#untapped rage spoilers

[feelingtheaster99]

Oh my gosh Beardsley that was SO SMART to figure out the people whose blood crystallizes are the people who TURN DOWN being brought back to worship Ankarna god DAMN

[not-quite-so-intrepid-hero]

fabian is such a sweetie and he will not convince me otherwise. genuinely there’s no reason for him to make up with gertie bc the rest of them have enough good standing with her to work with her, he fully did that for kristen. the way he approached it too, wasn’t like “oh im gonna get her off my back so we can deal with the honey thing” no it was pure good soul lou wilson shining through fabian going “hey if there’s even a BUMP on this road to love for my friend because of me? i’m repaving the entire fucking street lets go”

[elminster-big-naturals]

I think the 'withers is helping you because helm is forcing him to clean up his mess' is SO much funnier than 'withers is helping you bc it's about restoring balance and he wants to save the world'. I bet he fucking can't stand your ass. He's not cool and detached, he's absolutely seething. He calls you bitchless and charges you money he doesn't even need because he's not allowed to beat your ass and put you in the wall.

[a-jar-of-beetles]

I want to put all the people Sandra Lynn has slept with in one room to see what happens, specifically to see who would punch Bobby first

[figscigfigs]

thinking about legend lore and the bad kids!!!

brennan using the wikipedia analogy is very silly bc it means adaine’s just googling her friends

fig - an archdevil

adaine - the oracle

kristen - the former chosen one, a risen saint, and the killer/creator/reviver of several gods

fabian - son of bill seacaster

riz - reviver of n*ght yorb

gorgug - probably not searchable

suck on that anchovyflower clerickiller

[18catsreading]

Adaine: you can just move back in, if you want

Brennan: you see that Sandra Lynn looks at her at this kitchen table and is like [as Sandra Lynn]: we'd love to have you, Aelwyn.

Adaine: she'd love to have you Aelwyn.

Aelwyn: does this invitation extend solely to me, or to my 15 cats?

Emily/Fig: I can make room for them

(Brennan breaks and laughs here)

Ally/Kristen: i start setting up a chicken hutch for them

Siobhan/Adaine: yea we have a catio into the graveyard

Ally/Kristen: we have a catio!

Zac: (aside to Brennan) what happened to you?

Siobhan/Adaine: we turned the graveyard into a catio.

Brennan: (returns from behind the DM screen) i just don't know what Emily meant by make room! "We can make room"?

Ally/Kirsten: you guys kick Kristen out

Brennan: it sounded so sinister. It sounded like there were 15 worse animals that you were going to get rid of.

Ally/Kristen: I have can trim the fat around here

Brennan: we can trim the fat. I think i know exactly who can

Siobhan/Adaine: kristen you're out. The cats: in.

Ally/Kristen: all right. They live in my, like, cathedral room

Zac/Gorgug: they can move in with Fabian

Lou/Fabian: what the hell are you doing here?

Ally/Kristen: I'm bringing the cats

Brennan: Aelwyn does actually move back in

Siobhan/Adaine: hell yes

Brennan: she moves back into the bunk bed

Ally/Kristen: i make a point of being kind of rude to her, but in the way that she likes, so its not all super sweet.

Brennan: yeah

Ally/Kristen: I'm like, nice outfit. Clown! And i keep walking to breakfast. I look back, is she smiling?

Brennan: i think there's a couple --

Adaine: don't talk to her like that *winks exaggeratedly*

Brennan: the first time she does that, let me see how she does measuring how hard to come back. That's a 5

Aelwyn: oh, you don't like this?

Kristen: oh, uh, its, uh. Looks like shit.

Aelwyn: ah, i understand. Well, i'm trying to dress for the job i have which is librarian. But dressing like someone who wants the whole world to know that they're desperately alone is another option.

Ally/Kristen: Kristen hugs her staff

Adaine: okay, actually, don't talk to her like that

Aelwyn: no, we're playing! You wear the same tracksuit every day. You know that's not right.

Kristen: yeah. Yeah! I forgot something in my room!

Adaine: sometimes she dresses as a cowboy

Emily/Fig: i get behind Aelwyn for a tabletop

Ally/Kristen: what are you doing?!

Brennan: you get behind Aelwyn for a tabletop?

Emily/Fig: Kristen, if you don't get this I --

Ally/Kristen: i'm running, i'm running. No I just forgot something!

Brennan: Aelwyn turns down to look at you and says [as Aelwyn]: drop something?

Ally/Kristen: i forgot something!

Emily/Fig: i was acting like a fucking cat, cuz you love em so much! And I give her a wet willy and run.

Brennan: the wet willy gets her way more. [As Aeleyn]: uuugh! Noo! The house -- Mordred is lively. There's very fun study sessions.

[shewholovestoread]

Mission Impossible 7: Dead Reckoning Impressions

I’ve been a fan of the Mission Impossible franchise, especially fourth film onwards. This is not a review per se, it’s more a list of what was okay in the film, what was great and what was downright awful. So let’s get into it.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

THE MEH:

- The villain - on the surface, having an AI entity called The Entity sounds like a good idea. Especially given the current climate, the discourse surrounding AI and the way it’s being used. The problem is that, it lacks the human component that makes a villain engaging. One of the most fascinating aspects of a villain done right is their motivation and their drive. Aspects that perhaps the audience can relate to. All of that is missing with a digital villain.

- Gabriel - Again, the fact that he’s following orders from an AI just seems dumb and takes away from his being an engaging villain in his own right. Yes, he’s menacing and clearly dangerous but all of that is undercut because he’s not the big bad, a machine is. His history with Ethan is rife with untapped potential and I hope that the eighth film digs deeper into that.

- Alana Mitsopolis - So much potential and she does next to nothing in the film.

Also, this was mind-boggling, when Grace is pretending to be Alana, her eye colour is so obviously different from the real Alana that I’m kinda shocked that the brother didn’t pick that up. It was so glaring that it immediately took me out of the film. It made no sense.

THE GOOD:

- Paris - Pom Klementieff stole the show. She was so good and I’m so excited to see her in the next installment. Also, the scene of her chasing Ethan and Grace in the huge-ass military truck... pure chef’s kiss. You know that scene in the animated 101 Dalmations when Cruella is driving her car like a lunatic, Paris had that energy down pat.

- Grace - I liked her character though there are some problems that I’ll get to later. But well written and another character who doesn’t immediately fall head over heels in love with Ethan. I liked that she was smart and didn’t trust people just because they asked her to. She had reason to be wary and I appreciated that.

- The stunts - This is a given. The stunts get bigger and more outrageous with every progressing Mission Impossible film and this one was no different. The bike-jumping-off-the-cliff is the one that they’ve pushed the most in their marketing, but there’s one more near the end that’s probably way more stressful.

THE BAD:

- The stunts - The stunts in the film overpowered the plot. There is such a thing as 'too much of a good thing’ and the stunts in this film definitely fall into that category. There was something new happening every few scenes and some of the stunts scenes also just went on for a little too long.

- The Death of Ilsa Faust - This one just drove me mad with rage. She is canonically as good as Ethan, his equal in every way and was set-up as a foil to him, often a little more ruthless than him and willing to make tough decisions even if that meant going against Ethan and his team, people she clearly cares about.

It’s not just that she died, but the way she died. She gets stabbed by Gabriel and actually died alone, by the time Ethan finds her, she’s already gone. She died alone on a fucking bridge and that’s just a damn shame.

To add insult to injury, the way they’ve set-up Grace as an immediate replacement for Ilsa, to the extent that in the very next scene, she’s part of the team as if she had always been there. It’s like the film is telling you that female characters are of little consequence and replaceable. This was also so damn blatant that yet again, it pulled me out of the film. I couldn’t believe that it was handled in such ham-handed way. It also made me dislike Grace on principle.

Her death also stings because Benji and Luther were right there and they’ve been there since the third (fourth?) film and are still alive and kicking. If we were meant to have a meaningful loss for Ethan, why couldn’t it either of the 2 dudes? Also, it is possible to have more than 1 woman on the team. There’s no rule that states that the addition of the new female character must be facilitated by the death of the previous woman on the team. There are SOOOO many films guilty of this (looking at you Pacific Rim 2, which killed off Mako Mori and then replaced her with Liwen Shao)

THE THING THAT GIVES ME PAUSE:

The only thing that gives me pause is the way Ilsa’s death was handled. It’s so badly done that it almost feels like a different film. My theory is that Ilsa is actually alive and will return in the next film. The whole thing was badly handled on purpose.

Now hear me out, early on in the film, Ethan and Ilsa fake her death to get the American intelligence agencies off her back. From the way it’s shot, it’s immediately apparent that she’s not dead. And they reveal very quickly that she’s still alive.

When she reunites with the team, the whole lot of them get into an argument about acceptable losses and that the mission is more important than any member of the team (very subtle-R-us) and then to no one’s surprise, it is Ilsa who goes and talks to Ethan and they have a very awkward hug. Ilsa and Ethan’s romance, thus far, was played with great subtlety. they’re not very touchy-feely with each other. They show their love in how far they’re willing to go for each other. It’s the sexual tension that is the real draw for these two. It’s a strange kind of intimacy which is very different from all of his previous romantic partners.

So we got that awkward scene and by then it is glaringly obvious who’s gonna die. Ilsa has a sword fight with Gabriel, she gets stabbed and then dies. But here’s the thing, every thing I said earlier about how it was handled just doesn’t feel right. McQuarrie is a better writer and director and I expect him do better because he has consistently done better in the last two films.

We are constantly told that The Entity can already see ALL of the possible approaches that Ethan can think of. It can see 10 steps ahead of everyone on the team. So how do you beat a machine that has already seen all of your upcoming moves and put in counter-attacks? You do something it can’t predict. If both Gabriel, Grace and pretty much everyone concerned thinks Ilsa is dead, it gives her the perfect opportunity to blindside The Entity. She’s the piece of the puzzle that The Entity can’t see coming.

Repetition: Gabriel already killed Ethan’s past love interest, it is so damn lazy of the filmmakers to make him kill the current love interest (although Ilsa is so much more than a mere love interest) Not to mention, Gabriel stabs Paris in almost the exact same place as he did Ilsa and she managed to live and even saved Ethan and Grace’s lives.

If however, this is the end of the road for Ilsa Faust, it was a damn shame for such an amazing character to get such an anti-climactic end. It was a disappointing end for a character that had very quickly become one of the best parts of the series.

[dyingofexposure]

Hey Folks. If you're a fan of Dimension 20 Junior Year, new episode of my discussion series Free Period is up. Please feel free to watch, comment, whatever you like. Warning: Spoilers for Untapped Rage (last week's episode)

[charmac]

I love the baseball inclusions in ur fic, bc I dont see a lot of ppl highlight Mac's sports nerd side in their plots and the way you include it is so natural to the character even if idk anything about baseball. I feel like there's untapped potential with that angle, like I now need a macden fic where they bang at an Eagles or Phillies game

On top of it being a huge chunk of Mac’s personality (more so in the beginning), it’s a great way to explore his obsessiveness, when it isn’t over Dennis, that is, and how his passion and rage are linked very closely…

Also, well, hours of baseball is a great excuse to plop them next to each other on a couch with alcohol…

As to your last comment, well, stay tuned. Spoilers.

[deliriiuumm]

dreamling post-canon time loop au headcanons

I honestly can’t believe we don't have a wealth of Dreamling post-canon time loop AUs. There's so much untapped potential in them & let me tell you why they slap (MAJOR COMIC SPOILERS AHEAD):

Imagine Dream being reincarnated as a human after TKO but has no memories of being an Endless. Imagine him being trapped in a time loop that is a metaphor for unresolved issues & self-punishment. Imagine him accidentally pulling Hob into the time loop & experiencing the inherent romanticism of watching his lover from his past life die in his arms while trying to fix his mistakes over & over again. 

How do they break the loop? By confronting their past issues & forgiving themselves. That's right, enforced character development & therapy via time loop, baby!

For your consideration:

Reincarnated Human!Dream & Johanna are childhood besties who like getting drinks at The New Inn owned by none other than Hob Gadling (who may or may not have been Dream's lover in his past life)

Dream doesn't remember Hob but he feels like an old friend & he feels safe with him

Random & headache-inducing flashbacks: “You take care of yourself"/ “Thank you… I shall”

Number of deaths:  ∞; Cause of death: tumbling down the stairs 💀

Enter Delirium who disguised herself as Reincarnated!Dream's human little sister because she missed him terribly & she's sick of losing her siblings 😢

“I want my brother to be okay, I don’t want him to get hurt” 💔

Hob's POV after The Wake: living on deliriously after losing his oldest friend, the one he thought he'd spend his immortality with. What would be left of the world without his old stranger, his beloved, and only confidante? How did he cope with grief? Did he cope at all?

[Narrator voice] He did not, in fact, cope well at all.

Post-Wake flashback: Hob dropping to his knees, screaming in anguish, and begging Dream to haunt him

The past begins to unravel in bits & pieces: a field of red flowers, bloodstained hands, a whiplash across his cheek, and the comforting touch of Death's hand. Nothingness. 

The deaths become more violent as Dream starts remembering the past. Being in so much pain, he's going mad. "Morpheus, we're dying again."

Objects and people start to disappear into the void. If they die one more time, will they come back? Or will they simply disappear into oblivion? 

Time loops are within Father Time's domain. Does he have anything to do with this or is it a cosmic anomaly?

Where do the Endless fit into all of this? Can they interfere or not? Will they be willing to? Or will they let Dream sort it all out as he did in the fishbowl?

And lastly: Dream vs. the Final Boss aka Death. Dream holding Hob as he dies in his arms for what may be the last time, filled with unfiltered rage as he summons and confronts Death of the Endless. 

That's all for now. I have many other headcanons for this AU that I hope to string together into one coherent fic. 

If you have some Dreamling/ Sandman time loop headcanons, I'd love to hear them!

[shimmer-like-agirl]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @wanderingaldecaldo to share something I'm working on. Do you know how long it's been since I've actually written something worth posting??? Spoiler alert, it's been an incredibly long time! This wasn't helped at all by Darisha deciding she wasn't actually a V after all and making me rework everything I'd written. I still love her dearly, despite the recent curveball

Anyway, enough rambling. Here's Darisha's introduction to Night City in all its glory. I don't think this piece is done yet, it's really only a first chapter, but she'll tell me when it's done (I hope)

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

The Untapped Goldmine

Northside, Watson, Night City

Saturday, May 22, 2077

Applause.

It wasn't a stretch to say it was her lifeblood. To Darisha's mind, there was very little difference between it and the air she needed to breathe. On a good night, the applause, the symbol of validation from the crowd, wrapped her in an embrace of acceptance and appreciation. Its warmth mingled with that of the spotlights, almost tangible, like she could reach out and grab a handful to save for the colder, less giving nights.

Nights like this one.

The Untapped Goldmine was either a grossly accurate name or an absolute misnomer. She wasn't sure which, but after a week of performing to embarrassingly small crowds in an area that didn't come close to fitting her music's demographics, she no longer cared to unravel that particular mystery. Even her brand of sidewalk stomping self-marketing, imbued with her not-insignificant charm, had failed to make a mark in a territory owned by a borged-out gang with questionable musical tastes. Thankfully, this particular run was nearly over. The final notes of music faded into the ether. Darisha forced a weak smile in response to a smattering of applause, mumbled a few insincere thanks, and turned abruptly on her to leave the stage. She paused briefly when she passed by her long-time drummer, another relationship ending tonight. "When you return to Atlanta, tell Remy I hope he chokes on his own dick. And I mean that sincerely."

Descending the short flight of stairs that led to a ridiculously long hallway to her tiny dressing room, she pulled out her phone. Seven voicemails, one for each day she'd been in Night City, and a considerable number of increasingly aggressive text messages from Remy. She hadn't had the strength to face him during the last week, but she was now as ready as she would ever be.

Despite the repeated calls and messages, her call to him remained unanswered. Typical Remy and his power balance bullshit, she thought to herself. Conversations had to be on his terms, his timelines, so he had complete control of the narrative. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. Not this time.

The smooth baritone of his voicemail greeting gave her momentary pause. It threatened to surface good memories when all she wanted to focus on was bad. There was more than enough of the latter to fuel a raging inferno. She blinked back a couple of errant tears and set her mouth in a firm line, waiting for his casually scripted spiel to end.

"Fuck you, Remy," she spit to start her message. "Even for you, this is fucking low. You could've booked me anywhere in this city, but you had to have the last word. You just had to show me how little you cared for me by booking me into the shittiest shithole on the west coast."

Rolling her eyes at the indignant expression on the face of the backstage manager who was waiting just outside her dressing room, she momentarily turned her attention to him. "Don't give me that look. You know it's fucking true." She raised a slender finger to quiet anything he might say in response and turned her ire back to her one-sided conversation. "So yeah, fuck you, Remy. You got what you wanted. I'm out of your greasy, grimy clutches and your life. You're free to go fuck whoever you want and promise them all the same things you promised me and never delivered." She paused for a calming breath. "As for your beloved Rayfield, I had it filled with cement and dropped to the bottom of the ocean. Good luck getting it back."

The last word now hers, Darisha tossed the phone to the ground and smashed it forcefully, and more than a little therapeutically, with her heeled foot. With that handled, she turned her attention to the silently fuming and petulant backstage manager. "What!?"

"This isn't a shithole."

"All evidence to the contrary," she retorted with an eye roll.

"Are all Brits massive cunts like you?"

"Yes. Every single British person in the world is a massive cuntbag. I'm the nice one, so tread carefully if you meet another." She waited for him to move out of her way, sighing exasperatedly. "Anything else? I kinda want to get out of here."

"Someone is waiting in your dressing room." Eyes now downcast, he appeared to be deeply studying his shoes. "Said they know you."

Darisha crouched down slightly until she could look him in the eye again. "Naturally, you took them at their word and let them into my personal space. What harm could there possibly be in letting a stranger in Night City into your performer's dressing room?"

His answering shrug was irritating, more so when he turned to walk away without a word. Darisha grimaced, reached for the door handle, paused, and turned to yell after his quickly retreating form. "If I die in there, I promise to come back specifically to haunt you. And it won't be the fun kind, either. I'm talking blood pouring from the ceiling, disembodied screams while you shower, and a cold wind up your spine that'll make sure you lose your erection whenever you're about to fuck!"

Satisfied with her threat but still guarded, she stepped into the tiny room that had been her only area of respite for the last week. She let out a relieved breath upon recognizing the face of her mysterious and unannounced visitor. How could she not? Aside from cybernetics, they shared the same face, the same warm, dark skin, the same violet eyes, and the same fabulous Afro, although it was a darker blue rather than Darisha's vibrant purple. "Hello, Val," she greeted her sister quietly, relief giving way to anxiety. She hadn't spoken to her twin in over three years.

"I'm going by V now. Didn't you get the memo?" Even after a decade, she wasn't quite used to hearing her sister's American accent.

"I must've missed it. That tends to happen when one doesn't return her sister's phone calls."

V shrugged, unbothered, and changed the subject as was her way. "Who the fuck is Remy?"

There was so much she could say in answer to that. Three years of her life. Amazing highs, depressing lows, and never a mundane middle. "Ex-manager. Ex-input. Big mistake. Small dick."

"You're better off without him." Her sister wasn't wrong, but it had taken her the better part of a year to discover herself. V folded herself into the singular armchair in the room and directed a pointed look in her direction. "Speaking of things you're better than…Why are you still clinging to that fucking posh accent?"

"Because it's my fucking posh accent." Try as she might, she would never convince her sister that coming to America didn't mean evolving into a total American. "It's the only thing I have left of home." 

"You sound ridiculous," twin voices, though differently accented, chimed in unison before dissolving into shared laughter. In that instant, the years apart melted away, along with any resentment either might have felt. There was no way to explain it, but it was the way they'd always been.

"So….," V trailed off, looking at the surrounding area, taking in all her sister's belongings in a single room. "It sounds like you have no future plans? You feel like hangin' out in Night City awhile?"

She hadn't planned for the future beyond just getting through the week. "Better here than Atlanta, I guess. Gotta rebuild somewhere and here is as good a place as any." She looked around the tiny room that had doubled as a makeshift hotel during her stay. "Just not 'here'. I've had enough of this dump. I don't suppose you have an empty spot on your floor I could crash on until I get my feet under me?"

"Got something even better," her sister beamed. "What would you say to your own apartment, not far from here, paid up for the next two months by your favourite sister?"

"What's the catch?"

"Why's there gotta be a catch?"

"You're my sister, V. I know you. There's always a catch."

After a considerate silence, V nodded and shuffled over on the chair to give Darisha room to sit next to her. "I…uh fucked up pretty bad, and I need help. Your help, specifically."

"That doesn't sound ominous at all." She slid into the empty seat so that they were sitting shoulder to shoulder, leaning against each other for support as they'd done when they were kids. "How much trouble are you in?"

"Enough." Her sigh came heavily weighted. "Kinda life or death sitch. You know me, go big or go home." She sighed again and pressed her shoulder more firmly against that of her sister. "Mum always said I was my own worst enemy. Turns out she was right."

The story V proceeded to unravel would have been unbelievable to Darisha if it had come from the lips of anyone but her twin. A tale of a heist gone horribly wrong and a ticking time bomb of an engram in her head would seem far-fetched if it weren't for the absolute certainty in the eyes of her sister. 

"I've built a decent rep in this city, up until this fucking heist tanked, at least. There's shit I need to do to try and excise this tapeworm I've been saddled with. Problem is, I need the better rep and eddies that merc work gets me. All of that takes time and it's time that I don't got."

"What do you need me to do?" She asked the question without hesitation. 

"Be me. For a little while, at least. I've got good relationships with a fixer in Watson, and I can funnel the gigs I would take from her to you. You do them; we split the eddies. I get the rep I need, and you can keep whatever eddies you find while you do the job."

"I'm not killing anyone. You know I don't work like that." 

"I know, I know, you're a puppy-loving pacifist. I won't send you anything that requires ending someone's life. You can deal with the gigs however you want and keep your conscience clean. You don't even have to talk to the fixer or the client. I'll do all that and take my cut of the eddies."

The answer would have been no if it were anyone else in any other situation. Darisha hadn't done merc work in years, not since she'd started on her journey of becoming a singer. But this was her sister. Her twin's life was on the line, and she couldn't leave her hanging.

"We'll negotiate on the cut, but you've got a deal. I assume I can do whatever the fuck I want in my downtime. If I'm gonna be a part-time V, I'll need something to fill the rest of my time. May as well line up a few club gigs while I'm here." She'd need to find a new band and maybe a new manager, one that she wouldn't fall in love with this time. She could start writing songs again, which Remy had repeatedly discouraged her from doing, preferring her to perform covers rather than her original work. Her mind whirled with a dozen things to add to her to-do list, but she tamped them all down. First, she needed to get settled and help her sister. Then she could focus on herself.

[feelingtheaster99]

Murph: You gotta honor the cock *winces as he hears what he just said*

Emily: *so proud of him* That’s my HUSBAND, baby!

[not-quite-so-intrepid-hero]

aelwyn is the cunty neurodivergent rep we need. the look on her face when kristen is actually upset/hurt and she immediately backtracks- oh shit, i thought we were playing! we were joking! don’t friends bully each other? how else is affection expressed but through violence?

[cybernexus]

I have to catch up on a bunch of things but here's a post straight off the shitpost express about magic in my cyberpunk fantasy world (and regarding Raj + his fam)

Not me thinking about the fact that Raj has hidden magical abilities, that lay dormant in his family for like, centuries!! For a very important reason I'll get to later...

And the fact that his particular type of energy being fiery and passionate representing not having an outlet for your emotions. He chooses to bottle his rage because he fears it, and doesn't know how to deal with it.

He's been ignoring it and pushing it down, and trying to forget it ever existed, but sooner or later it's all going to come to an explosive conclusion. Sometimes when he overworks himself in a fight you can see the energy pulsing in his chest.

Something else to consider is that I put an extreme amount of emphasis on the fact Raj was built with the overheat flaw, so that he would be easier to control. They knew that given his emotions he'd run hot naturally anyway, and that's why they chose this flaw - among a few others.

Raj's fiery elemental affinity isn't a mistake of nature either - it reflects his personality and is what he's drawn toward. For example, someone else might be drawn toward water or electricity, but you can choose what you want to practice if you're aware of it.

When Raj eventually unlocks the ability to use his powers, he's going to use them at first in a very utilitarian manner to vent the excess heat from his body in a direct way.

So for example if he's firing lasers from his palms, that's that much less heat his body is accumulating.

Because this whole time, it's not just his emotions that's causing him to overheat - it's also largely this very potent magical energy that wants to come out, which made the Forge's overheat flaw all too effective and they kinda gave themselves too much credit because 75% of the reason why he overheats is his untapped magic. This is because all the energy skipped a few generations and ended up in him (and his sister oops spoiler).

Typically magic is discovered around or shortly before puberty, but Raj is a late bloomer because that just Happens Sometimes + he's also a cyborg which can sometimes delay discovering magical talents.

To not make Raj too overpowered, me giving him magic is basically my answer to him not having any medium to long-ranged attacks and giving him a smidgen more mobility. Right now he can run fast, but ideally only in straight lines and short bursts. So with magic, this upgrade is like, just imagine some I/ron M/an-like energy beams out of his palms plus the ability to fly with his energy lol

[a-jar-of-beetles]

After the revelation that Lucy could probably be revived anytime if she just worked for Ankarna Ivy's reaction to see her at the shrimp party make so much more sense even if she eventually figured out it was Fig

IDK if it was the case for anyone else but that little tidbit kept bugging me especially after Lucy's body was found but that reveal made a lot of stuff about the rat grinders behavior make sense.

[crimson-mayhem-archive]

【 ᴡʜɪᴛᴇ ʀᴏᴏᴍ ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ ™】

❝ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ɪꜱ ʙᴏʀɴ ᴀ ɢᴇɴɪᴜꜱ, ᴏʀ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ꜱᴘᴇᴄɪꜰɪᴄ ᴇɴᴠɪʀᴏɴᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ? ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴀꜱ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴꜱ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀxɪᴍᴜᴍ ʟᴇᴠᴇʟ ᴏꜰ ᴏᴜʀ ɪɴᴛᴇʟʟɪɢᴇɴᴄᴇ, ᴏʀ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇʟʏ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴛ ᴘʟᴀɴᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴇɴᴛᴇʀ? ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʟɪᴍɪᴛꜱ ᴅᴏᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ʙʀᴀɪɴ ʜᴀᴠᴇ, ᴏʀ ɪꜱ ɪᴛ ʟɪᴍɪᴛʟᴇꜱꜱ? ɪ ᴅᴇꜱɪʀᴇ ᴀɴꜱᴡᴇʀꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇꜱᴇ Qᴜᴇꜱᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ… ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ꜰɪɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. ❞

— Naoya Asano, Founder of the White Room

* this contains some spoilers for virek’s past. feel free to ignore if you wish to experience his backstory organically

CW: human experimentation

【 FOUNDER: Naoya Asano 】

【 CO-FOUNDER(S): Unknown 】

【 PATRON(S): Tougo Sakamaki, Various Unnamed Patrons 】

【 YEAR OF FOUNDING: 22 Years Ago 】

【 PARENT COMPANY: Asano Productions 】

【 PUBLIC SUPPORT: Unknown 】

❖ Purpose of This Project ❖

According to Asano, the purpose of this project is to test the absolute limits of the human mind and intelligence inside a contained space. Children are taken in and stripped of their identities, access to the outside is strictly limited, and their diets and sleep schedules are heavily restricted. Asano believes that the human brain has untapped potential that can only be accessed through extreme conditions and desire to succeed, thus is the reason for such harsh living environments.

❖ Location and Living Conditions ❖

The island the White Room is stationed has no name, as in the eyes of the government: no one lives there. It has a population of Zero, despite the numerous amount of children living there.

The facilities scattered about the island are highly advanced, providing services like high level education and medicinal services; buildings holding gyms, race tracks, and room to run simulated experiences, as well as a large amount of laboratories and testing rooms. The buildings have no windows, and all doors require levelled key cards to open. The island is surrounded by raging waves that would eat anyone alive should they try to escape— And the outside is lined with electric fences.

The diets and sleep schedules are monitored almost religiously. Each meal is different for each kid, yet the one food they all share is white rice. The meal each resident receives depends on their height, weight, and metabolism. Larger meals are provided on special occasions as a reward for good performance. Water is the primary drink for all experiments, though Virek had managed to continuously find ways to steal coffee from the higher ups.

The children were expected to perform on six hours of sleep exactly, with their brain activity being monitored during this time. Those who got any less, or any more, were punished severely.

❖ Experimentation and Treatments ❖

When children are brought in, they are given hallucinogens and other memory-altering drugs to warp their perception of any past memories they may have. Happy times become nightmares, familial memories become blacked out in their minds, and a lot of important information is simply forgotten. Their names, birthdays, any other government information such as fingerprints, medical and birth records, and any indication that these children exist is wiped. As if the children themselves are wiped from existence.

Children are brought in at the beginning of every year, usually in groups of 26. The ages vary, but usually they’re first introduced from ages four to seven. It’s easiest for them to… Adapt to their environment. Upon first arrival, children are tested on their total IQs. Ranging from academic prowess, to problem solving, to pure survival instinct. They’re then roomed and grouped based on their scores.

The experiments very frequently have ‘neuro-activity’ checks to be sure that their brains are developing at the rates they’re expected to. However such mental and physical stress has caused multiple children go collapse, and in some cases: die.

❖ Generations and Testing ❖

Each batch of children that is brought in is apart of their own ‘generation.’ All children are usually roomed with someone from their generation, as well as in classes with those from the same generation. However when it comes to testing— Several generations of students could be pitted against each other.

Regardless of generation, when it comes to results and tests, each batch of students is doing their best to come out on top. Older generations doing their best not to have the rug swept out from under them, and younger generations fighting for a spot at the top.

Tests range from academics, philosophy, to even physical and survival training. Asano’s tactics strive to push the human mind to it’s limits, even if it does mean putting the students in potentially life threatening situations.

Physical and combat training was arguably the worst for the children— Having students several generations apart compete against one another. The combat lessons typically ended in horrible injuries, and lasted until one contender either surrenders or dies. Asano claims this teaches the children survival instinct, and goes on to test the theory that adrenaline and the will to survive significantly bolsters human strength and reflexes.

The nature of the testing and purpose the children serve have led students to either form alliances, or operate under a ‘kill or be killed’ mentality. In rare cases students are found dead at the hands of others, yet given the circumstances: these deaths are swept under the rug, and never reported.

The experiments are expected to reach each milestone by a certain time, lest they be severely punished. The are monitored heavily— And may even be tortured if they try to ‘downgrade’ themselves in order to be thrown out. The researchers claim that they eventually want these children to enter the real world, to see the true disruption of ‘artificial geniuses’ versus ‘natural-born’ geniuses. Only one student has been cultivated enough to even hope to have that achievement— and even then, the facility demanded to keep them for even further training and testing.

❖ Known Experiments ❖

Generation 4 - V.

Alias(es): Virek Sutcliffe; The Demon in The White Room

Status: Missing

G4-V, or Virek, is Asano’s greatest experiment. Surpassing each academic milestone, delving into philosophical subjects that children his age were too scared to touch. And his physical prowess was unmatched, even amongst the older subjects. Virek’s desire to survive and live, paired with his raw, unadulterated hatred, made him the perfect subject for Asano— Thus causing the scientist to show favouritism. However, under mysterious circumstances, Virek has gone missing. Whilst authorities are still searching for him, security and punishment systems in the facility have tightened.

❖ Other Facts and Trivia ❖

⇨ The White Room project is a product run under Asano productions. However, no one outside of the facility is aware of it’s existence— Thus no patrons are aware that their donations are going to fund such harsh experiments.

⇨ Building off that, thanks to Naoya’s large political influence and access to confidential files, he has been able to keep the entire facility and project hidden. As well as erase the records of the children he catches, including those from foreign countries thanks to his connections. Consequently, no one has any concrete proof of this facility’s existence.

⇨ Aside from staff and one other person, no one has been to the island. Nor has stepped foot inside of the facility.

⇨ The children are branded from the moment they step foot inside the facility. So unless they plan to skin themselves, they cannot remove their marks. And since the kids have no identities to speak of, they are identified by these marks.

⇨ One of the goals of the facility is to create ‘artificial’ geniuses to assimilate into the most elite circles of the world. It is unclear if Asano has any prior motivation for this, or if he wants to see chaos ensue in a generally boring scene.

⇨ The project has attracted the attention of Tougo Sakamaki, who is the facility’s main patron. He is likely one of the ones most anxious to see the results of Naoya’s efforts.

⇨ The children wear all white clothing, and have routine pat downs and room checks.

⇨ The facility’s buildings have no windows, to ensure the children don’t become too wondrous about the outside world. Instead all of their time is devoted to studying and furthering their intellect. They have all-round access to the facility’s libraries.