#also i really miss moses

[montanabohemian]

finally got caught up on s4 of miss scarlet and the duke a couple weeks ago so prepare for spam because my hyperfixation has returned bahahaha

[cupophrogs]

1. Dog day…why did you say when you saw your husbands picture “ he’s alive????” Did you think he was dead.

"The passage of time is worthless when you there's nothing you can count on, except pain. So I always assumed my past life, and everything in it, was already gone. Hope is a very fickle thing, down here."

(Based on this song)

[tinkerbellaglowstone]

I am so SICK of people mischaracterizing Ted

I always see people defend Ellen or Gorrister or really any of them. (Please understand I, myself, also constantly defend Ellen) but never do I see Ted. I even see some people comparing him to Jimmy? That’s way too far. It’s always people bashing and writing him off as some asshole who didn’t gaf about anyone

That’s so so wrong.

Ted is literally driven to insanity. Can you imagine constantly being on edge? In a state of panic? Convinced the only people around you are out to get you? It’s gotta be exhausting. 109 years of physical and mental torture. He’s a paranoid and a schizophrenic. He talks about angels singing ‘Go Down Moses’ and bringing Ellen and I think Nimdok back. That did not happen. AM is filling his head with religious imagery to make Ted to see him as some all divine, all powerful God like being. And he is. And it works. Ted sees AM as a masculine deity. I’ve noticed in the book he says Gorrister hits Ellen while only she cries for Benny. While in the radio drama, they are all worried over Benny and Ted actually freaks out and tells them to get back, that it was too late. It’s like he believes they have no control whatsoever. ‘whatever AM gives we just have to take it’ or around the lines of that. 

He’s mental. He cannot help that. So of course you’re a jerk to everyone. I’m sure AM also fills his head with lies about the others as well. I mean why wouldn’t he? He doesn’t want them to work together and thrive, he wants them to break each other and suffer. 

In the radio drama as well, Ted and Ellen have a one on one. After a freak out from seeing whatever he thought he saw and running away for god knows how long (notice how he can’t keep time. I’m sure the others can’t as well but often he says maybe days, months, years) he’s scared and upset. Maybe they were just laughing out of confusion or fear or because it wasn’t them in his shoes but to him that is laughter enjoying his pain, the same way AM later laughs after stabbing him and expressing his hatred. He insults them all but I mean listen to what he says. Benny has been extremely altered. Gorrister has been stripped of personality, Nimdok is a mystery case of disappearances and Ellen sleeps with the others (which personally, and this is my belief, I think she only ever sleeps with Ted to keep his peace of mind. Plus we only hear this from Ted himself, and he’s already insecure saying Benny isn’t gay anymore and he’s got a huge wiener which is also false. I’ve seen some fan theories about this and I actually like them. And also Benny can’t consent to any of that and I’m sure Gorrister misses his wife, I’ve never played the video game sorry if I’m mistaken I just know Gorrister had a wife, But that’s just my interpretation) and overall Ted just seems like a huge dick. No wonder after all his paranoia would he think he’s got the good end of the deal. When in reality, he really really doesn’t. At least everyone understands their situation to an extant, minus Benny, Ted doesn’t. Ted is constantly walking on eggshells. Or he thinks he is. Then after it clicks and he breaks down. And again in the radio drama, in the rat (or was it bat) cave, he tells Benny ‘we don’t do that, we’re not animals, we’re human beings!’ He is desperately trying to hold onto his humanity (which, doesn’t work out clearly as he’s a slug) and somewhat a grip on reality. That he is still human even if this isn’t humane. He’s desperate. He’s alone even when surrounded by people. He’s constantly filled with thoughts and honestly I’d call it grooming (grooming: the practice of preparing or training someone for a particular purpose or activity.) from AM. In the video game AM tells Ted he’s his favorite. At the end of the day hes scared like all of them are. And he can’t keep himself together. He has lost himself completely. Broken down and reshaped. He mentions how AM has made his mind a chalkboard or something like that. He also suffers physically too. In the game, when he stands in his cage with the lazors CLEARLY only aiming for his eyes. He can’t even see that. He still stands there in agony when all he needs to do is duck down. He misses the bigger picture. Ted is so lost, so paranoid so delusional and mental he can barely see it himself. Is he a good guy? No. Is he a bad guy of the story? Absolutely not.

ALSOOO Jimmy killed everyone out of selfishness (yes every single death and event is all his fault I hate him I’m so glad he killed himself). Ted, who was finally given a clear head for once, saved them. It was him or Ellen and he chose to get her out of that hell scape. (Which I like to point how how he said he tried/wanted to bury them, meaning he had at least a small amount of time to kill himself. Which he couldn’t, also a fan theory I’ve seen.) Ted sacrificed himself to help everyone. The complete opposite of what Jimmy did. He is HAPPY he pissed AM off by killing them. Even if AM has won he still knows he has the upper hand. How in the hell in his situation can you think YOU have the advantage? In the radio drama as well, the way he says ‘He altered me’ (or along the lines) I saw a comment saying he sounds violated. Which he has been. I love Ted, I really do. I appreciate his character so much because he’s often so overlooked and just known as the unreliable narrator. He’s unreliable for a reason, not because he’s selfish and wants the story his way, but because that’s how he sees things. (also idk if it’s true it’s this pdf file I found talking about all of them and it talks abt Ted at 19 and like older women. I can’t remember what it says but like, 19? 19 is young, still a boy.)

Yes, I do acknowledge he is a huge dick to everyone. But he’s also in a bad terrible situation. And even if you hate him, I think he definitely makes up for it all at the very end. 

[tradgedyinwaves]

Touch - Ch. 10

READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS!

-This chapter is very heavy, but we’ll get you home, yeah?  -I’ve never written an action scene and action isn’t really my strong suit, so be kind please.  -So many military inconsistencies and just overall incorrect military vocabulary. I’m sorry. 

tw: hostage situation, torture, sensory deprivation, sexual harassment/abuse, battlefield type elements (ie: explosions, gunfire, little bit of murder)

Food was deposited in your cell again and while you were concerned with being poisoned, you were also starving and would be unable to fight back if you didn’t get some calories into your stomach. You ate the packaged items as you stared at the hot pasta, the granola bar turning to dust in your mouth as you grabbed the water and chugged down half of it. 

You didn’t stop counting though. When you reached 190,000, two days had passed since you’d been taken. You restarted at one, using your finger to drag through the grime on the wall and create another tally just above the top of the cot. Your eyes adjusted to the darkness, able to see large shapes. 

Until they opened the door again and blinded you. 

Despite never being able to find him before, Moses’ compound was easy to locate. Well, the one in the UK anyways. Of course, it was a trap and the 141 knew this. It was too obvious. But the issue was in finding where they were keeping you and what the actual trap was. 

Another video dinged on the laptop, immediately garnering everyone’s attention as they huddled around the small screen. 

The lens was dirty, being wiped clean by Moses’ sleeve. As he backed away with a wicked smile and a small knife dangling from his fingers, he revealed you behind him and your current situation. Tied to a chair, cloth in your mouth and tied around your head. That wasn’t what had the team concerned. It was the rivulets of blood that trailed from the clean, shallow cut across the front of your throat. 

“You boys better hurry up. I might decide that I prefer her dead. She does look so pretty covered in her own blood.” Moses came to stand behind you, lifting your head and pulling your hair back from the wound on your neck. “Do you think they’ll come to save you, precious? I think they will. Too bad they won’t make it.” Your eyes opened wide as you found the camera, shaking your head in a panic. In your mind, if you died, they would move on. But you couldn’t bear the thought of a world without them in it. Then the screen cut to black. 

“Fuck, he’s going to kill her just to get under our skin,” Johnny anquishly moaned out, his fingers pulling at the cropped mohawk on his head. Simon’s fingers slid over the other man’s, gripping them tight in his fist and pulling them away from the delicate hair. “We’ll find her and we’ll end this,” Simon grunted, looking down at the sergeant. 

“Alright boys, let’s get our girl back.” 

The slice to your throat stung, burning as your blood now dribbled from the wound as it dried up. You’d expected to be sent back to your cell, but was instead taken to another room. Two women stood in the back, holding garments of clothing and medical supplies as you were shoved into the room and the door locked behind you. 

They were silent as they cleaned you up, getting a bandage on your throat and unzipping your pretty dress just to shove you into a scratchy beige shirt and black cargo pants. Ones that matched every other person you’d seen in this camp. They wanted you to blend in, harder to find that way, you supposed.  

When the door opened again, it was Moses. Leering at you as he came to circle your weak body, hand on his chin with the other on his elbow as he inspected you. “You clean up so nicely, my dear. Though I will miss that pretty dress of yours, made these look oh so delectable,” his words only cut through the static in your head when his hands groped your breasts from behind. Your elbow then met his ribs only for his fist to come down on the back of your neck and force you to your knees.

“Little bitch thinks she can fight,” your captor growled, lifting your chin just to let his fist collide with your temple. Two more hits to the side of the face and you finally crumpled on the ground as he dusted off his pants and made for the door. “Leave her here. She can die with her beloved boys,” he commanded the other women, who scurried behind him as he sneered down at you before slamming and locking the door. 

At least, you could see where you were now as you started counting again.

The sky was dark, not a star in sight as the clouds covered them with their looming grayness. Coming up from the back of the compound, they split into three groups; Price with Johnny, Simon with Kyle, and the third team of specialists to extract Moses. It was quiet and they were silent as they took down the scattered guards. 

With the path cleared, Ghost and Kyle slipped into the darkness where intel told them the cells were. Price and Johnny disappeared into another building that could possibly be holding you, while the third team slipped out into the darkness in search of Moses. 

That’s when the first boom rocked the earth. “Bravo-6, do you copy?” Simon’s hushed whispers filled the silence of the cell they were standing in. “Soap, the hell was that?” Price’s voice cut through the static of their radios. “Detonation. He’s going to blow the compound with us in it.” 

Another boom rocked the ceiling and then the entrance to the cells collapsed with Simon and Kyle inside. Coms were suddenly cut as the building Price and Johnny were in shuddered with another boom. 

You felt it too and were suddenly very much aware that you needed to get up and try to get out. You tried the door, tugging on it but of course, it was locked. You started banging on it when the next boom came and you wondered how many buildings had been taken out already as the one you were in shuddered and a wall blew out next to you. Taking a few deep breaths to calm yourself, you scurried out the hole the explosion created and headed for the stairs, taking two at a time. 

Price and Johnny were working through the levels, clearing the building as smatterings of people ran past them. Innocents. Civilians that Moses had kidnapped to fill the compound. All dressed in scratchy beige and black cargo. In your hurry to get out of the building, you ran smack into Price who grunted, staring down at the apparent civilian that had tried to plow through him. 

“Please don’t hurt me!” You cried, covering your face and cowering on the landing. But the pain never came. Just arms wrapping around you and lifting you to your feet. Fingers and a thumb pinched your chin, lifting your face to meet the man’s eyes you ran into. “They really did a number on you, little bird. Let’s get you home, yeah?” Price’s eyes burned into yours and you couldn’t help the sob that tore from you as you nodded in response. If you’d not literally run into him, you’d have been lost in the sea of civilians trying to find safety.

Getting back to the extraction point had been difficult. An explosion blasted apart a building the three of you were next to and unfortunately for you, you’d been in the path of a rather large piece of wall that knocked you out. When Price, Johnny, and your unconscious body met only Kyle at the extraction point, you were left in the care of Laswell who waited in the helicopter.

Meanwhile, Simon and Kyle were digging themselves out of the cells. The explosions that had followed the one that caved in the entrance had created a small hole big enough for Kyle to get through, but Simon, the massive man he was, wouldn’t fit without making it bigger. So Kyle dug from the outside and Simon from the inside. Finally, when it was big enough, Simon started to haul himself through the hole, only for another explosion to collapse it around him.

God, this is so not the story I'd intended to write, but this is where the muse led me.

Thank you to everyone who keeps supporting this series!

[gwenfr]

Show recommendation

Found

If some of you want to watch a show with a queer character, I just watched the show Found, the second season is still airing and it was renewed for a third.

Synopsis: "Gabrielle "Gabi" Mosely, a public relations specialist and crisis manager, works alongside her team of associates to find missing people who have been overlooked by the system. Her team of experts consists of those who have either been kidnapped themselves or have a loved one that has been kidnapped. A kidnapping victim herself as a teenage girl, Gabi later secretly kidnaps the man who abducted her, Hugh "Sir" Evans, as revenge and keeps him locked up in her basement. Gabi uses Sir's knowledge as a kidnapper and criminal to help her solve cases."

The queer character is one of the main characters but his queerness is not (for now) one of the principal subjects of the show, we just see and hear about his husband and their personal issues.

He's played by Karan Oberoi who played Noah in Roswell new Mexico.

The entire cast is diverse and the cases they help resolve are too.

The main character is played by Shanola Hampton who played Veronica in shameless.

There is also Gabrielle Walsh who played Ana Flores in 911 and of course other well known actors.

If you like procedural drama where it's 1 case/episode but they also talk about their characters' personnal drama and one of them is queer, then I highly recommend it, I really enjoy it 👌🏻

[mal3nko]

Something that I’ve come to notice is how surprisingly observant Vinh is when it comes to Max, specifically on an emotional level.

It’s interesting how, like Safi, Vinh is also able to pick up on the fact that Max has some sort of troubled past that she’s trying to suppress. But I feel like it’s even more impressive on Vinh’s part considering the fact that by comparison, Safi had been far closer to Max than he had been up until this point. I think it’s possible that Vinh is able to recognize a lot of the weariness that Max has been carrying around because he himself can relate to it, while also knowing what it’s like to try and hide it all away. It honestly makes me think back to the way the marketing described him as being “intelligent while also wielding social power”, as I think Vinh is someone who has trained himself to be able to read other people efficiently for his own needs in order to climb the social ladder, while in turn it has also made him a surprisingly emotionally intelligent person.

In contrast, it seems like Amanda has trouble picking up on Max’s hidden trauma, and is only able to view the more surface level stuff such as her grief over Safi’s death.

I think what intrigues me the most however is there scene together in Chapter 3. Max at this point in the game is feeling extremely depressed/insecure after Safi blew up at her, while also still reeling from everything that happened with Alderman. Amanda however isn’t able to detect the severity of Max’s demeanor until much later on in the scene.

It isn’t until Max continues to make self-deprecating comments about herself that Amanda is finally able to realize that something truly bad must have happened.

And this is no shade to Amanda! Not everyone has the ability to quickly pick up on someone’s emotional distress (we can’t all be miss Alex Chen!), and the girlie herself clearly has her own baggage to process considering the fact that she goes to therapy. But I think it’s interesting how Vinh is almost immediately able to notice Max’s dire mental state by comparison.

Something to take note of is that unlike with Amanda, Max actually does open up to Vinh about why she’s feeling so down here. When Amanda asked her what’s wrong, Max just kinda pivoted the conversation into questioning why the former even likes her, and from there she never got the opportunity to actually explain what had actually been bothering her despite it making more sense for her to do so in that timeline (minus the Alderman stuff lol) since Safi is obviously still alive over there. But with Vinh she just lets most of it out, to the point where she even slips up briefly and mentions how Safi is angry at her only to immediately realize her mistake.

And I love that! I love how Max has grown comfortable enough with Vinh in order to start being emotionally vulnerable around him. Up until this point she’s only really shown this type of vulnerability with Dead World Moses, which makes sense given the fact that they were both really close to Safi. This is something I think a lot about when it comes to their relationship post-game and how I think Vinh will be the first person after Safi that Max will open up to about Arcadia Bay/Chloe and all of the trauma surrounding her past.

[c0smoshit]

I wanna live ○°•

⋆ ࣪. ℙ𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 ≫ Solid Snake/fem!reader

⋆ ࣪. ℙ𝕝𝕠𝕥 ≫ Someone pays you a visit after Shadow Moses...

⋆ ࣪. 𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 ≫ smut! vag penetration, fingering, finishing inside (yeah he is infertile) also slightly angsty and fluffy too!!

⋆ ࣪. 𝔸/ℕ ≫ of course my longest fic had to be one about mgs, anyways, I really enjoyed writing this😭

⋆ ࣪. 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥 ≫ 6.278

⋆ ࣪. part I / part II ࣪.⋆

Hour after hour

Day after day

Weeks till months.

Your brain could still make a solid image of his face, the cold breeze of Alaska and, of course, the thrill you felt there.

It all seemed like the perfect dream.

A normal girl like you, surviving the most action movie scenario that could've had happened.

But it did right?

And you surely weren't alone.

His deep voice some days waking you up from another familiar dream, the tender slip of the sun, grazing your skin as you looked down and saw his hand moving along it. You couldn't get your mind off him, not even the last words you had heard of him.

"Maybe it's time I live for someone else"

"Someone else?"

"Yeah"

"Someone like you"

Mind sloppy, your eyelids stayed closed just a few seconds ago, hand reaching out for you to see your watch.

18:00 pm

What did he even mean by that?

You could only wish he felt the same way as you did now, frustrated with whatever was going on after Shadow Moses. It really wasn't fair.

Reaching out you looked at the serene wind moving the leafs of the trees softly, quietly tickling them as you scratched your forearm. You saw a tiny squirrel submerge inside it's homemade hole and it made you felt warm despite the chilly weather of autumn.

Frecuently you thanked the demands your job had to offer.

At first, having to practically hide yourself from humanity wasn't a really attractive option, but without anyone to really care for anymore it was pretty much a welcome invitation to a better lifestyle.

Of course you missed the warmth of people, seeing kids laughing as they played on some parks. But it really wasn't a big deal after all you had been through now.

A sound you really couldn't distinguish, it either was a branch falling right on your door or some wild animal trying to break in. For you, living in the outskirts of a practically unpopulated neighbourhood surrounded by miles and miles of trees it was something pretty normal.

However you soon figured out the rustle of some boots so you guessed you had some unexpected visitor. So, quickly readying your gun and placing it hidden on your hip, you carefully opened the door.

"Yeah, I was right"

Wait

"Pretty hidden spot ain't it?"

Wha-

His lips moved, his hair was still as short and dark as the last time you saw him, hell he was even wearing some dark clothes. But his bandana wasn't laying on his forehead anymore.

Your hands held the doorknob tighter as you finally figured out what was happening and most importantly, who was standing tall and proud in front of you that exact moment.

How did he even-

"Snake"

You mumbled out, finally snapping out of it and opening the door wide open. You saw his eyes trailing down your figure, as if he was searching for some kind of change, but he saw none just as you did.

You both stayed silent before you akwardly beckoned him inside, feeling goosebumps already forming on your bare arms as the chilly afternoon breeze seeped into your skin.

Fumbling over your hall, he stepped into your living room, small but cozy, his eyes searched for two cups, two pairs of slippers anything that could be shared.

Yet he found none.

Your table was a bit messed up from your paperwork but the rest of the room was pretty tidied up, he found those little details cute about you.

"What are you searching for hmm?, I ain't got no one hiding here sir"

You said with a sarcastic voice as he turned around to look at you, his face painted with a smug grin at your comment and you finally got to take in his state.

He was freshly shaved, his hair looked even better than before and he was wearing normal clothes, not the skin tight suit you got used to see. It was such a pleasant sight.

He didn't look as tired as he did inside those cramped up cold walls, searching desesperately for the so aclamed "Metal Gear".

He was just passing by, that's all.

"Your home looks pretty nice"

His compliment should've warmed your heart up, but there was quite other big reason why it was beating so fast. You lured him to sit down on the couch, sitting beside him right after.

"How did you even know where I lived?"

You asked with a surprised tone, yes he was fucking Solid Snake, it still amazed you the way his tricks worked not only inside espionage engaged missions.

He grunted before responding.

"There's a ton of info the coronel hasn't given you"

"The coronel gave you my location?"

You asked even more taken aback, first, how did he get such an important information so easily and second why did he want to pay you a visit here?

"What, you aren't happy to see me?"

He joked, and you furrowed your eyebrows in response, of course you were, you almost felt as if your soul had travelled outside your body the moment you made eye contact with him once again.

"Of course I am, but-"

You cut yourself off before responding, his eyes searching yours as you fiddled with your hands that where now placed over your lap.

"Why have you come here? After all this time..."

He placed his hands between his legs, bending his back a bit foward as he looked at the wall in front of you. Taking a deep breath before opening his mouth.

"I've tried to leave it all behind, everything. Shadow Moses, Liquid, all the people I had to kill..."

"But I just, can't with you"

You stayed silent at his words, your hands gripping the couch as you stared at him, looking at his profile as he still wouldn't face you.

"Do you want a drink?"

You didn't know why, but your mouth automatically opened to say those words. Maybe to cut the dense tension that had already formed in the air or just for you to take in all what was happening now.

He nodded his head and you noticed how he quirked his brow but a second later you saw him with a more serene face so you guessed it was a good option for the both of you.

Making two warm teas your head spinned and spinned, travelled over all the memories and asked and asked.

. . .

"Figured out jazmine would be the best option"

You added as you sat back down on the sofa, resting your left side against it as you looked directly at him right now.

His face was facing you as he took the hot cup between his hands and his mouth opened, yet yours did too.

"Hey-"

"You're-"

You both where still as indecisive as always, however you couldn't help to feel nostalgic about the confidence you seemed to have back in Alaska.

I mean, It really was a life or death situation so you were able to even joke with him, flirt, whatever your mind came up to.

But now?

It was a whole different story, he was sitting on your couch, drinking your tea and talking to you. The simple thought that he was back with you, that he actually searched for you as you did for him made you stutter around him.

"Thought I'd never see you"

Surprisingly, you were the first one to talk, and by your words it really struck him. You both were really desesperate for this moment.

"Don't forget my words"

"I do want to live up to someone"

You locked eyes with him, all the past and present tension starting to break up. All the emotions that time hadn't let both of you express were coming off strong right now.

And he was being serious.

When you both had survived, limping on each other, reaching your way out from the coldness of the snow and dry weather, you did take his words into your naive hands, backing them all up inside your heart.

And by the simple flow of your blood, they were starting to spill into your guts.

After all the days you've spent wondering about him, trying to finally put your feelings aside and start a new page, he was back here with you.

"Sna- David."

You corrected yourself yet his name felt a bit bitter on your tongue, you were already used to call him by his code name.

"I just- It's been months and just seeing you here is very overwhelming"

Your hands moved, eyes darting across the room as you talked about everything you had kept to yourself.

His icy eyes pierced through your face, however, they were still as soft as ever. As tender as his hands held your hand as he guided you around, contrary from his strong and rough demeanour.

They were calloused, your brain reminded you as he took your right hand between his own.

"I tried everything to forget, because I know this isn't fair for either you and me"

Your head tilted, fair?

What was even fair about the world you two had to live in, all the fighting and all the stress you had to carry over your shoulders just to make happy a few world leaders.

You remembered his words, how he wanted to live, how dead and life meant the same difficult story to him, yet he prefered to live rather than die without trying.

His mindset was a strong yet a naive one, he didn't know why he was still taking orders, why he killed his father or why he didn't seem to forget someone like you.

"I don't want to take the risk to go on other wars and die on you"

Your mouth dried up, he was totally right. Nevertheless, he could say the same about you, you both were involved in all of this and it wasn't easy.

His head then turned around so you couldn't see his dreadful expression then your hand met his shoulder, getting him to look at your face again.

And when he saw your smile, the warmth coming off not only from your hand but from your eyes, your words, your voice. It was starting to him dizzy.

"You aren't "dying on me", if so, I will be there to slap you back to life if necessary"

He chuckled, you both did, a little joke helped mend the thick air around your bodies.

Your hand then travelled to his arm, sitting closer to him as you desesperately seeked all the sensations you once felt.

"I do want to live up for someone too, I've been alone for quite a while now"

"And if it's gotta be with the same man who taught me all about Alaska's fauna, I'm so down for it"

You finished off as you stared at him and for the first time you saw a glint on his eyes, so precious and pearl-like. Not even killing all fox-hound off made his breath hitch as your words did.

Maybe he was finally feeling it, maybe this was the quickest route to happiness he longed for.

"I'm sorry if I-"

His eyes quickly snapped to your red face, finally taking in how close you two actually where as your body moving further from him on the couch gave him a cold shiver.

Desesperate for your heat.

So, as many times as before, he let himself flow with the ambient, him being the one to approach you, watching as your face came closer to his own.

And finally it happened, the moment you two were so needy for, not letting your minds even cross that scenario just for the sake of professionalism.

Lips melting into each other, you two weren't even touching each other as he parted from the softest kiss you had felt in your life. And it was coming from a man that has been through almost everything dealing with violence.

Silence comfortably seeped through your room, his mouth hungry for more as he had discovered this new feeling of love, lust.

19:40 pm

The sun had already started to set through your window, bathing yout face in a way that seemed too surreal for him. He had always found you attractive, cute, but seeing you this way made his heart ache even more.

He then really took in your clothes, wearing nothing but a loose shirt and some shorts paired with same coloured socks on your feet.

His arms wrapped around you as he pulled you into a very needed hug, it wasn't the first one you had shared but it definitely had some new feelings incorporated. Your breathing slowing down as you felt the rise of his chest against yours, drowning your thoughts into his steady heartbeat.

"I've waited way too long for you"

His eyes flinched open at your words before cussing at himself for keeping both you and him waiting. It happened so casually, so naturally it felt too good.

"I'm here now"

His forehead rested against yours, your hands still resting on his shoulders as you looked into his eyes, seeing the dying red sun on his iris.

He looked so peaceful, you had dreamt of seeing him like this, home and without any stopping a nuclear war stress visible on his frown.

Without the need of anymore words, you spilled your thoughts into his mouth, melting into a deeper kiss as you leant your body foward. His arms were still around you as you wrapped your own slowly around his neck.

Taking the first step yourself you climbed into a welcome lap after a while of kissing, your tongue begining to search his own when-

"Hmm?"

You looked into his eyes and you found doubt crossing them, he looked sideways as he parted from you before speaking.

"This is too straight foward"

He said and even when his words were confusing you found adorable the way he was out of breath, a slight pinkish tint painting his cheeks as he spoke.

"But I do want this"

You whispered out, your left hand laying on his cheek as you got him to look at you once again.

He couldn't help it, those eyes looking at him, begging him to please continue. It messed with his brain, looking back at your lips as you bit them softly before looking back into your eyes and seeing the security, love and lust inside them.

"I want you"

You mouthed into his lips, letting him choose if he still didn't want to take things this way as you had lowered your face into his, not closing the gap once again.

. . .

The sun had set just a few minutes ago and you parted from his lips as you lifted yourself a bit from his lap, earning an unsatisfied growl from bellow. Turning off the lamp next to the sofa creating a soft orange glow in the salon, not too strong to iluminate all of it but at least you could distinguish his face.

You turned around, forced by two calloused hands to sit back down on his lap, silenced by a hungry mouth that intended to finish what you had started.

Inside his head he saw the glint of your skin with this new added light, seeing how a thin layer of sweat had started to cover it in a delicious manner. It only added fuel to his deep desires of just kissing you, biting you, smelling you.

"You look too cute"

Your sudden voice alarmed him, making him face you with that hot blush still resting on his cheeks not giving any signs that it was going away in a while. However he just bit back a chuckle, smirking as he lowered your head to meet his lips once again.

At this point you had lost track of time yet you both still remained with the same clothes as before.

His right hand resting on your back while the other grabbed your thigh as you adjusted yourself on his lap, opting to just wrap your legs around him as he laid back into the sofa, careful not to crush your ankles in the process.

He felt your hands slowly make their way into the start of the half zipped biker jacket he didn't care to take off yet. Sensing your signs, he let you take it off as your lips traveled souther until they softly met his adam apple.

He really felt embarrassed by the way your only kisses were making him feel so hot under his skin.

With his jacket off and your hands exploring his chest within his loose shirt he too started to play with you, feeling up your back and down with big palms as you were busy kissing and nuzzling his neck.

Shuddering by his administrations you took a step further, peeling your shirt off as you revealed your comfy cotton creamy bra. You were starting to kind of regret all of this, you weren't wearing nice clothes, hell your shirt had some dirty spots from cleaning or cooking, you couldn't remember.

"So pretty"

You took in his words before the feeling of his hands laying on your bare skin now, dangerously close to the underside of your breasts as you looked down at him and saw that look of adoration in his eyes.

But you saw something more in them, permission.

"They don't bite"

And by your words, he slowly, really slowly it was starting to make you desesperate as you thought it was his way of teasing, placed his warm palms on your breasts.

They really shouldn't feel that good.

As weird as it sounded your mind started to wander off to how would they feel while you were on your period or even when you took off your bra after a long day, soothing away the pain.

You sighed, closing your eyes as you took in all the sensations, you could feel how tense he was, practically oogling at them it seemed like the first time he was doing this.

But your hands trying to take off his shirt distracted him, chuckling a bit before helping you out, throwing it on the ground the same way you did with your own.

Seeing his chest in all his glory you couldn't help but trace your hand over a scar he had on his left breast, seeming like a bullet wound. He took your hands from it, kissing it before turning your attention back to him.

His stealth skills really gave him advantage not only on the battlefield as he silently undid your bra, only taking notice of it when it was already peeled off from your body.

"Where have you been hiding these"

His comment made you turn redder than you already were, stretching your spine as you now felt his hands touching you properly. His kisses travelling down your neck as a string of saliva united you and his lips.

"Been waiting for this so long"

His roughed out voice made your mind forget the moment he had laid you down on your back on the sofa, his mouth kissing and almost biting your neck.

Wringling your hips he had to keep you grounded as your legs now where at his sides, whimpering as he kissed the spot right bellow your ear.

You could feel everything, the glide of his bare chest against yours, the warmth of his mouth, the tickling sensation of his breath. God you almost fainted when his hand found your nipple, pressing his thumb into it before massaging it around.

"Snak-"

"Call me David"

Right, david.

Liquid wasn't behind your asses anymore.

Shuddering his name his tongue rolled over your left nipple, massaging the other one with his right hand as you gripped his hair. Kind of missing his bandana but glad you could finally see his brows too.

The room was filled with silence and the sound of your shuddering breathing mixed with his own, the moon keeping sight of all of your sins tonight.

If he had known how good you'd sound, he would've done this much, much sooner. He craved you, he needed someone to take care of his needs, sick of just having to hide himself and work for others.

He needed you

And it wasn't only a need, he had felt this way for a long time already. Hell, he hasn't had any time for himself ever since he joined the fox unit once again.

He swore he was going to die without buring his face into a woman's legs once again.

His hand creeped downwards till he found what he was searching for, only to be interrumpted by some shorts. You quickly nodded your head, letting him take them off.

His hand smoothed unnecesarily slow over the skin of your thighs, making you shiver as you begged him to stop his teasing although he really hadn't that intention yet.

"You want this right?"

Sighing, you took his face in between your hands, feeling the smoothness of his aftershave having an effect on his skin. Locking eyes.

"After all the talk we've had, you're still asking for consent?"

You giggled but it really was another sign that attracted you more to him.

"Of course I want you, I've wanted you ever since I met you David, or should I say Snake"

You kissed his ear after muttering his code name, feeling how that little gest made him get all stiff in your arms again, relying on the soft groan that escaped his lips. You smiled greedily, now noticing how aroused he actually was, pressing against your knee.

Groaning he lifted himself up from you a bit, looking with blown out pupils the way you were sprawled bellow him, in nothing more than a pair of messed up panties. He closed his eyes tightly at the sight of seeing you so frustrated and wet, just from him.

Your feet palming him through his pants brought him crashing back down to reality, eyes shooting open to watch the scene. Your lip in between your teeth and your foot deliciously moving up and down his erection, you swore you felt him twitch.

"Playing dirty huh?"

Your half lidded eyes and smirk looking up at him, your chest glistening from his saliva.

His hand then swated your feet off him and now it was his turn to make you all messy and hot like he was.

"Spread your legs out for me sweetheart"

So with his chest heaving he opened your legs for him with big hands keeping them apart. It wasn't a secret that he had to guide all his movements on the battle, however, you were kind of impressed he did too in bed.

His right hand made contact with your inner thigh, head lolling back on the couch as he reached your through your panties, feeling all the slit that had acumulated there pretty much ever since you sat down with him on your sofa.

The arch of your back, your shallow breathing and the way you would flutter your eyes closed in such a beautiful way made him want to already skip foreplay.

Rubbing his fingers up and down your panties he saw the way your hips squirmed by his touch with lidded eyes. He pictured you taking him right there, begging him to please cum with you as your legs trapped him in a jail he wanted to be a prisioner for a long while now.

"Touch me please"

Your words gave him all the green lights he needed, diving right in as he took your panties off, helping you lift your butt and sliding them off your thighs.

He was enthralled with you, feeling softer than he could have ever imagined on lonely nights, sounding way prettier and getting into such a delicious dance with him.

You were slowly empting his sane bar.

His fingers were welcomed back into your heat, almost rolling his eyes back into his skull at the warmth, all the mess you had already got yourself into.

"Already this wet?"

Blushing you turned your head away from him, your arms resting by your sides as you avoided his stare.

"Cmon sweetie, look at me"

But still you wouldn't budge, still too embarrassed to look at him, were you really that messy down there?

"That's it"

He praised when he heard your muffled moan against your palm as he circled your clit, squeezing your cheeks with his other hand as he turned your face to look at him.

Hips halting upwards, he forced them down as he watched you squirm under him, taking your palm off your mouth so he could hear all your sweet whimpers being spilled into the lustry chilly night air.

"That good huh?"

He muttered into your neck as he fastened his movements on your clit, your eyes tearing up as you nodded your head, scratching the back of his hair approvingly as you felt him almost purr into your neck by your sudden contact.

"Gonna stretch you out, yeah? Want me to?"

"Y-yeah, yes"

You coughed as your voice had broken up a bit, feeling a smile forming against your neck in the process.

The pad of a finger began testing the waters, sliding around your entrance as he watched your face, seeing your mouth hang open, eyes closing. Tenderly making his way inside he kissed your mouth, swallowing every moan spilling from your lips as he had freed your hand now, feeling it caress his back as the other one still laid by his head.

The kiss was the slopiest one he had yet given you, sliping his tongue in between yours and the roof of your mouth as he started to move his finger.

The air had gotten even hotter and before he had noticed, your hand had crept inside his pants, caressing him through his briefs as you tried to get some "revenge".

"Mmhp"

Separating from you he let out a low moan, halting his movements for a brief moment as he got used to your soft hand on him, wanting nothing more than your touch.

You were playing the same dirty game he had started yet he couldn't "lose" to you.

So he sped up his movements, biting off a chuckle as he heard your surprised gasp, adding another finger to the stretch as he felt your walls hugging him tightly.

Your hand did wonders too, shuffling him off his pants and briefs as they now pooled right bellow his cock as it sprang free now. You cussed yourself you couldn't even glance at him because of his shoulder blocking your view, however, you could get a pretty solid idea of how it felt against your hand.

And god did it feel heavy.

Playing with his tip you saw his eyes flutter as he now laid his chin on your chest, shutting them close as he tried to focus on your pleasure.

"I'm the one here that's pent up and wet but how about you?"

"You're as hard as a rock"

You whispered the last words into his ear as you brought his head back into you, his nose resting against the headrest.

"It's been a while"

His voice was muffled but you could sense that he was bashfull, pumping him as fastly as he was fingering you, you both had finally became silent, fueling yourselves off the sounds that escaped your mouths.

You felt yourself getting closer, his mouth taunting you with kisses as a mere excuse to shut himself up. Pumping your hand up and down his hips tried to follow your lead, unable to stay put.

"Tell me whenever you're close"

His groggy tone vibrated inside your ear and that mixed with the feeling of him all over you made the coil that was slowly brewing inside your tummy fasten itself.

"Wanna fuck you so bad after this, so warm"

You could no longer see his face as his words were kind of muffled by the sofa and his own groans. You felt him twitch in your hands, his own fingers picking up the fastest pace you had felt yet.

"Dave- I think"

Your words were cut off as you felt yourself tighten, searching for your imminent climax as you clinged into his back, your hand no longer pumping him.

He was rutting into your leg like a dog in heat, kissing all your sweet spots he had come to know by this short period of time.

"Cum for me love, I know you can"

That was all you needed, practically screaming his name as you tilted your hips upward, head laying down on the sofa as your eyes closed shut.

His fingers kept pumping inside of you, driving you through your orgasm as he shushed you softly, caressing your cheek with his other hand as he rested himself up in his elbow.

The aftermath of his ministrations really tired you up still, as soon as you felt him rocking slowly into your leg you knew what you both really needed. He took off his pants, almost stepping on them as they fell to the ground.

"Woah, already ready for round two?"

"It's not a round two if you haven't even cum"

Your heated words were soon forgotten inside his head as you had now pushed him into his back, climbing back down into his lap. But now, feeling all you against all of him.

He was standing tall and proud by your stomach and you couldn't help yourself but take a good look out of the scene. You placed your hand right on your belly button and on top of his angry red tip, smiling at the hiss that left his mouth.

"You're gonna reach this deep"

Your words came out unexpectedly as his eyes turned almost white from how far they had opened, looking down with you as he admired the view, such a beautiful one.

"You think you can handle me being, that deep inside you?"

He puncuated his last words by grabbing a hold of both of your cheeks, squeezing them after giving them a soft pat.

He knew what he was doing.

He fucking knew.

But you loved it.

This side of him, his raw part, the one he didn't have to fake for anyone, his true feelings and needs. He was making you see red, rubbing your ass so smoothly, practically motioning you to sit on him already.

So you did, hovering over him with your hands placed securedly on his shoulders as he held your back tenderly with his right hand while his left rested on your hip, helping you down.

Wait, hold on, wait-

"Snake- I mean David, fuck, I forgot protection"

You went over to scramble off him but his hands kept you secured into his chest, not letting you go anywhere as he rubbed your back trying to get you to listen to him.

"Don't worry about that, I can't become a father even If I wanted to"

"Huh?"

Your eyes searched his face, looking into them as you saw a ting of pain inside them.

"You know all of my father clonation shit, I'm sterile, I'm not trying to lie to you y/n"

Right, you know remembered the talk you had with Otacon one day, explaining to you all of the "enfants terribles" project and hell was it terrible.

"Right, sor-"

His lips were on yours before you could even mutter a single apology, his left hand begining to move yourself against him once again as he sensed you pulsing down there. A good sign, he thought.

So you parted from him, getting into the real fun as your lips started to take him. Feeling his head pop in a little too fast, you whined out, a stretchy tingle of pain visible in your face as you stopped.

"I'm a patient man, be careful"

However, you could see that he wasn't. Biting his lip as not only his eye twitched the more you sunk down.

You repositioned yourself, a hand on his chest while the other still grabbed his shoulder for support. Finding the right angle it felt like it would never end, both of you closing your eyes as you savoured the moment. He knew if he opened them and saw you trying to fit him in, he would've busted right then and there.

"Fucking hell"

That's when he knew he was all the way inside, your butt touching his legs as you took a deep breath his eyes not leaving your face for the slightest moment.

"I don't want to be just your fuck buddy"

A confused groan left his lips.

"I know you will have to leave after this, but please, don't let this be a one time tension reliever"

He toon your cheek into his hands, rubbing it softly as he tried to find the sweetest voice he could utter out.

"I'll find you, I promise, I will come back here"

You felt a tear fall down your cheek, you felt connected to him, in a deep and far from understanding way.

"It's difficult now, I know, but I'll find you y/n"

His skin was yours, every breath you took was his, everything.

So with that said, you began moving, him immediately responding with a low groan at your sudden movement.

You felt full, not only in a sexual way, but your heart was full too. Crying out, not from pain like he would've thought but from pleasure, from the way you loved him so dearily, from having him beside you once again.

"I miss-ed y-you"

Your words were cut off everytime you bounced off his lap, your words being more than enough for him to want to coddle you up, so he did.

Grabbing your back he pulled him into you, hearts beating into each other fastly as your nipples rubbed against the expanse of his broad chest.

"I missed you too- hmpmh"

His own voice even cracked when you tightened up on him, feeling the wash of a brief overstimulation against him.

His cock rubbing all the right spots inside you making you hug him tighter, fuck him faster and kiss him deeper.

His hips began pushing into your own movements, making your vision blurry from all the pleasure he was giving you.

"You like that huh?"

"Please more Dave"

No more words were needed for him as he picked up a brutal pace within your cunt, hips pistoning into your own making you see starts.

He was spilling all of the words unsaid into you, all of his piled up feelings into your womb, eyes almost crossing when you had tightened up. Your arms digging into his back you were reduced into a stupid mess by now, blabbering his name as you bounced up and down almost automatically now.

"I'm pretty close... fu-fuck sweetheart"

He groaned out as his hands kept a bruising grip on your hips, basically doing all the work for you. And you could feel it.

The way he had become even bigger inside you, his tip pushing your fungy spot all over and over again, your name spilling out of his mouth out of the blue often. He felt as if he was going to explode so soon yet he wanted to drag you down to hell with him too.

"Cum with me... pl-please"

Your tear stained cheeks begged him so badly, so cutely to just cum, just for you. Almost the same vision he had imagined earlier, your mouth red the same tone as your cheeks as you pleaded.

"Please Dave- I... ngh! Need it"

Your voice pitched up as he drove himself so deliciously into you, he wanted nothing more than to fill you, to see it dripping out. Pumping himself inside of you he stayed there as ropes of white had began to paint your insides, your own climax washing all over you as you felt his arms pull you into him once again.

Chest heaving into each other, panting into each others ears like animals you tried to regain concioussness after the extreme pleasure you had recieved.

"Feeling alright?"

Hearing your voice he opened his eyes to see you in the most ethereal way he had ever seen you. Your hair sticking into your forehead, teary eyes looking out for him and trembling limbs on his lap.

You were absolutely spent.

And it was all his fault.

However, he did look like and angel too. The afterglow of sex lingering on his skin as he tried to regain his breath which he did pretty quickly, his body soaked up in sweat and his loving eyes, pupils blown wide.

"Better than ever"

He smiled so sweetly, so cutely you just felt the need to squeeze his cheeks like a granny, nuzzling his nose as you both giggled.

With a sigh you laid into his chest, forgetting the gushy sensation in between your legs, feeling it dripping down his legs. His arms wrapped around you like a blanket, not letting the chilly air of the air cool you down.

You let out a hiss as he repositioned himself, enhancing both of your overstimulations on the process.

"Shit, right, sorry"

You smiled at his rushed apology, but he quickly brushed it off you as he slipped out of you, whining out into his neck at the loss of contact.

"Lets get you cleaned up"

And with those words and your stolen answer from his sudden movement, picking you up from the sofa and starting to walk into what he thought was the bathroom.

[creekfiend]

We went on a really great native plant tour hike at the foxfire museum today and it RULED and also before the hike we had this great interaction with one of the employees that was like

Lady on the boardwalk leading up to the main office, whose name was apparently Miss Crystal: MURIEL! MOSES! COME HERE, IT'S T PAIN

Us: I beg your pardon

Miss Crystal: T Pain is a box turtle who lives under the board walk

Us: Ah I see

Tour guide: Miss Crystal is a real mountain woman she will tell you what it's about

Us: [nodding]

Miss Crystal: [talking to two tiny blonde children about T Pain the box turtle] Oh he's after skanks, that's what he's after

Us: I beg your pardon again

Miss Crystal: You know, some of those blue tailed skanks

Us, having a sudden realization about southern appalachian vowel shifts: OH

[bloodofsancho]

Theories & Speculations about Canto 7: Lightning Round

So, I've had a much longer, more essay formatted post sitting in my drafts on here for a while, and even longer on my main blog where I imported it from. But seeing as Canto 7 is just on the horizon and my real life obligations haven't gotten any lighter, I've decided that instead of writing a Big Long Theory Post about Canto 7, I would instead summarize my main thoughts/beliefs/speculations into bullet points on a single post. This still ended up being really long though. Anyway, without further ado:

Project Moon's interpretation of Don Quixote seems inspired in part by the musical Man of La Mancha. While I've seen many consider it an adaptation of Don Quixote, it's...not really. It's loosely based off of it. In the musical, it follows Miguel de Cervantes and his unnamed servant who have been imprisoned by the Spanish Inquisition and put on a play for the prisoners where Cervantes plays Don Quixote and his servant plays Sancho Panza. A female prisoner/prostitute named is chosen to play Dulcinea. She is a principal character in the play.

In the book, Dulcinea is little more than a figment of Quixote's imagination. Aldonza is only mentioned in one sentence at the end of the first chapter. She's also a slaughterhouse worker and not a prostitute.

I have absolutely no idea which interpretation Project Moon will go with. But I find it interesting that Don Quixote hasn't mentioned Dulcinea at all, while in the book she probably comes up every other sentence.

Dulcinea = Carmen?

I think the likely villain candidatesfor this Canto are either Sanson Carrasco or "Avellaneda".

Sanson Carrasco, also known as the "Knight of Mirrors" or "Knight of the White Moon" is a guy from Don Quixote's town who along with the barber and priest (make note of that btw) takes it upon himself to cure Don Quixote of his presumed madness. He's kind of a smartass. He decides the best way to cure Don Quixote of his mental illness is to defeat him as the Knight of Mirrors but ends up getting beaten by Don Quixote, and he's not happy about this and swears revenge. Later he appears as the Knight of the White Moon, and defeats Don Quixote in a duel.

In Man of La Mancha, a prisoner known as "the Duke" is chosen to play Sanson Carrasco in the play, who pretty much does the same thing as he does in the book except he's much more cynical in the play.

The other candidate, Avellaneda, would be a very interesting and very Project Moon choice for an antagonist. Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda was the pseudonym used by an author who wrote a fake sequel to the first part of Don Quixote, which Miguel de Cervantes didn't intend on writing an official sequel to until he saw Avellaneda's work and he hated it so much it spurred him into writing an actual sequel. The existence of the fake sequel is mocked and referenced in the second part of Don Quixote, and considering the events of Canto 6 I think that's worth keeping in mind.

Now onto actual speculation and called shots for Canto 7 since I've laid this groundwork:

I think that the plot of Canto 7, at least initially, may draw heavy inspiration from Man of La Mancha. I think the Bloodfiends from La Mancha Land are possibly taking humans captive through some kind of method (attracting them to the fair maybe?) and torturing them as entertainment. Through some kind of means, the Bloodfiends have also gotten a Golden Bough, but I'm unsure how or why they would use it. Maybe someone can provide some ideas.

Humans going missing and ending up at some kind of vampire torture fair is exactly the kind of case Moses would take on. It remains to be seen if she will be there in person, or if she'll communicate with Dante through a walkie talkie or radio. At the end of the teaser, she sounded like she was talking through a radio (assuming that was in fact Moses).

Sancho is either a Fixer who Don Quixote became friends with in between establishing her human form and joining Limbus Company, or he (assuming that the blue text from the teaser is Sancho) is a Bloodfiend. Maybe both? His text from the teaser seems to be encouraging Don Quixote's delusions.

I initially thought that the Bloodfiend from the teaser could be Dulcinea (or Marcela or Dorotea)* but a user pointed out to me that she's holding large scissors so she's probably the Barber. However, this morning I looked back at the MOTWE story cutscenes with Cassetti and he refers to the Barber with he/him pronouns. I don't know if this means anything, or if it's an oversight or retcon from Project Moon.

I think there's a strong possibility that, following the Man of La Mancha line of thought, Don Quixote's true Bloodfiend identity is Miguel de Cervantes. A lot of people seem to agree with this. However, I haven't seen anyone really make any shots as to why she would seal herself away, and I think I have a plausible answer:

Being a member of the elder generation of Bloodfiends from before the White Nights and Dark Days, Cervantes is primarily nonviolent and doesn't want much to do with humans. After the White Nights and Dark Days spawned a new generation of Bloodfiends who were significantly more prone to violence, violent attacks on humans increased and this alerted even more people to the existence of Bloodfiends---especially people who would like to hunt and kill them. This put the lives of Cervantes' Kindred at grave risk, and not wanting to fight or kill humans, she sealed herself away and invented a human persona---and possibly her Kindred as well, hence how Sancho could also both be a Fixer and a Bloodfiend.

She might have invented Don Quixote with the express purpose of creating a human self who had a strong sense of justice and right the wrongs of the City. Maybe she became a Bloodfiend to start with in order to escape the injustice of the City.

This would line up extremely well thematically with both the novel and Man of La Mancha. Sancho supporting Don Quixote's dreams (or her human persona in general) could support this idea if we assume he is a Bloodfiend.

Meanwhile, the Bloodfiends are more concerned with getting their Second Kindred back once they realize who she is. This would align well with the Barber and Sanson, assuming that Sanson is a Bloodfiend and not a Bloodfiend hunter.

I realize that this is kind of a slapdash post, but I was really running out of time and on top of being both sick today and having two papers due on Sunday, I needed to get this out before Canto 7. I realize that this doesn't touch on many aspects, like the associations with Carmilla, other characters like Dorotea, Marcela, Cardenio, the priest, etc but I decided for the sake of time that I would talk about them if/when they appear in Canto 7. Regardless, I would like to hear everyone's thoughts if they have any!

[langfield]

things i want in double exposure 2 ( self indulgent ) ( not that serious ) :

- blackwell’s ten year highschool reunion or a special event where they invite back former students to show off the school’s success rates. max decides to go back and either takes amanda, vinh, or moses with her depending on who you romanced, or if you didn’t romance anyone at all. cue lis:1 cast meeting the lis:de cast!

- safi being cryptic on crosstalk and occasionally messaging max privately … depending on if you accepted her or not affects the information she gives you about what’s happening

- if romanced, vinh tries stepping down as abraxas president and is rather happy about it … until it’s revealed that diamond has disappeared from caledon, forcing vinh back into the position. it’s a whole thing! max helps him actually start making changes to abraxas, since he’s now capable of doing so

- conclusions for the amanda and vinh romance arcs that are interesting and complex and different. give me max and vinh engaging in a fwb relationship for a while ( due to their fear of losing each other ) and slowly slipping into dating. have them talk about reggie and safi. give me max slowly winning amanda over in time, with her genuinely making an effort to be there for amanda without overstepping her boundaries, with her learning to communicate her own. give me the ‘i kissed both vinh and amanda’ conclusion too! and most importantly : if you romanced neither or only one of them, let max actually befriend them both and become close to them over time

- on top of that : more moses. way more moses and max, thank you

- max realizes she was in love with safi arc. she realizes she always will be, in a way, because that’s how it was with chloe … but she can still find love with other people too. i need the game to make it so clear that max has always been capable of loving more than one person at once! this is normal and very queer of her

- more of reggie, loretta, and gwen. thanks <3

- yasmin, whether she’s president anymore or not, is increasingly overbearing with max. she is always texting her and asking her about safi, is always talking about how good max and safi were for each other — how max can convince safi to come home and understand. tries to relegate herself as max’s mother due to a combination of missing safi dearly, genuinely caring for max, and a selfish desire to keep max at caledon so that when safi returns, she’ll return home to yasmin specifically. she is rather manipulative and pushy about this, and frequently inserts herself into max’s life

- amanda backstory because lord knows she needs it. was she a caledon student at some point, ever? how did she end up working at the snapping turtle? maybe have her grow closer to another character, like gwen or something to give her more of an ‘in’

- maya okada flashback of some sort involving her, safi, and vinh. those three also deserve more backstory and lore, without the lucas stuff

- safi checks in on max through a variety of disguises. not necessarily the caledon cast we know, but some of the background characters ( rowan, alice, shiloh, tim, etc ) … also bonus morally ambiguous ‘safi disguises herself as vinh or amanda to try and kiss max’ scene

- alderman storyline gets picked back up and is actually a major plot now. max desperately tries to figure out how to bring him back once she realizes he’s still nonexistent despite the combined timelines

- lots of max just healing tbh : getting to speak about her past to the other characters, starting to ingrain herself into caledon more, familiarizing herself with her powers again, etc. little things. double exposure is all about max accepting that she hasn’t healed and needs to, so now show me the healing!

- safi dragging diamond around to search for other people like them, trying to train diamond’s powers and sort of being really bad at it ; cue a slowburn friendship between them that has highs and lows. safi is all for embracing the powers but diamond, much like max used to be, is too scared of them … they go back and forth a lot and by the end of things, taught each other many important lessons that have shaped them both as people

- obviously, safi meeting alex and daniel ( & sean, depending ), and navigating these new relationships. old choices matter here!

- safi visits arcadia bay without max ( be it the ruins of it or the bustling town ) and learns about her. she discovers that there’s something particularly special about this town in terms of powers, and there’s canon confirmation from the game ( via safi’s own investigating ) that rachel amber had powers too. and that she has since become the bay ( rachel amber is god theory canon )

- cue rachel amber dreams <3 i think everyone with powers gets one at some point. just because

- safi goes on this roadtrip and repeatedly uses her shapeshifting powers throughout the journey, much to diamond’s discomfort. she will mostly be max if max rejected her, or she’ll mostly be vinh if max accepted her ( since she MOSTLY shapeshifts into vinh during the game ) … but there are appearances from others as well. maybe at some point she shapeshifts into maya and breaks down over it?

- chloe comes to caledon after the storm and meets the caledon gang. many ways this could play out! it’s very messy emotionally though for both max and chloe. they get closure one way or another

- safi yuris out on the road with everyone. most notably alex and diamond by accident. maybe chloe somehow? daniel is also a little trans, don’t worry about that too hard

- if you saved the bay, we finally find out what nathan’s fate is and if he’s really still in prison or not! maybe we’re given more information about the jefferson-prescott trial, because god do i want it

- victoria. the game makes a point to emphasize how close her and max are, despite the distance between them. we find out that both of them coped very poorly with what happened in arcadia bay and have grown closer for it. if chloe’s alive, we get the chloe/victoria situation of our dreams that max has to grappe with. she is mostly happy for them, a bit jealous in a sopping cat way, but also finds it very funny that she has slept with them both. #chasefield canon #chaseprice canon

- vinh, at some point, embraces acting again. we see him navigate student productions and reaching out for auditions in plays — and see him wrestle with wanting to stay in caledon for max’s sake versus wanting to leave it behind still. safi parallels because vinh and safi have always been so similar despite the stark differences

- langfield kiss. langfield obsessed with each other. langfield grossly infatuated. clear the searches!!!

bonus. double exposure gets a dlc and it’s just the powered people meeting up for real and dancing around a fire like witches about it. or something. it’s very profound trust me

[ponkydraws]

HI!! how are you ?

Can you tell me silly facts about your characters please please please i miss them </3

Hi I’m good!! I’m coming down with a cold but that’s about it

RIGHT SO. Have some random facts about my WW1 ocs in no particular order.

- Vincent’s autistic and his special interest is Frankenstein (his name was actually supposed to be Viktor but I changed my mind)

- Out of the 5 main characters, 3 of them are fatherless (deadbeat, dead dad & adopted)

- Vincent and Jane have a son and a daughter, Moses (1918) and Mary (1915)

- Nikolai (Aleksandrovich Alexeyev) who is gay, unbeknownst to me when I created him, shares the EXACT FULL NAME of a well known Russian queer activist I had no idea existed. The coincidence actually kinda shook me to my core.

- Nikolai was originally the oldest of 3 but his little brother Lev passed away at infancy, so only Anastasia and him actually make it through childhood

- Vincent is 50% Russian because of his mother but since the father’s name is inherited, he has the quite distinct name of “Vincent Edwardovich Smith” which sounds like a weird mix between British and Russian (because it is)

- Alexei is actually Ukrainian, but through his lifetime he has been considered Little Russian, Soviet and Ukrainian given how the country kept changing throughout the 20th century

- Ivan is partially Nenets (Russian indigenous group) and didn’t grow up with Christianity because of it as he was raised by his Nenets mom & babushka (his dad is dead via tuberculosis)

Also here’s some art of various characters and situations. @typophobiaart drew the fourth one of Nikolai and I think it’s really cute :3

[uncaught-coolfish]

Fuck it I guess I'll go first.

Why oh fucking WHY was the Ever After not the fucking AFTERLIFE!!!! Seriously, this would have been so perfect as a fucking arc not only for Ruby and her team encountering the people who had died along the way while helping them grow. Since you know when good ol' MKEK, aka. "We can't write for shit." did say Volume nine was about growth until they double baked for one of the most poorly written depictions of mental health ever. This was so bad that it made Thirteen Reasons Why look good! Yeah I went there!!!

The amount of missed opportunities that was there we could have seen Penny explaining to Ruby why she had to die in order for Winter to get the Maiden Powers proclaiming that it was more suited for her rather than herself.

Weiss reuniting with her grandfather and even standing up to her father again along with her antecedents and descendants that she is her own person now and reinforces it by showing Jacques why he was never worthy of holding up the Schnee title.

A final showdown between Blake and Adam with the inclusion of Spirit Sun (since in Before the Dawn, he said he saw visions of a tree. Pertaining to Yggdrasil which I am calling it that since in Volume nine it was only called the Tree and that was it.) with blake promising that she will try to make humans and faunus try to understand and come together in her own way if she must. While Sienna Khan and the other faunus murdered by humans or anti-faunus rights activists all place the future of the Faunus on both hers and Suns shoulders.

Yang learning from people from Taiyangs bloodline how to control her anger so much so that she even admits that she isnt perfect to Blake and tells her to find someone that will love her more than she. Alluding to Sun as he was there more for her than Yang was, which the two agree in a platonic manner.

Oh and the fact we could get to see a mix of Ancient Remnant peeps, Afterans and even mythological creatures (respectfully since they NEARLY shat the bucket there) Oh and the BIGGEST ONE OF THEM ALL .

RUBY MEETING SUMMER ROSE

Sweet Jesus even up the stakes a little by having their souls fall apart as they travel across the Ever-After in a Race Against Time Arc but at the same time we see their semblances Evolve and Grow against the main villain the Red Queen (Not the Red Prince since I like to think he is cared for by the Curious Cat) and the Curious Cat not being some stupid twist villain again but this time someone who was created by the God of Darkness as one of the only "good" creations he had seen. and at the end the Tree of Yggdrasil gives Ruby and Co.... the biggest question to be answered right in front of them.

A WAY TO BEAT SALEM

Like holy SWEET MOSES it is so easy to do a Journey through the Afterlife Arc while giving the characters more time to flesh out and help them grow.

Hot Take Assessment:

This is a really cool idea actually. Tbh I think what I would’ve done for the Ever After is keep the gang separated for longer than like. Half of the first episode.

Keep yang alone since she was the first to go down. Maybe have that connect to her backstory of being abandoned by Raven. Maybe have Blake & Ruby sticking with each other. Develop more of the bond that the two started to have in V8 bc that was really cute and I’m bummed it kind of went nowhere.

Keep Weiss alone and actually FOCUS ON HER AND DONT MAKE HER INTO COMIC RELIEF and how she deals with the fact that her entire home is just. gone. Also the fact that she was the last one standing after her friends presumably died around her.

The one thing I’d change from V8 here is that none of ORNJ falls. Not in a “Jaune gets too much screen time” way, but in a… it makes the cast less messy for this season, way.

And have Neo in the shadows chasing them around. Maybe even throw in some familiar faces, deceased or otherwise. Some purgatory like thing idk.

I might just make that a fic😧

TL;DR Ever After should’ve been a lot less Alice in Wonderland (because they somehow made wonderland boring :() and a lot more Avatar’s Swamp episode.

[auntieinthemushroomhat]

Analysing Why Williza Wouldn't Have Worked Out Through The Lens of a Pop Song

Hey, hi, hello!

This is not a post for the Willizas lol

I have no idea how many Stela Cole fans are among the Scarleteers, or, well, the ScarNashers.

This, I know it's a surprise, is not about Patrick and Eliza for once, but Eliza and William, though not in the best light, if that makes up for it, folks.

Stela has a new song called Blood Orange Wine and the lyrics kind of reminded me of Eliza's and William's relationship and how it lowkey went up in flames.

(I do feel I should acknowledge that, as far as I know, Stela's song is about a toxic relationship, which I don't think Eliza's and William's was, but if some of the lyrics fit, what can ya do?)

For your enjoyment:

1, just the title, Blood Orange Wine, itself: Eliza likes to drink wine, not beer, although she does drink whiskey, but usually in the presence of men eg. William, Patrick and probably Moses too (gosh I miss him)

2, I know it wasn't this extreme in the show, buuuut He knew the reasons I was scared of love - she was scared of entering a relationship with William, and I think the the reasons for that are:

a, he was her only family outside of Ivy, if it didn't work out, she would absolutely lose him (which happened in the end, and she didn't really get to have a say in the matter)

b, he was the only person she had ever felt romantic feelings for up until then

c, she had never been in a relationship, whereas William had been known for dallying with actresses, hell, he even courted her childhood bully

d, his image of the wife he wanted to marry differed so much from who Eliza is as a person, and Eliza, rightfully, didn't want to change herself completely just to fit that image

3, Told me he'd catch me if I fell, then he went running off - he confessed his love then upped and left, aka ran off, even though they were supposed to stick together since they were practically family, especially post-Henry's death

4, Knife to my throat until I opened up - again, I don't mean it literally, but he confessed his love, probably knowing Eliza wasn't ready, especially with the bomb that he was leaving for a year

5, He left me bleeding, now I'm freaking out - in that he left her to her own devices in regards to:

a, working out her feelings

b, knowing she was struggling to get cases at Nash & Sons and that she would no longer have access to Scotland Yard the same way without him, even with Fitzroy there (it's a bit redeeming though that he knew Nash was back to help Eliza)

c, knowing she had suffered a probably traumatic experience of not knowing whether he would live or die after getting shot

d, freaking out, as in she is sulking, or as she calls it, brooding, which is totally understandable, in my opinion, looking at the circumstances

6, Oh, I'm losing my forever, he only lets me down

a, Eliza and William were supposed to be endgame (still, I'm glad it didn't happen), they were each other's "forevers" right until they weren't

b, he only lets me down - she had to manipulate him in order to get him to help her, even though she needed his help, it wasn't (just) about her ambition

7, Wrapped around his finger, now my finger's wrapped around this glass

a, remember how important it was whenever they held hands or even their fingers touched?

b, in season 1, she regularly used her more womanly red dress to get him to do what she wanted, aka had him wrapped around her finger, because he wouldn't have helped her earn a living otherwise

Honestly, the more I wrote for this, the angrier I got. I still love William as a character, but they kinda fucked up his whole arc. Respect to Stuart for leaving, even if it wasn't because he saw that this would lead nowhere.

All of this, I think, supports why Patrick is a much better match for Eliza, even just as a friend and partner, but also as a potential love interest.

[cosmiclove-heavenstruck]

Did I just... rewrite Life Is Strange: Double Exposure? Not completely, obviously, but after watching game plays and reviews on the game I was just so unhappy that I had to put my thoughts down and it escalated a bit. This is really long (over 5000 words), but I remember watching the trailer for the first time and having such different expectations and such a different story in mind that I felt so disappointed when seeing what the game was actually about. This is a rant-turned-sorta-rewrite... so enjoy!

Quick disclaimer, these are just my ideas and opinions – if you enjoyed the game as it is, that's great <3

Okay look. There's dozens of people on YouTube and whatnot who've already laid out why Life Is Strange: Double Exposure feels lacking. The decisions made have no lasting effect and most times two decisions have the same outcome, even the “major” ones. The police officer/detective Alderman, who could've made for an interesting villain or at least an antagonistic force, dies either way and is then brushed off and forgotten. I remember somebody mentioned that those major decisions are also phrased in a way that pushes the player towards one, for example one time the two options on screen aren’t “Accept” and “Decline” but vice versa.

The dialogue feels off, the relationships are shallow and not developed, and the promoted murder mystery surrounding Safi gets abandoned for a cheap marvel-we're-all-superheros storyline. What I'm also missing is the atmosphere and the world-building. A comparison to the original is inevitable, so lets remember how much we could explore of the world of Arcadia Bay: Blackwell Academy with all the classrooms and the two outdoor spaces, the dorms, the junkyard, the swimming pool, the diner, Chloe's house, Jefferson's bunker... we were able to actually get to know the world and its people which are at the final moment put at risk. In the new game, Max runs around the abandoned bowling hall, the snowy campus, the bar and her house... and that's it. It lacks so much in places that when she is caught in her timelines shifting alternative nightmare reality, they used a motel she once stayed in off-screen. Honestly, at first I thought it was from LIS2.

It never feels like Max is actually part of this world. I so wish the game would've started out with Max actually teaching a class instead of just mentioning on the sidelines Oh yeah, she's a teacher now. It would've been a reasonable nod to the start of the original game and to show how far Max has come, how her art style has developed, the differences (and maybe similarities) to Jefferson's teaching. Have a callback to her selfie moment because one of her students takes one. When Max is done with her class, she could explore (a part) of the college/classrooms and then pick up Safi from one of her classes; maybe we even briefly meet Moses. Just so it's established from the getgo that they are part of the staff and not students/set a clear boundary, because that line is SO unclear in the current game. Sometimes the students address Max as “Ms. Caulfield” other times just as “Max” like they are friends and that's just weird to me. (I never went to college or uni, but I doubt it's normal to just address your teacher or professor with their first name, right?)

So, Max picks up Safi and they drive to the outskirts of town to that abandoned bowling alley. That way, we can see some parts of the town Max chose to stay at (plus some nice music)! Also, let us start on a parking lot outside, not directly inside.

But wait, you might say, what about Chloe? What about the endings of LIS1? Well, this came to me surprisingly easy when I thought a bit about the concept for Double Exposure, which is: timelines. Max no longer jumps back in time or through photos, but she discovers she can switch back and forth between two realities. The “real world” splits when Safi gets shot. So, to answer the question: How cool would the new Life Is Strange game have been if the players can start out in two possible realities depending on their choice of the first game? One reality similar to the one in the current game (storm was prevented, Arcadia Bay survives, Chloe isn’t there – because let’s be honest, the new game never intended to serve as a follow-up to the reality where Chloe lives) and then an opposite one. Instead of the two timelines being created through Safi's death, her death is what causes something to open between the worlds.

I understand bringing Chloe back would be too difficult but then you could argue she drove ahead to where Arcadia Bay used to be to visit her mother's grave over Christmas or something like that, and Max’ plan was to come too as soon as the term ends. They’ve had over fifteen years after the storm, I’m sure they have grown to be able to handle being away from each other for some time. Having them break up off screen just feels like a gut punch to most fans who decided to save her. In another scenario, the sequel would've picked up right after the storm, but that makes it even harder to respect both endings.

So, fast forward fifteen years to Caledon University, Lakeport, Vermont.

The realities can't be too different even though they surely would be, but it’s two possible futures to explore through Max and how she discovers these differences. That would require newspaper articles, text messages, diary entries, similar to Max' Arcadia Bay stuff box in Double Exposure.

When does Max realise she can switch between realities? Obviously, Safi's death still only happens in one and when it happens, realities glitch and overlap from Max (she sees everything in double exposure).

Would Safi die in the reality where Chloe lives or died? Personally I think the first option makes the most sense, putting Max on the spot whether she's going to let another town be destroyed or not. Most happening from the start of Double Exposure up until the glitch should in my opinion be the same, with my additions: Max teaching a class and then exploring the college, meeting with Safi and driving to the abandoned bowling alley, going to the Snapping Turtle, watching the meteors with Moses on the roof. Slight differences would include text messages from Joyce vs. from Chloe, etc. Let’s make it clearer which reality is which going forward:

A (Arcadia Bay survives)

B (Chloe survives)

On the roof, Safi acts strange and keeps staring at her phone – then the phone call. Max is worried and decides to follow Safi. When Max takes the photo of the owl, the realities begin to glitch. Max sees herself, hears the gunshot but sees Safi alive – she goes unconscious, wakes up with a bleeding nose, and runs up to the viewpoint to check on Safi.

Quick sidenote on why i really like the owl. Reddit user NihilistStylist put it quite nicely:

I love that! I think the butterfly in LIS1 was a very obvious but nonetheless amazing choice, and so is the owl, though I think it would've been cool to have anything on campus or in the library so Max (and the player) can learn about totem animals and what an owl may symbolise. (Hey, that would've been a great base for a conversation with Amanda. You know, the girl you're constantly told to snog on the bar counter or else...) 

Now it's important in which reality you began the story. If you started out in reality A, you are now in reality B, and vice versa. The A-to-B!Max finds Safi alive. Safi is confused why Max is making such a fuss and she's angry that she followed her even though she told her not to. As they are fighting, Max receives a text – from her dead best friend Chloe. The B-to-A!Max finds Safi's dead body; she was shot in the back. Max is utterly confused/crying and calls an ambulance. As she puts down her phone, she sees a new text – from Joyce (or somebody else from Arcadia Bay, though I suppose Max would have the most connections with Joyce because of her childhood friendship with Chloe). This establishes the two different realities. I like how in Double Exposure, they differentiate the worlds by coloring. When Safi is alive, the colors are warm, almost golden, uplifting the Christmas spirit. When Safi is dead, the colors are bluish-gray and washed-out. (It reminds me of Greta Gerwig's Little Women and her lighting/coloring choices to differentiate “childhood” and “adulthood”). That needs to be kept.

However, what I can whole-heartely go without is the social media app Crosstalk. It's very annoying and it often doesn't make any sense. Max takes a photo (on her instant camera?), somehow posts that picture on social media (that's the real mystery here, guys) and immediately, everybody and their goddamn dog have responded to the post. Also all the pseudo-deep text posts that serve nothing to the story except for me to roll my eyes at characters I don't even know are so useless. Burn it, I say.

Okay, maybe not burn it. But cut 90% of the rubbish that is posted on there. I doubt most people who just want to play the game don’t even read the posts, they are just annoyed by that red dot telling you eight more people have posted some vague shit in the last hour. I can go on Twitter if I want that.

Who should post on Crosstalk? Whose posts are necessary and interesting to the story?

1. Yasmin, as the head of Caledon, or maybe some official account, especially when it comes to official news about Safi’s death and all.

2. Loretta/GetAClue!. Yes, I know some people find her and her podcast annoying, but I think it could be interesting to read the crazy theories and that’s surely where they’ll be. I’ll get to Loretta in a bit. (Fun Fact: I just googled her character and her last name is ‘Rice’ – did anyone know that?)

3. Abraxas. Hear me out, in the current game, they are about as interesting and mysterious as Vinh is modest, but I think with a bit of work they could become some sort of Pretty Little Liars/Gossip Girl account that exposes secrets.

Otherwise I can’t think of anyone else whose posts I’d care about so… back to the story. 

You noticed I kept those first story points roughly the same. They work, they set up the first big questions: What happened to Safi? And what is happening with Max/the realities? What I disliked maybe the most about Double Exposure (apart from Crosstalk) is that it felt like a setup for another sequel, and not just any sequel, no, a Life Is Strange a là X-(Wo)Men or Marvel Infinity War. I was so confused by the last two chapters (if you can even call them that as they were so empty and short) and what Safi's intentions were, and judging by the stats on the “final” decision I doubt many players understood either. I do not want a power revelation, I do not want a team up against the evil, I do not want after credit scenes revealing the powers of a character you barely get to know.  What I wanted was to solve a murder mystery. Why don't we team up for that? I say Max teams up with Moses and Amanda to solve Safi's murder and for that, she tells them about her powers.

It would've been fun to see Max explore her powers when they get interrogated by the police (which the game either didn't show us or just glossed over like that's not something that happens) plus she could find out more about Maya Okada at the police station — the autopsy found traces of a drug in her blood (we’ll see why later). I wanted to see more of Alderman! He was an antagonist, accusing/judging Moses for having something to do with Safi's death, trying to sabotage the investigations, and to kill him off only shortly after he's introduced was so pointless. It felt more like a show-off, and never led to anything. No one was ever in danger of touching their other version ever again!

Why would Alderman sabotage the investigations/put it off as a suicide? Maybe because Safi's mother Yasmin told him to/payed him to. Caledon University doesn't have the best reputation as it seems, and maybe another suicide would look less bad than an actual murder. I think Max (as well as Moses and Amanda) are certain Alderman is trying to hide something, and maybe after overhearing a phonecall with Yasmin at the police station, they decide to break into Yasmin's office.

For that, they need to distract Vinh. Max can tell him the truth (depending on how well earlier conversations went, Vinh is willing to play along and let them in or threatens to snitch on them), lie to him or threaten to spill a secret she found out in the other timeline (that he and Safi dated but she broke up with him and he is therefore more likely to be a suspect in the investigations, that his election to become the head of Abraxas was manipulated, something like that...). The three get access to Yasmin's office. Moses is so nervous he decides to stand guard in case Yasmin (or Vinh, based on the earlier made decision) comes back. Max and Amanda find transfers from Yasmin to Alderman as well as Mails, confirming their suspicion.

And while we're talking about Vinh: His weird thing to turn every conversation with Max sexual needs to go. They work at the same place, he had something with Max' best friend, there's never any indication as to why Vinh does this in the first place and no, later revealing he has daddy issues or some shit does not explain that. The only time his flirty personality sorta works is during the smash/pass game but that also feels out of place. And by the way: Whether or not you are playing the B-reality!Max, I don't need her to have a love interest. This is about finding out who murdered her friend, not whether Max wants to smash the bartender or the cult leader. Back to the story.

They also find: A mail history of Yasmin and Gwen, arguing about Safi's failed book deal. Up til that point, they believed it was Gwen who sabotaged the book deal, but it seems like Yasmin was the one who did not want it to be published. Maybe Safi let some things slide when they were on the roof watching the meteors, which led to Max snooping around Gwen's office. I think that should take place before Max teams up with anyone. She finds mails in which Gwen first praises Safi's book to the publishers, then later cancels the deal. So it seems like Gwen let it fail, but Max doesn't know why until Yasmin's office.

When Max' leaves Gwen's office, she gets ambushed by Loretta. I like Loretta! She is interesting and not one of those polished, perfect characters. she is difficult and nosy and this pretend-detective, sticking her nose in other people's business (a bit like Max, only that she's less secretive about it). Loretta confronts Max about snooping. Max can either give her a satisfying logical answer as to why she was in Gwen's office (school work? picking something up for Gwen?), make a compromise that she gives Loretta a short statement for her podcast and therefore Loretta doesn't tell Gwen, or tell Loretta to stay out of her business which will lead to Loretta (maybe anonymously) telling Gwen. In that case, Gwen loses trust in Max and Loretta grows suspicious. If Max is nice to Loretta, she will later help them with the clues she found out when researching for her podcast.

Back to Yasmin's office. Amanda and Max find a phone locked away and manage to unlock it. There isn't much on there, except for an anonymous chat hinting at a love affair. They use nicknames. Max checks the phone in both realities. In A, the affair seems to have hit rock-bottom, Yasmin hasn't responded to the other person's messages within days; on the day of Safi's death, the messenger asked Yasmin to meet them at “their spot”. In B, the affair is apparently still going on. But who is the other person? Amanda says it sounds like another professor. Max checks Yasmin's calendar and notices most days have a few hours blocked around the afternoon. She takes a picture. 

Outside, someone's coming back. If Max talked to Moses before entering the office/made him more confident, he manages to distract the person and take them to his office. If Max didn't talk to him, she and Amanda have to escape through the window. I think it’d be funny if someone from Abraxas saw them and posted about it on Crosstalk.

Since the anonymous chatter seems to be another teacher, Max needs to check when which professor has their consultation hours and when they are out of the office. Max checks the calendars at the teachers lounge. Gwen and Lucas both regularly have afternoon hours blocked for private reasons, but since Max knows about Gwen's wife, she decides to go after Lucas. She finds out the nickname used in the chat also appears in Lucas' highly praised novel — Yasmin and Lucas have (or had) an affair.

The difference between the two realities:

A (Safi is dead): The affair is over. Lucas wears his wedding ring, but is fighting with his wife or his son over the phone, maybe even tries to get back with Yasmin. Yasmin tries to cover it up, further sabotaging the investigations since that would ruin Caledon's reputation even more.

B (Safi is alive): The affair is still going on. Lucas also still wears a wedding ring when Max sees him. He seems to be on good terms with his wife and son while juggling the affair.

In the game, if you look at the cherry blossom tree on campus, you find out about Maya Okada. It's established she was a writer, Safi's friend, and killed herself some time prior to the start of the game. But why? I like the idea that Lucas was her professor and stole her work, pretending to have written it himself. It’s just that Lucas being an asshole isn’t really enough of a reason to me to steal an entire manuscript and ruin his student’s life.

I think Maya found out about the affair, but before she could tell Safi, Lucas threatened her to stay quiet and stole her book. It broke Maya and then we all know what happens. Why is it so bad that Maya found out about the affair? Well, on one side, she is best friends with Safi and would’ve told her, and on the other side, I think she was part of Abraxas and therefore could’ve spilled the secret on Crosstalk.

In my mind, Safi and Maya were both part of Abraxas. Only that Safi was kicked out after her relationship/fling with Vinh. Maybe she broke his heart, maybe she was trouble, maybe they were afraid her mother would put a stop to it.

Safi doesn't accept that Maya just killed herself for seemingly no reason (they were best friends, she would've known if something was up) and when Lucas' book gets published, she immediately recognizes it as Maya's work. She confronts Lucas, she tells her mother, she even begs Vinh to post about it, but she has no real evidence. The only copy left of Maya's work is with Lucas'. Safi's only escape is writing; her work is very autobiographical though poetic, and Yasmin can tell what it's about. Gwen has had assumptions, too. Max finds Maya's old texts in Lucas' office, confirming that he did steal it word for word. She also finds a gun locked away in a safe alongside the documents.

I’ve been mentioning Abraxas here and there so maybe let’s talk about them now. In Double Exposure, they are blowing smoke. Max comparing them to the Vortex Club is laughable. So how about this: Max gets ahold of Reggie’s mysterious box and has to solve the riddles to get inside. It should be more difficult than just turning the box and pressing some buttons, which would be a great opportunity to explore the campus more. Now, what’s inside? A note with a place and a time for a secret Abraxas meeting for new members. Max tried to talk to Vinh about Maya but he rebuffed her, so she decides to go to the secret meeting to try her luck there.

Abraxas should be some sort of cult/secret society and really pretentious. I’m talking rituals, cloaks, matching tattoos, drug use. Maya was deep in that cult and when she was so upset and confused about Lucas’ stealing her book and all, she went to Vinh/Abraxas for help. During a ceremony/ritual, she overdosed and died. Vinh blames himself for Maya’s death and never told Safi. Caledon only ever officially stated that Maya killed herself.

At that point, Max, Amanda and Moses decide that Max needs to talk to the Safi who's still alive. Both Safis had a similar state of knowledge about what went on with Lucas and Maya. Max can decide whether she wants to let Safi know about the affair between her mother and Lucas AND whether she wants to tell Safi about what Vinh had to do with Maya’s death. This affects Safi's trust in Max but also her rage/longing for revenge. Still, they do not know who shot Safi. Safi points out that nobody's tried to kill her in this reality yet, so there must've been something her other version found out that made her the target. She says if she found out anything, she surely wrote it down or kept the evidence in her house (or apartment? We never even find out where she lives, Jesus.).

Max switches back and they search Safi's place. Turns out the Safi from reality A found out about the affair and, upon receiving backlash from her mother, wrote a mail to Lucas' wife with her evidence. But she didn't use her own name. She used her mothers, pretending it's Yasmin who wrote to the wife.

Max, Moses and Amanda gather all their evidence and review them at Max’ house. Loretta comes over because she saw the missing cat in Max’ living room and she’s investigating that case. She sees what they are doing and wants to help. They suspect her of only having her true crime podcast in mind, but Loretta says that the students deserve to know what happened and she has been secretly investigating Maya Okada’s case. She found out from whom Abraxas is buying their drugs and how they can reveal so many secrets.

Max confronts Yasmin, who didn't know until now who leaked the affair. She admits she told Vinh to help cover any rumors about it and to find out who might've gotten wind of the affair. Max digs deeper, wanting to figure out what Yasmin knows about Safi's death, but she says she doesn't know who did it. Max asks about the affair and the “spot” mentioned in the texts. Yasmin says she hasn't even looked at the phone since before Safi's death and breaks down. The last point of call is Lucas. Max, Moses, Loretta and Amanda decide they should lure him to the viewpoint (the alleged “spot”) via a message over Yasmin's secret phone.

Outside, a storm is raging. It’s snowing heavily. Max recognised it immediately, knowing she has once again gone to far with her powers. She wants to abort the mission (Moses and Yasmin are in favor of this), but Loretta and Amanda say they just need to find Lucas. Surprisingly, he comes to the viewpoint despite the weather.

At first, he’s defensive, then Lucas confesses he was the one to fire the shot, but he thought it was Yasmin. Because of the snow and the dark, he mistook the daughter for the mother. He wanted revenge on Yasmin for destroying his family (that’s his way of viewing it, saint Lucas of course never did anything wrong… ha ha) and thought if she was dead, Safi would stop trying to get the truth about his novel out. Max says they will call the police on him, but Lucas says they have no evidence and pulls out his gun. Loretta comes in and says that they actually got evidence of everything as well as his confession and reveals a recorder for her podcast.

Lucas points his gun at Loretta. Max rips up her hand to stop him and freezes time just like she did in LIS1 when Kate tried to jump off the roof. She manages to take the gun from Lucas’ hand, then the freezing stops. Loretta sacks the evidence, but Lucas is fighting Max, pushing her over the edge of the viewpoint. She can hear the others calling her name, but also the voices of other people like Chloe, Joyce, Jefferson, Victoria, etc.

Then she gets sucked right into the storm.

Okay, wait. Let’s pause for a second.

One big problem my version has that is also present in Double Exposure: What about the other Max? I think in Double Exposure, there isn’t even another Max. The doppelgänger turns out to be Safi, but I’ve cut out her superpowers because I don’t think they elevate the story in any way. I think Max creates these two universes because of her grief and so she is the one variable standing between the realities that later merge into one.

But in my version, there have to be two versions of Max. One from reality A and one from reality B. And which one you play with depends on what ending you chose in LIS1. Let’s try to make sense out of that:

In the beginning, I said: The A-to-B!Max finds Safi alive while the B-to-A!Max finds Safi's dead body. Both saw Safi die in the glitch before they were thrust into the other universe. The gunshot was heard in both realities, which is why the police is called in both realities. I think I mostly wrote from the perspective of the B-to-A!Max, because she witnesses the murder hand-first and is therefore in the midst of the investigations. She has to solve the murder. Meanwhile A-to-B!Max has to confide what she saw to someone, possibly Moses, first. She has to solve a murder that did not happen in this world, but did happen in the other. Both have to solve why they changed places. Both want to get back to their own world… right?

What needs to be established is that Max can run into her other self and that other characters will be confused, saying things like “Weren’t you just at the Snapping Turtle?” or “Didn’t you say you wanted to go home?”. That will lead to more mess/weird conversation. It would be so cool to have a task in the game where you have to hide from the other self in order to get somewhere, similar like Max and Chloe sneaking around the swimming pool to not run into David.

So, what happens in reality B? Yasmin and Lucas are still having an affair, so they cannot convince Yasmin to text Lucas to meet her at the viewpoint for a confrontation. Either way, Lucas is busy that night: He wants to make an announcement about the screen adaptation of “his” novel at the Snapping Turtle (similar to what happens in Double Exposure). Amanda, Moses, Loretta and Max want to expose him.

Now it matters what the other Max told Safi. If the other Max told Safi everything, Safi will not only expose that Lucas stole Maya’s manuscript, but also the affair and Maya’s overdose caused by Vinh and Abraxas. If the other Max didn’t tell her about the affair or Abraxas fault, Safi of course won’t mention it. Lucas and Safi have a back and forth conversation until Safi says that it was Max who told her everything. Lucas storms off stage, grabs Max’ arm and asks her to go outside with him to talk while he secretly shows her he has a gun. She has no choice but to follow him outside onto the terrace. Here, a storm rages as well. Lucas confronts her, wants to know how much she knows and pushes her up to the railing.

The others follow them outside. A close up shot on Max’ face, trying to get Lucas to put down his gun, until Safi interrupts her and points at the storm. It’s really close. In that careless moment, Loretta tries to get ahold of the gun. The gun fires. Lucas pushes Max over the railing. She, just like her other self, gets sucked into the storm.

We need a realities-glitching-nightmare sequence in the game and now it’s time for that. I don’t like that in Double Exposure, it takes place in a motel we have never seen before. Yes, Max has lived a life in those over fifteen years since the first game, but this has no meaning to the player. What I did like about that motel scene is how more and more stuff turned into paintings. It’s a nice illusion and when Max tries to find her way out of the following locations, those optical illusions should definitely stay: Max’ classroom, the bowling alley, the Snapping Turtle, the Abraxas’ location and finally (and here, I’m allowing myself to stray from what I just said) a mirror labyrinth. Max sees dozens of versions of herself in those mirrors until one doesn’t follow her movements. Say hi to your other self, Max! They talk for a bit until the other Max touches the mirror, saying they can make everything go back to normal.

I don’t know if this is big enough for a final decision, but it’s what I’ve come up with. Max can either switch back or stay. It’s a second chance so to say. She got a glimpse of the future she could have had if she decided differently back then in Arcadia Bay. Does she still stand with that? Does she miss [Chloe | Arcadia Bay] so much that she is willing to stay in the reality she previously gave up? Does she miss Safi so much she wants to stay in the reality she’s alive or can she leave her?

[ STAY ] or [ GO ]

[ STAY ] The Max you play doesn’t touch the mirror. She turns back. The Max on the other side is very upset (“NO! COME BACK!”) and hammers against the mirror, but it’s too late. The “portal” is locked, they cannot switch back and forth between realities anymore.

A-to-B!Max is now in the world where Chloe and Safi are alive, but Arcadia Bay got destroyed.

B-to-A!Max is now in the world where Chloe and Safi are both dead, but Arcadia Bay is alive.

[ GO ] The Max you play touches the mirror and through that contact, they get thrown back into their respective worlds. The “portal” is locked, they cannot switch back and forth between realities anymore.

Each Max is back in the world she belongs in. What happened while Max was inside the storm? What are the differences between the final confrontation?

First of all, the storm is gone. Everyone in the area has a headache and some memories are mixed up, just like in Double Exposure. No one remembers that Max switched between timelines and she does not tell anyone.

Universe A (Safi is dead): The confrontation happens at the viewpoint. Amanda and Loretta are holding Lucas to the ground; Moses is calling the police. Loretta has Lucas’ confession on her tape, has the murder weapon, and they all saw that he tried to kill Max as well.

Lucas gets arrested. They all have to testify. Yasmin dissolves Abraxas before having to resign from her post. Max can decide whether or not she wants to give the police the evidence on Vinh and Abraxas. If she does, the police decides the evidence not valid enough, but Vinh gets suspended*. Loretta makes a long podcast episode and writes an article on the steal, earning an award. Alderman gets suspended for obstruction of investigations and corruption.

*The case will not be reopened. Owning the drug is not a direct indication that Vinh/Abraxas were the ones who gave Maya the drug. But the use of drugs on campus is still illegal, so he doesn’t get to keep his job.

Max celebrates an early Christmas with Moses, Amanda and Loretta at the Snapping Turtle before driving to Arcadia Bay.

Universe B (Safi is alive): The confrontation happens at the Snapping Turtle. If Max managed to talk Lucas into lowering the gun before Loretta grabbed it, the fired shot was aimed at Loretta. She dies. (Sorry! But somebody has to die!) If Lucas refused to lower the gun, his shot was aimed at Max but because of the storm, the bullet misses. Amanda and Safi are holding Lucas to the ground; Moses is calling the police. Lucas never confessed but they have enough evidence.

Only if Loretta was shot, Lucas gets arrested. In both cases, his awards get taken away, the book won’t be renewed and Maya’s manuscript gets published. Also his wife divorces him. If Loretta lives, she makes a long podcast episode and writes an article on the steal, earning an award. Max can decide whether or not she wants to give the police the evidence on Vinh and Abraxas. If she does, the police decides the evidence not valid enough, but Vinh gets suspended. (Reasoning explained above)

Max celebrates an early Christmas with Safi, Moses, Amanda and Loretta at the Snapping Turtle before leaving to meet up with Chloe.

I don’t know if this story is enough to split it into five chapters, scrolling back I think it might be four:

Chapter One: Introduction to Max’ new life, ending with Safi’s mysterious death / cliffhanger: Max noticing she must’ve switched realities Chapter Two: Investigations at the police station and at various offices / cliffhanger: Yasmin and Lucas have or had an affair Chapter Three: Maya Okada and Abraxas / cliffhanger: Abraxas killed Maya Chapter Four: Confrontation, Nightmare and End

Splitting them further would make them feel shorter and more empty.

Let me know what you think!

[fakeusernamelol]

Sorry for the double ask but also the talk abt kidnapper Ford and bad ending Ford just makes me want an au where teen pregnant Stan got whisked away and taken care of by an older ford that has his shit together (bad ending Ford after he wiped Stan's memory and lost all rights to see him but was so lonely and wanted at least an attempt at a do-over?)

🫎

DONT WORRYY i love answering these things so bad, im sorry instead for the late reply 🤭😅

AND NOW THIS? THIS IS SO DAMN AMAZING. Thats something bad Ending ford would definitely do, Im not going to defend because he was still a little shitty person but he was charging so much remorse for what he did to his Stan back in his younghood and now he was fully banned to see him again to prevent stan to remember again those bad moments, Feeling so lonely and in need to repair things somehow he started to go around dimensions again in search of a Stanley he could «help» and do things right that time. That's when he meet with a young version of stan but way more different that his one was.

This stanley looked different, his hair as short as his Stanley tried to cut it, a less feminine cloth showing his strong arms and . However, there was something who made it easy to know that that was stanley and it was the little round belly he was carrying, oh moses, he couldn't help but remember how his stan looked when he was pregnant, that little belly really made stanley even more precious than he was.

But apart from that there was something more, He was sitting legs out at the back of his car in the middle of a lonely road with just a gas station behind him, what was he doing there? His gaze looked tired, looking at the floor while apparently waiting for someone that he supposed was at the little convenience store. Who will he be waiting for? Ford was convinced something was off, the place they were, how stanley was acting, his almost dead look, considering he didn't seem to have more than 16 he was probably one Stanley who was suffering from the same abuses he did to his stan once.. No, he couldn't allow that, not again.

While Stan was waiting for Ford to return from the store, an older man in a trench coat and a red sweater that must have been very uncomfortable for the weather approached him, he didn't appear to be some homeless person asking for money or a thief but it concerned stanley anyway, more when he was able to see well his face, he seemed...familiar, somehow. The man gently asked him if he was alright, Stan had big eyebags under his eyes and seemed to be missing a good hot meal since a while. His car didn't look better, for what he was able to see there were many empty food wrappers all around the car and some blankets with a worn pillow in the back seat. Dear god, what kind of condition was he living in?

Suddenly the sound of the store door rang out and Ford could see a younger version of himself along with some souvenirs apparently for him and Stan. He felt his blood boil by just looking at him, a stupid teenager who brought his sweet brother to this situation living in their car in the middle of the road surviving with shitty snacks from a mini market, how could he properly take care of his pregnant brother? Just look at how he was! No, he wouldn't let it.

Without asking more, Ford took Stan, carrying him between his arms (the years in the portal giving him the strength to do that luckily) and running away from that place before his version from this dimension came back to see Stan.

Stan obviously got freaked out because now he was being kidnapped from his other kidnapper! He just met that old man a few minutes ago but now he was running away from that place along with him, gotta admit, for the age he apparently was he was really athletic, but that didn't meant anything, he didn't want to come with him! Unfortunately for stan his opinion was still being something useless for the rest of the people and no matter the amount of punches he gave to the man's chest or insults he shouted at him he didn't seemed to going free him. In his anger stan noticed how much stranger the situation was becoming, With each glance he became more aware of how similar his face was to his brother's: his similar rounded glasses, his cleft chin and a curly messy hair. Then he felt the fingers of the hands who were touching his abdomen. One, two, three, four, five...six?

Suddenly Stanley stopped fighting but now looked really concerned, what the fuck was happening, who was this guy? Were he was going? His breathing was beginning to accelerate, the panic of not understanding anything was starting to sinking him and he was thinking he has become crazy.. perhaps it was maybe just a dream? He maybe felt asleep while waiting for ford to came back and was having a nightmare but suddenly when he was almost sure all of this was just his imagination, a big and rasp hand gently caressed his cheeks, making Stan's look up and seeing that extremely weird man with a little smile on his face before saying

« Don't worry, Stanley, You will be safe.»

Did he just called-- how, how the fuck did he...

Fuck, he has absolutely become crazy.

[catmorland82]

A break from Scotland Yard

I spend too much time thinking about Miss Scarlet (It's a mental escape right now!), but I was thinking recently about how the Duke's departure really freed the storyline from Scotland Yard. I hope that this continues into Season 5. (Obvs, I want to see Fitzroy and I even have a soft spot in my heart for Phelps... also I know there is to be a new handsome inspector... but still.) I think it was nice to see our girl out there working without having to simultaneously be battling the misogynist cops who (besides Fitzy) LOVED to take her down a peg. I think instead of bringing a The Duke replacement into the mix, I'd have Miss Scarlet take on mentorship to a scrappy young woman -- Two Lady Detectives!! Can you imagine?!

One thing that also really struck me about the back half of season 4 is that Eliza never had to be rescued -- like in the first 3 seasons, there were often times where William (reluctantly) or Moses (less reluctantly, but also not exactly enthusiastically) would have to save her from some danger she had gotten herself into. Nash never had to save Eliza because he was always there with her! I guess I hope this dynamic continues into season 5. Or, if I had my two lady detectives storyline, I'd have Miss Scarlet doing the rescuing!