#and you can delve into these topics without ruining the wonder of it all or making it dark and edgy

[universalinfo]

Stay Clear: An In-Depth Exploration of Anti-Fog Coatings and Their Uses

Ever wondered why your bathroom mirror doesn’t fog up after a hot shower, or how those swanky ski goggles stay crystal clear on the slopes? It’s all thanks to a fascinating technology called anti-fog coatings.

In this blog post, we’ll uncover what these coatings are, how they work, and the diverse uses they serve in our everyday lives. So grab your favorite beverage, put on those non-foggy glasses, and let’s delve into this topic, shall we?

What Are Anti-Fog Coatings?

Anti-fog coatings, the unsung heroes of many surfaces, are like an invisible force field. Acting like a water-loving friend, these coatings fight the villainous condensation, preventing it from ruining our view. But what are these coatings exactly?

Anti-fog coatings are specially designed treatments applied to various surfaces to create a hydrophilic effect. This doesn’t just mean making water droplets go away. It means transforming them into a thin, transparent layer, spreading them out evenly across the surface.

From car windshields to eyeglasses, anti-fog coatings are tirelessly working to ensure that we don’t miss a thing. Think of them as loyal allies in the battle against foggy obstructions, ready to leap into action wherever and whenever they’re needed.

The Science Behind Anti-Fog Coatings

Diving into the science of anti-fog coatings is like uncovering a treasure trove of knowledge. So how exactly do these coatings wage their war against fog?

When surfaces fog up, it’s because of tiny water droplets forming and scattering light, making things look blurry. Anti-fog coatings contain unique compounds that prevent these droplets from forming. Instead, they make water spread out uniformly across the surface, creating a clear layer.

Some anti-fog coatings achieve this effect by incorporating polymers and surfactants that reduce the surface tension of water. The result? A clear and transparent layer instead of annoying droplets.

Imagine having a group of friends that just love to hug each other, no matter the circumstances. That’s precisely how anti-fog coatings treat water, creating an unbreakable bond that results in fog-free surfaces. Now, isn’t that a friendship we can all aspire to?

Everyday Applications of Anti-Fog Coatings

We encounter anti-fog coatings in many unexpected places, and life without them would be a lot mistier. Let’s explore some of their everyday applications:

Eyewear. The real MVPs, glasses with anti-fog coatings, ensure clear vision while enjoying a hot coffee or cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

Bathroom mirrors. No more wiping down the mirror after a hot shower; anti-fog coatings make sure you always look your best.

Vehicle windshields.��Enjoy scenic drives without worrying about fog obstructing your view, all thanks to these invisible guardians.

From camera lenses to swim goggles, anti-fog coatings are hard at work in our daily lives, turning potential annoyances into seamless experiences.

Industrial Applications of Anti-Fog Coatings

Beyond our personal lives, anti-fog coatings are making a substantial impact in various industrial sectors. Let’s delve into how these coatings are revolutionizing industries, ensuring safety, and efficiency, and improving quality standards.

Medical Fields

In the highly sensitive and demanding medical environment, visibility is crucial. Surgeons, nurses, and other healthcare professionals rely on clear vision for precise work. Anti-fog coatings applied to medical eyewear and equipment ensure that life-saving procedures are not hindered by foggy obstructions.

Whether in the operating room or the laboratory, these coatings provide confidence and clarity that can make a difference in critical moments.

Automotive Manufacturing

The automotive industry, known for its high-tech engineering and quality control, benefits immensely from anti-fog coatings.

From worker safety goggles to the windshields and instrument panels in the vehicles themselves, these coatings play a key role. They ensure clear visibility in production lines, reduce errors, and enhance the final product’s quality. Car owners enjoy fog-free driving experiences, all thanks to the thoughtful application of these coatings in manufacturing.

Food Processing Industry

Hygiene and efficiency are paramount in food processing. Foggy protective screens or equipment can slow down production and pose safety risks. Anti-fog coatings are here to the rescue.

Applied to safety goggles, machinery screens, and packaging, these coatings maintain a clear view of the operations. They help in maintaining hygiene standards and reducing downtime, ensuring that the delicious food reaches our plates promptly and safely.

Maritime and Aviation

Navigating the seas and skies requires absolute clarity. Fogged-up windows and instruments can lead to navigational errors with severe consequences. Anti-fog coatings are vital in both maritime and aviation sectors. They’re applied to the windows, navigation equipment, and other critical areas to provide a clear line of sight, contributing to safe and efficient travel.

Construction Industry

In construction sites where heavy machinery, dangerous tools, and precarious heights are common, visibility is non-negotiable. Anti-fog coatings on safety glasses and protective screens provide construction workers with an unobstructed view of their surroundings. This not only enhances efficiency but, more importantly, contributes to a safer work environment.

Agriculture and Greenhouses

In the world of agriculture, clarity can aid in more accurate monitoring and control of the environment. Greenhouses equipped with anti-fog coatings allow farmers to see inside clearly and ensure optimal growing conditions. This aids in the effective growth of crops and reduces issues related to excess humidity and moisture.

Renewable Energy Sector

Even in the field of renewable energy, anti-fog coatings make their mark. Solar panels, for example, need to remain clear to capture sunlight efficiently. Anti-fog coatings ensure that moisture doesn’t form droplets on the surface, thus maintaining the panels’ effectiveness.

How to Apply Anti-Fog Coatings

Thinking of getting rid of that pesky fog at home? You’re in luck. Applying anti-fog coatings is usually easy. Just need to follow these three steps:

Clean. Make sure the surface is free from dust and grime.

Spray or wipe. Apply the anti-fog solution according to the instructions.

Dry. Allow the surface to dry, and you’re all set!

Some surfaces might need specific types of anti-fog coatings, so always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. And voilà, you’ll be living in a clear, fog-free world in no time.

Environment and Sustainability

In today’s eco-conscious world, anti-fog coatings are keeping up with the green revolution. Manufacturers are now focusing on creating eco-friendly solutions that are as effective as traditional ones.

New formulations are being developed using biodegradable ingredients, renewable resources, and less harmful production methods. Innovations in green chemistry are opening doors to sustainable anti-fog coatings that offer high performance without sacrificing our beautiful planet.

Embracing these eco-friendly options sends a clear message: we can have a clear vision and keep the Earth happy too.

Conclusion

And there you have it. From understanding the science to exploring its myriad applications, we’ve taken a long and delightful journey through the mist-free world of anti-fog coatings. These unobtrusive marvels are silently working in our homes, vehicles, workplaces, and even in the care of our planet.

So the next time you peer through a fog-free window or admire yourself in a clear bathroom mirror, take a moment to appreciate the technology at work. Whether it’s a foggy winter day or a steamy tropical afternoon, anti-fog coatings are here to make sure that nothing gets in the way of our clear view.

[ejzah]

because I just finished rewatching 3x10, I was wondering if you could maybe write a post-ep story or know a good one? Because somehow I think I'm more mad at the team than Kensi (except maybe Deeks since he's the only one who seems remorseful) and I would love to read a good sort of follow up 😉 and thank you for your almost daily stories, it's always a pleasure!

A/N: Thanks for the support, Anon! I’m glad you enjoy my stories. Sorry once again that this took a while to get to.

***

Tell Me No Lies

“Hey, Sam and Callen were talking about going out if we get done at a decent hour today. You going to come with?” Deeks asked, turning to Kensi as they walked back to the SUV.

“Mm, probably not,” she answered. ���I wouldn’t want to interrupt your next planning session.” Her tone turned flippant and she gave Deeks a very pointed glance.

“Kens…”

“Maybe this time you can pretend your dying cause I’m sure that would be hilarious.”

“Kensi, you know that if there was any way I could have told you, I would have,” he told her. They’d touched on this topic briefly, but not actually delved beyond the surface.

“Oh right, because there’s no way on earth you could have possibly figured out how to related that you were on a undercover op to me, your partner,” Kensi scoffed, picking up her pace a bit. “You’re a self-proclaimed master at concealing the truth. If you wanted to, you could have given me a encrypted message.”

He’d expected this. He just hadn’t thought it would be this uncomfortable. Ruffling his hair, Deeks drew in a long breath, settling his hands on his hips.

“This case hinged on everyone believing that I’d been fired as liaison and desperate. It’s the only way to root out the mole.”

Mouth dropping open slightly, Kensi rounded on him, anger growing in her eyes.

“Oh yes. Everyone except Callen, Sam, Hetty, Eric, Nell, and whoever else in the office was deemed worthy. Accept for me, because apparently I can’t keep a secret,” she raged.

“Kensi, that’s not fair,” Deeks murmured.

“No, what’s not fair is believing that I would ruin the operation with my lack of acting ability and playing on my emotions to further the case.” Shaking her head in apparent disgust, she stalked off.

The guilt Deeks had kept at bay-or at least tried to-since Hetty first presented the case late one Friday, came back full force. It had taken so long to earn Kensi’s trust, and now it felt like they were almost back to square one in some ways.

“Kensi. Kens, can you just stop for a second?” She ignored him, so he jogged a few yards until he caught up and grasped her wrist. Kensi tried to shake him off, but he gently tugged her to a stop. Underneath the anger, he saw hurt in her eyes and damn if that wasn’t even worse.

“I’m sorry,” he started. Kensi huffed out a sarcastic laugh. “Maybe you won’t believe me, but I wanted to read you in from the beginning”

“Then why the hell didn’t you?” she demanded again, throwing her hands in the air.

“Because I was ordered not to, and as much as I love to flout the rules, everyone made it clear that there would be serious repercussions if I broke the confidentiality of the case.” Deeks sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “C’mon, don’t act like you haven’t been asked to lie for a case before. We all have.”

“Deeks, do you have any idea how it felt when I thought you’d been let go?” Kensi said. She jabbed her finger at his chest. “I thought you’d just killed a guy, possibly without just cause, and suddenly you were being sent away. And you wouldn’t even talk to me.” Her voice trembled and she looked away. “Do you have any idea how much that hurts?”

He’d expected continued anger, to beg and plead for Kensi’s forgiveness. Probably even agree to do something mildly embarrassing as punishment. It never occurred to him that Kensi would let him see anything more. His own chest ached in response.

“It killed me too,” Deeks told her quietly. “There were so many times that I wanted to say something and so many times I hated that I was lying to you. And the reason I wouldn’t talk to you when we had the chance was because I didn’t want you to say—” He stopped before he breached the invisible line in their partnership they refused to ever discuss.

Blowing out a loaded breath, Deeks tucked his thumbs into his front pockets, and faced Kensi seriously.

“I hated lying to you and I will do whatever it takes to gain your trust back again.”

“Then promise me you won’t lie to me it won’t happen again,” she said, surprising him when she grasped his hand suddenly.

“You know I can’t do that,” Deeks told her. Hand falling away, Kensi nodded heavily.

“I know.” She came him a grim smile. “C’mon, we have to get back.”

***

A/N: I felt like leaving things a little bit unresolved worked well with there off and on issues through the next couple seasons. Thanks for the prompt!

[cryotome]

Some thoughts on the first 4 routes of Olympia Soirée

Ok, I've finally finished the first 4 routes, good and bad endings (though I have yet to check all the memoirs) and I figured I'd do a little review before I move onto Himuka and Akaza.

My play order wasn't the recommended one since I just wanted to start with the boy I vibed with in the common route (Kuroba!), so I ended up doing Kuroba - Riku - Yosuga - Tokisada. I wouldn't say it ruined my experience - if anything I liked doing Tokisada's route last as it delved deeper into some of the games' antagonists arcs.

For people who want to go from the least to most emotionally heavy routes, the recommended Riku-Tokisada-Yosuga-Kuroba order is the best option. It should be said that all routes so far deal with some heavy topics of discrimination, fantasy racism/classism, rigid traditional gender roles and so on, and some routes feature dubcon and SA, so that's something to be aware of if you're thinking of picking this up.

With that said, here's some opinions!

The common route was surprisingly lengthy and didn't have any choices, however I really enjoyed it and thought it was well paced. I enjoyed just experiencing the story without stressing out about which guy I would end up with. The journey of Olympia from "a doll" to a person capable of making friends, learning about the world and relating to others was great and she got more development in the common route than Steam Prison's Cyrus got in the entire game (I can't help but compare these games as the premise is similar) Like everyone else I did get annoyed by repetitive flashbacks - they weren't quite as common in character routes but happened enough to be irritating. I'm also not super keen on the sidekick (sorry Daifuku) but I realise Olympia needed someone to talk at. Plus, their backstory was quite cute.

I did find Olympia's personality a little inconsistent at times, as she went from being forward and assertive (and fun) in Riku's and Tokisada's route to a typical timid MC with Kuroba and Yosuga.

As for LIs, I'm gonna discuss spoilers in all 4 initial routes, so don't click if you haven't played them all :)

Ok, here we go.

Riku

PRECIOUS BABY.

Seems like many enjoyed Riku's route, I did too. In a classical tsundere fashion he made a terrible first impression, but after seeing his softer side in Kuroba's route I was intrigued and wanted to learn more about him. (on that note, can we talk about how he's almost absent in everyone's routes? I guess unlike someone like Kuroba he doesn't make for a fun quirky side character, but still..would've been nice) I feel like the story lingered for ages on Olympia trying to figure out his identity but once Riku became an actual character in his story things really picked up.

I loved his backstory, loved his chemistry with Olympia and loved seeing him grow as a person. That final conflict resolution was extremely random (RANDOM WAVE just washed the bad guy away? alright), but I'm starting to think none of the writers actually know how to conclude a story because it just seems to be a Thing that happens with everyone.

Tokisada

I left Tokisada for last because I really couldn't get myself to play a route with a guy that looks 12. In the end, I did like his route - I loved the moment he accepted his role as a professinal wifeguy. Go you, Tokisada :') His CGs were really nice and steamy but they definitely aged him up (he even sounded different) during those moments for things to be less weird, which makes me wonder...why make him look and sound like a little kid in the first place? I know he's on his coming of age arc, but still.

One of the things I found most fascinating in this route was Kanan and Kaina's relationship and Kanan's revelation that a certain bodypart fell off from haku?? And i was like..no...it can't be..and then I got to the bad ending. And apparently there's more on that in the memoir which I've not read. As expected, the conflict was kinda poorly resolved with Kanan never really getting the punishment he deserves. This game really doesn't like killing people in good endings (unless they don't have sprites i guess)

I would like to nominate Bad Ending with Kanan here as the most fucked up one in the entire game 8) I love a bad ending that isn't just sad, but also kinda twisted and makes you go "wait what...HOW?? WHY???" and that one was definitely it.

Yosuga

Ah, Yosuga. I wanted to like you so much. You were so fun in everyone else's routes. Alas I'm afraid Yosuga works better as a wingman for me.

I mean, I suspected he has a dark backstory and I actually liked the actual resolution with The Baddies not actualy being The Baddies. And I liked his connection to Olympia through Tsukuyomi.

But the incident on Tennyu island, and then him holding an actual grudge over women of the white killing some purple guy seemed so illogical and gross and not consistent with the rest of his personality. I could understand him having a deathwish and being depressed and traumatised, but it could have been handled better - maybe if Olympia actually stood up to him? This is also where Olympia's "hair colour change for yes, murder for no" as a replacement for concent became pretty tiresome.

There were some touching moments later but I never quite pieced together what he's like as a person in the end.

Weirdly enough I really liked one of the bad endings. It was..probably one of the spiciest scenes in the entire game so far?? I swear to god, Olympia actually voices her wishes for once and then they fuck and I guess she kills him off-camera which doesn't seem like her, but also. It was hot, so I'll allow it. Sorry, Yosuga.

Kuroba

Favourite Boy in a Non-Favourite Route.

Like I said, I loved Kuroba since his very first appearance. I'm in the minority in that I like his design the most (idk i like his short hair, makes him stand out? and his expressions are so cute? and he's handsome more than he's cute?? also The Voice) and i like flirty characters as long as being flirty isn't the only thing I've got going for them. In Kuroba's case the flirtiness was definitely just a superficial trait and he was funny and smart and capable. His first half of the route was a lot of fun with all their little courtship and dates, and then... it kinda got ruined.

I still don't know why Kuroba had to dramatically proclaim how he's using Olympia. I thought he was roped into it but I don't think he was? And after the whole Nagusa thing happened he was really inappropriately posessive/aggressive which pissed me off a bit. He definitely redeemed himself later and that CG with him kneeling in front of Olympia was adorable. As always the story did not resolve in a 100% satisfying way with Nagusa not getting what he deserves - it made me pretty angry.

I would be ok with Nagusa living if he got Tokijikutan Ne treatment for his haku. Surviving and yet losing every stupid superficial thing he cared about? That'd be amazing. But no, I guess we can't have that. (I actually forgot exactly what happened with him towards the end...guess I should've been taking notes)

Looking back at it, Kuroba's bad ends are my least favourites too, I guess I just don't find getting murdered very sexy, but i guess some people might be into it. I JUST THINK HE DESERVED BETTER.

I should also mention that since Douma was very much positioned as the Big Bad in the common route and Kuroba was my first, I did believe Olympia when she didn't want to trust him. I fully expected Douma to have some kind of diabolical plan when he asked Kuroba to murder Nagusa and I was excited to see what it was when I did the bad ends. Of course, no such plan existed, and now that I've played through other routes I know that Douma's just a grumpy ol' dad who gives no fucks. (Unless we're gonna learn more about him in the remaining 2 routes) Anyway, this just makes that whole resolution so much dumber in retrospect. I feel like Kuroba's best ending never really came to fruition and instead we just got an ok one.

I can only hope for a fandisk to give me more Kuroba content v_v

And now, to finish the last remaining routes. Not looking forward to Himuka as he's just way too young and feminine looking for my tastes, and I just can't imagine CGs fixing that the way they did with Tokisada. But I hope the Plot will make up for it. Akaza on the other hand...I have high hopes for him :D Fingers crossed!

[razieltwelve]

Proud Mother (Final Effect)

Ifalna closed her eyes and reached out to the Lifestream. How long had it been since a Cetra spoke to Remnant?

X     X     X

“It’s has been an age since I’ve spoken to one of the Children of Planet.”

Ifalna opened her eyes. The appearance of the woman that stood before her was impossible to place. It changed from moment to moment. One second, she bore a striking likeness to the legendary Lightning Farron. The next second, she looked just like Oerba Yun Fang. A few seconds later, she was someone Ifalna couldn’t recognise, and then she was a mirror-image of the female Knight of Remnant that stood guard outside Ifalna’s chambers.

“Remnant...”

“That is what my Children have named me.” Remnant’s voice was the voice of countless people layered one on top of the other, and it was filled with pride. “I know your people. They came to me long ago. They helped my Children. They loved them. And then they died in defence of me and my Children.” Remnant inclined her head. “Your people will always have my respect for that.” Her lips twitched. “As one of my Children once said: anyone who sheds their blood at my side is my brother, my sister, my family.”

“You’re different from Planet,” Ifalna murmured. The Cetra’s home planet was a peaceful one. Talking to her was like basking in a warm spring breeze. Remnant carried a weight about her. It was like staring at a mountain that soared up into the clouds without ever being able to see the top. And in those clouds, dark and turbulent, massive shapes waited with fangs and claw bared against the enemy.

“I have seen Planet in the minds of those who came before, so long ago. Your Planet seems much as your people: peaceful and kind, a place of tranquil groves and whispering shores, of murmuring brooks and susurrant woods. I would be happy to meet her. But I am not her.”

“No,” Ifalna replied, smiling. “You are not.”

Remnant clenched her fist, and the darkness around them gave way to scenes of battle, to fire, ruin, and thunder. “I was born of war. I remember when the seed that gave birth to me was cast from my Mother World. I remember the conflict that shattered that world and sent my seed hurtling through the great darkness between worlds. I remember crashing down into this world, and I remember the long and lonely years when I delved my roots deep into this place and called forth the echoes of life from another place.”

Remnant’s gaze drifted to the scenes around them, to a volcanic and tortured landscape blasted by heat and torn by wind and later driving rain. “My first Children suffered. Oh, how they suffered. But they were strong, my Children, so strong. They strove against the elements, they conquered the plains of jagged rocks and the fields of fire, and they endured even as the first of the great woods took root, and the seas, skies, and plains filled with life.”

Around them, the ever-changing images gave way to primitive settlements and then proper towns and even cities.

“I watched with pride as my Children claimed the world for themselves. And then I watched as the first of the dark tidings came. They were visitors from another world, and they built a great gate here that now lies beneath the sea. They spoke of trouble of the horizon, of a dark power that lingered beyond my sight. And then the day came when they fled here through the gate and destroyed it behind them, so their enemy could not pursue them.”

“Kingdom Hearts,” Ifalna murmured. It was the name of an ancient power, a faction that had dominated before even the Cetra. One of their Doors had been found on Remnant, broken, no doubt to prevent the Grimm from pursuing them. They were yet another proud civilisation brought to their knees by the Grimm.

“And later your people came, and with them the Grimm.” Remnant snarled. “I watched as your brave people fell in doomed defiance of them Calamity from the Sky. I could do nothing as the Grimm came, as they attacked my Children. As they sought to take them from me.”

Remnant’s eyes narrowed. “But they underestimated my Children. It took long, so long, and there were so many stumbles and failures along the way, but my Children won. I know now how rare that is, but they did it.” Her eyes shone with fierce, belligerent pride. “My Children slew the Calamity from the Sky and then reached out to claim the stars themselves.”

“Does that make you feel lonely?” Ifalna asked. She knew that Planet missed the Cetra who left although she was glad that they could settle other worlds and rebuild their numbers.

“Hah!” Remnant threw her head back and laughed. “Lonely? No! I could not be prouder.” Remnant gestured, and the images that appeared now were of the Empire, Alliance, Federation, and all the other worlds that had been settled by her Children. “I have seen their deeds in the minds of the Children who return to me. I could not be more proud! How could any mother not feel pride when her Children have grown so much? I remember when my Children lingered on the verge of extinction, driven there by the Grimm. Now, my children lay claim to millions of worlds, and their armies wage war on a scale their ancestors could not possibly have imagined. The Grimm are driven back each time, and my Children grow ever more numerous and powerful.”

Remnant smiled. “If they ask you about me, Child of Planet, tell them that I am proud.” Images drifted past them - memories - but not only of war. There were children playing. People falling love. Scientists learning. Poets dreaming. All of the experiences, all of the memories, all of the thoughts and emotions of Remnant’s Children. “It does not matter if they have never set foot on this world, it does not matter if they have never spoken to me. They are, all of them, my Children, and I could not be prouder.”

“I will tell them.”

Remnant chuckled. “We’ve spoken long enough, Child of Planet. A mortal spirit, even one as mighty as yours, cannot linger in this place too long. But, here, a gift for your trouble. He never forgot you, and his last thoughts were of you before he fell in defiance of the Calamity from the Sky.”

X     X     X

Ifalna opened her eyes and then looked down at her lap. There was a small broach there. She recognised it instantly. Her father had given it to her mother when he’d proposed, and her mother had given it back before she had gone into battle before the fall of the Cetran Fleet. Her father... she’d always wondered what had happened to him. He must have been one of the survivors to make it to Remnant. 

Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes.

“Thank you.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

Living Worlds develop personalities of their own, and these personalities are often reflected in their Children. Planet (the Cetra home world) is quiet, peaceful, and tranquil. Remnant was born of war, and her Children were forged by constant, endless struggle. Her pride is fierce, and her resolve unyielding. 

The Yun would absolutely love her.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here.

[beevean]

Sonic and speed: are we misunderstanding them?

This article was originally written in Spanish by @latin-dr-robotnik​ on his blog - you can read it here!

Today on SHP, I’d like to bring attention to a topic that I keep noticing being discussed everywhere (especially now during quarantine), and that somehow worries me: are we misunderstanding Sonic and his characteristic speed?

During these last few weeks there has been a new, relatively unusual explosion of videos and comments on the Internet regarding Sonic and, relevant for today, what is the best game or the best level. The simplest reason has to be the lockdown we’re going through, and which is leaving us with more time to play or think about those games we want to play, or never will. On the other hand, the most cynical side of me believes that this boom of Sonic-related content is because Game Apologist’s video about S3&K and Sonic in general was so popular, it sparked the “interest” of other creators (the video itself is great, and I elaborated my opinions on it here). Whatever the case, there is a greater discussion about Sonic going on right now, and I feel like it’s not directed where it should be.

Before starting: there are a bunch of videos that helped me shape a good part of the opinions I’m going to explain today. You don’t need to watch all of them, and they’re not mandatory to fully understand this article, but if after reading it you’re left wanting for more, or you’d like to hear different options, I’d recommend you watch these:

1.     Sonic and Speed (Errant Signal)

2.     The First Levels of Sonic Games (Super Bunnyhop)

3.     SONIC the HEDGEHOG: How Level Design Can Break a Game (Broken Base Gaming)

4.     How Sonic Mania Makes a Level (RelaxAlax)

5.     City Escape is Peak Sonic Game Design (ZoomZike)

6.     Lost Valley Is Not Peak Sonic Game Design (ZoomZike)

What is the problem?

In a series as big and ever-changing as Sonic’s, there is a wide repertory of formulas and possible answers to the question “how to design a game?”. In some cases we’re still looking for an answer, in others we’re looking for alternatives (I talked not too long ago about the accessibility of Sonic Mania and 2D Sonic in general – Spanish only!), and most of the time, the answer has already been given in the past.

This looking for answers in the past has taken us in many directions, like constantly looking back to Sonic Adventure to solve the great enigma that is 3D Sonic; but I’d add that the recent retrospectives about Sonic and its first 2D games have raised some criticism and questions that, while valid, end up muddling a formula that has proven itself to be effective and crucial in the design of everything related to Sonic.

What really worried me is the criticism about Sonic’s speed and the levels that are considered “slow”, and we’re going to delve into this.

The basic Principles of Sonic

Speed. Platforming. Exploration. These are Sonic’s basic Principles and have always been, from its beginning until today. These three concepts are at the core of not just the level design, but the games themselves as well. The best levels in the series know how to balance these aspects, and the best games are those that can keep a balanced flow, preventing the game from going too fast, and losing its exciting component along the way, or from going too slow and becoming boring, causing the player to lose interest. Naturally, in these games there have to be all sorts  of levels: faster, more relaxed, more open and more labyrinthine, all coexisting in harmony and without going too far in one direction. Ignoring these Principles puts the quality of the levels at risk, and even our understanding of the character.

I would have put my own examples here, but just before starting to write this section I got some wonderful ones from Beevean. If you don’t remember her, she helped a lot with the article about the music of Classic Sonic, and I already warned her that if she kept posting examples this good, I would have had no choice but to feature her again. The discussion started from this post, and she says:

If you approach Sonic thinking its only characteristic is “gotta go fast”, the game you’re gonna get is Advance 2. The very flat, boring, “there’s no way to put normal obstacles in these levels so we’re gonna throw bottomless pits at the player until they get sick of them” Advance 2.

Some fast levels can be awful - Stardust Speedway is a disaster from a level design standpoint and the whole level seems to work against you. Some slow levels can be super fun - you rarely run in Lava Reef and you spend most of the time dodging obstables, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most beloved levels in S3&K. There’s no arbitrary reason that separates “good” levels from “bad” levels, it’s an amalgamation of many factors - plus of course your personal enjoyment.

And in her tags (because we both include more information in our tags than in our posts) she adds:

The levels that are widely considered bad usually put too much focus on one of the factors you mentioned.

Marble Zone is too slow and linear.

Luminous Forest is too fast and linear.

The Doom and Lost Impact are too labyrinthine.

And so on.

My personal example is Sonic Mania and its progression during the mid-game, from Flying Battery to Mirage Saloon:

Flying Battery is a long level, filled to the brim with speed and emotions, especially during Act 2. After beating the boss, the player is likely going to feeling exhausted after being thrown left and right, and so…

The following level is Press Garden. Act 1 is a relatively closed and relaxed level, but still moving at a reasonable pace. If the player is familiar with the level they can finish it quickly, but they still can take their time appreciating the view of the printing and the machinery of the zone. Act 2 enhances this, with an absolutely lovely view and an active but still relaxed flow…

Then there’s Stardust Speedway, which is divided into two completely opposite acts. Act 1 is a relatively fast level, but very relaxed and almost a Zen-like experience when the player lets himself be carried away by the starry night sky, and with a relative absence of lights or discomfort on the screen (enemies and obstacles aside). Act 2 is the other way around, a largely colorful, explosive, fast level (to the point that I, anything but a speedrunner, managed to finish the level in 31 seconds, 2:10 minutes if you include the fight with Metal Sonic), culminating in one of the longest, most intense bosses in the game that marks the halfway point of the adventure…

After such an exciting journey, the next level is Hydrocity, once again split in half with a calmer, more exploration-oriented Act 1, and an Act 2 that, similarly to the original level, is one of the most adrenaline-filled water levels in the series. The boss is intense as well, but verging on being tedious and not nearly as fast as the level itself…

And finally, Mirage Saloon. Every version of Act 1, regardless of the quality, are there to set up Act 2, a largely open, fast-paced level.

In short, the Mania experience is made of peaks and valleys of emotions and adrenaline, keeping the game to a reasonable pace and with a good dose of speed, exploration and platforming. The player can break the flow anytime to look for Giant Rings and other hidden goodies, and that doesn’t ruin the charm of the level. In the same way, the faster levels require the player to be familiar with them and to know how to platform to get the best results, without giving you free speed like it’s not worth it (looking at you, Advance 2).

Even the worst levels have the chance to redeem themselves, like for example Labyrinth Zone in the “Misfit Pack” Mania mod.

 Breaking the Principles.

When a level or a game breaks the balance for too long, it might become too easy (the infamous “hold right to win”), too boring (the most common argument against Sonic 1 because of levels like Marble Zone and Labyrinth Zone), or too obtuse (the criticism against Sonic CD). The key word is “for too long”, as Beevean already explained how levels that prioritize one thing over the others can still be considered good stages by the majority of the fandom (example: Lava Reef, and I’d add Spring Yard and Final Egg).

As I said before, Mania shows us how there are levels that prioritize certain aspects, but only for a few minutes at a time. Mirage Saloon Act 1 for Sonic and Tails may be a slow, boring level, but it’s only 3 minutes long in a game that lasts 2-4 hours. Same goes for Carnival Night Act 2, a long, tedious level, but that is still a 4-9 minutes long interval before getting back on track with Ice Cap and Launch Base.

3D Sonic is a much more complicated situation, as every game has its pros and cons. Adventure 1 is one of the games that experiments the most with the Principles in a 3D plane, but it breaks the flow of the stages with the plot and hubs worlds to explore (which are pretty divisive even to this day; for the record, on this blog we’re pro hubs). Adventure 2 gets rid of the time-wasting hubs but each character focuses on one Principle at the time: Sonic and Shadow focus almost exclusively on speed with some platforming, Tails and Eggman on action and platforming, and Knuckles and Rouge are all about exploration (and RNG…). Sonic Unleashed does pretty much the same, just reintroducing the hub worlds, while Sonic Generations is at its core a balanced mix of speed, platforming and exploring (plus a much smaller hub between levels), and… well, I think I made myself clear. 3D Sonic is a mess of ideas that orbit around the fundamental Principles, but that for some reason are never kept consistent between games.

Going back to utterly breaking the Principles, there’s one level above all that destroys every one of those extremes, never taking the middle road and without worrying at all about what players might think of it. This level is…

Eggmanland

If Sonic Mania is a clear example of a relatively balanced flow, in its mid-game at least, Eggmanland may be the biggest example of what happens when each and every one of the Principles is taken to its extremes. Let me explain:

Speed: Eggmanland can be both too fast for the player to react, between QTE and super quick jumps that may lead to your death if you’re not fast enough (and you rarely will), or too slow of a slog to navigate (the long Werehog sections).

Platforming: Eggmanland can have too much tricky precision platforming, made even harder due to a lack of a drop shade (the second Werehog section is infamous for this), or it can throw stretches where you do almost nothing but hold X and maybe go through a QTE, which if failed lead to your death once again; at worst you have to wait, which sends us back to our previous point.

Exploration: Eggmanland can be a giant, confusing labyrinth (there is no shortage of stories of player getting lost in this behemoth of a level), and at the same time it can have some long linear room to room progression, separated by doors about as fast as Big the Cat.

I should say that, despite all of this, I love Eggmanland a lot, and same goes for Beevean; but this is something that has to do with what we mentioned before, personal preference. From a technical standpoint, and according to many players, Eggmanland is an absolute nightmare.

Are we misunderstanding Sonic?

Going back to the central topic of this article, I believe that I put enough emphasis on the importance of balance in Sonic, so let’s go back to the previous question: what is the problem?

In short, I disagree with the voices that call for redirecting Sonic towards “fast”, adrenaline-filled stages. These people, with their own retrospective, are doing some sort of revisionism with Sonic levels, automatically branding levels that aren’t as fast as others as “bad”. We’re ignoring the true value of platforming and exploring the levels, and the perception of the character is at risk.

Like Beevean said, looking at Sonic just as “gotta go fast” is, plain and simple, absurd. Sonic is much more than this restless teenager that, just like that movie with the bus, if he doesn’t run at speeds higher than 90 mph his heart will stop. Yes, going fast is a big part of his initial appealing and his way of life (“My stories only end when I stop running”); but when Sonic’s speed is brought up in these discussions, the rest of what makes the character is left outside: how much he admires nature and how much he likes to take a rest every now and then before the next adventure. Sonic OVA, Sonic Adventure, Sonic X and even Sonic Lost World’s ending show that Sonic is not just speed, but also rest, curiosity, exploration. There are even cases where the journey and the friends and memories made along the way are much more important than the destiny itself (Sonic Heroes, Sonic Unleashed), and on several occasions it’s been shown as an actual weakness of the character the fact that he would act recklessly and under the influence of the fateful “gotta go fast”. This aspect of Sonic’s attitude might probably be product of the aggressive marketing campaigns this character endured (ever since the Genesis “Blast Processing”), but it doesn’t tell the whole story, and it’s unacceptable to enforce this line of thought over everything we know about the character.

And to end this long section where I was hinting at one of the most important points of one of the most thoughtful games of the series, let’s not forget that Sonic is pretty aware that everything has a beginning and an end, because that’s the Nature’s way of things and we have to live life at its fullest, for it is finite. Running at top speed is just one of many ways Sonic lives his life, and his eyes will forever be filled, not so much with speed, but with curiosity.

Conclusions

To recap this long article, let’s remember that

Speed, Platforming and Exploration are the three basic Sonic Principles. The momentum in the games comes from the interaction between these elements.

Speed is not something that’s delivered for the sake of being delivered: it usually is a reward or an incentive to keep the player interested, engaged and excited for what’s to come.

Breaking the Principles impacts the experience of the game in many aspects… unless you’re Eggmanland and you’re breaking every single Principle in one level anyway.

To narrow Sonic down to just “speed” is to ignore everything else that this character represents. “Gotta go fast” is a facet of his design and personality, but not the only one.

Starting from this, we can sit down and discuss about “good” and “bad” levels in the series all day long, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Now that we’re about to discover what’s next for the series, I believe it’s important to clarify what Sonic represents in every stage, so that with some luck we can see better consistency and quality in his future adventures.

Speaking of this last point, I just remembered The Geek Critique’s series of Sonic retrospectives, another series of videos that inspired me and I found enlightening. Do you guys remember the videos I linked to at the beginning? Well, it’s time for you to watch them :P (if you want to, of course)

(I’d like to thank Beevean again for suggesting the best examples I could have needed. Seriously, she helped much more than it looks)

What do you guys think? What is the ideal Sonic level, and why? Do you agree that Sonic is much more than a speedy blue hedgehog? In the meantime, we’re hopefully going to see each other very soon. See you next time!

I feel this theme is strangely fitting to conclude this article, lol

~

After the Spanish article was posted, I reblogged with this:

To add something more, I was chatting with a friend of mine who pointed out that, for all the talk in the fandom that we want to see less linear levels, most of the fan favorites are pretty linear - Ice Cap, Speed Highway, City Escape, Rooftop Run… I told him that yeah, linearity isn’t a synonym of bad level design because linear levels can still be enjoyable: with these particular cases, what makes them different from a random Lost Valley is that they have other elements that make them stand out (snowboarding, running down a skyscraper, skateboarding through San Francisco, climbing the Big Ben…). Plus they have something to compensate for the linearity, like fluid platforming.

In the case of Ice Cap and Speed Highway, there’s also a contrast between their halves: IC Act 1 is cramped and heavy on platforming, while Act 2 is much faster and without many obstacles, almost as a reward; Speed Highway starts out as fast and exhiliarating, with little platforming getting in the way of running, but the At Dawn section is a short open space, to let the player catch their breath, to the point that even the music and the aesthetic are much more relaxed. So, as you said, the balance is kept, and when you add a memorable setting and music, you have a great level in your hands.

Thank you @latin-dr-robotnik​ for giving me the permission to post this! I just had to translate this fascinating article to share it with everyone :>

[zer0pm]

Imagine how V would celebrate your birthday.

At the special request of @ikyumie whose birthday is today/yesterday~ Thank you very much for liking my work and I hope this brings a much deserved smile on your special day.

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.

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It started while you were traveling with the Devil May Cry crew, riding through the ruined city in Nico’s trailer. To pass the time, you all struck up a conversation, bringing up random topics of whatever came to mind. Yours evoked the most reactions.

You: “Tomorrow is my birthday.”

Nico: “You’re shitting me!”

The self-proclaimed lethal artisan of the crew turns to look at you. The look of genuine surprise on her face. She was also the one behind the wheel.

Nero: “Hey, Nico! Watch the road! What’s wrong with you?!”

The woman huffs at the young devil hunter.

Nico: “Well, darlin? Gonna do anything fun? May be the end of the world, but that don’t mean you can’t do anything exciting on your special day?”

You: “You mean saving the world and fighting demons isn’t fun?”

Nico: “Ha! Honey! That’s work.”

Nero: “I’m gonna give it to Nico on this one, birthdays only come once a year. Should do something nice, it’ll be a good change of pace.”

You shrug.

You: “And what’s left out there that could possibly offer a good time?”

Nero and Nico began spouting ideas at your direction, urging you to find some enjoyment in an otherwise rather dismal world. So far, their ideas of fun were far from what you had in mind. V, who sat across from you reading his book, was listening to their suggestions and secretly making plans of his own.

The next day...

V: “Do you have a moment?”

You: “Sure. What’s up?”

V: “I have something to show you. Follow me.”

Before you can ask what this was about, the man was already walking away. You followed, trying to keep up with his long strides.

You: “Where are we going?”

V: “You’ll see.”

You: “Not going to tell me, huh?”

V: “Not even if you beg, as tempting as that image would be.”

That made you quiet, you can feel the burn of a blush upon your cheeks at his words. Afraid to ruin the moment, you continued to walk beside him in silence. As you two went along, you took notice of the area around you. Red Grave has always been a city filled with impressive architecture, this building V led you into was no different.

The further you delved inside, the more beautiful the halls became, everything looked clean and were detailed with pristine gold and white details. The paintings that decorated the halls were dated as far back as the early Renaissance.

You: “Are we in an art museum?”

V: “Yes, but the pieces here are not what we came here for.”

Although he confirmed that you were not there to appreciate the art, you still marveled at everything you passed by. How did a place like this survive the demon horde and the qliphoth? It was a question you decided to ask V later. He stops before a set of double doors, steps to the side and turns to you, gesturing towards them.

V: “After you.”

Anticipation getting the better of you, you push open the doors and entered the room. It was completely blank and shaped like a large dome. You turn to V who followed you inside and closed the doors shut, you tilt your head curiously.

You: “What is this room supposed to be?”

He chuckles at your question and moves to a panel next to the doors. Without looking at you, he spoke.

V: “You are standing within the world’s largest interactive hologram projector.”

You: “The inter-what?”

V: “Haha. Watch and see and interact.”

You hear the clicks of a few buttons being pressed and the whirr of a machine coming to life filled the room, the white of the walls soon began to change color. To variations of green until brown and yellow, blue and speckles of red began to join all around. You look down and was immediately shocked to see that you were standing atop of lush green grass. Upon closer inspection, however you found that the floor was completely flat and solid yet as you moved your feet along the floor, the blades of grass parted along with your movements. A tree sprouts out suddenly beside you, making you jumps. It stood in the middle of the changing room next to you, the detail looking so real. Reaching out towards the bark, your hand falls right through it, touching nothing but air. It made you laugh. More and more trees and plant lifeform that you have never seen before began to form all around you until it looked like you were in the middle of a forest.

You: “Where did you take us, V?”

V: “I’m not entirely sure, somewhere warm, I presume. Do you like it?”

You: “I love it! This is incredible!”

V: “Good.”

You nearly jumped again at how close his voice was and found V behind you. You see an almost apologetic smile grace his handsome face. Instead of being sharp with him, you smiled back, too happy over this unexpected and wonderful surprise that was this room.

You: “How did a place like this survive? How did you even know about it?”

V: “That month we took preparing to engage Urizen once more took me to clearing as much of the demons and qliphoth roots as I could. One day, I came across this museum and discovered this room. Since then, I spent almost every day preserving the integrity of this marvelous building from demon hands. I am glad to have put it to good use.”

You: “Good use as in...entertain me?”

V: “Of sorts. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it to inspire a certain...mood.”

You raise your brow.

You: “What mood?”

The tattooed man bends down towards one of the holographic flowers that stood by your feet. The one he held in his hand had long, white petals and sprouting stamens.

V: “They say that the white dittany is considered an aphrodisiac. Said to inspire love and passion.”

The very moment those words left his lips, you felt yourself freeze on the spot, a shiver rubbing across your entire body. It was not an unpleasant feeling either, if anything, you found yourself anxious for him to say more. To confirm the wild thoughts running through your mind. Is he saying...

He takes your hand and places the flower in yours. Although it wasn’t real, although it wasn’t merely a hologram and you were not really touching anything can the warm of his hands sent pleasant sensations across your skin.

You suddenly feel soft lips press against your cheek, the feeling making you close your eyes to relish it. When you felt him pull away, you looked at V intently and found that his eyes glistened to shade of green you have never seen from him before and can only distinguish it as desire and adoration. You open your mouth, wanting to speak, but nothing comes. Instead you are rendered speechless at the way he is looking at you, your heart skipped at the way his eyes were now fixated on your lips. When V found that your silence was due to his presence and his actions, he smiled beautifully, taking this as a sign to hold your face in his hand. His skin was so warm against yours. He bends slightly to lower his head towards yours until his mouth was only a hair’s breath away from your waiting one.

V: “Happy Birthday.”

This place and his kisses were just few of the many gifts that V showed you that day. And you cherished every single one, wordlessly exchanging something infinitely more precious between one another. As he showered you with adoration and you returned his affection with fervored kisses of your own, both of your hands lied on each other’s chests where against yours and V’s palm beat the most precious gifts either one of you could offer. And they both beated in time with one another.

[beanzybrandon]

High School! PRETTYMUCH — Austin Porter

A/N: this isn’t even important i’m just overly amused by the fact that you can see my writing slowly devolve as this goes on

like, proper capitalization and punctuation who?? we don’t know her

literally, if it wasn’t for grammarly there wouldn’t even be apostrophes pFFT

• LOOK • I'm not saying Austin Dale Porter is the biggest nerd to walk this planet but that is exactly what I'm saying • Everyone and their grandmother knows that he watches more anime than any healthy individual should, but his interests delve far beyond the realm of Japanese animation • He's also extremely fond of all sorts of games • Computer gaming? Yes • Console gaming? All the better • RPG fantasy games? Ohmanohman, now we're getting excited!! • Magic and monster intensive card games that bring on more anxiety and competition than they should? Say no more!! He's right there screaming with the best of them • Given his penchant for these types of activities, he's actually one of the founders for the schools’ gaming club which includes, but is not limited to, various types of electronic gaming, card games such as Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon, and tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons • The thing that makes him the happiest is knowing that he's able to share his interests with like-minded individuals with whom he can share educated discussions and formulate genuine relationships • It's actually kind of interesting to see how much effort he places in the club. He cares so much about everyone who has joined and does his best to make sure that he listens to all the ideas and concerns that are presented to him. He does his best to ensure that each meeting is enjoyable and that special gatherings are well-planned and running smoothly • The club is lowkey like his baby and he's very proud of how wonderful things have turned out • Though a great deal of his time is spent focused on these types of activities that is not to say that they are his only priority • He's actually an active member of several other clubs, including robotics and the book club (mayhaps he made it a point to try and coax the president into incorporating manga into some of their group readings. it didn't exactly go the way he wanted it to, but it was a valiant effort indeed) • It's in the latter of these that Austin meets you • It's not uncommon for the group to get walk-ins throughout the semester, curious students wanting to sit in on a meeting to see how things flow or to pose whatever questions they may have • More often than not, those who wander past the doors of the senior-English teacher's classroom don't make a second appearance, but you and a few of your friends had proven to be part of the exception • The initial excitement he felt upon hearing that four students had come to join them melted into mild astonishment when his gaze came to rest upon you for the first time • If love at first sight is a thing, he was certain cupid had hit him with more than one expertly aimed arrow • If it were possible for it to do so, he was sure that his heart was about to beat out of his chest • He's a bit shy so he doesn't talk to you right away • If we're being completely honest, even doing so much as sparing a glance in your direction has his face flushing a shade of red he didn't even know existed • His friends have noticed what's going on by this point (in fact, the entirety of the club seems to have put two and two together...the exceptions being you, of course) and after some not too gentle coaxing, he's shuffling over to you and your friends, hands buried in the front pocket of his paint-stained hoodie • Seeing as though the giggle your friends let out upon seeing him was something you didn't quite understand, you chose to ignore it

• "Mind if I sit with you guys?" He asked, motioning toward the vacant chair beside you • You'd merely nod in response, shifting your own seat to the right some to accommodate his frame as he slipped between the chairs and sat himself down. A relieved smile would break out across his lips the moment the seat of his jeans met the rough plastic of the chair • "I'm Austin," he'd continue, offering his hand to everyone in the rough circle that had been formed. He seemed nice enough, and it wasn't long before all of you were chatting like you had known each other for years. Conversation flowed easily amongst everyone, and you found that you quite liked the adorably-awkward young man on your left • Time passed rather quickly, and before you could present the argument you had as to why Jonathan Joestar was the best JoJo in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure universe (how ya'll ended up on the topic on anime is beyooooond me. It's totally not like it's some sort of mutual interest) the groups coordinator was standing, calling out that it was time for things to come to a close • "This discussion is far from over," you'd quip as you shoved your things back into your backpack, slinging it over your shoulder as it stood • "You're right," He'd answer, an amused lull clinging to his words. After a moment of two of silent deliberation, he'd hit you with a "You should give me your number. I've still gotta crush your argument and I don't think I can wait a week to do that." • And did you? • The only correct answer is yes • A cute boy with mutual interests and a great personality?? You'd be dumb not to

• The smile he offered you after tucking his phone back into the pocket was so sweet you could practically taste the honey on your tongue • You weren't really expecting him to reach out to you later that night, but he did, and sure enough, the argument the two of you had found yourselves in the midsts of earlier that afternoon kicked up, stronger than ever • The capabilities of fictional characters weren't the only thing you found yourselves discussing, though.   • As the night drew on, it became clear to see that you guys had more in common than you had anticipated • And goodness was he full of jokes • The better part of about five hours was spent wheezing into your pillow in a feeble attempt to keep from waking your family • You were insanely tired come the next morning, but that was okay with you • Because you made a new friend and couldn't remember the last time you had had so much fun just texting someone

• The progression of your relationship was a quick one. In a matter of months, the two of you had become the best of friends and were doing quite literally everything together. You were prettymuch (HAH) attached at the hip • By the time the year had come to a close, Austin was certain the feelings he held for you ran deeper than the fleeting crushes he had experienced thus far, and you were growing to realize that you liked him more than you let on • Had either of you mentioned this, though? • Of course not • Because high school is weird and what are emotions and literally how do you convey these things to other people without coming off weird or them looking at you like you ate their first born child • It's never really that intense, but that's what it fEELS LIKE and neither of you wanted to subject yourself to that type of humiliation • Or ruin the relationship that you had built

• the fact that your relationship had gone from being platonic to romantic at all was surprising • but not undesirable in the slightest • it had happened rather spontaneously. he had come over for your weekly movie-marathon, a bag of snacks in hand and a warm smile on his face • the night had followed the same pattern of those that had come before them, but the air that had fallen over the two of you as you huddled together on the couch was different • neither of you could quite describe what it felt like, just that it was odd and left you with a dry throat and a small knot in the pit of your stomach

• every so often, Austin would shift a bit closer, muttering something about being cold and you hogging all the blankets • which very well may have been true but?? You had laid claim to it first • After enough pestering, you'd let out an exasperated huff and throw your arm up, holding the blanket open • "Hurry up and get under it before I change my mind and let you freeze" • He wouldn't need to be told a second time

• honestly, he's not even watching the movie • he's pitching little glances in your direction every so often, gaze softening when it falls across your features • oh man • thisismorethanacrush.jpg • he's not exactly subtle about his staring, so it isn't long before you've caught him • uhoh.exe

• "why are you staring? is there something on my face?" • uHOH.EXE • ABORT MISSION • poor boy is broken though, he doesn't even know how to answer • "seriously, is there snot hanging out of my nose or something?" you'd ask, wiping fervently at your face with the sleeve of his your hoodie • nope, just beauty • but he doesn't say this • because his brain is BROKEN and all that's inside of his head right now is a pile of GOO • so what does he do instead? • the only thing any logical teenage boy would do, of course • he kisses you • and maybe it's his first kiss so it's rushed and unsure but it's a kiss all the same • and maybe, just maybe you kiss back • and then maybe dating doesn't seem like it would be so bad after all

• boyfriend Austin is honestly the softest thing in the world?? • like, being in love with someone is already a phenomenal feeling but sharing that type of relationship with your best friend is immensely better because you've already established a strong bond and you know each other better than anyone else • that doesn't mean he doesn't still love to learn more, though • if you thought he was interested in your hobbies before, you should see him now • he does his absolute best to learn about the things that intrigue you that way you're able to do more together •  has asked you to teach him how to do some of your favorite things on more than one occasion • it doesn't always turn out (you tried to show him how to bake a cake once and he had flour in his hair for at least three days afterward) great but he's making a genuine effort and the look that fills his eyes when he's working with you is easily the sweetest thing in the world • you being happy makes him happier than he knew possible • he loves showing you his favorite things, too!! • taught you how to skate, likes to paint and game with you whenever time allows

• 110% okay with you stealing his clothing • if we're being honest, he kind of encourages it?? his hoodies practically swallow you and he thinks it's the cutest thing in the world • he's also very fond of skinship • like, it doesn't matter what it is, he just wants to touch you. he loves how perfectly your hand fits in his, the warmth that rolls off of your body when you cuddle up to him, the way your lips feels against his

• spEAKING OF KISSES • they're this boys' biggest weakness?? • like, give him kisses and he will instantly become a pile of goo • he's especially fond of the sweet little kiss you press to the corner of his lips, or the ones he gets on his forehead and the tip of his nose when he has his head resting in your lap • he has no issue with pda whatsoever • he's not one of those dudes that try to shove his tongue down your throat in the middle of the hallway or anything like that, but he does like to show people that you're his • it's not even a possessive thing, he's just really happy to have you • his entire mentality is literally "lOOk aT mY pArtNer!" • "aRenT tHey So DOpE?!" • "iM DatIng LItErALLy The MosT aMaZInG PeRsOn In thE wOrlD!!" • kisses between classes • kisses after school • soft lil kisses just because • walks you to all your classes • carries your books despite you telling him it's cheesy and unnecessary • "it's cheesy but you love it" • you do love it, you can't even argue

• absolutely head over heels for you • and you for him • the likelihood of the relationship lasting until graduation is very high, and it's almost guaranteed you'll be together well into your young adult years • in short, you're the sweetest of high school sweethearts

[fleetingfigures]

Reintroducing: Saerno Glista!

After a brief hiatus from Tumblr, I’ve decided to give this blog a little facelift, as well as revamp Sae’s introduction! ~General Info~

Race and Gender: Male Keeper of the Moon Miqo’te

Height: 6′1″

Age: 23 Summers

Nameday: 6th Sun of the Fourth Astral Moon

Languages: Common Eorzean

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Yellow

Skin Tone: Slightly Tanned

Body Type: Slender with slight muscular toning

~Early Life~

Birthplace:

The Black Shroud

Hometown:

Cedarwood, La Noscea

Family:

Audrey Glista (Older step-sister),  Eadwynn Glista (Stepmom), Eluric Glista (Stepdad). Saerno does not know of his biological family.

Childhood:

Saerno doesn’t remember much of his life before being adopted by the Glista family, however, what he does remember he has fond memories of. He spent most of his days being homeschooled by his father, Eluric, who, in addition to being a tome salesman, was also a member of the Arcanist’s Guild. Once Saerno was old enough, he would eventually also join the Arcanist’s Guild.

~Adolescence~

Occupation:

Researcher. Takes up odd part-time jobs in cities he travels to in order to actually make money. Occasional mercenary work when especially strapped for cash.

Education:

Homeschooled and learned the summoning arts from the Arcanist’s Guild. As Saerno grew older, he’d eventually travel to Ishgard, wherein he studied for a period of time at both the Scholasticate and Astrologian’s Guild.

Place of Residence:

A small apartment in Shirogane, as well as a room within the Rengeki Company’s halls, also located within Shirogane.

Finances:

Makes fine money from his research and part time jobs; however, Saerno is prone to splurging often, and finds himself needing money more times than he’s comfortable admitting.

~Personal Life~

Sexual Orientation:

Bisexual

Romantic Preference:

Biromantic

Marital Status:

Single.

Relationships:

Still visits his parents from time to time, and is in still on good terms with them. He occasionally contacts his sister through letters, but ever since her sudden marriage years ago, she has drifted from the family. Outside of his family, Saerno has many acquaintances he has met through his studies and travels, as well as close bonds with those within his guild, Rengeki.

In Love:

While Saerno does hold a love for all things dramatic and romantic, he cannot fully hold back his more snarky and blunt nature. He will often take the initiative in intimate situations and has a hard time relinquishing that role, given his slightly domineering nature. Once you have his trust, however, he will cling on tight, and express his deepest emotions within your presence.

~Traits~

extroverted / introverted / in between

disorganized / organized / in between

close minded /open-minded / in between

calm / anxious / in between

disagreeable / agreeable / in between

cautious / reckless / in between

patient / impatient / in between

outspoken / reserved / in between

leader / follower / in between

empathetic / unemphatic / in between

optimistic / pessimistic / in between

traditional / modern / in between

hard-working / lazy / in between

cultured / un-cultured / in between

loyal / disloyal / in between

faithful / unfaithful / in between

~Miscellaneous~

Mannerisms:

Very expressive when talking. Tends to play with his hair when concentrating.

Hobbies:

- Astrology/Stargazing, - Painting, - Reading and Studying - Playing with his summons - Collecting Allagan Trinkets

Likes:

- Sweets - "Cute" Things (his definition of cute varies from the common one.) - Learning - Drinking and relaxing - Antiques - Interesting Conversations - Constellations - Romance Novels - Teasing - Jokes and Pranks - Theatre - Festivals

Dislikes:

- Ignorance - Close-mindedness - The cold - Clubs and busy bars - Getting dirty - Yarzon - Unproductivity

Is bad at:

- Dancing - Not Talking - Remembering where things are - Stopping his mind from wandering

SMOKING HABIT:

never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

DRUGS:

never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

ALCOHOL:

never / sometimes / frequently / to excess

~Skills and Experience~

Combat:

While Saerno Prefers to rely upon his expertise on arcanima to dispatch those who stand before him, he is not defenseless when robbed of access to it. Thanks to years of delving within ancient ruins and dealing with not so savory individuals, Saerno has carved out himself a skill set for a slippery, underhanded fighter.

Research Expertise:

Saerno has studied many subjects throughout his education, but his true passion lies within the study of civilizations that have been lost to time, particularly the ancient Allag and their wonders of aetherochemistry.

Military Experience

Saerno was briefly forced into conscription under the Garlean Empire after he had been caught snooping around their activities within Azys Lla. However, he defected after a few years, attaining the rank of Lux before doing so.

~RP Preferences~

Open to Most Themes:

Though, that is with proper context. While I am comfortable with many topics, without the proper build up or IC interaction, I many not be as receptive of the idea as I should.

ERP:

I am not opposed to the subject, but if you are looking for an immediate hookup, I am not interested. As stated above, I enjoy my RP to have some sort of story or lead up.

Lasting Connections:

I very much enjoy to keep contact with my RP partners, and would be interested in creating future interactions for our characters! If I left a good impression, feel free to add me as a friend or shoot me a /tell if you're looking to continue or start anything.

Data Center/WU/Tells:

I’m on Balmung, which is on the Crystal data center. If you’re wishing to RP with me, send me a message here on tumblr, or a /tell expressing what it is you’d like to set up! I’m usually not much of a public face, so WUs may be hard as I’m not around many crowded cities, but if you do find me, feel free to do so.

~RP Hooks~

Academically Inclined:

Being a graduate from the Scholasticate, as well a currently active aetherologist, Saerno is open to most queries and discussions centered around more advanced topics.

Freelancer:

While working for the Rengeki adventurer's guild does put food on his table, Saerno makes most of his money from offering his services to any and all who would need them. Whether it be for simple work as a sellsword, research upon a topic, or the retrieval of a rare object, name a good enough price, and Saerno might just be yours.

Recognize me?:

Saerno has made his rounds throughout the land, and is bound to run into an old acquaintance or two. Perhaps you remember him as a classmate from Ishgard? An old childhood playmate from Limsa? Or maybe a one-night stand months ago? Whatever it may be, feel free to ask OOC in a /tell if you're hesitant on approaching!

More present within my Caard linked below!

~ Contact Me! ~

DM me here on tumblr, but I can give my Discord handle if that’s more your speed (obviously through a tumblr dm first). Here’s my Caard! ( https://saerno.carrd.co/ ) [if the link doesn’t work, try opening it in a new tab] It has links to my refsheet and is a general catch all for most other RP needs. I work off of EST (UTC -5) and am usually active more so during the late afternoon leading into the night.

[the-gardenofproserpine]

Exploring life

Girls' Last Tour is a slice of life anime that revolves around two girls Chito and Yuuri as they explore the remains of a war-torn city for their survival. As they ride on their motor-bike they encounter many places and and very little people, and on the way learn about the world they live in and develop perspectives on life and its essence.

Chito is a more serious and intellectual girl who makes the rationale decisions and keeps the two girls alive, while Yuuri is very carefree and strives to actually live life. Even so Chito does like to enjoy life which Yuuri makes sure she does, while Yuuri is a curious girl (about a few random things, too) and Chito helps her to understand what lays around better.

The anime asks some very thought-provoking questions in a very light-hearted manner; amidst the girls' banter and exploration as they wonder about what they experience. Every element in the story is carefully accounted for -- the art is not too grand but it perfectly fits the feel of the anime, the music is gentle or often delighting, the voice (at least in the sub) is perfect, though we mainly have the two girls as the characters. The sound of their movements of the rain or just what's around them is great, too, and it's basically sugoi. And the OST is ahhhhh.

It's basically a story of two girls who learn about life. They literally know next to nothing (not even about cheese, chocolate, God, potatoes, airplanes, nothing. Only Chito knows a little bit about whatever she's read in her books.)

I won't be saying much because this is a story you should experience and think about yourself. Come after you're done.

Recommendation: Go watch it. Now. This is an anime fit for everyone (other those who dislike a lack of plot).

Hagimemashou!

                                         Going deeper into the anime

The cheerful tone of the anime will keep you happy at almost all times - as they explore the world in ruins with their positive and curious outlook. We don't know much about them, their history - only a grandfather mentioned a few times and towards the end a few flashbacks. Still, you feel an immediate connection with them, and go with them, together, on the girls' last tour as they scout for their basic necessities while going towards the highest level.

This is all sweet, but what I really loved about the anime where the questions asked. Almost every episode delved deeper into a single thought (that was connected to many other), and perhaps the girls reached a concluding point of some pause (which wasn't necessarily positive), the story allowed the reader to think about the themes themselves while seeing the girls' perspective. These questions are what I really want to talk about, with a few additional things.

Hajimemashou!

1. War

"War means killing each other, right? Why'd they do that?" - Yuuri

"Dunno. Their interests probably didn't coincide with the other's side." - Chito

---

Now, you must be thinking, what's so special or thought-provoking about this segment? What Chito says makes sense and it probably is the truth. And you're right (assuming you're thinking along the lines of that). However, moments later we see Yuuri raise a gun on Chito as they had five ration sticks and the two girls were starving. Chito proposed to split the last stick into two halves, but Yuuri snatched it from her, raised her gun at Chito (in a rather serious manner, though her real intention was obviously humorous) and ate it. Even though this wasn't actually serious, it just makes me think. Survival of the fittest is perhaps the most popular thought on this planet amongst everything. Us humans are also animals and thus we rely largely on our instincts, along with our intelligence. Perhaps the instinct of survival, the notions of desire and that intelligence is what causes the war?

2. The Afterlife

"We're actually dead, and we're in the pure white world of the afterlife." - Yuuri

---

"Hey, did you know that the afterlife is supposed to be really warm?" - Yuuri

"If that's true, it doesn't look like we're dead yet." - Chito

---

These girls know nothing, I've already established that. But as it was in the first segment, they are human and they do have those instincts, those feelings about what's around you. But they don't even know if they're in their lives or in the afterlife? I mean really, what makes us so sure that we are in the real world? That this isn't some sort of illusion that we forget after death? That an afterlife even exists? We know so less and yet we continue to live life. We are human beings and we are 'living', thus we continue to live life.

3. Why Life?

"Why do people live?" - Chito

---

"We find it [food], save it, then go one the move again, always thinking there might be something waiting for us at our destination..." - Chito

---

"It's what I live for!" - Kanazawa

"What you live for?" - Yuuri

"If I lost this [Kanazawa's maps], I'd probably die." - Kanazawa

---

The reason we exist is a topic that has been spoken about, written about many times. But why does an individual personally want to live? What motivates them, how do they ignore the question of a meaningless existence? And in this anime, what motivates these girls to live and keep travelling around the dead world? Perhaps its the support they gain from each other, perhaps curiosity, perhaps to fulfil their temporary goals, perhaps because they are alive (because of their grandfather, maybe they respect the fact that they are alive no matter the circumstances) or perhaps simply because they aren't dead. The reason (not meaning) of life varies from person to person and is constantly changing. Perhaps we're all just trying to understand life.

4. God

"What's the point of making a big disappointment [nice, fake god or the god's statue, I'm not sure] like this? Nobody knows what life's like after death anyway." - Yuuri

"Maybe they [the people] didn't want to think that, [the afterlife is a dark world] so they made those statues and all the lights." - Chito

---

These girls never knew who or what God was and had only each other during the past, when the war was going on. They didn't believe in or found comfort in such an existence and only in each other's presence.

Who is God? Does God really exist, or are they (I use 'they' because I don't believe God has a gender, and not it because it is kinda weird) something that comforts us in our times of adversity? Will God ever really help us, even if they exist? Is God just figment of our imagination and the stories just some awe-inspiring comfort? Are we afraid of some dark truth, and why do we even 'need' God? Perhaps God exists but we have misinterpreted that existence. We know nothing.

5. Home

"What are houses for again?" - Yuuri

"Well, you couldn't live without a house." - Chito

"Yeah, but we don't have a house now." - Yuuri

---

"In the end we're back to a cycle of resupplying and travelling." - Chito

"That means the road we travel is our house."

---

This isn't too philosophical and all but it is an interesting thought. Is home a specific place where we live and feel safe, or is it something we are familiar with and feel a sense of belonging to, or something entirely different?

Also in this (the 5th) episode, the part 'The Sound of Rain' has to be one of my favourite scenes, ahh.

6. Hopelessness and failure

"But, well, once you fail, you feel so carefree." - Ishi

"She's smiling." - Yuuri

"What? Why?" - Chito

"Maybe she's getting along with it.

"The feeling of hopelessness." - Yuuri

---

They're in a world which has been destroyed but they're finding their own goals, each character. We are in a world we don't know much about, we don't know what our failures and success mean.

Maybe we're just getting along with everything.

7. Living Life

"Life would be so easy is we had arrows like this all the time." - Chito

"Aww, that'd be boring!" - Yuuri

---

"Let's go explore!" - Yuuri

"Nope. What kind of person would ignore signs that would help them get to their destination?"

---

To set a destination and easily reach their, or to just be random and go along with time? To fulfil a purpose or simply explore life, no matter the struggles? Perhaps a mix of both, or something entirely different? How should life be lived? Really, what is life?

8. Remembrance and existing

"Then one day we'll probably forget about them." - Yuuri, about Kanazawa and Ishii.

---

"I bet they left behind these names and the things they owned so someone would see it and remember them.

"But now there isn't anyone passing through like we are and everyone in the world is gone... so who would remember them?"

---

We've often thought about the meaning of life, the possibility of an afterlife or simply rebirth, but what about this life? Not everyone is like Albert Einstein or Beethoven or Vincent Van Gogh or Alan Turing or George Eliot, who will be remembered for lifetimes. Not everyone would have the wish of being remembered but most people might want to leave some mark here in the world, of their existence. Again it's a matter of personal wishes, but what do we live for? Or is it someone we live for? Do we want our stories to be known, like Anne Frank, or just pass by and live life for ourselves? (That was probably a poor analogy, though)

9. Empathy - What is living?

"Maybe 'life' is something that has an end?" - Yuuri

—-

This has to be one of my favourite lines from the anime.

In this episode we see two robots. The girls question it if it is living or not, and such questions are raised throughout the episode. Humans are living, fishes are living, but it's a doubt on the machines. The smaller machine is programmed in a way that it invoked empathy in the humans (who are their customers) but the big one cannot speak to it.

By the end of the episode the girls reach the conclusion that the big machine was also living (hence coming to the mentioned dialogue) as it did feel empathy. Perhaps life is something that has an end, and perhaps those who live are those who can feel. Do microorganisms feel? They are living, after all. Are the machines really living?

Perhaps life is defined because it ends. This is an episode that really is felt while you watch it, so there isn't much to say. But it's inconclusive and asks interesting questions.

10th episode

This one mostly talks about waves and the power of music. The rhythm in the sound (just as how it was with the rain, back in episode 5), the sound waves, the waves of the light and how everything is associated with an emotion. The emotion conveyed depends for each person but there's really something profound about it (and because it's related to music, I love it).

Also, we meet a new creature who looks like the statues present throughout the anime. Also we later learn that it is very intelligent (as a species).

11th episode

I don't know what to say about this episode. Cultural differences and war, yeah. Then we saw Yuuri use a very destructive weapon (twice) and laugh it off. You've watched it, you know it. It's thought provoking and just... sits in your head.

12. What humanity, what people mean to us. Just what holds meaning for us.

There is nothing left to say. It's an experience, this entire anime is. I'm probably gonna read the manga soon especially if there is no news for a sequence but truly, it was a delight watching this anime.

[thornbolts]

List for me 5 things your character likes. 4 things she dislikes. 3 things or goals she desires. 2 things that make you love them. And 1 way to start an Rp With you.

This was a tough one to answer, and this truly made me delve deep into Remy’s mindset!

Likes:----

Storytellers. “Azeroth’s story is one big tapestry, woven from smaller threads. Those threads are us.”Regardless of background or differences, storytelling or listening is something Remy can’t ever get enough of. She’s fond of travelers with a plethora of life experience. And she genuinely believes everyone has something to learn from.

Gutsy Folk, especially the working class. “Even when you’re tired, even when you’re hungry, even if it seems like ya ain’t gonna make it, you don’t quit.” Growing up in rural Westfall and Elwynn to a family of hunters and fur traders, Remy has a special fondness for those trying to make a living and the best of their situation regardless of how bad the world beats them down. She admires guts, preservation, and the tenacity to keep moving forward.

ANYTHING spicy. Becoming forsaken has mostly muted her taste buds. The only thing she can remotely taste is anything spicy, the hotter the better. She’s now rather fond of some flame sauce purchased by the folks at House of Flames. The bottle only advises one drop, otherwise the meal would get ignited and be ruined.

Animals! Or at least animals that aren’t frightened by her appearance or scent. She’s fond of vultures and hyenas for this reason. She’d like to get along with more creatures, but more often than not, those animals will avoid her because of the rot.

Firearms! Remy was handed her first rifle at the age of ten by her father. And since then, she’s had a deep fascination with anything with black powder.

Dislikes:----

Scarlet Crusade. No exceptions. If Remy sees someone wearing those white and red Scarlet colors, she’ll shoot first and won’t ask questions. Then she’ll empty the other five rounds into the corpse, kick it in the ribs once or twice, and leave it for the birds.

Zealots. Building off of the previous dislike, Remy has a disdain for those with blind faith. Fanaticism and the willingness to hurt others in the name of belief is a good way to get on her bad side. This is especially true for fellow Forsaken with blind faith in Sylvanas.

Anti-Undead Folk. This one’s a no-brainer. Anyone who says that all undead should be killed is no better than a Scarlet Crusade sympathizer in her eyes. 

Hoity-Toity Folk. Anyone who looks down on anyone else because of social status, blood, or location is someone she won’t waste time getting to know. She herself was subject to teasing and bullying because of her rural background when she was in Stormwind. This topic has been the root of many a schoolyard fistfight.

Goals/Desires:----

Reclaim the Thornbolt Hunting Lodge. The lodge is located deep within Stormwind territory, on the border of Elwynn Forest and Westfall. Remy still possesses the deed to the estate, but it’s unlikely she’ll be getting the property back anytime soon. Regardless, the land is still dear to her heart, and she will reclaim it one way or another before she dies her second death.

See the end of both Alliance and Horde. Remy thinks having a red and blue side to the war that seemingly never ends will eventually cause mutually-assured destruction for both sides. She longs for a world when Alliance and Horde are no longer a reality, but are reminders of a darker, more painful time.

Compile a folktale book. Compiling a storybook over all the things she’s heard on her two decades of travels is absolutely a dream of hers, a compilation of stories like the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. She has stories lined up for it already, like the Ghost Zeppelin Over the Badlands and the Winged Goat of Duskwood. Maybe she’ll have a chat with @lynaeclarke sooner or later about it. Who knows?

What I Love About Remy:----

‘Dark is Not Evil’ I’m an absolute sucker for this trope, and I get HYPE when an otherwise evil-looking character is revealed to be actually the opposite. It’s extremely satisfying for me to subvert expectations or stereotypes ICly. When I made Remy, I wanted to do something unique on the server, something truly against the grain but simultaneously wouldn’t be outlandish or overpowered. Which leads into...

Undead Cowboy Aesthetic. Back when I made Remy, she was actually a priest! She previously had an old swamp-witch aesthetic back when I was still feeling her out, and I was dipping my toes into new RP territory: Forsaken RP and market RP courtesy of a little gem of a game, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine for the former and  @lynaeclarke for the latter and  As it happens, I was also listening to an American Folklore podcast for inspiration, and they spoke of a woman in American history, Mad Anne. I wondered if I could create a character inspired by her legend, a hardened frontierswoman. A few days later, Remy was now my Forsaken Weird West ranger and gunslinger. I like Remy because she’s unique without being lore-breaking. Forsaken RPers are a small group of WoW RP. But Forsaken Cowboys? Hell, might be the only one on the server.

1 Way to Start An RP With Me:----

Just send me a DM, write a starter, or tag me in something you’d like for me to write in! I’m still terribly new to tumblr RP, so I’m often shy when it comes to actually initiating stuff for the time being outside of ask prompts and sentence starters. I’m always looking for new folks to have Remy RP with. I don’t bite!

Thank you for the in-depth ask, @latildarommel!

[merlevum]

Dormiens rex De Aurora

Chapters: 6/?

Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum Characters: Gladiolus Amicitia, Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Nyx Ulric Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, cyrofreeze, cryovat Summary: They make their plans to tackle the power plant. 

Updates every Monday

The rest of the way to the power plant was quiet. Any other daemons that showed up were generally too far away or easily outrun thanks to the truck. Ignis directed Gladio to stop at the guard station that was supposed to be manned when they arrived on a long stretch of road that lead to the powerplant.

“Be careful, Iggy,” Gladio said as he kept the truck running.

He didn’t like the fact Ignis was going alone, but if things were truly as bad as Ignis suspected, they might have to quickly regroup somewhere else. Prompto must have had the same feeling because Gladio heard the distinct sound of him undoing the safety. Good, Gladio thought, knowing that he would not be much help behind the wheel if something attacked ignis. Watching Ignis walk up to the station, Gladio could see part of his reflection in the window. Those green eyes grew wide, probably at whatever he saw beyond the window pane. Gladio didn't need Ignis to voice what he saw, his white face and green eyes were enough. Gladio just hoped the others didn't the same reaction as he had.

Ignis gave them the all clear.

“What do you think it means, Igs?” Prompto asked from the bed of the truck. “I know the guys who were here, they wouldn’t have just up and left.”

“You’re not wrong, but there is no indication that anyone has been here for quite some time. There was dust on the panels.” Ignis climbed back into his seat. He turned to the group in the bed of the truck. His face having returned to its normal complexion. Whatever he saw, Gladio was thankful it wasn't the mauled bodies of the guards, but that might mean the daemons were getting a bit bolder or there was a monster or two loose too. “This power plant must have been compromised before even now. We should stay alert and at the ready.”

There was a round of nodding heads. The techs didn’t exactly look happy, but then Gladio couldn’t blame them. This could mean any of their deaths.

“So where to? The front of the power plant?”

Ignis nodded. “It’s best we get there as soon as possible to assess the situation.”

“Right. Noct, you sure you’re up for this with your back?” Gladio asked, looking at his prince through the rearview mirror.

“Yeah. Just no crazy stunts,” Noct said as he took out a pair of daggers from the armiger.

Gladio put the car back into drive and sped to the front of the power plant. The plant itself was a rather large building with different thick cables running in different directions. Some followed the path towards Tandem, others to the north and east. For a moment Gladio realised there might be other cities or outposts like Tandem that would be without power. While it seemed Tandem could certainly hold it’s own, others probably wouldn’t be that lucky. They really needed to get the power back on.

“Hey, Gladio, watch out up ahead. I think there are some goblins running on some of the lines.” Noctis pointed to a few of them, though Gladio couldn't tell where exactly they were.

“Should I take them out?” Prompto asked as he readied his gun once more. It reassured Gladio to know they had someone who could do distance attacks like this. It made fighting that much easier.

“A waste of bullets I’m afraid. If they ambush us later, we’ll deal with them, but let’s save as much ammo that you have for what’s truly inside of the power plant,” Ignis said tapping his hand on his leg.

Gladio could feel the nervous tension coming from him, but there was nothing he could say or do to really relieve that. No, they would need to get the power plant back up and running for that to be a thing. It took another two minutes for Gladio to pull up and park the truck before they were at the front steps of the power plant.

“Right, let’s go over some tactics before we--”

Gladio glared at the sudden ringtone that went off. Ignis fumbled with his pocket, giving the shield an apologetic look. Gladio shook his head, as he turned back to the others. Whoever was calling, it had to be important if Ignis took it.

“Noct and I are best fighting together. Though with the looks of the powerplant, I don’t think it’s going to be wise for me to use my sword, so I’m going to use my shield for the most part Noct.” Gladio patted the buckler on his arm. “You’ll be taking up point then.”

Noct nodded, switching the daggers for his engine blade. “Got it.”

“Pelna, Axis, you two know the power plant as much as Ignis. How many ways to the centre are there?”

“Three in total, though we already passed one. So two now.” Pelna pulled out a map for Gladio. He used a small flashlight he clipped to his shirt earlier to read it. He pointed to one spot and then another. “These two here.”

“Good. We’ll split into two groups--”

“What? Bloody hell. Tell her that Nyx is better used in--Yes, I’m well aware of her position--”

Gladio glanced over to Ignis who started pacing. It was clear things were not as easy back in Tandem as it had seemed. Pelna shrunk a little seeming to know exactly who Ignis was talking about. Giving the hunter a questionable look, Pelna only shook his head. Best not to know at the moment. Right, they had a mission to do after all.

“Anyway, we’ll split the groups. Noctis and I will take Prompto for sure. You take Ignis with you and the rest of the techs.” Gladio scanned the map, trying to remember all the turns they would need to take in case Prompto wouldn’t know where to go. "You'll need more protection with the added techs."

“With all due respect, take Ignis with you. We’ll take the safer route here with these three techs. You take that one, the more dangerous path because we’ll need both routes cleared anyway,” Pelna said. He was glad to be back on the topic what they were doing here rather than on Ignis.

“Why?” Noct asked, staring at the moment.

“For one thing, buddy, we need access to this hallway here and that one. Once we get the core of the power plant running again with Igni’s magic, we’ll need to reboot the system. It’s why we have more than just one tech with us.” Prompto pointed at the three and then back to himself. As much as techs were technically vulnerable, they were important when it came to running the power plant.

“I see. And how are we going to stay in contact? Because I’m not waiting around for you in case something happens.” Gladio shifted his weight.

“Or the other way around. Just because you fought the daemon earlier, doesn’t mean that we’re not just as capable. You forget, we’ve survived this long without you around,” Axis said, matching Gladio’s stance, almost sizing him up. “We don’t need some hero suddenly. That I can promise you.”

“Nah, you already got one of those.” Gladio was glad to see Pelna and Axis still ready to fight.

“Damn straight. Just give us your number, we’ll just keep in contact in case there is something that happens.” Axis pulled out his phone.

Shit, would their phones work? They were all set up with Insomnia in mind and with Insomnia in ruins, Gladio pulled out his phone. Pointless really, the thing was dead. Probably died within a month of being frozen. Shit. Noct shrugged. Gladio wondered if Noct had tried to use his phone earlier.

“Uhh-”

“Just get in contact with me Axis,” Prompto said with a bright smile. “You got Igs’s number too.”

Gladio relaxed a little, glad to have the blonde along. Prompto winked.

“I apologize for that,” Ignis said as he rejoined them. Irate was one of the words Gladio would describe Ignis, but beneath that there was something else there too. Whatever, so long as Ignis focused on the battle, Gladio would help him deal with the phone call later. “Now, do we have a plan?”

“Yup. You and me are going with Noct and the big guy. We’re taking this route while the others take this one.” Prompto beamed up at Ignis. How the hell the kid could be so happy about this sort of situation was beyond Gladio. But then Prompto had been cheerful most of the time he saw him. Maybe it was just the way Prompto was. Not a bad thing to have around, especially with how dark the world seemed now.

“Alright, then. Whenever everyone is ready.” Ignis patted Prompto’s shoulder, giving him a small smile.

It didn’t take long for Gladio and Noct to delve up some of the potions from the armiger, explaining how to use them. Ignis didn't seem pleased by the action, but the others at least thanked them for a means to heal each other if the need arose. While the others wouldn’t have access to the armiger to store things, the potions were still valuable and worked without Noct needing to be nearby. The techs carried more than Axis or Pelna, but then the techs would be more for support rather than for fighting it seemed, sort of the way Prompto acted, though none of them had guns. Gladio didn’t worry too much about how they were going to fight, more he was steeling himself for whatever they might find in the power plant if the goblins above them were anything to go by. Shutting off a whole power plant was not something mere goblins could have done. They would find something else inside. He would stake his Crownsguard badge on it.

“Hey, Gladio?” Noct asked as Prompto double checked his ammo. The two were sitting on the edge of the truck bed.

“Yeah?” Gladio came over, crossing his arms. It was clear as day that something was eating at Noct.

“....You’re not going to give me hell for not wearing the thing?” Noct looked anywhere but at Gladio, who sighed.

“Noct, I can’t make you do something you don’t want. You get about as stubborn as Garula. So, no I’m not going to give you hell.” Gladio could tell this was more than just about the ring. Noct was never really good at talking about shit, but Gladio was patient. Not always, but sometimes. Eventually, whatever Noct wanted to get out would.

“Even if you’re right?” Noct glanced at the two hunters ushering the techs in the direction they needed to go. Prompto glanced up, but was wise enough not to say anything.

“If you feel guilty, do something about it. Decide. Either put on the ring and give them access to the armiger and magic, or don’t. I’m not going to make you feel better about not doing something you should. And I’m not going to make you do it either for the same reason.”

He could see Noct biting his lip. The kid was smart and could play games, but this was one Gladio was not going to entertain. Not this time. There was more at stake than just some pastry he didn’t get or training that he skipped. No, Noct was playing with lives. He needed to do the right thing and he would have to do it on his own. Six forbidden they would get separated and Noct would have to make some decisions on his own. Gladio just hoped Noct would be ready if it ever happened. These sorts of decisions made or break the kind of king of Noct would become. If they actually restored him to a throne.

“.....” Noct opened his mouth a few times only to close it.

“Better hurry before they’re gone and out of range.” Gladio stared at his prince, hoping for once he would just do his duty. Even if these hunters were not Lucians from Insomnia, they were still here.

“Axis! Pelna! Wait.” Noct turned to face them. “Ignis, Prompto, you too. T-There’s something we need to do before we head out.”

Gladio could see his shoulders shaking. Letting Pelna and Axis access to the same magic meant revealing who they were and honestly, he didn’t much care. Ignis had called Noct his highness a few times already. If the hunters thought it was just a nickname, well they were in for a treat. Noct and Gladio were in a weird position anyway and the more allies they had the better.

“What is it Noct?” Prompto asked, practically hopping over.

“Yeah, we got a job to do kid.” Axis raised an eyebrow, as he and Pelna came back over.

“...Remember how you asked me if you could learn to warp?”

The four nod.

“There is. I just…..What I tell you can’t get out. At least not yet,” Noct said as he shrugged. “Prom and Iggy already know, but I’m actually from Insomnia. The city that’s beneath Tandem. I was frozen along with Gladio in hopes of securing a future my father didn’t think was possible then. But that’s not all. The reason we’re able to use magic and conjure weapons is because of the armiger.”

Gladio put a hand on Noct’s shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. They were doing the right thing. He wasn’t sure if there was a way to terminate the connection once made, but if they needed to cross that bridge they would figure it out. For now, he just had to help Noct get through this.

"With the exception of Prompto and I, we don't have this armiger," Ignis clarified when Axis glared at them.

“I can give you access to it. The armiger, it will make your magic stronger,” Noct held up a ring looking at Prompto and Noct. “If I put this one and keep wearing it, I can give that power to others." This time he looked at Axis and Plena. "Their own armiger and their own magic. It’s all tied back to this crystal that the empire has, but since we’re still able to use it, the crystal is still very much there. So, I ask. Do y-you want me to give you that power?”

Silence filled the air as the four stood there. Ignis broke it first.

“Your majesty, as much as I appreciate the gesture, it’s clear you’re not ready to accept that burden. Being close to you and able to use the magic as I have is enough for me.” Ignis nudged Prompto who nodded.

“Yeah! When you’re ready we can do all that magic stuff, but only then.” Prompto held up his arm like Noct had shown him before. Noct gave his arm a bump and returned the smile before turning to Axis and Pelna. It was hard to gauge what those two were thinking, well perhaps more so Axis than Pelna.

“I’m with Ignis. We don’t want you to do something you don’t want, but umm...why did you call him ‘his majesty’?” Pelna stared at Noct as if the kid had suddenly grown another head or something. Gladio couldn't help the small chuckle.

“That is because he is the prince of Lucis. Or I suppose king now,” Ignis said without missing a beat.

“K-King? Fucking Six, Axis, we’ve been--”

“Yeah,” Axis glared at Ignis and then at Noct. “What about this guy?”

“Me?” Gladio asked, scoffing. “I’m just a shield.”

“Gladio!” Noct glared. “You’re more than just that. Geez. Anyway, what about you, Axis?”

“I don’t need some foreign king’s power. No, I’ll be fine. We all will.” Axis turned away from Noct, who flinched at the words 'foreign king'.

That was how this world saw Noct. He was a foreign king to them. Things were different. Maybe restoring the throne wasn't going to be something they could do. Gladio thought about the reason for them having gone through the cryofreeze in the first place. Axis stopped short only to look at Noct. “

You shouldn’t offer that kind of power to just anyone. You don’t know who you can trust just yet, right?”

“Axis!” Pelna rushed after Axis, who simply left after giving that piece of advice.

Noct let out a long sigh, probably from the relief of having not being pressured into wearing the ring. Gladio was actually surprised none of them wanted to use the magic that only the king could offer. But more than that, that they all seemed to think of Noctis as a person. It dawned on Gladio that these people had survived years without a king, or a prince for that matter. These people didn’t know what it meant to be connected to a king and the crystal, like Cor and he was. Maybe, they didn’t need to use the crystal power, because maybe they didn’t need to restore the monarchy. They still had to take down the Niffs, but their futures after that, well it was just as open if they survived that long.

[xswestallen]

Meant to be Together: chapter 2

WestAllen soulmate AU

When you kiss your soulmate for the first time, their name will appear on your wrist.

Barry Allen doesn’t need a name on his wrist, he’s always known who is soulmate is. What he doesn’t know, is how to tell her, kiss her, and prove it.

Iris West is dying to know who her soulmate is. She’s been eagerly awaiting him for years with no luck. But, when Eddie Thawne and Patty Spivot join the Central City Police force, Iris is confident they are her and Barry’s respective soulmates.

Chapter 1

Barry and Iris strolled arm in arm into the restaurant. Barry was wearing a suit for the first time in forever and Iris was a vision in a tight blue cocktail dress. Upon entering, they were treated to the harmony of love songs played on piano and violin.

"Hi, we have reservations for four under Allen." Barry told the maître d'.

"Ah, the other half of the double date." He replied with a smile. "The other couple has already arrived."

Barry blushed. He looked nervously from Iris' face to their intertwined arms. Quickly, he let go of her.

"Oh- Uh- No, not us. We're not a couple. Um- The people we're meeting are our dates."

The maître d' didn't seem to care. He gestured for Barry and Iris to follow him into the dining area. It was an intimate setting with a single rose as the centerpiece on each table. Outside the windows, downtown Central City looked picturesque. The glow of candles made the atmosphere even more romantic.

As Barry admired the room, Iris smirked at him.

"Told ya this would be better than just a cup of coffee at Jitters."

Barry had to agree with her. "You know romance better than me, I guess."

At a table to their left sat Patty and Eddie. Patty waved and smiled shyly at Barry. When Barry and Iris walked up to Eddie and Patty, they both stood to greet their dates.

"You look amazing!" Eddie said right away.

That was true, but Barry still scowled on the inside. He pulled out Patty's chair for her and sat down between her and Iris. Envy oozed over him as he watched Iris make heart eyes at the rookie detective.

"Sorry we're late." Iris apologized. "But, when you go somewhere with Barry, that's what happened."

"Hey, I wasn't the one who changed outfits three times." Barry said defensively.

Patty and Eddie laughed. Barry relaxed a little, seeing how the evening's conversation started out naturally and light. The waiter took their orders and brought a basket of delicious bread as an appetizer. Barry laughed to himself as he watched Iris, knowing she was internally struggling with the temptation to eat every single piece.

"It's nice to see you again, Barry." Patty said.

Barry turned his attention over to her. She looked almost as awkward as he was feeling. Although, Barry wasn't sure why. She looked really beautiful. Unlike the previous night when she had been in uniform, Patty's honey colored hair was down and she wore a figure flattering, sparkly dress.

"It's nice to see you too, Patty. You look..." Barry swallowed. He wasn't sure how to compliment her. "Really, really pretty."

Patty smiled more genuinely. "Thank you. That's what I was going for."

"You achieved it!"

She and Barry laughed a little, looking down at their plates. When they looked up, their eyes met. It felt romantic. Barry thought he should hold Patty's hand. As he went to reach for it, she met him halfway.

"Bon Appétit." The waiter said, placing their food on the table.

The food's presentation was even fancy, with sauces drizzled over the dishes in a zig-zag and garnish on top.

Patty wafted the scent of food towards her. "Mmm, Barry, yours smells so good."

"Would you like to try some?" He picked up a bite on his fork and held it up to Patty.

Barry had been expecting her to take the fork in her own hand and eat. Instead, she bent her head down and took the bite of food off Barry's fork while he held it.

Iris nudged Barry with her elbow below the table, her way of telling him good job. He was surprised to find that this date he didn't want to be on was going remarkably well. Patty was great and she did seem to like him.

Things became a little more uncomfortable for Barry when Iris and Eddie scooted their chairs ever so slightly closer. They leaned in and whispered. Barry tried to listen to what they were saying, but all he could pick up on were Iris' little giggles. The sound made Barry's stomach sour. He rolled his eyes, thinking Eddie must moonlight as a comedian.

After a few minutes of eavesdropping, Barry remembered that he should be talking to Patty.

"So, uh- Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah." Patty nodded. "I'm really glad you asked me out tonight."

"Me too." Barry said. He almost meant it, till he saw Eddie put his around Iris.

Patty was telling a story about how guys were intimated by her, after she arrest a rude date of her for drunk and disorderly conduct. It was all mumbles to Barry. He was watching Iris and Eddie over his wine glass. Eddie had just whispered something into Iris' ear, that make her eyes widen. The pair stood up a second later.

"Excuse us." Said Eddie. "We're going to go out on the veranda and dance to the music."

"Have fun!" Patty wished them with a smile.

Barry watched Iris and Eddie go outside. He cursed the building's architecture for having the veranda at his backside, making it impossible for him to spy on Iris and Eddie through the window without being obvious.

"Dancing sounds like fun, would you like to go too?" Barry offered.

Patty titled her head in surprise. "You like to dance?"

"Yeah!" Barry lied, his voice an octave higher. "I love dancing!"

"As much as I would love to see Barry Allen dance, I think it would be rude to go out there right now."

"Why's that?"

Patty giggled. "Something tells me Iris and Eddie were more interested in being alone than dancing."

To Barry, that was all the more reason to head out there. He gave up fancy restaurant etiquette and piled a few heaping forkful of food into his mouth.

Patty launched into another story, this time about how she accidentally pepper sprayed her Police Academy instructor instead of one of the cadets. It was funny, but Barry still found himself making the conscious effort not to tune her out. He felt like a jerk. This should be an enjoyable evening, the food was good and Patty was nice company. But, it wasn't enough to protect Barry from the intrusive thoughts of Iris and Eddie kissing.

"But, enough about me and my job. I have always been interested in forensics. It was actually my first choice of career, till I decided to become a cop. Oops, there I go, talking about myself again." Patty rambled.

She was awkward, but it was cute. Barry wondered if this was how Iris felt when he went on about science. He hoped he managed to be as endearing as Patty while doing it. Iris had told him so, but Barry struggled to believe her.

"So, what made you want to be a CSI?" Patty asked.

"Because of my mom." Barry said, purposefully not going into more detail.

"Was she a CSI too?"

This was a topic Barry hated. Not because he had a problem telling people about his mother's murder, but because it turned what should be light hearted small talk into a wake. He hated seeing people go from carefree to horrified with one sentence. But, since Barry knew that he would be working with Patty at CCPD for the foreseeable future, he had to tell the truth. She was going to find out about his mom eventually anyway.

"No, she wasn't a CSI, she was realtor. But, when I was 11, she was murdered."

The familiar look of shock, sadness, and regret at ever asking swept across Patty's face.

"Oh Barry, I am so sorry."

"No, you don't have to feel bad. It uh- It was a long time ago." Barry said with a somber smile. "Now, I'm able to help people get justice, so that's one good thing that came of it, I guess. Plus, I got to live with Joe and Iris."

"That's how you became so close with Joe and his daughter."

"Yeah, me and Iris were friends before, but we got a lot closer living in the same house, you know."

Patty brightened up. "It's so nice that you two have had each other all these years. I wish I had a friend like that."

A warmth built in Barry's chest. He swelled with pride whenever his friendship with Iris was brought up. It wasn't lost on Barry how lucky he is to have her.

"So, as a CSI," Patty delved back into her seemingly favorite subject. "Do you watch crime shows, like CSI: Miami, and laugh how unrealistic they are."

"I have, yes." Barry laughed.

"And are they ruined for you?"

"A little bit. CSI: Miami isn't so bad. The worst is NCIS."

"Really?"

Patty and Barry both laughed. What Iris and Eddie might be doing on the veranda had almost slipped Barry's mind, when the clacking of heels and soft cries made him turn his head.

Iris was running across the room, teary eyed. She made a beeline for the restroom and once she'd closed the door behind her, a sob echoed out. Barry looked to see a crestfallen Eddie sanding in the doorway to the veranda.

"Excuse me, Patty. I have to go check on Iris." Barry said.

"Of course."

Barry stood outside the women's restroom and knocked on the door.

"Iris, it's me."

"Bear?" A cracked voice answered on the other side.

"Can you come out so we can talk?"

"No!" Iris instantly objected. "I'm a mess. I can't go back out there."

The men's restroom door swung open, and Barry was too close for comfort to the stuffy, elderly gentleman who exited.

"Iris, I want to make sure you're ok, but I can't stand out here."

"Then," Iris began. Barry heard the lock of the door click. "Come in here."

Barry was dumbfounded.

"I can't go in the woman's bathroom."

"Why not?"

"Because!" Barry said, thinking he was emphasizing the obvious.

"It's not the kind with stall. I'm the only one in here."

"But still!"

"Barry!" Iris whined.

He sighed. A little hesitantly, he opened the door and went into the bathroom.

Iris was sitting on a little chair in the corner of the bathroom. It was dimly lit and smelled strongly of lavender. If there was ever a relaxing room to have an emotional breakdown in, this one wasn't so bad.

Barry leaned against the wall next to Iris. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"What happened?"

Iris held up her wrist. It was still blank.

Barry had been expecting that. To be frank, he been hoping for it. But, seeing Iris distraught over it made Barry feel bad.

"I kissed him and nothing." Iris cried.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm such an idiot!"

"Iris, no you're not."

"But, I am. I keep falling for people, believing they'll be the one and my search will finally be over, but I end up sad and alone every time."

Barry knelt down in front of Iris.

"You're not alone."

Iris half smiled.

"Here." Barry handed Iris a box of tissue off the skin counter.

"Thanks." She said, wiping her eyes. "Do you want to know what's the saddest part of all?"

"What?"

"I really liked Eddie." Iris sighed. "He's handsome, nice, fun, and we have a lot in common. When we kissed, I really thought it was going to happen. This time really was different from all the other I thought might be my soulmate because, for once, I wasn't hoping just to be with my soulmate, I was hoping to be Eddie's soulmate."

Barry's heart broke. He felt like crying too. The jealous side of him that longed for Iris was crushed to hear how deep her feelings for Eddie were, while the kind side of him that was Iris' best friend wished he could ease her pain.

Iris sat bent over, head in her hands.

"It's not fair that my soulmate isn't the person I'm in love with."

Barry wanted to speak, but he didn't know what to say. He shifted his jaw as he thought.

"You know what," Iris sprang up from her chair. "I'm done with this."

"Done with what?" Barry asked.

"Soulmates." Iris specified. "Why does everyone trust the universe, or God, or fate, or whatever to decide who is right for us? I think it's time I start deciding for myself."

Barry was stunned. He stared in disbelief as he watched Iris touch up her makeup in the mirror. With a little more liquid lipstick and confidence once again exuding from her, she turned to Barry.

"From now on, I believe we choose our own destiny."

"Iris, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I choose Eddie. Screw soulmates." Iris reached out a hand to Barry. "Come on, let's get back out there."

The rest of dinner was a blur to Barry, who'd lost his appetite and his desire for conversation. After a short one on one talk, Eddie and Iris returned to the table and resumed their whispering and giggling. Barry like He felt as if a storm cloud of depression was raining down on him alone, meanwhile the others smiled in sunshine. As cover for his stoniness, Barry told Patty he had a stomach ache. To spare his conscious the guilt of completely blowing off Patty, Barry still offered to walk her home. He hoped it might take his mind of Iris and Eddie, who'd decided to continue their date with a walk by the waterfront.

"Thanks for walking me home." Patty said.

"No problem." Barry shrugged.

"It's sweet of you. Some of the dates I've had in the past said 'see ya' and left me to walk home alone, at night, in the city. I know it probably sounds silly, but I think it's nice when a guy makes sure I get home safe."

"That is silly." Barry said. "Because, if a bad guy comes up to us, you're the one with the gun and I'm guessing much better self-defense skills."

"I don't know, Barry." Patty said. She squeezed his bicep. "I think you're holding out on me."

They laughed.

After a few moments of silence, Patty asked, "So, not to pry, but what happened to Iris before? Was she ok?"

"Yeah." Barry replied, too fast to not sound suspicious. "I mean, she was sad for a minute but then she..... got over it, I guess."

"You don't look like you're over it." Patty observed.

Barry sighed. Was he that obvious?

"Did you get some bad news?" Patty asked.

"No, it was just that uh- Iris and Eddie ummm- They uh- They kissed and errr- They aren't soulmates."

"Oh."

"Iris was really disappointed."

"That's a shame. They seemed good together."

Barry raised his eyes at Patty. "You think so?"

"I did, but I guess I was wrong. The universe works in mysterious ways."

"So mysterious some people lose faith in it." Barry mumbled.

"Some people, as in you?"

"No, not me, Iris." Barry corrected. "She's decided that she wants to be with Eddie, even if they aren't meant to be together." He tried to keep contempt out of his voice.

Patty looked deep in thought. After a moment, she said, "I could never do that."

"Me neither." Barry told her.

"I would just be nagged by the feeling that I was missing out on something better."

"Something so much better." Barry elaborated. "The kind of love soulmates have, it's electric."

"You're parents were soulmates?" Patty asked.

"Huh?" Barry was caught off guard to be asked about his parents. He'd been thinking about his love for Iris when describing the soulmate kind of love.

"Mine we're soulmates too. They were so happy together."

"Were?" Barry noted the past tense. "I'm so sorry."

"Can I confess something to you, Barry?"

"Yeah, sure."

Patty closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "My dad was murdered."

"What?"

"He was killed by the Mardon brothers when they robbed a bank he was in."

"Patty, that's awful. I know how that feels. I'm so sorry."

Patty looked at Barry, studying his face.

"Strange how we both have a murdered parent."

"Yeah." Barry agreed. "That is strange."

"I wanted to be a CSI, but I became a cop after my dad's murder, so I could stop the Mardon brothers." Patty explained. "Isn't it also strange, Barry, our careers were shaped by our parents' murders."

"Yeah, I guess."

"We have so much in common, more than we'd like to have in common. That leaves me thinking we might be......"

Patty looked at Barry starry eyed.

"You think we're soulmates?" He asked.

"Do you?"

Barry pulled Patty close against him.

"Only one way to find out."

They kissed. The glow of the street lamps substituting for the glow of candlelight around them.

When their lips parted, Barry and Patty examined their wrists.

"Nothing." Barry said, voice void of emotion.

Patty kept rolling her wrists, looking closely at them, as if she believed Barry's name might be there and she missed it. When she accepted that Barry's name wasn't on her wrist, Patty looked back up at him, resigned.

"I'm sorry, Patty." Barry said. He wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, but he felt bad that Patty was disappointed.

"I'm sorry too. I like you a lot, Barry. But, I can't be with someone who isn't my soulmate."

"I understand." Barry told her. It was the most honest thing he'd said all night. He couldn't see himself with anyone but Iris.

"Well, this is my place." Patty gestured to the building behind them.

"Good. I want to make sure you're safe and everything's ok before I go."

Patty nodded. "It is."

"Ok." Barry held up his hand in a sad little wave. "Goodbye, Patty."

As he walked away, he heard Patty whisper, "Bye, Barry."

[flslp87]

A Happy Ending Begins With Hope  A Season 7 Canon Divergent

Summary:   Revenge, Kidnapping, Curses, and Redemption all revolve around an unlikely source…Hope.

You can read the parameters I used for this story here.  

Thank you @linda8084 @jamif   @juliakaze and @duathadun  for being my guinea pig readers.  

Can be found on AO3 and FF.

Tumblr -  Chapter 1   Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 5  Chapter 6  Chapter 7

Chapter 4/7 (5 on FF and AO3)

Words ~ 15K

Just a warning that this chapter is very long and is packed with information. I'm going to put a review at the end of the EF sections with the important pieces. If you have any questions, please reach out to discuss...

Oh, a few people are a bit confused about the Hope situation as to how she can have memories of growing up when she was taken as a baby...Remember curses give you memories and the curse that The Watcher cast had pieces from the Black Fairy and that curse aged children quickly. (Basically, it's my way of allowing the reader, and me, to peek inside the lives of the Swan Jones family since we won't see that with our own eyes.)

Wish Realm/Enchanted Forest II

When GRumple had stepped away from the bushes, he had been the last person Regina expected to see. She hadn't seen him since the day she waved goodbye when he, Belle and Gideon had driven out of Storybrooke. As they settled on a log to catch up, she couldn't help but be relieved that he hadn't arrived earlier. While Killian and Gold had come to an uneasy truce, this Hook hadn't lost his edge, and if she had to bet, she didn't think he had lost his need for revenge either.

"So Belle already tired of you and kicked your sorry ass out?" she teased.

The look of sadness that crossed her old friend's face was not something she had expected, making her wish she could take back her careless comment, "GRumple? What is it you're not telling me?"

"Belle's gone," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion, "and Gideon is grown and off making a life of his own."

"Grown? But how?" She frowned at him, "He was one when you left Storybrooke so Gideon should be four or five, and Belle? What happened?"

GRumple sighed and explained that in the realm they had lived in, time had moved differently, at least for his family. Belle had lived a long and happy life, dying of natural causes, and eventually, left him behind. All the power in the world hadn't been able to stop the clock and give him what he wanted most; forever with his precious Belle and Gideon.

"All those years," she mused quietly. "A blink of an eye for us and you," she sighed still having difficulty making sense out of what he told her, "you lived a lifetime with Belle. That's difficult to comprehend."

He nodded, "We had a good life. And it made me a new man. That's why I'm here, in this realm. I'm finally ready to pass on the power of the Dark One, the right way."

"Well, seems you did change." Regina smiled, "I always knew you would get there."

"Change is inevitable. Slow and painful at times, but inevitable." He smiled but the look in his eyes said his thoughts were a million miles away.

"I'm sorry to hear about Belle." The rustle of the bushes made her jumpy, until she noticed a young girl watching them, Alice she thought her name was. "That girl," she nodded toward the trees, "is an odd one. Always spying on us but never getting close enough to say anything. It's like she's watching and reporting back to someone.

"She is," he gave her a lop-sided smile, "I'm just not sure who it is."

His comment surprised her, "How would you know that?"

"She may be the one I'm looking for." He glanced in the girl's direction, "I'm just not sure what to do with that information."

"What do you mean? The one you're looking for? And a test? GRumple..." She remembered when he was teaching her about magic and the tests that she had to endure. Surely this changed man wouldn't do something dark now.

GRumple sighed and stretched out his legs, "Belle discovered that if I were to find the Guardian and give them my powers, I would be mortal, yet the Guardian would carry on as if nothing had happened. I just," his dark eyes met hers, "don't know how...or who, really."

"Then how do you know she might be the one?"

He shrugged, "A feeling; she was the first person I saw in this realm, we'll see. Enough about me, tell me why and how you got here."

Regina told him a little about what had transpired between her, Henry, Ella and Ella's step-sister and step-mother. As they continued to talk, she found herself talking about how she felt as if she were getting a chance to change other people's lives instead of ruin them. "It feels good," she admitted. "For the longest time I wasn't sure if I could change...and then I did, but now I'm trying not to look backward, but forward. Drizella, Ella's sister, reminds me of myself at her age. I don't want her to choose the wrong path like I did. I think she's playing with dark magic, and that worries me. But her mother..."

"I've heard of Lady Tremaine," he shook his head, "rumor has it she's trying to bring back her child, Anastasia. If she's trying to raise the dead, that's dark magic indeed. Be careful."

Regina sighed, "I'm trying, but that's not the only problem. There are other forces at work here and I feel like I'm being observed...all the time. Think it's your friend over there?"

Regina watched GRumple study the girl, and she, in turn scrutinized him. "She's not scared of you, is she?"

"No," he mused, "we've spoken a few times. She's got a bit of fae in her. Reminds me of my dear Belle, for some reason. But," he sighed and the sound of his sigh was filled with more pain, regret and sorrow than she could understand.

Regina blinked, trying to stop the tears that threatened to overflow, "I'm proud of you, GRumple."

"I'm proud of you too, Regina. You're almost there. I just wish...,"

"What?"

But he refused to give words to his wish and then he changed the subject and asked to meet the woman that held his grandson's heart. She was surprised when he didn't stay to see Henry, but left rather quickly after finding out who Henry was with, leaving her to wonder what she was missing.

~~~ouat~~~

The Watcher had taken note when the second Dark One stepped foot into this realm. The plan was in motion and if anyone was powerful enough to disrupt the forces at play, it would be him. Perhaps it was time to speed up time.

~~~ouat~~~

GRumple only felt a little guilt for leaving without seeing Henry, but after learning who is companion was, he had decided to forgo a confrontation. The man he had been, who had wanted Captain Hook dead for so many years, wasn't the man who looked back at him every day. This man had known love and wanted nothing more than to find the Guardian and make his way back to Belle. And if truth be told, this man felt a modicum of respect for the man Killian Jones had become. He had proven to be a good step-father to Henry, a good friend to his wife Belle and he was a good husband. Could WHook's relationship with Henry lead him on the same path as Killian Jones' had?

With the knowledge that Regina and WHook were with Henry and his family, GRumple turned his focus back on his search. His knowledge of the Guardian was limited to the small amount Belle had found. But how was he to pass on the power? Would the dagger call to the Guardian as it called to him if they were near? Would he know?

Alice seemed an obvious choice since he had come to this realm to find the Guardian and she was the first person he saw. But in her presence, the dagger didn't vibrate, didn't come alive. And with limited information about the Guardian, he was left to make his own rules, and his decision to test Alice had not worked the way he'd anticipated.

A simple test had seemed like a good way to determine what she could do. When he saw Facilier, the voodoo witch doctor daring to mock his need to speak to Belle and hear her voice, he thought it would resolve a few problems. It would help him with his situation and rid the world of one more villain, one more person who dared try to take advantage of the Dark One. But it hadn't turned out that way. Instead, he was the one who was tested, and when his hand showed signs of turning glittery gold, he knew he had failed.

He had spent time with Alice, and while a sweet girl, she was simple, her head in the clouds much of the time. She spoke of traveling and reading about far off places, but he never delved into where she came from, who her parents were. Truth was, he really didn't want to know, because if she were truly the Guardian then she was doomed to live her life alone and immortal. Could he do that to her?

He disappeared into the sacred place he had built, a shrine of sorts where he felt close to Belle. In there he felt her spirit circling around him, encouraging him to stay the course, imploring him to do what's right. His thoughts had been confused lately, not so much about getting rid of the power, but whether or not he could truly do that to someone. His life all those years without Belle, Gideon, or family had no light. Could he impose on someone else to live the same way?

"Was that her?" Alice's voice startled him from his reverie. He sent her a gentle smile, and nodded at Belle's picture, "Yes. She saw the good in people...in me," he gave her a self-deprecating smile and finished, "when I didn't even see it in myself."

Alice smiled and went on to talk about her girlfriend, Robyn, but the more she spoke about family and always wanting to be together, the more sure he was that it didn't matter. That he couldn't subject her to a life alone as he had been for so many years. "So how do we do it, this transfer of power?"

While he had explained to her whom he thought she was, he hadn't shared the consequences and so her topic switch threw his concentration off for a few seconds. "I don't know as it's not been done before, but—"

"I hear something, you know? Voices." She held her hand out and his dagger flew across the room.

"Wait," was all he got out before the darkness was being pulled from deep within his soul. The power swirled around the dagger, around Alice, seeping into her and he knew making her feel powerful, just as it had him. He could see the blade gleaming, his name slowly being obliterated as the darkness left his body, but then...her eyes darkened and he knew that soon, the darkness would seep into her soul. Soon her heart would become dark, just as his had done and she would be alone. He couldn't...wouldn't put her through what he had gone through. Wouldn't put her family through what he had put his family through and giving no more thought, he knocked the dagger from her hand and watched as it fell to the ground, his name once again back in place.

"What did you do? She cried, once again coming back from the place of no return.

"I did what I had to," he told her quietly picking up the dagger and feeling it settle once again. "I made a promise that when I passed this on, it wouldn't be a burden. And that's exactly what it would be to you. Go now. Go live your life and be happy. There's someone out there who will take the powers, and not be burdened by them.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Now go, Robyn might be wondering where you are."

When Alice was gone, GRumple couldn't help but stare at Belle's image, "I'm sorry, Belle, but I just couldn't. There has to be another out there that will help me find my way back to you."

And as clear as if she were standing next to him, he could hear her voice, "You did the right thing, GRumple. I always knew you were a hero."

~~~ouat~~~

After Hope heard Henry's name, she was torn between wanting to cover the mirror so the Old Hag wouldn't see her laughing and sticking out her tongue at it. "There's my blood," she grinned. Now if he had come up to get her instead of continuing on up the path she really would have celebrated.

"Henry," she heard that familiar name, "are you a sailor?"

She hadn't heard her brother's response but she could just imagine what it would be, "I know my way round a ship." he would say.

And then he would go on and on about how the one and only Captain Hook had taught him everything he knew. Her dad was the best sailor she knew and patience was something he felt was necessary to be a good sailor...and a good pirate. Hope had patience, most of the time, and if she had to wait for Henry to rescue her when he returned from wherever he was going, she would wait. She settled by the window and watched.

~~~ouat~~~

His trip to the Library had taken longer than he had anticipated and when WRumple arrived back at his castle, he was saddened to realize Alice wasn't there and knew, from his vision, that the next time he saw her, things wouldn't be the same. She wouldn't be the same and more than likely, neither would he. The books had been helpful in showing the multiple stories and how characters moved in and out of stories that weren't theirs, but when it came to multiple versions of someone...the answers had been murky. His future unclear, except the future that had been foretold in his visions.

Before what he had seen came to pass, he needed to take care of the present and that involved helping the child, Hope, find her way back home. He also needed to find Alice's father, find the other version of Rumpelstiltskin and tell them what he knew. Working with someone was never something he was comfortable with, however this time he was making an exception, because he was working with himself. "At least I'm trustworthy," he muttered as he repositioned his cape and left the palace behind.

He hadn't gone far when he met a much older Alice then he had last been with, walking with another girl, arm and arm. Just as he raised his arm in greeting, the winds spiraled around them, bringing with it powerful forces working against him, against them. The wind swirled around Alice's companion, taking her from an adult to a child and then in the blink of an eye, she was gone from sight.

"Robyn!" Alice cried as the wind picked up, swirling around them even harder."

WRumple felt the wind pulling him off his feet and grabbed a small tree, holding tight as the wind continued to blow around them. He watched Alice's hair as it flew around her face and just like her companion, the woman was once again the girl whom he had rescued from where she was being held all those years ago. "Alice," he screamed, his voice being lost in tempest. "Hold on." The high winds prevented him from magicking to her and so he ran faster than he had run in a very long time. He had to get to her before she left him as Bae had, but if she did go, he would follow. He wouldn't make the same mistake that he had made with Bae. But...as he ran, he saw her start to fade and then before he could reach her, she was gone as if she had never been.

"Alice!" His screams reverberated inside his head and before the echo had died out, and the winds were completely still, WRumple had followed.

~~~ouat~~~

WHook hadn't listened to Regina when she warned him against tricking Henry, and by the time Henry had discovered his deceit, they had been far from camp. But when Henry had mentioned wanting to find a special ring for his Ella, he had wanted to help. He thought that once Henry had fought off BlackBeard and his pirate gang, that he would feel like a hero and the ring from Davey Jones' locker would make him happy. He hadn't considered the storm coming out of nowhere, nor had he considered that his idea of helping would be looked upon as a betrayal of sorts.

Henry told him that the other him wouldn't have tricked him like that, making him wonder about the boy's relationship with the other him. That they were close was a given, but how much of the man's change was because of the boy? Or was it someone else, the boy's mother perhaps? Would he be a different man had he found the blonde wench he had met in a bar that night long ago? Had his path led him in such a different direction of what he could have become? What he should have become?

Whatever the answer, he was glad that his other self had taught Henry how to sail as he had known exactly what to do to weather the storm. They had proven to be a good team and both had come away learning a lesson from that trip. Henry had learned that what he thought was needed for Ella to love him wasn't something that came from the outside, but from what came from within. And while it was still a lesson incomplete, WHook had learned that just fighting a battle and winning didn't make you a hero. Being a true hero came from inside and was not a title he expected to ever come his way.

WHook did find though, that there was something about being around Henry that reminded him of the boy from his past life. He hadn't thought of Bae in more years than he cared to count, but lately it seemed that Bae was never far from his thoughts. Henry would do something or say something and immediately he would be pulled back to his time with the young lad. He had thought he was imagining things until a conversation by the fire gave him answers he had been missing. Bae was Henry's father and had been killed long ago and with that knowledge, he found himself feeling things that were best left for others. Feelings making him forget about his plans for revenge and wish for something more.

Since they returned from their search for the ring, it was as if time had sped up somehow. It seemed that within minutes Henry had given Ella a ring, they were married, had a baby and shortly that baby, Lucy would be turning eight. Had he been with these people for years when it felt like just months? Or was the passage of time being affected by the same thing that had granted him his good looks again? Was there more happening than just Lady Tremaine's evil ways?

"You look like you're deep in thought." Regina leaned against the wall where he was standing, acting as if she had more to say, but whatever it was she chose not to pursue right then.

"I was just thinking about how much Henry reminds me of Bae, among other things," he murmured.

Regina glanced over at Henry, "He's grown into quite a man. I'm proud of him."

"You should be," WHook murmured. "He's made me think about things that I hadn't thought of in years. Made me wonder about my constant pursuit for revenge and if that's the reason I have no one who cares for me. I mean," he indicated Henry and his family, "when all this is over, I'll have nothing to look forward to. My life will be empty. But Henry, he has a family and that is his reason for living, what do I have but my desire for revenge. Revenge may sate my being, but is it an end or a beginning?

Regina's smile grew larger, "Your other self said much the same thing to me a few years ago and at the time, I was still under the impression that I could have it all, my revenge and my happy ending. But then someone said to me, "Villains don't get Happy Endings," and I asked your other self if he believed that.

"And what did he say?"

"He said, 'I hope not or we've wasted our lives,' but his happy ending turned out to be much different than what he had originally thought. Who knows, maybe yours will too." She was called away by her sister, Zelena, and nothing else was said, but was she right? Was his happy ending something other than killing the crocodile?

Since he had been with this group of people, he had put his agenda aside, but with another witch joining the group, he wondered if he was still needed. Henry was happy and a plan to defeat Lady Tremaine was in effect. As WCaptain Hook, he was expected to behave a certain way, do a certain thing, but perhaps Henry's reminding him of a different path was for a reason. Perhaps the feelings he thought were long dead and buried were starting to spark again and his happy ending was ready for him to find. There had been several obstacles in his path, but he was ready, and if the one who could lead him to a life of happiness whispered, he would listen.

~~~ouat~~~

Strong winds had blown through the tower the past few days making Hope feel funny, and with her head spinning she had finally gone to bed holding her new doll close. She had immediately fallen into a deep sleep, but it hadn't lasted long and then the dreams had started. Pieces of her life had floated through her mind as if she were watching a picture show starting with her father singing lullabies to her before she went to sleep every night. Once that scene had played out, the picture had changed and he was teaching her how to sword fight. Then at sixteen there had been her first date, and then came graduation from high school and visiting colleges. A perfect life for the daughter of Emma Swan and Killian Jones.

"And look at you now, Princess," whispered the evil voice in her dreams, "it's not so perfect, is it?"

"No," Hope murmured, "no! It's not real! No! No!" Her scream pulled her straight up in the bed, hoping to be back in her bedroom in Storybrooke. But when she opened her eyes, she wasn't in her big bed. And she wasn't in her home in Storybrooke. She was trapped, held in a tower far from those who loved her, in another realm and far away from her parents. "I really need to get home." She whispered in the stillness of the room, "Mom can't lose time with me like Granma Snow lost time with her. She just can't."

Her resolve and spirits returned, she jumped from bed thinking maybe this would be the day she would find a way to escape. This would be the day she would get to go home. Hoping this would be the day her knight rode in to save her. "I'm a survivor, just like my daddy," she cried. "Just like my daddy," she repeated again, this time softer, whispered, so quiet, barely heard.

While her nights were for memories, her days were for finding a way to escape. That was what she told herself anyway while waiting for WRumpelstilskin or Henry to return. She always started her examination of the room on one side of the window and worked her way around the entire space. It was tedious and often disappointing but if she didn't try, she wouldn't know.

As if by rote, Hope systematically worked her way around the small tower room, checking out every block of stone and every crack in the wall. She kept thinking that one time the blocks would move or the cracks would open and she could escape and then...home. She just had to find a way out, which she would somehow...someway.

Once she made her way back to the window, she always stood and stared out at the view. As long as she only looked then she could tell herself it was just a view and not a prison. It had been changing: one day lush green trees and then the next the trees were bare, as if the seasons had changed overnight. Today, her view stretched as far as she could see, a sea of emerald trees in the foreground with snow-tipped mountains in the distance. An image reminiscent of the birth land of her grandparents, Snow White and Prince Charming, but different. This land skewed slightly in ways she didn't understand, but it was the only explanation she could come up with. Almost as if the realms lay on a clock, the Enchanted Forest would be at twelve and this land on the six, but not as clear and sharp to the naked eye.

Slowly, Hope stretched her hands toward the window, hoping this time would be different and her fingers would slip through the frame, encountering no glass, no screen, no...magic. But as it was every other time, today was not any different, for the window was still protected by an invisible covering, created from magic that when it was touched, it undulated, like a wave. Any attempt to penetrate it so far had been thwarted. She had tried to poke it with an assorted number of objects but anything she used bounced back to her. Its sole purpose to keep those that are inside, inside...and she supposed the same held true for something...or someone on the outside.

No closer to escape, Hope whirled in frustration, sweeping her hand across the top of a small table, knocking a glass object to the ground where it shattered into a million pieces. "Damn!" She snapped angrily.

"Temper, temper, Little Princess," the evil voice from her dreams came through the ornate mirror hanging on the wall.

The shock of the silence breaking startled Hope, causing her to jump back. As she watched the WEVil Queen's smokey image coalesce in the glass, she still found herself surprised by what she saw. The person speaking to her looked like Regina's other half, yet was even more spiteful, still sent a chill running down her spine. "What do you want with me?" she finally spit out. "I've done nothing to you."

"What I've always wanted. My revenge," the WEvil Queen shouted gleefully.

"Revenge? For what? Last I saw, you had an entire realm to torture." Hope shot back.

"They can wait. But it's not every day you have the opportunity to steal the infant of the Savior and her true love," the woman in the mirror sneered.

"But," infant, Hope thought, what is she talking about?

"What's wrong, Princess? Cat got your tongue?" The image in the mirror goaded.

Hope turned away from the mirror and tried to figure out how long she had been here, but she couldn't come up with an answer. She had memories of being raised by her parents, even siblings, but when she thought of her age...her mind was blank. Same for how long she had been here...in this place. Yesterday, she was...what? Her eyes flew across the room to her doll that WRumpelstiltskin had given her, but when? A few days ago...or was it years?

She needed answers if she was going to escape, "Infant?" she finally asked trying to relax her body and not let the enemy see her sweat.

"Yes," the Queen continued, the bitter note in her voice coming through loud and clear. "You were just a few days old and all your family was gathered together and, pfft." She snapped her fingers, "Poor Snow White and Prince Charming, didn't get to watch their precious Emma grow up and now," she leaned into the mirror, "they won't get to watch you." Her voice had taken on a sing-song quality, bragging almost.

"I've been here how long?" Hope couldn't believe her concept of time felt so off, as there was a part of her that remembered just yesterday, but the other part, that part felt lost.

Suddenly, the WEvil Queen's demeanor changed and she quickly looked over her shoulder, "Happy 18th Birthday, Little Princess," she taunted before being consumed by the smoke

"Wait," Hope ran toward the mirror, but by the time she reached it, the image was gone and all she could hear was cackling. Without thinking, she glared at a candlestick causing it to lift slightly off the table and imagined it flying through the air at the glass. However, at the last minute her good sense reasserted itself and she let it lower back onto the table. So far she had kept her powers hidden from the enemy, and that might be important if she was to devise a plan to escape.

"Smart decision," a disembodied voice responded from across the room. "Now, come blow out your candle...Dearie."

Hope looked around but couldn't find any other indication that someone else had been in the tower, save for the presence of the cupcake, a small candle in the center, burning brightly. Wondering if there was such a thing as wishes coming true, she made one and blew.

~~~ouat~~~

WCaptain Hook was on his way back to his ship with plans to set sail for another realm. His happy ending hadn't been found in the Wish Realm and he was ready to look elsewhere. Henry had talked about his home in Storybrooke where the other Hook lived; maybe there was a place like that for him.

His decision made, he found himself whistling softly as he made his way toward the Jolly Roger. When he neared the area of the forest where magic lived, the air around him came alive and his tune was joined by the voices of others. But while their notes were melodious, their words were indiscriminate, creating a buzzing inside his head, until he found himself listening, trying to understand what he was hearing. Trying to determine what they were saying.

"Please, I want to go home."

WHook's breath caught in his throat, for the words came through so clear, he stopped, turning a full circle, looking for the person who had uttered them. But there was no one there. He was alone and back on the path, where once again a fork was in front of him; did he go left or did he go right?

He took one step onto the path to the right and from his left he heard the words again, "Please, I want to go home." That voice was calling to him, but why, he didn't know. He changed direction, hurrying down the path to the left, a path he had taken before, and just as the last time, there seemed to be invisible strings pulling him toward the tower.

What was it about the tower that seemed to take away his free will? Was the tower alive or was it the witch who had been trapped up there? The last time he climbed the tower, his knowledge included only a vague rumor that a witch was in there, but what he saw was a comely lass who wanted to be free. It hadn't been until he spent time with Regina and Henry that he learned the truth behind the rumors.

The witch, Gothel, he now knew her to be, was known for her ability to read others and use that to her advantage. She used trickery and playing on their weaknesses until she had been trapped in the tower by Rapunzel. That Rapunzel had grown up to be Lady Tremaine had come as a surprise to him when he and Henry had discussed his past. He hadn't told them exactly why he had gone after the magic flower in the first place, but when he mentioned his double cross in keeping the flower for himself, they had praised him. According to them, nothing good would have come out of any further encounter with the witch and he was lucky he had walked away unscathed.

At the bottom of the tower, he second guessed his judgment to climb again, but realized whatever the connection between him, and whatever awaited him at the top, was strong. His climb was quick, curiosity for who or what could be pulling at him helping him to reach his destination with little difficulty. He dug his hook into the window ledge and lifted himself up and over.

The woman must have heard him land because as soon as both feet touched the floor, she turned around. His mouth dropped open in shock as he registered the dark hair, the blue eyes and the heart shaped face, "You look," he began before she screamed in delight and ran toward him.

"Daddy!" She launched herself into his arms, "I knew you would find me."

When she landed in his arms, he had locked his knees to keep them from falling, but the moment her words registered, his arms dropped to his side. Shock, and he wasn't sure what else, was running through his body, jolting his system. He stepped back, out of her arms, giving her the once over and pulled his mask firmly into place, "I've had many a man's daughter, lass, but never a daughter of my own," he quipped taking another step back as being close to her unsettled him. Was this the witch trying to trick him again, preying on memories of someone from his past?

She rolled her eyes and casually picked up a candlestick, moving it quickly from hand to hand, as if waiting for the right time to bash his head with it.

WHook couldn't keep his eyes still as they cataloged her features. Her dark hair falling gently to her shoulders, her creamy skin, and her eyes framed by dark lashes. She looked just like someone he hadn't seen, hadn't even thought about in too many years to count. If it was the witch, how did she know who could get under his skin? "Who are you?" he finally asked, his voice coming out softer than he anticipated.

Hope arched a delicate dark brow, a trait he was familiar with, "Shouldn't I be asking the same?" She hesitated slightly but never took her eyes off his face, "after all you are in my home...uninvited."

"Are you sure about that?" He sauntered to the table where the cupcake set, the lone candle still smoking, and tapped his hook on the hard surface, "You didn't wish me into existence...Princess?"

She scoffed, the longing look that crossed her face in opposition to her tone, "Not you..."

He raised a brow, "No?"

She didn't back down, in fact she tilted her chin a bit higher, "Not you, per se, but my dad," she admitted quietly.

WHook studied her and her surroundings, trying to come up with some way to know who she was, or to know if she was tricking him. "Your dad?"

"You look like him," she shrugged a slim shoulder, "You're WCaptain Hook, right?"

"Oh, so you've heard of me?" He took a step closer, "And you, Princess, who are you?" He held his breath waiting for her answer.

The lass squinted at him several seconds as if deciding whether he should be trusted with her identity. If she were the witch would she be wary of sharing information or was there more to the story? "My name is," she took a deep breath and somehow he knew he was getting ready to hear something monumental, "Hope Jones."

He staggered back a step as she continued, "My mother is Emma Swan and my father," she took a step closer to him, "is Killian Jones. Know him?"

"Aye, a bit," he smirked, "But aren't you a little young to be so far away from Storybooke?"

"I'm eighteen," she practically spit out, her blue eyes flashing with anger. "But..." Her defensive stance relaxed and her shoulders dropped as she changed the subject, "You heard me?" she whispered, "my wish."

She sounded so sincere, but could he be sure she wasn't the witch, "Aye," he whispered curious as to what she would say when he answered, "As clear as I'm hearing you now." He could tell his words had surprised her, but bloody hell, they shocked him too. "So Princess, how did you get here?" He couldn't quite bring himself to mock her situation, but he also wasn't ready to trust. That would take something special, he just wasn't sure what.

Her story about the WEvil Queen kidnapping her rang true as did her confusion about time. It connected some of the pieces of the puzzle that had been filling his head since his second meeting with the Queen. The fact that there was a curse keeping her from leaving the tower also fit the story he knew to be true. The test would be on how he was expected to help her leave. The witch needed magic from the flower...would the lass ask him to get her one?

Her pacing back and forth was making his head spin, but why was she so nervous. Worried that he wouldn't believe her? "So Princess, if there's a curse, how can I help?"

When she answered him with a single word, he wasn't sure he heard her right, "What did you say?"

"Blood," she indicated the mirror, "the WEvil Queen said only someone who shares my blood can help me leave."

Her answer opened something inside of him that he hadn't expected and with a slight shake of his head, he turned away.

"WHook?" Her quiet voice broke into his thoughts, "I'm sure my father would pay you for helping me get back home.

WHook frowned at her, "What makes you think I'd expect payment for returning you?"

"Well, you are a pirate."

"That I am," but he brushed off the idea of taking money for returning the lass to her parents. "Ready?"

After that it was easy and holding her hand, they both exited the window, leaving her prison tower behind.

~~~ouat~~~

Hope followed him down the path and with every step away from the tower, the sick feeling inside of her subsided a little more. This whole situation still felt surreal and even her interactions with him were something to take apart and investigate. What had he been thinking? The look on his face when she first turned around seemed almost like...recognition...but if so, how? "WHook?" She needed something to ground her, something to let her know this was real, he was real.

He didn't slow down at all, but kept using his hook to move limbs aside, focusing on avoiding her, almost as if he were running from something. "WHook?" She reached for his arm, "We need talk."

He stopped suddenly, almost causing her to run into him, "I've found when a woman says that, I'm rarely in for a pleasant conversation."

Hope gasped and took a step back, her hand falling to her side at his words. "Hope?" Hearing her name uttered in her father's voice, but yet not her father was just, she couldn't even put words to it. "You alright? he asked quietly.

"Sorry, something you said just reminded me of my dad." Hope shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts running rampant inside it, "Back there," she waved toward the tower, "when you showed up, for a minute there you acted like you know me? Do you, WHook? Do you know me?"

When his eyes met hers, they were stormy, as if what he was going to say brought up emotions that he wasn't sure how to deal with. They reminded her of the time her dad found out she was dating Gideon or the time her mother was hurt and in the hospital.

WHook's eyes slid away from hers, "I knew someone long ago whom you look just like and seeing you makes me feel things I just..." He turned away, but the tic in his jaw told her his feelings were still warring inside.

"Who was it," she laid her hand on his arm, "that I remind you of?

A gentle smile crossed his face, "My mum, Hope. You remind me of my mum."

Before Hope could say anything someone stepped out of the forest. WHook pushed her behind him, drawing his sword at the same time, "Well, well, look what we have here." His whole demeanor changed. Gone was the kind man who had helped her escape the tower. Gone was the emotional man who told her she looked like his mother. Standing next to her was the ruthless WCaptain Hook she knew her father to be before giving up his bloodlust need for revenge. "WHook?" Hope peered around his shoulder, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, Princess?" He sneered, "I'm getting ready to skin myself a crocodile."

The end of the EF part.

A few things that are important - Gold decided to give up his powers to Alice, as he thought she might be the Guardian that would allow him to die and get back to Belle, but when he saw that the darkness was doing to her what it did to Emma in S4 finale, he changed his mind and saved her. The Watcher sent out a boost to the time curse and Hope aged to 18 and a friend left a cupcake. Hope also heard Henry's voice when Henry and WHook walked by the tower to go sailing on the Jolly. WHook met and rescued Hope and told her that she reminded him of his mum. This answers the question as to the memory that Rogers can't grab hold of in HH.  Ready for more?

Hyperion Heights

After Hope ran out the door of the station, Rogers' gaze met Weaver's, "Know what that was about?"

The way his partner wouldn't meet his eyes gave him the impression that whatever was said wasn't going to be the complete truth. Even though Weaver said he would allow him to help, there were still secrets that were never shared. "Was she in the evidence room?" Weaver finally asked.

"Yes," Rogers thought back to when he walked into the room. "She was holding something...lost in her thoughts as I called her name several times before she heard me."

"And then what?" Weaver pushed, his dark eyes intense, compelling.

Rogers shook his head, his thoughts still back in the evidence room, "She looked up, but she was crying." He continued softly, "she dropped whatever she was holding and ran."

Weaver looked at everything but him, before staring outside for several moments until his eyes locked onto something on the desk, "Let's see what she was holding, shall we?" was his calm suggestion.

Rogers practically ran down the hall, expecting Weaver to follow him to the evidence room where Hope had been before something upset her. He found the bag with the cap she had turned in laying on the shelf, and an empty bag nearby. Curious about what had been inside the empty bag, he reached under the shelf where his hand closed around what she had dropped.

"What did you find?" Weaver asked as he entered the room.

Rogers held up the hook, meaning to say something, but he couldn't pull his eyes away from the curved piece of metal. Its weight felt familiar in his hand, "Just this." He slid it back inside the empty bag and set it back on the shelf. The sound it made triggered his subconscious until he swore he heard a click, as if the hook had been snapped into place.

"Recognize it WCaptain," Weaver whispered.

His thoughts were mired in quicksand and so it took him a while to register Weaver had said something. "What did you say?"

"Recognize it?" Weaver nodded his head toward the hook. "Any idea why it would make young Hope sad enough to flee the station?"

"She's had a tough day." Rogers was worried about her, especially with her apartment being broken into, her knock on her head and wondering if she had any after effects from getting trapped in the meat locker. Was her outburst manifested by everything that happened to her today or was it something different? "Mind if I take off and look for her?"

"I was just going to suggest that," Weaver waved him off, "she might need someone to talk to and I'll," he held up a file, "just finish the paperwork on her case."

Rogers studied Weaver's face a few moments longer, but as usual he was keeping his thoughts close. Deciding he wouldn't get any farther at the station, he left to search for Hope.

~~~ouat~~~

Rumple followed behind Rogers as he handed over the rest of the files and left the station. "What are you hiding?" He murmured as his partner disappeared out the door. Was it possible Rogers subconsciously recognized the hook? Even a fleeting feeling was better than nothing.

He was pretty sure that Hope was now awake, but if so, he had to worry about what she would do. Would she go to someone for help, such as himself, Regina or Rogers, or would she try to get to Storybrooke? The latter could definitely pose a problem, one that might have unforeseen consequences. He wanted her to come to him, but would she feel she could trust him?

Having the power of the Dark One to depend on had made him impatient, unwilling to wait for other options, something Belle had tried to tell him for years. But now, here in Hyperion Heights, where he found he was one of the good guys his powers were minimal. He constantly fought with himself as to what the right decision would be, and when he made a wrong choice wondered if that was it. Was he fated to be alone. His beautiful Belle tried to show him that if he performed good deeds, he would be rewarded. Was protecting Hope a good deed? With Regina and Zelena, both awake, they were on his side, but who were the heroes and who were the villains in this story?

Eloise, or Gothel, was dangerous and if she tried to assimilate her coven once again, they might all be doomed. The witch doctor, Facilier, who with his skulking around Belle's sacred garden in the Enchanted Forest, wanted something, but what was unclear. There was also Lady Tremaine and whatever she had done to bring back her daughter Anastasia that put Lucy in a coma. Were there other evil forces at work that were as yet unknown and if so, how did they uncover them?

With the hook appearing to be the catalyst to wake Hope, Rumple wanted to know what would wake Rogers. As strange as it was to imagine, somewhere along the way he had come to respect Killian Jones as an ally. And while Rogers wasn't the same man, there had to be some inherent qualities that both men shared. They needed those qualities, because as much as he hated to admit it, the only way out was going to be if the Dark One joined forces with the Evil Queen and WCaptain Hook.

What would Belle say, was a thought that constantly ran through his mind. Would she say, "I knew you could be a hero, Rumple?" Or would she say, "I hope you don't kill each other?" Or would she say both?

He found the copy of Henry's book and flipped through a few pages thinking it seemed thicker than the last time he had looked at it. Was it possible it could give clues for how to defeat the villains?

Rumple opened the book to a new chapter, just as his phone rang, "Speak."

"Rumple, it's Regina. All hell's breaking loose. Zelena and I will meet you at the bar."

"What now?" He tossed the book into his drawer, the remnants of the broken teacup reminding him of Belle. With a gentle caress of the porcelain, he promised himself he would find a way back to her.

~~~ouat~~~

When Hope ran from the police station, she had no destination in mind, but knew she needed to be alone, to think...to decide what to do next. She walked for hours, eventually making her way to her bug and driving outside of town, hiding among the trees. Her mind was awhirl with what had transpired when she touched the hook. But now that she knew the truth, what did she do with it?

She had been cursed, but how...when...and by whom? How long had she been cursed? Was she the only one awake or were there others? What did she know?

Her name was Hope Swan Jones and she was the only daughter of Killian Jones and Emma Swan. She was twenty-one years old, but how could that be right? The calendar at the station said it was 2017, but if that was the date then she...she hadn't even been born.

The thought so unnerved her, Hope jumped out of the car, slamming the door. "Really?" she screamed, trying to tamp down the sense of rising panic inside. "Really?" she screamed again, a little louder this time.

What could she do? Who did she trust? Her sleep was fitful, a combination of too tight quarters inside her car, a mind that was too full of questions to allow her to rest and being away from the sea hadn't helped. Her daddy said the sea soothed even the harshest souls and that's what she needed, but she had a feeling WHook would find her. Or should she call him Rogers still? Was he awake?

After hours of trying to sleep, trying to make sense of her thoughts, Hope decided it didn't matter...she needed the sea. On her way through town, she saw the food truck, and almost against her better judgment stopped.

"Hope!" Jacinda ran out of the truck before she ever reached the window. "Where have you been? Rogers has been looking all over for you!"

Hope found herself looking at Jacinda differently than she had just yesterday. This was the woman who apparently captured her brother's heart and they had a daughter. Again, she thought, how did that work?

"Hope?" Jacinda put her arm around her and led her to the back of the truck, "Are you okay? Rogers told Sabine and me about what happened yesterday."

Hope's heart skipped a beat at the implication behind Jacinda's words, but surely Rogers didn't tell them about the hook, "He did?" she squeaked, "What...what did he say?"

A frown developed between Jacinda's brows, "He told us you had been locked in the freezer. Are you sure you're okay? You look a little," she shrugged, "freaked, I guess is a good word."

With the realization that he didn't know what had happened and was more than likely attributing her running out of the station to the meat packing incident, Hope relaxed a little. "I'm okay, really. Just a long night and I need coffee and sugar."

Jacinda stared at her for several more seconds before disappearing inside the truck and then reappearing with a couple of fresh beignets and a large coffee. "On the house."

"Thank you," she took a bite, the sugar sending a zing through her system, "this is perfect." The knowledge that Rogers had no clue why she ran and was worried sick, almost weakened her enough to make her search him out but at the last minute she just wasn't ready. They had grown close in the Enchanted Forest and even here while cursed, he had been there for her, but he wasn't her father, no matter how much he shared with him.

The swans were waiting for her when she finally made it to their favorite spot, "Did you miss me?" she murmured sliding onto her favorite bench.

Between the sea breeze, the peacefulness of the swan family, the caffeine and sugar, Hope's thoughts started to make a little more sense. That they made sense was a plus, but it didn't take away her loneliness and her need to hear her father's voice. Before she could second guess her decision, she dialed the number that would connect her with her father; all he would have to do would be to press the Hope button and say her name and then she would be okay.

"Hope?" Her eyes went to her phone, which had rung once, then back to Rogers who sat down next to her.

"Uhh, hi," she ended the call, shoving the phone deep into a pocket.

She could feel him studying her, trying to read her mind, "I've been looking for you. Where have you been?"

Looking at him hurt. "What do you care, you're not my father?" burst from her mouth before she could stop it, but the hurt look that crossed his face made her feel ashamed. He didn't deserve her ire. "I'm sorry. I'm just dealing with," she searched for the right word but, "stuff." was finally what came out.

He gave her a gentle smile, "Hope, there will always be stuff. Life is made up of moments. If you don't live your life looking for those moments, it might pass you by." She laughed at how much he sounded like her grandfather. "What did I say that was so funny?" he asked, that dark brow reminding him of her father again.

"Not funny, really, you just reminded me of someone for a minute there." What would her Granpa David think if he knew there was another man like her father, she wondered.

Rogers covered her hand with his own, "You're not alone. Share your burdens with me."

Hope stared into his blue eyes, and while she knew he wasn't her father, it was her father's DNA, the same blood that ran through his veins, making her feel connected. "Thank you."

"I'm here, Princess."

His whispered response caused the lump in her throat to grow and threaten to take her breath. She blinked away the tears that hadn't been far since yesterday, "I know and I...I appreciate it." Suddenly she wasn't feeling as alone as she had been a few minutes ago and just as she had done with her father, more times than she could count, Hope rested her head on Rogers' shoulder, wishing she really could share her burdens.

~~~ouat~~~

Regina slipped into her apartment, locked the door and collapsed back against it. Her day had started with a high and after the roller coaster ride she had been on, she was ready for a good stiff drink...or two. "Zelena, pour me a whiskey and bring the bottle."

"I thought you were going to visit Lucy." Zelena came into the room, a full bottle of whiskey in one hand and two shot glasses in the other. "What happened?"

Regina sank into her favorite chair and tossed back a drink, refilled her glass and tossed it back also, "I'll start with the simple and work my way through 'what the hell.'"

"Sounds lovely, do I need snacks?" Zelena sat down, crossing her legs underneath, and poured her own drink.

After another drink, Regina started the oldest mystery, "I ran into Drizella and found out it was her mother, Lady Tremaine, who had used magic to wake Anastasia, but the price had been Lucy falling into the coma."

"But wait," Zelena frowned, "I thought Lucy was awake."

"Oh, she is, now." She had woken up earlier in the day to the great joy of her parents...and of course, Henry. "Somehow," Regina continued, "Gothel was going to use the amulet, killing Drizella but Lady Tremaine gave her life instead, which broke the spell and Lucy woke up."

"So now, Anastasia is awake, Lucy is awake, Tremaine is dead, but Drizella is alive?" Regina nodded her head, "But why was Gothel going to sacrifice Drizella?"

Regina shrugged, "I'm not exactly sure, power maybe."

"Crazy bitch." Zelena tossed out casually.

"Truth." Regina filled her shot glass again, "That's not all though."

"Go on."

Regina smirked, "Seems Ana is a Guardian and Gothel wanted her power, but eventually Ana chose to be with her sister and they used a magic bean and left Hyperion Heights. Oh," she held up a finger, "and Rumple showed up, and just let Ana leave."

Zelena giggled, "Why didn't he send his dagger with Ana? After all he could then go see his precious Belle."

"Well," Regina hiccupped, "He's not sure how the Guardian thingy works and said no good deed goes undone."

"Guardian thingy? What's a Guardian thingy?"

Regina rolled her eyes at Zelena's question, "Can I continue?" Her sister waved her hand, and Regina continued her story, "You'll never believe who else was there: Samdi."

At her comment, Zelena sat up, her attention once again sharply focused on the conversation, "Facilier was there? So he's awake too?" She shook her head, "Are all the villains awake? Who created this stupid curse anyway?"

Regina arched a brow, but didn't continue that line of conversation, but that Facilier was awake created a little obstacle for what she had in mind. "The question is do I continue using Samdi's attraction to me to get him to help Henry or do I try something else?"

"Can't help you there, sis." Zelena poured the last of the bottle into their glasses, "Did you ask Rumple?"

Regina shrugged, "We didn't get to talk much as he was called to the hospital on an emergency. But I'm concerned about Gothel. She's not to be trusted."

"We could kill her." Zelena's droll response triggered something inside, sending the sisters into drunken giggles.

~~~ouat~~~

Days had melted into weeks and Rumple was no closer to finding a way to break the curse or find a new Guardian. A part of him was surprised that in the time he had been looking for the Guardian, there had been two viable options. But had he passed along his dagger and his dark one powers in order to reunite with Belle...no. The surprise for him wasn't that he hadn't done it, but the reasons why he hadn't.

When he had been with Alice in the Enchanted Forest, he hadn't known who she was or who she was related to, but he thought about her future and wanted her to have one. His thought process had been different, more of the man Belle loved and not the selfish man he had proven to be time after time.

And then Gothel told him that Ana was a powerful Guardian, possibly even more powerful than Alice. Yet, here he was, alone in Hyperion Heights, and Ana was living happily with her sister back in the Enchanted Forest. With her though, it hadn't been so much about her needs, but more about his, which sounded self-serving but were far from being so. His decision to allow her to leave hadn't been about his losing a Guardian, which kept him from joining Belle, but about what he would be leaving behind.

Hope Jones, the daughter of his oldest enemy and his wife, Emma Swan. There was plenty of irony there in that he had needed Emma Swan to be separated from her parents to allow him to find his son, yet now he was willing to give up his journey to reunite her family. He had come a long way, he just wondered if her father, or anyone else he had wronged in the past, would believe that.

However his search for his Guardian had been waylaid by a killer in town. And not just any killer, but one who appeared to be doing away with witches. The first had been discovered soon after Lucy woke up in the hospital and while he had immediately noticed the coven mark, he hadn't said anything. Gothel was still number one on his list, but if she was trying to gather her coven again, then why would she have killed one of them? But if not her, then who could it be?

"We've got another one." Rogers stuck his head around the corner of his office, "She's en route to the hospital."

On the way to the hospital, Rumple learned that the blind baker had been poisoned but she had been found just in time. While he wasn't one-hundred percent sure, he thought she might be the Hansel and Gretel witch, but were Hansel and Gretel in Hyperion Heights also? And would they find a coven mark on her too?

Walking onto the floor where the witch's room was located, Rumple could feel the remnants of magic in the air and immediately knew they were too late. Her room was at the end of the hall and as they neared, he could hear a soft whimper coming from within. Rogers pushed open the door and Rumple could see Tilly standing next to the body laying on the floor in a pool of blood, holding a scalpel.

"Tilly," Rogers asked cautiously, "what happened?"

Her startled eyes went back and forth between him and Rogers and he read her face the minute she made up her mind to flee. "Don't," he barely got out before she ran for the window, jumping to the ground below.

They watched her run away from the hospital, both knowing she wasn't the killer, but wondering what she had witnessed. "Why don't you go after her," Rumple nodded at Rogers, "I'll deal with this."

His discovery of the coven mark on the dead woman's wrist didn't come as much of a surprise as it had on the first body. Neither did the red heart-shaped box of candy that had been left on the bed. What came as a surprise was the realization that it wasn't Gothel who was going around killing witches, but was it someone stopping the coven from being formed or someone against witches in general?

With Gothel on the loose and using power and Facilier doing the same, and with both acknowledging they wanted his power, he needed to be proactive. As soon as Rumple left the hospital, he stopped by the station, where he completed all the paperwork and added the new details to his notebook. He then sneaked into the evidence room and removed his dagger, tucking it into the inside pocket of his jacket. He might not have much of his Dark One power here, but he definitely wanted to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands.

~~~ouat~~~

Several weeks had come and gone since Hope had "awakened" and she still hadn't come up with an answer as to how to break the curse and go home. In her experience, curses were usually broken with True Love's Kiss, but whose kiss was necessary in this story? She had no way to know...except...she knew in this life Henry was supposed to have written a book. If she had a copy of that book, would it tell her anything? Was there anyone in town she could trust with the knowledge she was awake?

She wanted to talk to her parents but based on the date, they would be a little freaked if she called them, besides better to not do anything that might interfere with her creation, as awful a thought as that was to have about one's parents. But the timeline wonkiness meant Henry had no clue about her and his age and the dates didn't line up either.

Hook, or Rogers, was someone she spent time with, but he would probably think she had lost her mind. She knew also he was working on trying to solve a big case and didn't want to bother him.

Hope thought maybe Regina and Zelena were awake but what could she say to them to find out? Call them by their real names and hope they responded or ask them a question that only they would know the answers? She didn't know what to do about them, but the more she thought about it, there was really only one person that she needed on her side.

Thirty minutes later, she was keeping to the shadows watching Rumple clutching that dagger of his, but the question was why when there was no magic here in Hyperion Heights. Or was there? Several times she had felt forces stronger than normal surrounding her...what those forces were...she didn't know but to her, they felt magical.

Hope saw Alice, or Tilly as she was called here, talking to Rumple and moved closer to listen to what they were saying, but while she heard Tilly asking him if he was mad, his answer had been carried away by the wind. What had she not done? Or was it what had Rumple not done? She needed answers and as she followed the Dark One through the streets of the small town her mental list of questions kept getting longer and longer.

She wasn't sure how long she had been following him as he seemed to be walking in circles, but finally she thought he was on his way home. As they got closer to his home, the question of what to say to him or even how to approach him, kept her from stepping out into the open. In her head she was waiting for the right words, or maybe even a sign, but what that sign was, well...

"You might as well show yourself, Ms. Jones."

Rumple's quiet voice startled her, but it shouldn't have as he always seemed to know what was happening around him...even when there was no magic present. Slowly, Hope stepped out of the shadows, "You know who I am?" She frowned at him, "I'm not even-"

"Born yet?" he finished her statement.

"Well, yea, but," she sighed, "We have a problem, don't we?"

"That we do, Ms Jones."

He entered his house and beckoned her to follow. "When did you wake up?" she couldn't help but ask as soon as she crossed the threshold. "How do you know who I am? How do we get home? Do our families even know what's happened?"

He smiled, almost indulgently, she thought, and after she sat down, he followed suit. "I woke when Tilly shot me."

Hope frowned, "Wait, what?"

He shrugged a shoulder, "Tilly shot me, trying to get me to remember who I was and when Rogers handed me the bullet, I woke up."

"But why haven't you said anything? Why doesn't WHook know who he is? And who else is awake?" She once again fired several questions his direction.

"You know that's not Hook, your father, right?"

There was concern in his voice that strangely enough made her feel safe. A corner of her mouth lifted, "Of course. He doesn't act like my father, except every once in a while and then he's so him, that..."

"You miss him, don't you?"

She hadn't wanted to show any weakness, but as soon as he asked, a wave of such longing came over her that tears sprang to her eyes. "A lot," she nodded. "I really want to go home."

"I'm working on that, Hope." He answered softly, "As for your other questions, Regina and Zelena are awake and a few others. I've pieced together that some are awake because of their belief, the others, I'm not sure yet."

Hope thought about what he said about believing and tried to fit it into her getting her memory back when she touched the hook and Rumple getting his back when he touched a bullet, "So some are awake and others are still cursed?"

He tipped his chin slowly. "That's stupid." She sent him a grin, "Amateurs."

"Well said, my dear. Now let's get to work. I know parts of your story but why don't you fill me in on the rest."

Hope shared her story of how the Wish Evil Queen had taken her just days after her birth. That somehow, she had been rapidly aged, but yet had memories of growing up in Storybrooke. "I know it sounds stupid, but," she shrugged, "I figure it's not any stranger than other things that have happened. Who cast the curse?"

"Regina, to save Henry's life." He answered quietly.

"My brother Henry?" Hope frowned thinking if her mother knew about what was happening to her children right now, she would freak. But the fact that she didn't know was sad...however, since ignorance was bliss then perhaps she could get home before there was any pain.

"Yes...and no."

"Stop that!" She snapped. "I'm a big girl and can handle it. We're in someone's story, aren't we? Whose?"

"Perceptive, just like your father with a fiery temper just like your mother," he stated in what sounded like admiration.

She chose to take his statement as a compliment and gave him a cheeky smile, "Thank you. And..."

"All in due-"

His placating tone was getting on his nerves, "Get to the point."

Rumple didn't go any faster with his story, setting her teeth on edge, "I believe we're in Henry's story, but which Henry is the question." He studied her for a few seconds, "I do know that it's all my fault and I'm very sorry about that." He picked up a book that was different than any of the books she remembered seeing in Storybrooke, but possibly was the one she had been hoping to find.

"Your fault?" She took the book, flipping through a few pages. "Why?" She turned another page.

"I gave him the bean that would allow him to travel into the future to see where his story led, and I can't be sure, but I think he jumped into someone else's story and then wrote Regina and WHook into it with him. You were brought in by the WEvil Queen, but since he didn't know that, you won't be mentioned anywhere in the story."

"So, no matter what happens to me, such as the meat locker incident, it won't be written about?" Her mind was quickly working through things that had happened while here in Hyperion Heights.

"Well," Rumple started, "it won't be written about in Henry's book, but it will be written about in yours."

"Oh, okay." Hope turned a few more pages, but nothing looked familiar to her until she saw the tower and read the accompanying words, "Bloody Hell! Look."

Her exclamation startled Rumple, "What?"

"Alice's story," She looked up from the pages, "it's been rewritten."

Rumple took the book from her and looked down at the pages, "What do you know about Alice's story?"

"Plenty."

"I'm on pins and needles, Ms Jones. By all means, enlighten me."

Hope rolled her eyes at his comment, a flash of someone else saying the same thing to her, in just that tone of voice. "Get comfy, Mr. Gold."

~~~ouat~~~

Rumple watched Hope come to the end of her story, and only then realized that what he thought was the full scope of their problem was really just a small component. They needed to uncover the entire picture before any plans could be made that involved breaking the curse or curses. "Up for a little Breaking and Entering, Ms. Jones?"

"I just told you how that book is off and you want me to take a midnight jaunt with you?" Hope blew out a frustrated breath and started pacing around the room.

"Simmer down, all in good-"

Her eyes flashed at him, reminding him of the many times he had gone up against her father, and that he was feeling pride was such a surprise, he had to turn away. He closed his eyes and after a few calming seconds turned back, "I promise. When we return, everything I know, I will share. Satisfied?" Her nod was subtle, but with her acceptance of the next step, Rumple led Hope toward the place where they could uncover the truth.

~~~ouat~~~

Hope followed Rumple through the streets of Hyperion Heights, unsurprised at how easily he stayed in the shadows and knew all the back roads. Their destination did surprise her as finding the answers somewhere in the building owned by Victoria Belfry wasn't what she had expected.

He led them through the first set of locks and Hope had to bite her tongue to keep from asking questions, but when he started punching in security codes, "How?" burst forth before she could bite it back. The look he gave her sent such a chill down her spine that she mimed zipping her lips and just watched his actions.

"All in due time." He whispered as she followed him into some sort of secret elevator.

The thought that possibly he was leading her toward her death flitted through her mind, and once the elevator doors closed, the smile he sent her said 'I know what you're thinking'. She was pretty sure her eyes bugged out, but before she could think of anything to say the elevator came to a halt.

The door opened into a room that begged for questions, but a quick glance at her companion had her reminding herself to shut up and watch. Rumple walked straight to the far wall, opened a panel and pressed more buttons. A hidden door slid open, revealing a small room lined with shelves, each shelf holding books resembling the book that had been part of her bedtime ritual for years.

He didn't say anything but pointed to the bag he had given her when they left his place. Hope held open the bag while he systematically filled it, and several other bags with the books. Once all the books had been placed in bags, they retraced their steps, making their way back to Rumple's home.

~~~ouat~~~

As soon as they walked back into Rumple's place, Hope dropped her bag of books on the table, "Okay Mr. Gold, spill." Her jaw hurt from clenching her teeth so tightly and his silence was quite offputting as her father would say.

"Simmer down, Ms Jones," he swallowed, his eyes warming, "Hope. Come let me show you."

One by one, he pulled book after book from the bags they had filled. Once they were all spread out on the table, he systematically opened them, read a few pages and then repositioned them into groups. Most of the books were singles, but several weren't. One pile had three, several had two, one had four. Hope reached for one of the books, opening it slowly and after flipping through a few pages, she pushed it aside.

A second book was pulled from the same pile and she did the same thing. She opened the book, flipped through several pages, compared it to the first and then pushed it aside.

The last book was pulled closer and once again, she opened the book and flipped through the first few pages and then lined the books up side by side.

"All three books 'appear' to be the story of Rumpelstiltskin at the beginning, but once you get into the story, this one," she pointed to the first book, "follows the life of the Rumplestiltskin that I helped in the Enchanted Forest."

The second book was pointed to, "And this book belongs to the Rumplestiltskin who lived in the Wish Realm."

"And this third book," she pulled it close, "is yours. But..."

"Let me try to explain," he pointed to his book, "We all start off in life and move along a path. Along the way we are given choices and once those choices are made, we essentially," he shrugged, "split. Each 'part' goes on with their lives and that is when new books are created. However, as your parts continue on in life, sometimes those paths once again come together. When that happens, our parts merge until another path comes along."

Hope reached for the books that belonged to Regina and once she opened them, she was able to see how her grandparents had gone in and out of Regina's stories. "But what about that situation with the tower, and Tilly? She doesn't belong to WHook."

This time Rumple laid out several books: Gothel, Rapunzel, Cinderella, one titled Henry and another titled WHenry. He opened them all and then pointed to Henry's book, "See how this book ends not long after he met Cinderella in the Enchanted Forest?"

Hope looked through Henry's book and saw that a few months after graduation, he used a magic bean, which she now knew came from Gold, and when he went through the portal, it took him about ten years into his future. He had actually ridden his motorcycle in and out of several realms before ending up in the realm where he met Cinderella and then...the pages were blank.

WHenry's book was a little different as it didn't go all the way back to his birth, but essentially started when he was fourteen and was with her mother on her birthday. But as she flipped through it, she was able to follow the story of how he discovered the WEvil Queen killed his grandparents and vowed revenge on them.

Hope knew the story from her mother's book: when she and Regina were in the Wish Realm, Regina had pretended to be the Evil Queen, hoping to wake Emma from her cursed self. During that time, she had taken the hearts of the Charmings, just like she had done time after time as the Evil Queen, but in that situation, she hadn't intended for them to die. Regina had assumed that the people in the Wish Realm would disappear once she and Emma returned to Storybrooke, but that hadn't happened. The Wish Realm had become a place of its own, and the price Regina had to pay for the magic she used was living with the consequences.

The story continued as Henry, with the death of his grandparents, became the ruler and had traveled to the Enchanted Forest II and met Cinderella. But after that, the story jumped around and then suddenly, Regina and WHook and Gold showed up. She frowned, "You think Henry jumped into WHenry's story because he wanted to be with Cinderella?"

"I do." He sighed and shook his head with regret. "If that's what he did and he's trying to write his own happy ending, well..."

"He loses his author abilities." she finished as she knew that's what happened when Isaac had written his own happy ending several years ago.

"That's right."

He had opened Rapunzel's book in the middle after she had trapped Gothel in the tower, the same tower she had been in, and then gone on to meet Cinderella's father, remarry and eventually died at Gothel's hands. Since Gothel was in the picture, Hope looked at her book next which showed her pretending to be Rapunzel and talking to WHook and him climbing out the window. But after that, several pages had been ripped from the book, almost as if they didn't want anyone to see what had happened, until she was standing with the coven in the Enchanted Forest II. "What happened to these pages?"

Rumple dropped down into a chair, and looked up at her, confusion written all over his face, "WRumple took them."

His statement seemed to confuse him even more, until Hope thought it was if a light went off in his head. "What did you just figure out?"

"WRumple took them because he was trying to protect someone." He frowned at her, "Alice. He was trying to protect Alice."

"But why?" Hope knew who Alice's father was but how WRumple was involved, she wasn't sure as the Rumple she traveled with was the Rumple from the Enchanted Forest II, she thought.

"I don't know." Rumple shook his head, "He's blocking me somehow." The look on her face must have clued him in that he had lost her as he pulled the three Rumpelstiltskin books to the front of the table again. "Here, in Hyperion Heights, we are one."

"You merged when we were cursed?"

"I guess you could say that." He opened each book showing where after they were cursed, they, for the most part, were on the same path. Periodically, the wrong decision had been made and then WRumple's book would have several pages of prose the other two didn't.

"Can we assume that Regina and the WEvil Queen and the Zelena's have merged?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Do they know that?" She wondered about Regina's flirtation with Facilier, a villain. Was that because his past was really with the WEvil Queen and not Regina's other self?

"I don't believe they do," he admitted. "I didn't even realize what was happening until I saw the books side by side.

"So, if," she pushed aside the Rumpelstiltskin books and pulled WHook's closer and compared it to WHenry's. "Henry, as the author, had knowledge of all of these stories and added WHook into his book and Regina, but not you?"

"No, my search for the Guardian took me into this story."

She could tell he was trying to work through something but since he didn't share, she moved on. "If you don't belong in a story, will your book change?"

"Yes, unless," he opened the book that had been deemed to be Gold's, "the new author returns the story to as it should have been. See here," he pointed to where when his story had broken creating the Book World, or Enchanted Forest II, he went back to being Gold and a new book was started.

Hope mulled over everything she had heard about the different versions of the stories and tried to combine that knowledge with story time as a child. "So, what you're saying, is if I have two books and they are both called Rumpelstiltskin, but I only read this one," she pointed to the one that was KnightRumple's story, "then that's my truth even though it might not be the real story?"

"That's right. When there are several stories, the truth for you might not be the same as the truth for me."

"Okay, I think I understand. So somehow Henry and WHenry have merged and are living a life that shouldn't have happened yet. Plus, we have your story, KnightRumple and WRumple, Regina and WEvilQueen, Zelena/Wicked Witch as well as a Book Realm Zelena/Wicked Witch, etcetera. What about me? I'm in WHook's book but not in either of the Henry's books."

"Technically, Hope, you haven't been born, so when Henry wrote his happy ending, he didn't know you existed. And now that we've all been pulled into a cursed story, you appear to be caught in limbo. Here, but no record that you're here."

The concern in his voice was freaking out Hope a little and she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. "What are you saying…really?"

He sighed and when he did, she knew the answer was going to be bad, "Be careful, Hope. If something happens to you, it will be as if you never existed."

"Never?" He shook his head. "But this is 2017 and my parents won't even know they're expecting me until later this year so..."

"Never, Hope. The stroke of the pen can't bring back the dead. That can only happen when granted by a higher power."

"Like my dad." Her thoughts were whirling around and around in her head so quickly that all she wanted to do was go home and think, but...she couldn't. "So, now what?"

"Well," he pushed several books aside and handed her a couple, "we separate the villains from the stories and try to get to the bottom of things. Gothel was the one who was instrumental in the curse that was cast, the WEvil Queen took you, but were they working together? Or separately? Was someone else involved and if so, who was it? Plus Doctor Facilier is here in Hyperion Heights. Where did he come from?"

"What about the case Rogers is working on, the Candy Killer?"

"That's another mystery." When he stared at her, she felt like he was reading her mind, "You know I usually work alone, right?"

Her eyes twinkled, "To Belle and Gideon's everlasting frustration."

His breath caught and the color leached from his face, "You know my Belle and my son, Gideon?"

The look on his face freaked her making her wonder if the story she had lived was different than the one he lived. "I..."

"No, no, don't tell me." He hastened to quiet her, "It's best one doesn't know too much about the future."

"Probably a good idea," she couldn't help but think as she remembered another pair of dark eyes slowly closing as his lips touched hers. She knew he had the ability to see and lest he read her mind, quickly ducked her head and opened a book. Now, as much as she didn't like the idea, she had to stick to the fringes of the story or bad things could happen.

~~~ouat~~~

Zelena walked into the police station, the red heart-shaped candy box, in her left hand, "Where did you get that?" Rogers stopped her before she made it down the hall.

"I need to talk to Weaver," Zelena specified, her heart still beating rapidly from fear.

"Whatever you're going to tell him, you can tell me." Rogers encouraged, " I'm his partner."

"I know who you are, WCaptain," Zelena snapped.

"It's Detective Rogers, and I hate to tell you this, but that box makes you a target in my case. I'll need you to answer some questions."

Zelena rolled her eyes, as she knew what the bloody box meant and this...this Detective, she thought snidely, wasn't the man she needed to talk with. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Weaver duck into a room, "I'll just make a call, and then be right there."

"I'll be waiting in the cafeteria."

"I can't wait," Zelena mumbled as she zeroed in on Rumple sitting at a desk ignoring her.

"Kelly," he pushed back from his desk, but refused to look at her, "to what do I owe this displeasure?"

Zelena strolled closer to the desk, "It's your lucky day," she tossed the red box in front of him, "turns out I'm next on the candy killer's hit list."

"Well, are you?" He scoffed, "So how does it feel to finally be chosen before Regina?"

"This isn't funny." She sighed, "I know you and WCaptain Curse have been tracking this guy. Do you know who he is?"

"No, we've had a few leads, but nothing concrete yet."

"You can't just let me die." She could hear the fear in her voice and wished she had a little bit of her magic to protect herself and her happy life.

"And why should I help you?" He pushed back from his desk and traced his finger around the heart, "Seems a poisoned heart is something you're quite familiar with."

"You can't just let me die." She pleaded again, "Not if you ever hope to get back to Belle. So please, help me."

He ran his hand over his face as if what he was going to say was distasteful, "We're working on it. But beware of what's around you at all times. Remember the blind witch didn't die of the poison gas but was stabbed in the hospital.

"I'll be careful." When he didn't have anything more to say, Zelena left the station. She was supposed to relieve Regina at the bar, but after the trauma of the afternoon needed to rest for a few hours. Regina would understand, she thought as she pushed the door to the apartment open.

She knew immediately that someone, and someone with magic, had been in the apartment, but when her eyes landed on the huge bouquet of roses sitting in the middle of the table, any sense of danger flew out of her mind. "Roses," she squealed running across the room, "how lovely." She didn't have to look at the card to know who they were from, "Chad," she murmured, taking a deep whiff.

~~~ouat~~~

Hyperion Heights had been one of the unexpected obstacles in the overall plan, but with a few alterations the path was once again clear. The Watcher was pleased.

~fin.

Let me know what you think. Next chapter will be posted next weekend. 

I loved the Hope scenes in this chapter, both with Rogers and with Rumple and the dark eyes she remembered coming close...did you catch that? Rumple and Hope stole the books from Lady T's place and Rumple started explaining to her about the various versions. Any questions with those, please ask but one thing that you really got to see was how Rumple is all 3 of the Rumples that you have met. He's WRumple, GRumple and KRumple converged, but because he is the Dark One, he is able to "hear' the thoughts of the other Rumples, WRumple being the loudest.

[betsynagler]

Critical Thinking is Hard

I’m lucky: I grew up in a family where thinking was encouraged. My parents treated me and my brother like we were brilliant, which makes you want to be brilliant, and come up with your own ideas. They liked to talk about stuff, and, while they definitely treated us like kids, they also didn’t really shelter us too much. My mother was always ruining TV shows for me by pointing out the sexist moments in television, from reruns of The Brady Bunch and Star Trek, to Charlie’s Angels, Three’s Company and, well, it was the 70s and 80s, so pretty much all TV shows. But they still let us watch them, as well as R-rated movies which may not have been age-appropriate, and while they told us not to smoke pot, when we found out that they smoked pot, they gave us reasons for why it was okay for them and not us (since they “weren’t going to have any more children,” which seemed to make sense at the time). Another thing they did was encourage us to take responsibility for our own decisions from a fairly young age, which meant that you could stay up until 10 or 11 pm on a school night if you really wanted to, but it’d be your fault when you felt like shit all the next day. One can debate the pros and cons of this method of child-rearing (pro: de-mystifying drug use and other taboo behaviors to the degree that they actually start to seem uncool; encouraging kids to develop strong ethical compass and think through their actions; con: kids are even more weird compared to their peers, and precociously develop anxiety and guilt about their own actions). Nevertheless, it did start me on the road to learning the value of thinking for myself.

I didn’t really come into my own as a critical thinker until junior high, however, when I spent two years in a program for gifted students. First, isolation from my peers at a time when I was supposed to be learning the social skills of adulthood and the bullying that naturally flowed from that taught me to look for other people’s faults as a means of self-defense. That made me critical, if not necessarily thoughtful. But then I also had two years of Mr. Snyder teaching me social studies. Many of us in the gifted program had all of the same teachers for all of our academic subjects two years running. This meant that we got to know those teachers really well, and, in the case of Mr. Snyder, came to greatly admire and be shaped by his worldview. Mr. Snyder wasn’t an obvious candidate for intellectual guru to early adolescents. He wasn’t particularly handsome, and he’d had polio as a child and walked with a prominent limp. But he was funny and charismatic, gave terrific lectures that were like brilliant comedy monologues or TED talks, and knew how to make his students feel smart and special — in part because we had made it into his class, but still. We liked him so much that several of us would get to class early every day so that we could draw cartoons of him on the blackboard with clever word bubble-jokes, and he loved that. Too see him come into the room and look at our clever depictions of him and smile and make jokes right back at us, to feel appreciated for our intelligence and creativity, a sensation could be hard to come by as a suburban New Jersey youngster, was wonderful. The class was a mutual admiration society and a bit of a cult of personality that I think hugely affected all of us who took it.

I learned a lot there, as we studied political systems, geography and the history of the ancient world, among other things. We were assigned projects that were unlike anything you’d typically get in junior high or even high school, a combination of fun, self-driven exploration, and out-of-control amounts of work. We had to make a map of the world that included every single country, city, major mountain range and body of water, using color-coded overlays — something that I would have enjoyed, and sort of did, except that, since I was in 7th grade, I was terrible at judging how long it would take and left it until the last minute, and had to repeatedly re-letter the smudged plastic to make it readable in my 12-year-old handwriting. The following year, when we did separate units on Greece and Rome, we had to either fill in an entire outline that he provided with a paragraph or more on every subject, or do a handful of more creative projects designed to help us probe the topics in more interesting detail. After choosing to do the outline for Greece, thinking it would be easier, and ending up with several pounds of handwritten paper (I could not type) on everything from Sparta to Socrates to Doric columns that was probably 75+ pages long, Mr. Snyder had stared at the pile and admitted to me that he hadn’t really expected anyone to choose that option, that he’d made the outline so absurdly long to encourage people to do the creative projects. I probably got an A more because he didn’t want to read the whole damn thing than anything else, and on Rome, I did the projects, like going to a Roman-Catholic service and writing about it — which I did by interviewing my Catholic friend, Tara, instead of actually going to the service myself — or going to the Met to observe and then expound upon the differences one observed between the Greek and Roman statues — which I did after 15 minutes of taking furious notes on a Sunday when we arrived just as they were getting ready to close. Just because I loved Mr. Snyder didn’t mean that I, like any other kid, wasn’t always trying to get out of doing homework in any way I could.

The thing I learned and remember best, however, was not the facts, but the method. We had a class about political and economic systems — communism, socialism, capitalism, authoritarianism — and the first thing Mr. Snyder did was define these terms for us, explaining that they weren’t what we’d been told they were. Specifically, “communism,” the way it was looked at in the budding Reagan Era of the early 1980s, wasn’t actually communism at all. Real communism was an economic system that someone named Karl Marx had come up with, in which everyone owned everything, nobody was rich or poor or more powerful than anyone else, and that was, in fact, kind of the opposite of what the Soviet Union had become. This somewhat blew my mind. Here was the boogeyman that everyone talked about as the great evil threatening us with destruction — and remember, in the world of an American kid who had trouble sleeping at night because she obsessed with how we were one button push away from nuclear war, that meant genuine annihilation —  and it wasn’t even what it really was. How was this possible? How was everything that we saw on TV and in the newspapers and at the movies just plain wrong? It turned out that, once you delved into it, the evolution of the term “communism” in the popular vernacular was an education in how concepts entered the public consciousness and then were propagated endlessly in the echo chamber of the media and society until they became something else entirely, usually in the service of some political or social end. Sound familiar? It wasn’t the same then as it is now that we have the Wild West known as the Internet, in some ways it was easier to get an entire culture to basically think one incorrect thing rather than many insane things, but the ability to miseducate a huge swath a people without their questioning it? Yes, that existed, and understanding that was a very big deal to me. It meant that you always had to look deeper than the surface of things to be sure you understood the reality, even when it came to what those things were called.

Why doesn’t everyone get taught to think this way? Well, like most things in life, it gets increasingly harder to learn as you get older. The more set in our ways we get, the tougher it becomes to look at ourselves critically (which is essential to critical thinking, because to truly get that you must dissect and assess the viability of ideas, you have to start with your own assumptions), much less change the way our brains function in terms of adopting new ways of doing anything that’s really embedded in there, much less ways of doing everything, which is kind what it means to change the way you think. Plus, it’s in the best interest of those in power to keep the bulk of the human race from doing it. It’s tough to build an army of people who don’t automatically follow orders, or have a religion made up of people who are always questioning the word of God, or build a movement if the followers are continually asking the leaders, “Is that really true?” And so we’ve arrived at this situation where we have so much information out there now to make sense out of, and the bulk of us without the tools to figure out how to do that — and many who reject those tools because they’re told education is just liberal elite brainwashing. Instead, you see a lot of people turn to a kind of twisted, easy version of “critical” “thinking” espoused on the fringes of the left and right, which disposes with the thinking part and instead just espouses wholesale rejection of anything dubbed “establishment” or “mainstream,” no matter how awful the alternative may be (and at this point we know: it’s pretty awful). Add to that the folks who skillfully exploit the overwhelm of information and lack of analytical skills to support their own greed, lust for power and desire to win at all cost, and you end up with an awesome new and different kind of embedded orthodoxy, that encourages us to silo ourselves within “our” (really their) belief systems, walled in with “alternative facts” and media that support them, and defending it all tooth and nail with false equivalencies that encourage us not to critique thoughtfully based on evidence, but to to pick apart every idea that doesn’t fit or even makes us uncomfortable (“Well, every politician lies” was one of the most egregious ones I heard used recently to defend the president). 

And, when it comes right down to it, can you blame people? Thinking is exhausting, especially in this environment, and even human beings with the best intentions manage to ruin everything good anyway. Like, even though my parents didn’t make us believe their ideas, of course they still managed to inculcate in us their most mundane opinions. My father was particularly good at doing this, particularly when it came to eating (yup, Jews), like how fast food and chain restaurants should be avoided not based on nutrition but on lack of flavor (which I guess is why we still ate at White Castle), or how chocolate was really the only kind of acceptable dessert. It’s amazing that, no matter how far I’ve come as an adult, I still find it really hard to shake these ideas — like I saw a conversation on Facebook about how pie was superior to cake, and I just thought, Huh? But there aren’t any good chocolate pies. Another case in point: by the time I was a senior, Mr. Snyder had moved up to the high school, and was teaching an AP history class that I had the option to take. I decided to take economics instead, because I had never studied it, because one of my best friends was taking it, and, on some level I’m sure, to show that I didn’t need the wisdom of this idol of my 7th and 8th grade self, now that I was all of 16. I heard from people who took Snyder’s class that in his first opening monologue of the year he mocked those of his former students who had decided not to take his class — which I think might have just been me. That wasn’t really an appropriate thing for a teacher to do, especially since I was kind of doing what he’d taught us: to move on, do my own thinking and evaluate him critically. But as a human being, it’s hard to be a charismatic leader and just let that go — which is why the world has so many despots, and celebrities, and despotic celebrities. On other hand, my economics class was a terrible waste of time because it turned out that I didn’t like economics and the teacher was boring, so perhaps my premature rejection of Mr. Snyder and my 8th grade way of thinking, just to prove that I could do it, hadn’t been the best decision either. It’s hard not to wonder if I’d be just a slightly better, smarter person today if I’d accepted one more opportunity to take his class.

I’ll never know, but I guess the fact that I’m telling you this story means I haven’t given up on critical thinking. Maybe it’s because self-flagellating comes naturally to me, but these days, more than ever, I try to employ those skills as much as I can, even as it grows increasingly fucking hard. On top of all that media landscape stuff I mentioned a few paragraphs back, I also have this stupid menopause business I mentioned in my last blog post, which just amplifies all of the emotion that drives me as a human to err on the side of insanity, as if there weren’t already enough bad news, and bad “news,” out there driving a person in that direction. There are so many bad actors with so many tools that can be used to manipulate our fear and greed and lust into steamrolling our thinking these days, and all we have to fight back are these little broken piles of poop in our heads. And yet, we all do have them, aka brains, and so we have the ability to use them. And as one of those cynical-on-top-but-at-bottom-idealistic folks who believes we all also have the capacity to change, no matter how hard it might seem, until the day we die, I think we all have the ability to learn how to use them better. And yes, that means you, and your friends, and your kids, and even your cousins in Florida maybe, if we all just try a little harder.

I’m not sure what Mr. Snyder would say about me now, as I try to get people to think about stuff with this blog that almost nobody reads, but considering how many years he spent trying to teach adolescents about Platonic ideals, I’d imagine he’d approve. So in honor of him, and any teacher you’ve had who inspired you to think more, and more better, let’s advocate in 2019 not just for “our values,” but for the value of intelligent thought, even if we have to do it one mind at a time.

[ailynss]

i am strong but also destructive. i’m restless and harsh and hopeless. though i have love inside myself. it’s just that i don’t know how to use love.

AILYN WILKES is NEUTRAL in the war, even though HER official job is as A HISTORIAN the TWENTY FIVE year old PUREBLOOD is known to be INTELLIGENT and STEADFAST but also INDIFFERENT and HAUGHTY. some might label them as THE WISEACRE.

INSPO: pinboard and stats page.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: emotional and physical abuse/manipulation, (parental) alcholism.

hey gang! this is an updated intro for ailyn! i changed some of her family background and basically went back to my original setting for her. 

history.

ailyn’s youth was filled with lies. her parents were skilled liars, pretenders, people who bended the truth because the truth was something nasty. her father said his business was booming, while unpaid bills kept piling up, and he kept reassuring them with alcohol on his breath and an unshaved face, that nothing was wrong, that he was fixing it all. when ailyn turned ten, he had gone bankrupt and visited the pub every day, rather than his job, and when his mother kissed him on the cheek every morning and told her kids that she loved him, she was lying, too. she smelled of others when she came home, and she was having not one, but two affairs.

and so ailyn learned that truth is a relative thing, something to bend to your own will. she learned it from her parents and continued it when she went to hogwarts, where she spoke of her father’s wonderful business and her parents happy marriage as if it was nothing but truth. she learned of their secrets before she left (and they weren’t that hard to figure out, in all truth, if you looked well — all it took was following her dad to work one day and bursting in her mother’s bedroom out of nowhere) and kept them, but added in some aspects of her own. if she had to live a lie, why not make it a good one?

besides, her family was doing a good fucking job at keeping the truth quiet: her maternal grandparents supplied enough money for them to continue living in their home, to afford the bare necessities, to make sure that ailyn and her brother would not show up at hogwarts looking like the poor kids they were without their grandparents. gotta love that classicism! :)

her parents had been supporters of tom riddle for a long time, but her father losing his riches and business, kind of made him an ... embarrassment. he still joined the death eaters, when the time came. he used his power as a death eater to steal money and get some of that money that they’d lost because of him, not bettering his reputation among other death eaters, but regaining some of his pride.

[ abuse, alcoholism tw ailyn’s dad was furious at his wife, at the world, at himself. he hated that he relied on his parents-in-law for money, hated that it was his fault, hated that his wife was fucking everyone but him. he drank too much, lashed out at his wife when intoxicated, both verbally and physically. his anger turned to his kids at times, too, but was mostly aimed at his wife end of tw’s ]

going to hogwarts was good. ailyn got to get away from home, and surround herself with others, with people who came from different places, who weren’t stuck in purist beliefs. ailyn was sorted into ravenclaw. a booksmart kid, she found herself more interested in the library and all it offered than what her classes tried to teach her. besides, ailyn found out pretty soon that she was rather bad at practical magic; she was soon behind in charms, transfiguration and DADA. she wondered if something was wrong with her wand, for a moment, wondered what was causing her to perform so poorly.

it took a while for her to accept how it was; she was brainy, not brawny. she wasn’t good at magic, but she was good at analysing texts and understanding motives and looking at things objectively and writing killer essays. ailyn kept her grades up by using her brain, planning to drop most practical subjects once she could --- who cared if she wasn’t able to tickle someone with a charm when she was one of the best in ancient runes, and was one of the only people who could impress binns? she knew where her strengths lied. 

it was during these realisations, during her time away from home, that she started to step away from the purist idealisation she’d been raised with. she’d never subscribed to them much, to start with, but she hadn’t distanced herself from them, either. being away from home, surrounding herself with muggleborns, halfbloods and ‘blood traitors’, as well as her whole journey with ... being rather shit at magic made her realise how fucking stupid it was.

history was her favourite subject. sure, the subject could have been better, had there been a better teacher, but binns wasn’t the worst if you paid proper attention and actually read the material. ailyn found herself staying up late in the common room, learning about muggle history, but also delving into obscure parts of magical history.

ailyn graduated with five newts and sought out bathilda bagshot, wanting to intern under her so she, too, could become a magical historian. and she did! while she was researching with bathilda, she also worked at the ministry for a while, mostly filing away in a back corner, wanting to earn some money for herself. ailyn wasn’t planning on turning her back on her family or pureblood society, but she wanted/needed independence.

finished working with bathilda after a few years and started making a name for herself, then. she had a good name, ties to the ministry and proof that she had a good brain, and so it didn’t take long for ailyn to become known as a historian. she currently does some freelance consulting for the ministry and besides that freelances at the prophet and wwn when they need some Commentary from a Professional ( cue ailyn smiling smugly as i type this ). she mostly sticks to writing about the war, though, and has published a book at this point. besides that, she does a lot of research. SHE WORKS A LOT BC SHE LOVES HISTORY SHE’S A NERD!!

takes a very neutral position in the war, allowing her to provide objective commentary and to look at things wiht a clear head. does have her opinions, though ( mostly: voldemort is just another white dude ruining a whole country, what a surprise wow ) but shares them with a fair few.

ailyn also hasn’t distanced herself from her family publicly, nor does she publicly voice her feelings on blood purity. this is a war, and she’s not here to fight, nor to become a martyr and die. her relationship with her parents is very much strained and there’s a lot of shit there, but she knows better than to become labeled a blood traitor at this point in time. self preservative as hell.

[ emotional abuse tw it’s only been recently that ailyn has allowed herself to realise how toxic her family is, how her parents used clever, manipulative ways to influence her. still sticks with them publicly, yeah, but has cursed them out and let them know that she wants nothing to do with them if she can help it. end of tw ] 

personality & rambling.

ailyn is a true neutral, powder pink lipstick lesbian who will drag your ass through the mud while speaking to you sweetly with a :) smile :). or she’s just charming and chill, depending on who you are tbh.

anyway. ailyn is very outspoken on certain topics, like racism, sexism, homophobia, etc --- she’s generally tired with the men of the world, too ( her studying history is mostly her sighing at men ).

hyperfeminine & unapologetic about it. think elle woods!!!

kind of really selfish when it comes down to it? like. ailyn is just self serving as hell. there’s exceptions, of course, and there’s room for more people to be added to that list, but still: she’s not here to be the hero, nor a martyr. she’ll save herself, and if she has the time to save you, too, she might.

loves mythology a lot, but it’s more a hobby than something she’s interested in for her career. 

feminist af.

likes red wine a LOT??? will gladly drink with you and badmouth people for a whole night because? it’s fun.

her morals are a mess, so dont even ask me about it?? she’s very indifferent on the surface, and to a certain extent she really is indifferent about a lot of things, too. still, ailyn isn’t cold or heartless, either? very emotionally driven? she hardly understands her own motives and morals tbh, so neither do i!!! it’s a mess!!

[bestfriendforhire]

Children of BFFH, Entry 89

 “Is Dani… crazy?” asked Layla after a moment’s hesitation, following Four out of the kitchen.

 He looked at her with mock shock, though she probably wouldn’t notice that his lip was slightly raised for a second.  “Crazy’s that one.” he informed her, pointing to Crazy.  “Dani is my most beloved, elder sister.  Luce is my favorite younger one, if you’re wondering.” he teased, pointing to me as he said my name.

 “There’s another younger one?” asked Layla, glancing back at me.

 “He’s just messing with you.  I’m the youngest so far.” I explained.  Turning to smile at my brother, I said, “I will be sure to inform any new ones that Four likes me best.  Momma Mila surely recorded him for me.”

 “Of course, Luce.” replied Momma Mila, sounding as if she were smiling.

 “Wait.  Stop that there.  No need to make hypothetical children cry.  They haven’t even had a chance to live yet!” pleaded Four, acting as if Momma Mila and I were being monsters.

 Layla stepped behind Valeria and whispered “How do I know when any of them are being serious?”

 Valeria shrugged and gave Layla a comforting hug.

 “If you could tell too easily,” started Aid, “our mother would have us practicing our acting for at least a month.”

 I nodded and added “Mother was raised with the expectation that she would hide her feelings instead of expressing them, since expressing them at times might end with cities gone and countries ruined.  She decided that being able to mimic any emotion on queue, like Momma Cosette, is far more useful.”

 “I really can’t tell whether or not you’re joking.” stated Layla with a frown.  She seemed to be hugging Valeria for comfort.

 “Mother’s never slaughtered a city, I promise.  She could, easily, just like Father, but neither would.” insisted Four.

 “I believe them.” stated Valeria, turning her head to look at Layla.

 Messy came up behind them both, hugging them.  Well, she sort of just appeared there, but I was fairly certain she had simply moved rather than some sort of teleportation.  Then she said, “The only person Luce teased was Four.  She’s being honest with you, as was Aid.  Their parents do have high expectations.  Right, Sis?”

 “Yes, and feel free to ask me anything, Layla.  Really.  Even when you leave here tonight, I will gladly assist you with any questions you may have on anything.  Though I am not perfectly honest all of the time, I don’t misinform people more than necessary.” she explained from the hall’s speakers.

 Guiding Valeria and Layla forward again, since Four started walking onward, Messy said, “If you want to hear about a parent who’s actually troublesome, Sis and I can give you all sorts of terrible stories about the things our mom has done.  Just trying to get an answer out of her will leave you wanting to pull your hair out, shake her, or abandon the question.”

 “Unless, of course, she gives you a simple answer immediately, which leaves you wondering how she’s manipulating you this time.” asserted Momma Mila.

 “Don’t listen to them, Layla, Grandma’s not that bad!” exclaimed Crazy after appearing behind Messy.  “Well, she can be, but she’s mostly fun!  She invented our favorite games!”

 “Which also proves that she’s complicated.” pointed out Momma Mila, sounding amused again.

 “But Momma, complicated is fun, at least part of the time!” insisted Crazy.

 Momma Mila still sounded amused as she said, “Very true.”

 I couldn’t argue.  Auntie Aaliyah was many things, including a prankster.

 “Sorry to switch topics, but… I’ve been wondering, why are we walking?” questioned Layla now that we were nearly to the end of the main hall.

 “Oh, several of us have to split up to greet our folks, so they don’t complain about not seeing us all weekend.  I believe Valeria was going to head with you and Rona to the gaming rooms if you want to go ahead and take a shortcut.” replied Four.

 Aid quickly said, “Also, we don’t want Valeria to feel abused, hauling us around everywhere.”

 “I won’t!  Momma Cosette wants me to practice more.” insisted Valeria, though she did seem to appreciate that he was thinking of her.

 “Is logging in with only three of us even safe?  The Jaggagawaroeth might be nearby.” worried Rona.

 “l’ll head down too, but there are other games we can play.  Care to try some VR?  I mean, we have VR for Ancient Tribes of Earth, but that one can be too intense.” I warned her, wondering again why Auntie Aaliyah made that one quite so realistic and complicated.

 “I’ve tried some VR, wasn’t really my thing.” replied Layla with a frown.

 Smirking, I told her “Try ours.  I guarantee that it’s different than what’s available elsewhere.”  Auntie Aaliyah had designed the VR rigs herself, probably using a mix of technologies from the rest of the universe.  I was certain she could have made them even better, but she would want them to be somewhat plausible as terrestrial technology.

 Valeria opened a doorway to the lowest gaming room, and the four of us went through.  Even character design turned out to get Layla exclaiming in surprise.  Momma Mila was preparing a randomized dungeon delve for us, so we were all making characters, which put the player inside of a base avatar in a room.  At the mirror, you could alter the look of the character, but you could feel things too.  Part of the game’s data was being sent directly to our brains, stimulating the right parts to feel like we were our characters.  Adjusting to moving the character without moving your actual body was the tricky part, since Auntie Aaliyah didn’t make us the type which cuts off body control.

 The character creation rooms also had an assortment of weapons, clothing, and other gear we could start with, depending on the limits we set.  For Layla’s first time, I opted to leave things pretty open.  She was going to get a full taste of what was possible.