#would you auto-switch with the you in that timeline?

[aquarianlights]

How do you keep going when it looks like 99% of your country has joined a cult whose soul purpose is hatred of everything you & everyone you know & love are when all you're doing is existing just like everyone else?

[mspaesthetic]

Tidbit: Placronym Pixelation

So you got this fresh placroynm that you don't want engraved with a sophomoric name? Not a problem. You can reject that stupid shit with a pixelize/pixelate filter.

Photoshop

First, you will have to make two more duplicates of your name text layer, so three text layers in total. One for when it's first displayed, one for the first frame of pixelation, and one for the second frame.

With your first duplicate layer selected, go to Filters>Pixelate>Mosaic..., which is a terrible name for it, but hey, I'm no Photoshop developer. Set the cell size to 11.

For the second duplicate layer, set it to 14.

GIMP

Pretty much the exact same steps as in Photoshop, this time the filter is located under Filters>Blur>Pixelize...

I would suggest right-clicking on the text layer and choosing Composite Space>RGB (perceptual) instead of the default (Auto), or going to the top-right corner of the Layers tab and switching the group of blend modes from Default to Legacy. Basically, doing so will make the semi-transparent pixels as dark as they are in Photoshop, otherwise they will appear too light.

Check out the read-more link below for bonus information on easily animating the name being typed out in Photoshop.

ADDENDUM

Typing animation (Photoshop)

Photoshop's frame animation timeline makes doing this a breeze. First, add a layer mask to your text layer. This will add a white box next to the layer's thumbnail.

With that layer mask selected (click on it and it will be highlighted in the layers tab), use the marquee tool to make a rectangle selection around the text, then use the paint bucket tool to fill it in with the color black. This will make the text invisible until the layer mask is moved.

Go to Window>Animation if you do not already have the animation timeline open. Click on the little sticky note icon to duplicate the first frame. In newer versions of Photoshop, you will probably first have to click on a button that reads "Create Frame Animation", and the duplicate frames button icon is the "+" in a little square.

Making sure you still have the layer mask selected and not the entire layer, use the move tool and arrow keys to move it all the way to the right, revealing the text on the second frame you've just made. Don't move it too far off now.

Move the typing cursor layer to the right as well, except you don't have to move it all the way at the end, only where it will be last seen.

Make the typing cursor layer visible on the first frame, and not visible on the second.

Select the first frame the animation and click on the tween button. This will add all of the frames in between the first and the second one for you. Make sure you only have "Position" checked under "Parameters". For the numbers of frames to add, here's a neat trick for finding the right amount: count the amount of letters in the name. "ZOOSMELL POOPLORD" is 16 letters, so add 16 frames.

Most of the work is already done, though there might be a couple frames that will need some minor tweaks. Just use the move tool and arrow keys again to finetune the layers' positioning.

This is why it was important to not move the layer mask too far to the right away from the end of the text. Tweening the position spaces it out linearly, evenly, so the farther away the end goal is, the more space each frame will use. Thankfully the font this panel uses is mostly monospaced, and I got a little lucky with my positioning, so I needed to only adjust three or four frames. Way less tedious than having to create each frame of animation myself, at least.

To change the frame delay (the time duration each frame takes up) of the newly created frames, click on the first frame you want to retime, hold down the Shift key, and then click on the last frame. This will make a selection spanning all frames in between. Click on the little dropdown arrow and select 0.1 seconds (100 milliseconds).

Here's the original panel:

And here's my recreation:

Here's the PSD, too.

[triplesnet]

a gifmaking tutorial would actually be super appreciated :)

Okay, this is gonna get long and it might not be great but I will do my best to make it understandable.

Put under a read more cause we're not forcing anyone to look at all this.

We're gonna make this gif:

First of all you'll need 3 software programs downloaded.

4k downloader (to download videos)

Gomplayer (to get the frames from the videos)

Photoshop (I pay for it but there are other ways)

Some things to keep in mind

better quality video = better quality gifs

if you want videos in 4k you have to download them in MKV format as MP4s can't be 4k.

gifs can only contain 256 colours so gifs with a lot of different colours might get grainy.

if you use low quality videos or upscaled videos they sometimes have duplicate frames which will make the animations look weird, but you can easily remove those extra frames.

tumblr only accepts gifs under 10mb in size so all gifs have to be less than that (photos less than 20mb)

you can put up to 30 gifs/images in one post

ok here we go

Step 1: Download video

Step 2: Get the frames from the video

You will play the video using Gomplayer

Find the part you want to GIF

Press CTRL + G to bring up this menu

I haven't experimented much with these settings but you'll want to choose the place you want your frames to end up so you can find them later

4. Have the Capture all frames box checked (unless it's 60fps then do 0.03). You can capture up to 999 frames in one go.

5. Press "burst capture" and it will start getting the frames (video has to be playing) it will look like this.

6. Great you have your frames.

Step 3. Making a GIF

Open Photoshop

Load Files Into Stack

This will open the folders on your computer so navigate to where you put your frames and select the frames you want by clicking on the first and holding shift while clicking on the last.

3. Wait for PS to load the frames

4. Once it's all loaded the first thing you'll do is crop it. Press 'C' on your keyboard. There are a couple presets you can use or you can 'clear' that and crop however you wish.

I always crop out at least a little of the top and bottom cause there can be dark lines there.

5. Resize: for optimal quality on tumblr there are three sizes to keep in mind.

For sets like this with 3 gifs next to each other the width should be 177p, height does not matter.

For sets like this with 2 gifs next to each other the width should be 268p

And for a set like we're doing today with just 1 gif it's 540p

You'll want to memorise these numbers for future use.

177p, 268p or 540p will be the width of your gifs.

To open the resize menu you press CTRL + ALT + i

Change the width to in this case 540p (p as in pixels)

It will auto match the height to keep the same proportions.

Click OK and wait until it's done.

6. Make sure you have the 'timeline' window up at the bottom of your photoshop

7. Click 'create frame animation' (button might say video timeline but change that by pressing that little arrow next to it)

8. Press the button with three lines in the top right of the 'timeline' window and press 'make frames from layers'

9. The frames will have loaded in in reverse order so open the same menu and click 'reverse frames'

Step 4. Blurring the logo/text (optional)

Since we have a logo in there I will want to blur it but you might not have one or you don't care if there's a logo or text in your gifs.

First we have to make the gif into a smart object.

Select all layers by pressing CTRL + ALT + A

Convert into a 'video timeline' by pressing the button in the bottom left of the timeline window

3. Right click on your layers and click on 'convert to smart object'

4. Press Z to switch to the zoom and zoom in on your logo/text.

5. Press L to switch to the lasso tool and select your logo/text

there should now be a line where you selected.

6. Open 'Gaussian Blur'

7. Click OK

Now we have to get our GIF back to the frame timeline.

8. Click 'flatten frame into clips' using the timeline menu

9. Press 'delete' once to remove the smart object

10. Convert back to frame animation

11. Make frames from layers

No need to reverse this time. But now your logo/text is blurred, as long as it doesn't move but that's a topic for another day.

Step 5: Sharpening

If you didn't have something to blur let's go over smart objects again.

Select all layers by pressing CTRL + ALT + A

Convert into a 'video timeline' by pressing the button in the bottom left of the timeline window

3. Right click on your layers and click on 'convert to smart object'

5. Camera Raw Filter (Optional)

I use this for base editing of colours and the overall clearness of GIFs, it's not made for that tho it sometimes gets buggy. Works best on photos.

Press CTRL + SHIFT + A to open this.

It's best to do as little as possible in here as it can bug out.

I mostly mess with the effects, light and detail settings in here, don't touch the sharpening though cause we will use smart sharpen for that.

6. Smart Shapening

Most people have a sharpening action they use, including me. But you can also do it manually. You can find my actions in here.

To do it manually and make your own settings. This is how you open smart sharpen.

If you use my sharpening action remember it can be a bit much sometimes, in that case hide the second layer

Use an action or mess around to find a sharpening setting that looks good on your gif, usually don't need much.

Now we have to get our GIF back to the frame timeline.

7. Click 'flatten frame into clips' using the timeline menu (I'm low on images to use check the blur section for images)

It might take a minute since it has to process the new settings.

8. Press 'delete' once to remove the smart object

9. Convert back to frame animation

10. Make frames from layers

11. Select all your frames to set the framerate

You can click on any frame for this. Click 'other' and set it to 0,06.

12. Press CTRL + SHIFT + ALT + S to open 'Save for Web'

these are my save settings.

Click save and name and place it wherever you want it saved.

Congrats you've made a gif.

Step 6: Colouring

Now we have a problem cause there's already 30 images in this post.

For colouring I have a psd I use and adjust to the individual set. It's in my google drive you can find it here along with my actions.

If you're making several gifs from one video you'll want to adjust to the first and then copy that over to keep things matching.

We can go more in depth on this but that would have to be a different post since I can't put more images in this one.

Step 7: Watermark (optional)

A lot of GIF makers have watermarks these days as there's a lot of people who repost GIFs without credit. Make your own so people know the GIFs are yours even when posted elsewhere.

Step 8: Post

Post your hard work on your tumblr, use a bunch of tags so people have a higher chance of seeing it.

I hope this post was understandable and clear, let me know if you have any questions and if you want a proper colouring post.

[angryspacegirl]

@queen-jala asked: Jala was just trying to get back home after figuring out her two new forms she just wanted to get back home and free it (not knowing it had long since been destroyed), But it seemed something was wrong with her navigation and she just couldn't find her way back home so she was just roaming around the stars with no real direction as to where to go. While between planets she noted of another ship passing by. it had a vague sayian design to it but not one she would be able to connect back to her planet she tried to hail the ship with her coms.

It was nice to be back in open space. Serori had been stuck training on Planet Kanlaman for over a year, and from there, she'd been in a hurry to make it to some intergalactic prizefights to test out her new skills, which meant she hadn't had this in a long while. The vast black of space spreading out in all directions, broken up only by the faint light of distant stars, the quiet hum of the ship's engine the only sound, and no set destination in mind. Where should she go next, she wondered. Maybe she'd find a place with good food and attractive women and just spend a week or so chilling out.

Having given her stolen Ikondan ship to Nixxo and Suu to take back with them to their original timeline, she'd had to make do with this old model Saiyan ship. That it was mostly auto-pilot was a drag for someone who liked handling the controls herself, but at least it meant she could lay down on her cot with some star charts and figure these things out on her own. Though, whatever comfort Serori took in doing so was dashed by the suddenly splashing of water onto her face, prompting her to jerk upwards and shake her head.

"Hey, what the hell," she grumbled, looking over at the large spherical tank built into the corner of the ship, containing her pet fish. Again, a small splash sent a few drops of water onto her face, then towards the cockpit. Following the splash's arc with her eyes, Serori suddenly broke out into a grin as she approached the tank. "You really are a genius, aren't you," she said, making a kissy face before sprinkling a few flakes into the tank once Rhubo had settled back down into his normal, lazy swimming. "Thanks for the heads-up."

Sitting down in the cockpit, Serori moved her potted plant out of the way enough that she could reach the switch beneath the comm light blinking pale green. "I'm not a pirate," she declared once the audio channel was opened, unaware of how such a suspiciously specific denial likely wouldn't help her case, "and I haven't broken any laws that I'm aware of, planetary or galactic. If you're trying to pull me over, you'd better have a damn good reason." After all, for what other reason would some random ship flag her down?

[galactic-pirates]

Ok buckle up. I just realised that I never actually watched the Timeless movie. So I’m going to watch and live ramble.

I wrote a fic theorising on how they managed to time travel within their own lifetime when it wasn’t supposed to be possible. Like a post-season 2 fic.

Ok anyway starting rambles! Episode One.

Not a fan of the “work it out together” aka pushing Lucy and Wyatt together. Also the immediate dismissal of “there was no baby” but I guess it was too complicated a plot to resolve otherwise when the show got cancelled and this movie was all they had.

A little confused about switching the lifeboats. There feels like a paradox in there somehow.

The whole “not without side effects” thing seems a bit of a cop out? Like we always knew that Lucy had time travelled but Connor was so insistent it wasn’t possible which is why I had the theory that it was, but it broke the timeline so they could never go home.

Wyatt being all “no you can’t look it’s just us two” erm why? All they did was say to work together - not don’t work with other people. And naturally he sneers like “you and Flynn” and walks off. Jealous possessive arse. He can’t even tolerate their names being linked in the journal.

I do like the auto pilot on the lifeboat. I made a sad version in my fic but otherwise yes.

OMG I thought… ahhhh I’m screaming. I thought Lucy and Flynn were on a mission in the journal - not that they were together!!! But way to crush me in a single scene of “oh yeah we were together but it ended badly”. Although I do like the “saw another side of you, I already have” because yeah 😍 it’s like one shining moment and then slap in the face. Let’s push the Lucy and Wyatt again :( do not want /sigh

Flynn empathising with the Zorro bandit :( I’m just relieved at least they are giving him some screen time. I was worried. Also I love the character development of Flynn saying that revenge doesn’t help, and hinting that he has released it due to his love for Lucy.

Wyatt jumping to “to save Rufus, should kill Jessica” I’m side eyeing a bit. He has been so obsessed with her up until now. I feel like he’s only switched sides so to speak because he thinks he can have Lucy.

I am a bit worried about Flynn having gone. His “if you all die who fights Rittenhouse” and coming to the conclusion that it’s him. I’m like thanks I hate it. And then he steals the Time Machine? Did Wyatt know where he was going? Would be convenient for Wyatt if so, get Flynn out of the way.

Isn’t that an obvious answer? “Connor Mason creates the Time Machine” - just destroy them before they ever get made back in the past. Then none of the show ever happens. I hate it but it fixes the “rittenhouse has the Time Machine” problem.

OMG Flynn went back to kill Jessica! I had thought maybe it was to recruit his past self/hand over the journal. Wyatt being a jealous arse - very on brand.

Noooo Flynn. Nooooo. Don’t explode your brain. Oh yikes Jessica knows how to fight that’s not good. If Flynn’s brain explodes and he isn’t even successful… oh thank Merlin. Ok go get back to the ship.

I like how Lucy is yelling for Flynn to help and Wyatt is already being ungrateful.

Whaaaaaat it’s Rufus.

Kinda confused as to how that works with where Flynn and the lifeboat is. I mean they remember the timeline where Rufus dies as they were out of time - but so was Flynn. So ??? doesn’t make sense.

And naturally Wyatt’s first thing is passive aggressive “guess this is why you end up with Flynn”.

What expendable?? No. Love Wyatt fuck that noise. Why did Flynn jump out? There was no need to sacrifice himself like that. Oh he’s seeing his family now he knows it’s possible :( :( that’s so sad.

“All my love Flynn” crying forever.

I can’t believe this a two parter and they already wrote him out :(

The toast was nice and actually Wyatt’s words weren’t bad.

But holy paradox Batman. If Jessica was written out and they never went to China Town then how is Emma still in charge and Carol and Nicholas still dead? My head hurts.

And how can Jia still have scars from something that didn’t happen?

Make it make sense.

Oh lord they are doing the “there was only one bed” trope. I hate it. But it makes even less sense if they were together, because Jessica wasn’t there. Lucy still has cuts from the China town fight, and why would they have gone on the mission to the gold rush in this new timeline? Rufus remembers that they did but he doesn’t know China town or Jessica.

I’m with Janeway I really hate time travel.

[lostacelonnie]

so days ago i had a dream i never really wrote down for some reason so ill drop it in your askbox <(￣︶￣)>

this dream was set in college and the room looked similar except it was like at a high af floor building (this is relevant later) and there was clearly some Scott Pilgrim Shit going on because i had a crush on someone in the class and i was speedrunning what the teacher was explaining and my dream self decided to talk to them and they read my mind or something and gave me a quest to....

play the horror game they made(i have no horror tolerance) before a certain timelimit passed where they would get bored of this timeline and hop to another one "adhd-style" and if i managed to beat the horror game they made in time they would teach me how to timeline hop too and bring me along

i somehow started dual wielding both programming and gaming but my ass was so fucking scared at the horror game because it switched gameplay entirely everytime i opened a door and for some reason it induced eldritch fear in me

eventually a crowd gathered around me to give me moral support but then i had finally beaten the game after some arduous few minutes of me almost shitting myself(figuratively) because of a room where the doors jumpscared you and i just stood up with power brimming out of my soul and i walked up to them and they looked at me like "you are worthy. congratulations are in order" and then they raised their hand and the floor fucking collapsed?

i was sent to an alternate version of the classroom where the floor was part floor and part water and people were boating to get to their seats and leave the classroom and i looked for them around the water version of the classroom but couldnt find them and then i fucked up my boating skilps and fell off flying the tall as fuck classroom and below was a dance competition in a mall that i landed on and the judge said i had nice af moves and asked what my name was and i said "im sorry i just fell here by accident.... ill be taking my leave...." and the judge looked kinda sad and annoyed that i wasnt an official competitor and i wanted to leave quietly but the place was crowded

and instead of leaving through the door i saw a power outlet and since no one was near it and entered it and fucking entered the Cable Dimension which kinda hurt to be in but i managed to move to a different place of the mall and there was a game convention and they were showing this timeline's version of honkai impact as like a non-mobile action game similar to devil may cry and ultrakill and i started playing the demo there because holy shit blorbo from My Timeline????

the gameplay was odd because kiana's moveset was highly different but she looked like white comet still

like she had her normal white comet moveset but Cooler and an ability to turn the game into a 3rd person shooter by pulling out her gun but her bullets had a mechanic where if you hold the fire button instead of tapping and swing the aim fast with the mouse, releasing mid-swing would cause you to shoot a bullet that would curve to the opposite direction (with slight auto aim) and change the way it impacted the enemy

i remember like doing a heavy attack in this version of honkai impact with wildly different gameplay where kiana used a paw from white comet to send the enemy flying like to the left and i used a swinging bullet to the right immediately after the heavy attack and the bullet curved around and hit the enemy from the back and sent them back to kiana

also kiana had glowing orange strings she could throw enemies around and swing around spiderman-style with it was odd

my time on the honkai demo was over so i went to check out another game and it was a fucked up vr fighting game where your physical strength actually mattered and was required to cast your special moves and i met the person from before and i called them out and they just fucking one shotted me in the game somehow

i asked how the fuck they did that if the game is based on actual strength and how they timeline hopped and they just told me "I am this timeline. You are living in me."

so i guess i had a dream where i dated a timeline(?) and they showed me a version of honkai impact that was a mix of ultrakill and dmc and i dont know how to feel other than that this is another idea i could use to draw a yuri webcomic out of if i could draw

HELP ME........ TIMELINE YURI...... big fan of the Cable Dimension btw and also Finally. Honkai Impact 4th. honkai/ultrakill crossover when

[sojutrait]

its a long one lads

( @aomi-nabi ) THANK U AAAAAAAAA ur asks always make my day omg 😭😭❤❤❤

THE WALK WITH ME IS SENDING ME KFKJFDGFGK so far we’ve also canonized him death dropping so i can really see his ass doing both-

nothings going on dw ive just been busy dkfjdfk 😭😭

TYYYY RIGHT BACK AT U MWAHH

( @deathbypufferfish ) death by pufferfish . com 

( @astralsi ) I CAME BACK JUST FOR U MAMA MWAAAHHH 🤧🤧❤❤❤

( @lava-nder ) ngl my sims rarely even interact with townies made by the game kfgjfk 😭😭 if i do notice my sim getting close to a townie (.ie nadine or josh) THEN i’ll give them a makeover, but other than that i just ignore them or put in my own townies kdfjk as for lots, i just build my own or place down any new ones once i realize ive been to a lot too many times and want to switch it up

GATIA BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REAL i love oshin sm omg, been with her since her get famous lp 😌

( @lake-lunvik ) YOU ARE SUCH A HORNDOG LIO SDJFKDFJKF

HELPPPFKFDK im not surprised, during homelandertrait halloween takeover i was ready to lose some followers 😭😭😭

( @mmusicalwhims ) thank u so much !! 🤧❤❤❤❤ i should bring back that username tbh it was kinda iconic KDFJKFD

( @wildmeadowsims ) (link) AAAAAAA I SAW im not really a concert person but im excited to see everyones recording of it dkfjfkfkg and i heard she was adding more international dates eventuallly so fingers crossed !!!

ive never had that problem god bless KFDJK but i think u can turn off auto mean interactions with mcc so theres a temporary solution 

the randomize button is my beloved 

THIS ASK MADE ME GET OFF MY ASS AND FINALLY ORDER A MIC SO SOON IF I DONT PUSSY OUT DKJFKGF

( @velvet-disc ) TYYYY take them, they’re too much for me to handle anyways 🗿

( @25dejulho ) it depends on the save, but usually i start in another simmers save (my faves are ratboysims and simlicys), either build a house or find a shell off the gallery and decorate it myself, make a fam, then make some townies, give them all skills, careers, etc. just so theyre not like- newborns THEN start playing dkfjk its hella overkill and takes hours but thats how i do it 😭😭😭 tbh u dont even gotta do all that, u can just start in the aforementioned saves by other simmers and start ur own sims from scratch dkfjfgkj

( @catladyfinds ) hi!! i try to keep my cheating pretty minimal, but theres no like- hard fast rules i do. i never cheat money just bc i think its boring for my sims to be hella rich skfjkgfgk but at the same time, if they have to pee and the toilet is 3 stories up then ill just say fuck it and cheat it 😭😭 so my rule is pretty much, quick lil cheating of needs is fine, but nothing that would make the game too easy or unrealistic 

currently its cas and gameplay! but im hoping to get bit by the building bug again bc i have some ideas dkffkfg

aaahhh, idk really i get hella attached to 90% of the sims i make instantly 😭

( @chlosimly ) TYYYYY 😭😭😭❤❤ its all the cc makers not me KFDJKF

(referring to the non-canon halabi death i overruled) SEE its so depressing and dark i dont even wanna say it 😭😭😭 ITS OKAY, THAT TIMELINE NEVER HAPPENED I INTERVENED 

see i take offense to this bc the charm family is ugly as hell 🥴🥴

thank you!!! 😭😭❤❤❤

HELP i dont want to be too annoying so i try to keep the soju shut up posts to a minimum but im glad u like them 😭😭❤❤ im a chronic complainer so theres more where that came from dkfkff

i didnt wanna use her last name in the tag in case she got married and changed it 😭😭 same kinda with her first name, lord knows i cant resist family gameplay so i wanted something that could still work if i ever post from her future kids pov!

THE WAY THAT POST IS STILL FLAGGED TOO UGHHH

( @starterflowers​ ) thank u so much !! i also think hes pretty awesome kfdkfgk u have a great day/night as well ! 💕💕💕

*jumps then falls flat on my ass*

in theory 😌

REAL i need him as an actual tangible person i can slap around (affectionately) 

i dont think its a specific part, more so just trying to make someone who doesnt look bland 😭😭 if a sim is too cookie cutter ik i wont feel any emotion for them kfkgfk

i actually liked how evermore/folklore had no hype! the surprise made the whole thing more special, like i lookback at those releases fondly dkjfkd now- yeah she def overhyped midnights 🗿🗿🥴🥴 this roll out has been so lackluster and so help me god if we get another anti-hero remix im gonna snap 

[phantomoftheorpheum]

A Timeline of Maddie's Phone in School Spirits (1x01-1x06)

*info is below the cut because it's long.

We can see Maddie's phone in the flashback of Maddie & Xavier hanging out the day she was killed. Claire is also watching them in this scene, but it's unclear why (I initially took this to be jealousy/because she was having an affair with Xavier, but if she did switch Maddie's phone on this day, then she may have been looking for opportunity). It seems unlikely that Maddie's phone has been taken by anyone at this point (for reasons I will later explain). Maddie is also wearing her necklace in this scene.

Maddie walks into the school with Simon. We can see her phone in the side pocket of her backpack. She is still wearing her necklace. I believe this is still Maddie's phone.

After Maddie talks to Xavier in his truck (still wearing her necklace, still has her phone in the side pocket), she passes Claire in the hallway (who looks at her weird again), then she pauses and watches Xavier out of the window.

Maddie's phone battery dies while she's watching Xavier text, but we actually do see Xavier's text (that is supposedly meant for Claire) come in to her phone a moment before it dies. This implies that Maddie still has her own phone, since she got (but didn't have time to read) Xavier's text. Sadly, pausing the scene, we don't get a preview of Xavier's text, it just says "text message" so we don't know if he was being honest in his story about accidentally sending her a text meant for Claire.

The next flashback from the day of is in study hall, where Xavier steals Maddie's phone. Maddie is still wearing her necklace and the phone is in the same pocket of her backpack you can see it before. Because we're missing time between the last scene and this one, we have no way to know if Claire has stolen/replaced Maddie's phone at this point. If she did it, she either did it before this scene, or she stole it from Xavier (which would be weird because how would she know he has it and wouldn't that be suspicious to her?) We do know that Xavier steals the phone in this scene, then Maddie's mom arrives (drunk) at school, and Maddie goes looking for her.

Something to note: Xavier gets a text that upsets him in this scene & then he cancels his evening plans with Maddie and steals her phone a moment later. Initially, I assumed this was something to do with Claire, but you know what they say about assumptions. Was he always planning to steal Maddie's phone, or is it that whatever was in that text is what made him take the phone & he's lying about his reasons?

It is revealed that Xavier still has "Maddie's phone." We are later told that this phone is not Maddie's phone, but a blank phone. Whether or not this is true is up for debate.

Xavier tells the Sheriff that he accidentally texted Maddie instead of Claire and that he stole Maddie's phone in study hall to try to delete the text before she read it (he also mentions that Maddie had read receipts on and Simon mentions earlier that Maddie insists her friends have read receipts on) - so far this lines up with what we know. He absolutely did text Maddie (we saw the text come through, which heavily implies she still had her actual phone at that point), and we know he did steal her phone in study hall. But we don't know if he's being honest about the content of the text or his motivation for stealing the phone. Or what happened to the phone after that moment.

The first time we hear that "there's nothing on Maddie's phone" is when the Sheriff confronts Xavier about this at home.

Maddie and Simon find what they believe are shards of her phone on the floor in the Auto Shop and become convinced that the phone that Xavier had was not hers. They talk about trying to prove the phone the police have is not hers by checking the serial number, but we are never told if this is done.

Simon gives the phone shard they found to Mr. Anderson because Maddie trusts him and doesn't trust the police.

The scent dogs pick up Maddie's "scent" in Mr. Anderson's room & he makes an excuse about her essay. This is after Simon gave him the shard, so we don't know if the dog was smelling that, or something else.

Simon finds what appears to be another shard of Maddie's phone in the shop area. We actually are never told what happens to the second shard, but later when Simon tells the principal about his suspicions of Anderson, he may have turned that shard over then.

Simon goes through Mr. Anderson's car and finds the phone shard he gave him in the glove compartment. (Note: he also finds one of those blue devil patches at this time)

Simon reports his suspicions about Mr. Anderson to the principal, but after Simon is brought in for questioning, he is told that Mr. Anderson turned over the piece of the phone to the police (we do see it, so that seems to be true), and the police believe Maddie ran away.

After Nicole, Simon, and Xavier get the video of Claire and Mr. Anderson arguing about the money/grades situation, they become convinced that Claire stole Maddie's phone because they thought she was the blackmailer. This is actually the biggest/strangest plot point to me. They knew about Mr. Anderson claiming that he gave Maddie money (or at least Simon does), so I guess that's how they get to this conclusion, but we still have no idea why Mr. Anderson and Claire thought it was Maddie who took this video of them in the first place.

Nicole tells Simon there's no useful metadata on the video they were sent. She also says "it doesn't matter who took the video, what matters is that Claire thinks Maddie took the video," which, again, veering slightly off the topic of Maddie's phone, but why do Claire and Mr. Anderson think that? What kind of evidence/proof were they given?

Xavier specifically accuses Claire of "swapping" Maddie's phone (he actually says this twice), which she does not deny. She claims she stole it and gave it to Mr. Anderson to get rid of when she couldn't get into it. Did she steal it from Maddie? Or did she steal it from Xavier? I have to assume she stole it from Maddie, because I don't know how she would have known that Xavier had it, and if that's the case, the only time this fits in is between when Maddie's battery dies and when Xavier steals "her phone" (in this case it means that he directly stole the blank phone and not Maddie's real phone).

And that's the last we know of it. I feel like Claire would have been confused when Xavier accuses her of "swapping Maddie's phone" if she had only stolen it and not switched it, so I do feel like that's probably what happened. I still think that's a really weird plan & a replacement phone was wildly unnecessary.

However, the simplest timeline is this- Maddie has her phone with her at school, the battery dies before she can read Xavier's text, Claire swaps Maddie's phone with a blank, Xavier steals the blank phone, sometime after this Maddie is attacked/killed, Claire is unable to get into Maddie's phone so she gives it to Mr. Anderson who destroys it, Xavier is unable to get into the blank phone and carries it around with him until he is caught, the police realize the phone they confiscated from Xavier is blank, Maddie and Simon find the shards of her phone in the Auto Shop, one of those shards is given to Mr. Anderson who intends to hide it until he is publicly accused by Simon and he is forced to turn it over to the police.

I definitely still have several large questions about this, one being the fact that they mentioned very early on Maddie's phone was "in the school". They don't explain how they know this, whether it's from cell tower pings or location tags on her social media or whatever. Was this because Mr. Anderson hadn't destroyed it yet, or is this because someone has access to her accounts? Someone clearly does have access to her accounts, either on another device, or because Maddie's phone is still out there (but then that would involve a 3rd party also stealing Maddie's phone??). Claire did mention that she was freaking out when Maddie went missing & it's possible she didn't give Mr. Anderson Maddie's phone until then/he didn't destroy until it was clear Maddie is really missing.

[owlixx]

Mega Man X6 Thoughts

Wow! It's the first one I refuse to beat!

Gotto the first Secret Lab stage only to find out that I need either the shadow armor or Jump upgrade

I even think there is another jump like this later

That is bad game design (:

I could replay the one stage to get the Jumper part, but I think even that might ironically require the shadow armor which would make me replay 3 stages

Sooo, not doing it

Especially not after the ice level and trash compactor level almost made me lose my sanity

I've only been able to do the xbox versions of these games with easy mode that disables instakill, only for X6 to throw a bunch back in

Or even worse, the way you can get soft locked like in the ice level

I actually was kind of enjoying the part system, except that all the parts I found were all the lame ones

..and the fact that it encouraged me to basically never switch characters

I did enjoy having nice armor from the start and auto shoot/charge

The weapons and mavericks were just okay in this one

The plot is absolute nonsense to me

I hate the long winded maverick intro and Alia's comments on them at the end of the stage

I appreciate at least that you can choose to not pick up the phone when Alia calls every .2 seconds

The charge shot on the Falcon Armor is so much less cool in this game than the charge shot on the Fourth Armor in X5

I do actually really like the branching paths and optional bosses, including the option to skip a good chunk of the mavericks

So far, easily my least favorite home console Mega Man

This would only edge out against some of the handheld titles

God this game has way too much boring, poorly translated text to read, even worse than X5 in that regard. I'll take the bad voice acting any day

It is of course hilarious how little they attempt to explain Zero's reappearance

Personally, I think I'm going to consider X6-8 a separate timeline from Zero-ZX in my head

I hated the stupid High Max fight where you have to hit him with a charged mega buster and then a special weapon. I think the game has never required hot swapping before

I can't believe Dynamo returned, my least favorite character

I did appreciate that I managed to luck into the canon storyline of X5 during my playthrough of it by total chance

Onto Zero 1! Crazy that it released just the next year

[trans-p03g]

How does the timeline work in the scientist au? You mentioned that P03 was separated from their dad so how does that happen? Why don't they reunite sooner? Is it because of scrybe duties or something else? Do any of the other scrybes also have relatives or is P03's dad the main focus?

Sorry for so many questions, I'm just a very curious soul lmao

OH, I'LL GLADLY RAMBLE ABOUT IT. Honestly, the only reason I didn't explain this earlier because I sometimes feel kinda embarrassed about my AUs and ideas djfhfj

So, the AU is called Mystery of the Scrybe and it's actually an AU for my OC, but I'll just focus on P03 here. So first, worldbuilding;

There are two continents that. I am still very much developing. I actually auto-generated a map for it and I wish I altered it a bit more but my potato laptop was having a stroke everytime I wanted to alter something so this is all I've got:

P03 was originally from the larger continent on the right, I'll explain how he got to the other one in a hot second. Anyway, there are actually more than 4 scrybes and they are generally seen as leaders of their communities, are long-living (not actually immortal but close enough) and usually have some sort of power/ability or two relating to what they're the scrybe of. They're way less common on the continent/culture P03 originated from.

So with that down; P03's father is Dr Howard Cook, a brilliant engineer employed by some big corporation. He worked at a lab in a rural area with his colleague Dr Jonathan Johnson and two assistants, Ludwig Lovelace and Clark Harris. Howard was well-off and content in his life; he was a middle-aged man who never really considered starting a family with anyone (acearo rights babyyy) but always wanted to be a father. He eventually decided he really did want a child, but for whatever reason instead of adopting a child he decided to make it instead.

P03 started as a simple AI on a computer that Howard developed with time and made it so that P03 would learn and develop on its own with time. And Jon helped made them, though very reluctantly. Aside from Howard, Clark was the first one to get attached to P03, even when it was a simple AI on a computer, since he's a big sweetheart and it wasn't hard for him to see P03 on the same level as a human child. Then Howard and Jonathan eventually developed a place-holder humanoid body for P03 that it could use to interact with the world. They taught him how to walk and use his hands, and stuff like that, and gave him a LED mask for a face. It was hard for P03 to replicate human speech and expressions at first, so for the time being it would display text on it's face to communicate. Ludwig was the next one to get attached to the little robot, though he showed affection in his own kind of distant way. But seeing P03 behave like a little kid would did make the last two eventually get sold on the idea of this, and they helped raise him. Clark even made P03 a sweater, saying he was worried they'd get cold even when it was explained to him that P03 couldn't perceive temperatures (he's a little dumb but he's got the spirit 💜). P03 very quickly came to consider the other three to be its family too, calling them its uncles.

It was when P03 was about the age of a 12-year-old child that the word of Howard's secret project got out. His employers reasoned that since P03 was developed by him in their lab then it belonged to them and tried to pressure Howard into handing the robot over, while the local people weren't too keen on this pretty isolated weird scientist playing god by creating sentient AIs in their town and wanted to get rid of P03. So, Howard decided it'd be best if they switched locations, for P03's safety, but as they were preparing to leave they were caught off-guard by an angry mob. Howard told his three friends to take P03, some essential things like the blueprints for a future bot he wanted to create (G0lly), and go while he would distract the angry townsfolk. They got a considerable distance away when the three decided they couldn't just let Howard die and needed to get back to him, so they hid P03 and told him to stay put while they went to get his father. That pretty much saved Howard's life, as he was seriously injured, which would leave him disabled for the rest of his life.

But as you can imagine, P03, being a scared kid, did not stay put. I am still unsure about what exactly happened, but he got lost and his caretakers couldn't find him again. After months they concluded P03 was either dead or got kidnapped, and they couldn't do anything. Howard was devastated. He retired early and faked his own death and moved away for his own safety. His three friends did the same and lived with him, eventually taking the roles of his caregivers as his disability and age eventually started getting to him.

Meantime, P03 somehow managed to survive by himself, and eventually made it across the sea to the new continent. He didn't know how to go back home, and part of him was scared to even go back, worried that he might find his family dead or the people that wanted to hurt him would get him. But his dad designed him to learn and develop by himself, so he did, and he started upgrading himself with time. He managed to survive on his own for some years before eventually taking residency in Bottopia, which is a city of its own in this AU, and eventually started training under the resident scrybes there (the uberbots). The three helped it upgrade its body into a more and more human-looking model, just as it wanted, and it actually took traits from his father and uncles to design itself.

But living in Bottopia never quite felt right and eventually, P03 decided to leave to find a place where he'd belong and maybe even become a scrybe in the meantime. Eventually, it decided it'd be a good idea to construct that bot its father was once working on as it still had the blueprints. G0lly was originally designed to be its sibling, and P03 planned to keep it that way, but it did not go according to plan at all. Naturally, being her only caregiver, G0lly started seeing P03 as a parental figure, who eventually relented and accepted his role as her father. He was a bit nervous about it at first, suddenly being very afraid of making any mistakes and fretting over G0lly more than he should; he did prepare himself to raise his sibling, but being a parent instead somehow hit him differently and he wasn't mentally prepared for that. He did eventually come to care for her in a parental way and he mellowed out with time.

He eventually arrived at the archipelago and challenged the three scrybes there. He originally didn't plan to stay there, but they seemed like kind people, the place was nice and G0lly seemed to like it so in the end, he decided to stay there, and the other three scrybes gladly welcomed them as one of their own. They actually helped raise G0lly afterwards, often taking care of her while P03 was working on constructing his factory and bots (who were designed based on its uncles because it's a sappy bastard).

25+ years after the incident that separated him from his family; by this point, P03 has settled in the archipelago and is content there. G0lly was all grown up and became a scrybe of her own, now residing in Bottopia (which P03 was happy about since he trusted she'd be safe with his old friends). P03 would eventually confide in his fellow scrybes and partner about what happened over two decades ago and that partly why he never went back was because he was afraid that he'd find his family dead. But he got bullied convinced by others to go find his father anyway. So, they did, they packed up their old things and set off for a few months.

When he arrived in his hometown, he heard that his father was dead, which obviously devastated him but he still hoped that he could at least find his uncles. Eventually, they found out where they lived and went there. It was an old mansion in the middle of the forest in mountains, far far away from any major cities.

Because of all the shit that went down, they did not take well to unexpected visitors, and Howard's old friends were determined to protect him (after all, they already failed him once and felt the need to make up for losing his kid). So, you can imagine they did not take well to some stranger walking onto their property. All of them obviously aged in the two decades and P03 looked nothing like they did as a child, so none of them recognised each other and this misunderstanding very quickly turned violent.

Howard actually came outside to check out what the fuck was all that ruckus about. Thankfully, he spotted the bag P03 dropped during its attempts at not getting shot by a maniac with a shotgun and the old man immediately recognised the items inside. He tells them to quiet down and then very sternly asks P03 where he'd get these. P03 stumbles over his words for a second, he's still recoiling from almost getting hit in the face with a crowbar (Jon has a mean swing for a twink), but he finally composes himself and goes "It's from my dad and uncles, they gave me these when I was a kid. I'm just looking for them." And at that, they all immediately stop and just look at him in a mix of shock and confusion. Howard's voice breaks as he chokes out "P03?" And the bot blinks in surprise, "How do you know my-" but then it hits them; that voice sounded awfully familiar, older, rougher yet still familiar. "Dad?"

P03 runs up to him and the two embrace, sobbing loudly, just happy to see each other again. After a long while, Howard finally lets his kid go, and P03 immediately goes to hug their uncles. The 5 of them go inside and talk for a long while. P03 finds out that his dad was actually diagnosed with cancer lately and was considered not treating it, but now that P03 is here that thought immediately went out the window; they decide that Howard will sell his house and he and P03's uncles will come live with P03. They don't know how well cancer will respond to treatment, but worst case scenario at least the two of them will get a few months together before Howard passes away.

And that's pretty much where the story's at; P03's family live in the town close to his factory and he comes to visit them every day. G0lly also eventually gets introduced to them.

[tdoompoet]

Keep You: Preservation of Papyrus

Sans had snapped from the humans endless genocide routes, and so took the option away from them by killing everyone himself first. After so many times doing it on his own, he grew tired (and desparate) from the loneliness. He can't keep it up, but he can't stop, either.

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

(Full story under Keep Reading, with alt link to Ao3 in notes)

(Potentially triggering drawing at end of story)

(CW: injury, violence, genocide, decapitation, body horror)

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

Keep You:

Preservation of Papyrus

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

Not again.

He couldn't do it again.

Yet here he was, covered in dusty remains once more, the population under the mountain made silent.

It had become routine:

Wake up.

(was he really awake?)

Recognize the world had Reset.

(again. he had to do it all again. and again. and again--)

Spend an hour staring at the ceiling, bracing himself for the day's work ahead.

(--again. and again. and again. he had to--)

Slip by Papyrus, busy preparing a fresh batch for his spaghetti trap.

("Today I, The Great Papyrus, WILL capture a human! Nyeh-heh-heh!! --Brother! Don't forget to Calibrate! Your! Puzzles" --yet again--)

Murder Everyone.

After so many repeats (thousands? tens of thousands? how many by the kid's hand, how many by his own?), he was able to go about his self-appointed duty on auto-pilot. Easy enough to slip on his smile, walking alongside the townsfolk and make them laugh or groan at corny jokes as though it were any other day, until they were out of sight of anyone else. Then they couldn't react to anything anymore.

Easy enough for the first dozen or so, as he built up his first few levels of LoVe (don't think about how with his single ATK lousy damage that the only ones he could take down swiftly and quietly at first still being in stars damned stripes--). Even easier once the LoVe trickled into his Soul and what little guilt he could still feel was replaced with adrenaline and the growing reinforcement of the knowledge that he would soon be completely alone in this world once more.

But things would be different this time.

He dusted his way through Snowdin, then Waterfall, and Hotland along with the Core, and finally on his way to the Capitol, careful to keep a good distance between his brother and himself even as the population dwindled to be replaced by gusts of dust, and his growing LoVe became more and more obvious to the point that others went on the defensive as soon as they laid eyes on his on imbalanced red-tinted gaze.

No one would be allowed to stop him. He must complete this before the human arrived and destroyed everyone themself. (was he really any better than the kid, or even that damned flower?)

An encounter with the King would have been likely to end in Sans' favor even before he gained any LoVe, what with the King's own LoVe and guilt making him weak to the mercies of the Judge. This, it couldn't even be counted as a fight. Sans couldn't afford to stop and think of why, if it was because the King believed he deserved the Judgement for all his own sins when there was nothing left to lose, or if it was the shock of grief and betrayal from one of his most trusted-- No, can't think about that. There was a goal to complete.

One last task. And then..

The trip to the Room of Souls was quick. Anyone who earned a Royal title was made aware of its exact location, and given a general knowledge of how the Soul containers functioned. No point in limiting the information to the King alone if his death would also result in the loss of the six souls the Underground had managed to collect so far. No point in denying them what little HoPe was left to cling to.

Now, they were Sans' only means of preserving his own last HoPe.

Soul container collected and stashed in his inventory, a detour through New Home where he quickly found and claimed that damned knife (so many Resets since the kid was last able to hit him, and that scar-that-never-happened still fucking BURNED), and a shortcut later found him blinking a gust of dust mixed snow out of his sockets. And ahead of him on the path, same spot as every other time it had come to this point--

Deep breath. Don't get distracted yet. He was so close to finishing this.

So close to saving Papyrus from the non-existent mercies of the creature masquerading as a human.

Papyrus stood there, seemingly expecting him (as he did every time it came to this point of the timeline), the small remainder of hope being replaced with that soul wrenching mix of grief, disappointment, and ever-present Mercy once he took in the changes to his brother. Once he saw the effects of the LoVe he'd earned.

"Brother."

Sans said nothing. Time was of the essence. The human would be through the ruins soon. But--

"All the Dogi are gone. And all of our neighbors."

"..yea." There was no denying the evidence, he fully knew and accepted what he'd done, but somehow it was still a struggle to get the admission out past the sudden tightness in his non-existent throat at admitting it to his brother.

"Undyne isn't answering her phone."

Sans said nothing. The reason why was obvious. He can't think of how his actions hurt his brother just yet. He'll accept everything Papyrus has to throw at him once this is over. He deserves nothing less.

"She's never going to, is she. Nor any of our other friends." A statement. Not a question.

Every other timeline, he ended it immediately upon shortcutting here before his brother had the chance to talk him down. To allow his guilt and grief to overwhelm him before he could finish and result in his brother being left to the tender (non) mercies of the kid. But if this worked (it WOULD work) Papyrus would be able to say anything he wanted to his Soul's content. He'd be ALIVE to do so.

"..i'm sorry, Papyrus. i have to do this." He was cracking. He needed to get his shit together. He needed to finish before that door opened and everything was ruined.

"Brother, this isn't the way to solve any problem! You KNOW this! Talk to me, I don't underst--"

His barely-wavering appeal, a tangled mess of bravery, belief in his brother, and wet with tears of grief finally released when the truth could no longer be denied, was cut off by a wave of bones surging up behind him. Familiarity from years of training with his brother had him dodging forward into Sans' space without a thought. It was playing dirty, but right now that didn't matter.

Sans took advantage of the familiar routine, manipulating Papyrus into position to move under his outstretched arm, yank him down by the scarf, and within a blink the cursed knife was out of his inventory and through Papyrus' neck.

Everything stopped as quickly as it started, Papyrus never even having a chance to recover from the shock before his body started dusting away beneath him.

"W-well, that's not what I expected," Papyrus managed to say. Sans' soul damn near broke right then from hearing the familiar words usually spoken to the human all those genocide runs ago now directed at himself. But he couldn't let it affect him. Not now. No time.

With speed few would believe he possessed, the knife was dropped, the Soul container was out of his inventory, on the ground, opened, and the orange soul of Bravery tossed aside without a thought. With hands starting to shake, Papyrus' head was reverently lowered inside in its place.

The lid was quickly sealed. Sans remained crouched, staring into the jar and shaking with anticipation as the rest of Papyrus dissolved to dust beside him. The scarf caught up in a sudden gust of wind, fluttering down to catch around himself and the container holding what (HoPefully) remained of his brother. It was hard to tell whether it felt more like a threatening noose or a comforting embrace.

(It was his brothers. Of course there was only ever one option it could be, regardless of what Sans thought he deserved.)

The silence stretched on, Sans refusing to break eye contact for a moment even as a stinging mix of magic and dust dripped into his straining sockets. He couldn't look away, not even to blink. Not until he was sure it worked. Not until--

"Brother, I believe we need to have a talk. There are much better ways to solve problems than shoving people into jars! Well, parts of people! That was very rude! I was very attached to my body! And where did you even find a jar that already seemed to have people parts in it?? They--!!!"

Sans couldn't help it. The tension melted out of him, body falling into a heap between the jar containing his ranting (LIVING!) brother and the dissolving human soul. Tremors wracked him as dreaded anticipation of failure switched too quickly into hysterical laughter, the disbelief of success overwhelming.

Alive. Papyrus was still alive, and still very much himself. Well, until the shock wore off, at least. He was well aware he had a lot to make up to Papyrus for, not that he could ever make up for everything he had done. But Papyrus was safe, ALIVE. With him, and unable to needlessly sacrifice himself to the human yet again.

Sans managed to save him, and he would never have to be alone with his ghosts again.

.

.

.

At the far end of the path, through the woods and over the bridge, a stone door creaked open. The human child stepped out into the snow.

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

A.N. Wasn't sure how to do it, but had the idea of the human coming out of the ruins and being horrified out of their genocidal stupor at the image of Sans gleefully hugging the jar containing his brother's decapitated head, evidence that he'd willfully done it surrounding him. Who knows, maybe it would be enough of a shock to get them to reconsider their choices up to now.

Alternatively, there was the idea that Sans would manage to evade the human while keeping the Papyrus jar close to him at all times (perhaps he even did this early on before killing everyone else), and.. just enjoying what he can of his brother's company before using him as a last resort EXP boost, even going so far as to break the jar and finish dusting his brother in front of the human for the extra shock factor.

But I couldn't bring myself to go that route. With Papyrus having the chance to natter on and chip away at his brother's mental walls while trapped in the soul container, I don't think Sans could have brought himself to murder Papyrus a second time in one run.

[ks-caster]

Beth Liveblogs Black Widow

Bought that premium access on Disney+ so I can have the privilege of pausing for snacks and using subtitles as needed - so let’s go! 

Beth’s Spoiler-Free Review: Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the movie - the plot was compelling, the characters were likable, and the stunts were really excellent. I felt like hair and makeup dropped the ball on realism multiple times which I was sad about, because how she looks seems to be pretty important to Nat so I expected it to be done well in her movie. 

I did not like the way they framed the tail end (denouement - obviously because this movie is mid-series we know how it ends to an extent) - I felt like the connect-up to Infinity War was lackluster, especially compared to how enjoyable and dynamic the rest of the film was.

Spoilery live-reactions are under the cut. Click at own risk! Feel free to rebagel with your own impressions, thoughts, jokes and rebuttals!

The movie begins with a young Nat with blue dyed hair and visible roots, showing her natural red. Do you know how hard it is to get natural red out of hair, enough to make it blue and not green? And I’m supposed to believe that a middle-school age girl in 1995 Ohio had access to these chemicals? I’ll give her the white hair in IW/Endgame because she’s an adult with a lot of experience as a spy altering her appearance. But as a child? In the 90s? While her family is apparently in hiding? Sus.

The scene with Alexei laying on the on the wing while Nat learns to fly? AMAZING stunts. Amazing. AND someone in an action movie is finally smart enough to shoot the tires.

Nice skills on young Nat, getting the gun. Since we know from Endgame that Nat’s father is named Ivan, we know that Alexei isn’t really her dad. She also refers to presumably the red room as going “back.” Was she lent out to these agents to legitimize their family?

-0-

Nice knife moves, Yelena - I love the hand switch.

Ooooh so she was being mind controlled and the red stuff freed her? Interesting.

-0-

Nat is in Norway - visit Thor! He’d love to have you. (I’m mixing up my timeline, aren’t I?)

Supplies Dude whose name I didn’t catch refers to the Avengers breakup as a divorce - I kinda love it. It’s accurate!

BUDAPEST omg are we finally going to get the story?? Are we??

Box dye? I’m supposed to believe she got all that red out of her hair with flippin’ Loreal? Really? And that toner isn’t even the color she ultimately went - it’s too yellow. Sus.

-0-

Oop, looks like Nat got caught up in Yelena’s desertion.

Do not give Nat your metal frisbee, robocop - she’s been around Steve long enough that she knows how to use it.

I laughed out loud when she did the string him up thing with the cables - literal spider move, I love it!

Mystery box is empty - classic bait and switch.

-0-

BUDAPEST - WE ARE IN BUDAPEST - IT’S HAPPENING PEOPLE

Nat closing the door behind her is a small thing but I appreciate it - no sneaking up behind her.

When Yelena throws Nat in the kitchen and her feet hit the door and she spins before she hits the ground? That was a helluva stunt.

Oooooh honey. No body left to check is ALWAYS movie code for they lived.

Dreykov’s daughter? Another hint from Avengers 2012? C’mon, movie.

Riding the chimney down? Another incredible stunt. 

Dreykov can scan his soldiers’ bodies and terminate them if they’re too damaged to keep fighting? Big yikes. With Nat where she is character development wise, the stakes are now much higher because if she injures an opponent they may be killed remotely.

“Do you want me to chase him down and un-steal it?”

The car door under the bike was an excellent stunt - as was the car going into the subway. Though I’ve never seen a subway entrance big enough to admit a car.

Who hasn’t wanted to slide down the middle to avoid the crowded escalators lol.

Yelena making fun of Nat’s sexy poses I am LIVING omg.

Running water for wounds. RUNNING WATER. NOT ALCOHOL. The vodka goes on the INSIDE for the pain - the running water cleans the OUTSIDE. If there’s a convenience store then there’s a bathroom, with running water. Cleansing with something like alcohol is a LAST RESORT and you do not look like you’re at that point resource-wise. I thought these ladies were supposed to be highly trained in all of the things?

“Could be fun though.” “I saw where he put the keys” “Top drawer green cabinet.” I love their chaos.

Yelena’s vest and its pockets and the resulting conversation are positively majestic.

“You are sensitive.” “You’re a very annoying person.”

-0-

Do! Not! Move! Around! Like! That! While! Getting! A! Tattoo!!!! That poor artist was trying his best and Alexei just...

Ooooh was Red Guardian like Captain Russia? Interesting.

“Just don’t make a scene.” “You made a scene didn’t you.”

David Harbor running up that wall and then wiping out after the guard shocks him... I really loved that stunt, especially since they don’t show him being all super cut - he’s a big guy! He’s allowed to have fat over his muscles and still be a strong dude! I love it.

“Such a poser.” Girl, you need to meet Loki - he does a lot of hair flips too lol.

The sibling energy between the girls during the rescue!!!

“Whooooooa... this would be a cool way to die.” Yelena, I’m not necessarily disagreeing with you but get your head in the game girl.

Poor Alexei - he never gets to do the dramatic escape from *inside* of the aircraft.

Hang on, no ovaries? So all of these women are now in immediate, surgically-induced menopause? The uterus part makes sense if the intent was to prevent them from getting pregnant if they have sex during a mission, but, what, they gotta be on estrogen supplements for the rest of their lives? That’s just really poor planning. Like it was hilarious the way Yelena went into the biology of it to make Alexei uncomfortable, but that really doesn’t make sense to do to your superhero kids. It’s just bad science.

Love that Yelena keeps her vest even after she changes into her matching white flight suit. That vest better make it to the end of the movie.

-0-

“Honey, we’re home.” I 100% expected her to shoot him on sight tbh. it would have been funny.

Alexei squeezing into the uniform is such a post-pandemic feel. Also all of the fancy braids at that table; I see where Natasha got her propensity for them.

Animal cruelty warning, ugh. Poor piggy Alexei.

Oooh the photo album and Natasha remembered staging the pictures; they’re emotional for her but in a different way.

I wonder if robocop’s shield is actually Alexei’s.

The singing between Alexei and Yelena was a really beautiful moment because it was neither auto-tuned-good nor hilariously bad - it felt really real, especially the way Yelena’s so choked up she can barely make sounds come out.

Uh-oh, mama has one of those monitor your vitals and kill your ass suits. The suits I understand - the eyeliner though... when and why did she do her makeup?? That’s not really the thing that comes to mind for me when I’m getting ready to do something athletic, like say kidnapping my supersoldier fake family.

“This is a much less cool way to die.” Also WTF why would they do that. Wouldn’t it be easier to get the information out of her while her brain is still attached to, y’know, her mouth??

CLEVER CLEVER CLEVER they switched outfits and faces ooooooh like mother like daughter.

The door opening as Alexei is leaning against it dramatically bahahahaha

I love the plan. I’m thoroughly weirded out that Melina has a red wig just lying around that perfectly immitates Natasha though. 

“Yelena, it’s mama. You have a two-inch blade in your belt.”

Oh. My. God.

Antonia.

A pheromone lock preventing them from hurting them if they’re close enough to smell him - I like it. It’s clever and new.

Bahahaha poser! You posed I saw you! Still love the vest.

Natasha is really good at manipulating people’s emotions to get what she wants - I mean, scary good. So if she’s provoking Dreykov into beating her up, there’s a reason. 

“Using the only resource the world has too much of - girls.” Kill him. 

-0-

When I say I whooped out loud... SEVERING THE NERVE. Thank you for your cooperation. YAAAAAAS QUEEN.

-0-

“Slight change of plans - we are going into a controlled crash.” The way she said that was just so mom-like omg!

-0-

The grenade as a delivery system was super smart - but yikes what if she’d mistimed it and blew Natasha up? Also, after the beating she took and how hard she had to wack her own face into the desk to sever her olfactory nerve and the amout of blood we saw her leave behind from doing that, her face should be a LOT more messed up, come on makeup department.

“Get as far away from here as possible.” And then keep going because General I-Collect-Supersoldiers-Like-Stamps Ross is about to turn up at your location looking for trouble and he’d snap you ladies up like there’s a fire sale and you’re going out of stock.

This crash doesn’t look all that controlled, Melina. I’m starting to suspect that most of the widows won’t live long enough to make their own decisions...

All of the aerial stunts were amaaaaaazing - the way Nat slowed herself by sliding down the panels so Antonia could catch up with her and she could deploy her parachute... 

The vest survived the movie!!!

Fuuuuuck Ross is showing up and he sucks and I hate him and I’m super worried that he’s gonna take the vest from Nat if he takes her into custody. Please don’t let her lose the vest. 

Okay, there is now zero reason for Nat to stay behind. They have an aircraft. She had plenty of time to just board it and leave?

-0-

Okay okay okay Ross did not get her and did not take the vest. But am I supposed to believe she bleached her hair, toned it blonde, and then re-bleached and re-toned it to silver? Who does that? That would be terrible for her hair. Her scalp would be burned all to hell from the amount of chemicals needed to not only get all that red out but THEN get the blonde toner out. Y’know what color silver toner is? Blue/purple. Y’know what happens when you mix that with yellow? Green. And not a nice green either (I speak from experience). No. Her hair at the end of the movie? Cancelled. 

-0-

SHE GOT THE DOG!!!

Oh, ouch. Big ouch. I hurt like a lot now. This is so not an okay way to end the -

...

Countess I-Forgot-Your-Name-Already?

Oh no. Oh no. That’s worse. That’s a lot worse. We are now setting up the Hawkeye series and I while I’m horrified that this was how they ended the film, I gotta say that’s going to make for some wonderful angst in that series on both Clint and Yelena’s parts and I am here for it!

OVERALL IMPRESSION

I really, really enjoyed this movie, I thought the story was compelling, the stunts were really excellent, and I liked the character dynamics and the twist

I did not like the ending - it just sort of fell off quickly and didn’t feel satisfying after an otherwise really fun movie. I also take issue with the hair and makeup as shown among the characters, as seen in my several rants to that effect.

I would have liked to have seen a few more childhood/training flashbacks, and absolutely would have loved a cameo from Jeremy Renner (not just his voice) and to see him and Nat meeting and him giving her the whole dad speech that he does so well - bonus points if she could have then quoted him to Yelena or Antonia, showing the way that multiple people had a formative effect on her (an answer to the “The Avengers aren’t really your family either” comment).

[roswelldetails]

Helena's Season 2 Timeline

As of 2x12 and all its reveals.

Pre-Season

Helena is emailing and talking on the phone with Mimi. Mimi tells her that she had a vision that Rosa came back to life.

Helena ditches Dirk and heads to Roswell.

2x01

Helena goes to Max's house and sees Liz and Rosa arguing about Rosa's necklace. Minor plot issue: how would she know they're at Max's house? Unless she followed Liz home from the funeral.

Picks up Mimi on the road to the Wild Pony at the end of 2x01 (which was apparently planned since Mimi was expecting her & happy to see her.)

In the car Mimi tells Helena that she saw Rosa in a vision. Helena responds that she had to see it for herself to believe it.

Helena tells Mimi that Jim Valenti told her when he was dying that Rosa could live again and that she was preserved. Mimi replies, "But you didn't believe him. No one ever believes us."

Helena says that if Jim was telling the truth about Rosa then everything else he said could be true too. "Like aliens are real and Jesse Manes has a weapon that can kill them. This means I have to go to war."

And then they go visit the bootmaker.

2x02-early in 2x03

Helena and Mimi spent a month in a hotel having girl time (watching movies and gossiping) while Helena tried to trigger more visions from Mimi.

Helena wears her blonde wig and goes to the hospital to steal Jesse's DNA. Did she also do something to trigger his stroke? For that matter, did he even have a stroke?

End of 2x04

Cam gets taken by either Flint and/or Helena

2x07

Helena makes her appearance at the Crashdown, has dinner with Liz and Max and Arturo, steals the ring and box, and signs the Crashdown over to Liz.

Rosa blows up her car.

Max confronts her as she's leaving and gets the ring back, but she keeps the box.

End of 2x08

Either Helena and/or Flint take Charlie after Max and Charlie rescue Cam from sniper Flint.

End of 2x10

Jesse kidnaps Alex.

Between 2x10 and 2x11

Flint steals Alex from Jesse's basement.

2x11

Apparently Helena tosses the box in Flint's trash can? Still don't know what the point of the box was other than A CLUE!

Writes Michael's ransom postcard, which Flint leaves on the trailer at Sanders' Auto.

Blackmails Michael (and previously Charlie) into developing the atomizer and toxin (i.e. the bomb)

2x12

We learn all of that. ☝️

Helena is the one managing Michael and Charlie while Flint is...off doing something else? She orders them to make two bombs. One loaded with alien DNA, one with Jesse's DNA.

Disguises herself as Jesse's housekeeper using her blonde wig and switches out the alien bomb with the Manes bomb while Jesse is in the shower.

Gives Charlie the alien bomb and tells her to destroy it (but basically gives her a choice in the matter...and Charlie doesn't know that she knows real aliens...still.)

Goes to Crash Con.

Argues with Flint who tells her that he "cleaned up the mess at the house".

And that's where things were left with her at the end of the episode!!

Crystal clear now, right? 🤔

[light-n-dark-au]

TW Zombie apocalypse and everything that comes with it

Alrighty! I'm moving the lore posts over here now, Hope you guys don't mind-

Fleeing The Complex

Depending on which ending you got in Infiltrating The Airship you can end up in three different starting scenarios!

Ruthless Bounty Hunter (RBH)

Henry stays under the Lights protection for a few months, staying with Charles since he didn't really have anywhere else to stay and Charles offered his place.

Before Charles and Rupert managed to rope Henry into their small rebellion against the misinformation the light government was spreading.(This is why they changed) Charles had become infected whilst out hunting for supplies with Rupert, but before Charles could convince Rupert to end him a Grey appeared and convinced them both to have Charles take the CCC's medicine. It saved his life, they've been planning some sort of escape/rebellion ever since.

They tried to spread their word discreetly at first but as their numbers grew they began to get cocky and tried a full on "peaceful" march...it didn't end well-

People began rioting and the Disciplinary squad had to get involved, Rupert was killed in the chaos and both Charles and Henry were arrested.

The Light government are planning on executing Charles along with the other members they managed to arrest as an example...Henry was going to be sent to the CCC.

The New Member (TNM)

A Toppat double agent (Ellie) was discovered and imprisoned by the Lights so Reg ordered Henry and a group of Darks to go rescue her. The mission didn't go too well and Henry was captured...the rest were killed.

The Lights were planning on selling poor Henry back to the CCC.

The Freed (TF)

After finding out they had been betrayed the Lights began hunting Henry and his small group down.

They put a bounty on his head that no one could refuse...even a few Greys were going after the group.

Whilst running away from a group of Light scavengers Dave tripped over a root, before anyone could do anything one of the Lights was pointing a gun at Dave's head.

They demanded for Henry to be passed over or they would kill poor Dave.

So Henry willingly allowed himself to be captured...much to the dismay of his new friends/family.

.....

Ellie is a double agent working to recruit new members into Darks ranks from the "doubters" of the Lights side.

She managed to keep a low profile for a while, until she was caught after trying to recruit a generals daughter.

The Wall is Lights most secure building. It's mostly used to hold Lights most dangerous "criminals" but it also holds important supplies like food and ammo.

The Light's city's have taken up most of America... So the food bank Henry tried to steal from was for a small town...The Wall brings supplies to Light's largest city-

Convict Allies/Ghost Inmate

RBH: Charles is the one who gives Henry the leg up during this timeline.

If Henry leaves them both then the ending will play out normally...however afterwards he finds out that Charles had been executed. Unknowingly to him however Ellie manages to escape, swearing revenge on the man who left his allie to die.

However if Henry pulls them both up (He cannot leave Ellie behind...even if he tried Charles would pull her up instead, because he's nice? Idk-)

The ending plays out normally until after the end...where Ellie offers a place in Darks ranks, Henry refuses of course because he knows for a fact the group would kill him on sight after what he did to Reg but allows Charles to leave with Ellie.

Charles doesn't really want to leave his friend behind so he also denies her offer.

Ellie then decides to travel with them...she still wants to help the "doubters" trapped within the Lights walls...the other two agree to this and they begin their self assigned mission.

TNM: Leaving Ellie behind results in a fail ("Remember your mission...Jerk-")

Convict Allies ends with the duo being picked up by the Toppats after escaping on their motorcycle.

TF: Ghost Inmate plays out normally until Henry gets to the end...turns out Henrys group is coming to rescue him as he can see a helicopter in the distance, Henry uses the dingy to get to them.

Convict Allies plays out in a similar manor. During the riot a damaged helicopter is seen flying over the field and crash landing into a nearby forest.

After escaping on the motorcycle they drive over. Luckily most of the group is relatively unharmed, the most serious injury was Charles concussion...however Hubert didn't make it.

After getting shot down by a guy with a gun Charles prepared the others for an emergency landing. The others strapped in, but Charles was having trouble with strapping himself in, so Hubert went to help him with it, but couldn't get himself strapped in before impact...

The group bury the general before moving on...

Presumed Dead

RBH: Henry runs off suddenly... Leaving Charles behind. The ending plays out normally.

However behind the scenes, Charles and Ellie use the distraction Henrys escape caused to escape themselves...Charles isn't too pleased at being left behind...

TNM: Auto fail ("Do.Not.Leave.Ellie.Behind.")

TF: The ending plays out normally until the car chase scene, Henry spots a familiar looking helicopter crash landing into the forest next to him.

The ending continues and after Henry pulls himself over the ledge...he goes to check on his friends...

Meanwhile the guards are going over to check on the other crashed vehicle, Rupert noticed the guards coming for them and got the others to leave without burying Hubert...he rigged the helicopter to blow in order to make sure the guards didn't follow them...unfortunately this worked on Henry as well...and he believed his friends were dead-

As they believed him to be dead-

Rescued

RBH: Auto fail!

Charles is executed and Henry is given back to the CCC, The option is renamed "Give Up" during this timeline- ("Well...that was smart")

TNM: Option unavailable

TF: The ending plays out normally... However since there were three gun trained men on the aircraft Rupert manages to take out the rocket launcher guy...so the correct option is switched-

The Sacrificed/Betrayed

RBH: :)

TNM: Henry uses the laser cutter to first free Ellie who is convineintly in the cell next to him, before cutting into the floor below.

The ending plays out normally after this until Henry is riding his scooter towards the airship.

Reg only manages to grab Henrys hand and Henry has to grab Ellie's, Reg states that he can't hold onto them both so Henry has to choose who lives.....

For The Sacrificed ending Henry pulls Ellie onto the edge of the platform Reg is standing on before his hand slips out of Regs and Henry falls into the ocean.

For The Betrayed ending Henry let's Ellie's hand slip out of his...Reg believes it to be an accident, or that Ellie sacrificed herself for Henry...but she knows the truth...HE let her fall-

TF: option unavailable

Whooo boi that was a long one!!!

Though I do have a lot of endings to play with now-

Onto Completing The Mission!!!

(Also If you have any ideas for uh...the different endings plz tell me, my creative juices are running out- I will give you credit for em! Honest!)

[sparrowkingsley]

I'm Not Okay

Laurel had been awake for hours. Her mind was on overload. Sleep eluded her as she glanced at her phone over and over checking the time. After three hours of restlessness she had gotten up. Her body exhausted but her mind forcing it to move.

She couldn't stop thinking about the conversation that her and her mom had. What did she want? What did she want to do?

As a kid her interests were many yet sometimes so fleeting. Although she was a master at martial arts she didn't want a career in that. Oplympic fame had seemed cool but ultimately unexciting to her heart's desire. As a kid she had wanted to be a pirate, not a career her parents would want her to pursue to say the least.

Treasure hunting. Time jumping. Exploration was what she really wanted. Hadn't she just wrecked her best chance at that though? Would she be able to finish the Legend Program now? Would she even get back her time license? Most importantly what would this mean for her time with Heywood?

Heywood. Another dilemma her mind was fixated on.

It's not like Laurel hadn't noticed. Sure a lot of times she missed social cues. Her mind usually pulled her away from the things right in front of her. Distracted or overwhelmed by her own mind she usually annoyed most people. But not Heywood. Heywood always put up with her.

The looks they shared had changed recently or rather maybe she had just began to notice. She remembered feeling this change before when she had started to date Josh freshman year. He and her had been close and their relationship had went from, "he is a really great guy to hang out with" to "I really want to kiss him".

Before him she never even really thought about wanting someone to kiss her. It was confusing that she didn't want what other high school classmates seemed to. Then things changed when she connected with Josh.

Two months later it was over. Logically Laurel knew it wasn't her fault. As they spent less and less time together, Josh focusing on track and her devoting so much energy on her time schemes, the feelings had just dwindled away.

She tried to figure it out. Hoped they could work it out. Except she couldn't. She couldn't change things back to how they were when they started. So she broke it off and she lost him. Lost their connection and then lost their friendship.

So now, with Heywood, her best friend, the person she trusted and cared about more than anyone else ... if she ruined things with her? She couldn't lose her. She just couldn't.

Steady vibrations of a familiar sound pulled her away from her worries.

"Hey Sprout, you hungry?."

Her bullfrog continued his bellows till she dumped a few crickets into his large tank. As he hopped out of the water to devour them Laurel began to feed her other pets as well. Grab more crickets for Luna, her leopard gecko and her chameleon Judo. Open up her mini fridge for her scorpion Calypso's meal worms and one large, thawed rat for Sunshine, her boa.

As she opened up Sunshine's enclosure the snake slunk her head out demanding Laurel's affection. Laurel let the snake climb up her arm, up to her shoulders, the snake's tongue flickering against her cheek as she began to sing 'You are my Sunshine' softly. Sunshine satisfied with the attention then willing slid back into her home to enjoy her meal.

Now what?

Laurel tried to distract herself from thoughts of her best friend. Push ups. Sit ups. Pull ups. A few rounds with her punching bag. Still her mind wandered to the same thoughts.

Punch. Those amber eyes that were warmer than sunshine. Punch. Her long, wavy locks of brown hair that she pulled into a ponytail whenever they sparred together. Punch. What about the fact Heywood had three inches on her. Punch. Their height difference was just infuriating and she never was gonna stop teasing her about it. Punch. The way she would switch from English to Korean and back again and not even realize how amazing that was. Punch! And her singing voice, her singing gave Laurel chills no matter what song it was. Punch, punch! Her laugh was just the same. No it was even better! Punch, punch! When Heywood laughed it gave her the best feeling in the world. Punch, Punch! It was the most beautiful sound in the universe. Nothing could ever replace it. Punch, punch!

And it was all- Punch! Punch, Punch! PUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCHPUNCH!

It was all too much.

Just too much.

Think about something else. Anything else. Anything but her.

Laurel threw off her combat gloves, wiped off her sweat with a towel, then made her way downstairs. Maybe she could distract herself by eating something? She figured she could at least try at this point.

"Good morning, Laurel."

Laurel practically jumped out of her skin when she rounded the corner and saw that Ava was already in the kitchen.

"Oh fu- oh um hey mom. You're up early? What time is it? I mean it's Saturday and usually you and Momma sleep in on Saturday so, wait... it's Saturday right?"

"It is 6:32 am on Saturday, October 6th 204-!"

"Um okay mom, chill with the play by play of our current timezone okay. I get it. I'm grounded. Stuck in this time till my community service is over. Geezzz, you don't have to rub it in."

"Very well dear. Would you like to eat breakfast together? I am preparing something special for you."

"Um, sure? If you want."

Laurel was super puzzled by the way her mother was acting. She was super stiff this morning. Like she was on auto pilot. What was more odd was that she was dressed in her pantsuit. Which she rarely ever wore anymore except when meeting with the Time Tribunal or helping out on timeline case.

Laurel began to dig her way into the fridge, "Are you meeting some of your time cop buddies today or like are you and mom doing some nostalgic role-playing thing? Cause if so I don't actually want to know about it. But like if you are please make sure to play your annoying music super loud okay. I don't need to hear you getting sweet with each other like ever."

"Sara is at the dojo. She is with a client this morning."

Laurel froze. Did she just... did her mom just call her momma Sara? She slowly pulled a jar of peanut butter out the fridge and turned around to look at her.

"Um? Are you and mom fighting?"

Ava pulled a cooking sheet out of the oven, not even looking up at her, "Your mother and I are fine, honey. Why do you ask?"

"Cause you rarely call her by her first name. And yesterday you both seemed fine so like, did you get into an argument about my situation or something?"

"Of course not, sweetie."

Laurel opened up the silverware drawer and grabbed a spoon. Something was off. Laurel felt her gut twist into a knot of uneasiness. Then she saw what her mom was pulling out of the oven and the pit in her stomach only grew.

"If nothing is wrong why are you making snickerdoodles at 6:30 something in the morning? You only bake them this early when you are upset or your mind is on something. Mom, seriously what is going on?"

"Nothing is going on. I made them for you. They are your favorite after all. I thought you might enjoy them since you will be stuck at home for the time being."

Laurel opened the jar of peanut butter. She swirled the spoon around for a bit. Her foot tapped as she watched her mom set the cookies on the cooling rack and turn off the oven. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She really needed her mom.

"Mom, I was wondering if we could maybe talk? It's about, well it's about me and um Heywood. I know I said nothing was going on between us but I, I really need your advice."

"Of course, kiddo. Ask me anything you need to."

Her throat tightened. Her fingers clenched against the jar. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. A chill ran down her spine. All because of one word her mom had just said. "Kiddo?"

"Yes. Kiddo. Do you no longer like to be called that term of endearment?"

Laurel blinked. Once. Twice. And for a few moments just started at Ava. Afraid to look away.

"Hey mom... can you look at me for a second?"

Ava looked up. Her eyes looking straight into Laurel's as she took a huge spoonful of peanut butter into her mouth and immediately put it back into the jar.

"Yes dear?"

Laurel took a few moments to swallow the peanut butter. Silence settling uneasy between them. Tension set into Laurel as she leaned against the countertop.

"You know, I've always been an obnoxiously clever kid. Over the years I have found a lot of ways to intentionally annoy my parents. Years of practice you see. So I'm going to break down a few things for you, okay? My mom, Ava, absolutely hates when I eat directly out of the jar of peanut butter. Seriously it is one of her greatest pet peeves. She likes to call me by a lot of embarrassingly cutesy nicknames. Things like sweetie, honey and her little beam of sunshine when she wants to really irk me. But fun fact only my Momma, Sara, calls me kiddo. Interesting, right? So I'm going to give you one chance. Just one to answer me before things get ugly. Where are my moms and who the fuck are you?"

Next thing Laurel knew the person who most certainly was not her mother was diving across the countertop. She immediately defended herself. Starting by using a jar of peanut butter followed by a right hook to her opponent's face. She was going to thank her mom later for insisting on buying the organic peanut butter in a glass jar.

The imposter had recovered quickly, grabbing a kitchen knife as they began to square off with each other. Laurel had scooped up the closest item near her. A rolling pin that had been knocked off the counter at the initial struggle. Not the ideal weapon. Laurel would make it work.

"It is a shame that you discovered the truth so quickly. This means I must aquire or terminate you at this time. Stand down or perish."

"Not gonna happen. I'm going to take you down. You will tell me where my parents are."

"An unacceptable outcome."

How many times had she sparred with her moms. Countless times. Sometimes for hours at a time. They had drilled into her ways to fight. They taught her how to defend, attack, to adapt to all the things she might have to face. Except what was right in front of her. Someone trying to kill her. Someone who was wearing her mother's face.

Sweat trickled down her neck as she bobbed and weaved waiting on a opening to strike. The blade thunked against the wood of the pin as she blocked strike after strike. The sound of it sending trembles down her whole body as she backed her way into the living room to gain more open space. Tight in the kitchen her movements had been constricted. Now she could move freely and she took the opportunity to switch to the offensive.

Everything was fast. Her body and mind in sync with the furious thumping of her heart. Adrenaline pushed her forward as the knife dug deep into the rolling pin. Then she pulled it back, ripping the knife out the hand of her enemy giving her the full opening she needed. One jab to the chest followed by a roundhouse kick right to the face. That is how she should have won.

Pinning her down Laurel had grabbed her by the collar. Her other fist was raised to strike again. She had been ready to demand where her family was. She had been willing to do whatever it would take. Till she saw the necklace. It was a result from her first heist.  A jade frog she had spent actual time on to carve with the help of Axl for weeks. She had made three of them. One for herself, one for Sara and one for Ava. It wasn't supposed to be there. It shouldn't have been there. She had froze.

That's how she ended up on her back instead. Wheezing for breath as she looked into eyes that pretended to be ones she had known all her life. It didn't feel real yet it was happening. Her fingers grasping at hands closing around her throat. Her thrashing slowing down against her will.  The darkness seeping into her vision. Laurel was going to die. Her time had run out.

[orangeoctopi7]

A Nostalgia Trip

: Chapter 1 : Chapter 2 : Chapter 3 :

The end of the school day finally rolled around, and the twins met up at the STNLYMBL. Stan's bag was noticeably heavier and bulkier than it had been this morning. 

“Take a look through there and make sure I got everything you need.” Stan said as he handed his pack over to Ford.

The scientist pulled out three different sized spools of copper/nickel solder, and a thin, almost needle-like soldering iron.

“And these are the smallest spools they had?”

“Smallest I could find.”

Ford sighed. “I shouldn’t be surprised, it’s an auto-shop in a high school. I’ll make it work.”

It was an unusually warm day for January, and they drove home in the melting slush. “Wait, stop here!” Ford commanded as they passed the beach. “I’m going to need fine sand for molding.”

Stan pulled into a nearby parking lot. Luckily he had a shovel in the trunk of his car, although he couldn’t remember why, and they found an empty paint can in a nearby dumpster they could use as a bucket.

Ford strode purposefully down to the edge of the surf, where the finest sand would be, when a dark shape at the corner of his eye caught his attention.

"Oh…" he breathed when he turned and saw several tarps that concealed what they were protecting from the wind and snow. He knew exactly what was underneath.

Stan came to a stop beside him, eyes locked on the same tarp-covered shape sitting just far enough up the beach that no waves reached it. They stood there in silence for a solid minute, their errand to collect sand completely forgotten.

"Great…" Stan finally spoke, reaching up and wiping his eyes with the back of his coat sleeve. "Guess it's my turn to get hijacked by hormones."

"Do… do you want to go give her a look over?" Ford asked hesitantly, "For old time's sake?"

Stan just nodded mutely.

They two of them strode solemnly to the tarp and gently removed the layers, revealing the almost-completed Stan’o’war underneath. It was so much smaller than either of them remembered, not even half the size of the repurposed tugboat they’d turned into the Stan’o’war II. The little schooner was just big enough to hold two teenage boys who had reached their full height, but not their full girth. 

Stan reached down and picked up the neatly folded sail sitting at the base of the mast. They’d originally just used some old bedsheets they had ‘rescued’ from the trash, but after doing some research and tests, Ford had found the soft, thin fabric wouldn’t hold up under the strain of a sail. So, over the past three years, they had been hunting down and saving every scrap of sturdy canvas they could find. Stan’d had to carefully stitch them together. That was when he’d first learned how to sew, a skill that had come in handy when he was living on the road, and when cobbling things together for the Mystery Shack.

Ford was appreciating the worn wood of the mast. When they’d first found the wrecked hull as children, most of the structure had rotted out, and they’d had to find a way to replace and attach new wood to the old planks and boards. He had researched old ship-building techniques, and learned a lot about woodworking along the way. He remembered using those woodworking techniques a lot later in life, to make repairs to his research cabin that would later become the Mystery Shack, and to build shelter, transportation, and weapons as he traveled the multiverse.

“D-d’you know what happened to her?” Stan eventually asked, pulling them out of their thoughts.

“...I’m not quite sure.” Ford admitted. “I know mom kept it because Shermie liked to play on it when he was little, but I didn’t ever go home after I got my degree, so… I don’t know what happened after he grew up.”

“Hmm.” Stan grunted in reply. He wasn’t sure what to feel about that. Should they call Shermie once they were out of this, and ask him what happened to it? Or was Stan better off not knowing?

The two of them stood in a pensive silence, taking in this unexpected opportunity to see their old childhood project one more time. They probably could have stayed there all evening, reminiscing and appreciating the hard work they’d put into the schooner, but it was winter, and the sun went down early in the afternoon. As the sun dropped, so did the temperatures.

“Come on, we’d better get that fine sand before we completely lose the light.” Ford finally said, pulling himself away.

* * *

Once they returned home, Ford traced out tiny circuit lines in the sand with a toothpick he'd filed to a fine point. He then melted the solder spool into the miniscule mold. 

"Ok, that will need to set all night, then I'll have to pick out all the sand grains and file down all the points and areas where it's leaked out of the mold."

"And how long will that take?" Stan asked.

"As long as I don't break it while I'm filing, another day."

"And if you do break it while filing?"

"Then I'll have to start over again and melt a new circuit into the mold. If I had a smaller soldering iron, I could just piece it back together, but this one is too big and clumsy."

"So what I'm hearing is we're not gettin' back to our own time before my boxing match with Crampelter tomorrow."

"Probably not."

"Heh, looks like I get to pound that bully's face in one more time."

Ford turned away from his work desk. "I almost wish we could switch places for that."

"It's not worth the hassle." Stan shook his head. "Besides, I dunno if I have the heart to do that again after… y'know, last time."

"I did say almost." 

They shared a small chuckle, and Ford started climbing up to the top bunk.

“Kinda early for bed. Especially for you.”

“I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Yeah, me either.”

“And I didn’t bounce back from it nearly as well as I thought I would.”

“Guess all that junk they say about teenagers needin’ more sleep is true.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

* * *

Going to bed earlier seemed to have helped Ford’s mood, come morning. He wasn’t nearly as groggy and grumpy as he had been yesterday. He still insisted that Stan stop by the doughnut shop on the boardwalk for coffee on the way to school, but he at least had the good sense to swipe enough coins out of the change jar at home to pay for it himself.

Stan, for his part, seemed a little more confident going into school today. Perhaps it was because he was looking forward to the boxing match tonight. It was something familiar, something he and everyone else knew he was good at. 

It was another day of trying to lay low. Another day of coasting through classes. No one seemed suspicious of them. No one seemed to notice how Stan was actually answering questions in their math and science classes. No one seemed to notice that Ford actually managed to climb all the way to the top of the rope in PE. Stan wondered about it out loud to his brother at lunch.

“I believe it’s the timeline resisting change.” Ford mused quietly. “We know changing the greater flow of time is difficult, even when someone is actively attempting to change the past. So far, we’ve been going out of our way to keep things more-or-less the same, so perhaps the time stream just… diverts their attention elsewhere. It makes me wonder: what kind of enormous act would it take to make people notice? To actually alter the flow of time?”

“Ford, we’re not gonna test that theory.” 

“No, of course not. Not on this trip at least.”

Stan rolled his eyes. “I’d prefer not on any trip, but honestly I’d be worried there was something wrong with you if you didn’t say something like that.”