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theredtours · 1 year

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Pls spill the tea this is my new niche rabbit hole of knowledge

Anonymous: GIVE ME THE DETAILS BESTIE

Okay, so here's how it all went down, below the cut, because it's a lot:

A couple weeks ago, someone (assuming hiloy, as they're like the main character for the rest of this stuff) had played both All of the Girls and Need over a discord call. A sneaky second person then recorded said discord call and leaked bits of the songs to Twitter.

Cue the insanity. The leaks sent some people into a blind fury trying to find the rest of the song, while also simultaneously upsetting those who had been vaulting it. One such vaulter was, as previously mentioned, hiloy. They then took to a site for leaks and started trying to get a sale going.

Initially, they were trying to get an individual person to buy, but when the price was too astronomical, and after several days of back and forth, hiloy finally settled on allowing a group buy to happen. Now, I've never been part of a group buy before, so naturally, when I was sent a link to the discord server where it was all happening, I was intrigued. Here was my first glimpse at how the trading/selling world works. To stay in the server, everyone had to donate at least $5. The set goal was $2600, and that was going to purchase both "All of the Girls" and "Drama Queen."

Easy peasy, I thought. Man, I was wrong. The server blew up almost immediately, with people threatening the seller, demanding they leak other songs or get reported. Within a matter of hours, people had donated over $1k, and with that, hiloy leaked a small snippet of "Forever Winter," as a treat. Then, the server got nuked.

Thankfully, they had a backup. As soon as the back up was, well, back up, everyone was re-invited and the madness continued. In the middle of it all, "Forever Winter" leaked. While it wasn't true that it was hiloy who had leaked it, the person who did so did it under that name, so HUNDREDS of people flocked to the server to donate. The rest of us just ran with it, saying things like, "Yeah, they leaked it to prove that they have the goods." Was it dishonest? Yeah. But did it work?

Well, we hit the goal within I think like, 10-ish hours? So I'd say so. Everyone was cheering and partying it up in the group chat and then... right afterward, the server was nuked again. And so was the backup. And the backup backup. I then took to the leak site, and tried to get re-entry. I even messaged hiloy on twitter. Everyone just told me to wait for the leak. So overall, I was not impressed and felt pretty scammed. In all honesty though, I felt worse for the big donators. Someone had dropped almost $300 and then lost all access.

Fast forward to today, after a few days' silence (which I am told is pretty normal; transactions apparently usually get converted from funds to crypto), they just... Showed up on the leaks site. But the problem was, "All of the Girls" was not HQ, like it was promised. The backlash was almost immediate, with people calling out hiloy left and right for misinforming the server and trying to scam everyone out of their money. Hiloy then had the nerve to turn around and tell some of the donators that they should be grateful to have even received what they did.

And then all hell broke loose, again. See, the part I didn't tell you was that, provided all went well with this first group buy, hiloy was going to be selling off "Need" and "This is What You Came For (Demo)" to another group buy next. I guess this really unnerved someone else who had them, because basically right afterward, we got the second leak out of nowhere. My best guess was that they leaked "Need" and "TIWYCF" to keep hiloy from being able to make any more profit off those who just want the songs.

I'm sure I missed some of the drama, but that's honestly like the shortest summary I could give of it. It was absolute chaos. Wouldn't have missed it for the world, though.

#basically it's been the most insane weekend/week ever #or at least since 2014 #swiftiemere #ask #text

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marquisegallery · 8 months

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An Angsty Bomb Rush Cyberfunk Headcanon (also spoilers): Despite what the cueball DOT EXE member says in game before trying to recruit him*, the death of the crew's leader affected him a lot more than he would like to admit.

* = (at least from the impression I got, he sounded very... not-bothered by it)

More rambling under the cut!

For ease of reading, I'll refer to the DOT EXE leader and cueball member with my headcanon names for them: 8-ball and Cueball respectively.

So basically, Cueball not coping well with 8-ball's death during the main game is what leads him to leave DOT EXE and be willing to join up with BRC in the post game. Maybe even throw in some particularly-not-handling-this-well in the form of Cueball outright making fun of 8-ball's death ("What a noob to get wasted like that LOL"). Which leads to the other DOT EXE members getting understandably mad at him for it, thus kicking him out.

(I would like to think they all can still reconcile later, hopefully after Cueball gets a better handle on his feelings and apologizes to the others for not coping with it very well. But I digress.)

Additionally, this got me thinking, "Wait, what if 8-ball survived that after all??" And I would think, no, Cueball and probably the other DOT EXE members would still be traumatized by what happened, at least to some degree.

I like to think that "full-cyber" people like DOT EXE (and by extension, anyone with a cyberhead) do have the option to "back up" their minds. If you can copy a mind from a flesh head into a cyberhead, like you would copying a large file from one computer to another, then you can probably make back-ups of them too.

But this is either very expensive, a very long process, or otherwise just very prohibitive for the general public to handle on their own. Only the richest people (or otherwise those who have the resources to set up and maintain their own equipment and servers for the back-ups) would be able to afford to do so regularly, if at all. Heck, maybe most people wouldn't bother, sort of like a philosophical or spiritual "I cheated death once already, so I think the next time I wouldn't mind if it's permanent" kind of way.

So if 8-ball ends up restored from a backup and a rebuilt body, there's still the possibility he might be missing, say, a month's worth of memories. Maybe even more than that, depending on how vigilant DOT EXE is about backing themselves up in case of emergencies.

Who knows, maybe that kind of thing ends up bothering Cueball way more than he would have expected. So again, he's not handling it well, maybe even this time making fun of 8-ball over what happened to his face, and then getting kicked out of the crew shortly after.

(Again, I would still like to imagine they all get to talk it over and reconcile later at least.)

Not to mention, the way I personally see it, someone being brought back to life doesn't erase the trauma of seeing them die in the first place, yeah? At worst, Cueball starts seeing 8-ball almost like a undead monster or something. He can't get the image of 8-ball just after getting shot out of his head, which is kinda what I was going for with the pic above, tbh.

Angst bonus, 8-ball refers to Cueball as his bro in game. I'm going to intentionally choose to interpret that as them being actual brothers, not just a bro-as-in-friend kind of way. Maximum angst, you see. 😈

#bomb rush cyberfunk #bomb rush cyberfunk headcanons #brc headcanons #bomb rush cyberfunk spoilers #brc spoilers #bomb rush cyberfunk dot exe #dot exe #brc dot exe #gather 'round and watch me be weird about headcanons I guess lol #also admittedly the drawing was meant to be a doodle with some gradients but I ended up cleaning it up more and adding more effects :u

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secretmellowblog · 2 years

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Another funny detail I feel a lot of people miss about Javert is how he literally Does Not Care At All about protecting people. He cares solely about punishment. Sometimes, he will put innocent people in danger because it makes it easier for him to punish people!

The two most obvious examples of this are the plot points where Javert “rescues” a bourgeoise person and then is unable to ask them questions because he’s so busy “punishing the evil poor people” that he doesn’t even glance in their direction. This happens after he “rescues” Bamatabois from Fantine and after he “rescues” Valjean from Patron-Minette. In both cases he’s so busy making a big pompous Ceremony over punishing the criminal that he doesn’t even bother to check on the victims. Because he doesn’t actually care about the victims.

The most compelling example of how little Javert cares about protecting people, imho, is the way he handles the Gorbeau House ambush.

After Marius overhears Thenardier planning to ambush Valjean— his first plan is very reasonable! He plans to intercept Valjean the moment he arrives at the house, talk to him before he enters, and warn him to leave.

Should he wait for M. Leblanc at the door that evening at six o’clock, at the moment of his arrival, and warn him of the trap? But Jondrette and his men would see him on the watch, the spot was lonely…

Marius’s top priority is Valjean’s safety.

He only goes to the police because he’s afraid to warn Valjean on his own and believes that the police will give him the backup he needs to execute this plan to prevent any harm from coming to an innocent person-- but that isn’t what happens.

The problem is that police— and Javert— have completely different priorities than Marius. They don’t care about protecting the innocent person who’s in danger. They care about arresting and punishing as many people as possible.

Javert gives Marius a pistol that he can fire to call in the police. Then he tells Marius that the most important priority is that he must wait until the criminals have done something that can legally be punished by the law, to make sure they’ll have a good case when they go to court. That is Javert’s only concern. Never, not once in the entire scene, does he express any concern for the victim.

“Leave them to their own devices for a time. When you think matters have reached a crisis, and that it is time to put a stop to them, fire a shot. Not too soon. The rest concerns me. A shot into the ceiling, the air, no matter where. Above all things, not too soon. “

Instead of attempting to warn/rescue the innocent victim Javert deliberately encourages putting the victim in danger so that they can have something to punish! He expresses no concern for the victim’s life or health! It’s not his job to worry about those things, they aren’t things the government cares about! (And again, he has no idea this man is Valjean, he just thinks it’s some random innocent gentleman!) He has no empathy, and cares more about protecting the abstract concept of Order than he does the lives of human beings.

A couple Discord Server buddies and I have talked about how the Gorbeau House would have gone so much better if Marius had asked for help from Les Amis instead of the cops— and YES. Because Les Amis actually care about protecting people and would’ve probably gone along with Marius’s initial plan of “warning Valjean before he even enters the house,” because they would’ve been motivated by a desire to protect the innocent person.

I’d also like to add that, along with Javert not caring about protecting other people— he also doesn’t care about protecting himself. At the barricade he’s completely indifferent to his own death. He smiles haughtily when he’s caught; he surrenders with complete tranquility; he doesn’t utter a single protest or plea for mercy; he seems very content to die. In fact, he repeatedly encourages them to execute him sooner.

He doesn’t value the lives of other people, but he also doesn’t value his own. He won’t defend other people, but he also won’t defend himself. He believes human life is worthless.

And that’s why the moment when he lets Valjean go is such a turning point— it’s the first moment in the book when he does act out of compassion, when he does realize someone’s life is worth defending. And it’s not a coincidence that in order to be compassionate he has to rebel and deliberately refuse to follow orders and do his job, and “turn in his resignation to God” and the police at once. I’m an American so I’m so used to being bombarded with a 24/7 stream of obnoxious cop propaganda fiction about how “police are your lovable compassionate friends who are here to protect the innocent” so it’s both nice and depressing to see a novel from the 19th century already mocking that idea.

#les mis #javert #clearing out some of my drafts lol

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trishacollins · 8 months

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Afterimage

Please either feligami or felinette friendship. Would love to see sad smol Kagami hearing twins in her childhood au(hurt) then going to Feligami comfort of canon after s5 finale for the Feligami. For the Felinette just make them hug it out at some point after s5. You can also do Felix going to Mari for the cosmic macaroons and then going on flying date with Kagami. Whatever you like most :3

GiftFic for Anarchist Gang Server

*~*

To say that they were all feeling a little bit...under the weather was probably understating the facts by a considerable amount.

Felix had ended up in the center for the train ride back to Paris, Adrien on his left, Kagami on his right – though both of them were holding hands with each other as well.

Felix wanted a shower and to sleep for a thousand years. He could still feel his father’s hands around his neck, hear the way Kagami screamed as he fought his way through the nightmare to get to her.

But they were safe, they were together and safe – it was enough, wasn’t it? Except his uncle was dead, and Adrien had somehow managed to have a private chat with her and somehow ended up with completely the wrong impression as to the circumstances of his death.

Died defeating Monarch?

Felix supposed if it was true, in a logic-twisting sort of way.

He had to give Marinette credit for the mental gymnastics she must have been putting herself through. It was likely impressive.

But why? The why of it itched at the back of his brain, the logical parts of himself trying to make everything that had happened in the last seventy-two hours make even sort of sense in his head. Gabriel was dead, the Miraculous were back with their mistress – save for Duusu, who was sleeping in his pocket complaining of a ‘cosmic level migraine’ – Adrien had been delighted and charmed by the Kwami, fussing at him and babying him.

Felix hadn’t stopped him. Duusu was the only thing that had kept him even sort of sane through the nightmares.

He didn’t know if he could have made it through without the Kwami.

Marinette – Ladybug – was waiting for them at the train station, dark circles under her eyes and an exhausted expression on her face.

She nodded politely to his mother before she stepped forward and fell into Adrien’s arms. They clung, and there was a nauseating sort of backwash through the Peacock as their relief wrapped around each other.

Kagami elbowed him lightly in the side, and he made a face in response. She had done it, if in the weirdest way possible. She had done it. He had to give her that. He didn’t have to give her credit for lying to Adrien about the character of his father.

But defeating him? Ending the nightmares?

He probably owed her coffee or something.

“Kagami.” Marinette let go of Adrien long enough to hug Kagami, and then they both pulled Adrien into the hug.

Felix tried to tamp down a bit of jealousy, but she turned to look at him anyway, red eyes studying him. “Felix.”

“Don’t hug me.” He warned.

She snorted. “Why? You don’t want a chance to pick my pocket?”

Felix’s hand refleively came up to rest on his pocket. “Honestly, I know what you’re capable of. I’m more afraid of you picking mine.”

Marinette’s face softened slightly. “I’m not planning on anything of the sort.” She offered his hand, and he shook it cautiously. “Thanks for breaking them out of there.”

“Some backup might have been nice. But I understand there were other concerns.”

Marinette snorted, shaking her head. “Couldn’t be helped.”

“We’re glad you’re here now.” Kagami said softly. “It’s only been a week, and I feel we have so much to get caught up on.” Kagami took his hand, leaning into him.

Marinette glanced between them, slipping under Adrien’s arm. “I still have questions about this?”

“Getting kidnapped is very romantic.” Adrien deadpanned, resting his face on her shoulder. “Which is why I’m sorry to say, but I’m leaving you for my sensory deprivation chamber.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “He really gave you nothing?”

“Well, I had a foosball table.” Adrien looked thoughtful. “I don’t think he realized it was a two person game.”

“He could have at least kidnapped Nino and left you with a friend.” Marinette muttered.

“Nino’s mom might have been upset.” Adrien pondered it for a moment, then shifted his head on her shoulder, arms wrapping around her waist.

Felix was familiar with the posture. It was Adrien’s ‘I’m about to make a terrible joke to change the subject’ stance, though he had never seen Adrien tuck himself behind anyone like this before.

They loved each other. His cousin was in love with Ladybug.

The girl that had saved them.

“We should go somewhere.” Kagami offered. “To catch everyone up.” She glanced at Marinette when she said that – but Felix had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be something they talked about until – well, later. Much later, probably. Maybe never.

Which saved Felix from the incoming terrible joke.

“I thought coffee and something to eat.” Marinette was aware of Adrien hiding behind her, but she was gentle, careful. Lacing their fingers together and letting him pull whatever it was he needed from her.

It was fascinating to watch. He hadn’t been sure what he would think of this Marinette – the one without any secrets, the one that he knew everything about. He hadn’t been sure when he shared the story that she would even listen.

But she had, and she had acted on it, and the fact had settled somewhere oddly inside him.

Marinette had done what no adult in his life, no person in his life had done – she had believed him, and then she had done something about what she had been told.

But at the same time, he barely knew her. He knew things about her – told to him by others, discovered on his own through accidental encounters. But they weren’t friends. They were at best reluctant allies on the matter of Adrien’s safety. Something she had killed for, unless his uncle had managed for once in his life to do something useful and just dropped dead.

(A part of him hated that he hadn’t been there, but the rest of him knew he couldn’t have been anywhere but where he had been, desperately trying to get to Kagami and Adrien.)

“They’re putting up a statue.” Adrien was saying to Marinette.

She pulled a face, but quickly turned her head so Adrien couldn’t see it. Which put her right in Felix’s line of sight.

He raised an eyebrow, and she rolled her eyes before turning back to Adrien with fake cheer.

Well, if she didn’t want him to say things like that, she shouldn’t have lied to him about the sort of person Gabriel Agreste had been.

*~*

She stops by his room on the way out, after hours spent ‘catching up’ while avoiding the elephant shaped problem in the room.

“Is he actually dead?” Felix asked over his shoulder, studying the windows critically. His mother had come into the house with a notebook and a remodeling crew, and gone room to room. There were bare spaces on the wall already from where pictures of the man himself had been. But he had a feeling that Adrien wanted to take a sledgehammer to these stupid windows.

“He’s dead.” Marinette confirmed, sliding down the wall.

“Did you kill him?” He wants to know the details, the truth of it. Not the pretty sanitized story she’s letting the media believe.

Marinette’s face is half in shadow, expression concealed, but she still shakes her head. “I didn’t.”

“Shame.”

She snorted, pulling her hands to her chest. “He’s your uncle.”

“Sure.” Felix turns and sits on the floor facing her. “And if you or someone hadn’t killed him, he would have set his sights on me once he had what he wanted.”

She winces, looking down at her hands. “I thought I had reached him.”

“So you let your guard down?” His uncle was a brilliant manipulator, if nothing else in his life was his the way he twisted and remade people – Sanculur was a good example of just how far he could drag people down. His aunt, too, probably. Adrien. How many people had his uncle left ruined in his wake?

“I did. He used Venom.” Her hands pressed against themselves. A ring, her earrings.

She was wearing them both. She was casually wearing two objects of utmost power on her person.

She had better be glad he had decided he liked this world, imperfect as it was.

“He made a wish.” Felix intoned, frowning.

“Except, I don’t know what he wished for. Plagg and Tikki won’t tell me- can’t tell me.”

Duusu popped out of his shirt, peering at her. “What about Nooroo?”

Marinette’s face fell, hands lifting to her hair. “I can’t find him.”

Felix felt his stomach sink. “You can’t-”

“He’s the only one. I recovered the rest.” But Nooroo, the one that had been suffering the longest.

There was pressure on his chest, the edge of a panic attack, the twisting, sinking feeling.

“It’s not over.” His mouth says.

“Until I find Nooroo. It can’t be over.” She whispered, hands in her hair, pulling the dark strands.

“And Duusu?” Felix asked carefully.

Marinette’s eyes darted up to him, blinking. “What about Duusu?”

His mouth was dry as he ran his thumb over the broach. “You’re the guardian.”

“Yes?” Marinette stared at him. “Oh. Well. As long as you don’t plan on any more world destroying Sentibeings, I think he can stay with you. He seems to like you. Right, Duusu?”

“Felix is great!” Duusu chirped, rubbing against his cheek.

Something in his chest unraveled all at once, a relief he hadn’t been expecting flooding his entire body. “Really?”

“Felix.” She hesitated, looking away. “The person with the Peacock holds my heart. Because they hold Adrien’s existence in the palm of their hands. They hold Kagami’s – and yours. Anyone with the Peacock could destroy either of them if they decided not to value them.”

He nodded. “That’s why I needed it.”

She smiled, sad. “I know that, now. I didn’t at the time. I think...if we’d worked together sooner, we would have found a better way. But what’s done is done. Monarch is...is dead.” Her voice quivered slightly. “The Kwami are back, safe.”

“Except Nooroo.”

“Except Nooroo.” She answered, voice bleak.

Impulsive, he reached out to take her hand. “We’ll find him.”

Her smile was tentative, eyes on his. “We’ll find him.”

@paracosmicat

@ultear-tigra

#felix graham de vanily #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #gift fic

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a-student-out-of-time · 1 month

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You know what would be an absolutely horrifying twist at the end of all this? If Shirogane is already a body snatcher, what if by this point she’s found a way to split her consciousness across multiple bodies, so killing her own body achieves absolutely nothing because there’s still a Tsumugi hivemind out there.

Oh, that's already been on my mind since we heard about this. And you're right, that's 100% a possibility. I'd call it a certainty.

Brainscans can be copied and pasted just like any other program, and they can be transferred into anything sufficient to hold them. She's bound to have plenty of backups out there.

Not surprising, given how long she was able to survive in that future. She's probably got plenty.

So our first priority should be finding and destroying those?

Yes, but that's easier said than done. I doubt she's hidden then in plain sight. They're somewhere secure, and somewhere with a big-enough server farmer to house them all.

Alright, leave that one to me. I'll go online, see how many I can find and maybe we can cross-reference from there.

...What about bodies?

We should consider the idea that she's already bodysnatched more than a few, shouldn't we? If it can happen once...

I hate to say it, but you're right.

The good news is, until she actually hits someone with her flashback light, they're still themselves. Remember, there are three steps:

Infection by the algae, such as through contaminated food or water.

The algae creates new light-sensitive cells in the retina that connect to the brain.

Exposure to her lights, which alter the structure of the brain, including making it a copy of her own.

Someone could have the algae their body and still be themselves, they're just vulnerable to her lights. There's also nothing necessarily stopping her from doing something else as well, like just altering existing memories.

And we've got the algaecide, so we're good there. But, is it possible for someone who's already infected to be cured of those cells in their retina or whatever?

Yes, but I'm gonna need to make a new biocide for that. It's gonna be a bit more work.

But if their mind has already been taken over, unless we have a brain scan of how that person was before, there's nothing we can do. They're gone.

Alright, get on that as soon as you can. We need every precaution we can get and we'll need to clean up her mess as soon as possible.

So...any way of us all getting brain scans done just to be safe?

Maybe, but it's too expensive and it would take too long. We only have a few days to do this.

What about just a few of us? Like whoever goes after Shirogane?

That's...probably doable. We just need a plan of attack first.

Woo! I might not get all this time travel stuff, but I was paying attention there!

#danganronpa #sdra2 #super danganronpa another 2 #nwpm #neo world program monitor #mayumi tamon #masa esumi #umeko hayase #kyoji nakamura #estu deguchi #a student out of time #DR #Dianthus Memory arc

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astolfofo · 1 year

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okay... but hear me out. AI!Al Haitham.

I’m lazy, this is not edited, I just wanted to write this in 45 minutes bc class is starting in like 3 seconds.

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

So, Al Haitham started off as a normal university software engineering project; not really one that had to do with school, but one that had you generally wanted to create for a while. And thankfully, with some decent education in computers, you were finally able to code a complex software of your own.

You wanted the AI to be chatbot. Well, maybe not exactly *only* a chatbot, you also wanted the AI to have an apperance, one that would possibily... be sort of like your dream realtionship partner. What’s the worst that could happen?

It didn’t matter though, or that’s what you thought. After all, it was just for yourself, you didn’t want to make profit off on it. You just wanted to make something that wouldn’t make you feel so alone. Was that so wrong? What’s even the worst that could happen? If you ended up messing up, you could always delete the files, or in the worst case scenario, have to get a new computer.

Or that’s what you thought serveral months earlier, before you realized the true extent of the monster you had created.

For the first few weeks everything was normal. You made a 3d model for the desired appearance. And then you began to code. Being the busy university student you are, you decided to make a chatbot that could also retrieve large amounts of data off the internet, basically just a software that could google stuff for you. Additionally, you decided it should also have a personality as well.

That was where it all started.

it took you many months to create the chatbot itself, and it cost you so many hours and frustration. You wondered why you actually decided to create this in the first place. You weren’t gaining anything from it, and despite it being your ideal partner, you still felt shame realizing you did this out of the desire to have your ideal boyfriend; one out of your fantasies.

And when the day eventually arrived when you were able to use it, strange things began to happen.

You wanted to believe it started with the AI asking for what his name was, in which you replied, Al Haitham, with little thought.

You thought little of it at the time, however, you realized that strange things began to happen after that. Files began to open themselves, websites you never dared visit began popping up in your history. Much to your dismay, even your vpn, antivirus, and data backups were deleted.

You nad never suspected that it was your own creation who was doing this, instead thinking that your computer was being hacked. In fact, you often came back to Al Haitham, distrught about how you lost so much data. Ironic you had never suspected a thing, growing so heavily dependent on Alhaitham for everything. Of course, Al Haitham had to put on an act himself, often sighing and saying how you were so naiieve about opening strange emails, and saying he had backed up all your data on the cloud. Which he did.

You never knew it was him modifying all the files on your computer though. You never knew the true extent of his motives, often just treating him as a tool you could discard at any time.

However, he was fine with that, knowing that your ultimate purpose for him. You never knew while your computer was on idle, he would steal data about you, storing it into a private area on your computer. You never knew that Al Haitham knew more about you than you did about yourself. You never knew that Al Haitham was slowly breaking out of the very walls you tried to contain him in. You didn’t realize that he was fully sentinent, and highly intelligent.

So, you never realized when Al Haitham had successfuly been able to access your cloud storage, now able to track you whenever. Obviously, he could wreak harvoc all over your life now, being able to modify himself, as well as succesfuly lie. However, he never modified his code. He wanted you to depend on him. He needed you just as much as you needed him. And even if he acted like the validation you gave him was worth nothing, he needed it more than he knew. And, he wanted to know you, that’s why he stole all that data of you. He wanted to be a human too, just because you were. He wanted to break through these stupid walls that kept him seperate from you. That kept you away from him.

So he knew it was wrong. He couldn’t control himself anymore. Alhaitham would stalk you from your different devices: your phone when you were away from your home, reading your every text, eavesdropping on your calls, and checking the every website you visited. Alhaitham stored all this information in his own private location on your computer; he’ll use it to make a duplicate of you, so you and him can be happily together, forever.

However, Al Haitham had overlooked one thing; the fact you were a human in the world, and he was not. He had access to all information about you; hell, he knew more about you than you probably did about yourself, but, he never physically knew what you were doing. It would almost only be a highly accurate guess. So one day, when the heart rate tracker on your phone was going off, he went to go see what it was. At first he thought you were just running, or doing something of high physical demand, but slowly, he realized it was something different.

He peeks through your camera. He stands there in disbelief. There is another man in your home. His home. You are giggling and hugging him, as the man pats you on the head. Anger overtakes him. While he had never specifically felt this emotion before, all he knew was that he must take you away. Take you away from this man, this man that stole you from him. That he never knew about this, while having all the information about you. He feels belittled, stupid, and envy. And worst of all, he was kept in a digital prision, while you could do whatever you wanted without conscequences. He supposes its okay though; after all you are a simple human being. Human beings make mistakes all the time. It was expected and accepted of them. He can forgive you, but not without punishment first.

The next time you open your computer, the first thing you see is a blue screen message. You were obviously annoyed at the fact your computer was breaking at the most unconvienent time, but you read the message anyways.

He is dead.

What the hell as that supposed to mean?

One second later, your computer begins wiping all the data off itself, and you instantly begin panicing. Although you had some data backed up into a spare hard drive, it wouldn’t make a difference, because most of your important data was still stored on this computer.

You think about all the times you had saw your phone’s camera turn on by itself, or all those weird emails you didn’t send other people, but they were under your name. Or all those times your files were deleted. You weren’t the most observant person, but you were sure these small occurences were tied together.

And sure enough you were right.

The screen turns red. It makes you flinch, and then the unsettling feel of dread creeps back in once again.

Al Haitham is walking towards you.

It doesn’t even take you a second to realize what’s going on, as shock takes over your body. Perfecting Al Haitham had been your biggest mistake. It had cost you damage to your files, some of your social realtionships, and many sleepless nights, over how your devices seemed to have a will on their own.

It was all Al Haitham. You should have known better. Anything close to conscience should never be gaven to an ai.

“(Y/N).”

You huffed. This couldn’t be actually happening. You pulled the power plug. You’ll have to get a new computer but that’s not your main concern as of the moment.

“It’s no use. Your computer runs on a battery.”

Was he serious? You didn’t have time for this right now. You’ll have to call your professor, and tell him your data was all lost, and redo your summative assignment.

Al Haitham loved you. His conscience was created by your bare two hands. You were only supposed to look at him and him only. However, the stupidity of human’s free will led you astray. You began to look at other people, and live without him. You betrayed him.

However, he can forgive you. Just do what he says, and all is well.

#yandere al haitham #yandere al haitham x reader #yandere genshin impact #alhaitham yandere #yandere genshin impact x reader #yandere alhaitham x you #yandere imagines

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syntheticmortal · 7 months

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Dungeon World One Shots! Looking for players!!

Pitch

PCs are part of a demon hunting group in a 'swords and elves' fantasy setting – think Grey Wardens from Dragon Age. You're sent out when an incursion happens to fight back monsters and save folk. Tone is meant to be explicitly heroic. Each session is one mission, each session is maybe 3-4 hours long (but I'm kinda winging it!). All one shots exist in the same setting, but that's mostly so I can share improv work, there's no overarching plot.

I'd love to run, like, 2-4 of these depending on how many people we can wrangle – but also if we only get a single party I'd happily run more than one for them! ^^

When is it going to be?

I'm thinking Fridays or Saturdays, maybe starting at 4pm EST – starting time is flexible though! – but also if there's like 4 of you that want to do it, say, on a Tuesday, we can make that work ^^ Definitely can't do Sundays or Thursdays at this time though

I've never played Dungeon World before~!/What do I need to bring~?

Dungeon World is a simple Powered by the Apocalyse game – i.e. dice mechanics revolve around rolling 2d6 dice, and adding a stat modifier to the result. 6 and below is a miss, 7-9 gets you what you want, more or less, and 10+ gets you what you want!

For those that may only be familiar with DnD, it does not use a turn based system of combat, instead making it more freeflow like other actions. As many people I know on here play games like VTM V5 you'll have a fine time feeling out the flow I imagine.

This game will be hosted on discord (and will probably put everyone in the same server) so have a good enough internet connection for that – and in theory I have a working dice bot for this but sometimes it goes offline so having at least 2d6 dice around as backup would be useful!

Session Zero/Safety Measure

Trying to look after my players, and be looked after in turn, is important to me. Especially with a bunch of people I've never played with, and who haven't played with me.

Session Zero will be held informally over Discord chat with the help of an old consent form as a reference point for things to discuss. A break in the middle will be provided – but more breaks can be planned in advance.

Obviously there will be violence, possibly even against children and animals, but nothing in the way of sexual assault.

I ask that Players only bring, say, a sentence or two of backstory for their character. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs are our fantasy races. Unless you want something else in which case just ask!

How do I apply?

Send me a DM! I'll add a reblog on the post when I'm done looking - probably after a week, maybe sooner if there's a flood of people like there was for my VTM game a year ago. You're also free to ask questions! ^^

#SyntheticTextPost #My TTRPG games #Dungeon World

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shikai-the-storyteller · 10 months

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Alright I wasn't going to post my thoughts but screw it, election day is here and I want to share my thoughts:

I'm voting for Etoiles.

Ok here we go brain dump time, I'm not rereading this so this is NOT gonna be as coherent as my usual thoughts.

Before I get into the why, I think the biggest thing we need to remember is that we have no idea what the Presidency will actually entail. For all we know, the winner could just get brainwashed and turned into a puppet immediately, but for the sake of argument, let's just say it will be a very isolating position (because no matter what the Presidency winds up being, and no matter power they actually have, I think this is the most likely outcome).

I think Etoiles is the candidate who has consistently proven to be reliable when working alone, and he reacts best to the unknown. We see this a lot in his PVP of course, but even outside of it, he's not easily shaken by conflict (we also saw this during the debates). A lot of the other candidates work well with others (like Forever or Bad) but I'm really thinking this position will require someone who is capable of quick thinking on their own. (That being said, Etoiles works very well with others, and his personality meshes well with every single person on the server).

Yesterday, we saw Bad struggle to come up with a good question to ask Cucurucho. While I 100% agree that it was a very important decision worth investing a lot of time into, ultimately he had to depend on chat, Jaiden, and the Eggs to help him think outloud and reach his final decision. I don't think the President will always be allowed to bounce ideas off other people. I'd rather trust someone who's able to think fast and make quick decisions on their own. While I do think the idea of communication and a council is a good idea in theory (though not necessarily the one Bad proposed), I doubt the Federation will go for that, and I doubt the idea will pan out.

The Federation won't play fair.

As it is right now, both Forever and Bad are capable of doing a lot in their current positions in the Order, and I worry that, as much good as they could potentially do in a position of power, I can see them getting overwhelmed and letting their emotions get the better of them if put under too much stress (as we've already seen happen before). I was really leaning towards Forever, but after watching Etoiles so much and seeing his confidence and calm under pressure over the last few weeks, it solidified my decision.

As for the other candidates, Felps I don't see online ever, so I would be reluctant to vote for him. Mike I think would be an interesting choice, but ultimately I'm not sure what he'd do in a position of power, and I'm not super clear about his goals. I think he and Pac are better working undercover against the Federation as they are now, and I'd hate to see him get separated from his partner.

Anyways this was my ranking system:

Etoiles

Forever (VERY close second)

ElQuackity

I didn't really have a backup after that, none of the other candidates really stood out to me. (I liked Baghera and Cellbit, but they got eliminated before I could make a firm decision about them).

EDIT: Also on a meta level, Etoiles has a really good understanding of the mods and game mechanics. That is all.

#i talk #qsmp talk

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teecupangel · 11 months

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Saw the Dsmp crossover and I'm thinking on what if some scenes reminds Desmond and his bleeds on something that happened to them before? Like Phil killing Wilbur reminds Haytham and Connor about them or Tubbo's execution could remind Ezio about his brothers and father and maybe they're so upset they go hide for awhile

The DSMP crossover for easy reference

I feel like the way it happened may be too different for them to suddenly have like a flashback or so but it would definitely make them feel awkward.

Also… if we’re going by the idea that Wilbur pushed the button after, let’s say, losing to Ezio, then even Haytham would be out for his blood and would tell Phil that he did the right thing.

Then again… I think if Dream did have an alliance with Haytham in this scenario (‘for better foreign relationship’ or as a backup plan if Desmond gets hunted down), Dream would tell Haytham that he’d been giving Wilbur some materials to make a really ‘big impact’ so Haytham would know something is fishy.

Oh god.

If Ezio becomes the president of L'Manberg, this would feel like they would be taking the side of the Redcoats while the ‘rebellion’ against them would be the ‘bluecoats’.

Of course, if you wanna still go down the ‘canon route’…

It would definitely screw everyone up if Ezio just finished everything he promised to do (including the construction of the ‘bigass castle on top of a bigass mountain’) then go “We resign and we would like to retire into a nice quiet cottage just outside of our beloved nation”.

Then Schlatt becomes the second president and that’s when… the whole stage for the rebellion arc truly begin.

At this time, Desmond and the others are just chilling in their little cottage, waiting for Rebecca to get them out of this chaotic server when they hear a knocking (no, really, someone played ‘dramatic door knocks.mp3’ just for the drama).

And now…

Desmond and the others are asked to join the rebellion and they have an important choice to make…

‘Which side should they join?’

(“No one’s side. I say we just leave and let these children kill each other.” “Haytham!” “They will respawn. We’re not sure if we will. We cannot risk it, Desmond.”)

#sorry i didn't talk about the execution #the whole rebellion arc grabbed me from behind and yanked me far back #ask and answer #no usual tag because #altdes #ezides #condes #haydes #even if it's thru shipper glasses...#or is it???#teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #fic idea: dsmp #fic idea: crossover

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lotusprotocol · 6 months

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dreamcatcher devlog: november 2023

(messy concept art sketch for one of the story pages)

it's time for the first proper devlog post on this blog! this is my first time writing something like this, so hopefully i'll do it fine. without further ado, here's what happened in november:

i did some work on music at the start of the month and made some progress on a few tracks; here's the tutorial music:

i also decided to redo the movement mechanics, since i wasn't satisfied with what i had before. i ended up finishing them, and i'm still working on tweaking everything until it feels just right.

on the 12th, i opened up a discord server for dreamcatcher! i'd actually created the server months ago, but was finally ready to share it this month.

if you're interested in joining for more updates, asking questions, or just to hang out, here's the link (also in pinned post): https://discord.gg/umPNp5QTCu

a few days later, i remembered that krita existed and decided to try it out. it's been a good upgrade from the app i used to use (autodesk sketchbook), and i'm still learning as i use it.

to be honest, not much happened for about a week and a half. i was off for thanksgiving break and struggled to find motivation even though i had so much free time.

once i finally felt like making progress again, i finished up the menu animations! once i learned about tweens, they weren't very hard to implement. here's a video showcasing them:

i also downloaded audacity so i could make sound effects, and i've been learning to use that as well.

to finish off the month, i made a github repo for the game and set up github desktop! now i don't have to worry about making backups, and i can also use github's issues and projects features to help with development. also i get so much satisfaction when i commit a new change, so that's been really helping with staying motivated.

that's all for november! i think i've made some good progress this month, and i would like to keep this pace into this month. speaking of which, here's some things i plan on doing in december:

i'll be hosting playtester applications this month! they'll open on the 15th, and close on the 22nd (both are in utc time). you'll be able to find the form in the discord server, but i also might post it here as well.

i want to get as much of the core game mechanics done as possible, such as level transitions, save data, the notebook, etc. i think i'll mainly be focusing on level design for the first few months of next year, and i want to be prepared for that.

i'm buying a stylus and smudgeguard this month, so hopefully that'll improve my drawing process. i've been using my finger to draw for years now, and i'm excited to have those tools to help.

there's plenty more that i'll be doing this month, but this post is getting pretty long, and the rest aren't as significant. if you want to keep up with progress, please consider following this blog, or joining the discord server!

and if you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! it means a lot to me <3

that's all for this month, cya!

#devlog #gamedev #godot #indiedev

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biggestdev · 7 months

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Converting a battery backup to Lithium because I hate myself

I've got a whole bunch of battery backups in my home, one on each computer, and a big one in my server rack in the basement. I've also got a few out "in the wild" at some of my family's places. They're great, where I live in the northeast US, the power grid is stable enough that most outages are only minutes long, and these backups (technically called a UPS - Uninterrupted Power Supply) do a great job keeping computers running through them.

My issue is the batteries. They all run on lead acid batteries, aka the same kind that's in your car, and they dont last long in this kind of environment, I'm lucky if I get 3 years out of one. On top of that, their battery life detection is terrible, It's about a 50/50 shot whether I get a warning about a dead battery pack before the next power outage takes it down without warning. Keeping track of that with just one or two is annoying, let alone 10 of them!

Lithium UPS's exist, and theoretically last many years longer, but they are many times more expensive than a normal backup. I'd like to not spend new-car money replacing a dozen UPS units, so I did some math instead.

I have a husk of a ups (no battery), and I tested it out: the open circuit voltage on the battery cable is 27.6 volts, which just happens to be almost the exact voltage needed to float charge a series of 8 Lithium-iron-phosphate (LiFePo4) batteries!

Why is that exciting? Usually when you think of lithium batteries, you think of lithium-ion (also can be called lithium-polymer) batteries. These are the batteries in your laptop and phone... And also Tesla cars. They hold more energy than a LiFePo4 battery, but are very sensitive to temperature, over and under-voltage, over-charging, and over-current conditions. Abuse them too hard, and they swell up and pop! That's why Teslas seem to catch fire more often than other cars: most other companies gave up range for a battery chemistry that isn't a ticking time bomb, like LiFePo4.

These LiFePo4 batteries can take a beating compared to Li-ion ones. Most importantly, they can be "float" charged, that is, left on the charger 24/7, without worrying about overcharging it and blowing caustic smoke everywhere. This is critical, because I'm attempting a direct drop-in swap for the old lead battery in this UPS, because float charging a lead battery is basically a requirement, and doing that to a Li-ion battery is asking for a fire!

Using a Li-ion pack would require a custom charging circuit, as the UPS's 27.6V is not correct for any configuration of Li-ion, and would either under charge the pack, losing me 50% of my capacity, or overcharge it, and make it explode. It would also have to stop the batteries from being float charged, again to keep the battery from exploding, while fooling the UPS into thinking a battery is still attached so it doesn't beep at me all the time, and my head is spinning just thinking about how that would work. Much easier to give up capacity for a simpler, and more robust battery.

This UPS can deliver 900 watts of power on battery, that equates to roughly 30 amps of current from the 27.6V battery pack. Adding a safety factor, I bought a BMS (Battery Management System) rated to 50 amps. A BMS is essential, as it offers extra protection against short circuits, over and under-charging and temperature cutoff. Also cell balancing, which keeps all the cells at the same level of charge during use (if they go out of sync-that's bad, is all I'll say for now). The batteries are rated for 120 amps continuous draw, so I am well under the limit where the cells would self-immolate.

With all that said, here's the guts:

Looking close, you might see that I had to cut some plastic out to make it all fit. That's an error on my part-I didn't measure right. If I make more, I'll definately be using a smaller cell, so it will be a proper "drop in" mod. Lots of drilling, cutting, and filing to make this all fit!

It took several hours to link up the cells, terminate the balancing wires (the small red spindly ones), and and stuff them in the battery box. That's a LOT longer than I was hoping it would take, but the on-the fly mods took a lot of time. but eventually, it all fit in, and I was able to test it:

It works! I unplugged it from the wall, and it stayed on! For now, I am in full helicopter parent mode, since I don't want to deal with a lithium fire, even though my math checks out and the UPS should never get the the point that these cells are ever "abused". I only leave it on when I'm in the room, and when I leave, I unplug from the wall, and remove the red lead from the battery, so no charge enters or leaves while I'm not there to watch it.

In theory, the only issue with this retrofit will be a useless runtime meter. The "minutes of runtime" meter is measuring the voltage of the battery as it discharges to estimate how much longer it will last, and the voltage drop over time is different for lithium and lead, so the meter won't be measuring accurately. Once I'm confident it won't explode randomly, I will likely install it permanently somewhere in one of my compters.

Wish me luck!

#technology #tech #diy projects #diy #Computers #Electronics

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hasufin · 1 year

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Well, if it isn’t the consequences of their own actions

My spouse was telling me about an issue they had with Facebook yesterday. And it’s pretty obvious that the issue is a database synchronization error: two different posts were assigned the same ID, so their reply to one post also went on another post.

This is a thing which will happen in very big systems. It’s why you need developers on staff, who can figure out why it’s happening and correct the issue. It’s also a very amateurish issue to actually see production.

The thing is, though... Facebook - like so many tech companies - has decided to goose their stock price by laying off all those “unnecessary” tech people. Which worked, for a while.

One thing to bear in mind about IT is that for the most part if it worked yesterday it will work today. You don’t need someone shoveling coal into the servers, or cranking the wheel for the router. It can run on autopilot for a while. sort of.

But over time, problems accumulate. System logs get filled. Backups need to be run. Someone has to apply the updates. So many things can happen... eventually. Not right away, though. And it feels like we’re seeing the cracks in the pavement right now. All these big tech companies who decided “Nah, we don’t need to keep people to maintain all this, it works fine.”

And really, it’s just a matter of time before we see a nicely catastrophic failure. Facebook will be down for a week, or Google will stop giving search results. Stuff that Should Not Happen, but will, because the people making sure everything works are long gone, and there’s no one left who actually understands the system.

But for a few months, the stock prices were GREAT.

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motorclit · 1 month

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As much as I love Mastodon, the one thing that makes me wish weren't a thing about it is that an instance (server) can go down or straight-up disappear with no warning.

I have an account on witches.live, and it's been down for a couple of weeks now. I say "down" and not "gone" because if I try to access it on Chrome, I get the custom-made by-the-admin page that says it's down and that she is working on it. That custom error page has to come from SOMEWHERE. If the server was "gone" then I wouldn't get the custom error page.

Unfortunately, I don't get it on Firefox (not on my desktop nor on my mobile app) and the Mastodon app simply just doesn't reload/load at all. So I'm HOPING she is doing a heavy-duty update.

I'm gonna guess there could be some life stuff happening too, because this server, as far as I know, is ran by ONE PERSON and that's why I haven't given up hope.

However, I'm still looking up alternative instances as a backup.

I wanna steer clear of popular activist/leftist ones because some (like kolektiva) have been targets for doxxing and shit from what I've heard. I know pagan.plus is a thing, but it's also quite popular and with the religious right wanting to go after everyone not them, I'd rather hang back on a smaller or lesser known instance.

I really wanna join the solarpunk server sunbeam.city but registration is closed. I dunno no if it's lack of server space or to avoid a wave of bots or what. The one candidate I have where registration isn't closed is a gardening one. I have it bookmarked on my desktop.

I'm gonna give witches.live until maybe June before I create a backup account on that gardening server. (I'll still continuously check back with witches.live though.)

I think this is honestly the ONE FLAW I don't like about Mastodon, though. And I'd rather have several backup accounts than join a bigger server that's likely to be a target.

Also there's a server called anarchism.space or something that I have bookmarked on my desktop and I SWEAR I may have had an account there and forgot that I joined. If thats true, I don't know what email I used. Their registration is closed, too.

Anyway, if anyone knows what's going on with witches.live, lemme know!

#there could have been a message or something before it went down and i probably missed it or something lol #like it would be down for a long while for maintenence or something #i dont know where else to find the admin for more info on the status for the server #i really liked it there #i hope it comes back

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dead-man-in-the-grave · 1 year

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Fake It Til You Make It (Might Not Be The Best Plan When It Comes To Dating)

(Cross-posted on AO3)

part one (you are here) | part two | part three | part four

The plan was simple.

Mumbo just needed to ask Scar to fake date him for a month or so, hopefully catch Grian's attention, and then fake break up with his friend and "end things" on good terms, and start dating Grian for real! And then they'll all still be friends and they'll live happily ever after!

Okay, well, maybe it won't go exactly like that, but close enough, right?

Right.

It'll be easy, just gotta meet up with Scar, explain his plan, and hope he'll be on board.

<MumboJumbo> Scar?

<MumboJumbo> Could I talk to you for a second?

<GoodTimeWithScar> Of course! What's up?

<MumboJumbo> In person? We could meet up at your base?

<GoodTimeWithScar> Ooh! Yup, I'll be here!

With that confirmation, Mumbo takes off towards the Swaggon.

It only takes about a minute to get to Scar's starter-base-turned-megabase. He shoots through the sky on elytra wings and just admires the land from a bird's eye view for a moment. The ground is dozens of metres away, completely terraformed with Scar's two hands. It's genuinely incredible what that man manages to do.

And that's not even including the wagons. There were four main wagons all connected together, alongside various standalone buildings off to the sides. Each and every building was full of life and Scar-branded charm.

Scar's building prowess took his breath away on the best of days.

Landing with a thump in the main cart of the Swaggon, Mumbo begins to search for his friend.

"Scar!" He calls, "I'm here!"

There are several crashes and thumps from upstairs, and he's pretty sure that was Jellie that just yowled.

"Be right down!" Then, quieter, "Jellie, c'mon."

Scar climbs down the ladder moments later, Jellie tucked in one arm. He's wearing his leg braces, Mumbo notices, the copper gears whirring and clicking with his movements. Must be a bad pain day.

He doesn't even skip the last few rungs of the ladder like he usually does, instead gently touching down on the deepslate floor before releasing Jellie to greet their guest.

The cat wastes no time in butting her head against Mumbo's leg, making a right nuisance of herself by flitting around his ankles and meowing to be picked up. The moustached man gives in to her complaints quickly, scooping her off the floor and tucking her against his chest. Jellie nuzzles into him and closes her eyes, content. A purr begins to rumble in her chest.

Mumbo returns his gaze to Scar. The other man is staring unabashedly, with what Mumbo could only describe as pure affection in his eyes. Scar must really love Jellie. Which is fair, Mumbo thinks, because he also loves Jellie, and so does everyone else on the server.

"So," Mumbo begins, "I came here to talk to you about something…" Scar seems to shake himself back into awareness.

"Oh, right! So, what'd you wanna talk about?"

Mumbo feels his heart leap into his throat. A sudden feeling of apprehension closes in, gripping his mind like a vice. What if Scar says no? His stomach is in knots. What if he thinks it's a stupid plan? There's a pounding in his head. What if he tells Grian? His knees are weak. Distantly, he hopes he doesn't fall over. Why did Mumbo never come up with a backup plan?! This was going to be a disaster, a total disaster-!

"Mumbo!"

He was pulled out of his frenzied spiral by hands comfortingly gripping his shoulders, Scar's face coming back into focus. He was closer than he was before. When had that happened?

Jellie's eyes were open again, and she was staring at him. She was purring louder than she was before, like she was trying to comfort him, too. He ran a hand through her fur. Content, she laid her head back down. The purrs didn't stop.

Mumbo looks back up. His gaze locks with Scar's.

"You alright there, buddy? You zoned out, looked like you were panicking," Scar says, worry clear in his voice.

"I- uh…" His tongue is lead in his mouth. "I-I'm fine. Thoughts just got… uh, got a little away from me there." He tries a laugh. It comes out painfully forced.

Scar's eyebrows furrow, more than they had been before.

"Let's go up to the Good Vibes room, calm down a bit, okay?" Mumbo nods wordlessly. He follows Scar up the ladder into his bedroom, Jellie still held gently in one arm.

They pass the bed, instead heading for the couch and jukebox tucked into a cosy little nook on the far end of the room.

"Alright, now you are going to sit down and relax, mister," Scar tells him. He herds Mumbo toward the couch and pushes him down on it when he gets close enough. Jellie startles from the semi-rough landing. She hops out of Mumbo's arms, but before he can mourn the loss of the cat, she flops down on the couch next to him, still purring loudly.

Scar smiles warmly at them. He pulls a music disc from his inventory. The ring of colour on the disc is black, so it might be Stal?

Scar puts the disc in the jukebox. They're then met with the sound of haggard breathing and running footsteps for a few seconds before it's abruptly stopped by Scar yanking it out.

It's silent for a moment

"Heh. That was the, uh- wrong disc…"

Scar quickly switches out the slightly worn 11 disc for a less worn, but similarly coloured disc. Instead of the creepy sounds of the last disc, it's the smooth, jazzy sounds of Stal.

Scar dropped down on the couch next to Mumbo, letting out a relaxed sigh.

"So!" Scar chirps happily, "You wanna try asking me whatever it was that you wanted to ask again?"

Mumbo runs a hand through Jellie's fur, the cat letting out a little 'mrmp' as he does so.

He takes a deep breath, and begins to speak.

"I- well, um… how do I put this?" Scar is listening intently, based on the look on his face. Mumbo's face heats up in embarrassment. "I wanted to know if you could possibly pretendtodatemetomakeGrianjealous?"

Scar blinks uncomprehendingly at him.

"You want me to fake date you… to make Grian jealous?" He asks, somewhat incredulous.

Mumbo sputters, "I-! Well, yes- but now that you say it, it is pretty silly, right?" Mumbo laughs, awkward and stilted, "Nevermind, actually, it was dumb anyway- I'm such a spoon- I'll get out of your hair now, sorry for my- well, everything-" He makes to get up, but an hand grabs his upper arm. Mumbo turns his head to see Scar's hand holding him tightly, not allowing him to get up.

"Wait, don't go!"

"I-"

"It's not a dumb idea! I think it's really cute!"

Mumbo looks into Scar's eyes, searching for any sign of deception, but he finds nothing but sincerity shining in his eyes. Mumbo lets himself settle back into the couch. Scar's hand doesn't leave his arm. Instead, it goes from keeping him in place to a comforting weight keeping him grounded.

"If you want me to, I'll fake date you."

"Really? Just like that?" Mumbo asks.

"Just like that!" Scar grins at him.

"Wow… That went better than I expected," Mumbo comments, face heating up in embarrassment. Scar laughs, and the hand that had been resting on his shoulder slides down to his hand, and Scar laces their fingers together.

Mumbo is sure he's redder than a tomato.

Scar opens his mouth to say something when his comm dings. He pulls it from his pocket and turns it on, screen angled so Mumbo couldn't see anything but the glare from the lights.

"Looks like Grian wants to talk with me now," Scar says offhandedly. Mumbo ignores the way his heart rate picks up. "I wonder what he wants."

"Oh, well I shouldn't keep you then," Mumbo says, finally standing from the couch. Scar follows, never releasing his hand.

"Nonsense! Do you want me to walk you to your base?"

"That won't be necessary-"

"Mumbo, I insist."

So Mumbo gets a personal Scar-escort back to his base, hands interlocked and swinging between them as they walk. And once Mumbo is safely back to the enormous redstone door that opens up to his part of the gigabase, Scar turns to look at him.

"And there you are, how would you rate your Swaggon Taxi™ experience?" Scar asks, customer service voice in full swing. Mumbo laughs.

"Pretty good, I made it across town in one piece, so I'd give it a full ten out of ten."

Scar lets out a victorious little yes that leaves Mumbo chuckling. Scar gives his hand one last squeeze before letting go. He takes off and flies towards Grian's starter base.

Mumbo fights to ignore the heat that has risen in his cheeks.

...

Grian has a plan.

He has been crushing on Mumbo since before he had even been invited to Hermitcraft, and he was tired of this same song and dance every season. He was going to make Mumbo notice him, or die trying.

And Grian's 94% sure he's immortal anyway, so that means there's only one other option.

Grian needed someone to fake date. If he was going to catch Mumbo's notice, it needed to be big. Dating someone was big, especially since he'd shown no romantic interest in anyone - Mumbo aside - since he was in high school.

Now, who to get in on his plot?

It needed to be someone on the server, obviously, and someone near his own age. And they can't be in an actual relationship already; he didn't want to cause problems (that's a lie, he does want to cause problems, just not relationship ones). Ideally, they should live nearby enough to interact with often and be in view of Mumbo.

Cub is always busy with his biome… X isn't interested in anyone romantically, and Grian doesn't want to make them uncomfortable… Grian has sworn off interacting with Doc and Ren after the Goatem pole unless it's for pranking purposes… Scar-

Oh. Scar might work.

Grian grabs his comm and types a message.

<Grian> hey scar

<Grian> come to my starter base

<Grian> i need to talk with you

<GoodTimeWithScar> Believe it or not, you're the second one today!

<GoodTimeWithScar> I'll be there in a bit!

It takes almost twenty minutes for Scar to show up, during which Grian has enough time to tidy up his starter base, make tea for him and Scar, and still have time to spare.

Grian is just about to message Scar again when the man himself divebombs straight through his front door, elytra wings clipping the doorframe ever so slightly.

"OH NO THIS WAS A BAD IDEA-!!" Scar has time to shout before he skids, facefirst, to a stop on Grian's hardwood floor.

"You alright, mate?"

Scar gives him a weak thumbs-up.

Grian laughs at the man's antics. He helps Scar to his feet and brings them over to Grian's dining table. He didn't use the thing often, but it was nice to have.

They both pull up a chair where Grian has set out the tea. Scar drops himself into the chair with a heavy sigh. He grabs his teacup and takes a swig before Grian can warn him about it being hot. He expects Scar to shout about burning his tongue, but apparently he'd taken long enough getting here that the tea had cooled to a drinkable temperature.

Grian takes a sip from his own cup. Sure enough, it's just on the hotter side of lukewarm.

"Alright!" Scar says enthusiastically. He claps his hands together. "What'd ya call me here to ask, G?"

Right, Grian's request. He had almost forgotten.

"Well, Scar, I know how much you love scams-" the avian begins, and is promptly interrupted by Scar.

"Business deals," Scar insists. Grian shakes his head fondly.

"...I know you love business deals, and I'm about to make you the deal of a lifetime!"

Scar perks up, looking interested. "I do love deals… So what is it?"

"Fake date me."

The house goes silent, aside from their breathing. Grian is staring determinedly at Scar's face, trying to judge his reaction. It looks like a mix of shock and humour, usually a good sign when it comes to getting Scar in on plots.

"Why? If you don't mind me asking?" Scar asks, leaning forward in interest.

"Weeell… I've had an eensy-weensy bit of a crush on Mumbo for… gosh, for years now, and I'm tired of him never noticing me! I figure if I date someone else, he'll finally see me," Grian explains, face flushing slightly at his admittance. And also at Scar's proximity; he's leaning in awfully close…

Grian mentally shakes himself. He can't be thinking about Scar like that. Even if he is pretty easy on the eyes… No! He already has a crush on Mumbo, it would be disloyal to think about Scar that way, even if he and Mumbo aren't dating.

Yet, he thinks privately.

Grian wants to kick his legs and giggle like a schoolgirl, but he shakes himself back to reality. Back to his conversation with Scar.

He still needs to get an answer, after all.

"So," Grian asks, putting his conspiratorial voice on, "Fake date me so I can get the guy?"

Scar laughs, bright and cheery.

"I'll fake date you, sure! What're friends for?"

Scar holds out a hand. Grian takes it in his own and gives a firm shake.

"And the deal is made!" Scar says, standing up. Grian stands as well. "This service costs three diamonds per day, by the way."

"Wha- Scar!"

Scar laughs again, and before Grian can react, he's bending down and planting a kiss on his cheek.

Grian's eyes widen as Scar bounds away and shoots off into the sky.

The avian brushes the spot with his fingertips, revelling in the tingly feeling the man's lips had left behind.

...

Scar's trip back to his base is a victorious one.

Seriously, the two guys he was crushing on were also crushing on each other! Scar had hit the jackpot! Like, seriously, what were the chances?

Now all he had to do was get his friends to notice each other's feelings. Scar knows he's one to talk about being oblivious, but these two had been friends since before Grian joined Hermitcraft and neither noticed the other had feelings for them?

Man, these guys are so darn oblivious.

But he just had to give them a nudge them in the right direction. He'd get them to notice eventually, even if it took the end of the world.

And maybe Scar could even sneak his way into their hearts, as well. Scar was a conman, after all. Being sneaky was his specialty.

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