#I imagine that after a while of having repaired the DA

[asavt]

"Please enjoy the freedom I deny to myself don't have"

[bookishdaze]

Eagle Clan's Transmission Towers

CRAZY THEORY TIME. You know how Noa is really smart and Kingdom shows him learning how electricity works? I see him becoming an engineer of sorts. Owen Teague even calls him an engineer in this interview.

This theory started because I was coming up with headcanons about how Noa could sketch his ideas for tools and inventions since he can't write, at least not yet. Kind of like Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings of machines. Here are some examples. These are probably too detailed and advanced, but this is just to give an idea as to what was going through my head for me to get from point A to point B.

I then tried looking up ideas as to how sketches of electricity would look like, and I got this very...simple picture. It wasn't what I was looking for, but then an idea hit me, and IT GOT ME BRAINSTORMING.

Eagle Clan lives in old transmission towers, which were used by humans to transmit electrical power. Now hear me out, but what if Noa takes what he's learned about electricity and uses the transmission towers for this?

In the scene right before Noa falls from the top of the tower, we see how he managed to grab onto one of the tower's cables. Then he watches as Sylva uses the electric staff to shock Noa through the cable.

Noa is smart. I can see him putting two and two together and using the cables and transmission towers to have electricity running throughout Eagle Clan's home. While it could be for something as simple as light, I feel like maybe Noa could figure out how to use it in more innovative ways in like two or three years.

Think about what Noa says to Mae during their goodbye scene.

"We will rebuild our home. Better. Stronger. From what we have learned."

By better and stronger, he can mean how after the traumatic events Eagle Clan went through together, it will strengthen their bonds and they'll be more determined in looking out for one another.

It could also mean that Noa will take what he's learned when it comes to human technology and use it to rebuild and improve their homes. Not only would it be cool to see apes use technology, but it'll show how apes are starting to advance, which would be scary for humans.

Remember the deliberate look Mae gives Noa while watching him repair the electric staff. His intelligence scares her. Imagine you're a human and you see an ape village have functioning electricity in their homes. That'd be insane to witness.

(Before anyone who is an expert on transmission towers goes "well, actually," shush. This is science fiction, lol).

I also have thoughts on how some apes in Eagle Clan may not be so open to these changes and new ideas, but that is best for another post.

Ok, crazy theory time over!

[cheesycatz]

INSTAGRAM ASKS BELOW WOOHOO I CAN NOT SHUT UP ABOUT THIS FREAK

(I updated the lore posts on here in like May because there was outdated stuff I completely missed and finally updated it on instagram too woopsies🧍‍♂️)

He draws. In used school notebooks, across old books, over discarded mail. Broken pencils, dried up markers, dull crayons, chewed pens. He draws the trees he will never climb, fields and fields of flowers, discolored leaves and vines. Sometimes he adds himself.

He keeps a faded journal in one of the jacket's many hidden pockets. A way to pass the time while waiting for prey to… sell to. He only draws “Spamton” in it, not himself. Nothing incriminating.

…never drawn an addison before.

In all seriousness, I've dedicated a lot of thought to Wormton's art style and what he draws. It's relevant to the fic; as foreshadowing, as angst, as fluff, as a plot device. It's meant to appear childish—as in, made by someone who just wanted to make something without caring about what it looks like. The lines are jagged and dig into the page, often ripping through. I held the pencil with three fingers, and used my right (nondominant) hand to write the text and color. His face is drawn in an abstract way where it doesn't resemble his mask, but anyone who hasn't seen his real face would assume it is the mask. He draws himself bigger than he really is, draws his three fingers in place of his mittens, and colors his eyes in the wrong order because he uses his mirrored reflection as reference. He draws Blue's face nearly the exact same as his because he doesn't know how to draw anyone but himself, and forgets their fourth fingers and scribbles them on after the fact. His spelling and handwriting is incomprehensible half the time.

Other than drawing, he also spends a lot of time hunting for food. He explores the Trash Zone, looking for things to sell or keep. He spends time performing maintenance on his disguise, either attempting to clean it or do repairs. He takes time to groom his fur, genuinely hating how filthy his costume and having to look in dumpsters makes him. He likes to inspect and rearrange all the trinkets in his nest before he burrows into his vast pile of shredded blankets, stuffing, and old pillows for the night (or morning? He's not quite nocturnal but he goes to sleep at like 3 am).

Blue's fear definitely does not go away. They might not be as grossed out by certain things (like if they saw an insect or centipede rubbing its legs against its antennae, they'd now understand that it’s simply grooming itself in the same way Wormton cleans his nose). But, I think that the majority of their fear for “creepy crawlies” (and Wormton initially) come from how unpredictable and fast they can be. They're hard to keep track of, you can't tell if they're crawling on your face or if your brain is being paranoid, spiders and centipedes specifically come out when the lights are off, Wasps will sting you for doing absolutely nothing, it goes on. They invade your safe space, you can't tell which can kill you and which are harmless, and nothing you do will convince them to leave your home.

Fortunately for Blue, Wormton's pheromones scare away pretty much any animal with a sense of smell, and he eats whatever is left. There's no birdsong around their home. He's the only one they have to worry about raiding the pantry, building nests in the walls, and crawling on the ceiling.

Yeah, I imagine that Ralsei and/or Queen would have to announce to the general public that Spamton is under protection so that he can finally exist without his disguise. Out of the volunteer researchers who weren't killed and didn't leave Cyber City before Deltarune takes place, I don't think they would dare enter his presence. Personally I would not try to speak to the last surviving member of a genocide if I had previously experimented on and killed thousands of their people's children

There's a lot of hatred for invasive species, especially ones that cause severe damage to both property and people, like malworms do. Some take joy in killing as many as possible. But, I think it's important to remember that species don't choose to be invasive. This is especially apparent with malworms, since they're sapient (though that information isn't really known by darkners). They've been taken out of their natural cave-like environment in the Deep Web and thrown onto the Surface Web with no hope of returning. The bright lights, loud sounds, and open areas of the city are disorienting and terrifying. But, without natural predators or competition, malworms multiply quickly. They destroy buildings, chew power lines, and kill anything they come across. But, the malworms can't stay, can't be reasoned with, and eradicating them was the only option Cyber City had. I suppose it's a miserable fight on both ends. Nobody really wins.

Technically, the only plastic required in a malworm's diet is polyethylene, and gift cards are usually made of polyvinyl chloride acetate. But, malworms like chewing and eating inedible things in general, so it wouldn't be surprising if one did eat a gift card. They like stealing/eating physical money because it annoys people and because Cyber World's dark dollars happen to be made out of the plastic they need.

[cozyenigma]

Ingrained

Word Count- 1201

Request?- Yes!

(sorry this took me so long! I hope the tarot parts aren't too basic and it's what you envisioned! And of you'd still like the anon handle you can absolutely take that one!)

Tag List- @cookielover0001010 , @swag-droid , @watchoutforfrostbite

Warnings- None

Dark didn't need to eat or drink. Food didn't nourish the carcass he hauled around and drink did nothing to quench his thirst. When he found himself presented with these things anyways, Dark always took a small amount of pleasure in others discomfort when they noticed he never touched anything.

Still, in the privacy of his own office, away from annoyances and prying eyes, he let himself imbibe. A steaming hot cup of sencha sat on his desk. The fine china cup, delicate and thin, gleamed atop its saucer. Heedless, of the temperature, Dark took a sip.

It tasted like ash.

One of his human components, he wasn't quite sure which, had liked to take tea in this setting once upon a time. Steaming hot tea in a window seat with a good book. As much as Dark was annoyed at the bleed over, the habit helped.

As did the readings. Dark knew which one this habit stemmed from. The cards seemed to flow in his hands. Shuffling and dealing and reading. The deck was worn. Creased and faded at the edges, the cards showed their age. Part of him wondered if this was her set when she was alive. Probably not.

As he was going to set the spread of cards, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Dark's hands paused. Then he gathered the cards back into one stack.

"Back again, are we?"

The air grew noticeably colder, the steam rising from his tea that much more pronounced. They were here alright.

With a sigh, he started shuffling again. "Are you going to skulk about or try and wreck my office again?"

His answer was a lamp tumbling to the floor, glass skittering across the hardwood.

"Right." Dark ignored the blatant hostility and cut the deck. The DA, reduced to the presence they were now, would eventually tire of the destruction. They always did. It was only Dark's own aura that kept them from doing physical harm to his body.

The destruction was a nuisance but only that. While he didn't enjoy replacing and repairing his furnishings every other week, he wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of seeing any reaction. Eventually, after he heard them gouge long tracks into the floor, they stopped.

He hummed and placed the deck on the desk.

"If you're finished?" Dark gestures to the cards and waited.

The room was still and silent once more. He knew they could move and choose the cards. Whether or not they were shocked or just refusing, he could only guess.

"If you won't," he took up the deck himself, giving it one more shuffle. "I'll ask a question for you, I'm sure both of us have been thinking it. Why do you keep coming back?"

The sound of broken glass crunching under foot. They were seemingly grinding the shards into the floor. That got to them.

"Let's keep it basic, shall we?" He kept going, tone too casual for the situation. "Basic three card pull. Past, present, future, hmm?"

They slipped through his hands as easily as water. Three cards, situated in a line right in front of him. Dark pictured them in his head, brooding as they sat opposite. It almost made him smile.

Delicately, he flipped the first over. A woman wrestling with a beast that might have, once, been a lion. The wearing of time and distortion made it seem otherworldly somehow.

"Strength," he laughed. "Makes sense, I suppose. You always were confident in your skills, even when we were young. Clear choices, clear purpose. I imagine you and everyone else thought you were aiming for bigger and better things, hmm?"

The walls themselves seemed to creak ominously around him. If he didn't know better he might suspect they could bring the ceiling down on top of him.

"Yknow," he said, resting his fingers atop the next card, "this is less the cards talking and more supposed to be the people themselves talking. To put things to words, I suppose. Though you can't quite manage that can you?"

The tea cup beside him abruptly cracked in half. Hot tea leaked out in a small flood, nearly taking the cards with it and soaking into his sleeve. Dark paid it no mind.

"The present now then, shall we?"

This next card was so worn down he very nearly couldn't read the text. Though he'd know the upside down design without it well enough.

"Reverse wheel of fortune," he leaned back, shaking errant drops of scalding tea from his hand. "A run of bad luck. Much as you try you can't control the past, you can't control the present either. Oh my poor, poor friend. I can understand that, to a degree."

He scanned the room, looking for a shimmer, a shadow, anything to indicate where they were. If they actually occupied any sort of space in this reality. The empty, cold office didn't provide him with any insight on that.

"Neither of us were in control then," he said eventually, "as for now…"

Dark flexed his hand. What was once their hand. "I suppose I'll be taking that back for the both of us, hmm?"

No response. Nothing was destroyed in a fit of impotent rage but he knew they were still here. That crawling every present feeling of being watched was still there.

"Stop trying to change things," he murmurs, "I don't pretend to know where you're existing now but there's surely better things for you to be doing. Maybe even actually rest."

Again, nothing. Dark huffed and, without further preamble, flipped the last card. This one made him laugh. As much as he could laugh, anyways.

"Justice? Really?"

The card was fairly self explanatory, as far as other cards in the deck went. The woman depicted held a scale and sword, regal and just. At some point the face was nearly erased, a small tear going through where her eyes would have been. The now cooled tea had soaked into the paper, giving the card a sickly brown green tint.

"You're pinning your hopes on karma, is that it?" He tossed the card back onto the desk. "I don't think so. The world isn't that kind. If anything, I'll be bringing you justice. Bringing down the man that caused all of this is karma enough, I think."

The deck next to him abruptly flew apart, cards pinwheeling in the air and just adding to the mess. Heaving a sigh, Dark got to his feet.

"One of us can keep going with this cycle, old friend," he'd admit, the old moniker was a dig he couldn't help but slip in, "and I think you know who."

If they heard him they chose not to show it. The room was more than still, it was empty. That pressure, the presence in the air was gone. Which left Dark among the ruins of his office once again.

"Same time next week, I suppose," he mutters, plucking a card from the desk and giving it a flick. The sencha had truly soaked the thing. Even with the paper starting to warp and discolor, he could still make out the tower clear as day.

[coy-lee]

GLITCH HAS A FIC! MY OFFICIAL ECLIPSE HAS A FIC!

After all this time, I can now give y'all a taste of what my crazy glitch Eclipse is like!

BIG BIG THANKYOU to @afloofwithmultipleinterests and @laughterfixs for writing this big boy with me. I hope you guys enjoy getting to meet him. I know Sun and Moon sure did.

Description: In the boys' loft, there is an arcade machine with a glitch. a sentient glitch. They find a way to visit him, and Sun finds himself at the mercy of someone much more powerful than he could have imagined. Luckily for him, and Moon, this guy just likes to have good old fashioned fun.

Life's All A Game

There had been talk between the two daycare attendants, talk of the box in their little nook. Hidden in their room was an arcade cabinet: Balloon World. There was something special about this box though. The game was tainted by a nasty glitch. Well, not nasty so much as strong, persistent... alive.

Eclipse was the name often given to him by players, a very fitting name as he was a disturbing mix of the Sun and Moon sprites. He liked the name. What he didn't like was the fact that, apart from people playing his game, he was always alone, and even then, not many people chose to play his game anymore. He was moved around the Pizza Plex quite a bit, so the only players for a while were staff members. That was until he was transferred to the DA's quarters. Did they play with him often? No. But they still kept him company. In fact, that talk between Sun and Moon? They were discussing a way to actually visit Eclipse. A few connectors and perhaps one of them could jack into the game and BAM! A FRIEND! Eclipse crossed his fingers and hopped around with excitement as he eavesdropped on the two.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?"

"Of course! I hate the thought of leaving him all alone in there, and if this works, then we can visit whenever we want!"

"sigh... Alright... There's no talking you out of it anyway, is there?"

"Nope!" Eclipse could hear the smile in Sun's voice. The little guy was both literally and figuratively a ray of sunshine. He was glad Sun was the one to try first. Kid had some pep in his step that Eclipse could use in his glitch life. Plus there was a little something on his mind that, so long as the plan worked, he would just have to try out.

"Here. Have a seat and I'll get you plugged in..."

"Okie dokie!" 

"Hmmm, alright... This gooooes... here..."

"OOOooo...hehehe, that feels funny..."

"I'd imagine hehehe... Aaaaaand this goes riiiiight

 -click- here."

"This is exciting!"

"Okay. Now we just have to use this little doodad to transfer your data and then you two can have a field day..." It seemed Moon was holding a device used to add and repair programming for the machine. Hopefully this works... 

"Ready?" 

"Ready! "

click

Sun felt a weird tingly energy and pull... In a flash he was no longer looking at the box but rather looking at darkness... Darkness?... Where was Eclipse? He was here somewhe-

"Hello!"

"AAAAAAA!" Sun jumped as he heard the playful call of the one he came to visit. Speaking of which, Eclipse was tall... And a lot more intimidating than he was when Sun was outside of the box... 

"Oh! Ehehe... You... Y-you scared me ehehe... "

"Whoopsies! Sorry about that... " he grinned a wide, toothy grin. A chill ran down Sun's endo at the sight of the smile... Moon had a familiar one that often spelled trouble.

"Oh, no worries. I didn't really know what to expect... But it looks like it worked! And where are my manners!? I'M-"

"Sun! Yes, it's wonderful to finally meet you!" Eclipse interrupted, holding out his hand. 

"You... You know my-"

"I know a lot about you and Moon. My game is always on, and so am I. I hear many things. " The grin on his face never wavered and neither did his offered hand. Sun finally took it and gave it a friendly shake. 

"Well, I'm happy to finally meet you! " Sun gave his own winning smile in return…

There was a giggle from the glitch. One that possibly spelled trouble. Sun hoped he was just being playful and totally didn’t have anything planned or anything! 

“Oh oh and I’m soooooo happy to have the company! It’s been so long since I’ve had anyone to play with! You’re the first one in ages!!”

Ages? Gosh he must’ve been lonely…

Well... they were here now! Sun was officially inside the box while Moon monitored things from outside it. Wait- play!? OH HE COULDN'T WAIT!

"OOOoooh!! You like to play!? Ooh! OOOH! What kind of game are you thinking of? A videogame!? A game of tag!? A-a- OOOO  I'm so excited!" Sun beamed, his rays twirling similarly inside of the videogame universe as they would outside, while he bounced in place. Eclipse copied his bouncy nature. 

"OOOOooooh! Oh yes, oh yes, oh YESSSSsss all the fun we'll have! So much to show, so much to see! All the games I like to play are my favorite! Except for the one that's my... most favorite!"

"MOST favorite!? Tell me! TELL ME! What is it!?" Sun exclaimed, still bouncing on his toes. The energy of the glitch changed dramatically, his body stilling and his expression morphing with an intimidating grin.

"One I've seen you and Moon play MANY, many times," he purred. Sun was taken aback by the sudden change in voice and demeanor but was hit with a second bout of whiplash when Eclipse spoke again.

"Well, technically I've only played it with myself, but I've heard that playing it with someone else is so much more fun!" Eclipse explained cheerily. The digital bot bent down to level his face with Sun's, his hat bobbing from the sudden movement.

"Ah! I see- wait.... YOU CAN SEE US FROM IN HERE!?" Sun shrieked with realization. 

"AND hear you! Oh! In fact..." Eclipse cut himself off, and with a snap of his fingers a wall appeared showing a very startled Moon. 

"WHOA! What the... Hey! Wow you really are in there, huh..." Moon rambled. The screen before him had rapidly changed from the starting screen of the game to an odd room with Sun and Eclipse standing in the middle of it. 

"Hellooooo!" Eclipse sang, waving to the nap time animatronic. "Didn't wanna leave you out of all the fun!"

“Um…thanks?” Moon responded, unsure how else to really react to the situation. At least Sun seemed safe…that was the important thing. 

“What…fun?” 

“Yea! What game are we playing?!” 

Eclipse grinned down at the bot, seeing just how much fun he was going to have with the little ball of energy already. 

“Awww you mean you haven’t figured it out yet?!” Eclipse snickered, wiggling his fingers. “I’ll give you ooooone more hiiiiiint. What game are you always playing Sunny?”

Sun chuckled nervously, backing away from Eclipse all the while shaking like a leaf. 

Oh he knew immediately what game that was.

"Wh-w- M-ME!? I couldn't possibly tell you what that could be... hahah..." Sun stuttered out. 

How did he know!? The same way diVo had?? Gosh- how many people overheard their antics!???

Suddenly, A spotlight focused on Eclipse out of nowhere, a microphone appearing in his hand. The area darkened, Sun merely appearing within the light cast off of it. 

"WWWWEEEEEEELLL FOLKS?! Can you tell Sun what time it is!?"

The spotlight fades into new scenery, a bright Gameshow- like area with Eclipse clones as the audience, and other three contestants. In the blink of an eye, the glitch's outfit changed to a sparkly, red sequined suit. 

"It's TIME FOR-"

"NAME, THAT, GAME!" The crowd of Eclipses shouted, as the contestant Eclipses waved to the crowd. 

"Thaaaats right!"

"W-wwhaaaaat?" Sun was genuinely confused... yet intrigued by the abilities Eclipse seemed to have. 

"Whoa..." Moon said in awe, watching the scene before him. This guy was nuts. But he also seemed like the fun type of crazy. Ooohohoho, Moon knew what game this was too. He knew Sun was bluffing, knowing the name of the game as well. This was getting interesting.

“You know the rules and so do I!” The glitch snickered into his microphone. “You name that game and the winner reaps the reward! Are you ready?!” 

The eclipse clones whistled, cheered and applauded. 

“THEEEEEEEN LETS NAME THAT GAAAAAAAME!!”

Sun was teleported to one of the game stands in the row of Eclipses, a buzzer shaped in the form of Eclipse's hat below him. 

Oh boy-

"Noooooooow fooooor our newest contestant here, we'll start out eaaaaasy peasy:" 

Behind the game show host Eclipse, multiple giant cards popped into existence, floating in the air creating a wall of cards. The backs were facing Sun, so he couldn't see what they said. 

"You pick a caaard, any card! The card you choose will have a hint as to what the game is! You only get threeee draws! Every Time you have to draw a hint card," Eclipse comically gestures over to an empty table similar to the constant one he and the duplicates were at, except there were three Xs lining the bottom.

 "A me will appear, and give another hint to the name of the game. Three strikes and you're out! The last eclipse will have to tell you."

Sun, very confused, nodded his head at the rules to this... pre-game that was legitimately fun. Pre-game!? Do those even exist!?

Apparently they do here…

"Now, as our lovely guest~ YOU will be the one in control of picking the cards. So! What'll it be?" 

"A-alright... Um... I'll piiiiiiiick... The one in the top left corner..." Sun responded cautiously. He'd never played a game like this before. And regarding the answer to the initial question, he did know, or was at least pretty sure he did. But if there was a chance he guessed wrong and accidentally gave Eclipse any ideas, then he'd rather just go along with the game show for now... Just to make sure. At the back of his mind though, he hoped it was the game he suspected it was.

"Nice choice, niiiiice choice my good clown!" The red jester code complimented cheerfully, pointing the microphone up to the selected hint card. The card flipped over, revealing a picture of a feather. Sun froze in place, nervous at the image. 

He didn't know this was a VISUAL guessing game, He expected TEXT!

"Feathers are commonly used for this game. Hummmmm I wonder, oh I wonder..." The menace smirked. "Can anyone guess the game?"

The other eclipses pretended to think as hard as they could, one deep in thought, one contemplating briefly, and one glaring at the board in intense, head breaking mind waves, however coming up with zip, zilch, NUFFIN.

"Hmmm.... no one?" The glitch acted almost disappointed.

A glitch clone appeared over at the strike area, smirking over at Sun, wiggling his fingers at him threateningly. The solar animatronic jumped, giggling slightly as he hugged himself.

Oh... oh this was going to either be too long, or too short of a game

Moon snickered. This was actually really funny to watch. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to take very long at all. 

“Thaaaaaat's one strike, dear Sunny! Hehe! Let’s hope your luck gets better! Care to choose another?”

Sun gulped feeling the giddiness in his tummy bubble. 

“Uhm….I-I guess….that one?” He pointed to the middle diagonal from his previous choice.

"Aaaah interesting. Interesting! Let's see what we have here~" Eclipse teased before dramatically pointing to said card. It flipped over, revealing an open-mouthed smile with "HA HA HA" around it.

'Oh no oh no oh no' Sun's mind raced.

"Oooo hint número dos! Laughter is a main component and the ultimate goal of this game," the glitch announced, looking on toward the contestants. The three lookalikes were all scratching their heads while Sun stood there fiddling idly with his finger. He knew this game alright. But should he answer??? Or see what happens when times up???

Moon giggled at Sun's obvious aversion. So, Sun was going to take his chances, aye? Curious to what would happen if no one guessed, he bet. Honestly, Moon was too. This 'Eclipse' guy was a riot. Plus letting this play out would help introduce them to his personality more.

"Aaaaaanybody? Anyone? Anyone?"

Sun was clammed up and just shook his head.

"No one at all?" Crossing his arms with an exaggerated harrumph. Eclipse turned the microphone into a wand, and a giant silver crown appeared on his head briefly. 

"Maybe this Eclipse can spell it out for you, dear!" He spoke as if he were Glinda the good witch, bippity boppity boo-ing the second Eclipse next to the first one. 

The newest Eclipse opened an unspecified bag of chips, opening them to begin to snack... that is, until he pulled out the first chip. 

They were off brand bugles.

Putting the chex-like chips on his fingers he began to play with the chips, tapping his fake nails on the table. The other Eclipse noticed, soon asking for some of his own-

OH NO! 

NOW CLAWS WERE WIGGLING IN SUN'S DIRECTION-

The Eclipse didn't want to eat them, oh no, he wanted to TEASE him with them! 

Sun jolted back a bit, trying to cover his tickle spots, a blush painting itself across his cheeks. Moon watched in awe, taking notes possibly.. Sun could NOT take this man's creative genius-... perhaps Moon should take an example? 

"Is something wrong, player number 4?" 

The judge eclipse smirked, now back in the previous game show attire. 

"N-no, everythings fine. I'm just- very confused!"

Moon snorted on the outside of the arcade machine. One of two things would happen. Either Sunny won the game, or Eclipse did... This felt VERY familiar but Moon couldn't seem to put his finger on it... hmmm...

Eclipse batted a hand lightly at the statement.

"I see... are you suuuuure you can't guess it?" Eclipse suddenly materialized in front of Sun, leaning closer and closer into his face with every emphasis. "Are you absolutely positiviley EXCRUCIATINGLY sure??!" 

Sun tilted his head further and further back every time the glitch got closer, stopping a little past his shoulders. 

"...yyyyyyeessssss?" 

Eclipse disappeared, reappearing back in his original position, purple dust falling at his feet. 

"Yes, yes, yess... I do apologize for my eccentricity," He playfully said in dramatics before speeding through his sentence like an auctioneer. "Being cooped up in here, alone watching from the outside in can really do a number on a glitch- ANYHOO!"

Eclipse outlined the bottom of the giant screen with the microphone. "Your laaaaast card! If you can't guess the game after this card, you lose... and that will determine what happens in the game in question"

"Uhhhh..." Sunny was practically radiating giddy anxiousness. What card? What card- WHAT CARD!?

"UHHHHHHHH- th-thaaaat one?" Sun pointed at the card directly in the center of the board. ... surely it couldn't be as teasy as the rest of them, right? 

Right??? 

The card flipped over at eclipse's command... revealing a picture of Sun with an arm arched over his forehead, like a stereotypical damsel in distress. The bottom of the card contained a sentence with a blank. 

'Oh no, don't _____ me!'

It said, ... 

Oh STARS.

Why was that an image on the cards?! HE WAS BEING CALLED OUT!!

He gulped and shrunk back shyly. Eclipse looked among his contestants with a wide grin. 

“My my, still no answer? Seems I’ve stumped everyone!” He looked to Sun with that same devious grin. 

“What say you Sunny?”

“Uh-um…I…”

Moon unconsciously drew his face closer and closer to the screen. 'Ohohoh Sunny What are You gonna say?'

All of the Eclipses had their eyes trained on the solar bot. All eyes were officially on him.

"I...I-I...p-pass?" Sun squeaked out, shutting his eyes tightly.

A comical 'WAMP-WOMP' sound effect played as the host's faceplate turned into a giant red 'X' for as long as it lasted. 

"I'm teeeeerribly sorry there friend, but it appears you're out of turns!" 

Eclipse flashed Sun a sinister smile, soon facing towards the game screen. 

"WEEEEELL there ya HAVE it Moon! That's game!"

Moon lightly gasped, backing away a bit. Eclipse could hear him right now-right now!?

"You... can hear me?"

"Of couuuurse I can, clear as day, and Sun can too. At least he will after losing!" 

He leaned a bit further towards the screen, closing his voice range off with the back of his hand. 

"Or is it winning since there's a prize for him in the end?" he whispered. 

Before Moon could respond, the 'camera' flashed to the last X-Eclipse as he made his way to the strike podium, who soon decided to- split his arms off into...

I-into..

Two pairs.

The crowd of eclipses disappeared, leaving only Eclipse, and the strike-Eclipses in a VASTLY different area with Sun by their side... at least for the time being.

Sun gulped. Was…was what he thought was gonna happen actually going to happen?! What was it with everyone trying to tickle him?! ….not that he minded…at least it was fun. BUT STILL!

“I uh…hehe…that’s a lot of arms you got there friend…”

"Yes. Yes. Do you like them? I can add more" the glitch teased stepping closer and closer to the smaller bot. Sun giggled nervously, slowly backing away. "Where are you going?"

"N-nowhere! J-just... You're makin' me a little nervous is all ehehe..." Sun stuttered out. In a flash, the original Eclipse disappeared and Sun immediately backed into something.

"Howdy, there!" Eclipse greeted once again, smiling widely down at the startled bot and giving him a loose hug. Sun broke the hug, spinning around but finding that the other Eclipses had closed in. He was surrounded.

"I-I-I don't w-want any trouble. Is this all n-necessary? Seems like overkill, w-wouldn't just one b-be enough?" Sun questioned, trying to bide what little time he had left. Eclipse chuckled at the attempt.

"Awww, well maybe if you'd played the game instead of staying so silent, you'd only have one of me to deal with~" the glitch explained, his voice changing for the second half of his chide. He punctuated his words with wiggling fingers poised in the air.

"EEEEP!" Sun squeaked covering his eyes. Those teasing fingers before him were too much to even look at.

Eclipse chuckled a bit at the unexpected nature of his new playmate, this was turning out to be MUCH MORE fun than he expected! He didn't know what Sun was thinking, nor how he'd react to certain spots- at least, from what he hadn't overheard from the daycare. 

This was going to be VERY interesting... 

Eclipse firmly, but gently raised Sun's arms above his head using two of his clones. The two clones in question held the arms with two arms each from two different pairs,  holding his wrists and forearm. 

"Silly thing, your hands aren't supposed to be here, they're supposed to go up here!" Eclipse teased. 

Sun gasped before squealing out at the action. NO! His arms were raised so effortlessly- this was NOT fair at ALL. 

"WAAAAaaahahaahahait!" Sun snorted out, already anticipating what was to come. The Eclipse's stuck to crowding his sides, but leaving room for the bot to breathe. 

"Hmmmmm?" The Eclipses' paused hands floated just over the spots they were going to attack. One pair of arms floated over his sides, another over his tummy, his ribs, and, of course, his underarm joints. 

"EEEHEHEEK!! Ohohonooo- uhhuhuh- kkheehkkk aren't you going to-?"

"Only when you give the okay! I may be a glitch, but I still follow the rules! (mostly). Is this okay Sunny-boy? Or should we take it down a peg?"

Sun gulped nervously. Oh now he was gonna make him ask for it?! He wiggled in place, anticipating wiggly fingers at any moment. 

“I-I uhm…ehehe…I’mfinewithit!” He blurted out quickly. It only made the glitch grin wider at the little sunshine. 

“Ohhhhhh?? What was thaaaat, Sunny? I didn’t QUUUUUITE catch what you said there!” 

Sun let out a whine. “D-don’t make me say it…”

"Awwww, I'm not making you say anything. That's completely up to you! Unless... You're only saying that because you're too shy to say something. DON'T WORRY! We're all friends here, right!?" Eclipse asked, looking back through the glass screen showing Moon. That once again startled Moon, but he was very invested in the scene before him. It felt like a 4th wall break everytime, though. 

Sun cheeks began to heat up again. Oh he wanted to hide his face so badly! But he couldn't. He was stuck, stuck seeing those fingers tantalizingly close and the big goofy grin stretched across his newest friend's face. Underneath everything, the guy seemed genuine. He just had a rather eccentric way of showing it... But he did seem to care about Sun's comfort nonetheless.

"W-well... You can.... can t.... t-ti... tickle me-"  Sun struggled out, immediately snapping his mouth shut again, eyes closed tight and cheeks red as cherries.

The Eclipses collectively grinned wider at that, the fingers now slowly wiggling down to the surface of their targets. Sun's rays picked up speed, spiraling like a pinwheel in a tornado. 

"Tiiiiiiickle tiiickle-" 

They touched down, picking up speed, wobbling and prodding the tickle spots with vigor. 

"TICKLE"

The reaction was instant, Sun tried to hold it in with red, puffy cheeks, but it lasted for only a second before a squeal cut through the internalized snorts. 

"BWAAAAAHAHAHA!! EEEeeehehehahaahaEEEEE!!!"

Moon playfully smirked at the screen, eyes filled with evil intent. He couldn't join in tickling him, 'don't ask to, you would be intruding…' 

But he could tease! 

... as long as he wasn't being a third wheel... again.

"Is something wrong, Sun?" 

Oh that MENACE-

"It doesn't tickle does It? Awwww... poor thing"

“YOU-YOOHOHOHOHOU SHUHUHUUUUSH!” Sun cackled out, squirming in place as multiple fingers attacked him. 

The original eclipse snickered as he looked right at Moon, the tickling never lightening for a moment. 

“Hehehe! Did you want to join?! It’s more fun with EVERYONE!“ 

Moon blinked at the question. He couldn’t possibly…

“Uh…j-join?”

"OF COURSE, It is my game after all~" Eclipse informed with a grin. He and his clones paused their play while Eclipse worked his magic. 

"Bippity boppity boo,

Now you can play the game too~" Eclipse sang. The screen momentarily glitched out before clearing up again. The perspective had changed, though. Moon's view had a close up on the scene. But the oddest thing was the two feathery icons on the screen. Moon caught on immediately, playing with the joystick and finding that he could indeed control those feathers. He tapped at the buttons, observing how one flicked the feather on the right and the other button fluttered the one on the left.

"OHOhoho you're a fast one, aren't you! AhahaHAHA! No need to tell you twice!" the glitch teased. Sun's eyes widened at the sight, and he began to wriggle around.

"WAhahaiheeheeheet! I'm nahahat reheheheheadyheehee!" Sun giggled in anticipation, shaking his head. But contrary to his words, his rays were spinning happily.

"Not ready!? Well I ain't gonna wait here all day!" Eclipse teased, wiggling his fingers like the menace he was. Oh he wanted to start already, Sun and Moon did too, but Eclipse was addicted to these little games. If Sun was going to be stubborn, Eclipse was going to play along.

"Buuuuut if you say so!" He exclaimed, all Eclipse's putting their free hands behind their backs. 

'Dirty trickster' Moon thought to himself. He knew full well Sun couldn't STAND moves like this. It forced him to admit something that was still embarrassing to admit no matter how many times he said it out loud.

"WAHahahit- nohoho I mean-" Sun squeaked, and snorted before playfully groaning. "Dohohon't stop! That's not fahair!!" 

.... did he just SAY THAT!? 

Shocked by his own words, Sun's whole face turned a bright orange. 

tartar sauce... 

"Oooooh! Hear that Moon and Eclipses? So EAGER! It's absolutely impossible not to tickle a ray of sunshine so willing~."

Moon chuckled beyond the arcade box, equipping the stick in one hand, and leaving the arcade buttons to his other.

"I agree. Wouldn't want to keep him waiting!" 

The Eclipses finally put those multiple arms with wiggling fingers back to use, touching down on Sun's tummy, ribs, and arm joints starting slowly from the wrists down. Moon on the other hand flicked those feathers across areas the Eclipses hadn't managed to touch yet. His rays, his buttons, his cheeks, and his neck. The feathers that lightly swirled and plumed gently over the ticklish spots, versus the much more bold tickling from eclipse made Sun chortle and snort up a storm.

"KYAAAHAHA- SNORT snort SNORT! EEEEHEHEeheheheahaha!! NyHohoHOHOMYSTARS! IHihiHit TiHIHIckles!!"  Sun couldn't help but state the obvious as he endured the playful attacks. He stomped his feet as the joyous music of his laughter filled the air. 

"Heheh- really now? We had no idea!" Moon replied, sweeping the feathers at his knees down lower. 

Moon could tell his friend was having a BLAST! However there were a couple of spots he and the Eclipses hadn't covered yet... 

"Oh dear oh dear oh dearie me..." The original Eclipse said, starting to lighten up the prodding on Sun's tummy, vouching to swirl an index finger around the entire area. "Men, it appears I've found something!"

Eclipse transformed into a pirate version of himself, the three others turning into crew members, buccaneers. "Where ye be pointing Cap'n?!" 

The other hands started to slow, walking down to the shore that was Sun's tummy, the Cap'n standing right infront of Sun's dent. 

" 'X' marks the spot, me harties!" With that eclipse drew an X over Sun's dent, causing him to let out a gleeful yelp.

"WAHAHAIT!! BUHUT- mUhuHuh TuhuhummEEEHEHEEE-"

"Ohoho! But it be not the tummy we're after!" Captain Eclipse of the Great Glitchbeards proclaimed. A single finger scratched and wriggled just above the dent, only causing Sun to arch his back and squeal out. 

"EEP NUUUHUHUHUHUHUUU!" 

"It be this little divot we're after!" Down moved the finger, now scratching into the ticklish dent that was now sending poor Sunny into hysterics.

"AYEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEEE-SNORT- AHAHAHEEHEEHEHEEHEEHEE! NAHAhao pleeHEEHEASE! TOOHOOHOO TIHIHIHICKLEEHEEHEEHEEEEE-SNORT-!" Sun squealed out, squirming as much as he could. His rays spun wildly along with his laughter.

"Ah! There MUST be treasure lying in this very spot! I can HEAR it! Like the music of a siren" Eclipse announced, looking around at his crew.

"Treasure, treasure, where's the treasure? What's gonna happen when we find that treasure?"

"What's gonna happen is we'll all be rich"

"We'll have giggles to last forever"

The Eclipses sang a familiar kids show tune, tickling the dent, and the area around it.

"EEEEEEEHEHAHAAAAHAHA-SNORT OHOHOKAY- EHAHA- SOHOHOMEWHERE EEHEHEELSE!!" 

The pirate uniforms disappeared, making the Eclipses turn back to normal, and letting Sun breathe, leaving only the light feathers that barely touched. Sun was reduced to mere giggles, his fans cooling his systems as he stayed in his own little version of candy land.

"Somewhere else? Of course of course... after the little star rests we can go somewhere else..  but...  where else can we go...?"

Eclipse spotted the feathers that slowly started to dance over Sun's ankle. 

"Kehehehe- snort- eeehehe... SKSkskshshk... I hahave an ihidea whahat youohou two ahare thihihinking, And ihi have one thihing to sahahay..."

Moon stopped the feathers for a moment, looking at his counterpart, as did the Eclipses.Sun’s rays spun as he stuck his tongue out at his attackers, despite knowing how dangerous it was.  

“You’re all buttsfaces!!”

Moon raised a playful brow. Ohoho so that’s how he wanted to play. Eclipse let out a gasp, three of his crew members covering eyes, mouth and rays. 

“You sir have offended the likes of my great clan! Prepare for punishment!!” 

Off came the slippers

“Your toes are ours!”

"WAIT! WAIT! NOHOHOT THE TOES! NAHAHAHAT MY TOHOHOHOOOOES!" Sun shrieked, desperately trying to kick his legs. The Eclipses were far stronger than he was and lifted his ankles, leaving him in a sitting position in the air. His feet were now fully visible to the devious lunar bot in control of the feathers and left in reach of all of the Eclipses. Sun was in trouble. BIG trouble.

"WAIT A MINUTE! I-I-I MISSPOKE! I MEANT TO SAY, UH... B-B... uhhh... NUTS! Wait... Bots??? YEAH! BOTS! YOU'RE ALL BOTS! SEE?! Ehehehehe, b-bots..." Sun stuttered looking around at the faces of his captors.

The eclipses swarmed like a murder of crows at Sun's bare tootsies, forming back into one being, the only difference was... he kept the arms of the duplicates. "AAAahhhh much lonelier, but so much more SPACE TO BREATHE! Now, where were we? OOOOOOOHHHHH yesssss! yesyesyesyesyeeeesssss!!!!"

One pair of hands gestured playfully at Moon, signaling him to bring the feathers closer to the sensitive canvases. 

"Please, be my guest! I'll come in when he leaaast expects it~" Sun gasped at the playfully ominous threat before the feathers came dancing near.

"N-Now MOONIE! You- d-d-don't need to do this!"

The giant moon looking in from the arcade machine screen gave that oh so familiar evil grin. 

"Oh, no, Sundrop, I INSIST! After all… ,"

The feathers touched GOLD, quite literally so. 

"... we wouldn't want you hidin' those PRECIOUS giggles of yours, would we?"

“EEEHEHEHEEK!!” Sun gave out a squeal, trying everything to kick his legs and wiggle his defenseless toes. 

“M-M-MOOOHOHOOOHOOONIEEEHEHEHEHEEE!! PFFT PLEHEHEHEHEAAAASE!!”

“Please what, Sunny? Don’t you love this spoooot?” Moon cooed.

"IHIHIHIM TIHIHICKLISH THEHEHERE-snort-EEHEEHEEHEE!" Sunny squealed with delight. He'd never experienced  having two devious ticklers working together so smoothly. They'd barely started and were already a good team. And that was bad news for Sun…

The feathers stroked up and down his arches, flipping to the quill of the feather to scribble shapes and letters. Sun screeched joyfully, continuing to wiggle his feet aimlessly, that is, before two of Eclipse's SIXTEEN arms came to hold them still. "Now hold veeeeery very still. This won't hurt one bit!"

"WAITWAITWAITEEHEHEHEE!" Sun cried out at the feeling of being restrained. "THAHATS NOHOHOT FAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAIR!!" 

"Not fair? Not fair?! Not fair tra la la?!" Eclipse snickered. "What isn't fair is you tryin to keep all your tickle spots to yourself! That isn't the point of this game Sunny!" 

"You did lose fair and square." Moon smirked at the wriggling bot. He knew him better than anyone, he was having fun with these games.

Sun thrashed his head around and wiggled his toes desperately. His rays spun rapidly as the playfulness continued.

"OHOHOHO! NAHAHAT THE FEEHEEHEEHEET! NOT MY FEEEEEHEEHEEHEET! I CAHAN'T STAND IT!" Sun shrieked out.

"Can't stand it!? Why of course you can't, silly! You're up in the air! You can't stand at all! Hohoho!" Eclipse was a clever little devil. That's for sure. The response got a giggle out of Moon.

Soon, hands joined the fluttering plumes that were now on and between his toes. The hands worked their magic, scritching everywhere in sight they could find on those bean-paws, swirling, poking, spidering.

Sun cackled as the two tickle monsters kept their focus solely on his toe beans and paw pads. Gosh... this was so much fun! However, every good thing must come to an end, and admittedly, Sun, red faced and rays spinning, was ready to wave the white flag.

"EEEEAAAHAHAAHA- OHO-KEEHEHEEHEE- OKAHAHAY! MEHEHERCEEHEHEE!"

And just like that, it ended. The feathers Moon controlled stopped and moved away. Eclipse's extra arms proofed away, leaving two behind which he used to hold Sun's giggly, shaky form. 

Sun laid there in the glitch's arms, giggling and catching his breath. "Ohohoo...stahahahars..." 

Eclipse wore the biggest grin as he looked over the tired giggle star. 

"Hehehe! Sorry! Hopefully that wasn't toooo far! I know I can be a bit....Much"

"Ehehen-n-NO! Nahahat too much! Eeheeheehee -snort-" Sun giggled, waving his hand, warding away the glitch's concern.

"Ah, good, GOOD! Phew!" Eclipse dramatically proclaimed. He was genuine though. Even under his silly, crazed surface, he had a real heart.

After shaking off his previous anxiety, Eclipse snapped his fingers, making two comfy red and yellow lounge chairs, the inside of the arcade box turning into the equivalent of Eclipse's house. The stylistic choice TRULY described 'Eclipse' letter for letter. 

Moon tried to keep his smile up as he quite literally felt he was watching from the outside in. He really wanted to join the two of them inside the arcade box, sitting in a chair... yet at the same time, could they trust him to let them back out? Loneliness could make even the nicest person do the craziest things, and he and Sun needed to be there for the kids.

"Sit back and relaaaaaax Sun my boy. Would you like something to eat? To drink perhaps? Milk? Spiders? Fizzy-faz? Fazzy-fizz?"

"OOOoooh!!! Milk please!" 

Moon's eyes widened as Sun just seemed to gloss over the 'spiders' option. 

"Of course, one seconnnnnd!!"

Eclipse made a cartoonish dash into the kitchen, pulling out two cartons of milk, and poofing back in front of Sun in a cloud of smoke. 

"Chocolate or strawberry!?"

Sun blinked. That’s not what he expected. 

“Uh-what about regular?”

Now it was Eclipse who tilted his head in confusion, his hat flopping over as he did so. 

“Whatcha mean silly?! This IS regular milk!! Hehehe!!! ….

Isn’t it?”

Sun stared for a moment before doubling over in a new bout of laughter.

"EEHEEheeheehee-snort- N-nohoho, regular milk doesn't have ahany special flavors ehehe," Sun giggled at his host's silliness. Eclipse made a deadpanned stare as he stood there still holding his offerings.

"My life is a lie... ANYWHO, would you prefer this so called "regular" milk?" the glitch offered with a smile. Sun was silently eyeing the strawberry milk.

"A-actually... I've never really had milk before , not really supposed to have fizzy-faz either, whoopsies, but um... could I try the strawberry please?" Sun asked politely. This guy was really hospitable. He just went from tickling him silly to being the master of pampering a guest. Moon looked on longingly, staying silent as he became closer and closer to asking his own question.

"Oooooooone strawberry extraordinaire coming RIIIIIGHT UP!" 

Eclipse spawned and used an extra pair of arms to hold the strawberry milk gallon while in two others metal shaker cups appeared. He poured the strawberry milk in halfway to one of the tins, all the while chopped strawberries splashed in the milk every time he opened the container.

 While doing the parlor tricks he glanced up at Moon who was now awkwardly looking away from the scene. Oh that would NOT do at all.. all guests should feel welcomed!

“Ohoooho! How rude of me! Heheh! Care to come and join us Moon?! This milk isn’t going to drink itself!!”

Moon blinked, looking back at the screen. He shied a bit. 

“I uh…don’t know if it’s such a good idea….s-someone’s gotta make sure Sunny can get out alright when we have to go back and watch over the kids.” 

He probably sounded rude…and probably showed how much he actually trusted eclipse. Which…wasn’t very much…at least not that much…What would he do if he had both of them? Never let them leave?

He wasn't necessarily eager to find out... Eclipse heard the disappointment and the uncomfortable strain in Moon's reply. He conjured up a table to set down his concoction, turning to face Moon directly.

"I know you two take care of the children. I can hear the joy outside, you know... Not only will I get you two back to your bodies without a fuss, but I expect those kiddies to be well taken care of, something I know full well you boys do everyday." Eclipse's face was serious, his voice contrary to his normal tone. That was not lost on Moon.

"O... Okay..." With that, Moon grabbed the extra set of wires and plugged himself in carefully. He held the box he used to transport Sun and activated it again, sending him into the digital world.

Before he knew it, Moon pixelated into existence much similar to how Sun had, now actually BEING in the living room with the group. It was a whole other experience from just seeing it from the screen. 

"Woah..." he looked around with awe, vigorously turning to look at every detail... It was absolutely breathtaking. Chaotic, but cozy. 

The shaker containing Sun's Strawberry Milk Extraordinare or 'SSME', had been picked up by Eclipse before being poured into a yellow boba-tea cup with Sun's face on it. The little Sun face wore pinkish-purplish star sunglasses. Pink ice, (possibly strawberry flavored ice?) decorated the practically sparkling liquid, before being garnished with a strawberry rice crispy treat straw. 

Eclipse handed the handcrafted drink to the solar animatronic, who, in return, looked at it in awe. After Sun started drinking the absolutely DELICIOUS strawberry milk (seriously- HOW CAN HE TASTE IN HERE!?), Eclipse brought his attention to Moon. 

"Okay, YOUR turn Mr. Naptime!" A bar-keep outfit appeared on the goofy glitch with a feint poof along with a mini towelette and yet another Boba tea cup. This time it had Moon's face on it... However, his hat was missing.

 "I.. uhm- w-well... what do you got?"

"Oh I have everything." His head turned around in a circle for emphasis. 

"Everything?"

"Of course! My game, my rules, remember. Watch!"

Eclipse set the Boba cup down on the table before cupping his hands up together.

"Usually I don't let people see this, but since you're sooo very curious, I'll make you two an exception!"

Like magic, green numbers and commands became visible, merging together into the shape of, what do you know, Moon's hat. 

"You just-"

"Made a cookie out of thin AIR!!" 

"PFFFFTT not air, ya sillies, CODE. Again, my game, my rules!" 

With that, eclipse took the cookie in his hand, and examined it. "Hmmm.. seems familiar..." he looked between Moon, and the Boba cup tapping his chin before finally realizing. "OOOOHH sihihilly me! I forgot your santie-claws hat." 

Eclipse magically flung the cookie at the Boba tea glass, making the hat morph into the art as if it had been there the entire time. 

"Now... where were we? AHHHHH YESyesyesyesYEEEEEEES! Your drink?"

Oh... Moon still hadn't thought of one yet. THINK MAN, THINK!!

WAIT-

...

He DID always want to know what a certain blue milkshake tasted like.

"A... blue-moondrop milkshake please..? If it's not too much to ask for, it's really no problem I can take something else if it's too much tr-"

"Woooooooahhh there bucko! Slow your horses," the glitch interrupted with a gentle smile. "Remember, I ASKED you what you wanted, and I will give it to you. Heck I'm making it right now the old fashioned way!" 

Oh... well, that was awfully sweet of him..

"Ooooo your own milkshake?" Sun smirked just a wee bit. Moon did tend to eye when kids bought it. 

"I'm just-" He blushed, slightly embarrassed, "curious is all! How can something blue taste good?"

The sound of liquid frozen delight pouring into a cup snapped Moon's attention away from his embarrassed state... "Voila! Bon apatite mon ami"

Eclipse handed him the drink on a silver platter, for which he took almost immediately, gawking at the talent. 

He gave the shake a giant slurp... and.. 

"AMAZING!" He exclaimed, continuing to drink the drink along with his friend. 

Eclipse giggled like a gremlin at the reaction, making the unneeded equipment disappear with a SWOOP!

He reappeared in his chair, trying to release his pent up energy through fidgeting with his hands. 

The two of them talked to Eclipse for a while while drinking, cracking jokes, creating visual gags, and getting to know glitch overall... 

By the time their drinks were finished, the two seemed to be getting very tired... 

Eclipse knew what that meant, they would likely leave soon.. and if they were only to have visited just this one time, he would still be happy anyone would have known of him at all. 

"Goodness me... sleepy bots?" Glitch tsked, "No if ands or buts, you are GOOOOOING BACK!"

Without warning, Eclipse, one by one zipped their consciouses back into their bodies. Sun and Moon let out gasps upon re-entering their suits, realizing what happened and gently unplugging their cords from the arcade machine. Glitch stood looking at them from the inside of the arcade machine, smiling and waving. Sun and Moon waved back before their lack of energy hit them.

Sun let out a yawn as well did Moon soon after... geez... they really were tired.

Sun stretched before responding to eclipse

"That was so much fun, Eclipse! We'll be sure to come back soon and play with you again." Sun happily chirped. Eclipse tried processing what Sun said.... Come back? Soon? They actually liked him? 

Ding!

Did that mean they were friends now?! Oh... he was OVERJOYED! EXCITED, HYPED! ANY AND ALL of the words COMBINED!!

"Of course of COURSE, my friends. Come back anytime! I'll be here waiting for ya, I promise."

"Yeah... we'll definitely visit you as much as we can. It was nice talking to you, aaaaaand tickling the snot out of Sun with you!" Moon added.

Sun gasped before playfully poking at his Moon's sides. 

"Don't get too cocky Moon! I have fingers and I WILL use them when you least expect it."

Moon giggled a bit, shying away and lightly pushing Sun's hands back.

"Nohohokahay- I'll stohop!"

"You better~" Eclipse warned, digital fingers wiggling at the screen. "You aren't safe from ol' Clipsey either!" the glitch jested. As the bots began to make their way to their charging station, Sun and Moon spoke in unison. 

"Good night, Eclipse."

"Good night boys! Have sweet dreams…" 

The glitch sighed as he watched them leave the room. He was happy… truly happy. After all these years, his torturous solitude was over. 

He wasn't alone anymore. 

FIN

[glassautomaton]

Hello Glassautomaton!

(Spoilers for DA?)

Its the same anon who wrote you last few messages after finding out that DA series were renewed

I read everything and you left me absolutely heartbroken and devastated.. Poor Iris... my baby... I find it ironic that she died from a hand who was protecting their sibling.

But I've couldn't imagine other end for her? Poor Iris. And the farewell scene...ohh that hit hard

Anyway yeah... I am very invested in the story and I'll wait for the updates while crying in the pillow in my room

Thank you!

Thanks for the message, and sorry it's taken me several weeks to respond to it. I'd say I was taking a short break from writing, but it's more accurate to say I simply got distracted. The next article should be coming out in a few days.

Though it's a little odd to say, it's good to hear that Iris' death impacted you like that, since it means I did my job. The farewell scene in the following article was also a concern because with that story beat, I want to give it room to breathe, but I don't want to spend so long lingering on it that it becomes an issue with the pacing.

Initially I had another article planned to come next in the series, but after typing some of it out I realized I needed something else before it, so if I've talked about what's coming next after Right to Repair, I'll have to amend that a little and say it's coming after this next article. God willing, these next two articles come out quickly now that I have a good idea what to write, as I've spent a long time thinking them over.

[annachum]

Some ideas for a Magic School Bus Reunion movie

The Carlos x Dorothy Ann ship in Magic School bus is kinda like an AU if Ricky Ricardo and Lucy McGillicuddy first met as elementary school classmates

And they be often bickering over a science project one minute snd take down some thug they don't like the next

And then fast forward at a college they meet again AND THEN Carlos fell for DA at first sight in person in years

But DA doesn't fall for his charms so fast - she did gradually warm up to him

And the rest is history

I have this HC where, after their elementary school years, everybody in that class be going to different ways and such

And then Wanda and Arnold did get together since 11th grade since they end up attending a same secondary school

Phoebe Terese and her family moved to Toronto

Ralph Fenneli is working to be a lawyer like his mama

And then DA aspires to be an astrophysicist while Carlos aspires to be an engineer

And then years after they graduate from elementary school they all got a call from Ms Frizzle ( who becomes old and semi retired ) and wants repairs of her school bus cuz it got malfunctioned

Those college students got an elementary school reunion and they all LAUGHED and high five that Wanda and Arnold did get together, and so did Carlos and DA

They be having an elementary school reunion while helping Ms Frizzle repair her old school bus that summers day

And after that, Ms Frizzle decided to take those college to a special science trip that takes them to some places they may have been to before

Bless

Wanda Li x Arnold is kinda like Bruce Banner x Betty Ross if they hadn't broke up

I imagine in college, DA be sometimes dressing like Gwen Stacy and Hermione Granger, and replaces her pigtails at elementary school with shoulder length wavy golden hair often in headband

And Carlos be sometimes dressing like a college version of Tony Stark and Ricky Ricardo lol

If somebody is gonna make a Magic School Bus reunion movie,

I can totally see it like kinda like around a month long trip to several places via science trip style, and turns out Ms Frizzle can actually tell those college students some college level science things ( similarly with FAR From Home lol )

🤯🤯🤯🥺🥺🥺🥺

Ofc Ms Frizzle contacted the parents about the trip and the parents gave their consent and such

And srsly Carlos, Arnold and Tim in Magic School Bus being friends is kinda like kid Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and Rhodey being friends at an elementary school lol

DA and Wanda Li being friends is kinda like kid Pepper Potts and Betty Ross being friends at an elementary school

[cathalbravecog]

Do you have cathal hcs you'd like to share i am starving for anything cathal related help me

he's like an addiction to my brain, it always wants MORE

MUEUEHAHAHAHA I YOUR LOCAL CATHAL CREAUTRE 'ČISLO JEDNA' (NUMBER ONE). SHALL PROVIDE. NOW, THE THING IS, I THINK I'VE SHARED MOST OF THE THINGS I THINK HERE ALREADY....I PREFER OBSERVING AND LETTING THINGS DEVELOP AS THEY GO. THAT'S MY WEIRD THING WITH CERTAIN BLORBOS I DON'T ALWAYS ACTIVELY MAKE STUFF FOR THEM EVEN IF IM SO SOSOOSOSOS MENTALLY ILL FOR THEM. NOW. SILLY GOOGFY OVER FOR NOW. THIS IS VERY LONG. UNDER DA CUT.....................

However. That one comic writing thing I wanna make... I guess it's a mix of some HCs and observations? I'll talk about it here, without spoiling everything, but giving out he basics!! i can write properly i swear but since im infodumping im gonna be going from writing styles in and out wackily to get my thoughts out LOL It takes place when Cathal first got hired at Cogs INC - (All narrated by himself, by the way ) and what his expectations and thoughts were. What he knew and what he didn't - since Allan would share some things with him, obviously. Even way before Cathal got hired... And eventually it got to Cathal seeing Allan fall off the tower for the first time.

He doesn't think much of it now, just shrugging it off. Perhaps mild annoyance... It's just not worth the time. It's pointless... As he says himself, he finds the Toons VS Cogs thing pointless. And... he isn't too worried, since Allan always gets repaired in the end. Sometimes it's more severe repairs than other days, but, the point stands... No matter what he always gets repaired, and Allan himself also sounds more annoyed about this than anything as well

But this wasn't always the case!

Despite being, well... Really lazy - Cathal is very caring and kind. He cares about the people around him - he politely asks if everyone's had a good lunch, and he heals them. Hell, he can even be slightly scary with this with his "You should've hit someone else that time" line. Like - he does not exactly want to pack a punch, he just sorta has to since the Toons are there... But he's capable!! Even if he doesn't see them as friends, just co-workers, he's very willing to stand up for them if they get hurt...

It's the one thing that does give him the motivation which he usually lacks... He usually just doesn't want to care because it takes too much effort, y'know? But it doesn't make him incapable of things...

So, with him established as caring for other's (that he cares about) wellbeings... Imagine the shock seeing your own dad fall off a tower, with a loud earth-quake like crash... he hasn't been joking or lying after all with all his tales of Toons pushing him off the tower. Cathal never cared for this story... Just ignored it or blocked it out of his mind as Allan's constant stories (Because come on this guy definitely loves talking about things that happened while at work or what he did with The Boys :tm: when he's with Cathal. And wise-versa. He was sooo excited to show Cathal off to the other bosses in A Meeting Of Two Minds)

But like... Those weren't like. Just some stories. Allan was always annoyed about them, but in a "Gah, those darn Toons!" kind of way. (Maybe with an occasional ramble about how that day repairs were more expensive, perhaps, as more damage was caused. Looking at you High Roller ARG. Also makes me wonder just how much money from Cogs INC does go into his repairs... But I suppose insurances for Cogs are canon, and also Sellbots are known to cut corners to save cash, so that extra stuff maybe goes to him....) But, back on track now - It's been happening for YEARS. If we go with how long Toontown has been around - it's been happening for DECADES. You start sounding a bit less serious about it...

Like... Cathal was just shocked. What was he supposed to do?! That's his dad for fuck's sake!!! He may appear unenthusiastic and bored but... It's clear these two care for each other, even if Cathal does not let it be known (With Allan being the exact opposite and he's maybe Too Vocal About It. Me too buddy, me too)

Cathal has lived a life in comfort, basically spoiled by Allan. With love, material things, him letting things be easier for Cathal... He didn't have to worry about a thing. If anything, he probably only ever struggles with his own mind - considering I do headcanon him to have some struggles with motivation and doing things and that he has Cog ADHD. Yes it's projecting. I also sit around lazily for hours but because I can't start anything no matter how much I want. Even if it's a fun activity like... Turning on a video to watch. Drawing. Hopping onto a game. Or literally just getting UP.

He's learned to just... Work with those issues. And, unlike me, he doesn't have things like school and such to worry about, so the big stress factor is gone... So even if he does struggle sometimes and does need motivators, most of the time it's impossible to tell from him just.. Struggling and him being cozy and genuinely lazy... But since he struggles less more often than not it is just laziness and "that's just hard to do" and not a mental block...

Only ever living a life in comfort-like this - Makes you worry ten times as hard when the stressful times do come. He's not equipped to handle this...

In the comic he in panic flew over to check on Allan - who in fact has fallen over and had a bunch of Cogs helping him get back up, and beginning preparations to get him fixed ASAP. It was so organized, everyone knew each other there... This basically happens all the time. They've got to be.

Allan is... Shocked, but very happy to see Cathal there. He is so very proud of his boy being there... That he cares so much about his father to go see him. Cathal does not show affection a lot - but this is the way he did. Allan knows he doesn't show it a lot, which made it ten times more special. Others who knew about Cathal through Allan were shocked, too... Cathal. The Multislacker. Stays in his video room all day, watching the cameras... He... Should be working, but that's aside the point. Despite what Allan says we all know he's a lazy slacker... He doesn't care about others. Does he?

Well... he's here, alright. Worried for his dad, who is hushing him nonchalantly, saying how this happens often. "The boys are gonna get me right back up again soon as always, son!" And how he can get right back to work soon... (And of course, some curses against the Toons.)

Cathal is just... Baffled meanwhile. He's saying the same things he always does!! Isn't he one bit worried...? Well... Like everything else, he has to let it go... And just not worry about it. Allan doesn't, so why should he...? It doesn't stop him being worried a bit longer at the time AND the next few times this happens... At that point he just knows what happens like it's rinse and repeat, like any other day

But the first time was just... Scary. Even if he most likely was caring before (again, mostly outta just... understanding. yknow? man. just wanna chill... he gets it.) - he just... Never showed it much. But after? He began appreciating others around him more. He knows Cogs always get repaired despite... Uh. (Looks at Atticus) THAT ONE TIME, so there isn't really a feel of "time is limited" feeling there... But you still don't want to see people hurt. You want to appreciate their presence. Even if they aren't friends, y'know?

He doesn't see the reason for violence, really. Okay sure, he definitely likes playful banter and messing around - but I mean like... Genuine things, y'know? I mean, as a Cog he's on the side of the Cogs, he doesn't see the motivation the Toons have, or the goal (to have to fight Allan REPEATEDLY. I mean, as an in-game thing it's for unites, but it's canon he gets fought repeatedly regardless, yknow?)

He doesn't get the scope of why Toons fight back exactly, that it's pointless. Because he doesn't have the perspective they have... He is annoyed with them, yes, they burst into his room uninvited and then demand to fight him... And they hurt his co-workers and his dad. But getting too mad is just... Man! Not worth it. Too energy consuming. Not worth getting worked up over...

But even with that he wishes that this didn't have to happen, y'know? he doesn't see the point. And if nobody fights anyone - nobody is gonna bother him and his shows either...

i think i juiced out all my thoughts bc i guess the other stuff would be more cogs only or like personal interactions i imagine between frost and him and perhaps the others... i already established the gamer thing and that he messes around with pace in that regard. one of his motivations is to just be playful like that. maybe pace and him are NOT friends and they demotivate each other in work ways. but i just love the dynamic of not friends. not enemies. just tom and jerry online gaming mischief stuff. and like. gamer graham is really funny to me since hes the sport guy. but also hes jerma to me. you get me . righht. right. i love going from serious headcanon stuff to HEE HEE SILLY. but thats just who i am. thats what you get. (cannot even get too serious about graham hes just too goofy to me) (also has written gut wrenching angst about a guy named spamton g spamton) (is really normal)

anyways. thank you villain w.hos actually a really loving dad trope for being there for me. i have issues. allan plearse adopt m.e

I LAOVEE CARTHAL RA TOBRE BRAVECOOGGGGGGG. i hope any of this makes sense. its not even a headcanon its just a mess of things. but you asked for tism so you get it. this is the best i got after this i have nothing to talk about other than gushing about cathal's design and "oeoutht h the he oh he" and repeat the same points about why hes so nice and swag and cool. but. you get me right. You Get Me

[eolewyn1010]

Dragging Frankenstein - Chapter 20, part 2

Second half of the chapter that is, at least for me, the highlight of the book; we left off at the Creature's confrontation of Victor about destroying the unfinished Distressing Damsel.

And then the slave speech. What even is this. I don’t know what to do with this. The sheer fucking hubris which he has picked up from Victor and now tries (and fails!) to turn against him. Finally, the assumption of his own superiority, declaring himself Victor’s master and, in extension of that, humanity as a whole his destined slaves, proving Victor’s fears right after all.

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR: 14

That’s for his emerging Übermensch mentality.

With the Creature setting himself above Victor, he has completed his Lucifer character arc. Interestingly, he fails to take up where Victor left off; all things considered, now would have been a good time for the Creature himself to start playing God and repair the almost-complete ladymonster using Victor’s notes. He sure is clever enough for that, and he would have some time for it while Victor is out having himself a little angstfest. The fact that he doesn’t even try leads me to the conclusion that the Distressing Damsel was more of a character test for Victor, a plot device for the Creature to escalate the conflict.

On a merrier note, “you have proved yourself unworthy of my condescension”? XD Okay? Don’t be condescending then?

Gawd, these guys are terrible. My last shred of sympathy for the Creature has finally vanished, and for once I feel a tiny bit of admiration for Victor’s thought process and taking a moral stance. Fine work, Shelley.

Oh, and the infamous “I shall be with you on your wedding night.” Well, first off – let’s be honest, this sounds like a threat of the sexual kind. DAS GAY: 33

INCEST VIBES: 15

Then, Victor gets one of those, too, bc he actually thinks he’s in a place to threaten the Creature. “closed with him in mortal strife”, eh? DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR: 15

And finally, his imagination can’t get him any further than to his wedding night being “the hour I should die”. Not like, y’know, the Creature has promised to make you miserable by destroying all you ever loved. Nah, IT’S ALL ABOUT ME: 23

Back to form. Whew, I was floundering for a second there!

…I have to give him another, because he does think of Elizabeth – in terms of her mourning for him. IT’S ALL ABOUT ME: 24

We reach a point where Victor not only fantasizes of being wretched and alone for the rest of his life, feeling isolated from the rest of humanity, but also falls asleep in the grass. Huh, they really have switched roles.

A letter from the boyfriend who’s missing him dearly! Henry, my sweetie! DAS GAY: 34

Oh, good, he does tidy up the laboratory.

…throw the parts into the sea?? Are you kidding me, you dumbass? Can’t you cremate them decently? Ugh, gross.

“I felt as if I was about the commission of a dreadful crime.” Once again, Victor fails to acknowledge that he has, in fact, committed numerous crimes. And tossing rotting corpse bits into the sea, bits that presumably originated from Christian people who thought their body safe in sacred ground, is at the very least defiling graves. (Also, gross.)

The travel across the Irish Sea is just confusing, tbh, and I only really got it when the text outright said he had reached Ireland.

“As I was in a state of extreme debility” …aren’t you always? You just got lost at sea instead of doing the simpler, and way more thorough, stake burial.

“Fortunately I had money with me.” ??? WHY? Do you always take money with you when you go out to destroy the evidence of your crimes?

Thesaurus syndrome strikes again (at least I had to look up “promontory”, sue me; it’s not my mother tongue), and then, finally, some clear information. And someone who snaps at Victor, and makes him indignant at the bad manners. If Henry weren’t dead, I could find this funny.

Not to forget, his bitchy attitude (“instead of offering me any assistance”, “inhospitably” and so on) gets him one for the I SO PRIVILEGED: 11

Get offa that high horse, will you?

Why does he think they should be friendly to him, anyway? They’re Irish, and for all they know, he might well be an Englishman. Granted, this is about 50 years before the Great Famine, but weren’t the English already getting all over the country and helping themselves to all of the land?

And from here on out, it's all downhill. Okay, factually, it was all downhill since Victor decided to play God, but the next few chapters are mainly dedicated to me hating him with all my heart. I'll try to spice it up with a little bit of character analysis regarding his similarities with the Creature, but there is the one or other capslock tantrum on the horizon. Our protagonist got one golden moment here, then continues to be the literal worst. Charming.

[moistvonlipwig]

Books I Read in 2022

I only finished 8 books this year, but amazingly enough that's actually more books than I've read per year in quite a while, so, I'll take it! These books are listed in the order I finished them.

How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone by Saša Stanišić. I thought Stanišić's Before the Feast was a really magical novel, and this one is also quite beautiful. It's a work of fiction but it incorporates autobiographical touches of Stanišić's childhood growing up in Bosnia and then fleeing for Germany during the Bosnian War. The child protagonist goes on tangents that are often imaginative and whimsical and sometimes heartbreaking and brutal. A really thought-provoking read.

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor. As always with Okorafor's work, the worldbuilding here is excellent and makes you want to spend book after book inside it. I really like Sankofa as a protagonist as well. It didn't quite feel like a standalone book and after looking it up I guess it's in the same universe as some of the books of hers that I haven't read -- I'll have to check those out. I do hope she writes more about Sankofa in the future, though.

The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin. This book was good but not as good as the first one in the trilogy, The Three-Body Problem. I also have to admit I found it kind of sexist. The subplot with Luo Ji imagining up a perfect woman only for her to actually show up and then fall in love with him with no complications whatsoever...not a fan. Also, I can't help but feel that this book would've been better with Ye Wenjie as the protagonist; she is by far the trilogy's most interesting character and yet she's relegated to a brief cameo. Oh well. The actual ideas in the book are still really interesting, and Da Shi is still a legend.

Unexpected Magic by Diana Wynne Jones. A fun collection of stories. Weirdly enough I'm actually not sure I've read any DWJ before? Which is wild to think about since I have a ton of her books because my mom was such a big fan. (Obviously I've seen Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle, but I've never read the book.) This was a nice introduction and made me want to dig into my mom's old collection and read some more of her. My favorite stories were the two written from the perspective of cats, "What the Cat Told Me" and "Little Dot". I mean...are you surprised? Lol.

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. So I think the best way to sum up how I feel about this book is that I really wish I could read a version of this book written by William Faulkner. The basic plot of the book is twisted and haunting and somehow deeply Southern Gothic despite being set in Massachusetts. But the writing is just...fine? There are moments where the prose takes a more impressive turn but mostly it, well, feels like it was written for teenagers. Which it was. But still. I think a version of this book written for adults (and, again, preferably written in a Faulkner-esque style) could've been fantastic. Also, this is minor, but for a book called We Were Liars, there was remarkably little lying going on. Like...weirdly little. Where was the lying, E. Lockhart? You promised me lying!

A Mercy by Toni Morrison. Ah, Toni Morrison, how I've missed you! It's been a hot minute since I've read her and it was so good to come back to her. This book is short but packed with lyricism and depth. The way it switches between different characters' perspectives and imbues all of them with humanity, even the ones who don't treat other people with humanity...the way the title emerges throughout the book in brief glimmers, only to be heartwrenchingly pushed to its limits in the last few pages...God, I've missed Toni Morrison.

Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse. A good sequel to Trail of Lightning, although I admit it's been a couple years since I read that book so my memory of it is a bit fuzzy, and I kind of wish I'd stopped to re-read it before going into this one. Still, I was able to follow the story, and it's a compelling tale with some really great imagery and fun characters. (Ma'ii, my beloved!) I would love to see a big-screen or small-screen adaptation of this series, if Roanhorse is up for it.

Antigonick by Sophokles, translated by Anne Carson. This is the first Anne Carson translation I've read and I found it really intriguing and fun to read. The way she manipulates language and plays with anachronisms is so interesting. I would love to see this performed; I think you could do a lot of really cool things with it.

[kingfishered]

If Simon ever were to tell Johnny how much he enjoyed being picked up, how he wanted to be thrown around, you bet Johnny would be training every day to be able to do that for him. It would bring him no greater joy: to pick Simon up and throw him down onto a bed, manhandle the larger man like that.

And, of course, he’d let Simon do the very same to him any day. Throw him around like a rag doll, perhaps use those big arms of his to pin him against a wall or the bed.

He was used to being the dominant one in bed, thoughts like these were new. Exciting.

Johnny supposed Simon was right about the whole Price and his mother situation, in a way. The sheer ridiculousness of it was pretty funny. If it had been anyone else’s mum, he was sure he would have been laughing his ass off. He just wasn’t sure he could handle the embarrassment of it being his. God, and now he’d gone and given them an excuse to be alone together. He really hoped nothing came out of that.

“Don’t, please,” he groaned, flopping his head back and closing his eyes for a moment to try and get that thought out of his mind. When he lifted it back up, Simon was still looking at him. “If something actually happens between those two, I think I might shrivel up and die from the embarrassment.”

Simon was silent after that, still staring across the room at him, brown eyes meeting blue. He was still high off his fucking face, is what that told him. Simon was never so comfortable with this much eye contact. Though, the self-indulgent part of him liked to imagine it was also because it was him, and he did hope he made Simon comfortable.

But, yeah, it was probably mostly the painkillers.

Johnny was definitely feeling more present now than he had felt earlier, he’d made sure he was for his family. He supposed he could up his dosage again now, but he didn’t feel like he needed it - that was very likely to change if he started moving, however.

He was distracted from his thoughts when Simon finally spoke again, a smile coming to his face. He tried to keep the sadness out of it, though; he understood what he’d left unspoken.

“It wasn’t always,” Johnny replied truthfully, “Took a while to get here. First ‘cause of my da, then after he left mam was always workin’, so I had to look after ma sisters. Think I’ve told ye that before? But - yeah. I… kinda hated mam fer a while, actually. For, like, a good portion of ma teenage years, even after I left home. Blamed her fer a lot of stuff she couldn’t really help. Realised that after a few years away from home, so I reached out ta see if we could repair things, y’know? And we did. I’m glad we did.”

He finished with a smile, then realised he’d probably given a much longer answer than Simon had been expecting.

“Sorry,” he said with a breathy laugh, “I don’t think I’ve ever… told anyone all o’ that before.”

---

Elsie sat where she was directed to, perhaps a little stiffly, but she was still somewhat nervous. She wasn’t sure if all of Price’s reassuring words were actually helping or making it worse.

The subject was going to be about John, of course. She wondered if maybe they were going to discuss the extent of his injuries, if Price was about to admit to her that things were far worse than they looked and that there would be irreversible damage.

What would she even do, in that situation? She could imagine how heartbroken her Johnny would be if something like that were to take him away from his job forever. She wasn’t sure if there was anything she would even be able to say to comfort him. Tell him to just be thankful he was still alive?

No, she could practically hear the reaction she would get from something like that. His job is his life, it’s all he knows, what is he without it, and so on.

Price sat down next to her, stopping her spiralling thoughts. She turned to look at him, and even managed to huff a little laugh at what he said first. Then he continued, and her amusement faded.

“It’s not,” she replied, hands clasped in her lap, one thumb moving subconsciously back and forth over the other. She thought about leaving it there, knew that if she started talking the dam would certainly break, but it felt like he was offering a place for her to do so. She didn’t often get that.

So, she went on.

“I worry about him all the time. I know what he’s like, he’s always so…” she spoke slowly, paused and took a breath as she searched for the word, “restless. Like he’s always wanting something more. Too enthusiastic for his own good, sometimes. It always used to get him into trouble and I don’t doubt he ever grew out of it. I’m just so afraid that… the next time I hear about him it’ll be because he’s dead.”

Elsie’s voice broke towards the end, and then followed the inevitable tears. She turned away from Price, bringing a hand up to her face to try and stop them as they fell.

“I’m sorry-” she apologised, voice tight, but a sob escaped before she could stop it.

Simon watched Johnny as if his life depended on it.

In many ways, now, he supposed it did. Now that he had Johnny, even if it hadn't been a full day of it, yet, he didn't know where he'd be without him, or even what he'd be.

No, that wasn't true. He did know what he'd be.

Absolutely fucking nothing.

Getting to watch his body relax, all his muscles losing tension as Price spoke to him, it just reinforced the borderline concerning obsession he had with the man. He wanted to feel those muscles, from the inside out. Johnny was a big man, as he'd said before he did manage to pick Simon up entirely off the ground.

Truth be told, that was the hottest moment of Simon's life. He'd thought about it ever since. He wasn't exactly the stature to be manhandled like that, but when he was? If he wasn't so shocked, he would have definitely made some embarrassing noises.

Maybe, now they were 'together', he could mention it offhandedly to Johnny. As casually as he could manage it without bursting into flames, let him know that if he ever wanted to throw him around and use him like he was a cheap whore, he'd be okay with that.

Well, that wouldn't exactly be the words he'd use, he was sure…

But, recalling Price's parting words several seconds too late, Simon managed a small laugh. He made no such promise to not go to Johnny if he needed him. If he got upset again, there was no alternative in his mind, he had to go to him. Johnny liked touch, he liked physical comfort, and while he was pumped full of painkillers and delightfully delirious, Simon knew he could give that to him, as much of it as he wanted.

He didn't want Johnny to be taken away, though. If he had to behave to stop that from happening, he could. Maybe he could throw something at him, try to distract him…

And then, before he knew it, Price was gone. He was left alone with Johnny and about a million questions swirling around in his recently cracked-open head, and all he could do was offer a tired smile at the look of sheer bemusement on Johnny's face from the past half an hour.

"Couldn't begin to tell ya. But, do have to say, it was good for a laugh, wasn't it?" he asked quietly, before deciding to ask one of the questions he'd been mulling over the whole time. "Might actually have to start calling Price dad proper, now, ey?"

Which question would he even pick, though? He couldn't ask them all at once, it would just overwhelm Johnny and the last thing he wanted to do was bring him to tears again. 

There was the elephant in the room, of course, whether or not they were going to tell people they were together. Would they have to? Protocol definitely didn't align with fraternising, and what they were doing was technically that…

But, not much of what the 141 did align with any kind of protocol, most of the time. They got the job done, usually bloodily, and if they were lucky then they'd just continue with their lives.

Maybe he could save that question in particular for Price. Surely the Captain would know how the relationship—God, even thinking the word to himself made him feel giggly—would affect their jobs if it affected them at all.

Not that much would change if it did. They could just sneak around, feign ignorance. No one would say anything to Johnny, not if Simon was standing behind him like a terrifying shadow, ready to devour everything in its path.

He would do that for Johnny, he realised. Maybe the thought should have concerned him more, that he was ready to burn the entire fucking world to the ground just to see him smile, just to make sure he never shed a tear again, but it didn't. Simon didn't really know what love was, but surely it had to be something like this.

One final huff of amusement escaped him, and he quickly realised he'd been sitting in complete silence, just staring right into Johnny's baby-blue eyes. It didn't seem to have made him nervous or uncomfortable in the slightest, much to Simon's relief. He'd allowed his mind to wander for a moment too long, but now he managed to pull himself back to the task at hand.

Right. Question.

"S'it always like this?" he asked quietly, not quite intending on sounding as timid as he did. "Between you and your lot. You all seem… close."

He left it unspoken, but the implication was painfully clear.

Because I've never seen anything quite like that before.

---

Price hadn't intended to cause Elsie any more worry over the situation. 

But, he supposed, there weren't many other ways she could have taken it. Being told 'Hey, let's go talk about your cripplingly ill son somewhere private' wasn't exactly the offer of a lifetime, but Price hoped he'd be able to take some of the weight off her shoulders.

If he couldn't, then hopefully he could just make it all feel a little bit better, even just for a few minutes.

"Really, nothing to worry about. Just…" Price paused, offering a sympathetic smile before he gestured for her to sit.

Over the years, he'd gotten pretty good at comforting people. At least he liked to think he did. The rest of the team claimed it was his fatherly skills coming out of the woodwork, but in reality, he didn't think it was anything so innocent as that.

He knew how it felt to go through such mentally and physically demanding work, job after job until you were just a shell of the person you were before. He knew how it felt to have no one to fall back on, no one to do and express all your frustration and hurt with.

Because he never had that, he'd make fucking sure that his team did. Comforting Soap's mother? She came with his Sergeant, as far as he was concerned. She was being strong for Soap like everyone needed her to be, and now she needed someone to be strong for her.

Price was sure he could manage that.

"How're you doing, mum?" he asked quietly, sitting in the chair beside her as opposed to his office chair on the other side of the desk.

He was close to her, but not suffocatingly, enough space that she could either increase the distance or decrease it without drawing any attention to whichever she picked.

"Never nice, is it? Havin' to see the kids like that, all battered and bruised. 'Specially not when you've got to keep a brave face on over it the whole time."

[msommers]

3, 6, 9, 14 for meredith, ellana and riya!

thank uuu i give u 😘😘 // questions for da ocs

3) Do they personally take care of their weapon and equipment if they don’t have to?

MEREDITH — occasionally, yes. she didn't have much of a choice during the blight and was so meticulous in her caring for the things that you'd think she was protecting them from dirt itself, but when she's in her natural habitat of a noblewoman then she's absolutely taking advantage of the fact she has professionals to look after them. she has work to do, no time for all of those tedious tasks.

ELLANA — yeah. she’s not above asking for assistance if something is beyond her skills, but she enjoys taking care of her own things and has done so for as long as she can remember. proper upkeep and repair of her gear was taught early as part of learning to become a hunter and she’s always enjoyed it. she’s found that there’s a peace to the routine of it, a nice winding down activity after a busy or stressful day.

RIYA — so i see you've chosen the perfect question to bully riya with, love that. she has not a single idea how to care for her equipment, be it weapons or armor or anything in the area. 100% lessons on this happened in her vicinity but she wasn’t paying any mind to them, which i’m sure definitely won’t be an issue for her in these coming years seeing as they’ll be a cakewalk and plenty of people will be around to handle the work for her 😌

6) What kind of fighter are they: defense focused, offense focused, balanced, or flexible?

MEREDITH — flexible is a good term for it. she prefers to be on the outskirts of a fight, bow in hand taking out the most dangerous enemies from afar and directing her allies to where they’d be most helpful, but she’s not incapable of diving in to handle things more closely or with a sharper focus on defense. the type of fighter who rarely appears flustered, nearly always in control of her emotions and movements when it comes to fighting.

ELLANA — not exactly tunnel visioned on the enemy, but it’s more that she has blind faith her companions will protect her as she goes to work with daggers and alchemical mixtures. give her a barrier and she’ll swiftly dispatch the enemies, usually starting with the largest grouping of them. a pretty big focus on offense that borders on dangerous depending on the encounter, which has her pals kindly requesting she start working on defense and dodging a bit more.

RIYA — very much an intentional decision, riya’s spellbook is entirely offense focused outside of a single spell (though you can argue armor of agathys is a bit aggressive). i played for a while with the idea of her also having some tactics to mess with but it didn’t feel right, felt like something she hadn’t really earned yet. she’s Thee glass cannon, rushing into battles with such an eagerness that her magic is sparking before she’s decided what spell to sling first. don’t have to worry about defense if you beat everybody into submission first, right? :)

9) How’s their aim?

MEREDITH — y’know when you see something so unbelievable that you can’t help but laugh out of shock??? that’s the kind of reaction mere’s gotten more than once after some of the shots she’s made with a bow, but that’s with careful calculation having gone into the aiming and years of practice to support it. archery is as much a hobby as it is a necessary skillset for her tbh.

ELLANA — i was gonna go on a tiny ramble about her preference for melee weapons but she was a fuckn hunter for her clan, of course she has great aim. she’d need it to provide for and protect her loved ones. i wouldn’t say anywhere near the skill of lady cousland up there, but her aim serves her well in combat and provides a nice basis for any archery contests she may organize for the inquisition’s entertainment.

RIYA — surprisingly impressive when it comes to dexterity based weaponry or spells that require it. she’s so quick to pull the trigger, so hyphy in a fight that you’d imagine her aim to be iffy or perhaps entirely off but man. it could be some kind of dumb luck or maybe, just maybe, you have to admit she’s good at what she does (which can be painful if you’re not a fan of her cockiness lmao).

14) Will they assume command during a battle if their leader had fallen or are they better at following orders?

MEREDITH — no need for her to assume the command, she's already the leader lmao. she's gonna have her feathers ruffled if anybody tries to give her orders, the time for that is long past. you could say it's presumptuous of her to take charge in nearly every scenario but,,,she's good at it. she's had years of studying tactics and historical battles, add on the experience of her own fights and her ability to connect with folk and you've got yourself a leader that everybody looks to without hesitation.

ELLANA — opposite situation here in the fact that ellana was a follower for years, then abruptly thrust into the position of leader when nobody else was taking it. between her charisma and own skills on the battlefield people are drawn to her for their orders, which she's decent at delivering on her own but made all the better at with the right advisement and companions at her side. something she gets better at over the course of the inquisition until she's finally comfortable being the one soldiers look to.

RIYA — the thing is that she’s fine accepting orders so long as they aren’t dumb, or what she herself believes to be so which may not always match up with others’ beliefs. where she is now??? i don't see her as a great leader. too impatient for it and without the proper mindset to analyze a field for any but her own approach. which could work out fine if you just need somebody to blindly follow in attacking something, but fuckn dreadful if you actually need someone to give orders and direct separate focus.

[high-dragon-bait]

Alright while I am temporarily barred from playing the Sims while it repairs itself in hopes of avoiding the white screen of death going forwards I'm going to go on a mildly unhinged ramble/rant on why my FenHawke baby is so important to me and why I genuinely believe she enhances my worldstate when usually DA babies are purely self indulgent for me. I've mentioned this in bits before but this is where I fully go off the rails

Fenris' final quest is tragic, while it can be argued it is ultimately bittersweet, you can't ignore the tragedy of Fenris and Varania's story. They both lose everything in that moment, and it's honestly hard to argue who lost more. It's easy to look at Varania's actions and hate her, but I tend to be on the side of the people who don't excuse what she did, but acknowledge she likely genuinely believed she had no choice. She was an elf in Tevinter born a slave, being given the chance to become a magister. That's huge. Maybe even unheard of in Tevinter. Who knows if Danarius was telling the truth, but if you look at it from her perspective, was she ever going to get a better opportunity to get out than that?

There was never going to be a happy ending for them, and by the end of it they both lose their only remaining family. That's always going to be a tragedy.

But, depending on how you go about it, you can encourage Fenris to look to the future. He's finally done running, the path ahead is uncertain, but at least it's there. Nothing is barring him from it now, and I think that's also why he chooses to get back with Hawke in that moment. That's his first step down that path. He's told Hawke he doesn't know how to start over again, he doesn't know what a new, free life would mean. But he's being brave, allowing himself to forgive what he'd done in his past and try again.

So, what's all this got to do with my Hawke and Fenris having a kid?

I do think, given all that, Fenris getting to have a child is a perfect bookend to this whole journey.

Think about it, Fenris wants a family. He wants something that's his, and he's not wrong for that. He tries to look into his past, find the family he's heard about even if he doesn't remember her, it's something. And that past stabs him in the back, and so he mourns it, and finally decides to try having a future.

And somewhere down that road, he's rewarded with a family. His family. A family he knows and a family he made entirely while he was free. It's not always perfect, it's not always easy, but it's his. He never imagined getting to have this, he never let himself indulge in the idea of what an "after" running would look like, but here it is. Here is his now.

That feels like a victory, that feels like the best ending he could have.

Before anyone says it obviously a child is not the only way for this arc to come full circle for Fenris. Found family is just as important and can mean just as much! Hell, Fenris doesn't even need to be in a romantic relationship and can STILL, easily, get just as happy of an ending. This is is just me, and my version of this story, and in my story, I love this. I love that this little bit of self-indulgence turned into something I truly think is a beautiful ending for one of my favorite characters

So that's why I love FenHawke babies

[songofclarity]

Do you ever get feral at the thought that Nie Huaisang had to sew Da-Ge's body back together?

................................................ yeah

I cannot imagine the emotional toll that would take, to not only have to bury a loved one who died far too young, but years later have to piece them back together after they were victimized for a second time by their murderer, who is still walking around free and would, by all means, get away with harming your loved one again.

Like the last time Nie Huaisang would have seen Nie Mingjue's face was when Nie Mingjue was put in his coffin. Nie Huaisang would have sat vigil for however long, staying awake for hours or even days on end, until finally it was time to put Nie Mingjue to rest in the family tomb. And just like that, the one person that had cared about Nie Huaisang the most, the one person Nie Huaisang belated realized had protected him the most, is gone.

How unfair is it that Nie Huaisang has to be the one to stitch Nie Mingjue back together again? How unfair is it that Nie Huaisang has to undo the damage that Jin Guangyao had done and will continue to do??

And sewing Nie Mingjue's body back together wouldn't just be emotionally difficult. It would be physically difficult as well.

His skin is tough that not even a blade can cut him, so Nie Huaisang would have to use special tools or techniques to allow his needle to pierce through. The stitches need to go all the way around, too, which means Nie Huaisang would need to manipulate Nie Mingjue's body and turn him.

Is Nie Mingjue's fierce corpse quietly subdued or is he being restrained? Are his dead eyes open and looking at Nie Huaisang while he does this or does it look like he is asleep? Each of these is terrible in their own way.

I don't think Nie Huaisang could simply sew the front side of each limb and the head and then roll Nie Mingjue over and finish with the back. Nie Mingjue is a huge guy and Nie Huaisang is a little guy and maybe there are Nie disciples present or maybe Nie Huaisang is alone. Regardless, it's going to be hard no matter what. Maybe Nie Huaisang puts in some stitches and maybe they pull out because he's never done this before. Or maybe the limb is too heavy when he moves Nie Mingjue's body and the stitches are yanked out and he has to start over.

So Nie Huaisang would have to do the front of the head, then have someone hold it gently as they roll Nie Mingjue to the back and finish the stitches. He would then pick an arm and sew one side, and then roll to the front again to finish those. Over and over again. It would be a very systematic process. A very intimate process that reminds Nie Huaisang again and again, each time they have to move this heavy body, that his Da-ge is dead and even though Nie Huaisang can physically sew him back together, Nie Mingjue's shattered soul is far less easily repaired.

Nie Mingjue is dead and he is never coming back and the matter worsens when even the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation proclaims maybe in 100 years they might be able to do something for him.

That Nie Huaisang only sought to rip from Jin Guangyao's hands what his murderous, manipulative, and tyrannical ways had won him instead of just picking up a gun suggests I'm feral enough over this for the both of us lol

[robininthelabyrinth]

I saw you mention this in one of your posts and this sounds like a swell idea! Something where JGY figures out that NHS is The Scary One before he touches a hair on NMJ’s head. :D

on ao3

When his father said that someone ought to get rid of Nie Mingjue, that he was in their way, that he would never stop, Jin Guangyao’s first thought was about the Song of Clarity that Lan Xichen was teaching him – and the Song of Turmoil, that he’d taught himself in one of his secret visits to the Lan sect library. He’d long ago noticed the similarities between the two tunes, one to help and the other to harm; it wasn’t similar enough to fool anyone skilled in music, of course, much less in musical cultivation, but Nie Mingjue rather infamously wasn’t.

His second thought was: let’s wait and see.

Perhaps it was only that it had been a very long day, and Jin Guangyao was tired, feeling unusually surly and dissatisfied. But it occurred to him that it wouldn’t do his father any harm to have to actually ask for something from him, rather than merely hint at it and have Jin Guangyao run to do it for him before he even finished the sentence – a rather unpleasant comparison had been made between Jin Guangyao and a poodle earlier that day, and he was still sore.

So yes.

Let’s wait and see.

-

Waiting was not, it seemed, paying off.

His father’s hinting had grown all the more intense, although he had not yet actually asked, and as for Nie Mingjue...

Nie Mingjue had promised to try to trust him again, Jin Guangyao thought to himself with a sigh, but most days it seemed that the only thing he trusted was that Jin Guangyao was up to something.

He scolded and he scowled and he questioned, always looking for loopholes and tricks hidden behind every word and gesture, never giving him the benefit of the doubt on a single thing. Jin Guangyao thought nostalgically back to the days when Nie Mingjue would simply present him with a problem that needed taking care of and tell him to deal with it as he saw fit, trusting not only in his competence in dealing with it but also in his judgment of how things ought to be resolved.

They said that trust was like a priceless porcelain vase: once shattered, it would never be whole again, even if it was repaired.

Jin Guangyao supposed that he deserved it for letting himself get caught like that.  An amateur’s mistake, but you only needed one of those to ruin everything.

But if it couldn’t be fixed…

He was just contemplating the Song of Turmoil again as he walked through the halls of the Unclean Realm when Nie Huaisang unexpectedly tackled him around the waist, making him Jin Guangyao stagger back and nearly fall – poor cultivator or no, Nie Huaisang had some heft to him, and plenty of muscle from years of running from his brother’s attempts to make him train.

“You have to help me, san-ge!” Nie Huaisang said, eyes wide and pathetic in such a patently unauthentic way that Jin Guangyao had an immediate stabbing feeling of empathy, an affliction he almost never suffered from. What a little scoundrel you are, he thought, not without fondness. “Da-ge’s on my case again. Scolding and scowling and trying to catch me in some sort of trick – and I would never play a trick on him, never - not in a million years -”

It occurred to Jin Guangyao that perhaps Nie Mingjue really did treat him as a younger brother, and it was only that he’d incorrectly assumed that he’d be treated as being somewhat more capable than the man’s actual younger brother.

Who was, he conceded, probably equally untrustworthy when it came to the likelihood of playing tricks on his too-earnest older brother, even if the tricks Nie Huaisang generally played were significantly lower in both quality and importance than his own…

“Huaisang! Where are you – ah, Meng Yao. What are you doing here?” Nie Mingjue asked, blinking at him. “Anything urgent?”

“Ah – no?” Jin Guangyao said. “I came to play for you, da-ge, you remember – er-ge said –”

“Right, of course,” Nie Mingjue said, in the tones of a man who had completely forgotten. “Could I borrow you for something else while you’re here? Perhaps Huaisang will learn better if it’s not just me.”

“Of course, da-ge,” Jin Guangyao said. It was always better to do someone a favor than the other way around, to better use it later, and Nie Mingjue almost never asked him for anything. “What are you trying to teach him?”

“How to run a sect,” Nie Mingjue said, lifting Nie Huaisang by the waist. “No, Huaisang,” he added when the younger man whined. “You do not get a choice.”

With that said, he lifted the younger man above his head – Nie Huaisang, as mentioned, was not light, but Nie Mingjue didn’t seem to notice – and walked back towards his office.

Jin Guangyao followed, torn between wondering if this was the reason that the ceilings in the Unclean Realm were all so high and being unable to keep himself from doing the math: Nie Huaisang weighed more than Jin Guangyao did, being both heavier and thicker around the middle, so if it was Jin Guangyao that Nie Mingjue was holding, it could be estimated that he could hold him up for at least an hour, and even longer if he was braced against something convenient such as a wall –

He shook his head to rid himself of the useless thoughts. He would need all his cunning about him if he was going to embark on the difficult mission of trying to get Nie Huaisang to actually learn something, especially something as boring as sect management.

Questions of assassination were, comparatively, much easier.

-

The problem, Jin Guangyao discovered, was not, as he’d suspected, in keeping Nie Huaisang’s attention.

It was in everything else.

“ – and the sect leader is now requesting assistance,” Nie Mingjue concluded his summary of the situation behind the letter that they had received, laying out both the actual content of the letter, the implications behind it, and the background necessary to make a decision so efficiently that Jin Guangyao lost his head for a moment and imagined what life would be like if he could hire Nie Mingjue as his deputy. His life would be so much easier. “How do you respond?”

Nie Huaisang heaved a sigh. “That’s obvious!”

It was. The request was far more than this particular sect really deserved, given its past behavior (rather despicable) and the moderately high chance that they were simply trying to get the Nie sect to pay for benefits that would later go to themselves or, at best, the Jiang sect, but granting the request would not seriously damage the Nie sect’s coffers and would lay the groundwork for a better relationship in the future –

“We write a letter that heavily hints about what we know that the sect leader did in the past, expressing our concern and indicating that we received the information from the Jiang sect in a moment of indiscretion,” Nie Huaisang said happily. “He’ll be so distraught at the thought of potential blackmail from them that he’ll beg us for assistance, and we’ll be able to extract additional benefits before finally agreeing to –”

“No, Huaisang,” Nie Mingjue said, even as Jin Guangyao boggled at the sheer wretched cleverness of the idea. It would work perfectly to isolate the other party through their own paranoia, leaving them feeling that they had no other way out but to throw themselves on the Nie sect’s mercy – there wasn’t a limit to what could be extracted that way. “If he’s so untrustworthy as all that, we don’t actually want him, do we? He’ll just betray us next time he can. No, we write to him the way we would anyone who wasn’t our dependent and lay out our terms, free and clear; if he wants better ones, he knows what to do.”

“People don’t have to be trustworthy to be useful, da-ge,” Nie Huaisang whined, and the infantile tone of his voice very nearly disguised the fact that he was saying something incredibly insightful. Not at all something Jin Guangyao would have expected to come out of the mouth of one of the Nie sect, much less Nie Huaisang, the most useless of them all. “They don’t even have to know they’re being used to be useful! I can think of at least three ways we could use –”

“The answer is no. Besides, I thought you liked Sect Leader Jiang?”

“Yes, but he’s far too direct to be dealing with someone like this – think of it as us ridding him of a pest! We could –”

“Huaisang.”

Nie Huaisang sighed.

-

“ – but if you would only consider what we could achieve with just a little bit of bribery –”

“Huaisang.”

“But it’s such a small amount! I could do it with my own pocket money!”

“Huaisang.”

“Ugh, fine, have it your way, we’ll just ask, I guess…”

-

“Oh, wow, that’s a tough one. Uh…murder?”

“Huaisang!”

“What?! It was a reasonable guess!”

“It was not a reasonable guess!”

“We wouldn’t let anyone know that we were the ones that – I’m making it worse, aren’t I?”

“Yes, Huaisang. You’re making it worse.”

-

“I’m guessing the answer isn’t going to be blackmail?”

“That’s correct.”

“And not it’s bribery, either.”

“No.”

“Definitely not beating him up…”

“Huaisang, are you trying to get the answer by process of elimination?”

“It’s a valid strategy to figure out the answers to test questions!”

“This isn’t a test question, it’s real life!”

“No, it’s a test, because if it was real life, I could use blackmail.”

-

“…you know what,” Nie Huaisang said after a couple of moments of serious contemplation. “I actually have no idea what I’d do in that situation. San-ge? Can I have an assist?”

Jin Guangyao had managed, over the past shichen or so, to get ahold of himself. He shrugged apologetically. “I must admit that I’m at a loss myself. It seems like an especially tricky situation.”

The situation in question involved the crimes of an extremely well-connected individual, with interests from all over the cultivation world deep in his pockets; he would be a difficult man to cross. Moreover, he was well known for his perfidy, rendering blackmail useless, and well-off enough to make bribes pointless; mere intimidation was also out, given his connections – he’d already gone through a “trial”, if it could be described as such, and he’d only used it to cleanse himself. In such a situation, Jin Guangyao would probably hang back out of caution, seeking further information and hoping that an appropriate situation would appear that he could take advantage, but Nie Mingjue had specified that there was a time limit involved…

Nie Mingjue groaned. “You’re both overthinking it: for once, murder is the right answer.”

“Wait, it is?” Jin Guangyao asked, staring at him blankly. “I mean - what exactly do you mean, murder?”

“The man slaughtered children in broad daylight! The evidence is unquestionable and undeniable; he should be executed immediately.”

“But – his connections –”

“That’s why there’s a time limit,” Nie Mingjue said, rolling his eyes on both of them. “If you do it quickly enough, it gets attributed to the hair-trigger Nie temper going out of control and everyone treats it like a casualty in the face of a force of nature – the same way you’d shrug off the death of someone who got in the way of a hurricane or tsunami.”

“Oh,” Nie Huaisang said. “I see.”

Jin Guangyao envied him: he most certainly did not see. Since when was outright murder a possible weapon in the Nie sect’s diplomatic arsenal?

“Speaking of which, I’ve already delayed long enough, trying to teach you something,” Nie Mingjue added. “Huaisang, can you host Meng Yao for dinner? I’ll be back later this evening.”

“Of course, da-ge! Count on me!”

Nie Mingjue nodded at them both and strode out without another word.

“…where is he going?” Jin Guangyao asked.

“Presumably to go murder someone,” Nie Huaisang said, as if it were obvious, and then laughed, presumably at Jin Guangyao’s expression. “He always makes me practice with real questions, you know, though he does save them up if he can.”

“That wasn’t what I was surprised about,” Jin Guangyao admitted, because he’d already figured out – possibly for the first time – that Nie Huaisang almost certainly already knew what he was like under the smile. “It’s just…murder? Really? Da-ge?”

“Da-ge’s righteous, not kind,” Nie Huaisang said with a shrug. “Leave questions of mercy to the Lan sect! Here we believe that showing excess mercy to evildoers is itself committing a harm to their victims…ah, well, let’s not talk about it, shall we? If we do, I’ll just get another headache from trying to figure out the line between what I’m allowed to do and what I’m not allowed to do.”

“You know perfectly well what you’re allowed to do,” Jin Guangyao said, deliberately keeping his voice light rather than accusing. “You just want your brother to be a bit more open-minded.”

“He won’t be.” Nie Huaisang’s voice was fond. “He’s willing to pull those sorts of tricks when he has to – our exculpated murderer is an excellent example – but he’s never going to understand why anyone would pull a nasty trick if they had another choice…it’s just the way he is.”

He laughed, taking out his fan – a new one, Jin Guangyao observed – and lightly nudged Jin Guangyao in the side even as he hid his smile behind it.

“It’s fine, though,” he said. “Isn’t that why he has people like us?”

“Yes,” Jin Guangyao said, following Nie Huaisang to the dinner table, thoughts running through his mind. The Song of Turmoil – it would still work, more than likely, because Nie Mingjue would let him play it for him and him alone, and even Nie Huaisang needed clay to build bricks. But if he did it, and Nie Huaisang ever found out…

He thought that he might not like being Nie Huaisang’s opponent. 

He wasn’t sure which one of them would win and which would lose, of course, and he rather thought he’d bet on himself, but in all honesty he wouldn’t like to try. 

“In fact,” he said casually, “Huaisang, if you don’t mind, I have another situation that I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on.”

“Not another one,” Nie Huaisang whined, but his eyes narrowed in blatant curiosity. “But all right, all right, just one more. Only for you, san-ge, and only because I like you so much.”

Jin Guangyao smiled. “I appreciate it. Now, for the situation: assume there are two sect leaders, and one of them wishes to eliminate the other through underhanded means…”

-

“Murder, I think,” Nie Huaisang said thoughtfully. “No – most definitely murder. There is no other path forward. The only question is, I suppose: how much do you want your father to suffer during the process?”

Jin Guangyao smiled.

It was so nice to work with people that understood.

[girl4pay]

This might be a big question but what would be the ideal way for the raven king to have ended in ur opinion. Bc it doesn’t make sense as is and thematically falls apart I feel but I can never quite figure out what the actually most narratively satisfying thing would be

lets get married. okay keeping in mind i haven't read the series in full in a couple years my core issues with trk are: i think gwenllian was criminally misused, i think adding in laumonier and blue's dad made very little sense and i think doing the gansey noah and cabeswater deaths back to back the way they were was a terrible way to handle a climax. you don't need blue's dad and you don't need laumonier. too many random new parents and men who are absolutely vestigal. gwenllian should be blue's mentor, you focus the piper plotline completely on a professional antagonism between her and henry's mom who can act as the antithesis to piper's greed and recklessness. the grey man is the reader's familiar link between Crime and Magic here, so you can still have him face the challenge of his old life threatening his new life by having to forge an alliance with seondeok to take down a shared threat. 

gwenllian as blue's mentor would come with a similar but almost opposite effect to persephone's mentorship on adam: blue isn't getting stranger, she's getting angrier. this witch who knows what she is keeps getting mayo in her hair and her teachers don't understand her and her family is being evasive and the boy she loves is going to die. also a demon is clouding her perspective, but she doesn't really know that yet. more adam and blue scheming to keep gansey alive. more research and bugging relatives and desperately looking into rituals while it becomes clearer to the reader that adam is losing his agency and blue is losing her clearsightedness. gansey's panic attacks begin to attune themselves to the moments where noah is not himself as well. his chest hurts, he can't breathe - it feels like something is sucking away at his heart. at the same time adam is still trying to help ronan with waking up the dreams, and blue is getting closer to gansey and henry, trying to imagine a future that feels like her own when she has the weights of her confused identity and her fate hanging around her neck. 

i would have ronan and gansey's relationship blow up here: between the hospital and aurora's death, maybe after his birthday party, ronan finds out - probably through declan, to add insult to injury and even more fucked up brother resentment - that gansey is trying to buy him a diploma. actually definitely just after the night of truth bullshit for prime outrageousness lmao. it goes nuclear. blue is, catastrophically to gansey, on ronan's side. adam is, infuriatingly to everyone, judgmentally neutral. things progress as they were except instead of henry getting kidnapped we get a very reluctant henry passing a message to tgm - things have progressed past the point that is acceptable with piper, and his mother wants to meet. also the visit with gansey's family is tense - they love her and henry, and they just can't understand what's gotten into gansey, who's distracted and snappy, and when helen confronts him, he blows up at her, saying a lot more about his worry for ronan and his fear about what will happen to him than was revealed in the initial fight. they're siblings, their relationship can handle it, but there's still an overarching sense that she doesn't really understand, because gansey is still holding his real fear of dying close to his chest. 

cut to auroras death and the grey man having to leave maura with this tragedy to join seondeok - a king, joining a king, doing what needs doing, instead of just a continued trope about being made for violence or whatever that was. there scene with ronan at the bmw goes more or less the same. gansey goes off on his own because he feels isolated and like the burden of fixing all this lies on his shoulders, gwenllians weird witch pep talk goes to blue instead. here is where you would insert cool fun shit about what being a mirror actually means! all of them reunite as in canon, ronan and gansey reconcile after ronan is like you dumb motherfucker i need you here you're my brother and gansey says some self sacrificing shit and blue and adam make it clear without Making It Clear they are going to stand by him, because they still don't know he knows he's going to die. 

here is where we reach the core difficulty: i think the death kiss is incredibly stupid and i don't know how i would write around it. i know how i would finish trk from here, but the kiss curse would not show up at all. i like the kiss curse as a concept but it just doesn't make any sense in the narrative of agency trc constructs and i think it limit's blue's storyline. so without considering the kiss curse: as the demon hijacks adam and tries to use blue as an amplifier to spread to other ley lines, everyone realizes the stakes. everything cabeswater has touched, everything the ley line has touched is at risk, and the ley lines are ALL CONNECTED. blue and adam have been skirting around the realization that the demon and cabeswater are like mirrors the whole book. you can't have one without the other. there is no corruption without something to corrupt. the way cabeswater focuses the ley line for ronan is how the demon has been getting power too, but it's a self contained loop, consumption instead of guidance. kill cabeswater, kill the demon. gansey asks it, realizing in a way they others don’t seem to that he and cabeswater are linked, and the others act. there's a little giving tree moment between ronan and cabeswater, which will surely not contribute to any farreaching survivors guilt that might show up in a sequel series. here is where blue being a mirror comes into play. when neeve was trying to see farther than she could, she used a mirror and it sent her there. the demon is trying to consume beyond it's bounds. a mirror sends it inwards. here blue sees the moment of violence that birthed the demon, and she's terrified and it's tragic. it's a very bildungsroman moment of grief and terror of what will come after for everyone. death of the child birth of the man etc. noah, perpetual child, gets laid to rest with cabeswater, but without cabeswater the ley line floods. here is where gansey dies: without noah fighting his hardest to keep him going, because noah loved him, because cabeswater needed him, his heart simply stops. here is where blue kisses him, because it doesn't matter any more, because he dies even though she didn't, because she's seeing without the demon clouding her for the first time in what feels like the longest time and all she can see is grief. shit gets magically weird with adam and ronan too, and it's henry who grounds them all, who is used to enforcing practicality on the unknown to keep himself safe. with his help the three of them dream something to save gansey. ta da! 

i feel like this would also feed much better into the theme of the dreamer trilogy of like opening ley lines etc bcus trk completely glosses over what happens to the ley line without cabeswater there, and adds to it making sense that ronan thinks opening the ley lines is a good idea - he saved gansey with it! what more could he do! whereas adam felt overwhelmed and out of control and spends the next year trying to construct and repair his own real life conduits and safeguards on the ley line as ronan builds lindenmere. what are your thoughts did i miss anything that you were like absolutely not hate that need it to be gone