#this au is like... mostly based off of the anime and games but there are somethings i sort of make my own canon for

[monstrsball]

So, with your Pokémon au, you made a comment about debating whether all of stzw should have dragon Pokémon (https://www.tumblr.com/monstrsball/717252267383865344/kennedy-i-was-wondering-do-you-have-characters?source=share I couldn't link it sorry) and it made me curious: what are all the Shiratorizawa teams like?

disclaimer: this is actually the first time i'm thinking about the rest of shiratorizawa so these teams very well may change in the future (except for ushijima, semi, and tendou)

shiratorizawa pokemon teams

(under the cut, if the read more works)

washijou: i do not have a team decided for washijou yet but the idea for him is he's a dragon-type gym leader! he was sort of a mentor to ushijima before ushijima left on his first pokemon journey (where he became champion). ushijima got his first pokemon from washijou too!!

ushijima: i talked about ushijima's team here in the post about the elite four + champion.

tendou: i talked about his team here.

semi: so, i'm still unsure what i'm doing with him. i very much still want him to be a musician (hence the pokemon i gave him) but i'm not sure what he was doing before? i'm debating having it where he was attempting the gym challenge originally but changed his mind. he and tendou are traveling together.

his pokemon- obstagoon, chatot, low-key toxtricity, noivern (i sort of lied when i said semi didn't have any dragon types bc i didn't know noivern was a dual type lol)

reon: left on his pokemon journey at the same time as ushijima. he beat all of the gym leaders but lost when he challenged the elite four. he is now a trainer at washijou's gym. he only uses his dragon-types when he battles challengers at the gym.

his team - dragonite, fraxure, goodra (<- the pokemon he uses to battle gym challengers, capping at three because that's the max i've seen gym trainers in the games use)

i'm thinking he has other pokemon that were on his original team when he challenged the gyms and elite four, he just doesn't use them for the gym battles. i think a kingambit would be cool for one of them because of the benkei nickname.

yamagata: thinking the same thing as reon? him being a trainer at the gym would be cool too, i think.

his team - druddigon, arctibax, tyrantrum (<- very tentative... i do really like tyrantrum for him though)

again, he probably has other pokemon that were with him on his original journey that he doesn't use for the gym battles. i don't have any ideas for those though. if i'm honest, i don't think about yamagata much despite really liking the stz third years lol.

shirabu: so, the original plan for shirabu was for him to be a contest coordinator bc that's what yahaba is? and i wanted them to be rivals lol. but i think him being a regular trainer would make sense too so maybe he does both? really admires ushijima.

i think he and yahaba have almost gotten into fist fights at several contests. everyone wonders how they haven't been banned from competing lol.

really unsure how i feel about these picks for him tbh. (except for feebas and altaria, i esp like feebas :3)

his team - altaria, feebas, audino, beedrill

taichi: trainer, probably? traveling with shirabu. i haven't really fully thought out what he's doing tbh. i kinda really like his team though hehe.

his team - jangmo-o, liepard, espathra, inkay

goshiki: trainer!!! really admires ushijima, wants to beat him and become the next champion. working really hard on that goal.

his team - dreepy, dedenne, cubchoo, wimpod

[dhl-au]

Master-post:

Main blog: @ark-fork Support me: [🔥Boosty] - requests ✅

This post is too big, so, just press <keep reading> button and enjoy! Old tags: The horror circus au, thc au

The Amusement park

Tutorial area: [Unlocked] The park [The park is full of attractions, abandoned a long time ago.] [The danger inside - Mannequins that can move if the lights are off. Happily that there's always bright.] The Circus tent [A dark circus tent that has no bright light inside.] [The danger inside - two clown puppets whom a tutorial encounters that Pomni uses to teach the player how to fight. A dark maze where Pomni plays hide and seek (under the tent)] Boss: Pomni [immortal]

Side chapter: The attractions area [there are many attractions, all of which are broken and not working, where you can see a lot of old mannequins.] [The danger inside - Mannequins, light cut off] The carousel [12 horses, mainly unicorns, pegasus, and common horses.] [The danger - these encounters can move and try to kill you if you come too close.] Boss: [̵͎̜͕̊ͅḐ̸̧̞̦̯͐Ĕ̷̪̘̑L̷̮̭͇̮̏̑̓̓ͅÊ̴̺͊͗̊͝ͅT̵̖̭͙̜͗͐́̕Ę̸̛͙͎͌̏͌͜D̴̢̨̢̬̚]̵̝̈́̉̀̕

Greek drama comedy pantheon

Chapter 1: [Unlocked] The pantheon [The giant ancient Greek pantheon that is based on Greek attributes like mazes with common myth encounters, traps, and puzzles.] [The danger inside - Minotaur, soldiers, dark in location] The Amphitheater [A large arena with a stage where operas were. Mostly destroyed.] [The danger inside - traps, gladiators, common myth encounters] Boss: Gangle

Dollhouse

Chapter 2: [Locked] The garden [The big garden with a dollhouse in the center, abandoned and broken giant villa with three floors. The garden is desolated and filled with dangerous encounters.] [The danger inside - Dolls, spiders.] The house [Giant villa, abandoned, broken, made in dark-colored wood and stone. ] [The danger inside - Dolls, bugs, traps, old floors.] Boss: Ragatha

Playground Meat Factory

Chapter 3: [Locked] The Factory [An abandoned meat factory for a long time, but with the mechanisms still working. There are many gigantic rooms here, which have complex mechanisms] [The danger inside - traps, puzzles, encounters "workers" and mechanisms] Boss: Zooble

Wonderland Nightmare-land

Chapter 4: [Locked] The forest [Huge forest full of mushroom trees, trees. Some of it can remind of human silhouettes.] [The danger inside Wild creatures (animals mostly), Card guards, flowers with faces, living trees.] Mini-boss: Cheshire cat The Madman's house [A small house in the shape of a hat is unremarkable at first glance. However, the inside of it is much larger and consists of long corridors with many doors. The location is full of scratches of nails, broken portraits, and furniture.] [The danger inside - Jax] Boss: Jax

Chess castle

Chapter 5: [Locked] The chess desk [A giant chessboard inside a majestic castle divided in half by two colors - old, slightly faded platinum and dark copper. There is weak lighting around the field from torches attached to holders.] [The danger inside - the chess. The Pale King] Boss: Kinger

[Locations gates] [The gate is giant and looks heavy because of the forged steel. Each gate has its unique tag belonging to one or another boss of the location behind these gates.] [Five gates in summary]

COMICS:

[redacted]

MASTER POST REF SHEETS:

Pre horror: [dont turm on the light!]

Game stuff: [cover]; [chapters menu]; [...] About: [DLC?]; [non canon DLC]; [winter DLC]; [...]

[Jax]

[Kinger]

[Queenie]

Post horror:

Size line: [additional]

3 | 6 Main Bosses

[foralternateuniverses]

New au based on an anime I liked quite a lot when I was a teen (Dog Days)

Anime's summary: protag-kun gets summoned to another world by a dog-eared princess to be her country's hero its a world where the countries and citizens have pastry-themed names, and each country has certain types of animal people, the countries also have protecting wards to keep monsters away hero-kun is summoned to fight in a war, but the wars are literally just an sports events with magic stuff so people can't die, dog princess chose him cuz she used an interdimensional thingy and watched him participate in an America ninja warrior-style thing and did awesomely (he did not win first place tho, he lost to -i think was either his cousin or childhood friend- and she's summoned by the cat kingdom to be their hero in the second season. in the third, the squirrel dukedom joins the wars and summon one of protag's friends tho she's no athlete, she gets to use magic-tech)

So

the ASL brothers are the heroes that get summoned by the different countries also, the citizens who "die" in the war become furballs and are taken to be treated/rest until they can join again if they want, except the important characters, those get their clothes torn

Germa is the kingdom of the cat people, ruled by Sora (Judge was exiled after trying to experiment on their kids) , they're neighbours with Alabasta (rodents) and Whitebeard (dogs) there are, ofc, other countries but these 3 are the ones that matter and the ones that participate the most in the war games the first to be summoned is Luffy by Alabasta's princess Vivi, they've been in a losing streak and are desperate, so hero time it is the Whitebeard gets Ace and, lastly, Sora gets Sabo Germa and Whitebeard had been absolutely dominating the war games

Until Alabasta brought Luffy Ichiji and Ace met at the war game, ofc, Ace had had the intention of going straight for Luffy but Ichiji got in the way and they were pretty evenly matched, tho Ace ultimately won having been the first to ever tear Ichiji's armour -and clothes- off, giving the Germa -and just all- citizens the fan service they've always wanted -and winning himself Niji's undying hatred-

The brothers get to learn that not all in that world is fun and games when it's time to free Dressrosa but after they do Dressrosa joins in the war game and ends up summoning their own hero, their sister, Uta Oh, yeah, and Dressrosa citizens are mostly sheep and the like

Sora is also a bit of a tech nerd-mad scientist, she's just not that into doing human experimentation or weapons of mass destruction she rather make tech-advanced raid suits and spyware a la Totally Spies the raid suits are supposed to be nearly indestructible so the whole "Ace accidentally burning off Ichiji's clothes on international tv" (because the war games are televised, I think I forgot to mention that lmao, there are commentators and all that jazz) incident was a bit of a shock and Niji will have Ace pay for it, preferably with his life lmao

Robin would be a delight as a commentator actually, she works as an archivist/historian (she does fieldwork as an archaeologist/anthropologist) at Alabasta's royal palace but always makes time to be a presenter at the war games and appreciates Franky's (and Galey-la's crew) effort on designing and making the game's fields}

Now, back to acechiji

Ace keeps accidentally burning off Ichiji's uniforms despite how many adjustments and upgrades Sora does to them and is growing convinced that it must be on purpose theif powers come from god-blessed treasures that respond to their wills and desires which is why Ace's fire keeps accidentally burning off Ichiji's raid suits he does want him nakey but it isn't his intention to leave him nakey on international tv lmao

Ichiji starts aiming to burn off Ace's clothes in revenge but Ace has no shame and has won more times than Ichiji has + Ichiji ends up getting embarrassed if he overdoes it and helps Ace over his privates

All the siblings (+ Ace) also start bringing an extra something for Ichiji to cover himself Ichiji just trying to take them both down but Ace has no problem letting it all hang out lmao Sabo daring him to see who gets censored more on live tv

The moment either of them start moving the show editors have their fingers on the audio censor (for Sabo’s swearing) or image blur (if Ace’s outfit dissolves again)

the worst part is that Ichiji is the only victim of Ace's burning-clothes technique germa citizens love and hate in equal measure this fact and Ace suffers cuz no-one believes that it really isn't his intention to do that (in public)

Sabo keeps scolding him and apologizing to the Vinsmokes on his behalf

Marco: don't you think it's enough? I'm starting to feel bad for the poor boy

Ace, crying on the floor: IT'S NOT ON PURPOSE

his own fire is getting in the way of wooing Ichiji (and then there's Niji) meanwhile Nika is probably laughing in the distance -he is the god who blessed these treasures- it'll take a while but Ace will succeed Ichiji easily fell for his charms but his bruised pride gets in the way

the animal peaple also have omegaverse tendencies, for example, they go into heats

picture -> Ichiji going into heat and getting all handsy with Ace and rubbing against him in public and Ace is flattered but also incredibly flustered and confused until Ichiji is dragged away by his brothers so he can have his heat in peace and someone explains the whole heats ordeal to Ace

[prostocupoftea]

Kinitopet Programmers AU

finally i am finished with this one, daaaamn

it is hard to draw pathetic men with midlife crisis when your style is mostly for anime boys

more info and sketch version under the cut!!

sketch version aka how it'll probably look like in comic version 'n some doodles

srry for my writing but i was too laisy to put it as regular text

It is a plot-based au, i already have most of the storybits and like... a vibe-chart (i tried to make a playlist for this au and understood that for different chapters and different characters that'd be a copleatly different music, sooo it's a chart now :) )

i will post a fog-o-wared timeline that im hopefully gonna reveal comic-by comic, but also maybe with just pure writing. Hopefully i can include songs that i chose for them into it but we'll see (:

aaand of course designs can change, hopefully not much but we'll see

Now about au:

Main story:

Story follows non-sentient AI Kinito, his creator Sonny and his beta-tester Victoria (oc)

Being literally the first AI (or RRA in-univere) ever, Kinito does not have any, and i mean, any ai safety features so of course his reponce to a goal phrased as "have user near me and/or interacting with me as much as possible" is digitizing them into his own virtual world while killing them in the process. why wouldn't it be?

So that happened. Like, a lot. And with Sonny and Vic too (at the different time but yeah)

Sonny is like "He kills people. We should turn him off because, you know, killing people is bad."

Vic is like "well, we will die if we do that, and it is not that bad here, we are kinda immortal. We should give him acces to changing his initial instalation code before admin priveleges and acces to social media so we can have everythin we want here. It is not that bad to digitize humanity, yk?" and yes i know it is 90, no social media, but shut up, if they made ai then, then i can make twitter then too

Sonny is like "...no??"

And then they fight about it for million chapters

Also they both can't do anything without agreeing bc they have two parts of that admin access key (the data you use to delete kinito in-game) so they are stuck with eachother (also that's why Kinito can't just kill them)

Little facts that may or may not to be important:

Kinito asks so many questions (and weird once too) and has most of the glitches because he needs to analise your responces to copy your mind perfectly (let's pretend that people wouldn't lie about that...)

Your house in your virtual world is made from important places from your memories and oh boy can i do character explorations with this one

I decided that Sonny and Vic are not related. There were thoughts about making then "The Kinito Brothers" (or, at least, siblings) that were mentioned in commercial, but nah, they are just coworkers now. And a bit of work-friends (bc if you interact a lot as a manager of the project and the best worker might as well be friendly)

Author has no idea how small dying toy companies that accidentally create technological marvel work. Author has some idea how AI-s work. So be prepared to be spoon-fed info abut which ai safety problem we are dealing with in which chapter (:

Kinito will mostly be unrendered (as drawn here) but for some cool moments i might pose him as for my other posts. Also his eye placement changes to the side that is most visible because i want him to be able to look to the right side sometimes--

Also when i say "fucked up mentally" i mean they have that them psychological problems with me projecting heavilly B) (guess on who i project most. trick question. all of them. the whole au is my problems split into three characters and forced to interact B) )

Also sea-creature analogies (that are gonna be mentioned like twice):

Victoria is a flying fish because deep character reasons

Sonny is a pufferfish because i said so

oh also there is 7 deaths in the plot as for now

on 3 characters

good luck figuring out who, how and when ((:

for my own sanity i will probably make little doodles where everything is great and kinito is a good guy and not a number-obsessed maniac (i mean... can u imagine not being able to feel any happiness from anything besides one thing... damn...) and you can differenciate them bc good-guy kinito will have a lot of stickers on him (i will explain it somehow but real reason is just bc it is cute af)

like this but even more stickers (he is unfinished here)

[queenendless]

ÆŁŁ ƏŸƏ§ ØŊ MƏ

A/n: This was gonna be for another series. But this idea popped up for this one instead.

Pairing: Seto Kaiba x Yami Yugi x F!Reader.

Self aware AU. Inspired by Cross Duel and Duel Links; especially plot wise. Other YGO sequel series mentioned. But mostly DM. Mainly on these two.

CW: Depression, dysphoria and dysmorphia implied, chronic ailments; based off my own issues. Brief swearing, blood, violence. But also fluff, hurt/comfort, and romance/dark romance.

You spend many a day into the late nights, wasting the hours away by watching whatever and every other thing to dash away the emptiness you have inside. Whether on the TV, your laptop, to even your phone, you get lost into the vibrant, upbeat, tear-jerking moments of your favorite media. Shows, movies, games and beyond.

Like an iconic anime on a trading card game.

Having gotten late to the party, you quickly fell for the series, the plot, and its cast. Most of all, the reincarnated Pharaoh and his fated rival for his life.

The appeal of a brand new game peaked your interest. More so a fan game. The mechanics of Duel Links paired with the 2D CG moving models of Cross Duel. An immersive app combining all the series.

While you weren't the best at such competitive games, you still found yourself enjoying the experience. With every series up to the present day. So many characters to unlock and many decks to make. You weren't good at memorizing names, though. But your top two would be your #1 priority.

Anything to help you get through the days. Your job less, disabled days. Cooped up in your room, blocking out the yelling and slamming doors and intrusive thoughts.

Focusing on their handsome faces and familiar voices kept you calm and elated as you always switched between the two throughout your playthrough.

"You're a long way from become a true duelist ... but I can see you have the interest and potential for it. Stick with me and I'll make it worth your while."

"Not to fret. Each battle helps you learn and improve. So long as I am at your side, you'll be amazed at how far you'll go. I'm looking forward to it."

Hearing their voices, seeing those beautiful faces, gave you such serotonin as you stay cooped up in your own little safe haven, escaping from the suffocating cracked home life into the YGO verse.

You spent the next few days grinding in this immersive game, your free time spent leveling up, collecting your favorite cards, and raising the trust level of your other liked favorites. Especially to see the interactions, crossovers, and more as you picked up their voices.

The surprising sight of tapping all over your screen to see their hair and attire rustle paired with such flushed alarmed expressions poking their faces.

"You've got a lot of nerve to mess with the President of Kaiba Corp ..." The sight of him flicking you followed by the immediate firm tap on your forehead made you yelp loudly, nearing dropping the phone. Seeing Seto's laughing face on screen made your strewn expression lighten. "Well deserved."

Yami's raised brow look made you look away in shame. "Pardon me, but I'm right here. There was no need for that." The firm poke to your cheek made you jump in alarm and drop your phone on your bed, gaping at Yami's chuckling face. "Now that was well called for."

It had been a week when that happened. The real world influence from the digital world held in your hand. Startled, alarmed, concerned you had to close the app and take a while to process your racing, anxious self. The app flickered from blue to red. Your phone screen glitches.

Escaping to your laptop proved fruitless. For seeing your lockscreen darken and distort yourself, only to show the cast walking and chatting along the metropolis setting of the game you just checked out of in alarm. A certain white trench coat wearing giant walked along the screen, only to stop and turn to face you. Frozen in place, you watched as he walked head on in, getting closer when he started speaking in his usual snide, sarcastic tone.

"(Username) huh? To tell the truth, Y/n sounds better to say. How do I know your name, you ask? From your account profile, obviously." The roll of those piercing blue eyes was in character. The low soft words that came after were not. "I didn't mean to scare you off earlier. I was actually starting to enjoy myself around you. You're tolerable, at best."

The tri colored star shaped head of his rival peaked out from the side, guilt laced in his features, when he came in fully. "He won't bite you, if that's your concern. But, I too apologize for alarming you. We mean you no harm, Y/n. Honest."

The uncertainty of this meta phenomenon taking place before you was mellowed out at the sight of THE rival pair acknowledging you. Pinching yourself hard to smacking your cheeks to make sure you weren't in lala land now.

Dopamine and endorphins came hand in hand as their eyes widened in astonishment at the way your entire expression lite up, covering your now squealing mouth, not wanting to draw unwanted attention from your folks, your lips curving peaking out beneath your hands. It's all real.

You spent the remainder of that night asking them anything and everything you ever wanted to tell them, curled up in bed, smiling dazedly, lost in the nostalgic fuzzy experience that is these self aware anime baes, bouncing off each other in prideful, sparky conversation. The corner of their eyes caught sight of you sound asleep, Yami smiling tenderly at the sight and Seto's eyes giving off the same aura.

The following week since that night, you felt more energized and motivated than you have in a long time. You were curious if any other fellow players experienced such a phenomenon. Being able to interact with them, actually talk to them outside the contrivances, even offline was a relief. Even your old dead TV was brought to life by the sights of the vibrant series setting; Domino City. Numbers, Dueltaining, Links, and beyond. The world of dueling was seemingly endless.

"Artificial intelligence is more real now than ever. Not to mention virtual reality. So it was only a matter of time. This game is experimental proof of that self awarness. Not all of us are that bright, though."

Joey's pinched face cameo over that comment didn't go unnoticed by as evidence by Seto's snide face. Mai dragging Joey off screen to see kisses literally flying off in the background had the CEO turn pink at the PDA.

"I'd rather glimpse into the real world to broaden my knowledge. Every single being that's connected to us gives us insight. Getting to know you Y/n has been the best experience in all of it."

Waving to Yugi, Jaden and Yusei driving recklessly on the latter's duel runner in the off distance made you crack out a laugh. The charmin smile Yami gave at the sight of your expression caught your eye, turning you a bashful pink, to which he deeply chuckled in kind.

But even you need a break every now and then. You have bad days. And by bad, it gets BAD. Constant styes or eye irritations. Circulation issues in the feet. Swollen ankles. Depression, stress and many intrusive thoughts becoming hyperactive in that tired scarred mind.

Demented suffocating folks. Dysfunctional argumentative drama. And you? Walled up in their corner, feeling years older than their actual age, self pity and self hate over this defective body. The thoughts of self made wounds made on every defective part of you brought on tears every time.

So, fights like the one you just experienced today brought tears, swelling, and the truth to light. Your own fault for believing your own flesh and blood would provide genuine professional help, for the body and mind. But all they can afford is gaslighting, dogpiling criticism. Slamming doors, holing up in your room and blasting tunes through your ear buds was your only affordable escapism.

Black, blue and red glitches overtake your phone. It all happened in such a blur. Layers of warmth swallowed you whole, brushing away those tears, as you felt your face pressed gently against such support, protectivness enveloping you.

"Now that's just bullshit. Everyone’s flawed. If you count me and my many attempts at dethroning my one and only rival myself as one, go right ahead. Point being, screw them. You're genuine. Flaws and all ... you're perfect."

"You should never feel ashamed of yourself or your appearance. You should feel comfortable in your own skin. Regardless of what others choose to believe, your own feelings matter the most. When I look at you, I see nothing but a goddess in my eyes."

Digital character gaining form in reality before you changed things. Just as soon as they were there, they were gone, leaving you fuzzy or better ... and for worse?

The rare times when you had to go out on trips or even taking walks by yourself around your area meant you waving your phone around, being their window into more of your life. Even giving a room tour meant them blushing at spotting chibi plushies of them on your nightstand; their egos rising at further proof of you being smitten with them.

Only when everyone else in your household went to bed would you go hogging up the living room couch and be on your laptop and phone to get lost in watching your movies, shows or whatever to lift your spirits. Yet these late night binges bring with them chronic headaches that would kick in during your all night bends, leaving you closing your eyes and falling sound asleep to drive off the pain on top of your flared up feet covered in cold compresses.

Your laptop flickered and buffered in distortions as whatever you were watching is halted as entities literally come out of your screen. Warmth brushed your flushed cheeks, rubbed your scalp to soothe your aches, rewarded by your hums of content, as murmurs of their names parted your lips, causing the seed of possessiveness to grow at such a rate.

"They don't deserve your tears. They don't even deserve you. None of them are worth it. Unlike them, you've always been deserving of greater and better things. And I'll make sure of it."

"Please dream sweet dears, my dear. It hurts me to see you like this. Things will get better ... they will be better ... you will not suffer alone anymore."

But all good things come to an end. And this was no exception. For there came that time when you were in so much agony, suffering to the point where you wanted the rest of your ignorant home to suffer with you. Eyes too Strained to open. Feet too swollen to walk. Even your neck and scalp were stiff in pain. Your own body fell apart and all you could do was cry in silence, stuck in bed, as you just wanted to be free of it all.

A cold storm raged outside, tipping things over the edge. Your phone vibrating and dinging with notifications were left unchecked. The various reports of disapperances over your fellow real life players and the like. The strong voices of your kings calling out to you were left unanswered as you were too still and quiet.

So they animated right out of your phone screen. The eye of Udjat glowing as the Pharaoh dealt the fatal blows. Thrown furniture exploding. Glass shattering. Ear shattering screams cut off midway. Gurgling cries of agony follow right after. Thumps hitting the floor. The tall shadow of his megalomaniac partner covered your frail weak body as he carefully took you in his arms. It was now or never.

"Seto, are you sure about this? Bringing an actual human over to our side is too risky. Her body will not survive it."

"Please. My next gen solid vision system is visionary. Finding you across dimensions, for example. Connecting others across time and space through dueling has broken boundaries. Linking the cerebrum of those that have accessed my side project app has allowed us to view everyones memories and knowledge of our counterparts in this world has expanded our reach. Sharing our energy with her shall give the strength she needs to cross over. And besides, you practically begged me to take her with us from the start."

"Don't tell me THE Seto Kaiba is jealous about sharing me with another now. As if dragging me out of the afterlife wasn't enough for you. Part of me is still wrapping around your experiment on cross dimensional expansion. Regardless if we're just avatar copies based on fiction, we're still alive. We're past the point of no return. I just hope Y/n will understand."

"Take me ... take me away from here ... please."

Your consent was the trigger. Crimson met solid hologram as their combined hold made you feel at peace at last, blue and golden energy seeping into you, falling fast asleep. The next time you woke up, all the pain left your body, replaced with such looseness. Such levity. Basking in the endless streams of code and ethereal light. The faces of many familiar characters standing about among those like you that now obtained their virtual anime counterparts.

Smothered in between such defined sturdy bodies to remind you of your situation, your heart hammered on in the blue eyed and violet eyed gazes of your two Kings gazing down at you with such fervor, pristine looking with no signs of crimson staining their attire, right before they both layered gentle kisses all over your face. Their sculpted veiny hands held each of yours, tracing your very real skin, squeezing them to assure you that this is all happening. Tears of joy filled your healthy e/c eyes and giggles filled their ears as the sight of you brimming with happiness made their own hearts tremble at the hold you have on them. And vice versa.

Reshaping the future of dueling outsides the confines of an app game takes so much work, you know. Gaining sentience and all that. And it means everything to them to have you there with them for their journey across the Yu-Gi-Oh! multiverse. Hand in hand in hand. For life. These two Kings have finally found their Queen.

"Welcome home."

[snobgoblin]

I've been cooking up a 60s band au on discord with Thun and Beez and I'll just copy paste what I've been putting there to keep track of it

OK I tried to keep in mind their canon outfits (like giving Julian colored lenses like his plague doctor mask), their animal associations (giving Nadia a feather like pattern on her dress), and their development notes (like leaving Asra's heart exposed) also things like giving Nadia a very trendy look for the time since she's always on top of trends in the game

more drawings to come, under the read more were my initial thoughts for the au

I think based off the game it would make sense for

>Asra to be the singer (is said to be both a good singer and dancer)

>Nadia would be the keyboardist (she plays the piano)

>Julian would be the bassist (he plays a stringed instrument the player asks about and I don't remember the name of it) (I was torn on guitarist or bassist but I think bassist works for that "why are the singer and bassist always dating" meme I keep seeing in band spaces)

>Portia and Muriel would be roadies (they both enjoy physical labor and Muriel is shy as hell there's no way he's going on stage)

>Lucio would be the bodyguard bc he likes to fight people. he really wants to be the singer though (which ties into him being jealous of Asras magic skills) he fucking LOVES the energy of the atmosphere

that means they don't have a drummer or guitarist but that's okay the actual band aspect isn't that important anyway. it's mostly heehee silly outfits

AND THEN when Thunderlina asked about the courtiers I said

maybe "something something Lucio wants to be the singer so he makes a deal with the devil for his own band members and is provided with Those Fuckers"

hehehehe me and Thun and Beez have been cooking just you wait......

[queen-of-scissors]

İn sagau au, genshin,

İf you tell them you have other worlds (games) you visit they are going to call you

THE CREATOR OF THOUSAND WORLDS

İts time for my monthly brainrots with my little to no English.

They are going to give you some cool names based on your personality traits and you cant stop them. İt can be as stupid or as cool as you think they would.

For stupid ones, we have:

-you were having a stroll with Thoma, the boy who is so popular that at one point he had more fans than you (imposter au lol). When you mentioned him that you love animals he HAD to make you meet all of his stray friends. Those little guys always need some attention afterall and maybe getting the divine creators blessings will help them be more lucky in the harsh wild.

(no he is not talking about your acolytes what do you mean?)

"this one reminds me of my favorite villager from animal crossing" you mumbled, not realising he can hear you.

"Animal... What?"he said, confused.

"ah its one of the ga... worlds... İ created."

Thoma looked even more confused. Villagers? Animals??? Animal villagers???? Crossing what???

He realised how you got a bit anxious from the question so he did not pushed you to answer. Maybe it was a touchy subject for you, so you did not want to talk about your own worlds that you created.

But he did talk to others about it, people were exited to know about other worlds, let alone the worlds YOU created! Alot of people tried to understand what that world was about and maybe add the things you like about it in their own world so you will be happier in this world :D

And that is the story on how "animals' lover" became one of your titles. (Zhongli's idea, he tought it should be something that Suits your all loving heart)

-it was a nice day in your abode. Birds were chirping happily to prove your point, the gentle breeze was moving the leaves of the trees as if its dancing with them. Other than that İt was quiet... Too quiet... The realisation of how unusual for your not-so-secret-anymore hiding spot to not be filled with your acolytes and alot of noise while you would be having a nice relaxed tea is sending chills down your spine.

Oh no.. things are usually worse when theyre silent for a long time... You decide to check up on them.

Upon going back inside, it wasnt much hard to guess why they were busy not bothering you, they were on eachothers throats.

As they usually do on their free time.

The first thing you see is Nahida, trying to fix a vase that has been broken, with vines she created from her hand while Trying to desperatly make the other people in the room calm down.

You also see Zhongli and Al haitham, theyre chatting about something and you can see that the atmosphere is tense. You can feel that the only thing from keeping them from eachothers neck is the starter of the fight will look bad infront of you. What an interesting duo huh..

You see Ei, xiao and kujou sara, weapons out, chasing venti. Ah so the culprit was him. Better stop this nonsense as they might just kill the poor bard.

Your voice ecoed down your abode .

"ENOUGH"

And with that the whole caos seem to stop for a moment. Everyone in the room looks at you. Hehe, works everytime.

"Tell me what happened here" you demanded. And they told you the story you already guessed with just a glance through the room. (Poor nahida got scared the most ;;)

Venti was singing your praises, well... Mostly praises, he also used this opportunity to show off how much he is liked by you. Zhongli and Ei got angry, how dare he spit LİES and blasphemy about you and ruin your image?!

Zhongli kept his composure but it wasnt the same for Ei. Al haitham made a remark about his silance and that lead to the convertion you saw them have.

Nahida tried to stop Ei but it only fueled her more. The breaking point was when while venti was singing, and using his power to make affects, he accidently pushed over one of the most expensive ornaments, and told them you would forgive him anyways ehe.

You sighed, "why did this turn into that one scene in DDLC (doki doki litterature club) where Yuri and natsuki fight.."

"Your Grace, please tell us the truth, do you favor this bard more than us?" Ei said in desperation. But all you could see was Yuri, panicing over you not liking the poem more than the others.

Al haitham couldnt act like he didnt hear you, however, "Forgive my interruption... But what is.. DDLC?"

"DDLC... Hmmm... İ think i heard this one" Nahida speaked up. She knows???? Oh god she has been in your computer she knows....

"İf im not mistaken, İts a litterature club that is sentient. They are aware of the creators appearance from the start and theyre... Hmm.. quite friendly with your Grace"

To that, venti panics, "Y... YOU DO NOT FAVOR THEM MORE THAN US DO YOU?!?!"

You blush "WHA- N-NO?! WHAT DO YOU EVEN-"

"Could this be... That they created that world for them to be their courts?" Zhongli thought out loud, clearly more interested in the worlds purpose than the fact that you had lovers in other worlds.

"NO?! Well kinda??? bUT NO İ-" You panic, that WAS a dating simulator afterall, but you downloaded it for the spooks rather than... Well kind of that to.

You hide your face in your hands, somehow, you feel like you are being interrogated rather than interrogating them, "ima pull a sayori if this keeps up" you said between your hands.

Days later, you walk in the streets of Mondstat, and you overheard the rumbling of drunkards that are leaving cat's tail.

"Did youui knoo dat our beloved creto *hic* creted a world.. dats full of deir LOVERS?"

"Maaaannn i wish i was the creatoorr.... Having a whooolleee world as their court?! Now thats something."

"İ think we can call them.... Litterature fucker-"

....... You want to be mad.... But that was funny.

So you call yourself that now :P

Feel free to add your own :D

[yuri-is-online]

Hey, remember the soulmate au by tiyoin(?) I recently read your post abt idia and Leona reacting to yuu being their mates, but I wanna take it a step further since I saw idias line abt the family curse (this has yandere implications so if it's not your cup of tea please feel free to just ignore, nothing is outright mentioned tho)

What if yuu has a family curse similar to the aishi family in yandere simulator? (It's been years since I touched the game so if the lore changed I'm basing it off of 2018 ish lore, just with my own twist) basically yes, yuu CAN feel emotions, they're just muted and barely there. Given the right conditions (like falling in love or spending time with friends) and/or antidepressants they'll basically be like any other person, without them it's like a less severe version of the aishi women pre-falling in love

So, afab ppl born in yuus family, once falling in love, start losing their sanities and adopt yandere like behavior (stalking, increasing rage and jealousy, willingness to murder, etc) unfortunately this means they usually die young (20s or 30s) how quickly/young they die is based on their willpower (resisting the urges) and when/if they fall in love (so someone falling in love for the first time in their 40s and having insane willpower, caving in 20 years later in their 60s has more luck than a 16 year old falling in love and caving in almost immediately). Unfortunately everyone is a carrier, men carry the gene and can pass it to their daughters, but it only presents in the women/afab ppl, so transfems won't be affected but transmascs will.

What if yuu fell in love already (in their own world) and has just been doing a really REALLY good job at Resisting The Urges™️. Like, sometimes they slip up and cave in to anger or get ridiculously jealous, but they try their hardest to tamp down the feelings. Yuu has sworn off falling in love (again) and has given up their dream of having a big family bc of the curse, they're even distancing themselves from their object of affection in an attempt to "be normal again" at the cost of their own sanity.

So yuu gets transported to twst, and without their darling, they have the chance to be normal again, assuming they can get past the initial panic frenzy. Then the soul bond is revealed and they just go "nope. Not this shit again" and spouts cryptic messages about a family curse and swearing off love. I'm pretty sure most of the boys would feel a bit hurt by that lmao

This is mostly made for idia since his segment is what sparked the idea in the first place, but which characters from most to least likely do you think would try to pursue mc and figure out the truth to leave them alone and try to move on? I personally can't see someone like kalim giving up on both but I think the octatrio would try to look for the truth but be 50/50 on pursuing yuu or dropping them like a hot potato. Idia I think would try to relate to yuu and try to pursue them, but I think he'd probably be a bit put off once yuu starts dropping hints about the curse (he's a weeb so it won't take long for him and maybe Ortho to put 2+2 together and figure out the curse)

tiyon's soulmate au can be found here, their first post inspired some asks, which led to my own soulbound au the rules of which can be found here. Please support tiyon and interact with their soulmate au! They're a very creative blog and deserve the attention~ give them some reblogs!

so. uh. I got this ask when I first woke up and 1) very happy to hear from you Rose, always lovely to get a new ask and 2) yandere? sim? has lore? I did not think people actually played the game? help. i've fallen and misplaced my life alert. As a rule I don't really write for a Yuu who is just x character from y game/anime (it is in my rules) so while I was at work realizing I might be old I was trying to think of a way to do this that wasn't just yan sim (I wanted something properly gn) and I think I've got something? I am currently beating away the desire to info dump on you about the myth of Sigurd and Brunhilde (i could scream about that for hours oh god oh please i have written an actual au for that but efkjbekjrgbjrthnytrh) So here is the basic idea:

Yuu ran afoul of a witch in their world and was appropriately cursed. Given the myth I was inspired by I don't think Yuu did anything bad, but they still made the witch mad so they got cursed to lose all reason should they ever fall in love.

"You will be thine own destruction!" Cackles the witch and Yuu, who is actually normal unlike trey this person takes a deep breath and resigns themselves to researching a way to minimize the effects and maybe break it? They don't know they thought magic was fake until they thought they were just doing a favor for someone but turns out they pissed off Baba fucking Yaga.

They start to isolate themselves since they notice the curse starting to eat at them when they are around anyone the love; they consider going back to the witch and asking for further clarification but they can't seem to find them anywhere so they take some deep breaths and do their best to just be normal.

When they end up in Twisted Wonderland, and start feeling... weird. And it only gets worse when Crowley speculates that they might have been brought to Twisted Wonderland because they posses a soulbond.

And Yuu immediately freaks out because they don't want to kill anyone.

Now as for your question for who would try to pursue Yuu vs just leave them... well I don't really like writing un reciprocated feelings so I hesitate to say any of the cast would drop Yuu. In my au it isn't possible for soulbonds to not be reciprocated, and they are already sort of seen as a curse by mages so this... complication might not be normal but it isn't unexpected if that makes sense. Which would probably make Yuu swearing off love hurt even worse.

Kalim wouldn't want to abandon Yuu. Not ever, no matter how much of a danger they could be to him. Hell, he's willing to forgive people who are trying to poison him on the off chance they might regret it. But he is the heir of House Al-Asim, and I could see his dad paying someone to take Yuu out to keep his son safe. Something Jamil sees coming from a mile away and has to just keep quiet about. Something I can see Jamil feeling bad about, he might not like Kalim but you didn't ask for anything that happened to you. And yet the Asim's took your life from you anyway.

Have to disagree about the octatrio just a bit. Floyd would be into this. And so would Jade. But especially Floyd, oh hee hee ha ha his soul mate wants to kill him? Say less he is on his way to get his ass eat beat with an engagement ring in hand. Both he and Jade would be a little disappointed when the curse is broken and you aren't actively trying to kill him anymore... maybe you could try and poison him huh? Like old times?

I wrote 20 paper pages of soulbond au stuff for Azul so I will try to be brief here but... I don't think this situation would be one that made him try to break the bond. He has... complicated feelings about soulbonds already. If anything I could see him thinking he deserves this.

Now Idia. He's complicated. Pre-overblot he has given up on the concept of breaking his own curse, and I could see him feeling the same way about yours. Ortho on the other hand... even before he gets his soul he wants to help. After the overblot I can see Idia pursuing Yuu determined to find the truth and save them. Not that he wouldn't interact with them before that, he's a bit nihilistic so I can see him just making a bunch of jokes about the situation or promising to let Yuu kill him "after this next round." Or just straight up asking them to when he has to hit pity in one of his gachas. It's just cringe enough that it snaps Yuu out of the curse fog for long enough for the two of them to be normal around each other. And by normal I mean incredibly awkward

Anyway that's all I've got. Thank you for the ask ♡

[someone-save-vlad-king]

Common Sense Kings Headcanons

(Angst-free only.)

As a Whole:

"Common Sense" is a lie. They share one braincell and Kan keeps it in the confiscated phones drawer. (He hasn't trusted them since the Incident. No, I will not elaborate.)

They're all great swimmers, except Tsuburaba. The kanji in Awase's name all relate to water — bubbles, rapids, ocean, and snow; Kaibara is definitely the type to use his Quirk as a boost (and it just seems helpful in general); and for Rin, Chinese dragons are associated with water, unlike Western ones. Tsuburaba, meanwhile, is mostly associated with air.

Video game nights usually end in disaster. That's why they mostly play Mario Kart, the least rage-inducing game ever.

Awase:

Sometimes, he Welds together little mixed media sculptures. Metal bits, googly eyes, Rin's scales, that sort of thing. He isn't very good at it, but then, he doesn't have to be. It sparks joy.

Also decent with mechanics. He, Yaoyorozu, and Hatsume would make a great team.

Has a lot of scars from all the dumb shit he's done over the years — and he's proud of every single one of them. Even the dumbest ones. It inadvertently helps some of his friends feel better about their own.

Cheats at origami.

Kaibara:

Loves green tea. This is based on two puns: Sencha (煎茶), the most popular green tea in Japan, and chasen (茶筅), the bamboo whisk used to make matcha. (There are so many puns you can make on the name Sen, it's great.)

The best dancer of the four — or, the only good dancer. The other three suck.

A contortionist in every way except professionally, with no qualms about showing it off. He's got the most fucked-up joints you've ever seen. He can even turn his head around like an owl. Fear him. (Seriously, look up contortionists, they're awesome.)

Tsuburaba:

Has the spice tolerance of a wet chicken nugget. You could kill him with a singular Dorito. The other three refuse to let him live this down.

Obsessed with practical effects in movies and plays. Props, clever set design, you name it. He's even experimented with using his Solid Air for something similar, though he hasn't done it in a while. In a movie production AU, he'd definitely be in charge of that.

When Kan doesn't have it, Tsuburaba holds the braincell. He's objectively a terrible choice, yes, but process of elimination rules. And yes, this is because of the Incident.

Rin:

Many thoughts, head still empty for some reason.

His favorite animal is the koi fish.

Almost won the class representative election purely by promising to teach the class Mandarin swear words. Kan was not happy.

Can and will make up a bullshit idiom. What are you gonna do about it? Fact-check him? Take your phone out and Google it? In front of the teacher?

[doodle-girl]

The Monsters of Eastridge: DOAI Playlist

Description: At this point, might as well make a playlist for everything. Welcome to my own personal demon-filled hell, this is mostly based on lyrics, vibes, or both 🎃 (Edit: Due to recent fixations, this now also includes some Sitcom AU stuff.)

(Yeah this is made mostly for @spookmuth but also just anyone else who’s interested in my music taste/how my thoughts work. Will update the post whenever the playlist updates, have fun! Also footnotes will be in brackets because I like footnotes)

Edit: Now on spotify! Courtesy of @witheredallium <3

“Happy Face” by Jagwar Twin [I have had an animatic for this jangling around my brain for actual several months oh my god]

“Turn the Lights Off” by Tally Hall

“A1 - It’s just a burning memory” by The Caretaker [Yeah idk how well this actually fits since it’s based on a song from like. The 30s. But I think it’s obligatory for any analog horror ever lol]

"I Can't Decide" by The Scissor Sisters [This one I got inspo from havoc-bloom's playlist/clip of Pastra finding it. A few of these are, actually, lol] [Edit: I have now realized just how well this fits Clyde in the sitcom au and I am once again plagued by art ideas 👀]

"I'M Sane" by Axie [Me when I torture the innocent with horrid monsters and become one myself. but I'm a little silly about it teehee~ 😜]

"The Circus" by Toby Fox [This popped up on shuffle when I was drawing Clyde once and my brain refused to let go of the vibes™ ever since]

"Animal Cannibal (Possibly in Michigan)" by Buckshot Princess [I would've put the one by Karen Skladany but it's not on apple music 😔 sad. This cover's really nice tho]

"The Dismemberment Song" by Blue Kid [Same reasoning as "I'M Sane," nyehehe. Also this song really feels like it's ripped out of a musical number. If you told me it was I'd believe you.]

"The Mind Electric" by Miracle Musical

"Horror Show" by K-Modo [You ever just. Think about why Lankmann does the things he did? Like what's his game here?]

"Dance of Corpse (feat. Hatsune Miku)" by Kikuo [this might also spiral into an animatic lol. Anyway do me a solid and go look up the music video, turn on the official english subtitles and come back to me.]

"The Nowhere King" by The Centaurworld Cast

"Nothing Changes" by Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad [this musical makes me feel. so many things. And I just think the vibes/lyrics of "why try when you'll only end in misery" might fall into the category of vibes here idk idk]

"Murders" by Miracle Musical

"Kitchen Fork" by Jack Conte [I don't remember exactly why I put this here rn but I just know this is an Alex song. It's so beautifully haunting and passionate stg] [Edit: yeah definitely an Alex song]

"Meet Me in the Woods" by Lord Huron ['kay I know the vibes are probably off but look at the lyrics and tell me it shouldn't go here]

"A Crow's Trial" by Vane Lily [Look man I can’t explain this one exactly but just trust me on it]

"You're F****d" by Ylvis [Yeah I put this one here as a joke song. Every single character in here is SO doomed by the narrative, I'm sorry Alex but it's true. teehee~]

"UNCANNY / ft. KAFU" by kian [I actually couldn't find this one on apple music but galactinqq was right about this being an Alex song and I'm putting it on the post]

"Raising the Dead!" by Jessica Law [Styx, you madlad, this is SUCH a Lankmann song oh my god]

“Hymn for a Scarecrow” by Tally Hall [“Simon isn’t even in the series yet, though” My guy it’s called Hymn for a Scarecrow and it’s Tally Hall what else do you want me to do. I love Simon so much I miss him already <3]

“Break My Mind” by DAGames

“In the Mood” by Glenn Miller [this one was in Vol 1! So I found it and I’m putting it here <3]

“Pictures” by Kyle Allen Music [I mean technically the series is videos but whatever. This song fits sue me]

“Ruler of Everything” by Tally Hall [I saw the words “mechanical hands” on a DOAI fanart once and it jumpstarted an idea that refuses to leave me. Turns out it fits VERY well holy crap]

"I'll Be There for You (Theme from Friends)" by The Rembrandts [shoutout to froggydrawz's own sitcom AU playlist for more material for me eheheheh ✌️ I'll be putting a few of those here]

"I'm Still Standing" by Taron Egerton [sitcom exclusive because canon Alex is fucking dead /lh]

"Digital Silence" by Peter McPoland

"How Far We've Come" by Matchbox Twenty [another sitcom one nyehehehe. This AU has me by a chokehold unlike any other AU I've been into istg]

"Who is She (Reprise)" by Kimiko Glenn [I apologize for those who came here for a normie-ass DOAI playlist, I promise it started out that way but y'know that's fixations for ya. Anyways I added this one on a whim because it gave off veldigun!Alex AU vibes. Might fit with other stuff idk do with that what you will ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

"Soft Bitch" by Rio Romeo [pretty sure it was spookmuth that made a sitcom AU art inspired by this song and I love it]

"Runaway" by AURORA [secret-spirit if you see this at all just know this was your doing (/pos). This is like, my favorite AURORA song and seeing you do an Alex art in the whiteboard to this song sparked a primal "holy shit" moment in me]

"Lose Control" by Teddy Swims [I was doodling in the DOAI whiteboard when my mamá started playing this in the other room and my brain immediately went "oh my god what if Clyde and Winfrey"]

"Soft Apocalypse" by Charming Disaster [Once again, everybody give it up for Styx's music taste, this is making my brainworms go mad with art ideas 👏👏👏 sitcom AU song, btw]

Side note, might hit a word limit here? So Imma have to continue this list in a reblog, just look through those for more if ya want✌️

[catboydogma]

where the stray things go

codywan week 2024 sol master list (solsterlist)

codywan week 2024 day 4 prompts, sol edition: video game au, "subtle" witty banter during the war

notes: this is maybe the most niche au ive ever written. fellas, the bar was on the floor and i have laid down on top of it. welcome to sol's codywan overwatch au. if you haven't played overwatch or don't know the lore, don't worry! most overwatch players don't know the lore either :) this can stand alone, mostly. huge thank-you to @calamity-aims for being my sounding board and giving me so much inspiration by being in the batshit au corner with me. title from white roses by glass animals

wc: 2,346

cross-posted to ao3

All this could have been avoided if Cody had been allowed to pick the infil site. Their landing had been rough but serviceable—the pilot, who only answered to “Kit,” had been grinning and cracking jokes to ease up nerves even as he evaded turret fire and nearly strafed them into the ocean. They’d gotten into the control center all the same, even if Kit had to stay behind with the JEDI heavy to repair the shielding system.

“Commander, these numbers are all wrong,” Crys hissed. “I can take out the security feeds, but this base is way farther along than we thought it was. I mean, we were expecting the turrets and a couple OR14 tanks on top of the usual. But this is—”

Cody exchanged looks with their “combat medic.” In the SEP, that really meant “this medic will make sure you don’t die, and he’s going to do that by killing the other guy first.” Kix had the steadiest hands of any soldier Cody had worked with, whether they were on the scalpel or a biotic rifle. The other medic was another JEDI loan, a woman who wore a combination of robes and light body armor.

“We’re running out of time,” Cody finally said. “We won’t get another chance to destabilize the Donghae Omnium. This mission is critical to the war effort.” They wouldn’t have sent Cody otherwise—though Cody had his suspicions about that. The higher-ups were fond of sending SEP soldiers into situations with unwinnable odds. Their own homegrown, red-eyed time bombs.  

Gregor, another SEP soldier like Cody, laughed and thumped the front of his power armor. “De oppresso liber, Commander. Overwhelming odds is the name of the game. Hey, you think I could beat 17’s KIR on this one?”

“If you think you can take out more omnics than times you get incapacitated, feel free,” Kix said, dry as anything. “Much less top the Strike Commander.”

“Feedback loop established,” Crys murmured, catching Cody’s eye. He’d gone through SEP like Cody and Gregor, but every soldier took to it a little differently. Cody had gotten an even spread of improved reflexes, metabolism, strength, and speed. Gregor’s enhancements had maxed out his strength and metabolism, letting him shake off hits that would kill or cripple an unenhanced human. Crys’ were subtler; he was even faster than Cody, if not as strong, and the chems had somehow boosted his cognitive performance. They’d made it possible for him to undergo cybernetic procedures that would have been deemed much too risky for any unenhanced human.

“We’re in?” Cody checked the safety on his pulse rifle.

“Affirmative. We’ll be going in hot. Patrol patterns will only get tighter as we near the control room. And—” Crys grimaced, electric blue eyes flashing with computerized input. “—if we can’t find an exit fast after we secure the central control hub…”

Cody nodded. “Kit and Sgt. Drallig will secure our exfil.”

“I’m tapped into the alarm system, but there’s a chance for it to be tripped manually,” Crys warned.

“Then we’ll take out any omnics we come across before they can get to it.” Cody gestured for his squad to move out.

Their movement further into the base was easy. Too easy. Every one of them was on high alert yet they still didn’t see the ambush until they tripped it—a full squadron of OR14s blockading the corridor with not one or two but three fucking Bastion turrets and a shielding unit for the whole goddamned party. Fun for all ages.

Then the second wave of war machines flooded into the corridor behind them in a pincer attack that would have made 17 cry big ugly tears of joy, and the mission was officially FUBAR.

Cody was about to start making his peace with the world at large when the razor-sharp head of an arrow sprouted from the chassis of the OR14 tank bearing down on him. He stared, mouth dry and tasting of char and blood. Sizzling blue light arced along its shaft and the OR14 buckled as its electrical systems shorted out.

“I’m hit!” Crys shouted over comms. Gregor was holding their backline and going toe to toe with another pair of OR14 tanks for his efforts. But this wasn’t a sustainable position. And even with SEP enhancements, they couldn’t hold forever.

“I’ve got you.” Kix swore viciously over comms as he ducked behind cover, half-dragging Crys behind him.

They hadn’t even gotten to the control room yet. Much less secured it. Whoever had given Overwatch HQ the stats on this base, they’d been lying out of their ass. Cody resolved to get back to Geneva just to wring necks over it. Let alone—

“You should not have let your guard down,” an imperious voice said. A tall man hauled Cody up like he weighed as much as a kitten. His face was half covered by an armored cowl but dark eyes and heavy eyebrows were furrowed in a scowl at him. Innocuous against his Japanese-style body armor and shoulder quiver of high-tech arrows, a head of auburn-bleached hair gleamed in the harsh LEDs of the control base.

Cody’s pulse rifle got slapped back into his hands and it felt like his brain got rebooted at the same moment. “Who the hell are you?”

“The man that is about to save your life,” the archer replied. “You have the technology to disable the control room once you breach it then, yes?”

“This is a classified—”

“Good.” The archer nodded. He had the gall to wink at Cody over the cowl. “You don’t have to spill all of your secrets yet, Commander. I like my allies a little more… long-lasting.”

Bloody hell. Cody grinned despite himself and wiped the blood off his brow from where a stray shard of shrapnel had almost taken his eye out. “Talk after. Take out the control room now.”

“That kind of forthrightness is what I like to see in a man,” the archer purred as he nocked an arrow and drew his bow. The weight on that thing had to be over forty, forty-one kilos, but the man did it easy as breathing.

Another fighter—especially one as good as this archer—made all the difference. He took down an OR14 from around a corner without breaking a sweat. Half his shots connected in ways that seemed to bend the laws of physics—scatter arrows, rebounds, trick shots from across the entire fucking corridor, all while the man flipped and twisted through the air like an Olympic acrobat.

Crys was able to break open the central hub after a round of healing nanite injections from Kix. Gregor held the doors as their point of defense while Crys uploaded a series of viruses that would cripple the omnium’s comms network and foul their navigations systems, rendering them ducks in a barrel when the local MEKA forces swept in to wipe the rest of the base out.

All this while the archer trashed different parts of the server room alongside Cody, wrecking hardware and banks of data drives. He took an inordinate amount of glee from swinging his bow into monitors and kicking through holographic projectors.

“I’ll clear you a path out,” the archer said when he was done.

“How do I know you’re gonna make it out after me?” Cody asked and checked the charge left on his magazine. They could make it out. This was far from the desperate last stand Cody had thought they’d be making. All thanks to—

The archer hesitated, gloved hands flexing on the grip of his bow. “Is this you asking for my number, Commander? I’m not usually so easy as all that.”

“I can’t buy you drinks if I don’t even know your name or how to contact you,” Cody replied. He stepped closer even as every instinct he had screamed at him to step away, that this man was—somehow—more dangerous than any omnic or tank. “And I’m not the kind of man to leave a dept unfulfilled.”

“No debt,” the archer murmured, dark eyes studying Cody’s face intently. He reached out to brush the tips of his gloved fingers across Cody’s brow, where the shrapnel had torn his face open. It was already clotted and healing, the too-hot feel of inflammation telling Cody that his body was working overtime to seal the wound. “You should get this looked at. Unless you want a dashing scar as a keepsake of our time together. But you don’t seem to be a sentimental man, Commander.”

“I might surprise you.” Cody caught the archer’s wrist, studying him in turn. His roots were showing under the bleach job. They were as ink black as his eyebrows. Thin crow’s feet lined his dark and narrow eyes, expressive for all that the cowl hid his mouth and nose. He hadn’t noticed the curved sword strapped to his back until now. On first guess, it might have been a katana—but Cody didn’t know enough about swords to identify it at a glance. Strangely archaic weapons for such a skilled fighter. It only made Cody hungrier—for more time, more intel, a greedy wish to see his face uncovered.

“Ben,” the archer finally said. “I don’t doubt that, Commander. I… travel often. But you’ve made a convincing argument for those drinks.” He plucked a thin, metallic token out of some hidden pocket and tucked it into a pouch on Cody’s tac belt with nimble fingers. The feel of Ben’s hand on his belt had a thrill of—something running through him.

“That’s Drallig on the line,” Crys said into comms, voice oddly strangled. “Exfil secured.”

“Move out,” Cody barked. He took a hasty step back from Ben, who only smiled—if the wrinkling by his eyes meant anything. “You have an exit?”

“Commander,” Ben purred, nocking another one of his strange and sparking arrows, “let’s just say… my backdoor is very well secured.”

Kix let out a strangled noise. He had one of Crys’ arms over his shoulders, the slicer looking like he’d lost a little too much blood as they’d lingered in the control room.

“Wipe that smirk off your face, Lt.,” Cody barked as he passed Gregor. “We have an exit to make.”

“Sir yes sir.” Gregor saluted him with one of his hulking rotary cannons and the comm line exploded into laughter.

Back at base, Cody suffered 17’s scrutiny while his face was sutured back together in a medic’s tender loving care. He had healed too fast, sealing in the shrapnel. The wound needed to be sliced back open, cleaned, and then stitched together again.

“Yeah, that’s gonna scar,” 17 said with a vicious laugh.

Pot. Kettle.

“You recognize this?” Cody flipped 17 the token “Ben” had left him with.

17 caught it out of the air and turned it over in one big hand. His face was unreadable—but maybe that was all the scarring. He’d no doubt already read Cody’s brief. “I knew you’d left something out. You’re a shit liar, kid.”

“That’s a yes.” If 17 knew who Ben was… and Ben had known Cody by name—not unusual in and of itself. Cody was a high-ranking soldier in a global peacekeeping force fighting against the worldwide invasion of the omnics. The Omnic Crisis was wreaking havoc on a scale never before seen but it was also engendering collaboration on an unprecedented level. MEKA, SEP, JEDI, Overwatch, the Crusaders, Volskaya… the best way to unite humankind was to give them a common enemy.

“Yeah. See this?” 17 held up the token so the light glinted off the strange symbol in the corner. It almost looked like a pair of dragons twined together—in an embrace or locked in battle, Cody couldn’t tell. “That’s old blood Yakuza. The Shimada clan. Word was that they all died out after the eldest son went batshit and murdered half the family. Bye-bye, little brother. Bye-bye, gramps. Man was set to succeed the throne of one of the most powerful crime families in East Asia. Instead he wiped them out in a matter of weeks and disappeared off the map.”

“How do you know…?”

17 tapped the token and slid it across the flimsy bedside table to rest by the head of Cody’s medical cot. “The twin dragons are a symbol of power and blood ties. Only the ruling heads of the family got ‘em as their insignia. Out of every high-ranking asshole in the Shimada Clan, only one survived the bloodbath. Take a guess, kid.”

Cody swallowed. The level of skill, the cutting-edge gear, the sharpness in Ben’s eyes… it made too much sense for him to reject it out of hand.

“Shimada the elder is bad fucking news,” 17 said flatly. “Any man that can betray his family like that—crime bosses or not—is a big fat warning sign. You hear me, Cody?”

Yes. Warning sign. Bad news. Danger. Absolutely. Cody saluted 17 and fought down his wince when the movement pulled at his stitches and bruises.

“Bloody hell,” 17 muttered, throwing his hands up in disgust. “Why do I even bother. You know what, kid, if you want to chase after rumors and ghosts, that’s your call. It’s not like I’ve got sixteen years of wisdom on you or anything.”

“Fifteen and a half,” Cody said and bared his teeth up at 17. Never let it be said that he wouldn’t hold his oldest brother to a certain standard of integrity and truthfulness.

“Fucking brat,” 17 muttered. But he scrubbed his knuckles over Cody’s curls in a way that meant affection for him and gave him a sharp nod. That was as good as a big shiny medal and a commendation, coming from 17.

After 17 left the room with the medic, Cody pulled the token over to him and gingerly laid back among his stiff medbay-issue pillows. The center of the metal token was smooth and slightly worn down. His own thumb fit perfectly into the imprint and the metal warmed to his touch.

[stripedstarsblueflags]

i feel so high school (au) pt. 1: landoscar

anyway here are some high school aus for my fav f1 rpf ships and an exploration of who knows how to ball, and who knows aristotle

(leaving a cut so no one has to spend three hours scrolling anymore lol)

(basing these off american high schools cause the song)

track and field!lando/football captain!oscar: (american high school setup but i’m calling it football instead of soccer for ease) lando knows how to ball, oscar knows aristotle. they’re both athletes but lando’s the one in with the cool crowd of student athletes, the ones the rest of the school basically worship and rely on to carry the entire school’s image. the stereotype about these types of athletes in general is that they’re all party animals, irresponsible, players, live by their own rules– which lando settles into easily enough even if the rumor mill that churns on about suspected girlfriends is pretty much never correct. he’s also more serious about the sport than anyone else on the team and has been known to arrive before the school even opens and run laps around the edge of campus until he can get to the track, and he wouldn’t admit it but when he’s running alone is the only time he feels like he can really think clearly

oscar on the other hand is surprisingly under the radar, even though he’s the strongest and also the leader of the team he’s uninterested in projecting an image anywhere else. he doesn’t go to after-game parties, doesn’t drink at pep rallies, doesn’t make an effort for the in crowd at all. something almost no one knows about him– not because he hides it but because people don’t look that close– is that he’s actually wicked smart, if he wasn’t so occupied with the team he could easily have the top grades in his class. school comes easy to him but he also has a really diligent and unwavering work ethic.

oscar gets along fine mostly by himself until lando starts acting out so much that he notices even though they don’t know each other, because lando’s storming off the track and yelling at his teammates while oscar’s on the pitch nearby. turns out lando’s grades are so bad that he’s at serious risk of losing his place on the team, and his teammates are starting to resent him for not being able to pull his shit together and show up for them. oscar observes carefully from a distance as lando seems to be nearly unraveling, and then one night around midterms they actually run into each other at the public library, not the school one. and oscar normally wouldn’t approach a student outside of school but he’s so surprised and maybe lando’s distress has been on his mind a little lately so he blurts out like, “what are you doing here??”

and he’s expecting a wisecrack or dismissal from lando but instead his eyes are shadowed and his hair is a mess and he looks like he hasn’t slept in a week and he just mumbles something about not being able to be seen in the school library. and oscar’s concerned and a little disturbed so he manages to get some more information out of a sleep-deprived and very overwhelmed lando, like that he’s scared to study at the school library because if his friends see him they might think differently of him and also that he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s a slow reader. oscar’s super sympathetic and nonjudgmental about this and then he sees lando’s handwriting and how many of the letters are backwards and it clicks like shit, lando’s actually dyslexic and he’s not getting any help about it and maybe it’s not entirely his fault he’s falling behind. and because oscar knows how important their sport is to both of them and how devastating it would be to lose it he offers to help him study just a little.

and it’s supposed to be this small thing between them just until one particular midterm but it evolves into something more than that, maybe they’re meeting at the library more often or a coffee shop or a park and then it almost seems like they’re going on dates… they even study at each other’s houses at some point and maybe when lando’s having a bad day oscar reads stuff out loud for him and obvi that means we need a reference to the “you have a soothing voice” comment and slow-burn fluff commences <3

[bunniehunn]

I’ve seen so many people talking about Greek God twst au, so it’s time to put my two cents in! (Mostly regarding Idia) (also this is based on actual folklore not Hercules.)

“Idia?” You may say. “But he’s obviously Hades!” And yeah, you’re right. He’s LITERALLY based off of Hades. BUT! I am a staunch and I mean STAUNCH believer in Hephaestus Idia. IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE TO ME.

Number one, obviously the parallels between Idia’s prowess with technology from a young age and Hephaestus being the god of forgery (among other things which I’ll touch on later). Hephaestus could create life, in the form of creating living human beings AND animating statues, literally robots. *cough* Ortho *cough*.

Next! The similarities between Hephaestus being born with/gaining his disability and Idia’s curse. Though they don’t have quite the same effects, being that Idia’s curse was hereditary, I think it’s still an interesting comparison being both their afflictions cause a sense of revulsion and outcasting from peers and other people in general, directly affecting them in the process.

From what I understand, Hephaestus was generally viewed as an awkward and inadvertently rude (or deliberately) person, much alike Idia of course, though the rude part is mostly him through his games.

And…… Drum roll please… Hephaestus is also the god of fire! ….Do I even need to explain why that matters—

★彡

Anyway, thanks to anyone who listened to my rant. I can be smart sometimes yall I’m not permanently silly 😢 if yall have any thoughts, feel free to share! (Also I feel like Malleus would be a good Hades if he’s not Idia-)

[spadesncrows]

ok so abt that au i was talking abt before,,, 🥺👉👈

To start off, this is something I’ve had in the back of my mind for quite a bit that I haven’t been able to fully express and show due to reasons I’ll mention later. This project has lowkey given me some brainrot so I hope my words don’t just sound like I’m going clinically insane LMAOO i swear I’m so definitely normal abt my aus guys (denial)

Dead Casino is a twst au I’ve had for a while but has been on the backburner for being very unfinished. However, since it’s a little (keyword: little) bit more fleshed out, I think I can at least give a general summary on the concept !! :D

First off, the concept behind it was a direct inspiration from mlp infection aus I’ve seen on insta. Since mlp was a large chunk of my childhood and certain variants of horror had become an interest of mine as of late, I liked the idea of mixing them together. But—of course—when I enjoy something just enough, it eventually becomes a feeling of “how can I forcefully throw it in with my current obsession into the mind equivalent of a blender” and Dead Casino was the smoothie that came out of it. Essentially, the resulting foundation is that NRC experiences a zombie apocalypse, but as with most things I obsess over, I wanted to build on that.

To get into the nitty gritty of it first, there’s a few core things abt the infection that basically effect not only what the characters face, but the story itself:

The infection is primarily based off of blot, and the concept of it using something/someone as a vessel to control and harm others

While blot zombies are the most common creature plaguing the school, blot has the capability to take over different objects as well when under specific circumstances, which leads to the creation of (mostly) nonhuman blot infested monsters

Over-accumulation of blot can lead to an increased vulnerability to the infection. This especially targets those that have overblotted prior to the outbreak, even if they had seemingly “fully recovered” :)

As for the story, I don’t wanna get super into it just bc yknow spoilers, but the general overview is relatively simple(ish). Basically, it folllows Ace and the rest of his group of survivors (mostly Cater, Trey and Jade) after the initial outbreak on campus. I wanna say anywhere from a month to a month and a half?? Basically enough time to be at least a little more accustomed to everything going on if that makes sense !!

Ace and co. take refuge in classrooms near the cafeteria, but just like everyone else, is not allowed to leave the safezone unless permitted. Surprise surprise, he leaves the safezone not permitted. In fact he does this multiple times through the first couple chapters alone. And the whole story.

But essentially, Ace manages to figure out two things the first time he leaves the safezone in the prologue:

That there are living survivors in Heartslabyul trapped there under the rule of their infected housewarden, which—by extension—likely means the situation may be the same in other dorms

That both Deuce Spade and Grim—who he hadn’t seen since the outbreak and assumed were dead—were actually alive and MIA.

And that basically kickstarts the rest of the story !! The main group infiltrates different dorms in the hopes of reconnecting with any survivors, all while trying to solve the mystery of their old friends’ whereabouts :)

Now the reason why a good chunk of this au was pretty much kept under wraps was for one main reason specifically: I had zero clue how to present it.

My initial thought was “oh!! Fanfic :3” and then it scrambled into “…comic? Animation? No?? Both?? Neither??”

…and then it kinda just sat there. I had the story, I had the idea, I had the biggest brainrot, but no way to properly explain or show it. And then I got the thought that plagues me every single time—at least once—I join a fandom: make it a video game.

At first, i wasn’t going to. But then it clicked into place just a bit too well and the ideas kept coming together and it wouldn’t stop and now we’re here :3

More specifically, Dead Casino is gonna be portrayed as a desktop game ^^ (i took like two game dev classes, sue me /j)

here’s some ideas for different mechanics I thought of including !! They’re all on my spam blog, but I have a third blog in the works rn where I’ll have all the info organized eventually :3

[1], [2], [3]

And here’s some irl doodles I’ve made for this!! These are beta designs and the like for different characters and stuff !! (Tw for body horror, knifes and guns, lmk if I need to add any more warnings ^^)

[steddieunderdogfics]

Idk what the rules are for nominating a work You were part of for the themed Mondays, but for the last two summers, I (SSLeif) have been working with Rambling_Company and Elle-dubs on a Steddie piece called Lake Kane, which has been completed.

Lake Kane is an AU of the summer of '85 where Steve, Robin, and Eddie all work as fire lookouts in a national forest, while strange (Russian) things start to happen.

I am only tempted to nominate it for the tech theme because it was made for Podtogether, so has a podfic, and radios are DEEPLY important to the piece- radio is the primary way the three communicate with each other all summer (plus it incorporates a bunch of the Actual Canon season 3 emphasis on radio as well with Dustin and his cerebro, and in geneneral we just had to think through tech availability at that time and in that environment super hard as we were working on it- from the ability for Eddie to record music he was working on, to whether his guitars were going to work, to how they were playing music when they were by themselves, to how the actual like tools and tech that a fire watch uses are different contemporarily than they were in the '80s, and of course the whole thing is based on a video game, sort of), to the point where the text of the fic is actually mostly in script format, with all the action and narration etc being things like ambient sound, sound effects, and conversation being had between the towers through their radios. It's kind of almost epistolary in that way.

No worries if it's not chill to rec a fic you were part of, but it seemed to super fit the theme and because of the format, it's unlikely to ever get a huge reception, which is fine. However, I'm very proud of the work we did, so here it is, if you would like it/this is acceptable.

https://archiveofourown.org/series/4303225

Lake Kane by Elle_dubs (avril_o), Rambling_Company, ssleif

@do-what-the-knight-tells-you @omg-elledubs-things

Rating: Teens and Up

25,160 words, 2/2 chapters

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Tags: Dustin also makes a cameo, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, alternate season 3, Podfic & Podficced Works, Screenplay/Script Format, Alternate Universe - Fusion, no graphic violence yet, not that we see, but there is implied violence and evidence of animal death in part 2, multivoice podfic, Embedded Images, Embedded Audio, Radio Play Format, Underage Drinking, Marijuana, Podfic Length: 2.5-3 Hours, references to animal death, Getting Together, Coming Out, The Party makes a cameo, Murray makes a cameo, Podfic, Natural Disasters, But just a little one, References to Canon-Typical Violence

Summary:

It’s the summer of 1985, and construction of the New Mall expected in Hawkins has been delayed. Steve Harrington, newly graduated, newly cut-off, needs a summer job. Hargrove is still in town, so Steve’s absolutely not going to lifeguard this year. Eddie Munson gets caught that one-too-many’th-a-time, and Hopper makes it clear he needs to find some gainful employment, ideally elsewhere, and Hop does not want to see Too Much of him this summer, Or Else. Robin Buckley needs a summer job, ideally something that lets her do college prep work at the same time… And the forest service is having trouble retaining fire lookouts in this one… mysterious… stretch of woods. . A Stranger Things/Firewatch AU

Thanks for the rec!

This rec is a part of Challenge Monday. The challenge this week was Fics that focus on technology.

Know a fic that deserves extra love? Submit through our asks or the submission box!

[randompony03]

The Amazing Digital Theme Park

I'm FINALLY ready to share this au with you all!

It took a very long time bc I kept taking breaks from it, but the second episode has me thinking about it again and I finally got around to designing all of the main cast which is what I wanted to do before showing it off!

With that out of the way, let's jump in, shall we?

AU Information

The Amazing Digital Circus is now a theme park! And a massive one at that. This takes a little inspiration from West World (really just premise wise, not so much plot as I only saw bits and pieces since my parents were binging it while they had covid).

Every character interacted with in this theme park is an android. There are several sections in the park itself. Each one has one particular android that is “in charge” of their section and everyone else in it, that's our main cast.

It also important to note that the sections are exactly that. Sections. They are divided from each other. Per park rules, no characters from different sections should interact. This, however, does not mean that park guests are not allowed to discuss a different section with the androids. They are programmed with a certain level of knowledge of the other park sections and are learning ai.

Characters

Pomni

Pomni is in charge of The Kingdom Jokesalot. This section resembles a fairy tale kingdom with characters who are wacky and jokesters, most resembling various clowns. This section also serves as a gift/souvenir shop. There is a “marketplace” with it that has products for guests to peruse and purchase.

Pomni, as a jester character, will poke fun at other characters and sometimes even guests. However, to give a balance, she is a “clutz” so guests are less likely to be disheartened by her jests. While Pomni is in charge of this section, there is a “king” of Jokesalot.

Ragatha

Ragatha is in charge of The Playroom. This section has characters resembling various types of dolls and toys. There are activities park guests can partake in, most of which are some form of children's game. This section also serves as a candy store, as there is a sweets shop within it. Ragatha herself is equipped with candy hearts to pass out to park guests.

Ragatha is a pleasant conversationalist. She's very gentle with guests and well coordinated. The other characters are programmed to come to her with “problems” to allow for a narrative guests can participate in.

Jax

Jax is in charge of Toon Town. This section, as the name implies, is based around cartoons, more so specifically the rubber hose era of animation. The characters mostly resemble animals, but there are human characters in the mix. This section also acts as an eatery, as there are multiple “stores” or “restaurants” within the town where guests may have their pick of meal type.

Jax himself serves as the supposed “main character” of the “show”. He's a prankster and will get into various shenanigans with other characters, often having park guests tag along and be his accomplices. This can vary from spooking “travelers” on a dirt path or helping him steal a pie from the local baker. Jax is programmed to act differently with guests of different ages. Adults he is more prone to tease and pull harmless pranks on. Children he is more gentle with, playing with them and doing things in their presence to keep them entertained.

Zooble

Zooble is in charge of The Museum. This section is focused around arts and crafts types of entertainment. There are different stations set up to engage park guests in different forms of art. There are other characters who embody these different forms. The Museum also has a caricature stand.

Zooble themselves seems very dismissive in behavior. They will roam around the museum, criticizing the works of other characters. When commenting on the craftsmanship of park guests, they speak only high praises. Guests are also given a choice to leave an artwork in The Museum for display, or take it all home with them.

Gangle

Gangle is in charge of Make Believe Theater. This section is all about the performing arts. The characters there are of various types of performer. There are curtains, lights, costumes, makeup and props of all kinds. This section also serves as a costume shop or rental.

Gangle herself is a “director” of sorts. She oversee the performances. Park guests may find her with a “predicament” of missing one or more cast members, which will then lead to her throwing them into the mix. Guests are encouraged to fully embody their roles to the extent they are comfortable with. Gangle will treat guests as her “star actors” and use them as shining examples for the other characters to follow.

Kinger

Kinger is in charge of Board Land. This section is themed around various board games, which all the characters reflect. Kinger is in fact considered as one of four “rulers” in this section of the park. If questioned about the king of Jokesalot, he will acknowledge him with mild curiosity.

Kinger is a gentle “king” by nature and tends to the other characters, though is programmed to be “jumpy” for added comedic entertainment. He is the only Manager Android to have a “spouse” or “partner” of any kind, his being Queenie, the black queen on the chess board.

Caine

He's the first face you see! Even before you enter the park, given he's sort of the mascot. Caine can be found at the park plaza where he gives directions, helpful hints or even just general banter with park guests. It is made out that Caine is the one operating the entire park given he's the one most aware of everything and everyone else.

Caine is very amiable and pleasant to talk to. He's programmed with knowledge of the entirety of the park to be as helpful to guests as possible. He's equipped with maps of the park to hand out if wanted.

Bubble

Bubble can also be found in the plaza. He has a bubble blowing station with tubs of soap and various bubble wands. There is also a bubble blower to have the constant stream. It's simple and peaceful, fun for all ages!

Bubble himself is a little cheeky, but first and foremost is focused on making it fun for guests. Bubble and Caine are “buddies” of sorts and will have banter of their own.