chance to prove himself, he was removed from the University grounds. It quickly spread he was a Zaunite and was ostracized at large. He found he had little choice but to slump back to the Undercity with a newfound sense of scorn towards Piltover's beliefs.

Unwilling to let his talents go to waste, he returns to the only mind he could relate to. Singed. And so, instead of becoming Heimerdinger's assistant - he becomes Singed's. In time, Viktor followed Singed into Silco's fold. He grew up separated from both Vander and Silco's collectives, but was soon put to work. Working alongside Singed, he knew plenty about chem-tech and primarily worked with it for some time.

His health, naturally, was greatly affected by remaining in Zaun. His lung condition grew worse at a much younger age than in the canon - since he was without Piltover's aid. He used Shimmer - learning all he had from Singed and his own chem-technology - to keep his body as stable as possible without losing completely control.

Viktor grew his own sources to provide him with any useful scraps and stolen equipment from Piltover to expand his prowess. How he gets a hold of a hex-crystal will depend on the thread, but will occur a small time after Jayce's apartment was raided. Working on his own, he tries to make sense of his new energy source - keeping a very close eye on Piltover's extensions. Hextech occurs at a much slower rate since he is working on it on his own - much like Jayce would be if he decides to live after his expulsion.

However, there is a baseline in place by the time Jinx joins the fold - and they often are requested to work together for Jinx to better her weapons - and Viktor his machines. Infusing this new Hextech with the chemtech, he expands his line of gadgets. Thanks to this new tech, he is able to keep all his machines within his control using the glove he keeps permanently on his hands. Should anyone step out of line and they are using augmentation made by Viktor? They may just find that equipment turn on them, power down at the worst times or even threaten their lives.

"Never forget who it was that evolved you..."

He still works for Silco and alongside Singed, perfecting his rough, makeshift Hexcore - far more volatile than the one in the canon. As his chemical way of keeping himself alive starts to fail, he starts to experiment with the Hexcore instead.

Everything starts to crumble when Silco is killed and the barons all go for each others throats. Like Singed, Viktor decides he needs to take his work and sink into the shadows until the dust settles... But he is instead caught in the crossfire during a riot and is severely injured and near death by Enforcers.

Should anyone drag him back to his lab, where the Hexcore resides, the Machine Herald will rise again as one of his own machines...

[bearsinpotatosacks]

I've got a lot of random snippets I may never use so here's a new series of me sharing random scenes in my google drive. This one is from a Mission Impossible idea, written before Dead Reckoning, where Ethan's kidnapped, his death is faked, he's tortured into submission and slowly brainwashed into being the bad guy's strong man. Here is Ethan seeing his friend's for the last time.

---------

Ethan watched from afar, hidden in the slight shadow of the alleyway but not too dark so he couldn't see. The world was busy, as it tended to be. The streets of London were full. Full of businessmen, tourists, a cyclist throwing their arms up in the air in annoyance and a woman laughing on the phone.

Busy, busy, busy. But not missing him. There was no Ethan shaped gap here as he wasn't sure why he expected one. 

For there to be a gap in society one had to participate in it. And although Ethan sacrificed more than his share to save it, he should know by now that he was not part of society. And was never destined to be.

He was happy. Benji was laughing, outside a coffee shop. Ilsa sat to his right, Brandt next to her, Luthor opposite. Someone else was to Benji's left. He supposed, if there was to be am Ethan shaped hole somewhere in the world, it would be there, by his side. 

But there wasn't one. Someone else was. Someone so wonderfully ordinarily handsome, in the most brilliant way. Not 'international spy who needs to seduce for a living' attractive, the kind of attractive that screamed that this person had a life, had a job, passions and hobbies, a family, one of blood or choice. 

He had dark hair, 60's style thick rimmed glasses on. He looked tired yet sophisticated, the kind of guy who could listen to Chopin one minute and belt along to ABBA the next. Someone who fit Benji. Someone who could take him to the opera when it wasn't to find a nefarious terrorist.

Someone who could love him like he deserved.

Benji laughed. And all of this was worth it if Benji laughed, if he was at peace. If he was happy, then Ethan could survive.

It didn't matter if he couldn't be there to see it and wouldn't be the cause of them. Because yes, seeing Benji's fingers interlaced with the man to his left made him feel like he didn't have a heart anymore and he had to restrain himself from blowing his cover by storming over there and kissing him silly. But if he was happy, he could keep his distance. 

"There you go, I've kept my part of the deal," Bad Guy said. 

Ethan almost scoffed, but the fear that had been instilled into his bones stopped him. He knew that over time he wouldn't even know to scoff. They were going to remove all doubt from his mind, make him believe he was free and happy, maybe even forget that he used to be on the law's side. 

He shuddered and looked back at his friends. Well, the people who used to be his friends. A sense of ease almost came over him. Almost because a bittersweet taste hit the back of his throat when he realised he'd never see them again. He hoped he never saw them again, it would break his heart if he did.

"At least tell me what they're doing?" He said.

Bad Guy huffed and Ethan heard the flick of a lighter, the crackle of a cigarette and the smell of smoke. 

"Ilsa is running self defence classes in London, she's doing well, seems happy, has a cat." He said. "Brandt is the Secretary of the IMF, he's putting more care into each agent, treating them a bit more like people. Luthor is still outshining everyone with his tech skills,"

Ethan gulped, "And Benji?"

"He's left the IMF, started his own tech company, that man to his left is Carl Oswald, owns a bookshop, they've been together almost a year now," he said. "Benji's attending therapy, but he's doing better, he's happy."

Ethan nodded. There was that, at least

"They won't matter, in time." He had to ruin it. "They'll forget you, you'll forget them, everything will be better."

He stubbed out the cigarette and pulled Ethan along as the bittersweet feeling turned to a sick anger. 

Better in time? He didn't want to forge them, they were his lifeblood and forgetting them would be worse than death. 

"Come along, Mr Hunt."

And they were gone. Lost behind the crowds of people and soon to be gone from his memory.

Perhaps he couldn't stop the inevitable. This would be his life whether he wanted it or not, god knows he'd tried to escape. Perhaps it was better they forget him because it would make it a whole lot easier to fit into his knew life if he never had to fight them.

[tired-night-owl]

Blood Runs Cold

Fandom : Star Wars The Bad Batch

One shot ?

I tried to write a small fic about Crosshair and Omega in the new promo that’s been released because I can’t wait to see them together in the new season even if I know my heart is gonna get crushed by Dave Filony again… Hopefully I am the opposite of last season and I am soooo wrong and they will all be reunited as a big family where no one dies or sacrifice themselves for the others ! Anyway I hope you enjoy :) 

Word count : 866

Summary : Crosshair has much to think about in his new conditions, what doesn’t help is when a far too bubbly and optimistic teenager comes and ruins his peaceful self pity moment.

Notes : brief mention of torture I guess, small but graphic description of tech’s death, Siblings!crosshair x omega, Spoilers for the new promo clip !

He noticed it a while ago, when they first started their wicked experiments on him. He tried to keep it under control mostly for his pride because seeing as with such a condition, his (now rendered useless) talent would be even more so wasn’t helping his morale. Crosshair didn’t mind it too much for now because not one clone in this cursed facility was in any shape or form to judge him in his misery. That is until the girl showed up. 

That child has been the sole cause for any misfortune he had to live though in the last couple of months he thought, but scolded himself to at least not make it show. She has enough to deal with too at the moment without having to suffer his endless wrath and sorrows. Still she cost him everything. His family, in more ways than one, his station, attempting to save her branded him a traitor and a VIP ticket to Hemlock’s test table and —

His mind went silent 

His brother Tech…. He had to give his life for hers. Skull smashed to pieces because they didn’t heed his warning. There's no way the batch can survive without its brain now. 

His mind whirled with thoughts like these locked in his dark cell all day. Some would say they were enough to drive a man insane but Crosshair already knew insane, and it wasn’t by his choice. Now he sees it, the effect that damn chip has had on him. How it made him turn on the only people who ever cared for him. He couldn’t turn on this one now. 

« Crosshair… »

« Crosshair ! I tried to come earlier, but there are too many guards watching me…»

He tried to calm his usually snappy tone for the sake of the girl who must be as terrified if not more than he is at the moment.

« You shouldn’t be down here at all » he tried to make her realize a little harsher than he wished.

It was foolish of her to put a target on her back by snooping around, on THEIR backs. In a situation like this where there is no hope, it’s best to comply and hope you die as painlessly as possible. Though that seemed unlikely for him at the hands of that sick scientist. But there might be hope for her yet if she stopped escaping her quarters.

The girl continued with her misplaced energy and optimism.

« How else are we gonna plan an escape ? »

An escape ?! Had she gone insane? Did she not realize they were in the middle of no where, in an unknown imperial playground, surrounded by guards with no moral compass except loyalty to the credits they earn at the end of each shift filled with screams of tortured people. Better to kill that idea in the egg before she gets too altruistic. 

The sniper resumed his usual cold and unapproachable attitude, hoping the girl would realize that planning an escape in a place such as this with only 1 ally was foolish already but with no one, it was simply stretching your neck to help the executioner do his job. 

« There is no WE, and there is no escape… I’ve already tried. » 

The young clone didn’t budge.

« Every stronghold has a weak point ! Maybe I could convince Emerie to help, she’s one of us. »

His brothers has taught her well he could tell, and by that he meant by filling her head with useless idiotic tactics and informations for a obviously changing galaxy. Besides if they shouldn’t trust one person in this Sarlac pit, it was HER. That double crossing scientist woman. Testing on people was bad enough but on her own « brothers » that was being a plain sociopathic hypocrite. 

« Not every clone is your ally ! » The sharpshooter reminded her.

« You trust too easily… »

He expected a reply and one sounding similar to that one too, so he doesn’t know why her words struck him so. 

« Maybe you don’t trust enough. » Omega replied with that same misguided hope as earlier.

An uncomfortable silence surrounded the two and then it started again : the shaking.

The stupid shaking he couldn’t stop. The best sniper in the whole GAR with quivering hands, how ironic. He felt uneasy having her see him like this. It was as if his own brothers could see how low he had fallen and for a prideful man like Crosshair, it was not an easy feat to overcome. 

« Crosshair ? »  The young girl asked after her gaze fell upon her brother hiding his hands from her. 

Not so long ago he would’ve snapped at her for simply seeing him in a state like this, desperately trying to steady his once reliable hands but now, he just didn’t have the heart or the energy to do so…

« Just… Go. » he simply said. 

« Before you make things worst for both of us… »

In this moment he came to the conclusion that yes, he didn’t want to be punished for the girl’s misbehaviour but he also mostly didn’t want her to suffer because of him. 

Knowing Hemlock, he wouldn’t even do it to punish Omega… but he would do unexplainable things to the girl to make HIM suffer. 

[ashes-2-ashes57cba]

The Bad Batch: Specter

Episode 8: Reunion

edited by @ryleeeeeenn *ibac dinii: Mando'a "that lunatic" warnings: canonical violence, Hunter almost dies (again)

“How do you think they’re doing?” Echo asked Specter as the two made their way toward Omega and Wrecker. 

“Believe it or not, he’s not a bad teacher. He and Tech are like this-” Specter held up crossed fingers “when it comes to engineering explosives. So he knows what he’s doing.”

“But is it safe?” Specter hesitated to answer his question.

“Technically, yes. But this is Wrecker with an explosive we’re talking about. I mean, he also launched me across the room on our first day of training together, but I think Omega will be fine,” she said with a shrug, walking on and leaving Echo to pause worriedly. “Come on, Echo, keep up.”

The two crested over the fallen piece of debris, coming towards the clearing where Wrecker and Omega worked. Before they could grab the pair’s attention, Specter watched as the two quickly ducked for cover as a poorly dismantled bomb ticked faster and faster. Specter braced for the worst but sighed with relief when the bomb released nothing more than a puff of smoke. Omega peeked out from her spot as Wrecker ran past, laughing. 

“Why didn’t it explode?” the girl asked, scoffing.

“Because it’s a smoke bomb,” Wrecker explained with a cheeky grin. “You think I’d let you train with a live explosive? I’m not crazy.” 

“Really, Wrecker? That old trick?” Specter shouted from the top of the ruins. The two looked up at her and Echo. Wrecker only laughed some more.

“Pack it in, you two. Hunter wants us back at the Jedi cruiser,” Echo announced, jumping down to the ground along with Specter, removing their helmets. “How’d the test go?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Omega pouted, kicking at the dirt. 

“Cheer up, hun. He failed his first disarming test, too. Ended up putting that quadrant of the facility on lockdown,” said Specter.

“With my help, you’ll be a pro in no time,” Wrecker encouraged, handing the girl her energy-bow. The four started to make their way back to Hunter and Tech at the Jedi cruiser, but each of them noted the figures in their peripheral vision.

“We’ve got eyes on us,” Echo muttered. 

“Yeah, I see ‘em,” Wrecker replied. Omega drifted towards Specter, who put a hand on her shoulder.

“How many?” the girl whispered. 

“At least three. I saw their transport platform just ahead. Stay casual,” Specter advised. They walked a few more feet, noting that the figures were starting to move from their positions.

“You two ready?” Echo asked. 

“Waiting on you,” Wrecker said.

“Copy that,” replied Specter. Echo nodded, and the three put on their helmets, running towards the scrappers as they escaped to their transport. They were able to stun all but one and had already made it to the platform's controls. 

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Wrecker grunted, grabbing onto the transport to keep it from flying away. He was unsuccessful, however, and was dragged off. “I’ve got this under control,” he assured, flying off. 

“Hunter, Tech. We’ve been by scrappers,” Echo said into the comm. 

“Wrecker’s in pursuit. He says he has it under control,” Omega added. Specter knew that at least Tech wouldn’t find much comfort in that fact. 

“Specter, get a visual,” Hunter ordered.

“I’m on it,” she affirmed. She ran full speed ahead, climbing up a spiring piece of debris; from that vantage point, she could see the scrapper trying to shake off Wrecker. He held on tightly, grabbing onto whatever he could to try and hoist himself up, but the scrapper was able to get him off, flying up against debris until Wrecker lost his grip and tumbled to the ground. Specter tracked through the scope of her rifle, firing a stun bolt that perfectly hit the scrapper. The platform crashed as he slumped over the controls. Omega and Echo caught up to Wrecker, who got up on uneasy legs.

“Are you okay?” the girl asked, worried.

“I… I was just waiting to make my move,” Wrecker gave a feeble explanation.

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

Specter sat by Tech, watching as Wrecker brought the last unconscious scrapper to the small pile they had amassed. 

“Rex warned us about the scrapper patrols on Bracca. We should leave,” Echo advised.

“In our present situation, we need money. And we have a chance to make a lot of it right here,” Hunter insisted.

“Ha! In this dump? How?” Wrecker sarcastically questioned. Hunter turned his attention.

“Tech, what’s the potential haul inside this cruiser?” he asked.

“My scans indicate the armory and artillery bay have not been fully offloaded. The dianoga must have kept the scrappers away,” Tech reported, Specter peering over to look at his scanner.

“Just a few of those weapons should clear our debt with Cid,” she added.

“We’re soldiers, not arms smugglers,” Echo said incredulously, agitatedly crossing his arms.

“There’s no Republic for us to rely on anymore. We’re presented with an opportunity here. We have to take it,” Hunter insisted, turning to grab his helmet and putting it on.

“I would also add that the intel from the bridge’s central system has the potential to be worth far more than any weapon,” Tech pointed out.

“Not to me,” Wrecker scoffed.

“Tech, get to the bridge. Get the power online and whatever intel you can gather,” Hunter ordered as Tech and Specter stood up, putting on their helmets.

“Uh, what do we do about them?” Omega asked, nodding towards the unconscious scrappers. Specter bit her tongue, refraining from making a gruesome suggestion.

“We’ll grab what we need and be gone before they even wake up,” Hunter assured before leading the group inside the ruined cruiser. 

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

Specter bounced from foot to foot in anticipation, eager to see what weapons were holed away in the forgotten cruiser as Wrecker grunted, pushing the door open. She dashed passed all of them, running through her mind to try and remember the cataloging system implemented on Jedi cruisers to try and find—

“Aha! Found one!” she cheered, holding up a blaster pistol, replacing the one she lost on Corellia. Echo stood nearby, shaking his head at her. “Oh don’t give me that. This one’s for me,” Specter explained, holstering the weapon and continuing to look around for other valuables; she saw Hunter carrying a box towards a platform and heard Omega show Wrecker something—most likely explosives. She browsed the aisle tilting her head in curiosity until the room suddenly lit up. Specter flinched at the sudden brightness.

“The power’s back on,” Tech reported from the comm. 

“Yeah, we can see that,” Wrecker replied.

“Thank you, Technician,” Specter teased. She heard him grumble while the others laughed at the nickname. Specter found a box filled with a few rotary cannons, disassembled, of course. Maneuvering the crate to carry it on her head, she regrouped with Hunter and Echo.

“With a haul like this, Cid will owe us for a change,” Hunter mused.

“If we’d left with Rex, we wouldn’t have to owe Cid at all,” Echo muttered. Specter wordlessly placed the crate on the platform, waiting to hear what her Sergeant would say.

“He’s on a different path than us,” he sighed. 

“Hunter, we’re soldiers. What other path is there?” Echo took the platform and walked away before anyone else could reply. Specter stood by Hunter and watched him go. 

“I sometimes forget he used to be a reg,” she admitted. “He wasn’t trained like we were to adapt to our surroundings.” Hunter glanced at her, and she shrugged. He seemed to mull over her words. 

“And what about you? How are you adapting?” he asked quietly. 

Specter sighed. Her fists balled at her sides before she forced herself to relax and flex her hand. He didn’t need to say it for Specter to know he was thinking about yesterday’s revelation. 

She could admit not having an inhibitor chip was its own relief. Relief, yes, but with that relief came the question that lingered in the back of her mind, 

If she wasn’t programmed like the others, then what was her purpose? 

“I just… trying to understand and figure out what the Kaminoans had planned for me,” Specter explained. Hunter gently took her hand, offering a squeeze.

“Hey,” he said softly, “What the Kaminoans had planned for you doesn't matter anymore. The future is yours to decide now, you can be whatever you want. No matter what, we’ll figure it out together.”

Specter couldn’t help but smile, she went to respond but was interrupted by Tech’s voice on the comm.

“Hunter, we’ve got company.”

“Is it more scrappers?” Hunter asked, running a hand through his hair, exasperated.

“No, it’s the Empire.” Tech sounded worried. Specter nodded at Hunter, allowing her hand to slip out of his so he could run up to the bridge and meet Tech and Omega to assess the situation. She watched him go, steeling herself to prepare for the imminent fight to come before turning around back to Echo and Wrecker.

“Alright, boys, let’s wrap it up. The Empire just joined the party.”

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

Crosshair walked out of the shuttle, helmet under his arm, followed by the three troopers under his command. The other soldiers in white stood at attention in their precise formations, creating a pathway just for him. He gnawed on his toothpick in both anger and anxiety.

“That cruiser’s where the power surge was detected,” one of his subordinates said. 

“Any life signs on board?” another asked the one trailing behind with the scanner.

“Can’t tell. The scanner’s not working. There’s too much atmospheric interference,” he reported. Crosshair stopped, immediately knowing Tech was behind it.

“No, you’re being jammed,” he corrected before flicking the toothpick away. “They’re still on board.” Putting his helmet on, he knew he only had a few seconds to collect himself; his sister—Specter—was in there. The fact that she’d stepped away, that she’d turned against him, still stung. Part of him hoped she’d be smart enough not to put up a fight, maybe she would go quietly. But he knew his sister, and he knew nothing short of a miracle would make this any easier. He couldn’t afford to hope for her escape; orders were orders, and his were clear. Have them all terminated. Yet even so, one question echoed through his mind: could he do it? Had he truly fallen so far that he would take that shot and kill his sister?  

“Take a shuttle and find their ship,” he forced himself to say.

“Yes, Commander,” a trooper answered, turning to order a squad back into the shuttle. Satisfied with the command, he nodded to his own squad, signaling an advance toward the Jedi cruiser. He steeled himself, looking onward into the wasteland before him, bracing himself for what he was sure would be an interesting reunion.

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

Wrecker, Specter, and Echo made their way through the ruined corridors, hauling what they could carry. Wrecker and Echo maintained an uninteresting conversation as Specter trailed slightly behind them, lost in her own thoughts. Her mind kept drifting to Crosshair. She was worried for her brother and what the Empire had done to him. Hunter, Tech, and Omega appeared in the oncoming junction before she could spiral any deeper.

“How many troopers we talking about?” Echo asked.

“Three attack shuttles’ worth,” Tech replied. 

“All of those troops just for us? How sweet,” Specter sneered, masking her anxiety.

“We already got what we came for. Let’s get to the Marauder,” Wrecker urged.

“They’re already on board the cruiser. We need a covert way out,” said Hunter.

“They’ll do a forward-to-aft sweep. We can alternate corridors. Come on,” Echo strategized before leading the group.

They quietly made their way through the dark corridors with their haul toward the hangar. Specter nibbled at her lip, nearly drawing blood. She was scared, not just at the inevitability of facing the Empire, but at the chance of seeing her brother again. If Crosshair were to end up on the other end of her rifle, she wasn’t confident she could rely on herself to pull the trigger. She didn’t want to fight him again. 

“Talk to me, Tech,” Hunter said after a while.

“I’m trying to tap into the regs’ comms so we can monitor their movements,” he reported. A banging sounded in the distance, Hunter held up his fist to signal a halt.

“Someone’s coming,” he muttered before shooing them into the darkness. Specter watched as a quad of soldiers marched past, missing them entirely. They passed out of sight into the next hall, and ever so cautiously, the Batch stood up, Tech already back on his scanner.

“I’m in,” he affirmed, completing his goal and tuning in to the regs’ comm frequency.

“All squads,” Crosshair’s voice came in. Specter’s hand clenched into a fist. “Push the targets towards the hangar. We’ll pin them down,” he ordered.

“Roger that,” a reply came.

“Aren’t we headed to the hangar?” Omega questioned.

“Not anymore. We’ll cut through the artillery deck,” Hunter instructed.

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

Specter was the first to emerge through the door, rifle armed and ready to defend against any intruders. She pressed ahead and swept the room while the others followed, finding no sign of the troopers’ presence. Turning back toward her group, she saw Tech, Echo, and Wrecker peering out and over the edge.

“Okay, I’m not going that way,” said Wrecker, stepping back. Suddenly, the doors to the room opened, and soldiers filed in with their blasters raised.

“Stand down,” the leader of a group ordered as the Batch went for cover and trained their blasters on them. Hunter and Omega were still out in the open.

“Tapping our comms to track our movements?” Crosshair scolded, appearing with his own squad. Tech’s eyes widened, knowing he had been caught. “So predictable.” Specter pressed herself against the cannon, hiding from her brother’s view; her hands trembled as she weakly clutched her rifle, trying to calm her racing heart.

“Nice to see you too, Crosshair,” Wrecker sneered, peeking out from his cover. Specter took a breath, looking around the rusted room as an idea clicked; she waved to get Tech’s attention, signing out her plan with her hands. He nodded and nudged Echo.

“Echo, scomp in and reroute reserve power to the cannons.”

“If these cannons fire, this whole deck will collapse,” he hissed.

“Exactly,” Tech nodded. Specter tuned back into whatever Crosshair was saying.

“Look at you all, scavenging like rats,” he seethed. “How pathetic.”

“Why come after us?” Hunter asked, keeping his hand on Omega’s shoulder.

“You’re traitors,” he said simply, motioning with his arm as troopers followed his silent command.

“Crosshair, wake up. You’re being controlled by an inhibitor chip,” Hunter urged.

“He’s telling the truth,” Omega spoke up, “the Kaminoans put chips in all the clones. Remember what I told you in the brig? You can’t help it.” A moment passed, Specter lived on the thin sliver of hope that the girl would somehow be able to get through to him. 

“Aim for the kid,” he said. The shred of hope quickly disintegrated. 

“You’re issue’s with me, not her,” Hunter growled, stepping in front of her and raising his pistol. Specter signaled Omega to prepare to get down.

“Hurry up,” Wrecker urged Tech, who still worked at his datapad. Specter readied her rifle.

“Systems online in three, two, one,” Echo counted down. 

“I suggest you drop your weapon,” Crosshair said—suddenly, the cannons came to life, firing empty shells and rumbling the artillery room. 

Specter emerged from her cover, trading places with Omega. She stood back to back with Hunter, firing at the troops amidst the chaos. The room began to fall apart; structural beams crashed on top of several troops, even knocking Crosshair over.

“Go!” Hunter ordered the rest of the squad. They emerged and laid down their fire in the chaos. Crosshair and his troops scrambled for their weapons. As the room shook, Hunter noticed a part of the roof about to collapse. “Look out!” he shouted, grabbing Specter and covering her as the roof came crashing down on top of them. She slipped out and pulled Hunter free.

“Thanks for the cover. Now let’s go,” she said, meeting with Tech, Echo, and Omega as they made their way toward the exit.  

A trooper stood in their path, shooting a line of flames at them. Hunter turned to cover Omega. As they ducked, Wrecker appeared, armed with a photon torpedo. He instantly chucked it over the top of his head, knocking the trooper back and out of sight.

“Direct hit!” he cheered before following the others out.

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

Specter followed Hunter into a vast chamber, taking only a brief moment to marvel at the size before shuffling along the ledge. 

“Hey,” Echo said quietly behind her, “you okay?”

“I’m fine. Probably a few bruises, but I’ve had worse,” she replied. 

“That’s not what I mean,” he clarified. Her pace slowed, but only a little. The truth was, she was terrified and angry and upset; she hated that Crosshair didn’t seem to show any remorse or empathy but knew that his drive to complete his goal—whether it be to capture or kill them—would be as strong as ever because of that. She also knew that their current situation was not the time to disclose such thoughts.

“I’m fine. I’ve had worse,” she reiterated. 

Both were lies.

They continued further down, walking until their path stopped, and the only other way was down. Hunter was the first to slide down the curve of the engine, shining his light on Specter, Echo, and Tech as they followed suit. 

“We’re almost there. A little further,” he encouraged, turning his light up to Omega and Wrecker. Specter watched as the girl jumped and slid down, guiding and stopping her descent. 

“I didn’t think you meant we’d be escaping through the engine,” Echo commented, walking off with Tech.

“I could not have been clearer,” Tech replied. Wrecker slid down with a thud, still holding the gear they lifted. The girls chuckled and followed the others, looking around the vast room.

“I’ve never been inside an ion engine before,” Omega marveled.

“It’d be weirder if you had,” Wrecker grumbled. 

“Yeah, I wouldn’t exactly call it a cozy environment to want to be in,” Specter mumbled, hoisting herself up over one of the rims beside Tech.

“These chambers are quite the engineering marvel,” he commented. “This blast primer coating is capable of withstand-”

“No one cares! Keep movin’,” Wrecker interrupted, shoving him off and hopping over whilst Omega ducked underneath. Hunter made it to the edge of the engine, assuring it was safe so Tech could step ahead and formulate a strategy.

“How is it looking?” Specter asked. Tech took another step before a shot hit the wall, barely missing him. He stumbled back in surprise until Hunter was able to pull him back to safety. “Obviously not good,” she hissed, ducking down and keeping a hand on Omega’s shoulder.

“Try again, Hunter. I told you before, you’re surrounded,” Crosshair was shouting, taunting them. 

“Double back,” Hunter quietly commanded. The group turned back the way they came but made it only a few feet before a thud and rumbling was heard, causing them to stop.

“What is that?” Omega asked, apprehensively. Specter had the feeling she wouldn’t like the answer.

“Sounds like the engine’s coming online. But that’s not possible, right?” Hunter observed before turning to ask Tech, who already got out his scanner. 

“Technically, it is. I restored the ship’s main power core when I accessed the central system, which means the engines can be activated,” he responded.

“Crosshair wouldn’t do that, would he?” Omega still held out faith for him. But Specter knew otherwise that Crosshair’s methods could be ruthless.

“Ibac dinii,” she muttered, fear rising within her. Echo knelt down, feeling the rumbling metal under his fingertips.

“How much time do we have?”

“I estimate less than two minutes,” Tech answered.

“What do we do?” Omega grew increasingly worried as the engine started sparking and producing light.

“Uh, what about Plan 7?” Wrecker offered. Specter shook her head, running a hand over the face of her helmet.

“Plan 7 has nothing to do with this situation whatsoever,” Echo said incredulously. 

“Well, you think of something!” Wrecker argued, placing his crate down. 

“Can we use the explosives from the armory to disable the engine?” Hunter suggested, eyeing the box. Specter scoffed.

“That’s not going to be a big enough reaction to affect the thermal chamber,” she argued, recalling Tech’s fun fact about the blast primer coating.

“But if we place a series of charges around this cone, we may be able to break away from the cylinder while destabilizing the core,” Tech countered.

“Break away? You mean fall? All the way down?” Omega clarified.

“It’s that or be incinerated,” said Echo.

“Everyone, take an explosive. Tech, Omega, up top with me. Spec, we’ll give you a boost,” Hunter ordered. Wrecker opened the crate and they each took an explosive, going off to place it on the rim of the engine. As soon as they were ready, the Batch gathered around to place the final explosive. Wrecker hoisted Specter up by her feet, bouncing her up and down before launching her in the air with all his might; she flew, reaching the top of the chamber and placing the explosive before twisting her body, crossing her arms over her chest, and falling into the arms of the other four. 

“Just in time,” she said, slightly winded. The engine roared to life, blasting a bright blue column of flame above them. 

“Everybody, get down!” Wrecker shouted, holding up the detonator. Hunter laid down on top of Omega, Specter crouched down beside Tech and Echo, and Wrecker knelt down before hitting the button. Explosions circled the chamber, Specter yelped at the sudden jolt. 

“Hold on!” Tech shouted as they started to fall. They braced for cover and held on for support as the chamber turned on its end, but when it landed with a jolt, all but Wrecker and Echo lost their grip; Tech and Specter landed on a ledge next to each other, as did Hunter until he fell over from catching Omega, dangling off the edge.

“I’ve got you,” he assured her. Specter shuffled towards them, ready to help them up. She grabbed Hunter’s hand, but as the chamber finally landed on its side, it split in two.

“Hunter!” Specter screamed as he and Omega slipped out of her grasp, and she was tossed back. She fell and tumbled in the chamber with Wrecker, Echo, and Tech as it settled in the sand. She groaned and winced when everything finally stopped, slowly standing up and taking off her helmet to take in the air. “Is everyone okay?” she asked the group. They all gave their positive responses. “Echo, get a report from Hunter. Tech, scan the area,” she said, taking charge.

“Hunter, we landed on the port side. What’s your status?” Echo asked through the comm.

“We’re by the engine, and we’ve got company,” Hunter reported just before blaster fire was heard in the background. “Meet back at the Marauder.” Specter squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to center herself, her head still spinning from the force of the fall. She had to trust that her Sergeant would make it out and protect Omega, trust that they would all find each other again, and trust herself to stay focused and do her duty. 

Specter shook her head, trying once again to center herself. She’d survived the entire Clone War. She’d faced horrors beyond comprehension and rose to every challenge with her blaster drawn. 

This was different. Everything was different now. She’d once felt certain she could face anything, but now, divided against her brother, being hunted by a brutal empire, and separated from Hunter in this imminent danger, it all felt like too much. For the first time in a long time, she truly felt in over her head. 

And now they all looked to her for the next command. 

“Alright, boys, let’s move out. Double time,” she ordered, shoving her helmet back on. They nodded and made their way back to the Marauder.

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

“We are out of their range,” Tech said as they crested over another piece of wreckage. “But they are on our trail.” Wrecker helped Specter over a piece and continued to follow her.

“Their scouts should have found it by now,” Echo said to her. 

“So why haven’t we heard any activity?” she wondered aloud. Their ship was at the top of the platform just ahead. A sour feeling settled in her stomach. “Wrecker, get me up there, now.” He didn’t hesitate to launch her up to the platform. She gasped, almost choking, seeing Hunter’s body lying on the ground with Omega nowhere in sight. “Boys, get up here now! Sergeant down!” she shouted, running to check if he was still alive. The others scrambled, soon surrounding him.

“He’s still breathing,” Tech reported. 

“They’re closing in,” Echo urged, seeing the soldiers approaching. Wrecker looked around at the other downed soldiers. They were dead, and there was no sign of Omega. Specter steeled herself again; she was terrified, but she had a job to do. Hunter needed her.

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

Dark. Floating in the dark expanse of space among stars. No war, no fear, no pain, simply living in the peaceful nothingness. 

Gravity accelerated, shocking him awake from his trance; he groaned as feeling returned, almost overwhelmingly so. Something lifted up his head and touched the side of his helmet. 

“Hunter.” 

His name. It came like a song. He groaned again, eyes fluttering open.

“Wake up.” 

A song. A caress. Flashes of white in the barren darkness.

Specter? No, it couldn’t be. Specter would never–

“Wake up, Hunter… Please”

And he did. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he started and gasped for air.  Specter was knelt in front of him, looking him over, her brow furrowed with worry. He could hear his own breath, but everything in the outside world was muffled. 

“What happened? Where’s Omega?” Wrecker shouted distantly, looking at something behind them. 

“He was shot in the chest plate,” Echo muttered from somewhere. 

“We have to get him on board,” Tech urged, coming in close. 

“Incoming!” Wrecker announced as blaster fire erupted.

“Run inside and get the hypo and the other med supplies ready, I’ll need to work fast,” Specter ordered, gently but firmly. Tech nodded and ran ahead, powering up the ship as well. Through all the chaos and shouts of his brethren, Specter’s voice came through the clearest and calmest. “Stay awake for me, Hunt.” She ran a hand along the side of his helmet again. 

He wanted to obey. Everything in him fought to stay awake, fought to put Specter into focus as she donned her helmet. It was a losing battle as gravity seemed to disappear again. He felt both too light and too heavy as Specter and Echo slung his arms over their shoulders. Somehow, he moved one foot in front of the other. Somehow, they made it to the Marauder. The ground swayed, and he swore he was falling, but a squeeze from Specter’s hand centered him again. 

“Got him. Tech, fly us out of here!” Echo shouted.

“Go, go, go!” ordered Wrecker, retreating into the ship with them. They placed him on the chair by the terminal; he watched as the door closed, and Specter stepped away to grab the rest of the medical supplies. Wrecker reached over and took off Hunter’s helmet.

His mouth seemed to be full of gravel, his tongue too heavy. Still, he forced the air out of his lungs and forced himself to move, to say anything.

“He… he took Omega,” he said almost immediately, still trying to catch his breath. Specter came around, taking off Hunter’s pack and forcing him to sit back in the chair. 

“Who? Crosshair?” Wrecker asked.

“Couldn’t have. The clones we saw were already dead, and the rest hadn’t retreated yet,” Specter countered calmly, injecting bacta into his system by his neck.

“No, it wasn’t the Empire… it– it was a bounty hunter,” he explained, putting his hand over Specter’s, which was on his shoulder. “We have to find her.”

[soft-bellied-tannies]

Chubtober Day 29!

Listen, you don’t have to tell me that today is absolutely a stretch for the prompt, but I love this idea and I’m willing to make the reach. 😂

So, hear me out. Today’s prompt from fatguarddog’s list is Android. Are there any actual androids in this story? No. But! JK uses his phone which is likely a Samsung so android…right?

—-

Jungkook and Jimin started their dynamic a little over a year ago after graduating college.

Jimin had gained his “freshman 15” throughout college and their relationship which awakened something in both of them.

Ending college at 150, but having active lifestyles and busy schedules meant that Jimin’s gain was slower yet just as enjoyable.

Jungkook was an excellent feeder. They both loved looking through forums and coming up with plans together.

Jungkook buys one of the electronic scales that connects to his phone with an app when Jimin is around 170.

Since he is a big tech guy, Jungkook figures out how to change the function on the scale to always display a number less than what Jimin actually weighed, but he could also see the actual results on his phone.

Jimin had been trying for his current goal of 200 for months and always pushes more with dinner or a stuffing when he weighs beforehand.

No matter what he does, Jimin is still under 200 every time he steps on the scale.

He’s already catching on to something being up with the scale situation, but Jimin doesn’t say anything, thinking Jungkook will admit that he’s doing something soon.

When Jungkook tries to push it farther by making the scale show that he had lost weight, Jimin finally feels that he has confirmation his partner is doing something with the scale.

Jimin’s not a tech guy at all so he doesn’t know how Jungkook is doing it, but he’s certain that has he rigged it up somehow.

Jimin obviously wants to gain so he doesn’t care that it obviously has encouraged his gain.

However, Jimin did have a surprise for Jungkook at his 200 goal that involved special lingerie he bought and he’s going to be pissed if it doesn’t fit because of his extra unknown gaining.

Jungkook is away the next weekend for a bachelor party so Jimin buys his own scale to see just how far over his 200 goal he is, certain that he hadn’t lost weight with the way he had picked up his eating lately.

Jimin tests the scale they’ve been using and gets 193, unsurprising as he’s been fluctuating between 185-195 for at least two months according to that scale when he feels like his weight is steadily going up.

Then Jimin gets out the new traditional scale he bought, assuming the number will be higher.

He is in absolute shock when it says 223 meaning Jungkook has managed to ‘hide’ over 30 pounds from him.

Jimin thought he was just going to be a few pounds over 200, maybe 205-210 at the most.

He isn’t mad in the slightest because he’s feeling both proud and turned on by 223.

However, he also thinks that Jungkook most know his actual weight since he’s the one messing with the scale.

Jimin decides he needs to get back at him.

When Jungkook gets home, Jimin decides to ask for a big dinner to absolutely stuff himself as a welcome back - ordering a massive takeout order with his favorite dessert.

He also asks to weigh in before the meal as they occasionally liked to see how much Jimin ate by weighing before and after.

Jimin uses their normal scale and it again says 193, putting on his normal pouting act that he will never hit 200 at this point.

Jungkook comforts him and takes them back to the living room to have a massive meal.

Jimin does push himself to make his point even better and eats more than he ever has, needing help up to go weigh himself after the meal.

Jungkook gets their scale out, but Jimin stops him.

“Wait, let’s try my new one.”

Jungkook panics internally as Jimin pulls out a scale he has never seen and proceeds to step on it, seeing 227.5 light up the screen.

Jimin thinks to himself that 4-5 pounds of food is impressive since he knows his real starting weight before dinner and uses that energy as he puts on another act with Jungkook.

“Oh my god, that’s impossible. I’ve never eaten that much in my life, but there’s no way I ate 30 pounds of food…unless…”

JK immediately knows his little game is up and is ready to grovel.

“Baby, listen, I can explain.”

“Oh, you better. You are in trouble.”

Jimin’s ‘punishment’ for Jungkook is that Jimin is still going to wear his fancy lingerie and eat a huge tray of desserts like he planned.

However, instead of letting Jungkook hand feed him or even tie Jimin up like he planned for 200, Jungkook is now the one who has to sit across from Jimin with his hands tied up, unable to touch or feed Jimin throughout the entire night.

Jungkook learns to never tamper with anything in their house again, quickly learning of the mean streak in his typically soft and sweet Jimin.

Also, when Jimin hits 250, the reward of being the one to feed and pamper his beautiful baby in celebration is much better than any punishment could ever be.

[elvenbeard]

2076

"I'm tellin' ya, mano, this is only the beginning! A few months down the line we're gonna be Night City legends!"

"I think before I wanna be a legend I'd just like to start feelin' like myself again..."

The day Vince was sacked in November of 2076 was the newest low point of his life. He'd lost everything, from a job he was good at, financial security, to what he'd assumed had been friends. Over the course of the year his health had been on a steady decline, mentally and physically. His first so harmonious, almost too-perfect relationship with an older coworker had found an abrupt and bitter ending filled with betrayal. Jenkins' paranoia and revenge fantasies reached new heights, and several particularly precarious operations went wrong in a row. To cope with the stress, silence his depression and anxieties, and be able to keep up with his coworkers-turned-competitors' performance, Vince turned to substance abuse over the course of his last 6 months at Arasaka.

In Jackie's eyes, the termination of Vince's contract couldn't come soon enough, seeing his friend spiral and lose himself in the corporate mud more and more with each passing day.

Like many times before - even though this one had been Vince's highest fall so far - Jackie helped him back to his feet. He and his mother took Vince in and kept him company through his withdrawal from both self- and corporate-administered drugs. Slowly but surely he got better.

From the first day they'd known, Jackie had always urged Vince to consider teaming up as mercs. Together they'd be one hell of a duo, muscle and tech, street-smarts and corporate education, guns and hacking. They'd make it far in Night City's underground world in no time, or so he thought.

By 2076, Jackie was a respected Solo, particularly in Heywood, but still far from achieving his dreams of becoming a legend - and really, those had always been Jackie's dreams alone. Sure, Vince wanted to leave an impact and be remembered, not just fade away into the shadows, but who didn't? Dying in a blaze of glory though, never reaching age 30, just for the money and fame, for doing other people's dirty work? He never saw the appeal... but also, so far he'd failed to find a satisfying middleground.

By mid-December 2076 Vince had somewhat recovered, had been clean for a little over a month, but his cash started to run dry. The next time Jackie asked him to accompany him on a job - just a small one, a little favor for a choomba, nothin' dangerous or dramatic - Vince gave in and tagged along. "Just this once," he told himself, simultaneously looking for other job opportunities. He even considered going back into the corporate world, a smaller company, something less exhausting than Counterintel, maybe media, or a lowly techie position like Jenkins had intended for him originally.

But the small job went well, was fun, even. Jackie's enthusiasm had always been infectuous. After everything he'd done for Vince, he didn't think it fair to continue saying no to him and to something that indeed worked out better than he could have ever imagined... He still had no intentions of dying young, or a legend, but as Jackie put it: would be a shame to let all that Arasaka training go to waste, so why not use it to do some good with it, help themselves and others in their lives?

Vince through the years (6/9)

The set above is basically the followup to this VP comic I did a while ago, the evening after V's and Jackie's first job together.

As mentioned, Vince was never eager to be a merc, and by early 2077 he simply treats it as one of his many previous part-time jobs: a way to keep a roof above his head, food on the table, and make use of his skills somehow. Maybe do some good, or at least leave a positive impact on a single person's life after 4 years of corporate scheming.

He is sort of picky with the gigs he takes, always weighs pros and cons. Sometimes he takes a gig he usually wouldn't out of sheer curiosity. But thievery and sabotage, even rescue missions, are really his favourite things to do because they come closest to what he did for Arasaka predominantly.

It really is easy money with his skills and knowledge, and also usually non-violent. I think that would be the main reason why he decides to go on with the Konpeki Plaza Heist with Jackie in the end, despite having a bad gut feeling. With the information they have it seems like something just down his alley, and he's very confident that he did his best in setting everything up. His biggest mistake is really putting so much trust in Dex doing his part for the preparation of the heist.

Vince is really used to his superiors just supplying him with all necessary info, no questions asked - both back at Arasaka and with the fixers he's worked with at that point, mainly Regina and Wakako. Both are thorough and reliable, do their work, hold nothing back that could be useful. He is also used to his team-members speaking up if they think something feels off. But I think T-Bug is in a similar boat as him, confident that all will go as planned, in her mind already in Cyprus. And Jackie, who just really really wants this to happen so badly, does not speak up despite potentially having a bad feeling.

So, even though Vince feels like all of it sounds too good to be true, everyone else involved being so confident and presenting themselves so competent, in combination with Jackie's aforementioned enthusiasm, convinces him that his own worries may be unjustified. He's overthinking, this can't go wrong, they were all really thorough, they can count on each other... right?

He'll learn the hardest way possible that on the street the saying "every man for himself" is even more prevalent than in the corporate world in the end.

(CW below for drug abuse talk!)

Little sidenote re: Vince's substance abuse. I often put great emphasis on the fact that he neither smokes nor drinks, one of the many reasons why Johnny pisses him off so much by doing both regardless and repeatedly whenever he's in control of his body later. Not smoking is really just Vince's personal preference here, but he actually wouldn't mind drinking now and then - his body is really just against him on this. He can't process alcohol well and just gets drunk and nauseous really quickly, even from "just a beer" or "just a glass of wine". So he avoids it, not for moral high ground reasons but more "I dont wanna puke my guts out and have a headache for three days" reasons.

Since drinking and smoking are off the table when it comes to numbing himself through his worst time at Arasaka, drugs are the next best thing. Initally it was just downers and sleeping pills, but when those started affecting his performance during daytime, he picked up neuroboosters and other performance enhacing stuff. It was a constant struggle to balance this drug-cocktail out, in combination with the canonical stress-blockers Corpo!V is on during the start of the game.

In short, by the time Vince is kicked out, he's a walking pharmacy and needs some time to readjust to a life without being constantly on something. He's doing his best to remain clean once he gets there... and he hates that taking pills is the one thing he can do to silence Johnny, cause it brings back a lot of bad memories and associations. It's probably one of the main reasons why he ends up talking to him more instead of just blocking him out like he used to block out everything else for a while. And even though he never fully trusts him, this way he at least gets to understand him better and gains his trust and understanding in return.

[koolkat9]

"overwhelmed" by Royal & the Serpent

Send me a Song and Hetalia Ship to my Ask Box.

Royal & the Serpent 

Since you didn't put a ship, I'll choose one I think fits the song (if you want a specific ship, feel free to send me another ask). The song definitely gives me Matthew vibes, and I am in a CuCan mood so let's make it Cucan.

Never heard this song before now so I'm going off first impressions. One of the first things that came to my mind was Sci-Fi, so Sci-Fi Au. Matthew being a robot/android made to be a weapon of war. But during shipment he gets taken by the enemy. He would have been completely destroyed if the enemies base wasn't eventually raided, but instead he's abandoned, severely damaged.

Almost a decade later, the abandon hideout is being demolished to make way for a new, useful space. When Matt is found, he's brought to Carlos, a mechanic who specializes in dealing with older models of tech and friend of the leading contractor on the hideout project.

Carlos is surprised by the find. The bot isn't like anything anyone has seen yet also baring a striking resemblance to the latest model of war bots (Alfred). Though that means this bot is potentially dangerous, Carlos's curiosity wins over and he decides to rebuild the bot and get to the bottom of what it is.

When Matthew is finally booted up again. He has know memory of his directive, what he is, where he is, what happened. So he's quite panicked. But luckily Carlos is able to get him to calm down. Unfortunately he doesn't know much about Matt either and tells Matt as much but together they'll figure things out, but he needs to remain calm.

They settle into a quite domestic life. Matthew doesn't like to just sit around and do nothing. So he starts taking care of the house while Carlos is at work. He becomes rather human in the process. Nothing like the machine of destruction he was built to be. He's actually rather shy, even gentle. He particularly takes an interest in nurturing animals.

But he still started out as a machine of destruction. And somewhere deep down he knows something is off. There is a disconnect somewhere within him because of it and it makes him anxious (heavily inspired by the lyrics: "Feels like I'm somebody else" "this mind isn't mine").

One day, Matthew sees a news report about the new war androids, who looks almost exactly like him (again, Alfred's face). Matthew is horrified. Everything seems to make sense now. He's meant to destroy. To kill. He's a danger. To everyone. Especially Carlos. Matthew makes a run for it, he can't risk hurting Carlos, even if it's just an accident. He is broken after all. One malfunction and it could be all over.

But obviously, Carlos, being attached too to Matt, isn't going to abandon him. So he sets off searching for him.

I think Matthew finally comes to his senses when he ends up meeting one of those war bots. The bot introduces himself as Alfred and is intrigued by their similar face. He eventually figures that Matt must have been a prototype. Matthew hangs out with him for the evening. Similar to Matthew, Alfred seems to have settled into a human life too. He was basically stolen by a lead engineer named Tolys after he realized that they were making something really dangerous for a war that had been over for five years. In the end he got fired. But before leaving he refused to leave behind a bot he had bonded with, who had showcase his potential humanity. That bot was Alfred and now he was living happily in a relationship with Tolys.

Matthew confides in him about he worries he'll be a danger to the human he's fallen in love with or to the people around him in general. How he feels a disconnect, like he's not fully himself. Alfred assures him it's normal. They just need to find an outlet. Alfred explains sports/exercise is great for that.

Eventually Carlos finds Matt hanging out with Al. He gets defensive at first, scared Alfred is going to take Matt back to the company that built the both of them (at this point Carlos has also connected that Matt must be a prototype for these war bots). But Tolys luckily gets there just in and explains everything and assures Carlos they won't do that. That they are in a similar predicament.

Matthew agrees to go home with Carlos. Alfred gives Matt his info so Matt can contact him if he needs.

Matthew finds his outlet in hockey. And though he still gets anxious and feels weird about himself every now and then. But he's getting better and settles into a new life with Carlos where he can be who he wants to be.

(Okay, after listening on repeat I realized I missed the news reports shared in the beginning which gives me zombie apocalypse vibes. But I have a stronger plot with the robot au so I'm sticking with this. Plus, I have a...rocky relationship with zombie apocalypses since I've always been absolutely terrified of zombies, though I think they can be used to tell some interesting stories)

[saintlaurentproblems]

If the original cast agreed to do a reunion film, what storylines would you want to see? I always wanted to see Nate and Blair together again.

IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK LITERALLY TWO MONTHS TO ANSWER. it has been sitting in my drafts for months!

Here's my old idea. We’re pretending that the recent Gossip Girl reboot isnt canon.

The reboot title wouldn’t have Gossip Girl in it. It would be more like “Upper East Side.”

I would like to change my old idea a little bit.

Chuck - Dead. Everyone has to come back for his funeral. He can be in flashback scenes with Blair. He was hiding that he was terminally ill. Only Blair and Lily knew he was sick.

Dan - successful novelist and travels the world with Serena. Serena wants to start a family while Dan keeps pushing it off. They separate and Serena goes back to NY. Vanessa and Dan rekindle. Dan goes back to NY to ask Serena for a divorce. However, Dan decides to stick around because he missed his friends and family and gets jealous when Serena is seen with an old flame.

Serena - Steps back into the NY social scene after living in Dan’s shadow for years. She decides to live with Blair to help her after Chuck’s passing. Serena has been having an emotional affair with Carter since running into him during one of Dan’s press tours in Europe. Serena tries to hide her feelings for Carter by dating [insert new celebrity character]. Serena distracts herself by focusing on becoming an IT girl again.

Blair - Chuck and Blair were keeping Chuck’s illness a secret. They were hoping they could find a cure but Chuck ends up not wanting to fight anymore. Blair and Chuck failed to conceive another child through the years. She tried IVF and researched the surrogate route but she found herself putting her career first. Later, Serena gets pregnant with Carter’s baby. This causes drama between Serena and Blair because Serena got pregnant without trying. Blair is so angry and exhausted from Chuck’s death and family drama, she approves a marketing campaign that gets horrible backlash. Blair has an emotional breakdown and starts going to therapy. Blair ends up meeting a new love interest that catches her off guard. Serena ends up working with a competitor which drives a bigger wedge between their friendship.

Jenny - Surprisingly, Blair and Jenny worked several years together under the Eleanor Waldorf brand. Blair and Jenny won’t call each other “friends” but they have a mutually respectful relationship. Jenny ended up leading the company and started her own brand similar to Staud, Anine Bing, etc. She’s an edgy fashion mogul and dated many rockstars, photographers, and artists. Blair talks shit in the press about Jenny’s brand which causes drama. Jenny creates an alliance with Nelly Yuki.

Nate - Sold the spectator to a major media outlet. He became a VC and loves to invest in new tech companies. His family wants him to revisit the idea of becoming a politician. Nate’s family set him up on a date with a woman in the political world. Nate has a been hooking up with Jenny on and off for years. Nate just started becoming friends with Dan again so it makes their friends with benefits relationship awkward. they end it and just stay friends. Nate is jealous that most of his family settled down and started a family. Nate ends up becoming a politician and finds himself in an enemies to lovers relationship with his arranged love interest.

Carter Baizen - Considering Sebastian is pretty famous now I think he deserves a bigger role. Carter becomes the main love interest of Serena. It’s a slow burn relationship. He reconnected with Nate and gets asked to help with his political campaign. After paying his debt to the Buckley’s, he ended up working his way up in the business and became a well-respected businessman/public figure. He is still shady at times and will cross the line to get what he wants. Similar to a Michael Rubin type of business man. He tries not to fall for Serena again but it ends up happening organically.

Georgina - Makes a grand entrance at the funeral causing a lot of drama with Blair. Georgina reveals that Chuck has been secretly paying off press and PR representatives to make Blair’s collections seem more successful than they actually are. Georgina finds interest in an new anonymous gossip IG account “Deuxmoi inspired.”

Vanessa - I want Vanessa to be less annoying. So I think she should be an executive producer for an independent entertainment company (A24). She mostly focuses on projects that promote important causes but her boss demands that she gets a producer that will bring in money for the company. So she pitches a docuseries about Chuck Bass’ life. Blair is against the idea at first but then eventually agrees to it. It documents his career journey and the last few months of his life.

Lily - On husband #7 now. She’s married to a Mark Cuban type businessman (New Character). Lily and Serena aren’t very close. Eric moved to London with his husband. Lily has two step-daughters who are 23 & 27. They’re very Mary Kate & Ashley meets Gigi & Bella vibes but more public and kind of Serena 2.0. Lily started a company like Goop with her husband.

Lily’s Step Daughters - I figured we need a few younger characters who have a different perspective. They’re cool NY socialites who know the ins and outs of NY. The become the face of Jenny’s brand which launches them into the spotlight. Blair also takes a liking to them. The sisters end up choosing sides in the Serena vs Blair war that takes over NY. Some of their friends can also make appearances that get entangled in the OG cast’s drama.

Rufus - Married a world renowned artist who is very popular amongst Lily and her friends. Rufus is far less annoying and opened his own Weed Dispensary that’s doing very well and collaborates with Goop. Maybe an affair with Lily?????

Who is Gossip Girl?

Gossip Girl is…one of Lily’s step-daughters. But she’s rebrands gossip girl to be something cooler and more exclusive. Think of it like Raya and the clubhouse app. She anonymously hosts a party at zero bond and when guests download the app they have access to secret videos, scandals, and text messages between the OG Casts, Celebrity Gossip, and Political Figures.

[dragonrider9905]

Hi hope you don't mind if I'm on anon, it's @frostycatblr-fandom-files, I just hate having to use my main for these kinds of ask games sometimes! >.<

Question 25 and/or question 18 for the fanfic writer ask game~

Hi Frosty!!! Sorry it took me a while, but here it is! and I definitely don't mind it is Anon :) @frostycatblr-fandom-files always happy to see you pop up on the dash! <3

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

GREAT ONE!!!! Boy, I don't know...Sometimes I'm like "eh, ew, I wrote this?" and other times I'm like "Damn, I wrote this!!!!" I know I have a lot I like...one that is jumping out to me right now is from my Tech x OC series Technically, We're in Love, Part two Battle of Witts:

“Echo faced something cruel. Cruelty is never stupid. If cruelty makes you afraid, your fear isn’t stupid either.”

Another is from 'Though Broken, We'll Mend Each Other' in the Hunter Stress Journal series:

"So Hunter scribbled until the sun came up over Ord Mantell and the few birds that ventured into the polluted city started to sing. He wrote about what he saw in the dream, how he felt, what happened, and how a small traitorous part still blamed himself for what didn’t actually happen."

ok, now you have me going, I hope you don't mind :D but I keep going, wait! Here's another :D

"Death's Darling Daughter" this passage here:

“The future is uncertain. If we all survive to the end of the war, many things could change. Don’t press on the future what is currently true today. Today clones are not—” she sighed, “people in the eyes of many but that doesn’t mean that it will be like that tomorrow. Look ahead, but not too far you can’t see one step in front of you. Look in front of you but don’t be blinded from what lies ahead.”

and Basically the whole intro from The Days We Hold Dear, but especially:

"Maybe, just maybe, the pieces of their lives which were so broken could be put back together again in a new and beautiful way. Even though there were many reasons to grieve, Omega gave them more reasons to find joy, hope for a future, and find peace in the present. Even though the shards of a shattered life were scattered, never to be returned, a new stained glass window could be made just as lovely as the last."

--that was way more than what you asked, sorry!

25. Have you ever upset yourself with your own writing?

Heh. Heh. Heh. Yes, many times. With my angst. You know I like writing angst ;P and I have to say sometimes I stop and pause like "wow, I think I just hurt my own feelings, wow" XD "tell me it's going to be ok, brain? Right? Right. We said it was going to be a happy ending, right?" Yeah, my brain can be bad to me ;D

Writer Ask Game

[panfluidme]

Experiments Gone Array

Master Post, Chapter One

(Idea for story comes from Swanatello by @tangledinink)

CHAPTER TWO: THE WEAKEST LINK

Donnie paced his lab while Shelldon's AI uploaded into the new drone that he had just finished making. It was going to take at least an hour to do, so Donnie had a lot of free time on his hands.

Maybe he should start figuring out why his blood had an excessive amount of radiation in his blood. It wasn't abnormal for him to have some, it was healthy for a little in his human half and the mutagen added a decent amount as well.

He wracked his brain, trying to think of when he was exposed to it more than normal.

"Possibly it's a build up from all of the chemicals I've been using for years." Donnie then paused and shook his head. "No, I don't think that's it. I don't use any chemicals that would have this side effect, even when mixed together. It has to be something else entirely."

He laid on his back, staring at the ceiling of his workshop. His head started hurting.

"God fucking damnit, How am I supposed to fix things like Casey says I do when I can't fix myself? I need to figure this out. I have two years, I can do it."

He had to. His brothers needed him for his tech.

Who knew what would happen if they didn't have him for upgrades. His brothers may not realize it, but they depended on Donnie more than they could know.

He was the reason why people didn't find them when wandering the sewers as he put devices that when someone came near that wasn't approved, it would admit a nasty odor that drew people away.

"Maybe I should prepare for the possibility of me not finding a cure," he mumbled flatly. "I can't leave them without my help."

Donnie knew that while he himself wasn't needed, his tech definitely was. He was, after all, the weakest link on the team. He doubted things would change much after his death.

A hum rumbled in his throat as he sat up. A resolve formed inside of him, a new found determination developing in his stomach.

"I'm going to figure this out, even if I have to experiment on myself."

Maybe his family wouldn't care if he was dead, but he wanted to keep living. He wanted to keep inventing, making the world a better place. He wanted to keep goofing around with his dum-dum brothers and eating pizza and having arguments with Leo over the dumbest of things.

Donnie sighed softly and sat at his desk. "I won't be the weakest link anymore, I promise you that, my brethren."

He would never be a liability or a set back ever again. He could handle this by himself. They didn't need to know what was going on. They had better, more important things to worry about and focus on.