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sky-is-the-limit · 1 year ago

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"It's what friends do."

P:F!Reader x Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick

CW: Afab Reader,Infedelity,

NSFW,Oral(recieving)

Song Rec: Friends by Chase Atlantic

WC: 2,560 words

Notes: @chai-isms had this lovely idea and I just had to extend it.. :)

Disclaimer: I'm not a writer!

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"Okay, okay, I get it. You missed me." He murmures softly, a wide grin spreading across his face. You can hear his heartbeat as you hug, a soothing rhythm that calmes your nerves, one hand cupping the back of your head gently. His leather jacket is cold against your skin, contrasting the warmth of his breath against your temple. You barely had time to brush your hair and hastily put on your pj's before answering the door, excitement washing over you knowing who's behind it.

"Damn right I did, you idiot." I still do, you wanted to admit. You always do. Saudade is difficult to deal with, it deepens when there’s nothing you can do to bring a person back to you and especially when death can easily fall into the equation. It always takes a few days for you to calm your restless heart down, sooth it that he's safe back home, where Sergeant Garrick is put to rest and Kyle gets to breathe again, alive once more.

You'd think that repetition makes it easier with time until you remember that your hug is a foreshadowing of the goodbye that would later tear you apart. It always does and there's nothing to fill the immeasurable emptiness until you can see kind amber eyes staring back into yours.

"Hey, I'm right here, all in one piece. I'm here." Now his lively cheekiness turns into reassuring whispers, as though he can sense your worried thoughts. You can feel his grip tighten, hearts thumping in unison to the sound of gentle rain landing on the ground outside.

You and Kyle are like magnets. Always finding your way back to each other no matter what. It's rare to find a friendship like yours, even more complex to describe it. You met five years ago when your dearest cousin started dating one of his closest friends, mutual gatherings bringing you closer together until you became inseparable. It wasn't abnormal for people to assume that there was something more between the two of you.

You won't lie to yourself that thoughts as such never creeped in. Thinking of all the late nights you'd spent covertly admiring his profile, he had the kind of face that stopped you in your tracks. A smile bright enough to illuminate the darkest corners of the room along with unusually sharp canines in contrast with his soft features.

He is striking, as if angels had carved his looks and you'd be a horrendous liar if you dared to say otherwise.

''I missed you too, you know. In case that wasn't clear.'' He finally untangles his arms from your body, hesitantly at first, then stands a foot apart, unwilling to completely let go. A sense of completeness washed over you, as if the hug had filled a void only he could create and make disappear. Kyle's eyes twinkle, accompanying the familiar playful tone in his voice before his gaze flicker past you, giving his attention elsewhere.

''Is he coming tonight?'' Oh. Him. You don't even have to match his gaze's direction to know he's staring at one of the photos on the wall. With Kyle's return, you forgot that the rest of the world existed, even your own boyfriend. The bitterness in his voice crystal clear matching the subtle frown on his lips.

They never liked each other, really. Always competing for the number one spot in your heart as if that question wasn't already answered with the way you look at solely one of them.

It hasn't been long since you've started dating Eric, a timid, gentle soul with strawberry blonde hair and emerald green eyes. He is handsome, no doubt. Always treating you with kindness and respect, giving you his undivided attention and time like every proper boyfriend should. Yet every time you look at him, you get reminded of the awful motive hiding behind the start of your relationship. He is Kyle's polar opposite.

It's fucked up, you know it. The moment cold realization washed over you like a thousand crushing waves that you might feel more for Kyle, you immediately said yes to the first person who showed interest in you. Someone who reminded you nothing of the man who offered you sleepless nights, wondering if he's still breathing under the same sky. A deluded solution to a problem that cannot be resolved.

"Uh, no. He's stuck at work, so he'll probably stay at his place tonight." The growing smirk that was plastered all over his face the second you mumbled those words was transparently clear, no ounce of shame behind filthy thoughts forming in his mind.

"Good, I deserve some time alone with you." He leers at you, eyebrow arching.

"Kyle-" You try to look away, eyes darting around the kitchen but inevitably drawn back to his.

"Obviously, you needed someone to fill the time now that I was gone." His forwardness doesn't surprise you one bit. Though you attempt to keep a cool demeanour, your body is practically vibrating with anticipation. You keep your eyes locked in his, arms over your chest as though to keep your trembling heart from jumping out.

"What makes you think he's not enough?" Your playful provocation works wonders. He looks at you with his mismatched gaze, daring. A fainted gasp escapes your lips, eyes widening as he suddenly closes the distance between you with a purposeful stride.

"You want proof now, Y/N?" Kyle murmurs, thumbs tracing your abdomen over your soft cotton shirt, teasing at the waistband of your shorts. He took a step closer, leading you to press your lower back against the kitchen table whilst holding your gaze, completely still, clearly just torturing you at this point. Suddenly, you feel Kyle's cool fingers smooth over your bare thigh, and you instinctively jerk your leg away. You don't mean to, your skin is warm, and his hands are frigid.

"How about the countless nights of you calling me after he leaves so I can finish what he couldn't?" His fingers gently touch the side of your neck, caressing it softly as the words melt into your system, bringing back the agreement you so desperately missed while he was away. You had initially brushed it off as sexual frustration mixed with alcohol and your disoriented brain when it first happened. Oh, how naive you were.

A New year's eve party, a drunken kiss and a soft whispered 'I want you' brought both of you back to your cold apartment, flaming skins and shameless moans disturbing the deafening silence of the night. It started happening more frequently, as if your body was subconsciously begging for his touch and he was always aware. Perhaps it was the deep rooted loneliness that led to this, Kyle with his isolated job and you with your self -destructive tendencies.

How utterly wrong you were. You desperately told yourself that once you get a proper boyfriend, you'd put an end to this. Your body had a different reaction to your plans, rejecting your boyfriend's touch as if Kyle engraved his name onto it and it will accept no other.

"Fuck, this is so wrong-" You admit, a little breathless as if the words have no meaning behind them. The guilt vanished the moment you saw him again.

"It's what friends do, right?" Goosebumps slither down your spine as he whispers in your ear, lips gently grazing your lobe and your hips buck slightly, desperately at the lightest touch. To your surprise, his erection is readily felt on your thigh through the thick layer of his jeans, making you quiver instinctively.

"Help one another when one's in need, hm?" A surge of arousal hits your body instantly, feeling the near instant reaction between your thighs arising by the second. You can't help but shudder as he runs his thumb over your clothed nipple, your breasts heaving as you breathe rapidly. You ache for him like a starved animal locked in a cage for far too long.

"And I'm gonna show you, what a good fucking friend I am." Kyle informs you, his lips descending hungrily upon yours. Before you can respond, he scoops you up in one swift sweep, wrapping your legs around his waist. You catch yourself wanting to curse your reflection out for ever complaining that he needs to spend less time at the gym whilst he carries you like nothing, setting you down on the table without ever so much as lessening the strength of his kiss. His tongue dances around yours, stopping only to bite and pull at your lower lip.

It didn't take long for him to start trailing sloppy kisses from your jaw to your pulse, biting the place at the base of your neck where it connected your shoulder, then sucking the skin and licking over the freshly formed bruise. The thought of the mess awaiting for you tomorrow when your mind is clear from his intoxication, briefly creeps in and disappears with the same pace, every muscle in your body clenching to his mercy.

''Fuck, I missed you.'' He breathes, voice thick and gravelly with need and desire, before tucking his head into the base of your neck to take a long, shuddering breath in, his hands scurrying hungrily over your hips, thighs, and stomach, as if he's trying to remember your perfume, your body all over again.

''Show me.'' Please, you want to add but the words are lodged in your throat and get swallowed down the moment he brings his gaze back up to meet yours, lips brushing your own softly. You'd ruin yourself for him, turn your life upside down, all he had to do was say the word.

''You want me to take care of you, love?'' He asks breathlessly, his nose nuzzling against yours gently, sending blood up to redden your cheeks furiously to the sound of the sweet endearment. The words were soft like a blanket, pulling at your heart.

''Yes, please.'' A soft whine escapes your parted lips softly, your hips arcing upwards desperately to try and meet his. Every nerve ending in your body is on fire, screaming for him and him alone.

''You know I will.'' He murmurs, eyes darkening proportionally with each new inch of skin exposed as his fingertips slid underneath your shirt, caressing your sides. ''I always do.'' No doubt ever crossed your mind when it comes to him, yet it's never needless to have him say it, voice oozing with desire.

''Beautiful.'" He whispers, tugging your bra cups down so your breasts were over the fabric of your shirt, making you squeak, blinking owlishly at the sudden development. Gasping at his touch, you grind yourself against him, desperate for contact while he immediately begins sucking, biting, and licking your nipple while grabbing the other breast with his right hand, massaging it firmly.

''I need more- please Kyle!'' Your nails drag down his forearms, creating red lines impatiently and you're a mess. Suddenly the cool temperature of the room turns into unbearable heat, skin on fire contradicting the cold sweat slipping down your spine.

“That bad, hm?” He asks, slyly grinning against your burning skin. Even in these circumstances, he’s a cocky bastard, knowing exactly how lonely it felt without him, even with a warm body sleeping beside you. He quickly moves down so your thighs are on his shoulders, stretching between them, his cheek caressing against familiar softness. Your black laced undergarments slip off your body with ease, and you’re left bare under his hungry gaze.

He turns his attention to your soaked cunt, folds glistening with your overflowing slick. Without hesitation, he presses his lips against your slit, licking painfully slow your arousal and groaning at the taste of you.

Oh, if he only knew how many sleepless nights you spent with your own hand right where his mouth currently savors you, wishing it was him instead.

''Kyle-'' You moan his name like a desperate prayer, voice feeble and croaky to his touch. If your neighbors weren't already aware of his return, they are now. He shoots you a quick, sly smirk from between your legs before turning his focus to the task at hand, zeroing in on your clit, sucking tenderly as your legs clip down automatically around his ears, trembling.

His tongue is painfully, awfully delicate and torturously slow as it circles your sweet spot. In need to feel more pressure, you try to lift your hips into the pleasure as his grasp tightens on your thighs, promising blue shaded marks to appear so to hold you into place.

''I'll make up for the time I spent away from you.'' He drawles between tongue flicks, amber eyes fixed up at your face, not wanting to miss a second. Both of your hands were now gripping the table edge as you arch your back to the sensation, your core throbbing with pleasure.

''Your fingers-'' Before you could even finish your request, his plump lips rested against your clit, sucking it with need as he inserts two fingers inside of you with ease, curling them upwards to hit your spot instantly. His fingers fuck into you slowly, agonizing, matching the pace of his tongue flickering every inch of you. You jolt as if you’d been electrocuted, tense and shirking as you grip the wooden edges so tight, your fingernails might leave marks underneath.

''All yours, baby.'' His voice sounds so broken and wrecked, he craves this as much as you, if not more. Your fingers tug at his hair, desperate for something to keep yourself grounded. The sound that escapes his lips is so feral, almost like a growl. His pace is brutal, and your eyes blur with stars as he hits the deepest parts inside of you with his long fingers over and over.

You can feel the orgasm building inside of you with each thrust of his fingers, threatening to leave you shaking and breathless in a way no man could ever quite manage.

Kyle humms softly, and your toes curl as the sound washes over you like a heated wave.

"You taste so good, fuck-" He whispers breathlessly before licking you again, slower and more deliberately than before. The action draws a sharp cry from your lips which is quickly stifled as you bite down on them, squirming under the flickers of sensation. It never fails to surprise you how easily he can read your body language, as though you're connected and so he quickens his pace, working in broad strokes, sliding against the sides of your labia.

You can no longer control the moans and whimpers that leave you as he laps at your cunt, white dots your vision as the orgasm hits you hard, your whole body shaking with the sudden release of tension. When Kyle finally tugs his fingers out, your walls clench around them, almost like your body was trying to keep them inside for as long as possible. It was heady, intoxicating and you couldn't get enough.

Speechless, your hand reaches down to his face, tracing the outline of it with your fingertips.

''Don't mention it.'' Kyle chuckles at your loss of words, raising himself up so he can press a soft kiss on your cheek, before bringing his hand to his lips, allowing himself to taste your arousal soaking his fingertips.

''It's what friends do.''

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blingblong55 · 7 months ago

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Worth it- 141 & Laswell

pic credits: @gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot (left)and @ave661 (middle)

Based on a request: Wait, wait, first of all hope you're doing well and make sure to drink a glass of water if you haven't already. Cozy? Yeah? Okay, Can I request something (you can choose whether it's a HCor not,etc etc) on how TF141 would react to meeting a teen boy around 15-16, who's like a genius in engineering, mathematics, and physics? Like the boy could legitimately build a rocket if he had the time, help and materials. Maybe the meet him because he got in trouble with the government for unknowingly making a weapon? Maybe he made it for a class assignment and it was stolen without his knowledge? Whatever you think makes sense here. Leaving space for you to enter your own creative thoughts, just the general idea of it. The boy is based on a character of mine from a book I'm writing, his name his Michael, but ofc you can switch that up however you wish. Have fun with this one Ignore if it doesn't sound fun to ya <3 ---- M!Reader, genius!reader, platonic!relationship? ----

A/N: drank enough water, thanks for the reminder <3

Y/N, the name of the unknown internet user that had been chased by many governments and caught by the one and only Task Force 1-4-1.

You created something so dangerous that no one believed Laswell when she told her bosses the age you had when you started all this. You created the one thing most geniuses working for the government didn't know existed outside of the numbers and graphs they had done for it. At first, the FBI had named you un-sub A. Now, they can finally put a name to the unknown face.

How were you caught? Well, it wasn't easy, let's start there. When all this mess began, you were no older than fifteen. You are practically a ticking bomb to the government so when they heard that someone was asking the right questions to chemists around your city, they began to search for you. Laswell at the time was on a small break from work but the journals you had left in your parent's home when you ran away one rainy day.

In the journals, Laswell found all she needed to have a task force assigned to find you. She called it Operation Mikey, the name was just to fill in the void of the one thing she couldn't find, you.

Your parents weren't much help in giving your name, hence why Mikey became a temporary replacement. With them high off any drug and you on the run with the rest of your journals, Price was tasked with finding you and making sure you were secured in their care.

For three months, you ran away. Moving to different cities and continuing your research of the chemical weapon you fabricated in your bedroom, the same one Laswell had locked in a laboratory somewhere in the capital of the country.

In month four, you found an abandoned building in the middle of the desert. That's where your laboratory, if you can call it that, began.

For months after that, you collected data and it wasn't until nine months later that Soap found you trading chemicals with some scientist that you were caught.

Once you were brought in, they had realised so much about you. You were way younger than what their profile had thought of, much more intelligent than they'd think a person your age was and so skilled in engineering, mathematics, and physics.

"Why didn't we find his information sooner," Laswell questions her bosses. "Kid was never even registered by his parents." The man on the phone answers. "How the hell did he even get this kind of education then?" She asks again but you had that answer.

"My parents just bought me books and hired a weird guy from the street to teach me anything," you respond and Price chuckles. "Bullshit, kid. Now tell us, how the hell did you get all of these journals?" He points to the evidence bags. Your research of months now being read by other scientists.

"I am the creator of them, not let me go," you protest against Ghost's grip on you. "No chance," Price barks. "What's your real name?" Laswell asks you. "Y/N," you answer knowing it was either this or get thrown in some federal prison.

"And you created this weapon? do you have any idea how dangerous it is to create something like this? How many people it would take to create a mathematical concept and then make it into a physical form?"

"It's not that hard, lady," you answer with an attitude. Were people this dumb?

It took hours, lots of bribing and one request from Soap and Gaz to give you food for you to open up. What? you are a teenager who needs enough food for growth, of course, you'll talk once they give you food. Talking and having to dumb it down took hours though. After all, how can you explain to hardheaded soldiers about probability theory, and why it mattered so much to your project that it took ten trials and two journals worth of failed work to get?

Laswell was more than impressed, no seriously, she was like a proud mother listening to you explain every page and even give notes in only a way that a teenage boy would to idiotic adults like them. She thought it was so adorable how a boy your age would throw nerdy jokes into the explanations and how she watched you be the only one to laugh at them.

Ghost would often smile when you'd give a snarky comment to Price. Don't get him started on the chuckles he let out when you threw a few old man jokes at Price or made comments on Soap's weird hairstyle. The comments towards Gaz were funny but also adorable how you tried to find more reasons to get him annoyed.

Price thought of his son who was about your age when you'd get excited over your most recent discovery for the weapon you had created. It was nice to know that behind all that matter in your head, you were still a kid. It was even nicer when you'd make the jokes no one understood but secretly, Price's nerdy self understood some jokes.

Gaz saw his younger brother in you, which is why even when you made jokes at his expense, he would let them pass. The way you looked at him when having to explain things was nice in some way but it was way funnier when you called Soap the smart one of all four for being able to understand the way bombs work better than anyone and then have Ghost shake his head and tell you, "that man is just a muppet, don't believe what we tell you about his work."

Soap was fascinated by you for sure. Just like Price, he understood some of the jokes, even the cheesy puns you made about certain elements. He liked you, it was something fresh from the people he usually deals with.

The team, for the past few days, grew to adore the nerdy man you are. Yeah, you teased and even called them out on wrong facts but it was new. It's good to have someone so intelligent and be so honest with them this time. What was funny is that you know so much about many topics few understand but you don't know much about real life outside of the nerdy realm you live in. It's a nice feeling when passing by Laswells office you find a framed picture of the day Ghost and the other men of the team taught you about hunting and even how to play baseball, something you sucked at in the beginning but have gotten better over time.

It's like having four funny, serious, and cool dads and an amazing mum whilst being taken care of at the base the team called home.

A/N: I hope this was somewhat okay and good luck on your book!

Tags: @liyanahelena @mangowafflesss @froggy-anon @jinxxangel13 @enarien @sae1kie @queen-ilmaree @avidreadee123 @ikohniik @konigssultwithghost @luvecarson @a-goose-with-a-knife @foxface013 @marshiely @sleepyycatt

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hotchfiles · 8 months ago

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↪ day six. perfectionism — #marchhotchness

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ❝ wool to brave the season ❞ ─ a choiceless hope blurb

pairing: aaron hotchner x bau!reader. summary: but as you sat down on the floor of the crappy hotel, sharing bad coffee and feeling his warmth by your side, you knew that you wouldn’t have him any other way. even if you don’t really have him. content warnings: set before the first part. you can read it without reading the rest tho. just a bit of angst and idiots in love and partnership and criminal minds canon descriptions of crimes. word count: 800+

You woke up to the faint sound of shuffling of paper, the room was mostly dark and chilly, the clock on your bedside strikes two in the morning. You didn’t have to look to know, but still, you checked the other bed finding it empty, a source of light coming from steps ahead on the small hotel room showed you the prettiest scene.

Your partner in his pajamas, coffee pot and cup next to the lamp on the desk, his eyes were glued to the files and the thick book under them, which you imagined to be the crime classification manual.

The team had been briefed on the way there, but arriving in Seattle after dinner time made the plan of getting to the scenes as fast as possible change, and you were both told to rest for the night.

Hotch promised you he would go to bed in a bit, three hours ago.

You scoffed, getting up and taking the blanket you were just cozied up on with you, dropping it on his shoulders swiftly, he jolted in the chair in surprise, smiling when he noticed it was just you. “Did I wake you? Tried not to make any noise.”

His voice is raspy from how tired he is and from not speaking for a while and weirdly it brings you comfort, hearing him speak so quietly in the almost full darkness of that room, no outside noise coming in, as if only the two of you existed, as if he was yours.

“It’s cold, Aaron. Go to bed.” You don’t answer his question, instead you sit on the edge of the bed you were just sleeping on, waiting to hear him justify the ungodly hour of his work.

“I’m not cold anymore.” His attempt to not make it obvious the way he took a deep breath while tightening the blanket around him fails, and he knows you know he was trying to smell you through the fabric.

“Alright, I’ll bite. What you doing?”

“Building a profile.” He says matter of fact, shrugs as he does so but makes sure to hold the blanket so it doesn’t fall, he feels cozy in it, basking in the smell of your body wash and by how soft the fabric was. It was your blanket after all, you took it on every trip.

“We didn’t even–” You start, trying to argument that you hadn’t gone to the crime scenes yet, but he had recently become one of the lead profilers, promoted before you which made you just about 5% jealous and 95% proud because you knew how hard he worked, and how this case had to come out perfectly. The result had to be perfect.

Aaron was like that, he was a perfectionist, a controlling freak perfectionist, and his first case as lead profiler had left him empty handed, not enough to build the profile before the BAU was sent away. Since then he had become more and more obsessive, you had to deal with it during work and imagined his fiancee had to deal with it at home.

Although you reckon she might have better outcomes on making him relax.

You, on the other hand, don’t have as much freedom to do something about it, so you do what you can as his partner and friend. You get up, turn the lights on, get your glasses and sit on the floor across from him, opening your hand and waiting for him to give you some of the files.

“What?”

“Pass me some of those, let’s bounce some ideas back and forth, you know profiles can’t be built solo, you might be biased.” You sighed at his reluctance, the guilt from waking you up clear on his eyes. “I’m already up, just do it, stop being so annoying.”

You were bossy when you wanted, too bad he actually liked that, so he just smirked and threw half the files on your lap. The first you open are filled with photos from the autopsies, you whine, something about the cold lab atmosphere and the dead almost blue bodies always creeps you out, and Hotch knew it too, “oh fuck me–” Trying my best not to, he lets the intrusive thought come and go quickly, ignoring it, “autopsies, really?”

He shrugs, “I’m looking at the crime scene ones, the whole scene is organized, clean, but the bodies are torn apart, disorganized, personal, there’s too much disconnection.” Hotch slips down from the chair, sitting on the floor by your side and putting the pictures in front of you both to analyze.

The coffee is starting to get cold, so he grabs his cup from the table, sharing it with you as you worked on writing the discrepancies you both found between the scenes and the bodies.

Aaron is a perfectionist. He needs his plans to go exactly as he schemed them, he doesn’t like change and he likes to be prepared for what the next day will bring.

But as you sat down on the floor of the crappy hotel, sharing bad coffee and feeling his warmth by your side, you knew that you wouldn’t have him any other way.

Even if you don’t really have him.

#lari writes sometimes #marchhotchness #lari march hotchness #aaron hotch x reader #aaron hotch x you #aaron hotch imagine #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner imagine #criminal minds x reader #hotch x reader #hotch x you #hotch imagine #hotch scenario

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penguwastaken · 6 months ago

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Danganronpa 2 Never Said Chiaki Never Existed

In Danganronpa 2, AI Chiaki shows surprise when seeing her profile in the book that Nagito got. A lot of people use this as proof that chiaki never existed, but that's really never said at all.

I figured it was pretty obvious, but the reason she is surprised is because she never knew there was a real Chiaki.

In chapter 5, both Monomi and Chiaki herself aren't aware of how Chiaki got her personality, so they just assume it might have come from the people that made them.

Of course, Danganronpa 3 later gives us an actual answer and says she was created by the memories of Class 77, directly building off of this mystery in the second game.

Point is, Chiaki doesn't know where her personality came from, who she's based on, or even that there was a real Chiaki at all.

"Erm but Pengu, they say that Chiaki's profile is fake"

That is never actually stated in game, all that is told to us is that Monokuma slipped in false information.

However, Monokuma DOES confirm that everything in the book is reused from information provided by the former headmaster (Jin Kirigiri obviously), which causes Nagito to question if the traitor is a former Hope's Peak student.

Once again, Chiaki's presence in Danganronpa 3 seems to be here to tie up these loose ends and mysteries.

So then what false information did Monokuma include then? Simple, he left Chiaki's profile in. He didn't fake a profile, he just included the profile of someone who wasn't actually in the killing game.

He even admits to ignoring the traitor, which is kind of a weird thing to say if you went out of your way to fake something for their sake.

AI chiaki is NOT the same as IRL Chiaki

They have different lives, memories, personalities, etc. All they share is the same persona, but ultimately AI Chiaki is just an ai that takes the appearance of Chiaki.

AI Chiaki is her own person, an AI created by Chihiro designed to create a chaperone like student based on the needs and experiences of those involved with the Neo World Program, and it just so happened to result in taking the form of Chiaki because of that. However, it is still not Chiaki. So leaving Chiaki's profile in and implying Chiaki is a part of the killing game is inherently false information.

At most, Danganronpa 2 leaves whether there was a real Chiaki or not in the open, however it never confirms or denies the existence of one. Nothing in the game outright says that a Chiaki never existed, only that the one we see is an AI of vague origin.

And if that isn't enough to convince you, during the scene with Chiaki's memory and Hajime, Kodaka says that he felt like Chiaki there felt more real which inspired him to make Chiaki a real person.

"Actually, now that I think about it, when I started making DR3, I got stuck on something from DR2. After Nanami dies in Chapter 5, she comes back in Chapter 6 through a glitch, and when I was writing Nanami for that, I had the idea that she was 'a little bit off'. She’s not like the Nanami we’ve seen so far, I thought; she was never that tender. I had that gnawing at my brain when I was making DR3, and I thought, 'Maybe that really was a different Nanami,' and that’s how I came up with the Nanami in Zetsubou-hen." -Kazutaka Kodaka in an interview

Of course this does not mean Kodaka intended that Chiaki in this specific was meant to be the real Chiaki when making Danganronpa 2. However it DOES show that Kodaka never ruled out the posibility of a real chiaki, because if he did he wouldn't have even come to that conclusion.

If you want my opinion, this seems like another scenario of people who don't like Danganronpa 3 having their personal interpretation of the story proven wrong and instead of admitting that they were wrong about something they just call it a retcon. The same thing happened with brainwashing, it happened with Mukuro, and I'm certain that's what happened here. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#danganronpa #dr #danganronpa 3 #dr3 #dr3 anime #dr2 goodbye despair #danganronpa 2 #danganronpa goodbye despair #danganronpa anime #sdr2 #dr2 #dr3 chiaki #chiaki nanami #sdr2 chiaki #danganronpa chiaki

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accirax · 6 months ago

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What is your opinion on the DRDT time loop theory? If you do have any thoughts on it, what do you think Mai, the Teacher & the past kg/(assumption) the altdrdt kg have to do with it? (Mai and Teacher often exist in proxy to evidence for this theory & the 'past killing game' & the teacher are clearly closely connected.)

Alright, so this one is going to be a bit more of a challenge than usual because, as I confirmed, the “DRDT Time Loop Theory” doesn’t exactly… exist. I mean, it definitely does, because you know what it means, and I know what it means, and I’m willing to bet that many other people who will encounter this post also know what it means. But, everyone’s understanding of it is pretty vague and scattered because no one has ever written it out before. Other than kind of this 3 minute segment of a video by Ocean Unknown (which never even says the words “time loop” directly, it just discusses a major piece of evidence for the theory), as well as this work-around by @/1moreff-creator, there isn’t any document I can read or video I can watch to base my opinion off of.

Therefore, this leaves me in the position of having to establish the original scripture for what the DRDT Time Loop Theory is, and then give my thoughts on how plausible it might be. Naturally, this may result in my answers having some obvious bias to them in one way or another– either that I will misrepresent some evidence because I don’t think the idea is plausible, or that I will become convinced of the theory because it’s tailored to exactly what I think makes the most sense– but, no matter! Somebody had to establish this someday, and I’m honored that you regard my opinion highly enough to task me as the one to do it. Here we go!

I usually like to establish a sort of premise to each of my theories near the beginning, because I think it provides a good structure through which people can pace themselves and know what to expect. For this theory, I think it will make the most sense to create sections based on the basic questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Although, not necessarily in that order. Or rather, definitely not in that order, because I know where I’m going to start.

What?

‘Cause, like, what? What is the time loop theory? That’s where we should start.

As far as I’m aware, the time loop theory is mainly based on the combination of two different pieces of evidence. The first hails from DRDT’s About Page. In the same fashion that people found each character’s hidden quotes on their profiles, you can find a long monologue in the code of the text. I’ll copy it here for convenience:

“You don’t understand, do you? I used to be like you. I barely remember, but I used to be like you. I cared so much about people, I cried everytime someone was hurt. I suffered for a long time stuck in here caring about people. I know what you’re going through. You’re going to hold on as long as you have, with hope that you can make it out of here with everyone. Then you’re going to despair. That lasts a while, too. Then you’ll get bored. Like me. And you’ll wish you were still suffering. Anything else is better than boredom. I wish I could feel something, anything else, other than being bored. I’m stuck in here for eternity, and I know everything that could possibly happen. I know how everyone reacts to a murder, what makes people turn to despair, what fills people with hope and make them survive until we all run out of food and starve to death. I wish I could feel terrified, or afraid, or angry. But I can’t anymore. I don’t feel anything at all except boredom. Do you understand, Teacher? This is why I’m letting you suffer as long as possible. Because it’s better than the alternative. I’m sorry. I don’t envy you. You’ll understand eventually.”

Because this quote is found on the About page, we can’t tie it to any one character in particular like we can for the secret quotes. Many people suspect this quote may have come from DRDT’s mastermind, but we obviously don’t know who that is, either. To help us establish the speaker’s character, let’s see what we can infer about them from what they’ve said.

Firstly, we know that this character has been through a lot. They started off caring, then turned to cruelty, yet wound up feeling nothing but boredom in the end. Notably, however, this is only the way that this character sees themself– how kind or how cruel they were is subject to their own perspective. Personally, I don’t think that the speaker is as dead inside as they claim to be. The fact that they wind up relating themselves to “Teacher” and taking actions to minimize Teacher’s suffering proves that they haven’t fully given up on humanity or caring for others.

The speaker also seems to think pretty highly of themself. They begin the passage by assuming that Teacher couldn’t possibly understand what they’ve gone through, and see themself as a tortured Atlas bearing the weight of all knowledge on their shoulder (“I know everything that could possibly happen”). The whole “this is for your own good” mentality also shows them as somewhat patronizing and commandeering.

As for some of the more physical details, while it’s not 100% confirmed, it seems pretty clear that the speaker is or was in a killing game. A murder can occur pretty much anywhere that there are two people, but “how everyone reacts to a murder” really makes it seem like the speaker is in a place where murder is expected. And then, there are the obvious references to hope and despair, which we all know are super killing-game-coded words.

The phrase that I find most interesting in the About Page quote (APQ) is “until we all run out of food and starve to death.” The speaker including themselves in a “we” means that they do identify as part of the group that is stuck in a killing game. Therefore, we can learn that 1) the speaker does not have a secret way to exit the killing game facility and/or time loop, and 2) the speaker is in a physical space, not a metaphysical one. They’re just as vulnerable to starvation (and possibly being killed?) as anyone else. This could be important when it comes to establishing how the time loop came to be and what kind of time loop it is.

And then, of course, there’s Teacher.

Due to the “wants to become the perfect teacher” tagline, many people have come to assume that the Teacher that the APQ refers to is a member of the unnamed fangan (which I call altDRDT) cast. Specifically, that brown-and-red-haired gentleman in the middle. This theory was basically confirmed by the second of the three Christmas 2023 comics DRDTdev posted.

Furthermore, one of the few images we have of him is with a piece of chalk and chalkboard.

We know from the altDRDT FAQ page that Teacher uses he/him pronouns (along with “Soundwave,” “XF,” “Dandelion,” “Scale,” “Bullet,” and “Ice”), which is important in potentially connecting him to the scholarly “him” that Min mentioned in A History of Hope’s Peak.

Therefore, the “Teacher” that the speaker is talking to is very likely to be altDRDT’s Teacher. However, I do want to take a moment to provide a bit of a counterargument. I don’t doubt that our close-eyed compatriot is the Ultimate Teacher. However, I also don’t want to assume that the person who’s trying to become the perfect teacher has to be the same as the Ultimate Teacher, despite the obvious throughline. For example, couldn’t the speaker of the APQ be trying to teach their beliefs to Teacher, searching for the perfect way to get him to understand what needs to be done? I still think that the Teacher that the speaker refers to is probably the altDRDT character, but I wanted us all to reach that conclusion while considering what’s outside the box.

Regardless, there’s clearly a lot to consider here. The people who first discovered this quote thought so as well, and started looking for answers by connecting it to things we’ve already seen in DRDT. The most popular connection comes from the prologue, Veronika’s introduction in particular. Remember when she rants to Teruko and Xander about the (fictional) book Forever Dead? It goes by pretty quick, but her summary is quite interesting:

And thus, the exact phrasing of the “time loop” began. Forever Dead touches upon a lot of the same plot points that the speaker brings up in the APQ. People die, the main character transforms from invested to bored, and straddles the border between relatable and sinister.

We also learn a bit more about the speaker and what happened/will happen to him. He identifies as a boy (who uses he/him pronouns), he’s impaled by metal spikes and left to die at some point, and he manages to apologize for “everything he did,” though apparently only through some level of force. “Everything he did” is interestingly vague– is that implying that the boy was the cause of the time loop, or just that he was apologizing for the terrible things he did as a result of his bored insanity? What forced him into the apology if he was “left alone?” These characteristics may apply to the APQ speaker as well, under the assumption that the boy and the speaker are allegories for the same character.

So, those are the two main pieces of information that I’m aware of that lead people to devise the time loop theory. In case it’s important, I’ve also compiled some of the instances I could remember offhand of DRDT characters bringing up the cyclical nature of humanity and how things never change.

Any of these characters’ ideas about what “always has to happen” could be supported and/or challenged in the future by a time loop.

I also know that some people like to bring up the comments section portion of Literature Girl Insane (conveniently written over the words “the world won’t change!”) as evidence of DRDT being stuck in a time loop. I could explain why I don’t think that’s the case, but FF already did that as part of their giant LGI analysis video (which I will continue to recommend). I don’t think I can really put it any better than they did, so I encourage you to watch that section of the video at least if you’re curious as to why I won’t be including this as evidence.

And now, for a summary of what we’ve learned so far, the basics of the Time Loop Theory. Due to the About Page Quote, the summary of Forever Dead, and references to cyclical behavior, some believe that the characters in the DRDT killing game are experiencing a time loop. The speaker of the APQ, who is possibly the mastermind, is likely the only one of the sixteen students who is aware of this. When the loop began, they put their all into trying to achieve the best ending. However, over time, they became more bitter, first turning to wreaking havoc before succumbing to apathy. They have somehow captured “Teacher,” the protagonist of altDRDT, in an inescapable state of suffering, in order to teach him a lesson about how foolish it is to continue to care about others. They’re a bit of a cynical know-it-all, but their dedication to correcting Teacher’s behavior proves that they haven’t fully given up on humanity.

Basic facts, established! However, this is still pretty vague, and there are plenty more details to sort through. How about we start with…

How?

Because even among people who believe there is a time loop, there are many definitions of what a time loop can mean. In this section, I’ll aim to figure out which I think is the most likely in two broad categorization systems.

Is the time loop meta or non-meta?

A meta time loop would be one that is directly caused by the player/viewer interacting with the property, breaking the fourth wall. For DRDT, this would mean something along the lines of “every time you rewatch an episode of Despair Time, the characters are forced to relive the events of the day in an eternal loop, and they’ve started to wise up about it.” Conversely, a non-meta time loop would exist in the plot regardless of what its audience is doing, and be caused by a force that exists within the story. “After Teruko accidentally broke Eden’s favorite grandfather clock, Teruko was cursed to repeat her worst day over and over again.”

DRDT has made some fourth wall-breaking jokes before, such as when MonoTV directly references YouTube or the narrator tells the viewer to like the video and subscribe to give Teruko power. Because of this, it’s really tempting to think that DRDT is going for a meta time loop. However, given the actual text we have to work with, I think it’s more likely that we’re looking at a non-meta time loop. Remember how we learned that the APQ speaker exists in a physical space and not a metaphysical one? Focusing on the physical space of their environment and living conditions is drawing attention to how the world is real to them, not just a collection of pixels flattened into a video file. The Forever Dead boy also had to “apologize for what he did,” which might imply that the character was responsible for the time loop, not the audience.

Most of all, though, it’s the concept of “surviv[ing] until we all run out of food and starve to death” that makes me think that the time loop is not meta. Why? Because it makes it sound like there are different possible endings out there. If the time loop was caused by me going back and repeatedly rewatching the CharWhit FTE, there’s only one way that that FTE can start, and one way it can end. No matter how many times I make the characters loop that interaction, there’s only one version of that episode posted to YouTube. The APQ speaker makes it clear that they, as a character, attempted multiple things and achieved different results with them until they exhausted all viable possibilities and grew bored. I can only make the characters do one thing, but the characters within the story can, in theory, do whatever they want.

Really, a lot of it boils down to the medium in which DRDT is told. A lot of what I “know” about time loops comes from watching theory videos about Undertale and Deltarune. I won’t spoil either of those games for those who haven’t played them, but in Undertale, the player’s input is directly related to the time travel elements that the characters experience. This connection works really well because Undertale is a video game. Video games are a fantastic medium for meta commentary because player input is required for the game to function. The player can make choices of where to go or who to trust that have an impact on the story, which then makes it easy for the story to turn back towards the player and question the choices they made. DRDT, however, is a video series, not a game like the original Danganronpa. Its formatting would make calling the viewer’s impact into question, because we’ve hardly done anything other than want to watch the show. We have no impact on the direction of the plot.

Of course, I’m not trying to say that it’s impossible for anything other than a video game to tackle meta subjects. DRDTdev should be allowed to tell a meta fangan story without being forced into the life of a programmer. However, with all these elements combined, I think it’s more likely that DRDT’s time loop would be a canonical, non-meta one. Because of this, our follow up questions will be based around how the time loop could have formed in canon.

Is the time loop magical or scientific in origin?

A magical time loop could be something that appears as some sort of spell, legend, or artifact, such as the example with Teruko and the grandfather clock that I provided above. I would also count time loops that just appear out of nowhere in the “magical” category. One of the most famous time loop stories in modern Western cinema, Groundhog Day, could be thought of as a magical time loop, because the main character entered a time loop as a repercussion for his rotten personality seemingly out of nowhere. A scientific time loop would be the consequence of pushing the boundaries of science, whether purposefully (“Veronika, after researching the fourth dimension, put the killing game in a time loop so that she could experience its thrills forever”) or accidentally (“Trying to bring Ellie back to life, Charles’ time machine malfunctioned and trapped him in a time loop”).

Honestly, I’m really torn on this one. That may come as a surprise to some of you– how on earth could DRDT’s time loop be magical? The answer is our lovely protagonist herself, Teruko Tawaki. If Teruko’s luck, a supernatural force, created the time loop, then it’s magical in origin. It’s already been hinted that this could be the case through Teruko’s “you all have the misfortune of being ‘characters’” speech. Does Teruko know how stories like this work out because she’s looped through them before? If Mai is a lucky student, the time loop being a result of her luck or the combination of her and Teruko’s luck would also be magical. Assuming that luck was something that they were born with, that is.

However, it would also be very easy for DRDT’s time loop to be scientific in origin. The mysterious company XF-Ture Tech is clearly being set up for some kind of relevance down the road, which could be a science experiment gone wrong that resulted in a time loop. This could even be the thing that “Unnamed Student” (Mai) asked Xander to dig into.

That might seem like a bit of a leap, given that Mai is asking Xander to look into Hope’s Peak, not XF-Ture Tech. However, we already know that XF Tech had a vested interest in Hope’s Peak through their sponsorship of Min.

Personally, I don’t think that the XF Tech CEO would have had much personal interest in Min outside of her skill/potential, based on how Min describes him as a stranger. That means that the CEO’s goals must have been to sponsor the future Ultimate Student. The entire Ultimate Contest may have existed just because XF Tech wanted to get an insider within the Hope’s Peak system. There’s evidence to show that Hope’s Peak and XF Tech may have been collaborating– Mai asks why Hope’s Peak would even announce an Ultimate Contest, and Min answers from the perspective of the prospective student. But, why would Hope’s Peak want an Ultimate Student obtained through that method/at that time? If Min really did poison the competition to win, the entire Contest may have been rigged from the beginning to get an XF representative into the East Class.

Because of all this, I’m inclined to say that DRDT’s time loop is both magical and scientific in origin. Here’s what I’m thinking: 13-27 years ago, XF-Ture Tech signed some sort of deal with the new Hope’s Peak Academy that would allow them to look into students and their talents, much like how the original Hope’s Peak Academy was studying the origins of luck. HPA agreed for the money, while XF Tech believed that the partnership would help them sell better products/services, either through getting the first scoop on up-and-comers in the field or by scientifically developing talent rather than allowing it to occur naturally. That might sound really similar to what already happened in DRDT’s canon universe with the Kamukura project, but, hey, maybe part of the whole “time loop” motif would be history repeating and man not being able to shake the desire to play God.

Anyways, when they made this deal (or potentially a little while after it), they also decided that it would be good if XF Tech could be directly represented by one of the students in a future class. I can’t say exactly why they wanted this to be the case, but maybe HPA and XF Tech were either looking for a good excuse to go public with their relationship, or they knew that something or someone relevant would come to pass through the school in ~13 years, and wanted a man on the inside. Therefore, HPA put out a pre-rigged Contest searching for the Ultimate Student, which was destined to be won by whoever the XF Tech CEO determined was the best candidate. The CEO chose Min, and spent 13 years coaxing her into the perfect grateful, insecure, and study-focused representative out there.

Whether it was their goal from the start or a new development that caught their eye, XF Tech took particular note of Teruko and her strange luck, and wanted to research it. Teruko, who was desperate for support, let them study her, and eventually came to trust that they had her best interests at heart. But, over time, they pushed it too far. As some sort of reaction to their scientific prodding, Teruko’s luck magically created a time loop in an attempt to prevent XF Tech from bothering her any further.

Cool fanfic, right? While I’m aware that there are a lot of holes and leaps in logic– and we’ll get to those– I do think there’s reason to believe that Teruko is at the epicenter of the time loop for one reason or another. As we were all made aware of at the very beginning of the series…

… ending the killing game is correlated to killing Teruko Tawaki. Therefore, this person at least believes that the end of the killing game is related to the end of Teruko’s life. So, if the time loop is also related to the killing game– which it is, as established by the APQ– then the end of Teruko’s life would also possibly cause the end of the time loop. To quote a wise wizard, it’s maaaagic. The theory that Teruko’s secret is “the killing game is all your fault” also fits here perfectly.

So, it’s not as big of a leap in logic as it might seem like on the surface, even if it’s still basically my audition for being the Ultimate Jumper. However, now that the basics of the theory were mostly established in the “What?” section, I think I have a bit more room to inject my own thoughts and theories in here. I can’t draw any conclusions without making some guesses, and I can’t assess what the hell is going on without any conclusions. Call what follows specifically “Accirax’s Time Loop Theory” if you think I’m starting to veer too far off track from what’s plausible. I promise I’m still going to try to use actual, textual evidence whenever I can, though.

At any rate, there are still a lot of holes. Most notably, why would a time loop that Teruko’s luck created contain a killing game in it? Was she already in a killing game when the time loop began, or did her luck create the killing game? We’ll talk about that a bit more in the next section, along with some other stuff.

When?

Before getting back to the question of why a killing game would happen in this time loop, I think it’s important to establish some of the basic facts that the “When?” section might imply. Such as, “what events occurred before the time loop started?,” and, “what events occurred after the time loop started?” That’s a funny question to ask with regards to time loops specifically, but there are still things we can piece together.

Firstly, we can be pretty confident that the canonical properties Trigger Happy Havoc, Goodbye Despair, Ultra Despair Girls, and End of Hope’s Peak happened before DRDT. (V3 is, as usual, so weird that I have no clue if DRDT will attempt to explain it as part of the canonical timeline or not.) The Tragedy was confirmed as canon to the DRDT universe by Veronika in Chapter 2 Episode 2, and Min/Mai in A History of Hope’s Peak.

If the Tragedy and Hope’s Peak Academy are canon, then I see no reason why those four games, which all relate to the Tragedy, wouldn’t be as well. There’s also the mysterious “Ms. Naegi” that’s listed in the credits of Literature Girl Insane, and Teruko’s reference to “a past killing game.”

Although the event Teruko mentions could be any killing game with Monokuma as its mascot, I would suspect that she is specifically mentioning the Hope’s Peak Academy Killing Game of THH here, as it was the first and the one that was widely broadcast. Notably, although Veronika knows a lot about the Tragedy and by all accounts should be super into the killing games, she doesn’t remember another killing game happening before. That leaves us with two basic options. 1) Teruko had access to secret knowledge about the killing games that the general public didn’t, or, 2) something about the creation of this killing game caused Veronika (and likely the other non-Terukos as well) to forget about the HPA killing game. I would lean towards the second, given that the broadcast of the HPA killing game and Junko’s involvement in it were such major historical events that I would really expect that society wouldn’t forget about them so easily.

Another huge piece of information comes from the Chapter 2 Part 1 Q&A.

From this question, we know that a person who is 80-ish years old was old enough to be alive during the Tragedy itself. In THH, Makoto’s orientation letter is dated to the release year of the game, 2010 (2014 for the English release), which means that the Tragedy probably started in 2011. We can approximate, then, that DRDT takes place sometime around 2090, give or take a few decades depending on how long the Tragedy lasted and at what point with regards to it Duke was born. Not super important to this theory, but it is interesting.

So, the Tragedy probably happened around 80 years before the time loop began. We also know that the school that Min, Mai, and Xander attend, which hosts the East Class, was probably founded ~27 years before the time loop began, because that trio is part of East Class 27. Interestingly, this means that the new American Hope’s Peak was founded ~50 years after the Tragedy. That’s a fairly long amount of time.

As for events that more directly preceded the time loop, I think that both Bonus Episodes would have happened before the killing game, as well as Teruko’s flashback about Mai in Chapter 1. Xander, Min, and Mai attended HPA before encountering the killing game/time loop, despite no one in DRDT remembering ever going to HPA. Rose says in the prologue that it’s been a year or two since the HPA entrance ceremony should have happened, which means that the students probably attended HPA for at least a year before the killing game started. The chalkboard in the classroom that Min and Mai sit in also advertises Spring Break, which, in American schools, is pretty close to the end of the typical school year. That’s more evidence that they spent a considerable amount of time attending HPA.

Now, for events that happened after the inception of the time loop. The only thing I think we know of for sure is the events of the DRDT killing game. That would be part of the time loop, infinitely recurring after the point at which the loop began. I’m also hesitantly going to call altDRDT a sequel instead of a prequel… but, uh, we’ll get more into my overall theories on that later.

Okay, now back to why a loop Teruko’s luck created would have had a killing game in it. I’ve come up with three theories, all of which are… dubious, at best.

Theory #1: The killing game came from Teruko’s subconscious. Teruko’s luck is a part of who she is, and therefore, any effects it may have are based on what Teruko knows and how she feels. Perhaps, just before the time loop began, Teruko learned about the Hope’s Peak Academy Killing Game, whether in class or through shadier sources. When her “magic” snapped and the time loop began, because the killing game was on her mind, it manifested before her. Basically, the time loop would operate much like a dream, where the things you learn in real life come back in surreal ways. I don’t like this one because it leans in really hard to the magic aspect. Although Danganronpa has always been science fiction, letting Teruko’s emotions create an entirely new magical realm seems like jumping the shark.

Theory #2: XF-Ture Tech wanted to test Teruko with a killing game. Their research into her and her luck is quite similar to that of Nagito or the Kamukura project, so why not test their findings in the same ways that Nagito and Hajime were tested? Things amidst this theory that make sense are XF-Ture Tech, a tech company, possibly creating MonoTV, and the prospect of Teruko’s friends dying in a killing game adding an extra kick to why her luck would step in and create a time loop out of desperation. Things that don’t make sense include how the hell XF-Ture Tech would manage to pull this off (especially if constrained by legality/friendship with HPA) and where the hell they would be now. That second question could be answered by, “it was Min,” I suppose, but the first is still off.

Theory #3: The killing game was introduced to contain Teruko. I’m not entirely sure how this would work, but, basically, something else would have triggered Teruko’s luck to start the loop, and then someone (Hope’s Peak, Mai, the Spurlings, who knows) would have introduced a killing game in there in hopes of having something happen. This idea was sort of spurred on by the note that Xander had to kill Teruko Tawaki. Let’s say that Teruko is a huge, powerful problem, much like Junko or Izuru. If you can find a way to breach the time loop she’s created to introduce a killing game, she has to die eventually, right? Victim after victim, blackened after blackened– if Teruko is trapped in an eternal killing game, it seems like at least one of them would have to randomly stumble into her dying. However, I then have to ask how and why the other DRDT characters wound up in this killing game. Them all agreeing to volunteer for this potentially kamikaze plan seems unrealistic given their personalities. So, were they just collateral damage of the original time loop, roped into this last-ditch effort plan? How would a seemingly closed off loop be “breached” to such a drastic extent, anyways?

I once again feel like I’m missing something here, but I also don’t think any of my previous assumptions were wrong. I just can’t understand why the killing game would have come to exist within this time loop. Maybe it has to do with the person who started the killing game?

Who?

Oh yeah, it’s time to talk about the mastermind again, baby. But, obviously, filtering it through the assumption that there is a time loop will change my overall assessments. Now, we have to look for someone with the means, motives, and thematic… fittingness(?) to be involved with Looping the class.

Let’s start with some options that seem so obviously incorrect that I don’t have anything to say. Why would Ace, Hu, Levi, or Nico be the one to have started a killing game within this time loop? Ace’s cowardice already made him seem unlikely, and making the danger zone neverending makes the premise all the more bizarre. You would have to reach pretty far to characterize Hu as the APQ speaker who claims to be incredibly bored and apathetic. Levi wants to change as a person, so inflicting a stagnant time loop seems counter to his goals. Nico… just doesn’t seem to have any aspect of their character line up with the premise of a time loop? Like, if Nico were the character you created to be the mastermind of a time loop killing game, what aspects of how they turned out would reflect that? In my opinion, there are no connections, which makes Nico not it.

Some more less likely options… Arei has some dialogue about people’s behaviors not changing, but especially given her (likely) death, I don’t think it’s enough to call her the mastermind. Given that David is alive, he fares better than Arei under the same scrutiny, but I still feel like the mastermind’s power in this context is more than the desperate, run-ragged David we’ve seen in the second Class Trial. He cares too much, in his own David way. I feel like Rose should be doing better given how highly I ranked her in my main mastermind post, but I’ve been trying to fit the Spurlings into this time loop thing, and I haven’t been able to manage anything. J is much the same, although the whole “TV show” argument still gives her some traction. Although Arturo is generally a smart, scientific kind of guy, being a plastic surgeon doesn’t seem to mesh with whatever science would be needed to make a scientific time loop.

And then there’s Whit. Look. I’m as tired of airing my grievances with Whit mastermind theory as you probably are of reading me air them. However, Whit definitely merits his own section due to one of the main pieces of Whit mastermind scripture (to my knowledge) directly tying the APQ to his candidacy. While I definitely respect and appreciate that aspect of this theory, I don’t buy it myself. By demodraws’ word, this theory is more of a “list of evidence.” The only items on that list that I see directly relate to the APQ are that 1) the Forever Dead character, who may be linked to the speaker, identifies as a boy, and that 2) the speaker expresses grief. Although, that second point is also linked to the belief that the mysterious quote at the beginning of Chapter 1 is said by the same person who said the APQ, which isn’t necessarily the case.

I certainly agree that Whit’s character is the most tied to the concepts of grief and idolizing the dead. However, there are many other characters who do the same. Charles mourns Elliot after remembering his existence, Arturo mourns Felicity whenever he’s confronted with the truth, Xander mourns his family and how he couldn’t do more. (Why do so many DRDT characters have dead family members?) Eden has mourned Min and Arei since their deaths. You can also make the argument that the APQ speaker is more so mourning who they became and how things used to be more than mourning or idolizing any dead compatriots. Rose mourns being shackled to the Spurlings, David mourns the loss of his career once his secret is out, Levi mourns never knowing the right thing to say around Ace. With so many griefheads running around, I don’t find Whit’s connection to the subject compelling enough to label him mastermind.

Then there’s the “boy” aspect. Obviously, Whit isn’t the only boy in DRDT either– as far as we know, Xander, Charles, Ace, Levi, Arturo, and David also identify as boys. However, I also don’t think that the Forever Dead character being a boy is a majorly important piece of evidence. Assuming that Forever Dead is autobiography-flavored fiction as opposed to a genuine biography, the gender of the character it’s describing feels like a detail that DRDTdev could have easily changed to make the parallel less obvious. Although, then you might ask, “why bother including the character’s gender at all, then?” In my opinion, Veronika talks for long enough that it would have been really hard to get through the entire monologue without ever establishing a set of pronouns for the protagonist. “It’s about a _____'' is also a pretty natural way to introduce a story to someone for the first time. Choosing the fairly inconsequential “boy” is a lot less revealing than if Veronika said something more targeted; such as, “it’s about a marriage counselor.” I can’t deny that Veronika talking about a boy could be an important clue, but hopefully I’ve explained why I’m not hinging my entire theory off of it.

Alright, now we’re on to people who I think could genuinely make sense as a time loop mastermind. I think it’s probably most fitting to start with Eden. Because, you know… clocks… time… making time… you can’t go back no matter how hard you try… it’s not a hard conclusion to draw. DRDT has many underlying mysteries, but as compared to something as mysterious as, say, Mai, the concept of a time loop is even further obscured. Making your mastermind the Ultimate Clockmaker is something that would seem totally harmless on the surface, but be a great twist when the truth of the time loop is revealed. The issue is… other than her talent, I don’t think Eden has much going for her here. I guess you could argue that, if the killing game time loop is meant to help Teruko in some way, Eden has been very dedicated to her goal of supporting others. However, whether that’s the case or not, it’s hard to make an argument that Eden doesn’t care about anything anymore.

Maybe if the APQ quote is said in the future, and this is evidence of Eden undergoing the change that the APQ speaker described…? Eden is a definite possibility, but given all this in addition to my other theories as to where her character is headed, I think it’s an unlikely one.

Next, Veronika. As the one who introduced us to Forever Dead, she definitely has some connection to this time loop nonsense. The question is, how strong can that connection get? The main thing that I like about Veronika being the time loop mastermind is how well her character seems to fit with the APQ speaker’s personality. Both of them face boredom as their greatest enemy, and the APQ listing terror and fear as the top two emotions they wish they could still feel would match really well with a Horror Fanatic. My biggest problem is my main issue with Veronika being the mastermind in general: it just feels too obvious. Having Veronika directly state, “I can’t stand boring things,” and having the APQ speaker directly state, “anything else is better than boredom” is a really, really clear connection between the two. Would DRDTdev really want to drop such a decisive clue so early into the story? I can’t be sure. But my gut leans “no.”

It’s kind of impossible to talk about the possibility of Xander or Min being the time loop mastermind separately, because they share so many of the same points. Under the assumption that XF-Ture Tech is behind the time loop somehow, both of them may have connections to it. Min’s is undeniable– she’s clearly told us that they’ve sponsored her, and she wears their paraphernalia– while Xander may have been interrogating their actions as part of Mai’s scheme and/or in the first scene with the bloody hands over the documents. Both of them would serve similar narrative roles as someone who Teruko once wanted to trust who then betrayed her. And, obviously, both of them would be characters who appeared to die in Chapter 1 who would then return to serve as the mastermind, which could be an out-of-universe parallel or an in-universe reference to how Junko portrayed herself in the Hope’s Peak Academy killing game. Using a time loop to bring your thought-to-be-dead mastermind back for Chapter 6 would be pretty sick, I have to say.

Similarly, both of their greatest flaws lie within the realm of characterization. Neither of them strike me as the particularly apathetic type– Xander still seems to care ferociously about doing what’s right, and Min sounded genuinely desperate as she pleaded for her life. It’s possible that they could have been acting, or some time-loop induced amnesia made them forget their true feelings, but either case would still be a major shift in character. If I had to pick one of them to be more likely, I’d probably go with Min? The speaker’s insistence that they know what’s up could match with Min’s scholarly attitude, and I like her increased connection to XF Tech as well as Teacher. However, I still feel that Xander would have the greater impact upon being brought back– Teruko grew closer to him than she did to Min, and other characters, such as David (if he’s still alive) would also likely have a greater reaction to Xander’s return– so for that reason, I kind of prefer him as well.

Despite the pros and cons of all fifteen other options, this theory is clearly the most straightforward if Teruko is the mastermind. You remove all elements of how someone would have to spring either the killing game or the time loop on Teruko, and allow her to make all of the plans herself. Whether it was fully intentional or not, “the killing game is all your fault” (italicization mine) would make the most sense in this scenario. Furthermore, Teruko definitely fits the attitude of the APQ. I don’t know when she would have said it– between loops, possibly?-- but I can totally imagine her outlining how she used to care, but constant suffering and betrayal caused her to corrode.

The real question here is just why she would have put herself in the killing game to begin with. My first thought was “go through a killing game an infinite number of times and somehow something will finally result in getting Teruko to die,” if Teruko wants to die. But, that sort of contradicts what probably-Xander had to say about “end the killing game or at least kill Teruko.” Because, if the killing game is intended to kill Teruko, then ending the killing game could mean Teruko doesn't die, not satisfying what's framed as the more important of the two goals. Maybe if he was just mistaken as to what the purpose of the game was…? Or, if the time loop leaned more on the magical side, maybe the loop itself is keeping Teruko in the killing game until she can learn to trust others, no matter how dire the consequences. These other Ultimates were looped in for… accuracy to Junko’s original, I suppose? Or, maybe Teruko threw them in as a form of punishment for their misdeeds.

Anyone who isn’t a part of a killing game, such as Elliot or Ryan, raises some questions about how the speaker could be “stuck in here” and communicating with those who are part of the time loop. The most obvious option in this category is Mai, simply due to being the most relevant to the plot. She’s heavily involved with the secrets hidden in the website’s code, just like the APQ, and we know from Teruko’s own quote that “some years ago, [Mai] was searching for someone named ‘Teruko Tawaki.’” We also don’t technically know what her Ultimate talent is (although I think it’s very likely to be Lucky Student), which leaves the door open for her talent to be something useful with regards to setting the time loop up. Even a second Lucky Student could create some sort of weird clash of the titans that resulted in a time loop.

A common argument against Mai being the mastermind is that she is, in all likelihood, dead. However, with a time loop in play, there’s the possibility of resurrection. It could even be the reason why Teruko (or whoever) created the time loop in the first place. However, even if it’s pretty likely that Mai could be involved in the conception of the time loop, I’m not sure if it would be in a way that made her the APQ speaker and/or the mastermind. For the former, it’s that same issue of not being in the killing game, and for the latter, I more so see someone else creating the killing game for her than her making it herself. Probably. I dunno, Mai is a mystery.

Given the criteria of “in a killing game,” it’s also possible that the APQ speaker could be one of the characters in the altDRDT cast, though presumably not Teacher. They would have the easiest path to talk to Teacher, as opposed to the regular DRDT cast, who may have more trouble accessing him. However, there’s basically no shot at anyone in the altDRDT cast being DRDT’s mastermind, other than maybe Teacher. None of those characters have appeared on DRDT’s main hub, its YouTube channel, at all. Suddenly unveiling one of those characters– who even the hardcore fans know very little about– as the mastermind would be pretty out of nowhere. So, to the extent that the mastermind was the one who set up the time loop, I don’t think that any of the altDRDT characters created the time loop.

I think that’s pretty much every viable time loop mastermind option. I don’t know if we really determined anything all too specific, but it’s nice to sort out where all our pieces lie. As I said, I think that Teruko is by far the most logical option under the assumption that the killing game and the time loop are connected in a way where they must have been created by the same person. However, there are definitely other possibilities if you allow yourself to think outside that box.

Why?

On to arguably the most important of the categories: why? It doesn’t matter how much logical sense a time loop would make in DRDT’s world if there’s no narrative reason for it to exist in the first place. How would adding a time loop to DRDT’s story improve its themes and messages?

Well, as I already discussed in the What? and Who? sections, many characters grapple with themes of an unchanging world. What better device to reflect that mentality than one that literally shows the same sequence repeating over and over again? The fantastical concept of a time loop could emphasize and heighten the mistrust that Teruko feels. Using the time loop in that way would assign a concrete obstacle to an internal struggle, much like how the killing game itself is a physical manifestation of the helplessness of despair. Writers often enjoy employing devices like these to have a more tangible end goal for the protagonist to notably vanquish. Knowing exactly what’s going on in Teruko’s mind at any given moment might be difficult, especially given DRDT’s format. But, if Teruko sends the time loop created by her own tragic expectations shattering to pieces, we’ll know she made progress.

Additionally, Danganronpa itself posed the question of why we as fans continue to be interested in the killing game formula after seeing it play out so many times. In v3, they framed the killing game as the 53rd in a series to further emphasize the repetitive nature of this ritual sacrifice. Putting DRDT in a time loop could accomplish a very similar goal. As Veronika theorized in Chapter 2 Episode 7, the killing game will only continue for as long as audiences are entertained by it. In a never ending time loop killing game, will fans always be able to find entertainment? What does that say about them…?

Having a killing game within a time loop is a unique premise, as far as I’m aware. I’ve never before seen a fangan that decided to incorporate that into its plot. (Although, that may be a symptom of fangans tending to fizzle out before the finish line.) Making a fangan stand out can be tricky, and although DRDT already has the advantage of being fully illustrated, partially voice acted, and shown in a video format, having a unique gimmick can be a point of inspiration and a sales pitch. Similarly, Ultimate Lucky Student is a talent often tackled, both by the canon games (twice) and by other fangans. If the time loop is related to Teruko’s luck, that would also be a memorable and creative interpretation of a commonplace talent.

As for how a time loop would actually impact the story as it is, the obstacle it creates would definitely raise the stakes high for a Chapter 6 Trial. Like, how the hell are they supposed to beat that? Reiterating what I said earlier, a time loop could also be a clever way to revive a character (or characters) who previously died. If one of the starting premises of DRDT was “what if I had a mastermind that appeared to die in ch1, only to strikingly return in the finale?”, a time loop could have been the method invented to make that happen.

So, in summary, yes, I think there is sufficient narrative support to justify the inclusion of a time loop in DRDT. Maybe I should’ve cleared this section out of the way earlier in the theory. Oh well, too late now. But, if I had the chance to start it all over again, maybe I could do things differently next time…! Or, maybe I’d wind up writing the same thing every time regardless…

Where?

It’s a little silly of me to co-opt the “Where?” section as basically a summary of how I think the time loop theory would best play out, but I have my reasons. “Where?” seeks to answer where the time loop originated, and who was in it when it started. Thus, with so much focus on how the time loop began, talking about the cause and result alongside that made sense to me. The full Accirax Time Loop Theory will be in blue below, with more discussion afterward to answer whether I believe in it or not. Closing Argument starts… now!

The Tragedy ended nearly 80 years ago, and the new American Hope’s Peak Academy was founded about 50 years after that. Some time between HPA’s founding and 13 years ago, an up-and-coming tech company– XF-Ture Tech– partnered with Hope’s Peak Academy to take a more scientific look at the origins of talent in young students, much like what happened in pre-Tragedy days. XF-Ture Tech already had their eyes on one promising youth, “XF,” who they prepared to send to the West Academy. To place a representative into the East Class, XF Tech encouraged Hope’s Peak Academy to host the Ultimate Contest, with the intention of rigging the exam to get their applicant of choice into the school. This wound up being Min Jeung, who was placed in East Class 27.

Whether because of XF Tech’s request or simply due to respect for the history of the Academy, Hope’s Peak also once again began admitting Ultimate Lucky Students into their program. Their two candidates for Class 27 were Teruko Tawaki, who was sent to the West Academy, and Mai Akasaki, who was sent to the East Academy. XF Tech was quite interested in both of the students, but particularly Teruko. The way that her bad luck affected not only herself, but others as well, was very reminiscent of Nagito Komaeda, a major historical figure in both the start and the end of the Tragedy. XF Tech told both Min and “XF” to look out for Teruko as best they could, making sure nothing would come to harm their new test subject, and prepared to begin experimenting on Teruko’s luck.

Meanwhile, in the East Class, Mai fit in swimmingly. She grew really close with all of her classmates, but particularly with Min and Xander. Mai had already begun searching for Teruko several years before they wound up being recruited at opposite Hope’s Peaks– possibly because of their shared connection to good and/or bad luck– so when she heard a bit more about Teruko from Min, her interest was piqued. Recruiting her favorite Rebel to the cause, Mai asked Xander to sneak around in Hope’s Peak Academy to learn more about what the connection between the Academy, XF-Ture Tech, and Teruko was.

What they learned in the documents was the reality of what was happening in the West Class: XF-Tech was intermittently running physical and mental tests on Teruko to determine exactly what the range and power of her curse-like abilities was. Could her raw Ultimate power rival that of someone like Nagito, or perhaps even Junko Enoshima? Throwing a few mediocre lives at that question would be well worth the answer, wouldn’t it…?

Using their social connections and financial power, XF-Ture Tech arranged for West Class 27 to be taken to a self-contained abandoned mall to begin their most dramatic test yet: seeing if Teruko’s luck would carry her through a killing game against other Ultimates, just as it could have for Nagito or Junko or as it did for Izuru Kamukura. The killing game commenced, and while Teruko might not have been a target from Day 1, at some point in the story, someone attempted to kill her. And… It worked.

What a disappointment. Was Teruko’s luck really so weak when push came to shove?

But then, something truly unexpected happened: the killing game began again. Unable to accept her death, Teruko’s luck engulfed the entire mall into a time loop, running the killing game over and over again until the results were satisfactory. The rest of the world moved forward in linear time as usual, but the mall was stuck in an infinite killing game. XF Tech, amazed and delighted, diverged all of their resources into the study of this phenomenon, protecting it closely.

Mai and Xander were horrified upon learning this, and knew that they had to do something to save West Class 27. Mai, Xander, and potentially some others ran over to the site of the test to see if they could break in, get further intel, change someone’s mind, or anything to get the killing game to stop. However, as they did, they were attacked by XF Tech’s security, resulting in Xander losing an eye… and Mai losing her life. At that moment, Xander vowed that, no matter what it took, he would end the killing game and save the rest of West 27… or, at the very least, kill Teruko to avenge Mai’s life.

Meanwhile, within the time loop, the deja vu (and possibly some comments from the XF Tech-controlled mascot?) began to make Teruko wise up to what was happening. While her original plan was to get along with everyone in the killing game, trusting them and being their hero, she found that every one of those routes led to death and personal tragedy/betrayal. Teruko learned that, if she stopped caring about others, she could at least cut down on the personal tragedy aspect.

Teacher, as a perceptive and intelligent soul, was the next to piece together that something about the killing game was unnatural based on Teruko’s behavior. In one loop, Teruko winds up saying the APQ to him, revealing her new attitude. Either Teruko or Teacher could fit the description of the Forever Dead boy with how their minds began to fracture.

Outside of the time loop, Xander formulated his new plan. When his village was eradicated, it was a case of the rich and powerful obliterating the little guy with their unmatched resources. To fight back, you have to become as big as your attackers. You can only defeat a time loop with a time loop. You can only save Ultimates by putting more Ultimates’ lives at risk.

Thankfully, it wasn’t too hard to motivate the rest of East Class 27 to join Xander in his crusade. Although he himself may have been a love-or-hate figure amidst his classmates, everyone loved Mai, and wanted to help fulfill her dying wish. Plus, in theory, the plan shouldn’t risk any of their lives. Weaponizing the time loop killing game’s unending nature against it, the goal was to repeat the killing game as many times as it takes until Teruko dies as the first victim. Her luck has to fail her at some point– it’s a corrupt system; it can be broken, argues Xander– and at that point, they’ll simply end the killing game with no other casualties. To make it easier on everyone else, Xander even promised to be the one to make the first move against Teruko, every time. He left a note on him when the time loop started to always remind him.

Anyways, using some combination of Xander’s determination, Charles’ science, J and/or David’s money, Whit and/or David’s connections, and remaining vestiges of Mai’s luck (LGI “original” Color Theory pulling through???), East Class 27 managed to break the abandoned mall time loop. They pulled Teruko into their own killing game, “masterminded” by Xander, in which her luck would hopefully be less of an obstacle. The DRDT killing game we’ve seen thus far could be their first attempt or their thousandth, but whatever the case, the plan to get Teruko to die as the first victim hasn’t succeeded thus far. It’s especially hard to get it to work when Teruko has the lingering thought in the back of her mind that she can’t be killed… and when Min still has a vague memory that she’s supposed to keep Teruko out of danger.

Even though the altDRDT cast, West Class 27, escaped the time loop, they aren’t out of the killing game woods just yet. The East Class managed to catch them mid-killing game, after two Trials passed. But, due to the confusion of the time loop, none of them can remember what happened in that particular iteration of the game, or Teruko’s disappearance, which leaves them at only 11 participants. Quite the mysterious circumstance, indeed…

That’s the best I could come up with. Got some points of concern? Me too! Here are the ones I’m thinking of right now:

Would HPA (presumably headed by “Ms. Naegi”) really allow XF-Tech to do anything remotely close to what I described to Teruko?

How would XF-Ture Tech have known enough about Teruko’s luck when Teruko was 5 to recruit Min (and “XF”) to be in the correct classes at the correct time?

Is XF-Ture Tech really that important to the story?

Is Mai actually that close to Min and Xander specifically, or are we just biased because those are the two Bonus Episodes we’ve seen thus far?

Didn't Mai and Teruko have a more extensive connection than what was described? (Matching tattoos, phone charms)

Why would Teruko’s luck create a time loop specifically? Why wouldn't it come up with some other way to save her?

Why would the time loop only be constrained to the mall?

Would Xander ever be willing to come that close to sacrificing innocents’ lives for the plan?

Would the entire DRDT cast really be willing to risk their time, if nothing else, to enter a killing game just to "avenge" Mai?

What could they have actually done against Teruko’s luck to break the mall time loop?

How could they have guaranteed that another time loop would begin if they managed to steal Teruko?

Where did MonoTV come from?

Why would the students have themed the killing game around TV?

Why would they throw the embarrassing secrets motive into their killing game if it was only meant to kill Teruko/that “round” theoretically shouldn’t even happen?

Why would Xander not have written the kill Teruko Tawaki note to himself? (He probably didn’t based on the handwriting)

If not Teruko’s death, what marker would signal the loop point of the DRDT killing game? Whenever the killing game seems to end?

What motive would XF-Ture Tech have to (presumably) continue the altDRDT killing game after the time loop is broken and Teruko is gone?

Why does altDRDT have NG code bracelets?

I could probably come up with more, but these are all the major questions I could think of at the moment. While not a “question,” per se, another point of contention for some would be that this would make Xander the mastermind of DRDT. It’s not a huge point of contention for me, both because 1) an off-the-wall situation like this is exactly what I think Xander would need to properly capitalize off of any narrative setup he may have for being the mastermind, and 2) @/sentinel-kinjo made a really good point in the replies of my DRDT mastermind post that definitely had me questioning whether I should’ve put Xander (and Charles) higher.

Anyways, despite all this effort– or maybe because of it– I think I personally don’t really believe in the theory that DRDT is part of a time loop. Somewhat like the Arei dress-up theory, I feel like there are too many oddities currently left unanswered for the theory to be actually viable. Unlike the Arei dress-up theory, though, I think that this one has far more potential to become correct via us receiving more information that either fills in some of our plot holes or reroutes the plot to avoid some of the biggest grievances.

The only thing I really like from this theory is that the altDRDT cast is West Class 27, AKA Teruko’s class. That’s gonna be my new personal headcanon until proven otherwise.

I’m not the only one who’s noticed that the DRDT fandom has been feeling a little sleepy (Min reference) lately, so thank you, anon, for helping to keep me cooking on the series during this semi-down period. …Even if it took me, like, two months to actually finish. Thank you for your patience, as well.

And thank you to everyone for reading this far! I think my mastermind theory still wound up being longer than this (although it’s hard to tell with the pictures), but this one is still a doozy. Also, if you have anything to add on or argue against, please share your thoughts in the comments or a reblog! I’d love to hear others’ thoughts, especially given how loosely defined the time loop theory was. Whether you do or don’t, I hope you enjoyed. See you at the next inexplicably long analysis!

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pluttskutt · 1 month ago

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Character Profile Tag

tagged by @illarian-rambling thank you! :D [her post]

Rules: Answer the questions for one of your characters

Full name: Lucy Hilda Thompson

Age: Disputed because I don't set age but late 20s to early 30s in the series

Gender: Cis woman

Type of Being: Human and only human; nothing to see here

Appearance: She's white, blond with grey eyes, a big nose from profile perspective with a bump, strong square jaw, and she has a metal arm

Way of speaking: Somewhat formal in English and not good at slang with an accent that's hard to pin-point. It's Swedish, obvs, but not many countries still exist in my series

Physical characteristics: She's missing her left arm due to an accident and her nose is important

Occupation: Soldier -> Fugitive

Family: Dead

Best friend: Dead

Pets: She never had one but if she had, it'd be dead too

Relationships: She becomes friends with those in her squad, but when she becomes a fugitive those friendships are lost. She does make friends with the space pirates

Describe their room: Last time she had a room she was 16, so it had a chair for clothes, an assortment of perfumes, earrings in neon colours and funky shapes,a chunky TV, and, of course, the radio/CD player.

Items in their bag/purse: She doesn't carry either

Hobbies: Fika, training, films

Favourite sport: Ha

Abilities/talents/powers: Nothing! Totally human, nothing to see her, just a metal arm that gives her super-strength that's got nothing to do with anything else or any Deity or something

Fears: Not being strong enough to get her revenge, which later turns into not being able to protect the ones she cares about (again)

Faults: Doesn't ever explain her thought proccess, which makes it seem like she's just torning coat after the wind without any reason or principle. Reactive and rash. Will not heed orders unless she has a gain for it. Angers easily and yells. Judgemental.

Good points: Protective. Loyal. Determined.

What they want more than anything else: To make it right and die to be reunited with her family and friends

I tag: @tildeathiwillwrite @amaiguri @oh-no-another-idea @new-royston-cursebreakers @cocoamoonmalfoy @kaylinalexanderbooks @laureleavess @ieppiq @dontjudgemeimawriter @revenantlore + open tag! (no pressure tagsobvs)

Full name: Age: Gender: Type of Being: Appearance: Way of speaking: Physical characteristics: Occupation: Family: Best friend: Pets: Relationships: Describe their room: Items in their bag/purse: Hobbies: Favourite sport: Abilities/talents/powers: Fears: Faults: Good points: What they want more than anything else:

#tag game #lucy

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gghostwriter · 5 months ago

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Entangled Strings of Fate

Chapter 7. Act of War (and parting ways)

Spencer Reid x FOC

Summary: Caltech, Pasadena - Cleo considers herself a woman of logic. With an IQ of 158 and an eidetic memory, how could she not. But meeting Spencer, the boy genius to hers, had her believing in intangible theories like the invisible string and the fates. Now, if only he would notice the depth of her feelings. Set in Caltech, pre-season 1 and will progress from there.

a/n: I'll be taking a quick break from Entangled Strings of Fate first as I build up the back log for it's remaining chapters and as I also plan to finish Yours Truly, Romeo to make way for 2 new Spencer Reid fanfic ideas I've been drafting (one is a one shot y/n that could be turned into a mini series idk yet and another is a confirmed mini series y/n.) Hope that gets you excited for new releases!

previous chapter || series masterlist || next chapter

"All warfare is based on deception." - The Art of War by Sun Tzu

Radio static silence—that was the accurate description Cleo could think of during the next two days she and Spencer sparsely spent around each other’s orbit. No longer was there an unseen force tethering their limbs to another and in its place there was vast empty space between their two drifting souls, where the universe lay in wait while the cosmos convened their fate. The small bursts of respite came when he would leave her existence, donning on his mask and gear to play pretend that everything was alright in his world for his team of profilers to believe. BAU stayed firmly on ground, finishing endless paperwork and with no invitation coming from local precincts—a first, as if the killers of the state agreed to take a break. A lull not welcomed by Spencer, she instinctively knew, as it gave him no fodder to distract his brilliant mind from the turmoil ravaging his insides.

By the third sunrise, Cleo was the one pulled down by gravity while he stayed aimlessly alone and drifting, taunted by his craving for his own choice of poison. But she didn’t know that and should she had, things may have gone differently.

Nevertheless, she wanted to throw her responsibilities into the endless void and stay to brace for the turbulence coming to hit their already damaged ship but reality was cruel and did not allow it. So, she found herself surrounded by her peers, sitting in a cramped lecture room listening to a guest prosecutor drolly giving advice to the future workers for justice. Physically, she was there but introspectively, her mind had flown back to where he—Spencer—was. She had wanted to call in for back up—Derek or Penelope to keep him company, to act as a distraction but it was impossible to do without having to fill in the reasons why—why he looked like he had been pulled down to hell and back. Why he couldn’t be left alone with his own thinking and near-perfect memory. And why he needed a warden disguised as a friend to keep him safe. She almost hated her past self for promising to keep his brutal fall from grace as a secret.

The end of the lecture brought her back to the present and to a stand, hastily exiting without so much a glance around.

“Spence, I’m back,” she announced her presence as she stepped inside. “Spencer, are you there?”

Deafening silence answered back. With a cellphone left precariously on the entryway table, she scanned for a shadow of human life. As she rounded every empty corner, the whispers of her imagination got louder and louder. The chorus inside her now screaming horrible chants of drugs and death. She closed her eyes and took a deep shaky breath to push the screams away. Maybe he went up on the roof for fresh air, maybe to the corner mart for Jell-Os, or maybe to the nearby bookstore—her unwavering trust and naivety churning excuses for her grasp on. She compromised with herself to wait, anxiously, for at most thirty minutes before calling in the cavalry in the name of SSA Derek Morgan.

Time crawled slowly with her staring at the clock pendulum swinging unabashedly. But forty-five minutes and a phone call had gone by and Derek was now announcing his imposing presence with rapid knocks on the door.

“Pretty girl, what’s wrong?” He asked, side stepping into the apartment. “Where’s Reid?”

She opened her mouth, unsure on until what extent she should share but it was as if the cosmos made the decision for her. As Morgan was entering the living room, he had knocked over Spencer’s well-worn satchel left lying on the floor with its straps unbuckled and as if in slow motion, it topped over and two medicine bottles came rolling out to stop in front of his shined boots. Eyes widening, he bent down to pick both up, one empty and one still sealed shut.

“Murphy,” Morgan’s tone no longer containing any niceties. It was as if a switch was flipped. “What the hell is this?”

Rubbing her fingers to her temples in a circular manner, Cleo came clean on what transpired the other night.

“You should have told me right away,” he exclaimed, banging his empty fist on a nearby surface. “This isn’t some small secret you can promise to keep.”

“I-I know—I know that now but that isn’t the reason why I called you here. Well, it’s part of the reason but when I came home, he was nowhere to be found and I don’t know what to do. You don’t think he’s out buy—" she cut herself off, unable to speak aloud to the universe where her mind had been spiraling to.

He clenched his jaw, trying to rein in his anger. “We’ll talk about this when I get back and I mean it, Murphy. Stay here just in case, I’ll go find him.”

She nodded as Morgan rushed out the door, clearly not wanting to waste any more precious minutes.

———

An hour had passed before the handle on the main entryway turned to unlock. It was Spencer, looking worse for wear than when she last left him. The faint purple bruising under his vacant eyes now looked deep in color—almost matching his favorite scarf loosely hanging on his neck. His shoulders hunched forward as if caving in from the weight of the world he’s carrying. His fingers stuffed inside the pockets of his cardigan—Cleo didn’t want to think of what they could contain. And his listless feet dragging his body forward before collapsing on the couch.

“Spencer, where were you?” Her voice cracked as her knees landed with a gentle thud, the carpet cushioning her fall, in front of his hunched form. “Where did you go?”

“Out. I went out,” he muttered under his breath. Her ears straining to hear any more of his reply but there were none. She was no profiler but she read enough of his signs to know that he was withholding something from her.

She wrangled with her fingers, preparing herself for the anger that her next words would bring to the surface. “I called Derek, he’s out looking for you now and—” her voice cut off as her eyes shifted to look at the two vials Morgan had placed on the table. His own following her gaze before widening and springing his body upright as if electrocuted.

“How could you! I trusted you!” He raised his voice, filled with accusation and malice. Gone were the vacancy in his eyes, replaced with such poison her eyes couldn’t take to see.

“Please, Spencer, what was I suppose to do?” She begged imploringly, overwhelmed with the anger rolling of him in waves. “You were nowhere to be found—no note, no way to contact you, no way to know what you were doing. Tell me, what should I have done?”

He paced the floor, throwing his hands up in the air with aggression. “You could have waited for me to come back—you could have done anything, anything at all, but call Morgan,” he ragingly ranted. “For someone who claims to have a genius IQ, you sure did something stupid.”

“That’s not fair, Spencer, and you know it. You promised me there were no more drugs in this apartment. You can’t call me out on breaking my promise when you did just the same,” she answered back as she stood up from her kneeling position.

“So I told a small lie—a fib. But that doesn’t give you the right to share what I’m going through with any member of my team. My team, Cleo, not yours.”

She took a deep breath, thinking of a way to diffuse the situation. “I’m sorry for breaking my promise. I’ll make it up to you—just let me help you. Let me in,” she looked down at her fingers, head bowing, a clear sign of defeat. “This isn’t like you, Spencer.”

“No offense Cleo, but you don’t really know who I am now, do you? You’ve never seen or experienced what I see, do—did for this job. This position that I’ve been working towards to ever since I could form words. This career, that is now endangered to be taken away from me all because of you—a people pleasing upper-class girl who never knew hardship a day in her life so she created mini problems for herself just so she could have a backstory to use as a social crutch.”

Cleo wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to hold herself together at the seams threatening to unravel. She knew his fury was making him say all these hurtful words as if he a wounded animal lashing out to protect itself from further pain and death but knowing the reasoning behind it didn’t make it less hurtful.

“Do you want me to continue,” he smirked. His eyes staring straight into hers with such rage and hatred. “‘Cause I can go all day and profile and every little action, sentence, and tic from the very first day we met. I have an eidetic memory, remember?”

Nails digging into her skin, the physical pain amounting to nothing but a flesh wound compared to the viciousness the boy she once considered her other half threw at her. She huffed out a breath, feeling the treacherous tears slide down her cheeks. “I just wanted to help you, really. Th—there was no need for you to hurt my feelings like this. Is that what you wanted to do? Break me down into a black and white profile, just like your case files and unsubs then throw it back to my face as if you think I didn’t know who I am,” she countered. “Did that make you feel any better? Did that lessen the anger in your chest? If not yes, let’s talk properly and if not then, what now, Spencer. What now.”

“I think this is a mistake,” he stated matter of factly, as if to bar any argument to be uttered by her lips. “Trusting you, meeting you and getting to know you is a mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life. I’d like you and your things gone now.”

Shock rooted her to the spot. This wasn’t the end that she ever imagined coming. “Is this what you really want, Spencer?”

He nodded and reached his palm wide open in between the charged space. “Yes, the spare key please—“

Her hands violently shaking as she reached and removed the proof of his trust hanging from her keychain.

“—and it’s Dr. Reid.” There were tears pooling beneath his eyes, but his face was rigid with defiance.

Wanting to stay and fix whatever had been broken between them regardless of what had transpired was not an option she could see to pursue. So she gathered her nearby items, whatever remaining dignity she had left and walked slowly towards the exit. And without so much another word, the door was slammed behind her. An unmovable barrier between the world that she once knew and loved to be.

“Goodbye, Dr. Spencer Reid,” she sobbed under her breath. Cleo stayed there spiritlessly standing for what could have been hours just trying to gather her bearings and her broken, black and blue heart.

Derek ran into her on the building steps, brows furrowing as he took in her appearance—red rimmed eyes, tear stained face, and wilting aura. “Hey pretty girl, you alright? What happened with Reid?”

She shrugged, not having the energy to rehash the scalding hot words thrown at her. Morgan was a profiler after all—she’d bet he profiled her the same way Spenc—Dr. Reid did. “He’s back in his apartment.”

“Murphy?” His voice going up at the end, concerned. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing at all. I—I just remembered I had somewhere to be. Books to read, cases to study,” she said quickly, wanting to escape the seasoned gaze before she comes crashing down.

“Don’t lie to me, Murphy. I’m a profiler. I know when something is wrong.”

She shook her head, trying to keep whatever honor she had left. “Please Derek, don’t ask.”

His dark brown inquisitive eyes studied hers for a moment. “Alright, I won’t.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and whispered a small thank you. “I need you to do something for me,” she pleaded as she reached into her pockets before turning over the folded piece of paper to Derek. “This is a contact number for Narcotics Anonymous—A.A meetings for law enforcements. Give it to Reid when he’s ready and take care of him for me, will you?”

His eyebrows raising in alarm. “Pretty girl, what happ—why can’t you give it to him yourself?”

“I can’t, Derek. I can’t. Just promise me, okay?” Her last word breathy, betraying the tears residing in her eyes that are threatening to spill.

He sighed—clearly wanting to push but nodded in respect to her decision. He let go of her hand and started to slowly walk towards the elevator. “Take care of yourself, Murphy. Call me when you need anything, I mean it.”

“You too, Morgan. You, too,” she mustered up a weak, fake smile.

Cleo stepped down the apartment building with shaky footing and a suit of desolation. As if she was an astronaut in space who had lost her ties to her spaceship. Floating into the void, helpless and facing inevitable death by lack of oxygen. She took another step and another and another away from her air, her constant—from the one she once thought as home until she was nothing but a blip in the distance.

#criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fic #criminal minds fic #spencer reid x fem!oc #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer reid fanfiction #gw fics #esof fanfic #spencer reid angst

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tarotfairy0919 · 4 months ago

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『 ↳✧･ﾟ HOW TO HELP A TAROT READER?

Hello, angels!♕˚ʚ♡ɞ˚👼🏻

I am writing this message to make people understand that we as tarot readers(especially those with blogs at the beginning of the road but not only) are nothing without the help of our followers. I see a lot of small blogs that are struggling to find the right followers for them because people don't know about them or don't know how to help them.

I understand that we live in an era where we try to communicate as short as possible or do anything on a hurry but I think that before work, problems, studies and other stuff we are humans and it is in our DNA to help(it doesn't matter if it's just a message, a thank you, tip).

I know that everyone is busy with their life and I really encourage you to be like this because that's the only way you will be able to succeed in life, but please, help us a little bit.

I think that 5 minutes from your precious time will make our life way more better or easier. As much as it sounds, actually, it means the world to us.

Of course, I'm not here to tell you how to do things. This is a suggestion for everyone who is receiving support from your tarot readers(free reading, paid readings, games, messages, questions, info about tarot cards/deck/interpretation).

＊•̩̩͙☆🦋☆•̩̩͙˚DO this to help your tarot reader:

🌸REBLOG their content - every reblog means the world to them. This is the most important step as it helps us spread news about our blog and we need to grow our community as much as we can - yes, we exist because of you guys!

🌸LIKE our work as much as you can but understand that you also need to REBLOG it at the same time in order to let others find about our content.

🌸BE POLITE - remember that we are doing our best to help and guide you

🌸BE PATIENT - I understand that everyone wants their answer as quickly as possible but remember that we are also humans, we work with energies and that sometimes after only one reading we are drained. So rest assure, you will get your answers!

🌸RESPECT THE RULES - We don't want those details in order to make it hard for you or to complicate things. I think any of my tarot reader colleagues is asking only a few important things. Please respect them because it's very difficult at some point to message everyone who didn't read them well(we lose a lot of time and you will get your reading later because your place will be taken by someone who has already respected the rules)

🌸UNDERSTAND THEIR BOUNDARIES - We aren't here to make you uncomfortable so please do the same for us. Every human being has their own limits, please respect that and don't make us feel uncomfortable.

🌸GIVE A CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK - We can take both good or bad feedback, as long as it's a little bit detailed(did it work, did it help you, did it resonated, did it give you an idea of what you should do next). We learn all our life, so it also help us grow when it comes to intuition and interpretations.

🌸MESSAGE us if you didn't understand something. We understand everything as long as you tell us from the beginning.

🌸RESPECT OUR PRIVACY - As long as we respect you and don't post personal details, photos or other stuff, please respect ours as well. Posting parts from our conversations with us is also a lack of privacy!

🌸If there is something that doesn't seem right(about info, your reading, or your reader) ABSORB ALL THE INFORMATION AND PROCESS IT THROUGH YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVE AND UNDERSTANDING, we believe in you and your vision!

🌸Check the PINNED POSTS on their profile before sending a message/request - usually, you have all the information you need over there, if not, feel free to send us a message.

＊•̩̩͙☆🦋☆•̩̩͙˚DON'T' do this in order to help your tarot reader.

🏵️DON'T GET ANGRY - Sometimes there can be some parts from our readings that don't resonate with you, take only what you feel that applies to your situation

🏵️DON'T REPOST our content on Tumblr or other platforms. It is our work, we had done a lot of research, reading, analysis for a long period of time and it is our decision to share it with others, so if you do that at least GIVE US CREDIT!

🏵️DON'T FORCE US TO DO READINGS THAT WE DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE TO DO!

🏵️DON'T EXPECT TO BE RESPECTED IF YOU DON'T RESPECT!

🏵️DON'T FORGET TO SPREAD LOVE AND SUPPORT WITH EVERYONE AROUND YOU!

Don't forget that every small world can mean the world to someone. Everyone who sees this message, PLEASE REBLOG AND LET'S HELP EACH OTHER!

Stay safe and wish you only the best!

Your tarot fairy🌸🧚🏻‍♂️✨🤍

#tarot community #tarotblr #tarot #tarot witch #tarotcommunity #free tarot #tarot reading #tarotfairy0919 #daily tarot #tarot cards #help your tarot reader

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swiftllama · 1 year ago

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August Compliments ☀️🔍

[Compliments Masterlist]

Hello everyone! So this is the continuation of the first Compliments Post I made and a round up of the compliments from August 2023.

So let’s jump in shall we!

August 2023

Starting off the month we got a double dose 4 days into the month. And it actually comes from Ian!

What Would Our Warning Labels Say? | Let’s Get Talking

Ian, Shayne, Courtney, and Angela all played a Q&A style game where Ian gave some answers relating to and complimenting Anthony :-

I should also say the time stamp title for this question in the video is ‘Who Are Our Fave People’ 🥹

Q: “Who do you admire the most?”

Originally Ian agreed with Courtney’s answer of Amanda but never expanded on why and gave a very Ian answer of “things like that [what Courtney said]”, before changing his answer :-

Ian: “I have a different answer actually - Anthony.”

Courtney: “Awwww!”

Courtney being the resident Ianthony fangirl once again and representing us all 😌

Ian: “I think because he was always - until towards the end of his time at Defy he wasn’t a hundred percent in it, but before that with the sketches and now that he’s back, whenever he’s doing something, he’s a hundred percent into it. He’s fully committed. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure it’s the best it can be.”

I know we don’t get it as often from Ian, but these little tidbits that we do show that the appreciation for Anthony is there just as much as Anthony’s is there for him. Ian just expresses himself in different ways. He actually mentions similar thing when it comes to himself and showing outward excitement even when he is excited and Courtney chimes in with how she has seen him showing his excitement outward and how she’s seen it “especially lately” 🥲 I made a post with the clip at the time which you can find here.

Another little moment from the video that is compliment-adjacent I’d say since I think it says a lot about who someone chooses as their answer to the question :-

Q: “If you had to be handcuffed to a person for a week, who would it be and why?”

Ian: “I guess I would say Anthony, because I feel a lot of the video ideas that we came up with back in the day was just out of boredom of being around each other a lot and we’d just come up with a video idea. So I feel like being handcuffed to him for a week would give us an opportunity to come up with a lot of ideas for sketches.”

Okay, so again in typical Ian fashion we gotta read between the lines a little on this one 😅 Ian doesn’t like to get mushy as we know so his reasoning being “coming up with video ideas” doesn’t surprise me lol. But I think the first part of his answer gives a lot away - having someone you can be bored with says a lot. That’s a very specific level of comfort with another person. Not to let my swiftie side show on this post lol but there’s a lyric Taylor has from her song Peace that perfectly sums up what I mean by this

“Give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other.”

That’s what I mean. Someone you can be bored with and it’s still a good time, there’s no awkwardness, you can sit in silence because it’s enough to just be existing in the same space that they are.

Moving on from the Games video.

Variety Article (aka Blue Dot Gate)

On the same day, Variety dropped an article with Ian and Anthony, and for some reason Ian had blue dot on his face in the photo that was used for it 🤷‍♀️ Ian was just as confused and so took to his Instagram Story :-

And Twitter :-

But Anthony was quick to show his support 🫡 :-

SLEEPWALKING DISASTER! Watch Party

So during the livestream someone in the chat says that Ian should change his profile picture in the Smosh Royalty discord server to the one of him with all his cross-country medals from his high school senior portraits. He’s got a really terrible haircut in it 🙈 He does find it funny but I’m not going to share it because I know part of him hates it and I feel bad, but it is out there so you should be able to find it if you’re curious.

Anyways, they’re joking around about it and Anthony’s (affectionately) taking the piss out of him for it.

Ian: [explaining the photo] “So I was posing with all my cross-country medals; Cause your boy is a freakin’ champion. No, not really.”

Anthony: [in cutesy voice] “Yeah you arrree.”

Ian don’t you know by now that Anthony will not allow you to downplay your accomplishments! 😤

Anthony: [finds and shows the photo to the camera] “Why did you take a photo with all your medals?”

Ian: “Cause I didn’t accomplish much else [in high school]...”

Anthony: “Awwwww no, yeah you did!”

IAN STOP BEING MEAN TO YOURSELF THATS SO SAD 😩

Glad Bestie Anthony is on hand 🥺

Assassin’s Creed 3 Song - Flashback w/ Smosh Ep 1

First episode of their new podcast brought forth a few little complimentary moments :-

Ian: “I look so adorable here [the screencap above].”

Anthony: “Yeah, you look so cute.”

Anthony: “Awww, Ian being a soft boi”

Plus the little hint of a smile on Anthony’s face seeing baby-face Ian ☺️

That Smosh Guy - Ian Hecox Interview | How Famous Is Jirard?

Another little compliment from Ian sprinkled in the month. Nothing major, just wanted to include it. He went on this podcast and talked about Defy and how what Smosh became ultimately led to Anthony leaving.

Ian: “So after the years of doing all this extra stuff that Anthony felt like wasn’t really core, I think it just really wore him out, and the thing with Anthony is that - if he has a project, he’ll put his whole heart into it.”

Just thought this was nice little one to include since we’ve had a lot of Anthony recognising Ian’s work ethic, so why not the other way round for a change? I think it’s also another example of why their dynamic works well, especially since Ian goes on to say that he’s not like that, and that if he’s not feeling a project he won’t put all his efforts into it. I feel that must balance them out well - that if Ian isn’t really feeling something but Anthony is he can encourage Ian to see the potential in it, and same goes for if Anthony’s putting too much pressure on himself to create something perfect when he doesn’t necessarily need to, Ian is able to pull him back and recognise that he doesn’t need to burn himself out.

Roasting Each Other’s Cringey Tweets (You Posted That)

They brought up the ‘baby more like daddy’ tweet that I included in the first compliments post. And what did I say about how the period of time when Anthony kept complimenting Ian on social media before their reunion stood out to me. Now we have confirmation that, as Erin dubbed it in have video, they were “soft launching” the fact they were talking/friends again.

Ian: [tweet shows on screen] “So I said ‘Baby’s first chain’. Ha ha [fiddles with necklace] now I’m a chain boi.”

Anthony: “Awww.”

Not really a compliment, just thought it was cute lol.

Anthony: “I remember this was my first time ever publicly supporting you.”

Ian: [smiles] “Noooo, that’s not true.”

Oh 🥺 I don’t know what to call this moment exactly? Almost like the shoe is on the other foot? Ian not allowing Anthony to paint himself in a bad light by saying this was the first time he ever showed support to Ian publicly. I agree with Ian that it definitely isn’t the first time over the years but obviously the ‘between years’ caused a big gap and the years before I think it’s clear from what Anthony said in the journal video about not praising Ian enough in the past that he feels bad about that and it’s why he’s so vocal now in supporting him - to make up for that.

Anthony: “It’s [the tweet] something like ‘daddy likey the blingy’.”

Not Anthony lying to try and save face 🤭 he knows exactly what he said! That man remembers the most random, minuet details about things - especially when it comes to Ian. He just doesn’t want to admit he has a thing for calling Ian ‘daddy’ 😏 it’s okay Anthony, you can embrace it, we get it.

EVIL AI TRIED TO KILL ME! Watch Party

Someone in chat congratulations Anthony for being nominated for a Streamy and the boys talk about how they’ve got suits for it and then proceed to go back and forth saying how ‘good’ and ‘hot’ they’re going to look - Which indeed they did 😍

Someone in chat then asks if their suits are matching.

Anthony: “Matching suits? No they’re not matching. But they do look really good together though. They vibe well together.

I don’t think that’s the suits Anthony, I mean they help, but that’s all Ian and you. They look good and they vibe well together 😌

Anways, that was just a fun little one!

Moving on…

Ian ‘Cupid Shuffle’ Hecox

Ian blessed us with this Instagram post of him busting a move and looking 🔥 at Kimmy’s wedding :-

And of course Anthony couldn’t help himself :-

Streamys 2023

We didn’t really get much from the Streamys (not even Anthony winning 😤) but there was one little moment that happened early on in the show where they mentioned OG YouTubers and a clip of Ian from Food Battle 2012 where it looks like he’s doing ‘questionable things’ to a doughnut plays on screen.

Now obviously I don’t know how Ian felt in that moment having that play, but I think anyone would feel a little under the spotlight, especially given the context of the clip and how for people who’ve never seen FB or Smosh it must have been fairly confusing lol.

But no worry, because Ian’s no1 fan was sitting right there next to him. From the audience, over the people laughing and a few claps, you just hear Anthony’s voice yell “YEAH!” with his hand raised in the air :-

Always there to be Ian’s cheerleader 🥹

Anthony Plays Smosh Hide and Seek

So this was just a silly little moment, that again is more compliment-adjacent but still thought it deserved a little shoutout to close out the month.

In the hide and seek video Anthony and Ian are down to the last remaining few people to try and find - one of those being Chanse. Earlier in the video Anthony had checked the clothing racks and not found anyone - Ian wanted to allow him to seek his own as it was his game, but since they were having to re-check where they’d already been Ian decided to help him out, and low and behold, he found Chanse 😆

Anthony couldn’t believe he’d missed him!

Anthony: “That was such a good spot, holy shit! And your feet being in this bucket - holy shit! I would have never found you. Ian, damn, you found him!”

Literally just thought this was cute of Anthony giving Ian the recognition of finding him and that he wouldn’t have been able to without him. That’s all. Have no more thoughts on this one lol.

And so August slipped away into a moment in time…

Hope you enjoyed reading and I shall see you next time!

#smosh #ian hecox #anthony padilla #ianthony #☀️🔍#ian and anthony #smoshian #smoshanthony #ianthony compliments #my posts

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theshiftingarchives · 8 months ago

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Sharing The Hidden - Shifting Archives #1

INTRO

We are The Shifting Archives, a group dedicated to share knowledge on shifting that has been gatekept and give access to everyone to good shifting information. Today we are starting by bringing links to the first shifting community and its highlighted blogs from 2019 to 2022.

For the ones that dont know, shifting as you practice it, came from amino, DRs, WRs, Most of the methods and scripting came from amino. The first shifters from tiktok are amino users and most core content of shifting that you practice came from amino.

But not any amino.

Respawn/Dr Sub Users, the first shifting amino.

My name is Alula and today I will be telling you a bit about shifting history. This is a repost from reddit, you can read the original in here

TO LEARN

This community existed long before any tiktok videos, the place where shifting realities came to develop. A dense, filled with texts and users that hold the best knowledge out there that borned for shifting.

It was once the center of shifting, the place to learn, where many users created core information on shifting.

In 2020, a mix of events happened in TikTok that caused the creation of shiftok.

As you may know, Shifting when mainstream or talked about with non shifters are usually… messy, that is why the overall community always had this toxic instinct of asking for deleting or changing stuff when shifting is brought to new places and people.

In DRSU, some members posted TikTok videos about shifting, while beginners with intention of helping posted screenshots of community posts to try to explain shifting

At some point, information about respawn ended up on shiftok, and it was heavily misunderstood and taken out of context, a drama would spawn from this. Making a divide between the amino community and tiktok community, essential shifting information would be blocked from flowing to tiktok and the older communities would isolate themselves. With this much misinformation appeared such as "Shifting is a lucid dream", "If you spend too much time in your dr you will be tired", "Permashifting is impossible" and the list goes on.

In a way, this is everyone's fault, veterans wouldn't be interested in explaining and newbies would avoid listening. With the years going by, the division of the communities started to fade, communities made by and for shifters from tiktok would be created on amino, allowing the following of better information, and shifters from reddit, tumblr and discord are experiencing a time of reconstruction on more complex themes, with time the information on shifting would start to reappear.

Today you can still ask to enter almost any amino community by answering some questions and linking a global amino profile.

TO SHARE

Seeing these new events and shifting information starting to be reconstructed from ashes, a experienced group of shifters started the shifting archive, a project dedicated on sharing previously locked or lost informational texts, so all the community may have access to it.

We found that even a locked community can have its texts and users seen by anyone using a link on the web. So i am sharing the DRSU masterlist below this blog among other things, many links that will lead you to amazing texts and content. Some you may have known, some you will not agree. But please, read this content, learn something from it, develop new ideas, shifting as it was may never come back, but it does not mean that it can't evolve or get even better.

To DRSU staff and every other amino staff that may be reading this, we are not a doxxing or plagiarism project, we are more similar to a link tree, making collections of links that will take the reader straight to the original source. We understand that back in the day we all did what was for the better, to preserve the already existent information, sources and shifters. And we also know that holding positions such as leader and modding roles is a big responsibility, we end up by giving part of our own journey so others can experience their own.

For the people who are in the master list, please don't delete your blogs. I know we are doing a controversial move by exploiting this amino bug but please, share what you know, allow others to understand more about what you already do. A community is about helping each other so we can all survive, so please have empathy with the new ones. Some of them might have started on Shiftok but some of us started in sketchy places too.

To users and many others that will adventure themselves in these posts, i recommend you to TRULY go with an open mind, you will interact with heavy topics, shifting isn't the practice you may think it is. The links below do not contain all aspects of shifting and were formulated by the old staff with new members in mind, most of these texts you will already know and some will be new ideas to you, we recommend to not only search by our archive but also to explore the communities within them.

About respawn: even if you don't understand it and call it self hard i really recommend you to READ and to try to understand: There is no shifting without respawn, and once in the past, shifters were called the same thing people call respawn these days.

It is also important to add that some of these posts are made by veterans and non veterans, some contain different mindsets and views, you will find stuff that you already know, but maybe you can get an insight from new perspectives. Most of the master list is 2019-2022 blogs, but we will be linking more stuff with time.

Before sharing, I would like to say thank you to Sunni, Sen, Aurean Lee, Oxy, Vergara, Goat, Blueblemish, Shizuha, Rose, Serenity and many others that made content on shifting in its previous times and created the basics and essential of shifting on amino. May other names from this age appear so we can know our history.

I also would like to thank the DRSU Staff, even if we don't know the answer we will receive from this project., We appreciate your job in our community and keeping everything together for so many years.

TO SHIFT

This bug is more of a feature, amino as an app is dying so they added a feature that allows people from outside to see whatever content is on a locked community, so you can browse everything, even the feed as long as you are not logged in your account and using a browser.

A warning for those who pretend to misuse these resources, do not steal, do not claim as yours, do not profit and do not mock these texts. This is not only essential knowledge but also an important part of our history and culture.

Please, if you share this on TikTok at least link this post so more people can find it, do not claim it as your own.

For the ones that break the conditions of this sharing, know that we are always watching and breaking these rules have a price.

If you desire to help with archiving, send an email to this address [email protected] containing the link, author, title and screenshots or transcriptions of whatever you find. Updates will be posted on reddit, tumbler, discord and our link center!

The doc below also allows commentary, so please share your insights and any corrections needed!

You can also see the feed and profiles on the web browser! We will also be linking a Shifted list from the community!

LINKS TO DRSU

TO DRSU MASTERLIST

TO DRSU SHIFTED LIST

TO DRSU MAIN FEED

TO DRIVE WITH SHIFTING IMPORTANT DELETED CONTENT SCREENSHOTS

LINKS TO RESOURCES

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE LINK COLLECTIONS AND OUR MAIN PAGE

FINAL

That is it, we will keep adding more links and creating more resources. It is time we change this culture, it is time to learn and shift.

EDIT 01 - We had a real change in our formula, so we decided to re-write and fix the tone of this text, as well as adding updated links.

#permashifting #reality shifting #respawn #shifting #shifting community #scripting #shifting antis dni #desired reality #shiftblr #shifting realities #shifting blog #shifting motivation #shifttok #reality shift #quantum jumping #shiftingarchives

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cj-the-random-artist · 9 days ago

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Hiiii, I absolutely adore your art style and QPR Narilamb au! I don't think I've ever seen one before! I also love the way you characterize the well... characters!

Uhhhhh, I guess I should ask an actual question, tho right?

So now that the Lamb sees that people like the "everything he hates about himself" side through the Goat, will he loosen up a bit? Or will he double down?

Once again love love love your art and au!

Ooh another question, got any OCs?

Hello!! Thank you!! I'm glad you like how I characterize them, I've gotta admit it's all very self-indulgent so whenever someone says they like my characterizations my brain breaks for a hot second lmfao

As for the question..... I think Lambert more shuts down initially, and then eventually lightens up. Like I think Lambert kinda sees that the flock becomes fond of the Goat quite quickly and they kind of distance themself from their followers. Like they do all the stuff that they've been doing but they seem more disengaged, and they go out on crusades more and more often, stay out for longer, and more and more frequently come back having died or been seriously injured while they were gone. And Narinder probably picks this up pretty early but doesn't really know what to do to help until it gets worse. Eventually, they do snap back into being more present, which goes along with their whole arc of learning that like, being imperfect is normal, the high standards they have for themself are incredibly unrealistic, they're allowed to take breaks and be a little selfish sometimes, etc etc, and I think in part the Goat also helps them with this- when Lambert eventually warms up to them, of course- and so does Narinder. But the way I imagine this most likely going is "Lambert starts to tune out and become distant and needs support to tune back in" kinda vibes. Sidenote: I didn't think that was going to sound that heavy until I wrote it out. Uh... sorry bout that.

As for OCs... I do have OCs, but I haven't posted about them in a really long time. Most of my OCs are in some way attached to the same story, which is a longtime work in progress of mine that I do intend to turn into a large scale comic one day, but... it's a very big project. Like, unreasonably big. That said, their (not current) information is available on my artfight, which can be found here. Not all their info on their artfight profiles is accurate because I've recently done an ungodly amount of worldbuild overhauling, rewriting, and contemplating of "hmm maybe this wasn't a good idea....." and those also aren't my only OCs, but... that's the best answer I can give ya for that. They exist, but current versions of them are not anywhere on the internets and I don't intend for that to change for a while (not until the start of the comic is ready, actually)

Anyways. Thank you so much for the ask, it makes me so very happy that you enjoy my art and my AU, and I hope you have a lovely day!!

#cj the random artist says words #i guess this will eventually be in the qpr narilamb au tag that doesnt exist yet #and i do in fact have ocs theyre just. under construction x 500000000000 #i do hope you enjoyed this extremely long paragraph of shenanigans

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starscatteredsky · 1 year ago

Text

Welcome to the Star Scattered Sky, hopefully you find your home among the cosmos :)

pt: Welcome to the Star Scattered Sky, hopefully you find your home among the cosmos :)

REQUESTS ARE INCREDIBLY BACKLOGGED!! PLEASE BE PATIENT WE HAVE OVER 200!!

read this for info on our current temporary changes to the posting schedule!

personal blog: @starrykinstellation! If we followed you that’s the blog to check out!

i’m mod Mono, i’ll likely be the most familiar face on the blog :)

a little thing for 100 followers!! right here!!

this is a safe place for therians, otherhearted, fictionkin, otherkin, introjects, irls, neogender havers, neopronoun users, systems, neurodiversities and physical disabilities of all kinds, and pretty much anyone else who wants to be here :)

[pt: this is a safe place for therians, otherhearted, fictionkin, otherkin, introjects, irls, neogender havers, neopronoun users, systems, neurodiversities and physical disabilities of all kinds, and pretty much anyone else who wants to be here :)]

we are here to help!! feel free to request different things like playlists, moodboards, fashion ideas, stimboards, den/home ideas, care kits, foods or recipes for your kin/theriotype/source/etc, names and pronouns, xeno/neogenders and flags (we can coin, or go searching for pre-existing ones, whatever is preferred) and more!! just ask!! (please keep requests to one or two kintypes per ask! sending in multiple asks will help us keep organized!)

we are ok with inbox checks!! our queue posts twice daily, so if we get a large influx of asks it can take a while for them to post! so it’s always ok to ask what’s coming up :D

we’re also happy to answer good faith questions about ourselves :)

we have a lot of darkkin (daemons/demons, incubi, cryptids, etc) and celestialkin alters moderating this blog, so always happy to see more of you interact!!!

this blog is run by a DID system. we want to keep discourse off this blog, as arguing is tiring. We are anti-endo, but we can’t and won’t stop you from using any terms you see here!

if you think your ask got eaten, please ask us before resending it!! we often get a backed up queue, and are happy to let you know if we received it or not :)

mods! (there will be more of us soon! we just need to talk with the system!)

[pt: mods! (there will be more of us soon! we just need to talk with the system!)]

mod mono: he/they/🔦/static/xyr/moth

mod 🩸: she/they/he

mod 👾: they/them

mod 🧪: he/him

mod 🪶: genderfluid/pronoun fluid, default is they/hymn

mod 🎉💊: they/them

mod⚔️: he/him

Mod Sebastian: He/Him. (Tag is mod🦈)

Requests open!!!

[ID:

a DNI banner with the background being the promotional image for Little Nightmares 2. The writing reads:

"DNI: radqueers, proshippers, radfems/TERFs, antikin/antitherian, homophobic/ ableist/ anti ACAB/ transphobic/ rasist/ antisemitic/ xenophobic/ antitheist/ anti athiest/ bigoted in any fashion, NSFW/sh/ed/cringe centered blog, fakeclaimer

Before you interact: We are pro mspec gays/lesbians, anti endo/tulpa "systems", enjoy MCYT/DSMP, pro self diagnoses with extensive research, multiple alters are punks/ anarchists"

end ID]

[Profile picture description

Mono from little nightmares running forwards in a navy background

end description]

[profile banner description

A picture of the pale city, showing haunting blue atmospheric lighting with the two sides of the city split by some kind of crevasse. the buildings lean in towards the center, and a thin wooden plank spans the crevasse. Two small silhouettes are walking across the plank. the buildings are inhumanly large, and the city stretches off far into the background, vanishing into the blue lighting. the silhouettes are so small, it makes the entire image give off a sense of awe and mystery, and almost unnerving.

end description]

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zoeykallus · 1 year ago

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Giiiiiirl! We all need some Tech, but something soft and chaste, complicated, slow burning, very angsty! And with some heartache, don't forget the heartache!

😮... erm... Anoooon! Lucky for you, I have something in my wips I could work on that feels like it fits this profile... in a way... I guess. Heartache? Okay, but don't come crying to me later. It was originally a draft with my OC (Which I never would have finished or published anyway), but I think I can fix it up.

Tech/Howzer x 'Jedi'!Fem!Reader - Shortfic / Oneshot - The Misfits

Warnings: Angst/Hurt/Fluff/Heartache/!!!!MAJOR SPOILER FOR TBB S2!!!!!

_____________________

After you fell in love with Howzer, you left the Order. You haven't seen him for a long time and according to rumors he is most likely no longer alive.

In your search for answers to where all the clones are disappearing to, you stumble upon a squad of clones in desperate need of help.

_____________________

AC: I changed some timeline related things as well as canon itself and call it artistic freedom 🙂. Depending on your point of view, there is a happy ending, or there is none. Or a bit of both. I totally went over board with this, but I kinda love it. It's probably one of my favorite things I worked on.

______________________

Above him, the life of his squad hangs by a thread; below him is a yawning void, a deep abyss. Within a few heartbeats, Tech has calculated all possible scenarios. There is only one way out, one way only. He can save his family if he sacrifices himself. Plan 99. Wrecker and Omega beg him not to cut the connection, Hunter even orders him to.

"When have we ever followed orders," Tech says, drawing his blaster.

Every move, that what he needs to do is logical, but it feels surreal, heavy-handed. His heart is pounding up to his throat, yet he feels strangely calm. He knows he's doing the right thing. Tech doesn't want to go, but it's a necessity to ensure the continued existence of Clone Force 99, to give his brothers and Omega a chance to survive.

The few seconds in which he aims and pulls the trigger are forever, seeming almost infinite to him. He hears his brothers calling for him and Omega's screams. In the next moment, the connection is cut, and he drops falls, his stomach tingling, everything tingling, but his muscles relaxed. His heart is racing, but his mind is calm and unusually empty for the first time in a long time.

But something is wrong, his fall slows down, even his direction of flight changes. His mind awakens again. Tech looks around, tries to orientate himself, and realizes that he is heading for one of the towers along which the cable car runs. He has no idea what is happening, there is no logical explanation, no updrafts strong enough, he has no wings and no way to control his fall, it makes no sense.

He gets close enough to grab one of the crossbars on the tower. His heart leaps as his fall stops, and he clings to the tower. Tech still can't quite grasp that he's alive, doesn't quite understand what just happened. A surge of euphoria floods his body; he doesn't have to die.

But his mind sobers up very quickly. His gaze shoots upward. The car with his brothers is moving again, but disproportionately fast, they would very likely crash into the stop.

Up above the tracks he sees a figure, a woman, she moves quickly, elegantly, dodging shots, but most interesting, she wields a green lightsaber with which she deflects the blaster shots of the Imperials.

"A Jedi," he says to himself.

Then comes the realization. He didn't fly, the Jedi must have saved him. Tech begins to hastily climb down, he must be on the ground on foot trying to reach his brothers in time. At the bottom, even as he runs, he hears the car crash into the platform. His guts want to tie themselves in knots, but he keeps running, can only hope that no one is too badly hurt.

You see dust and smoke swirl up as you jump down from the tracks into the crash site. Behind you, you hear hurried footsteps. The one you rescued earlier also reaches the crash site. He stops for a moment, stares at you, his eyes big. Finally, he rushes past you into the wreckage to check on his companions.

Some of them are injured, not fatally, but too badly to fight.

"I assume you have a shuttle," you say, more or less addressing everyone.

"Who's that?" the biggest of them asks with a groan, holding his aching ribs.

You wave it off and say, "We can work that out later. I'll back you up on the way to your shuttle if you'll take me. The imperials shot down my shuttle," you say, helping the girl to her feet, who looks at you wide-eyed, then at Tech.

"TECH!"

The girl hugs the man fiercely as tears stream down her face.

"You're alive!" she says as if she can't believe it.

He wipes away her tears and says gently but firmly, "You need to pull yourself together for a moment, Omega, first we need to get out of here"

"Go!" growls the one with the longer hair and bandana, "No time".

He grits his teeth, stumbles limping through the rubble and almost falls, but you grab his arm and help him. You can sense his pain.

"Thank you," he presses out in anguish, between clenched teeth.

Under fire, you rush back to the shuttle as fast as you can. Tech helps the sergeant, the big one named Wrecker holds up on his own. You fend off incoming shots, more than a few of which would hit one back or another without your help. The blade of the laser sword hums, buzzing through the air like an extension of your body, every movement, fluid and natural.

Tech keeps looking over his shoulder, fascinated. He's seen many a Jedi, but somehow, there is something different about you, something that already draws him in.

Pabu is beautiful, peaceful and the people refreshingly warm. A good place to come to rest, at least temporarily. However, you are a bit frustrated at the moment, your attempts to repair your holopad have failed. Annoyed, you place the device back down on the half-wall in front of you.

"Fuck it," you grumble to yourself as you hear a soft noise behind you.

You turn and see Tech, his helmet tucked under his arm, looking at you in surprise with raised brows. He's unobtrusive, yet somehow always near you.

"Excuse my choice of words," you say with a wry smile.

He shrugs carefully and says, "I may not be a fan of that language, but it doesn't bother me much either. However, I must say that this choice of words surprises me, hearing it from a Jedi. I don't think I've ever heard a Jedi swear before."

You laugh softly.

"What makes you think I'm a Jedi?"

Tech blinks thoughtfully, adjusts his goggles with his index finger, and says, "Well, I thought it was obvious. You carry a lightsaber, use the Force, and you are clearly not a Sith."

You nod slowly, "Yes, I can understand why you would come to that conclusion. But I'm not a Jedi, not anymore, not for a few years now."

He extends his hand to you invitingly and says, "May I help you with that?"

You pick up the holopad again and pass it to him. As he deftly takes the device apart, he cautiously asks, "May I ask why you left the Order?"

You sigh softly and sit down on the half-wall, looking down at the beach for a moment as if searching for an answer there, then look at Tech again.

"I never really fit in with the Jedi. You could say among the Jedi I was an outsider to some extent."

Tech looks up curiously from the holopad. He notes that this is something that connects you, he and his brothers never really fit in among the other clones either. He says, "That must have been difficult."

You nod with a sigh, "Sometimes more, sometimes less. I lacked that absolute calm, that restraint. Although I grew up in the Order from a very young age, I have never been able to put aside my emotional nature. The decision that I had to leave the Order was made when I fell in love."

Tech looks up again, blinking, you sense unease beneath his surface.

"In love?" he asks, swallowing, "Oh. Jedi aren't supposed to do that, are they?"

"No, they shouldn't. Well, it happens to many actually, but a real Jedi, cuts themselves loose from it, I didn't want that to happen."

The little, "Oh" that comes across his lips sounds oddly vulnerable.

Tech is still tinkering with your holopad when he asks, "And what happened to that love of yours?"

You swallow and feel an uncomfortable pressure on your chest as you answer quietly, "I don't know. I haven't seen him in a very long time. He was stationed on Ryloth. After Order 66, I couldn't possibly go there, too many clones in one place, and… I was terrified that he had succumbed to the chip as well. If he had tried to kill me, I don't think I could have stomached it. But from what I've heard, he's probably no longer alive anyway."

Tech looks at you in surprise.

"The man you loved was a reg?"

You frown and repeat, "Reg?"

He shakes his head apologetically.

"Sorry. Regular clone, meaning clones that haven't been modified like Clone Force 99"

"Oh, I see," you say understandingly, "Yes, by that standard I suppose he was a Reg. As far as I've heard, he ultimately acted contrary to programming. He was arrested for treason when he liberated the Syndulla family"

Tech looks up again.

"Howzer?" he asks, surprised.

"Yeah," you say, also surprised, "You know him?"

"[Knowing him] is probably too much of a word. We ran into him. At the Syndullas liberation operation. For that matter, I'm afraid I have to confirm the rumor you heard, Howzer really has been arrested by the Empire for treason."

Your heart grows heavy. You swallow. You feel a slight burning behind your eyes and the bridge of your nose.

"Then I guess he really is dead," you say with a heavy sigh, "Actually, I'm not surprised, I was already expecting it, and we haven't seen each other in over a year, but it still hurts."

Tech put the holopad back together. He gently presses the device into your hand, holding your hand almost tenderly for a brief moment as he does so.

"I'm sorry."

He's really sorry, but part of him feels relief that Howzer can't be a part of your life anymore, and he's ashamed of it. In fact, he's shocked at how he feels about you and how that realization affects him.

As Tech lets go of you, he says softly, "Your holopad is working again."

You blink and look at the device.

"Thank you so much. You're really handy with these things, aren't you?"

Tech smiles gently.

"At the risk of sounding smug, I have to say, 'handy' is probably an understatement, but yes".

Tech's heart beats faster when he sees you enter the room. He looks up, smiles at you briefly, and nervously turns his attention back to the cards lying on a box in front of him.

"You're playing… Against yourself?" you ask, surprised.

He nods and says as a matter of course, "Of course, that's the only way this game is still a challenge for me."

Your soft laugh, turns his cheeks a little pink.

"I actually believe you," you say, amused.

You glance over his shoulder.

"You're probably really good at this, you'll have to teach me when you have the time".

Tech's shoulders tighten proudly, he turns his head to the side to look at you shyly for a moment and shows you his cute little smile, just very briefly, but adorably cute.

You are so close, very close to him, for a moment he can smell your scent even more clearly than before and a shiver runs through his body. If he wasn't sitting right now, Tech is sure, his knees would buckle under him. What's happening to him here, what are you doing to him? Does this have something to do with the Force? Tech doesn't dare ask. But he feels something like a connection, and he feels all warm. Maybe he's just incubating a disease. Are there parasites on Pabu that he doesn't know about?

His thoughts are racing in all directions, but then you move again, sit down opposite him. His gaze follows you, spellbound. Tech blinks several times, trying to collect himself. Spending time with you is so wonderful in a way, so exciting, but it also completely messes with his head.

"Are we going to play a game? Will you teach me?"

His mouth opens, but it takes him a long moment to find his voice again.

"I… yes, I'd love to. But the circumstances aren't exactly fair. My mind is… special, it will be anything but easy to win against me"

With a soft laugh whose sound tickles all the way to his stomach, you say, "I don't have to win, first I just want to learn"

You learn quickly. Surprised, with a very slight tinge of frustration, and not a little appreciation, he notes that you soon beat him over and over again.

"No one has ever won against me until now," he says, impressed, but also thoughtful.

Part of him was hoping to impress you, but now he almost feels a little intimidated.

You smirk.

"Well, this is a game where a lot depends on how well you know your opponent and how to interpret their behavior. I have a simple advantage, I can sense your intentions in the Force, maybe the circumstances really aren't fair."

His pulse races. Instead of being angry that you more or less cheated through the Force, panic rises in him. If you can sense his intentions, can you sense what you are triggering in him?!

You tilt your head slightly to the side and look at him questioningly, which only emphasizes his fear. Tech jumps up, nearly knocking over the box still containing your playing cards.

"I have to take care of something," he stammers and runs out of the room a little too hastily.

Echo enters the cockpit of the Marauder in search of Tech. He finds him there, too, using a medical scanner on himself. Echo's brows go up questioningly.

"Tech, what's wrong?"

Startled, Tech looks up, collects himself, and finally answers, "I'm looking for traces of a disease or parasite."

Concerned, Echo moves closer.

"So you're not feeling well?"

Tech sighs and says, "It's hard to tell. I'm showing certain symptoms"

"Which are?"

"Increased heart rate, queasy feeling in stomach, sweaty palms, shaky knees".

Echo frowns and says, "That doesn't sound like a parasite."

Echo thinks for a moment and then something occurs to him. With a certain undertone, he asks, "Those symptoms wouldn't happen to show up in connection with our Jedi guest?"

Tech lowers the scanner and looks critically at Echo.

"Are you suggesting she might have infected me with something?"

Echo says, amused, "More or less. She's pretty, she's nice, well she's special."

Tech sighs softly and says, "I agree."

Echo sits down in the copilot seat, looks at Tech and says, "You'd rather be sick than in love?"

"In love?!" echoes Tech in near panic.

His brother raises his hands placatingly.

"Relax, it's a normal thing, not the end of the world. But it's also natural to have a certain respect for these feelings. They make us vulnerable and as soldiers we are trained to avoid such things, especially as clones. But there are no regulations anymore, you could take the leap and explore these feelings."

Techs heart beats faster, just the thought that there might be something between you sends what feels like millions of signals through his body.

"Are you scared?"

Tech gulps.

"I'm not sure about that, in a way I guess I am. She can use the Force, maybe she already knows, maybe she's already sensed what I'm feeling."

Echo shrugs.

"I suppose it's possible. But so far it doesn't seem to me like she's avoiding you, that's a good sign after all."

Tech nods slowly, agreeing with his brother.

The sun is slowly setting, but it is still wonderfully warm. Your hands rest on the waist-high stone wall in front of you and feel the warmth of the sun stored in it, which has been shining on it all day. A real, pleasant feeling. Then you feel something else, with your mind.

"Hey, Tech. Did you get done what you needed to get done?"

You turn to him with a smile. It's almost unusual to see him without his datapad in his hand. Tech stands next to you and looks out at the ocean and how the sun seems to be sinking into the water on the horizon.

"Yes, I have," he says softly.

You can sense that something is going on beneath his surface, he is excited and euphoric at the same time, but outwardly he seems quite calm. You look at each other, you feel it coming, but you don't move a muscle. Unsure if you want to let it happen or not. He leans towards you, his lips chastely touching your cheek, then he straightens up again with blushing cheeks and looks out at the water again, unable to face your gaze.

It's a strange feeling. You like Tech a lot, you can't quite place it yet, but something about it feels wrong, maybe because you can't quite release Howzer from your heart yet.

"Sorry," he says suddenly, "I didn't mean to cross any lines."

You sigh softly and carefully reach for his hand. Tech's heart overflows with joyful excitement, you can feel it, it practically spills over to you, but you pull yourself together.

"There's something you should know, Tech."

He does finally look at you again, questioningly.

"You can tell me anything," he says quietly.

With a cautious smile, you nod and say, "I can feel what you feel for me, at least I think I can. These feelings, I must admit, are not entirely one-sided."

There is great joy radiating from him, nervousness, euphoria, but also a bitter undertone of insecurity.

He says, "I have a feeling there's still a 'but' there."

You nod again and say, "My heart is not ready to let go of Howzer. I know he's most likely no longer among the living, but I'm not ready to let him go just yet."

"Oh," Tech says quietly, "That's not a problem. I, um, I can wait until you're ready."

"I can't ask you to do that, I don't know how long it will take" you say uncertainly, lowering your eyes.

You would love to let him hug and comfort you, just let go and snuggle up to Tech's side, but something, hidden deep inside you, prevents you from doing so.

Tech repeats determinedly, "I can wait," and very gently squeezes your fingers in his hand.

At that moment, your heart opens a little wider to him and his, adorably sweet, little, smile.

"Rex is coming to Pabu," Hunter says, "And he's bringing some more of our brothers with him that he was able to rescue from the clutches of the Empire."

You remember Rex, a little bit, anyway. A decent guy, good soldier, he was Skywalker's Clone Captain. Skywalker was the only Jedi at the time who seemed to understand you to some extent, at least you always had a good conversation with him. You wonder where he is now, if he is still alive. But a noise pulls you out of your thoughts.

A shuttle is approaching and lands next to the Marauder, which suddenly seems quite small in comparison. The ramp opens and Rex emerges from it, followed by several other clones.

Tech shows up next to you, giving you a gentle smile before focusing on the arrivals, his datapad in hand as usual.

You greet the new arrivals. Rex even recognizes you, you talk for a moment when you hear someone say, "Hey little Jedi."

There is only one man who has ever called you that.

"Howzer", the name comes across your lips like a whisper.

You turn around and see him standing in front of you. He looks tired, but the smile on his face is still irresistible. Neither of you think for long. You embrace each other stormily and Howzer engages you in a long, longing kiss.

As his lips part from yours, he leans his forehead against yours and says, "Honestly, I hardly dared to hope I'd ever see you again, beautiful."

The world around you has faded out, there is only Howzer and you, even though all eyes are on you. Some confused, others amused. But you also feel Tech's shock, poking through all the other sensations surrounding you, like an electric shock.

The datapad in his hands crackles and creaks protestingly under the pressure of Tech's fingers as he watches your kiss. He didn't expect this, didn't expect Howzer to ever appear on the scene again.

Tech could have imagined waiting until you were ready for him, but this changes everything. The realization is like a shock, and a wave of bitterness rolls over him against his will.

The datapad cracks in his hands. Echo next to him stares in disbelief at the kissing scene, then his gaze shifts to Tech with concern.

"Tech…" he says softly, but Tech drops the datapad to the floor, turns on his heel, and walks away in a hurry.

Hunter and Echo exchange a frown, a worried look.

"I'll go check on him," Echo says, and sets about following Tech.

That same evening, you're sitting on the beach with Howzer, holding hands, talking, telling each other all the things that happened during the time you were apart. Then you feel it again, the tentative, tender presence of Tech. You turn your head and look up at him.

You haven't seen him since this morning, since Rex and Howzer arrived. You don't know where he's been or what he's been doing during that time. But since Echo followed him and also stayed gone all day, you suspect he was talking to his brother.

"I'm sorry to bother you. I know you probably have a lot to talk about, but I'd like to ask for a private conversation," Tech says in a matter-of-fact tone.

Howzer frowns questioningly, but when you agree and leave with Tech, he has no objections, trusting you and waiting on the beach as Tech and you walk away, out of earshot and sight.

"I know," Tech begins, "Things have changed now, of course. Howzer's still alive, and I don't presume to make demands or get in the way. I'm very fond of you, and even though I'd like to be in Howzer's place, all I really want is for you to be happy."

His pain is deep and more intense than you expect, you can feel it almost as clearly as if it were your own.

"I'm so sorry, I-"

Tech raises his hand.

"No, don't be. Neither my feelings nor the current situation are your fault. You should be happy, you have the man you love back."

Everything inside you tightens. Yes he is right, you should be happy, but you are not, not completely. But maybe that's just what you feel going out from Tech.

"Something about this whole situation doesn't feel right," you say so softly that he almost doesn't hear it.

He smiles sadly and says, "That's just because you're a good person, you have a good heart. You know that I feel pain, and you would like to change that. But you can't, this is something that will heal with time."

You take a deep breath, stand on your tiptoes, and he leans towards you. You gently kiss Tech's cheek and say, "You know I still care about you immensely, right?"

He swallows, finally nods, and says, barely audibly, "I know that."

As you part ways, he stares after you for a long time as his hand automatically moves to his cheek and his fingers settle on the spot where you kissed him. He will never forget this moment.

Ko-Fi (If you feel like giving me some coffee)

@rintheemolion

@andyoufollowyourheart @clone-whore-99

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@misogirl828 @tech-deck

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