#the builders r right.

[90s-trait]

gave an unexpected lighting upgrade to my sims home when i was moving them to willow creek

[scivors]

DATING NIKTO HEAD CANONS

Andre Nikto..huh, are you sure?

Who would've thought, huh?..You know,.. before you two became a couple, most of his guys back at the base would kinda tell you stories back and forth.

Oh, Nikto this and Oh, Nikto that, he's a psychopath, sociopath, he doesn't care about no one but himself. Some were conern for you, did you wake up and decided you just wanna lose all your self respect? Do you need therapy even?

They're giving you a heads up, few warning signs to not go down that path of dating a man who has a interesting background (not the good one)

He doesn't care about his teammates why would he care about you? And the stories go on and on. You brushed it off..

Nikto doesn't care about his teammates because that's their job and that's what they're set to do. Why should he feel empathy for someone who's signed the papers to risk their life? Making friends leads to attachment, attachment leads to a close bond, a close bond would lead to a sick pain in the stomach when you get the news that your teammate didn't make it out alive. Who would want that? Not Nikto.

And how about that..., someone showing a monster kindness. He's never been treated gently by anyone in his life not even his family when he was only a little Мальчик. You didn't know, however. You still made sure to greet him every time and you ask him about how his day was, you ask him if he's hungry etc. If he ever comes back home with scars you treat them with love and care

(note: before you, most of the time he will come back home with a lot of scars and wouldn't bother treating them cause he doesn't feel them at all until he notices he's been bleeding a lot..)

He takes his shirt off for you and allows you to treat his scars against his own will cause you got sick of him ignoring it like it's some natural thing. He'd sit down on the edge of the bed with his back leaned forward as you search for any new damages to his skin. Your care is what really got him questioning why him?

Well, it's the least you could do for him to show that you won't hurt him and that he's loved.

When he took off his shirt for the first time Infront of you, he has a little belly fat on him, he has fat in some areas of his body but that just means by appearance and shape, he's healthy (he's very much in shape maybe not like a full-on body builder but he's got the strength and the spirit, so it didn't really bother him that much as long as he can still do his training with no complications.) ALSO he might have a cross tattoo somewhere, he also has medium body hair too, so really he just looks like a grizzly bear in your house. You'd just imagine him as a grizzly bear, not because he's Russian, god no, good thing he can't read your mind..

He doesn't do affection, his touch is not as gentle as yours. But if you make him do some heavy lifting, he's surely right for the job.., if you need help with fixing things, he's gonna fix it, if you need an oil change, hes also there so he makes sure you don't get scammed. Anything he's familiar with, he can do that for you 100%

However this doesn't mean he'll move away whenever you try to show him affection, no, he'll just let you do what you want and just..stand still, probably still as a statue..

You come up behind him as he's just sitting there, as soon you got close enough towards him, your arms give him a nice welcoming hug around the neck, he doesn't flinch or tries to move away. This doesn't mean he doesn't care, he just feels relaxed.

First night you're sleeping together (not like that) you're in a sweetheart's cradle cuddling position and you can hear his heartbeat.

His heartbeat is steady, it's nice. But what's really special about that night, for you at least, is that he took off his mask Infront you for the first time. He didn't care for the most part, Nikto carries a mask for identity purposes so that he stays anonymous. He's fully aware what his face looks like, but he will test you to see if you'd care.

Your reaction settles like this;

Like always you don't care what he looks like, his looks never mattered to you. With your usual airy voice that has the sound of what can only be described as a silky, smooth collusion of skyburst reds and yellows of the setting sun when it shines it's light to a dark forest, it aluminates the trees with it's light, a voice to which sounds like calm nature, you reassured your big teddy bear that what they did to him to make him look so abnormal doesn't change anything, you're not frightened by what's Infront of you but you showed more concern than disgust..

Your hands traveled towards his face to examine his face a little further, his jaw isn't straight and neither is his nose, his abnormalities that attracts the eye really makes you question what torture methods did they use on him.. As you're memorising his every feature and kissing every scar you feel two rough grips by your wrists slowly moving your hands away and with Nikto's usually straightforward tone says

"that's enough, let's get some rest.."

He's not used to this romantic cherishing feeling, so you brush it off as a natural response to care..giving that he's been independent all his life..

Nikto would test you, like anyone with trust issues..

Nikto isn't the kind to put his whole efforts on you unless you prove to him that no matter what, you'll stay. And I don't mean that as in he will go out and be with other women to make you jealous, no, god no.What I'm saying is that Nikto is naturally difficult to deal with because, well, you've been warned the first time..

In other words Nikto is in less control of what he's doing and not knowing where he stands..

It's that inner thought that tells him you're going to leave him after one small argument then he'll feel guilty when you're the one being reasonable which results to him going silent..

He gets jealous, he will ask you about any man that gets close to you and won't believe you when you say that he's just a friend and it doesn't mean anything, he will question where have you been, question who you were with, he will question your loyalty, he will go through your phone when you're not lookin, stalking you when you don't know it etc. Eventually, this all builds up and you constantly reassured him that you only love him and there is no way that you'd ever cheat on him..

He finds I pretty hard to believe but since those are your words, he'll put everything down and he'll trust you with your words..

Though, he's confident enough to know you won't cheat on him it's the fact that despite all that, men will still approach you and he knows what they're capable of..

Nikto is the type to wait until marriage. Though, sure, he was the type to do one night stands and leave with no feelings attached, he'd never thought that he'd end up in a relationship, so it means when it's someone who's bound to be his partner, he eventually waits until marriage..(Slavic man mindset)

Now, hear me out, Nikto might not be the best at showing affection but he does show it in ways you don't understand. Let's say you love oranges, he will come back home after work with three bags filled with oranges. Or you have a favourite drink, next time he's out getting groceries, he'll make sure to add your favourite drink in the cart..

Now about the part of him being difficult to deal with, Nikto doesn't express himself how'd you expect everyone to express their feelings,thoughts and emotions and everyone knows that, even his teammates. Some nights, when you're asleep he'd go out on the balcony and just sit there for hours

everything was quiet except for one thing and that is his thoughts..

His mind has been racing, aching, hurting, not one minute existed where he wasn't hearing muffled screams of anger, sadness and complaints that never seem to come to an end..but this time he couldn't wait till morning..

He grabs his own head seemingly like he wasn't his own person "calm down" he said

"No one is going to hurt you, not anymore, there is no one around you that is going to hurt you, they're in the past..you're safe now.."

And before any reply in hesitation of to speak

He repeats to himself

"No one's going to hurt you, "

Those nights when you wake up without him in the same bed, you already know what's happening with him yet you don't want to interfere not knowing which alter it is..it could be the one that's not so friendly.. especially with you, Nikto told you this before, or was it Nikto??..you can't recall..so you just go back to sleep..

Walking around with Nikto means either both of you look intimidating or you're the usually nice and social kind of person while Nikto is unapproachable.., it balances it.., no?

[lemmetreatya]

Job!Character | m • list

“I don’t care if his collars blue or white — as long as he treat me right, it don’t matter.”

💠 All Works are NSFW 💠

NEW (as of last update): ���️

A T T A C K O N T I T A N

📌 Security gurads!ConJeanRen

📌 Pilot!Eren

📌 Deliveryman!Eren

📌 Librarian!Eren

📌 Youth Leader!Eren

📌 Kpop fanboy!Eren

📌 Gardener!Jean

📌 Meteorologist!Jean

📌 Politician!Connie

📌 Funeral director!Connie

📌 Shop Assistant!Armin

📌 Actor!Armin ⚜️

📌 Laundromat technician!Levi

📌 Sofa salesman!Porco

📌 Tow truck driver!Reiner

📌 Bellhop!Reiner

📌 Chiropractor!Reiner ⚜️

📌 Rent-A-Boyfriend!Zeke

📌 MP!Onyankopon ⚜️

📌 Movie Director!Onyankopon ⚜️

J U I J U T S U K A I S E N

📌 Tour Guide!Gojo

📌 Wedding photographer!Geto

📌 Nude Model!Gojo ⚜️

📌 Tennis Player!Nanami

📌 Driving Instructor!Nanami

📌 Club Bouncer!Sukuna

📌 Plumber!Toji

📌 CEO!Toji

J O J O S B I Z A R R E A D V E N T U R E

📌 Chef!Jotaro

📌 Harbour operator!Jotaro ⚜️

📌 Photographer!Jotaro ⚜️

📌 Head Builder!Polnareff ⚜️

📌 Car washer!Avdol ⚜️

M Y H E R O A C A D A M E I A

📌 Personal trainer!Hawks

📌 Juggler!Hawks

📌 Senior Banker!Enji

📌 Garbageman!Enji

[togetherness23]

The model steam engines of the Western Diorama from Night at the Museum*

*only across the four movies. I don’t know whether other NATM media (ex. the novels) mention them.

NATM folks might recognize my sideblog where I’ve been focusing on that series overall -> @here-comes-moonshine. This is my main blog for talking trains. I’m not a particularly knowledgeable railfan (and any of y’all are free to correct me on anything said here). However, I’ve seen little discussion about the locomotives in this series (even the wikis are lacking in that regard), so I want to put a spotlight on them!

I’m not 100% sure what exactly the diorama is trying to represent, but I’d guess that it takes place in the latter half of the 19th century, somewhere in the West/Southwest.

The Western Diorama has had a consistent layout of two tracks: one on the upper level that appears to stretch all the way across the diorama (with a bridge portion); and one on the floor level that runs more than halfway across the diorama and appears to be under construction. Both of them have tunnels on the sides with the walls. For the original live action movies, r/modeltrains’ consensus (w/input from the apparent builder of the scene!) is that the lower track is G scale/G gauge (1.75 in, or 45 mm).

Now for the engines:

Union Pacific No. 119

Appears in Night at the Museum and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

UP 119 is the model engine that is seen in the opening sequences that showcase the Western diorama and in subsequent scenes taking place in that setting. From the viewer’s POV, she is the one on the upper track close to the tunnel on the right; and it appears to stay in that spot facing left in all of its appearances.

——

Union Pacific “American” 4-4-0

Built: 1868, by Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works

Gauge: Standard gauge (4ft 8.5 in, or 1435mm)

Power type/fuel: Steam/Coal

Relevant information for the time period: It is famously known for being one of the two engines that met up at the famous Golden Spike ceremony. Other than that, it worked in the Utah Division of the Union Pacific Railroad as a freight engine (WY and UT) until it was scrapped in 1903.

No. 4, The ‘Eureka’

Appears in Night at the Museum

The Eureka is the model engine that was used to ram Larry’s head. From the viewer’s POV, she is the one on the lower track facing right; and she isn’t visible until she comes out of the tunnel on the left, runs forward, and then derails after failing to kill him. According to one image of the diorama, it might also have its own coach?

——

Facts about the real Eureka:

Baldwin Class 8/18 C 4-4-0

Built: 1875, by Baldwin Locomotive Works

Gauge: Narrow gauge (3ft, or 914mm)

Power type/fuel: Steam/Wood

Relevant information for the time period: It first worked on the Eureka and Palisade Railway (NV), hauling both goods and passenger trains to and from the cities Eureka (for the silver mines) and Palisade (for connecting to the Central Pacific Railroad) until 1901.

The New South Wales C32 class locomotive?

Appears in Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again

I’ve asked around, and it’s definitely not an American locomotive. If @/angryskarloey’s guess at the engine’s class is right (thank you a TREMENDOUS amount, Ajax), this is actually a locomotive that was put into operation in Australia, and decades after the former two engines would’ve been built.

This engine is the only one that is visibly seen in the diorama, seemingly taking the place of UP 119 on the upper track. It also remains still and faces left throughout its appearances.

——

(Assumed) New South Wales C32 Class 4-6-0

Built: Beyer, Peacock & Company, Baldwin Locomotive Works, Clyde Engineering, Eveleigh Railway Workshops (1892-1911)

Gauge: Standard gauge (4ft 8.5 in, or 1435mm)

Power type/fuel: Steam/Coal

Relevant information for the time period: This locomotive was notably versatile, being used in goods, mail, and passenger/express services.

Fun facts:

Some American locomotives around the transcontinental railroad period were named after Greek or Roman deities. One of Eureka’s surviving sister engines was named Jupiter. Jupiter was also the name of the other locomotive that met up with UP 119 at the Golden Spike ceremony. (Pssst, Roman diorama!)

Both UP 119 and Jupiter were not the original engines chosen to pull the special trains for the Golden Spike ceremony! Both of their stories of how they ended up being the ones to replace their respective engines to go to the ceremony are rather fortunate.

The Eureka was bought by Warner Bros in 1939 and featured in many western movies. (The irony of its model engine counterpart in NATM is not lost on me.)

Eureka is one of three remaining engines of her class! Ironically, she herself is privately owned, while both of her sister engines are on display in museums— Sonoma in the California State Railroad Museum and Jupiter in the National Museum of American History. (That’s a Smithsonian Institution!)

Not-so-fun facts:

The original UP 119 shares a similar fate with Jupiter of being scrapped for $1000 despite their historical significance. Replicas of both engines still exist today at the Golden Spike history museum.

In 1985, the Eureka was damaged by a fire in Old Vegas, where it was on display. It was, fortunately, restored a year later after being bought by Dan Markoff, who currently owns it.

[marivoid]

Entry 31

Day 223

This is him. One of the only people that can help me find The Doctor. The Heavy-Body Builder.

One problem: The man is the definition of "Looks scary, is a wet cat of a man." He definitely TRIED to be intimidating, but he failed pretty miserably at it when I met him after being unconscious for 10 days.

(Yes I did a double take. I still can't believe I was out for THAT long)

Picture this: Me walking towards a towering city of collapsing buildings with dust filled air. Eyes focused on the small blinks of light that just barely escape the smog- I'm thinking that I've finally made it! Comparator City!

And then I get absolutely BODIED by a huge hunk of metal. I wish I were kidding. My poor spine! My arm! It got freaking CRUSHED! I was sent flying a decent few feet and ended up crashing into an old light pole (Again. OW.) All that I can remember happening next is that same hunk of metal approaching me and some guy jumping out of it. But then... Well. I was out like a light.

Managed to wake up (after what felt like) a few hours later and oh GOODNESS did it hurt. My back, my right side, my stump of an arm- It all hurt! But there was somebody in the very dim room with me. The same person that crawled out of that hunk of metal.

"Thank goodness you're awake!" He had said when I first gained consciousness. "I was worried that you wouldn't stabilize! You've been unconscious for over a week!"

"I've been WHAT?!" And of course, when I sat up I saw the damage the man had done to me. Machines were strapped all over my body, an IV drip sticking out of my arm (Where he found a clean needle I will not ask.) a whole heart rate monitor- He was stacked! But from the state of everything, he was telling me the truth. "You knocked me unconscious for a week?!"

"Well it's r-really been ten days-"

"TEN DAYS?!"

"Yes- Yes I know it sounds absolutely horrible but! But! You're recovering at an accelerated rate! You should be good to go in a few days? Maybe three? The experimental drug is working great for you!" He had been blabbering and talking so fast that I nearly missed that detail.

"Experimental- I'm sorry, EXPERIMENTAL DRUG?" Of course I had been outraged back then. (Even looking back now I'm still a bit ticked off at being used as a guinea pig for a drug that could have killed me, but hey! I'm alive now!) "You used an EXPERIMENTAL DRUG to heal me."

"Yes! And it worked!" He stepped away from me to grab my prosthetic arm. "And! And I managed to upgrade your arm! It got destroyed- Again I'm so sorry about that- but hey! At least now your map and compass aren't an extra item to carry around!"

"So you fixed the nerve sensors? The solar panels?"

"Uh- No. Unfortunately I don't have access to the receptors or the proper solar panels you need." He had explained while reattaching my arm. "But! But, it works a lot like mine!" He flashed his brass arm, glowing a soft red. "It's powered by redstone! Should last you a solid month before you need to recharge it!"

And there was the main problem. "How in the ever loving hell do I get this 'redstone' stuff? Heck, where could I even get it?"

"Easy! Me!" He flicked on a lever on the backside of my arm and it felt... Nice at the time. Sturdy. Like it wouldn't die on me when I needed it most. "I use the Parrot System, so as long as you can get mail through the Parrots you should be good!"

"... The who?"

You wouldn't believe me if I told you this man began to glow with embarrassment. I mean he LITERALLY glowed. Pointy ears and face turning a bright red that GLOWED.

"Right, uh- The parrots! They're one of the middle tier delivery birds! I'm friends with their Flight Master! I... I take it you have no idea who I'm talking about."

"Not a damn clue."

"First of all, watch your tongue. Second! That's okay! I should have enough in store that should last you about three months- But you really need to find the Flight Masters. They'll help you in the long run."

When he stopped his rambling I focused on the newly upgraded arm. It is always a weird sensation, flexing a limb that's not really there. But the small tug of metal fingers and steel plates listening to one's mind is even weirder. And I mean REALLY weird.

"Who... Exactly are these Flight Masters?" I managed to ask him after a few moments of silence. "How do you... Get under their wing?"

"That-" The man paused and the red glow only grew. "That was a horrible pun-" He has a really nice laugh. Small but breathless.

"But it works! I mean, they have to be Birds of a Feather to Fly together-"

"Stop! Stop, no!"

"When am I going to stop, huh?! Never!" And then I started to laugh. I think it was just my mind needing something to focus on other than the glaring new arm attached to my body.

"Goodness you may be worse than Gri-" His laughter died when he barely mentioned a name. I couldn't get all of it, but it must be the Flight Master.

"Worse than...?"

"Y-You will find out eventually." His tune changed from that point going forward.

He eventually gave me his name (Mumbo) and gave me a quick summary of the three Flight Masters.

The Canary: Flight Master of the small, yellow birds that linger around Comparator City. Used by the residents of said city. Apparently the easiest one to befriend.

The Parrot: Flight Master of the robotic parrots that fly around all over the Crashlands. They're more tricky to get a hold of as they have a whole database on who's a customer and who's not. Need to find the Parrot Flight Master in order to get on the list.

The Crow: Flight Master of the Murders. Every crow I have seen so far apparently belongs to Him. And apparently the only way to find him is a mystery to even Mumbo. All I can do is hope for the best with that one.

That was all the information he was willing to tell me. Apparently I struck a nerve by getting him to almost spill the name of the Parrot Flight Master. I'm still resting in this small room, letting myself recover from being plowed by that big old machine.

I even tried asking him what that THING was that he hit me with! But he just shook his head and said it was a prototype I shouldn't bother myself with.

Things are just getting really overwhelming now. So much information to process. How do I find the Canary? Or hell, the Parrot? I'm not even going to TOUCH the subject of the Crow. What about the Demon? Is he still around? Is he in Comparator City? Will I run out of the weird redstone dust before I find the Parrot?

So many questions.

Too little answers.

I think I'm just going to shut off my mind for a little bit.

MLW

G.U.I.D.E. 67

[theriverbeyond]

re: love lies bleeding... i could be wrong but isn't there a difference between the type of steroids jackie was taking and testosterone? i assumed the increasing violence was due to steroid psychosis.

There mostly isn't! The main difference between "juicing"/bodybuilding steroid use and TRT or HRT is mostly just dose and frequency it is being taken. The brands might be different between medical vs recreational use, and some people take compounds that include things like growth hormone or other stuff, but "Anabolic steroid" doesn't mean "bad and used for bodybuilding", it means "hormone that mimics androgens". Link for WebMD overview of anabolic steroids

This is one of the reasons why trans men face issues when wanting to compete in "natural" strength/bodybuilding sports (not to mention, of course, the exclusion of trans women). USA Powerlifting does not specifically ban trans men from competing in the male division, but it bans any and all TRT, with no medical exemption available to anyone, which is effectively the same as banning both trans and cis men with medical conditions that require them to be taking testosterone.

Testosterone replacement therapy's (TRT) goal is to maintain the body's testosterone within a defined medical range. Cis and trans people of all kinds can be prescribed TRT for various medical reasons (post-menopause, being trans, erectile dysfunction, etc). People who use steroids for bodybuilding are blowing right past that defined medical range -- an example is you may see a cis man on TRT with a dose of maybe 0.25mg/week on the low end with the "average" being around 100mg/week. The dose is raised and lowered to maintain the body's T levels within the healthy medical range/the individual's transition goals.

A man using T for a higher performance in strength/bodybuilding sports is likely to be on way, way higher doses, 200-400mg/week or more, and may be taking T in "cycles" specifically intended to promote muscle growth, versus being on it consistently. There are material health risks associated with these high doses but it's not inherently the substance they are using, it is just the dose.

A woman like Jackie is probably going to be on significantly LOWER dose, even for recreational bodybuilding, because women who engage in steroids for muscle growth are usually not looking for the other masculinization side effects of T, so will necessarily want to stay below the TRT levels typically used by both cis and trans men. I mean, this movie takes place in the 80's so they were probably not using modern medical science because it was the 80's, but the reality that a "juiced" woman would probably want to avoid the normal effects of the average T dose remains true because most women body builders regardless of time period are not looking to transition to a T dominant hormone system. link to reddit thread i found

Steroid psycosis does exist, and "roid range" is a known side effect of any kind of steroids -- including non-sex-hormone steroids like dexamethazone. Just go into a children's cancer ward and you will see that steroids will absolutely impact a person's emotional stability on like, a temporary basis. Go on any r/ftm forum and you will see some people having increased irritability as a result of their bodies adjusting to a different hormone system, with much rarer cases of significant emotional challenges. But my critique isn't necessarily to say that it is like, beyond the imagination/too unrealistic, because it's a horror movie and those are rarely realistic. Exaggeration is the name of the game there. Like I said in my original post, it's not that I hate the movie, I'm just THINKING about the movie and how this aspect of the plot landed badly, for me. In this day& age did we have to make the big tall muscle woman w high T also be a crazy violent killer. We exist in the context of all that came b--(im taken out by another sniper)

Anyway. I hope that answers your question now where is that large hook. I need to be dragged off stage immediately before I write another 1000 words on

[dynared]

The Voltron movie is finally moving forward with filming dates confirmed, sets being built, and a cast being rounded out, with a mostly unknown newcomer and Henry Cavill, fresh off of bashing his head into a glass ceiling trying to get a Warhammer 40k series going at Amazon. (I would not be surprised if that project stalled out and he was offered a lead role in Voltron as a compensation prize so he can earn some money).

And for reasons I'll never fully comprehend, I'm back on the Hopium that this will be a standout example of a Western-made mecha property, combining Japanese-style super robots with Hollywood budgets to create a billion-dollar hit at the box office.

This is after the West's near endless stream of failures at the genre, usually doomed by writers up their own asses who view anything with robots more complicated than a refrigerator with two legs and some guns as a glorified toy commercial and therefore immoral and needing to be changed. Take for instance Legendary Defender's writers admitting in interviews they fought to use Voltron less, hence the show bombing and WEP happy to erase it from the collective internet (as it deserves). Or gen:Lock writing in the first page of its artbook and inscribing in a plaque above the head writer's office "This show is about the characters". Its production company, Rooster Teeth, ceased operations in May, and while its sister show RWBY was sold to Viz Media for future use, gen:Lock is still for sale from Warner Bros, although I don't see anyone coming out to buy it.

So far, Amazon MGM and WEP, Inc are doing all the right things for this movie, whether purposefully or coincidentally. They're letting the rights to Legendary Defender on Netflix expire two years before the movie's targeted release date of 2026 so the show vanishes from the internet and none of the actors, directors, or crew have to hear the phrases "Klance", "Sheith", "fiction affects reality", or "Gays In Space." They're hiring Henry Cavill, a guy who still has a fair amount of sympathy from the general public for his ill-fated roles as Superman (being caught square in the Snyder drama) and Geralt of Rivera (where the longtime fan of The Witcher books and games objected to the considerable liberties taken by the show's writers and was shown the door), which as a bonus for Bob Koplar, will probably attract the Snyderbros to the super robot movie and provide a very different tenor to the fandom than VLD had, chasing that rapidly dwindling fandom out the door. Bob Koplar has spoken repeatedly at VoltCon conventions about wanting to capture the spirit of the original 80s series while repeatedly expressing distaste for Legendary Defender.

The main issues at this point are "What is the plot?" and "How big is the budget?" The rumor as per those same VoltCon panels where Koplar flat out said Dreamworks "did not get Voltron" is that we will be getting five new characters, rather than the usual crew of Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, Allura, and Sven/Shiro. I'm all in favor of this because it means one less connection to Legendary Defender, but it also probably means the movie will be about an alien invasion of Earth with our super robot the only thing able to repel the invaders. As for the budget, we don't know that either, but given that the rights started a bidding war between Amazon MGM as well as other big companies like Warner Bros, Paramount, and Universal (Netflix was reportedly uninterested because of how badly VLD went) as well as reports from Australia citing shortages of set builders because of the high demand for them at the Voltron set, we could potentially be looking at a blockbuster with a blockbuster budget.

I'll guess we'll know soon. Filming is scheduled, as per Production List to begin at the end of December, which means over the next two months we'll probably see the rest of the cast rounded out and get a hard number for the budget. But there might be a reason to hope that the series is a super robot movie that the West deserves, and not another VLD or gen:Lock styled trainwreck from writers who don't get it.

[chr0macide]

Break In: The Novelette (Fanfic)

Part 2 is out

BOOM FIRST TUMBLR POST. I am currently normal about the Roblox Break In series so I decided to try and recreate it as a short story. This is my first time writing anything seriously for fun so I'm sure the pacing is all kinds of fucked up but I did enjoy making it lol. I tried to follow the game's storyline as closely as possible but I also took a few creative liberties and tried to give the characters more personality, not sure how well it worked though lol. This is just the first Break In but I might also do this to Break In 2 as well, probably won't happen in the immediate future though. This thing is about 9,500 words. If you have any feedback/notice errors please do comment :)

Chapter I – Silent House

An old coupe trundled down the road of a quaint suburban neighborhood. Four kids were crammed uncomfortably inside it. One of them reached into his bag of chips, elbowing his younger sister next to him as he did so.

“Ugh. Watch it, Hadrian,” she grumbled.

“You watch it,” Hadrian replied as he shoved the chips into his mouth. The girl reached over to steal one out of the bag. Hadrian slapped her hand away.

“You jerk!” she shrieked, swinging her teddy bear into Hadrian’s face. Hadrian grabbed a handful of his sister’s dark hair and pulled. The two older kids in the car groaned as their younger siblings began bickering and jostling everyone else around.

“Hadrian. Stephanie. Cut it out,” warned the older sister. The younger kids quieted down, but only slightly. “I’m serious! Prince, tell them to stop,” she said to the driver.

The car ground to a halt. “Monica, it’s fine. We’re here,” said the older brother. He removed the key from the ignition. The engine made a worrisome rattling sound as it shut off. He grabbed the handle of the car door next to him and jiggled it. The door was stuck. “Damn this old shitbox,” he muttered as he forced it open.

The four kids squeezed out and breathed in the fresh air. “Finally,” said Stephanie. Prince walked around the car and popped the trunk open, removing the family’s only suitcase.

They’d parked in front of a modest two-story house. It was old and the paint was starting to peel, but at least it looked cozy on the inside.

The front door of the neighboring house creaked open. Out stepped an older man with sunglasses. Uncle Pete. After Prince and Monica had managed to get custody of their siblings, they all knew they had to get away from their parents’ house.

Pete was wealthy. He owned more than a few properties. He’d agreed to let them stay here for free. They weren’t sure why he owned two houses right next to each other. Old people were weird sometimes, but they weren’t complaining.

Prince waved at Uncle Pete. “Evening, Pete!” he called out. Pete just smiled and waved back.

“He’s, uh, usually nonverbal,” Monica explained to her younger siblings. “Anyway. Let’s get inside,” she suggested.

Prince stuck his hand under the welcome mat and fished out a keychain. He tried to jam several different keys into the lock before the door opened. Everyone stepped inside.

“It’s musty,” Stephanie complained. Hadrian made a beeline for the couch in the living room as he shoved another handful of chips into his face. He collapsed onto it and proceeded to ignore everyone.

“It’s not that bad,” Monica claimed. Truthfully, there was a slight odor in the house, but that was probably just because no one had aired the place out for a while. “Come on, let’s open these,” she said to Stephanie as she unlatched one of the windows.

Prince inspected the kitchen. They hadn’t had a chance to go grocery shopping yet, so the cupboards were barren. He took out his phone. “Pizza, anyone?” he called out to the others. They yelled their approval from the other rooms.

“Fine!”

“Sure!”

Prince punched a string of digits into the number pad and put the phone to his ear. “Is this Builder Brothers Pizza? OK, we’ll have a large pineapple—”

“NO!” bellowed Hadrian from the living room.

Prince rolled his eyes. “Fine. A large pepperoni as well,” he added.

Monica called out to him from the other room. “Prince! Get over here!” she said. Prince finished up the call and followed her voice until he was standing before a door with a large padlock affixed to it. Monica and Stephanie turned to him.

“This door looks cool. Open it,” Stephanie demanded.

Prince squinted at the padlock. “I don’t know… Pete probably locked it for a reason.”

“What, are you scared?” the girl joked. “You can lock it again if there’s a monster inside.”

The eldest brother pursed his lips. He wasn’t worried about monsters, but he’d heard rumors of growing criminal activity around this neighborhood. Although…

Prince rifled through the pockets of his cargo shorts until he located the keychain. He found the right key and inserted it into the padlock. It clicked open and fell to the ground with a dull thunk. Prince gently opened the door.

There were concrete steps leading down into a basement. They couldn’t see anything through the darkness, but the cold, stagnant air rushed out over them.

“That’s ominous,” Monica remarked.

Stephanie grinned in excitement and took a step inside, but Prince put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “No, Steph. It’s too dark to see anything in there. You’ll get hurt,” Prince told her. Steph stuck out her lower lip and pouted, but she didn’t try to run inside again. Prince shut the door.

The doorbell rang. The pizza was here. At the same time, Hadrian yelled at everyone from the living room again. “Guys! There’s breaking news on the TV!”

“Coming,” Prince yelled back. “You guys go ahead. I’m gonna get the food,” he told the girls.

Prince opened the front door. It was almost dark outside, and starting to rain, too.

“Sup,” said the delivery guy. Prince took a small step backwards. The guy was pretty big. “Two large pizzas?”

“Yeah,” Prince confirmed. He took the pizza boxes and set them aside before he rummaged through his cargo shorts again for his wallet. He opened it. The family had been low on cash ever since they left their parents’ place. He handed a $20 note to the delivery guy, but he continued to look at Prince expectantly. “Uh… no tip this time. Sorry. That’s all I got right now,” Prince admitted, averting his eyes.

The delivery guy threw up his arms in disbelief. “Dude, are you for real?” he questioned.

“Sorry,” Prince apologized again.

The pizza guy shoved the bill into his pocket. He turned around and trudged over to his motorcycle. “This is my livelihood, man,” he muttered. Prince fidgeted with his wallet guiltily as the guy sped off.

Nonetheless, Prince picked up the pizza boxes and brought them into the living room. Right as he set them down on the coffee table, there was a clap of thunder. The lights in the house blinked out abruptly. The TV flickered off.

Monica glanced outside. The streetlights were also off. There was a power outage.

Everyone looked out the window and saw Uncle Pete’s silhouette leave his house through the back door. He ran a cable to a box outside. He ran another one from the box to their own house. The box hummed to life.

“Oh, it’s a generator,” Monica figured. The lights didn’t turn on, but the TV did. Pete noticed everyone staring at him through the window. He waved at them again before running back into his home.

They turned to the TV and started eating their pizza as the news reporter began speaking. The screen showed a gang of mobsters wearing fine suits and tuxedos, their faces obscured by comedy masks. They were dumping a barrel of some unknown liquid into a storm drain. The picture appeared to have been taken through somebody’s broken windowpane.

The Purge has Begun, Villains on the Loose, read the headline. “This is not a drill. Agents of the mafia are roaming the streets,” said the news anchor. The image on the screen shifted. A short video played of a second group of mobsters smashing someone’s car window with his crowbar. They dragged a man out. One of them raised a gun to the civilian’s head, but the video was cut off before anything else happened.

“Goddamn,” muttered Prince.

“Do not engage these fugitives under any circumstances. There have been 19 confirmed deaths and many more confirmed injuries so far. Keep doors locked and windows closed at all times,” the news anchor continued.

Another image appeared on the screen. “Their leader is Larry Clockturn,” said the news anchor.

Monica stifled a laugh at the mob boss’s appearance. A grey beard hid the lower half of his face. He was old, and he definitely dressed like it. Bowler hats were not in fashion. There was a domino mask over his eyes. He wore a violet waistcoat with a rose affixed to the lapel over his black undershirt. A peculiar golden crowbar was in his hand.

The image switched to a mugshot of Larry. Monica stopped laughing. “Wait, that’s not a person,” she said. Now that they were looking at him up close, she realized that his skin was unnaturally shiny. His golden eyes glowed faintly in the dark and his face seemed stiff and lifeless.

“Is he a robot, or something?” asked Stephanie.

“I don’t know… he looks more like an automaton,” Monica replied.

Stephanie looked at her funny. “Is there a difference?”

“Well, yeah,” said Monica. “At least, I think so. Robots use electricity, but automatons have engines or something-”

Hadrian shushed her as the news anchor continued talking. “If you see this entity, run away and hide. Larry Clockturn is considered by authorities to be an extremely dangerous serial murderer. Do not engage him under any circumstances. Special forces have been dispatched to regulate the situation. I repeat, this is not a drill.”

There was static as the program ended. A standby screen appeared on the TV. Nobody spoke at first.

“That shit is wild,” said Hadrian, deadpan. Stephanie peered through the window nervously. “I told you we should have gone to Bloxburg!” she hissed to Prince.

“And I told you, Steph, we don’t have that kind of money.”

“Guys. Be quiet.” Monica was the one staring out the window now, but the streetlights were still off. If there were any mobsters creeping around outside, she couldn’t tell. “Can’t see shit. Maybe they don’t know we’re here, either… let’s just go upstairs.”

Prince grabbed the suitcase he’d left by the front door. He partially unzipped it and felt around inside until he found the flashlight, then switched it on and held it in front of him as he lugged the bag up the stairs. The others followed him from behind until he came to the bedroom. He dropped the bag just inside.

“Phew.” Prince was too tired to unpack, and now probably wasn’t the best time, anyway. He cautiously made his way to the window at the back of the room. It might have been his imagination, but he could almost see moonlight glinting on mobsters’ white purge masks. He drew the curtains. “Let’s just hit the sack,” he said to the other kids.

They were in for a rude awakening.

Chapter II – Broke In

The kids awoke to the sound of shattering glass. Stephanie sat bolt upright and screamed. She fell out of her bed and rolled underneath it, still clutching her teddy.

A mobster had smashed the only window in the room with his crowbar and was now climbing inside. The other three kids jumped up and scrambled away from him. He planted his shiny black shoes on the floor, brushed some glass shards off his tuxedo, and brandished his crowbar at the kids, laughing.

“G’day, cunts,” he greeted them, tipping his fedora at them wryly. He started towards them.

It was only one guy. The kids whirled around, searching for something to defend themselves with. There was nothing except for Prince’s baseball bat… but it was still in the suitcase. Monica ran to the front of the room and shoved the bag flat onto the floor. She started to unzip it.

Meanwhile, the mobster raised his crowbar to bash Prince’s brains in, but Hadrian had skirted around until he was behind the guy. He kicked the back of his leg. The thug folded, eliciting a giggle from the boy, but it was promptly cut short as the mobster shot to his feet and grabbed him around the throat. “Little shit.” He lifted his crowbar again as he throttled Hadrian with one hand.

Monica had the suitcase open. She dug through it, throwing the clothes aside until she found Prince’s chrome baseball bat. She tossed it to him.

Prince caught the bat and turned to the mobster again. “Get away from Hadrian, you asshole!” he yelled as he swung as hard as he could.

There was a sharp ding as the bat connected head-on with the side of the mafioso’s skull. His head was jerked to the side by the impact. He released Hadrian and crumpled to the ground, barely conscious.

Monica rushed towards Hadrian and hugged him. “Are you OK?” she asked, fussing over her younger brother.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine,” Hadrian replied as he pushed her away, but his voice was wavering a little. He rubbed his neck. The mobster’s grip had left a red mark around it.

Stephanie finally crawled out from under her bed. “What do we do now?” she whispered, staring wide-eyed at the insensible mafioso.

Prince walked over to him cautiously. “We should… uh…”

He didn’t want to kill a guy in front of two young kids. Certainly not his own siblings. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to kill anyone at all. His eyes fell upon the broken window.

“We should… just push him back out through the window. Yeah. It’s not that far to the ground. He’ll be fine,” finished Prince hesitantly. He grabbed the mobster’s feet. Monica grabbed him under the arms. They hauled his nearly unconscious body to the window.

They draped the mobster over the windowsill. Prince gave him a little push. He slid out rather gently and grunted in pain as he hit the ground outside. Now he was really knocked out.

Prince and Monica took a peek over the sill. He was already surrounded by a few of his fellow mafiosos. They glanced up at the teenagers, faces unreadable through their masks. They started to drag their unconscious accomplice into the shadows, where Prince spied his own car. The hood was open. The engine was gone. Looked like they wouldn’t be leaving this place anytime soon.

“Shit. We need to do something before they come back,” whispered Prince, pulling away from the window.

Monica squinted as she looked around the bedroom. She opened the door to the walk-in closet. “There’re some wood planks in here. Maybe we can board up the window…?” she suggested.

“We can board up all the windows,” Prince told her… “except for this one,” he added, nodding at the broken pane. “We’ll use that to see outside.” He retrieved some tools from the suitcase. Monica had told him to leave them behind when they’d moved out of their parents’ house—they were heavy—but now she was glad that he’d packed them anyway.

Prince dragged the planks out of the closet and left them in a pile. He picked up a hammer and went to nail one of the boards over a window at the end of the hall. He swore as he hit his thumb. “Fuck.” The sun was peeking over the horizon, but it was still barely light enough to see.

Monica and Hadrian started boarding up the other windows. They spent all day securing the place, and it was dark again before they knew it. They were all making a lot of noise, but there was nothing they could do about that.

Unfortunately for them, the sound attracted some unwanted attention.

“This was a shit idea.” Hadrian glanced through the gaps in the boarded window. There were more than a few eyes glinting in the darkness outside, glaring at them. “Now they know we’re in here,” he told Prince.

“They already knew we were in here, dumbass. A purger broke through the window and tried to kill us, remember?”

“Oh… yeah. I guess you’re right.”

With all the windows boarded up, there was nothing to do except meander around the house. Hadrian went to the living room and thought about turning the TV on, but he wasn’t in the mood.

He looked at the leftover pizza on the coffee table. He was hungry, but it had been sitting out all night. The power was still gone. The refrigerator was useless.

Hadrian sighed. No eating today.

As he reentered the foyer, Hadrian heard a scratching noise coming from the other side of the basement door. He panicked initially, but when he listened closer… was that mewling?

Hadrian stepped closer. He put a hand on the doorknob and opened the basement door, but only a little. An orange tabby cat slunk through the gap.

“Have you been in there the whole time?” Hadrian questioned, staring at the cat in disbelief. He reached down to pet it, but the cat batted his hand away and hissed. It ran past him and darted through the gap between Prince’s legs—he’d been watching from behind.

The cat jumped up onto a cabinet in the foyer and stared at Hadrian disdainfully. “Tch. Cats are lame anyway,” he muttered as he shut the basement door again. “Wait… Prince, do you hear that?”

There was a strange noise outside. Tires screeched along asphalt to a standstill. There was a loud electrical bang as a pair of headlamps were abruptly switched on outside, flooding the living room with a bright light.

A van had pulled in front of the house, facing them and shining its headlights into the room. Six mobsters got out and stared at the house silently. One of them made eye contact with Prince as he peered through the boarded window. The teenager backed away. He beckoned Hadrian to follow him upstairs.

“Prince? What’s happening?” Monica asked when she saw him.

“More gangsters. Six.” Prince paused as he looked outside again. “They’re just standing there…”

Prince’s brow furrowed in thought. It felt like ages before he spoke again. “I’m staying awake tonight. The rest of you sleep,” he told everyone as he picked up his bat and paced around the room. “I’ll wake you up if something happens.”

“Prince, are you sure? We should sleep in shifts,” offered Monica.

“No. It’s fine,” the eldest refused, waving the suggestion away.

Everyone else got into bed, but Prince walked over to the broken bedroom window again. The mobsters were still staring at the house intently. He stared back, determined. It was going to be another long night.

Chapter III – Tick Tock

It was dead silent. Light from the mobster van’s headlamps was still streaming into the house, but they hadn’t tried to get inside. Prince leaned against the wall, nodding off with his baseball bat in hand. He’d been awake for hours. His eyes began to close.

The sound of glass breaking pierced the night once again. Prince snapped to attention. He heard wood splinter and nails clink against the floor as the mafiosos pried the boards off a window downstairs. He opened his mouth, about to shout for the other kids to wake up, but he instead decided to shake them awake instead. They’d lose the element of surprise if the mobsters figured out they weren’t sleeping.

“Monica, wake up,” Prince hissed, shaking Monica in her bed. Her eyes snapped open.

“What? Did they break in?” Monica asked. She rolled out of bed hurriedly and grabbed Stephanie, dragging her off her bed as well. “Steph, we have to get up. There’re more bad guys.”

“They’re downstairs. Maybe we can get the jump on them,” Prince whispered as he shook Hadrian awake as well. He hesitated before pointing to the hammers they’d discarded after fortifying the house. “Grab one,” he said to Monica and Hadrian. He didn’t want to kill anyone… but these mobsters weren’t leaving them with many options.

Prince grimaced as Monica picked up a hammer. “Actually… Monica, you take my bat. I’ll use a hammer,” he decided.

“Huh? Why?” Monica wondered.

Prince shrugged. “I don’t want you to have to kill anyone,” he admitted.

Monica shot him a look. “I’ll be fine, Prince. Worry about yourself.”

There were footsteps below. The mob was inside. Prince motioned for everyone to follow him.

The mafiosos ascended the stairs. They slunk down the hall. The one at the front reached out to push the door open, hoping to attack a few feckless civilians in their sleep… but he saw nobody.

The door behind them opened instead. Monica buried her hammer in the nearest mobster’s cranium, then wrenched it out. Blood spattered against the wall next to his head, and then he fell onto the carpet with a soft thump, dead. The other mafiosos whipped around at the noise.

Five left.

Monica was clutching the hammer to her chest now, wide-eyed and shaking a little bit at what she had just done, so Hadrian pushed his way past her before the mobsters figured out what was happening. He swung his own hammer at the closest one. The mafioso had no time to raise his crowbar as Hadrian struck him in the forehead, cracking his purge mask. He slumped to the ground as well, knocked out.

Four.

Prince jumped out of the wardrobe and rushed out of the bedroom while the mobsters were facing away from it. One of them bashed his crowbar into Hadrian’s chest, who stumbled backwards, wheezing. Prince managed to strike the side of the aggressor’s head. It bounced off the wall next to him. He heard something break. Maybe the drywall. Maybe his skull.

Three.

Another mobster rushed Prince. He swiftly retreated into the bedroom until he was standing at the broken window. The mobster followed. As he lunged with his crowbar, Prince sidestepped and took the chance to grab the mafioso, hurling him through the window. He landed on the concrete with a sickening crunch and didn’t get up.

Two.

Monica came to her senses. It was just in time, too, because Hadrian was about to be ganged up on by the remaining invaders. Prince came out of the bedroom. “You go left. I go right,” he whispered to Monica. She nodded.

One of the mafiosos lashed out at Hadrian with his crowbar. He raised his weapon to defend himself, but the hammer was too small to block anything. Hadrian yelped as his forearm took the hit. He dropped his weapon as Monica brained the offending mobster.

One.

Prince raised his bat high above his head at the same time and brought it down on top of the other mafioso’s head.

Zero.

The kids stood in silence for a while, breathing heavily. They didn’t hear anyone else in the house. After a minute, Monica spoke.

“Steph, you can come out now,” she said. Stephanie emerged from the guest bedroom wordlessly and clung to her sister’s leg. Monica took Hadrian’s wounded forearm and prodded at the injury. He winced.

“I don’t feel a break. Maybe it’s just cracked. I left my first aid kit in the car,” Monica admitted nervously. She knew it wasn’t safe to go outside right now.

Prince pondered. “We can check the basement first. Maybe Pete left something useful in there,” he advised. He retrieved the flashlight from the bedside table and switched it on as the kids moved down to the first floor. They walked past the window that the mobsters had entered through. Wooden planks and shards of glass lay on the carpet. It crunched under their shoes as they stepped over it.

“Didn’t you leave this closed?” Prince asked Hadrian as he came to the basement, shining his light inside. The door was ajar. He quickly realized what a stupid idea it was to point the flashlight into it. There was a chance someone was lurking there. He turned it off.

Hadrian started backing away. “Yeah, I did… I think?” he whispered.

There were footsteps again. Loud ones.

“Shit,” said Prince.

Hadrian hesitated. “Wait, I think it’s just one guy. We could take him.” Indeed, only one pair of feet could be heard, and yet, the floor shook as the basement dweller began to climb the stairs.

“No! That guy sounds huge! Hide!” Prince whispered harshly, pulling Hadrian—who winced again as his forearm was jostled—along with him. They and the girls ran away from the basement door as silently as they could.

Prince put his hand on the sill of the broken window, about to jump outside, but he saw too many masked men in the shadows. He doubled back and whirled around, searching for somewhere to hide. There was only the storage cabinet in the kitchen. All four of them squeezed in. It was a tight fit. They almost couldn’t breathe, but they all froze as the trespasser reached the top of the basement stairs. Prince peered through the thin gap between the cabinet doors. The guy was so tall that he needed to duck underneath the doorframe. There was a faint ticking noise emanating from him.

The ground quaked with every step Larry Clockturn took. His golden LED eyes lit up in the dark. The glow glinted off of the violet mask on his eyes. He was far more daunting in person. As he walked near the shattered window, the moonlight illuminated his tarnished metal face and the steel wires that served as his beard.

He passed the open kitchen door. Monica saw a large wind-up key affixed to his back. I told you he was an automaton, she wanted to whisper, but this wasn’t a good time.

The mob boss walked past the kitchen and out of sight, but the kids heard his footsteps move to the stairwell. The first stair, decayed with age, splintered and caved under his weight. Larry cursed and swung his crowbar at the wall in anger, annihilating the plasterboard. He tried the second step. It groaned under his mass, but it held this time. He made his way to the second floor.

Prince hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath, but now he was almost gasping for air as he pushed the cabinet doors open and darted towards the basement. The other kids ran after him.

He swore internally as he almost tripped on the first step. It was still dark in there. He turned on the flashlight just long enough to make it to the bottom.

It was chilly. The kids huddled together in the darkness.

“H-he knows we’re still in the house,” stammered Monica, voice shaking. “He was here when you shined the flashlight in the first time. He had to have seen it. What are we going to do?”

Prince said nothing. He was out of ideas. All they could do was shut up and hope Larry didn’t think to come back here.

But the mechanical ticking returned. Larry did come back.

The automaton’s silhouette appeared at the top of the stairwell. The light from his eyes, still glowing golden in the dark, faintly illuminated his face.

There was a tinny creak as Larry tilted his head, staring into the basement. It was pitch black inside. Maybe he couldn’t see them, the kids thought.

Larry’s lips parted into a malicious grin. Prince flinched in surprise. He hadn’t realized the mob boss could emote with his metal features… but he didn’t come inside. Instead, he turned from the basement door and walked away, his steel exterior clanking as he moved.

There was a loud crack as Larry forced the front door open instead of leaving through the window he’d broken.

“What an asshole,” Prince grumbled.

Monica touched Prince’s arm. “Why didn’t he come inside?” she wondered.

Prince shrugged. He didn’t know either.

“Maybe he’s playing with us.”

It wasn’t a comforting idea, but they didn’t hear Larry’s footsteps anymore, so…

“Turn the flashlight on. We have to search this place,” Monica told Prince. He did.

The shelves were cluttered with supplies and knickknacks Uncle Pete had left behind. Pete, Prince suddenly remembered. He hoped the guy was alright, but there was nothing he could do for his uncle right now.

A good portion of the items were littered across the floor as well. Larry and his mobsters had trashed the place. Prince swept the flashlight across the ground.

“There.”

He pointed to a discarded first aid kit.

Monica picked it up. “Thought we’d never catch a break.” she took a broken piece of shelf as well and assembled a makeshift splint for Hadrian’s forearm. It wasn’t pretty, but it would hold until they figured out how to get to a hospital.

In the meantime, Prince perched the flashlight on a shelf to rummage through some carboard boxes. “Oh my god. Finally,” he exclaimed as he pulled out a bag of cheese puffs from one of them. The box was full of junk food, but it felt like the kids had struck gold after having nothing to eat for a day and a half. They gorged themselves, but once they were full, they were unsure of what to do next.

Prince looked pensive. “We can’t stay down here,” he eventually said. They had no clue how long the purge was going to last, and they couldn’t subsist on their meager supply of junk food for long.

Monica didn’t say anything at first. Prince was right, but the streets were still teeming with every kind of criminal.

She had an idea.

Chapter IV – Delivery

“This is dumb as hell.”

“Just put it on,” urged Monica.

Prince finished buttoning up the tuxedo. He pulled the purge mask over his face.

They’d swiped the disguise off of a dead purger they’d left upstairs. Monica reached for the second mask that they’d looted, but Prince stopped her.

“Nope. You’re staying here,” he told her.

“You serious? You can’t go out there alone.”

“Yes the fuck I can. Besides, someone needs to stay with those two.” Prince motioned to Stephanie’s tiny form and Hadrian with his arm in a splint.

Monica sighed. “Fine… be careful.”

Prince picked up one of the dead mobsters’ crowbars. Monica took a step back and looked him up and down. “I think it’ll work. Just act casual,” she said.

 After peering outside, Prince grabbed the windowsill and vaulted over it. The mobsters lurking nearby didn’t even glance at him twice.

 The nearest convenience store was just up the road. Prince could see it from here, but as he started walking, his shoe slid on the ice beneath him. He almost fell. The wet asphalt had frozen overnight.

There was a loud guffaw from a group of mafiosos passing him by, but then one of them slipped on the ice as well and fell on his face. The other gangsters laughed even louder. “Man, shut y’all’s asses!” he hollered at them.

Prince had frozen in place for a few seconds, almost thinking he’d blown his cover, but he quickly regained his bearings. He left the gangsters to bicker amongst themselves. They seemed a lot less menacing when they weren’t trying to kill him.

As he continued towards the convenience store, Prince passed by the house of one of his neighbors. Of course, he hadn’t had a chance to meet them yet, but he still wondered if they were doing alright.

There was an earsplitting scream from inside the house, then a gunshot. The distant voice of a mobster reached Prince’s ears. “Aww, come on! I was gonna play with her first!”

Prince scrunched his face up in disgust under his mask. Nevermind. Fuck these guys.

He made it to the convenience store. The place had been nearly bled dry, but there was some fruit left in the produce crates. Prince opened the sack that he’d taken with him. He reached for an apple.

There were two mobsters sitting on the counter nearby. They turned their heads towards Prince. They were masked, but he could feel them giving him an odd look. He faltered, then grabbed the edge of the fruit crate, tipping the entirety of its contents into his sack. The mobsters looked away, losing interest.

Phew. Prince threw the sack over his shoulder and almost ran back to the house.

Monica met him at the basement door. Panic flashed through her mind until she realized it was Prince. “What did you get?” she asked as they returned to the basement.

“Fruit.”

“Lame,” said Stephanie.

Prince took his mask off and shoved an apple into her tiny hands. “No, it isn’t. You need it after eating all that junk food.” He didn’t notice the sound of a motorcycle pulling up to the front of the house.

There was commotion in the kitchen upstairs. Utensils and cookware clattered against the floor tiles.

Prince foisted his crowbar over his shoulder as he turned to the stairs. “I gotta say, I’m getting real tired of this shit,” he muttered to Monica before he returned to the ground floor.

As he reached the top of the staircase, he hesitated. This dude was kinda big, he thought as he scrutinized the person wrecking his kitchen. There was no time for Prince to change his mind, though—the mobster saw him.

“There you are.”

He sounded vaguely familiar, but Prince had no time to muse as the guy charged at him.

Prince responded in kind. He rushed at the mobster and raised his own crowbar to block the blow. There was a sharp clang as their weapons met.

It was almost like a sword duel, though not nearly as graceful. Prince was no trained fighter, but neither was the mafioso, apparently. He accidentally hooked a vase with his crowbar, sending it shattering against the floor. The opponents staggered around the foyer, neither of them gaining the upper hand at first

The mobster couldn’t get a hit in. He grew impatient and lunged forward. He swung too wide. Prince backpedaled away from the strike, and now, for an instant, his foe was wide open.

Prince delivered an uppercut to the mafioso’s face with his crowbar. The force of the strike knocked his mask askew.

The mafioso collapsed to the ground heavily, dazed and confused. “Ugh…”

Alright, Prince had absolutely met this guy before. He reached down and pulled the guy’s mask all the way off.

Prince stared.

“Dude, are you fucking kidding me?”

It was the pizza guy from a couple days ago. He sat up gingerly, rubbing his chin, and spat a glob of blood onto the carpet. “Shouldn’t have fuckin’ stiffed me, you asshole!”

Prince threw his arms up in exasperation, still gripping his crowbar. “I told you I didn’t have any more money! And you come into my house and trash the place over it? What is your problem?”

The delivery guy eyed Prince’s crowbar. He straightened his bowtie as he spoke. “OK, don’t be like that, man. A guy paid me to do it. You’re not the only one hurting for cash,” he said, pointing his finger at the boy. “The big metal dude,” he continued. “I’ve been running with the mafia for a while now, but this morning he shoved a crisp hundred into my hand and told me to come in here. Take you guys out. And, uh, he looked like he was gonna kill my ass if I said no, so… here I am, I guess.”

Prince glared at him for a moment. “Man, just get the hell out,” he said, pointing his crowbar at the open door.

The pizza guy looked outside. “Uh… actually, I think I’m gonna chill in here for a while.”

“Excuse me? No, you are not. You just tried to kill me,” Prince snapped.

The guy held up his hands in surrender. “The big guy is gonna fillet me like a fish when he finds out I didn’t get rid of you guys! I’m not going back out there,” he said. “Besides, he paid me in advance, man. I ain’t gotta do shit no more.”

Prince mulled it over. This guy wouldn’t get out of his house, but Prince definitely didn’t want to kill him, either.

“Whatever. Fine. What should I call you?” he asked.

The pizza guy stood up unsteadily. “Isaiah.”

 “OK, Isaiah, you said you’ve been running with the mob for a while. Any clue how we might get away from here without dying?” Prince asked.

Isaiah deliberated for a moment.

“The sewers. The mafia normally uses it to move around the city, but It’s empty now that they’re on the streets…” He paused again as he formulated a plan. “I overheard a li’l bit of intel. The national guard made it to 5th Street. We head in that direction. Get behind their lines, where it’s safe. Then we can exit the sewer. No sweat.”

Prince didn’t have any better ideas. “Fine. Get in here, man. Leave the crowbar,” he warned Isaiah as the ruffian reached for his fallen weapon. “No funny shit.”

“I wasn’t going to do shit,” he muttered as they descended into the basement.

The other three kids drew back suspiciously as they saw Isaiah. “Prince? Who is that?”

“He’s the pizza delivery guy,” Prince replied. “From the day we moved in, I mean. He’s…”

Prince gave Isaiah the side-eye.

“He’s chill,” he decided. “And he told me how we can get out of here. We’ll walk through the sewers until we meet the national guard.”

The other kids glanced at each other. “Unless you guys would rather stay here…?” Prince added. They all heard a bout of submachine gunfire in the house across the street.

“Nope. Let’s get out of here,” Monica said. “Tomorrow morning?”

Isaiah raised an eyebrow. “Why are we waiting?”

“It’s midnight. We gotta get some sleep,” Prince said.

Isaiah’s eyebrows crept even higher. “You guys have been sleeping at night this whole time? You can’t be doing that shit during the killing purge! How are you people still alive?”

The kids murmured inaudibly. They didn’t really know, either.

Isaiah shook his head incredulously. “Whatever. I don’t know where you got that disguise, Prince, but there had better be more. Your buddies will get jumped in no time if they go out looking like that,” he said.

Prince retrieved some more suits and a couple of crowbars from the dead mobsters upstairs. The second floor was starting to smell really bad. He was glad they were leaving soon.

The disguises were a little ill-fitting on Monica and Hadrian, but Stephanie wasn’t going to be able to wear one at all.

“What are you going to do about her?” Isaiah asked.

Prince scratched his head as he thought. “I saw a manhole cover real close by. We’ll just have her walk in the middle of us ‘til we make it into the sewer.”

“If you say so.”

The group stepped out. Stephanie stood in the middle of the bunch, hopefully obscuring her from the mobsters’ sight.

They had almost made it to the manhole cover when they heard a crash in the distance. A shrill alarm pierced their ears. Someone had smashed one of the convenience store’s windows open and set it off. The group turned to see who was responsible.

They saw a shape with glowing eyes through the glass door of the store as he strode into view. Larry downed a can of cola before crushing it in his hand and throwing it aside. He turned to look at the street.

The automaton looked blasé as he surveyed the darkened neighborhood, but his expression shifted to one of suspicion as his eyes fell on the group. Then he looked furious.

Their disguises hadn’t fooled him. Larry kicked the door open and started towards the group.

“God fucking damn it!” roared Isaiah as he hauled the manhole cover off the ground and thrust it aside.

“Get in!”

Chapter V – Clockturn

Everyone clambered down the ladder and into the sewer.

Stephanie held her nose. “It smells really bad in here.”

Something heavy tumbled into the manhole after them, landing on Prince’s head. “Ow! What the hell?” he exclaimed.

It was the same cat that had come out of the basement earlier, and it started yowling as Prince pried it off his scalp.

“Guys, he’s coming! Fucking run!” Isaiah shouted at the group. He’d broken into a sprint as soon as his feet touched the floor. “And shut that cat up! It’s gonna give our location away.”

Prince set the cat on the ground. Thankfully, it stopped screeching, but it did follow them.

The kids raced after Isaiah. “Do you know where you’re going?” Prince panted.

“Yeah, I’ve been down here before. Just stay behind me,” Isaiah assured him. “Take this right!”

As they rounded the corner, Monica risked a glimpse behind her. The concrete ground fractured beneath Larry as he jumped into the manhole after them.

The corridors twisted and turned as Isaiah led everyone further into the sewers. He barreled through iron gates in their path. Some of the paths had collapsed and been replaced by flimsy timber.

Hadrian stumbled. A board slipped out from under him. He was about to fall into the fetid sewage, but Prince reached to fish him out.

Isaiah got there before him. Hadrian’s shoe had just touched the water when the mafioso forcefully pulled him back onto the walkway.

“Hey, be careful! His arm is hurt!” scolded Monica. Isaiah simply jabbed his finger at Hadrian’s foot.

Hadrian wiggled his toes. The tip of his shoe was gone.

“I forgot to let you guys know. I saw some other mobsters pouring something into the storm drains,” Isaiah explained as he continued to run. “Whatever it was, it was corrosive as hell, ‘cause the drain stared melting. Don’t fall in there,” he finished, pointing at the water channel.

Isaiah veered left into a round clearing in the sewer. He came face to face with another gate, but he almost bashed his head into it as it refused to open. The kids skidded to a stop as he grabbed the bars and rattled the door. “This wasn’t locked before!” he shouted in frustration.

The mobster wedged his crowbar through the edge of the gate and tried to pry it open, but it wouldn’t budge. The kids glanced at each other anxiously. “Maybe Larry doesn’t know where we went,” Monica whispered.

No such luck.

They heard the ticking of his cogs before they saw him.

Larry rounded the corner. He was moving at a leisurely pace, but his footsteps were still fairly thunderous as he strolled across the improvised wooden bridge.

The automaton came to a halt as he reached the other side of the walkway. The kids could only stare at him. He was blocking their only escape.

Larry put a hand on his crowbar, leaning on it like a cane. He ran a hand through his wiry beard. His LED eyes swiveled as he looked the group over.

A lanky delivery boy, down on his luck.

Some high school dropout with a hero complex and his doormat of a sister.

A kid with a broken arm. His youngest sibling, hugging her teddy bear to her chest.

Larry laughed to himself and booted the wooden board behind him. There was a low sizzle as it fell into the waterway and began to disintegrate. The kids were trapped. His gaze shifted back to the group.

“What do you think you’re doing, Isaiah?” said Larry in his metallic peal.

His voice sent a chill up the kids’ spines. It was sonorous and hollow, filling the entire corridor.

Isaiah didn’t reply. He only yanked his crowbar out of the still-locked gate. It was futile. He walked to the front of the group.

If Isaiah wouldn’t talk, Larry would. “It’s not too late for you to follow orders, young man. Get rid of them.”

Isaiah didn’t move.

The crime lord raised an eyebrow. “Interesting decision.” Larry lifted his crowbar with one hand and rested it over his shoulder as he advanced on Isaiah.

“Hold on, boss, I-”

Isaiah cut himself off as Larry swung his crowbar. The mobster managed to duck under the blow so that it connected with the wall instead. The stone bricks cracked under Larry’s strength.

There was no reasoning with this guy.

No one knew how they were going to take Larry down, but he couldn’t go after all of them at once. Everyone scattered across the room, but the littlest was too slow.

Larry grinned as he reached down and snatched Stephanie by her tiny arm.

“No!” cried Prince. He rushed towards the automaton.

The cat was quicker. Prince had almost forgotten it was there, but it leapt onto Larry’s face, scratching and hissing. He cursed and released Stephanie. Prince pulled her away and swept her into his arms as the mob boss reached for the feline instead.

Its claws did nothing except piss Larry off. He ripped the cat off his face and flung it aside as he straightened his tie. It hit the wall before sliding to the floor and going limp, still mewling pitifully.

Stephanie normally would have begun crying by now, but she must have known it was no use this time. She gazed down at the teddy bear in her hands. It was the only toy she’d been able to take with her when the siblings had left their parents. Its voice box didn’t work anymore, but she turned it over and looked at the pull-string attached to it. She looked up at the golden wind-up key on Larry’s back. Still in Prince’s arms, she reached for it.

Stephanie twisted the wind-up key counterclockwise with all her diminutive might while Larry’s back was still turned. A steely bang sounded from inside him, followed closely by the jarring noise of an engine backfiring. The automaton flinched violently. He nearly toppled over, but he caught himself and whirled around, lunging with his crowbar furiously as he did. Prince backpedaled hurriedly, but the very edge of the crowbar just barely caught Stephanie’s cheek, ripping off a layer of skin.

“Bastard!” roared Prince. He set Stephanie down behind him. She ran into her sister’s arms. Monica steered her over to Hadrian before she went to confront their aggressor.

The group had figured out Larry’s weak point, and now he was a lot more wary. Prince, Isaiah, and Monica circled around him, but he’d turn and lunge again whenever one of them took so much as a step towards him. The three comrades glanced at each other. They all knew one of them had to engage the automaton while another tried to reach his key, but none of them particularly wanted to be stomped into red paste.

Before anyone grew audacious enough to rush Larry, the kids heard yet another odd noise. There was a resonant clang as the automaton’s steel plates snapped apart along the seams. A deafening mechanical whirr filled the sewer. All of a sudden, there was a cyclone of buzzsaws where he’d been standing a second ago.

Larry charged at Prince, who had to dive out of the way to avoid being sliced to gory ribbons.

Blood sprayed against the stone brick wall. Prince cried out as he hit the cold floor. He’d been too slow. The blades had caught him anyway. Fortunately, his arm was still attached, but there were several deep lacerations. Larry had sliced him all the way to the bone.

A pool of red bloomed under Prince as he collapsed. Monica rushed over to where she’d dropped her first aid kit. With wounds like that, he was going to bleed to death if she didn’t do something, but she couldn’t get near Prince while Larry was standing between them.

The automaton’s buzzsaws ground to a stop and clicked back into his casing. His plates snapped shut again as he stood above Prince.

Larry had his back to Hadrian now. He was so close. He had to do something. Hadrian ripped the splint off his own arm. He knew he was probably about to make his injury worse, but that was far better than dying here.

As Larry raised his crowbar to finish Prince off, he felt a pair of hands on his wind-up key.

Hadrian turned the key counterclockwise. Larry grunted in pain again as even more of his gears jammed, but he swung his weapon behind himself immediately this time.

Hadrian reeled as the crowbar struck his torso. He gasped for breath as he hit the concrete. Great. Now he had both a cracked forearm and a cracked rib cage. Larry turned away from Prince, heading for Hadrian instead.

Monica bolted to Prince’s side and started tying a torniquet around his bleeding arm. As she tended to him, Isaiah stepped in between Larry and Hadrian.

Larry narrowed his eyes. “Get the fuck outta the way, kid.”

Isaiah didn’t.

Larry scoffed and brought his crowbar down upon Isaiah with one hand. Isaiah gripped his own weapon as hard as he could with both hands and held it up to shield himself.

Their weapons clashed. Isaiah staggered, but he managed to remain on his feet. His crowbar vibrated in his hands with the aftershock of Larry’s blow, but he maintained his grip on it.

Larry raised his eyebrows, mildly surprised. Perhaps Isaiah wasn’t as lanky as he’d thought. He shook his head at the mobster.

“Little shit. I gave you a job when you were about to be homeless, and this is how you repay me?”

Larry attacked again, grasping his crowbar with both hands now. Isaiah did lose his weapon this time. It skittered across the concrete and into the corrosive water.

Monica sprang for Larry’s wind-up key. He swung his crowbar into her face without looking at her. She flew back and hit the ground, unconscious. Prince dragged himself towards her. He was starting to become lightheaded from the blood loss.

Larry swung again. With nothing to guard himself with, Isaiah took the hit squarely in the chest. He crumpled to the floor, winded.

The automaton circled him. He gave the mafioso a kick in the ribs with his steel-toed shoe.

“Come on. Is that all you can take?”

Isaiah choked out a couple of choice words. “Fuck… yourself…”

Larry scowled and opened his mouth to speak, but the cat hauled itself from the stone floor and launched itself at his face again, caterwauling and clawing with renewed fervor.

That was all Prince needed. He scrambled to his feet and leapt at Larry’s key. He grabbed it with his uninjured arm and wrenched it counterclockwise one more time.

Something rattled inside the automaton. His gears shuddered to a halt. There was a hiss as steam escaped from the vents on his face. His glowing golden eyes blinked off.

Larry lurched forwards and hit the ground with a crash, deactivated.

Epilogue

Prince opened his eyes blearily. He instantly shut them again. The lights were unpleasantly bright. He tried to shield his face, but the ensuing jolt of pain jarred him fully awake. Oh, right. He’d taken a buzzsaw to the arm.

He used his other arm to cover his eyes as he opened them. Prince was lying in a hospital bed.

“How’s it going, man?” said a voice from the left.

The boy turned his head. Isaiah was in the next bed.

“Is everyone else alright?” Prince rasped.

“Yeah, looks like it. Hadrian and Monica are right over there,” Isaiah told him, gesturing with his head to his left. “And there’s the li’l one,” he added.

Prince looked at the bed across from him. Stephanie was clambering down. She ran over to Prince and grabbed his hand, bouncing excitedly. “You’re OK!” she exclaimed.

“Hey, Steph. Ow. Don’t do that,” Prince croaked as Stephanie jostled his bandaged arm, but he was smiling. “How did we get here?”

Isaiah let his head fall back onto his pillow, brow furrowed in thought. “Uh. You beat the big dude. Or disabled him, at least. I don’t know. You passed out right after, and then… I think I heard Stephanie crying for a while. Someone above us heard it, too. They lowered a ladder into the sewer. Yeah, there was another manhole above us, apparently, but no ladder attached. Hah,” Isaiah laughed shortly. “They thought we were mafiosos at first, but I guess they figured out we weren’t when they saw Larry on the ground. And then they brought us here.”

The hinges on the hospital door squealed as a nurse walked in. “Oh! Some of you are awake,” she observed. “Don’t disturb your big bro right now, young lady. He’s going to need a lot of rest,” the nurse told Stephanie as she carried her back over to her own hospital bed.

“As for you…” the nurse examined her clipboard. “Prince Aguilar? Emancipated minor…” she read. “I’ve been told that you got into a fight with Larry Clockturn. You’re all lucky to be alive.”

“You ain’t lying,” Isaiah muttered. The nurse shot him a look.

“You should all be fine once we’re done patching you up,” the nurse continued. “But…” She checked her clipboard again. “Monica Aguilar appears to have taken quite the blow to the head. We’re monitoring her, but we aren’t going to be able to assess if there’s any brain damage until she wakes up.”

Prince sat up. “Brain damage?”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. We would be able to tell by now if it was serious,” the nurse assured Prince, urging him back down onto the bed. “At most, she has a concussion. She’ll be alright.”

Prince lay down again gingerly. “OK… I guess.” He was silent for a moment… but he was also curious.

“What happened to Larry?”

“Larry Clockturn? The police are handling that. They haven’t given me many details, I’m afraid,” the nurse told Prince. “All I know is that they haven’t moved his body yet. And the so-called ‘purge’ is over, by the way. Most of the mafia turned tail and ran after they figured out Clockturn was gone,” she laughed. “National guard didn’t encounter much resistance after that.”

Prince didn’t ask anything else. It was the nurse’s turn, now.

“It says here that four of you are siblings. Prince, Monica, Hadrian, and Stephanie Aguilar. And Isaiah… Smith,” she said, walking over to Isaiah’s bed. “It is to my understanding that you are affiliated with the mafia.”

Isaiah’s eyes widened. “Uh, I mean, like-“

The nurse held up her hand to stop him. “I’m not a police officer, but don’t be surprised if they come in here to question you guys at some point. I just wanted to warn you about it, so you aren’t blindsided,” she explained.

“Yeah… yeah, OK. Cool,” said Isaiah, even though it was not at all cool.

The nurse nodded. “Well, that’s it for now,” she said as she turned to leave. “Just sit tight. The doctor will be along soon.”

Prince took a deep breath. Larry was deactivated. They were out of the sewers. The purge was over. They were in a hospital at last. Everything was fine again.

In the sewers, however, things were not so fine. Police tape lined the walls of the room Larry had collapsed in, cold and unmoving. Officers surrounded him.

One of them looked up at the manhole high above them. “We could airlift him…?”

“Through that tiny opening? I’m not so sure,” his Lieutenant responded. No one was certain about how they were going to get this colossus out of the sewer and into police custody.

“We might have to move him all the way through the tunnel. Into the nearest water-”

The officer was cut off and his head jerked back as a bullet pierced the middle of his forehead.

The other cops drew their service weapons. The round had come from the other side of the locked iron gate. They returned fire. So did their assailants.

There was no cover in the room. More officers dropped dead. One of them tried to speak into his radio. “Shots fired. All units to the 5th-”

He was shot dead as well before he could finish.

The Lieutenant glimpsed something through the metal bars of the gate. Something green and glowing. He fired reflexively. The round ricocheted off metal. He stared into the darkness, confused, but there was no time to ponder as bullets continued to whizz past his ears.

“We’re taking too many casualties! Fall back!” yelled the Lieutenant.

The remaining officers ran from the gate and disappeared around the bend of the tunnel, leaving Larry’s body behind.

The mobsters lowered their guns. Their leader, who had been watching from the back of the troupe, made her way to the iron gate. Her high heels clicked against the concrete. The sound echoed through the now-quiet passageway.

She towered above her cohorts. The lock on the gate broke easily as she raised her slender arm and forced it open with one hand.

The lady reached the felled automaton. She walked around his inert figure and clicked her tongue in disapproval.

“Take him,” she ordered.

The mobsters, with some difficulty, lifted him up and carried him into the small speedboat they’d used to traverse the sewer’s water channels. The motor roared to life.

As the helmsman steered them back to the river outside, he glanced at his boss. “We’re not gonna reactivate him, Miss Gearwise?”

“No,” she answered shortly.

“Then… what are you going to do with him?”

The lady’s icy gaze fell on Larry. The corners of her metallic green lips curved up into a small smirk.

“I have a few ideas.”

[mechaknight-98]

Gathering Part II: Primal Empathy

Warning: there's going to be quite a bit of mtg nerd in this section along with some heavy topics.

I "Hey Tj, why haven't you played this deck?" Yujin asked me as I worked on cataloging things for the collector.

"That's Volrath… I don't think you all would like playing against it," I replied.

"Why not?" Yujin asked, looking confused.

"Well, simply put, this is my deck. So originally, it was an ooze kindred deck, but as I put more time into the deck, it changed and evolved into something else. It kinda became a part of me, and for better or for worse, it is the deck that is most reflective of me. I don't think others should be exposed to that, especially since it's not always the best to be around. Needless to say, it is no longer that pauper deck it once was," I explained to Yujin.

"Okay. Well, I want to see it, so bring it to the next game night. I want to see you as you see yourself," Yujin said, determined.

I laughed before countering, "You're a little minx, you know that?"

"Yeah, but you like me like this," Yujin replied playfully. "Wait, I thought you didn't have a 'signature deck'? I know you said that to everyone when we first played."

"Oh no, it's not my signature deck. This is a manifestation of all I am as a player. It has all my pet cards, all my favorite effects, and all my best and worst quirks and ticks as a deck builder, which makes the deck extremely true to me," I responded.

"I'd call that a signature deck," Yujin corrected me.

"I wouldn't, but only because in my mind for something to be 'signature', you have to sign off on it, and I refuse to sign off on that deck," I said.

"Ominous," Yujin teased.

"Yeah… Sorry about that. Got a little in my head there. It's just been tough, you know, the whole thing with Astrid has got me out of sorts," I rationalized.

"Really? What happened?" Yujin asked, sounding concerned.

"She'll tell you that it was how I dealt with her mom, but this is about her new girlfriend," I answered.

"Didn't you tell her to try dating again? Are you mad it's not a guy?" Yujin asked, hesitantly.

"No, despite my Christian upbringing, I don't care about her choice. Well, I do… Her partner is bad news," I responded, honestly.

"Oh? Why do you think so?" Yujin asked, surprised.

"She uses her intelligence to lord over others in a subtle way that many don't realize what's going on," I explained.

"How so?" Yujin asked, curious.

"She thinks you are inferior to her because we are dating because she thinks I am immature. So when she said, 'Oh, you're dating him, that's understandable,' in a tone that reads, 'You could be doing better,' I felt belittled," I quantified.

"But you have said I can do better numerous times," Yujin pointed out.

"True, but that's all in fun. You like to tease, so I am trying to match your energy," I explained.

"Oh really? So what do you think?" Yujin interrogated.

Not falling for her trap, I gave her the honest answer that wouldn't show too much of my anxieties or self, "I think you are one of the most spectacular girls I know. Also, I am lucky to have been smitten with you and you with me. Lastly, your sincerity makes me want to be more refined in who I am and match that."

"Oh, you're such a charmer, also weirdly flexible," Yujin teased.

"How so?" I inquired, intrigued.

Yujin hesitated as she thought of a clear way to say what was on her mind. "You always seem so burdened to keep the peace that you shift yourself to do so, whether it's edh or socially. I don't think you've ever intentionally overstepped your bounds."

"Well yeah, obviously not. Why would I?" I asked, confused.

"Because we need to create space to be who we are!" Yujin asserted, almost yelling.

"Oh, right," I said.

Yujin smiled, then leaned in closer. "So tell me. Who are you behind the mask?"

"You'll have to stay tuned to find that answer," I responded before kissing her. She blushed before smiling and kissing me back.

A couple of days later it's game night and I am on my getting ready. when I leave my apartment and before I can space sift over to Yujin's I am accosted by my ex-partner.

"Well if it isn't Agent Muraganda. I am surprised to see you so far out this way." I groan

"Agent Kylem. I knew I should have killed you instead of listening to Artio." I lament

"Still to the point. Good that will make this easier." Kylem praises

"Enough small talk I gotta be somewhere soon." I sigh

"Oh, you think you can take me?" Kylem Inquires

"You have been out of the game for a while so you may not be aware of where I am at," I say

Kylem smiled then summoned his dual swords, "So confident! Let's see if it's well-founded." he taunted.

I get in a fighting stance ready to face him. He runs to me with a wild lunge. I dodge and kick him in the chest as he rolls behind me. I summon a smile rifle to keep him at a distance. He smiles and slashes through my bullets while avoiding the ones he can't cut. He kept running and when he got close I had to block with the rifle. he attempted a lucky slash which I blocked and parried with the rifle bayonett. Kylem slid back. He smiled maliciously.

"You know I always thought your guns were so cool. how you could kill at range but then I realized you are a weakling." as Kylem spoke he got a lucky shot and stabbed through my face…from then on the mask fell off and he was a dead man. an intense green ichor mixed with red blood drips from my face as my aura tries to repair the damage. I remove my hand and look to Kylem who can only look in terror.

"I will eradicate you." I yell Kylem looks at me terrified as I grab him and space-sift him to a place where I can "stretch out." my aura opens up and one head pops out of it and becomes one of the Lami-Orochi the unyielding's heads. Kylem looks in terror.

"Let me beat you with your toys," I say as menace drips from my tone and I point to Kylem. Copies of his weapons begin to fly at him from every direction, and to his credit, he manages quite well, for thirty seconds, until I send more, then some more, and more. I watch as his body becomes a pin cushion for copies of his blades. I snap to stop the blades and approach the bloodied brawler. "I told you what would happen if we fought again."

"What happened to you?" Kylem asked gurgling his last few words.

"You of all people should know. I got hungry and bored and "ate" my way to more power." I said before stomping the last lights out of his eyes.

when I was done I space-sifted back home to get clean, then I called Artio and said "I cleaned up your "mess". It's in Death Valley. you know the "proper dumping spot"

Artio responded, "Theodore what did you do to Kylem?"

"I fulfilled the promise I made the last time we fought. You honestly should be thanking me he can't hurt anyone anymore." I tease

"We will talk about this later!" Artio commands

"Um no we won't it was self-defense and I don't work for BRIPE anymore. This was just a courtesy call." I say calmly

"What's gotten into you?" Artio questions

"I don't know my ex-best friend who tried to kill me just tried to kill me again," I argue

"Point taken, but we do need to talk. Not as boss and employee but as friends."Artio concedes

"Every time I have needed a Friend the only one I could count on was me…and I guess Yujin now…huh that's a weird emotion I am feeling," I say as I process everything that has gone on today. I hang up on Artio before heading to Yujin's I see Volrath The Shapestealer sitting on the shelf, and I consider leaving it, but then I remember her words from the other day and stow it just in case.

I arrive outside the dorm still somehow earlier than everyone else. Wonyoung and Gaeul are still here along with Yujin and Rei. Yujin in an admirable attempt to bridge the gap has me sit with Gaeul and Wonyoung. They are still wary of me despite my withdrawal From BRIPE, but hey what can you do? Seeing Yujin's worried look I realize something. there is no point in attempting to appeal to Wonyoung and Gaeul. I should only appeal to the person I care about here.

"Yah Yujin-ah your sisters are giving me dirty looks," I say as I walk to her. she looks at me shocked

"What are you doing?" Yujin whispers.

"What I came here for. To hang out with the best 4th gen idol ever." I said loudly

Rei interjected "Me."

I turn to Rei and tease, "Sadly no but you are exceptionally talented and I will support you. I came to hang out with Yujin. The Ace of Aces. The all-around all-rounder." I turn back to Yujin who blushes. Gaeul and Wonyoung follow into the kitchen.

"Oh don't act to be all lovey-dovey with us." Wonyoung challenges.

I scoff at Wonyoung.

"Act??? This is not an act. This woman is Mucho Caliente, she is a star whom I am lucky to have interested in me. All the love I have for her is not an Act. I scoff at your insistence it is."

Gaeul looks at me and begins to laugh. then quickly recomposes herself, but it is too late my silliness got her, Now for Wonyoung.

"if this isn't an act then why are you so tense with us."

I had to be careful in my response. I had to be witty and not overbearing. so I went for it.

"Well isn't obvious? I am surrounded by some of the hottest young ladies I have ever seen, and so I stumble…I am excluding Leeseo from that she is firmly in the cute category for obvious reasons." Leeseo who happened to be walking by looked at me sad and then confused before laughing at me.

Wonyoung was still unconvinced, "Oh really big scary BRIPE agent is afraid of pretty girls?"

"Yes 100 percent no hesitation, now it gets easier each day, minus the urge to talk someone's ear off about my special interest but hey, that is neither he nor there," I respond to Wonyoung's challenge.

Wonyoung's eyes narrow, "You expect me to believe that talking to women is harder than fighting monsters?" Wonyoung questioned

"Definitely. Fighting monsters is easy just roar and hit them harder than they hit you." talking to y'all is hard, there are all these unsaid rules and etiquette things I have to follow it's exhausting." I answered

"So how are you being so eloquent now?" Wonyoung rebuked

"Because I am treating you all as monsters or villains, and this is battle banter. I mean everyone here is a demi-human minus me a psionic so I figure why not." I rebutted

Wonyoung erupted into a laughter fit hearing that it was so intense that she began snorting, and that's how I knew I got her.

"You're so dumb." she teased

"Nun-uh," I said and Wonyoung began bursting into laughter again. I found her energy and I matched it.

Wonyoung's laughter subsided, "I still don't trust you."

"I don't care besides I got you. We're friends now." I counter

"You seem confident." Wonyoung asserts

"Well yeah, I got you to laugh. that's my win condition, in social spaces." I retort

"what?" Wonyoung asks

"Well that's what this is right a game, and games have winners and losers, I learned that my best strategy is to get to people by either being the most bombastic and memorable person I can or getting them to laugh. Yours Yujin is the overwhelming charm. you charm people with your grace and wit so everyone has no choice but to like you. Wonyoung's is delicateness and nobility. My only proof of this is how many people call your princess all the time. Gaeul's is her grace and poise. she is regal and dignified in her presentation so she garners positive attention. this all manifests to win cons. or to put it simply the acknowledgment of your social skill working. for me that's laughs. If I can get you to Laugh we're friends. Unless I don't want to be." I elucidate

Wonyoung looks at me stunned, before saying "Well played then Paladin."

"Oh, I like that Princess wony. You're going to have to keep that one." I say to Wonyoung who blushes and laughs some more. I move closer to Yujin who is all smiles at this point. "I think we are good to go right?" I ask Yujin. she nods.

"Well then (I clap my hands) Onwards to Yunjin's for game night," I say enthusiastically. Yujin and the rest of her present group members laughed some more.

On our way out Wonyoung corners me and says, “Since you are Yujin's boyfriend and you're not backing down can I ask a favor?”

“Sure,” I say

“Keep her safe,” Wonyoung responds

“As long as she lets me I will,” I reply

“Spoken like a true paladin.” Wonyoung teases

“Requested like a true Princess,” I say

“Okay, Pally now go on help Wonyoung beat Yujin, Connor, Sakura, and Siyeon.” Wonyoung edicts

“Ya know what I will,” I affirm

after that Yujin and I begin the trek to Yunjin's. while on the way Yujin says "So I have bad news Tj."

"What is it?" I ask hesitantly

"My label says we can't date." She says

"I figured that but we are not dating I am courting you; there's a difference." I correct

"My label doesn't see it that way," Yujin says

"So what does that mean?" I ask

"Well, We have to cut this off." Yujin states

"Ahn Yujin I swear on all that is bizarre and unexplainable…"I start but realize something halfway through," You know what I will humor you."

"Oh really and why is that?" Yujin questions suspicous

"Because you have stolen my heart and I want you to be happy and I think you are in the same boat. I don't think you can do it." I assert

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yujin asks

"Well I think you are as in love with me as I am with you, and it leads me to believe that I don't think you can cut me off. Also, I think your label may be preparing one of the girls for a dating scandal but that's irrelevant." I postulate

"Oh really Mr. Know it all and why do you assume that?" Yujin questions

"Just a hunch, but yeah I will humor you. So how does this change things between us." I ask

"No hanging out alone one on," Yujin says

"We barely did that?" I reply

"No PDA." Yujin states

"Again that's something that seldom happens," I reply again

"No…" Yujin starts

Tiring of this game I decided to predict her next statement"Ooh Ooh let me guess, no intimacy whatsoever."

"How did you?" Yujin starts

"I've read your company's dating policy because I realized this would be an issue. So I began courting you instead." I explain

We arrive at Yunjin's not long after. Connor opens the door and greets us.

"Oh good it's Theo and Yujin. I can't wait to play against your Sultai pirates deck Theo." Dexter says as we walk in. Eunbi smacks his neck

"I know you're excited but greet them properly." Eunbi scolds

"Hi guys ( I turn to Eunbi.) Once a leader always a leader huh?" I say pleasantly as Yujin also greets everyone.

Eunbi blushes.

"How is my favorite interracial couple," Yunjin says as she walks into the dorm's living room.

"Oh us we aren't a couple anymore," I say teasing Yujin who hits me.

"Ah Whae?" Yunjin quesitons

"OH, what happened," Connor asks.

"My company found out about us and told us to break it off," Yujin says as I gesture to her.

"Jinja" Eunbi says shocked Yujin nods Dexter being the blunt one says

"But wait you two came here." I nod and then respond to something he said earlier

"Oh before I forget I am sorry Dexter there will be no Sultai Pirates today. It will be Sultai Toolbox instead."

"Sultai toolbox?" Yunjin asks

"Sultai toolbox," I affirm

"Who's the commander?" Siyeon asks

"Oh, Volrath the Shapestealer," I answer

"How does it work?" Sakura asks as the sometimes fellow Sultai player.

"You'll see," I say as we all sit down.

In tonight's game knight is headed dragon. All the "Couples" were paired off. So the pairs were; Yunjin, Connor, Dexter, Eunbi, Sakura Siyeon, Yujin, and me. We all sit down and reveal commanders. Connor looks at mine and reads it "Huh I haven't seen it in a while."

"yeah I don't like bringing it out but I can't bring myself to dismantle it," I explain

"Okay, how strong is it?" Dexter asks

"About as strong as your Omnath locus of the roil deck." I clarify Dexter nods and this causes everyone to bring out their "Signature decks. Yunjin and Connor won the roll-off

"Ah Tj-ah you can go first I wanna see how good Volrath is," Yunjin said. Connor looks at her before saying

"No you know how he builds and he says this deck is as strong as Dex's omnath deck." Connor tries to

"It will be fine. we can afford to lose a game. besides we can do what we always have done and gang up on them." Yunjin replies. her smug, and confident look wears down Connor. Typically the competitor in me would be all about wiping the smirk off her face but I am trying not to give into the other part of me I can feel waking up We unfurl our playmats and Yujin sees mine.

"What Happened?" she said I looked down and saw it was my Fromis_9 Playmat.

"I have played with this loads of times," I say to Yujin. She pouts and says

"BUT I like your IVE one. Where is that one?"

"I had to wash it. it was covered in dust." I explain. Yujin scowls, and pouts

"You sure you two are cutting it off," Yunjin interjects.

I shrug which makes everyone laugh. I open the deck box and set Volrath the Shapestealer down with his deck box close by. I take it out and set it down I begin to sit up and a familiar silence begins to overtake me. Siyeon sees it and comments on it. "Tj-ah are you alright?" I look at her and I see apprehension in her eyes. I blink as I try to mask the hostility that is arising within me.

"Yeah, I am feeling great why?"I lie

"Your eyes are glowing with your aura," Sakura responds

I nod and say "Yeah my powers activate when I am in tune with myself and this deck is the most I have been "in tune with myself" I explain. Yunjin smiles and says

"that's so cool."

"I assure you it's not as cool as you think," I say saddened to Yunjin

"Ooh Ominous" Eunbi teases, and I smile seeing where Yujin gets her 4D personality from.

our first turn goes by fast as I play Barkchannel Pathway into Sol Ring, into Arcane Signet into Sol talisman. I probably should have done Mystic Remora which was also in my hand but I know one of the other blue players probably would have countered that. so I let them have their moment to breathe as they all played their various turn-one plays.

I begin to see the gears in Connor's head turning as he faces Yujin. he gestures to my board and says "That's a turn two commander". as he plays commander turn one. as does Yujin

"Okay, so I am the problem when you both have two powerhouse commanders out turn one?" Yujin nods and says to her boyfriend

"He's right because we know Kkura Siyeon, Eunbi, and Dex are going to start explosive."

"But it's Theo we have all seen how he plays. We are being tricked." Connor pleads.

"I assure you There is no deception going on," I say

"Oh, really you just expect us to trust the Sultai player and the Jund player." Kkura teases

Yujin and I shrug at the same time which causes a riot at the table.

"Seriously you two are perfect for each other." Yunjin says in between laughs." Kkura nods in affirmation. after that Siyeon and Sakura go with draw engines for their turn ones. Sylvan Library for Sakura (She was Playing Tymna Hana I believe) and Siyeon was playing Evelyn the covetous. so her turn was a rhystic study turn one.

"Hey, Kkura or Connor how is Giselle? I haven't seen her in a while."

"Oh, she is dating this new girl Erin…I think is her name. she's a vampire like Yujin and Aeri." Connor says.

"OH, what type?" Yujin asks brightly

"Nightstar. if I remember correctly."

"Cool it will be awesome to have another Vamp to hang out with."

I give Connor a thanks and a thumbs up while also noticing the wince in his voice describing Erin which makes me believe she may be less than friendly but hey anything is better than HER. I think to myself. I watch as Dex plays more disciplined magic and doesn't feed Rhsytic study except to kill it with a clutch turn one nature's claim. Eunbi on the other hand explodes her hand all over the battlefield dropping artifact and ending it all with an Esper Sentinel. "Ah, Noona what did I say about feeding Rhystic study." Eunbi turns to Dexter and sighs as she remebers.

"Play under it because it is an incredibly powerful spell," Eunbi says.

"Yeah but why couldn't you just wait till I cast Claim before casting all your stuff."

"Well I got excited I finally got turn one sol ring and a fellwar stone," Eunbi says elatedly. Dexter relents in his frustration and nestles closer into the tiny woman. I smile at their relationship. My hostility is replaced by a firm sense of longing for something similar to what the Inuit/Russian young man and the Korean young woman have. It sent a pain in my chest that was painful but not unpleasant just dull.

"Tj-ah you're crying," Yujin says bringing me back to reality.

"Oh sorry Eunbi and Dexter are just so cute together," I say as I wipe my eyes.

"Oh don't be such a softy." Yujin teases

"Why not you love that about me." I retort

"Yeah, but I can't love you right now so stop it," Yujin says and we share a laugh as does the rest of the table. it gets back to Yujin and I turn and she begins with Birds of Paradise and another flyer with Death touch that I couldn't remember the name of. I play a Zagoth triome, honored Hierarch, and a mystic remora, and the rest of the table looks at me with confusion. This begins the arms race between Sakura and Siyeon, versus Connor and Yunjin. Yunjin is worried because Kkura is playing one of her stronger decks as is Siyeon and they've already had really strong starts. this at least allows Yujin and I to have some breathing room. Something I was going to take advantage of. So on our next turn (after drawing 5 cards off Mystic Remora I pay for the fish then I play my commander as does Yujin. I put a -1-1 counter on the Avacyn Yunjin swung with and passed. Unsurprisingly Yunjin's next move after getting avacyn is a board wipe. everyone who isn't Connor or Yujin groans including Yujin but I pay one and make all of our stuff indestructible. Several eyes widen upon seeing this. after that, the table begins to hate Yujin and me while letting Connor and Yunjin acquire value, but the issue is a lot of the deck is just protected because of the avacyn of one player, the Shalai of another, and so forth. Eventually, it culminates at turn 5 where I make my commander a copy of scute swarm and crack two fetch lands making three of my commanders but with Scute Swarm's name, at this point, I don't have a lock but I do have a lot of exceptionally strong pieces that make the game incredibly hard for everyone else. The only issue was getting through Avacyn. So I did the smart thing and just kept needling damage through slowly but surely. waiting for a mistake to be made, and it did. Yunjin went for a massive board wipe due to her avacyn being out. my response was simple. I exiled avacyn after making Volrath a copy of her then watched the board be destroyed and cleaned up the wreckage from there securing one of our first wins together. Yujin was all smiles as she turned to me and hugged me tight. when she broke the hug the look she had was so full of affection and care, and with everything that happened over the last week and a half I just broke. I ran out of the dorm back to California.

Is Tj, okay Yunjin asks

I'd assume not really he's been dumped twice now in the span of two weeks. First by Astrid and now by Yujin that has to be wearing on him Connor says to Yunjin

He's carrying it much better than I thought he would. Yunjin says with a smile

I guess but honestly I think he's one bad day from full supervillain at this point. Connor replies

Nah he's to gives me too many st Bernard vibes to turn evil. Yunjin counters

You do realise Cujo was a st Bernard. Connor replies

Yeah one with rabies, and besides Tj protects us and himself so well that he would never go feral unless it's for Yujin because he is down bad for her. Yunjin says

Yeah he is extremely down bad for her but, I don't know that game he just played showed me some worrying traits of his Connor replies

Like what Yunjin questions

When I'm down I go to either the beach or the tar pits. Today was a tar pits day. I found a nice quiet corner and I cried for a good while. I cried about losing Astrid, losing Yujin, losing Kylem, losing my job. Thankfully it was in private so I could be alone at least for a little bit. While I sat there I got a message from Yujin.

Through the tears I began singing “Hated” by beartooth which provided some comfort at least

"Please come." It said. So I got up and space sifted to the dorm. I walked in as it was unlocked and went to the living room where Yujin, Wonyoung, and Gaeul were sitting. Yujin's face was puffy and full of tears I watch as Wonyoung glares at me along with Gaeul.

Why did you leave me Yujin asked me

My response was a simple one do you want the honest answer or the one that will be easier to here.

Before Gaeul could even speak I turn to her and say I am aware she is hurt and my affectation is unpleasant but this is between us so please reserve judgementuntil after we converse.

Gaeul and wonyoung both Glared at me but said nothing Yujin on the other hand through sobs said I want the truth do you hate Me do you want to leave and never come back.

I thought about my answer for a moment then I responded, Darling I love you and want to be with you like the sky and the horizon, but I want to respect your wishes and you told me to back off. So I did. Also its been a rough few weeks these last few days

Yujin blushed and looked at me with awe and confusion then she asked, wait really? Tell me everything

Not seeing the harm I did

Yujin hears me out and progressively gets more invested and saddened by my words. After my little tale she says, I had no idea Tj

I shrug and say I didn't want to really worry anyone. Ya know got a reputation to uphold.

Yujin groans as she stares at me well then let's see how we can fix this. she says

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

Cartoons made by good people (yes, even Nickelodeon)

I'm going to tell you the name and shows of some GOOD cartoon creators first, then I'll tell you the BAD

SpongeBob Squarepants (made by Stephen Hillenburg, who refused to put SpongeBob in school, even though Nickelodeon pressured him, so he put SpongeBob in boating school. They also called out Dirty Dan in an episode of SpongeBob)

Marvin The Tap-Dancing Horse (made by Betty and Michael Paraskevas, mother and son do who worked on the books too)

Maggie and the Ferocious Beast (also made by Betty and Michael Paraskevas)

Wallace & Gromit/Shaun the Sheep (made by Bob Baker, Nick Park, and the Shaun the sheep show was made Richard Starzack)

Camp Lazlo (made by Joe Murray, who made Rocko's modern life but he made Camp Lazlo and Lets Go Luna way more family friendly)

Fifi and The Flowertots (made by Keith Chapman, who also made Bob the Builder but this show's 1000 times better than Bob the builder)

CatDog (made by Peter Hannan who I'm assuming is a good guy, I think they called out Dirty Dan in an episode but it was more subtle)

Rugrats (made by Arlene Klasky and Gabor Csupso. I think they also called out Dirty Dan in Rugrats and originally they wanted to make Angelica a nice character instead of bad)

The Backyardigans (made by Janice Burgess, who I don't know much about, but I feel bad she recently died and they made a reboot that looks hideous, just a month after she died)

Curious George (The guy who wrote the books had to escape war, Curious George books have been around for a long time. The stories were also ahead of their time)

So those were all the GOOD people

So with all the news of cartoon creators ending up being secretly monsters behind the scenes, and it's mostly Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. These are the BAD people! Dirty Dan Schnieder didn't make cartoons, but he made a lot of sitcoms. There were other p*dophiles at Nickelodeon besides him, and I'll name them. John Kricfalusi, who made Ren & Stimpy, is also a horrible perverted freak who did what Dan did. There was a guy from Cartoon Network (Kyle Corrozza I beleive is his name) who got arrested for having CP on his computer, but he didn't touch anyone from what I heard. Dirty Dan and John K are the worsts! Butch Hartman is also a weirdo too, but I just know him as being ableist and a womanizer. I don't think he did anything dirty to children, although I have seen some suspicious things in Fairy odd parents. We all know who this b**** Vivziepop is, right? That chick who created Hazbin Hotel and bodyshamed an animator, treated her animators poorly, made fun of religion, and romanticized a r*pe scene!

[holmesillustrations]

Left: “It was more than a stain. It was the well-marked print of a thumb.” Norwood Builder, FD Steele, Colliers Oct 31 1903 Characters: Watson, Lestrade, Holmes

Right: “I held him in my arms.” Boscombe Valley, Sidney Paget, The Strand Oct/Nov 1891 Characters: James and Charles McCarthy

[artistic-lj]

Okay so I “made” a new gender apathetic/apagender flag because the one I found/we have was just kinda lacking for me?? Like it’s okay and I don’t dislike it, but I thought it needed something

So the current one, according to gender fandom wiki or whatever (https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Gender_Apathetic), is by @pridearchive (idk why I can’t tag them but I also just don’t understand tumblr so oh well)

But anyway, I’m not a huge fan of the fact that a lot of the definition relies upon the usage of the word “lazy” a lot, because like, while it’s true that laziness and apathy are similar, they are not the same. I was confused for MONTHS as to why everyone around me cared so much about their gender, both cis and trans people, and I just didn’t. Like, I thought my dad might understand cause we talk about queer stuff all the time and he was like “???… but I am a man, that’s just a fact… are you saying there’s people who don’t care??” And that confused me more cause I was like “wait even cis people care that much about their gender expression??” Because for me, I thought that trans people really cared about their gender identity and expression because of the dysphoria they dealt with from being born as the opposite sex. So, to hear that cis people also have a strong sense of gender and really care about the way they present and are perceived threw me for a loop.

So I went down this rabbit hole for, as stated previously, MONTHS, just trying to figure out if anyone felt the way I did because I felt fucking crazy. No one else spoke about not caring about their gender identity, not caring if someone called them a guy or a girl or something in between. I found labels like Aporagender (“a gender identity that is neither masculine, feminine or inbetween the two but nonetheless involves a strong sense of gender; a term similar to maverique.” - https://en.pronouns.page/dictionary/terminology#aporagender) and genderfluid (“a gender that varies, or changes over time.” - https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Genderfluid) and bigender (“a gender identity which can be literally translated as 'two genders' or 'double gender'.” - https://gender.fandom.com/wiki/Bigender) but none of them felt right, even if I liked their flags.

But then, out of frustration, I decided to google “what is it called when you don’t care about your gender” and gender apathetic popped up. And I read the description and I felt so… understood. I felt like, no matter how small the group was, I had finally found people who understood me and felt the way I did. And then, because I’m annoying and visual, I saw the flag… and I was just… feeling very… ehhh…

Like, the brown, purple/lavender/light blue, white, and gray on their own aren’t inherently bad, but something about it just felt bland and… nothing like the sense of relief I felt when discovering I wasn’t alone.

And then I clicked through onto the post about the meanings of each color and began to like it even less

But, I pushed forward, ignoring my dislike of the color arrangement and meanings behind them and sharing my newfound label/identity and flag with my friends. I finally felt like I had something I understood.

That is, until one night when I got bored. And I started searching for flag makers to see what was out there. I came across a Reddit post about a custom flag builder (https://www.reddit.com/r/lgbt/comments/ooz3tb/custom_pride_flag_builder/) which lead me to Team Ultima’s custom pride flag maker: https://www.teamultima.org/flag/

Needless to say, as an artist and someone who’s nitpicky about colors and designs, I was stoked to find something that allowed so much creative control! After messing around with it for a bit, I made this:

Now, I know it’s not really that different from the current flag. But, to me, this feels a lot more balanced and cohesive. With the one by pridearchive, the “light blue,” which we all know is just lavender tbh, was the only color that had a bright saturation besides the white. Our eyes are naturally drawn to it and this does not allow our eyes to flow along the flag and take it all in. We kinda see the purple and get stuck there. Not only that, because we expect white to be in the middle of pride flags (as well as Im sure a lot of other color theory reasons that I’m not knowledgeable enough to know of or explain), the flag felt top heavy and uneven, with no equivalent saturated color along the bottom. The flag was lacking horizontal symmetry and I think/hope I did a good job of bringing it to this flag without it feeling like it’s too much or too little.

With all that being said here are my/the new and improved color meanings:

Brown - The natural human desire to find a sense of belonging and community, even if said community is formed around having a label for not caring about labels. It can also represent the warmth and security felt by having a label that represents how you truly feel.

Light Blue - A feeling of tranquility and peace towards one’s gender identity and expression

White - The limitless void of possibilities in which one can express themselves

Lavender - The mixture of all genders, feminine, masculine, neither, and everything in between

Gray - Lack of gender stagnation, not caring if one’s gender presentation is not as simple as black or white

Anyway, I’ve never posted anything like this before so… lemme know if I’m totally doing it wrong and all my color meanings are terrible and way off base or whatever. I’m gonna make a separate post of just the flag and the color meanings and whatever so that people don’t have to read all my dumb backstory to get to the actual “redesign” 💅💅

[themculibrary]

Clint And Laura (Claura) Masterlist 2

part one

blow a kiss ; fire a gun (ao3) - daredoll M, 12k

Summary: First day on the job and she gets handed a train wreck; you could say that Laura Mitchell’s hard work hasn’t exactly paid off in the way she expected it to. Still, she’s read the SHIELD handbook at least eight times by now so she’s sure she can more than handle some upstart carnie with a bow kink who somehow managed to beat her training score without even going through the academy.

Spoiler Alert: she’s wrong.

Distraction (ao3) - woamx G, 875

Summary: Clint gets a phone call right before having to go out on the field with his teammates.

Five Years in a Blink (ao3) - Gnb_rules M, 3k

Summary: Laura knows the world has changed in the past five years, and in the days after she and the kids return from The Blip, she realizes that she needs to learn how much of her husband has changed as well. Clint/Laura, post Endgame. Mentions of a very loving and deep but platonic Clintasha friendship. Please see tags for more info/warnings.

here is my hand that will not harm you (ao3) - andibeth82 T, 18k

Summary: It starts the day they assign him to Laura Morse.

It starts as something he wants nothing to do with.

And then, it becomes something more.

I'm Not Going Anywhere (ao3) - aberrations_reality T, 3k

Summary: They swore they were going to take it slow. They did. They really did. But Clint has always been terrible at planning; has always had the worst timing. At this point it was probably a curse. So it only made sense that the second he pulled out the ring the window shattered in a spray of bullets and glass.

Never far from home (ao3) - RedBatons T, 112k

Summary: Clint is crazy. Laura already knew this. But this time, Clint was seriously out of his mind crazy. He had one job, to kill the deadliest assassin known to man. And then he decides to keep her like a lost puppy found on the streets. But Laura trusts Clint. The Black Widow, not so much. A story about Laura and Nat's friendship over the years.

One thing, and three people that Laura loves (a non exclusive list) (ao3) - Maia_saura G, 1k

Summary: Laura loved math. She had loved math since the second grade. Other than an intense but ill-advised fling with theoretical physics right before the start of her graduate program, she and math had shared a rewarding and monogamous relationship.

Reconnecting (The Reclamation Remix) (ao3) - Huntress79 M, 2k

Summary: Sometimes, Laura thinks she has two babies instead of just one - her husband’s lingering trauma from his latest mission makes life at the farm not exactly easier, for no one. Until one night, it does. Or: how Clint and Laura overcome trauma and reconnect with each other.

she sees better from a distance (ao3) - andibeth82 T, 8k

Summary: This is the story everyone knows: Clint Barton is SHIELD’s best sniper. Laura Barton is the simple girl who fell into his life and learned to deal with aliens and spies; with secrets and firearms and security.

In this story, Laura Martinelli is SHIELD’s best sniper. Clint Barton is the man she falls in love with, and he’s never even heard of SHIELD.

Sleep Number Rule (ao3) - RecessiveJean T, 7k

Summary: Farm or not, Clint always had a firm policy against bringing home strays.

Well.

Firm ish.

The Ghost of Christmas Past (ao3) - mitchpell T, 28k

Summary: Clint takes his children to New York City to see Rogers: The Musical.

The Girl at the Circus (ao3) - Hogwartswonderland N/R, 3k

Summary: At the beginning of their partnership, Clint told Natasha a story of a beautiful acrobat nicknamed Rapunzel and how he fell in love with her. Five years later Natasha still doesn't know how the story ends. Well, until now. Otherwise the story of how Natasha met Clint's family for the first time.

This little light (ao3) - Builder G, 1k

Summary: “Daaaad!”

The complaint has Clint turning on his heel.  “What now?”

He looks at the coffee pot still in his hand and wonders what the fuck he did with his mug.  And more urgently, how the fuck is he going to get the coffee into his body without it.

we belong to those who live (ao3) - daughterofrohan G, 2k

Summary: The absurdity of the fact that he’s crying in his kitchen with the assassin sister of his dead assassin best friend who was hired to kill him and has only just recently decided not to do it after all almost makes Clint laugh.

You're Here Where You Should Be (ao3) - paperairplanesopenwindows T, 1k

Summary: Summary/Prompt Used: Natasha’s first Christmas with the Bartons + Clint and Laura’s first Christmas with Cooper doesn’t go exactly as planned + (an itty bitty little bit of) If love is for children, then so is Christmas. Clint’s determined to convince Natasha otherwise.

you were more than just a short time (ao3) - mayadrinkswater G, 2k

Summary: laura barton is all-too-familiar with the antics of her husband and his best friend. they always, even in the most serious and near-fatal of missions, come back with a good story. they've perfected their ability to recall them, too, in a near perfect push-and-pull that almost seems rehearsed even though laura knows that it isn't. laura never expected to miss it so much.

or

three times clint and natasha bring a good story home and the one time clint brings a new stray home in the form of kate bishop

[maximuswolf]

Games like Inscryption

Games like Inscryption I’m playing through Inscryption right now and I am LOVING it. I haven’t really played any deck builders before and I’m really enjoying it. Is there anything else out there like Inscryption that is a deck builder, but also has a great story and some puzzles? Submitted November 02, 2024 at 07:32AM by Glass-Scarcity3683 https://ift.tt/FEadTOw via /r/gaming

[nic-liveblogs]

those mk & lloyd parallels got HANDS, any new thoughts on that or their interactions? (maybe save this ask till after the special, cuz uh... something occurs)

i hear you and i see you ok 😭😭 its just that these past 2 weeks have been incredibly busy for me and also lack of motivation 🫠

but i just got covid so perfect excuse to finally think about this 😭 problem is that i mightve forgotten alot about lmk at this point so bear with me 💀

i think this mightve been mentioned in like previous posts but lloyd and mk just training and like talking about life would be very special to meeeee!! id love to see how our 2 protags of east asian inspired lego shows would interact!! idk they could go get therapy together because they are both very messed up theyd ask each other to seek help and then say nooo im fiiinee, bonding over secretive mentors me thinks like why do they do they keep secrets all the time!!! like idk id love a swap au between these 2 they r very interesting to me.. also both of them getting betrayed suckss. they could learn somthing from each other like lloyd is more wise in like the master wu sorta way and i think mk could teach him to let loose a little.. also they can both go apeshit mode hehehehehe i think ive already mentioned this in like another ask

..

i think red son would remind lloyd alot of him when he was younger like idk they try so hard to be evil but they got that goodness in them yk 😔😔

i think that applies to kai in the hotheaded sense like hes grown so much since he was 15 and i think hed want to help red son in the way he helped wyldfyre as well

..

lloyd: so yeah my great grandma is like a dragon..??

nya: and i turned into a dragon once!!

mei: thats sooooo cool my great great great great great great thousand times great grandpa was a dragon too!! do you guys wanna see my dragon!!!!

*lloyd and nya expecting some tiny dragon like riyu or chompy*

and then mei whips out her totally cool kickass dragon and they are both in awe like teach me how to do that!!!!

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im pretty sure sandy is the builder of the time right?? there are so many builder characters in ninjago like pixal, jay, nya, sora, zane and i think they could probably geek out about it hehe

zane probably also knows about jttw since he knows like everything about everything yk i think he would listen to tang talk about it zane's sweet like thattt and tang can finally talk to someone who knows the full story 😭

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one time someone asked about morro and macaque and like i still dont really know how to answer that like theyve both died ig thats cool 😭 shared trauma on dying lol, and also they were both like evil at one point and i guess reflecting back on it theyve both been like what was it all really for

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ive said this before and ill say it again jay, mk, mei and maybe wyldfyre would totally go do some dumb shit together and get in trouble together 😭

..

and thats all i have maybe i'll think up something in the future? who knows!

[fivepercentgodsandearths]

THE GOD'S AND EARTHS VIRTUAL STREET ACADEMY!

In The Name of God Ralik-U-Allah!

Peace to the Builders of The Pyramids and the Sphinx! You are the Original Man, Woman and Children and to return to your exalted status, you must "F-I-R-S-T" embrace the Knowledge of that Status!

Almighty God, Allah is not a Mystery God, that is unseen and exists as a spirit! Allah is the Original, meaning the first Man and his descendants, both mentally and physically as well! To make it Born, meaning clear, the Father took on the name Allah in opposition to the NOI hierarchy, and when questioned how he came to that conclusion, he broke the term Allah down as "Arm-Leg-Leg-Arm-Head" and that is the physical anatomy of the Original Blackman!

He further brought the NOI to the fact that they embraced W.D. Fard (Master Fard Muhammad) who they taught was a half Original Man and they blindly agreed, unseen as he was, as Allah, yet the Father who they saw each and every day could not be Allah! This is history, and not intended to open old wounds, it is a concise understanding how the Father left the NOI and established the 5% Nation of the God's and Earths, and those teachings that the NOI rejected he brought to his children, the youth! He learned as have we all have that you can't teach or reshape the older generation because like old, hardened concrete, they are set in their way! We have the best part which is the Children!

Today's Mathematics is God, and likewise today's letter in our Supreme Alphabet is "G" and it also stands for G-O-D! I am God-Knowledge degrees in age, and each and every day, I gain more understanding of Allah teachings and if I was to choose one word to describe why the Father greatest teaching is that the Original Blackman is G-O-D! The teachings that the Original Man is God is Mental rebirth! It has the Supreme effect of Psychological upliftment which is Mental Rennaissance! It empowers us to meet and defeat all challenges the Devil throws in our Path, and to turn all his stumbling blocks into Supreme steppingstones!

Allah cannot die, yet we celebrate his physical return to the essence on or near every June 13th! We celebrate our elevation into our rightful existence as his A-likes and that makes us A-L-L-A-H!

Proper-Education-Allah-C's-Elevation!