#At least not manually loop there... At least this is how I see it but alas whatevs

[torchstelechos]

Hmm, so Siffrin really fears rejection at the heart of the issue. Which I can only assume is why the loops looped during what they considered "rejections" whether their own or others, specifically him looping during bad touch (Isabeau rejects Siffrin) and the sus event (Siffrin rejecting Odile) etc etc.

[fa1rydr3ams]

“Holiday Wars”

Submissive Loki Laufeyson x Dom Gn! Reader

| cw: nsfw, humor, mild language, enemies-to-lovers tension

| a/n: day 19 of ficmas check the ficmas tab on the pixie list for the next update!

| wc: n/a

The moment you stepped into the main floor of Stark Tower, you could feel the tension thick enough to rival the snowstorm raging outside. Strings of half-hung lights dangled precariously from the ceiling, and boxes of ornaments were scattered across the room like abandoned chess pieces in a game you weren’t winning. Loki stood in the middle of the chaos, arms folded, his sharp features set in an expression of pure disdain.

“You call this festive?” he drawled, his British lilt dripping with derision as he gestured at the half-decorated room. “It looks like a reindeer vomited on the walls.”

“And yet you’re the one standing there doing absolutely nothing to fix it,” you shot back, dropping the box of decorations you’d been hauling onto the nearest table. You rolled your shoulders, already exhausted, though it wasn’t from the decorating. Babysitting Loki was more draining than fighting off an alien invasion.

He smirked, the kind that made you want to hurl a candy cane at his stupidly perfect face. “I wasn’t aware that babysitting included manual labor. Though I must say, you do look fetching covered in tinsel.”

You glanced down at the stray strand of gold tinsel clinging to your sweater and brushed it off with a scowl. “If I wanted sass, I’d hang out with Tony,” you muttered. “Now, are you actually going to help, or are you just going to stand there and critique my hard work?”

Loki arched a brow, his pale green eyes glittering with amusement. “Why would I sully my hands with such trivialities when you seem so adept at it?”

The audacity of this man. You closed the distance between the two of you, tilting your chin up to meet his gaze, heat prickling at the base of your neck. “You’re on house arrest, Laufeyson. You don’t exactly have the luxury of picking and choosing your duties.”

“I am hardly a servant,” he replied, the haughty tone of a prince slipping into his words. “And I have no intention of wasting my divine talents on—”

“Divine talents?” you interrupted, snorting. “You’ve been stuck here for weeks, and the only thing you’ve managed to do is annoy the hell out of everyone.”

His smirk widened. “A skill I’ve perfected, wouldn’t you agree?”

For a brief moment, the two of you stood locked in a silent battle, the twinkling lights around you casting playful shadows on his annoyingly sharp cheekbones. The air between you was charged, not unlike the static that zaps your fingertips when handling too much tinsel. And maybe, just maybe, there was something more simmering beneath the irritation.

“Fine,” you said, breaking the silence with an exaggerated sigh. “If you’re not going to help, you can at least hand me the ornaments while I fix your disaster of a garland.”

“Ordering me around now, are we?” he mused, taking a leisurely step closer. His voice dipped slightly, rich with suggestion. “I wonder what else you think you can command of me.”

You refused to give him the satisfaction of blushing, though his words sent a shiver down your spine. Plucking an ornament from the table, you shoved it into his hands. “Start with this. Then we’ll see how useful you really are.”

He leaned in, his lips quirking at the corners, his voice barely a whisper. “Oh, I assure you, darling. I can be very… useful.”

Your breath hitched, the space between you shrinking with every passing second. But you weren’t about to let Loki win this little game. Not yet.

You squared your shoulders, refusing to back down from the sultry edge in his voice or the spark dancing in his eyes. Instead, you smirked, stepping even closer until you were nearly toe-to-toe with him.

“Is that so?” you said, your tone light and teasing as you reached up and looped the end of a stray ribbon dangling from his collar around your finger. You gave it a playful tug, forcing him to dip his head just slightly. “Then prove it.”

Loki’s grin faltered for a fraction of a second—just enough for you to see the flicker of surprise before he quickly masked it with his usual arrogance. “You truly are a tyrant, aren’t you?” he murmured, his voice softer now, laced with something you couldn’t quite name.

“Takes one to know one,” you replied, releasing the ribbon with a flick of your wrist. You stepped around him, brushing your shoulder against his arm as you went. “Now, hang the damn ornament.”

You didn’t have to look back to know he was watching you. You could feel his gaze burning into your back, the weight of it sending a thrill through you that you tried very hard to ignore. Loki Laufeyson might be infuriating, but he was also intoxicating in the worst way possible.

You busied yourself with the garland, trying to focus on fluffing the greenery and securing the strands that had come loose. But the sound of his footsteps behind you, slow and deliberate, made your hands falter.

“You know,” he said, his voice dangerously close to your ear, “I never thought mortal holidays could be so… stimulating.”

The way he said the word made your stomach flip. You turned your head slightly, finding him much closer than you expected, his breath warm against your skin.

“Careful, Loki,” you warned, though your voice lacked the bite you intended. “You might actually start enjoying yourself.”

He chuckled, low and rich, and the sound sent a shiver down your spine. “Oh, I think I already am.”

The tension between you crackled like a yule log in the fire, and you knew you were walking a razor-thin line. Still, you couldn’t help but lean into it, just a little. Maybe it was the holiday spirit—or maybe it was the way his smirk softened ever so slightly when you met his gaze.

“You missed a spot,” you murmured, pointing to a bare patch of garland just above his shoulder.

“Did I?” he replied, but he made no move to step away.

“Mm-hmm.” You tilted your head, eyes locking with his as a daring smile curved your lips. “Guess you’ll have to fix it.”

The room felt too warm all of a sudden, the faint hum of Christmas music in the background fading as the space between you grew smaller.

As Loki's eyes sparkled with mischief, he slowly raised his hands, his fingers brushing against the garland. "I suppose I have no choice but to rectify this situation," he whispered, his voice low and husky, his breath dancing across your skin.

With a deliberate slowness, he began to weave the garland around the banister, his hands moving with an oddly sensual precision that made your heart skip a beat. You couldn't help but notice the way his fingers stroked the greenery, the gentle tug of the ribbon as he secured it in place.

The air was thick with tension, the silence between you punctuated only by the soft rustle of the garland and the distant sound of holiday music. You felt like you were drowning in the depths of his eyes, the blue seeming to darken.

Loki's gaze never wavered, his eyes holding yours captive as he stepped closer, the distance between you shrinking to almost nothing. You could feel the warmth of his body, the whisper of his breath on your skin, and your pulse began to pound in your veins like a drum.

The room seemed to melt away, leaving only the two of you, suspended in a world of sparkling lights and forbidden desire. And as Loki's hand brushed against yours, sending a jolt of electricity through your body, you knew that this holiday decorating was about to get a whole lot more interesting.

As Loki's hand touched yours, a spark of electricity ran through your body, and you felt your heart skip a beat. The garland, once the focus of your attention, was now forgotten, dangling limply from the banister as you both stood there motionless.

You held Loki's gaze, your eyes locked onto his, as you reached out and wrapped your fingers around his wrist, holding him in place. His eyes sparkled with a mix of surprise and anticipation, but he tried to pull away, a faint pout forming on his lips.

"Let me go," he said, his voice low and petulant, but his eyes betrayed him, flashing with a hint of excitement. You didn't release your grip, instead, you tugged him closer, your fingers tightening around his wrist.

"I think we've decorated enough for one day," you said, your voice low as you leaned in, your breath whispering against his ear. Loki's eyes rolled back, his eyelids fluttering closed, and he let out a soft sigh, his body relaxing into yours.

But as your lips brushed against his, he jerked back, his eyes snapping open, a look of mock indignation on his face. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice trembling with a mixture of annoyance and desire.

You just smiled, your lips curling up in a small grin, and pulled him back in, your tongue probing deeper into his mouth. Loki's body responded, his hands coming up to push against your chest, but his fingers curled into your shirt, holding on instead of pushing away.

As you deepened the kiss, Loki's eyes fluttered closed, his body melting into yours, his lips parting to allow your tongue to explore his mouth. But even as he surrendered to the kiss, he still tried to maintain a semblance of control, his hands gripping your shirt, his fingers digging into your skin.

You could feel the tension in his body, the conflicting desires warring within him, and you knew that he was torn between wanting to resist and wanting to give in. But as the kiss grew more intense, Loki's resistance began to crumble, his body relaxing into yours, his lips softening, his tongue tangling with yours in a sensual dance.

As you broke apart for a moment, gasping for air, Loki's eyes locked onto yours, his gaze burning with a fierce desire, but his lips still curled into a pout. "I didn't want to do that," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, but his eyes told a different story.

You smiled, a low, husky laugh escaping your lips as you gazed into Loki's eyes. "Is that true?" you teased, your voice barely above a whisper. "Your mouth certainly didn't make it seem that way." You leaned in, your lips brushing against his ear, sending shivers down his spine. "It seemed like you were enjoying yourself, like you couldn't get enough."

Loki's eyes flashed with a mix of anger and desire, his face inches from yours. "Shut up," he muttered, his voice low and rough, but his body betrayed him, leaning in closer, his lips almost touching yours.

You chuckled, a soft, seductive sound, and Loki's eyes seemed to glaze over, his pupils dilating as he gazed into yours. You could see the conflict within him, the war between his desire for control and his desire for surrender. And you knew that you were winning, that he was slowly giving in to his desires.

Without another word, you leaned in, your lips capturing his in a fierce, possessive kiss. Loki's resistance crumbled, his body melting into yours, his lips softening, his tongue tangling with yours in a sensual dance. This time, there was no hesitation, no holding back. Loki gave in, completely and utterly, his body surrendering to yours, his lips, his tongue, his every fiber responding to your touch.

As you broke apart, gasping for air, Loki's eyes never left yours, his gaze burning with a fierce, unspoken desire. You could see the surrender in his eyes, the acceptance of his own desires, and it only fueled your own passion.

Without a word, you took Loki's hand, pulling him towards the couch. He followed, his eyes never leaving yours, his body seeming to move of its own accord. You pushed him down onto the couch, his back against the cushions, and then you sat down on his lap, straddling him with your legs.

Loki's eyes flashed with surprise, but then his gaze dropped to your lips, and he seemed to forget all about his surroundings. His hands came up, wrapping around your waist, pulling you closer to him. You could feel his heat, his desire, and it only made you want him more.

You leaned in, your lips brushing against his ear, sending shivers down his spine. "You're so cute like this," you whispered, your voice husky with desire.

Loki's eyes flashed with a mix of surprise and desire, but he didn't push you away. Instead, he seemed to melt into your touch, his body relaxing into yours. His hands tightened around your waist, pulling you closer, and you could feel his erection pressing against your thigh.

You smiled, a slow, inviting smile, and then leaned in, your lips capturing his in a fierce, possessive kiss. Loki's body arched up, his hips pressing against yours, and you could feel the desire building between you, a desire that threatened to consume you both.

As you kissed, you could feel Loki's hands moving, his fingers tracing the curve of your spine, the swell of your hips. You could feel his need, and thought he wouldn’t admit it, he wanted you. You were lost in the moment, lost in the sensation of Loki's body beneath yours, lost in the taste of his lips, the feel of his skin.

You pulled away one last time, your hand pulling through his long black hair, looking directly into his eyes. He looked between each eye, his gaze darting back and forth, and you could see him trying to focus his attention. For a moment, you just stared at each other, the only sound the heavy breathing and the pounding of your hearts.

Loki's eyes were glazed, his pupils dilated, and his face was flushed with desire. You could see the desire written all over his face, the need, the want, the surrender. And in that moment, you knew that you had him, completely and utterly.

You leaned in, your lips brushing against his ear, and whispered, "Good job, Loki." The words sent a shiver down his spine, and he smiled goofily, his eyes never leaving yours. You could see the energy, and anticipation in his eyes.

suggestions for other fandoms I should write for after ficmas is over?

dividers by @anitalenia !

[yoneda-emma]

This is sort of an indirect addition to this ask maddy got about learning rust, I haven't actually gotten to learning rust yet but I do want to talk about an incident I recently had with python (I think with C the reasons why you'd rather not use it are fairly obvious) So recently tried to implement a basic matrix class in python, and since I wanted to do a whole thing where I did my own implementations of numerical optimization and more general linear algebra stuff, I tried to do it "properly" and make it "robust" and everything, but without installing any external libraries.

And to me, that obviously involved making sure that the matrix is formatted sensibly, i.e. that a matrix contains m rows of n numbers each. This seemed like a very obvious thing you should do in any serious piece of code, since if the contents of a matrix are accidentally formatted in a weird way, then you might get errors, or, significantly worse, python might just decide that it "can handle them" anyways and do some really unintuitive dumb stuff that's really hard to debug. (See this older post of mine for an example of how the pythonic willingness to work with bad inputs leads to really weird unintuitive behavior).

Turns out this is not something you can do directly in python without installing external type checking libraries! And I didn't want to just loop through all the contents and check their type individually during object creation, since that felt incredibly slow, stupid and inefficient. It didnt help that my algorithms theory exam was coming up soon, which meant I was thinking about asymptotic runtimes all day.

And so I was like "well surely at least it's easy to check for a matrix being a 2D array with consistent row sizes". However, at this point, with dawning horror, I came to a realization:

and at this moment I could just feel pretty much all of my remaining "python is easy to work with" attitude turning into dust and soaring away in the wind. If anyone here knows a way to enforce a given argument being a 2D array of numbers with consistent row sizes that doesn't involve O(n*m) overhead during object creation and that can be implemented in python using only internal modules (no external type checkers that need to be installed manually first) please tell me lol

[thefreakandthehair]

@eddiemonth prompt, oct 12th: Soulmates | Eight - Sleeping at Last | Perceptive a/n: steddie, soulmates au (phillia + eros). eddie & jeff as platonic soulmates, stobin soulmates mentioned always. un-betaed because I’m challenging myself to write these in under an hour. read on ao3 | link to masterpost on ao3

Soulmates, Eddie scoffs to himself as he doodles in his notebook at the back of the coffee shop. Bullshit. 

He knows it’s actually not, that people walk around every day hand-in-hand with beautiful, swirling tattoos that grow in intricacy and detail the more time they spend with their soulmate. Most days, Eddie doesn’t mind that the simple snake design on the inside of his wrist never so much as slithers, but today? Today, he minds. 

Dating in the world of soulmates is challenging. He tries to just focus on how feels, on if the person sitting across from him is compatible with his lifestyle, on if there’s any kind of spark, but it’s inevitable that at some point, both he and his date look down at their wrists to find nothing. 

His coffee date had gone well enough but, like always, was a dead-end. How many paths can one person try before the destination seems moot? 

So he sits and scribbles in his notebook, hoping that perhaps staying in the coffee shop rather than returning home to the apartment he shares with Jeff will provide some inspiration. That tattoo, the one that’d started as a small star on his ankle, has grown into a whirling galaxy since moving in with Jeff– a philia connection if he’s ever seen one. But if his eros tattoo won’t build upon itself naturally, he’ll do it manually with a tattoo gun. 

It also helps that the barista is perhaps the most beautiful man Eddie’s ever laid eyes on, enough so that it’s… actually a little intimidating, if he’s being honest with himself. Intimidating to the point that Eddie’s yet to approach him for a refill since the girl who’d given him his first sugary abomination finished her shift. Besides, the mystery barista must’ve already found his soulmate. His entire left arm, from fingertip to at least his elbow, is covered in delicate, colorful designs that twist and wind about his skin, curling around each finger and looping gracefully up his arm.

I can still enjoy the view, he justifies to himself, taking a sip from his cup and remembering for the third time that it’s empty. 

He sighs and sets it back down, clearing his throat. It’s as good a time as any, he supposes, as he stands from his little corner table by the window and strolls across the room to the counter. 

“Hi, what can I get started for ya?” The barista asks, his name tag now visible and proclaiming Steve. 

“Uh,” he starts. “Salted caramel mocha, please?” 

Steve’s smile is bright and he leans on the counter, leveling it straight in Eddie’s direction. All Eddie wanted was a refill on his sweet treat disguised as coffee and instead, it feels as though he’s smacked in the head.

“Comin’ right up,” Steve replies, turning around to get his order going. “You’ve been sitting over there for a while, how’d that date go?” He asks with the confidence and familiarity of someone Eddie’s known his entire life. 

“Watching me, were you?” 

Steve grins over his shoulder, shrugging. “A little.” 

“I’m flattered. Well, I’m still here and they’re not so that oughta tell you everything.” 

Steve hums and turns back to the machine, finishing up his order. Eddie’s heart beats rhythmically, somehow slowing and quickening all at once and his lungs feel buoyed by something more powerful than his breath. When Steve faces him again and hands him his cup, exchanging it for the empty one in Eddie’s hand, they both freeze. 

Eddie’s snake begins to move. 

A clear, serpentine movement at the center as small, geometric lines begin to appear in the background. 

“Holy shit,” Eddie whispers, setting his full cup down so he doesn’t spill it. 

“Yeah, holy shit.” Steve places his other arm on the counter, the blank one, and Eddie sees that it’s not blank. There’s a small, barebones tree on his forearm whose leaves begin to blossom and shake, different shades of greens and oranges appearing before his eyes. 

“But– your other arm?” Eddie chokes out, eyes flickering between his own wrist, Steve’s forearm, and Steve’s other, fuller arm. 

“Philia. That’s Robin. But this one, this is eros.” Steve smiles again, matching the one Eddie can feel spreading across his own face as he looks up from his forearm. “I’m Steve.”

Steve smiles again, matching the one Eddie can feel spreading across his own face as he looks up from his forearm. Eddie looks in wonderment, searching for any sign of lie or trickery in Steve’s eyes and finds nothing but warmth and familiarity. 

“I’m Eddie.”

[r0tt3n-ruzt]

Fratricide

c!crimeboys angst fic where Wilbur loses his mind and attempts a murder suicide with tommy. also a pinch of bedrock boys and clingy duo. hurt a little bit of comfort if you look at it from an angle. might be a bit ooc.

REBLOGS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: attempted murder, physical abuse, implied sh, suicidal ideations, suicide attempt?, guns

It was late at night; this always happens late. When he had nothing to do, nothing else to think about. At first Tommy could handle it at first it was only once in a while but as time went on hope for a better future slowly left Wilbur. It wasn't too obvious when it had started happening but clear signs of Wilbur working himself more and more in desperation to find something, anything, to give him hope. More and more Wilbur had changed to slowly become a shell of himself Tommy could barely recognize. If it wasn't for his face staying the same, he'd probably mistake him for a stranger, or maybe he would know it was him.

But this wasn't the Wilbur tommy knew this wasn't the man the boy had looked up to as a leader. Not just because of his change of clothes but how his strong high held dignity and personality crumbled week after week as they spent their lives rotting away in a dusty cave. They didn't sit there but it seemed just as effective as sitting down and letting the earth take them. At least that's what Wilbur said, what Wilbur always said.  What he always said when the late hours left him with either no work or no energy to finish it. When he had time to sit and pity himself for the man he'd become and for all that he lost.

Tommy tried to keep positive about this, he tried hard to keep hope, he was stubborn, maybe too much for his own good. He kept talking and talking about his hope until he sounded like a broken record playing on loop until someone manually stopped it. He didn't know if he was doing it out of desperation or genuinely believing whatever words came out of his mouth anymore, he couldn't recognize it, he knew the feeling all too well but had too much pride to let himself realize it slowly consumed him day by day, he wouldn't let himself be vulnerable no not at a time like this.

So, when he saw Wilbur again talking to himself in the dingy cave he called a room he took only a second before walking in. he didn't know what he'd say he didn't know what he'd do he just went in, it was better to think later then overthink it now. Wilbur turned his head to look at Tommy, he knew Wilbur well, he was proud of it, he read him well so he thought, but this was a time he couldn't, a time where Wilbur seemed to be unreadable. Dark eyes staring into Tommy's blues, they were slightly wide, the man seemed maybe shocked to see the boy but it quickly went away as he got up walking to tommy.

Rough hands gripped Tommy's shoulders, he looked up at the other who stared down at him looking like he was hesitating to say something. “Tommy… Tommy I need to talk to you” without waiting for an answer Wilbur put a hand on Tommy's back pushing him further into his room. Tommy opened his mouth to speak but was immediately interrupted by Wilbur whose demeanor seemed to change in mere seconds. Going from seemingly calm to now having shaking hands holding a death grip on the poor boy.

“Wilbur what the fuck is this, get your hands off of me!” Tommy yelled slightly, he felt slightly scared he'd never seen Wilbur like this before, he knew him for so long yet never once had he seen Wilbur this bad. Tommy tried to pull away which only earned him a tighter grip holding him in place. Wilbur got onto one knee to level with Tommy staring him eye to eye. “Just listen to me, Tommy just listen, you trust me, right? You trust me, you're my right-hand man tommy, so you trust me "Wilbur's shaky breath reeked of cigarettes, a horrid smell that made tommy’s nose wrinkle up.

Harsh fingers digging into Tommy's skin distracted him from answering for a second, they were definitely going to leave a bruise. “Yea yea I trust you Wilbur now what the fuck is your problem. You're freaking me out mate” a hand quickly went to grasp Wilbur’s arm trying to pry him away, the man winced in response and pulled his arm away letting go of Tommy's poor shoulder, the other hand still gripping on but not as tightly. “T-tommy, tommy do you want to die with me?” Tommy's heart dropped when he heard those words, in all his life he'd never expected to be told anything close to this but here he was with Wilbur smiling at him while saying it.

It was a soft smile, it looked like Wilbur was trying to comfort Tommy about the idea but it backfired heavily. The boy's breathing increased rapidly and he backed away slightly from the man “no, Wilbur are you joking with me?! Tell me you’re fucking joking” “I’m not tommy, I’m not there’s nothing left for us here, listen to me tommy” Wilbur grabbed tommy’s wrists holding them front of himself, a tight grip on them maybe a bit worse than how his grip on his shoulder were, he needed him to stay close. “You and me, in here, dead with the gun, we have nothing left Tommy, you'll see Tubbo! Think about that, he's not going to make it Tommy, well see him on the other side it's okay, Tommy we have nothing we lost "

Tommy pulled at his arms trying so very hard to get away from the man who was clearly deep into some kind of mania. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, he couldn't believe who he was hearing this from. “Wilbur you’re fucking insane let go of me!” “Come on Tommy we lost; you know this. We can't get l’manburg back, we can't live like this, it's our only option, you'll be happy tommy, we'll both be happy.” no no no this couldn't be true, could it? No way Wilbur was talking like this, he was their leader so why was he the one so quick to give up.

They could fight, they always fought, it was all they'd known, so why can't they anymore. Tommy knew they couldn't speak with Schlatt to try to persuade him, he knew the man as well as he needed to. Schlatt was a simple man defined by simple things. Yet, he was as evil as he was simple, he had it in the marrow of his bones rooted from the cavity he called his head. There was no talking with this man, at least none that could end in a fair or moral deal. So, they had to fight, they just had to.

There was no other option for Tommy, he needed to fight, he'd fought again and again and again and he was ready to do it again to keep what he fought for. He wasn't just about to give up all he knew for one simple set back. “Wilbur were not going to fucking kill ourselves we can do this! It isn't our only option; our only option is winning! We've fought before so why is it any different now? "Tommy pushed Wilbur away, freeing his hands from the other's grasp. Wilbur just stared down at Tommy, he didn't have an answer yet he seemed dead set on his idea of going the coward’s way out.

Maybe he did have an answer and was just holding it from Tommy, maybe for better or for worse. “Wilbur please just calm the fuck down this isn’t-... I don’t... I don't want to die Wilbur! I'm not going to die and you aren't either!” Yet Wilbur stood there, staring down at tommy. His breathing was rapid and short each breath seeming rushed. The room was quiet with the two staring at each other both trying to decide what to do, then one got an idea. Wilbur’s face lit up and he walked towards Tommy, who promptly walked away cornering himself.

“Here tommy look” the other spoke softly, his voice shaky and unsure. Wilbur opened his coat, reaching in and pulling out a handgun. It was an old one, but worked just as well as a new one. A hand harshly grabbed Tommy by the hair pulling him closer, the barrel of the gun held too close for comfort to Tommy's chin. “Look tommy you me here and now, okay? Its-... it's going to be okay it’s all going to be okay it’s just a second just calm down this is for the both of us tommy”. The gun's cold metal was pressed against Tommy's chin, he was screaming and crying at this point, swearing Wilbur out begging him to knock this off.

He tried to push the gun away from himself as Wilbur continued talking sweetly to the boy trying to reassure him that this was for the best. This was what they needed, he said over and over again. “Wilbur! Let me go! You’re fucking crazy! I don’t want to die Wilbur please fucking stop!” Tommy cried, he didn't want this, this wasn't the Wilbur he knew this couldn't be him, he wanted to leave so very badly. He should have left Wilbur to rot in his own self-pity, leave him for the night, let him do whatever he wanted just as long as he wasn't dragged into it.

Tears started to form in his eyes as he fought back against Wilbur who was trying hard to keep the gun in the right angle. As they fought, footsteps approached them before a voice was heard behind them at the door way. “Heh!?” Wilbur’s head snapped around looking at whoever it was, his attention to Tommy dropping instantly, letting the boy get a chance at escaping his grasp. Technoblade stood at the doorway staring in at the two.

A sword held tightly in his hand, ready to attack at any moment. When he saw the gun in Wilbur’s hand aimed at Tommy, he didn't take much time to grab the man prying it away from him. Wilbur didn't put up much of a fight against techno, losing very quickly. “What the hell is going on here?” techno yelled looking back at Tommy who looked petrified to say the least. “He was trying to fucking kill me!” the boy yelled pointing at Wilbur who stood on the other side of techno leaning on whatever ‘furniture’ they had, he looked as if he'd fall over at any moment, yet he stared wide eyed at the two of them his gaze mostly falling on tommy who was then blocked by techno.

 Tommy wasn't on the best terms with techno, after what had happened in Manburg with Tubbo he felt a feeling of distrust for the man. “Leave it in the pit” he was told, but he couldn't, yet in a moment like this when before he almost loathed seeing techno at times he was glad he was here. He hated it at the same time though, he hated he had to be saved from someone he called his own brother. It sat sour in his throat, which was dry from screaming, he hated feeling so vulnerable, he hated being scared, he hated that he cried and screamed for help.

He was big man Tommyinnit so why did he have to be so fucking scared of Wilbur, of a man who could barely keep himself up. A dirty unforgiving mess of skin and bones he should have taken the man down with ease yet he couldn't. He was scared, too scared. Scared of hurting Wilbur, scared of being hurt, scared of Wilbur. He shouldn't have been not even in a sense of bravery. Wilbur was his leader, his brother, he was his right-hand man and has been through thick and thin. Why did it have to be him was all Tommy could think, it clouded his head and for a bit made him ignore what the others were saying.

Everything happened so fast he didn't even know how to process it all. “Tommy!” techno yelled gaining Tommy's attention once again, he reminded himself to keep his composer and looked at techno. “You need to leave tommy I’m going to have a talk with Wilbur” tommy took one last glance at Wilbur before hesitantly booking it for the door running away. He didn't want to be there anymore, not when his own brother was trying to kill him. He ran to where Tubbo was. The boy laid asleep in his bed bandages covering most of his face and body, it was a sickening sight but Tubbo was all Tommy wanted to see.

He remembered what Wilbur said before, it couldn't have been true right? Tubbo was going to make it out there just fine. He slowly got down lying next to him, he wasn't going to sleep that night, he knew that well enough, he couldn't help but look around the room constantly in case Wilbur came back. “Bullshit” he told himself “This is all bullshit” he couldn't believe any of this. He just wanted to be happy with Wilbur. All he wanted was to be happy. Maybe one day he'd get there, one day soon he hoped.

That he’d live to see a day he didn't have to fight anymore, a day he could learn to live with peace. It wasn't something easy to imagine, fighting was all he'd known but maybe one day. He smiled slightly, staring at the ceiling thinking about all these silly ideas. 

[cozyenigma]

Maintenance

HULLO

Word Count- 1263

Request?- Yes!

Summary- Life goes on, even out here. Unfortunately that also meant all the more inconvenient aspects.

Warnings- None

"Hand me that socket wrench?"

You weren't entirely sure why he asked for your help on this. Mark was more than capable of the usual maintenance a ship this size demanded by himself. Aside from his… quirks his work was impeccable. Hell, you could probably find half a dozen other things that needed your attention more than handing him tools. You didn't mention it.

"This one?" You held one out to him, low enough that he could see it with the mass of machinery he was under.

"That'll work."

As he reaches out to grab it, his fingers skim along your palm. It's just for a second, hardly any contact at all. Still you startle, accidentally jerking the wrench back a bit.

"Sorry," you hurried to push it back into his hand, feeling ridiculous.

Your only response is a quick thanks, Mark quickly going back to his work. Mentally you slapped yourself. It was ridiculous to be this jumpy around one of your crew. You were their captain for crying out loud, this wasn't even appropriate. Why did you even say yes to this?

Apparently, Mark had been banned from using the power tools. For what reason you couldn't actually get out of him but the padlock on the storage cabinet they were kept in was enough of an answer. So, much to Mark's annoyance, he was forced to use exclusively manual tools. He'd grabbed you on your way to the bridge, pushing the old toolbox into your hands. The head engineer wouldn't hear any arguments. True, it wasn't technically your shift on the bridge but still.

Mark called your name, insistent. With a start you realized he had been for a while now.

"Sorry what?"

"I said this one's too big, can you hand me the half inch?" Then after a beat, "Are you okay? You seem… distracted."

"I'm fine," you focus on finding the tool he needs, ignoring how the man has his head at such an awkward angle to try and look your way. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"… everything," you said, keeping it vague. Unhelpful.

There were way too many ways that he could interpret that. The journey, the colony you were supposed to be leading, the loops. Plenty of actual, real world issues that could be occupying your mind. Certainly not your childish crush on the man. Really, it wasn't out of the blue that you found yourself getting closer to him. The adventure, the tears, the whole thing lead to an easy camaraderie you treasured. Or at least you'd thought it was just that. This, now? This didn't feel easy.

As you dig around in the tool box there's a dull thud, a muttered curse, and then the sound of fabric against metal as Mark worked his way out from under the machinery. You felt your face burn. While you were handy enough to fix some basic software issues you weren't familiar with the hardware. At all.

"Sorry," you apologize, scowling at the tool box like it was at fault, "can't find the right-"

"Tell me what's really wrong."

Your head shoots up and suddenly Mark was much closer than you realized. Were you that obvious? He was crouched down right next to you, brows furrowed and tapping his fingers against his knee.

"Nothing is-"

"Cut the shit, captain, I can read you like a book. Hell, you're a picture book." He ignores your insulted scoff. "You're distracted, you're fidgety as hell, and you're avoiding me like the plague."

"What?" You couldn't keep the surprise out of your voice and Mark's expression sours. "I haven't been avoiding you, I have a whole ship to run, Mark."

"Uh huh," the engineer seemed less than convinced. "And I'm sure you've got a good reason for assigning completely opposite shifts for us? I'm a night owl but this is a little ridiculous."

"The ship's been through it!" You said. Even you were able to pick up how defensive you sounded but it wasn't like that! "Just the small stuff will take a week or so not to mention trying to get the Invincible ready for planet fall-"

"Captain you haven't even been eating lunch with everyone," Mark cuts in, words quick and snappy, "and I remember coming in for breakfast and seeing you running right out. At the same time."

"Mark it isn't like that-"

"Well what is it like?" He throws his hands up. "Just tell me! This whole thing is just because you," he pokes you, none too gently at that, "haven't said anything and you clearly have a problem with me. So spill it."

On some level, you knew he was just frustrated. Probably due in part to the odd shifts you'd been putting him on and the resulting lack of sleep. But still something inside you wrankled at his words. It tugged at things that shouldn't be. Or maybe it was just the fact that the last time he blamed you for something…

"My only problem with you right now is that you're being an asshole, Mark. Just drop it!"

Blinded by the dizzying sting of what was going through your head, you don't pay attention as you stand up. Your foot lands on the wrench, that wrong sized one you hadn't put back into the box. It slipped with a rough clatter. Suddenly your feet weren't underneath you. You see Mark's eyes go wide, trying to catch you. From his half crouched position, he doesn't have the leverage to actually pull you up. So he goes down with you.

The two of you crash into the floor. Hard. You can feel the pattern in the middle digging into your back. Your elbows stung, you knew you were gonna bruise where your shin caught the machinery. The weight on top of you was solid and heavy for a moment, just a moment, before Mark was scrambling up and off of you. You're left on the floor, staring up at him. The view was one you'd experienced only one other time.

But this time he offered you a hand. It was a quick thing, almost like he'd forgotten in the midst of the embarrassment. Probably embarrassment right? His face did seem a little red.

"You okay?" He asks, louder than he intended apparently as he follows with a quieter, "Sorry. For- yeah…"

All you could muster was a shake of the head. Not only was that whole thing almost straight out of a rom-com, you were uncomfortably reminded of what happened in the warp core. Your brain hadn't decided how you felt about all that still.

"Right, well…" Mark said, slowly letting go of your hand. You hadn't realized he was still holding it. "Sure you have something better to do than acting as assistant."

You open your mouth to deny it on reflex but Mark was already turning back to his work. Whatever it was, it had passed. Another beat of hesitation. You could tell him. The warp core and afterwards, how you hadn't meant to avoid him, how you were just trying to figure things out.

But you didn't.

Swallowing those poisonous apologies, you bid him a quick and stilted goodbye before retreating. The what ifs were too many. It could go over well but on the other hand… You tried to ignore how loudly your footsteps echoed off the metal floor. They beat at your ears in condemnation as you decided to leave things where they were.

The next shift you actually worked on, you made sure the power tools were ready and available for him.

[crescentfool]

i've been doing a bunch of tartarus runs in reload lately, and it got me thinking about how i miss certain ways FES's clunky gameplay can characterize minato… (ramble about the great clock mechanic + leveling up party members in reload vs fes under the cut)

when i got to yabbashah block in tartarus (block 3), i remember commending the developers for adding the great clock mechanic. it's a much more convenient way to keep party members at the protagonist's level- so when you think about p3 from the perspective of trying to make it easier for people to play, the mechanic succeeds in this respect.

but now that i'm in adamah block, and that i've done lots of my once-a-month tartarus runs… i think that i got a little too dependent on it, and the way that i played through reload feels like a vastly different experience from how i played FES.

in reload, my party's levels are very lopsided. minato, yukari, akihiko, mitsuru, and fuuka are all level 90+, meanwhile junpei and aigis are at level 79, and then… poor ken and koromaru are at 71 and 64 respectively. (i never got to have a great clock for them…)

meanwhile, in FES, my party's levels were much more evenly distributed and were at least level 90. i did all of this manually for every monthly tartarus run because i enjoyed having options available for the taratarus guardians and monthly operations.

with how i perceive minato, i feel that the way i played FES feels more in-line with his character than me dawdling around waiting for the great clocks in reload.

FES's gameplay loop left me with the very strong impression that minato has to work twice as hard as everyone else in SEES does. it makes sense because, yeah, he's the leader, but something about having minato run through tartarus multiple times with different groups of people just to make sure that they are adequately prepared speaks volumes about his character, to me.

and while the tired mechanic is present in reload to some degree, most notably with allowing you to freely raise your courage stat when you visit edogawa after school… the tiredness system doesn't hit the same way that FES does, i think.

the way your party members in FES will call it quits when they return to the entrance floor at tartarus when they're tired, versus minato, in spite of all his tiredness and sickness, still pushes through tartarus because it's his responsibility…. idk!!! i miss that! i feel like this really hammers home the difference between minato and the rest of SEES, how minato doesn't really see himself as a human with needs worth respecting as long as he's useful to someone.

i don't think that tartarus being tedious (in FES especially) is not what most people would describe as fun, and i can respect people thinking it's a slog. but, regardless of how it feels to play, it doesn't change that FES's gameplay loop is a fundamental building block in how i perceive minato…

of course, i do recognize that you can just opt to NOT use the great clock in reload (and it's great when players are offered the choice to not partake in mechanics)! i definitely think that if someone really wanted to, they could manually level up party members, but i do feel that kind of playstyle isn't necessarily "incentivized" to the type of people who are into playing games for Having a Good Time. it's kind of like… "why would you do that when there's a much more convenient option available to you."

in any case! despite my woes, i do want to emphasize that i'm glad that reload has a much more smoother gameplay loop than the original P3 did, because it does make the game more accessible to people. having played both FES and reload, it feels very strongly apparent to me how the core gameplay formula of persona has really been refined in the past 18 years (to think og p3 was 2006 and reload is 2024.. time flies!). and reload has made revisiting a story that i love so dearly much, much easier because the gameplay just bops!

at the same time, due to my "i miss characterization informed by weird and dated FES gameplay quirks" woes, i still think that playing FES is worthwhile. (really, i feel this way about all iterations of p3! i think it's worthwhile to see what each version and side media has to say even if it doesn't Land™ for you.) but i also understand why people wouldn't want to play it, so i will keep writing posts about things i liked from FES's gameplay because i'm still very fond of FES (especially in respects to minato. these mechanics are so telling about him!!!) 💪

[brainddeadd]

Day Four : Matt's POV

masterlist

This wasn’t supposed to be fun.

The plan was simple: play along, make you think I was into you, and after ten days, win the bet. Easy. Except four days in, I wasn’t just playing along—I was actually having fun.

You were trying your hardest to come off as the crazy, jealous girlfriend, and honestly? It was hilarious. No matter what you threw at me—possessive texts, territorial PDA, over-the-top jealousy—I couldn’t get enough.

It was like watching someone try to drive me away with the wrong user manual. And the best part? You were good at it. Too good.

The Text: Step One

When I saw your text this morning about cute waitresses, I laughed so hard I nearly dropped my phone. Most guys would’ve found it annoying or weird—hell, that was probably the point—but instead, it just made me want to see you more.

I replied instantly: “Lol. You worried about the waitstaff?”

It was supposed to be sarcastic, but when you sent back that angry face emoji, I knew you weren’t letting up today.

This was going to be fun.

Lunch: Step Two

I spotted you as soon as you walked into the burger joint, your grin just a little too bright and your kiss on the cheek just a little too dramatic. I was already onto your game, but damn, if it wasn’t kind of adorable.

You looped your arm through mine like you owned me. “I just love being so lucky that no other girl can have you,” you purred.

I had to bite back a laugh. It wasn’t what you were saying—it was how much effort you were putting into it. You weren’t trying to hide how ridiculous it was, and for some reason, that made it even more entertaining.

Then came the waitress.

You gave her the dirtiest side-eye I’ve ever seen, like you were ready to physically fight her over a condiment. “And make sure you bring the ketchup this time, okay, sweetheart?” you said, practically dripping venom on the last word.

I couldn’t help it—I burst out laughing. The waitress looked so confused, and I just shook my head. “You good over there?” I asked, amused.

You gave me this tight, satisfied smile. “Just making sure she knows what’s what.”

You were playing crazy so well it was almost impressive.

Instagram Jealousy: Step Three

While we waited for the food, you whipped out your phone and started scrolling Instagram—not subtly, of course. You shoved the screen in my face, fake outrage written all over you.

“Who’s that?” you demanded, zooming in on my cousin Jenna in one of my old photos.

For a second, I couldn’t even answer. Was this real?

“That’s… my cousin, Jenna.”

Your squint deepened, like you didn’t believe me. “Mmm-hmm. ‘Cousin.’ Sure.”

I snorted, trying and failing to hold back a laugh. “You’re unbelievable.”

You shot me a playful glare. “And you’re suspicious.”

God, you were making this way too easy. I wasn’t supposed to enjoy this, but watching you throw ridiculous fits over imaginary threats was easily the highlight of my day.

The Bar: Step Four

After lunch, I suggested we grab drinks at a local bar. You didn’t hesitate to say yes, and I knew that meant the act wasn’t over yet.

The second we stepped inside, you latched onto my arm like a barnacle, glaring at every woman who so much as glanced our way. You even shot the bartender a death stare, just to make things weird.

When the bartender asked what I wanted, you cut her off. “He’ll have a whiskey. And make sure you remember it’s our whiskey night.”

I lost it. I was laughing so hard I nearly cried. “You’re ridiculous.”

You crossed your arms, pretending to be serious. “Just protecting what’s mine.”

I grinned, loving every second of it. “Damn right, you are.”

The Goodbye: Trouble Has a New Name

By the end of the night, I should’ve been annoyed or fed up—or at least bored—but instead, I was counting the hours until I could see you again.

When we reached your door, I knew I should’ve just said goodnight and left. But instead, I leaned in and kissed your temple, enjoying the way you tensed, like you weren’t expecting it.

“See you tomorrow, trouble,” I murmured, grinning as I pulled back.

You stood there, arms crossed, glaring at me like you couldn’t believe I was still around. But instead of pushing me away, you looked… flustered. Like you were the one starting to fall.

I turned and walked away before I could do something dumb, like kiss you for real.

This was just supposed to be a bet. Ten days. Make you fall for me, win, and walk away.

So why did it feel like I was the one who was falling instead?

[mellowwhumps]

Whumperless Whump Event Day “everything else”: Domestic hurt/comfort || Accidentally poisoned || ALT PROMPT: Panic Attack || Temporary Amnesia || Fully unconscious

OCs: Cicadas (all) - 3.9K words

masterlist (for them only)

@whumperless-whump-event

——

After an admittedly extended trip, they were more than happy to return to the dull scenery of their ship rather than the vibrancy of the outside. Finishing their commission meant that they should be getting their worth as long as they submitted their evidence, which they most definitely had acquired. 

Right now, their goods were scattered in Lotti’s bag, the contents of the two glass jars clinking within, repetitive noise barely mentioned amidst all the conversations going on.

“Home, sweet home! Or as I read in a book, all aboard!” Kyrai exclaimed, more than rushing up the ramp. A little more hyper than usual, Lotti assessed, but normal in the current situation.

“Kai, this is neither a house nor a train.”

“You’re no fun. I saved you for the umpteenth time and this is how you repay me, Itaph?”

“First of all, you did not. Secondly, yes, actually.” Itaph smiled, as though waiting for something to happen. Of course it would.

Scenario starts: Kyrai gets a little annoyed, the conversation continues until shutdown time and the bi-weekly game night is utterly obliterated for the week. Still a joyous activity, though. Easy enough to assess.

Why wasn’t it, though? Lotti could barely come to any comprehensible conclusion about anything, at that very moment. It was as though their strength was being sapped out of them, which was…odd. She had just replenished her energy reserves a few days ago, which meant she wouldn’t need to do so again for at least half a month more. 

No warnings were showing on visuals. Nothing was wrong. Resume normal operations.

Lotti hurried to the ship’s control room, placing a hand on the touchpad. It should have been manually done, but that was the advantage of having her around, she supposed. She could see where every bit of current was linked to, and hence could divert and control it through her own system, or sap it completely out. The ship took flight with little problem apart from the heated commotion in the main quarters, because god forbid the crew ever sit down without issue. 

She triggered the notification for them to unbuckle their seatbelts after assessing the safety of doing so. The scenery in front of her was barely a blur, but they should be in decent range out of the planet. It was fine. 

The blare of some siren sounded in their head, piercing yet silent. She took a moment to glance around for the source of the noise. Just that small movement seemed to make the ship spin loops around her. Not a moment later, her visuals fully shut down, the world seeming almost darker than the endless space outside. 

Blinded, but she was the pilot. She couldn’t…She had to…she had to…

———

The ship lurched forward, throwing everyone askew. Zyx got up with a groan, rubbing her head as she fervently voiced some choice words. Hitting the wall was never a good start to any trip. 

Sighing, she stumbled her way to her feet, taking a quick survey of everyone. Nobody appeared to be harmed too badly, so no matter. It’s a short ways to the cabin room, barely five steps away from her current location. The place wasn’t that big.

“Idiot’i, what in universes are you doing, drive the damn ship properly!” The door was slammed open with little care. The person in front of her barely moved in response. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t sure the controls were being used.

Autopilot indicator. Not on.

“Um. Lotti?” She stepped closer, pressing a series of keys to toggle that option just in case before checking in. Upon nearing, it was clear the other was responding, though so softly that she had to strain her ears to hear.

“—Can’t.” Her voice was strangely robotic, despite it being decently human-sounding for the short period she’d known the other for. 

“Can’t what? Drive the ship? Did you forget or something, at least remember a few buttons, come on. And look at me, I’m talking to you.” Zyx grasped the other by the sides of her face, promptly flinching away with a hitched gasp. 

She could have cooked a proper meal there with how hot it was, so painfully scorching she only caught a glimpse of Lotti’s single, jet-black eye before her face was obscured by shadow once again. There was no light entering it at all, nothing to indicate functionality.

Zyx slammed her hand onto the intercom button. “Telios! All of you, pilot’s down. I repeat, pilot’s down!” She shouted, perhaps a little louder than needed. For emphasis. 

Almost immediately, the others rushed into the room, finally followed by Telios lugging the toolbox with them, panting as they stopped to catch their breath.

“What's going on?” Aelya asked first.

“Dunno. Critical malfunction or something. Don't touch her, by the way, she's burning up.” Zyx moved away from the chair, leaning against the wall in a pose that could hopefully convey nonchalance. 

Itaph joined her by the side. From her angle, she could see his hands were balled into fists behind his back. Well. She knew what that feeling of uselessness was like as well, she supposed. 

“Iot’i, can you blink for me?” Telios softly instructed, squatting to get a better viewpoint as they put on gloves. 

A second passed, then two. “UNABLE TO COMPUTE,” the voice coming from Lotti's body said, inhumanly uncanny. If the question itself was odd enough, then the answer was worse. Blinking was a simple thing to do, right? At least for her. 

Oh. She saw the problem now. 

Telios was speaking to themself, hands still lingering near Lotti's body but not quite getting close, the toolbox staying shut. Eventually, they put their hands down. “Iot'i, override code 29362, protocol E-two-five AUTO toggle off. I’m really sorry for this, but I’d, um, I’d like to—”

Lotti crashed to the floor and interrupted that thought process, a failed attempt to get out of the chair. Even so, she moved quickly, getting to a sitting position and shifting back. She unsheathed the gun by her side holster, pointing it forward with no clear target apart from the general direction of Telios, who froze in place. 

Lotti was strong. She shouldn’t have to fight blind, fight unfairly. It was quite the sorry sight to her, a person who would have done the same.

“Who are you?” Lotti demanded, “I’ll shoot if you don’t answer.” 

The room went quiet. Threats were very real, coming from her. Kyrai treaded on those glass shards, answering in turn. 

“Kyrai’is. That’s Telios you’re pointing your gun to, so you should put that away…ah, stay calm, please…” The gun shifted to point at them, its edge glinting.

Pause.

The shot fired. It just barely missed, grazing Kyrai’s clothes as it put a dent in the metal wall behind them. First step of asking someone to calm down was never to ask them directly to do so. She learnt that the hard way.

“I don’t know you. I repeat, who are you.” Though Lotti’s hands weren’t shaking, it was obvious that holding the gun up took a lot of effort. Too much. The scent of something burning wafted through the room, not helping the situation in the slightest. Zyx hoped it wouldn’t get worse. 

No use in hoping. She had to do something.

“You don’t remember, right?” She inquired, prompting no answer. “I tried to hit someone you know and you tackled me in our first meeting. In this place, I train with you on every alternate day. Name’s Oryizyx, or Zyx for short. I promise everything that happens next is to help you. You know that when I swear on something, I follow it, and if you can’t recall, now I’m telling ya.”

A wavering of the gun, though now pointing at her. “I…you’re familiar. I recall that happening. I…What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I function properly, I can’t function properly.”

It was terrifying, to know her life was in the hands of someone who could barely aim. It was worse to give anyone the shame of knowing they tried. She didn’t know Lotti’s past, not in the slightest, but she could at least spare her the regret of the present.

“We don’t know what’s wrong, but right now my friend here is going to help. They’ve helped you before, I think. What I do know is that you’re in safe hands. I promise I’ll keep watch, if that isn’t enough. Nobody’s going to try anything funny.”

In that moment, she wasn’t scared. Maybe the other could hear it, maybe some other force of nature showed mercy on both of them.

“…Alright.” And then, even more hesitantly as she lowered her gun, “I trust you.”

Job done. But that was merely the simplest part. 

Telios whispered a few things into her ear, instructions she could barely process amidst all the foreign terminology. She tried her best to relay it through voice, the typical way of using excessive gestures to get her point across rendered useless.

“…So. In short, just shut your systems fully down, my friend not-so forcefully drains your energy out, gives you some more, and you wake up fine and dandy. Got it?” 

Guilt was a terrible emotion, something utterly weak and unbefitting of a being like her. She had recollections of that feeling, even past those blurry memories that made up her childhood. 

Right now, it was churning in her being like waves within a stormy sea. There was no guarantee it would end up successful, the weeks of fixing any damaged wires and finding another energy source for Lotti to siphon from, the weeks that would later make hollow gaps in her database. 

It quite reminded her of her old ship being sent for upgrading every once in a while, leaving her vulnerable. Later on, it left Aelya susceptible as well, which was another thing altogether. But that was over long ago.

“Okay…okay.” Lotti relaxed, the gun clattering to the floor in front of her. 

Then, she was gone.

———

Aelyeau was awoken by the shuffling of bed sheets beside him. On any typical day, he’d have been a decently heavier sleeper, but not that day. Not for the past week, honestly; the culmination of a whole list of occurrences.

They asked him to keep watch and he still managed to fail at that. Wonderful.

Better him than anyone else, at least. A certain two people would have fainted on the spot, exaggeration warranted. The amount of times they’d tried to barge into the room was getting unreasonable. 

“Mor-night, Lotti! How’re you feeling?” Aelya asked, hoping his smile didn’t come out as too wide. 

“Systems operational, energy at full capacity. Though, I don’t find myself trusting that now. Mm. I take it that Telios was able to…”

“Wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. The workshop was locked up for ages.”

“How long was this ‘ages’?”

“Approximately two weeks, give or take a few days. I can fill you in—” The door promptly opened. “Never mind. Later.”

The rest of the crew poured into the room, some looking considerably more worn than others. In particular, Kyrai may as well have been dragging the resident mechanic, the way they could barely stand. Lotti stared at them in question.

“You forgot to check on them. You know they don’t sleep with work undone.”

Itaph interrupted. “In all fairness. They started it.”

“I can stay in stasis. The well-being of living things should be prioritised.”

Aelyeau opened his mouth to object, then decisively closed it. Once again, nobody was saying the things that mattered. If he continued it, he was only perpetuating the cycle.

“They were worried about you, Lotti,” he stated, “and Telios wouldn’t tell us anything. Maybe with the victim of your secrets in the room with us, you’d care to explain? I know you could—”

A sharp inhale. “—I’m sorry for using your override code! I shouldn’t be aware of it, I-I just needed you alert because the AUTO system actually doesn’t help at all and you—”

“Slow down. You don’t need to explain that breach, you’re forgiven. My privacy is a topic for another time. Do you understand what happened to me?”

“Um.” Clearly not expecting that, it would seem. Once upon a time, he would have acted the same. 

Telios continued, “A part of your energy reserves was incompatible with your processors, for some reason, so your systems tried to reject it but couldn’t. Which is…odd? You’re meant to accept most types of these things. Which means you got this source from the Outer Sector, which also means it wasn’t something you should have acquired, which…erm, begs the question?”

Aelyeau had the sinking feeling he knew what happened. But, like any rational approach to an inquiry, Lotti saw nothing wrong and spoke. 

“Spare batteries from Oryizyx’s ship.”

Behind the wall, footsteps echoed away. Aelyeau could barely turn the corner of the corridor before gasping for breath, the door to the small training room slamming shut, the lock clicking.

———

It wasn’t hard to see the signs, every single day. Oryizyx was never that angry, never to him. So frustrated. If Aelyeau told her he was the one who caused the demise of her most precious belonging, would she have been enraged at him as well? 

The place he knew she’d spent all those years in. Alone. The only thing she had, apart from some semblance of past memories.

The alternative to him not owning up was this. An inability to take the wheel, forcing herself to only ever resort to violence as an option. And now, when she had to do so, she could only stay uncomfortably quiet. It was either fury or fear. Certainly not this third thing, so foreign to everyone.

Even Kyrai was at a loss, the navigator unable to cooperate with her for directions, only giving the bare minimum. Aelyeau could almost hear the kettle whistling, the lid clattering, froth moments from reaching the top. He’d spent enough time with Itaph, after all. 

Because they were stranded here. Because he stranded her here.

The workshop wasn’t actually locked, but he remembered. He might always remember it. Walking into the room to ask for a small, admittedly unneeded favor; seeing his friend sprawled on the work desk, chest open, a mishmash of wires and exterior connections tangled up. Unmoving, unseeing. Helpless. Almost as if frozen in time. 

He could see why Kyrai never entered, prefering to pace about the common room. It made him want to leave too, the request in his head immediately forgotten.

He was already standing up and taking a step forward before Telios grabbed the hem of his shirt. One gentle tug before promptly letting go, their arms falling by their side, their shoulders tense. 

Gently, he sat down beside her, scooting a bit to get closer and leaning his head on their shoulder. No sound but circuitry humming, the outside quiet even with the door ajar.

He remembers stopping by the galley and finding Itaph, cooking alone as always. Having awoken early that day, he thought they might need some company. They didn’t ask about it, surprisingly, focusing on stirring whatever it was they were making: yet another form of silence. Itaph told him, then. 

When Telios talked about the things they liked, they would be a completely different person altogether. Something cheerful, innocent, confident. There was something bittersweet in his voice, something that told him there was more to it. Aelyeau wasn’t the type to pry further. 

Where was that person now, when there was nobody else to speak to? They were both truths. They were both Telios. The sight beside him, he realised, was the effect of perhaps, everything, or nothing at all. 

This was all it took for them to cry.

He thought about Zyx again, after that.

———

He was banging on the door, his arms hurting, his lungs barely taking in enough air. At some point, his legs had given out, his body now half-leaning against the metal frame.

“Come out, Oryi. Please. Don’t stay in there. You didn’t…it wasn’t…” The hitting of something was his only reply. Every once in a while, there was a muffled noise, before it was back to striking. 

Two weeks. Two weeks of bottling all of this up. He couldn’t choose whether he prefered this or noiselessness, but both were equally bad. He just wanted to help.

Someone was approaching, the clang of metal on metal easy enough to recognize. Lotti stopped beside him, squatting to survey the keyhole.

“Hello. I do not know what mistake I made. I’d like to fix it. The others were unable to convince me to stay in the room.”

Sigh.

“It’s locked—” A click resounded, a strange metal object in the other’s hand. Whatever it was, it worked, the door swinging open with ease. Like a deer caught in headlights, Zyx’s expression was frenzied, a million emotions flashing by at once. 

She was teetering, swaying from side to side, visibly indecisive as to whether to fight or flight. Her entire face was red, sweat trickling down her skin, blood on the knuckles of her hands and smeared on her cheeks. No words were said. Zyx tilted a bit more to the left, imbalanced, one foot leaving the ground as she finally toppled over. 

She never hit the ground. 

Lotti was there in a second, slowly settling her down on the floor. “Belated apologies for not catching you in time when we first met. You’re hurt.” Gasping for air she could barely take in, Zyx trembled. 

“Breathe,” Aelyeau tried, regaining the strength to move to where she was after closing the door behind him. His words fell on deaf ears. What was wrong? This wasn’t just about the battery, he could tell. 

It was awfully quiet.

In space, all their problems were theirs and theirs only. Nobody was going to hear them outside this small place they adapted for themselves. 

She wasn’t breathing, because she didn’t think she could. Zyx had forgotten how to be alive, the months that followed beyond her small little corner of her own lonely universe, the two weeks that dwindled away in not-stasis.

“Hey,” Aelyeau started once again. “We don’t care what you do. You don’t have to hold back. Scream if you want.” 

So, she does. 

It started small. A noise escaped her, a small, stuttered, breathless exclamation. Testing the waters. Lotti let her punch wildly, beating fists on her frame. Too light to have ever done anything of harm; too heavy to not be meaningful. A crescendo, a wave parted in two at its climax as she shouted herself hoarse. 

It was a loud thing, a broken thing, tapering into disjointedly incomprehensible sentences from some bygone language and then words that simply couldn’t come out anymore, voice worn ragged. She could breathe now, after exhausting herself. Tension couldn’t coexist with that.

Zyx pulled her legs inwards, curling up. Clutching at Lotti’s clothes like touch wasn’t enough, grip leaving creases on her cloak. There was no comfort to cold metal, but yet, and yet, Lotti was the closest thing to her, tugging her into her lap. 

It was an easy thing to do, simply being there, and he realised: he must have been that anchor. He still was. Eyes still searching for escape, they landed on him and locked in place, together with the rest of her body. Trying to match his breathing. 

In, out.

———

“I heard you drove the ship,” Lotti mused, tilting her head. The others had gone to get some much needed sleep, it would seem, or possibly another sleep-deprived task. Preferably the former. 

Zyx had separated herself from her after calming down, the three of them sitting in a small little circle, Aelyeau barely paying attention to the conversation as he took out a roll of bandages from its package. He should have gone back to his room, but she understood when this kind of thing was needed.

“You told me you wouldn’t go anywhere near the wheel.” Lotti hoped her voice was enough to convey what she wanted. At her words, the other averted her gaze, a slightly sad smile failing to be hidden.

“Eh. It’s fine, I guess,” she said, shrugging.

“Kyrai’is told me you did a good job at it, for your first time on this kind of ship. Itaph’ri also conveyed to me the chemical makeup of your ship’s battery. They are good adaptations. I will ensure I don’t make the same mistake again. And Telios installed a temperature sensor for me.”

“Good? You joking? I nearly killed you with my stupid project.” A gust of wind swept through the room, brought on by a flap of her wings.

“My calculations conclude that it increases the efficiency of energy supply by 230%. You’re a ‘natural’, if my wordbank is not failing me.”

Aelyeau scoffed, pulling the gauze over Zyx’s hand as she took a sharp inhale, hands still raw. “That’s an understatement. Oryi’s great. You should’ve seen our ship.” A half-hearted shove with her other hand. Lotti could see him biting the inside of his cheek. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise. This one’s pretty alright too, isn’t it? Even if the autopilot and navigation systems are pretty…sucky. It’s…very spacious.”

“You want to talk about boosters and stuff, don’t you.” Now, she was glaring daggers at him. “Called it. Ship nerd.”

“The ships at PAGE would be of your interest, I should expect.” 

Not the ones she’d ever been in, but she had the pleasure of testing one, once. There were so many controls and linkages it managed to make even her a little overwhelmed. The Cicada wasn’t too advanced; she found herself thankful at times.

“Mhm.”

“Never seen the interior of one…wait, who said that?” 

Lotti gestured to the doorway where the three other members of the crew stood, Kyrai waving at them too enthusiastically to have ever been asleep. Telios’s face was half buried in their blanket, fluorescent lights indubitably bothersome as they squinted blearily and tried not to trip on the loose folds. The outside of the training room was dark, the lights powered off without any other occupants requiring them.

Itaph ambled in first, squatting down to inspect the bandaged hand, Zyx tugging her arm away from the offending person.

“You tied it too tightly. And you didn’t wash it first.” Blunt as always.

“Oh, enlighten me, almighty one, I am but a lowly peasant,” Aelyeau replied, doing as best of a bow as he could while sitting.

“So I shall.”

Zyx groaned. “I am not the patient here, go away.”

“Lotti’s fine. Your point? Want to overheat like her?” Back and forth, back and forth.

Scene one. The minor wrestling match goes on for a while before Zyx gives in, reluctantly letting Itaph inspect her fully and help. Telios checks up on her one final time while describing the different types of ship-related features and the sheer marvel that battery was, the other listening on. When Lotti finishes compiling one final report internally to prove functionality, Telios has long since been sound asleep. 

Scene two. Aelyeau yawns, resting his head on the palm of his hand, and proceeds to shift himself so the singular blanket covers him, sound asleep. Zyx goes next, of course, attempting and failing to blink away fatigue. Tomorrow, the blanket would be on her instead.

Scene three. Following suit is Itaph, the cold of the floor more comfortable to him than not. Then, satisfied, Kyrai slumps against the other bodies, relaxing.

Scene four. All is quiet. All is well. 

[End log entry, fade to black.]

——

scuffed a/n + analysis (please tell me this works)

[pink-pumpkin-princess-bitch]

Soooooo I've been thinking of writing a Loop-centric Isat fanfiction, and I'm in very early stages of desicions with it. So I wanted to do my own take on a Human Loop design, with the idea that getting a physical idea of what I want Loop to look like will help influence some of the earlier chapters (Since my brain is thinking of later chapters way too much).

Design Choices and Thoughts below the cut, with spoilers and a whole lot of rambling!

So firstly, technically, there's actual colours I chose there. I'm not gonna spell out everything, but the jacket features an oxblood red leather and some yellow highlights. Their right eye was red (blind left eye is black with white pupil cus it's still blind), and the necklace's gem was a bright shining yellow like a star. The metals feature Gold, Rose Gold, and Silver mainly. All of these I manually shifted into greyscale. It looks very funny with the rainbow in the background.

The first big choice I made was to add so many scars. Like jesus so many. I was inspired by a fic called The Art of Sharing by Kamary on AO3 which has Loop keep the injuries they sustain in the loops. I had some different ideas though. Specifically, each scar Loop has is from something that damaged them more than once. Each one is a reminder of a mistake repeated. The more it repeated the more visible the scar. I have some bigger ideas for some specific scars to implement but the biggest one, clearly, is the hand.

Or more, the Arm. Loop favoured an arm for dunking into the tears to loop back, and they where recklace with it. While I like how Kamary did a similar thing, I had a different idea for it. What if they burned. What if they melted. What if whatever became of your hand or arm was just not compatible with You anymore. So, Loop now doesn't have their right arm. And they get a Crafted prosthetic. I wanna make this a continuous point in the fic. I imagine most have Change God imagery, and I imagine that makes Loop a tad... uncomfortable. I imagine them dealing with a basic one but then learning how to make one themself. Add onto how they hate being in any House Of Change now, as all of them, in a little way, of the House Of Dormont, and they struggle to learn nearly as easily as they could. Eventually, they make something their happy with. Something sharp and sleek and shiny and Different. (As a general rule I like to think people with different kinds of Craft at their disposal end up generallly having different affects on the things they use their Craft on. A Craft doll made by Odile would be different from one made by Isabeau, for instance. With how much Wish Craft Loop has, I imagine anything they make to look a bit Different).

Now for the outfit itself. I do love seeing people embrace Loop being more open to showing skin, and with the scars too it makes for a striking look. And I think that's the biggest key difference between Loop and Siffrin. Loop uses Confidence and Flamboance as their shield, as their diversion from their insecurities. I remember seeing someone mention about how, when they walk into a room looking visually striking, coloured hair and piercings, everyone in the room knows 1 thing about them. But by those people's reactions to that person, they know Everything they need to know about those people. I feel like Loop would lean into that heavily. Odile is smart and catches onto things quickly. Isabeau equally so and even more emotionally intellegent. And Loop uses their abrasiveness to gauge people extremely quickly. In a way Loop's disregard for how people see them helps them here. This influenced a lot of how I designed them, using these as key points of difference with Siffrin.

The hat had the least thought in it. Loop feels lost without a hat, but refuses to take Siffrin's and refuses to have anything like Siffrin's hat. They spent so long being someone other than Siffrin. In a way, it helps them cope with losing their own party. Helps them move on. It also on the same note helps them ignore how much it affects them. This hat is technically the Plague Doctor hat acording to Heroforge. I just took it as a decent leather hat with a brim. Enough to distinguish themselves from Siffrin, but close enough in feel to their old hat. They absolutly needed something with some kind of brim, both because they hate the sun and because they, like Siffrin, love hiding their face when they're having emotions.

The jacket I thought a lot about. I wanted them to have something long but not as long as Odile's. They like flowy things, but also something more open. Also, pockets and belts to stash and hide things. If anything they're more prone to picking up everything not bolted down than Siffrin! This combined with the simplest and nicest tanktop/binder tied the whole thing together. Very 'Hot Girl Shit' vibes.

The glove was because handling things without Siffrin's gloves felt extremely weird. They needed something. But also, damn their nails look killer with the dark varnish on, matches their makeup so nicely! They absolutly NEED to show that off or they will DIE!! They chose one with metal knuckles because at any moment they need the ability to deck someone. It's how they use their Rock crafts, with a mean Left Hook (They're debating renaming one of them to "Left Plot Hook" to keep the puns but also dipping into specifically narrative puns. This is a debate between Sif and Loop and sometimes the rest of the party through the whole fic).

The necklace was because they've grown so, so used to something shimering and shining under their chin, they needed something bright again. It draws the eye. It catches people's attention. It was a gift from Isabeau because "it reminded him of how they looked before being human" and Loop's heart decided to remind them it exists with a vengance and now Loop refuses to take it off ever. It just looks neat that's all there is to it yep.

Loop found a section in a shop dedicated to belts and decided then and there that they where gonna wear multiple. They now strive to collect one from every town they visit. It also adds to the Pretty Noise agenda a little. But not as much as

THE BOOTS!! Loop finds them in the armoury and is immedietly captivated, but then remembers The King. Those Gauntlets. And then ponders if knightly armour is a generally attractive thing where they're from, not that Siffrin ever indulged. But then they put them on and THEY GO CLINK CLINK WHEN THEY WALK!! They're suprisingly quiet, the heel making the most noise. They CAN be louder if they want, but all their sensibilities as a Rouge lets them be at least a bit quiet in them. AND THEY SHINE AND THEY GO CLINK CLINK AND THEY'RE STRIKING AND THEY HAVE TO HAVE THEM! Ahem. I mean. They do look nice. They're not Giddy over boots. Stop smiling like that.

For now this is their main gear, but I can imagine them getting more clothes as they go on. Stars they want changes of clothes. Different outfits. Before the loops they could never care about fasion or makeup or anything but now, anything for a Change. It's funny, they do have to admit how nice the freedom of Changing is, even if it's just clothes.

Anyway that's my rambles for now! I think I could go on for hours but I've already written so much! If I don't stop now I'll just start writing the fanfiction here!! Please share your thoughts with me my brain is going so so fast and I love seeing human Loop thoughts (this sin't even all my human Loop thoughts this is just what matters to the outfit).

[brsb4hls]

Loki spoilers, full ep reaction 2x4:

.

.

.

*OB not actually getting to sign his book is becoming a thing huh?

*so who wrote the handbook? Another loop.

*Mobius continues being a little shit. 'Loki will have to hoof it', and Loki playing along just to be antagonistic, very cute Loki, we'll know you'll volunteer anyways (he's the most powerful and durable being there, apart from Sylvie, who's still finding here place)

*already made a post about, but yeah, Mobius will have to reflect himself at one point, you can't keep eating your problems

*another Thor mention! You know, you could actually let the sun shine ahain on the Brodinsons, nobody stopping you, sigh. I still have hope.

*yeah we remember who exactly made Thor soft. Too bad that Sylvie triggered Loki's development but is still stuck a bit herself. Here's hoping that even if they don't end up together they'll at least resolve their issues.

That talk was a good start.

*Ok, Loki himself called it, he's going to be timekeeper, but a better one? We'll see how that will work out in the end, but if it means full power!Loki I'm in

*Ravonna went overboard there, no need in crushing anyone really, she could have just left with Brad (not the best choice in the end)

*Course Loki pruned himself, everyone's been calling that since ep 1. Still cool scene, he was so shaken and Sylvie must have went through a real rollercoaster there.

*the Lokis getting their magic back, best scene

*Now Ravonna's back in the void, ok, if you don't get eaten by Alioth or other variants that's not too bad.

*Miss Minutes getting set back to actual clock, fun. I mean, OB and Casey don't need here, they're smart enough to handle stuff manually and Loki as timekeeper won't need her either, but still, is she really gone or will she be reset?

*ngl Victor being all heroic and brave and the dramatic built up only to have him get spaghettified instantly was pretty funny.

Don't think he's gone though, seems to important, plus there's probably going to be a reset, so, we'll see.

Next ep's gonna be a lot if time loopy fun and a very exhausted Loki, I think.

[tobiasdrake]

Episode 13: Endless Eight, Part 2

I have been chomping at the bit all day to find out if I'm right.

YES. WE HAVE TIME LOOP. Haruhi is going to endlessly loop these last couple weeks of summer so that she can enjoy it eternally.

Kyon doesn't seem aware of it, which surprised me. He has a bit of deja vu....

But he's not fully cognitive of the fact that he's already done this before. I'm honestly surprised by that. He's the Viewpoint Protag so I kinda figured the show would make excuses for him to be the only one that remembers.

Wonder if Yuki knows this is happening? She'd be the person most likely to wake up this morning and go, "Oh, time has looped around. Neat."

Already, things are a little different this time around. Haruhi doesn't seem to be aware of her own abilities in general but I think she's at least somewhat aware that she's done this before. Her behavior is slightly off.

She snapped at Kyon for being late, just like she did last time, but she didn't shriek "PENALTY PENALTY PEN-AL-TY!!!" at him. Loop 2 Haruhi is less impatient to get started. She just took note of his tardiness and then went straight to business.

Then again, that might not be indicative of anything. What's really weird about the loop is that everyone's wearing different clothes. We went from this on Loop 1:

To this on Loop 2:

Yuki's still wearing her school uniform but Haruhi, Mikuru, and Itsuki are dressed differently. Kyon also has a different outfit, though you can't see him in these shots.

So it's not a typical time loop where everything is exactly the same save for what gets directly influenced by the looper. Which makes sense because Haruhi's never demonstrated the ability to move time before.

Could she be looping events... the hard way?

Like. Okay. Hear me out. There's an episode of Futurama that introduces a crazy-ass form of space travel. Where, instead of propelling the ship through space, the ship's engines push the entire universe around it. It remains in one place while the universe is forced to move. Traveling through space the hard way.

Could Haruhi be moving through time in a similar fashion? Like. Erasing everyone's memories and warping the universe around them in order to put the sun and Earth back where they were two weeks ago? So the events did happen but now they're going to happen again because Haruhi manually rewound the universe? But with the small details like everybody's laundry baskets left where they were?

I dunno. I'm probably way off base. Might just be probabilistic or something. But. This is kind of fascinating, for how it's not exactly a time loop yet is.

Itsuki, like, Kyon, seems unaware of what's happening but he's got vague flashes of memory related to Loop 1.

Wonder if Loop 1 is actually Loop 1 or if we've been looping for a while and are only now noticing?

Yuki seems bothered by something. Which makes me think she might be aware of the loop. She took some time at the pool to be off by herself and just have introvert time in Loop 1 too, but there she looked like this.

Her posture was much more open, as if she was simply staring into space and thinking. Loop 2 Yuki looks like she's having an existential crisis.

Mikuru still wants to scoop goldfish and makes no indication of anything out of the ordinary.

As the time traveler, you'd think Mikuru would be the first to realize something's off about time. But Mikuru's not very good at her job because she's mainly in this show to be the object of Kyon's ogling and Haruhi's harassment.

[symphonic-scream]

No one asked but here's more from the

Niijima Twins Au

In case anyone seeking this is out of the loop, this is an au where Makoto and Goro are twins, Shido is their biological father, but they were raised by Niijima Sr until his death

--

They were super close growing up. Holding hands as they walked to school, sharing everything they got, using every excuse to see the other at school when they were in different classes over the years

Like, they wanted to match as kids. If there was something sold in multiple colours, Makoto would get the blue, and Goro the red. Sneakers, blankets, and even matching cat and dog plushies when they reached primary school. The red dog sits behind a law book in Goro's room. Makoto's blue cat is carefully placed on her pillow each morning, next to her Buchimaru plush

They only really started to split apart after their dad died, and, they found out that he wasn't their biological father. Makoto felt that since their bio dad never reached out, he didn't want them. Goro needed to know who he was. Needed him to love him.

They were 14. Makoto started to feel the stress of always being second, never number one. Goro killed his first target for their Father. They no longer walked to school together. They didn't speak up at dinner, sitting as far from each other as possible. Both felt the loneliest they ever have

A few years pass of this. Makoto finally gets something, she's Student Council President; Goro is named the Second Detective Prince. Shujin's top two students, Goro Niijima, and Makoto Niijima. In that order. One grows angrier and angrier by the day, while the younger falls asleep after pouring over study manuals, tears gathering as she knows it won't be enough, she'll never be enough

Kamoshida confesses.

Madarame cries on Natiomal Television.

"ALL YOU DO IS EAT AWAY AT MY LIFE!"

"Oh, dear sister, don't you get it? You're just a pushover, another stepping stone on my path to success."

"WHY CAN'T YOU BE MORE LIKE YOUR BROTHER?! AT LEAST HE DOESN'T ASK SUCH SILLY QUESTIONS. ...I'll be eating out from now on."

A contract is formed. The status quo changes.

"CHARGE, JOHANNA!"

--

Things get worse before they get better for them. Goro knows who the Thieves are. He knows he has to eliminate his sister to preserve their Father's wishes. Secretly, he hopes he can simply scare her off with the death of their leader. Maybe she's smart enough not to go against him?

But no, things don't work that way, and in the depths of a ship, Goro makes the ultimate sacrifice. For the Phantom Thieves. For his Joker, his Rival, his one Love.

For his sister.

The Niijima's mourn in darkness. The apartment feels colder, too quiet. Makoto throws a hefty law book to the ground, and holds that red dog so tightly it might just fuse with her fraying heart. Sae doesn't know how she's going to live with herself, blaming herself

But, nothing severe comes. After a God is taken down, he appears in Shibuya. Goro Niijima falls to the pavement, crying silently as Sae sobs into his messy hair, as Makoto calls him stupid, an iron grip on his jacket

He isn't supposed to be alive, but fuck it. They got their second chance at a healthy family, and they're going to fucking take it

--

Okay done with that section lemme just go off on the After shit for a bit

Goro is there for Strikers! He and Makoto take turns driving, so neither gets too cramped up, though the Haru joyride does happen cause I love that bit

They don't get closer overnight. That shit takes a long time to repair. But, they both got into the same University. Goro for Psychiatry, Makoto for Social Work. They share a dorm, with two bedrooms and a living room. With each day, the ice melts little by little

Now for some fluffier and funnier bits!

Like. They'd be the most emo karaoke duo. Like, they'd go all out of the equivalent of MCR songs, pouring their little emo hearts into it. Their first shopping trip together while healing their relationship is to a Hot Topic.

Dark Academia Goro, and Grunge baby punk Makoto, fighting the urge to flip off cops as they walk together to a shared class. They sit in the back of the lecture and share looks like "we know more than this clown"

They're both banned from Scrabble and Risk on Game Nights. Just like how Haru is banned from Monopoly and Futaba from Clue

Makoto has her motorcycle, it's her baby, yeah yeah. Goro with his piece of shit car that he swears is the best thing on the road, he has it named (Robin) and doesn't let anyone eat in the car or anything

Also they're both gay. Haru practically lives in their dorm by the second week, and there's rarely a moment when Goro's not calling or texting Akira from his hometown

Anyways. I missed this au. Feel free to talk to me about it or ask about jt

[lethedwarddavidsonworld-blog]

Signalis Doom - 4

Another mixed bag of a day, largely spent on textures. Did you know video games tend to have alot of them? So today's issue came from me grappling with the fact that what's good for Signalis texturing is not good for Doom texturing. At first, i didn't see the issues though. Signalis's Textures are all actually at or around doom's texture resolutions, and it's sprite sheets can easily be chopped up into good looking walls and pillars and such.

The problem comes from two places. 1. these are textures made to wrap around a 3d model, not laid out along a floor or a solid wall, so i had to figure out exactly how i was going to chop it up. Do i have a few solid pieces? do i chop it up into a dozen small ones so i have the most control? the answer is it's gonna vary.

For example. here's a chunk of the Penrose and it's wall texturing. The entire room is one model, and every part of it(including the lil' spires in the corners) are all pulling from the same sheet. Each part is meant for dif stuff, which explains why some chunks are much brighter, or darker, than others. That's great for UVing, but i don't really know what i'm supposed to do with something like this. What do i do with the clearly darker chunk of wall? Sometimes, there are walls that have a lil' extra line on the bottom, or the top, and i don't know why. I think they'd texture rooms so that dif parts would look better to the camera angle. That's great for their angle, but a bit odd in first person.

I mean it guess it's not that weird, but i think it'd have to edit it to have a more natural falloff or somesuch. It doesn't look great ported as-is, and this problem comes up alot (this is a minor example tbh) 2. Doom's textures more often than not are expected to look acceptable when used on large surfaces. This means floors and walls and such need to be able to tile (or repeat forever) cleanly, but without drawing too much attention to the repetition. Like a walking loop, you don't want a specific action to pop too much because it'll call attention to the loop.

Signalis's textures, however, are often very small textured tiled very aggressively. It's something that you don't think much about in a slow game from a pulled back perspective. However, once you're low to the ground and moving at a clip, not only do you notice the repetition, but it can honestly get a bit nauseating to see the patterns whoosh by.

the floor textures look like this. Most areas are made up of the middle tile in the ring, with the ring parts often running along walls. The bits on the righjt and bottom are often used to break up the visuals. At first, i thought this would be a big problem. The 32x32 tiles just repeat too hard to look good. However, i am a dummy, and forgot that this is pretty easily solved by breaking the ground up and slotting those tiles in.

Now, it's more work than it'd be on a 3d model, cuz i'm gonna need to remember to do this manually. But, that solves the problem of using the little details. Doesn't really solve this tiled floor being a nightmare to see stretch on forever, but at least it's something. --- I spent a bit of time working on getting some 3d models and stuff into the game as a test, which didn't go great. The community models for the characters are fantastic, however, they don't deform well when converted to the .md3 format.

GZDoom doens't used fbx files, it uses OBJ for static stuff, and MD3 (an old quake 3(?) file type) for stuff with animations. It's an old old format, and only really works via a couple of blender addons or old modeling programs. Conversion from obj/fbx/ect to md3 can always be funky, i don't really know why, it just can be. Sometiems it works, or sometimes you need to model in md3 from scratch. i don't know how far i'm gonna go with that. I also played aroudn with getting sprite turnarounds of the characters. However, that's going to take it's own tech setup that i didn't give much time to today.

Overall, a pretty frustrating day, but i got alot more stuff in-engine and figured out mass naming schemes and so on. I can't say i've really solved any problem, but I'm gonna pretend noticing the problems is progress in-of-itself. So uhh, i dunno, hey do you wanna see Ariane's bathroom? god, poor girl, 20(?????) years in that tube and this is what she's got to work with.

(the blender scene is not mine, it was assembled by a very skilled person on the signalis discord. all credit goes to whoever did it, they're a godsend)

[lunarsilkscreen]

Two More Zelda Theories (Z1 Timelines)

The first Zelda Game was also the first to introduce "Master Quest". The master quest is like a randomizer before randomizers were a thing. With the intention of making the game more challenging, but still feeling fresh and retain the qualities the designers and devs imposed on the original game.

But there's one way to access the Master Quest without beating the game. (Which is the requirement to unlock it.)

The original Manual says that "The Hero" doesn't exist until you make them. And the original character delete mode sounded more like "unaliving" the main character that you had created.

Which already gives us two endings created by the Devs. Either you beat Ganon, or don't. OR, worse than giving up, you unregister your character. The player (or to Link, God) chooses which ending through these methods.

And then there's the Third; the master quest. Which you unlock either by completing the game, or creating an entirely new character named "Zelda".

This implies that the Master Quest, at least the original one, was taken on by Zelda herself. Which isn't that far off from the actual story written about the game.

Zelda splits the Triforce of Wisdom into pieces, and hides them. And then Link, goes to collect them. This means that Zelda had to go hide them in the first place, and did.

And did so in a different order than Link found them. (possibly even changing how Link has to tackle the dungeons in the process, making them easier to do.)

I've talked on a few other Theories, such as Zelda disguising herself as Link to take on Z2, and Zelda herself being the child referenced in Z64s future timeline who originally played the song of storms for the windmill man. And therefore completed the well sections, releasing Bongo Bongo, but unlike in Link's timeline, didn't kill "Death Hand" who grew up to be Bongo Bongo.

Did I forget to write about that here? Well, since there's no such thing as time loops in Zelda (outside closed ones like Majora's Mask that happen simultaneously and also not at all)

No, the banker doesn't remember Link, he just stamped the amount of rupees he has stored with that bank on his hand. Probably something he does for all the kids there since like ... A hundred rupees is the equivalent of 1 USD. (or rather 1 rupee is equivalent 1 penny or 1 yen) and seriously, if they tried to take him for more than a hundred bucks, he'd notice..because adult wallets only hold like 2 dollars.

In the future timeline, there is no Link. In Z64 there are two possibilities. The first is in Links dream at the beginning of the game, where he sees himself die by Ganon's hand. The Second, when the event actually comes to pass, Ganon just rides past him. He doesn't even recognize him.

These two possibilities give rise to the Future timeline where Zelda is from. And Why Zelda is upset both that Link came to future (and missed out on his childhood) but had to be sent back. To Zelda, this meant one of two things; sending him back to his own death, or to a time where he actually belonged.

Because she *watched* him die.

That means the fairy child in future timeline, was Zelda dressed as Link (or even Shiek) and took on the "Master Quest" herself. The limitations of recreating all the cutscenes means the dev team decided not to.

Or What if, The future Zelda swapped places with Link? (Or even Linkle? If you wanna take it a step further.) And that's why She watched him die. Because Ganon didn't recognize *her*.

I'm not going to go into the implications of Majora's Mask and being about the "Death of Link". Because I think it's about something else entirely. (Overcoming a "failed" timeline.)

The famous final cutscene of Z64 is Link returning to the past to meet with Zelda for a second time.

What if; that's when they switched places.

Because Zelda was killed after her escape.

[mo-ok]

i was thinking about your go onger rpm crossover art ALOT and i totally just remembered to ask this. how would you think the rpm crew would react to the engines as a concept and how would each one get along with their go-onger counterparts partner engine(s)?

What a great question!! Strap urself in we're on a one way trip to headcanon town!

I think, at least initially, the team would have a hard time trusting the engines. The only other sentient robots they've ever seen literally ended the world sooooo. But after they got over the initial shock, they'd all for the most part get along fairly well.

The SECOND DrK sees the engines, she'd want to pull them to pieces and figure out how they work. Flynn would be the same, but once he realises Bus-on/Jum Bowhale can just ANSWER the questions, he'd calm down 😂

Speedor is number 1 precious boy, he and Scott would make a great pair (Speedor not being able to fly would throw him for a loop tho lmao). However, I think it would take Scott the longest to see the engines as actual living creatures. He'd say something rude or dismissive of Speedors feelings, but would be quick to apologise once he realised the error in his thinking

BearRV would LOVE Summer, and I truly believe Summer would encourage BearRs crushes even more than Saki does (Summer number one BearR wingman)

Ziggy would (to everyones horror) start talking like Birca. These two would just be an awful feedback loop of stupid questions and even stupider answers and they'd drive everyone crazy but they'd be having the absolute time of their lives chatting away in the garage

Dillon and Gunpherd would NOT trust each other AT ALL. Suprise! Cop dog and criminal on bail do not see eye to eye! It would take time, but eventually they'd start to form a mutual respect for each others strengths

Gem and Gemma would be absolutely crazy for Toripter and Jetras. Little robot friends! They'd quickly work out how to mod the engines and try to go hog wild with the upgrades (the engines would request maybe just a tune up tyvm, the extra lasers seem a liiiiiittle unneccasary)

Also, (as a little personal HC side note) driving/piloting the engines would feel completely different to operating the zords. The engines have this strange mind melding effect - something the rpms would have great difficulty growing accustomed to. (On the flip side, the zords needing to be completely manually controlled would be a steep learning curve for the go ongers)