#[the arise one i have not touched because someday i will play the game

[sentofight]

I CAME RUNNING BECAUSE ANOTHER EDEN CROSSOVER WITH KING OF IGHTER ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?! THIS IS ..........PERFECCCTTT IMMA GO FAINT AND COME BACK BUT CHECK IT OUT!!!!

[thedreideldiaries]

Hey, friends! I thought I’d take this opportunity to expound in my political choices a bit - specifically to give some context for my choice of Sanders over Warren. Note for a few of my followers who know me elsewhere: this is copied over from other social media, so if it sounds familiar that is why.

First, I want to reiterate that I like Warren. So, if anyone reading this is torn between her and any of the other clowns who have thrown their sorry hats into the ring, then please: do me and the rest of the world a favor, stop reading this right now, and go ahead and give Warren your vote. I won’t be mad. Promise. If you’re on the fence between Warren and Sanders, though, then I implore you to read on.

Okay, is it just us in here? Cool.

For my friends torn between Warren and Sanders (like I was at the beginning of the primary), I’ve tried to distill my reasoning. As you know, a lot of the discourse surrounding Warren’s campaign constructs her as a younger, female version of Sanders. If I believed that, I’d be solidly in her corner, but a few differences between them make this simply not the case. Here are the ones I find most salient:

1. Let’s look at Bernie’s base. As much as we love to talk about representation in politics, a candidate’s demographic background tells us nothing about who they’re going to fight for. Their voting base, on the other hand, tells you who has placed their confidence in that candidate’s promises.

A good proportion of Warren’s supporters are white college graduates (young and old).

By contrast Bernie’s base is overwhelmingly working class, non-white, urban, and, perhaps most tellingly, young. You could attribute that to naivete, but I think something else is going on here: the demographic group with the most to win or lose from this election are people under 30. We’re the ones who will have to live with the most devastating effects of climate change, and we’re tired of the so-called adults in our lives not taking that rather pressing concern seriously. We don’t care if our candidate is old or young - we care if they listen. Which brings me to:

2. The Youth. Young people in America are disillusioned with democracy - not because we’ve decided it’s not a good idea, but because we’ve literally never seen it in action. We live in a corporate plutocracy where the financial barriers to running for office have rendered most politicians ridiculously out of touch. And Sanders, more than any other candidate in the primary, knows how to talk to young people.

And look - I’m planning to vote for whoever wins the primary. But if 2016 is anything to go by, if the youth demographic doesn’t get a candidate they can get behind, they won’t vote strategically for the lesser of two evils. They’ll stay home, and given what the Democratic party has done for them over the past 20 or so years, I can’t say I blame them.

3. The same goes for his endorsements. I’d be out of my lane if I spent too much time talking about what Sanders wants to do for people of color, but I think it’s telling that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar - three politicians showing real determination to shake things up in Washington - all chose Bernie over Warren. I think it’s telling that AOC cited his campaign, not Warren’s, as her inspiration for running for office (if anyone’s a female Sanders, it’s not Warren - it’s AOC).

4. Sanders is, quite simply, the genuine article. He’s fought for important causes (climate justice, healthcare, workers’ rights) since long before they were cool. He’s *not* perfect, but criticisms of him rarely touch his political history.

Warren’s record of activism is, by contrast, unimpressive. She used to be a Republican corporate lawyer, and while I absolutely respect that someone can change their mind about politics, and I applaud her for doing so, it worries me that what changed her mind wasn’t the Iran-Contra scandal, or the AIDS crisis, or the brutal crushing of the labor movement. It was the realization that Republicans were doing capitalism wrong. I can’t exactly argue with that (show me a Republican politician who truly supports a free market and I’ll eat my beret*), but it doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.

*This is a joke. I do not have a beret.

5. Warren’s a capitalist; Sanders is a democratic socialist, and I think the difference is important. Warren supports a wealth tax, and she wants everyone to have healthcare, and I appreciate that she has the guts to talk about those things on national television, but at the end of the day, she’s a proud capitalist who believes the system needs to be corrected, not overhauled.

Sanders is a self-professed democratic socialist, and has built a popular movement around that label. And honestly, I’m not too worried about redbaiting. Yes, it’s a common Republican tactic, but the sentiment of “yes I would vote for Democrats but not for Socialist democrats” is a rare one, if it exists at all. And if it works against any of the primary candidates, it’ll work against all of them. They used anti-Commmunist rhetoric against Obama, for goodness’ sake. Look how much of an advocate for the working class he turned out to be.

Courting the centrist vote is a waste of time. Tiptoeing around conservatives alienates left-wingers and doesn’t actually sway Republicans. It’s a bad move strategically, in that it makes us look like cowards, and morally, because it means not getting very important things done.

Sanders doesn’t want to play the game better. He wants to start a whole new game. Warren’s economics platform seems to boil down to “50s but less racist,” and while that sounds nice, it’s just not possible. We can’t go back there - we have automation now, not to mention a global economy the likes of which we barely dreamed of in the 1950s, and it’s not realistic to try to make that happen again. We need something new.

6. People over party. In a lot of ways, Warren reminds me of the best parts of The West Wing. I like that show, but it was a comforting fantasy - a vision of what the Democratic Party could have been like with a little more gumption and a lot more luck. It never happened because the Democratic party and politics aren’t like that in real life. I have confidence in Sanders because his loyalty isn’t to the Democratic Party. It’s to the American people. He’s proved that over and over again over the course of his political career.

7. Bernie is an organizer. The “not me - us” slogan is very telling. Democracy is participatory. We don’t just need a candidate with a plan to fix everything. We need a candidate with a plan who acknowledges that the people hold the real power. We need a candidate who respects the will of the people and inspires them to get involved. We can’t win this election and stop thinking about politics. We never get to stop thinking about politics. We need someone who can inspire people to keep fighting.

The heart attack was a big deal, but the truth is, it’s never been about Bernie as an individual. His immediate reaction after getting out of the hospital was “I’m lucky to have healthcare; everyone should have healthcare; let’s get back to work.” That, more than anything, has given me the confidence that Bernie wants his policies to last long after he’s gone.

Also, people regularly have heart attacks and live another several decades. This is *literally* why we have vice presidents. If Sanders can get elected and pick a good VP and a cabinet (plus, you know, fill any Supreme Court vacancies that happen to arise over his tenure), his health won’t matter as much, because we don’t need a messiah right now. We need a resurgence of participatory democracy. We need more AOCs to take the stage. We need young people at the polls, not just in 2020, but beyond that.

8. I don’t like to talk about electability for a couple of reasons. One: centrists love to bring it up, usually in the service of talking about how policies they have zero stake in will never work. Two: Trump was supposed to be unelectable, and we all saw how that turned out.

That said: Warren’s currently polling third, which is not a great place to be. And while I don’t share some people’s cynicism about Warren, I have to agree that her response to Trump’s attacks has not impressed me. I’m confident that if Trump attacks Sanders, Bernie won’t take the bait, because he’s so on-message you can’t get him off-message. Like I said: he had a heart attack and immediately spun it back into the healthcare conversation.

And the polls are clear: head to head, Sanders beats Trump. Warren’s chances are far dicier.

9. And the most important issue, without which nothing else really matters: the climate crisis. I’d love it if we could wait for the country’s ideas to catch up to Sanders’ socialist rhetoric, but the truth is we are running out of time. I’m voting for Sanders because I have two nieces under 5 years old and a nephew who was just born, and I want them to grow up on a habitable planet, and they won’t get a chance to vote on that. I’m doing it because I want to have kids of my own someday, and while I absolutely respect the choice of anyone deciding to reproduce right now, I don’t have the emotional energy to raise a family during an apocalypse. And while I like Warren, and she’s expressed support for a Green New Deal, Sanders is the only candidate I trust to both beat Trump in the general and put his foot down to the DNC and their ilk.

10. Foreign policy!

First of all: guess who else hates American Imperialism? That’s right; it’s Bernie Sanders. Significantly, he has the guts to bring up America’s habit of meddling in Latin America’s democratically elected governments, which is something you pretty much never hear about from pretty much any other candidate.

https://www.vox.com/2019/6/25/18744458/bernie-sanders-endless-wars-foreign-affairs-op-ed

Foreign policy came up a lot during 2016 primary, with Clinton’s supporters trotting out the bizarre argument that a long history of hawkish policies is better than no policies at all. What with all that, I was surprised to learn that Sanders is actually quite well-traveled and has a long history of trying to mend fences between the U.S. and other world powers: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/bernie-sanders-foreign-policy/470019/

When it comes to climate change and foreign policy, Sanders acknowledges not only that it requires innovation (let’s not forget his early and vehement support for the Green New Deal), but also international cooperation. From the link below:

“To both Sanders and his supporters around the world, it is impossible to fight climate change without international cooperation. To that end, a group called the Progressive International was announced at a convention last year held by the Sanders Institute, a think tank founded by the presidential contender’s wife and son.

“The network of left-wing politicians and activists hopes to fight against "the global war being waged against workers, against our environment, against democracy, against decency,” according to its website.”

He’s also popular with left-wing leaders around the world, and it’s those kinds of politicians who we need to get us out of the climate crisis.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/04/bernie-sanders-global-popularity-1254929

And finally, to stray briefly into comparison: again, I like Warren, but even so, I like her better domestically than internationally. The progressivism she touts at home comes up short abroad. I’m sure you’ve heard about it already, but I think it’s worth remembering that Warren voted for Trump’s military budget in 2017; Sanders didn’t. She talks a lot about peace, but her history on foreign issues looks pretty similar to that of other centrist democrats. This is a problem not only in terms of American Imperialism, but also because the U.S. military is one of the world’s leading causes of climate change. Her voting history and her cozy relationship with defense contractors have me pretty worried. This article goes into more detail about her history with various foreign powers as well as her general attitudes on American imperialism:

https://jacobinmag.com/2019/05/elizabeth-warren-foreign-policy

We all pretty much knew what we were getting with Clinton. Warren worries me not only because she seems to align with the rest of the party on our endless foreign wars, but because she keeps her support for the military-industrial complex behind a facade of progressive rhetoric that reminds me of the early Obama years. We can’t be let down like that again. Even if we ignore the devastating human cost, the planet doesn’t have time.

Further Reading - obviously I don’t agree with everything in every one of these pieces, but they offer a leftist critique that often goes missing from other, more superficial problems people bring up about Warren.

The polling bases of the primary candidates: https://www.people-press.org/2019/08/16/most-democrats-are-excited-by-several-2020-candidates-not-just-their-top-choice/pp_2019-08-16_2020-democratic-candidates_0-06/?fbclid=IwAR2G8np2q9N4P6DArdI-gPhA5Wp_SYDZPKQDpDhxVZ4YbwnAEmFd65swMOA

An interesting take on Warren’s policies vs Bernie’s movement: https://jacobinmag.com/2019/04/elizabeth-warren-policy-bernie-sanders-presidential-primary?fbclid=IwAR14wWjYDNuNMrXN7YjVFFFHXmoMWKpDVqBcbPBlQUUrA354iIyRAbKXG30

An opinion piece on the contrast between them:

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2019/08/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-democratic-party-elite-2020-presidential-race?fbclid=IwAR3vA54QveM2cCTxQ2BbVXh_IICgTxweKVBLMRjhSFyyAdspnibJ50seDjY

Another one:

https://forward.com/opinion/432561/the-case-for-bernie-sanders-the-only-real-progressive-in-the-race-sorry/?fbclid=IwAR1vwONZ7azJQcoeo_KYNYiJ8ekzHhJsZ4Ms0UzDHI59j7Q6oio-5uJOGcI

Warren’s political history:

More about that from a different source:

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/10/why-criticize-warren?fbclid=IwAR0NTP0cRbSnr-a6HCuxE-4SCJZEqU2EAL1Gnx70FME-9UMBg-xYE5t7g7Y

A prequel to the former (beware - this one’s scathing as heck):

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/09/the-prospect-of-an-elizabeth-warren-nomination-should-be-very-worrying?fbclid=IwAR03d5I5j72s4kQC9wgRSrXnbmWsp_9HUvRWBZwzcfsT9RsZP-lSAX4aPz0

[ducktales-wco-oo]

‘Beyond The Grave’ [Negs Negs because >3]  - ✩ { @aflockoffeathers​​​​​​ } ✩

✩ { Meme​ } ✩

{ ☆ } It’s eerily quiet. A vast blackness, like the emptiness of space but without the stars. Without the slightest light to peek through the suffocating darkness, and yet… Negaduck can still see. Everything around him, clear as day yet dark as night. It’s an unsettling place, to be sure. Feeling like nothing, and yet overwhelming at the same time. Being in it for too long would be liable to drive anyone mad. Or would it? Already, Negs can feel himself growing accustomed to the strange place. With its silence: a terrible, echoing, all-encompassing silence... At least, that’s the initial thought, a voice soon cutting through the quiet.

Laughter, bubbly and joyous. Like the serenade of a songbird, only… rowdier. More chaotic and untamed, sweet and full of ironic life. Negs spins around to face where the sound seems to be coming from, feathers bristling with unease as the noise surrounds him. But no matter which direction he faces, how quickly he turns, he’s never able to catch it. It’s always one move ahead of him, one step too far, one giggle too faint… But there’s nothing. Darkness still stretches on forever. Where is that heart-wrenchingly happy sound coming from?

And what is it doing in a place like this?

“Daddy!” Being tenses when arms suddenly wrap around his waist, gaze darting down to look at a familiar face… Albeit, with a few distinct differences. Eye color for one. Not quite the eyes of the Gosalyn he knows. A shining, shimmering color that’s almost too vibrant. Too perfect. Red locks shift and fade: sometimes touching her shoulder, sometimes just above. Growing curlier, straighter, brighter, duller. As if they can’t decide WHAT they should be. Same with her dress: changing hues of pink, losing and adding ribbons, lace, glitter or no glitter, but all pristine and perfect… aside from the brief flashes when she’s not.

When she appears burnt, broken… Singed feathers and blackened hair, wide, blank eyes and tattered dress. Horrific visions that arise for a split-second, a moment so brief that one would wonder if they were even there at all. Where even is HERE? 

Sweet smile slips when she looks into his eyes, her own ever-constant ones growing misty as she sorrowfully says, “You’re not my daddy… Y-You are but- but you’re not too.” He’s not here. He hasn’t come for her… Yet. But someday he will. It’s like before, when she used to wait for him to come home. Sometimes it’d be hours later than he promised, sometimes days. One time it was even a couple weeks… but he always came back. Came HOME.

She hopes that NegaLP isn’t too lonely at home now.

“D’ya… wanna play a game anyway?” Gosalyn asks, a tentative smile forming on her face as arms release the kinda-stranger. Clutching his bright sleeve, she continues, emboldened by the fact that he hasn’t shaken her off, “I don’t really have any toys around here… but we don’t need ‘em to play! Here, lemme show ya-“ Before Negaduck even knows what’s happening, he’s engaged in a game of Slap Jack. Hands hovering above the girl’s, she moves with impressive speed... but Negs is a smidge quicker.

However, as time goes on, she manages to ‘win’ a few games. Which the little apparition girl calls him out on. “Hey! No lettin’ me win!” Brows furrow with adorable determination, eyes burning as she rivers her gaze on Negsie’s hands, a pout tugging at her beak as she mutters, “I have to earn it.” One of the lessons accidentally taught by Negaduck. A few moments pass as the game resumes, occasional warning glances aimed into unfamiliar garnet eyes, before Gos speaks again, “Do you… Do you know my daddy? He looks like you, ‘cept his eyes are a different color. Really dark, an’ his smile is pointier.” Nothing like the soft, melancholy one in front of her. Her Negaduck SNARLS or grins with teeth cruelly gleaming.

She strikes… and misses. However, disappointment is short-lived, expression brightening when Negs silently nods his head. Tail wags, briefly shown when her dress shortens before becoming covered by thick layers of ruffles. Baby-soft feathers fluffing, a smile stretches across her face, “Can you give him a message from me?! I know he can be kinda hard to talk to… but it’s really important.” Not waiting for an answer, the message pours forth. “Tell him that I miss him an’ I’m waitin’ for him to come an’ get me! N-No rush, of course! I know that he’s a busy guy an’ all…” Gaze wanders off to the side, Gosalyn shrugging, “Probably still has lots that he needs to do before he can. Plus, he can’t just leave NegaLP all alone.”

Being alone is the worst.

“I just… want him to know that I haven’t forgotten about him.” Demeanor wilts, gaze lowering and voice growing softer, that horrific visage starting to flicker more frequently. “That I’m not mad at him either. What happened… it wasn’t his fault. I shoulda listened to him. He said it was dangerous… He-he didn’t want me to go.” Of course, he never wanted her to go with him ANYWHERE. How was she supposed to know that this time, would be the one to prove him right? A small smile forms, hand rubbing at her eyes as vision grows blurry, lingering tears causing those constant hues to sparkle brighter as she looks up at Negsie, voice cracking but tinged with joy nonetheless. “H-He tried to help me.” 

“Before everythin’ went crazy, an’ I couldn’t see anythin’ anymore... I saw my Daddy.” Tears stream down her face, a light laugh slipping out— appearance sweet and soot-free as ever —as she says, “He was trying to help me.” The world grows hazed, blurry and unstable. The darkness starting to overwhelm, to SUFFOCATE. But Gosalyn doesn’t pay it any mind, just wiping the remainder of her tears away with a soft sigh. “I guess it’s time for you to go. It’s probably for the best. Ya really don’t wanna get stuck in this place...” She starts to fade- or is it Negsie that’s fading? Either way, she’ll be gone soon. He’ll be gone soon.

Everything will go back to the way it was... more or less.

“Hey... Negaduck?” Chimes a small voice, the last lingering remnants of the little girl fighting to flicker in front of him as he reaches out towards him... and baps the back of his hands, Negs having forgotten that they were still held outward. Giggling brightly at having ‘earned’ that point, NegaGosalyn then begins to cheerfully wave him goodbye as the ‘world’ around him disappears. A faded voice echoing through the darkness that encapsulates Negsie, “Oh! An’ tell him to remember some toys or somethin’ for me! It’s pretty borin’ here!” { ☆ }

[gasters-story]

Fallen's Chapter 1

Word Count: 1,875

Fallen was sorting his bookshelves, though only because he wanted to change his method to sorting them again. It was one of his nervous ticks to organize and since he never really had anything, he just found new ways for old stuff.

When Fallen was done, he looked back at Sam's. The young skeleton was intently reading a book at a nearby table, wearing a soft smile. Soon Papyrus would be born, probably in the next week, so Fallen and Sans had that to look forward to. For now they planned to relax and wait, spending time in any way they can.

Fallen was the first to look over when he heard the door open. Asgore stood in the doorway, scanning the room with his intimidating look, before heading over to Fallen. It was a nerve-wracking silence until Asgore spoke.

"Gaster, please don't tell me you used the only two souls we had." Asgore begged the scientist somewhat. Although it seemed he didn't have that much anger in his tone, to Fallen it sounded angry enough to bring up his anxiety.

"Of course to-" Fallen muttered while fidgeting with his hands but was cut off. 

"Do you realize how much later that can put us? I might not even be king by then! It's bad enough that Toriel wants us to at least wait until their deathbed to take their souls. We could have only needed five more! Hell, maybe even just four if you never rushed to bring her back." Fallen just listened to the king rant, trying not to care about not being able to explain why. Sans watched, both confused and scared, but didn't say a word. "For the next human, don't you dare bring them back. It halves the power of their soul too, making no point to recollect them." Fallen didn't want there to be a point anyways.

Once the king was out of things to rant on and on about or couldn't repeat anything with a purpose, he finally decided to leave the skeletons alone. Fallen let out a sigh and noticed Sans coming over to hug him.

"Who was that?" Sans asks. Fallen didn't know how to answer at first but knelt down to hug back. He realized Sans probably would never know about the cruel outside world. At least Fallen didn't want him to know. 

"Someone mean who has control of a lot of power." Fallen muttered. "You might have to listen to him someday." He didn't know what else to say. He just knew his bones wouldn't last forever.

Fallen felt a bit down after that event, just tapping his fingers on his desk as he waited with nothing to do. It wasn't until Sans came into the room that Fallen would have something to stop his rhythmic tapping.

"Can you read me a story before bed?" The child asks. Fallen couldn't help but smile softly. Maybe he should rest too.

"Sure." The child leads Fallen to his room so they could read a story together. The scientist tried to focus on the small things like these moments with Sans rather than what Asgore had said. They waited out the time together quicker that way, whether Sans was drawing something, playing an imaginary game, or reading a book he picked out. It also gave Fallen ideas on what he could do.

Sans was excited when Papyrus was born. He tried helping his brother walk his first steps, a struggle since Papyrus was younger. While Fallen watched the two, he also gave Sans advice about taking care of his brother. The young skeleton accepted every bit and by the end of the day he had his younger brother walking. All three were proud of the accomplishment. With Papyrus around, Fallen had to keep him nearby for his safety. He tried to work on a security system for the lab while Papyrus took his naps, mostly where Fallen's free time went. He knew it would be a tough job from the start so it at least didn't bother him that much. Sans usually helped out anyways. 

The older brother always wanted to read Papyrus a story if he could. He was eager to play with him too while also trying to teach him some things. Fallen could rely on that time to draw plans or read his own books. A time to relax and distract his mind.

Whenever Asgore came over, Fallen typically had Sans and Papyrus in another room. He didn't like them hearing Asgore complain, though he was sure they listened in anyways. That alone made Fallen anxious of Asgore's surprise visits. Papyrus might pick up something he shouldn't.

Luckily it didn't seem to happen as far as Fallen can tell.

It wouldn't be long until Asriel is born into the underground world. By the time he's around four, Asgore would drop him off for Fallen to babysit him occasionally. Fallen would try to teach Asriel some things and watch over all three kids closely when they played. He wasn't sure how Asriel was raised so he was slightly overprotective of his boys.

While he eventually relaxed on that, he still taught just as much. Asriel came out a bit nicer than he would've if not and he tended to like that so he came over often. Fallen took a bit of pride in that.

Still it had it's cons with Asgore coming over more often. Fallen tried not to think about that too much. Too much for him mentally. 

Fallen almost thought one night Asriel had snuck out to visit by the loud crash of something falling to hit the ground. While he found the source of the crash, he didn't find out who or what caused it. He went to check on Sans and Papyrus, expecting to see one of them retreating back to bed but instead found them just waking up. Fallen told them to stay there as he went to go out and look. Maybe Asriel retreated somewhere, if it was him at all. It was a slightly stretched guess.

Fallen didn't expect to see a startled human child as the culprit. They were trying to hide behind Fallen's scientific equipment stored in one of the rooms, probably waiting for him to go back to bed. The scientist decided to approach cautiously, guessing they were scared from the other monsters they saw previously.

Fallen went around the counter they hid behind. They stared at him with terrified eyes before suddenly running past him to get away. Fallen reacted quick and used his magic to pick them up by the soul. They still struggled to try to keep running anyways.

"Please calm down." Fallen wasn't sure how exactly to get on their good side after all the terrorizing clearly done with their poorly wrapped bandages around some of their wounds.

The child began to watch Fallen carefully until Papyrus and Sans shuffled into the room suddenly. Papyrus whined a bit loud as he went to hug the scientist. The human seemed to relax at seeing the family. "Who's that?" Papyrus points at them.

"A visitor." Fallen explained. "A human." Papyrus blinked a few times to register the words.

"So… a friend?" He beamed a smile. Fallen let out a soft chuckle as he slowly and gently put the human down. They didn't run, having an advantage already by being at the door, but they watched Fallen advise and lead his kids back to bed. When they asked if they could hang out with the human tomorrow, Fallen gave them a maybe.

Fallen turned to the human and gave a kind smile. "I apologize for what you must have gone through. This is a place where I try to keep the outside out for my kids. You can rest here if you'd like, though.

Clearly, they were skeptical at first. The human watched Fallen for a moment before looking around the room. The scientist decided to leave them be as they left the room but locked the door from the inside as he followed after. Just insurance.

While Fallen couldn't sleep like the other two young skeletons, he decided to work at his desk and write down whatever comes to mind. Sometimes he would him a tune out loud, typically when he had nothing else in mind, but otherwise it was quiet for a few hours.

Fallen decided at one point to check if the human left the labs, only to find them still wandering restlessly. He decided to wave when they looked over. They shrank away a bit yet waved back just slightly.

"Would you like some first aid for your wounds?" Fallen asks with a slight gesture at the other. They clearly had to think about it but eventually gave a slow nod. Fallen smiled and shuffled off for his medical kit. It took a bit but soon he was back to replace old bandages and add new ones to still uncovered wounds. He did his best without hurting them, though slightly unavoidable, to try to not upset them. He wanted a good impression after what everyone else had left on them instead.

"Th-thanks." The human muttered under their breath once he was done.

"You're welcome." Fallen responded. "May I get your name?" He asks as he puts the kit to side.

The child hesitated again. "Chara. That's my name." They bowed their head as if slightly ashamed. Fallen smiled once again.

"It's nice to meet you." He says. "What do you plan to do now? You've gotten pretty far, but I'm not sure if there is a way out." He let out a small sigh. "Even for a human." 

"There isn't…?" They muttered in disappointment. "Really?" Fallen shook his head.

"After testing a lot of different things, it seems so. I know where you can try, if you really want to. You won't have to leave the labs." Fallen says and gets up from the cahri he was in to treat Chara's wounds.

"There's a way out of here?" Chara asks. Fallen gives them a nod. "Where?"

"Follow me if you want to test the option." The scientist says and begins to lead them. He puts up the kit first before leading them down into the lowest part of the lab. Chara followed him even if anxious about doing so.

They headed out into a cave area and came across a piece of the barrier. "This is it." Fallen steps and turns to Chara. "I've known these labs most of my second life. If you can leave out here, you can get to the outside world. If not, you'll be stuck here until the chance arises." 

Chara cringed slightly at that idea. "Okay." They stepped forward and reached out to touch the barrier. Sadly, they were able to flatten their palm against it. "I guess it's the latter."

"Unfortunately so." Fallen comments. "So what will you do now?" He asks.

Chara took a moment to think about it. "I… I think I'll stay here, if it's the safest option, and wait for my chance to leave if that's okay." They gently bit their lip as they waited for a response.

"That's fine by me." Fallen said with a soft smile.

First/Previous | Next

[Index]

[iiimber]

All might A-Z

A= affection 

Toshinori is a very affectionate man; he tends to keep any displays for when he’s alone with you. He would love to show you off to the world– hold your hand or give you any and all kisses in public, but sadly, being a high profile hero prohibits him from doing that. So when you’re at home together, there’s hardly a moment when he’s not touching you. You’re either in his lap, you he has his arms wrapped around you in any position. It’s very comforting. 

B= best memory

He doesn’t like choosing, because there are so many memories that he cherishes. But if he had to, he would say it was your first date. He remembers being so nervous, and you hadn’t been any better– but he had been able to gather up enough confidence to ask to hold your hand. He’ll never forget how flushed your cheeks were, or the giant, pretty smile that overtook your features. To this day, he still tries to make you smile that big again.

C= cat or dog person

Honestly, All Might screams ‘dog person’ to me. He probably has a fondness for big breeds, often charmed by the ones who are too big to be lap dogs but act like one anyways. He doesn’t mind cats, and actually likes them quite a bit, but owning a cat would come after getting a dog to him. 

D= dreams

Toshinori had already fulfilled his dream of being a hero, but his more domestic one is to have a family. He’s a good man, and loves children, so it’s only natural to want some of his own. Sadly, he had always been so busy as #1 and the danger of being that high profile and having a kid was much too great…he hopes later on in life he’ll be able to, even if he has to adopt.

E= evenings

If he’s not working, then his evenings are very laid back. He’ll eat dinner and either watch a show or read. If you ever happen to be over, he actually likes play board or card games with you to pass time. If he doesn’t have work early the next morning, he’ll often ask if you’d like to go to dinner, and treat you at an expensive restaurant– before taking you home and falling asleep in each others arms.

F= first date

Your first date was very simple and low-key, but it still made him incredibly nervous. He thought it would be nice to take you out for breakfast on a day where it wasn’t so busy– taking you on a long walk through the park. He had been so scared to ask to hold your hand, but he was glad he did– no matter how little the gesture was. It was you that kissed him by a pond, and he would be lying if he said he wasn’t red for the rest of the day.

G= giggle

In muscled form, Toshinori has a booming laugh– it’s loud and deep, definitely heroic and manly sounding. In regular form, he laughs with more of a soft chuckle, which is very cute and gentle. It doesn’t take a lot to make him laugh; he really could giggle at anything you say that’s supposed to be funny. He’s a pun man, and always gets a kick out of them, even if he’s the one saying them.

H= hugs

Oh boy does he love hugs, and man is he good at them. Toshinori hugs with his whole body, both arms squeezing you tightly enough where you feel protected, but soft enough that it never hurts. He never gives side hugs, always goes all the way– even with fans, but it’s of course less intimate than when he’s with you. His favorite way to hug is with you in his lap, arms around his neck while his are around your waist, holding you close.

I= instrument 

He’s never had time to really sit down and learn how to play one, no less keep up practice– but while his time in America he had learned how to play a few chords on an acoustic through David. He doesn’t remember much, but once he’s retired he’d like to get back into it, to give himself a hobby.

J= joy

A lot of things bring joy to Toshinoris life. Being a hero was one of them; saving people and gaining their love and trust was something he’s never give up, and it made all the hardships worth it. Midoriya and his heart of a true hero made his so proud and happy always, and that feeling seemed to grow each time he saw the boy improve. Having you in his life to love makes him calm and gleeful; you bring a domestic simplicity he’s always craved a bit; he’d never give that up.

K= kisses

Toshinori’s kisses are always passionate. He’s a passionate man, so his love has to be too. His lips are very soft, and they always feel just perfect against yours– holding you close and pecking yours softly when he leaves for the day, or a hand threading through your hair while he kisses you slow and heavy while pressed up against him on the sofa. They’re never too wet or overbearing, he knows how to move his lips just right.

L= love

Despite being handsome and well-liked, he’s very modest and a little shy when he likes someone. He’s a gentleman, but he tends to act more nice and soft towards you in particular; a clear sign he feels different. While he can be shy with his crush, he’s not above showing off a little too. During school, he’d always rise to the top of any fight or lesson– often turning to you with a smile to see if you noticed. He’s a bit like a puppy, it’s cute.

M= memory

His favorite personal memory would have to do with his master. He had never been incredibly close with his birth parents, so Nana had been a mother to him. He recalls one night after extensive and draining lesson, she invited him to her place for dinner. She cooked, stew that was hearty and thick, and talked to him for hours about his life outside of becoming the next OFA user, and what his dreams were. He’ll never forget the look of fondness on her face, or how intense her listening was. It made him wonder if she had consider him like a son.

N= no

By no fault of anyone else, Toshinori hates getting stuck. In his muscle form, he’s bulky and takes up a lot of space, so it’s hard to maneuver himself sometimes. Walking in the halls after school or trying to get to one destination on a busy sidewalk is hell in his muscle form, he’s too nice to push by and a little embarrassed to excuse his big self past anyone.

O= occupation

A given. Toshinori had always wanted to be a hero, so I imagine he was much like Midoriya growing up; not one to give into his fate of being quirkless, and always looking for a way that he would be able to achieve his dream. It all worked out, thankfully.

P= parent

Toshinori would be a fantastic father. He’s very caring and excitable, he’d be a fun and supportive dad. He had actually always wanted to someday have a child of his own, so if it were to ever happen he would absolutely shed tears. He’d be very hands-on during the pregnancy, no matter how tired he would be from hero work. He’d be secretive though, careful to not let any information on his child being his slip into public hands.

Q= questions

It’s not something he actively discusses since he doesn’t think about the topic too much, but he believes in aliens 100%! He finds it a little odd to think that we are alone in the universe (especially in the kind of world they live in, come on). Toshinori doesn’t partake in any religion, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t think there was a higher power up there.

R= romantic

He is so romantic in a relationship. He’s very busy in his hero life, but that never stops him from showing up on your doorstep after a patrol with flowers and dinner (no matter how tired he is). He says lots of fluffy things, mostly compliments that are so sweetly honest it could give you a cavity.

S= smile

In his line of work, the fact that he can save someone and hear their thanks never fails to make him smile. He loves that fact that people are willing to lean on him; put their trust into him. Toshinori was born to help people, and being able to live up to that makes everything worthwhile. In a romantic sense, being around you and just being is enough to make him smile. He feels most at peace when he is alone with you.

T= together

If he has the time to be, he can be very clingy. He’s an affectionate man, so if he’s able to he can lay with you wrapped in his arms all day. When the two of you share a free day, you never leave each others side. He’ll wake up with you in his arms, run around town holding your had, sit at home with an arm around your shoulder while you rest your head on his chest. Even while making dinner, you’re around each other. It’s very domestic and blissful.

U= unbearable 

After his accident, Toshinori begins to always look down on himself, and talk very negatively. It’s unbearable in the sense that you hate to see your joyful and beautiful man so self-deprecating. When he’s like this, he hates when you fret over him. He feels like he doesn’t deserve it, so he often pushes you away. He never snaps, but he’s cold and blunt; it’s hard for the both of you.

V= Videos

Toshinori isn’t the best photo/video taker, but god forbid if he doesn’t try. His album is full of pictures of you; whether it’s one you posed for, or one he took while you were doing mundane things. Any selfies of you two are a little blurry if he took them, otherwise he has all the ones you do. He’s not much of a video taker, but if the situation arises (a surprise for you, or if the two of you ever have kids) he tries.

W= wedding

The wedding was actually small; only your family and some of his + Gran Torino and Dave. Any news of it was kept from the public in fear of it being ruined, so it took place out of the city in a small but pretty church. It was truly one of the best days of his life, and he cried when you walked down the isle. Most of this pictures are hanging up in your shared home, and he loves to gaze at them when he feels off.

X= eXtra

Toshinori likes to read and write poetry. It started as a hobby when he was younger, a way to release any pent-up emotions; and continued on throughout his life. His vows to you had been a short yet sweet piece; flowing beautifully and smoothly to the point you had also cried. If he did not become a hero, he very well could have been a famous poet.

Y= yuck

He likes baked goods and any edible sweets, but artificial sweet smells are a no for him. They smell fake and much too strong, often giving him a headache if he’s around a candle or perfume for too long.

Z= zzzz

Toshinori sleeps heavy, but he doesn’t get the chance to very often. He works shifts and on-call, so he’s often interrupted from a deep sleep. If he’s able to, he can sleep for ten hours interrupted, and it’s incredibly hard to wake him when he’s that far gone.

[pepperoniwhirlwind]

~Honesty Hour~

     I was asked by @lovelynhiddenkittens to do all 150 questions in the Honesty Hour tag! 😮 Thank you, lovely and curious stranger~! 😆 But since that’s a lot for one post, I’ll break it up into chunks of 50 questions so it’s easier for all my blogging buddies to digest. 😊 Starting... now! 😝

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?      That would have to be Alex. He was warming my hand for me because it was ice cold. Though he doesn’t know that’s because I intentionally held my super cold drink for a really long time with that hand, then casually mentioned how cold my hand was so he’d try to warm it... >//> Introverts are sneaky flirts, what can I say? 😆😏

2. Are you outgoing or shy?      Shy, definitely. Though there are alters in the system much more outgoing than me.

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?      Tyler! 😄 I’ve been staying over at her apartment every weekend this past summer, and always enjoy our movie and gaming marathons. 😝

4. Are you easy to get along with?      I think so. I’m not very easily angered, a pacifist at heart, and a people-pleaser at my core. 😂 So it’s pretty hard not to get along with me.

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

     I don’t know, Alex is a sweetheart so he’d probably help, and Tyler cares but she doesn’t do bodily fluids. 😆 So, it depends. And considering I’ve never been drunk, and seem to have too high a tolerance to get drunk without having to rob a bank to fund the sheer volume of alcohol needed, I doubt this problem will ever arise. 👌

6. What kind of people are you attracted to?

     Kind and funny people. 😊

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

     I have no idea, but I won’t rule it out. Alex has kinda been cute and flirty towards me lately, so maaaybe~? >//>

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?

     Uh, well, the subject of the last question was Alex, so, him. 😆

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

     A wee bit, yes. 😅 I put up a good facade though, but being asexual, sex is kinda... bleeehhh~ for me. e~e

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

     That would have to be Tyler. :3 She’s my bestie from my ASL classes~ 💜 We have a looot in common, so we talk for hours at a time, in between movie and game marathons that is. 😆

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?

     Context: I was spamming Tyler gifs of adorable animals earlier today.

     The Text: “Aaand now I gotta get ready for therapy, so this shall be the crowning gif of adorable goodness!”

     Followed by a gif of two golden retrievers fighting over a tennis ball, with a third retriever (being shoved into the frame by a fourth, offscreen, retriever) resting his head on the two dogs feuding over the aforementioned tennis ball. 💖

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

     This is rather hard... so I’ll just list the songs that I listen to on repeat a lot.

     1. “The Cure” by Lady Gaga

     2. “Insomnia” by IAMX

     3. “Middle of the Bed” by Lucy Rose

     4. “All the Rage” by Allie X

     5. “Wires” by The Neighbourhood

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

     Yes. No. Kinda? It depends... If I’ve just had a shower and my hair is clean, I love it. ^w^ But if it’s been a bit and my hair isn’t all that clean I just feel embarrassed if people touch my hair. e~e

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?

     Ehhh... Depends which alter you ask really. Me, personally? Not so much. My family has always told me our family line is cursed to have bad luck, so if I believed in such things, I guess I’m doomed. 😂

15. What good thing happened this summer?

     I’ve started working on myself and my social life, strengthening friendships irl and online, or, at least attempting to. 😅 Sometimes I’m just bad at not isolating. But this past summer I’ve been spending basically every weekend at my friend Tyler’s apartment and hanging out with her core group of friends. It’s been a nice break from the chaos of the school semester. 😊

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

     Well, considering she’s on the other side of the country back in my home state, probably not. She was a lovely first kiss, but I’ll leave it at that. 🤭

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?

     With how many planets there are in the galaxy; the universe? Not to mention how many planets within The Goldilocks Zone that share a similar atmosphere to earth within the observable universe alone... How could I not think other life exists? At the very least, in some kind of bacterial form, though, I dare to dream a little bigger. ✨

18. Do you still talk to your first crush?

     Well, I’ve never really had a crush, per se, though plenty of squishes. :3 But my first squish did not turn out well, so, no. :c

19. Do you like bubble baths?

     Yes, especially if I go all out and light candles and play music on my phone. 🕯️🎶😌 However, I don’t do that very often. I take showers mostly.

20. Do you like your neighbors?

     Yeah, they’re chill people. The neighbors with the overly-territorial pitbull that kept us prisoner in our car for hours and broke into our fenced-in backyard to take massive doggie dumps out of sheer hatred for us moved away because their dog kept terrorizing the neighbourhood and was going to get put down if it didn’t stop breaking out to chase children on trikes and joggers onto rooftops. So, the neighbors we have now are awesome! 😆

21. What are your bad habits?

     Sometimes I’m too honest and don’t know when to stop talking, other times I’m so socially anxious I might as well be a feature of the wall at parties. 😂 I also have trichotillomania, a compulsive disorder related to OCD, in which I get really strong urges to pull out my hair sometimes, so definitely a bad habit... Just talking about it kinda... ehhhh... moving on. e~e

22. Where would you like to travel?

     A lot of places. Though Scotland is at the top of my list. Scotland is a huge part of my family’s heritage, and some of my family still lives there. So I would love to visit and spend some time in nature there~  💕

23. Do you have trust issues?

     Yes.

24. Favorite part of your daily routine?

     Well, anytime I get to de-stress is nice. I know wiping down my face with a face wipe always feels nice and refreshing after a day out running errands and attending classes. It’s the little things that are the most help~ 😊

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

     All of it. If I could edit my body, that would be nice.

26. What do you do when you wake up?

     Hit snooze on the alarm a couple times, get up, walk to the bathroom... you can imagine the rest.

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

     Nope, I’m quite happy with my vampire pale skin, and even my dirty blonde, curly lion’s mane of hair, and my blue eyes ain’t so bad either. I’m not completely hideous, just 97% hideous. 👌😂

28. Who are you most comfortable around?

     Myself. My alters. Tyler. Alex. My Tumblr fam~ 💞

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?

     No, because I usually cut them out of my life after they break my heart. Some have tried to stay friends with me or become friends with me again years later, but... no. I don’t need backstabbers in my life.

30. Do you ever want to get married?

     Maybe, someday. When the time is right, I’ll know, until then, I’ll enjoy my singledom~ :3

31. Is your hair long enough for a ponytail?

     Yes, it’s in a ponytail right now actually. 😆

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?

     NONE.

33. Spell your name with your chin.

     gtlo nhy (Oh gawd... What a name. 😂)

34. Do you play sports? What sports?

     Mi-Suk used to play on tennis and basketball teams, but our spine is a little too deteriorated nowadays to attempt such things.

35. Would you rather live without TV or music?

     Without TV, hands down. I’d die without music. I bleed music.

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

     Yep. I had a bit of a squish on this kid named Travis in elementary school and never told him. My frenemy told him I had a crush on him, and he never talked to me after that. 😭

37. What do you say during awkward silences?

     I either make a joke or just enjoy the silence. Depends what mood I’m in. Sometimes I’m more introverted and just want to sit in silence or listen to music instead of talk. Other times I just wanna connect with people and I tend to crack a lot of darker, self-deprecating jokes as a way to break the ice, or tension if I feel some.

38. Describe your dream girl/guy?

     I want someone who is genuinely kind, patient, and funny. It also helps if they are neurodivergent like me, and have similar enough interests, sense of humor, etc. to my own. c: Overall, I just want to feel comfortable and safe with someone. 😊

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?

     I buy food at Fry’s... so... Fry’s?

40. What do you want to do after high school?

     I’m already out of high school, bub. Now I’m in college, and I still have no idea. I have dream jobs, dream homes, dream lives. But none of them seem realistic.

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

     Depends on the crime, really. If I hired someone to babysit my hypothetical children, and they forgot to tell the children to clean up their toys, I believe a second chance is in order. If they, however, ditched the job to mack on Paul Puffy Lips next door, leaving my children to starve, I don’t believe I’ll be giving them another call.

42. If you’re being extremely quiet what does it mean?

     It means I’m probably really socially anxious at the moment and would prefer to not be made the center of attention. o~o’

43. Do you smile at strangers?

     Yes, sometimes to spread cheer and joy, other times because I’m worried they’ll think I’m an up-to-no-good deviant or zombified by depression, which is how I feel at least 80% of the time, and worry everyone notices, even strangers, who probably would not assume such things, but that’s social anxiety for you. 😂

44. A trip to outer space or the bottom of the ocean?

     Why not both? However, humans are so preoccupied with space that we’ve only explored 5% of our oceans. I don’t want the oceans to feel lonely, so I’ll visit them first. 💙

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?

     Sometimes the looming responsibilities in my life, other times I just don’t get out of bed. 

46. What are you paranoid about?

     A lot of things, but the most pressing concern of mine is that everyone will inevitably leave me because I’m a terrible, horrible human being who doesn’t deserve friendship. 😅

47. Have you ever been high?

     Every day, if I can help it. I have a medical marijuana card and have for a couple years now.

48. Have you ever been drunk?

     No.

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

     No, not really. Nothing is coming to mind. 

50. What was the color of the last hoodie you wore?

     Well, I’m wearing a hoodie now, and it’s gray, with the Nirvana emblem on the front. 😝 It’s my favorite and coziest hoodie of all.

[tipsyrosay]

not meant to be | kth

pairing: taehyung x female reader

genre:  angst, hint of infidelity

words: 1873

a/n: IT’S BEEN A WHILE BUT I’M BACK. My exam are ending next week and I’ll be back , legit full force from the 9th onwards whew!!!!

“Taehyung seen with yet another long-legged beauty. Who is the newest apple of his eye?”

You struggle to hide the smirk that found its way, dancing on your lips, as you tuck the newspaper back into your hand carry. News like these, have long lost its effect on you, it was as if you didn’t care anymore. You wished. The green-eyed monster that once had its reign over you, faded back into the darkness, the moment he walked out of your life. You wonder if you are the only one who missed the both of you, or if it’s mutual, if he’s thinking about you as much as you think about him.

Days came and went like that, it was nothing new. He played such a pivotal role in your life and when he left, you could say a part of you left with him. It was so unfair, you invested so much effort by going out with your colleague for late night karaoke or just for a simple shop-till we-are dead session at the nearby mall, but you just couldn’t wash him out of your system, after all these years. Heaving a sigh, you grabbed your coffee cup and left the seat once again, cold and vacant as the ringing of bells echoed around the shop.

Fresh cinnamon and minty peppermint attacked his nostrils as he found himself entering the place. With tiny candy canes decorating the tree on display and bite sized gingerbread cookies all lined up at the aisle, as if ever ready to greet the customers and the jubilant singing that bounced from wall to wall, it couldn’t get more festive than it already was. His fingers danced, taking their sweet time, tracing the rim of the mug, just as though they were memorising the texture of the surface. An abrupt ringing of the jingle bells woke him up from his daze, an untouched cheesecake and a disappearing figure was all he could make out.

“angel”, “you’re such a beauty”, he groaned out as he watched the silhouette. With sensual and tantalizing steps, the silhouette moved slowly, teasing him with its simple yet haunting movements. With a finger on the lips, it beckoned him to move forward, come closer. The sheerness of the curtain barely hiding the wicked smile behind it, as it whispered, sending shivers down his spine, while staring down at the flushed other.

“Play with me”  

Taehyung. Kim Taehyung. That name seemed so familiar yet unknown at the same time. The goofy freshman you chanced upon at Hoseok’s. Behind all that goofiness, was a boy whose heart was gold and whose tender touch charmed many. They called it the almost relationship, for whatever the both of you had. Those fleeting touches and accidental kisses, so enticing each time, leaving you with a raw craving at the pit of your stomach. The ache that stayed with you after all these times seemed to be growing bigger, silently tearing you apart from within, as you let out a pained smile, once more. Perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be. You remembered as he nuzzled against your neck as ‘perfect’ played on the radio, his musky scent encircling you, as you rested your chin on top of his hazel coloured mop of hair, a content smile gracing your features. You could say that was your fondest memory of him or of the both of you. The pitter patter of raindrops accompanied by the homely fireplace, nothing could have gotten more perfect.

“Guess what Y/N?”, he tears his eyes away from the painting in front of him as he waits for your response. 1,2,3.

“What is it now, Tae.” You muttered under your breath as he asks this for the umpteenth time, in the short span of twenty minutes, since the both of you set foot into the museum.

“Nothing.” He let out a cheeky smile as he playfully tugs at your bag before running away, usually a signal for a game of hide and seek. After running past paintings that you swore you already ran past, you were about to give up because that boy could really hide. Resting your hands at your knees, you huffed as you tried to catch your breath.

“I swear Tae if I ever find you, you would wish that you were never b-born”, you threatened the missing boy with all the breath you could muster.

As if he read your mind, he popped out from the side, a package in his hands, as a silly hat rested on his head. Strings were tied everywhere, and messy scribbles decorated the package. Walking closer, you spotted a ‘happy birthday Y/N’ on it and you took the chance to tiptoe and brushed a peck on his cheek.

“Hey, aren’t you surprised, come on Y/n, admit that you are, am I not the best company you could ever have”, he nudged your shoulders as he teasingly wiggled his eyebrows. The sight of him made your heart flutter, letting loose all the butterflies that were previously caged, now set free. You took a step forward and hugged him tightly, as your heart pounded loudly against your chest, you wondered if he heard it. Because if he did, he didn’t show it.

 “Hey Y/n, you still here?”

“Earth to Y/n, please comeback from dream world”

A nudge broke your train of thought and the surroundings reminded you of the ladies’ night that was going on now. Sike, it happened again. You bashfully smiled, showing your embarrassment at your fellow two girlfriends sitting across you.

“As I was saying Y/n, So Jung is posted overseas for one of her projects and this coming Sunday, we ladies should do something for her,” she stared at you, waiting for your response. Desperately finding the right words, a high-pitched giggle escaped your mouth instead. Great, now your friends are really going to think you have lost your marbles. Before you could even attempt to find your dignity, a man dressed in a black tuxedo and styled up honey hair proceeded to walk towards your table, bending down as he pecks Rose’s cheek. Jennie let out a wolf whistle and you raised your eyebrow at Rose’s mystery man. Because of everything, you didn’t remember Rose mentioning that she was dating someone, not that you were even listening.

When the man rose, and offered a smile towards you all, it took a lot of effort on your part, not to bolt. This got to be a joke, this is not happening right now, not to me, you chanted to yourself, internally. With honey coloured styled hair, and a tuxedo that complemented his lengthy limbs, was Kim Taehyung, in all his glory, standing right in front the three of you all. The Taehyung that never liked wearing tuxedos because it was ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘rigid’, everything he wasn’t. Your Tae, you thought. You were glad there was no need to talk because you gladly believed that if you were to speak, your voice would betray you.

I’m sorry that I let you go

You were so terribly confused, conflicted, emotions messing with your head.  After all these years, you finally got to see him, but just not the way you thought you would, in the arms of another, especially in your friend’s.  

 I’m sorry that I cared

You held his gaze, wanting to detect any emotion in them, but you were faced with none, just a pair of stone cold brown hues staring back at you. Rose and Jennie glanced between the both of you, question marks arising from their heads.

“Hey girls, this is Taehyung, my date”, and with that she eagerly introduced him to the both of you. Jennie, with much excitement, stands up to congratulate the two of them and gives him a hug.

While for you, a simple handshake and “Hi, my name is Y/n” was it.

“Really, the name seems to ring a bell though, are you sure we have not met before?” He raises his eyebrows at you, as if challenging you to refuse that.

“I’m pretty sure I would know better if I had seen you before, Taehyung.”

And for a moment, nothing changed

“Call me Tae, I insist” and that really was the cue for you to break the stare down and sit back down, laying out your napkin.

Dinner was awkward, at least for you it was. You didn’t want him to know that you were pathetic without him, that you were missing him so much. You didn’t want to hear how well he was doing, moving on so easily from what happened last night. That he went back to her, the ‘only woman’ of his life, that you were an easy fix, a one-time thing.

Everyone had their ride back, a driver was waiting outside the restaurant for Jennie and Rose since they were roommates and none of them drove, which left the two of you standing out there in the cold, so close yet so far. You took the opportunity to admire the beautiful street lights, reminding you of your favourite season coming up.

He sneaked a glance at you, the girl that he once loved. The girl that he was so close to being something with her, but the timing was never there. They call it the two parallel lines that are so close to each other but never ever intersect. He guessed that the both of you fell under this label and fate had already planned this out for the both of you right from the start. When he had met you at the age of 18, you were already developing into the feisty yet emotional, strong willed woman you are today. He was attracted to you the moment Namjoon introduced the you to him, your weird sense of humour got him hooked to a string that was bound to break someday. But Namjoon had warned that you were together with Jungkook and that there was no point chasing a girl that is taken, thus he kept his distance. Until that night that you came crying to him, makeup all smudged and in your pyjamas, seeking comfort in his company, his walls all came crushing down.

Now, he watches as you seek comfort in the cold weather, eyes admiring the decorations in awe, breathing out warm air as your cheeks slowly start to flush. He reached out, wanting to put your hand into his pocket with his hand warming yours, run his fingers through your curls, but he finds himself withdrawing his hand back into his side pocket. He ignores the stinging pain he feels as the tears roll down his cheek, the taste of salt slipping into his lips, as he now stares forward.

“Are you, Y/n unnie and Taehyungie oppa together or something?” His sister asked you with big, inquisitive eyes, as you brushed her hair.

“No, but why the sudden question little Taeyeon?”

Not expecting her reply, you slowly rose up, dusting your skirt, about to attend to other errands.

“Omma once told me that lying is bad”, and she ran away before you could even muster a reply.

Well, it’s not lying if he was never yours to begin with.

talk to me 1!1! /give me feedback

[yesterdaylovedme]

1 x 1 Phineas and Ferb RP on Discord

With their days of summer behind them, Phineas and Ferb had gone through the gauntlet known as high school, still staying close with their group of neighborhood friends. The year is 2025 and the guys are now ten years older and ten years (slightly) wiser. Phineas and Ferb are both 20 years old and are eager to start their next chapter which happens to be college. They stayed home an extra year to take care of their parents before they figured out what they would do. They spent time together as a family and figured out what they'd like to do now that they're full-fledged adults. Phineas has elected to go local and Ferb has his sights set on something elsewhere. Abroad or out-of-state.

So that's about it. A timeskip set in college. Cue crazy antics with some sweet romance intertwined. Woo! That's what we're gonna do!

I am mostly seeking a Ferb, I can play Isabella or Vanessa against him. Isabella would be 19 or 20 and Vanessa would be, I want to say 25 or 26, perhaps following in her father's footsteps an inventor but not so evil (read: misunderstood) in nature. I would be open to playing Candice if you want to go that route instead, she would be 24. Same with Stacy. I might also open to Phineas paired with someone instead but for some odd reason I'm really feeling a Ferb RP right now. Below are some concepts that can be expanded upon. I encourage folks to bring their own ideas into the mix. Nothing is set in stone of course, so if you have changes or suggestions, feel free to speak up!

Ferb x Isabella Idea:

Isabella decides she'd like to study aboard as well. Ferb has decided to go back to London to study and also to gain independence from his brother. Isabella wishes to study politics and someday become an ambassador or possibly a translator for the government. As she doesn't wish to move across the ocean without any friends, she applied to the same university as Ferb and they both gain admittance. Ferb and Isabella then decide to rent a flat together to save money and well, because they're friends. The two begin to bond as Ferb shows her around the city, as he's more familiar with the area than Isabella. In their spare time, they play chess and visit various cafes, Isabella beginning to see Ferb as more than a friend or brotherly figure.

Ferb x Vanessa Ideas:

In order to get away from her father's shadow, Vanessa moves away from Danville following her graduating college. She decides to move to London (or somewhere else) and has been teaching for two years at a local middle school. When Ferb moves away for college, he and Vanessa cross paths as they live in the same apartment complex. Vanessa has been inventing some of her own items, though nothing nefarious (for the most part) and asks Ferb if he'd be able to help her from time to time. The pair begin to grow close as Vanessa keeps working as a teacher and Ferb goes to college. Soon one of her father's enemies emerges and Vanessa and Ferb are forced to combat it together.

Another idea I had was to have Ferb go into the spy game, as it were. Vanessa could still be working with her father, deciding to take over his dream of ruling the tri-state area. Ferb is recruited and trained on a means to best get close to Vanessa to put an end to her schemes. Ferb would befriend Vanessa normally, but would go in disguise when he suits up and tries to thwart her dangerous schemes. Vanessa doesn't recognize Ferb and the pair continue to clash through their different dynamics.

Ferb x Candice Idea:

After trying to bust her brothers for years, Candice finally gives up when she goes to Danville's community college with Stacy. She sometimes would visit her family but for the most part, felt it was best to distance herself from them so she could focus on herself for once. Candice decides to study acting and ends up staring in a few local plays. When she graduates college, she decides to move to New York City. She and Jeremy have been broken up for a while and she ends up landing a role in an off-Broadway show. In her downtime, she has taken to writing short stories based off of her brothers though everyone laughs them off as pure fiction, Candice finds them a bit therapeutic. When Ferb and Phineas graduate, Ferb decides to go to NYC as opposed to something across the pond. Candice offers her brother a place to stay while he goes to school. He ends up supporting her acting career as they begin to get know each other as it's been several years since they've lived under the same roof, with her no longer trying to bust him.

Ferb x Stacy:

Somewhat similar to the above.. Ferb has been offered a full scholarship to attend and study engineering at UC Berkeley, CA. Stacy ends up already attending grad school there. Her grades were quite great following college and she transferred following her graduating college. She and Ferb reconnect and she realizes Ferb is pretty smart. She ends up studying with him as they both share the same passion for science. They begin to grow closer as a new threat descends upon the area. Together, Stacy and Ferb team up to handle the evil dangers that arise, while also able to test out their experiments, such as robotic weaponry and such.

That's pretty much it for the moment.

I'm kind of a sucker for sweet, sensual romance. I'd like there to be like 85% plot and 15% smut, give or take. Please be fairly literate and detail-oriented. I am also open to using real face claims instead of cartoons for their appearance, provided they stay somewhat true to their appearance. But given this is a bit of a zany universe, I'd like to keep that humor and charm and I think it works best with something drawn. That said, serious themes should be explored too given the ages of our characters. If you're interested and see this post still up, shoot me a PM. I know it's a very random request but I'm pretty flexible with shipping to get this off the ground. I do use discord and would like us to plot over there but we can use the tumblr chats for the time being to work out general stuff. Please get in touch if you’re interested. I am happy to play as  Phineas or other roles too but I’d love for someone to be my Ferb.

[violetazule]

The Bog

This is just an edited, embellished story about a dream I had the other day of a place that I’ve dreamed about before. Maybe I’ll turn it into something someday. *shrug* 

The sky is red like blood, as if I’m looking at Hell through glass. Willow trees, black as oil, hang over these lonely shacks, built in a circle to surround the charred platform in the center. Its dilapidated wooden surfaces are slowly being taken over by the rust-colored moss that engorges itself on everything in this haunted place.

The ground swallows everything, day by day. It's a bog, and there are no inhabitants because it didn't want them anymore. Last time I was here there were hulking, oily black and tar-soaked behemoths with no eyes-- just gaping mouths and powerful hands-- that were on the prowl. 

I'm completely alone. I don’t know where my mother or father are, where they have gone after we were dumped here. I couldn’t miss either of them in this place. My dad’s hairless head and towering presence, and my mom’s tanned, tattooed skin and her cropped brown hair.

I know the horrid creatures could surge up below me and drag me under the festering mud if the bog wanted it. I sit still, listening, and when my phone buzzed in my pocket I almost scream. I pull it out and I just see big, bold letters flashing at me;

 "Find him." 

"Find the seer." 

"The prophet." 

I have no idea what any of that means, but something urges me to stand and start to move, at least to not be a sitting target. I just stuff my phone in my pocket and push myself up. I'm soaked in the rust red sludge that suffocates anything the bog doesn't want growing; its covering my hands and its already taken my shoes into its possession, leaving my feet bear as I start walking.

Doing so as quietly as I can, trying to slide past the cabins that feather out past the circle-- it was a whole town, once thriving and full of people. I can feel the trees whispering where I am to the bog, the sludge around my feet pulling every time I paused.

The trees were getting extremely thick, dense to the point of spacial suffocation. They were all willows-- battling and hanging over one another, tangling their branches. It seemed to be the only thing the bog wanted to let grow and spread.

When I touched the leaves in passing, to get them out of my way, they oozed red. It smelled of iron and smeared like blood, but I kept telling myself it was sap as the leaves grazed my face, streaking the red pigment over my clothes and outstretched arms. 

I've never been alive this long to get this deep into the woods. The swamp always wanted me gone before I could explore. The leaves continue slicking over my back and pushing me, grabbing my arms and pulling me whenever I stumble or stop. Leading me left and right, wherever they will me to go. I think they're just trying to starve me out by leading me in circles, forever and ever-- or until the bog gets bored. 

Despite my thoughts, they led me to a clearing. No bigger than the floor plan of an average house, bare except for the rotating walls in the direct center. Twisting black walls continue to writhe around a certain point, and there's people. Thank God there's people! 

They look at me, though. With hate, disgust, loathing. Worry and fear start to arise, along with whispered, hushed voices as a large man grabs both of my shoulders so hard I though he'd moved them out of socket with his thumbs alone. 

He snarls-- a true, ugly growl of words, "How did you find us?" I tell him I don't know! I have no idea, I say, I'm looking for the prophet, the seer!

My head is buzzing-- things are whispering and I can hear them. Thousands of flies in my brain, they're just murmuring and talking about me, at me, to me. It hurts, but I ignore it for now.

His hands let me go, stained red from the liquid on the trees that stick to my clothing. He shoves me towards the walls in the center, and everybody gives me a wide berth as the walls angle themselves to let me in. 

They're too high to see over, and all the noise of people exploding into questions is drowned out by the walls and the thrumming that is much louder in my head. 

I look at the walls and almost vomit. I wretch and look at my bloodstained feet, holding my slick hand over my mouth, because on the walls are names and dates under Polaroid pictures of everyone the bog has taken and spit back out as a warning.

There are babies floating in black pools, their mouths full and eyes wide and swollen, mothers on the edge of the picture with arms out that you can see clawing at the lifeless bundle. Faceless people just barely above the mud, everything from the neck up gone. People hang from the thousands of willow trees, suspended by crooked and gnarled branches and whip-like leaves. 

I begin to bawl as the walls move, shrink around me to shove me forward, smearing more of that red liquid over the sheen of the pictures. Around a bend-- endless amounts of pictures line the walls, and at the other side of the short maze was a plump, stout man, stomach bulging and hair grayed and greased back. He was hanging up more pictures, quiet as the grave. 

He's boxed in here with me. I stare at him in horror-- “How can you hang up all of these?” I ask aloud, through my tears, and he doesn't look at me. His hands are searching for the next place to hang a photo. A box of hundreds lies at his feet in a small wooden box. 

He turns his head to me and I understand why as he just smiles a knowing smile as his gray eyes stare past me, hands pushing a pin into the picture on the wall. 

"You came for me and I am here. What can I do for you?" He said so calmly-- so welcoming and comforting. Nothing could soothe the pain in my mind, and he simply moved to hang another picture up.

I burst out in more tears and start pounding my hands on my head, the buzzing is so loud.  Screams, pleading screams of absolute agony. Soft prayers of people, scared out of their minds, whispering to folded hands. I can hear people out in the bog, lost and alone, those in the clearing.

"You'll get used to that, too," he says as he hands me the box of pins, a pen and all the pictures. He gives my dirty shoulder a pat and laughs. "We've waited a long time for you. The swamp has a funny way of playing her game." 

I grit my teeth and can hardly hear him over the cries. "Her?" Is all I can think to blurt out. 

My hands are shaking as he laughs. "I knew her very well, once. Now, she's turned sour. But, she seems to know and like you. I feel good leaving them in your hands," he said as the walls just opened behind him and let him leave, shutting me inside. 

I break-- I snap! I'm pounding on the walls, turning the pictures askew. I can't bare to look at them, the backs of the pins hitting my hands. I'm screaming louder than the voices are, and I can't do anything. Nobody cares! Nobody can hear me! I want the swamp to swallow me whole rather than suffer this eternal damnation with these lost souls! 

When nothing happens-- no shudder of the earth, no movement of the walls-- I turn and just try to do what the man was doing. I pick up a picture and pin it to the wall. 

It was a picture of two. A white man with a fuzzy chest and a bald head, and a woman with darker skin and many tattoos. They were rolled onto their backs; the swamp had taken them under and dealt with them quickly. At least I had the comfort knowing they weren't still in there, being hunted. 

I pinned and pulled another picture, pinned and pulled another. My line was crooked, hands shaking too horribly. The voices, the noise, it quieted down enough for a feminine voice to hum to me; "It won't be long, now."

[lafaiette]

Give Yourself To Harmony - 1/2

This huge alien who looks like a chubby, purple potato, this loud man who is part of the newest alien species just discovered in Heleus, this angara who expresses himself so freely and openly just like the rest of his species, is his sister’s boyfriend.

Her first boyfriend, since her nerd ass never found someone intelligent enough to understand how special she is.

At least, that means this weird guy is clever.

In which Scott Ryder finally meets Jaal Ama Darav, his sister's boyfriend. It will take him a while to get used to this.

Also on AO3

Warning: this fic contains spoilers of the game, the ending, and the post-game content! 

It is strange to walk through the Hyperion – Meridian’s lush forests and fields just outside the windows – and see people scurrying around, busy and focused, hear their congratulations and thanks, and notice how everything and everyone looks better than he ever thought possible.

There are no kett, not anymore, and Scott’s leg and head don’t hurt as much as before. There are still traces of the invasion on the floor and walls, but he is just so happy to be here, alive and finally ready to take part to the Initiative, that his mind automatically ignores them.

He promised Harry to keep in contact and call him if new health problems arise; the doctor promised there shouldn’t be now, but being forced to interface with the Remnant tech without SAM left a pungent taste in Scott’s mouth, like the blood he actually tasted and the terrible realization that a mad, power-hungry alien wanted to use him and his implants to kill worlds and make Heleus kneel and accept his terrible gift.

It’s difficult to accept – he can still see Captain Dunn’s face as the Archon stole the Hyperion and flew it through Meridian’s gates, hear her voice through the comm as she got ready to give her life for the sake of all the sleeping colonists. He can still feel the rush of relief as the other Pathfinders saved her life and he heard that his sister was on her way to save him and everyone else.

The pride and affection he feels for her are more than enough to push away the lingering, painful sense of guilt and uselessness he has felt for a long while, but it’s still there, a nagging shame that makes him blush and divert his eyes as soon as the people of the Hyperion smile at him, pay him their compliments – compliments for what? I did nothing – and wish him a stellar career.

That, he can try to do. Now that he’s finally on his feet – for the second time -, he hopes the universe will finally let him have a chance at exploring this cluster of stars and find his purpose in it.

First Arcturus and his mass relays leading other people to their glory – or death, he has to admit -, now Andromeda, with its countless planets and people to see. All closed, off-limits to him.

Until now, at least, and amidst the shame, self-consciousness, and worry he also feels hope and excitement and he prays everything will make sense someday.

The orders aren’t clear yet, but for now he has been assigned to the Tempest, under his sister’s – the human Pathfinder – command. Then, the Nexus will decide, but he seriously hope his sis can put pressure on Tann – who apparently can be a pain in the ass sometimes – to let him stay on her ship as a member of her crew.

He wouldn’t mind serving under her. She is capable and they have always had a close bond; plus, she is familiar and that’s something Scott desperately needs right now, even though his thirst for new discoveries and places is strong as ever.

The trauma and pain he went through just made him wish for something not new and completely alien, that’s all.

Speaking of, he had much time to learn and read more about the new sentient aliens, native of the Heleus cluster: the angara, which the Initiative describes being “larger-than-life”, “extremely open with their emotions”, “characterized by a deep sense of religion, spirituality, and love for family”.

Now, these are aliens he is more than willing to meet. He read that his sister was actually the first one to make a somewhat official contact with them – not counting the exiles on Kadara - and he wonders how it went at first, what her and their reactions were.

He read about the kett invasion, the terrible things those monsters did to the angara and their culture; he read about the Jaardan – that little he could find about them, anyway – and his mind tried to wrap itself around the concept of an organic species being created by another race.

The only comparison he has is the creation of the Geth, but things are different in this case and he knows he will have to ask many questions and learns so much more if he wants to live here without going crazy or being continuously confused.

Despite everything he read and his training, he stops on his tracks when he sees his first two angara standing near one of the doors of the Hyperion, talking with an elder human.

He saw many pictures of them, even watched some vids, but seeing them in the flesh is different and he can’t help but stare, curious like a child, studying their eyes, hands, posture, their voice and gestures.

The male, a tall, bulky angara with shiny green skin and marks on his face, notices his staring and stares back at him, narrowing his galaxy-like eyes a bit. Scott makes a panicked sound, which turns into pitiful babbles when the angaran woman and the human look at him too.

“Oh! Scott Ryder, right?” the human smiles, before turning to his angaran friends. “He is the human Pathfinder’s brother! He never stepped outside the Hyperion, so forgive his manners.”

“I saw pictures of Pathfinder Ryder.” the angaran man says, his voice hoarse and rumbling. He tilts his head sideways, a smile curling his lips. “You look like her.”

“I’m… I’m her twin.” he babbles and he is about to flee, mortified, when the angaran woman smiles too and approaches him.

“I never saw a human with hair on his face before!” she exclaims, touching the short stubble growing on his chin, a useless attempt to grow a full beard like his father. “All the humans I’ve encountered didn’t have it. It’s… fuzzy!”

His personal space is breached and the angara’s eyes are so big and seemingly filled with galaxies, Scott can only keep staring and letting her touch his face.

He grimaces and hisses when a light shock runs through his skin. Electromagnetism, right. He forgot about that.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” the woman gasps, clasping her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean to! I was too excited!”

Her companion has gotten near as well and Scott feels small and vulnerable; his arms look like they could send him to Eos with a slap only and his hands are larger than he thought, those three fused fingers unsettling him more than they should.

He grew up on a station full of aliens, he played with turian and salarian kids every day, yet a first contact is always a jarring, anxious experience, especially because he needs to be as polite as possible to avoid any diplomatic incident or misunderstanding.

How did his sister even do that? The angara didn’t even trust the Initiative back then!

“Is it true you were captured by the Archon?” the angaran man asks and there are amazement and horror in the aliens’ eyes. The woman doesn’t even hesitate when she adds: “Did he torture you? Did it hurt a lot?”

“I… Uh…” Taken aback by the clarity of their emotions and feelings, by their frankness and curiosity, Scott can only nod, glance at the human who is observing the scene with something akin to amusement, and then nod again, red like a tomato.

His eyes want to stare at every little detail of these aliens, but he doesn’t dare to and so he forces himself to stare at the wall behind them, hoping they will grow bored and let him leave.

“Are you well?” the angaran man asks, narrowing his eyes again. Scott realizes with an inward groan that he probably looks and sounds like a mess, a stupid child.

“Doesn’t your translator work correctly?” the angaran women kindly suggests, probably taking pity on him, and he manages to look at her – what are those fleshy flaps around their necks? – and her friend – their noses are flat and their teeth blunt, their clothes are so colorful – before replying softly: “They work. I… I should really go now.”

He excuses himself with more unintelligible words and a bow of his head, before practically scrambling away, pressing his duffel bag hard against his hip and trying to ignore their voices as they ask the other human what was wrong with him and if they did anything wrong.

His sister was able to win the angara’s trust, save their most important cultural figure, and establish a good relationship with them in little time, all after roughly landing on their hidden homeworld with a ship on fire and without making an ass out of herself.

He, on the other hand, stared rudely at two angara, wasn’t able to start a sensible conversation with them and make a good impression, and fled like a coward instead of apologizing and trying to make things better.

He is suddenly glad he stayed in a coma for the whole time.

His sister sent him a message before he left the Cryo Bay and Harry’s insistent, but kind medical cares. She said she is waiting for him on the Nexus, where urgent business forced her to land with the Tempest, so he will have to take a shuttle and join her on the station.

He actually likes that. He didn’t even get a chance to see and explore the main hub of the Initiative and to be honest he can’t wait to leave the Hyperion and Meridian behind.

Trying to drown his embarrassment from the earlier encounter with the idea of finally traveling through Heleus, he gets on the first available shuttle and prepares for the few hours of travel.

Fortunately, only Milky Way species are there and he is able to focus on his omnitool without problems; he isn’t sure he would be able to avoid staring at an angara if he saw another one.

For a moment, it feels like he is in a perfectly normal shuttle heading to the Citadel; he could almost trick his mind into thinking he’s still in the Milky Way Galaxy, but when he stares out of the windows and sees the unfamiliar stars and the Scourge, both his mind and heart get a little disappointed.

You still haven’t found your place here yet, he thinks. Nothing wrong with a little bit of homesickness.

Only that it doesn’t feel like it’s a little bit, more like a mountain of homesickness spreading in his chest like the scorching effects of the Remnant technology forced through his implants.

He tries to distract himself with some light reading – a list of the armors the Initiative is developing together with the angara, detailed descriptions of the outposts Pathfinder Ryder established (even though he read those at least three or four times before), short summaries of what the Nexus and the angaran ambassador expect from the future.

After an hour or so, his omnitool reminds him to take the pills Harry ordered him to take for at least the next three weeks – “Don’t worry, my dear colleague on the Tempest will make sure to shove them down your throat if you’ll ever try to be an ass and purposefully forget them.”

That threat still rings in Scott’s ears and he wonders if the fretting asari who pulled him away from his sister was the colleague Harry mentioned. She didn’t look so… aggressive. More like really anxious and worried.

After swallowing the pills so that no asari can make him choke on them, he starts to write an email to his sister. The pilot said they will arrive to the Nexus soon and he needs to know where to go and when.

Sis,

I’m almost at the Nexus. Can’t wait to see you, the crew and the ship.

I vaguely remember how the Nexus looks like from the brochures they gave us before the departure, but could you tell me where we are supposed to meet? I don’t wanna get lost on my first day.

Scott

Her answer arrives ten minutes later and it’s disappointingly short.

Scott,

I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to meet with you. Tann and the others will keep me here for at least two more hours. I asked a squadmate to accompany you to the Tempest – you will love him, I’m sure! I told him to meet you near the Cultural Exchange Center, just outside the Docks.

His first reaction is a childish pout, which slowly turns into a thoughtful expression followed by a resigned, intrigued hum.

Even though his sister is too busy to finally introduce him to her ship and crew, he’ll be able to meet one of her friends. That’s already something.

It sounds like it’s a man. He read about the human Pathfinder’s crew, those days when his body refused to cooperate and he felt lonely and estranged like never before, looking for a way to belong to her new world and experiences, even if from afar.

After he woke up, his sister was able to visit him only twice due to her many duties, which the several, groundbreaking discoveries she made only increased.

The first time, she came after being informed of his awakening and they talked about Dad and Mom. They forgot to discuss her feats, her squad, her experiences, so he doesn’t know much about the people who protected and helped her all this time.

The second time, she came to show him Dad’s biggest secret, the reason he wanted to come to Andromeda in the first place: Mom’s pod, where she sleeps waiting for a miraculous cure.

(He often went to her and talked to her through the pod, when the loneliness and that sense of uselessness got too overwhelming.)

He only has some random information about his sister’s friends and he can’t remember them well from the little he could see after being saved from the Archon. He vaguely remembers an angara man, tall and looming, walking next his sister and a woman with red hair and a bright lipstick, but that’s it.

He’s sure a photo of the crew would be on the extranet… if the extranet existed here. But all the Initiative got so far are just communications and information shared with the established outposts, the angara, and New Tuchanka.

All this stuff is then processed and turned into easy-to-read texts, a sort of continuously-evolving encyclopedia that grows only when the Nexus remembers about it.

Things finally feel more normal at least, but a life without the extranet is not a life worth living, he somberly thinks.

All he can do, then, is trying to imagine who this squadmate will be. Knowing his sister, knowing how much she knows him, he’s fairly sure she chose a reassuring, familiar presence.

He wouldn’t mind someone like Cora Harper or the asari doctor who took care of him. Even Liam Kosta – he heard he is aboard the Tempest - would be a nice way to break the ice.

Another hour passes and he is so busy imagining all the possible outcomes of this encounter, that he barely hears the pilot announce that they have arrived at the Nexus and are currently landing.

Clutching his duffel bag, Scott gets up from his seat and presses his face onto one of the windows, admiring the white, clean station, the multitude of different people walking around, the trees and plants visible even from here that the scientists were able to cultivate.

Then he sees it: the Tempest, docked just a few meters away on a separated landing platform, shiny and perfect, bringer of new adventures and beginnings.

His heart beats fast in his chest, tinting his cheeks, and a huge smile splits his face in half.

The shuttle softly lands and he follows the other travelers outside, making his way to a scanner which both analyzes them and starts a process of decontamination to ensure no virus, bacteria, and illness can enter the station.

He’s fairly sure his body is cleaner than a turian ship, after all the antibiotics and vitamins Harry forced him to take, but he can’t help but feel a little anxious as the light of the scanner moves up and down, examining every inch of his skin and organism.

When the machine finally beeps affirmatively and the door opens, Scott lets out a tiny, relieved sigh and walks down the long corridor, his steps light, his heart even lighter.

… His steps actually falter a little when he takes in the enormity of the station and the number of people in it.

He sees angara too, some looking as dumbfounded as him, others more comfortable and relaxed.

There is a woman, with those who look like bodyguards, checking something on her blue omnitool – it’s not exactly an omnitool, but Scott doesn’t know how to call it – and talking enthusiastically about what she saw on the station; her bodyguards nod, offer their own opinions, and then they sense Scott’s eyes.

They turn to him at the same time, their helmets hiding their faces from him, but he can see how suddenly tense they are. Not much, but they definitely aren’t as relaxed as before.

Their armors are strange and more colorful than he expected, just like the clothes of the angara on the Hyperion. One of them has a small gun attached to his hip; it’s folded, but the shape is new and unfamiliar even from here.

The woman’s omnitool is particularly interesting too and he notices how the three of them have a weird, blue screen attached to their left arms, with bright, blue characters he cannot read.

“What do you want, human?” one of the guards asks, without malice or anger, just genuine interest. The woman smiles at him, nodding, and Scott realizes how her eyes are similar to those of the angara in the Hyperion, two galaxies swimming in a dark, soothing cosmos.

“I…” He can’t help but look down at their legs; they remind him of the turians’ or quarians’, but their toes couldn’t be more different. Again, he stares at the flaps framing the woman’s face and her smile grows, while his cheeks get redder and the second guard snorts.

“What, you never saw an angara before? I’d say our species had more than enough time to get used to each other.”

“Hush.” the woman chides him, waving a hand. “He probably just got out of cryo. Isn’t that right, young man?”

“Kind of.” he babbles, then hurries to add: “My lady.” Really, if someone is accompanied by two bodyguards, that can only mean they are important. What if he is standing in the presence of some angaran princess?

The three angara laugh and Scott suddenly misses the Cryo Bay a lot. He clutches the strap of his duffel bag tightly, mortified, but the angaran woman seems to notice how embarrassed he is and she comes to his help.

“I’m not the Moshae, young man.” she says with a kind smile, while her guards keep snickering and shaking their heads. “May I suggest you to visit the Cultural Center your Initiative opened here? It’s been quite useful to us angara too.”

“I read that humans like iced cream.” the first guard says, sounding interested. “And that you snap your fingers when you get a good idea.”

“Uh…” Scott refrains from telling him that he usually lets out a loud “yes” and smacks his hand on the desk when that happens.

He clears his throat and goes for the easiest answer, even cracking a smile: “It’s true, all humans love ice cream.” He thinks he should let them share more about their culture too, so he asks, trying not to sound too curious: “What do you like to eat?”

The angara seem confused and surprised by that question. They share a look, then the second guard replies, as if he was talking to a child: “It depends. Not everyone likes eating the same things as the others. Isn’t that the same for humans too?”

Oh. They took him literally, as he read angara often do.

“Yes!” he hurries to say, hoping he isn’t being too confusing and making a mess. “It’s true, we don’t share all the same tastes, of course!”

“But,” the first guard says, very slowly, thinking about it hard, “you just said that all humans love ice cream. Is ice cream the only exception?”

“I… No! I mean… I didn’t mean all humans, just…” A tiny whimper builds in his throat and he starts to panic. How did his sister manage to build an alliance with such literal people?

“You said all. Why use a word that doesn’t correspond to what you intend to say?”

Scott is on the verge of tears. He usually isn’t so emotional and years spent on the Arcturus Station built his character and personality, but right now, surrounded by these new aliens, after a heavy, painful trauma and more than a year of stress weighing down his shoulders, far from home and familiarity, he feels like a lost child.

He tries to explain himself, to help the angara understand him, but the words all come out minced or wrong and he freezes when the two guards laugh again.

“Stars, it’s always so easy.” one of them says, shaking his head.

“Doesn’t help that this one probably only ever read about us.” the other agrees, laughing harder, until the angaran woman sighs and harshly tells them to stop.

“Enough! You are mortifying him!”

She turns to Scott with an apologizing look on her face; she clasps her hands and says softly, almost motherly: “Forgive them. They didn’t mean to offend you, they just like to joke and play with the more… naïve humans.”

“It’s alright.” Scott murmurs, choked up, and her smile turns softer as she adds: “We know the Initiative species consider us to be quite literal and we are, just not as much as you believe.”

“Yeah, we can tell jokes and be ironic too.” one of the guards says, a bit tartly, but then he pauses and babbles: “Wait, are you crying?”

“No.” Scott sniffles, stepping back. “I… I should go. Thanks for your time.”

He flees, ignoring the guards when they call out for him. He sees the door of the Cultural Center up ahead, far enough from the three angara to regain his composure and meet with his sister’s squadmate, pretending nothing ever happened.

He isn’t supposed to react like this to such a silly, innocent joke, but it seems his mind didn’t recover as well as his body.

He wonders, scared shitless, if his forced interface with the Remnant technology messed up his brain and the chemicals in his body more than the doctors and SAM thought.

Sniffling and rubbing his eyes with a sleeve, he enters the Cultural Center, avoiding the small crowd of Milky Way aliens near the immigration gates. It seems people are still looking for their relatives, friends, and lovers or for a place to stay.

He groans as soon as he enters the room: there are some salarians and turians, but most of the visitors are angara, curious and honest like the three he met outside. They are asking many questions to the director of the Center and those aliens who are more than happy to help them; some are listening to the audiologs and VI, others are downloading data and information on their weird omnitools.

Almost every one of them is wearing a colorful scarf or a short mantle around their neck and shoulders; just one, a tall, broader angara with purple skin, wears a longer version, almost like a cape or poncho.

Scott looks around, confused: nobody here looks like they are waiting for someone, for him. Everyone is busy, everyone is focused on their own business and interests, and they don’t look like travelers or people working on an exploration ship. He sees no humans.

The tall angara with the poncho is turned away from the door, talking softly with someone over his omnitool; Scott cannot hear all the words, but the tone is unmistakable and he moves away, not wanting to eavesdrop on a private, sentimental conversation.

“Don’t worry, taoshay, it will be alright.” he hears the angara say and his voice is so full of love and adoration that he can’t help but feel embarrassed. He only ever heard such sweet tones being used in vids, not in real life. Dad, despite loving Mom a ton, was never that affectionate with her… at least not in public.

‘Are all angara so free and open with their emotions and personal feelings?’ he thinks, shaking his head with a frown as he walks up the stairs, hoping the squadmate is waiting for him on the upper level.

He is not and Scott feels a pang of frustration and tiredness. He huffs, ignoring the concerned look of the asari who takes care of things here, and he walks back to the lower entrance, the strap of his duffel bag chaffing painfully his neck.

Around him, thrilled and curious angara ask questions, such as “Don’t the salarians ever wish to sleep and dream more?”, “Do all turians have these reach and flexibility you mentioned?”, “Don’t you ever feel alone with such little families?”.

Before leaving the Cultural Center, a scrap of the previous sentimental conversation reaches his ears and he rolls his eyes, blushing harder and pitying the partner of that guy.

“The stars in the sky shine brighter when you laugh, my love. Please never stop doing that.”

Ugh.

Biting back a disgusted noise in his throat, Scott goes out, his mood reaching the lowest levels imaginable when he sees the three angara from before still standing in the same place where he left them.

Don’t they ever move?

He sits on a bench near the door, hoping the crowd of colonists will shield him from the angara’s looks.

He misses his sister, who always knew how to comfort him and is now one of the most reliable people in the cluster. He misses the strength he saw in her eyes and he knows that she would know what to do if she was in his same situation.

Had their roles been reversed, she would have found a way to save him, not the other way around. Things would have been exactly the same.

He almost sends her a message to ask her where her squadmate is, but in truth he just wants her to come instead. He knows he’s being petulant and childish and as soon as he realizes it, he closes the omnitool, not even daring to contact SAM.

He respects and likes the AI a lot, but his relationship with him isn’t as strong as the one his sister has with him and he doesn’t want to bother them, knowing they are probably still busy with Tann. Even if SAM can share his attention and is perfectly capable of multitasking, it would still feel like he’s bothering him.

With a sigh, Scott rests his chin on his hand, the duffel bag laying at his feet. The excitement and hope he had before are almost all gone now and he feels empty, dry like the desert of Elaaden that he saw in the pictures the Hyperion transmitted everywhere.

He distractedly hears the door of the Cultural Center opens, but doesn’t pay it much mind. He does pay mind, however, to the sound that follows: a startled gasp, so loud he almost has a heart attack.

His head snaps to where the door is, but the sight is blocked by a towering angara, who is staring down at him with huge, wide eyes and a stunned expression on his purple face.

Scott sees the blue poncho fluttering behind his back and sighs. What does this mushy guy want from him?

“Scott Ryder.” the angara says. It’s not a question, but a statement and Scott sighs louder, embarrassment flushing his cheeks red again.

“You saw me in one of those vids going around, didn’t you?” he mumbles, looking down at his duffel bag. “Listen, I don’t want to talk about the Archon or Meridian. I remember little,” a huge lie, “and the stuff I remember is very unpleasant.” Totally true.

“Scott Ryder!” the angara laughs, a booming sound that echoes in the plaza and makes everyone look at them. The human is about to snap, when two large arms lift him from the ground and he is crushed against a strong, weird chest.

“Oof.”

“Scott! I’m so happy to finally meet you like this!” the angara shouts in his ear. He even sways him a little in his arms before letting him touch the ground again and freeing him from the bone-crushing hug. There is a sheepish expression on his alien face as he says: “Oh, forgive me! Did I hurt you? I know you just recovered.”

“I’m… I’m fine.” He feels like dying. Everyone is looking at them, everyone is staring, everyone is whispering, and Scott just wants to hide in the Tempest and stay there forever, safe among the stars.

He glares at the obnoxious angara, but the guy just beams at him; he looks happy like a puppy and his smile is blinding.

“Who… who are you anyway?” Scott finally asks, feeling how his hairs are all standing up due to the static caused by the alien’s electromagnetism.

“Of course, I forgot to introduce myself! I am Jaal Ama Darav, member of the Tempest crew and the angaran Resistance.”

Scott’s mouth hangs open as he stares at the angara with what he is sure is the goofiest face in the universe.

Now that he thinks about it, this guy is the angara he caught a glimpse of while leaving Meridian.

So his sister sent him to accompany him to the Tempest?

“Oh, my… my sister told me there was someone waiting for me, but I didn’t expect you to be… uh…”

“Fascinating? Handsome?” Jaal proudly puts his hands on his hips, swelling his chest a little, but Scott can see through his façade. He can recognize when someone is trying to fake confidence to feel confident, because he and his sister do it all the time.

He clears his throat and admits before he can stop himself: “An alien. I was expecting a human, actually.”

He realizes how offensive and rude those words can sound only too late, but Jaal doesn’t seem bothered by them.

He laughs again, the sound coming straight from his belly and leaving his mouth like a roar. He even tilts his head backwards a little and Scott’s urge to fly into space and die here is getting stronger by the minute.

“Now, why would you expect that?” Jaal says, patting his shoulder. “Alien or human, I’d still be a trusted member of your sister’s crew.”

Scott’s annoyance and mad mood deflate at that and he sighs, letting his sudden anger at the world slowly melt like an ice cube under the sun.

He smiles at Jaal – a polite, but sincerely warm smile – and extends his hand to shake his, hoping angara shake hands too.

“You are right. Forgive me for my rudeness, Jaal Ama Darav. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Jaal looks down at his hand and cold sweat starts running down Scott’s back.

So, angara do not shake hands apparently.

He doesn’t know what to do: pulling back the hand would make him look like a fool, but it’s not like he’s making the best impression this way either. He is stuck frozen in that position, torn between pretending this isn’t happening and giving into his darkest mood, or wait for Jaal to do something.

He prays the angara is sympathetic enough to take pity on him.

Fortunately, Jaal has a kind heart, although he laughs way too much. Because after laughing again, he grabs Scott’s wrist and raises his arm. Then he taps against it with his own, fist closed.

“Your sister tried to do the same thing when we first met.” Jaal says and Scott is pretty sure he hears the same adoration in his voice he heard before, when he accidentally listened to his private conversation.

What is with this guy and emotions?

“So I assume this is the angaran equivalent of shaking hands?” he chuckles and Jaal nods with a huge grin, before glancing down at his duffel bag.

“Are those your belongings?” he asks and Scott makes an affirmative sound, picking up the bag.

“Yes, there should be everything I need.”

“Good. Let’s go to the Tempest, then. I will show you around and introduce you to the others while we wait for my Darling One.”

The excitement grows back into Scott’s tired, scared heart and his eyes shine with anticipation as he looks at the glorious ship visible from the plaza.

“Oh, great! I was looking forward to…”

Wait.

“… Darling One?” He looks up at Jaal as they walk towards the Docking Bay, a terrible doubt making its way through his mind and heart. “Who are you talking about, exactly?”

Please, tell me it’s not my sister.

“Your sister, of course!”

God, why do you hate me so much?

“My sister.” Scott stops on his tracks for the third time that day; Jaal looks confused and stops as well, frowning worriedly at him.

“Are you alright, Scott?”

Scott observes him. He actually studies him now, more than he studied the other angara he met: his flat nose, his thin lips, his huge, enormous eyes, those weird flaps near his face, his too-short arms, the three piercings above his left eye.

Then he evaluates his behavior and personality, the little he could see until now anyway: his boisterous ways and laughter, his exaggerated familiarity, his fake confidence, his honesty that he read is typical of all angara (and he found out is actually like that).

He feels like Dad.

“When you say ‘Darling One’,” he starts, talking slowly, “what do you mean?”

Jaal doesn’t miss a beat and replies immediately: “My taoshay.”

Scott’s left eye twitches. “And when you say ‘taoshay’, what do you mean?”

Jaal’s smile is so full of love, it’s a wonder a chorus of angels isn’t singing in the artificial sky of the station right now.

“My life. My stars and breath, the blood that keeps me alive, my very heart, my beloved.” He hums, scratching his chin. “She said one of the terms humans use is ‘girlfriend’, but she agreed that Darling One is way sweeter, so we use that one and many others.”

Scott makes a choked sound and looks away, a hand on his mouth to avoid laughing and crying at the same time. He’s pretty sure he’s having another heart attack.

“Scott?” Jaal sounds terribly worried. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Oh, yes, yes, of course.” he replies, his voice strained, barely recognizable. He tries to smile, but the sight must be horrifying, because Jaal takes a small step back, suddenly scared.

“You… do not look alright.”

“I’m just…” He makes a frustrated sound, passing a hand over his face and sighing. This huge alien who looks like a chubby, purple potato, this loud man who is part of the newest alien species just discovered in Heleus, this angara who expresses himself so freely and openly just like the rest of his species, is his sister’s boyfriend.

Her first boyfriend, since her nerd ass never found someone intelligent enough to understand how special she is.

At least, that means this weird guy is clever.

“How long… you two… you know…” Scott makes vague gestures, not even knowing how to formulate the question. Thankfully, Jaal understands what he’s trying to say and beams at him again.

“Oh, our first year is approaching! We’ve been together almost since the start of this epic journey.”

His smile turns conspiratorial and he adds, lowering his voice while leaning in: “Actually, our anniversary is… how do you humans say it? Just around the angle? Anyway, I was hoping you would help me with some gifts for her. It’s an important event for angara too, you know?”

Scott makes that choked sound again and hides his face behind a hand, torn between laughter and tears. Maybe he will go for both, if his heart doesn’t decide to kill him first.

“Are you sure you are fine?” Jaal insists and when he looks at him again, Scott sees he’s fidgeting, nervous like a child.

“To be honest, I was hoping you’d be happier about this.” he admits, hurt and worry and panic swirling in his galaxy-like eyes like a storm. “We met before. Chloe and I visited you while you were still in your coma.”

Oh.

Jaal’s smile could light up the entire station. “She was so happy that day. She really wanted us to meet, so she brought me to the Cryo Bay in the Hyperion and we talked with you the whole time, even though you couldn’t hear us.”

Jaal starts fidgeting again and Scott is suddenly happy he can read his emotions so well: he’s like an open book and right now he can see how embarrassed and mortified he is.

“And I wished, hoped, that you would accept our relationship. But you look… upset?”

Scott feels terrible, as if he just kicked a puppy.

“I…” He sighs and decides to be honest, because Jaal is being honest, he always is.

“I’m not upset, Jaal, I’m just… surprised. And shocked and confused. So much is going on, I missed so much stuff, and I don’t know where to look and what to do. This day has been so long already and I still have to recover from the events of Meridian.”

Jaal nods and there is pure understanding on his face. For that, Scott is grateful.

“I’m happy for you and my sister. If she’s happy, then…” An Alec-like part of him takes control of his tongue and he shoots the angara a pointed look, asking quickly: “She is happy, right? You are making her happy, aren’t you?”

Horror appears on Jaal’s face, as if the mere idea is preposterous.

“Of course I am!” A different kind of fear appears in his eyes and he turns back into an insecure, fidgeting teenager. “I… I hope?”

Two insecure men, a human and an angara, standing in front of each other, discussing the relationship one has with the sister of the other. It sounds like one of those cheap vids Mom secretly loved so much.

“Well.” Scott takes a deep breath and thinks Dad would do this too. “I’ll ask her myself then.”

“Yes, please do!” Jaal grasps his shoulders and the human realizes he has just planted the seed of doubt into his mind. He looks terrified. “I often wanted to ask her if she was happy with me, but I never found the courage!”

“Don’t worry.” Scott pats his arm and smiles awkwardly at him. “You… you look like a great guy. I’m sure she is happy.”

Jaal beams at him again before pulling him into another bone-crushing hug.

“Scott Ryder! You truly are one of the best men in the galaxy!”

He doesn’t feel like it, but Jaal sounds so convinced and sincere, he almost believes it for a second.

“Come!” the angara excitedly tells him, pushing him ahead. “I’ll introduce you to the rest of the squad!”

That makes him feel better: it will be a good way to avoid thinking about Chloe’s engagement with this puzzling man, to reorder his thoughts, rest his mind and stop being an asshole.

The kind, mild part of him is actually ashamed of the way he treated Jaal, but tiredness and shock are making him petty and lazy and he knows he will stop being an ass only after a good night of sleep and some deep considerations about what the future holds for him and his sister.

As soon as he enters the Tempest, Scott’s heart and mind are already more at peace and even though Jaal talked a lot along the way, his mood didn’t suffer from it and he is still able to be civil.

“Everyone!” Jaal roars, his voice nearly making the ship tremble. “This is Scott Ryder!”

Two heads peek out from behind two different chairs: Scott recognizes the human woman with reddish hair and the bright lipstick, then he sees the salarian sitting at the other side. They smile at him and he waves at them both, smiling back.

“Oh, Scott! It’s so nice to see you standing!” the woman exclaims, getting up and approaching him, followed by the salarian. She shakes his hand, clasping her other one over his. “Suvi Anwar, science officer. Nice to meet you!”

“The pleasure is mine, Suvi.”

Scott shakes hands with the salarian too, his smile getting bigger. One of his best friends in middle school was a salarian.

“So happy to finally meet you. I’m Kallo Jath, pilot of the Tempest.”

“Wow, you make this beauty fly?”

“I also designed it with my team.” Kallo proudly says, his smile content like a child’s.

Someone else enters the room, more than one person actually: a tall turian, a krogan, two asari, Cora Harper, and another human. Scott’s eyes automatically move to the two aliens and his heart flutters with joy: once again, he feels like he’s back in the Milky Way, where no kett exist, where only safe Prothean technology can be found.

“You’re pretty strong for being a squishy human, kid.” the krogan laughs, patting his shoulder with less force than Scott expected. “I’m Drack, by the way. Your sister is one hell of a girl.”

“I know.” Scott agrees, his smile proud. He blushes a little when the turian comes near. She is much taller than him and her eyes are attentive, but kind as she looks at him from behind her visor.

“Vetra Nyx.” she says, mandibles fluttering amicably, and she extends her hand, which Scott shakes immediately. “It’s so great to finally meet you in normal circumstances. We’ve heard a lot about you.”

“All good things, I hope.” he chuckles and Vetra nods, chuckling as well.

“Oh yeah, don’t worry. Also, if you need anything, just ask me. I can find basically everything, as long as it is in this cluster.”

“Well, I need a new handkerchief because I’m drooling here.” a voice exclaims and a young asari walks over to him, staring at him without hiding her interest. Scott’s blush gets ten times worse.

“Aren’t you the cutest human in Andromeda? Pretty strong, too! Having your way with Remnant tech must have been painful.”

“Ah…” He clears his throat, not knowing where to look. “Yes, it was.”

“I’m Peebee!” the asari cheerfully says, taking his hand, shaking it and holding it longer than necessary. “Pleasure to meet you, Scotty!”

“Ask where her name comes from.” the human who came with Cora chuckles. Peebee glares at him, but the man ignores her to introduce himself to Scott with a smirk and a polite nod of his head, which Scott returns. “I’m Gil Brodie, chief engineer. This bubbly asari you just talked to pretends to be our Remnant expert.”

“Pretends?” is Peebee’s outraged answer, but she is cut off by Cora and the other asari, who Scott recognizes as the doctor who took care of him on Meridian.

“Hello, Scott. I’m Lexi.” the doctor says, giving him a quick, but warm hug. “It’s good to see you like this.”

“Nice to see you again, Lexi.” He pats her back before she pulls away, then he smiles at Cora, who nods and smiles back. “Cora! Took me awhile, but we’re finally working together at last.”

“Ryder said you were a sleepyhead.” she chuckles, folding her arms. Right then, the door opens again and a shirtless Liam Kosta scrambles into the room.

“Sorry! Sorry, I overslept!”

His eyes fall on Scott and he gasps, mouth forming a ‘o’.

“Scott Ryder!” he shouts, his smile almost as big as Jaal’s. He opens wide his arms and pulls him into a tight hug, rubbing his back. “Man, I’m so happy to have you here! It’s gonna be fun, you’ll see!”

Scott met Liam before, even if just one time, a few hours before going into cryo. He was a cheerful man even back then, but he sounds and looks way more relaxed now. He wonders if Jaal’s influence has anything to do with that.

He then remembers about Jaal’s presence right behind his back. The angara never moved from there, most likely watching the exchange of hugs and pleasantries with a large smile on his face.

“Brother,” he tells him, resting a hand on his shoulder, and that sudden familiarity shocks Scott again, “you should visit the ship and put away your belongings. Don’t worry, I heard the crew quarters are quite comfortable.”

“Bullshit. Those shitty bunkbeds make my poor bones hurt.” Drack grumbles and Liam adds, a smartass grin on his sleepy face: “How would you know anyway, Jaal? First you slept in the tech lab, then you moved into Ryder’s quarters!”

Scott doesn’t even want to think about the implication of that. He refuses.

“That’s why I said ‘heard’.” Jaal replies, his deep voice deeper than usual, his smirk as smug as Liam’s.

Scott’s frown is so massive the lines on his forehead are going to be etched into his skin for eternity.

“Speaking of Ryder,” Vetra says with a turian smile, nodding at the airlock, “look who’s back home.”

Home. This is home now, that’s right. It will take him a while to get used to that.

But Scott doesn’t have time to think about that, because he’s finally going to see his sister again, this time not in an infirmary or while their brains are getting fried, but in normal, decent circumstances, like Vetra pointed out.

Chloe enters the room, hair tied in the usual ponytail, a big smile on her face, cheeks flushed red, blue eyes filled with cheerfulness. He remembers the meals they ate together, listening to Commander Shepard’s feats or watching cartoons; he remembers the afternoons spent playing in the streets of the Citadel, the bullies they defended each other from, the tears they shed for Mom, the ones they shed for Dad.

“Sis…!” he starts, but Jaal is faster than he is and he precedes him, laughing loudly and welcoming Chloe into his large arms.

“Darling One!”

“Hi, honey!” she laughs, hugging him tightly as he spins her around. The crew behind Scott giggles, snorts, or simply looks at the scene with amused smiles, but he stands there motionless, the same cold sensation of uselessness he is so used to by now coming back into his heart.

He can see how happy his sister is – happier than he ever saw her and in love, just like Mom wished them to be -, and he is happy for her, but he also feels lonely, as if he is still in the Cryo Bay, rotting on that white bed.

She found her new home, her new beginning, and he feels like he isn’t part of it. Jaal and the others have taken his place and he wonders how he will get used to all this loud noise, after spending so much time surrounded by the low beeps and soft sounds of the Cryo Bay.

His sister and Jaal’s laughter continues to resonate in the bridge and he waits, trying to hide his pain, just like he did during all those long months spent in bed.

I read many fics where Ryder is the one who breaks down a lot, but then I thought that the sibling - in this case Scott - goes through a shitton of painful stuff too: first they are in a coma, then they wake up, knowing/hearing about their father's death, and cannot help their twin make things better. Then they are caught by a dangerous alien who tortures them and causes them to go back to the infirmary, their brain scarred (no, really, it's confirmed in the game ;_; ), their psyche undoubtedly hurt as well.

Ryder has their crew and LI to keep them strong, the sibling has... just Ryder (and the hope that their mother will get better someday). And they didn't even go through the same experiences and journeys, this time, so they had a very different growth.

So I thought: how would my Ryder's brother react to all this? Surely it must not be easy to go back to the party, knowing you missed most of it, and learn that your sister is slowly, but steadily building her life - even future life - with her lover/new friends/new family. The trauma, stress, and pain would also make him more emotional than usual and give him little patience for the angara's behavior, a species that the sibling canonically still hasn't met and interacted with.

And seeing your sister kiss one of these aliens, a loud man who keeps calling you "brother" and laughing in your ear, must be quite unnerving for someone who went through so much shit ;_; So yeah, this is basically a long, angsty/fluffy version of the "how the sibling would react when meeting Ryder's LI" trope. Don't worry, I only write happy endings :'D

[lcommedostore]

12 ways in which to inform That Your Dog Is Depressed Written by Matt in Dogs

It might not happen nightlong. you'll presumably understand it slow when the symptoms started occurring and this might be days, weeks, or perhaps months when the issues began to manifest within the ways in which I’ve elaborated below. There ar similarities during this relevancy the outgoing signs that we have a tendency to show once we’ve been littered with one thing, that’s typically out of our management.

There are literally solely 2 things that we have a tendency to homeowners got to do once it involves dogs and depression. Firstly, establish the amendment of temperament and build the association with depression. Secondly, do one thing concerning it. It’s truly the previous purpose that may take the time and is really the foremost vital half as once we have a tendency to perceive what’s occurring we will go on and check out and fix the matter.

Further problems, each mental and health-related, will arise once period of time hasn’t been noticed . that is why i'm hoping this post can facilitate. it'll assist you in distinguishing the additional obvious noticeable behaviors that dogs exhibit once they ar depressed. Once you’ve noticed  them, it’s up to you to mend it!

1) They Walk With Their Head Down Similar to however we have a tendency to walk once one thing is consideration U.S.A. down, your dog might walk around together with his head facing down and an apparent disposition to seem up and around. there'll presumably be different symptoms on show in addition as this.

2) Your Dog Doesn’t wish to Play Probably one among the most important symptoms that produces U.S.A. unhappy is once they not wish to play the games they wont to. You grab a ball, show it to them and throw it however they couldn’t look less interested. rather than a tail wagging as presently as you get about to them, they barely raise their head and appearance like they need to be left alone.

Sad geographical area If you manage to induce them outside for exercise, which can be terribly troublesome – they won’t show any enthusiasm for it and as laborious as you may try and get them inquisitive about enjoying, they very don’t care. This behavior will manifest in numerous level of severity – as an example, they could at the start wag their tail however when a number of seconds it'll stop. It’s as if they concisely forget however unhappy they're, only for a number of seconds.

3) they only Look unhappy The manner a dog holds itself once it's depressed is simply completely different from however it'll seem commonly. Its movements are slower and if you look at their eyes you won’t see that recent sparkle that you simply wont to love.

Sad Dog This won’t be the sole sign of depression they'll show and can typically be associated with a scarcity of energy and need to play conjointly.

4) Lack of appetence and Loss of Weight An obvious one this however the issue most dogs have in common is that they'll eat something that’s place ahead of them, despite however hungry they are! therefore, for a dog to refuse food or not show any interest in food is uncommon. they could approach it, that is additional habit than anything however as presently as they smell it you'll see them gyrate slowly and go forth.

Sad Dog This is a crucial purpose and a vicinity which might impact the health od the dog quickly. {you must|you want to|you got to} guarantee they're obtaining enough fluids and if you think they're not or if they need not eaten  for one or two of days then you actually need to see facilitate from knowledgeable. ne'er simply assume they'll be fine within the morning and if you’re upset then decision the vet.

5) additional Tired Than Usual If you notice that your dog is additional tired than usual then this could be a symptom that one thing isn’t quite right. this could not happen nightlong and you may suddenly understand that they're not as energetic as they were a number of weeks (or even months) past.

Sad Dog You need to watch out here and don’t simply assume that the explanation they're tired is attributable to depression. There can be several reasons why they're asleep and it’s one thing that shouldn’t be neglected because it may purpose to different health problems.

6) concealment Away Dogs typically prefer to be within the same space as their owner. Okay, {they ar|they're}n’t continually on our laps however they prefer to grasp wherever we have a tendency to ar the maximum amount as we have a tendency to prefer to grasp wherever they are. that makes it odd after we can’t realize them. when trying around you'll notice them within the corner of an area or concealment below a table or one thing else. this can be not traditional behavior for a dog and will not be neglected. Actually, none of those points ought to be neglected, of course.

Sad Dog They may not wish to come back out and though it’s tempting to do and move them, caution is suggested as they'll simply not wish to and will probably become aggressive (see purpose 8). This behavior is additional common with cats however it's been seen with dogs that have anxiety or depression-related issues.

7) Licking or change of state Paws You may notice your dog licking or change of state its paws, or as an alternative scratching for no apparent reason. significantly with the licking, {this will|this will|this could|this may} become nearly psychoneurotic and their paws can become quite raw attributable to this. usually this can be related to separation anxiety and depression. Don’t ignore this behavior because it might not simply be associated with depression however different health problems.

8) Aggression This is wherever we want to watch out and particularly once kids ar concerned. If a dog is feeling unwell (either physically or mentally) then it will show signs of aggression. Even your usually placid very little harmless dog will become vicious once unwell. particularly if angry. It’s straightforward for U.S.A. after we see our dog lazing around to perhaps attempt to coax it outside

Angry dachsie 9) Howling or creating uncommon Noises This may be completely out of character to your dog however if in pain or depressed you'll hear them creating some strange noises. this might happen at ANy time of day or night and seems to be an nearly involuntary reaction to however they're feeling.

10) planning to the bathroom within This may be associated with the very fact that they don’t feel they need the energy to really go outside, they don’t care concerning wherever they're going or they merely don’t grasp they're doing it. Your dog mustn't be fined for this as you'll realize that this solely pushes them more into depression. This behavior is presumably (but not always) an indication of the underlying downside and can presumably escape once they're higher.

There ar different reasons why your dog might not be ready to management its bladder or internal organ movements tho'. Don’t try with this and speak to your vet if it persists.

11) damaging temperament A positive sign of separation anxiety may be a damaging temperament. I even have {a couple|a few|one or 2|a handful|some} of friends World Health Organization have two terrific Siberian Huskies. These guys ar absolutely the best homeowners you may imaging and provides these Huskies specifically what they have – exercise, and a great deal of it. However, {one day|at thereforeme point|in the future|someday|sooner or later|in some unspecified time within the future} that they had to travel out for one or two of hours while not the dogs so naturally thought it'd be okay to go away them in the conservatory for one or two of hours.

On their come, the primary issue they noticed  was all the windows had condensation on them, that was a touch odd. once they got within they found that every one their beautiful plants within the conservatory had been completed obliterate. it had been the wet from these ex-plants that had created the condensation!

My purpose is, though the quantity of your time {you will|you'll|you'll be able to} leave a dog alone can vary from breed-to-breed and conjointly dog-to-dog, none of them get pleasure from being alone for extended periods of your time. Some dogs, even when simply half-hour alone will begin to indicate signs of separation anxiety which regularly ends up in a damaging temperament. this could mean something inside biting point your home is also chewed and dribbled over by the time you retreat to.

Some folks have found that crating your dog will very facilitate with this therefore if you’re considering this then do take a glance at my article here. There ar several you would like to avoid and inside that post (on my site) I’ll show you which of them ones I counseled.

12) Ignoring You and directions It’s nearly a stubborn behavior however shouldn’t be confused with this, which might occur in dogs that ar absolutely healthy. Your directions for them to take a seat, Stay, Walkies, etc. can fall on deaf ears. whether or not they will truly hear and method what you’re oral communication and like better to simply ignore it or whether or not your directions ar being processed properly by their brain, who knows. Either way, it are often a symptom of depression once they like better to ignore your orders. this may presumably be in the middle of different symptoms, particularly being tired.

Why do dogs get depressed? There ar 3 main reasons why dogs get depressed, therefore let’s take a glance at these now:

Being Left Alone This is the purpose that the majority homeowners got to target as it’s usually the explanation why dogs begin to indicate signs of depression. the easy truth is that a dog mustn't be left alone all day. Dogs ar sociable animals and want attention from U.S.A. (or probably another dog) to stay it healthy. while not this, and it doesn’t continually take long, a dog will quickly show signs of separation anxiety which might lead quite quickly into a damaging temperament and different health issues.

Dog looking of window Don’t leave your dog alone for long periods of your time. If you recognize you’re not planning to be around for many hours, attempt to get somebody to seem when them (that they like!).

Lack of Attention / Bored Sometimes things take over in our lives and our concentration is amused onto different things. this can be solely natural and happens to all or any folks. However, if you not listen to your dog and you don’t play with it or pay time with it and don’t exercise it – then this can be solely planning to go into one direction.

Remember that your dog is a component of your family and desires to be treated per se. They solely get one life and it’s a great deal shorter than ours, provide them the most effective life you'll be able to.

Abuse Horrible to consider, I know, however if a dog is abused in its formative years then it will cause issues in its later life. perhaps it visited a rescue home and you saved it. the great issue is there ar stuff you will do concerning it – you would like to own patience tho'. If a dog has been abused it will take a awfully very long time for it to

What are you able to do concerning depression? Fortunately, all isn't lost. The overwhelming majority of times, depression in dogs is passing as a result of their homeowners understand what’s occurring, establish the foundation cause and fix it. It doesn’t got to be permanent.

The first issue to try to to is get them confirmed by knowledgeable, your vet, and make certain they're healthy and there aren’t the other underlying problems.

If they're, then your job is comparatively simple. you would like to pay time with them. the maximum amount time as you'll be able to. Sit with them, be happy and check out and acquire them out of the house a minimum of doubly every day for a few recent air and a few exercise.

Two dogs exploring through fence Don’t leave them alone. If you actually wish to mend these issues you’ll pay the maximum amount time with them as you'll be able to. simply lying along with your dog, creating physical contact can facilitate, you only got to provides it time.

In extreme cases and presumptuous the higher than isn’t providing you with the results you would like (which is very unlikely) then your vet is also ready to dictate medication. It doesn’t typically return to the present however it’s price discussing along with your vet if you’re out of concepts.

Summary This was a troublesome article to jot down. I hate the thought of any animal in distress and significantly man’s succor. As common as depression in dogs (and different animals) is, it's consolatory to grasp that it's typically solely temporary and it's repairable.

Happy Dog However, it's up to the owner to try to to this. If you acknowledge these symptoms in your dog, and that i hope you don’t – then you recognize what to try to to