#and the talk with amanda at the beginning of potential

[a-heart-of-kyber]

The way in which people seem to blindly act as if season 6 of Buffy exists in a vacuum is actually bananas.

[bucklway]

was adam meant to free roam the bathroom?

isn’t it so unfair that adam’s key fell down the drain? it’s like he didn’t even have a chance to escape..

but isn’t that the point?

in saw 3, john tells amanda “you didn’t test anyones will to live, instead, you took away their only chance. your games were unwinnable.” and we are shown a montage of these unwinnable games. we see her fighting eric, troy in the classroom trap, kerry in the angel trap..

and her throwing adam’s key in the bathtub..

so how is amanda giving adam his key making his game unwinnable? and why does john consider that moment unfair?

is this meant to imply that amanda wasn’t supposed to do this?

maybe adam was meant to discover this key at some point, like the box in the wall, and free himself before 6. this would make it much harder for lawrence to kill him, adam could hide, he could potentially even escape. or maybe when the game was over, john would decide wether or not adam was worthy of living, getting the key for him. those options feel much more fair then his only mode of freedom falling down the drain the second he wakes up.

let’s talk about what john says in adam’s tape and if it confirms or denies this theory,

he begins with “up until now, you’ve simply sat in the shadows, watching others live out their lives.” then he actually gives adam an objective, a way to win the game, “are you going to watch yourself die today, or do something about it?”

john seems to think that it’s possible for adam to win the game, he’s meant to take control of his life, and escape.

adam managed to stay alive until 6, but he was still left to die.. so what gives? adam learns to appreciate his life and everything, he learns that he wants to be alive “i want to live!” however, what john had told him was “are you going to watch yourself die, or do something about it?”

when you really think about it, adam didn’t do anything to earn his survival. he killed zepp, sure, but that was only after the time limit was up, and he only did it to save lawrence, the man who attempted to kill him like 5 minutes ago. john certainly didn’t view that as enough, because he left him to rot.

“do something about it” could’ve meant that he was supposed to kill lawrence, which i don’t know how he could’ve done that if he’s chained to the other side of the room..

lmk what u guys think!

[megalony]

Leave Her Out Of This

This is a new Nick Amaro imagine from SVU, requested by a lovely anon. I loved this idea and I hope you will all like it. Any feedback is always lovely to get.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem@sj-thefanthefan@hellsdragon@im-an-adult-ish@crazylittlethingg@allauraleigh@onceuponadetectivedemigod@ceres27@avyannadawn@sleepylunarwolf@coverupps@justagirlthatlovedtoread @musicistheway @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @luula @missdreamofendless @bradleybeachbabe @woderfulkawaii  @amberpanda99 @daggersquadphantom @marvel-and-chicago-fan @angryknightstatesmantrash @minjix @lyjen @kmc1989 @itsmytimetoodream @noonenuts @hiireadstuff @ashie-babie @classyunknownlover @jayyeahthatsme @sp1ritssz

Masterlist

Summary: Nick comes back to work but he can't contain himself when he finds his wife up on their board of victims. He won't have the team dragging up her past and upsetting her.

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey stranger, how are you?"

A tired smile formed on Nick's face when he sluggishly walked into the squad room, trying not to drag his feet behind him and act a little more human today.

"Better," He felt much better than he did last week when he went off sick. He had barely been able to keep his eyes open and when he started to run a fever, Olivia sent him home. They didn't need him collapsing on the job or crumbling behind his desk when he wasn't well.

It had been oddly strange for Nick to spend five full days at home with (Y/n) and not have to set an alarm or wake up to a phone call in the middle of the night asking him to come in. He didn't get one call or message or even a voicemail asking for his help or for him to come back and it was the weirdest feeling in the world. The team must have realised how run down he felt to not message him at all.

He didn't feel one hundred percent just yet, but he felt better than he had done and he was well enough to come back.

Spending a few days between the bed and the couch had done him a lot of good, and being with his wife just made him feel that much better.

As he approached his desk, Nick shrugged off his overcoat and draped it on the back of his chair. He didn't want to sit down just yet because he knew if he did, he wouldn't be likely to get up again. It was best for him to keep moving and keep busy to wake himself up.

"So, what have we got?" His hands fell to his hips and he took a sweeping look around, waiting for someone to tell him what the plans were. They had just finished up on a case last week when Nick went off sick. He didn't know if they had a new case yet, if they had a victim to talk to or if they had a big case building up that they needed to work on.

"We're building up an old case with three new victims. Come see what we've got, then we can head out and speak to the latest vic."

Amanda waved a file in the air towards Nick before she got up from her desk and beckoned him to follow her.

He had missed the beginning of this case opening back up, but he could jump in and help since they hadn't spoken to any of the latest victims yet. They needed the usual statements, witnesses, coroborating stories and alibis. It was going to be a busy few days around the station.

Nick could feel himself wishing he was back home already and he had barely been here two minutes. But he tried to push those feelings down as he followed Amanda past the desks and towards the back of the squad room where the computers and the crime boards were.

They had been busy.

"New vics on the right, old ones on the left. We're still searching for more potential vics."

"So, what's the case?" Nick leaned back and sat down on the edge of the table as his arms folded over his chest and he studied the new victims. They always had better chances with new victims, old ones had the statue of limitations hanging over their heads and memories could change and fade and warp. Details could be missed as well.

"Glad to see you back," Olivia commented as she approached the boards and started pointing. "Local parish priest, Jonathon. Three girls between ten and fifteen have come forward with allegations of abuse. Looking back, we've found six previous victims, Finn is still searching for any others. He takes them under his wing, gets them helping in church after school, then progresses to attack them repeatedly."

A wave of unease washed over Nick as he tried his best to listen to what Olivia was saying. But it was hard to concentrate when a familiar sense of knowing lingered in the back of his mind and he could feel his skin starting to prickle with goosebumps.

It was as if there was an invisible hand in front of him that reached through his chest and fisted around his heart when he dared to look over at the board on the left.

Oh God no.

No, that wasn't fair. This couldn't be right.

A subtle trembling set in over Nick's body and he found himself pushing off the table to take a few steps closer to the board he was now inspecting.

It was the same man. It was the same priest. The one Nick fortunately had never met, but had heard all about over the course of a decade. This was the man that Nick had envisioned countless times when he laid awake in the dead of night, unable to sleep or think or do anything but wonder what he was like and if he had been caught out.

"…Are you familiar with the old cases?" Olivia kept her voice quiet because it seemed like Nick was caught up in a trance he couldn't break out of.

He was stood right in front of the board of old victims, but it didn't make sense. Nick wasn't old enough to have been there to work on the old cases. If he was familiar with them, it would have to be due to a fairly recent victim or because he knew someone else who had worked on this case before.

Nick's fingers twitched at his sides and his right hand jerked up before he managed to control himself and drop his hands back to his sides. He let his hands clench into fists until his short nails were puncturing into his palms, creating deep crescent moons in the skin.

"Yeah… I… I need a coffee." He turned on his heels and backed away from the board before he did something he shouldn't.

He made his way through towards the cells and moved to the small kitchen at the side. He needed a coffee to wake up and calm himself down.

His wife was on that board.

Trembles set in through his hands when he tried to pour some fresh coffee into a takeaway cup. He spilt more on the side than he got in the cup and he added three sugars to try and settle his system and his nerves.

They had (Y/n)'s picture up on that board. They had gone raking through past cases and old reports and they had dug out (Y/n)'s file.

While he had been off, they had found the few reports (Y/n) had made when she was younger.

That was why Nick knew this case back to front, he knew what that priest was capable of because it had happened to his wife. Nick knew (Y/n) had made at least three separate reports to the police, but because her parents thought so highly of the priest and didn't believe her, nothing was done. (Y/n) had no evidence of abuse and the police wouldn't file charges or make an arrest on a man of God. Not unless they had solid evidence and more witnesses.

The other girls who came forward didn't have solid cases either. Nothing was done about it.

"So, what do you know about this case, anything we can use?"

Nick glared daggers down into his cup when he trailed back towards the table and heaved down into one of the chairs opposite the boards. He slouched back and crossed one leg over the other, but he couldn't stop staring up at that board.

(Y/n) looked so young. The picture had to be her when she was thirteen or fourteen. There was something in her eyes that made Nick's stomach churn. A desperate need to be listened to; they were made of glass that was splintering and about to break. The world was hidden within those eyes that had seen far too much for someone so young.

"He grooms them first… makes them feel comfortable, preys on any family issues. He usually makes them give confession before he tries anything, then he had a hold over them. Sick fucker."

His eyes stayed on the brown paper cup in his hand that was slowly burning into his skin, creating a delicious tension that made Nick feel calmer.

He knew what the priest did, from what (Y/n) said, his motives became very clear. He wormed his way into their lives and made sure he knew their friends and family and that everyone liked him enough to never believe any of these accusations. He made the girls feel vulnerable and like they would be defying God and going against everyone if they ever spoke out.

Nick couldn't help himself, he couldn't help but look up at that picture again. He wasn't used to seeing photos of (Y/n) from when she was younger, she didn't have many photos she liked that didn't plague her with bad memories. And after she left home and went to college where she met Nick, she cut off ties with her parents. They didn't support her, they didn't help her and whether or not a small part of them believed what she had gone through, they still did nothing about it.

(Y/n) didn't want to be around them anymore when they had let her down so badly.

"I want you both to go over the old victims with Finn, get new statements, any details we can use to make a new case. The statute of limitations may have run out, but some of these girls did make reports and file complaints and we can use those."

No!

No, they were not doing this. They were not going to victimise (Y/n) all over again and put her through that trauma. Nick wouldn't allow it.

No good would come of this, he had consoled too many victims who couldn't put the past behind them. He had talked to so many victims and all of them felt worse after re-living events like this. Getting justice may help, but the process to do that didn't. No one was doing this to his wife.

Nick wouldn't see (Y/n) tell her tale to more people when she had been through it before. She had talked to her parents. She had gone through every event with the police. She had relived it when she opened up to Nick about what she had been through. She wasn't doing that again.

"Amanda, I want you to start with-"

Olivia took a step away from the board and leaned back when Nick suddenly got up. He rounded the side of the table and before either of them could speak, he slammed his hand down on the board.

Nick snatched the picture of (Y/n) from the board, tearing a crease in the top left corner where it didn't come apart from the blue tac properly. His chest heaved and his shoulders strained against his shirt as he stared down at the picture he desperately wanted to tear up into pieces but couldn't. This wasn't the girl that Nick knew. This wasn't the woman he had fallen in love with, this was a piece of her past he had seem glimpses of but never ventured into.

This was the part of (Y/n) that she wanted to bury and forget and Nick would do absolutely anything in his power to do that for her.

He reached down and snatched the eraser on the bottom of the board and set a fast pace, scrubbing the black marker from the board. He wiped away his wife's maiden name, her date of birth and the dates of her attacks. He cleaned away the information about her allegations and what she had gone through.

He wiped the slate clean, wishing this could rebound into her life and smudge away her past so it never happened.

"We have five old victims, not six. You don't use this one."

Amanda leaned back in her seat and twirled her pen between her fingers. They had gone through all these victims and they all seemed credible. He couldn't just walk in and wipe them clean and demand no one talk to them or use their statements.

"Nick, we've got statements that coroborate her story, she's a good lead-"

"She's my wife."

Silence fell over the end of the squad room just as Finn walked through with a thin paper file in his hands. No one had anything to say to that. What were they supposed to say? What were they supposed to do now?

For a few more seconds, no one spoke. All eyes landed on Nick as he stood in front of the board, his short nails puncturing holes into the eraser in his hand. His biceps strained against his sleeves from how tense he was holding himself. The veins in his neck started to push out and come on display and his jaw ground down so deeply the muscles around his neck and chin began to flex.

"Nick, I'm so sorry." Olivia held her hands in front of her and started to move the ring around her finger. "You know the way this goes, we comb through old victims to find things to help put this man away. We can leave (Y/n) down to you, we won't go near her-"

"No, you won't. You don't get it, (Y/n) went through all of this and she didn't get help. It's too late for her now, she doesn't want anything to do with this so we get this guy with the victims and the evidence we do have. No one goes near my wife, don't even mention her in any part of this."

They couldn't force their way into (Y/n)'s life.

She was done with this. It was a decade ago and (Y/n) was trying to move on. Some victims couldn't move on unless they had closure, but (Y/n) didn't feel that way. She tried to get help, she moved on, she got her life together and she was finally somewhere that she was happy and proud and pleased with herself. No one was going to run in and ruin that for her.

Testifying or making statements and reliving everything was going to burden (Y/n) and make her feel down and drag her all the way back down when she had done so well putting herself back together. If they caught this guy, great, (Y/n) could rest easy knowing no one else would get hurt.

But at the end of the day, (Y/n) was a victim, she didn't have to think of anyone else. She had tried to help, she had done her part in this. They had her statements and her files, that was all they needed from her, talking to her wasn't going to help her.

"We've got five other victims, surely that's enough?" Amanda rolled her lips into a thin line and looked over at Olivia for confirmation.

If this was Amanda's significant other, she would feel the same way. She wouldn't want the team going to talk to her partner ot combing through their life to pick it apart and get them to retell their story. She would want her partner as far away from this mess as possible and Amanda could see where Nick was coming from.

Did they really need (Y/n) if they had the rest of these girls and their case would be built solidly around the new victims?

"Nick, are you sure this is what (Y/n) wants?"

"It took her months to open up to me, she doesn't want to keep living this nightmare. Liv… she's pregnant, you think stressing her out is a good idea right now? I know everything, whatever questions you have, I can answer. Leave her out of this."

His hand planted down on his hip, crushing his wife's picture against his trouser leg while his other hand moved to cup his chin. He scratched his nails down his jaw and rubbed until it felt like he was going to tear off a layer of skin.

This was what (Y/n) wanted, Nick knew that and he knew what would go through his wife's head when she found out about the investigation.

She would want nothing to do with this.

If they spoke to her about this, it would drag up all the past and send her spiralling down when she was finally back to a good place in her life. She wasn't having nightmares or sleepless nights anymore. She wasn't afraid to be around other people and she didn't flinch when in close contact with others.

Since the moment Nick met her back in college, he had done everything he could to help her. He moved at her pace, let her slowly open up to him over the course of almost eight months. They worked through things together, he had been there when she went to therapy and every part of her recovery, Nick had tried to be there by her side.

And (Y/n) was six and a half months pregnant now.

They were finally at a place in their lives where (Y/n) felt happy and able to start a family and have the life she always wanted. With Nick.

(Y/n) was even going to church with Nick and his family now. After everything she had gone through, she was going to church and keeping some of the little faith she had left. This case would set her back years in her recovery and when this went to trial, (Y/n) would undoubtedly be near her due date.

There was no chance in Hell that Nick would let Barba put his pregnant wife up on the stand and risk stressing her out and pushing her into labour.

It wasn't worth the risk.

***

Nick could feel all the energy draining out of him as he dragged his feet and plodded up the stairs. His fingers worked at the buttons on his sleeves and he rolled them up to his elbows as his chin tucked down into his chest and he sighed.

He could feel all the energy dwindling away from him like someone was draining him down to twenty percent. Less than a week back at work was draining him to his last reserves and he felt like he would be taking another week off sick as he still wasn't fully recovered yet.

He had shed his blazer jacket the moment he walked through the door and as he reached the top of the stairs, Nick undid the tie from his collar and whipped it off from around his neck.

"Carino?" He leaned in the bedroom and tossed his tie on the bed before he turned around and headed back into the hallway when he saw the room was empty.

A soft smile pulled at his tired lips when he noticed the light was on in the spare room.

When he poked his head around the door, he let his arms fold over his chest and he leaned his body into the door frame. One leg crossed over the other and his smile softened into something sweet as his eyes locked on his wife.

(Y/n) was sat cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the room with small piles of clothes surrounding her. Blankets stacked up near her right knee, onesies and vests in front of her and the few handmade boots she had made sat proudly in front of her legs.

"You've been busy," Nick's quiet comment caused (Y/n) to lift her head and when her eyes locked on him, she bit down no her lip, obscuring a charmingly sweet smile that made his heart melt.

She placed down the boots in her hand and ran her hands along her knees, but her heart sped up and she pressed her lips together tightly when she watched her husband. He seemed to grin down at her before something caught his eye and he tilted his head back. His eyes swept around the room a few times before his head turned to the left and he looked over the wall beside him.

"Have you painted again?" The sigh was visible in the way his chest puffed out then deflated. Nick moved away from the doorframe and took a few steps into the room so he could look up at the walls.

They had painted the first coat on the walls two days before he went off sick from work. They spent the next few days lounging around the house with Nick too tired and run down to do anything. And when he had gone back to work, he didn't think about the second coat of paint that the walls needed. The room was a very pale shade of grey that had hints of lilac mixed in. It was a neutral colour since they were keeping the gender a secret.

"Maybe," (Y/n) tilted her head down and shrugged when Nick huffed.

"And you thought it would be safe to get up on the ladder without me home? What if you fell?"

If she wanted to paint, Nick would of preferred (Y/n) just painted the part of the walls she could reach and leave the skirting edges at the ceiling for him to do. He didn't like the thought of her getting up on a ladder without him here, especially when she was home alone. If she fell or hurt herself or knocked herself out she wouldn't have a way to get help.

(Y/n) lifted her head when Nick crouched down in front of her, being mindful of the clothes she was trying to sort out and had piled around her like a circle of protection.

Her lips curved up and a shiver ran down her spine when his hand cupped her chin so he could plant a soft kiss on her lips.

"Sorry… I got the crib out too but I got a bit sidetracked." She let her eyes dance across to the side of the room before she looked back at Nick and gently traced her hand across his neck.

She could feel the growl that vibrated through his shirt and up his neck which made his jaw shudder. He leaned forward to steal another kiss before his eyes locked on the right side of the room. The crib should have been flat-packed and still in the box he had leant up against the wall. Instead, the instructions were on the floor beneath the window, the tool box was at the ready and all the pieces were set out into rows very neatly.

"You know that's my job, you should be resting."

He spoke against her lips, letting each word fan across her dark lips before he gave in to temptation and kissed her again, pulling her lower lip between his teeth. He didn't want (Y/n) doing everything and he didn't want her overworking herself when his back was turned and he left the house.

"Come on, I think you've earned a break." Nick moved his hands round until he was holding the back of (Y/n)'s elbows and he let her hands fall on his shoulders.

He slowly eased her up to her feet with him but his brows raised and his eyes widened when (Y/n) leaned forward. Her hands moved from his shoulders to wrap around his neck and her face buried forward in his chest near his collar bone.

A tender look crossed his face and his lips quirked into a sideways smile as (Y/n) leaned forward into him. He slid his hands down to her waist and planted his hands flat on her lower back with his arms pressing lovingly into her sides. Nick held her against his chest for a little while with his cheek pressed on the top of her head.

He began to sway them from side to side as if soft music was lulling in the background.

His hand moved to rub up and down her back and his other hand slid further down to cup her bum while he pressed his lips longingly to the top of her head. They stayed like that for another minute or more, but Nick could feel his smile starting to fade when (Y/n) didn't let him go.

She tightened her arms around his neck when he tried to lean back to look down at her.

"Carino… is everything okay?" The words vibrated through her hair and he pressed another kiss against her temple while his hand stopped against the middle of her back. His thumb began to glide up and down over the back of her shirt but he kept swaying them from side to side to try and keep the serenity around them.

"Did you see the news today?"

(Y/n)'s voice came out as quiet as a whisper on the wind but she didn't want to pull away. Not yet. She could feel the first few buttons of Nick's shirt were undone and she nuzzled her nose against his chest until she could rest her cheek against his bare skin, nudging his shirt out the way.

"No, we were driving round town all day doing interviews, why? What did it say?" Nick had been driving for the best part of his twelve hour shift and when he wasn't in the car, he was asking questions and taking down notes. Two out of the five previous victims they were talking to had refused to talk to them and clammed up when they arrived.

It hadn't been a very productive day and Nick was glad to be home. He didn't have time to watch the news.

"A reporter has confirmation that… that a priest in the area is under suspicion of sexual allegations… it's him."

(Y/n) kept her face buried into Nick's chest and she felt the sharp breath he took and how his stomach tensed and pulled inwards against her. His hand pressed down deeper into her back and he tilted his head so he could rest his chin on top of her hair.

As soon as she saw it on the news, (Y/n) hurriedly turned the tv off. She didn't dare turn it back on after that and when she did, she had gone straight to the movie channels so no news would pop up.

(Y/n) didn't want to listen or read whatever they were spouting. She didn't want to see his picture pop up on the screen and remind her of the nightmares she had tried to forget. She didn't need his face back in her memory when she had finally started to forget what he looked like and in her dreams, he appeared as a faceless blurr.

Nor did (Y/n) want to hear what he was accused of and hear how old the other girls were. She didn't need to be reminded that this predator was still out on the streets because no one had taken her seriously or listened to her as a teenager.

"The case landed on Liv's desk when I went off sick. I have to work the case and look into it." Nick knew he needed to tell (Y/n), but he thought he would have another few weeks before any reports got leaked and the media found out what and who they were investigating. He wanted to sit (Y/n) down and calmly tell her about this so she had some forwarning instead of finding out like this.

He felt the shudder than ran through her body and seemed to pass right into him. He could feel the sharp breaths she took but instead of pulling out of his arms, she held him tighter. (Y/n) unlocked her arms from his neck and slid her hands down so she could loop them beneath his arms and bound them tightly around his chest.

"Do I… Nick, I don't wanna…" Tears burned in the corners of (Y/n)'s eyes as she finally pulled back enough to look up at him.

Her chin pressed down into his chest so her head could tip back and stare up at her husband. She could see the emotions pooling deep in his brown eyes and his lips parted for a few seconds while he tried to think of something to say.

"Shh, carino it's okay. You don't have to do anything, I swear. You're not part of this investigation, no one will talk to you and you're not going anywhere near that trial when it starts."

His hand moved up from her bum and curled loosely around the back of her neck so he could lean down and smother his lips against her forehead. He could feel the heat radiating from her skin and the light trembling that settled in her bones. This is what he was afraid of. This is what Nick tried to tell the team. He knew (Y/n) like the back of his hand and he knew she wouldn't want any part of this.

"Really?" (Y/n) hated how much her voice wobbled and her nails dug into Nick's back when he replaced his lips with his temple against hers.

As soon as it came on the news, (Y/n) had fought hard not to go into a panic and she stopped herself from going down to the station to talk to Nick. She didn't want to bother him at work but to distract herself, she had spent the day in the nursery. The thought of their impending baby had been a great distraction to (Y/n), she painted the nursery, got the crib out into sections and started on the clothes.

(Y/n) didn't want to testify.

She didn't want to open up to anyone else about the torment she had gone through as a teen. She didn't want the sympathy looks she got from others and she didn't want the people her husband worked with to look at her like that or hear the gruesome details of her abuse.

It happened a long time ago and (Y/n) wanted to move on. She and Nick were happy, they were having a baby and starting their family together; this was the last thing they needed.

"Really. For you, this is over. That shit on the news has nothing to do with you Carino."

"Do they know?"

The pain in her voice was more than clear and it made Nick's lungs seize up. He wanted to tell her no. He wanted to say the team had no idea what she had gone through, but he could never lie to her.

None of their friends knew what (Y/n) had gone through and Nick's family only found out a few small details after they got engaged. While she had been his girlfriend, his family had no idea what she had gone through and all Nick disclosed to his parents and sister was that (Y/n) had gone through a degree of abuse as a teenager. He didn't say an specifics or who it had involved, when, where or how long for.

They knew the basics and only what they desperately needed to know. That was how they both wanted it to be.

(Y/n) leaned her head to the right when both Nick's hands moved to cup her face. His thumb swiped across her cheek and cleared away a tear that started to fall and he tipped her head down so he could press a longing kiss to her forehead.

"They had your name and the old reports. I took it down before they could look any further into it. As far as they're concerned, your name's been erased."

Nick was glad he got to the board before any of the team looked through all of (Y/n)'s case files and before they got to speak to her. As far as the team were concerned, when Nick scrubbed (Y/n)'s name off the board, he was erasing her from the entire investigation.

Olivia had agreed not to tell Barba that they had a sixth past victim. They hadn't told him that they had a victim who refused to speak to them, they hadn't told him Nick had a personal link to this investigation. As far as everyone else knew, (Y/n) wasn't involved in this, her name wouldn't come up. And now she was married to Nick, her last name was officially Amaro and had been for the last two years. She wasn't connected to this case anymore.

"You have nothing to worry about, carino. Okay?"

The small, tepid smile that graced (Y/n)'s lips was enough to calm her down and stop her from falling into floods of tears. She nodded her head in his hands and reached up to grip his wrists, as if silently telling him not to dare let go.

She pushed up on her toes and connected their lips, mumbling a quiet 'thank you' into his mouth which he swallowed up as he devoured her lips.

"Anything for you, carino."

[blueinkjpeg]

New characters in life is strange double exposure and what we know about them so far

Safi (Safiya Llewellyn Fayyad)

Max’s new friend at Caledon University. Very curious about Max and “what she’s hiding.” She dies at the beginning of the game and Max spends the rest of it solving and preventing the same murder. Her mother is the universtiy’s president. She’s an aspirational poet.

Moses Murphy

Safi’s best friend and professor at Caledon university. Astronomy professor maybe? Idk it’s in science. Max has the opportunity to talk with him about her powers and learn some scientific insight from him.

Loretta Rice

An investigative journalist who seems to have taken it upon herself to find out what happened to Safi. It seems like Max can choose to trust her or not. She is NOT Rachel Amber.

Amanda

A barista at the college’s local cafe. The narrator talks about a “new potential love interest for Max” when she appears on screen, where she hands some flyer to Max and Max responds “it’s a date.” Which could mean nothing.

Detective

The narration says that there is “a relentless detective who has Max in his sights” and then shows this guy flashing a police badge. Probs an antagonist getting in the way of Max and her illegal investigation.

Yasmin Llewellyn Fayyad

Safi’s mom, President of the university. Saved Max from freelance hell and offered her her current job.

???

???

Gwen (??)

???

There’s another character named “Lucas”, though we have no clue who that is. And I think that’s it?

[missfrieden]

Tech as a father Chapter 61

I managed to tear away from my book or from the current book I read since last sunday.

Masterlist

Chapter 61: Back to Callo

Tech carefully scoops up Orion, who stirs in his sleep, adjusting his hold to ensure the infant's comfort. The gentle hum of Gonky's movements continues in the background. Tech moves to the designated feeding area, a small setup he's created with efficiency in mind. He prepares the cut fruits and reaches for the bottle, all while keeping a watchful eye on Orion, who blinks sleepily in the dim light. Dozing off in his tiny high chair, before blinking again.

As he begins the feeding process, Tech talks to Orion in a soft, reassuring tone. "Time for a little snack, Orion. Let's see if you enjoy these cut fruits today." He carefully offers a small piece, observing Orion's reaction. Orion, still groggy from his interrupted nap, seems intrigued by the new textures. He reaches out with tiny hands, exploring the fruit before attempting to bring it to his mouth. Tech smiles at the sight, encouraged by the gradual introduction of solid foods. The feeding session continues with a mix of puree and fruit pieces, with Tech maintaining a calm and patient demeanour. The squad's resident tech expert seamlessly juggles his responsibilities, seamlessly transitioning between father and scientist as he notes Orion's preferences and responses. And he still seems more interested into his milk anyway. As Orion finishes his snack, Tech expertly burps him before settling him back into the makeshift crib on Gonky. The rhythmic movements lull Orion back into a contented slumber, and Tech takes a moment to reflect on the intricacies of caring for an infant within the dynamic of the squad. With a smile he starts doing some of his tasks close by.

Hunter, having received the urgent communication in the middle ot he night, moves quickly to wake the squad. The dim lighting within the Havoc Marauder gradually illuminates their shared living space as the clones stir from their slumber. "Gear up, everyone. We've got a mission," Hunter announces, his tone serious and focused. The urgency in his voice prompts the squad to spring into action, each member retrieving their weapons and equipment with a practiced efficiency.

As the squad gathers in the centre of the ship, Hunter relays the information he received. "Separatists are making another move on Callo. Our expertise is needed. We're going in." Crosshair, already checking his blaster, nods in acknowledgment. "Five clones enough for this?" "For now," Hunter responds, his mind already calculating the potential challenges they might face. "But if it gets hot, we call for backup. Let's move out." “I suspect you mean the clones on site there helping around?” Echo asks as he heads to the cockpit. “Yes, but we have been requested due to our help the last time.”

The Havoc Marauder hums to life as it prepares for take-off. The squad, armed and ready, takes their positions. The ship lifts off, leaving behind the quiet of the night by the base as they head towards another mission, united by their unwavering commitment to the Republic and the challenges that lie ahead. Tech, focused on installing the safety railing, so his son does not tumble out of the bunk during the flight, takes a moment to glance at Orion, who is now becoming more aware of his surroundings. The tiny distances of crawling and increased curious babbling signal the approaching stage of exploration.

"While we're on Callo, you might get to see your mother again," Tech says to Orion, his voice carrying a warmth that transcends the cynical(?) technical precision often associated with his communication. As he secures the last part of the railing, he can't help but wonder how the reunion will unfold. Amanda Pacem, the Jedi stationed on Callo, holds a significant place in both their lives. Tech contemplates the delicate balance of emotions such a meeting always evoke for Orion, who is still too young to comprehend the complexities.

Finishing the installation, Tech leans Orion into his bunk, adjusting the miniature armour that marks him as a unique addition to the squad. The Havoc Marauder is now en route to Callo, a journey that holds the promise of reunions, challenges, and the unfolding chapters of Orion's ever-evolving life.

Tech not able to let his little trooper for just a while picks him up, cradling Orion in his arms, continues the heartfelt conversation. "Your mother misses you, Orion, just like I miss her. And I know you miss her too," he says, his words carrying a sincerity that show the emotions he keeps neatly behind his build walls. As Tech speaks, he gently strokes Orion's cheek, his touch a comforting reassurance. The connection between father, son and mother, bound by both blood and the Force, deepens with each shared moment.

"There will be challenges, little trooper, but we face them together. Your mother is a strong and wise Jedi. We'll navigate this journey, and you'll get to see her again soon, very soon" Tech adds, his gaze fixed on Orion's bright blue eyes, wondering how much the infant truly understands. The Havoc Marauder hurtles through hyperspace, carrying the squad toward Callo and the potential reunion that awaits. Tech, anticipating Orion's discomfort during the descent, expertly places the earplugs in his son's ears. He remains unfazed by the initial cries, knowing they will subside once they reunite with Amanda. As the Havoc Marauder lands, Tech efficiently adjusts the tiny helmet on Orion's head, ensuring his son is protected during their mission.

With precision, Tech retrieves the small toy blaster for Orion, a miniature version mirroring the ones the squad uses. He hands it to Orion, who, despite being an infant, seems to grasp the familiarity of the gesture, calming down as he holds the tiny weapon. The squad, geared up and ready, prepares to disembark on Callo, united in purpose and the unspoken anticipation of a family reunion. The air on Callo carries a sense of familiarity and urgency as the squad, led by Tech with Orion securely in the carrier, steps off the Havoc Marauder. Amanda and Alma's presence adds a layer of reassurance, and Orion's cries have shifted to gentle sniffles, the small blaster in his hands a testament to the familial atmosphere.

As they approach, Amanda's eyes meet Tech's, conveying a silent understanding of the challenges they face. Alma, still under Amanda's care, appears curious, her gaze alternating between the squad and the bustling surroundings of Callo. Tech, mindful of Orion's comfort, adjusts the carrier slightly, ensuring the little one has a clear view of his surroundings. The small helmet on Orion's head seems like a miniature version of the ones worn by the squad, a visual connection that resonates with familial bonds. Something Alma always found to adorable.

Amanda, having sensed Orion's distress earlier, approaches with Alma. The reunion brings forth a mixture of relief and joy. Amanda reaches out to gently stroke Orion's cheek, whispering soothing words that only a mother could provide. Alma, in her childlike innocence, watches with wide eyes, not hearing what her Master is murmuring, is sensing the emotions that swirl around her… Is this just Amanda’s caring nature of a Healer or is there more to it?

Chapter 62

Reblogs are very welcome and I am open for feedback, as english is not my first language, so maybe my sentences may be weird sometimes, or I write a word wrong even with google, or I use a wrong word for an item.

Tag: @spectacular-skywalker @neyswxrld @clonethirstingisreal @sleepycreativewriter @moonwreckd @sskim-milkk @heidnspeak

Honestly I read since last month eight book, soon nine, with around 460 pages each. And five alone, while I worked all day. And since my vacations I am finishing another series! Read 3 1/2 books since last week. I am nearly through my to read pile.

[kissorkill16]

Me: *pulls out a long list* We're gonna be here a while.

First of all, I was thinking about stepping into Nicky's life a little more. I'd like to explain why he acts the way he does before/after he got kidnapped, why him and Delroy hate each other so much, and what he thinks and how he feels about his friends.

1. I came up with this multi-part series called "When We Were Once Happy", a story before Trinity moved to Raven Brooks. Bubba is present in this story, Aaron, Mya, and Lucy were Nicky's first friends, and Mr. Peterson is a genuinely nice guy. We could add some flashbacks to Nicky's life before he became the "town weirdo".

2. If you read some of @fazbearedits 's fanfics, you'll learn that they came up with the idea that Lucy and Mya are the Shadow Man, the incarnation of Nicky's fears. How they were the ones that mentally broke Nicky during his time in the basement and forced him to play games with them. I actually loved that idea, and I added onto that they were angry at the world for letting them die so early, and they were especially angry with Mr. Peterson because they thought he was the one responsible for their deaths. However, Lucy was the one who wanted revenge, Mya just wanted to be with her mother.

3. I'd write about how Trinity even found out about the Golden Apple Amusement Park in the first place, because in S2 EP 1, she just...knows. Like how did she find out that Golden Apple Amusement Park was a thing? Did someone tell her about it? Was it a scrapped scene that we don't know about? If I was writing the series, I'd actually take the time to show how she even finds out about these kinds of things and people.

4. @fazbearedits really went all in with their fanfics to show how much of a potential bitch Finch is. Read "Back To School" and "This Is Halloween", and you'll see what I'm talking about. The girl scout literally took a picture of his mental breakdown, printed it all around school, made everyone at the school laugh at him, and lied about it to the principal. Then she comes to school dressed as Nicky in an unbuckled straightjacket.

5. I'd expand on Finch's bitchiness too, but I'd also give her a redemption arc. Where she's threatened to apologize for her actions, and Nicky says she can make it up to her if she helps him and his friends out with the whole Crowface mystery.

6. Screw it, I'd give everyone who's a dickhead in this show a redemption arc. Except for the Forest Protectors, the Forest Protectors deserve death.

7. I wrote some fanfics about how everyone's starting to treat Nicky nicer after his kidnapping and mental breakdown at his house, and how Jay and Luanne promised to actually be there for him when he needed it.

8. In some of my fics, Mr. Murtaugh is like a 50/50 kind of villain. He's Nicky's therapist while at the same time, he's a Forest Protector. But as he keeps up the weekly therapy sessions with him, he starts getting a little attached to him.

9. After the second trailer for Season 2, I noticed that she's become a little hard on her friends, with all of the weight on her shoulders and how she's gotten more questions than answers. She starts ignoring her friends protests or how they tell her that she's going too far or working too hard. Then after she locks Nicky in the basement, she begins to see the errors of her ways and promises to be a better leader.

10. While I don't completely like the parents in WTRB, I think they could be good people too. With Jay and Luanne being neglectful to Nicky and Donald and Amanda (that's what I'm calling Mr. and Mrs. Bales) not being able to trust their daughter, I'd want to fix that too. After Mr. Peterson's arrest, Donald and Amanda promises to try to trust Trinity more.

11. I know some people think that Franklin is The Guest, and that could end up being true, but I also like to think that The Guest is just an evil crow demon that possesses Aaron Peterson.

12. Remember this from the pilot?

It'd be a big part of the story, it'd control the weather and be the entire source of the Forest Protectors power. Nicky would have it, having no idea what it does, but still holding onto it, because he knows whoever wants it is not to be trusted.

13. For the finale, I'd write a fic of how all the kids are at the Golden Apple Amusement Park, riding the Rotten Core rollercoaster, trying to get away from The Guest. The Guest dies in the end, Mr. Peterson burns his remains, and we move onto the next villain.

The Shadow Man.

[cupcraft]

With the dream situation, other horrible cc's, but especially dream... i just think its really disheartening not only do people not believe victims/victim blame/harass victims/etc., but that there are also many other pipelines people go down for the sake of defending their cc.

Like, with the allegations especially in the beginning there was so much discourse about the law, the definition of grooming, and what is normal behavior for a victim. It's bad enough people didn't want to believe a potential victim, but then people went further. So, now you think the US Justice System is the pinnacle of justice, and is in fact designed to help "real victims" when there's a lot of evidence to the contrary? So, now you think the fact that it's "technically legal for an adult to flirt with minors in the US" means it's just a okay to do that? You think the US legal definition of grooming is encompassing enough, that it doesn't exclude any one, that it does it's job perfectly to help victims? And i'm not a law expert myself, but I am aware of the harm the US justice system does to victims. And it was really scary how many people who seemed to present themselves of understanding of that, especially in regard to other situations with cc's, just dropped that and started touting the company line about the US justice system being perfect all because they are incapable of saying Dream is fallible in any way. And i'm specifically referring to the american fans that did this who should be aware of the justice system, especially if theyre going to use it in "defense" of a cc. And then people went further and were suddenly a trained psychologist and nitpicked every victim behavior from Amanda especially that doesn't fit their perfect view of a victim, which is to them one who is silent and doesn't harm their fav cc "when he just face revealed :(!! my poor dreamie". Fuck you, is all I really have to say to that.

And it goes further, now it's okay that Dream bought a trump flag and thought it was funny that "oh look it looks like my white friend supports trump!" (even as someone who used to be an active trump supporter...) as if that is funny when it not only had a monetary support from its purchase, but as if that flag at all is "funny". That flag is a monument of hate, of white supremacy, of the attempted insurrection to overthrow our government, of just so much bigotry. I don't see how it's funny for him to use that flag as a "gag christmas gift". It's weird, and it's weird how many people just ignored those facts in favor of "its dream!" and "it wasnt that much money anyway!" and "well [insert cc with nuance i will ignore for the sake of supporting dream] also bought a [insert maga item]". And listen i'll just directly say it, I don't really watch or enjoy hasan's content anymore, but to compare what Hasan does on the daily and dream's "gag gift" as the same you really just don't get it, and you know that you don't.

And then we have Hannah and Niki coming forward about misogyny, who both talked about lack of support from male cc's and coworkers. and then we have people, who support dream, making it about dream. Calling them ungrateful, saying it "wasn't dream", and suddenly misogyny doesn't matter to them, except once dream tweeted his "support for Hannah" then it's something to listen to (clearly, seeing as that his tweet ratio'd hers), when it was a bare minimum statement from the man who is considered by many the face of mcyt. Some of which were same people on twitter and tumblr who call hannah/niki/sniff/aimsey/etc. annoying, who only supported aimsey because he "clapped for sapnap and we have to save them from their evil fanbase (of which many of us didn't support them getting harassment mind you)", some of which were the ones upset a woman/afab cc would be on a team with dream for mcc and potentially "tear down" his precious score.

And let's get into queerphobia too, because as long as it's not against dream queerphobia is a okay with some people! With ranboo first, of course, because it's totally fine to say one coming out overshadows another and it's totally in allyship with the queer community to say that it does /s. You can comment on fandom behavior without taking it out on a queer person's coming out, i promise you can, meaning you can say "hey the queerphobia i witnessed with dream/unlabeled people at large was fucked up" not "wow ranboo really overshadowed dreams coming out and that people were positive about a cc's coming out", like be serious. Oh, and then we have the slurs and queerphobia scott smajor faced over mcc teams on twitter (especially in regards to his dream team placements), and we have people wishing hatecrimes against Prezoh for what he said on twitter recently, again another queer person. And i'm not speaking for these cc's and their feelings on the matter, or assuming their feelings on it, but i am speaking as a queer person who cannot stand to see this from people i once felt in community with in this fandom.

Because at a certain point this highlights how performative you are. You don't care about victims, or misogyny, or queerphobia, or any of that kind of stuff. You just don't. Because dream as your cc matters more to you. and as long as dream is doing it, then i'm convinced you'll go down any pipeline to defend him.

And as a note, i am speaking on things that ive seen and do not attempt to claim its "every stan who does this", but i've seen enough of this behavior to want to call it out. and have for a while.

And listen, there's definitely more to this story but this is what i feel confident speaking on. So as always please reblog and add on if you want, it's an important conversation i think. And you can send me asks/correct me on anything/etc.

[monsterfucker-lisa-swallows]

this is going to be a very uncomfortable and potentially triggering conversation so i suggest you scroll past if you have a lot of empathy because this isn't fun at all

also wanna preface this by saying i'm not interested in spreading conspiracy theories or "truther" claims because i feel that's incredibly disrespectful and potentially harmful to the people that need the most help. any allusions to unverified rumors will be presented as uncorroborated, not as fact (only bringing them up because i know that's the kind of rumor floating around and i don't want to seem like i'm participating somehow in dismissing concerns). because we simply don't know. and it's not our business.

i've had this bad feeling about amanda bynes for the past decade. it's the same pattern we've seen with child stars over and over again. the drugs, the mental breakdown, the conservatorship. but i pushed those nagging thoughts away. i didn't have the bandwidth at the time because i was living in an abusive household when her most public battles were happening. i didn't have the time or the emotional understanding to put towards what was happening to her even as i felt it mirrored what i was going through or what my mom was going through. then i found out about dan schneider a few years ago. i didn't really engage with the rumor and speculation about him - i was in my early 20s when this all broke and i didn't know most of the shows he'd been involved with except by the fact that my younger siblings watched them. i'd been an amanda bynes fan - hugely into the amanda show and what i like about you. my siblings watched drake and josh, icarly, and victorious. i didn't have the emotional bandwidth at the time to look into what people were saying. i knew it would upset me if i learned too much. but i couldn't stop thinking about amanda.

i heard about quiet on set from news websites. i saw the headlines about drake bell. it shook me to my core. the things i was reading were horrific and immediately put me in mind of what my sister went through as a teenage survivor of repeated sexual abuse by a man who was trusted with our care. she'd had a huge crush on drake when we were growing up. i wonder if she's heard about this.

this immediately made me think about amanda again. this time i couldn't push the thought away. i guess i'm finally ready to process the way this whole situation has felt to me.

the way people talk about amanda reminds me of how people in the 50s talked about judy garland. child star with incredible talent, far beyond her years, with incredible charm and personality and the whole world at her fingertips. everyone loved working with her. until she became erratic and had a mental breakdown fueled by drugs. (you could even argue there were parallels because both women were frequently typecast as the wholesome girl next door and not really allowed to break out of that infantilizing box.) and no one could ever think why. why does this happen.

i've come to believe that mental illness always has a cause. brain chemistry fucked up by trauma, whether that's long-term stress or a singular event or repeated traumas stacking on top of each other. the mind can't cope. i really, truly believe something horrific happened to amanda bynes. and i know people will say, well, maybe it wasn't dan schneider. she was doing fine for years after she stopped working with him. i want to make one thing very clear. trauma doesn't always manifest symptoms immediately. not everyone comes out of a trauma looking shell shocked. i know from my experience because i didn't have my breakdown until a year after my abuser was exposed and i'm still feeling the consequences to my psyche to this day. and i think it must be difficult for child stars to process this trauma. the pattern i've seen is the child star endures something terrible, gets incredible fame and begins taking on more and more pressure, then when this isn't enough to make them happy they turn to drugs. you think because they got out that it would all just go away? no. they were raised to play characters so they played those characters. there was incredible pressure to just play those characters because that's what the fans want. having struggles isn't part of the brand. it had to be especially rough on nick stars because there wasn't much separation between them and the characters they played. it was the amanda show. drake and josh used their real first names. the separation between who they were and who the character was was probably a very blurred line.

i wonder how long this documentary has been in production. tracking down these people and petitioning courts had to have taken ages. amanda was supposed to be at 90s con last year but cancelled due to illness and had another psychotic episode. 90s con itself may have been a trigger for her, but if someone had reached out to her or if she'd heard about this production...i could see that triggering her and making her relive the horror she went through. there are so many unsubstantiated rumors floating around. i can't speak to whether she was high on adderall during that interview when she was 12 (she could've just been a hyper child but they could've been pulling a judy garland on her and i don't trust these people plus she's said she got hooked on adderall when she was a teenager for weight loss but she may not feel comfortable disclosing if the studio has her under NDA). i can't verify if that side twitter actually belonged to amanda. it could be some sicko thought it was funny to accuse her boss of knocking her up and forcing her to get an abortion at 13 or accusing her father of various things.

but i get why she wouldn't speak up because people won't believe her no matter what she says. i went through something and people in my hometown still debate whether i'm crazy or lying for attention. my family did everything they could to put me under control and get me diagnosed as paranoid or delusional so they wouldn't face justice. (really don't get me started on how the mental healthcare system is used by abusers to cover up their sins.) i wouldn't put it past her parents to do that, especially considering amanda had a bad relationship with them as a teenager which sent her further into that groomer's clutches. she doesn't owe us anything because it'll start a firestorm that could retrigger her as people debate if she's delusional or scrutinize her past mistakes to determine if she's a perfect enough victim to deserve sympathy.

which brings me to drake bell. i knew he was the victim before i watched the doc but it still gave me chills when he sat down in that chair. like it felt like the air drained from the room. it was so obvious that what he went through has affected him so deeply and that he had no one to turn to. my abuser had so much community support, so many people making us out to be lying opportunistic bitches. i can't imagine having to carry that secret. i wonder if the people around him can pinpoint it in retrospect when he started being different. i want the other kids on set to know that it's not their fault they didn't know and that they had a bad opinion of him at some point. my sister and i were pitted against each other by the man who assaulted her and it's only with context later that i can see what was going on. i have no doubt that schneider employed these tactics so no one would feel comfortable disclosing what happened to them.

i admit that i cried watching the drake bell episode. that had to be incredibly difficult for him to open up about it after all these years and i hope he can get some closure and that someone starts a support group for these former nick stars.

and to drake bell himself. you were a child. you had no idea what grooming looks like. most grown people don't seem to know what grooming looks like based on how they talk about these issues. you are not at fault for what that man did to you or not knowing how to handle it. you didn't do anything to encourage this and you're not at fault.

and to his father. i appreciate that you did what you could to try to protect him. my mother had a similar experience trying to protect us from my abuser but everyone assumed she was psychotic and had her put away. try not to blame yourself when you were the lone voice of reason and everyone else insisted you were in the wrong. i do have fault to throw on amanda bynes' parents to some degree depending on what part of all this is true, but i can't find fault with drake bell's father who did try when he saw something wrong.

and i'm sorry but dan being super nice to drake afterwards seems like an attempt to make himself look better and get another hit show. i don't believe for a second that dan didn't know anything or that he had any motives beyond making his own star rise. he wanted to churn out product, and couldn't have that product if drake bell was visibly distraught.

i want to know how many people have known it was drake for 20 years and said nothing. how many people were in peck's side of the courtroom and yet still had the audacity to think this child was at fault in some way. that's vile and utterly unforgivable.

i just want to end this by saying to leave these people alone. don't harass anyone who hasn't spoken up because they may not be in a headspace where it's healthy of them to say anything. they don't owe us any explanation of why.

[skye-huntress]

Quick disclaimer that I will not tolerate personal attacks or leakers. I’d prefer not to add more people to my block list, so let’s keep things friendly.

After a few playthroughs and some time to process everything, I think I’m now ready to talk more about Double Exposure.

First, some backstory. I played the original Life is Strange from Day 1. I had a feeling the game might be special and even then it blew my expectations away several times over. I found Max very relatable, so after months of replaying episodes again and again, I felt I could put myself in her shoes, and rationalise my choices the same way she did.

When the final choice came, I did hesitate, but not from indecision or uncertainty like I did so many times before (and since). I knew immediately what my choice would be, it was the why of it that took time for me to figure out. I’ve played a lot of choice based games where I made sacrifices that hurt, but being in Max’s shoes in that moment, I realised I had a limit. Was it the best choice? Objectively, no. Was it what Chloe wanted? It wasn’t. Would it lead Max to a “happily ever after”? Definitely not. Nine years later, and after playing the first parts of DE, would I still make the same choice again? Heck yes!

With that out of the way, let’s get into the DE spoilers below:

My impression of this Max is that she is constantly trying to run from her trauma but is evidently always carrying it around with her. For most of the past 10 years, she’s been on the move, never finding a place she can truly settle in, photographing places that are abandoned, ruined, and lonely. And Max starts this game very much alone through her own choices and inaction. She distanced herself from her parents, hasn’t been in touch with any of her former classmates, and her relationship with living Chloe falls apart. There isn’t much about the break up that gives a clear indicator on how exactly it happened, but it was clear there was no bad blood from either side, just regrets that they couldn’t get it to work. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chloe also follows Max on social media without actually contacting her. And naturally, Max hasn’t truly opened up with any of her new friends, colleagues or students, not even Safi. If nothing changes, I’d say her potential romantic relationship with Amanda is also doomed before it even begins.

In this story, this self-imposed isolation leaves her vulnerable in a number of ways. The person who is most secretive is the one others trust the least, which is not ideal in the middle of a murder mystery. Now Max has found evidence that incriminates her, and if it gets out, how many people would be willing to give a relative stranger a chance? Gwen is better known on campus and even she doesn’t think she can fight video evidence on someone who looks exactly like her. There is another danger to Max to consider. If we are dealing with someone with the ability to assume anyone’s identity, if they were looking to permanently adopt a new one, Max would be the perfect candidate. If an imposter disposed of Max and assumed her identity, who is left in her life who’d be able to tell the difference?

So, not only do we have to deal with two different versions of all of our persons of interest and try not to mix them up, sometimes they might not even be either version, but an imposter! Like the LW Vinh who claimed to be too hungover to remember his own passcode despite not showing any symptoms while a completely wasted DW Vinh immediately and enthusiastically recalled the name of the supposed “dead magician scientist”. Didn’t think much of it my first two playthroughs, but on the third I started to note his odd behaviour. Oh, and sometimes even our evidence and testimony might not be reliable, it could be incriminating someone who is actually innocent. Max is already victim to an incriminating photo she can’t explain, and both Lucas and Gwen have similar stories.

So, is it more important to acquire evidence, or is it more important for Max to build her relationships with the people around her? Although it didn’t matter much in the end, in True Colors, Alex could gain or lose the support of members of the local council depending on her choices and relationships with each member. She still uses her powers to get a confession either way, but I’m wondering if this time around, the outcome might change depending on who or how many people actually get to know and trust the real Max. And maybe this is an opportunity to face herself, kind of. Maybe if she can start working through some of her issues and letting people in again, she can start over for real this time.

One thing that is interesting though, and I did call this, we have a missing Max. Max disappeared from Living World around the same time as Safi’s death. The only person to notice was Amanda. Now Max is juggling her time between both worlds but even she can’t be in two places at once, so people might start to notice how she constantly disappears and reappears suddenly. Then comes the question of what happens when Max is done and she stops shifting. Which world does she stay in, and which one does she leave behind? One world is grieving Safi, the other is riddled with scandals, and Max’s relationships in both worlds are already starting to diverge. It’ll probably hurt either way, not unlike the original game’s choice, and it probably also depends on how the mystery wraps up. I’m currently leaning towards Dead World, because Max seems to be getting closer with Amanda and Moses, but then she has spent more time with them so we’ll see how things play out.

[breithenua]

Been thinking about the age-old debate about whether Bruce Wayne or Terry McGinnis is the better Batman. People always make it a matter of "who would win a one-on-one fight" or "who's the better tactician".

Imo, that's the wrong thing to concentrate on. The thing to concentrate on isn't "who's the better fighter/tactician/detective", it's "who has the better/more sustainable support system". There's no doubt that Bruce is the better one at fighting, tactical planning and detective work. That's a no-brainer. Bruce didn't start out with a high-tech suit and a mentor that had done all this before, nor any allies other than his butler, Alfred, so no shit he has the edge on those traits. He had to develop those as best he could on his own, or he'd have died a long time ago.

Terry isn't nearly as isolated. He has Bruce himself mentoring him, a high-tech suit to augment his abilities, the entire rest of the bat-family throughout the years to give him advice, and the Justice League as well. Bruce had to acquire all those things over time, Terry acquired it so much faster. *That's the point.* He isn't as skilled as Bruce is because *he doesn't need to be.* The support system Terry has from the beginning is larger and more helpful. He doesn't need to be as skilled as Bruce was, because his support system allows him to compensate for his weaknesses and allows him room to grow without overwhelming pressure, or the likelihood of making many of the same mistakes Bruce made along the way.

Besides, we don't know if Terry wouldn't be just as skilled as Bruce had he not undergone the same pressures as Bruce had at the time. Remember, Terry is genetically speaking, Bruce's son (thanks Amanda Waller). He has the same or similar potential to Bruce. We also don't know that Terry won't eventually eclipse Bruce's skill later on (at least in some aspects), because of the support system he started out with.

But I digress. My point is, Terry is the better Batman *because* of his support system he has from much earlier on. He has others he can rely on, people he can talk to and ask for help. People who lived the same life. Their advice, wisdom and even help out in the field means that not only does he not have to go it alone, but Terry can have a life and be Batman at the same time. That's the point of Batman Beyond.

[duhbatmann]

Hearts of Los Santos

Chapter 1: Restless Souls

Michael's Discontent

Scene 1: Michael is seen lounging by his pool, a look of boredom and dissatisfaction on his face. He's surrounded by all the trappings of his wealthy lifestyle, yet there's a clear sense of emptiness. He has a brief, somewhat cold interaction with his wife, Amanda, which only serves to highlight the growing distance in their relationship.

Scene 2: Seeking some form of excitement, Michael decides to go for a night drive through Los Santos. The neon lights of the city reflect his inner turmoil as he grapples with the realization that money and luxury haven't brought him happiness.

Franklin's Dilemma

Scene 3: Franklin is shown in his house in Vinewood Hills, juggling phone calls from two women he's currently seeing. He's trying to keep his romantic life afloat while simultaneously receiving a call from Lester about a potential job. This scene establishes Franklin's struggle to balance his personal life with his criminal activities.

Scene 4: Franklin meets with one of his romantic interests, a smart and ambitious woman named Elisa. Their date is interrupted by a call from Michael, asking for a meet-up. Franklin's divided attention becomes apparent, foreshadowing the conflicts to come.

Trevor's Unexpected Encounter

Scene 5: Trevor is in his trailer in Sandy Shores, engaging in his usual chaotic behavior. A mysterious stranger, Alex, arrives in town, capturing Trevor’s attention. Alex is unlike anyone Trevor has encountered – calm, enigmatic, and seemingly unfazed by Trevor's wild demeanor.

Scene 6: Trevor and Alex have a bizarre and humorous interaction at the local bar, where Trevor is both intrigued and baffled by Alex's nonchalant attitude towards him. This marks the beginning of an unusual dynamic between them, challenging Trevor's typical approach to relationships.

Converging Paths

Scene 7: The chapter concludes with Michael and Franklin meeting at a high-end bar in downtown Los Santos. Michael shares his feelings of disconnection, while Franklin talks about the complexities of his love life. The scene sets the stage for their intertwined stories and lays the groundwork for the events to come.

This chapter sets up the initial state of each character, providing a base for their individual journeys and the challenges they will face, both in their romantic lives and their intertwined stories within the gritty world of Los Santos.

Chapter 2: Vinewood Nights

Unexpected Reunion

Scene 1: Michael and Franklin are already at the upscale bar in Vinewood, engaging in a somewhat philosophical conversation about life, love, and what they're missing. The ambiance of the bar, with its soft lighting and occasional laughter from other patrons, contrasts with their serious discussion.

Scene 2: Trevor unexpectedly arrives at the bar, initially causing a bit of a stir with his unrefined manners. However, he quickly settles in, intrigued by the conversation and eager to join. His arrival adds a layer of unpredictability to the evening.

Shared Vulnerabilities

Scene 3: As they continue to drink, the trio begins to open up about their romantic frustrations and desires, a rarity given their usual tough exteriors. Michael laments his failing marriage and the lost spark in his life. Franklin discusses the challenges of finding genuine connection amidst his complex love life. Trevor, in his own unique way, expresses confusion and curiosity about his new interest, Alex.

Scene 4: Their conversation reveals a deeper bond between them, beyond their criminal endeavors. They share laughs, advice, and even some gentle ribbing, showing a side of camaraderie that's rarely seen.

Reflections and Realizations

Scene 5: As the night progresses, each character begins to reflect on their own situation. Michael realizes he needs to find a way to rekindle passion in his life, Franklin contemplates the kind of relationship he truly wants, and Trevor considers the possibility of exploring something more meaningful with Alex.

Scene 6: The chapter closes with the trio leaving the bar, each deep in thought. The night has provided them with unexpected insights into their own hearts, setting the stage for the decisions they'll make in the chapters to come.

This chapter deepens the characters' development by exploring their vulnerabilities and desires in a setting outside their usual chaotic lives. It's a pivotal moment that sets the tone for their individual journeys and the challenges they'll face as they navigate the complexities of love and relationships in the world of GTA 5.

Chapter 3: Love in the Time of Chaos

Michael's Quest for Romance

Scene 1: Michael, inspired by his conversation with Franklin, decides to reignite the romance in his marriage. He plans a surprise date night for Amanda, attempting to replicate the modern, exciting dates he's heard Franklin describe.

Scene 2: The evening starts off well, but Michael's attempts at being trendy and current feel forced and awkward. Despite this, there are moments of genuine connection, hinting at the possibility of rekindled love.

Franklin's Influence

Scene 3: Franklin, meanwhile, finds himself playing the unlikely role of Michael's love life coach. He gives Michael tips on modern dating and how to bring excitement into a relationship, drawing from his own experiences. Their interactions are filled with humor and a touch of irony.

Scene 4: Franklin also grapples with his own romantic decisions, reflecting on the advice he's giving Michael. This leads him to reconsider what he's truly seeking in a partner and whether his current relationships fulfill that.

Trevor's Unusual Journey

Scene 5: Trevor continues to explore his unexpected interest in Alex. He attempts to show a more thoughtful side, organizing a unique date that's surprisingly considerate, yet still unmistakably Trevor-like in its oddity.

Scene 6: The date with Alex takes a series of bizarre turns, but there's an undeniable chemistry between them. Alex's calm demeanor balances Trevor's erratic nature, and Trevor finds himself genuinely enjoying someone's company in a way he hadn't anticipated.

The Chaos of Love

Scene 7: The chapter concludes with each character reflecting on their romantic endeavors amidst their chaotic lives. Michael feels a glimmer of hope for his marriage, Franklin questions his own relationship choices, and Trevor experiences an unfamiliar sense of connection. The complexities of love in their high-stakes world become increasingly evident.

In this chapter, the characters start to actively explore and challenge their ideas about love and relationships. Their efforts, filled with both humor and heart, reveal new dimensions of their personalities and set the stage for further developments in their individual story arcs.

Chapter 4: Tangled Hearts

Franklin's Risky Romance

Scene 1: Franklin's new romantic interest, Elisa, becomes more involved in his life. However, he soon discovers that she has connections to a rival gang, complicating both his personal and professional worlds.

Scene 2: Franklin is torn between his feelings for Elisa and the potential dangers her connections bring. He finds himself trying to navigate a delicate balance, seeking advice from Michael and even Trevor.

Michael's Misadventures

Scene 3: Michael, in his attempts to bring excitement into his marriage, plans a daring date for Amanda – a heist-themed adventure. However, things go awry when they accidentally entangle with a real criminal operation.

Scene 4: The situation escalates, and Michael must use his skills to extricate them from danger. This unexpected thrill reignites some of the passion in their relationship but also highlights the risks of his double life.

Trevor's Chaotic Love

Scene 5: Trevor's relationship with Alex takes a turn when Alex inadvertently gets involved in one of Trevor's shady deals. The deal goes south, leading to a chaotic series of events.

Scene 6: Amidst the chaos, Trevor and Alex's bond is tested. The experience reveals a new level of trust and understanding between them, but also the complexities of balancing Trevor's unpredictable lifestyle with a relationship.

Converging Complications

Scene 7: The chapter concludes with the three protagonists realizing how their romantic lives are dangerously intertwining with their criminal activities. They meet to discuss the escalating complications, each facing their own dilemmas.

Scene 8: The chapter ends with a sense of foreboding, as they acknowledge that their entangled hearts and criminal lives could lead to serious consequences.

In this chapter, the interplay between love and crime becomes more pronounced, adding layers of complexity to each character's journey. Their struggles to maintain a balance between their romantic aspirations and their criminal endeavors create a web of intrigue and suspense, driving the narrative forward.

Chapter 5: Double Lives

The Job

Scene 1: The chapter opens with the trio planning a high-stakes heist, an operation that requires precise coordination and focus. However, their minds are visibly preoccupied with their romantic concerns.

Scene 2: As they start executing the heist, it becomes clear that their personal distractions are affecting their performance. Michael is constantly checking his phone, worried about Amanda's recent distant behavior. Franklin is distracted, his thoughts on Elisa and her dangerous connections. Trevor, surprisingly, is the most focused, but even he is occasionally lost in thoughts about Alex.

The Fallout

Scene 3: The heist goes wrong. A minor mistake snowballs into a significant issue, forcing them to abort the mission hastily. They narrowly escape, but not without drawing unwanted attention from law enforcement and rival criminals.

Scene 4: Back at their hideout, tensions rise. Blame is thrown around, with each character's personal life being pointed to as a distraction. The argument reveals the strain their double lives are placing on their relationships with each other.

Reflection and Realization

Scene 5: Following the heated exchange, each character takes time to reflect on their current situation. Michael realizes that his efforts to spice up his marriage may be endangering his family. Franklin contemplates the risks his relationship with Elisa poses to his and his friends' safety. Trevor, despite his usually carefree attitude, begins to worry about the impact of his criminal life on his relationship with Alex.

Scene 6: They reconvene, somewhat calmer, and acknowledge that they need to find a balance between their love lives and their criminal activities. They agree to be more cautious and supportive of each other's personal endeavors.

Moving Forward

Scene 7: The chapter concludes with a renewed sense of camaraderie and a collective decision to be more vigilant. However, the complications in their personal lives are far from resolved, leaving a sense of uncertainty about how they will manage their double lives moving forward.

In this chapter, the tension between their romantic relationships and their life of crime reaches a tipping point, forcing the characters to confront the realities of their dual existences. This realization brings a new depth to their relationships and sets the stage for future challenges and developments.

Chapter 6: High Stakes

The Grand Plan

Scene 1: The chapter opens with the trio planning their most ambitious heist yet, targeting a heavily guarded casino. The job promises a huge payoff, but it also requires impeccable coordination and focus.

Scene 2: Each character brings their unique skills to the planning phase, but the tension from their personal lives is palpable. They make a pact to put aside their romantic distractions for the sake of the job.

Romantic Complications

Scene 3: As the heist approaches, their love lives intrude unexpectedly. Amanda becomes suspicious of Michael's secretive behavior. Elisa's connections with the rival gang threaten to leak information about the heist. Alex, increasingly worried about Trevor's safety, pleads with him to reconsider his criminal lifestyle.

Scene 4: The trio meets to discuss these complications. They realize that their relationships could jeopardize the job, but they're too deep into the plan to back out now.

The Heist

Scene 5: The heist begins with high tension. Each member of the trio is acutely aware of what's at stake, both professionally and personally.

Scene 6: Despite their best efforts to stay focused, elements of their personal lives start to interfere. Unexpected calls and messages create distractions, and decisions are second-guessed.

Tested Loyalties

Scene 7: In the midst of the heist, a critical moment arrives where their loyalties are tested. A choice must be made that could either secure their fortune or prioritize their personal relationships.

Scene 8: Each character makes a decision that reflects their current priorities, leading to a tense and dramatic climax. The outcome of the heist is left uncertain as they each deal with the consequences of their choices.

Reflection and Consequences

Scene 9: The chapter closes with the trio reflecting on the events of the heist. They consider the impact of their decisions and how their romantic entanglements have shaped their paths. The true cost of their double lives becomes clear, setting the stage for future challenges and resolutions.

In this chapter, the intertwining of the trio's personal and professional lives reaches a critical point, forcing them to confront the reality of their choices and the complexities of balancing love and crime. The high-stakes nature of the heist combined with the drama of their romantic entanglements creates a gripping narrative that propels the story forward.

Chapter 7: New Beginnings

Michael's Resolution

Scene 1: Michael comes to terms with the state of his marriage. He has an honest conversation with Amanda, where they both acknowledge their mistakes and the distance that has grown between them.

Scene 2: They decide to give their relationship another chance, focusing on genuine connection rather than extravagant gestures. The scene ends with them planning a simple but meaningful date, symbolizing a fresh start.

Franklin's Decision

Scene 3: Franklin faces a tough decision regarding his relationship with Elisa. The risks her connections bring are too great to ignore.

Scene 4: He ultimately chooses to end the relationship but does so amicably, understanding that their worlds are too different. The experience leaves him wiser and more aware of what he truly seeks in a partner.

Trevor's Unconventional Path

Scene 5: Trevor's relationship with Alex reaches a turning point. Alex confronts Trevor about the dangers of his lifestyle and his unpredictable nature.

Scene 6: In a surprising twist, Trevor shows willingness to make changes for the sake of the relationship. They agree to continue their unconventional romance, but with Trevor making an effort to involve less chaos in his life.

Reflection and Looking Forward

Scene 7: The trio meets one last time, in their usual hangout spot. They reflect on the events that unfolded, the decisions they made, and how they've grown through their experiences.

Scene 8: Each character shares their plans for the future, showing a mix of hope and uncertainty. They acknowledge that their lives will always be a blend of love, crime, and complex choices.

Scene 9: The chapter, and the story, concludes with them toasting to new beginnings. They leave the scene separately, each walking into their future, which is filled with new possibilities and challenges.

In this final chapter, the story wraps up with each character finding a resolution in their love lives, marking a new chapter in their personal journeys. Their final meeting is a poignant moment of camaraderie and reflection, bringing a sense of closure while also leaving the door open for future adventures.

[schrijverr]

Tomorrow Will Be Different 14

Chapter 14 out of 26

Instead of managing to meet up later, Oliver has to keep running with Akio. The only way to keep them safe is to go public with Oliver being alive, leaving him back home in charge of Akio, while Tatsu and Maseo are still in the wind

In this chapter, the end seems to be closer and closer and Oliver has to begin looking for a conclusion to his story with A.R.G.U.S.. He also maybe needs some friends.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none

~~~

Chapter 14: The Ex-Wife’s Old Friend

They’ve found Amanda.

Diggle comes over the second Oliver has hung up after telling him about it. He has the satellite phone that Oliver takes immediately. The talk with his mom has been nice to clear the air, but he has forgotten about all of it in the moment, too focused on dialing the number.

It’s not Lyla, but Amanda’s voice that greets him mildly and professional: “Mr. Queen, how nice to hear of you.”

“Amanda,” Oliver greets back, managing to contain his surprise at hearing her voice and able to sound collected.

“I must say that I had high hopes from you when I recruited you, however, agent Micheals’s report of your role in handling this situation has exceeded those. If you ever want to escape the stifling existence of high society, A.R.G.U.S. has a place for you,” she says.

“Just tell me where you are with getting Shrieve and finding Tatsu and Maseo,” Oliver replies, not deigning her with an answer. Despite the friends A.R.G.U.S. brought him, he has little affection for the organization after his time spend with them.

Oliver has learned Amanda never shows any emotion, so he can’t tell what she thinks of his reply when she says: “We are in contact with the right people. General Shrieve should be in custody and in front of an American judge in two weeks.”

It pleases Oliver to know that the man will face justice for what he attempted. If they hadn’t been able to stop him, he is sure he would have done something he might regret to the man.

However, Shrieve isn’t his priority, Akio is. So he asks: “And what are you doing about locating Tatsu and Maseo?”

“Ex-agent Yamashiro and his wife can come out of their hiding place once General Shrieve and his men have been apprehended. They have cut ties with A.R.G.U.S. and are none of our concern right now.”

He hates how disinterest and cold she always sounds, but while Oliver might have expected differently from Lyla, he has no such illusions of Amanda. Oliver knows that Tatsu and Maseo are capable and will likely resurface after the danger against them has passed. He would have liked more certainty, but he can go look for him on his own if it takes too long.

So, he sighs and moves on. “Alright, what will be the story. I assume the United States government doesn’t want China to know what Shrieve nearly did to them. So how will this all be covered up?”

“Bio weapon experiment gone wrong. No survivors,” Amanda answers in a clipped tone. “It fits with the fake backstory of human experimentation you and agent Micheals came up with and it neatly ties up everything without leaving potential witnesses for the media to hound.”

“What about Tatsu and Maseo?” Oliver asks immediately, forehead pulling into a frown.

“They will have to tragically die once found and continue life under a different name.”

“No, you can’t do that. They still have Akio, they can’t take him with them if they’re dead. People will ask questions if he suddenly disappears, his face has been all over the news.”

“That was your choice.”

“It was the only way to keep him safe,” Oliver snaps, hating her callousness.

“Then tell people other family of his have been located and you have relocated him to be with them,” Amanda dismisses.

“I can’t,” Oliver grits. “I got custody of him because he has no other living relatives. That day in court has been publicized too.”

Amanda inhales sharply and any other day Oliver would be pleased he got an emotion out of her, even if that emotion is annoyance. However, today he is just annoyed right back. “Well then, Mr. Queen, maybe you should tell everyone that you couldn’t handle it and had someone adopt him privately. I’m sure no one would bat an eye at that with your reputation.”

Now Oliver is just offended. “I would never do that to Akio. And that still won’t stop my mom and sister from asking questions. Nor Tommy. It’s not a story that will hold. And not a story a reporter worth their salt won’t investigate to hell and back.”

“What would you have me do, then, Mr. Queen? Like you said, the betrayal of General Shrieve is not one we want people to know about,” Amanda says tersely. He’s getting all the emotions today and he can’t even bask in it.

Oliver thinks as fast as he can, knowing that despite her attitude Amanda is giving him an opportunity to come up with something to be able to return Akio home. She isn’t a complete monster, she just values the lives of the many over the comfort or lives of the few. Her ends will always justify her means. Her giving him this moment to give her something that will satisfy them both shows the respect she has for him. Or at least her feeling of owing him a debt after he saved her life.

“Tatsu and Maseo were immune,” he offers after a beat. “I mean, Tatsu has a background in medicine, it won’t be crazy to say they stole whatever weapon when they took her and her family as well. She could have immunized her family against it and it would soothe people’s mind to know that whatever weapon is out there, we have a cure.”

The more he speaks, the more he thinks this story will work out, enthusiastically he adds: “And the time we need to find them after the story is public can be explained as them being in quarantine just to be safe that they’re not contagious and actually safe.”

Amanda is quiet for a moment and Oliver holds his breath.

“Hm, that can actually work,” Amanda hums. “Alright, I will see if I can get this version approved, but I do not make any promises.”

“Naturally,” Oliver replies, fighting an eye roll. He is already grateful enough that she’s willing to try, no need to test her. Before she can change her mind, he asks: “Is there anything I can do from here or is it still a waiting game?”

“This was only a check in,” Amanda tells him. “You’re on stand by until we need more information or extra hands.”

“I can drop anything if you need me,” Oliver promises, not even caring that it might be a promise to the devil. Amanda is going to find Tatsu and Maseo, he can’t wait to tell Akio when he wakes up tomorrow.

His chest feels light when he hangs up and he has the first good night of sleep since he returned home that night.

The next morning, the feeling stays. Akio is indeed ecstatic and they go out to eat ice cream to celebrate together. He just chatters the entire time about all he’s going to tell them about when he sees them again.

Oliver can’t help but keep smiling at him, sharing the happiness. When Tatsu and Maseo are here, he’ll have completed his mission. The whole time he’s been worrying if they were right to trust him, but the end is now in sight and Akio is content. He did well.

It’s not until the days start passing that Oliver realizes that the end is getting in sight. This will be over soon.

He has been so wrapped up in this mission, in getting Akio reunited with his parents alright, that he has barely been picking up his life back here. He’s been trying more, of course, but it’s still not smooth going. Oliver isn’t sure how well it will go once Akio isn’t here anymore. Does he still know how to live without the kid?

Yeah, he has been making up with Tommy and Thea, even his mom, but what does he have outside of that? Does he need more than his little sister and best friend?

If he thinks about it, the thought of more of a social life doesn’t sound very appealing. He doesn’t like crowds that much anymore, knowing how easy it is to be an unnoticed danger in them, and most people here can’t relate to him and he not to them. His life has become too different.

With Akio here, he has something to talk about, something to distract him and an excuse to leave if he doesn’t want to be there anymore. However, once he is gone, he’ll have to do it by himself and that sounds incredibly daunting.

Still, his mom, and Thea before her, are right, he’ll need to pick up his life a little bit, enough to actually live. He can’t just become a hermit and never socialize outside of his immediate family and Tommy.

Diggle has become somewhat of a friend. The man knows about his circumstances, the truth about who he is, and as a solider himself, he understands Oliver better than anyone. Oliver trusts him with Akio and with himself, allowing Diggle to be his back up.

However, this is a job for Diggle, a favor he’s doing for his ex-wife, because it is about something big, something dangerous. Oliver can’t expect him to hang around after.

No, if he wants to prepare for life after this mission, he’ll need to make new friends. Or rekindle old friendships that don’t want to make him tear his own hair out with their ignorance and lack of awareness of the world.

Despite how it ended, he misses Slade in that moment.

Slade understood him better than anyone and has been there by his side for years. But Slade isn’t here right now and if he were, it would probably be bad for Oliver. So, instead Oliver finds himself at CNRI.

After hearing the good news from Amanda and realizing what that’ll mean for him, he’s been trying to ween off always being with Akio. So, he’s by himself while Diggle keeps Akio company at home.

He’s a little nervous, standing in her place at work to invite her to lunch. It’s nothing romantic, he doesn’t think he’ll have the mental capacity for dating anytime soon and after everything that has happened between them, he thinks it’s best to leave that chapter closed. She is just a person he still knows, who he holds in high regard and who is the kind of person from his old life that he still wants in his life now.

Laurel knows that life isn’t fair, knows that not everyone has the privilege to get everything, and she fights to make it more fair. Oliver respects that.

Despite his complicated feelings about it, it felt good to feel like he helped when working with A.R.G.U.S.. He doesn’t have any qualifications to continue that like Laurel is and he doesn’t want to go back to A.R.G.U.S. like Amanda offered. Maybe he can do something with charity, but Oliver isn’t sure. It’s something to talk to Laurel about.

… If she, you know, wants to talk to him.

He is very nervous waiting on her at her place of work. She hasn’t been out of law school for long and he doesn’t want to cause a scene at her workplace, but he figured it would be better than showing up at her house. That will send a kind of message that he doesn’t want to send. He wants to be her friend. Just her friend.

She’s coming back from something, smiling and talking with her friend. Oliver tries not to let the guilt chase him away when that happy expression drops from her face the second she spots him.

“Ollie, what are you doing here?” she says in lieu of a greeting.

Hearing himself be referred to as Ollie is weird. Thea and Tommy still do so, but the name has become unfamiliar to him over these past few years. It makes him feel nostalgic and melancholic in a way.

“Hi, Laurel,” he says, cringing at how awkward he sounds. “I was wondering if you’d like to eat lunch. With me. To catch up.”

“To catch up?” Laurel repeats, obviously not buying what he’s selling. “Just because we used to date before you died, doesn’t mean you get to pick that back up. Or did you forget why we broke up?”

“It’s not to get back together,” Oliver protests.

“Really?”

“Really,” he assures her. “Look, I know I might not be your favorite person, truly, I get that. But my life got… well, it got completely destroyed. There’s not much left of what I had. And I don’t want to get that life back. I’m trying to make different choices. Better choices. The people I had in my life aren’t people I want in it now, except for Tommy and Speedy. And you.”

Laurel is still very skeptical, that much is obvious. However, she is also listening to him, which is more than he’d hoped for. “You want me in your life again.”

He nods. “Yeah. Laurel, you are an amazing person, far better than I ever deserved. These past few years I wanted nothing more than to make it up to you.”

To prove it, he digs around in his pocket, much like his father’s notebook, the picture is something he has always carried on his body. While he lost his bow and everything he still had left from the island when Shrieve double crossed them at the docks, this he still has.

“Here,” he says, handing her the photo. “I kept it to remind me of what I had to stay alive for, what I had to make right.”

“Ollie…” Laurel gasps, trailing off in shock.

“Please, Laurel, let me make it right. Let me start over,” Oliver begs. “Just one lunch to get to know the current versions of one another. If you still want to hate me and want me to stay away, I’ll respect that. I promise.”

Laurel still hesitates, though her eyes are slightly wet. Oliver holds his breath as he watches her thumb the photo, waiting for what she’ll say.

After a moment, she inhales a loud breath, then lets it go slowly. She meets his eye again, determination hardening them, despite the sadness that still lingers in the form of unshed tears. “Okay, one lunch. But I get to pick the place and you pay.”

“Of course,” Oliver agrees immediately, smile crossing his features.

[ncisfranchise-source]

In An American Story: Everyone’s Invited (Sept. 17, Harper Select), Wilmer Valderrama traces his roots from humble beginnings as a Venezuelan immigrant who spoke no English when his parents enrolled him in Mulholland Middle School in Van Nuys, California; to overnight superstardom as the lovable horndog Fez on That ’70s Show; to, at 44, an established Hollywood multi-hyphenate. For Valderrama, who since 2016 has played Special Agent Nick Torres on CBS’ flagship procedural NCIS, the book is a love letter to the vast possibilities of the American dream.

What it isn’t, however, is a juicy tell-all. Past relationships with stars like Demi Lovato (whose song “29” is rumored to reference their 12-year age gap) and Mandy Moore (whom Valderrama said he’d deflowered in an infamous 2006 interview with Howard Stern) are not touched upon. Nor is the fate of his That ’70s Show co-star and confidante Danny Masterson, sentenced to 30 years to life last September after being found guilty of two counts of rape. For the past four years, Valderrama has adjusted to life as a family man. He married model Amanda Pacheco in January 2020 and became a father the following year.

Valderrama took a break from his busy NCIS shooting schedule to field questions from The Hollywood Reporter about the upcoming presidential election, in which immigration is a key issue; his thoughts on Masterson’s conviction; and his lifelong dream of bringing Zorro back to the screen.

Let’s start with your work with immigrants and all the charitable things you’ve done for people that come to this country, fleeing dangerous places or simply to find a better life. And too often they arrive and are pushed down by those already higher up on the ladder. You went through that yourself. We are about to elect another president. We’ve seen examples of what both candidates will do in the White House when it comes to those issues. I’m wondering where you stand on the current election?

VALDERRAMA I appreciate the question. A lot of what this memoir was really about was to humanize the immigrant experience. I think that every time there is some kind of election, there is a paraphrasing of our culture. And I thought it was really important to just say, “Hey — this is what immigrants really look like.” Immigrants are police. Our attorneys, our nurses, our doctors, our essential workers. They have such an essential and vital contribution to this country. It’s important that as we go into these conversations, and as they become hot topics in the news, that we don’t forget the humanity. We call ourselves “the 200 percent” — because we’re 100 percent American and 100 percent Latino, too. The potential of this moment is to really come together.

You don’t mention your politics in the book. You do mention meeting Barack Obama and that being very exciting and also being disturbed by things that happened in 2016, but you never mention Donald Trump by name. I know that you’re on a popular show, NCIS, that’s watched by the entire country, blue and red, and maybe you don’t want to alienate your viewership. Because of course when it comes to Trump, you could say a lot of negative things about the way he talks about immigrants.

VALDERRAMA I mean, look, obviously, as you and I know, his words can really speak for themselves. When I joined Voto Latino 20 years ago, the goal was to wake up the interest of our Latino community. My biggest first priority was to [get Latinos to] sign up to the census and make sure that we’re counted and know how many we are here. Imagine now if everyone who was eligible to vote went out and voted. When politics become debates, we lose the humanity in the conversation. The most important part was to fire up my community to go out there and vote for their interest and what they feel their future should look like. And I’m not here to really tell anybody who to vote for. I think you and I know who I’m going to vote for, but the most important thing to me is to tell our culture that this is their election, too.

There’s a scene in the book in which you experience a very narrowly averted charter plane crash on your way back from the Super Bowl. You’re with Colin Hanks and Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson and the plane is shaking and filling with carbon monoxide. Masterson says he can’t feel his limbs. You and Kutcher share a single oxygen mask. What could you tell us about that flight and how it changed your life?

VALDERRAMA The first thing I thought about was my sisters, my mom and my dad. If I ever leave this Earth, do they have everything they need? You think about, what do you really fear in life? Death may be one, but leaving your loved ones without everything they need was the most petrifying experience. So I went on to just work my ass off. I went off to be an entrepreneur and to start many businesses and to really stay working. It’s a great testament to what this country can provide for you.

Looking at what’s happening now in Venezuela, opposition leader Edmundo Gonzales just fled to Spain to seek asylum. It’s very disheartening, and a dark reminder of what’s at stake in the next U.S. election.

VALDERRAMA I feel like every election Venezuela has, there is this one moment of fresh air where it just seems like for a second it might open up again. And it is really heartbreaking. I still have family there. People are making a couple of dollars a month. It’s horrible. They’re the largest producer of oil in the world. Venezuela should have been a Dubai. It really is heartbreaking to see a country be prisoned without its freedoms.

As one of the most visible and successful Venezuelan expats, do Venezuelans reach out to you in to help? Are they saying, “Please Wilmer — come back and save us?”

VALDERRAMA I think we, as [Venezuelan] individuals who are abroad with a platform, I think our biggest job is to amplify the reality. God, I wish I could be there. I wish I could be in the streets with the people that I grew up with. And the biggest issue here is that there’s no entry point for any of us. So much is being blocked away. I try so hard to really make sure that the world doesn’t forget what’s really happening out there. I get the messages from my fellow Venezuelan saying, “Please tell the world.” So that’s what we try to do.

I want to ask about your That ’70s Show co-star Danny Masterson, who was found guilty of rape. Ashton and Mila Kunis, also your castmates on that show, both caught backlash for writing letters of character for Danny that came out in the trial. What are your feelings about that?

VALDERRAMA Well, look — I totally understand why you have to ask the question. I definitely get it. But, respectfully, I like to use this time to really talk about the book that I’m really excited about. And that I worked so hard on for people to read. I mean, really the book is about my family and my immigrant story, and my parents sacrifice.

Did Scientology ever court you?

VALDERRAMA Again, my focus is to talk about my parents and my sacrifice. I don’t have anything to add to that.

In terms of your personal life, you had a lot of high-visibility relationships with other stars, and I noticed you didn’t talk about them in the book. Is there a reason you didn’t?

VALDERRAMA I didn’t set out to actually make a memoir. My book was supposed to be a book about service. I traveled with the USO for so many years since in my mid-20s. It really is just a thank you to America for giving me a future that probably I could have never gotten in my own country.

I saw headlines with season 22 of NCIS coming up, that you teased something that made fans worried. So what did you tease exactly, and what are they worried about?

VALDERRAMA I think they always worry. The fans are so passionate about NCIS. I would say this: That in season 22, the contribution these writers have done to the show is just invaluable. We’re playing a lot more with personal journeys for our characters. This season will be a little bit more humorous, definitely a lot more emotionally driven for our lead characters, and perhaps — perhaps — they’re going to be in major danger.

So you’re not going anywhere.

VALDERRAMA Yeah, no. I’m OK. I’m in the season.

Finally, there’s a passage in the book where you discuss a business lunch with Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden, where you convince her to have Disney re-acquire the rights to Zorro as a starring vehicle for you.

VALDERRAMA In the early ’60s, there was a rights dispute between ABC and Walt Disney [which were separate companies at the time]. The rights ended up going back to the original owners of the Zorro books. When I had a conversation with Disney, they were incredibly empowering. And after 60 years, we were successfully able to bring the rights back to Walt Disney and start developing a new legacy for the characters. And now it’s spinning in development.

I do love Zorro, I must say.

VALDERRAMA Me too. Zorro was the direct inspiration for Bob Kane to create Batman. Bruce Wayne was leaving the movie theater with his parents when they were murdered — and the movie they had just seen was The Mask of Zorro.

We need the gritty, Christopher Nolan version of Zorro.

VALDERRAMA That would be so cool. But [TV’s Zorro] Guy Williams had this effortless lightness, so we’re going to try to make sure that that humor is still there, too.

[peanutbutterandbananasandwichs]

For the violent ask game: 7, 12, 20, 25?

Choose violence ask game 7: what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

I don't think there's any character I hate/dislike purely because of how fandom acts, I have extremely solid canon reasons too lol. But lemmie tell you I'm FAR more capable of feeling some degree of affection/sympathy for Dean when I've not seen some nonsense fanon takes about him in a couple of days! (although watching anything from S8 onwards can kinda kill my love for him all on its own lol).

12: the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Sam? lmao (not really but also if we are talking wider fandom then kinda yeaahhhh).

Ok more serious answer. I'm gonna go with Gadreel. I actually think his backstory and later s9 plotline were compelling, and whilst I'll never, ever forgive him for what he did to Sam I do personally hold greater enmity towards Dean over that whole matter than him. I don't know that I *like* him but I do think he's interesting!

20: part of canon you found tedious or boring

Angel politics after S6. I actually really enjoy the background war between factions going on in S6, after that I start to feel like I'm stuck in an endless timeloop. Had they done a better job linking the storylines into Sam and Dean I think it could have been more enjoyable, but too often it was it's own separate thing that felt like it was taking away from the meat of the story I really wanted to delve into more (Sam). The S8 angel's storyline is slightly more salvageable to me than the rest only because Amanda Tapping is so great. I still morn thinking about the absolute wasted potential of the angels falling storyline in 9! Truly they could have done so much with that, and it just fizzled out.

25: common fandom complaint that you’re sick of hearing

Tbh as much as I just complained about the angel storylines up there I get kinda bored with people who insist that angels shouldn't have been introduced at all. I think what was done with them in S4 and 5 and to some extent 6 was all really great, and without it we wouldn't have any of Sam's major storyline re Lucifer and that would be a huge loss, and fundamentally change his character! Also I genuinely like Cas, even if I think the writers often didn't know what to do with him, I still value his character and his presence in the show.

[katie-the-bug]

IN WHICH Katie continues to complain about books she knew beforehand would be bad

Still reading the Left Behind series. Finished Apollyon. God I'm tired.

The cast, for those just tuning in:

The Tribulation Force: Rayford Steele, freelance pilot and evangelist; Buck Williams, freelance writer for God; Chloe Williams, Buck's pregnant wife, Rayford's daughter; Tsion Ben-Judah, internet-famous evangelist and ex-rabbi; Ken Ritz, charter pilot and new convert; David Hassid, techie and the group's man inside the Antichrist's bureaucracy; Floyd Charles, unemployed doctor.

The Bad Guys: Nicolae Carpathia, Antichrist and beloved leader of the Global Community; Peter Mathews, Pope of Enigma Babylon One World Faith.

Others: Hattie Durham, Nicolae's pregnant ex, rescued by the Tribulation Force, who are trying to make her convert; Chaim Rosenzweig, Israeli scientist and friend to Nicolae, Buck, and Tsion. There's also the two witnesses, resurrected saints who do nothing but yell about Jesus and cause natural disasters.

At the beginning of the book, most of our heroes are off to Israel for the meeting of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, knowing that this will mark them as enemies of the Global Community in general and the Antichrist in particular and expose them to potential reprisal. Perhaps I'm too sensible for a thriller novel, but that's stupid.

Buck, Chloe, and Tsion are going, and Rayford has work, but "pregnant, Hattie Durham had been left home fighting for her life against poison in her system." The Tribulation Force harps on how much they care for Hattie, but leaving her alone while she's possibly dying indicates it's all talk.

David has designed a number of "handheld electronic organizers" that can access position data, connect to the internet, and make calls. In other words, he's invented smartphones.

Nicolae takes some time out of his day to try and threaten the two witnesses into no longer messing with Israel's water supply. A valiant effort, but one doomed to fail because somehow the guys spreading drought and disease have the blessing of a loving God.

In a review of the professions represented by the Tribulation Force, Chloe is said to be "without a specialty." Not coincidentally, she's the only woman. I'm pretty sure if she were a man something she studied in college would have come up by now, but as it is the extent of Chloe's abilities and character is Woman.

Chaim argues against Nicolae being the Antichrist by saying "He seeks world peace, disarmament, global unity," to which Chloe replies "My point exactly." As Jesus said, "Cursed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the Antichrist." Or something like that.

Meanwhile, we return to a dangling plot threat from the last book: was Amanda, Rayford's second dead wife in three years, a traitor? The answer will not surprise you! She wasn't. All the evidence against her was faked by Nicolae, who already has a personal vendetta against the Tribulation Force despite them being seven people operating out of a basement.

The Meeting of the Witnesses happens, and Nicolae makes a suitably dramatic entrance in a helicopter just as Tsion is trying to read John 3:16. Points for timing.

Pope Peter (II) gives a little speech to the 144,000, representing how the authors think proponents of religious tolerance talk. He offers "the blessings of the universal father and mother and animal deities," advertises his religion, which "includes and affirms and accepts the major tenets of all the world's great religions," and refers to a "multilayered plural godhead." The idea of all the world's religions forming seamlessly into one faith is utter nonsense, but given the choice between that and True Christianity, I'll take the father and mother and animal deities any day.

Nicolae gives his own speech, and the two witnesses pull a funny prank where they make him thirsty and turn the water he tries to drink into blood. He immediately starts cursing them and threatening to kill them. I suppose this is the witnesses' roundabout way of trying to tell the audience he's the Antichrist, since they don't dare say it out loud for reasons that are never made entirely clear.

Nicolae later describes this as an attempt to poison him, and, while he embellishes the incident somewhat, he doesn't need to - they tried to make him drink blood. In no world is that not an attempt to poison someone. Hell, do it on a large enough scale, like the two witnesses are doing to Israel, and it counts as biological warfare!

In Chapter 4, Hattie's baby dies, probably because the authors didn't know what to do with the idea of the Antichrist's child. Hattie's immediate response is an overwhelming desire to kill Nicolae and avenge her child. My ship is home to a thriving coral reef ecosystem BUT now I have a new pipe dream for this series: I want Hattie to get that sonofabitch. She has the strongest motive out of any of the major characters and, unlike the Tribulation Force, she doesn't believe Nicolae is fated to survive another year, so she'll actually TRY. In a good story, she'd be the hero - the only one with a desire, a drive, and a willingness to act. In the story as it is, the authors just want us to laugh at her.

The narration says of the scene in a bar that "Not all the couples were made up of both sexes." Much shock. How scandal.

While he's planning his team's daring escape from Chaim's house, Chloe accuses Buck of "playing Spiderman." RESPECT. THE. HYPHEN.

Tsion implores his audience to tell people that the catastrophes befalling the Earth are "God's way of getting their attention." I will reiterate that these catastrophes are deadly. God's way of getting people's attention to to kill them.

Ken says something trite about Hattie, and Rayford says, "Ritz, you've got to be on the feminist' top ten most wanted list." Addendum to my pipe dream: I want Hattie to kill Rayford too.

Chaim is letting the Tribulation Force stay in his house and convert his staff, meaning he's surrounded by Christians. He's taking it very well and he thinks that the "seal of God" that they can see on each other is just a silly little joke. I aspire to have his level of tolerance.

We learn that Ken has a considerable pile of gold stashed away, because he makes a lot of money, spends none of it, and shared the authors' weird beliefs about money even before converting to Christianity. He buried it under the airport he usually works from, which he is thinking of buying - a situation bearing an odd resemblance to a Biblical parable. That feels like it should be intentional but I really doubt it is.

Precisely because they were dumb enough to go out in public where Nicolae could target them, the Tribulation Force has to make a daring midnight escape, during which Ken is killed and the position of my favorite character is left wide open. At least they know where he hid all his gold?

Buck also gets left behind, which is an issue, because it was him being charged with yet another murder that made the escape necessary. He just goes back to Chaim's house and waits for the whole thing to blow over for what ends up being five months.

Another judgement comes in which the sun loses a third of its brightness. The authors interpret this as causing deep cold weather. Now, I'm not an astronomer yet, but I'm pretty sure that a loss of solar luminosity that large would actually move the sun's habitable zone, possibly removing Earth from the area of the Solar System where liquid water, and thus life as we know it, is possible. On the plus side, maybe Venus will cool down a bit.

Chaim describes Israel as the "land where the name Jesus Christ is anathema." Once again the authors express their understanding of Judaism as a religion whose defining characteristic is hating Christ.

The loss of sunlight and solar power causes an energy crisis, and the narration puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands. The very next page, Tsion describes the catastrophes as an "attention-getter." I'm going to repeat myself ad nauseam, but this is how the authors justify their God killing so many people - it gets the attention of the survivors.

Later on Chaim asks the real questions - "Why can he not get people's attention through wonderful miracles, as he did in the Bible? Why make things worse and worse until a person has no choice?" The authors, via Buck, try to shoot this down, but Chaim is right. God's tactics are abusive and coercive, and trying to tell us that he's loving is the icing on the cake.

Hit character limit. More coming. So, so tired.

[sillyromance]

Good day everyone!

I’d like to reveal some more information about the character Nyx mentioned in my story about count Dooku (which is partially different from my original headcanons) since I’m preparing some content about these two, but it won’t make any sense without proper explanation. This woman is my OC for Star Wars AU – she is Dooku’s padawan, later his wife and a queen of Serenno. Here I will talk only about the part of her life which is connected with original trilogy and the prequels, but I should assure you there is a second part which, however, will be told only if it’s needed.

Main events of the original SW story are kept as they are, though there are some important changes: the accents are made on the story of Serenno, Nyx and Dooku’s past, Obi-Wan doesn’t die in Episode IV, Anakin survives as well and his body is regenerated, after the end of the Empire Far-Far-Away Galaxy is ruled by a senate almost equal to the one described in prequels – and Luke is the leader of the senate, meanwhile his friends are in charge over the planets aka Naboo (Leia and Han), Tatooine (Anakin Skywalker), Coruscant (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Bespin (Lando Calrissian). It’s difficult to tell everything about Nyx in one post since her story is big and complicated, but there are some main points:

In the very beginning of the story, Nyx, or Amanda Cooper (which is her real name), was a normal girl living in the same universe with Sara Branton. She had always had force abilities, but they didn’t really have any practical use in her original world (she managed to master telekinesis and telepathy by herself, though).  Her parents participated in the war as well as Sara, but never returned home. When the girl got news about their death, her dark hair immediately turned grey and stayed like that for the rest of her life. Nyx was bullied by her classmates because of the strange appearance and quiet, shy character. Due to the trauma and desocialization, she started smoking and drinking alcohol, hang out with people of questionable reputation, turned mean and aggressive. Her parents were Sara’s close friends; she tried to help Nyx, but Amanda was too mad at her: she thought it wasn’t fair that Sara returned home, and her mom and dad did not (unfortunately, sometimes hurt people tend to blame others for what they can’t control).

My AU includes a theory, that almost each movie, videogame and book actually describes a parallel universe existing aside from ours. The only people who can “sense” alternative universes are the people of art. And, when someone creates anything, a portal to the particular universe openes for a short time. Nyx lived in the 1970-80-s. And she was one of those who witnessed Episode IV release (though, she has never seen the movie). So, she accidentally went from her world to Star Wars’ world when they got connected. At that moment she was 17 yers old.

Despite the fact it was Episode IV which was created first, she ended up in pre-Clone Wars times (timelines in different universes don’t synchronize). There she found herself in count Dooku’s domain. He sensed great potential in her, so the man decided to train her to make the girl a valuable tool for himself. However, since she didn’t know practically anything about that universe (and the count knew she wasn't lying when Nyx told him that), Dooku was bound to teach Nyx not only participating in combat, but reading, writing and more. They grew attached to one another, and as the time went by, their attitude to each other turned into something much more intimate than teacher-student relationships, especially since they had much in common and saw things in similar ways. They had gone though a lot together; there was even an incident when during a fight with some Jedies Nyx ran into by accident one of them blinded her – and Dooku refused to kill Nyx, though she thought he would do exactly that as a Sith. Instead, he taught her how to fight without her eyes and, when he got an opportunity, paid for the implants which would return the girl an ability to see. After the surgery, Nyx could fight in any situation and sometimes preferred doing it with her eyes closed because it was more efficient. This feature had given her a nick name “The Blind Warrior”.

Dooku was murdered when Nyx was 25. After his death, fate of Serenno happened to be lying on her shoulders. She took his place as a queen, but lived outside the planet since her presence there would put her and her plans at risk she couldn’t afford. Nyx convinced her people to fake their loyalty to Palpatine (who she hated as well as Anakin Skywalker), but, in reality, they would create an army under her command and destroy occupants in the future. To accomplish that, Nyx flew over the Galaxy, searching for Jedies who survived Order 66 – and tried to hire them as teachers. Also she and her agents provided Serennians with reliable information about everything that was happening in the Empire.

Twenty years had passed. While travelling, Nyx met her old rival she had never actually seen – Obi-Wan Kenobi – and Anakin’s son Luke on Tatooine (Episode IV). They worked together since then, so Nyx participated in many events of original trilogy and even made the story go differently (she saved Kenobi from Darth Vader and helped Anakin Skywalker, though it wasn’t for his sake, but for his son’s because she subconsciously treated Luke as her own child).

After that, Nyx returned home and announced her reign officially. Also she met with Dooku’s force ghost for the first time after he died. The thing was, the man was suffering on the other side without her and blaming himself for leaving her alone; he didn’t want to submit to his fate, so other spirits chained him up and held captive until his old padawan Qui-Gon helped him run away.

Dooku was determined to stay with Nyx; all that long years without one another only made their feelings stronger, and simple sympathy turned into love. Therefore, they started ruling Serenno as husband and wife.

Additional facts about Nyx and AU's lore:

Nyx is neither Jedi nor Sith. Dooku gave her a chance to choose any of the schools, but Nyx found both of them too narrow-minded. So, she just calls herself a separatist.

Nyx is a nickname Amanda came up with when she was a child after reading some Greek mythology. It referres to Nyx, the Goddes of the Night. When Amanda met Dooku, she didn't want to tell him who she really was, so she used the nickname - and didn't use her real name ever again.

As a duelist, Nyx practices Form II - Makashi.

Nyx has had heterochromia since her birth. Despite being bullied because of this in the childhood, when she was asked about the color of her eye implants, Nyx chose to keep this feature for she saw it as a part of her individuality.

Nyx’s lightsaber color is pink. It represents wisdom and balance between Light and Dark sides of the Force as well as purple color.

With her eyes closed, Nyx sees people and items as they will look like some seconds after the present moment. It gives her an advantage in battles; however, it also requires a lot of energy to stay like this for long. That puts Nyx in danger since, in such cases, she has to use her negative emotions (another words, she gives in to the Dark Side of the Force). That’s why she uses this ability only in critical situations.

Other Nyx’s Force abilities: force choke, force lightning, healing/reviving powers (in my AU they have side effects for a force user aka running out of their own life energy or even their death), future gazing, telekinesis, telepathy.

Nyx violently blames herself for her master’s death. Nyx saw a prophetic dream at the night before he left and tried to warn Dooku about Anakin, but he “didn’t listen” and went for the fight anyway (the count kept Nyx’s existence in secret from everyone, so he decided to engage in battle with Anakin because the man wanted to keep the girl safe from any danger that might occur if he didn’t answer Palpatine’s call; Dooku thought he was able to win over his less experienced opponent, furthermore, Palpatine insistet on the duel being just a test for Skywalker).

Dooku had plans about finishing the line of monarchs at his planet and creating a republic. So, as Dooku's enthusiastic follower, aside from preparing the army, Nyx secretly provided education materials for Serennian children, so they would become a generation which would be ready for such changes.

When Nyx was a padawan, she made friends with a palace gardener’s son Nicolas who was considerably younger than her. Later that boy became a capitan of her army and one of the most important people in the government. Nyx has chosen him as her heir (the ruler of the new Serennian republic). Aside from Nicolas and Dooku, Nyx is quite close with a palace butler Favian and a chef cook Penny who have been serving Serenno family for their entire lives. These two are her advisors and confidants. Also Nyx has many acquaintances among the locals; civilians of the capital know her very well.

Serenno family's crest includes a silver unicorn (reference to The Last Unicorn cartoon) surrounded by four figures: two silver swords on the left and on the right, an open book beneath and a crown above. Everything is on an azure field. Nyx often wears gloves with unicorns painted on them.

Serenno is home for many wonderful creatures which we know by fairytales: unicorns, dragons, phoenixes etc. However, there are some specific species: giant spiders, purple bears (bears with violet fur, six eyes, eight legs, and transparent blood), and leavies. The latter are half-animal and half-plant creatures looking like formless bushes of various colors. They make strange noises, move quite fast and shapeshift. Leavies are herbivore, they can be successfully tamed and taught to keep themselves in one particular form. These creatures are used by Serennians as equivalents for horses. Dooku has a cyan leavy called Blizzard and Nyx has a lavender one called Star.

Count Dooku is Serenno's national hero. When Dooku was young, he saved the planet from his evil elder brother Ramil who treated Serennians as slaves and had very low morals in general. Besides, Dooku had an elder sister Jenza who was killed by Ramil during his and Dooku's confrontation. Jenza was the only one who ever treated Dooku nicely in Serenno family, so he mourned her death more than anyone. Lady Jenza is one of Serenno's saints.