#/ the chapters leading up to it

[bookalicent]

yeah so this was insane

[ask-the-critters-survival-au]

They used to be a friend group in this au until someone went missing and never came back <3

[a-flock-of-aziracrows]

live D route chapter 12 reaction

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

A few interesting parallels in the SoC duology that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone talk about yet

(Analysis/discussion of these parallels/quotes may come later if anyone's interested)

“These creatures were made to be weapons” - Jarl Brum on Grisha, Six of Crows chapter 35

“He looked like what he truly was: a weapon” - Jesper Fahey on the Khergud, Crooked Kingdom chapter 36

“Welcome to the Hellshow” - Kaz to Nina, Six of Crows chapter 6

“Welcome to the Ice Court, Nina Zenik” - Matthias to Nina, Six of Crows chapter 34

“Is this a play?” - Alys Van Eck “Yes love, and you’re the star” - Jesper Fahey, Crooked Kingdom chapter 8 when Alys is taken captive

“What was this but a play Kaz had staged, with that poor sucker Kuwei as the star?” - Jesper Fahey on the auction plan, Crooked Kingdom chapter 36

“he looked like a priest come to preach to group of circus performers” - Inej on Kaz’s appearance in comparison to the rest of the Barrel, Six of Crows chapter 2

“started to preach” - Inej on Kaz leading a coup against Per Haskell, Crooked Kingdom chapter 27

“Whoever he had become, Matthias was not going to shoot someone unarmed. He'd not yet sunk so far” - Matthias Helvar, Six of Crows chapter 29

“I am unarmed” - Matthias Helvar, Crooked Kingdom chapter 38

"I didn't even know the rules of Makker's Wheel" - Jesper Fahey on his first night gambling in the Barrel, Six of Crows chapter ()

"He knew his guns better than he knew the rules of Makker's Wheel" - Jesper Fahey on the concept of aim and its relationship to his life and his zowa/Grisha abilities, Crooked Kingdom chapter 36

“a tiny voice inside him said he should offer to take the drug as well […] maybe he could have helped to draw the parem out of Nina’s system and set her free. But that was a hero’s voice and Jesper had long since stopped thinking he had the makings of a hero” - Jesper Fahey, Six of Crows chapter 44

“Matthias gave you the remaining parem, didn’t he?” “So?” “[…] I can’t let my father down again. I need the parem as a security measure” “No” “Why the hell not?” - Jesper and Kaz in discussion about the auction plan, Crooked Kingdom chapter 30

I'll probably be back to add more, feel free to add your own as well

[milo-media]

I have not drawn ralsei since chapter 1 released!

Which is strange considering I have written paragraphs of analysis about him 😭

[kismet-cat]

you ever think about how sissel spends three chapters of the game back to back trying to save two deeply depressed guys with zero self-esteem? how he sees right through jowd's insincere self-pitying apologies; and how he's so promptly over the justice minister's disguised negative self-talk, eventually trying to set him on a better path by telling him to not go so hard on himself?

with hindsight, i'm surprised sissel never comments on it all feeling... familiar.

[sulfies]

If I Lead (pt3)

Part 2 here

Vincesco stood true by his word.

 Desmond didn't even need to use most of his skillset which he was happy about. He took it easy and dodged when he needed and accepted some punches when It seemed like he was going overboard. He was not trying to climb the ranks in a race and make a name, he just needed to be off the training wheels. And It had worked. The young lad looked a bit pissed off about not winning against him but Desmond didn't care much about it.

The next day he was given instructions and pocket money to get himself some gear that fitted him. Now equipped with warmer clothes and shoes that actually fit he was faring better. 

Marsilio also was paying him quite a good amount of money for basically doing nothing but walking around and swinging his sword to train every now and then…. He really couldn't understand why the mercenaries complained about Ezio cutting their wages since he became in charge, just how much Mario was paying them before?

A month passed in this new lazy routine.

He made home in his guard tower. He was used to sleeping outside and wasting money on rent seemed unnecessary when he had little to no belongings. He bought himself some extra blankets to cushion the stone ground and shield from the cold wind at night. His lodging was enough for him.

He was rarely in it unless he was sleeping anyway.

He would wake up before dawn, bathe in the stream right outside the village a few minutes away if he needed, and then he would make his way to the barracks.

It was peaceful really…

He was terribly bored.

There was not much for him to do, sometimes he would get called to patrol outside the woods to see if any bandits were camping around but they have yet to see one since he has been here. Every now and then he would group with some people for training, but most of the time he was left alone as long as he reported to the barracks first thing of the day.

He had taken hunting as a hobby, going out around mid-noon to catch some small game to bring to the butcher. It gave him food and some extra savings money. He wanted to save enough to buy a horse so he could travel without problems, taking detours if he needed but horses were expensive. 

The barracks stable had a few but they all had their owners and the ones that did not were there if the need arose.  Also, he really wasn't looking to be known as -the horse thief-.

Sometimes Vincesco would call him over to go for a drink at the tavern, each time he would accept with the guilt eating him from inside out. He was not supposed to lay around and get drunk. He had people he needed to get back to, people who he was to guide but he could not refuse his bosses.

So he would drink a mug or two of the piss-tasting beer, the cheapest money could find as slowly as he could till the rest were drunk enough for them to not realize he was faking his stumbles on the street. Once everyone parted he would climb up to his den and force himself to sleep.

He was going mad.

Desmond wasn't used to being this useless. He was used to waking up and having a mission to complete.

Find us a new water-source Desmond, We need food Desmond the field has yet to yield any, Desmond help us move this rocks over so we can prepare the shelter, Desmond climb up the mountain to see if there is anything that survived

and he did it all without complaints.

He travelled for days or months to see if there was anything new, he noted down any new changes he could see. He helped Shaun with whatever he needed his strength or body for. He helped Rebecca gather whatever supply she was going to need to make their lives easier. That was his job.

He was there to calm the people down, remind them that gods had not forsaken them but they had been given a new beginning. To not panic but have hope so humankind could survive long after them.

It was all bullshit really, to keep the leftover people from going mad. 

In the darkest times, religion was most of the time the home of hope they needed to shelter in. But it had worked.

They had a functioning farm, bushes that yielded berries, small huts that gave lodging to people. They were actually seeing growth after 20 years, grass was filling the land and young trees were growing taller. They were finally getting somewhere so Desmond had left on a new expedition to find some more survivors further back from the camp to see if anyone was left.

And then he was here.

Lying on his blankets he watched the stars, tracing the groups with his eyes trying to remember the names Shaun taught them, the ones he couldn't remember without his books, Rebecca had made up stupid nicknames for.

He missed them terribly nowadays… Even his father.

William had died just three years ago. The grief lingered more than he had expected. All the issues they had before seemed so small after the flare, they never patched things up but they didn't fight like they used to. Desmond knew he bore some guilt about convincing him to not go through with the shields. They all did.

They each had their turns to cry, shout and laugh crazy about it then cry some more. The three blamed themselves which in turn made Desmond blame himself more. It was an endless cycle they decided to put behind themselves to focus on the now. 

Desmond turned to his side, inhaling deeply, his hair tickling his neck from the wind. He listened to the nocturnal birds and closed his eyes. He hoped they were safe above all else. 

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

Two weeks passed by fast and Desmond's routine did not change. Wake up, bathe, barracks, busywork, hunt, do something… anything… then sleep. He had taken to sharpening the unused swords and upkeep of them for today's activity since no one else was bothering to do it. 

Near a clearing around the stable, he was sitting on a stool, sharpening one sword after another with a whetstone on his lap, adding them to a pile. 

“Actually working for your coins Domenico? You should join the others inside for a few cups.”

He looked at the voice that was calling him. Angelo, one from Marsillios circle. He gave a polite smile back. “Not much to do and I don't like drinking while the sun is up, gives me issues at night.” 

“Smart man, keeping your soldier ready for when it's needed.”

Desmond made a face at the joke, He never stepped a foot in the brothel. A lot of the recruit's freshly earned coins ended up in there almost the day they gained them… then trickled back into the economy. He did not want to think about the amount of STD’s circulating around. Even if everyone was magically clean… sex had been the last thing on his mind for a long while.

“Please, If the wife learned I even dared to breathe next to one of the honey pots she would have my head.” 

“Oh come on, how would she even know?”

He hummed in answer and smiled “Trust me she would… and I like to keep my manhood intact till I die”

Angelo laughed and walked near him. Eyeing the swords lying on a pile on the side, the ones that were ready to be polished.

“Needed me for anything?” 

The other man shifted his weight “Marsillio wanted me to let people know to be extra sharp the next few days, actually do what he says and whatnot… not that you need a reminder.”

“Why is that? Is Ser Mario coming to check the barracks again?” He had seen him a couple of times, the man usually looked around for a few minutes then joined the backroom to talk about what he needed to.

“Nah, the actual big boss is coming back any day now. Sent in a word with his bird, arrived just an hour ago to the villa.”

Desmond's whole body tensed in a second. It was not hard to figure out who the nickname belonged to.

Ezio was coming back.

He forced himself to relax. “A-ah… so we need to be on our best behaviour?”

“Mmhm. You might be asked to go to the training grounds a bit more and longer than you are used to, we need to look busy lest we want more budget cuts. The young master has already been bleeding us dry…”

Desmond gave a nervous chuckle and placed the sword in his hand on the pile. “Alright, no problem for me but I know a lot of the kids are going to groan and moan about it”

“Yeah they already are, Vinchesco is not happy about it so I'm sending you up next to him for morale.” A soft pat landed on his shoulder “Think yourself as second in charge. A small promotion with no pay raise”

Angelo left his side with a smile.

“Great”

Not great… he couldn't even hide next to the recruits as they trained.

He might visit the church just to pray and hope that Ezio doesn't give a shit about the training area and just passes by it. 

Maybe he could fake a stomachache or the plague… ask for a toilet break as soon as Ezio stepped foot through the gates…

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

For two days Desmond’s every limb was aware of every movement and talk around him. They were patrolling a lot more and training a lot longer. 

He wished he was just given the duty of cleaning around the barracks but Vincheso liked him for some reason enough to ask him to stick by his side.

“If I have to hear any more whining I might actually have them train till sunrise…”

Desmond shrugged his shoulders and he listened to him complain, not much different than the recruits. He figured it out the second day while Vinchesco’s job was to babysit the newbies, Desmond’s job was to babysit him. “You know if you guys were more strict from the get-go they wouldn't feel this comfortable crying about it.”

“And make my own job harder? Training doesn't teach a man how to swing a sword anyway, they actually need to fight to become man is what I think. I sure didn't learn how to kill from stabbing these stupid straw dummies couple times a day.”

“I'm not sure just charging into the enemy will teach them much is all I’m saying… well other than dying.”

Vinchesco leaned back onto the railing “Meh, I send the ones that show promise to the others that actually put them to work.” he waved his hand around “All this is just, keeping the meatshields sharper.”

Desmond sighed, what a way to raise an army… Ezio really needed to keep tighter reins around these bunch and overhaul the system… but he rather Ezio do that once he got to Venice and away from here.

“You are way too uptight Dominico. It's good here. We get coin, we get food, we drink then we fuck and then we sleep. Living it up like nobles almost… you should enjoy it more, I’m sure you fought plenty of battles in your youth but this is not a battlefield and we got Ser Ezio behind us if else happens. The man is his own army.”

Desmond's jaw clenched, old memories of the fall of this Monterriggioni flashing in his mind. No wonder no one was alerted till it was too late… he always thought the Village was captured way too easily.

“Mmhm… I'll try” he smiled back with a strain “Old habits die hard, that's all… the guard schedule back in Florence was way more strict.”

“More the reason to-”  “HE IS BACK! SER EZIO IS BACK”

A shout cut off Vinchesco’s word, The messenger ran towards them. 

Desmon felt the anxiety boil in his gut

“Shit…”

[bitchfitch]

I'm pissed at a fic author rn. They abandoned a fic two years ago and this is where they left it:

"Why is that upsetting you?" Link furrowed his brow. His own self disgust, as vague as it was, didn't feel at all related to this. This just felt natural and right. Unless... "Is it because I'm not zora that it's wrong?"

"No! No. Please don't worry at all, my friend," he was a little too quick to the defense, "It has nothing to do with you being hylian. Or, what it does have to do with it doesn't matter in the slightest."

"Then what does it have to do with?"

"I'm not sure you would want to hear-"

"I won't be mad, just tell me."

Sidon's mouth moves, but his voice catches in his throat as he again has to stop to pick his words carefully, "I'm going to miss you when you go home," he huffs something bittersweet, "I'm going to miss you when I go home. I- I miss you everyday even when I've only just left."

"That wasn't what you were going to say," Link would swear his heart had stopped.

"It wasn't, but I don't think it would be right for me to say what I was going to."

A moment passes between them. The confession left crammed into all the empty spaces of it own implication. Another moment, and then Link's hands are moving.

"It wouldn't be right for me to say it either then."

That bittersweet huff came again and then bloomed into a quiet laugh as Sidon let his head fall forward, his crest bumping the front of Link's shoulder.

"I'll miss you," he almost didn't lift his head again, not knowing if he could bare to see what Link had to say next.

"I'll miss you, too,"

And the primary reason I'm mad is because its my fic and I completely forgot I left it there so it's my responsibility to actually keep telling the story. Wahgh Misery increasing forever and ever.

[jacquelying]

walk with me. fitzjames is 1985’s mountain climber of the year. and crozier is going to put the front-page story about it on his dartboard 🎯 https://archiveofourown.org/works/53860201

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

sorry guys I really do feel like narratively and thematically that Fukuzawa is going to win Asagiri’s favourite character award (death)

[ruvviks]

– Beginnings.

Characters >> Lily Castellanos, Nathan Dixon (oc), Sebastian Castellanos Total >> 3.5k words Warnings >> Alcohol mention Context >> The first chapter of my own TEW3, taking place some months after the conclusion of the in-game events of TEW2! You can read more about it all here!

It snowed in Krimson City.

The sky had been the same dull gray color since sunrise, snowflakes slowly cascading down and covering the street in a thick blanket of snow. A heavy fog held the city tightly in its grasp– an eerie atmosphere hanging in the thin afternoon air and low-hanging clouds swallowing entire buildings whole– and with only limited visibility on the road, traffic was forced to crawl by in slow motion.

While not an unseen phenomenon, it was far from a common sight for early January, only days after Nathan’s birthday. He had spent that day snowed in in his little apartment, had celebrated it alone; not as if it mattered much, he doubted Kid even knew and besides his ex-colleague from MOBIUS he severely lacked other friends to hang out with those days.

He stood motionless at the fence of the small playground located in Krimson City’s public park, gloved hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his long, black coat with the collar popped up to shield the lower half of his face from the occasional sharp gust of wind. He had not moved in a while, shoulders and tousled black hair covered in a thin layer of fine white powder, frost nipping away at the tip of his nose as his eyes followed a group of kids excitedly running around.

It did not take a genius to notice Lily was significantly older than the others there, but none of the kids seemed to mind. It came as no surprise to Nathan to see her there– she had not once lost her playfulness even after everything MOBIUS had put her through, and without a proper outlet for it in all her years trapped in the shadow organization it only made sense for her to want to have a chance at spending the remainder of her childhood like she had always been supposed to.

He watched in silence as she scooped up some snow in her pink and orange mittens, wincing when one of the other kids threw a snowball directly at her face; she was smiling, though, and quickly pressed the snow together to then hurl it back, the surprisingly well-aimed attempt hitting someone else on the back of their coat.

‘You’re startin’ to freak out the other parents, standing there like that.’

The corners of Nathan’s mouth lightly curled up upon hearing the familiar, low voice, not needing to turn his head to know who joined him on the other side of the fence.

‘Was starting to wonder how long it’d take for you to notice me,’ he said, his own voice a little rougher than usual on account of the cold, and his severe lack of proper rest in the past few weeks. ‘Was gonna give you another five minutes before I’d walk over to introduce myself. You’re getting slow.’

‘I’m getting comfortable,’ Sebastian Castellanos corrected him with a scoff, returning Lily’s little wave as she ran by the both of them– Nathan merely greeted her with a single nod of his head– before quickly shoving his hand back in the pocket of his green jacket.

‘No need to keep my eyes up anymore, Nate. Threat’s gone, MOBIUS’ gone. Life’s improving day by day.’

‘Good.’

Nathan wished he shared Sebastian’s sentiment.

If anything, life had turned rather sour for him after they had successfully gotten rid of a large chunk of MOBIUS several months ago. He had never expected to walk away from it alive to begin with– and now, without the steady income the organization had provided him with for years, he found himself struggling to get by.

He glanced to his right, gaze briefly meeting that of the ex-detective before he quickly averted his eyes and let them wander back to the playground, trailing over the various snow-covered playground sets.

Sebastian looked good, healthy– much better than the state he’d been in when Nathan had last seen him all those months ago. Part of him regretted not reaching out sooner, the sudden reconnection now an obvious sign that something was wrong; though the wiser part of him knew that had he stuck around the Castellanos family they would not have been able to move on and heal, which was the last thing he would have wanted to be responsible for.

‘What about you?’ Sebastian quietly asked, as if he’d been able to sense Nathan’s melancholy. ‘You look like you haven’t slept in days.’

Nathan scoffed, slightly tilting his head to look at his feet and he absently kicked some snow off his boots. ‘That obvious? Sure feels like it.’

He had teamed up with Juli Kidman to deal with the remainder of MOBIUS, after the Union incident. Of course the destruction of the STEM environment hadn’t led to the fall of the whole organization– it would’ve been stupid of them to link all of their employees directly to the mainframe of a single STEM device, despite the Superiors’ obvious lack of knowledge concerning the technology– and while MOBIUS had suffered massive losses, it would only be a matter of time before they would regroup.

But he was not there to talk to Sebastian about how their hunt was going.

Something else had come up.

Nathan’s silence did not go unnoticed and Sebastian turned toward him, leaning sideways against the fence with a concerned look in his eyes. He did not need to say anything– and neither did Nathan, as he slowly pulled his hands out of his pockets and removed one of his black, leather gloves.

The pale top of his left hand had a burned appearance, as if fire had scorched away skin and flesh– the wound only partially healed leaving it broken and torn clinging closely to his veins and bones. Though despite how recent he had received the scar, its appearance instead implied years long possession, and despite its severity it did not hurt at all.

He could tell by the look on Sebastian’s face the scar reminded him of someone.

‘Now, I know what you’re gonna say–’ Nathan started, but Sebastian cut him off.

‘I can’t do this, Nathan. I have a daughter–’

‘–I know.’

His voice came out a lot sharper than he had meant for.

‘I’m not asking anything of you,’ he said, his heartbeat pounding in the back of his throat.

‘Not this time.’

It had started as police radio chatter.

Late in the afternoon, Nathan had already been getting ready to go home. Kid had picked up a mention of Beacon– its doors long closed for the public yet the building remained in the heart of Krimson City, left to rot and wither away– supposed ghostly activity reported within its decaying walls, and she had wanted to investigate.

Nathan sharply exhaled and put his glove back on, exposed fingers growing numb in the freezing winter air. He leaned forward with his arms on the fence, to move a little closer to Sebastian; as if he was afraid someone would overhear them, as if they could make sense out of any of it to begin with.

‘He’s back, Sebastian,’ he defeatedly stated, and the other man lowered his gaze. ‘I saw him. He did this to me.’

‘Impossible.’

‘Wish it was.’

Despite hearing many tales, and having worked on his project for years as developer within the MOBIUS branch he had been part of, Nathan had never seen or met Ruvik face to face. The brilliant mind behind the STEM technology had always remained in the shadows; up until his death, after which his brain had become the core of MOBIUS’ very first STEM device.

Naturally so, when Nathan had run into the man while wandering the abandoned hallways of Beacon, his first assumption had been that he was asleep– followed by a brief moment of panic in which he had believed he was dead, or somehow back in STEM.

But Ruvik had touched him– had forcefully grabbed his hand to make him drop his gun and had left a burn similar to his own scars– and had then vanished the second Kidman had yelled out Nathan’s name, the old and presumed broken STEM device in the room next door whirring and humming as if it had never been deactivated in the first place.

‘I’m here to warn you,’ Nathan softly continued, eyes fixed on a random spot in the bright snow covering the playground and thumb absently running over the gloved back of his scarred hand.

‘We don’t know yet what exactly he’s here for, what exactly he’s tryin’ to do. Investigating as we speak, but– shit’s looking serious. Somehow reverse engineered the STEM signal to reach outward, expand into reality. Push itself out rather than draw people in.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Similar to the wireless connection that pulled you into STEM the first time round, but– without being pulled in.’ Nathan had to bite his tongue to stop himself from getting too technical. ‘An– An active environment in our world, if you follow, rather than on the device’s mainframe. Signal seems to be inactive still, but we’re gettin’ the readings. No idea how he’s planning to activate it yet.’

They had moved the device to their own headquarters, on the outskirts of town. Had needed to connect it to the second prototype– the device that had supported the Union environment, which they had taken from MOBIUS’ headquarters after wiping out its agents– in order to gain access to the mainframe, get any data extracted from it in the first place.

Their initial hope had been that it was nothing more than echoes– malfunctions in the STEM device caused by neglect promptly activating the wireless signal allowing shades from within to wander the Beacon hallways– anything but Ruvik’s actual return, however that was even possible–

‘Daddy!’

Nathan blinked, drawn out of his thoughts by Lily’s voice. He watched her run over to the two of them– the front of her coat, face, and hair completely covered in snow and a bright smile on her face as she attempted to wipe some of it from her forehead, but if anything her mittens just further spread it out.

‘I’m getting cold,’ she said, squinting when Sebastian reached out to help her with the snow. ‘Can we go back home soon?’

‘Of course honey,’ he replied, barely able to mask the exhaustion in his voice now that Nathan had explained the situation to him– and for a brief moment it was as if they were back in Union, radioing back to Kidman from the momentary safety of one of their established safehouses. ‘Don’t want you catching a cold.’

Lily looked up at Nathan and smiled at him– but she was a smart kid, and he watched her expression change as she looked back up at her father, head slightly tilting before she shook it to get some strands of her ink black hair out of her face, the single white strand in her bangs– matching Nathan’s own– a grim and constant reminder of her mother’s fate.

‘Is everything alright?’ she asked, and Nathan couldn’t help but wonder if she still associated him with MOBIUS, if she still associated him with the tests and experiments they put her through and if she still associated him with the STEM device, meeting one another within in some facility in the Marrow where he was forced to watch over her like a vulture at all times, all to keep the system stable.

‘Nothing to worry about,’ he simply answered her, unsure if she would fall for his lie, but knowing it would give her infinitely more comfort than the truth ever could. ‘Just came to say hi.’

The breeze picked up, howling loudly in Nathan’s ears as if the whole city softly cried for him; the cold boring its way through his clothes and eating away at his skin, exposed or not, freezing him all the way down to the bone. He lowered his head– a futile attempt at shielding his face from the biting wind and snow, individual snowflakes cutting like knives across his forehead and cheekbones.

He watched Lily smile at both him and Sebastian again before running off to get back to the snowball fight for just a bit longer, diving behind the slide to get cover. His gaze was pulled back toward Sebastian– but said man appeared deep in thought, eyes pointedly fixed on something in the distance, head anywhere but in the present.

‘I gotta go back in,’ Nathan quietly continued; an unnecessary statement, the gravity of the situation like static in the air between the two of them, though to put it into words was to accept the harsh reality of it all– acknowledgement of what had to happen, what was going to happen, something he had not been able to do before.

‘It’s nothing like Union,’ Sebastian bluntly replied with a shake of his head, turning his back to the playground and resting heavily with his elbows on the fence. ‘He’s nothing like Stefano– nothing like Theodore. He doesn’t need a weapon or a core to draw his powers from, you get too close and it’s over. You understand?’

Nathan didn’t know what else to say.

He had never thought he’d have to go back into STEM after Union. He’d be alone this time round– no Sebastian by his side, no Kidman to radio back to. They had reconnected some old friends– Joseph, Yukiko, Esmeralda– but had no idea whether or not their consciousnesses would still be somewhere within STEM, and for all Nathan knew he would be diving into a world entirely of Ruvik’s creation, with the same horrifying creatures haunting it as last time, if not worse.

Of course he was terrified. All it took was one encounter with Anima and he would never see the light of day ever again.

‘You should go,’ Nathan said, pushing himself up from the fence and stuffing his hands back in the pockets of his coat, ‘get out of town while you still can. Grab a bag or two, grab Lily, take her on a– on a road trip up north or something, while we figure this out. Just in case he–’

He couldn’t finish his sentence. The thought of Ruvik succeeding and trapping the world in a constant state of STEM was something he would rather not think about.

‘–you know.’

An uncomfortable silence followed. And rightfully so– what else was there to say? The whole situation was ridiculous to begin with, and for Nathan to show up only now instead of at any other point in time, months of radio silence after nearly dying together in a simulation of reality lingering between real life and a dream–

He carefully watched as Sebastian shifted his weight from one foot to the other, able to study his face for longer now that the other man refused to make eye contact with him. He truly did look a lot better; Nathan could only assume the man had stopped drinking, and had been getting a much better night’s sleep.

Though despite the improvement in his appearance there was still that lingering sense of dread, the dark shadow that had washed over his face the second he had laid eyes on Nathan’s scarring and had realized what he had come to him for.

Nathan couldn’t blame him. But he’d had to let Sebastian know.

He licked his lips and nodded to no one in particular, ending the conversation himself by taking a small step back and turning back around to return to his car, drive home, drink himself blind and pass out to hopefully get some sleep in before he would have to dive back into his worst nightmare–

‘Hey.’

Sebastian’s hand on his upper arm was unexpected and Nathan hated how he could not stop himself from flinching, a reflex more than anything else, and he hated how it made Sebastian pull his hand away as if he’d touched fire, the tips of his fingers on Nathan’s body despite the layers he wore the first physical contact he had experienced in months.

‘Who is “we”?’ Sebastian quietly asked, briefly glancing behind him to see if Lily was still far enough away. A surprising question; though not out of character for the ex-detective, his curiosity piqued just enough for him to try and get a little more information out of Nathan before they would say goodbye and possibly never see each other again.

‘Me,’ Nathan plainly answered, ‘Juli. Used to be just us two but we gathered a team of old STEM developers to help us with this. They got moved on to other projects while we were working on Union– they removed their chips, came back for us.’

‘So all MOBIUS.’

Not even a question, simply a statement.

Nathan bit the inside of his cheek. ‘Ex MOBIUS.’

The atmosphere changed, a sharp tension bouncing between the two of them as Nathan straightened his back and lightly tilted up his chin. He couldn’t exactly place the look on the other man’s face, though by then knew him well enough to know his hesitation wasn’t caused by uncertainty, but moreso distrust.

‘Thought the program was meant to kill them all,’ Sebastian said, a somewhat hostile undertone in his voice that had not been there before.

‘Just our branch.’ Nathan paused, watching as Sebastian slowly nodded and mouthed a soundless “right”– not entirely sure what his reaction was supposed to mean, but he decided not to ask. ‘Already told you it runs a lot deeper than you thought.’

Myra's sacrifice had put an end to the Administrator's reign of terror– had destroyed his legacy, and all research and findings on the STEM system as designed by Ruvik and improved by MOBIUS. Whichever branches remained did not nearly have enough resources or knowledge to pull off something even remotely similar; and whatever scraps of code they could have gotten their hands on before Kidman and Nathan had wiped their systems clean would prove insufficient to provide them with a stable environment.

And even if they would make it that far– provided they’d be able to recreate the STEM device from written instructions alone, Ruvik's original blueprints lost to time and MOBIUS' own burned to a crisp in the aftermath of the Union incident's conclusion– the mental erosion Union's residents had suffered from and the Anima manifestations that had happened as a result had never been resolved, leaving any future STEM residents with the all but comforting promise of a similar fate.

'I'm diving in tomorrow,' Nathan said, knowing there was nothing else left to say. The breeze in the park was picking up again, sweeping snowflakes that were starting to feel more like hail than anything else into Nathan’s face with a lot more force than before, melting on collision and dripping into the collar of his shirt. 'First thing in the morning. Can’t waste any more time. In case you wanna come say goodbye–'

He reached into the pocket of his pants, then held out a note to Sebastian; handwritten, containing an address located on an abandoned warehouse site, not too far from Nathan's own home.

'–our headquarters.' He waited for Sebastian to take the note from him. 'No pressure, of course.'

No pressure.

The note was almost a blatant sign that Nathan wanted him to be there. He could not ask it of him directly– but gave him the option anyway, leaving the decision up to Sebastian instead.

But deep down Nathan knew that Sebastian knew that he really did not want to go back in alone– and if it had been up to him they had recruited Sebastian a week ago already, when things had first started to go wrong.

‘Do you have backup?’ Sebastian softly asked, as if he could look directly into Nathan’s head– asking the one question he had hoped for, with an answer to it that could easily enough change Sebastian’s mind about letting Nathan walk away if only he would play his cards right–

But despite how often he had practiced the entire conversation alone in his car, despite going over all the different things he could say at least a million times, just to get Sebastian to feel sorry for him– as selfish as it fucking was– Nathan found himself unable to speak.

He simply shook his head instead.

The other children and their parents were leaving, now. It was getting late, and colder, and Lily slowly wandered back to Sebastian to start dragging him back to the car if he were to take any longer than he already had.

Nathan looked up at the sky, eyes fluttering shut as he allowed more snow to drift down onto his ice cold skin, and he breathed in and out deeply before turning back to Sebastian.

‘They’re expecting more snowfall tonight,’ he said, locking eyes for only a split second and shooting a smile in his direction, as he began walking backwards into the direction of his car. ‘Don’t wait up. And– Drive safe, okay?’

Sebastian did not answer him.

It snowed in Krimson City, accompanied by a deafening silence weighing it down and choking it out, as if the whole city was expectantly holding its breath.

Nathan left.

taglist (opt in/out)

@nistarot, @deadrlngers, @euryalex, @ordinarymaine, @mojaves;

@shellibisshe, @dickytwister, @mnwlk, @rindemption, @ncytiri;

@calenhads, @noirapocalypto, @florbelles, @radioactiveshitstorm, @strafethesesinners;

@fashionablyfyrdraaca, @radioactive-synth, @katsigian, @estevnys, @devilbrakers;

@aezyrraesh, @carlosoliveiraa, @adelaidedrubman, @fromgotham, @wardenevka

[gammija]

i REALLY enjoyed dungeon meshi, it has lovely characters and story and worldbuilding - but some of the posts and tweets i saw about it going in, lead me to believe that it had more horror/tragedy elements than it does. While it does have its more serious themes and dark moments, it fits solidly into the fantasy-adventure genre.

just thought I'd put that out there, in case some of yall following me for tma have gotten curious about it

[chantillyxlacey]

after writing that analysis post i kinda want to make a cheeky meta variation of The Princess based on the ideas of "the game Slay the Princess is a narrative about the nature of narratives" and "the Construct is what happens if you turn a narrative into a literal physical cage"

a Princess who somehow is made aware of the loops in Chapter One and in Chapter Two becomes fixated on documenting everything she can about the different routes of the game, the different ways things can play out-- how to get different "bonus" voices to spawn in Chapter Three, how different Chapter Two's can lead into the same Chapter Three, etc.

she's determined that if she can just amass enough information, then surely she'll be able to figure out what it all MEANS, and if she figures out what it MEANS and what it's FOR then she'll figure out how to escape it!! she'd be paired with a new voice-- the Voice of the Curious? Voice of the Obsessed (wildly different from the voice w this name from the first demo tho)?

In one of her potential Chapter Three's, she takes this a step further and is determined to assimilate as many "routes" into herself as possible in an attempt to transcend the narrative all together. She attempts to out-Shifting-Mound the Shifting Mound; to become her OWN story rather than part of someone else's

you can slay her like usual, lead her to the peaceful resolution of realizing that being folded into the Shifting Mound was never being erased-- that not being the Only Part of the story never meant that she wasn't part of the story to start with, or that she didn't matter

OR you can help her achieve her goal, which nets you a new ending to the game (no matter how many or how few loops/vessels you've done at that point)

How are these for Princess/Chapter titles:

The Archivist and The Archive :3

[sulfies]

IF I Lead (PT2)

Part 1 here

At least The stars looked the same… one common thing the apocalypse and the medieval times had together was the lack of light pollution.

One of the rare things he could let himself enjoy guilt-free.

He had gone into the town in the morning and walked around discreetly.

It was a lot… all the noise and people assaulted his senses but he needed to get the Vanice and to get there he needed to make money. Not only so he could arrive there but also survive once he did. 

If he guessed the timeline right, he had a couple of years till the apple arrived in Italy, which gave him a long time to plan and get his bearings. It was both a blessing and a curse. The thought of having to wait all that time made his skin itch.

He would find a temporary job in Monteriggioni for the time being, till he got his pocket money and no longer.

He could join the mercenaries,

he really didn't like the idea of being a sword for hire but they were paid relatively well and he could fight and with many of them in town he could be forgotten in the numbers unlike becoming a tradesman and people remembering his face. The less bonds he made with the village folk, the better.

They also hired almost anyone and always needed numbers, he could pass off as a seasoned fighter and most likely they would take him in.

He turned to his side, a small shiver crept up to his body. The guard tower didn't really break the winds of the chill night air and he only had his hoodie as a blanket. He had survived worse so he would make do.

Shutting his eyes Desmond tried to make himself fall asleep. He had a lot to do tomorrow, who knew he would be job-hunting again in his lifetime.

—-----------

As dawn broke over the valley Desmond scaled his tower down, he was leaving his backpack behind in the tower since it seemed like no one was going in it for their rounds. 

Walking around the town he was willing himself to stay calm, he had his two-day freak-out but now it was time to focus.

He made his way up the village and to the side street where he remembered the barracks to be.

He came across the two-story building covered in lumbar with some workers outside, it seemed like Ezio had already begun repairs on it.

Desmond took a deep breath before shaking his hands out. God, when did he become so scared of basic conversations…

Licking his lips he walked closer to the building giving some nods to the workers he passed. 

A young man, standing right outside the door leaning on the frame to the side, noticed him.

In a dismissive attitude, the man spoke to him, 

“What's your business here grandpa?” 

Desmond scoffed but put on a small fake grin. He needed to charm them for a way in.

“Missus said I had to get off my ass so was coming to see if you folk got any need for additional men, or is there now an age limit to holding a weapon?”

The man shook his head, turned to his friend with a shit-eating grin “Oh a forward one isn't he?” He turned back to Desmond “We don't just accept any old fart off the street you know?”

“I should hope not, or it would be bad news for the village's safety. Anything I need to prove I can show it to a man that needs the proof, just tell me who and where.”

The young man looked him up and down a bit then sent his friend a look. Leaning away from the frame he turned to the door.

“I'll ask inside but don't get your hopes up if all you can do is to hold a sword.”

Desmond hummed as the man went in.

His friend was eyeing him now.

 “Lost your old job and the miss booted you?”

Desmond chuckled “Could say so, some had promised a job to me but it fell through and now my lovely warden demands coins.” He looked sheepishly to the side. 

The friend smiled knowingly “You guys moved here then?”

Desmond shook his head “Nah, just me. She doesn't like leaving her mother's side, except to come to fetch my purse of course. Left her back in Venice as I get a footing here”

Men his age were usually married in this time period, a fake backstory would come in handy for him too when it was time to go to Venice and if his ‘wife’ was never here… no one could talk about how they had never seen her. It wasn't too uncommon for men to leave their wives back to find work anyway.

They exchanged more small talk till the door opened and the young man returned, head signalling him to come in.

“He said he will take a look at you.”

Desmond walked in after him taking in the scene. He never got to see the inside of his place in the Animus. Construction was mostly on the outside but there were a few people also inside doing some work, mostly replacing some beams and floors.

Some mercenaries were practicing light moves on dummies to the side but most of them were around the tables to the left chatting and… ofcourse drinking.

He got led through another door at the other end of the hall that opened up to a smaller room with a handful of people inside. They were of higher rank than the people in the main room, he assumed. Their clothes were a bit nicer, faces more hardened.

“Iulio tells me you wish to join us?” One of the men steps up to him, short hair with a small scar across his cheek, his gaze judging his form. 

“Marsilio”

The man holds his hand out and Desmond shakes it. “Dominico” It was close enough to his name that he could get himself to respond to it if called out.

“Isn't it a bit late for a career change?”

Desmond chuckles “I’m not new to fighting, worked as a guard on the outskirts of Florance in my youth. Know how to hold a sword and use it too.”

Marsillio taps on his lip, mirroring where Desmond’s scar would be. “A gift from that time then?” Desmond nods “Good, seeing battle puts you above some of the new recruits… but I can't just accept anyone that walks through the door can I?”

Desmond wanted to sigh, maybe he should just steal some money from the Villa.

“You know basic forms?” “Si, and more”

A small hum of approval. 

The man looked him over with more intent, clearly trying to see if his body was built for the job, and a part of Desmond would take offence if he was denied. He was fit for his age, not a bodybuilder but he had been using the same muscles the same way since his 20s.

“Alright, God knows we can always use more men but you can join as a temporary recruit, no pay till you prove you won't throw your back out when you are swinging a sword.”

Desmond held back a scowl, he knew they were basically hazing him at this point but he had to bear it and play this game. “Good with me, but you better not wait for me to die from age to pay me my due.”

Marsillio let out a laugh and placed a slap on his back “Hah! It depends if you can pull your weight”

Desmond gritted his teeth, he could feel a headache coming in.

“I want you here first thing in the morning by the first bell, you will join the training with the recruits, your previous experience doesn't mean shit to me till you show it”

He nodded “Understandable, Thank you, Sir”

“Bah just call me my name, we are the same age likely” 

“All right Marsillio, I'll be here by dawn”

—------------

The training was… barely worth Desmond's time to be honest. He had gotten there before the bell and the group of ten made their way up to the ring below the villa. They ran some laps in the clearing nearby and were now swinging their swords at nothing. It was busy work mostly. Probably meant to bore the unwilled ones so they quit early.

Monteriggioni had not seen combat in a while and it shoved on everyone's skill. Mercenaries weren't meant to be masters of battle but they could have some more discipline. Mario really paid them all these years for nothing.

Desmond sighed and twirled his blade. It wasn't Marsillio seeing over them today but he recognized the man from the day before, he had the same uniform and was in the back room too so he must have some reputation and a rank as well. But not much since he was stuck having to teach the new members.

“Take a short rest people, then pair up, I want to see some hand-to-hand in the ring after!”

Now that was more fun. Desmond rested the sword on his shoulder as he wiped his brow. He didn't know anybody so he didn't bother to find a pair, whoever was the last pick would be with him and he didn't want nor have a need to make small talk.

“Dominico.” Desmond tore his eyes away to look at his senior. The man walked over to him throwing a waterskin, which he gladly accepted with a raised brow.

“You were not lying about the fact that you know your basics.”

He took a sip of water, refreshing himself. “I have no need to lie about that but I understand the skepticism” since he had lied about everything else.

“Mmhm. Paulo tells me your wife is back in Venice?” Ah, that must be Iulio’s friend.

“Si, ser…”

“Names Vincesco” Desmond repeats the name back. 

“What did you need?” “Ah nothing, came to introduce myself, most of the young ones are too bothersome to make talk with, too prideful for how little they know.”

Desmond hummed in agreement. “They have yet to see real combat, it is expected.”

“That is true, we are in peaceful times”

Both watched the bickering novices. Some lying on the grass, some showing each other around rather than resting.

It was somewhat nice to see them carefree. The small amount of youth back in his compound rarely had time to have fun, they had to do their tasks to survive not live…

“I'll tell you what, show me your skills in the ring today and I'll see if I can put in a word with Marsillio and the rest to get you out of this drag”

Desmond turned to Vincesco with a slight surprise, that would help a lot actually. “I was that impressive at swinging my sword left to right?”

The man chuckles “Nah, hard to make the mundane look good. But I can see from your footwork you know your stuff, we need more battle-ready men and I need fewer kids to babysit.”

“I appriciate that Vincesco…”

“Dont thank me yet, If one of them wipes you into the ground I won't have anything to tell at all” 

Desmond shook his head. He would like to see them try.

[aceatoerbny]

just finished aa4. man what interesting themes and plot threads they introduced with so much story potential and such a fresh and interesting take on the format the first trilogy set up……can’t wait for it all to be fulfilled in the next two games!

[sabraeal]

so, like... do you think Sorata is actually pushing to swap the main couple in AnS to Obi and Shirayuki? I know that being in this corner of the fandom imparts some bias and that ships don't have to be canon to be good, but Shirayuki and Zen have seen each other, what, twice in the past 50 chapters? It doesn't really seem like she's terribly interested in maintaining their dynamic.

It has been forever since I had the chance to dig into my asks, so let the record show, this ask came to me pre-ch 136, and I'm glad I sat on it because I think I would have given a much more equivocal response in August, and now I'm like:

Sorata did not give us 28 pages of Obi feelings for me to doubt her now 🤣