#some of which medical science even has a name for

[pathologicalreid]

litmus test | s.r.

in which Spencer needs your expertise to help solve a murder, but crime fighting is most decidedly not for you

find more chemist!reader here!

who? spencer reid x chemist!reader category: flangst (like. the end is a little angsty and it has case details) content warnings: typical cm violence, science talk, fem!reader, reader is not built for crime, morgan being an older brother, some fun banter!! death by firework is crazy lmao word count: 1.68k a/n: this is one of my favorite fluff pieces i've written in agessss i missed chemist!reader so much i learn so many things when i'm writing her. this was a request! i hope you like it as much as i do!!

“Do you have a second?” Spencer asks, his voice slightly choppy over the phone. Between his ancient phone and being inside concrete police precincts, some disconnect was bound to happen.

Saving your document to your computer, you rest the lab phone between your shoulder and ear, “If you’re asking me if I have any corrosive chemicals in my hands, the answer is no.”

He chuckles lightly, “I never know with you.”

You roll your eyes in response, even if he can’t see you, “It was one time and I needed a new phone case anyway.”

“You fused the plastic of your phone case to the material of your phone,” he retorts far too quickly for your liking.

“Yes,” you acquiesce, “but I know the exact chemical reaction that caused that phenomenon.” You cross your legs one over the other, maintaining your balance on your lab stool as you speak to Spencer over the phone.

He gave a light hum in response, “Speaking of chemical reactions – I need your help.”

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise, “You’re asking me for help in chemistry?” There really was a first time for everything, you suppose.

Spencer was more than capable of navigating a lab on his own, even so, he admits, “You have more applied practice than I do.”

Pursing your lips, you nod to yourself, “Fair enough. What’s stumping you, Dr. Reid?” Your inquiry, while innocent enough, garners a wolf whistle from your graduate assistant.

“There’s something burning a hole in these bones, and I’m not sure what would be causing it to happen this fast,” he explains, giving you minor background information on how long the bones were out and if the medical examiner had treated them with something.

You clear your throat, frowning at the notes you had scrawled down in front of you, “Burning or corroding?” What was seemingly a meaningless distinction would actually allow you to filter through approximately half of the possibilities.

“Corroding,” he corrects himself, “My mistake.”

Crossing off some of your notes, you purse your lips at the new possibilities, “No worries. Did you try flushing it out with water?”

You hear papers flipping on his end of the call before you get a response, “That would destroy evidence.”

“Well,” you raise your eyebrows, “It sounds like your evidence is destroying itself.”

“Baby,” Spencer says in a no-nonsense tone reserved for when he was deep in a case. You could’ve sworn you heard Morgan in the background of the call mocking him for the pet name.

Turning back to your notes, you sigh, “Yeah, yeah, all work and no play. Was the body buried?”

“Partially,” his reply intrigues you, “I can have Garcia send you the crime scene photos if you think it’ll help.”

Wrinkling your nose at the thought, you made an unsure sound, “Right, because nothing says lunchtime like getting up close and personal with a homicide victim.”

“What lunchtime? It’s three pm in D.C. right now,” he caught you, a slight chiding tone in his words.

Ignoring his questions, you ask more of your own, “Was the body near water? Did they test the pH of the soil and water?”

There were more papers flipping, likely someone presenting the results of those tests to him, “Yeah, the soil was a five-point two and the water was a seven-point eight,” he listed off for you.

While your knowledge of the pH of the soil in Iowa was limited, you did know that those levels were pretty on par for the northern Mississippi River. “O-kay,” you say, extending your vowels, “and they didn’t find anything else on the scene that points to corrosive materials. Hydrofluoric acid?” You posit, “No, you know what – maybe you should send me those files. My work email is encrypted, you can give it to Penelope.”

He speaks to someone else in the room with him and you resist the urge to ask him if he’s enjoying Iowa, “It’s sent,” he confirms with you.

Pulling up your email only takes a moment, and once you get over the initial shock of seeing a dead body on your computer screen, you lift your lab glasses to the top of your head in order to get a better look. “I mean,” you think for a moment, “those look like alkali burns to me. I’ve never seen them on bones before, but you should do a litmus test to check either way.”

“So, we rinse it with water?” He asks, seeking instruction from you in a way that makes you feel oddly powerful.

Your eyes widen, “No, no, no. If it’s a metal compound then it’ll be covered in a mineral oil, so rinsing it with water would actually make the burn worse.”

Pausing for a moment, you consider the possibility that Spencer didn’t have the luxury of time – he was trying to solve a murder, not do experiments in a lab.

“Alkali burns can be serious, it all depends on what caused them, and most are helped by rinsing with water. So, unless you have the time to test for metal compounds, I’d go ahead and rinse it. You might want to brush the damage to the bones with a dry brush first. If there’s lime on the bones it’ll foam, which not only will corrode the bones even further but it might release a toxic gas,” you have no idea how the corrosion would interact with bone marrow, but something tell you that you don’t want to know

“Wait a minute,” Derek interjects, being included in the conversation now that Spencer put the call on speaker, “I thought things like alkaline water were good for you.”

You scoff instinctively, “Oh, there’s no definitive evidence that shows alkaline water as having any real health benefits. Especially not the benefits that the internet says it has.” Straightening up in your stool, you continue, “In fact, there is evidence from the NIH that says drinking alkaline water could cause kidney damage. There’s a particular-“

“My bad,” he interjects, effectively stopping your rambling before it really took off, “I forgot whose girlfriend I was talking to.”

Groaning at your new vexation, you huff, “Oh, fuck off, Derek. Go kick down a door.”

Spencer quickly switches the phone back, “Thank you, angel.”

Squinting at the photos that were still on your laptop screen, a crude, disturbing thought came to mind, “You know, sparklers can cause alkali burns. It might be something to consider because of the diameter of the burns.”

Your boyfriend was silent on his end of the call for so long that you had to check and make sure the call hadn't dropped. “Did you say sparklers?”

“Yep,” you confirm, “like the ones you can get everywhere this time of year.���

He says something to Morgan, placing his hand over the receiver so you can’t hear, “There’s only one spot in this town, though. I’ve gotta go, see you soon.”

“Stay safe, please! I prefer your bones unburned,” you rattle off into the phone before it clicks, placing the phone back on the stand and deleting the crime scene photos from your inbox.

The front door to the apartment opens and shuts quietly, with Spencer under the assumption that you already went to bed, he was surprised to find you on the couch, nursing a cup of tea. “Hey, baby,” he chirps, unusually peppy for this time of night.

“Hey,” you say half-heartedly, threading your fingers through the handle of the mug.

Your somber tone gets Spencer’s attention, “What’s wrong?”

The slight panic in his voice causes your eyes to snap up to his, “Nothing,” you murmur. “It’s just… the woman who was in those pictures. There- the burns on her bones, they were signs of torture, weren’t they?”

You’d been thinking about the burns ever since Spencer showed them to you, “Yes,” he answers with a reciprocating softness, sitting down next to you on the couch. “The medical examiner concluded that she was burned antemortem.”

That woman had been burned alive by fireworks, sparklers had seared their way through skin and muscle until it finally met her bones. You blink a few tears from your eyes at the thought, “I like my lab, Spence.”

The confusion on his face was palpable, “I know you do.”

“I like my minimal human interaction and my chemicals, and I like knowing why certain things cause certain reactions. I like it when things make sense.” You take a deep, shaky breath, “Killing someone. Torturing someone with fireworks. That just doesn’t make sense to me.”

You had no interest in hearing the excuses that the killer had provided. You had no interest in hearing the psychological breakdown of that woman’s killer. Spencer knows that, “The photos got to you?”

Taking a sip from your mug, you nod solemnly, “I can’t stop thinking about the way it must have felt. Oh, the smell must have been horrible. That poor woman.” In theory, it was a ridiculous notion, killing someone with fireworks seemed neither probable nor possible. Yet here you are.

“But we got the person who killed her,” Spencer reassures you, resting his hand gently on your knee. “We couldn’t have done it without you,” he adds.

Your face warms at his compliment, “I wish I could have helped before she was killed.” You were grateful that Spencer hadn’t passed on any personal information about the woman, it was easier for you if you kept things in separate storage files in your mind.

Spencer hums, reaching out and sweeping a strand of hair behind your ear, “There’s always going to be another one. I’m sorry about the photos, I should’ve made sure Garcia only sent the necessary ones.”

Nodding absentmindedly, you look at him thoughtfully, “This will pass, but for tonight I just feel bad for the victim.”

“I can have Penelope share some of her favorite baby animal videos, if you’d like,” he offers softly, resting his head on your shoulder.

In return, you give him a small smile, “Well, I suppose it really can’t hurt.”

[weaselandfriends]

hi bavitz, I'd be interested to hear what other webfiction you keep an eye on / recommend

I'm probably not as prolific a reader of web fiction as I should be. My reading has much more frequently tilted toward the classics, where there's a lot less of a need to sift large amounts of mediocrity for hidden gems. The way web fiction is monetized also encourages works that are absurdly long compared to conventional fiction. A million words seems to be the baseline for any big-name webfic; this is the equivalent of three 1,000-page novels. This length, it seems, is often accomplished via bloat rather than variety and depth of things to say, and it also makes actually engaging with these works a full-time job.

That said, here is a list of web fiction I've read that I would recommend to others:

The works of Nostalgebraist: He has four novels, all of which are worth reading. One of the most unique and fully realized voices in the webfic scene, especially with his later output (Almost Nowhere and Apocalypse of Herschel Schoen). The Northern Caves is his most notable and page-turning work.

Worth the Candle by Alexander Wales: Though a million+-worder (and currently stubbed for publication on Amazon), this is a pretty remarkable pinnacle of the LitRPG isekai genre that absolutely infests the mass-market male-readership webfic scene, using the genre as a vehicle for complex and at times harrowing personal introspection. The climax is incredible.

The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere by Lurina: Another million+-worder, this time in the vein of Umineko. An intersection between philosophical debate on the goals of medical science and a dissection of the meaning of personal identity. Currently ongoing.

Chili and the Chocolate Factory by Gazemaize: Really funny. Leans into the slasher horror aspect of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is good because slasher horror is the ultimate form of fiction.

Antilia by Pigoseg: Highly obscure author compared to the others on this list; they're on my radar because they originally wrote fanfiction of Fargo and Chicago. Antilia is their first original work, a short but perfectly-constructed story with an incredible concept. I currently have the first draft of their next novel, a Doki Doki Lit Club fanfic where Monika makes a society of clones of the other characters who then get into a race war, and so far it's shaping up to be even better. Name to watch out for.

CORDYCEPS by Benedict: Another short, tightly-constructed work with a lot of punch. Very strong emotional climax despite the more formalistic puzzlebox construction of the narrative.

Detective Pony by sonnetstuck: Modern Cannibals but more deeply rooted in academic postmodern thought.

How the Questing Beast Chased, and Caught, Her Own Tail by Avunvain: Very interesting prose stylist, which sets this work apart from a lot of the rest. A heady and psychological work that can take some close reading (and rereading) to parse, which is always a rewarding experience. It's Madoka Magica fanfic. Ongoing.

I'm probably forgetting something else (edit: I did, and edited it in) but this is a pretty good list. (I'd love to fill it with some more Fargo/Chicago fanfic like London but that'd probably be too self-indulgent.)

[okkotsuus]

"COLLEGE! AU" ー tabieitaken 🪽

features: tabito karasu, eita otoya, kenyu yukimiya

contents: college au, friendships, polycule jokes, jealousy/competition, very messy headcanons, 0.8k

notes: since my lovely @cheralith has tabieitaken stuck in my head at all times... this is literally just me talking at the wall

ALL

they're all in the same frat (alpha tau omega) and ended up rooming together after their first year in an apartment a few minutes off campus. tabito is the primary name on the lease, but yuki handles most of the stuff with their landlord (otoya just forks over money every month).

every friday, without fail, they all get together to do something, whether it be movies or dinner.

their apartment was decorated by yuki and karasu; but otoya is the one who most often brings home decor for the apartment (usually it's something stupid he bought).

they actually don't cook very often, like in terms of full meals, yet they are still an ingredient house iykyk.

one time, otoya accidentally hotboxed the bathroom and yuki went to take a shower and almost died.

despite how popular they all are, they refuse to host parties because their building is mainly elderly folks and they would feel horrible for them having to deal with hammered college students.

tabito and otoya went to highschool together and met yuki in their freshman year through the frat.

despite their differences, they are all actually extremely intelligent.

TABITO KARASU

3rd year biomedical engineering major.

tabito, despite literally never speaking in class except when called on, is very well known.

takes extremely elegant and detailed notes for every lecture: no matter how fast the professor is talking.

somehow always locked in, even if he's extremely hungover from an event the night before.

the kind of guy who really only talks to people unless they talk to him first or he's tipsy.

has never failed a class, he's extremely intelligent.

he has this very specific ritual he does before every single exam where he sleeps with his notebook under his pillow (it's so stupid but it has never failed him).

plans to go into biomedical engineering to design medical devices that put less of a strain on the patient (e.x. streamlining insulin pumps or making pacemakers less intensive)

actually extremely passionate about his work, got in on a full-ride for his essay which was his planned thesis for grad school.

works as a lab assistant in the school's medical research facility.

EITA OTOYA

3rd year political science major.

if you actually see otoya in class, it's rarer than getting struck by lightning: double credit if he's sober and awake.

despite this, somehow everyone in all his classes knows him and he knows everyone's names (it's bc he's a lurker).

the pledge hazer, he is so annoying; but he's never malicious about it like some of the guys are.

he smokes or takes edibles, constantly has some fruity vape on him at all times. he swears he can stop whenever he want (he cannot).

originally planned to take a gap year but his mom almost beat his ass for even suggesting it so he chose the major he thought was the easiest.

he doesn't know it yet, but he will end up going to law school to be a criminal prosecutor trust.

despite his horrid attendance, his grades are pretty good (lowest is a 82%), he's one of those smart kids that could be a genius if he just applied himself.

works at the local dispensary and as a barista on the campus cafe.

KENYU YUKIMIYA

3rd year fashion design and business management double major.

he wants to end up with his own clothing line, but he is actually horrible at sewing so it's kind of funny. he's only good at the designing part fr

literally everyone's hallway crush, everyone knows him and all the freshmen have a thing for him at some point.

the kind of student that all the professors like, even the typically rough ones that seem to hate everyone (he's a kissass and he knows it).

perfect attendance unless he is ill to the point of physically unable being to go to class.

academic validation kid, struggled hard his freshman year when everything wasn't easy peasy anymore like it was in high school.

partial-ride, about half of his tuition.

he became an ra for the free room and board his second year but ended up hating it so he didn't do it this year.

really good grades, but not as good as karasu's even though he tries harder (it really pisses him off)

works as a freelance model/actor and at the local movie theatre

⚜️ ㅤ okkotsuus ㅤ 25

[is-the-post-reliable]

I wanted to practice media literacy, but something that keeps coming up is reaffirming to trust what a majority of scientists and doctors believe rather than the fringe ones who may be trying to sell you something. And I agree with that, but I keep getting this bad feeling in the back of my mind because, well, I remember learning about how a lot of different scientific fields are based in ableism, racism, misogyny, etc. Like, for example, a majority of doctors in the US are in favour of invasive and traumatizing surgeries on intersex infants to "fix" them, while intersex adults advocate against these surgeries.

Will this come up in the later courses and discussions on media literacy? Stuff like, trusting the scientific method even if the general consensus is scewed due to being a part of an oppressive system? Thank you ☆

hi! so first of all, I want to start by saying this is probably outside of the scope of this blog to definitively answer - this kind of issue could be debated forever. Also, I want to clarify that I’m not trying to give a ‘course’ here, I’m not a teacher in any way, I’m just some guy who likes fact checking

So with that in mind, I think we should definitely acknowledge that scientific communites are made up of people, who all have their own biases. Social beliefs absolutely have, and will continue, to affect our scientific understanding. That being said, I don’t think that bias is inherent to the scientific method - in actuality, it’s the opposite. When biases affect the research, that’s bad science, which is exactly what media literacy and scientific literacy helps us distinguish. Essentially, I don’t think that these biases are a reason to not practice media literacy. Media literacy is what helps us to think critically about these things.

To use your own example, surgical intervention on intersex infants was based on little data, and became the normalised ‘treatment’ before any rigorous studies were done. It’s the introduction of proper scientific method in medical care that has helped to change our understanding of surgical intervention, and is now pushing to limit surgeries on intersex infants.

From the American Journal of Bioethics: ‘However, the main empirical premises behind this approach, namely, that significant psychosocial benefits would in fact accrue to the child because of early surgery and that these benefits would, moreover, reliably outweigh the associated risks of physical and mental harm, were never subjected to rigorous testing (Creighton and Liao Citation2004; Liao et al. Citation2019). Rather, standard practice in this area became entrenched and institutionalized long before the advent of modern evidence-based medicine (Diamond and Beh Citation2008; Garland and Travis Citation2020a; Dalke, Baratz, and Greenberg Citation2020) as well as key developments in bioethics and children’s rights (Brennan Citation2003; Reis Citation2019; Alderson Citation2023; Gheaus Citation2024).‘

[boolger]

The science of love 🌙ch 2

Call of Duty AU ✨ Poly!141 x Nikolai x hybrid!Reader ✨ MDNI ✨ Explicit ✨ ao3

<- last chapter x next chapter ->

Tags: F!reader, hybrid reader, description of former torture, dubcon and noncon, rape, hybrid!people being kept as pets, Call of duty alternative universe, dark, angst to comfort, kinda in a fucked up way ya know, punishments, spanking, mistreatment and abuse to hybrids, the dove is dead, or at least its close to death, heat/mating cycles (no omegaverse), no pregnancy, reader knows how to stand up for herself, anger issues, animal tails and ears, trauma, violence, angst, collars, rough sex, breeding kink, threesome, orgy basically, everyone is fucking your honor, enemies to lovers, piss kink, reader has a pussy, chubby!reader, hurt!reader, pet names, a couples of OCs here and there, gotta add some extra backgrounds character ya know, vague mentions of a character’s death in the past (it’s Roach. Sorry Roach lovers.)

Author’s note: sup sinners I’m starting an internship this week, might have a breakdown, might have a good time, who knows. So when will I update again? Idk, I’m just a lil muppet with an iPad, external keyboard and a coffee addiction.

💫✨💫✨💫

According to the doctors and nurses that swarmed around you in the med bay and then the bathroom, you shouldn’t be able to walk or even move on your legs due to small amounts of muscles and how badly in shape your body, not to mention how bad your ankles seemed to be.

Jokes on them though, they had clearly never been high on pain meds, adrenaline and stubbornness at the same time. You figured that was how you managed to escape them. That and your intelligence of course. You were a smart girl, if you were to brag a little.

Almost naked as the day you were born, save the thin hospital gown you had been put in, was hanging on for dear life as you sprinted out of what seemed like a hospital - though it turned out to be a base, long hallways that looked never ending… nearly like what you had been stuck in before.

Your entire body was screaming for you to stop, while the medical staff was literally screaming for it. But you hadn’t been chained and stuck to that fucking desk in two years, merely to become another group’s punching bag.

Some of the staff even yelled “bad dog”, “sit!” and “Lay down!”

Assholes, the lot of them. As if you would respond to them. As if they had earned any of your respect for you to even care about those commands. As if you were a stupid lil pup.

In an attempt to find a way out of this hellhole, you turned sharply at the corner, hoping to disappear down the new hallway — Only to see the men who had gotten you out and free of your chains, who were walking towards you, all caught off guard by the sight of you.

You wanted to throw up at the way your body felt, but at the sight of them - especially the grim reaper - made you turn on your heel and bolt another way.

Running away was hard when the hallways seemed to double and curl in front of you due to the drugs, yet you figured that it was just a question of getting as much distance as possible in between you and the hunters.

Despite your bad hearing, you could hear them yell after you, joining the medical staff in their hunt for you.

You just had to find a door outside, so you could run into nature, so you could — hands managed to grab onto your gown, then around your middle and despite your best attempt, you were caught.

It was the pretty one of the group, the young black man, whose voice made your knees weak for a moment. Before you tried to bite him, of course. Despite your sore teeth, you had to give it a shot, even if you were losing the fight… which you did. Rather quickly in fact.

You cried as they tried calming you down, tried growling, twisting and howling, trying your best to seem mean, but it didn’t really matter what you tried. He didn’t let you go.

“Don’t scruff me don’t scruff me don—“

“I won’t,” the grim reaper promised, before taking you out of the pretty man’s grip, throwing you over his shoulder once more. Had you not been high, afraid and feeling sick, you might have felt upset about the fact that you could feel the cold air on your ass, meaning it was exposed.

The nurses were explaining themselves as the group walked you back towards your personal hell. They were going to mess you up inside the medical wing, you just knew it. You dared look up from where you were slung over the shoulder, meeting the eyes of one of the men, the one with the odd haircut and weird accent.

“Dinnae worry, it’s nae—“

You threw up on his chest. Slightly proud of your action for a moment, you lowered your head again, whimpering.

He had at least let out a very unmanly yell when it happened. Small victories.

But your plan of escape had been foiled and as they took you back to the bathroom with the shower, you almost wanted to go back to the desk. To the chains around your ankles.

Almost.

💫✨💫✨💫

Though Gaz would be the first to admit the hilarity of Soap being puked on, he was happy it wasn’t himself - yet he still felt bad for their little hybrid who whimpered and cried, even though they only made you flush your mouth. They attempted to get you to brush your teeth too, but after almost breaking the toothbrush from your biting, Gaz had suggested they try again later.

Main goal for now was to get you into the shower, get all the dirt and such away so you were all cleaned up for surgery.

You weren’t a big fan of that though. The mere moment Gaz tried to touch your hair, to get a look at it, you snarled aggressively, making Ghost grab your neck as a warning.

Gaz couldn’t find it in himself to judge you - your hair was matted. Several places. So was your tail and the fur on your ears. Some of it has been attempted to cut away before they got you, but it didn’t look like they had been successful.

“I think it would be easier if we cut it all off,” one of the nurses suggested from the door, as the entire team was crammed into the bathroom, making it harder for you to bolt again.

You began to sob at the suggestion, looking up at Ghost and Price with puppy eyes, words about how they couldn’t do that to you stumbling out from your mouth.

Gaz still called Soap on the phone, who had just finished his impromptu shower to be free of puke and the Scot returned a few minutes later, with his hair clippers.

You howled loudly at the sight of it, as if they were going to cut off your head and not your hair.

“Calm down, pup,” Soap gently tried, “we will make ye look all pretty - Gaz does my hair, he is a professional!”

Gaz couldn’t help his smile over his boyfriend’s words - you looked at Soap for a second. Then back at Gaz and then back at Soap once more.

Only to cry even harder than before, managing loudly, in between sobs, “but you look so fucking stupid!”

💫✨💫✨💫

All Price wanted was to take you somewhere nice and snuggle up with you, though he doubted you would let him. They had all left the bathroom to let the nurses bathe you, except for Ghost who was helping them to avoid your teeth.

You had lost most of the spark after they had clipped all of your hair, as bad as they felt about it, Price knew it had been necessary.

Nikolai appeared in the room, clothes changed, a smile on his face.

“I hear we are keeping puppy?” He said, before kissing Soap, Gaz and then Price, leaning against the wall next to him.

“She is messed up, Nik,” John heard himself say, leaning back in the chair, looking up at the ceiling, “I don’t understand why they treated her like this if she truly helped them so much.”

Nik stole John’s hat before running his hand over his hair; it made John close his eyes for a moment, focusing on the feeling of his boyfriend’s hand. How his nails gently scraped along his head.

“It is out of your power,” Nikolai gently answered, “she will have to explain herself.”

“Power,” Gaz mumbled, sitting next to Soap on their own two chairs, “isn’t it always about that?”

“Aye,” the other agrees, “bloody bastards.”

“Where is Simon?” Nik’s voice was still gentle, his hand still threading through John’s hair and had he been a cat hybrid he would have been purring right now.

“Helpin’ the nurses with cleaning her - hey did you know he has a certificate in hybrid training?”

John didn’t move and Nik’s hand stopped too.

“Da,” Nikolai then confirmed, “but it is his own story to tell.”

“Dramatic,” Soap mumbled, leaning against Gaz’s shoulder.

“Do we know pup’s name?” John could kiss him for changing the subject so quickly. Because it truly was Simon’s own story to tell. Not theirs.

God, John needed a cigar. Perhaps a whiskey too. As well as a nap. Perhaps a wank.

He felt tired.

“Nope,” he straightened up, snatching his hat back from Nik’s hand, the other man huffing dramatically, “she won’t really give us much.”

“Cannae blame her,” Soap added.

Price stood up, “she will go directly to surgery when they’re out. I’m gonna go get a nap. I suspect that Simon will want to stay.”

“I’ll come with you,” Gaz got up from his own chair, Soap letting out a displeased noise as his headrest left.

“I will stay with you, milyy,” he heard Nikolai croon to Soap as he left, Gaz walking next to him.

Compared to Nik’s hands, Gaz’s were much softer and as their fingers tangled together in a familiar pattern, they walked close for a few moments, before they reached the busier hallways.

“Don’t know why it bothers me so much,” John admitted as they neared their quarters, “I’ve never even wanted to have a hybrid.”

Gaz was quiet for a moment. They reached their room and John managed to press their code onto the lock before Gaz replied.

“I think it’s a natural reaction to feel bad for her,” a beat, then he continued, closing the door after them, “we will see what happens, John, maybe she has an old owner who she wants to go back to.”

He knew that. Logically. But if the old owner had let her get into this situation? He didn’t like the thought of it.

John sat down on their big bed, taking off his boots.

“She wouldn’t be much of a military dog,” he replied instead.

Gaz snorted as he took off his own boots, before walking to him, his hands touching John’s cheeks, fingers playing with his beard. John looked up at him, taking in his smile that he still felt lucky to see so regularly.

“She will probably chew up all your shoes, sir,” he teased and John let out a groan at the mere thought, “perhaps make you chase her before giving it back.”

John slid his hands up to Gaz’s hips, holding on before he turned his head a little, kissing one of the younger man’s palms. Closing his eyes for a moment, breathing in his scent.

“Shower with me?” Gaz asked, his voice soft. Loving. Home. Just like the rest of his men.

“Want me to chase you too?” He opened one eye while asking, looking up at Gaz who grinned mischievously.

“Yeah,” he whispered, “but I wanna be caught ol’ man. And nap afterwards.”

💫✨💫✨💫

You were on good drugs.

That was your first, rather messy, thought when you finally woke again — and nothing was hurting.

You let out a little chuckle the best you could - then grimacing as you realised there was some sort of tube in your throat.

There was a voice. Somebody was talking to you. Was it a dream? Were you still beneath the table? Or had the men that stormed the place actually shot you? In what afterlife did one get a tube in your throat? You sniffled - and nose. It went into your nose as well.

You wondered if the afterlife would be better than your life so far - though it wouldn’t really be that hard to make it better. Your tongue lolled out, but you couldn’t really feel much. You felt weird. Your entire body felt odd. But nothing hurt, it was all just… there.

Drugs, you reminded yourself, good drugs.

It felt eons passed before you could finally open your eyes; it was probably just closer to a second, you weren’t stupid but oh boy, those drugs felt nice. Like you were floating slightly above the bed, no pressure on all the things that hurt, you could really feel your tail, but hey, you could deal with that later.

You weren’t dead. So far so good.

The light that hit you made you wonder if you were for a second though, a garbled groan leaving you as you closed your eyes again, ears tipping back.

Heh, your ears felt weird.

You tried again, managing to keep your eyes open for a couple of seconds more.

Something touched your arm, a voice ran through the room again, muted as if they were under water and tried to speak to you. Perhaps that was god - you had never been that religious - would god really speak to hybrids? Would they consider you a less life form than a full blooded human seemed to do?

Finally, you managed to open your eyes fully - even turning your head a little, to look over at this seemingly divine voice.

The owner of it was slightly familiar however and he was no god to you. Growling with a tube in your throat was weird, felt odd and the man with the Mohawk tried calming you, telling you that it was okay. Easy for him to say. You looked down at your body for a moment. There were needles in your skin, patches with wires running back to a machine. One of your ankles was slightly raised, a cast on it.

Wasn’t this just fucking brilliant?

Slowly, a beeping sound appeared in your ears; your heartbeat, exposing your fear and uncomfortableness like a traitor.

”It’s okay pup,” the man with the weird haircut said, “ye’re all good.”

”Don’t feel good.” Your voice was garbled, almost feeling wet as you spoke, nausea running up your body for a moment. You wanted to rip those tubes so badly. You spared a glance down at your hands - looking at the bandages and plastic braces for a moment, frowning at the sight.

”You had surgery,” a new voice said and you looked over, as a big man appeared behind the weird-hair man. He was broad, with long hair slicked back and a golden chain around his neck - he smelled slightly of sweat - or perhaps it was the other. Or perhaps it was you. It was kinda hard to be sure with the thing in your nose.

”No sh’t,” you managed once more, blinking slowly, taking in the grin that appeared on the man’s face. His accent sounded weird.

Right now running away didn’t seem like an option, if you were being honest. One prison to another. At least this one seemed to take care of you… so far.

”Ye will feel better soon, bonnie lass,” the mohawk man said - was weird accents a requirement for this group? — “ye’ll be up an’ walking in no time.”

”fu’k you.”

The big man behind him laughed, too loudly for your ears to take and you tipped them back a little, before closing your eyes again. They kept talking, kept trying to keep a conversation up — but you had drugs and stubbornness on your side.

It didn’t take long before you fell asleep again.

[kanalynn]

Xeno, Stanley x Mikan Tsumiki! reader headcanons

characters: Xeno Houston Wingfield, Stanley Snyder

based on: reader is based on Mikan Tsumiki (danganronpa franchise)

summary: [Name] Tsumiki is a Japanese exchange student who is interested in medicine and is a nurse-in-training. She is quite timid and fragile due to the abuse she suffered in the past.

author's note:

• English is NOT my first language

• May contain OOC

• Do not copy or steal my works!!

• I guess this is the last or one of the last headcanons, I'm already tired of writing them, I've been doing nothing but them all week (although I really like them)

• tw: mentions of abuse

• Mikan's character and past are very complex topics, which makes it very difficult to imagine the reader in her place, so I'll simplify things a bit in these aspects - [Name]'s story will be very vague, the only thing we know for sure is that she was subjected to severe bullying. Her personality will still be similar to Mikan's, but her trauma is not as severe: she is more adequate and does not think that bullying is better than indifference - but she still feels a little uncomfortable when she is not noticed at all.

• Basically, [Name] is like Mikan Lite

Xeno Houston Wingfield

❛❛ I-I... F-forgive me, Xeno... I'm so useless... I- ❞

❛❛ Now, now, please don't cry, [Name]. You're not useless at all. You know, I'd even say you're one of the most elegant people I've ever met. ❞

❛❛ R-really? ❞

❛❛ Of course, would I lie to you? You're the most capable, amazing, incredible- ❞

• [Name]'s first meeting with Xeno was very... unusual. You could even say embarrassing. The thing is, the girl bumped into him in the hallway while she was rushing to her first class at a new school and fell. In a very revealing position. And she screamed so loudly that she attracted the attention of everyone around her.

• Xeno, as a true gentleman, tried his best to avoid the indecent spectacle that was unfolding on the floor, but still helped the stranger up and took her to the nurse office. Probably, at first he considered [Name] extremely inelegant, but as soon as he found out that she was knowledgeable in science, was interested in medicine and was a nurse-in-training, his interest was awakened.

• All the following lessons he sits next to [Name], tries to talk to her and learn more about her. She is very nervous and timid, and this makes Xeno a little wary - for some reason he himself begins to worry about her, but, of course, does not show it. In any case, soon he still managed to find topics for conversation with her and, it seems, even become her friend.

• At first, all their communication was reduced mainly to scientific and medical topics, however, slowly and not soon, they began to get to know each other better. Xeno likes [Name], he really appreciates her, her abilities and her desire to help others - but he is still worried about her timidity and lack of self-confidence.

• Xeno is both surprised and not surprised when he realizes his feelings. [Name] is a wonderful person who shares his love for the natural sciences, and if you think about it, it could not be anyone else. He is very careful with the confession, delivering everything as softly and sensually as possible, because he does not know how she might react. Probably, [Name] will assure him that he is imagining things and that he could not love someone like her - but Xeno will persistently assure her otherwise and wait for her consent for as long as it takes.

• Luckily, he does not have to wait too long, and [Name], although with great uncertainty and apprehension, accepts his feelings; they begin a relationship.

• Xeno has always been very careful with [Name], and when he learned about the bullying she had suffered in the past, he seemed to become even more careful. He is trying his best to restore his girlfriend's confidence and ability to defend her boundaries, and it seems he is even succeeding.

• Science is one of the most important, if not the most important, parts of Xeno's life, so the fact that he wants to do some kind of experiment with [Name] to show her the beauty and elegance of science is nothing special. He often even asks the girl to help him - although she constantly tries to refuse, citing her clumsiness and uselessness, he always stands his ground.

• Xeno calls [Name] his best assistant and helper - and he is not being disingenuous when he does this. He truly believes that no one can understand him and help him better than her.

• Xeno probably even hopes that after finishing school, when he will work at NASA, [Name] will really become his full-fledged assistant... He understands that the girl wants to become a doctor, and is going to study to be one after school, but he can’t help his desire not to part with [Name].

• [Name] loves horror movies, in her words, “because of the blood and helpless people.” Xeno doesn’t even find this a little strange: he himself, perhaps, is interested in how, elegantly or not, the next victim will be killed.

• At first, [Name] tends to apologize to Xeno very often for all her actions and behavior. He, of course, doesn’t like it - this is another of her charts appeared because of bullying, and he hates to think that she suffered so much. Xeno tries to show her that he loves and will love her for who she is.

Stanley Snyder

❛❛ What did that jerk wanted from you, [Name]? ❞

❛❛ S-Stan?! I... He... I-I'm not really sure, he just asked to meet him after school... ❞

❛❛ Hmm. I'll go. ❞

❛❛ B-but Stan! If he doesn't want to do anything bad? ❞

❛❛ I'll. Go. ❞

• Stan met [Name] when he got into a fight with some particularly insolent jerks in the school hallways one day: they were quickly separated, but they managed to beat each other up so badly that they were sent to the nurse office. It wasn't the nurse on duty there then, but her assistant - a new student whom Stan barely remembered when he first saw her. She was very clumsy, but she treated his wounds surprisingly skillfully, and when she learned his name, she mentioned that she had heard it from Xeno - and it was at that moment that Stanley really took an interest in her.

• They did not officially meet until the next day: they were introduced to each other by Xeno, and they became something like friends through a friend. Over time, they get to know each other better and eventually become real friends.

• [Name]'s paranoid personality initially irritated Stanley a little, but then, when he realized how kind a person she really is, he noticeably softened towards her.

• Stanley quickly realizes his feelings and, after some thought, wants to immediately confess to [Name], which he basically does. He reacts very negatively to the girl's words about her uselessness and worthlessness, trying to convince her of the sincerity of his feelings and her own value. Eventually, [Name] gives them a chance: they start dating.

• Immediately after the relationship began, Stanley felt a strong need to protect [Name]. This need grew proportionally to the growth of his romantic feelings for her, and has not disappeared after many years.

• Anyone who even thinks something bad about [Name] will meet the invincible Stanley Snyder and his righteous anger - what to say about the fools who want to mock his girlfriend or pester her with various... unpleasant proposals? They leave no trace. Stan is merciless to anyone who shows disrespect to [Name].

• By the way, when Stan finds out what his girlfriend went through in the past, he is furious. There's nothing more to say - he's just furious, and it'll take him a long time to calm down and accept the fact that [Name] is no longer in danger and that all the bullying is in the past...

• [Name] is usually the one who heals all of Stan's wounds - after all, she is a nurse, albeit a student. He himself really likes it. Sometimes it seems that he fights with someone only so that [Name] can heal him later.

• Smoking is a terrible and dangerous habit - Stan is tired of hearing about it from his personal doctors, [Name] and Xeno, but he probably won't quit.

• One day, Stanley witnessed one of [Name's] "unfortunate falls". He is very worried about this trait of hers, and from now on he always tries to stay as close to her as possible so that if something happens, he can catch her before she falls. If it is impossible to prevent the falls, Stanley will block the spectacle unfolding on the floor from those around him with his body.

• It is even surprising how gentle and caring the threatening Stanley Snyder can be towards his timid and nervous girlfriend - everyone around him has always been confused by this, but they will never understand it.

• If Stanley has free time, he immediately rushes to the infirmary to spend at least a little time with [Name]. Usually, she does not have a large number of patients, so his presence does not bother anyone - on the contrary, while Stanley is with her, [Name] behaves more confidently.

[junosmindpalace]

Hi, an interesting/unusual request. A body-swap AU with Dr. Stone characters and their s/o (or friend, platonically I mean)? How would they react and try to reverse it?

oooou this one's an interesting one! you didn’t specify characters, so i hope these are okay!

SENKU ISHIGAMI: 

He’s bordering on insane disgust and fear and also immense enthusiasm and curiosity to figure out how such an insane phenomenon exists and took place.

At first, he’s freaked out. Rightfully. Confused out of his mind, probably something that happens just as suddenly as the petrification.

So he has his little moment of confusion at first where he's asking all the standard questions, most likely in his mind: What’s happening? How did this happen? Why do I look like this? What happened to my body? Am I dreaming? Ow, that felt real. 

Once he runs into you wearing his body, he’s even more freaked out. Now he’s thinking some more. 

For the most part, then, he’s determined to come up with some kind of answer as to how the swap took place and how he can reverse it. 

He handles it scientifically, of course. Coming up with hypotheses, running whatever tests he can think of, monitoring your states. He might consult various sources, such as textbooks, similar experiments conducted in the past and theories on such a phenomenon, and may even head into fiction territory for ideas. 

He might make a couple of comparisons to media he likes, similarly to how he does with video games. 

But overall, he does NOT find the experience fun. The challenge, sure, the mystery, exciting. But don’t you dare try anything dumb while you’re in his body or he’ll lose it.

Will spend most of his time exhausted and yelling at you if you are the type to goof around in such a situation. If not, he’ll probably urge you to help him in his efforts to reverse such a swap and ask you to cooperate in any sort of monitoring. 

Depending on how long it takes to reverse, also, he feels SUPER uncomfortable being addressed with your name and treated as if he were someone else. And he also feels super weird watching people come up to you while meaning to talk to him. 

If it were pre petrification, he’d also probably hate going through the pain of pretending to be you in order to prevent suspicion on how weirdly supernatural this was and to avoid any other obstacles. 

But if it were post, he’d have no qualms telling people about it, and even consults them for help. 

GEN ASAGIRI:

He’s flustered about the whole ordeal to say the least. 

He’s the one the most worked up about the whole thing, never entirely relaxed the entire time he’s preoccupied in your body. 

He doesn’t really know what to do with himself. He can’t even find it within himself to be sleazy; the whole thing was another level of absurd. 

(And seeing his own face watch in disgust was also a whole other level of embarrassing)

Like Senku, he’s obviously freaked out, but unlike Senku, he spends more time being horrified than actually thinking of the cause behind the phenomenon.

You have to take a good while to actually calm him before either of you can progress to actually coming up with theories on how such a thing could have happened, but being consoled by an out of character version of himself just puts Gen even more on edge.

Once you manage to move past the initial shock, however, Gen does his best to try to think alongside you in what could have caused the swap and what could reverse it.

But then…oh, who was he kidding? He’s no medical man, no scientist, what can he do? 

So he has these moments of helplessness and panic in waves. 

(Which only end up agitating you further, causing you to cry out to “do something, magic man!” and it ends up stressing him out even further)

The two of you are truly lucky if you have the Kingdom of Science by your side at this point, because while Gen can and will hypothesise what happened, he doesn’t really have the means of testing them. So while he’s still worried, he undergoes all the questioning and experiments Senku and the others have for him about the swap. Anything to have him back in his own body. 

KOHAKU:

Before meeting Senku and getting involved with modern science shenanigans so heavily, she’d probably believe the phenomenon was some kind of ailment or sorcery. Which, can you blame her?

Also really freaked out by the event. Maybe not as expressive as Senku or Gen would be about it, but she’s definitely weirded out to see what should be herself staring back at her. 

First thing she thinks of doing to reverse the swap is to try scratching your skin off, clawing at it, or doing something physical to shed the skin and return to hers. But upon your panic (and seeing how it doesn’t really do anything), she eventually stops.

Her train of thought then leads her to believe that an evil force is at work, and is particularly hostile towards the two of you. If that’s the case, she’s doing her best to hunt a physical foe to defeat.

(She may even ask Kinro and Ginro to be on guard just in case it returns and decides to curse someone else)

If both are in vain, however, she’ll possibly try consulting Ruri or one of the village elders to see if they have any experience with the phenomenon, or if it's mentioned in any of the 100 tales to gain some further insight on how to reverse the swap.

If the Kingdom of Science has been established by this point, however, she works closely with Senku and the rest of the science team to figure out what happened. She may not be able to handle too many technicalities, but she’ll gladly cooperate with any trials to get to the bottom of what happened.

Feels weird seeing herself act so uncharacteristically, however, and so does everyone else. But there was also something strangely fun about being in someone else's body. She might joke around a little bit by playfully mocking your mannerisms, just a little bit. All in good fun. 

Overall, she has complete trust in the science team to figure it out, so she’s not too stressed. Which just leads her to be surprisingly chill about the ordeal. 

RYUSUI NANAMI: 

Arguably the most chill about such an event. Maybe even a bit too chill, similarly to Kohaku. 

Of course, he panicked about it. And surprised. Anyone would be. 

He’ll go through the same song and dance Senku did with all his questions, and when he finds you, he’ll also interrogate and bombard you with questions about what you think happened and if you felt or experienced anything strange at all.

Once the panic dies down, however, he’s getting to work trying to figure out how to reverse such an event. I can’t tell whether he’d be similar to Senku pre petrification in hiding it, or if he’s just kind of shameless. Post pre-petrification, however, he also doesn’t mind confiding in the others about the phenomenon and asks the science team to help reverse it (especially for your sake, if he notices any high anxiety on your end).

Besides not doing much else differently from the others with undergoing tests and questioning (and maybe taking on a more active part in figuring out a solution), he finds the experience also somewhat exciting with how nonsensical it was. 

He’s having some sort of fun experiencing life through your senses, your own eyes and ears and mouth. Though he undoubtedly misses his own body, and wants it back just as eagerly as you may want it. 

He reassures you in a boisterous tone that you have nothing to worry about, and the ordeal will be resolved quickly. Though in the meantime, he tells you, you should cherish the opportunity to live as such a handsome dude such as himself!

[fresidoll]

★ COLLEGE EREN GENERAL HEADCANONS  

.ᐟ General headcanons of Eren as a college boy

.ᐟ ModernEren!

.ᐟ Content warnings none

.ᐟ Word count 1.14k

.ᐟ A/N english it's not my first language so there may be some spelling mistakes. This might be quite long because i tend to rant and it’s also my first work;( 

☆ First off, Eren for sure comes from a rich family. His family from his father’s side comes from generations and generations of inherited wealth with inherited business, companies or associations that add more to the current patrimony of the Jaeger family. Even if he was born with a silver spoon on his mouth, Eren isn’t a petty brat about it. Thanks to his mom's good education and gentle nature, Eren doesn’t like to brag about the money his family has and always uses the money he gets from his parents wisely.

☆ There was a little bit of nepotism involved when he was admitted in college. Since his father is well known and knows a bunch of important people all round the world, Eren’s last name didn’t go unnoticed and even if he didn’t get a very good grade in the Math part in the entrance exam, he got in automatically. But even if he didn’t do great in Math, he nailed everything else in the exam so that’s why nepotism was used but very little.

☆ He shares a room with Jean. The influence of his father had limited use so he didn’t got to choose his roommate and ended up in a room with a guy that seemed to dislike him from the very start. Jean also came from a wealthy family but unlike Eren, Jean seemed to be more spoiled and smug which caused Eren’s dislike towards him, which resulted in Jean disliking Eren for thinking he was better than him. For the first month of sharing the room they were constantly arguing about who made was more messy, who took the other’s stuff, who was taking more space of the room, who took the other’s food from the mini fridge and stuff like that, but after that month, the got to tolerate each other eventually and then they became kind of friends even if they won’t admit it.

☆ Him, Armin and Mikasa are childhood friends so of course they ended up in the same school because their parents are friends and it was bound to happen. Eren and Armin are on the same dorm floor so it’s usual for them to walk out together and meet Mikasa halfway from her dorm building. They are always hanging out together, it's a rare sight to not see the three of them or to see one of them by themselves. Even if they formed a group of friends, they three are stuck like glue and it’s very likely that if the group of friends tears apart, they still will be a trio.

☆ I think that it’s very likely that Eren would either pursue a degree in law, arts or in medical sciences following his father’s steps. Growing up going with his father at work at the hospital he works in, Eren learned a lot of things involving medical terms, basic procedures and the names and how medical instruments worked, and on top of that, he showed an aptitude for handling emergencies and medical crises so medical sciences seems like the perfect degree for him. Since Eren it’s someone that has very strong morals and a very strong sense of justice, law it’s a very asserted degree for him to pursue. I think being a lawyer would be a good choice since Eren has a good ability for talking and thinking fast. And arts, i think Eren could choose arts because it’s something he actually likes but i see him pursuing this degree more as a side career or more like a kind of hobby he wants to master. I feel he’s good with instruments like piano, guitar and violin. He also has a very good voice that he can control very well, so singing it’s an ability of his. I also think he may be good at drawing and painting, he wouldn’t be an ace but he has some talent he could polish and he would become very good at it. Eren really loves all forms of art so pursuing an art degree would be something he does from the heart more than anything.

☆ If Eren doesn't pursue a degree in arts, it’s very likely that he joins a club involving arts like music, painting or even theatre. He’s a very creative person with abilities he’s very interested to polish and to explore the highest potential of them, he would be very devoted to the branch of arts he will choose to pursue and would give his all and literally would pour his heart out in every creation he makes. I think it would also be very likely that he would chose to start a band of his own *wink, wink *

☆ Now, he’s actually intelligent academically speaking but he totally sucks at Math. Eren is a letter’s person and all the subjects like English, History, Languages are very easy to understand and he always gets perfect grades in their exams, projects and presentations. He even tutors Connie and Sasha in those subjects, sometimes in exchange of buying him his lunch or candy from the vending machines. But, Eren it’s a complete airhead in Math and in any subject that has to do with numbers. He can do basic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division and they are right most of the time but equations are another story. He can’t get inside his head how equations work, he always forgets the formulas and obviously always gets the results wrong. It doesn’t matter how much Armin tries to tutor him, Eren never seems to grasp how equations work. And for the record, on one of his Math exams he only got 3 questions right out of the 25 questions that were on the exam.

☆ Lastly, he was very homesick for the first two weeks of his college life. He missed his parents a lot (he missed his mom way more than his dad) and would be constantly texting them and he would spare some of his free time to call his mom just to hear her voice even just for a few minutes. He even cried some days when thing would get too overwhelming and sometimes he even thought of going back home even if he didn’t really was actually considering doing it. His homesickness went away as the days passed and he got used to the new stage of his life, and also thanks to the baked sweets his mom sended to him every week. By the way, his mom sends him baked sweets every week because she used to bake very often for Eren and now she can’t get out of the habit, and also because she misses her baby too much and baking it’s her way of telling Eren how much she loves him even if he’s away from home.

A/N; i think i ranted a lot buy luckily it wasn't so boring;( i loved to write this btw ✨

[millenianthemums]

Chapter 6 of Mabel’s Guide to the Power of Friendship is up!!

Writing this one took me a while, and then the art also took a while… everything took a while. i always enjoy writing this once i get to it, though! hope you enjoy this one too.

PREVIOUS

INDEX

chapter text under cut:

It was hard for Mabel to really relax, knowing that Bill was lurking just below the floorboards. But by the time the sun was low and her family was gathered around the dinner table, she’d mostly put it out of her mind. It was hard to be miserable with them around.

“You think Soos will bring more empanadas when he’s here tomorrow?” Dipper asked, picking at the strangely opalescent casserole on his plate.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were insinuating something about my cooking,” Ford said wryly.

“Whaaat? No! No, don’t be– that’s ridiculous,” Dipper said. “This is great! I mean, it’s a million times better than last time, this one didn’t even come to life and attack us–”

“Don’t jinx it,” Stan said.

“Hey, c’mon, guys,” Mabel piped up. “It’s the thought that counts, right? It’s really sweet that he tried. Besides, even Grunkle Ford can’t be perfect at everything.”

Ford chuckled. “Thank you, Mabel. As far as backhanded compliments go, that’s quite nice.”

“It’s true!” she said. “So what if you’re not a chef? You invent, like, six magical contraptions a week!”

“That’s a wild exaggeration,” Ford said with a grin. “It’s been at least a month since the last one. Although Fiddleford and I have made some real progress on our current project…”

“New project?” Dipper perked up. “What is it?”

“Oh, I don’t know if the details will interest you that much–”

“Shaaare!” Mabel demanded. Dipper immediately joined in, both of them pumping their fists and shouting “Share! Share! Share!” until Ford laughed and gave in. They all knew he didn’t really need that much encouragement, but it was fun anyway.

“Alright, alright! I’ll tell you.” Ford waved his hands to set the scene, the way he always did when he started talking about science stuff. “So, we all know that unicorn tears have remarkable healing properties, right? But we also know that unicorns aren’t generous creatures, and trying to obtain some tears by force often creates more injuries than they could ever heal.”

Stan snorted. “And how many tries did it take for that lesson to set in?”

“Not the topic, Stanley. Anyway, our goal was to synthetically recreate the healing properties of the tears, eliminating the need to seek out the real thing. This has been in the works for a long time; in fact, our biggest breakthroughs came from studying the sample Mabel and her friends obtained last year…”

Dipper extended a fist to Mabel, and she proudly bumped it.

“...And I must say, we’ve had some very promising results with the latest prototypes! There have been some hiccups here and there– we really should have fireproofed the lab sooner– but I think in the next few weeks, we might even end up with something that could surpass the healing properties of unicorn tears!”

“Nice!” Mabel held out a fist to Ford. “Take that, you overrated horses!”

Ford laughed, accepting the fist bump. Stan clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Here’s hoping you get it workin’ before we set out again. It’d make things way less stressful on the boat. Heck, the coast guard medics might even have time to forget our names!”

“Wait, you’re setting out again?” Dipper asked. “When?”

“End of the summer, same as you kids!” Stan said proudly. “First thing in September, we’re headed right back out there.”

Ford nodded. “We still have a lot more to investigate. I expect we’ll be very busy once Fall comes around, which is why I’m under strict orders to ‘take it easy’ while we’re here. Otherwise, the elixir would probably be finished by now–” Stan crossed his arms, and Ford quickly added “--but I completely understand the point of it. Rest is important, kids.”

“Darn right,” Stan grunted. “Far as I’m concerned, we’re both on vacation for the summer.”

Dipper tapped his fork on his chin. “So you won’t be studying Gravity Falls for a while?”

“C’mon, brobro,” Mabel chided. “Grunkle Ford’s willingly taking a break for once, let’s not remind him of all the extra stuff he could be doing!”

“That’s not what I meant!” Dipper protested. “I’m just saying…”

“It’s a fair question,” Ford said. “There certainly are plenty of mysteries left unsolved around here. But I think Stanley and I have broadened our focus a bit too much to give special attention to Gravity Falls anymore. Just our brief stay in the Arctic Circle alone has raised so many fascinating questions, and we still have so many more places to investigate… there’s just not enough time to solve all the world’s mysteries, I’m afraid.”

“Hey, relax, Poindexter,” Stan cut in, shoving Ford’s shoulder. “We’re not the only ones working on this stuff. Something tells me Gravity Falls’ll be in good hands, even without us.” He gave Dipper a meaningful wink. Mabel couldn’t help but smile at the way her brother’s face lit up.

“Hey, guys?” Dipper asked, leaning back in his chair and trying to seem subtle. “Can we talk after dinner? I was hoping to get some feedback on this project I’m working on…”

Mabel’s smile faded. “Is it about that dumb thesis contest?” She turned to the Grunkles and pointed accusingly at Dipper. “He won’t let me help with it! He wouldn’t shut up about how cool it would be to win and get a big smarty-pants paper published, and now that he’s allowed to start working on it he won’t even tell me what it’s gonna be about! I could have done like fifty illustrations by now if—”

“I told you, there’s nothing to share yet!” Dipper protested. “I’ve… kinda been putting it off. I’ve still got a week until the topic proposal’s due…”

“Then what do you need Stan and Ford’s ‘feedback’ on?”

Dipper tugged at his shirt collar. “Uh… it’s…”

“I could help,” she said, voice a little louder than she’d wanted. “Even if it’s something I’m bad at, I could help make it look cool. If you just told me a little bit about it…”

Dipper sighed. “Look, Mabel, I promise I’ll share it with you soon, okay? I just… I want it to be a surprise.”

Mabel looked at him doubtfully over the rim of her water glass. She wanted to keep prying, but it was clear she was just making him uncomfortable. He didn’t want her help, he just didn’t know how to say it. She could tell.

“Okay,” she said, trying not to sound hurt. It was fine, really. She had high-speed bike riding; Dipper was allowed to have things just for himself too. It was normal for twins to grow apart. She drained the rest of her glass and stared down at the tablecloth.

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment. Then Stan spoke up. “Speaking of surprises. Hey Sixer, remember that thing we ran into off the coast of Greenland in March?”

Ford laughed. “How could I possibly forget? Now, kids, I don’t know about you, but nothing in my paleontology education gave me the impression that wooly mammoths were aquatic…”

Soon Mabel was too wrapped up in seafaring stories to be sad about anything.

——-

Bill must have fallen asleep at some point. He’d been lying there, in the basement, in the dark, with the Pines’ infernal voices ringing above him, but then something had happened. The voices changed. And suddenly he wasn’t in a basement anymore. He was lying on an exam table, and his arms were strapped down, and his eye wouldn’t close, and the air was thick with antiseptic. And there were voices all around him, moving around him, but he knew he couldn’t look, he just had to keep his eye focused on the stars overhead, just don’t look, just don’t look at them, just pretend they’re not there, pretend you’re among the stars and nothing’s happening, nothing hurts. So he didn’t look away, not even when the quiet voices he could hear through the pain changed again, became painfully familiar, he still didn’t look, even when they started screaming, even when their cries and pleading were drowned out by the sounds of flames, even when the heat waves twisted the air and the crunching, sizzling, tearing sounds and the smell of burning meat drowned out all his other senses he still didn’t look, he didn’t look down, he wouldn’t–

And then he was back in the basement. It was dark and still. The only sound was his own ragged breathing.

He sat up and scrubbed at his face with the blanket he’d been wrapped in. Dreams. He hadn’t been ready to deal with dreams. Other people’s dreams were a riot. Not his own.

He’d been distracted too quickly to dwell on the last one. He’d foolishly hoped that would be the last one for a while. But no, of course not. This world couldn’t allow him even a moment of peace. Every sleep was going to be like this.

In the dark, he staggered to the small bathroom in the back of the room. He ran the cold water in the sink and rinsed his mouth until he forgot the taste of the smoke. It was so vivid. So convincing. Even though none of it had made any sense, it felt real.

He stared numbly at the mirror. Their voices. He’d remembered them, of course. Despite all the worlds that had sprouted and withered between then and now, despite everything he’d tried, he’d never been able to stop remembering them. But he never thought he’d have to hear those voices again.

Someone knocked at the door.

His first thought was “thank god”. He’d been desperately hoping for anything else to think about. His second thought, as he heard the door unlock, was “that could be anybody”. So he stood just at the edge of the room and prepared to run for cover, until a small, high-pitched voice said “It’s me.”

Bill relaxed a little. Not a lot, but more than zero. He scrubbed his face dry and straightened his bowtie before she entered, trying to look as stoic as possible. She didn’t seem to notice anything amiss as she rushed in and slumped against the door to shut it. Both her hands were busy carrying an overloaded paper plate.

Trying her best to not let it fold under the weight of the food piled onto it, she glanced around for a surface to place it on. The curved lid of the wooden chest was considered, then quickly rejected when the plate started sliding. She winced before resorting to setting it down on the floor beside the beanbag. Finally, she retrieved a packet of plastic utensils from a takeout place and laid it beside the plate, trying to make it look presentable.

“We need to get a table or something in here,” she muttered as Bill drew closer to inspect the offering.

“YEAH, SOME APPLIANCES WOULD BE NICE TOO,” he joked. “I’M THINKIN’ A STUDIO APARTMENT KIND OF SETUP. WASHER AND DRYER OVER THERE, THAT CORNER’S THE KITCHEN… FULL-SIZE JACUZZI ON THAT SIDE, OBVIOUSLY…”

“I have six dollars,” Mabel piped up.

Bill laughed before he could stop himself. Encouraged, she went on: “I mean, there’s an empty fish tank and a car battery in the garage. We could make a hole in the side and stick a blowdryer in there for a jet. That’d be fine, right?”

He laughed again. “I LIKE WHERE YOUR HEAD’S AT, KID. IF WE SHUT OFF THE SPRINKLERS, WE COULD SET UP A FIRE PIT IN THE KITCHEN CORNER!”

“Perfect plan!” Mabel laughed along with him, but then seemed to think better of it. “But okay, hold on, we can start with the home renovations later. For now, you should eat.” She pointed to the plate. “It’s just some leftovers from tonight. Figured taking more snacks would look suspicious. But if it, uh… disagrees with you… then just let me know tomorrow.”

That wasn’t a glowing review. Looking dubiously at the alleged “food” on the plate, he didn’t see much reason to doubt it. Still, he tried to look grateful as he picked up a plastic fork. “WILL DO,” he said, trying not to look down.

“I’ll come back down tomorrow, before the others wake up,” she said, crossing back over to the door. “Including Grunkle Ford… ugh, that’s gonna suck. But once I’m back, we’ll figure out a plan, okay?”

Bill glanced around the room. “I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE PLAN,” he said.

“C’mon, you can’t just stay in one tiny dark room all summer! This isn’t Guacamole or something.”

Bill snorted. “GUANTANAMO?”

“Whatever,” she said, flushing. “The point is we need to get you outside once in a while. You have scales, things with scales need sunlight or they get sick. And what’s the point of all this work if you get sick and die??”

She had a point there. Bill shifted uncomfortably, realizing he wasn’t totally sure if the sun thing would apply to him or not. “YEAH, FAIR ENOUGH. KEEP FORGETTING THIS…” he gestured to the body, “…THING NEEDS ‘VITAMINS’ AND SUCHLIKE.”

“Relatable, honestly. But there’s a bunch more stuff to plan out, too! We need to be able to contact each other in emergencies. And, like, a secret knock so you know when it’s me, and a code to communicate…” as she spoke, her hands started flapping with excitement. “Oh my gosh, it’s like one of those spy games Dipper likes. We could make a guidebook with all this stuff! Like a, what, codex? For the code? We could make our own code! You can handle that part— I know that’s your thing, it’s literally your name… I get to do all the art, though. It can have a scrapbook vibe— I gotta find my craft scissors with the zig-zags—”

“KID.” Bill cut her off. “I KNOW IT’S IN YOUR NATURE NOT TO TAKE STUFF SERIOUSLY. IT’S A GOOD TRAIT! MAKES LIFE A LOT MORE BEARABLE. BUT THIS ISN’T SOME SILLY SUMMER CRAFT PROJECT. THIS IS LIFE OR DEATH, GOT IT? CAN WE TRY TO ACT LIKE IT’S IMPORTANT?”

She looked hurt. “Silly things are still important,” she muttered. “We could hide it in here. And even if someone finds it, it could be any goofy old thing I made! Dipper showed me how to do that invisible ink thing; I could act like the empty space is just unfinished parts! I dunno, I just… I thought it’d make this whole thing a little more fun.”

Bill squinted at her as she stared at the floor, arms crossed tight over her chest. Then he rolled his eye. Maybe he was being a choosing beggar here. This was Mabel Pines; of course she’d want to make some stupid game out of this. And the whole plan was to humor her. If this was what it took to keep her invested, he should probably just play along.

“OKAY, FINE. I’M IN,” he sighed. “WE CAN MAKE A BOOK OR WHATEVER.”

She lit up again. “Really?? Yes! Awesome! It’ll be so fun, I promise.” She paused and glanced at the dark window. “But we can start that later. I gotta go get at least a tiny bit of sleep first.”

Bill shrugged. “SURE. CAN’T KEEP THIS BODY ALIVE IF YOURS GIVES OUT.”

“Thanks for the concern,” she snorted. “And see you in the morning.” She gave a quick wave before shutting the door behind her.

Watching the door, he heard the heavy “clunk” of the lock clicking shut, then rapid footsteps bounding up the staircase. He sighed and pinched his forehead. That much youthful energy couldn’t be sustainable. She probably wouldn’t live past 20.

As he waited for the various noises and occupants of the house to settle, he wolfed down the food as fast as he could. The kid was right to be apologetic, but if he ate quickly, he didn’t taste it much. It was just fuel anyway.

When the plate was finally empty, he dropped it back to the floor and picked up the plastic fork. He rinsed it in the sink as well as he could, wiped it dry with the paper napkin that came with the set, then bent one of the tines away from the others. He leaned one side against the crack in the door, listening intently to the silence from above. There wasn’t a whisper of movement.

He stuck the tine of the fork into the lock.

It was more stubborn than your typical household lock, but Bill had bested much worse with much less. It only took a little finagling before he heard the “clunk” he was listening for. Slowly, cautiously, he eased the door open. The hallway was dark and empty. He stashed his impromptu lockpick in his hat, locked the door behind him, and crept up into the house.

—-

The place was as quiet and dark as he’d hoped for. He’d been right to judge by the footsteps above him that they’d all gone to bed. And thankfully, even without his usual glow, the stars outside were bright enough to see by. He crept along with his back against the wall, testing each floorboard before he stepped, scanning his surroundings.

The decor was about the same as he remembered, with a few notable changes. A lot of the ceiling and walls had been replaced; probably necessary after they turned it into a big stupid robot last year. And it seemed like someone else might have moved in. There were some new decorations that weren't anything close to the “style” he’d come to expect from the place. Lace doilies hung from the tops of chairs and sofas like dusty cobwebs, and handmade blankets and wall hangings were scattered all around. Shooting Star was crafty, sure, but these didn’t look like her handiwork. The colors were way too easy on the eye, and there wasn’t a crumb of glitter to be seen. If they were her doing, they were a big step down in quality.

But if they weren’t, it meant an extra person to deal with. Better keep his eye out.

He turned a corner and a massive shape blotted out the hallway ahead. He scrambled back, clenching his teeth tight beneath his eyelids to stop a yell from escaping.

Then his eye adjusted, and he had to stifle an irritated growl. It was just that stupid pig. He’d forgotten how huge it was now, and it looked a lot less pathetic from a low angle. It was sitting in the middle of the floor, directly in his path, staring down at him. Its eyes glittered in the moonlight like two tiny black teeth.

Bill glared up at it defiantly. Just let it try and make a move. He might not have magic, but he still had claws and teeth. A ripped throat wasn’t as flashy as immolation, but it was still perfectly fatal.

The pig returned his stare with no discernable expression. A few silent seconds crept by.

Then the pig gave a grumbly snort and laid its head on the ground. It flopped onto one side and closed its eyes with an indifferent sigh.

Bill hurried on, telling himself to thank his lucky stars instead of feeling indignant. Still, his ego stung a little. Not even livestock saw him as a threat anymore.

To his relief, he had no more surprise encounters as he cased the second floor. The layout of the rooms was about the same as before, which meant the sounds of walking from above his little home base would still be a reliable method of tracking the inhabitants. He steered well clear of all the bedrooms and kept his back to the wall, and the floorboards beneath him kept silent. He was out of practice with walking, sure, but nobody who grew up causing problems ever forgets how to sneak through a hallway.

Once he’d made mental notes of all the storage spaces that might have supplies he could use, he headed for the portal. On the way through the gift shop he snagged a small notepad and pen from behind the desk. Scanning over the portal wreckage, he made a list of the missing components and tools he’d need. In code, obviously; secret codes were literally his name, after all.

Once the darkness outside started to lift away, he cut his work short and headed back. He tore the used page from the notebook and placed it and the pen back where he’d found them, exchanging them for a single paperclip that he stashed in his hat with the paper. That was all he felt comfortable taking for now. It was much too early to start gathering supplies. Anything left out of place would definitely make the kid suspicious. For now, he’d just plan. Make sure everything went as smoothly as it possibly could. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get all the power tools and steel he’d need down to the basement without being noticed, but there was no point freaking out about it now. He’d figure out logistics later. He could pull this off. He was going to pull this off. He had no other choice.

By the time the first pink rays of light had breached the horizon, he was back in the cell. The paperclip made a perfectly serviceable lockpick to latch the door behind him. Like nothing ever happened.

He curled up in his nest of blankets, trying to hold his eye open. Hoping to ward off the dreams a little longer. But eventually his exhaustion won the battle. His eye slid shut.

Maybe the next dream would at least be over quick.

—-

Bill’s wish came true. As soon as he jolted awake, he regretted making it. It felt like he’d been yanked out of a tar pit by his eyelashes, but his brain stayed behind. His head, chest and eye socket all felt like they were stuffed with wet cotton, and his bones were shaking with this sudden painful chill. His thoughts were so slow and muffled that it took a second for him to even realize that someone was staring him right in the face. He lurched away and fell backwards off the beanbag.

Mabel poked her head over the beanbag and beamed down at where he lay on the floor in a tangle of blankets. “Morning!” she said in a bright half-whisper. “How’d you sleep?”

Bill glared up at her with silent disdain. After a moment, she seemed to take that as an answer. “Yeah, me too. Had a lot of stress dreams. Anyway, time to figure some stuff out.”

She disappeared from view for a moment, then reappeared at his side with a fuzzy pink notebook and a chunky pink pen with a glittery pom-pom topper. She leafed through the book for a minute, then looked up at Bill. “You ok?”

“I’M DYING,” Bill croaked. It was barely hyperbole. That freezing, sinking pain just kept getting worse. Every second he kept his eye open, it felt like gravity increased tenfold.

Mabel hissed through her teeth. “Hold on a second.” She vanished from view again, then popped back in with a mason jar full of what looked like the fluid from inside a neon pink glowstick. She propped him upright and shoved it into his hands. “Drink this.”

Bill ought to have been at least a little suspicious of a drink presented so vaguely. But a billion years of drinking cocktails made from substances meant to power quantum reactions, combined with the weight of sheer exhaustion muffling all his thoughts, meant that he barely hesitated before lifting the jar to his eyelids and taking a gulp.

A second later, his eye shot wide open. “WHOA!” he shouted, blinking rapidly.

“Ooh, I might’ve put too many pop rocks in that batch,” Mabel said. She grabbed the jar and shook it, sending frozen fruit shapes and plastic dinosaurs clattering around in a glittery whirlpool. “Mixing it usually helps. Dipper keeps telling me to warn people before I give them this stuff—”

Bill grabbed the jar back. He took an approving glance at the crazy-looking drink— now that his brain was working, he could fully appreciate the vibe— and then knocked back another mouthful. A rush of energy buzzed through his brain, setting his neurons alight like christmas lights hooked up to a nuclear reactor. The dangerously sugary concoction stung the inside of his mouth like acid, but this was a fun kind of pain. “OH, THIS IS PHENOMENAL.”

Mabel’s face lit up. “You like it??”

“DO I?!” One more swig and the jar was empty, and Bill was actually bouncing in place a little. “I FEEL LIKE A WHOLE NEW TRIANGLE! WHAT IS THAT?!”

“It’s Mabel Juice!” she beamed. “My own personal secret recipe! It’s so secret, not even I know what the secret is! Seriously, I hardly ever write the ingredients down.”

Bill laughed. “WELL, COLOR ME IMPRESSED, KID! I HAVEN’T HAD A DRINK THAT GOOD SINCE THAT BATTERY ACID DAQUIRI I MIXED BACK IN THE ‘30s. AND THIS ONE DIDN’T EVEN DISSOLVE MY STOMACH!”

Mabel’s smile dropped for a second, then returned. “I’ll take that as a compliment!” she said proudly. “I’ll bring more down later. I’ve got a million different brews you can try! The others don’t drink much of it, they always complain about how there’s ‘so much sugar’ and it ‘burns their mouths’ or whatever…”

“HEY, THEIR LOSS! I’LL TAKE IT OFF YOUR HANDS! EXTRA BURNING ON THE SIDE, IF YOU’VE GOT IT,” Bill offered. He had to hand it to the kid; she made pouring on the charm pretty easy. In a better world, he would’ve hired her as a barista in the Fearamid.

Mabel grinned, but then her face froze. From somewhere upstairs, the familiar sound of heavy, clomping footsteps rang through the ceiling.

Bill froze in place too, his eye locked on the ceiling. His teeth clenched tight behind his eye socket as he tried to repress his anger. Like a favorite song after you set it as your morning alarm, that sound made his blood boil on contact.

“Grunkle Ford’s up,” Mabel whispered. Bill glanced over to see her watching the ceiling too. “I thought he’d at least sleep ‘til five…”

“RISKY GAMBLE THERE,” Bill muttered. “FORD DOESN’T HAVE A SLEEP SCHEDULE, HE JUST WORKS ‘TIL HE KEELS OVER.”

“He’s working on it,” Mabel said defensively. Maybe Bill hadn’t kept all the derision out of his voice. He kept his mouth shut, just to be safe.

“Okay. Alright. This is fine.” The kid was clearly reassuring herself more than him. “He shouldn’t hear us down here. Nobody heard you screaming your head off the other day, they shouldn’t hear us just talking… we should be fine for now. As long as he doesn’t wander down here and happen to just randomly get close to this room. Or wander upstairs to his office and pass our bedroom and happen to look in and notice I’m not there. So as long as he stays on the exact floor he’s on now, we’ll be okay…”

“KID, RELAX. YOU SOUND LIKE PINETREE,” Bill laughed. “WITH HOW LOUD THOSE STEPS ARE, WE’LL HAVE A TON OF WARNING IF HE HEADS FOR ANY STAIRS. JUST CUT TO THE CHASE SO YOU DIDN’T WAKE ME UP FOR NOTHING.”

She shot another worried glance at the ceiling, then nodded. “Okay. Sure. The chase… hold on.” She grabbed her notepad and pen again, then started rooting around for something else in the backpack she’d brought. “The Chase, part one. Secret messages. Ooh, that’s good.” She opened the book and labeled the first page with that title. Bill bit his tongue to stop himself from pointing out that huge pink bubble letters weren’t the best choice for subtlety.

“Now,” she said, throwing the notebook down like a frazzled detective presenting her notes. “I would’ve loved to, like, build a two-way radio out of soda cans, or find a way to send smoke signals through the A/C system or something. But I think we should wait on that ‘til later. Right now, simplicity’s the name of the game.” With a victorious flourish, she revealed the thing she’d fished out of the bag. It took a second for Bill to parse what the battered old thing even was. A cell phone. An ancient, blocky brick of a flip-screen cell phone.

“YEESH!” he exclaimed as she shoved it into his hands. “WHAT ANCIENT BURIAL GROUND DIDJA DIG THIS THING OUT OF? IT’S OLD ENOUGH TO BE YOUR DAD!”

Mabel snorted. “Give me a break! It was the best one I could find in the closet where Grunkle Stan keeps all his burner phones.”

“WELL, I’D HATE TO SEE THE COMPETITION!” Bill remarked. “WHAT WAS THE WORST ONE, A CLAY TABLET? A BONE CARVED FLUTE TO CALL THE NEANDERTHAL TRIBE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN?”

Mabel hid a giggle behind the turtleneck of her sweater. All according to plan. Jokes were a great way of lowering a mark’s defenses, even if they didn’t land. And despite her best efforts, Shooting Star was a good audience.

He held down the power button and marvelled as the dusty, scuffed screen actually lit up. “WHAAAT! LOOK AT THIS LOGO! THIS COMPANY WENT UNDER IN 2002! THE CEO BURNED DOWN THE OFFICE TO HIDE TAX FRAUD AND MELTED HIS EYELIDS OFF!”

Mabel clapped her hands over her ears. “Ugh!! Why would you tell me that?”

“BECAUSE IT’S HILARIOUS! THE GUY WAS A TOTAL LOSER ANYWAY, HE WAS TOO UPTIGHT TO TAKE MY DEAL AND COULDN’T EVEN HANDLE A WEEK OF NIGHT TERRORS BEFORE HE CRACKED—”

“Anyway!” She cut him off. “This was the only phone I found in the closet that could send texts. We need to be able to keep in touch, so you can let me know if you’re hurt or need more supplies, and I can warn you if people upstairs can hear you practicing your evil laugh or something.”

“WHA— HEY! WHO EVEN— NOBODY NEEDS TO PRACTICE THEIR LAUGH, THAT’S JUST STUPID.” Bill hoped he didn’t sound too defensive. There was no way she actually knew about that, right?

She just rolled her eyes, holding back a smile. “Point is, that phone is yours. Nobody’ll recognize that number. My number’s in there already, you can text me in morse code if you need something.”

Bill looked up from the phone screen to squint at her. “MORSE? C’MON, KID.”

“What’s wrong with morse?”

“THAT’S THE MOST BASIC CODE IN EXISTENCE! YOU REALLY THINK ANYBODY IN THIS HOUSE WOULDN’T RECOGNIZE MORSE WHEN THEY SAW IT?” he said. “YOU THINK THEY’LL SEE YOU ANSWERING TEXTS IN MORSE FROM SOME RANDOM NUMBER AND HAVE ANY OTHER THOUGHT BESIDES ‘SHE’S HIDING SOMETHING’?”

Mabel sighed. “Okay, fine, Mr. Code Snob. What should we use?”

“WE SHOULDN’T ‘USE’ ANYTHING. WE JUST KEEP THINGS VAGUE AND SIMPLE,” he said. “ANYTHING THAT EVEN LOOKS LIKE IT MIGHT BE CODE WILL JUST GET PEOPLE’S ATTENTION. BESIDES, IN A HOUSE FULL OF CON ARTISTS AND MYSTERY DORKS, I DOUBT THERE’S ANY CODE WE COULD USE ON THIS THING THAT NONE OF THEM WILL RECOGNIZE. THESE TEXTS NEED TO BE AS BORING AND UN-MYSTERIOUS AS THEY CAN POSSIBLY BE. SO BORING THAT NOT EVEN PINETREE IN HIS SNOOPIEST MOOD WOULD GLANCE AT ‘EM TWICE.”

Mabel pursed her lips. “Spam!” she said after a minute. “Dipper and I get spam texts from random numbers all the time. We can make up a system where I know what you’re saying based on what you’re trying to sell me. Like a scam alphabet!”

Bill’s eye crinkled with his version of a grin. “NOW YOU’RE TALKING!”

Mabel grabbed her pen and started rattling off scams to list in her notebook. Stan had clearly taught her well, and between the both of them they soon had a massive list to work from. On the opposite page, they listed phrases to match with each scam. “NEED FOOD”, “NEED SUPPLIES”, “INJURY”, “FIRE”, “RACCOON GOT IN”, and so on. As soon as they had a workable “alphabet”, the kid insisted they start deciding on secret knocks. They’d just started to argue about whether “shave-and-a-haircut” was too uncreative, when suddenly Mabel stopped short and held out a hand. Before Bill could ask what was up, he realized what she’d heard. A voice from upstairs. A voice that was much too prepubescent to be Ford’s.

“Dipper’s up,” Mabel hissed. “Why is Dipper up? He never gets up this early on his own… Did he notice I was gone? Is he looking for me?? How am I gonna get back up without—”

“GEEZ, RELAX,” Bill said. “LOOK, THE STAIRCASE TO THE ATTIC IS RIGHT ACROSS FROM THIS ONE. JUST WAIT UNTIL HE’S IN THE KITCHEN…” he pointed to that corner of the house, from where Ford’s voice was now ringing through the ceiling, “AND YOU CAN SNEAK BACK UP WITHOUT BUMPING INTO HIM. JUST DON’T LET HIM SEE YOU LEAVING THE BASEMENT, AND WE’LL BE FINE.”

“I don’t like how much you know about our house.”

Bill pointed to his eye. “REMEMBER HOW HALF THE DECOR IN HERE USED TO BE MY EYES?”

“Yeah, duh. Doesn’t mean it’s not creepy.” She shuddered, and Bill tried not to laugh. At least the memory of his powers still inspired fear… but he didn’t want her knowing how happy that made him.

Mabel gathered up her stuff and headed for the door. “I gotta go before he notices I’m not sleeping. Soon as I get a chance, I’ll sneak back down and we’ll sort out the other stuff on my checklist.”

“FAIR ENOUGH. BE SEEING YOU, KID.” He couldn’t resist putting a little extra emphasis on that word, pointing to his eye again with a smug, half-lidded smile. Shooting Star was his ally for now, sure. But she shouldn’t forget where things really stood. He was the one who was really in control here.

“And I’ll use the We Will Rock You knock.”

“UGH, COME ON!” Bill protested. “I’M TELLING YOU, SHAVE-AND-A-HAIRCUT IS THE GO-TO FOR A REASON, IT’S PRACTICAL—“

“See ya later!” She winked and vanished through the door. The lock clicked heavily into place.

Bill glared daggers at the door until the sound of footsteps had faded away. Then he took off his hat and rifled through the lining, taking a reassuring glance at his folded-up notes. And the paper clip fastening them in place. That dumb kid put way too much trust in that lock. Did she really not realize the danger she’d let into her house? Did she really not know what she was dealing with?

His eye was drawn in by a soft gleam from deep within the hat. He brushed some fabric aside and stared at the fragment of his dimension. It caught the dim light in the room and threw it back much brighter, twisted into colors that didn’t exist anymore. It hurt to look at it with this new eye. He let his gaze rest on it longer than he should have.

Then he tore his eye away and shoved the hat back on. No, she definitely didn’t know. The fact he was still here— still alive— was proof enough of that.

[cretaceous-if]

“WELCOME TO CRETACEOUS ISLAND.”

DEMO: TBA

NOTE: While I am training as a palaeontologist, I do not claim to be an expert. Therefore, although I will be conducting research into portraying more accurate dinosaurs, there will be possibly be discrepancies or inaccuracies either due to my own research or the lack of (accurate) data available.

-> SYNOPSIS <-

Cretaceous Island is based on the Jurassic Park/World franchise. You will step into the role of the head T-Rex keeper.

You’ve been working as a T-Rex keeper for over ten years now and every day is as interesting as the last.

Unfortunately, not even looking after some of the deadliest creatures in the world was enough to prepare you for the carnage that was about to unfold.

When the system goes down and the dinosaurs escape with evacuation impossible, it’s up to you and a ragtag team to restore order and protect both man and dinosaur.

-> ROMANTIC OPTIONS <-

GRAY/GRACE COLLINS [M/F] - Your big boss is cool, calm, and ruthless. It is well known that they’re not someone to cross, however, they seem have a soft spot for you which some might consider strange considering they also happen to be your ex-fiancé(e). [Poly with Nikolaj available].

LEE MIN-SUN [M/F/NB] - As Operations Manager of the Island, Lee is no-nonsense, grumpy, and has no real time for the corporate side of things that xe’s forced to deal with, but xe has a heart of gold under all the bluster and would do anything to protect those that xe cares for. [Poly with Aija available].

NIKOLAJ OLESEN [M] - He’s your best friend and the embodiment of the term ‘golden retriever energy’. He’s also the head raptor keeper. You’re not entirely sure how those two things go together, but it seems that you’re about to find out. [Poly with Gray/Grace available].

CIERRA DE LA ROSA [F] - A tourist that is vacationing on the island for the third time. You’ve met her a handful of times during those visits, but you haven’t found out much about her beyond her name and the fact that she’s one of the most beautiful women you’ve ever seen.

AIJA MISHRA [NB] - Highly intelligent and more at home among computers than people, Aija is a techie who works in the control room. They’re one of the friendliest and sassiest people you’ve ever met, but, in a crisis, there’s no one you’d rather have on your side. [Poly with Lee available].

-> FEATURES <-

Customise your mc (gender, pronouns, appearance, personality, etc).

Five romance options to fall in love with and two poly options.

Story-driven IF coded using Twine.

Interact with staff, guests, and most importantly, dinosaurs as you look after the T-Rexes and attempt to deal with the biggest crisis the park has ever dealt with and try not to get eaten in the process.

Cuddle with some baby dinosaurs.

-> STATS <-

Personality stats are pretty similar to most other IFs. They will include kind/grumpy, bold/shy, reckless/cautious, genuine/sarcastic, reserved/energetic, and friendly/stern. If you have any suggestions, feel free to lmk.

Skill stats will include intelligence, charisma, marksmanship, agility, and science and technology,

-> WARNINGS <-

This is an 18+ wip due to blood and gore, character and animal deaths, explicit sex (optional), explicit language, medical procedures, violence and injury, and potentially body horror.

[deathworlders-of-e24]

Thomas, Engineer

Part 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching Tranquility Base drift away as the Noah launched on its maiden voyage from Earth’s moon left Thomas Hibbs with an odd feeling of deja vu. He’d worked on dozens of ships, but always in the engineering decks where the only windows were peering into the mechanical arrays. Peering out into the void of space was…actually pretty damn cool in Thomas’s opinion.

I wonder if this thing has a VR Grid, he thought.

In the 50 years since humanity had joined the GAIL, it hadn’t been all space hoppers and life saving medical breakthroughs, the entertainment industry had made huge jumps in realism and simulated realities. One species in particular, the machine people known as the Padrino, had such a realistic virtual reality environment code that practically every other species in the assembly paid top dollar for a copy of it. Thought most used it for information storage and practical exploits, Humans were the first to turn it into a hyper advanced game simulation. The Padrino weren’t exactly pleased to learn the code they used to store their memories and experiences was being used to fight monsters with supernatural powers at weekend game tournaments on Earth, but they didn’t complain that much. Thomas had the idea to upload a compatible version of an old game called PAC-MAN where you’re your own avatar running the mazes into the ships computers. He couldn’t wait to get that high score again.

The engineering deck was right below the science labs, and Thomas saw one of the 3 other humans on board with him. He thought her name was Liz or something, but didn’t stop to say hi. She looked preoccupied with something, and talking to people was hard. Machines were good listeners. Thomas could talk for hours to machines while he worked, even if they weren’t the kind that could talk back, thought this ship did have those. Maybe here he could meet some people who get him.

The engineering deck was all catwalks and overhead piping, service lights and ventilation ducts. Computer terminals threw blue light against the opposite wall as Thomas made his way to the Engineer ‘locker’ room. Thomas figured that’s what it was, given the cubbies for the crew’s personal items and racks and shelves of tools and equipment for the ‘fixers’ to use.

There were about two dozen people moving around the room, none of them human, several of which were non biological as well. 2 Padrino were there, speaking their machine language while they sorted tools across a long workbench against the far wall. There were several other species as well that Thomas didn’t recognize, lots of different shapes and sizes. He felt a little insecure, being just the basic human he was.

Thomas found his name on the cubby wall and stuff his own tool bag in there, as well as a change of clothes and safety gear. Then he very carefully hid a hand held game pad under his spare jumpsuit, for emergencies. He’d been stuck in an air duct once before for hours twiddling his thumbs. Never again.

Just as he finished stuffing away his gear, something small bumped against his boot. He looked down, and saw a small robot waiting patiently for him to lift his foot. Apparently he’d been trailing confetti from the launch ceremony around the ship the whole time because these droids weren’t supposed to be down here in engineering. It had probably been following him since he’d walked in. The little guy had a cylinder torso, no real neck but his head looked like it turned in circles with two tiny exhaust pipes sticking out the top. Two ‘eyes’, or sensors with aesthetics, were all that made up the face. His little feet reminded Thomas of a chicken’s, and he had two little arms with tiny hands on each.

“Oh my god you’re so cute I love you,” Thomas half squealed as he picked the little robot up like a baby. “Have you been following me this whole time? Doing such a good job, keeping the ship clean. Did you get lost? Do you need help?”

The little machine just looked at him and wiggled its legs, probably the gyroscope trying to compensate for the sudden shift in balance.

One of the other engineers laughed.

“It’s just a service drone, it can’t actually understand you. It probably just followed your trail of waste and its sensors can’t get it back to the upper decks anymore.”

Thomas looked up from the tiny robot to see a fair number of his co workers looking at him, some trying to hide smiles, some not bothering being so polite. He felt his face begin to burn as a blush came to his cheeks and surged down his neck.

Oh my god I can’t believe I did that but it’s so freaking cute how can I not how can they not love it maybe there’s more on the ship this cute, his brain might implode at the rate it was going. The service drone continued to wiggle in his grip. To Thomas it was almost the size of a toy, maybe a solid 4 inches tall. It stopped squirming and looked up at his face, its tiny head whirring and clicking as gears shifted inside its chassis. It reached out one of its tiny hands and poked his thumb.

“Beep.”

“Beep.”

“Beep.”

Thomas’s mouth dropped. How could a machine with no higher functioning AI be this adorable?

“I’m gonna call you Roomba.”

“That’s just its service alarm. It’s processing an inability to perform its tasks so it thinks it’s stuck somewhere, ergo it’s alerting other drones to come assist it. It probably thinks you’re rectifying the obstacle.”

There were some snickers, a few openly laughed, but Thomas couldn’t care about them right now. The little droid was so adorable in Thomas’s eyes it was like looking at puppies.

He did, however, notice the 2 Padrino staring at him, motionless. For a moment he worried he’d maybe offended them by gushing over the little toy like robot. One of them approached. The Padrino had a clearly mechanical body with chrome plating encasing its joints and limbs. Its torso was thin but solid, whirring quietly as it walked over. Its head had a single antenna with a tinted face plate, which Thomas figured just was it’s ‘face’.

“It has been observed that Humans form an emotional bond to many different species and objects. Is this what is occurring, Human Thomas?”

Gauging the inflections of their voice was difficult, they didn’t have any kind of body language and the voice itself was entirely synthesized, adding layers of difficulty. Thomas thought for a moment, then just shrugged.

“I didn’t mean to cause a scene in here, I just got excited. It’s small and kinda cute so I just lost control for a moment.”

“Apologizing is unnecessary. We’d simply like to understand how Humans function to better improve the efficiency of this division.”

“Beep.”

The service drone wiggled in his hand again.

“It appears the small droid is out of range of its directive. It is asking for assistance with a new objective to replace its task queue.”

“Wait, you can understand it?”

“Yes, the alert sound is not a language. It’s sending out a very short range signal burst with information embedded in it, which I can receive with internal sensors. It’s AI is crude and simple, but it does have the basic functionality to form an artificial language. You’ve replaced its designation D7 with the name Roomba.”

Thomas looked from the Padrino to the little droid and back again.

“Does it like the name?”

“Beep.”

“It says it is a sufficient new designation and is awaiting a new task queue.”

“Oh good, I’m not good at naming stuff so I was worried-”

“Since the ship has launched, the service drones have gone inactive due to safety features. Since this one, new designation Roomba, was here on the engineering deck, it was outside the proximity of the ship’s AI core transmissions. It has exhausted its task queue and requests a new one.”

“Beep.”

“It is repeating the request.”

“Yeah, yes, got that, thank you. Okay, and I can just give it something to do?”

“That is correct.”

“Beep.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Roomba, can you hand me another bolt please?”

“Beep.”

[Primary task in the queue has not been completed: obtain high score]

“I know buddy, but you can pause it with that little button on the side there. I need that bolt real quick.”

Roomba looked where Thomas was pointing on the game pad. The pad itself was bigger than the drone, by a good half inch, so it was like Roomba was standing on a flat screen built into the floor, or playing one of those retro dance machine games from way back.

“Beep.”

[Acknowledged]

The Padrino had been kind enough to give Thomas’s ear piece translator an quick upgrade, so now he was able to receive Roomba’s signal burst data and understand what he was ‘saying’. They’d even given Roomba’s AI a little tune up so he could understand more complex tasks and ideas. Roomba had disconnected from the ship’s core code when he’d gone to the engineering deck so Thomas figured it’d be fine, the little guy could hang out with him now.

It took Roomba’s whole hand to get the game pad to register the pressed button and pause PAC-MAN, which was cute. And what was even cuter was the bolt Thomas needed was half the little robots size so it struggled just a little to bring it over the few feet to him.

“Good job buddy, thank you,” Thomas said, grinning.

“Beep.”

[Acknowledged. Returning to primary task]

“You do that. Good luck Roomba.”

At the time, the only thing the Padrino had asked for in return for their help and upgrades was the chance to observe biological lifeforms and their tendencies to ‘bond’ with others. The Padrino were a sort of hive mind it seemed, each unit being just an interface with the main AI back on their home planet. When units were out of range of communication with the home office, the main AI base code was copied into the machines and split off to collect information. When they got home, they dumped the data into the main computers and integrated back into the main AI core.

Thomas thought they were the coolest people he’d ever met. He’d said ‘sure, observe all you want, I just wanna thank you guys for your help.’

The game pad trilled, a little tune to congratulate moving up a level.

“Beep.”

[Update: progress has been made. Continuing primary task: obtain high score]

“Good work Roomba. You keep at it buddy, you’ll get there.”

From down the hall the 2 Padrino watched the strange little robot ‘playing video games’ next to the human doing an actually productive task.

“More data must be collected. The human, a deathworlder, has bonded to the drone.”

“We will continue to observe.”

“Agreed.”

[in1-nutshell]

How would the tfa bots and cons react to a bot who is starscream twin brother base on his shattering glass counterpart

Since there isn't too much information on TFA Starscream's personality I mixed it a bit with IDW's Shattered Glass Starscream. Buddy the loyal Decepticon and Starscream the backstabber, who would have thought them being twins?

Hope you enjoy!

Autobots and Decepticons reaction to Starscreams Twin brother with the same personality as SG! Starscream

SFW, familial, platonic, slight mention of injury but nothing graphic or detailed, Cybertronian/ Bot reader

TFA

No one knows how this happened. It is one of the greatest mysteries unknown to Cybertron. How can the most loyal member of the Decepticon ranks, almost at par with Lugnut levels of loyalty, be related (much less twin) to the most backstabbing and whiny Second in command of its army? How could this soldier of the greatest armies in the galaxy be so found of science and organics?

Optimus Prime

When they first met, Prime thought that Buddy might have been another Starscream clone right off the bat. But it isn’t until he sees some kibble differences and overall different aura, that he realizes that that mech is no clone.

“You’re not Starscream! Who are you?”--Optimus

“Wow! First, that axe is very strong. What type of alloy is it made of? Getting off topic, my name is Buddy. A proud Decepticon under Megatron’s alligence.”--Buddy

“Are you some sort of clone like the others?”--Optimus

“Nope. Completely original. I get that I look like Starscream a lot actually. But there’s so many differences!”--Buddy

“oh, well—”--Optimus

“Not to mention being his Spark twin can really work up your circuits you know?”--Buddy

“…What?”--Optimus

Prime literally stops fighting for a good couple of seconds after hearing this. Buddy takes this opportunity and flies away. Optimus remembers reading on some Decepticon files back at the academy and through his ‘history videos’.

Buddy lets the Prime go to go see off.

Prime is even more confused the next time he sees Buddy actively fighting alongside Megatron and making a good team?

He has never seen Starscream fight alongside him like that, and he is second in command. Optimus almost admires Buddy’s loyalty and admiration to Megatron whenever some bot talks ill of the Warlord.

When the Prime and Buddy have the next fight one-on-one He does give an effort to try and persuade Buddy to join the Autobots side.

“You know it’s a shame that you fight for the Decepticons, Buddy.”--Optimus

“Oh, is it little Prime?”--Buddy

“Yes, --WOW!— Which is why I’m offering you a spot with the Autobots!”--Optimus

“Well now this is weird then.”--Buddy

“Why is—Watch it!—Weird?”--Optimus

“Because I was going to offer you a spot in our ranks too!”--Buddy

“…Huh?”--Optimus

“Oh boy, Hey Autobots! I think I broke your leader!”--Buddy

Ratchet

Oh, they have met before.

It was a few missions before the Lockdown incident back in the final days of the war.

He had been helping a wounded bot when he was suddenly face to face with a blaster. It would have gone off if Buddy had not interfered.

“Die Autobot scum!”—Random Decepticon

“Hey!”--Buddy

“Commander Buddy?!”—Random Decepticon

“Do you see this mech? This is a medic! We do not shoot medics with the wounded!”--Buddy

“But sir he is an Auto—”—Random Decepticon

“I do not care which side he is on! No one shoots the medics! Do you understand me!”--Buddy

“Yes sir!”—Random Decepticon

“Good. I will deal with this. Get back to base for regroup.”--Buddy

“Yes Comander.”—Random Decepticon

“…”--Ratchet

“I know you don’t trust me. But trust this one thing. Run.”--Buddy

Ratchet hadn’t seen or heard of that Decepticon since that day. When they meet again it was almost as if history repeated itself. Lugnut was about to detonate his bomb when Buddy held his arm back.

“Buddy!?”--Lugnut

“Lugnut! Megatron needs—”--Buddy

Zooom!

“We have to stop meeting like this doctor.”--Buddy

“What made you stop him this time?”—Ratchet

Straight to the point I see.”--Buddy

“You could have killed me and the kid. Why didn’t you do it?”--Ratchet

“…The organic child you have… are they all right?”--Buddy

…Yes, she’s fine.”--Ratchet

“Good.”--Buddy

Ratchet has conflicted feelings now whenever he is on the battlefield with him. At least he knows now that Buddy has a soft spot for organic life forms.

Bumblebee

Oh, he does not care.

Like Optimus he first thinks that he is some Starscream clone.

Doesn’t really care that they aren’t.

He does stop when he is told that they are Starscreams twin brother.

But he quickly continues fighting.

If he is related to Starscream then he has to be just as bad as him, right?

“He is just some slimly Con like the rest of them! Maybe just as bad as Screamer.”--Bumblebee

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”--Ratchet

“What do you mean. If anything, you should be agreeing with me!”—Bumblebee

“He has saved my life before. Twice actually.”--Ratchet

“Excuse me what?”—Bumblebee

Bumblebee does feel a bit conflicted on hearing Ratchets stories on Buddy. He is a Decepticon… but they also saved Ratchets life twice!

He will still shoot at him but this time more for injury than anything else.

Sari

She has a mini vendetta against cons since they took her dad from her.

Jokes around with Bee calling them Lugnut 2.0.

But where are the conflicting feelings?

Here they are.

Takes time after Sari finds out she is a techno organic.

Sari had been caught in the crosshairs of Lugnuts servo and crashed on to the ground under a billboard. What she didn’t know was that the billboard had been damaged and was no falling. Her jetpack as damaged and she just froze in place.

“SARI!”—Optimus, Bumblebee, Bulkhead

“KID!”--Ratchet

“NO!”--Prowl

She could hear the shouts of her friends but the only thing she was focusing on was the falling billboard and debris that was coming closer and closer.

Buddy who had seen the damage shrieked and flew over to the girl and used his body to shield her from the billboard and debris effectively covering them both. Sari remembered hearing a shriek and a couple of servos pulling her to the bot’s chassis all she could do was close her eyes. When she opened them again, she was face to face with Buddy.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”--Buddy

“What? Yeah, I’m okay I think.”--Sari

“Oh, that’s a relief.”--Buddy

“Why did you do that?”--Sari

“You have no part in our war. I refuse to have anyone civilian deaths that are not necessary.”--Buddy

“But you’re a Decepticon?”--Sari

“Just because I’m a Decepticon does not mean I hate organic life like my twin or companions.”--Buddy

“Oh, yeah Starscream’s your twin, right?”--Sari

“Exactly young one.”--Buddy

“BUDDY!”--Starscream

“Oh, I think that our rescuers.”--Buddy

A dozen servos suddenly shout out pulling and yanking the debris from off Buddy. Sari was still in his grasp protectively shielding her from any harm. When Buddy came out, he was almost knocked down by Starscream’s hug.

“OH, THANK PRIMUS! BUDDY! HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A DUMB—OH PRIMUS YOU’RE HURT! LUGNUT GRAB HIM WE ARE GETTING OUT OF HERE!”—Starscream

“Screamy, hold on—”--Buddy

“FOR THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS LEADER MEGATRON!”--Lugnut

“Prime! Catch!”--Buddy

Buddy tossed Sari to Optimus as he was literally picked up and flown away for repairs. The team crowded around Sari trying to see if any damage was done. Not a single scratch was on her head.

Buddy was the one who took the damage.

She now thinks very differently of the Con.

Bulkhead

Bulkhead’s interaction with Buddy was under peculiar circumstances.

Bulkhead was battling it out with Scrapper, Mixmaster, and Dirt Boss when Buddy had arrived. Buddy looked like he was out for blood. Bulkhead thought it was for him and got ready to clobber the new Decepticons.

“Dirt Boss! Mix Master! Scrapper! Where are you?!”--Buddy

“Umm… hi?”--Bulkhead

“Oh, an Autobot. Don’t worry I’m not here for you.”--Buddy

To his surprise, Buddy went after the Constructicon’s instead.

As it turned out, Dirt Boss had Mix Master and Scrapper mess with Starscream’s wings because ‘he was too loud’.

“You, Autobot. What’s your designation?”--Buddy

“My name is Bulkhead.”--Bulkhead

“Good. Now Bulkhead, would you care to help me pound these dirty Con’s to the ground?”--Buddy

“But aren’t they on your same team?”--Bulkhead

“Oh, they were. But that changed the moment they decided to mess and hurt Starscream’s wings. So, you in or out?”—Buddy

“…”--Bulkhead

“We are just roughing them up a bit.”--Buddy

“I’m in!”—Bulkhead

Together the two of them punted the Con’s into Lake Erie.

“Wow. You really have the strength for this Bulkhead.”--Buddy

“Oh, thanks—”--Bulkhead

“I’m also sensing some untapped potential. That’s some potential that the Decepticons could use. What do you say Bulkhead?”--Buddy

“No thanks! I’m good being an Autobot.”--Bulkhead

“Well at least you’re polite. Until we meet again Bulkhead.”--Buddy

Buddy then transformed and flew into the night. Now Bulkhead really doesn’t want to hit him.

Prowl

Attacks Buddy straight on.

He is one of the smallest members on the team, besides Bumblebee. He sees something coming at him he is going to strike at it. Buddy actually had gotten a tip about Prowl over a conversation he heard from Swindle and Lockdown.

Buddy sees an opportunity. Having a bot with such incredible talents would certainly give the Decepticon’s an edge in this war.

“Hello there—Woah!”--Buddy

“That was a warning.”--Prowl

“I just came here to offer—”--Buddy

“The next one goes through your servo.”--Prowl

“Fine. I’ll come another day.”--Buddy

Prowl is dodging all these requests like the Draft.

Except this time, he is making sure he doesn’t get caught.

Megatron

Ah, yes, his favorite soldier.

“Megatron.”--Buddy

“Buddy.”--Megatron

“I have the equipment necessary for the next phase of the plan.”--Buddy

“Excellent. At least some bots here are doing their work. You are dismissed.”--Megatron

“Yes, sir.”—Buddy

Don’t tell Lugnut.

Not only does Buddy offer him just loyalty, but because he also treats him as a mech, not some deity. He tries not to hurt Starscream too much whenever he is around.

They don’t make loyal soldiers like they used to.

Is willing to overlook some of Buddy’s softer behaviors on the battlefield because he always brings in good results back.

Starscream

He loves his spark twin.

It might not seem like it at first. Afterall their personalities contradict themselves. But if you have been around them long enough you can see the undying loyalty between these two brothers.

“I hate you and your organic meddling. How can you even stand them?”--Starscream

“Love you too Screamy. And they are called humans. Only some of them are dirty, not all brother.”--Buddy

Starscream and Buddy are very protective of each other.

Which is one of the reasons why Starscreams punishments have gone down with Buddy being around. Buddy is just and fair, starscream is not. That’s why sometimes Buddy will not interfere with Megatrons punishements, because Starscream deserved it. But that doesn’t mean he is heartless.

He always patches up his brother after every punch shot or anything.

 

“You know, if you’d stop trying to over thrown our leader maybe then I wouldn’t have to pound out all the dents in your wings.”--Buddy

“You’ll be thanking me when I do become leader.”--Starscream

“Sure, Screamy keep telling yourself that.”--Buddy

Blitzwing

His personalities clash whenever he is around.

Icy prefers Buddy’s presence a lot more than Hothead. It’s one of the only other intelligent being he can talk to.

“Did you recalibrate you blasters yet?”--Icy

“Not yet. Which circuits did you use to hotwire Lugnuts?”--Buddy

“The red one.”—Icy

Hothead can’t stand him on some days claiming him to be going soft. Other times he will get mad at Buddy for getting hurt over meaningless things.

“If you hadn’t thought about going after that organic, I wouldn’t have to help haul you off to the Med bay!”--Hothead

“Is that right?”--Buddy

“I could be scouting outside right now. But no! You had to get hit by a billboard!”--Hothead

Random likes to play games with Buddy and make random sounds. He has a whole record on weird noises to play with Buddy.

Sesame Street theme song starts playing.

“IT’S BEEN 3 HOURS! TURN IT OFF!”--Starscream

Distant giggles

Buddy always vouches for him whenever someone makes a comment on his different personalities.

All three of them like that

Lugnut

If he is going anywhere were Blitzwing isn’t Buddy is his next pick.

He knows that buddy can be trusted with sensitive things concerning the all glorious leader Megatron.

“Buddy. I have an important message for Lord Megatron.”--Lugnut

“If it’s another poem about his greatness, I suggest you not take it to him today. He is having a bad day today.”--Buddy

“…Please?”--Lugnut

“… Give me the data pad.”--Buddy

He very much apprentice Buddy sticking up for him whenever someone���s comments make an unnecessary jab to his ‘obsession’.

Buddy has a lot of brownie points on Lugnut’s book.

Blackarchnia

Honestly one of her only friends in the ranks is Buddy.

Since she came to the Decepticon side later not many were found of her and her organic mold. Buddy was the first besides Megatron to greet her with open arms.

Not even Lugnut got there fast.

“Welcome Blackarchnia, to the Decepticons.”--Buddy

“…”--Blackarachnia

“I know it may be a lot to take in, so I will be here to help to make sure you understand the ropes around here.”--Buddy

“…Thank you…”--Blackarachnia

She does spill her secret about being Elita-One, one night in a secluded area. She thought that Buddy would shoot her right them and there. But Buddy instead held her as she started sobbing.

Now that doesn’t mean that Buddy is okay with how she is treating this whole situation with Sentinel and Optimus, Buddy being the scientist he is has tried to help Blackarchnia with her situation. But no matter how much he has tried to explain toher that this would kill her, he tries to be as supportive as he can about her organic half.

[evilminji]

Okay, you know how City Spirits are a thing?

And Superheros both Die, Un-Die, Re-Die, Dimensionally Sorta Maybe Die But Then Don't, and also never Died in the first place? And probably do at least a portion of that in Medical? While ALSO hanging out, quantumly maybe Dead, maybe alive, in their Super Cool Clubhouse?

Which is ALSO exposed to space rays, the entirety of The Magic Club, weird alien Technology, aaaaand whatever they decide to store on it??

:T

I'm just SAYING...

For as long as dwellings Of Significance have existed, there have been house spirits. They are the IDEA of the house. The SIGNIFICANCE of it. What makes it HOME. The weight of the halls that turn into Halls. And The Watchtower? Is KNOWN to enough people, to have SIGNIFICANCE.

It's a HALL where Heros Live. A Place Of Safety. It GAURDS.

It is also inanimate. Steeped heavily in every sort of energy, be it magic or science, and multidimensional fuckery imaginable. But? Not SENTIENT. Yet.

Until of course... this new fangled Anti-Ghost Shield comes out. By the new and recently no-longer on the run (from the Goverment they're at war with) Dr.'s Fenton! Why were they are war? Don't worry about it!

They Won.

:)

Unrelated! Never threaten their kids. They WILL find you. Not a threat, just informing!

:) :)

The security guy they sent to the expo was from Gotham, unfortunately. So he found the couple to be completely normal. They? Should not have sent Thomas. He was hired BECAUSE his parents were Mad Scientists in the making. Batman was steering him away from a life of crime. Thomas could judge "normal" from "deeply unhinged" if it belly danced infront of him, in the seduction dance of a thousand, deep fried, mackerel.

It's his version of face blindness. Great with technology though! And the shield worked a treat. Even promised to be both ethical AND programmable! Not harming the ghosts it pushed out unless they try to force entry AND allowing them to program in exceptions. Allowing Heros such as Deadman to freely enter!

Is it a little janky looking? Yeah. But if it works, it works. They add it to the systems and flip it on.

One small and immediate problem. There is now a small knight shaped child in the engine room. She was NOT there a second ago. She has controlo of the ENTIRE Watchtower, claims to BE the Watchtower, and knows all their names. Knows a disturbing level of information about every employee on the Tower.

Oh and apparently "No one is leaving."

No one panic! Just unplug the... she has swallowed the ghost shielding unit into a wall. Slightly panic.

Panic lite.

Luckily, no one is willing to throw the first punch at what appears to be a small child. So the JLA Dark have a chance to literally run over.

They demand to know who's bright idea it was to add... "ectoplasm"? Was THAT the energy source? Oooh. Their departments probably in trouble. Later though, the hero's are trying to negotiate with a small child. Who is apparently a ghost.

It's not SAFE, she's insisting. Everyone has to stay HERE where she can protect them. From the nebulous threat of Bad Guys. They LEAVE and come back HURT. She is UPSET and everyone is going to STAY! Forever!

Not good.

Then Thomas pipes up, like the oblivious asshole he is, that he should PROBABLY call the engines makers. They did mention something a long these lines might happen.

WHAT.

You think, Thomas? Might be a good idea, maybe? Just a bit? YES FUCKING CALL THEM!

(All right, all right! No need to YELL! *ring ring* 'Ello? Maddie? Sorry to catch you at dinner-)

So now? There is a glowing college student, who was escorted here by a WEREWOLF, who just? Tore open reality? To some green, swirling hellscape? And popped through like "sup, sorry I'm late. Was in a council meeting!" And judging by the ficking CROWN and the various quietly panicking magic users, he probably didn't mean student council, and just?

Guess he's hear to talk to their newly sentient Tower.

Question! Asks Thomas, of the fucking Ghost King because of course he does, are they Dads now? Or if they already have kids, Dads AGAIN? Do they have to come up with a baby name?

.......oh dear lord, the Ghost King looks like he has to think about it.

What are we gonna tell our SPOUSES!? "Hey honey, guess what I got at work today! A NEW CHILD. They're a space station!"

@hdgnj @nerdpoe @ailithnight @the-witchhunter @hypewinter @mutable-manifestation

[frameacloud]

Some ways to avoid generative AI in web searches

Our web searches are being filled with more and more AI-generated slop. GenAI creates misinformation that can be difficult to tell apart from the correct answer to whatever question you're looking up. GenAI mixes things up that have similar names. In one example that is especially easy to recognize, genAI has thought that a baseball team and the bird that it was named after must both be the same creature, with a bizarre combination of their eating habits and behaviors. This mistake still happens with specialized topics that could be harder for you to recognize unless if you're already very familiar with the topic in question. GenAI also makes up fake sources and facts out of thin air, and you can't tell until you try to find them somewhere else. The tech is more like advanced predictive text than something capable of research or reasoning, even though it can look enough like it that it can fool you if you don't know how to spot its mistakes.

Not only are the results of genAI unreliable, the source texts and images that they’re based on were used without permission. Sometimes they aren't modified enough to avoid plagiarism, but it's worse than that. Source images have turned out to be private medical photos and intimate personal photos that hackers had stolen and leaked to harass the people in the photos. Another reason why this technology is unethical is that each genAI query has such a high energy cost that it's significantly harmful to the environment, contributing to the climate crisis.

Here are some things that you can do when you use Google, DuckDuckGo, or other conventional general web search engines:

To turn off Google's AI Overview, set "web" as default. Here's how to do that on your devices and web browsers.

Add this string to any web search to only show results from before the genAI fad. Before:2021

Install the web browser extension uBlacklist. You give it a list of web addresses to not show you in your web searches anymore. Other people maintain lists for it that you can subscribe to so that you won’t see certain types of results in your web searches. Follow the instructions in Laylavish’s Huge AI Blocklist to subscribe to that list which will rid your web search results of AI-generated pages or images.

Since genAI slop is getting to be such a big problem on them, use alternatives to conventional general web search engines some of the time:

Use a specialized search engine instead of a general one. For example, if you only wanted to find a particular science article, there are specialized search engines that only look for those. The blog post "Skip Google for Research" has a list of specialized search engines for academics.

GenAI is notoriously bad at math because that’s too far outside the scope it was designed for: advanced predictive text. In any case, genAI is overpowered for math that is easy for computers to do. If you want to use a very advanced calculator, or even ask a math question in natural language, use Wolfram Alpha.

For questions about how to do things, look them up in WikiHow, the Youtube channel Dad, How Do I? or The Ultimate Manuals Library.

You can search within Wikipedia, but unfortunately vandals have been putting machine-generated falsehoods into it, as well as genAI images. To avoid this, use the article history to view versions of the article from before 2022.

Ask yourself if there are some topics that you often do a web search for just because you keep forgetting an answer to something. Start saving those answers in a book or file that you can refer to offline. This is called a commonplace book. For an example of one, Beth and Angel made theirs into a zine, Stuff I Often Google.

How about a completely different sort of web search than present-day Google or DuckDuckGo? Marginalia Search only brings up results that are text-heavy and similar to the web of the 1990s and 2000s. Its software is independent and open-source.

Have you been using a web search engine to take you to the websites that you visit on a regular basis? Switch to saving them in your web browser's bookmarks folder. Your web browser, Firefox, can sync your bookmarks to your other devices. If you often need to refer to a large number of static web pages (ones that don't change what is on them every day), then you can save and organize them in your Zotero, a bibliography management program. You can sort them with folders and tags so you can find them again.

[communistkenobi]

I love finding new communists blogs because you immediately have to scroll through all the posts to see if you wanna follow them or block them lmao. Anyway from what I understand you work in western academia to some degree and as a student taking some classes in the social sciences it’s such a pain in the ass trying to even bring up a Marxist perspective. How do you deal with how much pushback socialism has in academia?

I’m doing a PhD in sociology ! And please feel free to block me, we are all annoying etc 

I would say that resistance to socialist ideas is a major source of frustration for me in academia - a learning curve for me has been gearing my writing & research to work around that type of institutional hostility. It depends on the discipline as well. Given that Marx is such a titanic figure in sociology I find it easier to engage with his work openly (although you will be mocked for it lol - it’s viewed as a dead-end project in the West since the USSR collapsed), whereas more history- or politics-based courses I’ve taken have been extremely hostile to even tepid Marxist analysis. I have friends to vent to and have found other people in my discipline who are like-minded, which has helped. You will need to do a lot of tactical retreats - I’ve found that tying your analysis to state policy helps a lot, it helps you get grants, and academics trade in policy-talk across disciplines so it will prepare you for that if you want to stay in academia.

I have also been making peace with the fact that academia is not really the place to “do” socialism - it is a deeply political job, and my ideological commitments motivate me to do work and research that I hope are beneficial to the world, but I think the authority and privileges afforded to academics, not academia itself, is the better avenue to conduct political activity - participating in student & left-wing actions, giving money and resources to activist groups, using your prestigious position to publicly speak on issues, sign important documents for vulnerable people (profs are counted as authorities to sign off on name change documents for trans people in Canada for example, as well as visa and citizenship proof I believe?), things like that. There was that Canadian doctor, Dr. Yipeng Ge, who was suspended from his university position for speaking out against Israel and went to Palestine on a medical mission, Engels used his family’s money to fund Marx & socialist actions, Lenin went to law school, etc (i am NOT remotely comparing myself to any of them to be clear lol, just demonstrating that there is historical precedent for this way of thinking). I’ve done a decent amount of union + community work and the reoccurring lesson I keep learning is that there are many little, vacant positions of power sprinkled throughout the world that will help you organize and agitate above and beyond your individual capabilities. And the right wing knows this! They take over local school board committees and town halls and run for office in their local neighbourhoods all the time, often unopposed, and use that to exert terrible political influence.

I try very much to resist the “one of the good ones” mindset re: my own career in academia and is one I struggle with pretty often. being pragmatic about what academic research actually does in the world is still something I’m grappling with. Academia has provided me with an incredibly prestigious education and a lot of social capital that I hope to use for some amount of good. I’m also betting on what is essentially a lottery ticket, given how rare tenure-track university positions are, so maybe all of this will be irrelevant anyway lol. I’m not sure if that’s helpful but it’s not a settled issue for me either, so if this reads as vague or wishy-washy that’s why!

[primeofprimes115]

A "Marvel"ous Discovery - Mary Marvel/Shazam x Male Reader

Contains: Fluff 🥰

A/N: Something different for a change, about time I did a different character other than my girl, Kara. Now shall we??

SHAZAM!!! ⚡

Attending Fawcett Community College in Fawcett City was something of an experience for Y/N, he himself obviously didn't attend this College on his own, he moved into a dorm who was someone he had met back years ago, reunited at last when he wasn't expecting it.

Her name was Mary Bromfield, who was adopted at a young age before the both met in school, starting a friendship that sparked for a while until he had to unfortunately move out of Fawcett City, due to his father's business trips, cutting off contact with Mary but she'd always remember him...

And so did he.

The reunion was... Emotional, almost nerve-wracking at first since Y/N had known he'd be Mary's roommate, she was informed of having a roommate but the details were scarce, she had no clue until he stepped through the door to meet her, there was a moment of shock, then questions, then tears falling down her eyes before she walked over and gave him the biggest hug she could give him, if she was showing her 'secret' to him, she'd be floating off the ground with him in her arms.

"Y-Y/N?" her heart dropped like a rock hitting the pavement upon him turning around. Her eyes struck wide, looking at the boy in shock as he dropped his bags and hanged up his coat on the coat rack on the door of their shared dorm. "Y-You're..."

The young man turned around to face the girl he grew to love, at least in secret, or he did have a thing for her or two back then, never even saying one word about it. He looked at her with an inviting look in his eyes, and with an all familiar smile, one that she missed seeing.

"Hey, Mary. Been a while?" he quipped, talking a little step forward as Mary stood still, unsure of what to even say or do next upon seeing her lost friend's presence, standing in front of the dorm she was to share with the unknown assailant.

She planned out ways to keep her secret away from whoever it was going to be sharing the dorm with her, figuring out different excuses to use if necessary. Her secret was that she was and is Mary Marvel, the renowned Superhero that worked alongside the main Shazam for a time along with other Shazams that this main Shazam shared his power with, before they disappeared one day. It was revealed they lost their powers and superhero form due to losing a connection to what was called 'The Rock of Eternity'.

However... Some time later... Mary as a new adult, gained her abilities back and became the New Champion of Shazam, though many call her "Shazam" now, she was and always has been Mary Marvel, eventually leading down to her reclaiming the title of Mary Marvel again later down the line.

Things did get complicated now that she was attending College now, she used to go to a College down in New York, away from her family, but recent issues surfaced that forced her to move back near her family's home, attending Fawcett Community College to continue her studies in Science, mostly Biology and Medical Science, she already knew most about it and vowed to get a job with it. A proper job without being Mary Marvel all the time.

And the last thing she didn't expect, was finding out her new roommate, is an old friend she hasn't seen in many years, even before getting her full powers of Shazam.

Mary began to walk forward, her vision got a little blurry due to the tears forming up in her eyes and wrapped her arms around Y/N, giving him a big, strong hug which made him chuckle. In response, Y/N wrapped his arms around her as Mary quietly sobbed in joy, overjoyed to see Y/N again. She didn't feel like letting go.

Y/N remembered the Mary he knew all those years ago, the innocent, sensible and cute brunette girl, and here she was... And still is the same girl he had to leave his friendship behind with all those years ago.

The two eventually would catch up with all things that has happened in their lives since they last seen each other, Mary had to keep most subtle details out of being Mary Marvel/Shazam mostly, wanting to keep him out of that business so he didn't get hurt by her family's enemies, or anyone bad for that matter.

Low and behold, the whole reason why Y/N had arrived to study at Fawcett Community College was to study under Science, Biology also which sounded like music to Mary's ears, bringing the both closer to each other again.

Mary recounted all the times she had spent with him when they were younger, how she viewed him as this sweet, out-going boy who wanted to be her friend one day, she had barely any from what she recounted, only her adopted siblings she had much communication with.

He was always by her side, even at lunch, most boys would poke fun at him for hanging out with a girl, until Mary had, in her way' heard enough of Y/N being picked on one day and decided to take matters into her own hands.

In a way, it was a cute gesture, a sweet one at best.

With more revealed coming from Mary, Y/N had told her he took self-defense classes, under his father's guidance, his father's "business trips" weren't exactly normal, he worked under the United States Government and at the time, his family was in danger, the only suitable option was to move his family to a safer location, which Y/N had no choice in.

All the time for catching up came to be and the pair became friends again... Or so they thought.

Y/N's feelings for Mary soon came back up after two weeks, from all the times they spent with each other at the end of studying together, going out for lunch and all the teasing he did on her, he couldn't help but begin to catch feelings for the brunette girl again.

Even though she sometimes and oddly disappeared whenever something she was informed about was happening, or when danger was being reported, she'd later come back, finding Y/N all safe and sound, though one time... He was caught in the midst of danger - searching for Mary before a red blur transported him to safety from a villain tearing through the city, who had a grudge to settle with Mary Marvel herself.

He had heard about the Heroine before plenty of times, but never got to see her up close much, the only time he did was at that moment of the blur saving him, which was Mary Marvel herself, telling him to get to safety quickly, though her voice did sound very and oddly familiar, he listened and did as told.

Of course that day, he was going to confess his feelings for her and ask her out, though they've been getting lunch together and are living in the same dorm together, he really liked her and wondered if she felt the same way...

"In truth... Yeah. I did like you for a time" Mary gave him a genuine smile, shifting her hand over to his and planted it in his palm, feeling his warm hand close up against hers. She looked away for a moment as Y/N's heart paced rapidly. "And... I still do, I still have... Butterflies in my stomach every time I think about you" she admitted with her cheeks flushing warmly, her gaze coming back to him.

She still likes him to this day, she often hanged around in space, out of Earth's orbit or on Earth's Moon, trying to configure a way to even tell how much she had feelings for him, it felt like a weight coming off from her as soon as Y/N told her how much she meant to him. However... The other weight on her shoulder was her secret of being Mary Marvel, which is an even more nerve-wracking explanation to tell him.

Y/N's heart swelled in that moment, a part of him wanted to jump up and celebrate but that would be a little too vague, he was shocked to say at least, he'd thought it wouldn't end well and she'd be mad at him, but Mary has never gotten mad at him once.

Sure, she did tell him off for running into danger to 'search for her', though she was lying to him at the time of being safe at that part then, being Mary Marvel and all, she never raised her voice or yelled at him angrily. She was a pure and innocent person at heart.

The same could be said for Y/N, who's just defensive over her, especially around guys his and her age looking her up, though she could defend herself quite fairly which was a surprise to him to say at least.

"That's... That's great!" Y/N said, overjoyed. The two sharing a big hug afterwards on the couch...

Days turned into weeks after the confession, the two currently were holding hands, walking down the street. The pair haven't kissed yet but there has been some pecks on the cheek and on the hands. The both agreed to take it slow first to see how it goes.

And it was going well, very well in their experience.

Mary always had bad luck when dating guys, as she was inexperienced much, so was Y/N but the pair were happy nonetheless. They had to keep their slowly building romantic relationship under the rug in College, in case anyone would find out, as it was Mary's obligation to suggesting that idea, and Y/N agreed.

However... Mary Marvel was needed mostly than rather not very much, now that she was apart of this 'New Justice League' that's been set up and put together by Supergirl, the Woman of Tomorrow, who was a mutual ally and friend towards Mary. Which meant she had to skip dates unfortunately.

It was only a matter of time until Y/N was going to eventually discover that Mary Bromfield is in-fact Mary Marvel/Lady Shazam, the Marvelous Innocent Superhero, and it worried Mary.

But fortunately, today was a day for Mary to relax and not go out as Mary Marvel as often as she had to be, as much as she finds it enjoyable to fly around and keep the world safe.

She had rather a goofy, innocent smile plastered on her as she walked hand in hand with her boyfriend, who in turn looked back at her while she thought back on what had been going on in her personal superhero and normal life, while in the midst of walking back to their shared dorm.

"What's got you giggling?" Y/N's voice brought her back to reality, she looked at him and softly laughed to herself for a moment.

"Oh, sorry! I was just thinking on some things" she brushed aside happily, sparking Y/N's curiosity.

"And what may they be, mi-lady?" he cocked his eyebrow up with curiosity, smirking in her direction as the brunette giggled with her cheeks slightly flushing.

"Oh... Just back when I defended you from those rude boys back in Elementary" she replied softly, clutching his hand tightly and warmly before colliding her shoulder into him gently.

"Oh yeah, I remember that" he thought back on it with her, softly laughing at himself about it next. "For an innocent girl, you sure know your way with words back then".

"And I still do" she sent a wink in his direction.

"And it's cute, honest" he smiled in her way. "Have I ever said it's adorable when you come up with words instead of swearing?" he brought to her attention.

"Well..." she shrugged innocently before giggling and pecking his cheek.

The pair continued walking down the streets of Fawcett City, eventually stopping near an alleyway which Y/N thought of taking the shortcut.

Much to Mary's suspicion of seeing it completely empty, as any other alleyway would be but she had a feeling it was reeking of suspicion.

"Here, we can take a shortcut through here" he suggested.

"Uh, Y/N, are you sure?" Mary asked with a worried tone, looking down the same alleyway.

"Yeah, it's a shortcut".

"I'm not really sure, it looks... Ominous" she showed her suspicions toward the idea but Y/N rolled his eyes nonetheless.

"I've been using this route all the time, it'll be fine! Trust" he replied softly, holding her hand still.

"Okay..." she sighed after a few seconds of careful thinking, knowing if things didn't go well through this... 'shortcut', she'd have to reveal her secret as Mary Marvel at least.

And so... The pair walked in through the alleyway... All was going well...

Until someone stepped out from the corner, as another followed behind the pair.

"Ah shit" Y/N mumbled to himself. "Maybe I should've listened to you" he said towards Mary.

"What we got here? Two stranglers walkin' in our turf, huh?" one thug talked with a New York accent.

"Mary... When I say run, you run" he whispered to her.

"What?!" she whispered back to him, completely took aback by his suggestion.

"Just do it, okay? I can take these guys on".

"When they have guns and shoot at you?" she pointed out with her observation, the two thugs had sidearms on them, one aiming toward them and the other, his hand reaching the inside of his jacket where his concealed firearm was.

"Shit" he whispered again.

"So, pretty girl. Give us the purse, see what ya got" the thug who originally spoke walked forward, closer to them while backing the young couple in the corner.

"If you want to get to her, you'll have to get through me!" Y/N bravely defended her, opting to shield her like a real gentleman, as the thugs laughed at his eagerness to defend his girl.

"We got guns, pointed at you, you ain't some superpowered being".

"Ha!" Mary scoffed loudly. "Ironic" she then said with a sarcastic tone, while the boys looked at her in confusion.

"Enough talk, lady! Now give us-"

"I am a superpowered being" Mary then said loudly to them and to her boyfriend.

The thugs laughed at her, thinking her delusional, an idiot even, much to Y/N's displeasure of hearing them insult her.

"No seriously, let me show you" she was dead serious, walking past her boyfriend and out in front of all of them.

"Mary, what are you...!" Y/N immediately stopped himself from talking, originally he was going to plead her to not do something stupid like he was about to do, which was getting herself killed.

But the moment he saw a glint in her eye, like an electric beam phasing across her beautiful chocolate brown eyes... He saw it.

He saw what she meant and his eyes widened...

"You're -".

"SHAZAM!!!" with a shout out to the sky, and the magic word, a bolt of yellow lightning came crashing down onto Mary's body, blinding the thugs and Y/N for a brief moment with smoke covering where she was...

And when the smoke cleared...

Mary was wearing something different, clad in a white and gold outlined cape, connected to a clasp that was just over her left corner of where the lightning bold was on her chest, dressed in a red long-sleeved top and skirt with a gold outline on the basis of her skirt and red shorts underneath. A gold belt over her skirt and gold braces over her arms. And to top it off... Gold boots.

She transformed into Mary Marvel!

"Alright boys, times up" Mary quipped while striking a superhero pose, before she zoomed her way up to the thug on Y/N's right and punched him once, sending him flying onto a dumpster down the alleyway as his friend watched in horror.

The thug couldn't even believe it... The boy he was about to rob was hanging out with Mary Marvel?! It seemed he didn't even know it was her.

"Oh, that's gonna hurt for an entire week" Y/N felt a little bad for the thug his now superhero girlfriend knocked across the alleyway, tumbling down from the closed dumpster and onto the concrete floor, groaning in pain.

Then, Mary zoomed near to the thug who was about to fire at her boyfriend, using herself to shield Y/N from getting shot with the bullets bouncing off her as she stood heroically.

"Did anyone tell you, no guns in my city?" she scolded the thug, zoomed up to him in a whoosh, her cape billowing behind her like her dashing hair, flicking away the last remaining thug into a nearby wall with her finger, knocking them out.

"That. Was... Amazing!" Y/N praised her girlfriend's efforts as she turned around with an all-around, guilty look on her face while she began walking up to him. "You look... Marvelous" he laughed at his own joke, making her smile and cringe a little.

"That was... Bad, but in a good way" she replied, before sweeping him off his feet and into her arms, before the wind began to get a little stronger.

It was then he noticed Mary was taking flight up into the air, while carrying him, her hair, skirt and cape billowing in the wind as she began to fly in the sky, above the city foremost with a look like she had been caught trying to open the cookie jar when she wasn't supposed to.

She failed to notice how optimistic her boyfriend looked currently, he had just witnessed his girlfriend turn into the superhero, Mary Marvel, confirming his little suspicion, and watched her embarrass the thugs that tried to rob the both of them on their weekend date.

"I... I know you probably have a lot of questions" she broke her oath of silence, Y/N seemed lost in thought of being carried by her, she noticed him blushing about it. "And... Whatever questions you have, I can explain... I'm so sorry-".

"Sorry for what? Being a superhero this WHOLE TIME?!!" he said with excitement in his voice, something Mary didn't think how he'd react. "This is mind-blowing! I never thought our relationship would be more magical, but this?" he chuckled very happily, gloating over the fact he was really close to a superhero this whole time. "It's... It's spectacular. I've never felt more safer until now".

Mary couldn't help but smile but a sense of dread came over her, she'd lied to him, when she promised she would never, NEVER EVER, lie to him, she was always genuine with him.

"The thing is Y/N - I lied to you" her smile faded, replaced with a saddened expression, much to Y/N's displeasure of seeing her unhappy. "I lied to protect you, when lying can put strain on relationships, I promised I wouldn't lie but... But this-".

"Mary" he placed a hand on her cheek, while his other arm was still wrapped around her neck, her wavy hair in the wind tickled his arm which he liked. "It's okay that you had to keep this from me" he eyed down the part of the lightning bolt on her outfit, which glowed in the shadow of him as she carried him and soared through the air. "I understand the rules of being a superhero, I mean... My mother was one back then".

"R-Really?" she asked with a surprised look.

"Yeah, she was a vigilante back in the 90s, but enough about that" he brushed it to the side for a moment. "I know you had to keep this away from me because you wanted to keep me safe, and that's okay" he rubbed his thumb on her cheek as the white caped brunette superhero with the full powers of Shazam began to smile. "And I gotta say... Dating a superhero is something I didn't expect until I began to suspect of you being a superhero, I know it was a wild thing to think, but when you kept disappearing, Mary Marvel - - you - - would show up to save the day, and I still remember you saving me a month and a half ago as well, I had a feeling that was your voice I heard, nice trying to cover it up by the way" he smirked near the end as Mary rolled her eyes with a groan.

"I thought it worked! Should've known you'd figure it out sooner than later" she grumbled before giggling away. "But of course, you know me very well".

"That I do" he smiled before looking out to the view as Mary Marvel soared through the air. "So this is what flying is like? The view is beautiful" his eyes lit up with pure joy, feeling the breeze hit his face as he was being flown by his girlfriend still.

"I know, I've always wanted to show you this" she exclaimed, Y/N looked back at her and smiled.

"I'm happy you are now" he said, the sky-blue sky around them as he smiled deeply at her with him closing his face in toward hers.

Mary's eyes saw what he was doing, she stopped herself from flying for just a moment to share the view with Y/N like she was originally going to do and met him halfway, closing the gap.

A spark of joy erupted between the two as their lips touched, strong senses of feeling sparking in them while it seemed the world around them just faded in the background, only the wind and the movements of Mary's skirt and cape being picked and blown around in the same wind could be heard.

Their eyes closed, lips softly pressing against each other's, it soon drowned out Mary's butterflies that were in her stomach while a loving sense of spark was sent through her body along with Y/N's as the two shared their first ever lip-to-lip kiss.

And it was at the perfect moment...

Soon the two pulled away, a smack of their lips prominent as all smiles were shared towards one another with their eyes slowly opening.

"I know we're in College still, but I can't imagine my life without you in it, and the fact I'm dating a superhero makes it so much better" Mary's smile turned bright and joyful upon hearing his words. "I really want to build a life with you after College, to one day have our own house, and everything we've ever wanted. The thing I've always wanted... Was to just be with the best and dare I say it, marvelous person I've ever met, who is in fact the most beautiful girl that's ever came into my life, who needed a friend in a time of need".

"Aww, Y/N" Mary puckered her lips. "You're gonna make me cry".

The young man softly laughed at her response, he couldn't help it.

"Mary... I love you" three magical words is all he needed, not the other magic word that could transform one person into a superhero form, or at least... Put a superhero suit on in Mary's case.

She choked up on hearing his three magical words, smiling ever so lovingly as she tried to hold back her tears from earlier. "I... I love you too!" she brought him into second kiss, her lips pressing against his firmly but gently, knowing she was in Shazam form, any wrong slip-up, she could break his nose accidentally... Though she had firmly crashed her lips with his without realizing.

"Ow" he muttered in her lips, prompting her to pull back quickly.

"Oh my heavens, I'm so sorry!" she panicked, her face scrunching up thinking she screwed up.

"Haha, it's okay" he gave her a smile. "I'm okay" his drew his face closer to her again and lightly kissed her back on the lips, continuing it for a brief moment before pulling back. "This is why I love you, you're so sweet".

"I thought I hurt you badly there, forgot we were in the air for a moment there that I thought I wasn't Mary Marvel there for a moment, which you probably know what my powers are" she expressed her worry.

"Lost in the moment type of thing, completely understandable" he reassuringly smiled at her. "Hey, are you gonna fly us back or... Continue flying me around..." he looked at her with a mischievous look. "Mary Marvel" he smirked the next, making her smirk back at him.

"Hmm, well... I've always wanted to take you on a flight, so..." she puckered her lips suggestively, before smiling right at him.

"Then, what are you waiting for? Let's go... My Hero"...

______________________________________________________________

Fin...

Word Count: 4145