#though this was also a tango operation so

[theminecraftbee]

also you know what feeling something about how, given that cleo is the person with the inexplicably huge wolf pack this season, for once it's not a lone wolf who has it. hell, with the wolf spawner, they even share it. don't even know what to do with that just. staring at it with some kind of emotion. they shared it. they shared the wolf pack. the thing that had almost always previously been associated with a weird loner who replaced friends with dogs they shared it--

[wszczebrzyszynie]

Please, may we have the essay

With pleasure. The oc-fication is strong on this one. Its also a bit long so its under the read more thing. Have a space mining Jimmy concept thing as a bonus. He was born in a wet cardboard box all alone

They met through Grian. After Scar and Grians amazing plan of tracking Tango down and offering him a job (in worlds most suck up way possible) semi failed because Tango turned out to not be the a high level criminal they though he were, instead they got someone who very much has not had a proper meal in at least 5 months. Almost imidiately deemed not dangerous, they wouldve turn him in for extra money if not for the fact that he still is an engineer genius they needed. Which is why Tango was stuck with them for a while; including for their visits to Jims ranch. Living in the middle of nowhere comes with peace and as much safety as you can get as a wanted criminal, but for Jim it means constant lack of supplies alivable in bigger parts of the universe; Grian, esentially, does shopping for him, and even if he teases him about it, theyre both glad he has a reason to stop by. Because the thing is, Jim doesnt handle the self imposed alone time well. Hes a very social person but also a stupidly proud one and cannot admit he maybe made a mistake after losing Scott (they divorced on mutual agreement, but that doesnt mean he handled it as well as he thought he did) and acted too impulsively; he loves the ranch, sure, and doing work associated with his home planet makes him feel better, but hes very much dependent on his close ones visiting. The fact that the ranch is so far away from civilisation is something he learned to cherish, in a way, as its the main reason why both Grian and Pearl can go and visit him for longer periods. No one can really find them there.

Its one of the reasons why he and Tango got along so fast; ranch is designed as a safe space. Jim is fairly okay with his friends lifestyles (even if hes not a fan of Grian bringing more wanted people there; but its not something hes willing to argue about if it risks Grian leaving. He doesnt believe that he would, but the fear is there) and likes the fact that his house operates as such. He can give them a place to sleep, something to eat; basically, he can take care of them, be of use to them, and he wants them to feel like they can depend on him, too. Tango desperately needs that space; he feels guilty for endangering Impulse and Skizz (hes been staying with them after the moon blowing up situation; they know he didnt blow up callisto up for sculk related profits, even if he doesnt want to tell them what exactly happened there, and that the area of explosion itself was an accident. They want to support Tango as much as they can), and even if staying with them makes him feel better, he cant keep on doing it. That, and theyre also similar enough... very much unfit for living among space crime, even if its something they cannot run from, and are much more interested in more... earthly, everyday matters, than space mining and enhancing humanity. In Tangos case especially its the longing for a simpler life, away from everything that made him what he is now. Its not that staying with Jimmy is completly safe, especially with the amount of people wanting to get Tangos bounty, but its safer, and something he keeps on doing selfishly, even if hes constantly feeling guilty for it. Even after Tango parts with Grian and Scar, he keeps coming back to the ranch, quickly making it a regular thing; Tangos ship is extra small (its not designed with living in mind; like a car) and doesnt even have a kitchen, so hes kind of... dependent on the ranch for basic life comforts. He helps a lot around the ranch to not feel like a parasite; helping Jim with optimizing mostly. Up to this point id describe their relationship as close but normal enough; theyre both slightly broken people who got to find peace in each other. Desperate for normal human relationships that both keep on losing the longer they live. Very much soulmates; if the world was different, they would live by each others side, but it isnt, so they try to make it work as well as they possibly can.

It takes a turn the moment Grian disappears. That itself very much ruins Jimmy, who already was worried about him and Pearl enough (even if hes admittedly a bit afraid of Pearl, he still cares for her), and now that his fears became real he just... couldnt deal with it well. Its both the fear of Grian leaving them behind, as well as the posibility of him getting imprisoned or dying. Jimmy is already painfully lonely as it is, cannot afford to lose more people, but hes also well aware that Tango wont stay; not because he doesnt want to, but because Tango cant afford to lose people either, especially since Grians disappearance happens at a similar time to Cubs sculk corruption (its complicated and this things already long enough, so ill just say its exactly what it sounds like) - something he absolutely blames himself for (as does Scar), and even when he manages to help Cub against his will, he knows that friendship is unsalvagable. So, instead, Jimmy makes Tango stay by sabotaging the ranch both of them worked on; whether its a small accident he needs help with, or a machine thats suddenly broken, or his poor excuse of a ship not starting properly, or Jimmy himself thats hurt, because he is clumsy and all bad luck tends to gravitate towards him. And when he breaks down and comes clesn to Tango about all of this, Tango cant really bring himself to be angry about it. He doesnt even really register it as an awful thing to do (he knows it is, but emotionally hes just... okay with it. The idea that maybe, in a different scenario, he would do the same, even if its manipulative and cruel), instead taking the way out hes been given and properly moving in. They both live in guilt of being too much to handle but its quieter when theyre together. Theyre both tired and willing to pretend everything is okay if it means getting some peace; and it goes surprisingly well for a while, not having to separate for longer periods and suffer the consequences of it. Until Scar comes and burns their home down in revenge

[faecaribou]

Mission Impossible Dashboard Simulator

🎮 letmewearamask Follow

Why is it called the Impossible Mission Force if we've succeeded at almost every mission we've done? Impossible mission? More like possible mission

🪈 ihatemi6 Follow

she mission on my impossible til i task force

🎮 letmewearamask Follow

this was an unnecessary addition to my post. i have your IP address.

#im going to tell Bravo Echo 11 what you wrote

154 notes

📺 failed_da_field_exam Follow

I can't believe that they decided to tell the public that it was a gas leak. how many gas leaks per month will the public accept??? theyre so gullible smh

⚙️ tiredofthisshit Follow

dude... don't know how to tell you this. it was really a gas leak this time.

📺 failed_da_field_exam Follow

oh my god?! you're joking. well i guess one of them had to be real

⚙️ tiredofthisshit Follow

ha! got you. you're just as gulible as the general public it seems.

📺 failed_da_field_exam Follow

BLOCKED.

📺 failed_da_field_exam Follow

guys can we not reblog this. can we stop reblogging please

1,369 notes

🎯 mycircus-mymonkeys

i hate it here. let me resign.

#officelife #imissbeingafieldagent #workingforkittragefuckingsucks

3 notes

�� BE11-deactivated10112023

Hey guys. I'm new to tumblr. My partner told me to make an account. He also said to tell you guys some stuff about me but that seems like a breach of information.

🎮 letmewearamask Follow

Dude. I promise no one's going to know it's you. You can share something, like, what's a hobby of yours?

📼 BE11-deactivated10112023

i climb things.

🎮 letmewearamask Follow

...no. That's what you do for work.

🎮 letmewearamask Follow

hello? did you just delete your account???

6 notes

🔪 i-fucking-lovefieldwork01 Follow

guys talking to some of my peers and im encountering some strange opinions. just want to clear things up.

🔪 i-fucking-lovefieldwork01 Follow

...

🔪 i-fucking-lovefieldwork01 Follow

jeez. reading the tags and some of you need a raise in morale. sure this was the only option that left you alive or free but after a certain amount of years most of you should be allowed to retire to a civilian life. couldn't be me though. i fucking love shooting people.

735 notes

🎯 mycircus-mymonkeys

sometimes a workplace rivalry is just as good as a workplace romance

🎞️ should_you_choose_to_accept Follow

guys OP let his team leader give real nuclear launch codes to a terrorist. dont follow him

🎯 mycircus-mymonkeys

I can neither confirm nor deny details of any operation without the Secretary's approval.

545 notes

💻 hackerrrman Follow

you guys will not believe how insane my team is guys. the mask machine broke again and my team leader decided we would just go without masks. does anyone else have this problem?

📡 tango-foxtrot32

omg yes!! we always keep TWO mask machines on hand for all of OUR missions because one of them is always breaking! ive complained to the tech team so much but apparently its 'our fault' and we need to 'be more gentle' with the machines

💻 hackerrrman Follow

what do they mean, "be more gentle"?? i mean my team once had a guy slam the mask machine against our targets face and it broke. but i cant imagine other teams doing that

📡 tango-foxtrot32

yeah no that's.... why did you use the mask machine as a weapon? i... our problem is that we've been 'making too many masks at once' according to the tech. what.... how have your other mask machines broken....

💻 hackerrrman Follow

well now i don't want to say.

📡 tango-foxtrot32

...

#goodlord #imscared

2,001 notes

🚐 vanguy Follow

so was anyone going to tell me that the prisoner ive been transporting to america was actually the most wanted terrorist of our times. or was i supposed to find out when i dropped him off and the CIA congratulated me for keeping him contained.

🎯 mycircus-mymonkeys

It wasn't your buisiness to know. especially if you're going to be talking about it on social media.

🚐 vanguy Follow

im so sorry please dont fire me

125 notes

⌛️ fuckthecia Follow

day 78 of saying FUCK THE CIA

🪈 ihatemi6 Follow

FUCK THE CIA

⌛️ fuckthecia Follow

HELL YEAH! day 1 of saying FUCK THE MI6

🪈 ihatemi6 Follow

HELL YEAH

903 notes

🎙️ good_evening

good evening everyone. you probably could figure out already by my manner of typing, but I am in fact the person who voices all your mission dossiers. I just want to say that I'm also responsible for gathering and summarizing all the information you need. and let me just say. you all have some serious shit going on. jesus christ.

🔪 i-fucking-lovefieldwork01 Follow

...and?

🎙️ good_evening

and what? I'm glad I'm not a field agent. LOL

#my average day is me reading papers out loud #your average day is 'if your team is caught or killed you will be disavowed' LOL

219 notes

♟️ its_treason_then Follow

guys why is Lane kinda.... 😳

🚐 vanguy Follow

??! no he's fucking not

♟️ its_treason_then Follow

politely i disagree with you.

🚐 vanguy Follow

YOU'RE looking at dossier photographs. *I* saw him IRL

♟️ its_treason_then Follow

omg you met him?! can you get his autograph for me please

🚐 vanguy Follow

what is wrong with you?!

58 notes

🪣 hr-sux Follow

do you guys ever just sit in a local coffee shop and try to profile random strangers for fun

🗝️ washington_locale Follow

no? wtf

🪣 hr-sux Follow

what? theyre civilians. its fun

🗑️ techboy33 Follow

girl.... in D.C.? ain't no one a civilian

📁 imf-heritage-post

Official IMF Heritage Post

986 notes

🗂️ days-without-disasters Follow

0 days without a disaster

📡 tango-foxtrot32

WHAT HAPPENED?!

🎮 letmewearamask Follow

dude... you don't even want to know....

413 notes

thats all for now ^w^ i have more ideas

[trainsinanime]

LIMAX

I’m tired, I’m bored, let’s talk about the RE18, also sometimes known as LiMAX or Drielandentrein (three countries train).

Euregio

This international regional train connects the region known as Euregio Maas-Rhine, the area around the point where Netherlands, Belgium and Germany meet. The region has a long shared and sometimes weird history. The main cities are Aachen (Germany, about 260,000 inhabitants), Liège (Belgium, about 200,000 people) and Maastricht (Netherlands, about 120,000 folks). A cluster of smaller towns around Heerlen (Netherlands, 86,000 citizens) forms a fourth major pole. Each of the regions gets roughly around half a million inhabitants each, but with a lot of green space in between. Here's a very crude map:

Blue are borders, black are relevant passenger rail lines, red is the one high speed line I'll talk about later.

This region is either right in the centre of Europe, or at the periphery of each of its respective countries, depending on what aspect you look at. Centre of Europe is undeniably better, but it requires international cooperation to work out. For me, living in Aachen, it’s great. My nearest Ikea is in the Netherlands, and I can watch French movies in cinemas in Liège.

But a lot of things aren't perfect, and the regional rail connections are a good example. Differing ticketing systems mean that it's not only expensive to cross the border, it's often very difficult to figure out what it costs at all. In a lot of places, trains only did short hops over the border, and then you had to change to a different train to get anywhere interesting. Some lines weren't even electrified yet. But in 2018, that was all about to change.

LIMAX

The Liège-Maastricht-Aachen express, in short LIMAX, was meant to change all that. The train is officially known as RE 18, which comes from the numbering scheme in the German state of Northrhine-Westphalia but is used for the entire route. It was supposed to run from Liège via Maastricht and Heerlen to Aachen, connecting all the major cities of the Euregio.

This particular train is a dutch project, and connecting Aachen with Liège only happens incidentally. There is a direct Aachen-Liège railway line, actually the oldest international line that’s still in use, including the oldest surviving German railway tunnel, and there is even a high-speed line that bypasses around 90% of the historic line. You can get from Aachen to Liège in less than half an hour on high speed trains (though regional trains are weird and impractical at the moment). This train line is really more about getting people in Heerlen a direct link to Liège, and people in Maastricht a direct link to Aachen.

The train

The train is operated by Arriva Netherlands Limburg, an independent subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, who also operate all other rail and bus lines in the southern half of the dutch province of Limburg. They were actually placed second in the tender for this, but got promoted after it turned out that the actual winner Abellio (a daughter of the dutch state railroads NS) had illegal access to internal documents of previous operator and third-place scorer Veolia from France. To their credit, this came out because Abellio management learned of it and made it public, but rules are rules, so they still got disqualified. This is barely in the top three most interesting stories with Abellio, but we don’t have time for that here.

The service uses Stadler FLIRT 3 electric multiple units. FLIRT is an abbreviation, but nobody bothers remembering what it stands for. The manufacturer also offers or used to offer the TANGO (streetcar), the WINK (smaller version of the FLIRT), KISS (double-decker) and their newest high-speed train, the… SMILE. Cowards.

The FLIRTs for this service are specially equipped for the line, supporting all the different voltages in the overhead lines and all the other necessary support systems… almost. That’s going to become important later.

(Arriva Nederland Limburgs also has other trains, including other FLIRTs, that are only equipped for the Netherlands. I'll ignore them here.)

Services started in December 2018, theoretically. In practice the German leg of the service didn’t work yet. The problem was that the line from Heerlen to Herzogenrath (and then further to Aachen) used to be one of the few non-electrified lines in the region. It was electrified specifically for the RE18, and the work wasn’t quite finished yet. That got resolved, though, and the train is now working mostly well between Germany and the Netherlands. There are still some issues, like how it consistently announces that the doors will open on the left when they will open on the right and vice versa, but those are minor issues. The main problem for me is that it bypasses the Ikea station instead of stopping there.

The much bigger problem was the Belgian line, from (south of) Maastricht to Liège. The Belgian railway authorities were never that enthusiastic about the project to begin with, seeing how it was a private dutch company (though owned by the German government), and the platforms in the intermediate station of Visé were too low for step-free access and needed to be rebuilt. But the real main issue lay elsewhere: The new trains did not have ETCS.

Train control systems

We need a detour here about train control systems. Trains are controlled by signals. If a train passes a red signal, an accident usually follows, so over time every country developed different systems to make sure that doesn’t happen. The specific features of these vary widely. Some just warn the engineer that a red signal is ahead, and stop the train if the engineer doesn’t react. Some activate the emergency brake when the engineer passes a red signal, or when they don’t brake enough. More advanced ones for high speed lines tell the engineer the current allowed speed, upcoming speed changes and how far away they are, like a mini-GPS system, and constantly check that the engineer is driving within these limits. Many systems do a combination of different things.

Almost every country has its own of these systems, generally known by a cryptic abbrevation, and many countries have several. For example, Germany has PZB for all lines and additionally LZB for high-speed lines. The Netherlands have different versions of ATB, Belgium has TBL1+ and so on. The differences between them aren’t relevant for this post, but they’re all very different in what they do and how they do it. The RE 18 trains support all of them, except LZB because they’re not used on lines that make it necessary.

That’s expensive and annoying, so the European Union and European rail industries have developed a new system to replace all of them, the European Train Control System or ETCS. You will also hear the term ERTMS (European rail traffic management system), which includes ETCS and some other things, but in common parlance it usually means the same thing. Despite the name, it is also heavily used outside of Europe, e.g. on China’s high speed rail network.

And yes, that is very much a situation like the classic XKCD comic:

Source: XKCD 927, CC-BY-NC 2.5

(For americans reading this and wondering about PTC: That is a whole mess and almost everyone, including Wikipedia, explains it wrong, but for the purposes of this post we can just say that these systems and in particular ETCS are all something „like“ PTC.)

ETCS will only make sense once all European mainlines are equipped with it, which is still several decades away. But some countries are working harder than others to implement it. In particular, Belgium demands that all new trains since about 2015 have ETCS. Including the Stadler FLIRT for the RE 18.

In this case

The operator protested, because that requirement apparently came in while the trains were in production, and the line in question didn’t even have ETCS at the time (according to the latest Belgian maps it does now). To this day, the trains actually running there, as a Liège-Maastricht shuttle, do not have ETCS. So clearly it's not that essential… yet. Still, Belgian authorities refused to budge, so the trains had to be sent back to the manufacturer to get ETCS installed.

(Aside: ETCS is an open standard, and you can get ETCS equipment both for the tracks and for the trains from many different companies. Stadler, the manufacturer of these trains, only recently got into making ETCS equipment. Before that they had to buy it from competing train makers. These trains are among the first equipped with Stadler’s ETCS solution.)

The first train got it installed, returned to the line, and started tests. It worked well in the Netherlands, it worked well in Germany, it ran into Aachen station and worked well there, it ran back out of Aachen station and it stopped. Full emergency stop. After some testing it was determined that it always does an emergency stop when running out of Aachen station. And nobody is really sure why.

The low-down

We can make some vague guesses, though, because Aachen main station does have some ETCS equipment.

ETCS works partially with radio, but also with what are functionally giant RFID tags, the same basic concept like what you’ll find on a wireless credit card. They’re working at different frequencies and they’re designed for reliable reading at 450 km/h, but the basic idea is pretty much the same. These tags, known as „Balise“ (French for beacon) or Eurobalise, are mounted in the middle of the track, and are often yellow, at least when new. They can either send the same data every time, or be controlled with a cable from a computer.

Not everybody loves ETCS, but everybody seems to like the Eurobalise. It’s simple technology that can transmit a lot of information, and so there are a number of non-ETCS uses for it.

One such use case is transmitting the information of an older train control system. That is what the Belgians do with their TBL1+ system. It’s the same system as TBL1 (there is also a TBL2, but that was a bad idea and is gone now), but it transmits its information with Eurobalises. The idea is that you update these balises later to also transmit ETCS signals. Older trains can just get a balise reader, newer trains can just get ETCS, and you have only a single type of thing in the track instead of two. Switzerland is the first country that is fully ETCS equipped thanks to such a strategy, and Belgium is following suit.

The other use case is the "ETCS-based class B transition". Sounds tough but really isn’t: ETCS has a mechanism to tell the train, "hey, ETCS is ending, switch to ATB/PZB/TBL/…". In this context "Class B" means any system that isn’t ETCS (and that is on the list of things that ETCS knows about, for this purpose). The system ensures that the train really does switch to the other system, and that it stops if the switch doesn’t work. That is very useful and so most border crossings at least in Germany use it these days, even if no other part of ETCS is seen anywhere.

Both of these use cases are well established and ETCS specifically allows for them. Aachen central station is particularly fun because here you will find both of them combined. It is the border station for (passenger) trains to Belgium, so several tracks can be switched to Belgium mode, with Belgian electricity, and with Belgian TBL1+ train control system. The Eurobalises in these tracks pull double duty: They tell trains whether to switch to Belgian or German train control systems, depending on where the route is set, and if the Belgian system is to be used, they also transmit the information from that.

This isn’t new, and has worked well for years. The only other two types of passenger trains approved for the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany (and in one case also France), the Thalys PBKA and the ICE 3M high speed trains, also run through this station and they also have ETCS equipment and it all works.

But something about the combination together with the ETCS equipment in the new trains just doesn’t mesh well. It’s possible that there’s a bug in the software of the train. It’s possible that there’s a bug in the coding of the balises. Maybe it's something else; ETCS is a complex standard with a lot of updates, and the equipment in Aachen hasn't been touched in a while.

A theory I read on a dutch forum said that these balises tell the train to switch to combined PZB+LZB mode, but the train only has PZB mode and gets confused. I don’t know enough about ETCS to know whether this is plausible (and I know way too much about this stupid system already). All we really know for sure is that there are people working on this, and they're not telling us any of the details.

But after a few days where the train just didn’t run to Aachen at all, they found a solution. You know how I said that some tracks can be switched to Belgium mode? The others can’t, so why not just run the train into those?

That was actually easier said than done. Aachen has a lot of tracks, but most of them are used for parking trains. Most German regional trains to Aachen end in Aachen, and then wait here for half an hour or so until they return to where they came from. This isn’t required by the track layout or anything, it’s just convenient because that way, delays don’t build up quite as much. And the best location for that pause is, of course, right at the edge of the country. Centre of Europe? Yeah, sure, whatever…

So the solution is now that the RE18 runs into track 3 and stops in the middle of the platform, where it unloads all passengers. Then it drives forward to the end of the platform, and stays there. Another train, the RB33, pulls in behind it (there’s a red signal between them, don’t worry), and waits for its time to depart. Eventually it does, and shortly thereafter, the RE18 runs back to the middle of the platform, and then a few minutes later, back out again. It’s a silly little dance, but so far nobody has found a better solution.

(Before you start, the end of platform 3 is very narrow and at a non-accessible height, so the train can't just load and unload there.)

As for the Belgian side of things, through-services to Liège will start this December! Woohoo! It seems this thing is finally working.

The Future

The long-term hope is to turn this from an hourly to a half-hourly service. It already is for most of its length, but right now the trains stop in Herzogenrath, just after the German border, because there is no space in the schedule to run them to Aachen yet.

Another hope is to create a completely new service from Aachen to Eindhoven, also using the same trains. Eindhoven wants to be connected to the German ICE network, Aachen wants to be connected to the dutch train network, so this sounds all great. Personally, I have doubt that these trains have enough capacity, but they are currently the only ones that would work. An issue with that is the actual line over the border. This used to be double-tracked, then got single-tracked. Now they want to double-track it again, but when it was electrified, they put the power poles right where the second track used to be. Not sure what they were thinking there.

All of these projects will take years, if not decades, and have in fact already taken years or decades. I’ve been in Aachen since 2007, and things like electrifying the line over the german-dutch border or creating a direct train from Aachen to the center of the Netherlands (or at least Eindhoven) have been in discussion for at least since then. On the one hand, it’s frustrating how slowly all these things are going. On the other, they are happening at all, and looking back ten years or so, it’s quite nice to see what has been accomplished.

I guess my one wish is that they’d finally let the train stop in Heerlen Woonboulevard, I’m tired of changing trains to get to Ikea.

[scribbling-dragon]

nighttime hauntings

summary:

(ao3 link)

(4,317 words)

heyy! happy halloween! as a gift have my personal little silly thing that i had a bunch of fun writing, don't question the worldbuilding too much! (you want to reblog this soooo bad and leave me nice little comments in the tags, soo bad <3)

The tarmac is cool beneath his feet – well, paws? They're paws right now, but they're feet a majority of the time. And ‘feet’ refers to anything you stand on, probably, so till feet…just paw-shaped right now – as he waits patiently. Maybe a little impatiently, hopping from one foot to the other, claws clacking against the cool ground.

The bell jingles and he jerks his head up. He almost smiles, before remembering that such an expression is truly horrifying when he’s like this – Scott had made sure to tell him as such when Jimmy last did it to him, and the siren usually prefers to coat his words in much more honey. The insult wasn’t even thinly veiled, it was just an insult.

His tail begins wagging, almost on its own, as the person he was waiting for steps out onto the darkened street.

He lets out a small bark as greeting, watching as his friend looks up, before smiling at him as well. He stops to check the road before bounding across, skidding to a stop at Tango’s feet. The barista is still smiling, that oddly restrained smile that only just shows a peek of his teeth.

“Hey, buddy,” Tango crouches down, reaching out a hand to stroke along the top of Jimmy’s head. “I’ve only got a few things for you today, but I'm sure it’s more than enough.”

Jimmy can’t respond to him right now, but he hopes the wagging of his tail is enough to communicate that even the smallest of scraps are always enough for him; as long as Tango is the one bearing those scraps, he’ll happily take whatever is given to him.

He takes the piece of food – some kind of croissant? He’s not sure what exactly it is, but it’s tasty, even after sitting on a shelf for most of the day – carefully between his teeth, making sure not to accidentally nip Tango. He’d never forgive himself if he did that, even went so far as to refuse taking food from Tango’s hand for the first few months of their little arrangement.

Tango smiles down at him as he finishes chewing, before standing up straight. The small box the scraps came in is neatly folded into a cardboard square and disposed of in the nearest bin they pass by.

Tango walks quite briskly, as though he has somewhere to be. He doesn’t, Jimmy knows. Not in a weird way! Or a creepy one! He just never leaves the house after Jimmy walks him home, choosing to stay inside. He doesn’t think Tango has very many friends, otherwise he wouldn’t be choosing to take the closing shift at a café that operates on disgustingly early and late hours. He would probably also be leaving his house between shifts.

Again, not in a creepy way! Jimmy is just slightly worried about Tango…they may have only had a few conversations in passing when Jimmy has chosen to visit the café as a human-shaped patron, but he likes to think he has a pretty good feel for the man next to him.

Tango’s hand rests on his head as they wait to cross the road, the flickering orange lamp only briefly illuminating the zebra crossing. Jimmy sits dutifully at his side, scanning the darker corners that Tango wouldn’t be able to see into with his subpar night vision.

Only when Tango lifts his hand from Jimmy’s head does he begin to move again, trotting at his heels.

It’s only a short walk to Tango’s apartment building, but it’s a rather dark one. Tango chooses to take more risks than he really should, crossing through darkened alleyways with little fear. The absolute lack of self-preservation has Jimmy’s heart going a mile a minute, jumping in his chest at every flickering shadow or small sound.

He growls at a rat that startled him, an entirely embarrassing encounter that has Tango cooing over him and stroking his ears; he feels hot under his fur, mortification sliding heavy down his spine as he resists the urge to hide his face. He’s only lucky he can’t blush like this, or any blush he would have is hidden beneath a thick layer of fur.

And, as always, the moment of parting arrives with the looming of Tango’s building.

He can’t help the way he slows his steps as they approach, mourning the end of their small journey for the evening. It would be far more convenient to start an actual conversation with Tango, either inside of his workplace or outside of it, the way his brothers have been telling him to. But he’s far more comfortable with everything as it is right now, and these small walks don't give him the opportunity to ruin everything with a blurted sentence that should have stayed internal.

A hand lands on his head, its weight comforting and familiar.

“See you soon,” Tango gives him that same odd smile, lips barely pulling back from his teeth. “Stay safe, alright? I’d be sad if my little buddy stopped showing up to greet me.”

Jimmy would equally be upset if he was no longer able to accompany Tango on his walks home. The city is dangerous at night, especially with all the creatures living within a small radius of each other. Jimmy can name three different vampires that live within a mile of Tango’s home. And those are only the ones he knows. Goodness knows what would happen if Tango chose to walk home on his own down those dark and disgusting alleyways.

Jimmy makes a small noise, ears drooping slightly as he presses his head forward for a final goodbye. The smell of coffee and sugar invades his senses briefly before he’s pulling away again, watching Tango let himself into his building.

Only when he sees the door click shut behind Tango and automatically lock does he turn to leave, trotting down a different alleyway in order to return to his own home for the evening.

=== === ===

Tango’s not entirely sure when the semi-regular routine began. Only that the habit is well-worn at this point, meaning it’s been at least two months. It takes two months to form a habit, apparently, though some people do it quicker than that. He, however, is a creature of habit and takes a while to adjust his routine.

Which is why it comes as a surprise to him when he finds that he’s already packed away several scraps, and bits of food that would go to waste at the end of the day otherwise, into a takeaway container, ready to give to his nightly companion.

He locks everything up inside first. He’s not going to rush out the door and become an incompetent employee just to go and see his furry friend quicker. Even if said furry friend is incredibly cute and really quite endearing, especially when he does the impatient little tippy-taps with his paws as he waits outside.

A normal person wouldn’t be able to pick up on such a tiny sound, but Tango strains his ears as he does one final sweep of the café, listening for the almost inaudible sound of claws clacking against the tarmac.

He smiles a little when he hears it, making his way towards the door, container tucked carefully beneath his arm. The keys jangle as he takes them out to lock the door, turning around in the small porch and locking the doorway.

He gives the handle a small test, finding that it resists, before finally turning to greet his friend.

“Hello, hello. Yes, yes, I'm sorry,” he crouches down to be more on the dog’s level, smiling at it as he reaches out to give it a quick pat on the head. “I didn’t mean to be so late, but, ugh, Tiffany- I've told you about Tiffany before, right?” The dog tilts its head to the side, though its ears perk forward as Tango speaks.

Tango knows full well that he’s currently having a conversation with a dog, but he can’t help it! He works the closing shift on his own most of the time, none of his co-workers choosing to stay past six p.m., when it starts to get a little bit too dark, or too late at night. Most of them are students at the local university, and they all have early lectures. Tango doesn’t mind taking the later shifts – much prefers taking them, actually, seeing as he doesn’t have to lug his stupidly old and stupidly heavy umbrella around with him– especially not when it helps out those he works with so much.

“Yeah, yeah,” he nods along like the dog responded to his earlier question. “Of course I've told you about Tiffany before, she’s, honestly, sorry for what I'm about to say, but she’s such a bitch. She came in, five minutes before closing. I’d been cleaning all the tables ready for closing and begun to stack the chairs, and she comes in and is all like, oh, so sorry darling,” he drags the darling out, “yeah. She says it just like that- and she comes in so sorry darling, but I've just got to have this coffee right now. You’d understand wouldn’t you? Working so late all the time, ugh, it must be so hard. Like, God, yeah, imagine not living off your husband’s money, Tiffany – I know far too much about this woman’s life, like, no, I am being paid minimum wage to sit and listen to you complain about your third husband’s spending habits, I don't actually care.”

He huffs out an exasperated breath, sagging forward momentarily. Still crouching right in front of the dog means he leans forward and directly into the dog, which does a rather valiant attempt to keep him upright.

“Ugh, sorry, I don't mean to complain. You're here for the scraps, I'm sure,” he pulls the box out from beneath his arm, setting it on his lap as he begins opening it, folding the cardboard edges away from each other. The dog whines, scraping its foot against his leg, before looking up at him with its incredibly sad and watery eyes.

He’s not actually sure what kind of dog it is. When he’d first been approached by it, he’d been taking the waste food out to the bins behind the café. He was certain he was about to be attacked by a rabid wolf, or something. As far as he knows, the only werewolves currently living in the city is a tiny pack of three, and all of them live on the opposite side of the city to him. But in that moment he’d been certain that he was going to be mauled to death by another creature of the night.

Instead, the hulking beast of an animal had sat down at his feet and given him the saddest little look ever, eyes large and watering until Tango had offered up a rather squashed croissant to it.

After that small encounter, he’d tried to find out what kind of dog it was, searching for it first online, and then resorting to a dog breeds guide at the nearby library, in the hopes that he might find what kind of dog was walking him home most weeks.

The most he’d been able to conclude was that it was probably at least half-wolf, though the other parent is unknown. Dog and wolf – both dolf and wog had sounded incredibly dumb, and the dog looks more like an overgrown, slightly shaggier family golden retriever than a wolf.

And it still doesn’t have a name.

He offers out the half-croissant he’d saved for it today, watching as it takes the treat carefully from his hand. He’s fed a few street dogs before, though none of them this consistently, and all the street dogs in the past had bitten at his fingers as they snatched the treat from him, desperate and starving, and willing to rip out someone’s throat to make sure they got the treat.

The delicacy with which this dog takes the treat only reinforces the idea that this dog was a family pet, one that was left behind when it only continued growing and the family could no longer cope with having such a large dog.

It licks his fingers for the last crumbs of the croissant before pulling back and looking at him with those same sad eyes.

“On better topics,” he begins, watching how the dog perks up at the sound of his voice. He almost wishes it were smaller, so he could at least try to sneak it into his apartment. “The cute guy came back today,” he strokes a hand absently over the dog’s head as he talks, “I still didn’t manage to get his name, oh, it’s so embarrassing. Joe – co-worker Joe, Joe that we like – makes fun of me for it every time, says it makes me incapable at my job the moment he walks in. I just can’t help it! He always sits at the window, and gets the same thing every single time. I mean, I get the same thing every time, I can respect that, but I still don't have his name.” He buries his face in his arms, ceasing the absent pets he was giving the dog. “Man, it’s embarrassing. I don't even know his name and he’s a regular. He comes in nearly every evening, and just sits in the window, perfectly aligned with the last bits of sunlight in order to make his hair turn golden.”

A wet nose presses against his arm, before an entire head forces its way through his crossed arms. He pulls back with a short laugh, pushing the dog backwards, hands on its chest.

“Ugh, just ignore me. I'm tired,” he sighs, hauling himself to his feet. “I forgot to have something to eat before I left for work, and now I'm starving.” The dog continues to look up at him as he walks, eyes fixed on him, wet and glittering under the occasional street lights. Despite it’s overall air of patheticness, it seems to be doing rather well for itself. It’s certainly not skinny, despite living right on the edges of the city, and it hasn’t been attacked by one of Tango’s hungrier neighbours yet.

…Though, that might be more to do with Tango than sheer luck.

He’s one of the older vampires in this part of the city, and most of the other ones are content to stay out of his way as long as he stays out of theirs. And he may have been rather unsubtle in his fondness for this particular dog, even going so far as to mark him with a small sigil – one only visible to other vampires, letting them know that they should keep their hands off. The sigil is small and unnoticeable when he doesn’t look for it, fading into background noise.

To other vampires, though, it’s like a blaring light that screams at them to stay away or face his wrath. A rather effective deterrent, if he may say so himself.

He crosses into the shadowed alleyways quickly, feeling far more relaxed here than under the pools of lamplight. The dog, however, presses closer to his legs worriedly, a low whine building in the back of its throat for the first few seconds, before cutting off rather abruptly.

Tango hums to himself, reaching down to pat the dog on its head, stroking a hand over the unruly tufts there in an attempt to smooth them down.

He moves quicker through the dark alleyways. The dog doesn’t like walking through them, but it’s far quicker than taking the main streets, even if these are darker and a little more…disgusting. Still, the dog seems happier when they finally emerge from the twisting maze of brick and crawling moss, wagging its tail again and straying a little further from his side.

Still, he feels more than a little bad when he turns to face it on his doorstep, crouching down again to bid it goodbye.

“I’ll see you soon, alright?” The dog tilts its head at the exact same time he does, looking even sadder than it had when he first stepped out the café. It would almost be worth it, getting kicked out of his apartment, just to smuggle the dog inside for an evening. “And I’ll have something better than half a croissant next time, I swear.”

The dog wags its tail twice before stopping again, watching from its spot as Tango backs up towards his apartment building. He gives it one last wave before he pushes through the doors, pulling it shut behind himself.

When he glances back through the glass, the dog is already gone.

=== === ===

Jimmy waited patiently, tail curled neatly around his paws as he watches the door carefully. There’s been movement inside for the past few minutes, despite the closed sign already being flipped. Meaning its almost time for Tango to emerge from the darkness and come greet him with a smile.

He’s been worried about Tango recently. His apparent lack of friends aside, he’s been looking paler than before, almost sick with it, and he’d been stumbling yesterday when Jimmy went in for his usual coffee. He wasn’t able to get close enough to check on him then, standing at the respectable distance that humans normally choose to keep between themselves. But now, shifted and covered in a layer of fur, it’s far more acceptable for him to get that close.

He perks up at the sound of jangling keys, hopping to his feet and crossing the road before the door even finishes closing.

Only to skid to a halt before he can reach the person- because it’s just a person, not Tango.

He begins backing away, only to be caught in the act as the person turns around to face him. Another co-worker, one that Jimmy vaguely recognises as Joe, both from his visits to the café and Tango’s stories about his day.

“Heya there,” Joe waves to him, wiggling his fingers slightly at the end. “Didn’t think you’d be here tonight, looking for your buddy?”

Jimmy doesn’t make any response that would indicate understanding, simply continuing to stare up at Joe. He doesn’t know what to make of Joe, something uneasy prickling along his spine as he stares up at him. He’d never been able to get a read on the guy, but something about him just made Jimmy feel…off. Uneasy. Not unsafe, never unsafe, but healthily wary.

“Aw, well, he’s out sick today. He’s not been looking good recently, so you might not be seeing him for a bit.” Joe locks the door as he talks, turning his head over his shoulder to face Jimmy. He’s still smiling, oddly enough. “I'm sure he’ll be back, right as rain, soon enough! Nothing keeps Tango down for long. Nothing can keep Tango down for long,” Joe laughs. Then stops laughing nearly as quickly as he had begun. “You’d better run along, I've got no scraps for you tonight. Not that you’d take them from me, I don't think.”

Joe watches him for a moment longer, before making a gentle shooing motion.

Jimmy feels as though he's been broken from a trance, abruptly backing up before turning away, beginning a slow trot away from the café as he thinks. He still doesn’t feel good around Joe, and that right there was creepily similar to the time when Scott wanted to show him what a siren could really do with their voice. But there was no urge to offer himself up to the man, only a need to stay and listen to whatever it was he had to say.

Whatever Joe is, Jimmy has no interest in finding out.

Disappointed in how his evening has turned out, he slips into the forest rather than making the trip back across the city. He’s not looking to be teased by his brothers about this when he’s not even managed to see Tango. He’d much rather kill a rabbit, or something.

Or, he turns his head, the iron tang of blood filling his nose, perhaps he doesn’t even need to hunt down an entire animal. There seems to be some kind of injured creature out here that would be far easier to catch than the effort required for digging into a burrow.

He follows the scent deeper into the forest, only pausing to make sure he orients himself correctly and can find his way back to the city later.

The path zig-zags, as though the prey was desperately blundering its way through the undergrowth in its panic. Several leaves are dotted with crimson beads of blood, and the trail is laughably easy to follow. He keeps his nose to the ground anyway, snuffling along the small path of broken twigs and crushed underbrush.

A snapping twig has his ears pricking forward, a pained sound following afterwards.

He leaps forward, crashing through the bush ahead of him and ignoring the thorns that scrape along his sides as he lands. He almost slips on the leaves, skidding a little further than he had expected to.

The scent of blood is incredibly strong here, and it only takes him looking up to realise why.

Tango leans against the tree, another body beneath his own a dark shape. The pained sounds are coming from said body, though Tango seems to be ignoring them entirely, in favour of- in favour of…

There’s a wet sound as Tango pulls away from the person, turning to peer over his shoulder with squinted eyes. Those squinted eyes then rather quickly widen- and it’s the first time that Jimmy notices the red sheen they have to them, almost bright enough to glow.

What catches most of his attention, though, is the blood dripping down his chin, staining most of his lower face with it.

His heart in his throat and feeling as though he’s about to be sick from stress, he skitters back when Tango turns fully to face him. Somehow, he’s managed to not get any blood on his clothes.

He bursts back into a human, clothes settling heavily over him as he staggers to his feet, reeling backwards. “Holy shit!”

“Holy- what the hell!” Tango leaps to his feet as well, wide eyes now even wider. “You're- what!”

“You're a vampire!” He shouts back, confused and also more than annoyed with himself. “What- how didn’t I know? How the hell did you do so well at hiding it?”

“You- I didn’t know that you were a werewolf! Weredog- whatever!”

“I'm a werewolf,” he snaps back. “Not a dog.”

“You sure look like a dog,” Tango plants his hands on his hips, far too confident for someone that looks like he got dunked into a can of red paint. “A big dog, sure, but still a dog.”

“I'm a wolf, thanks,” he bristles. “And you're a vampire! You- is that guy gonna be okay?”

Said guy makes another pained sound.

“He’ll be fine,” Tango says. His voice is more than a little dismissive, only sparing a singular backwards glance over his shoulder. “He’ll just think he had a little too much to drink and ended up somewhere he doesn’t remember going.”

“And he’ll be fine?”

“He might need to eat a little more, replenish his blood. I don't know, man, I'm not a doctor.”

“If you're regularly draining people of their blood, then you need to be a little more careful.”

“I don't- this isn’t a normal thing,” Tango sighs. “I just haven’t been able to make time for the past few weeks so I was…a little more hungry than usual. This is a worst-case scenario.”

“Just, ugh, how didn’t I know?”

“How did neither of us know?” Tango turns the question back around. “God, we must be some pretty tremendous idiots to not have realised. C’mon, don't I smell like blood to your super sensitive nose?”

“No?” He blinks, “You smell like coffee, and sugar.”

“Oh, uh, alright,” Tango’s brows furrow together. “Mind if I get your name, by the way? You kept avoiding me at the café when I tried to ask. Makes a little more sense now, I guess.”

“I, yeah? I'm Jimmy, nice to meet you?” He groans, “This is weird as hell. You're covered in blood and I'm telling you my name.”

“Hey, hey, I've been trying to get that name for a while now.” Tango wags a finger at him, “Don't be weird just ‘cause this is weird- could be weirder, let me tell you.”

“Uh-huh, how could it be weirder?”

“I could ask you on a date now rather than tomorrow,” Tango smiles at him, small fangs poking over his lips as he watches. Waiting for a response. “It wouldn’t be to a café, for obvious reasons, but there’s a nice museum nearby that-”

“You want to ask me on a date?”

“…Yeah?”

“I just, ugh, why? I was going to ask you on a date months ago and decided against it!”

“Aw, you shoulda asked me,” Tango frowns. “There was an even better museum exhibit a few months ago.”

Jimmy opens his mouth to say something, but just starts laughing instead. He can see Tango watching him, from behind the tears forming in his eyes, but he can’t bring himself to stop laughing for another while yet.

“You're an idiot,” he manages between laughing.

“In a good way, or…?”

“Yeah, sure, in a good way.” He sighs, “What the hell, yeah, I’ll go on that date with you.”

“Wait, really?” Tango seems to light up, completely ignoring the blood on his face and the guy slumped over behind him. “Oh, how would you feel about dinner afterwards? On me, I swear.”

“As long as I'm not dessert,” he laughs.

Tango giggles alongside him, “Only if you offer, sweetheart.”

[ashenquill]

Hello Tumblr, I am back with more headcanons!!1!1!

Beware of Hermitshipping in this one (it's not the focus but it's mentioned)

Bdubs. He doesn't have a full legal name, he's just Bdubs. On paperwork, he will sometimes put "Bee Double", but it's no more than a formality. It's pretty well-known that "Bdubs" is technically a nickname, but whenever someone tries to ask okay, but what's your real name?, he just keeps talking like they never said anything. Most people brush this off, but anyone who is highly-attuned to and proficient in magic will realize that, although Bdubs seems like an open book, they don't actually know that much about him.

Hybrid-wise, Bdubs is a fae creature of unspecified origin, although he's most akin to that of a nymph (specifically a dryad) or a gnome (this isn't just a short joke, it's a short joke with a purpose). He is closely connected to the earth, and can manipulate anything that comes from the earth, though he doesn't do it often. He is also able to make illusions and move at higher speeds than should be possible, which makes it very easy for him to confuse and disorient people, especially those who don't know him.

Bdubs is a very devoted and hard-working person, and he is proud to boast that he works an impressive seven jobs. These include: owning and operating a coffee shop called "The Muhd Cafe" (or simply "Muhd"), Construction Supervisor & General Contractor, owning and operating a headshot shop (he does both pictures and paintings), owning and operating a plant nursery, owning a demolition company, part-time Scarland employee, and the esteemed Royal Advisor/Jester/Butler etc. Bdubs technically works part-time for all of these businesses, and co-owns most of them with other people. He has to keep busy to not become restless, and it shows.

Some details for each buisness:

Muhd - Co-owner: Etho Slab. Affectionately nicknamed "Wet Dirt" by Etho and most employees. Bdubs hates this nickname. Bdubs uses his hybrid abilities to make coffee faster than any gunslinger in the Wild West, and frequently leaves his customers disoriented. Because of this -- and despite his protests --, he has been banned from working the counter unless there's a rush. This is Bdubs' "favorite" job (he swears he doesn't have a favorite, but he comes here most frequently), and he lives in an apartment above the coffee shop.

Bdubs' Head Shop - Sole owner: Bdubs. Sourced from a van with all of his art and photography supplies, and only appears on occasion. Bdubs has a glowing reputation, and any time the shop appears in the city, he gets heavy foot traffic.

Moss O Menos - Plant nursery located near Muhd. Bdubs is technically the sole owner, but the store's manager, Gemini Tay, runs the place in his absence and is basically a co-owner at this point.

Boomer's Demolition - Co-owners: Tango Tek and Impulse S-V. Their office is located in a tnt factory, so they typically do business over the phone or through emails. They have a terrible reputation and don't get many customers, so all three have other jobs.

Other details about Bdubs:

Smell = earthy, mossy, and also the unholy mix of his ten thousand jobs (coffee, oil, paint, gunpowder, churros, etc.)

Hybrid: forest nymph/gnome type of thing (connects to nature easily, can move faster than normally possible, often causes small-scale abnormal events)

Book smart - Special knowledge of customer service, architecture, and color theory

Likes: Etho, working, Etho, helping people, keeping busy, Etho, Etho, Etho

Dislikes: minor inconveniences 

Passions: brightening someone’s day, serving others

Habits/other details: thinks he has street smarts but could get conned by a shady guy in a trenchcoat, this is actually how he ended up marrying Etho, no I will not elaborate

Active in his environment - hates being idle, needs constant change to not get bored, and is willing to make it EVERYONE’S problem

Perfect sleep schedule, major early bird, gotta shreep

[ivys-garden]

Written down some more ideas for the Hermitcraft Prohibition AU, thanks for the help!

(P.S I won't be able to write this at the moment since I'm busy with school, so if anyone wants to have a crack go at it)

(P.S P.S I'm deciding the “main character” will be Pearl because then the AU can be called “Moonshine” :) )

The Year is 1925 and the bustling port city of Hermit's Hollow has been hit hard by the prohibition. With no way to obtain alcohol legally a network of organised crime groups and speakeasies has overtaken the city to provide drink.

Pearl - Postmaster of the PET Private Postal Service & Chief Leader in the bootlegging operation for the Tattered Tombstone speakeasy. Took up bootlegging after the post office fell into debt with the landlord. She and Tango alternate driving & she got scarily proficient with her tommy gun. She has a dog who she insists on bringing with them even though she barely helps

“Tango” - Inventory Manager & Engineer for the Postal Service & Bootlegging scheme. Had his tommy gun privileges revoked and is stuck mainly on driving duty. He knows why. Due to his close relationship with one of the city's only non corrupt cops he usually plays distraction. Is surprising good at dancing, leading to his nickname

Etho - general manager for the postal service & chief stealth expert, got the nickname “Ladders” due to his ability to climb any surface with ease. He used to be a former Dry Agent & constantly got into fights, leaving him scared, though his recent track record in fights has been… embarrassing. He takes security very seriously and insists on wearing a mask on heists. Only he also wears it while being a civilian deafening the entire point.

Cleo - Owner & Manager of “The Tattered Tombstone” is the city's largest speakeasy and the person who employs PET. She's a notoriously ruthless mob boss if you get on their bad side. They got the nickname “Zombie” due to a gas explosion, leaving half of her face burnt off. oh, and the rumour that she ate someone alive. That too

Joe - formermely a struggling street musician, he's now the main act in the Tattered Tombstone, he's such an asset to the business that Cleo has afforded him permanent lodges in the above apartments, which she also owns. He has been all over the country and thus has many tales to tell while not performing

Ren - former bodyguard for several mobosses. Quit after his partner lost an eye & arm trying to protect him. Now he's the bouncer & and bartender in the Tattered Tombstone. Got the nickname “The Dog” due to his role as a bodyguard.

Grian - the deputy of the local police force. Almost all his friends are criminals. He knows this. He doesn't do anything because it would be “too much paperwork”. Often clocks out early to go fishing. Who gave him this job?

“Cub” - the local Sheriff in the city and the runner of “The Convex” a recently opened speakeasy that's seeing overnight success, as he's using the police force as a hit squad against the competition. He's replaced every person he can with people who will either help him or are too incompetent to stop him. Got the nickname “Cub” because he allegedly fought off a grizzly in the Canadian wilderness.

“Scar” - dry agent in the police force and completely in on Cub's scheme, taking down several notorious gangsters as they continuously underestimate him. On top of “police” work, he also makes deals with mob bosses and speakeasy owners in various disguises as well as pocketing any bribes he gets for Cub. Git the nickname “Scar” due to his heavily scarred face. Whenever asked how he got them, he changes his story. Previous reasons include Zoo Accidents, Roller Coaster Malfunctions, and “Majestic Elf Wizard”

“Skizz” - one of the few good cops remaining in the city, but also completely oblivious to all the corruption around him. He's directly friends with Tango and doesn't know that he's a bootlegger.

He Got the sleeves ripped off his uniform in a knife fight with two gangster bodyguards during his first day on the job and refuses to repair them to remind him.of the day.

“Skizz” is a nickname but it was given to him so long ago no one remembers how he got it.

Gem - grizzled fisherwoman and part-time rum runner. Frequents the Tattered Tombstone and was the person to insider Pearl to take up bootlegging after a chat at the bar

Despite not having any (living) enemies she's recently found it harder to carry out her operation as a new gang has taken over the rum running in the city, cutting her off from most of her contacts

“Beef” - Rival Rum Runner to Gem who set up an organised gang of fellow Rum Runners under the guises of “Big Salmon Fisheries”, who have recently entered a deal to solely supply The Convex speakeasy.

Skizz has a personal mission to take Beef down as Beef used to be his partner in the police force before leaving to take up rum running

Got the nickname “Beef” because he grew up on a cattle farm.

“Mumbo Jumbo” - the son of notorious mob boss “Big Ron” who took over his criminal empire after his death at the hands of the previous Sheriff. Had no interest in criminality but felt he had to continue his family legacy. Bounced as soon as some dangerous enemies of Ron started coming after him, he now works as a mechanic and frequents the Tattered Tombstone.

Was given the nickname “Mumbo Jumbo” by his father for “Talking to much”

“Doc” - bodyguard turned hitman for hire. He and his partner failed to stop a pair of rocky cops from breaking into the base of mob boss Big Ron, which led to the arrest of several of his men. Doc agreed to take his punishment as well as Ren’s for the mistake, which resulted in him losing his eye and arm. After patching himself up, he went on a revenge mission, only to find out Big Ron had been killed by the Sheriff after they tracked him using information they got from the rookies. Doc would try to take his revenge on Ron's son, but he disappeared soon after catching on to his plan. He now frequents The Convex speakeasy and takes jobs from clients there while also paying a PI to track down Mumbo

Got the nickname “Doc” because he got kicked out of medical school for undisclosed reasons. (It's actually because he has a engineering degree but he tells people the other story to seem cooler)

“False” - local investigative journalist looking into the government's ties to the rum running business and Convex Speakeasy. Got very good at fighting due to being attacked or kidnapped by gangsters every other week

Got the nickname “False” after her False imprisonment at the hands of the previous Sheriff after she exposed him for corruption.

Joel - Private Investigator. Usually works with his wife, but she's currently taking cases in Empire City. He has gotten into quite a few scraps with thugs and bootleggers and has gotten very good at fighting as a result. Currently has his hands full juggling three cases, One for a man in a purple robe who wants him to track 3 notorious bootleggers, one for his neighbour False who wants him to investigate connections between the police and “Big Salmon Fisheries”, and one for a one eyed man who wants him to track Big Ron's son. It's gonna be a long month, if only he had a drink.

[pinazee]

Season 2 final thoughts:

My apologies to my Psych mutuals, my hyperfixation took me on a trip to Hatchetfield and very soon it’ll be in cinderellas castle. It can’t be helped. I plan on finishing my rewatch, especially because I’m about to get into one of my favorite seasons, but it’ll probably be sporadic at best.

Here are my final thoughts on season 2!

This is the official season of lassie stumbling upon shawn and gus by happenstance. He does it in american duos, dis-lodged, black and tan, and im counting lassie standing in front of his pic at the museum. He can push them away as much as he wants but shawns like a boomerang.

I find it incredibly disrespectful that shawn and gus took credit for finding that dinosaur when that one guy literally died for it . Also im pretty sure it would be impossible for a t-rex to be discovered in california because it was all underwater at that time. But thats neither here nor there.

Shawn being a forgery/handwriting expert brings up a funny/depressing image of little shawn having to write lines but in different peoples handwritings

Shawn is an incredibly fast thinker! He saw this scene

And not only deduced what actually happened, but also came up with a cover story for him at the same time.

Word of the day Abulic: abnormal lack of ability to act or to make decisions. Psych writers just casually dropped that little pearl in the middle of a scene in the finale

Overall it was a great season! Juliet got some more scenes, plus her character is beginning to get fleshed out, Gus was even funnier than i remembered, the heartfelt moments were very well acted especially by james who nailed the whole avoidant turmoil of it all. Henry, though, as ive stated in previous posts, is a lot harder to watch as a full fledged adult. He’s just such a prick to shawn any chance he can get. I’m so curious if I’ll be able to forgive him myself down the road. I mean, no wonder Shawn split when he turned 18 and hardly spoke to him again. Man, i wish we could’ve seen Shawn right after he left cause that is one juicy peach. He’d just be all angsty, jumping from one job to the next, getting fired or losing interest (or my personal headcanon is that his gifts of seeing everything kept getting him in some sort of trouble kind of like Poker Face (with natasha lyonne)).

Shawns add’l talents/ random knowledge:

-sketching

-forgery/ handwriting

-can operate a forklift (i think thats what it was lol)

-chess

-tango

-Spanish (honorable mention- he knows enough to speak it passably so i added it) and possibly Portuguese though i bet he just learned the one random phrase to try to trap jann

-acting

-airport codes

Gus niche interests:

-reality tv/ spanish soap operas

-archaeology

-legal tender

-santa barbara models/fashion

Rankings

The Blueberry Tier

American duos

Shawn (and gus) of the dead

Sixty five million years off

Black and tan: a crime of fashion

Nectarina Dulce Tier

Bounty hunters!

Lights, Camera, Homicidio!

Green Apple Jacks t-shirt tier

If you’re so smart then why are you dead

Rob a bye baby

Gus’ dad may have killed an old guy

Theres something about Mira

Did-lodged

And down the stretch comes murder

Psy vs. psy

Genocide of color Tier (somewhere a rainbow is weeping)

The old and the restless

Zero to murder in sixty seconds

Meat is murder…but murder is also murder

[cas-backwards-tie]

Chapter Three: Reroute Necessary

COD Men x Reader

Trials & Triumphs | Previous Chapter

Summary: Upon your debrief and explanation to Laswell, a shift in strategy is needed. How your fellow comrades will take that news is unbeknownst to you. Luckily for Laswell, however... you may have an idea or two up your sleeve. Now, it all comes down to a vote.

Words: 2.6k

Warnings: Disappointment, Anger, Humiliation, Embarrassment, Resentment, Passive-Aggressiveness,

Mentions of: Injury, Death, War Crimes, Government, Politics,

A/N: As I continue to delve further into the fandom I've been getting into most recently Johnny, John, and ofc Vlad so now I'm so lost! Ah... oof. Trying not to switch my original idea or add too many things to this. Anyway, this def is not gonna be all actiony every chapter. It'll change route after this for sure! So stay tuned.

"Explain it. Again," Laswell commands. Attempting to withhold the anger in her blue eyes, her fingers grip the edge of her desk a little tighter as she leans over it.

Pursing your lips together, you take a deep inhale through your nose. It's embarrassing enough you'd had to do this once, now you're just being humiliated. Though you've done your best to ignore his presence, you sneak a glance at the man sitting in the chair on your left. While you might not know Captain John Price well, you can see the empathy in his eyes from the momentary eye contact the two of you shared. A sigh tumbles past your lips as you raise your head again, confronting your superior. Starting over, once again, from the top, you explain.

"To start, we set up things together, formulating a plan..."

Things went according to that plan for the most part. The Captain can't deny that. He listens as you explain to Kate for the second time what'd transpired the other night and how, exactly, you'd let Boris Wagner get away. In truth, it wasn't exactly you who'd let him get away. Yet, it also was... wasn't it? If he's being honest with himself, if you'd had a better handle on your team this wouldn't have happened. You would've cleared the building, secured the area, gathered your spread out team and reconvened with his, coming together to flank what was clearly a trap set up by Wagner. But you didn't. Even once you found out it was a trap, he'd heard that you let that Austrian--König, if he remembers correctly--run off on his own after the Tango and try to finish the mission alone. Sure, there's no man left behind. But if you'd followed after König and radioed someone to go back in after Keegan, both things could've transpired and the mission would've been successful. But you didn't. If he'd been in charge he doesn't think this meeting would be going on. Nevertheless, can't go back and change things, can you?

After Gaz had jumped onto the tank and taken out the Tango in the AFV, he'd been able to send the necessary reinforcements in König's aide, yet it was too late. Wagner got away, and the Austrian was injured. The mission failed, and more people were hurt than needed. Whether or not useful information's come of your leading is yet to be determined. Shifting in his seat, John wiggles his jaw a bit in an attempt to bide the annoyance bubbling beneath the surface. He keeps having to remind himself how young you are. Why Kate picked you to lead the entire operation is beyond him. A team, sure, but the entire operation? She's kidding herself, right? They actually want the Party taken down. So does NATO and practically every other nation on the globe.

He'd already relayed his side. From the moment they'd dropped off, things were fine. Everything went according to plan. Once the enemy arrived, Wagner went inside, his team secured the perimeter, Ghost kept a lookout. Things were clear. It wasn't until they were bombarded by a hangar of soldiers that things went awry. Then to make matters worse, they find over a dozen hostages hidden in a compartment within the building. People were hurt, some people died, but most managed to get away unscathed. While they weren't prepared for a close up firefight, they managed to hold off until what he supposes was when your team got to the basement since things quieted down. Bravo team managed to escort the hostages away from the chaos and down toward the exfil location near where the deployment was, South side.

With Graves already there, it wasn't unreasonable that since he was free he could help out, Horangi still keeping watch. With things clear on both sides, it was only when Ghost notified them of the rogue soldier in the AFV that things began going south again. Another firefight started up. He was busy with Graves and Wilson on hostage duty while Soap, Gaz, and McKay went for the AFV and guards that'd come along with the fleeing Target. König emerged from nowhere, chasing down said Target, but it was only once Ghost informed him that he couldn't get a shot on said Target because the Austrian was too close that it was impossible to get a clear shot, that things were doomed. He should've known at that point to take over. You were nowhere to be seen or heard from and for all he knew you could've been dead.

It's not wise to go dark, and considering this was your first mission altogether as a squad it wasn't bright. Thinking back on it, John knows there are certain things he probably could've done to have adapted, recuperated, and saved the mission. He didn't. That's on him, that's his fault, and he hasn't forgiven himself for it, yet it doesn't change the fact that Laswell hasn't decided what's next.

"What do you think John?" Kate asks. Now upright, she crosses her arms over her chest as both women in the room turn to look at him with curious glances.

He hums in thought. "I... missed that. What was the question?" He speaks candidly.

"I said that 'I don't know', but what do you think about her little plan? it'd be a waiting game for sure. Might take months. You'd have to stake out the city, set up traps, lure them in, get to know these creeps, and might even have to participate in whatever they entail, but... if you think it'll work? Infiltrating the Party?" Laswell cocks a brow in his direction, curious for his thoughts and opinion on the matter.

Lips curling inward, he rubs them together in thought. That's not at all what he'd thought he'd missed! Mentally scolding himself for zoning out, as he's not the type, his gaze shifts between the two of you. He's taken too long to answer, now he looks suspicious. "I think the team needs to decide."

"Fine. We'll put it to a vote. Anonymously, of course."

____________

"We're at a crossroads, I'm afraid. So we've extended the option out to you all, putting the mission's stake up to a vote. You've all got pens and paper, and in a moment you'll either write down a 'yes' or a 'no', before I come around and you put it in the tin. Majority wins, though understandably considering circumstances if anyone insists on backing out, they'll be dismissed."

Her fingers absentmindedly tapping against the emptied cylindrical tin, Kate announces what's about to happen. Scanning around the room, you try not to read into everyone's fairly unsurprised expressions upon the news. Did they know this was coming? Did Price warn his team? Were they planning on backing out? Did... did you really fail that badly?

As questions begin to emerge and cloud your mind, you notice Kate about to step forward when a gruff voice captures everyone's attention, halting everyone's movement. "I thought NATO assigned us to this mission?" Ghost's question lingers in the air for a moment as you shift your gaze to the CIA's Liason, Laswell, in this instance. Arms crossed over your chest, you don't comment as your eyes slowly fall to the floor.

"Yes, though it's been brought to my attention that perhaps some people are more or less enthused to continue working on the mission with as it stands-" At this mention, people start looking around the room at one another. You'd overheard some whispers of people saying you'd messed up in leading the last mission, and while you don't necessarily disagree, you know you can't change what happened. Nevertheless, you're more than determined to not let them down again.

"-And, with the last mission having failed, time constraints are pushed even further, the possibility of being on deployment now extended, and the risks are only higher. While NATO is determined on getting the situation handled one way or another, the only question is whether it'll be the people in this room or not. And that brings us back to the vote."

"Can I say something first?" You ask as Kate takes a step forward, and whether she consciously or unconsciously knew it, she'd been signaling her readiness to start the vote, and you're not ready yet.

The woman glances around the room before seeming to have a brief silent conversation with Captain Price through their eyes. It's only a moment before she shrugs, offering you a casual. "I don't see why not?"

Hands coming up to run down the fronts of your thighs, you attempt to meet each of your soldier's eyes. Whatever impression they'd previously gotten from you, hopefully, it isn't permanently seared into their judgment. "First... and foremost, I think I owe you all an apology." As your eyes land on Keegan he immediately looks elsewhere, refusing to meet your gaze. Despite the sling on his shoulder over his hoodie, you know he's still holding resentment toward you. "I put the life of a teammate over the mission objective, and while I could've organized things better from the get-go, I recognize now how I let you all down." Eyes falling to the floor again, you can't help but kick the tip of your combat boots against the multicolored commercial worn-out carpeting of the debriefing room. "I realize I might not get a chance to lead you all again, but if I do... I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to not let you down again."

A deep breath replaces the sigh you let out as the next topic borders treacherous waters. "And I understand why some of you might want to back out now... but I do have to say that I can't. I won't. This is too important, not only to me, but to every single little kid outside these walls." Eyebrows furrowing, you can't help the way you begin to gesticulate with the rising emotions within. "I don't care how long it takes, but this is something that has to be dealt with, and that's why NATO hired us. They knew we could do it, and while you might not want to, and it might be the hardest thing you'll ever do... I'll be damned if I don't eradicate the Party."

Hands sliding themselves into your pockets, and with a purse of your lips, you turn your back on the team and offer Kate one last look before walking back toward the door you'd come in. Your face falls as you exit the room, unable to bear the agonizing wait that it'll take as the men deliberate not only their fate, but the fate of the team. One which you'd never even gotten around to naming.

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

You find out their decision and next steps around dinner time through email. An automatic fist pump follows as you knew your speech would manage to do some good. At least, you hope it did. Before you can really revel in the fact that your method of persuading Laswell to give you a second chance and changing approaches toward the Party, the gentle slam of a plastic tray on the metal table beside you garners your attention.

"Looks like someone finally caught up on their emails," Graves jokes, sending Olivia a playful glance as he oddly takes a seat to your left.

"Knew you wouldn't give up that easily," Olivia comments with a reassuring smile as she takes a seat across from him. "Though I do have to say I'm curious about how you're gonna pull off that plan of yours. How do you even have him as a contact for bloody hell's sake?" Her posh accent never fails to elicit a smile from you. With a shake of your head, you shrug, eyes following the movement toward the end of the table. McKay slides her tray down toward your group as she approaches.

"Surprised you're not liftin' at this time o' night," Graves comments in her direction, eyeing the muscular woman as she slings a leg over the bench and slides into her seat beside Olivia, forcing the blonde to scoot over across from you, shifting the lovers to sit diagonally from each other.

Amala only responds with a hum of acknowledgment, her eyes unamused as they set upon you. "You're not serious about this, right? Like you're actually joking. You really think Laswell, not to mention, Price is gonna go through with this?" The brunette asks, all seriousness as she leans against the table, her upper half toppled over it as she attempts to close the space between the four of you. Almost as if what you're discussing is a secret. "You think you're just gonna get information from Makarov without a hitch and that's that? We all go free?"

"I guess we'll see," you retort with a shrug. Considering today's events, you're not really in the mood for arguing, and while the proposed plan isn't exactly foolproof, it still provides a better pay off and a more timely solution than what Laswell had originally offered. "It's already scheduled, so... for now all we can do is what they're asking us to do and then we'll see when we get there. Regardless, we're changing tactics. We're shifting gears."

A huff of exasperation leaves the woman as she sits back and crosses her arms over her chest. The slight shake of her head is only amplified by the motion of the dark curls surrounding her head. "I've gotta say, I'm not lookin' forward to training with those miserable tea-drinkin' grumps over there," Graves states. A tilt of his head indicates who he's talking about, and you can't help but instinctively look.

Oh God, how you wish you hadn't. As soon as you look, you can see that Ghost staring at you, though he's sitting at the end of the table facing you, so that's excusable at least. It's not just him, though, but the addition of Gaz. The brown-eyed man had been talking to Soap who leans his upper-half on the table, his arm bent, head held up against his fist, back facing you. Gaz notices your gaze, and the sour look on his face doesn't disappear, but instead is met with a roll of his eyes before he turns his gaze toward the Captain who sits across him. From where you sit across the room it's impossible to hear what they're talking about, and while you could try and read their lips if you really wanted, you don't have the mental energy to do so. Before you turn back, Soap rotates his head and meets your eyes from where he's propped his head up; immediately turning around, you're sure Gaz had mentioned your attention. Price is surely ignoring you, then, you assume.

"I'm not always a grump!" Olivia argues, a pout on her lips as she teases Graves.

"But you love yer tea," he teases back. Apparently, you'd missed some of their conversation, but you could care less considering the nasty looks your joint TaskForce has been giving you.

"They're really mad... aren't they?" You ask, interrupting whatever stupid lovey-dovey shit your friend and her... acquaintance have going on. Silence envelopes your group for a moment, and Amala doesn't bother to meet your eye as she'd begun eating her food when the topic changed.

"Mm... yeah... I think so," Olivia finally responds, a gentle yet solemn tone to her voice as she attempts to carefully broach the subject. "That doesn't mean you can't win them back though? I think showing them what you're capable of is more than enough. Once they see what you can do, you're set. I know it," she adds on. Extending a hand across the table, the blonde places it atop yours before offering a gentle squeeze. With that, the conversation ends, the lovers going back to whatever meaningless bickering they'd been consumed with before. Meanwhile, you're still ruminating on what the forthcoming weeks will entail.

~~~~~~~~~~

acronyms:

exfil: where you're extracted, picked up in the field

forever taglist: @ohdamnadam , @safarigirlsp , @jynzandtonic , @moonlightsolo

t&t taglist: @cosychick , @konigsqueen , @cutegor3 ,

[typosandtea]

Hi Typos <3

🔮 for Tango and ⚽️ for Murphy from this ask meme

Hi Fable!! Thanks for the very fun ask! :D @fablewritesnonsense

🔮 Crystal Ball- What kind of future does your OC want to have? What would they do to make it real?

→ what an excellent question i've had lot of fun with this one!

Tango is a very in the moment kinda person but.. They originally came to the commonwealth to investigate the rumors of people being replaced by duplicates of themselves, intending to find those responsible and force scientists to make them a new body. It takes a lot of evidence and arguing with a great many people for Tango to accept that it doesn't really work that way, and even if it did, that threatening the institute is a very bad idea. Evidence being things like Nick not being the same person as prewar Nick, infiltrators like Mcdonnough not actually having their targets memories or personality, etc. They do slowly come to realize that they actually don't want a body again over the course of this stubborn denial, after all, they've lived 30 something years without one now, and they don't even really remember what they are missing anyway. They couldn't hack directly or flatten their enemies when they were human! Their change of mind is only reinforced by finding Curie and helping her on her journey of discovery. Tango and Curie become very close bonding over shared experiences, both have been mechanical and human just in opposite transitions! With what has been their major goal for the last 15 odd years since they first heard the rumors of synths now shattered by reality, and being befriended (much to their bewilderment) by Preston and some of the other companions ..they don't really have a big picture of their future at the moment? Life for Tango has taken more wild and positive turns in the last two years than it did in the 60 before it and they have not been processing it very well! Having friends and people who care about you beyond what people can take from you is such a bizarre experience that they are just gripping this new reality as tightly as they can, and hey, if that means reverting to familiar {you've lost karma!} actions to keep it so, then so be it.

⚽️ Soccer Ball- Who is someone that your OC believes in and roots for? Are they private about their admiration or do they make it well known?

Murphy very supportive of Preston and his mantling of the role of General! Shes just here to fly around and fight shit occasionally (her words). She far prefers the minutemen's openness and reasonability to how she operates in the BoS (and prewar as both an aus and then us soldier) but shes in farrrrr to deep to leave, not that she realizes how trapped she is.. One of Murphy's favorite skills to use is charisma so you bet your ass she tells him and anyone around how great Preston is! Murphy would resolve everything by talking and "maybe if I just explain it better they will understand".. unfortunately you can't change hatred by explaining things better .. (you can't fix the BoS Murph :/). Supports Preston both verbally and by tasks whenever possible, she gets less time later in the timeline though as the BoS ramps up to fight the institute and other filth (including the other mutated residents of vault111, sorry Murphy but you've fallen for the classic blunder, no amount of hard work or loyalty will ever make y'all worthy to them.. ). ANYWAY she really admires Preston for both his kindness and also his strength / resolve.

[dballzposting]

I just know that Videl pretty much had to raise herself. And I think that she did a pretty fine job of it. But I also think that there are things inside of her that she is not aware of just becasue she had to mold herself to be a very specific way in order to make sense to her own self-evaluation and cognition, which A.) Has been varying degrees of immature her whole life as she wasnt an adult until she was, and B.) Has created a report rife with fallacies, mis-evaluations, and repression, becasue living in line with what makes "logical sense" to your higher cognitive faculties completely skips over and shits on all the rest of you that is a living animal that operates in ways that your textbooks domt represent.

But shes done a pretty good job of raising herself because by nature she is observant and calculative and cool, and she takes things at her own pace, and she honors herself enough to have a sense of a comfortable pace to begin with. And bit by bit I think that shes found satisfaction for her curiosities and needs as they arise. She learns over her childhood who's a resource, where to find them, and when to use them; and she always relies on herself as a resource, which HONESTLY is the most important thing, I think that that understanding has kept her from falling into pits of helplessness. It's a tango of nature and nurture and shes made out alright TBH.

Her only living parent is Mr Satan and like LITERALLY his ""parenting style"" is just NOT compatible with her personality. She has a lot of questions and is not afraid of the oddities of the world, whereas Mr Satan strongly prefers to just Not Answer Questions and to say things like "dont you worry your pretty little head about all that" and he constructs a dome of denial and comfort around his world and that is just like .... The bane of somebody competent and curious like Videl is.

But hes still her dad so growing up she persistently tried to make a resource out of him. Sometimes he responded negatively to questions, and as a kid Videl didnt know why (it was the sort of questions that directly or indirectly made him feel insecure or weak, or were about a subject that he habitually avoided rather than pondered), but the rest of the time he ACTED AS IF he was there for her, cared about her a lot, and wanted to help with anything he could.

And that's true enough. He was defintiely there to offer comfort. IF he wasnt busy with something else.

Over time though Videl learns that sometimes, his answers just suck. Sometimes he has no answers. Sometimes he cant explain things in a way that makes any goddamn sense to her (a rational mind). Sometimes he sends her away. Other times he leaves the room. Sometimes he DOES offer answers, and they make sense. It's just not reliable.

So Videl learns to find and rely on other resources; mainly teachers and library books.

But she never wrote him off completely. Because he still has answers sometimes, and she still cares about his opinions.

UNTIL. One day. When shes like 12. Growing up, growing smart, the world is changing a lot to her. She has some question about something or another, and she asks her dad, and he has more life experience than her, and he gives her an answer. Ok, cool. She feels like it's a satisfying answer. She feels like it makes sense, and she trusts her judgement on that.

And usually she leaves it at that, but for some reason, she ends up asking a teacher the same question. Maybe there was something subtle about his answer that made it seem incomplete. Something her intuition picked up. Maybe it just came up in conversation with this teacher, so she freely asked it. Maybe she was just curious about an alternative persepctive.

And THIS TIME. The answer is TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Content, tone, connotation - just a COMPLETRLY DIFFERENT fucking answer. What's more, this one makes MORE SENSE than the answer her father had given her - this one coheres with a more practical and forgiving world view, more along the lines that she had always seen.

Perhaps that's why she had asked another person, because deep inside she felt that something just wasnt right about that other answer.

But what horrifies her is how subtle, even arguably nonexistent, her own Bullshit Radar had been. She has always trusted her judgement, for it's all she is -- and by her own evaluation, she was willing to accept her father's answer as Legitimate. She was going to walk away satisfied. The fact that she had posed the question to another was almost sheer chance. Her judgement had FAILED her.

That's when she learned that even if her dad gives her an answer, that doesnt mean that it's a good one. She grew up a little bit that day, and she learned A.) Her judgements are fallable, and B.) Her dad's perspective is plausibly entirely horseshit when compared to more down-to-earth perspectives. So maybe she just shoukdnt use him as a resource at all.

She still tries with him, and she keeps trying to believe in him, becasue she wants things to make sense. But especially when we see her at her debut, the disparity of realities sort of reaches a breaking point -- either she can find and fold to the truth, or she can live in denial like her dad and ignore the way that shit just isnt adding up.

I see Videl as an agent of truth, and I think that learning that her father truly is full of BS came as a great relief to her. She had always sensed it, but could never justify it. Now she can interact with him as he is without ever expecting anything more of him. WHAT A RELIEF.

[thenightling]

I liked the movie Wonka and there are a LOT of subtle and not-so-subtle references to other musicals through it. Here are a list of the ones I recognized. 1. Wonka's hopeful arrival in the big city is like an inverted version of "No place like London" from Sweeney Todd in that it's joyous and hopeful despite people waiting to cheat him. It's a bit like Fun City from the never released Man who fell to Earth musical but sung by the would-be target. 2. Mrs. Scrubbit's name is a punny play on Mrs. Lovett from Sweeney Toodd. 3. Mrs. Scrubbit and Bleacher are very easily equatable to the Thenardiers from Les Miserables, especially when you see how they trump up how much Wonka owes them. 4. Noodle is a cross between Cosette from Les Miserables and Little Orphan Annie. 5. When Wonka gets bribed with money to free his friends from indentured servitude after his shop is wrecked this is very similar to Jack being bribed in Newsies. 6. Wonka showing up at the window to break out Noodle was similar to Jack wanting to rescue Crutchie in Newsies. 7. Wonka going back after the bribe to save his friends is also like Jack from Les Miserables. 8. The indentured servitude contracts remind me of the one from Pirates of Penzance in how ridiculously long they are. 9. The "Scrub Scrub" song is a lot like A Hard Knock Life from Annie. 10. The Oompa Loompa Song and Pure Imagination (Though with different words) are from the 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. 11. Noodle's book obsession could be a little nod to Belle in Beauty and the Beast. 12. Noodle's dream of her mother is a lot like Cosette's Castle on a Cloud only about a mother in a home full of books. 13. The Tango of "Do you have a Sweet Tooth?" is very similar to the modified version of Roxanne for Moulin Rouge in that it's persuading a character and done to the tune of a catchy tango. 14. Bonus: All the names are blunt references to what the characters actually are. Noodle is the smart girl. Abacus Crunch is an accountant (an abacus is an ancient adding device and crunching the numbers is a term for doing taxes and figuring out what's owed or what you can keep). A woman named "Bell" worked as a telephone operator, and Scrubbit and Bleacher own a laundry cleaning service. There are many other blunt as a hammer name clues. That isn't quite a musical thing but that is a thing from J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter franchise. That's why I put that in as a bonus.

[bloodgulchblog]

Hi!! Ok sorry for the mammoth question I’m about to ask but you’re super knowledgeable on Halo stuff and I need help- sorry if I don’t word things well my brain is having a day

Ok so I’m writing a Spartan character and I can’t find too much on the specifics of how they were trained. I’m trying to determine what kind of trauma would come out of being beaten into a Spartan, especially the IIs and IIIs.

Basically trying to figure out what kinda trauma they have/how bad it is so I can roadmap my character’s recovery yknow

*CRACKS MY KNUCKLES*

You came to the right nerd. This is pretty much like throwing a kong ball full of peanut butter into my enclosure. This post is gigantic and I had so much fun.

If you want to read it directly for yourself, you're looking for Nylund's Halo books. The Fall of Reach covers the Spartan-IIs, and Ghosts of Onyx covers the Spartan-IIIs. I'd happily recommend either of those, they're well-liked Halo novels for a reason. Ghosts does work pretty well on its own if you want to focus on the IIIs, but it benefits from having read Fall first. (...And First Strike, but I will contain myself.)

If you want IVs, which are very different because they were selected and augmented as adults with military experience, your options are New Blood by Forbeck or the comic Initiation. (I'm not really a big fan of either so it just depends on if you'd prefer it from Buck or Palmer.)

That said, let's get going.

(....I want the readmore cut to be here, but Tumblr keeps moving it when I make edits. So.)

Spartan-IIs and Spartan-IIIs: Training

These guys have a lot in common, and they feel weirdly familiar to one another. (Just enough that the differences feel even weirder.)

Both groups started training as young children. The IIs were all six years old, the IIIs cast a wider net. Ghosts mentions kids as young as 4 in Alpha, but that doesn't... make sense actually. Because we have canon DOBs we know Carter would've been 12 and Jun would've been 8, and those numbers feel closer to right, but I'll get to why in a bit. (Researching this post has made me have a revelation about Spartan-III ages.)

Spartan-IIs were selected for genetic matches to a profile that Dr. Halsey determined was likely to accept the augmentation procedures. (The failure rate was still very high though. I'll talk about that.) They were kidnapped from their homes by ONI operatives and brought to Reach. Here's what they were told because hahahahaha big iconic moment:

(One note: Spartan-II training began in 2517. This was 8 years before the Covenant attack on Harvest in 2525. They were absolutely trained to bring down human targets, and were taught that it was necessary to sacrifice human lives for the good of innocent people. The first class of Spartan-IIIs kicked off in 2532, and they would focus from the beginning on Covenant.)

There were a total of 75 Spartan-II candidates. No one died during training (...at least I am pretty sure, if someone died during training it was a retcon introduced later) but it was hard. Halopedia has a pretty thorough rundown of things we know they did. Most of those are in The Fall of Reach. The Tango Company bit is from First Strike. Bonus: Here's a story Gray Team tells in Envoy that isn't mentioned:

(If you want to know who the most feral and defiant S-IIs are with the most atypical profiles, you want to look at Gray Team.)

Surviving Spartan-IIs are going to be 49 years old as of Halo Infinite. (Though, like all UNSC infantry, they've spent huge amounts of time in cryo during ship travel over the years. Sergeant Johnson was chronologically 78 in Halo 3, if that helps.)

Spartan-IIIs were selected along a wider profile because the augmentations were changed by Colonel Ackerson to be 1) cheaper and 2) have a much higher success rate with a broader margin for compatibility. They were working with orphans the UNSC picked up on planets the Covenant attacked, so they also could not be as selective as the original project. The young S-IIIs' fear and anger toward the Covenant (and their desire for revenge) were huge motivators. There were hundreds of Spartan-IIIs in all 3 classes. (They exhausted the available candidate pool after Alpha, and Ackerson was pushing for efforts to more widely genetically profile children from colony worlds as a result…. 😬)

Here's how the first company of Spartan-IIIs (Alpha Company) got the intro. (We don't know what Beta and Gamma were told, but it's likely to be similar):

(Ghosts of Onyx, Chapter 6, this is immediately followed by a bit from the perspective of a boy named Shane that would probably be really useful to you if you're looking for some insight to what those kids were feeling. It's just too long to paste.)

Another note: Chief Mendez trained both groups of Spartans. We have fewer detailed descriptions of S-III training shenanigans, because there is a lot of time skipping during Ghosts of Onyx to demonstrate the catastrophic losses suffered by the Alpha and Beta companies. Given that Mendez was involved, though, they are likely to have been highly similar.

Based on what we do get of training in Ghosts, I see the S-III teams being pitted against one another in exercises more often than we see mention of the IIs doing. (This is likely because S-II was on Reach, a huge ass military base, and had much more access to personnel that could be dragged into this than Onyx, which was extremely remote and established solely for the purpose of minting Spartans.)

The Spartan-IIIs had much less training time than the IIs... at least originally. S-III Alpha Company had 4 years compared to the S-II's 8 years. ONI was banking on improved augmentation protocols and technology to make up for it. Kurt pushed for the later two classes to get more training time.

Another another note: Kurt, if you were not aware, is Kurt-051 (Kurt Ambrose, using the name ONI gave him to work under.) Kurt was a Spartan-II abducted by ONI (making it look like he died on a mission) specifically for this job in 2531. Kurt loved those kids. Their deaths weighed heavily on him. More on that later.

Spartan-II Augmentations

I wasn't sure where else to put this, so it's going here: Spartan-II augmentations had a huge wash-out rate. S-III had a much much much smaller percentage.

There were 75 Spartan-II candidates, and only 33 came out as intended. The rest of them suffered serious side effects, and several died.

Halopedia once again has a big pile of information.

I bring this up for two reasons: the first is that it's a thing they all went through and all lost people who were as close as siblings to.

The second is that some Spartan-IIs that initially washed out of the program at this point were rehabilitated. Dr. Halsey worked on individual therapies for Spartans whose bodies rejected augmentations, restoring some quality of life and, in some cases, successfully getting them back to a point where they could continue training. (Black Team and Red Team (Halo Wars edition) are both made up entirely of former wash-outs.)

ONI created jobs for and retained most Spartan-II wash-outs that couldn't continue as Spartans. Serin Osman, Musa, and Fhajad are examples.

Differences Between Spartan-III Companies

There were 3 companies of S-IIIs trained, so if you're working on a III you'll want to establish which one they were from. You can identify the generation of S-IIIs by the letter in their tag number: Jun-A266, Lucy-B091, Ash-G099. Alpha, Beta, Gamma.

(Sidenote on picking Spartan tag numbers for OCs: There's a specific range of numbers. S-II had 150 candidates observed even though only 75 were taken and trained, so their tag numbers range from 1-150. Alpha Company had 497 kids, Beta had 418, Gamma had 330. WIki's really good for making sure you're not duplicating an existing number. Spartan-IIs are pretty much all accounted for canonically but if you're writing a II OC you're already in your own city anyway.)

Here's a good wiki trailhead for you, individual articles for the companies tell you what we do know about their training, too. But if you like reading my words about things:

ALPHA COMPANY:

The first group Kurt and Mendez trained, starting in the last days of 2532 and going active in 2536. There are very few surviving members of Alpha Company, only seven canonical, because almost all of them were killed in one operation.

Ages are kind of fucky for Alpha Company, as I mentioned earlier because Ghosts implies they were really young, but the problem with that is that after only 4 years of training they would have not been old enough to undergo augmentation. Jun, Emile, and Carter were Alphas. Jun was 28, Emile was 29, and Carter was 32 at Reach, so they would've been from 8-12 years old at the start of training. I feel like we're meant to go with that.

That means surviving Alphas would be in their late 30s as of Infinite.

BETA COMPANY:

Started training in 2539 and went active in 2545. Kurt was devastated by the loss of the Alphas (he's terribly upset when he finds out what happened to them, the information was kept from him.) He tried to train Beta company better and harder (he managed to squeeze two more years in for them), but in the end it did not save them from a similar fate. There are a handful of surviving Betas that were not present for Operation TORPEDO, but Tom and Lucy were the only survivors that were there. Kat and Noble Six were Betas. They were both 22 when they died on Reach. (That puts them both at 9 at the start of training. Tom and Lucy were a little younger, they both would have been 6.) Ages are still slightly fucky there because that means Lucy and Tom would've been 12 at augment, but that... is close enough to almost work, sort of, I guess, oh Halo you're so silly. Anyway. Surviving Betas would be in their late 20s/early 30s as of Infinite.

GAMMA COMPANY:

The last class of IIIs started training in 2545. (I had to do a little digging to confirm this year because it was authorized in '44, you're welcome.) They had just been deployed in 2552 and most of them left Onyx a week before the Onyx Conflict (you know, where the whole planet disintegrated into Forerunner nonsense) kicked off, with only three teams left on-planet for that shitmess. They were being shoved out the door because Reach had just fallen and everything was on fucking fire.

They had the most training and Kurt and Mendez were terribly proud of them. These guys would be the youngest S-IIIs both in terms of yes, that's how time works, and in terms of how old they were when they started training. We have canonical DOBs on several of them that put them at 6 and 7. This is significant because the Gammas are the ones that were being rushed into production: They were put on hormones to induce puberty early when most of them were 12ish, so that they could be augmented. (You know, horrifying!) (This is the thing that kicked off my wild confusion about Spartan-III ages that has consumed me for the last hour. Thanks, Halo! :,) )

The big thing to know about the Gammas is that they got built different. Kurt hated what had happened to the Alphas and Betas, hated it desperately, and was willing to do anything he thought would give the Gammas a chance at survival.

Kurt changed the augmentations. He did this without authorization. The Gammas' brains got tweaked to give them a heightened response to stress/adrenaline that makes them more able to block out pain/shock and keep fighting, which Kurt hoped would help them make it through the meatgrinder missions ONI was determined to use them for. The problem? The Gammas require regular injections of antipsychotics to keep them emotionally stable, and they can become less rational and start having extreme responses that make them a danger to themselves and others if they are deprived of them. (They call these drugs "smoothers.")

Anyway, the Gammas were 13-14ish at the end of the war, and surviving Gammas (there are significantly more of them) are in their late 20s by Infinite. Their altered augmentations mean they're considered unsuited for high-visibility work, ONI considers them a potential huge liability if a Gamma ever goes off the rails so they prefer to keep them away from people. A lot of Gammas that are still alive have ended up as Headhunters. (That's also the case for a lot of surviving S-IIIs generally. I don't know as much about Headhunters, they're a part of the lore I find uninteresting.)

Also just because I feel like it, here's Kurt with one of the Gammas dying in his arms:

What Are Spartans Like?

"Records show Spartans routinely exhibited mildly sociopathic tendencies, difficulty with socialization. Furthermore…" - Halo 4

We're getting into more and more headcanon and interpretation, but hey. I offer this as creative compost for your bin.

Spartans are weird. Spartans are weird. The overall portrait of an adult S-II/III is that they're mostly quiet, serious, and very intense about whatever they're doing. Some are more talkative and sociable than others, some are more unsettling than others. There's some wide variability on how careful they are about other people and how responsible they do or do not feel toward them.

As far as Spartans go, I feel like John is high on the polite end, and I have reams I've said and could say about how he handles himself. You've got Spartans who are very contained like him (I'd say Owen-B096 is another good example, he's able to be shockingly gentle with a pack of scared high school kids in Battle Born.) But you've also got examples like, say, Emile, and Gray Team, and Kevin from this one story in the Fractures anthology:

Let me break down some major traits:

LACK OF NORMAL SOCIALIZATION/GENERAL SPARTAN WEIRDNESS:

Overall, Spartans are poorly socialized. Their priorities and experiences are so wildly different from most peoples' that it's a difficult gap for them to bridge, and they're required to hide the details of their personal histories because that's very dangerous and inconvenient information (you know, for the UNSC) to have around. They were isolated from other people as children, and as adults they are extremely busy and the things that make them different make it difficult for them to make up for lost time on this.

If you've seen me writing John, I have him struggling a lot because it feels like social situations are always full of weird traps he can't see because he just doesn't have the background for them. There are so, so many things you casually assume another person is familiar with in conversation, and so many little social call-and-responses that someone who was raised under such weird circumstances wouldn't have.

There's a post that goes around sometimes about a small child who has never heard "Later, alligator" responding with "Goodbye, hippo" or something like that because they'd never heard the "After a while, crocodile" response and had to guess at what they were supposed to do. I think about that post sometimes when I'm thinking about Spartans. They're smart, and they can imitate and figure things out and get good at faking more experience than they have (and the older a Spartan is the longer they've been picking things up), but they need something to work with.

A Spartan-II never snuck out with friends after curfew to go to a concert, was never nervous about who was going out with who, and never stressed about what they were going to do after high school. But they know that enough people experience those things to pretend they understand.

It's easiest to lie by not saying anything at all as much as possible, because then you don't give anyone who's watching you a little too closely something to pick apart. Let other people assume you're what they expect, and don't give them details to the contrary.

This makes most of them quiet and sort of awkward, unless they've put in effort on their own part to work on it. If a Spartan cares enough to learn to socialize and banter smoothly with non-Spartans, that tells you something about their priorities and who they are. (And possibly that they got extra training for a specific purpose that requires it.)

Getting out of socialization: Spartans were raised in a highly structured environment, and I think most of them find comfort in routines, rules, and regular procedures that are done the same way. Following general everyday UNSC rules = not being bawled out or punished. Following some extra important serious rules = feeling like you're doing the best thing you can possibly do to prevent disasters from happening. How much that has broken down for someone vs how much they still hang onto it is gonna be real individual. Some of them really will not like being pulled out of doing things the way they "should" be done.

Amongst themselves, Spartans communicate a lot by body language and hand signals. (S-IIs and S-IIIs use similar but slightly different hand signals because Kurt was a II and they innovated on what they picked up from him. I'd also say it's very likely that each class had some variations unique to them, like a dialect.) They're also so used to being in armor that they do a lot with just flashing different status light colors on their HUD, which is neat (and also on that page.)

As a footnote re: sex and romance, it's a thorny fandom question that is up to you to answer for how you prefer to read things, but it's fair play to say that most Spartan-IIs are probably at least mostly asexual due to their augmentations. S-IIIs have no major lore implying either way about it, though later depictions of the Gammas have seemed to indicate they're not particularly interested either. It's up to you how you want to go.

REACTIVENESS

The other thing about Spartans is they are trained to react immediately in a crisis and have had that tendency reinforced by horrible traumatic experiences. I don't like throwing around real world serious words for fictional character things, but I think PTSD is fair for most Spartans. Do real research if you want to incorporate that, I don't know the most about it and won't pretend whatever I'm doing is an actual portrayal. But I do think a lot about reactiveness.

The problem with being constantly ready to react to everything like it's a life-or-death situation is... most things are not life-or-death situations. It's hard on a person, and it makes you blow some things out of proportion in a way that can become a serious problem. (For example: A Spartan that feels safer when following specific routines and procedures getting way more frustrated than is really justified by someone breaking from protocol in a harmless but definite way.)

Spartans are really good at controlling anger and fear and probably will not go all the way off the handle, but they still tend to go for immediate responses to things that startle or scare them. Make a loud sound in a room full of Spartans, expect hands on weapons and some pointed barrels. They are always always always ready to go. It is incredibly difficult for them to relax.

Most Spartans probably remember a point (or multiple points) somewhere in their lives where their guard was down, and then everything exploded under them and maybe somebody died.

LOYALTY AND SACRIFICE

This is a lot more personal and individual. The majority of Spartans are very loyal to the UNSC, it's been trained into them from childhood. The degree to which a Spartan may possibly have become embittered about it is going to be super dependent on who they are and what has happened to them.

I think a lot of them probably tend to fall back on their mission and sense of purpose (especially re: the defense of humanity) for a bare kind of comfort when miserable (which they have reason to be often.) They have sacrificed so much of themselves, but it was worth it, right? They helped save humanity from the Covenant, right? They're helping save humanity from new problems, right?

Spartans were all taught that their cause is worth their lives, and they're willing to die for it. They have known people they loved and grew up with who did die for it, and this fits pretty naturally into coping with those losses.

If the cause isn't paramount and loyalty to the UNSC isn't worth dying for.... what does that make everything they've done, and everything they've lost? What does that make the deaths of their fellow Spartans?

(Survivor's guilt is gonna be big for all of them, but especially S-IIIs. 2/3 Spartan-III companies died in almost their entirety in one go. The surviving S-IIs had remarkably few losses until... Reach....... )

I've talked/thought about sacrifice a lot with the S-IIs, especially John because I'm always in hell writing about John and people have poked my askblog about it. If a Spartan could go back in time and change how their life went and prevent them from becoming a Spartan, would they?

Being a Spartan and that sense of purpose is so core to them that I really think most of them would not. This is their world. This is their lives. This is such a huge part of who they are that they don't know who they'd be otherwise.

I don't care for Mortal Dictata much (that's a whole different post), but a huge part of the plot of that book is that Kilo Five's S-II (Naomi) is reunited with her father as an adult and it's a very uncomfortable process because... she's not the little girl he lost, anymore.

......

I think that's everything I have on this.

I am a perpetual wellspring of information on this topic tho so you guys let me know if you have more things you wanna talk about re: this. :V

[13-rats-in-a-trenchcoat]

Traffic/Evo Watcher headcanon, don't mind me

Ok, so we've known awhile now that the next season of the Life series is going to be released soon, so naturally I've been re-watching the previous seasons and going over POVs I hadn't seen before. While going down this rabbit hole I came across a Martyn stream I missed where he was talking about the Watchers lore and how he and Grian worked on it for Evo and then he kind of altered it from what Grian originally imagined (i.e. the Watchers being representative of us, the audience, who watch them for entertainment) to the more sinister lore we Traffic connoisseurs are familiar with today. This got me thinking. A lot. Too much even. What if we, the audience, were STILL the Watchers? I'm not talking about for the Life series or Evo series specifically, I'm thinking more broad spectrum, like across the MCYT multiverse type thing. I like a cohesive story, and I like puzzles, and when there are stories that look like they could be pieces of a bigger puzzle I enjoy smooshing them together in one giant headcanon that more or less makes sense, so here we go.

The canon lore we have (as I understand it anyway) is as follows: the Watchers first made themselves known during Evo, where they messed with the Evolutionists as they went through each Minecraft update, ultimately separating them for the final dragon fight where Grian would leave Evo and become a Watcher himself. From there the Listeners (who I know diddly squat about) got involved and helped the Evolutionists escape the Evo server, thus getting them away from Watcher influence. Or so they hoped. The Watchers somehow regained power over the Players that were involved in Evo, along with some of their friends, and put them in what is essentially a never-ending loop of death games as punishment for their defiance. Grian didn't like how the Watchers operated, so he left them to join his friend in the death games. The Watchers feed off the Players' negative emotions, but leave their memories, thus enabling them to start fresh each season without holding on to previous grudges (though considering Impulse's thing with BDubs and the clock and Tango's rage that might not be entirely effective)

This is where my headcanon comes in. The Watchers are a group of people/sentient beings of some kind who feed off of the negative emotions of others and watch their misery and struggles for entertainment. They're a mischievous bunch, some might even say troll-like (of the internet variety, not like in fairy tales), and at least two of them enjoy speaking in rhyme, i.e. they're artistic and dramatic. Sound familiar? Because to me this description sounds very much like the wider MCYT fanbase, especially the fan artists/writers. I mean come on, when have we NOT jumped at the opportunity to turn a pretty normal moment into the angstiest piece of writing/art imaginable. Case in point, Mumbo and Grian at the ghast farm in Last Life. They were giggling through that whole interaction, yet I've watched SEVERAL angsty animatics about just that one scene and I've loved every second of it.

This next bit is likely a pretty big reach, but the thought popped into my head and wouldn't go away so I would just like to get it out there. Grian doesn't really interact with his comments on an individual basis, but he definitely has addressed the more negative ones, especially the ones that go after his friends when they're on an opposing side of whatever war he's started at that moment in time. This ties in pretty well with him not liking the way the Watchers operate in my opinion, and it also ties in with him leaving the Watchers to help his friends. Not necessarily directly, but more in the sense of the vibes matching up.

We currently don't know enough about the Watchers to definitively say how plausible this headcanon of mine is, like we don't know exactly how many Watchers there are, or how many Listeners there are, or what separates a Watcher from a Listener, or really any info about the Listeners in general. I do think it's a pretty fun headcanon though, and until it is directly contradicted this is how I will view the Watchers. Thank you for reading my essay.

[leopardmask-ao3]

Hai! SO I may have binged a good amount of your fics and since I have DO2 brainrot I was curious what Foxtrot thinks of DO2 given what he is and who he's related to~ Also, I hope you do more with him in the future because he's interesting to me :D

Foxtrot isn't really sure what the fuss is about with all the rumors about the Dungeon being alive.

Obviously it's alive. It's just Tango. 

Or, well, more accurately, Tango can be the Dungeon. Both Foxtrot and his brother are intimately aware of their ability to interface with certain redstone creations; Tango designed Decked Out 2 with that ability in mind. Whenever someone is running through the dungeon, it's Tango speaking to them, dropping items nearby, and setting off hazards.

Or sometimes the Dungeon is Foxtrot. He was rebuilt on Tango's blueprints, so they switch off sometimes, to give Tango the chance to do in-person things or just rest his circuits occasionally, or just for fun. It's a unique and fascinating experience, plugging himself into the redstone underbelly and suddenly becoming vast and blind and all-seeing, learning to focus his vision down into one or two cameras at a time, but leaving the rest of his perception open, hearing the shuffle of ravagers and wardens and hermits, feeling what the sculk sensors feel but also knowing all the traps and secrets through the inputs of their own.

Sometimes his brother is in the dungeon while Foxtrot is operating it. Some gimmick for the other hermits called the "dungeon lackey". Out of fairness to the hermit he accompanies, Foxtrot blocks some of the sculk signals that Tango sets off. 

He doesn't control the ravagers though. Neither of them do. And when Tango inevitably finds himself face to face with one, when it's him or the other hermit, and his redstone heart gets stabbed through and he respawns beneath the dungeon or wherever else he might be... well, the Dungeon - his brother - might be laughing at him.

(To continue answering the original question, when Tango was still building the game and there was radio silence for weeks at a time, no hermit was more worried for his safety than Foxtrot, who knew how damaging snow and ice could be. But after the first or second time they found Tango working merrily along underground, or out in the snow but kept safe by gloves and his hooded robe, they left him to it, after a stern request to reply to their messages next time.)

[thewindsofsong]

Random idea that could go full metal tango or could stay platonic:

Leon is the one that disappears instead of Krauser, but it wasn’t willingly. Leon gets infected with plaga but instead of going mindless it ends up really messing with his perception of things and leave in incredibly susceptible to suggestions and gaslighting.

Saddler learns about Leon’s recruitment and separation from Sherry through the master-server bond between them and makes Leon think that Ashley is Sherry and that he’s “taking her back”. This Leon remains highly skilled but incredibly unstable and prone to extreme moods. Saddler is the only one that can manage him through dominating the plaga.

Jack is the one that gets deployed to find Ashley in Spain does the village stuff per usual and eventually finds Ashley.

Ashley meanwhile is scared and confused because kidnapped but also increasingly worried for and terrified of her kidnapper who keeps calling her the wrong name and apologizing for being forced to leave her behind. He spends a lot of time just holding her hand and telling her that they’ll get that puppy she wanted after…after… something important. Lord Saddler said that there was something important that needed to happen first….

From Leon’s perspective, he’s so happy that he and Sherry are together again and that they get to catch up. He keeps asking about how high school is going but Sherry looks so confused… why does Sherry look so scared and confused? Is it William again? What, where …? Catching a glimpse of jack causes his deliberately addled mind to feature further, mixing up raccoon city, operation Javier, and the present in such a way that Leon leaves the church, and Ashley behind just as jack is entering.

Haven’t though of much beyond that point yet, but I do have some idea of just how heartbreaking the actual confrontation between jack and Leon would be.

It would be a lot of Leon trying and not being allowed to succeed in piecing his mind back together after like 2 years of parasite induced mind fuckery and Jack trying to figure out if it would be more merciful to just kill Leon or try to help him. Much anguished shouting would commence.

No idea about an ending either