#beat the absolute shit out of one of them

[divingreflex]

Okay I hate to be the fun police but this is something I’m interested in so. This is kinda exaggerated a lot. Roman concrete is not really “better” than ours in any meaningful way. It exhibits very interesting properties which are useful in certain circumstances to create a long-lasting concrete, but we have plenty of modern ways to make long-lasting concrete (see the hoover dam, which barring any catastrophe has an estimated structural lifespan of TEN THOUSAND years).

This post keeps returning to the fact that Roman concrete lasted 2,000 years and ours only lasts 10. I’ve already said that this isn’t always true, but it is often true, for a few different reasons:

1. Survivorship bias - the Roman concrete that we see right now has lasted a very long time - and you don’t see all the Roman concrete buildings that fell apart during all that time, because that’s how entropy works. You see all these buildings as lasting a very long time because we only have a sample of extremely long lasting buildings to base our assumptions off of.

2. Rebar - modern concrete has various kinds of steel reinforcement incorporated into it. We do this for a variety of reasons but the primary one is to add tensile strength to the concrete so it can be used to build things like bridges and large buildings. Without steel reinforcement, a concrete bridge (especially at the scale we use in road bridges in the us) wouldn’t be able to support its own weight, let alone the weight of vehicles passing over it. This reinforcement comes with several downsides though, the main one being corrosion. Steel will eventually rust, even inside concrete, and when it rusts it expands, causing cracking and spalling (when you see a chunk of a concrete surface that has come off, just a couple inches deep, exposing the rebar, that’s spalling) and eventually the structure becomes compromised. This is a trade off we make on purpose because we need the tensile strength.

3. I think most important factor for why our concrete structures don’t last as long as Roman ones is because of a single fact that isn’t always obvious: we beat the ABSOLUTE EVERLOVING SHIT out of our concrete. Cars and trucks are fucking HEAVY. You can see the wear they put on roads because they will literally wear ruts into old asphalt and concrete. Modern concrete bridges can have many more tons of freight pass over them every day than there are tons of concrete in the Pantheon. On top of this, cars have emissions, and not just CO2 either: they leave rubber particles on the road, let off noxious fumes, drip water and oil, and that’s not even talking about THE SALT. In the northern us we absolutely soak our roads in salt water for 3-6 months out of the year to prevent things from icing over. This is TERRIBLE for concrete, especially reinforced concrete that’s subject to corrosion of the steel within it. All these things combine to make most of the concrete we’re using fall apart relatively quickly, but again this is because of the way we use our concrete, not something chemically or procedurally different between our concrete and Roman concrete.

Concrete roads and bridges simply can’t last long because of the way we build and use them, however there are plenty of modern concrete constructions that aren’t going anywhere. Go to the nearest university and they probably have at least one boring block of concrete building that’s been there for sixty years, because it isn’t subject to getting run over by cars every two seconds. Some of those buildings could probably last just as long as some Roman concrete buildings if people keep up on maintenance and nothing catastrophic happens.

The point is: modern concrete is an engineering WONDER. We can mold it to our will in ways that would have Roman engineers praying to us as the concrete gods. The fact that the romans had concrete at all is very historically interesting, but I don’t think we should mythologize it as something that we could never hope to achieve because we achieve bigger and better things with concrete structures than the romans could ever dream of.

we figured out Roman concrete btw. This is the only thing on my mind

[corpseontheloose]

Silly syringes

summary: You met Nam-gyu during a bad time of his life, probably the worst he's ever been, but somehow you pulled him away from that grasp. Now everything left from that are memories and scars

A/N: pls don't do drugs kids

Warnings: past drug usage/addiction (on Nam-gyu's side), scars, bad habits, domestic!nam-gyu

Pairing: Nam-gyu x reader

You met Nam-gyu on a random Friday night in the club he worked at. He walked like he owned the place, which half of that statement was true.

You weren't big on clubs. Parties? Kind of. If that meant just you and your usual friend group. But clubs? It was a whole different story.

You couldn't blend in with the others. You were pretty awkward, and, truthfully speaking, you enjoyed sitting at the bar and sipping from your drink much more than breaking your head on the music.

You were on your first drink as you tapped the rhythm of the playing song on the counter using your finger, swinging your head on the beat, and, if you were lucky enough to hear a song you were familiar with, you'd softly mouth the lyrics.

Your friends were out there, somewhere. You just couldn't see them.

"Not a big fan of dancing?" You suddenly hear a voice from the other side of the counter. He wasn't the bartender that served you earlier, but he still looked like he worked here.

He picked up a few shot glasses and started wiping them, making sure they were extra clean.

"Not really, I'm more of a drink enjoyer" you replied, smiling stupidly.

He only smiled back at your words before throwing away the paper towel somewhere under the counter as he leaned across the bar.

"Want another one?"

He nudged with his head at your almost empty glass, the straw resting over absolutely nothing.

You raised an eyebrow, thinking for a minute before nodding your head.

He carefully picked up the glass and washed it quickly before preparing your new drink, stealing glances in your direction, making you smile instinctively.

That's how you met Nam-gyu. The worst part is that he was sober only 10% of the time. So that night at the club? He was high as hell but head over heels for you.

At first he didn't want to tell you. He kept it a secret. He didn't want to risk screwing up something that was building slowly and beautifully just because he was addicted to syringes and substances.

He was ashamed of himself, but he couldn't deny how good they made him feel.

You slowly noticed the patterns, however. Dilated eyes, jaw going places, shaky hands...

It made sense why Nam-gyu avoided you during his work nights and pulled himself forcefully to be sober for at least a few hours the next few days, just to spend time with you without scaring you, or without any judgment from you.

But the drugs... they never leave completely. Even after a few days of staying sober, the body would visibly react due to addiction and withdrawal.

That, and the fact that you took a glimpse of Nam-gyu's arm. Scars were extremely visible, piercing at his veins, and bluish-purple bruises were forming around the swollen injuries.

You gulped, not knowing how to approach this. You didn't even know if you wanted to approach this subject in the first place, but something as serious as this needed to be discussed one way or another.

Until one day.

"Nam-gyu. Why do you have IV scars?"

That question made him freeze in his track as his coffee mug was slowly slipping from his hands.

Of course...

Of course you'd see that. Of course you'd notice the drugs even when he wasn't drugged.

Of course everything screamed 'junkie' over his body even if he didn't touch any substances for that day.

Of course he was too foolish to not cover that before coming over.

He mumbled words in embarrassment, shame taking over him.

"Y/N, I'm sorry. Fuck, I'm sorry I—I didn't know how to tell you. I was afraid and..."

You looked at him with a gap between your lips and a few tears forming in your eyes.

"Shit! I can't even explain it properly because you wouldn't understand. But I like you—I like you so much I didn't want to ruin... this."

He shakes his hand between you and him.

"I was so afraid to tell you because you're so good to me and..."

The conversation was long. Explanations were pitiful.

It made sense.

You couldn't bring yourself to hate him, or even dislike him for that matter. He was suffering, and you've seen right through it, like he wished someone could do for him.

So you stuck around. You tried to help him in your own way. At first he didn't want help. Said he didn't need help. But you knew that was far from true.

He managed to change his habits, slowly, but efficiently. His body was already damaged, scarred, and far beyond a full recovery, but it was never too late to stop using the substances.

He promised he'll change.

For you, he did. For you, he tried.

That's how he became 2 years clean. The smell of weed was now making him gag, and the sight of syringes made him flinch.

Not because he was scared of them, but because he didn't want to accidentally break the promise he made to you.

Syringes were now in his past, and he was proud of that.

He would often gaze at his arms slightly, getting a harsh reminder that he was once just a junkie.

Before he met you.

He was so grateful for your existence and how much you did for him.

He loved you.

You started dating after he felt like he was stable enough to properly offer you days with no withdrawals or nights with cuddles instead of fights or desperate wall grips for another pill.

And you guys live together now!! And he was the cutest, most careful boyfriend.

He still worked at the club, but he knew better than to lace himself with drugs ever again. He wouldn't do that; he had self-control now. He had the love he needed now.

One random night you'd cuddle with him as his arms hovered over your body lazily.

You flicked your eyes open, knowing Nam-gyu was as awake as you.

You traced the tattoos on his arm using your finger, tickling him slightly.

He didn't flinch, however.

You reached his scars, and suddenly you stopped before softly pressing your finger over them.

"They're healed..."

You whispered, trying not to disturb the silence.

Nam-gyu turned to face you before looking at his own arm as you continued to trace the scars.

"Yeah..." he replied.

You smiled softly to yourself as you felt a wave of pride washing over you.

You were so proud of your boyfriend. Only you knew how much soul and struggle you had to put up there so he could stop with his unhealthy coping mechanisms.

He fell silent as his head nuzzled in your hair.

"Thank you..." he whispered.

You were confused for a moment before you felt the arm over you shift, capturing you in a sweet, warm hug.

"You saved me from myself..."

[dickgraysonisnothereforthis]

Wife Errant (ryomen Sukuna x f!reader)

When Sukuna returns to find you haven’t waited up for him, he decides to teach you a lesson.

Content: smut, light cannibalism (Sukuna is a fucking freak okay don’t worry about it), penetrative sex, heian era, reader matches Sukuna’s freak because by god someone has to

Swearing, as always. No use of y/n. I don’t know how long this is

————

Sukuna arrives late; blood, dirt, and sweat mingling on his skin. The moon is high in the sky, the fight against the Northern Uprising was long and arduous, and he makes straight for you as soon as he gets to the estate. After all that hard work, he wants to see his stupid, meek, slippery wife.

And you really are stupid. You are so absolutely shit at being his wife, at serving a Lord of Sukuna’s stature, because even though he is certain he sent a messenger ahead to let you know he was returning, when he arrives at your chambers you are dead asleep. Not waiting on his arrival, not adorned in silk and smelling of jasmine. Sprawled on your futon, fully unconscious.

Sukuna grits his teeth. At least you’re naked.

“Wife,” he calls. You don’t stir.

He loathes repeating himself. “Wife.”

You let out a snore.

In two long strides, he walks over and kicks your futon. You fall out of bed, hitting the floor with a thump.

“Ouch, what the fucking fuck was that?” you shout incredulously, head whipping around.

Sukuna almost laughs at you. Almost. “Wife.”

You still. Then, you carefully reposition yourself, bowing with your head touching the floor.

“A wife waits for her husband upon his return,”Sukuna says in a low voice.

Your smooth voice doesn’t miss a beat. “My sincerest apologies, my Lord,” you say quietly.

Sukuna rolls his eyes. He’s heard that one from you before. “Undress me.”

You rise to your feet, soft eyes flicking to his before stepping forward. Sure, gentle hands untie his obi, pulling it to the side. He opens his shoulders to help you slide his robe down his arms.

Somehow, one of your hands darts up to caress his cheek, flighty and quick. “I missed you,” you confess, eyes looking at him carefully before darting away. “I’m glad you’re back.”

Sukuna grunts. You continue your ministrations, taking off his undergarments and quickly folding his clothes before lying them on a low table. “You’re tired,” you murmur, bringing your hands to his face, brushing back his hair. He doesn’t stop you. “Come, come to bed.” You turn and collapse back onto your futon, gesturing to him.

Sukuna eyes his clothes. They’re wrinkled; folded haphazardly. You’ve done it wrong.

His heel strikes the floor, and your futon jumps. You’re bowing at his feet in seconds.

“Wife.” He points his chin at the clothing pile. “Again.”

He sees your eyes flit to the table. Realizing your mistake, you obediently get to your feet and begin refolding the clothes. Sukuna watches as you treat each piece carefully, doing your best to crisp the corners and smooth the wrinkles. You’re exhausted, he realizes, sleep pulling at your eyes, motions sluggish.

Finished, you fall back into bed. “Come on,” you mumble, eyes already sliding closed.

Sukuna looks at the pile. It’s still not perfect. “Wife.”

You still, then quickly rise from the bed. Shooting him a glance, you shake out his robe before folding it in half and bringing the sleeves together, creasing and folding until it’s a rough square. You’re even slower and more awkward than before, and when you’ve finished the pile is far worse than even your first attempt.

You lay it on the table and get back in bed, back to him. This time, you don’t relax into your futon as soon as you hit it. You’re tense, waiting for his next move.

Sukuna grins. His clothes are a mess, but why should he care? He’s got an opportunity to get under your skin. And he knows just how to do it.

“Wife.”

You explode. Flipping over, you grab his hand and pull him roughly into bed. Sukuna lets himself fall, and soon you’re straddling him, reaching for his cock.

“‘Wife!’” you mimic, furious, softness falling away. “‘Wife!’” You grab one of his cocks and slide it into yourself, hissing as it spears you open. “‘Wife, my clothes!’” you snarl as you ride him, one arm driving into the wall to steady yourself. “You’ve got four arms for fuck’s sake, do it yourself!”

Sukuna groans, hands digging into the meat of your hips. “Four arms and two cocks,” he growls meaningfully.

“I’m getting to that!” you snap, snatching hold of his other cock and pressing it against your sex. You moan as you drag your clit up and down his shaft, thumbing the pre already leaking from the tip to make Sukuna hiss.

“Watch the attitude, wife.” He stifles a shudder as you roll your hips down onto his cock perfectly. There’s nothing on this earth like feeling your pussy stretch around him, feeling your walls flutter and shake as you force yourself open for him. You are very, very good at this part of being his wife. Not that he’d tell you that.

“Gonna kill me?” you taunt. “Hope you fucking kill me, it’d be better than dealing with your bullshit.”

Well, he can’t stand for that one. He slaps you harshly across the face.

You keep riding him, turning to face him with a feral grin. “Oh, now he’s having fun.”

Sukuna smiles cruelly, planting his feet and thrusting up to meet you for the first time. You gasp, losing your rhythm. “Gonna—fuck—gonna make me bleed, husband?”

He swipes a hand across your face, sharp nail cutting you under one eye. You click your tongue at the laceration. Blood welling up, you lean over him, shaking your head lightly until a few drops fall from your face.

Sukuna catches them on his tongue. Raising his eyes, he holds your gaze while you watch, transfixed, as he pulls your blood into his mouth.

You shudder, hips jerking as you move frantically against him. Sukuna gets up on his elbows. “Open,” he commands, and you lean down, holding out your tongue obediently. He spits, mixture of saliva and your blood landing perfectly in your mouth. “Swallow.” You shut your jaw, moaning as you taste the blood and realize what he’s done.

“Di—disgusting,” you gasp out. “I could get a disease.”

“You could die,” Sukuna agrees. “Don’t worry, I’d eat your corpse before it rotted.” He snaps his teeth at you.

You look at him through your lashes with something like wonder. “Just as a husband should.”

Sukuna growls, then bats your hand away from his cock. “Wh—oh!” You whimper as he gets a hand on your clit, rubbing the pad of his finger in circles.

“Gonna do what a husband should and fuck my wife so she doesn’t forget who she belongs to,” he spits, finger working furiously.

“H—ha!” You laugh even as your hips stutter against him. “As if I could forget who I belong to!” You pry his hand off your hip and wrap it around your throat, eyes glinting.

The sight of your dainty hands holding his fingers round your neck, your dazzling, triumphant, grin; that nearly pitches Sukuna over the edge. He squeezes once just to hear your breath hitch, then grits his teeth and fucks you for all he’s worth. You gasp, stumbling to match his pace. He smirks at you and fucks you harder.

The slick slide of his cock in and out of your weeping cunt, the lewd sound of his fingers—two now—rubbing through your folds, your harsh pants as he works you over, it’s exactly what he was looking for when he’d stomped into your chambers earlier. Fuck waiting up for him. Fuck his clothes. This is what you—this is what his wife was made for. Meant for. And when you wrap a hand around his free cock and start jerking him off sloppily—just as his wife should—Sukuna comes hard, emptying inside you and splattering across your chest.

He grins lazily at you as he comes down, admiring your ruined breasts. You smile back weakly, still grinding against his hand. He sits up, bringing his head to your chest to lick it clean. You gasp above him, nails raking down his back, and he snarls, sucking and biting at your tits, moving his hand roughly against you until you come on his lap.

Sukuna lays back down, reclining, as you suck in sharp breaths, struggling to remain upright. You lean a hand against the wall for balance. Sukuna makes no move to help you, and you don’t seem to expect it, just rest your weight against the wall and stare down at him with cloudy eyes.

He lets a rumble rip through his throat, enjoying the feeling of being inside you. You offer a half smile in return. After several minutes, however, you clear your throat.

“My Lord, I must—”

“Yes, yes.” He waves a hand at you, and you carefully leverage yourself off of him, grunting as his cock slides free. “Wait.” He holds you in place to watch his cum slide down thighs.

“Tsk.” Sukuna looks up to catch a glimpse of you looking at him with a raised eyebrow, for a split second, before schooling your face into submission.

“And what was that?”

“Nothing, my Lord,” you answer softly, holding yourself still for him.

He rolls his eyes, then gives your thigh a short slap. “All right, go on, wife.”

You climb off of him to relieve yourself. A few minutes later, you come back, two wet rags in tow. You use the first to wipe him off carefully, cleaning his groin and making sure to catch any stray fluid on his chest. The second you dab gently at his face, earnestly washing away the grime he returned home with. You lightly tip his head back with two fingers at his chin and swipe the rag down his neck.

Sukuna hums, pleased. You’re also good at this part of being his wife.

Depositing the rags, you come to stand before him. “Are you staying the night, my Lord?”

He smirks at you. “Yes, actually.” He stretches out on your futon, watching you fidget. Traditionally, you would sleep on the floor, should he choose to spend the night. But you hadn’t adapted to tradition well.

Sukuna looks at you gleefully. You bite your tongue, deliberating, before sighing in defeat. “Oh, come the fuck on,” you mutter.

He cackles when you drop the act. “Just this once, for my stupid little wife.”

Grumbling, you fall onto the futon. “Wake me up just to kick me out of bed, I don’t fucking think so.” You pull the blanket up to your chin and glare at him.

Snickering, he presses a finger to the cut on your cheek and wills it closed, collecting the blood as does so. “What am I going to do with you?” He pops his finger into his mouth.

You look on, eyes glassy, mouth parted. “Keep fucking me,” you murmur. Shaking your head, you grin and raise an eyebrow. “With infinite patience.”

“I’m not a patient man.” Usually, he’s not. “Instead, I’ll kill you tomorrow.” Sukuna promises. “Get a new wife, one who knows how to fold her Lord’s clothes.”

You roll your eyes, turning over on your side. You’ve heard that one from him before. “Can’t wait. Give her a kiss for me.”

Sukuna leans over and bites your neck, sharp enough to draw blood. You gasp, squirming against him. He smiles, licking the wound closed as you shudder.

“Sure thing, wife.”

[bearsaves]

rewatching this stream and man. i have so many freaking thoughts. under the read more i'm going to break the conversation down into parts and give my thoughts on it because man. do i have a lot LMAO

enjoy 3253 words including transcriptions of the conversation!

Pangi is just so... open and honest with her without hesitation. Immediately, he tells her he's going to be honest and he is. When she asks to see the egg, he doesn't question why. She promises she's not going to do anything, she just wants to confirm that it's not corrupted. Pangi has no reason to show it to her — in fact, he probably has more reason not to! He knows how valuable the egg is, has literal first-hand experience!! But he doesn't really have any reason to hide it, plus if he needed to he probably could beat her in a fight ngl.

The following conversation is so. Yeah.

Pangi: So that's the story of the ender dragon that had to be defeated. I'm sorry that you had to hear that though, assuming that, you know, a dragon got killed and you used to be a dragon. But, I wouldn't want to hide the truth from you either. Sometimes it's better to know, even though the truth isn't the best thing to hear.

Water: Well, I prefer the truth over anything else. I think honesty is...

Pangi(at the same time as Water): More important than anything else.

Water(at the same time as Pangi): A valuable resource.

Water: I think it's about the only currency we have in this world. Diamonds mean nothing, netherite means nothing, emeralds mean nothing. Honesty is about all we have.

Pangi: No, you're right. Diamonds indeed are just materials, you know? You can get more of those. But there's only one truth at the end of the day. I realise it might have hurt... the information. But I think it's better if I do say it.

Water: Yeah, I'm glad I have it.

Pangi: So, how do you feel about that information?

Water: Oh, like absolute shit! But.. we live to see another day, I guess.

Immediately I think the most interesting thing revealed here is how they both view the truth/honesty. Water, as a dragon, viewing it as currency. This means it's something to have, to hold onto. It's something that people will murder you for. The fact that Water is pointing out that stereotypical treasure is worthless on this server because everyone has it, so the most valuable thing to have is the honest truth is so interesting to me. Especially because we know she has been holding her truth so close to her chest - the fact that she is a dragon trapped in a human's body.

The only people she's shared it with so far - excluding Pangi - have been Aimsey and Bad, two people she has loved so entirely, that have both ended badly. The former with Aimsey telling her that they're going to die soon so there will be no second date, the latter with the admittance that her feelings aren't requited.

Water has realised that she needs to keep her secret... well, secret. It's the only thing that holds any value, the only resource she can actually hoard. Water's treasure was originally gems and gold and solid tangible objects. Then it became people, when those treasures were revealed to be worthless. Now, that those people have abandoned her, it is honesty.

Whereas, to Pangi? The truth is simply important. We know how much he values it because he's said as much. It's pretty much the only rule he sets for all of his friendships - he'll accept anything so long as you tell him the truth about it. Even if the truth is "I can't tell you right now", Pangi will accept that and follow you anyway.

But he doesn't count it when he lies by omission. When he willfully doesn't share information, that doesn't strike him as lying. To Pangi, a lie is only when you actively say something false.

And then you remember he willingly lied to Bad's face about Lukey's location when Lukey was invisible nearby in green base. Like, not even by omission - fully lied. It's interesting to consider how the two things that are deemed most valuable to both of them - honesty and treasure - are fluid and their definitions can change to suit their needs in the moment.

I also just briefly want to point out how Pangi mentions twice that he understands the information probably sucks for Water to hear, considering she's a dragon herself. I just think it's very sweet that he shared the information with her because she wanted to know, but he also wanted to offer her some sympathy and kindness, not just the facts. It's the little details like this that I think show the difference in how Lukey and Pangi get information from others, with Lukey generally able to poke holes in people's statements or trick them into revealing the truth, while Pangi is just so very empathetic and generally honest in his approach - but that's a post for a different day!

Pangi: If you were able to go back and become a dragon again, would you?

Water: Mhm. Yeah, without second thought. Because you were so honest with me, I will be honest with you. I, since coming here, have had one real goal, only 2 people knew that goal - until now.

Pangi: Let me guess, Aimsey and Bad?

Water: Yeah. And now, because you have been so kind, it's time, I guess for me to share it with you. I have only ever had one goal and that goal is to kill the dwarves one by one. They're kind of the... dwarves are sort of the mortal enemy of a dragon and I am a dragon, no matter how I look right now.

Pangi: It's how you feel on the inside!

Water: Yeah! So the last time I got - well the only time I got reset, by Aimsey, I gained scales.

Pangi: Really?

Water: Yeah! So I didn't always have these little blue adornments on my skin, I had a blue dress - in fact I'll take off my armor so you can see properly.

Pangi: Oh, wow. I also have scales if you didn't know!

Water: Wow! Oh my god we're the same.

Pangi: We're kind of twinning!

Water: We're kind of twinning. So because of that, I know that I'm not just a human princess I'm still the person I once was inside, I'm still... an enemy to the dwarves.

Pangi: Do they see you as that? Or they don't know?

Water: No they have no idea. You, Aimsey and Bad are the only people that know that I'm a dragon, that I enjoy destruction... I've kept pretty much everything hidden.

Cutting it off here even though it's technically halfway through Water's dialogue, because there's already so much that's been said in this segment to talk about and if I don't cut it off here it'll take forever LOL.

So, first, Water immediately rewarding both Pangi's honesty and his compassion with her secret is so... It directly correlates with what I said earlier - that Pangi's strength is the fact he is so kind to people. That's why people involve him in things and provide him with information. He treats them without judgement, so they feel safe to tell him things they might otherwise choose not to.

In Water's specific case, I think it's not only the fact that he was both kind and honest, but also the fact that pretty much everyone knows where Pangi comes from, right? So the fact he comes from Lifesteal, which is infamous for death and betrayals and all that good stuff, means that Water just knows he'll be able to understand the urge to destroy, to kill. That there's something within both of them that they are suppressing while they're in this realm.

It's sweet, how they both choose to relate to each other in this conversation. Because I remember when Pangi was corrupted, violence was kind of something he defaulted to. Whether that be because it was Lifesteal!Pangi who was present, or because of the corruption, or (most likely) a mix of both, is up to you to decide as far as I'm concerned. So I think there is at least a part of him, upon hearing this, immediately feels that connection with her.

If Pangi is going to do anything, it's understand.

But, instead of verbalising this, he chooses instead to connect with her on something entirely different, something almost silly. They both have scales! But, and maybe I'm deeping this (but isn't this entire post just me Deeping it) I do feel like it has more meaning than simply being a silly joke to bring back a more light-hearted vibe to the conversation. Which, to be clear, I do think is his main purpose for pointing it out! I think the fact he's being playful as Water tells him her biggest secret is an act of kindness and friendship in and of itself!

I also think it's something much sweeter than that. I mean, Water is a dragon. The only dragon on the server - besides the dragon that they killed before she arrived. Excluding the unhatched egg too, obviously. But she's clearly happy she has her scales back, because it's a reminder that she is still the being she knows herself to be. That she hasn't completely and irreversibly changed.

So, Pangi wants her to feel like she isn't as alone as she probably feels. He might not be a dragon like she is, but he also has scales! They're similar! You are not the only person here who has scales, you are not alone. The thing that is connecting you to your past, can also connect you to Pangi - not just the destruction.

It's small, but it's something. A light-hearted attempt at connecting and it works! Water responds positively to it, repeating the sentiment before continuing on.

I also briefly wanted to point out the fact he asked if the dwarves knew she was a dragon once she explained that they're mortal enemies — the only way I can interpret this is that he was immediately trying to figure out whether it was something he needed to be actively considering. If he needed to be wary, ready to defend her if necessary.

By this point, I think it's clear that Pangi is already pretty much considering her a friend. Now, let's continue.

Water (continued): Now, every other person I've told this has chosen to leave, so I'll give you the same option. If this is scary, if this is something you're not okay with, if this is not something you morally agree with that's fine. You can walk out of that door and I will not take it personally. But if you say that it's fine, but then you decide to leave, I am going to take that personally.

Pangi: That makes sense. Well Water... I'm going to be completely honest. It does not scare me, I am not afraid of it and... I won't walk away from it. From you.

Water(softly): Really?

Pangi: Everyone has their backstory, everyone has their past. I appreciate that you're honest. I didn't expect that to happen. But, you know. I have no reason to walk away. I don't get scared that easy.

Water: You're not a dwarf I guess!

Pangi: If I was a dwarf this would be really awkward, but I'm actually 6ft so - and humble, and a feminist!

Water (laughing): And a feminist, and you read a lot of literature.

Pangi: Handsome!

Water: Yeah, of course.

Pangi: I couldn't even be a dwarf if I wanted to!

Water: Listen, thanks for being honest with me.

Cutting Water off halfway through again. Sorry Walter. Anyway, I love how much emphasis there is on being honest in this conversation. You can tell it is really important to both of them, which means they are in turn recognising how important it is to the other person. The constant appreciation for honesty, as if they're reassuring each other is really sweet.

Water has opened their soul to two people who have, for all intents and purposes, abandoned them. Which isn't technically true, but that's how Water sees it. So the fact they're trying again, even though they had told Aimsey after their date that they weren't going to bother ever again is a testament to how much Water yearns to be understood and loved. If you ask me.

You treat her with even an inch of kindness and she feels it so deeply, shares her treasure (truth/secret) with you. Dragon's are solitary creatures, so the fact that she is experiencing friendship and it's so visceral makes sense. She's all or nothing, because she doesn't really know how to compromise. She's never had to compromise before.

But I do think Pangi is a good choice of friend for her. Obviously. Because why would he be scared? She hasn't ever really shown herself as someone who would be a threat, their interactions have generally always been pleasant! Plus, the two people she has been friends with are two of the people Pangi is closest to.

The fact that she's been open and honest with him is also definitely a huge advantage. There was really no benefit in telling Pangi her secrets, yet she did it anyway. Pangi sees someone who is lonely and lost - of course he's going to want to help however he can.

I won't delve too much into it because I already did so in my brief post about Pangi which you can find here, but I think Pangi's biggest strength on The Realm really is his capacity for kindness and his ability to befriend pretty much everyone.

The fact that that is exactly what Water is looking for, is exactly what she needs?

Pangi is surprised, because he's never put any effort into befriending Water, into earning her trust or anything like that. He's literally just been himself, and that is enough.

Also, again, the way they have this brief light-hearted interlude to recover from the sentiment that's being expressed here is so lovely to me.

It's like they're both giving each other space to recover, two beings who aren't particularly used to having such open, honest dialogue about their feelings that have quickly found a rhythm that makes it comfortable for them.

Water: Thank you for not running away. If you do now, I'm gonna get upset and you don't wanna see a dragon upset. No matter how small and weak I seem, I'm still very much -

Pangi: Water, why would I want to make my friend upset?

Water (flustered): Okay, okay. Pulling out the friend word. That's fine. Whatever.

Pangi: I mean, didn't you say you had 3 friends all of a sudden? What happened to the 2?

Water (still flustered): Okay, so maybe I was - so maybe - okay -

Pangi: You started it.

Water: Yeah, alright. So, okay. Maybe I did. And maybe I was hoping that you would pick up on it. And maybe I was thinking that you maybe wouldn't because you're oblivious and stupid. But that's fine.

Pangi: Water, sometimes I act stupid but I really am not. Sometimes it's better to act stupid. I just didn't think I should say it out loud when we were in a group chat with other people.

Water: Yeah, you seem smarter than you let on.

Pangi: Someone noticed.

The cuteness aggression I felt both watching this live and watching it back right now for this post is unparalleled btw. But anyway. So much to unpack here.

Water being so painfully honest about how much this means to her, that if she is abandoned again she will be upset and then immediately following it up with a threat. It feels like an animal puffing it's chest up, trying to prove that it's a threat because it feels vulnerable.

Which Pangi recognises, interrupts and cuts to the bottom of Water's anxieties with such beautiful ease. Water doesn't have to directly ask, Pangi can see she's uncomfortable and chooses to confirm it himself. Yes, I am your friend. It's such a wonderfully Pangi act of kindness to me. You don't need to do something that feels so embarrassingly humiliating as asking me to be your friend, because I am already your friend.

And it catches Water off guard. I mean, I doubt either of them ever expected to be considering each other friends, but it's happened and the confirmation of what they are - something that would have benefitted her relationship with Bad - so immediately without any issues has to be startling.

Only for Pangi to point out that she had actually been the brave one already, that she had initiated the friendship casually and quietly and he'd been paying attention. Not only that, he'd remembered and held onto it! And, again, he had chosen not to say anything about it at the time to once again spare her of the humiliation.

Just because he's honest, doesn't mean he can't keep a secret. Even though Lukey was one of the other's in the call, even though Water seemingly got on well with Oli, Pangi chose not to risk her being embarrassed in front of them by pointing it out.

So, if he held that small confession in complete secrecy without being asked, what do you think that implies for her larger secrets? Pangi is able to prove he's trustworthy without ever intending to, because he's so earnest in everything he does!

Also, Water lashing out because she's overwhelmed with how much it means to her that he noticed and he considers her a friend is so. It feels almost childish, but considering this is her first time going through this, the fact it almost feels like children in a playground becoming friend is so accurate imo.

Also Pangi acknowledging he occasionally acts stupid is so beautiful to me. I know a lot of people consider Pangi as an idiot, but I think the thing they don't consider is that he is incredibly intelligent. He might not care enough to be like Lukey, who is obviously booksmart and logical. But Pangi's interpersonal intelligence is quite possibly the best on the server. Tied with maybe only Aimsey.

If you take one thing away from this incredibly long post, I beg of you, please let it be that. Pangi is so incredibly smart in his interactions with others, particularly when it's about something of such a personal nature that it seriously astounds me.

I mention it in the post I linked above, but he really views every friendship as it's own individual thing, which means he can aid people in their conflicts without it coming across as biased one way or the other. It's why he's able to be friends with people who completely oppose each other.

And finally, his relief that someone has noticed he isn't a bumbling fool is so bittersweet. Pangi is able to play the social game, because he plays it completely different than a lot of others do. He is earnest, truthful, open-minded and kind - unless the topic is directly about himself, his thoughts and his feelings.

But he is a wonderful confidant, incredible listener. Someone that people don't generally think to pay closer attention to, to pick up the idiosyncrasies of.

And here is Water, someone who hasn't known Pangi all that long, who immediately acknowledges the fact that he isn't an idiot. I mean, god. The way these two just managed to consistently reassure and affirm each other during this conversation is everything to me.

[starly-amazing]

A Star From the Multiverse - Ch 10 is OUT!

Chapter art by the one and only @chipper-smol

Fic summary: After FINALLY beating the King after thousands of tries, Siffrin is STILL sent back to Dormont. They. Just. Can't. Do. It. Anymore. They drag themself through the day and to the Favor Tree in the dead of night, begging, wishing for help...and they get it in the form of a strange creature with talons and feathers and fangs. [Ao3]

Memory of Desperation Chapter summary: CRUNCH HERE WE BLINDING GO! Loop takes on the King. They reach the end.

[Read on Ao3] (Suggested for better formatting + chapter content warnings)

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

"Loop!" Siffrin screams as he finally processes what he sees.

"Stardust," they glance behind them, that visceral shade dripping from their jaw. "I—"

FWOOM!!!

The King's fist connects with their wing and chest, making a series of sickening, wet snaps. They're sent crashing into the wall with a wheeze, sliding down and crumpling to the floor in a heap of bloody feathers. The sound alone is enough to make Siffrin's stomach churn and heart freeze.

"NO!" He takes off before they even hit the ground, ignoring the calls of his allies and the hand that grasps at his cloak. All he can see is Loop.

The King turns to him and shakes the terrifying shade from his gauntlet, painting the room further. His wheezing breaths can be heard echoing through the hall. He reaches for the spear embedded in his neck and, with a trembling hand, rips it out, crushes it, and throws it to the ground. A stream of dark blood spurts out after it, and he presses his fingers to the puncture. He holds his other fist in front of him. And waits.

Siffrin is on Loop in a heartbeat. He slides to his knees beside them, ignoring the rubble that digs into his legs and the King’s tears that float dangerously close.

Loop groans and tries to move their shattered wing.

"Owwie," is all they can say.

"Loop! Loop! What are you doing?" Siffrin reaches out but stops, hands inches from their body. Loop's breath shudders; they're absolutely covered with deep gashes, all leaking that same shade of blood. Something is very, very wrong with their chest; part of it is curved inward when it very much should not be.

"Sif! Get back!" Isabeau's footsteps thunder louder and louder.

"Siffrin! What is that!? Wait!"

"Boniface, stay by the door!"

He ignores them.

"Oh no, oh no no no. Oh stars, oh stars, fuck, shit, dammit." It's bad. It's really bad. Not even Mirabelle could come close to fixing it. "I don't—I don't know what to do, why did you blinding do this, Loop!?"

They cough and raise their head; several teeth are missing around a break in their lower jaw.

The King’s thundering approach just barely catches Siffrin’s attention. He towers over them, channeling Craft energy into his gauntlet. They glance over as he readies his fingers to snap, and they throw themself over Loops’ head.

He st—

Isabeau strikes, slamming his fist right into a dent in his chest plate. It cracks more, and the King stumbles back, slapping a hand over it. Mirabelle and Odile rush between them a moment later and let off their own attacks, pushing the King back further.

The King's rumbling voice scratches the back of his mind. 

Shut up. Shut up!

"Oh, y'know," Loop slurs. "Tired'f'tis'shit."

"What?"

"I'll'b'fine's jus'som'brusis."

"Loop!" he chokes. "You're dying! No, no, this isn't supposed to happen! We could've—we would've been fine! We found a shield spell!"

The King speaks again. It sounds garbled and nonsensical.

"Yaay." They let their head fall. Something else cracks. Siffrin holds back bile. "S'thisws'pointless?"

"What? No, it—" Movement from the King catches his eye.

He's powering up his attack. No. No. No!

"Mira! USE YOUR SHIELD!"

"What? H-hold on!" She raises her rapier and calls out the Craft through the tip. The air sparkles around her, Isabeau, and Odile...

But not them...

No, no no, they're not close enough!

They have to—

[You see a vision of the ?̴̐ͅ?̷̹͝?̸̡̈?̵̛͓ ]

Visions upon visions pile up over each other, surging through his mind.

It hurts, it hurts! It hurts it hurts ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts!!! They can't—they see...fire. Fire! Fire fire fire teeth fire it burns it's so hot it hurts it hurts it hurts their skin their face is—

They collapse.

The burning is replaced with a dull, distant throb. It’s so dark.

Something... tickles their neck. Feathers?

"Sif! Siffrin!" His words sound so distant, as if they’re all underwater.

"Frin!"

"Siffrin! Don't move! I'll—eek!"

The King wails and the floor shakes, but Siffrin hears Mirabelle's distinctive footsteps dance away.

Good. She's safe.

"I'm coming, Frin!"

They blink as Bonnie rushes them from the other side of the room.

"Boniface stay there!"

"But Frin's hurt!"

The King swipes at the trio. They all stumble back, barely avoiding the attack until they're up against the opposite wall. Bonnie skids to a stop.

He cries, and more tears spill out, joining the many already spilled and blocking the party in.

"Sif! Hold on, we're coming!"

Siffrin blinks some vision back. Still dark. But he can make out some shapes.

"L-Loop?"

"Nnh..."

They're lying limp beside them. The tip of their shattered wing drapes over his body.

Their breath is so weak, so wet and raspy. It rattles slower and slower each time.

"Fffffffffffuck." They turn their eye toward Siffrin and reach out.

"W's'hopin' didn'hav’t'dothis." They freeze as a series of violent, but rapidly weakening coughs wrack their body. More of that shade sprays from their mouth and onto Siffrin's cloak.

"Wha—?"

"Sorry, stardust." Their talons close around his neck, digging lightly into his skin. They shut their eye.

"Loop, what are y—"

                 There's a light.

                                             Another

                                Weird

                                                                 shade

                                        it's...

                     warm

                                                               like the morning 

sun

                       He feels...

                                           pressure...

         Pressure, so much pressure, through his throat into his head in his head in his head—

                     He sees

                                  He's...flooded

           Glimpses of

                                memories?

Rukemis. So many. And humans. Strange clothes. And some... other..? Huge buildings. Complex devices. Stars. Stars. Stars.

                    Loop's?

They're there for the briefest of seconds and gone from his memory in a flash.

       Can't            even               process.

The light wraps around him and rushes inside. He can't keep up. There's so many, so many thoughts, feelings, it's too much he can't focus he can't—it hurts—it's making him...

             making

                            him

                                           ...

                         Everything

                  goes

         dark.

Siffrin collapses.

The King raises his fist.

Their allies scream.

He brings it down over their body.

Siffrin...

Launches away.

They land on all fours, shaking rubble from their hair as it rains down on them from the attack; their hat lies flattened where they had just been.

Everyone freezes.

They scramble to their feet. Shaking, trembling, arms dangling in front of them. Gloved hands twitch, then dig through hidden pockets, searching for a weapon.

"Ohhhhhhhh ohhhhhhhhhh..... Bright one........... You stand again. Good........... Let us fight to the death............."

They launch past the King's attack, landing on his armored gauntlet and scrambling upwards on all fours. The King thrashes, but fails to dislodge his attacker as they claw their way onto his pauldron. The knife is dug into his throat opposite the still bleeding spear wound, deeper, deeper; blood sprays out onto a snarling face as it’s twisted around. Their eye is wide, intense, and glowing in that second strange shade.

Raw Craft sparkles from their hands, and it’s shoved toward the wound. It arcs back and fizzles out in every direction, sending them tumbling to the floor. The party cries out, but they're back on their feet in an instant and strike again. They let out a more directed, yet chaotic burst of Craft energy, breaking through the crack in his chest plate. They leap back before they can dig the knife in deep, as the King swats at him again.

The party keeps blasting the tears with craft, pushing them aside bit by bit to make a safe passage through. Almost there! None of them can keep their eyes off the battle waging on without them!

Bonnie stands far back, gripping a tonic to their chest.

Nobody says a thing. The fight continues. Attack after attack is launched at the King. Erratic. Violent. Animalistic.

The knife is shoved into a weak spot on the King's arm, and he clenches, snapping the blade off inside his flesh. He wails, but the shockwave is no longer powerful enough to knock them far.

They don't let up. The King swings again, misses again, but the action was enough to cause them to slip on the rubble and land hard on their back. He takes the opportunity to snap his fingers and slam Craft energy square in their chest.

They collapse again, but they’re back on their feet before the King can follow up. Blood leaks from their knees where they were ripped into by shards of glass and stone.

They're slowing. The King is slowing.

Isabeau finally breaks a passage through the wall of tears, and the three rush out and surround them.

Shaking, the King Crafts another rock attack, hitting them all point blank. Odile, Mirabelle, and Isabeau stumble but stay steady, but Siffrin lands hard on the ground. More debris tears into their arm.

"Sif!"

"Siffrin!"

"Frin!"

Everyone calls out Siffrin’s name as they rain attack after attack on the King. He's nearly defeated. He's on his knees, thrashing weakly. His attacks barely pack a punch.

He curses at the party.

Curses at Siffrin.

Curses at Loop.

No one responds.

Mirabelle casts her shield once more and pours healing craft into Siffrin’s body.

Their wounds fade just a bit, and they haul themself up.

Gripping the knife, rage glowing in their eye as brightly as that unnatural shade, they lunge forward, past the party, straight at the King's face.

With a final burst of feral energy, they channel a stream of Craft through their broken knife as they plunge it directly into his left eye.

The King can only grunt as his brain is obliterated.

He reaches out, and...

                                    Falls.

His corpse shakes the entire room, causing more bricks to tumble from the edges of the holes.

Siffrin jumps back just in time, stumbling on some rubble and falling to their knees. They let out a weak groan.

Their party rushes to their side, everyone talking all at once.

"Sif! Sif please please be okay, we got you, we're here. How did you..." He gestures at everything.

"Siffrin, don't move, please. Let me heal you."

"FRIN!? ARE YOU OKAY!? THAT WAS SO COOL! THAT CREATURE IT'S SO COOL AND THOSE SHADES ARE SO WEIRD! YOUR EYE IS ALL… I DON'T KNOW!!!"

"Siffrin what the gems was all that? How did you--"

"Nngh. Rude," they finally mumble, grimacing. "Not an it. "

Everyone gasps and jerks back.

"...Sif?"

They shake their head clear and smile wide and lopsided, as if they were just learning they have lips. Their eye turns up to match their grin, still glowing warmly, though dimmer than before.

"Stardust isn't home right now! That creature, speaking! Would you like to leave a message?"

Loop grimaces and presses Siffrin’s palm to their forehead as they’re bombarded with much-too-loud questions and demands. "Oh, don't worry, he's fine," they grunt and wave them off. "You'll get him back any minute now~!"

Finally, there's a moment of silence. They all stare. Isabeau is the first to compose himself.

"You're not... going to harm Sif? But how... how did you do—"

"Now hold on, I'm sure you all have many, many questions for me, but I don't exactly have the time or desire to answer them right now.” They stand up, wobbling like a newborn fawn. "Oh, oh, here it comes! The void calls, or whatever. Someone catch me~!" They stumble over to Isabeau, swoon dramatically, and collapse into his arms.

Something hurts.

Everything hurts.

It's loud. So loud.

So much talking.

Why can't they shut up? Let him sleep in!

They try to cover their ears, but they can barely manage a twitch of their arms and a wheezy groan.

The talking cuts off for a brief moment before his body is shifted, and his name is called by several people.

He feels something warm and soft cradling him from behind.

It's nice.

But—

Ugh...

He takes a deep breath in and grimaces. Another breath, and he pries his eye open.

It's bright, so bright. There are figures around him, blocking out some of the light, but not enough.

"Sif? Sif buddy, are you with us?" Isabeau. There's a waver in his voice.

"Frin, are you still possessed by the weird flying dog thing?" Bonnie. They're so loud. They sound so scared.

"Wh—wha?"

He squeezes his eye shut and, with great effort, brings a hand to his face.

He's so stiff, so sore, like he stumbled around drunkenly using muscles he's never even heard of to move.

"Hold on," Mirabelle's voice calls out. A wave of cooling Healing Craft rushes through them, and some of the soreness evaporates away. He sighs and lets his hand fall against his face.

"Wha happen?"

"Sif—you—well... a lot has happened. I don't even know where to begin." Isabeau trembles.

???

They press their palm to their eye.

His mind is filled with mud as he wades through it, picking up the pieces of his recent memory.

They were...in the house...about to fight the King and...

and...

His eye flies open, and he bolts upright.

"Where are we!? What happened to—!" He grimaces as all his muscles scream in protest. He falls back against strong arms, and he doesn't even have the energy to flinch at the contact.

"Whoa! I got you, Sif."

"The King is dead, Siffrin," Odile says.

"Dead?" It takes all he has to fight the tension in his body to open his eye a crack.

They look around. Everything is light. So, so bright. There's a cool breeze blowing in over the walls, and the sun feels warm and gentle on their skin. Their allies surround them, as does an incredibly tall woman with billowing, darkless hair he doesn't recognize. She watches silently off to the side with a curious expression on her face.

"Dead?" He repeats. "The King? Dead? Dead!?"

"Yeah, Sif!" Isabeau smiles, the waver is even stronger. "It's over, it's finally over! Vaugarde is safe! Everyone’s being unfrozen now!"

He's silent for a long moment, slowly looking between each one of their allies. All look relieved, tired, alive, but with a hint of something he can't quite place.

They defeated the King?

They—did they break the loops? Was that it? They're outside, not in the King's chamber. But they don't remember... any...

A shock runs through his body, and he flinches.

Clarity floods back into his mind. He bolts upright and nearly falls back down when his vision goes dark. A thousand images flash through his mind all at once.

Visceral blood fear pain pain fire teeth fire fire pain warm light nothing.

"Wait, Loop, Loop! Where are they what happened are they okay!?" They grimace, blinking away the darkness.

[Right here stardust~!]

"WAUGH!" Siffrin jolts out of Isabeau's arms and lands face down on the floor.

"Sif!"

They all cry out. Isabeau's hands hover over them but don't touch.

Groaning, they roll to their side.

"Easy, buddy. Do you need help up?" His hands are shaking.

Mirabelle edges closer, hands gripped together against her chest. "Do you need healing, Siffrin? Are you hurt?"

"Nnf, no, I got it. I'm good. I'm fine." They struggle into a sitting position beside Isabeau and hold their head in their hands.

[Whoopsies, tee hee~! Sorry about that! I'm sure you're pretty confused right now!]

They jump again with a choked sound but manage to stay upright that time.

"Loop!? You're in my head? And you're talking to—"

He gasps and looks at his allies.

"Sif!?"

"Siffrin, are you still possessed?" 

"Hey! Get out of Frin's head!"

Why did you say that? Why did you say that!?

[Oh, good job, stardust! Real smart move there!]

“Shut up!"

"Wha—"

"Not you! Them—I—hold on." He grips his head and curls over. "I need a minute."

"O-okay," Mirabelle worries.

"Tell us if they're hurting you, Sif. We'll find a way to get them out."

"No, no, it's fine. They're ok."

"Are you sure?" Mirabelle leans a bit closer.

They nod. "Just..."

[You can talk to me in your head, you know, you don't need to speak out loud. And don't worry, I still can't read your mind unless you consciously think at me… For the most part.]

(What are—how are you doing this?)

[Just a fun little rukemi perk when we expire! We can transfer our spirits to another being. If we want. I could have easily returned to the void of nonexistence, but you were about to be turned into a fine paste if I didn't act fast!]

(...Expire?)

(Oh.)

[Yep! Whoopsie! Bummer, isn't it? Hahah ahh h hah h . . .]

(Wait. So you... died and... possessed me? And fought the King? And... won?)

[Yep! Isn't that neat? Though we don't really call it possession. Twining is what we call it. Like intertwining.]

(What's the difference..?)

[Consent, obviously. Well... usually. I diiid plan on asking first, but again, paste prevention . And, as you can see now, I'm not currently in control of your flesh prison and won't be able to pilot it again for a while! I'll need my beauty rest to regain my energy as I burned most of it off when I took over earlier.]

(I need to lie down.)

[Well, I have good news! You're halfway there!]

(Not enough.)

[Tee hee, sorry, stardust. I know this is a lot to take in at once. Usually humans have the luxury of being educated on this whole thing before it happens, but as you may know, I'm a little ways from home right now and had to keep my mouth shut and self hidden.]

(Why?)

[Oh, silly, don't start assuming I'm going to blab all my top secret information now that I'm literally in your head. Just enough so you don't die of confusion~!]

...

Loop is silent for a moment. Siffrin takes the time to take some deep breaths, focusing on the strange, darkened bloodstains on their cloak. Their allies continue to hover around them; the tension radiating from them is palpable.

"Sif? You good?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, you weren't responding."

"I'm okay."

Odile speaks up. "Siffrin, you know this… creature?” She looks them dead in the eye, squinting, studying. 

"I—" He shifts back a bit. They all saw him; there’s no hiding now. 

He nods, squirming.

“Why didn’t you tell us about them?”

“M’Dame,” Isabeau says softly. “Maybe we should—”

Bonnie pushes forward. "YEAH FRIN! What was that!? That was so cool! And those weird shades too! Like their blood was all angry and everywhere and weird and creepy! And then that one in your eye well not anymore but it was like—" They pull their left eye wide open with their thumb and forefinger. “Light but like… over there somewhere!?”

“Huh!?”

[Weird… shades?]

"Bonbon, wait," Isabeau pleads.

(Yeah, like—)

Mirabelle closes in on him, hands clasped against her chest. "Are you okay, Siffrin? Do you need any more healing? They're not hurting you, are they? This isn’t permanent, I hope?"

His nails dig into his palm. They shrink in on themself.

Isabeau holds his hands up. "Okay, everyone, please, please let's hold off on the questions for Sif until later, okay?"

"Aww!" Bonnie pouts.

Odile sighs. "You're right, my apologies. You're probably still overwhelmed by everything; I can wait until later to... interrogate you, but not much later."

That’s not very reassuring. "...Thanks." 

Their allies all sit back and wait. The other, tall woman continues to sit off on the sidelines, watching curiously.

[Wow, so many questions about me! I'm really popular now, aren't I?]

(There's too much happening.)

[There sure is! Not surprising at all! Anyway.] Loop's 'voice' lowers into something smooth and even. [Guess what, stardust? You're stuck with me forever now. Just like you wanted! Yaayy...]

(Forever ?)

[Well, I can leave if you really don't want me, but there's no coming back from that. I'll just fizzle out into nonexistence if I do.]

(Wait! Don't. I—just give me some time. This is a lot.)

[Sure thing, stardust.]

(Loop.)

[Yes?]

(I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. I didn't mean to distract you. If I didn't say anything you—)

[Ah, it's no biggie, stardust!] He feels a little twinge in his chest. [I wasn't expecting to survive much longer anyway.]

(What!? What do you mean you weren’t expecting to survive!? Why did you do it?)

[Do what?]

(Fight the King, alone?)

[...]

(You always refused to help before. So why now? Was it because of last night?)

[... I don't want to talk about it.]

(... Please?)

[Nope!]

(Loop.)

[I said nope!]

(... Okay.)

[Anyway! You said something to me, before we twined. It seemed important.]

(Oh…) They close their eye, digging through the mire for the answer. (Well, I asked you why the blinding stars you would do that! And you said—) He pauses and digs his fingers above his eye. ( Something about being tired. And then—)

...

Do they say it? Loop's reaction was...

But he can't exactly hide it from them if they're literally in his head forever.

(... I found a Crafted shield spell for Mira.)

[A... shield spell? But we… Did it... work?]

(...It did. The King’s attack barely scratched the others, but... we were too far for the spell to reach.)

[...]

(Loop?)

[So was everything I just did pointless?]

(Loop…)

[Was it? Would you have defeated the piece of shit on your own this time!?]

(...Maybe I don't know.)

[So. Yes? ... Ha. Ha. Haha. Hahah hahahahhaHAHhhahahahh! Hhahahh ahhahahahh hahah! Ohohohaoh hahahhhah! Of course! Of course! Why would I expect anything different!? Of course! The moment I try to do anything everything all goes to shit! Why do I even try!? hHAhahh oh it's hahahah just so funny! Just a cosmic fucking joke I am! HhhahahahhHAHhahahhHAHHAHHA!]

The laughter reverberates through their mind so powerfully that it starts to bubble out of Siffrin’s throat as well. He has to grip his head and throat to force himself to shut up until their laughter fades into a high wine. He lets out a whine just like it.

"Siffrin!?" Mirabelle holds her hands out, hovering above his shoulders.

"Sif, are you okay?"

"What are they doing to you!?"

"I'm fine! I'm—this is just a lot to get used to."

"Do we need to find you an exorcist?"

"No. No. They're okay, really. They won't hurt anybody."

"Okay." Isabeau pulls his arms back to his sides.

"If you're sure." Odile scratches something in her notebook. “But I can’t say I trust anything about them, as it stands.”

"How are you feeling now?" Mirabelle asks quietly.

"Fine," He smiles.

"Are you sure?" she murmurs. "Do you need anything? More healing? A tonic?"

"I'm fi—" They rub their throat. Feels like a desert. "Water. Please."

"I got it!" Bonnie dives into their bag and pulls out a bottle and all but shoves it into Siffrin's face. "S' crafted water but it's hydrashing and that's what's important!"

"Hydrating, Boniface."

"Yeah, that. It's good water."

"Thanks, Bonnie," he smiles and pops the cork. He takes one sip, letting the cool liquid coat his throat, then downs the entire thing in seconds.

Oh, that feels much better. Still sore and disoriented, but not quite so intense.

(Loop?)

Nothing.

(Loop, are you still there?)

His chest starts to prickle with anxiety the longer the silence stretches. They didn't leave, did they?

(Loop!?)

[Yes.]

(Are you... okay?)

[Fine, stardust, I'm just dandy! Wonderful! Thanks for asking!]

(...)

[I don't wanna talk right now.]

(...Okay.)

[Go have your victory lap. You did it! You won! You defeated the King and broke out of the time loops, and now you have me as a buddy forever and ever or something! Wahoo!]

(Loop.)

No response.

Siffrin closes his eye and breathes deeply.

They... broke the loops? They did something? They got further than last time. They're out on the rooftop, and nothing seems wrong... aside from... well... everything regarding Loop.

Was that... all that was needed?

Did Mirabelle make the final hit then? Was that it?

Did they do it?

He...

Refuses to get excited.

It can't be that simple.

But they're here.

And nothing's happened yet.

He takes another breath and slowly, cautiously, stands up. They feel the buzzing of invisible bees flying around their chest.

Their allies stand with them. Isabeau and Mirabelle both hold their hands out toward him as he shakily rises to his full height.

"Sif..? Are you... okay now?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm great! We did it haha!"

Isabeau brightens, and the whole party seems to relax a bit. "Yeah!” he laughs. “We did! We defeated the King! Though it was mostly you and, uh, Loop, was it?"

Siffrin's smile wavers. "I hardly did anything."

"Either way, Siffrin," Odile sighs. "I'm glad to see you in one piece. But don't run off like that again, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Yeah, that was... really crabbing scary, Sif. I'm glad you and Loop are friends, but whew, seeing all that without context was too much for my delicate heart."

"Hahaha, are you sure you don't need Mira to heal you then, Isa?" they wink.

"Haha, no, I'm fine! Well, physically, at least." He scratches the back of his head.

Mirabelle bites her lip and looks away for a moment. "Oh, Siffrin! I'm so, so, so sorry I wasn't able to shield you back then."

"I-it's fine, Mira!" they chuckle. "Everything worked out, so don't worry about it at all!"

"But it still—you almost died, Siffrin. That attack was so powerful." She holds herself like a dog who’s just been caught doing something wrong.

"But I didn't die, so it's fine!"

"Siffrin." She squeezes her hands. "Well, thank you. Thank you all. I-I wouldn't have been able to do it without everyone here!"

She's met with a chorus of triumphant agreements and reassurances.

"I'm just so... th-thank you… And… Euphrasie…" She finally looks to the tall woman, who smiles and steps forward.

"Well," she says in a low, airy voice. "This certainly wasn't what I was expecting to find when young Mirabelle returned!"

"Neither did I!" Mirabelle almost yells. "I mean, I guess you heard all that, but it was a surprise to all of us, too."

"It seems so! But though the methods were unconventional and unexpected, you still defeated the King and saved Vaugarde. That's something to be proud of!"

"Yeah," she mumbles. "Yeah! You're right! The King is gone, and that's what matters in the end!"

The woman turns to Siffrin, smiling warmly, her head slightly tilted.

"Siffrin, was it? If I could speak to you for a quick moment?"

They jump, then nod. The others hover around him for a moment but eventually start to meander to different parts of the roof. He feels like he can breathe a bit better, but also...

"First, I want to extend my deepest condolences for the loss of your friend." She holds a hand to her chest and gives him a soft frown. "Their sacrifice was not in vain; if not for their and your combined efforts, young Mirabelle might have had to endure so much more to defeat him."

"...Right."

"And, it seems they are not truly gone?"

"Oh... no, they're not."

You already blabbed it all, can't hide it now. 

They still physically hide under their hat.

"They're in my head now. Haha..."

"Well, that is fascinating, and I do hope a good thing for the both of you."

"Haha, it'll be nice to have a second opinion on things from now on," they laugh, but it’s dry, empty.

The Head Housemaiden lets out an airy chuckle. "That sounds like it can come in handy. I would very much like to know more about them, but I’ll avoid interrogating you for now, as well. But first, what would you like us to do with their body? I've had my partner, Claude, close off the entrance to the King's antechamber and is currently studying it, but no doubt everyone is very curious about the destruction and the fate of the King."

He feels a shudder deep within him. 

[Oh stars ew, destroy it, destroy it completely until there's nothing left and don't let anyone else see it, and they better not keep any of my feathers or teeth or whatever parts they try to rip off me.]

"Cremate it," they murmur. "All of it. Right now. Don't let anyone look and don't save any parts."

"Understood,” she nods. “I will tell her right away. She may need help moving the body to the morgue, but I will have her cover it thoroughly and avoid any questioning about it."

[They have a morgue?]

"Thank you."

[Ugh, though, poking and prodding my body like I'm some sort of case study is just... she better not try anything.]

"Of course." She gives them a gentle bow. "I will be back shortly. In the meantime, why don’t you go talk to your companions? I'm sure you all have a lot to talk about. When I return, will you come see me again? I'd love to have a conversation with one of Vaugarde's saviors, after all!"

"Okay!"

He steps away and closes his eye, breathing deeply, letting himself shake off the ever-growing tightness in his entire body.

It's over. It has to be over. Whatever changed this time had to have done it.

But, what if...

No! It. Is. Over.

They glance at Odile, who's standing nearest to him, scribbling in her notebook.

She looks up when she hears him approach and gives him a sly smile. "Ahh... Siffrin. Woop woop, we did it, we won, etc." She stretches her back. "Urgh. Whatever."

"We did it, Odile," they smile.

We really did it this time, no going back. No. Going. Back.

She grabs her arm, raising it high over her head and leaning to her side. Siffrin can hear a few joints pop the further she goes. "This was... quite a workout. My entire body is screaming, even though you and Loop did all the work."

"Not all of it," they mumble. "You all did a lot, too. And we all would have been toast if Mira didn't have her shield."

"The shield she learned because of the hidden library you found." She raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"...Right."

"Siffrin?"

He hides under his hat.

"I hope you know how much restraint I'm using not to pummel you with more questions right now. You can't blame me for being curious about how you know a talking, horse-sized, flying creature who bleeds a weird shade, can possess people, and can hold their own against the King."

“Hahah…” Their laugh is weak, and they grip their arm. “Well, as long as you’re pummeling me with questions and not your fists, later,” they shrug with a crooked smile.

"Ha!" she barks. "Well, everything worked out in the end, for the most part. So I can't be too upset about this little secret of yours."

"Pff, I get to live another day then," they snort, sticking their tongue out.

"Maybe just one more day," she huffs. "But really, if you need me to exorcise the friend in your head, let me know before I return to my travels in a few days. I'm sure I can figure something out."

He grips his arm. "They're fine. Really."

They're the one trapped with you, after all.

"If you say so. Personally, I wouldn't like someone just living in my head like that, even if they were a close friend."

As long as they can't actually read your horrible, disgusting thoughts.

"Just something to get used to!"

"Heh, you're really taking this in stride,” she smirks. “Offer's still open if you change your mind, though."

"Thank you." They hide.

Odile's smile falls, and she tilts her head. She won't stop staring. They pull their hat down.

She sighs. "Anyway. Savior of Vaugarde, huh? That's something to add to my list of accomplishments." She thumps her fingers on her book. "But now I can finally go back to traveling. I'd be curious to visit some more Vaugardian cities and hear what they have to say after an event like this." Her fingers still. "It'll be weird to travel alone now, but I'll get used to it again. Or I could just go home to Ka Bue... Hm..." She gazes at him pensively for a moment, running her nail down the spine of her book. "Or... Siffrin..."

"Yeah?" They look up quickly with the biggest smile they can muster.

She grimaces and glances away briefly. "...Never mind. I'm sure you're looking forward to getting back to your travels, too."

His eye twitches.

"Siffrin?"

"Yeah."

"Ah."

A pause.

"I'm going to go talk to the others, now."

A sigh.

"Alright, take care of yourself, Siffrin."

"You too."

They quickly turn to hide their falling smile and spot Bonnie gazing over the precarious railings. He wanders over. They look... sad? Kind of?

"Bonnie?" he asks cautiously.

They turn to him, eyes downcast. "Frin... It's... It's really over, right?" They look up. "Like, for real for real? It's over? The King is gone?" They're hugging themself.

"For real, for real, Bon." He lets his smile be as warm as he can.

Please let it be the truth.

They squeeze their arms. "So I can go back to Bambouche and see my sister again? She'll be okay? She'll move around?"

"I'm sure of it!" he beams.

They don't seem to believe it yet. Siffrin purses his lips and digs into his mind. He pulls a smug smile back on. "How about this? If she's not moving when you go see her, you can punch me three times."

They look off to the side, then nod. "... Deal." They gasp and squint at him. "Wait, that's such a long journey though!!! I'm not gonna go find you just so I can punch you if you're wrong!!! That's dumb!!!"

He sticks his tongue out. "Just as dumb as your sister not being okay when we just won!"

"Oh..." they gasp. "OH!!! YOU'RE RIGHT!!!!!" They point their finger right at Siffrin's face and shake their arm a bit. A huge, adorable grin spreads across their face. "Okay, then I'll believe you!!! Hopefully I won't have to walk forever to punch you!!!"

"Tee hee~!" They stick their tongue out.

Bonnie giggles a bit.

"But Frin, are you okay?"

"Huh?" He feels a chill blow through him.

"Like, the King almost got you! And the whole possessession thing! Like it was SUPER COOL seeing you—or them, I guess, fight, but it was also really scary. You—they—were all like woooo." They hunch over and wiggle their arms around. "And then waaah!" They mimic frantic stabbing. "And the King was all," they deepen their voice as much as they can, "aaaaugh noooooo~ bleh." They squeeze their eyes shut and let their head flop over with their tongue hanging out.

"Ah, haha, yeah! Just a bit jealous they managed to pilot my flesh prison better than I could!"

Bonnie scrunches their nose. "Ew, don't call it that."

His smile wavers.

"And, and also those shades! That was their blood, wasn't it? And your eye! Why was it like that?"

"...I don't know."

[..?]

(..?)

"Are you sad, Frin?" They squeeze their hands together.

"About what?"

"Well, they were your friend and now they're—well, they're not d—are they dead? But they're in your head now, so..."

He lets out a light chuckle. "Don't worry about me, Bonnie."

They squint at him. "You sure you're okay? They're gonna be nice to you, right? I can get Dile to exercise you if they're a crabhead!" They perk up. “Or! Or! Nille can beat the crab out of you if they take over until you’re you again if you come to Bambouche! She’s strong! That’s how you un-possess someone, right?”

"It's fine, Bonnie," he smiles. "Nobody needs to beat me up, please. Also, exorcise."

"Yeah, that." They raise their voice. "Loop! You better be nice to Frin! Don't make him do embarrassing stuff or look at his memories! That's mean!"

"Haha, they can't. It's okay."

"Good!" They cross their arms and nod, satisfied. "So what are they, anyway? Dile didn't let me get close to look. They're like a dog bird horse dragon creature. A Dogorseirdon."

"I dunno!" he lies. "I guess Dogorseirdon is as good a name as anything."

He feels another strange twinge in his chest.

(Loop?)

There's a groan in the back of their mind.

"Oh, also—"

"Boniface, don't pelt Siffrin with questions, give him some time to acclimate, please."

"Aw, okay. Sorry, Frin." They hang their head. "But, but you'll tell us more later, right?"

"Of course!"

"Okay!" They smile widely. "Everything's gonna be okay, okay?"

"Okay," his smile softens to something genuine.

But will it? Is this really the end?

Will it be okay?

Are they really free?

"I'm going to talk to Mira now." He points to her.

"Okay, bye, Frin."

He turns around and lets out another stiff breath.

Don't think about it.

It'll be fine. You're already past the King's room.

Just... enjoy your last moments with your allies. . .

He approaches Mirabelle, sitting on the bench with a complicated look on her face. She barely notices him as he sits down beside her. She turns to him and blinks once, twice, before she seems to realize he's there.

"Oh, Siffrin," she says with a gasp. "I'm—I'm not dreaming, am I? We won, didn't we? Are you sure? We really won?"

"We really won, Mira." At least that part is true.

"That was so scary. I didn't expect any of that to happen! I thought you were going to... because I... A-and when Loop, right? When they started talking in your body, I was so worried about what they were gonna try to do to you, or us! B-but they're okay, right? I mean not okay, like... I mean like nice, they're nice, right?"

"More or less," they shrug.

"More or less?" Her grip on her dress tightens.

Oh no, don't make her worry all over again!

"Haha, they're not going to harm anyone, Mira."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry, I know they're your friend and you've probably known them for a long time, but it's all so new to me! And—and I know I shouldn't bother you with questions now like Isabeau said, but I just wanted to make sure I didn't have to worry about anything new at least. Sorry."

"It's okay, Mira. I appreciate it."

She sighs and smiles with a small laugh.

"And you seem to be handling it well, I think. I know I wouldn't!"

"More or less," they repeat.

"Hah, I—I still can't believe it, I don't think I can believe it just yet, to be honest??? W-We fought the King and—and I feel like I hardly did anything! It was just you and Loop!"

"What? Mira, if it wasn't for your shield, we'd all have died."

"I—you're right but I wouldn't have learned it if not for you and still that was all I did and I still wasn't able to shield you two and you almost died because of it and they still did die and I barely got any hits in on the King because he blocked us in like that I felt like I went through this whole journey just to not do anything useful... at the very end when everyone's... expecting me to and..."

Oh no, she's shaking!!! She's crying!!! Do something!!!

"Mira. Mira. Breathe with me?"

"O-okay..." Her voice wavers. She grips her own hands so hard her knuckles lighten.

Together, they inhale slowly, then let it all out. He holds his hand to his chest and exaggerates his breaths until Mirabelle's slows and evens out to match.

"Hhah..." she sniffs. "Hahah hehe..."

"Huh?" His heart rate jumps.

"Oh, no, I'm just thinking..." She smiles so warmly, hands clasped together, tears in her eyes. You can be so nice, Siffrin."

He feels his cheeks burn.

"Oh, you're blushing!!! Siffrin!!! Oh!!!"

Oh no!

He hides in his cloak.

"Heh, you don't look like you believe it, but it's true! You know, um, um... Um!!! I know we haven't known each other for that long..."

...If only you knew, Mira.

"B-But I hope you know I really treasure your company! I do! I really really do!!!"

They can't hold back a small gasp.

"And so... Thank you! Thank you for accompanying me on this journey! ...I'm sure you're excited to go back to traveling on your own..."

...

"But don't forget me, okay?"

"I'll never forget you, Mira."

Hah! You'll forget her just like you'll forget Odile and Bonnie and Isabeau. You'll forget them all, no matter how hard you try! No matter how hard you cling to the scraps you have left.

Just like they'll forget you.

"Come see me at Dormont anytime! I'd love to hang out! Promise!!!"

Oh. Oh!

"I promise."

"Yay!" She claps her hands. "Okay, I won't hold you any longer, you probably want to finish talking and get washed up, don't you?"

"Hah, yeah, I could go for a nice bath." They scratch at a bloodstain on their cloak. The strange shade has dulled and darkened a lot, but is still very clearly wrong.

When was the last time you actually had a bath? Have you ever had a real bath?

"You can use my bathroom! Take as long as you need. I have plenty of soaps you can try!"

!!!

"Thank you, Mira." His chest tightens. "You're too kind."

"What? Aw, Siffrin. This is the very least I can do for you."

You don't even deserve that much.

...

Isabeau time.

He's standing by the railings, arms crossed, swaying lightly just like he does at the Favor Tree. He opens his eyes when he hears their footsteps and jumps slightly, then gives them the biggest grin.

"Sif!!! We did it!!!"

They smile back.

Don't think about it. He's right. He's right!

"We did it, Sif, we did it! We did it! We stopped the King! We can finally go back to our normal lives! Isn't it great???" His warm smile fades, and he looks at them with concern. " Will you be able to go back to your normal life? With uh..?" He taps his head with his finger.

"Oh. Yeah!" They smile. "They're fine. It's like they're not even there!"

"Oh, okay, that's good at least." Isabeau's lips twitch. "They are still there, right?"

"Yep."

"Okay. I'm glad they're not completely gone, and you still have them with you. I mean, that is good, right?"

"Yeah." He clutches his chest.

"Okay, phew." He wipes his brow. "Okay, good. Man, I have so many questions, like how'd you become friends with such a cool creature!? And how'd they even do that? I mean—er—if you're okay with that. Sorry, don't wanna overwhelm you. If you're feeling better before we go our separate ways, is it okay if I ask more?"

They hide in their cloak. "I'll tell you what I can. They're pretty private. Not sure how much they'd want me to share."

"Ah. That's okay. Understandable." He scratches his arm. "I'll back off, then." He is visibly sweaty. "Really, though, that was pretty scary. I thought you—never mind. Are you sure you feel safe, um, traveling on your own now?"

"Mhm," they smile. “I’m fine, really.”

"And I'm glad. I'm so glad." His eyes seem to glisten in the light. They feel something stir in their chest at the sight. “But um, Sif?”

“Yeah?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it, I trust your judgment. Anyway! Uh! Your cloak! Do you want me to wash it for you?”

They glance back down at the stains. Oh right. Still there, still vaguely threatening.

“That would be nice.” They hide in their collar. “Thank you.”

“Of course! Anytime!” He squeezes the back of his neck, face darkening. He looks happy.

Oh!

They're at the end! They beat the King! That means Isabeau can finally say the thing he's been trying to say for the last thirty million nights!

Siffrin leans a bit closer. "You wanted to tell me something? At the Clocktower?"

"Huh? OH! HAHA!" He clutches his arm, looking away. "Yes! I did! Um. Okay." He takes a deep breath. "Okay, so. The thing. I said I would tell you. Is... Is..."

Isabeau stares at them thoughtfully.

"Eh, it's not important."

Huh?

He feels a punch to the gut. "What? Why?"

"Because! You've been through a lot today. I don't want to overwhelm you with this on top of everything else."

The invisible hand digs its knuckles into his stomach. "But I'm fine, Isa. You can tell me now."

"It's okay, Sif! Later, okay?"

They bite their cheek. "But you can still tell me now ."

"Wow, you're really curious about it, huh?" he chuckles. "But nope! I will not say a thing!"

They hold back a scream.

"Oh! But I will say something, though." He beams like the sun. "...I'm glad we're friends, Siffrin!"

Friends? They lightly gasp and tilt their head. They feel a sigh that is not their own try to force its way out of their chest.

"Sif?"

They blink and grin widely. "...I'm glad we're friends too, Isa." He wraps his arms around himself.

Isabeau gasps and grabs his arm again. There are dark finger marks from the last squeeze. "Oh! Oh...! Aw. Aw!!! AW!!!!!! Oh, crab, I think I might cry. Haha! ...We're friends!"

Friends.

Isabeau thinks you're his friend!

His cheeks are so dark. They're sure theirs are too.

They both smile.

"Okay, well. I'll let you go then. I'm sure you wanna finish talking with the others and have a nice long bath and a nap."

Wouldn't that be nice?

"That sounds nice," they smile. "Bye, Isa."

They glance over their shoulder as they walk away and almost, almost see his smile fade as he falls out of view.

The Head Housemaiden stands in the center of the balcony, tall and imposing, watching a bird flutter by. There’s a slight tint of the weird shade at the hem of her dress that touches the ground.

They don't know why they have a sense of unease looking at her... maybe it's just her towering height, she's huge!

He meanders over and stands before her, craning his neck to even see her face.

The bird flies out of view, and she looks back to see them standing there. She smiles.

"Traveling one! Are you done talking with your companions?"

They nod.

"Yes, wonderful, wonderful! I'd like to thank you for accompanying young Mirabelle this far. I'm very grateful."

"I would do it again in a heartbeat."

And again.

And again..

And again...

"Siffrin, yes?" She clasps her hands together, much like Mirabelle does. "If there's anything I can do to thank you, please don't hesitate to let me know! I know you will go back on your travels soon, but I do hope you'll keep in touch, if only for young Mirabelle... But no matter what, know that Dormont will always be open to you! Please come back... any... time..."

She gasps and freezes. Her eyes go wide, and she clasps her hands in front of her mouth. Siffrin feels a chill rush into his chest.

"Oh... Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no..."

What?

[What the..?]

(Loop?)

"Oh... Siffrin...!" She cries, tears already streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry! There's no way we can stop it now...!"

The air around them feels weird.

His stomach drops.

He tries to move, but—

No! NO no no no no NO NO NOT AGAIN NO!

[Stardust what's going on!?]

(I don't know! It's the same as before! Why? Why? Why!?)

"I'm sorry! You'll be going back! Back when everything started!"

They taste burnt sugar in the back of their throat.

"What do you mean? What's happening?!?"

"I know you thought your quest was over, but it can't be!" She continues on as if he hadn't even spoken.

"No. No! Please don't send me back again! I can't do this again!"

"Something's broken, something's failing, rotting!!!"

"What did I do wrong? Why am I still trapped here!? Listen to me!"

(We made it further than last time! Did Mira not make the final hit?)

[...]

(Loop?)

[No... We did.]

(...)

They can't move. He can only watch as the Head Housemaiden cries and her image warps. "I can't fix it on my own, not before it all ends... If only I had noticed sooner!!! I should've seen it, prevented it!!!"

They feel a tug on their stomach. They want to run, to scream, to fight back, but they're frozen.

(Loop, why didn't you—no! No, please, do something! Please! I can't go back, no no no no!)

[I can't! I can't do anything! I don't know either!]

"No, no please, please, not again please don't do this! Please please please no more! Please!"

"It's my fault that you have to suffer like this.

                                                  I just hope that one day...

                                                                               You might learn to for—"

End Act [∞ + 1]

[carrottheluvmachine]

Can I just say that I absolutely love Lea? It's strange for me to love a female character this much, since they're usually written like utter shit. But the female characters in Lies of P are so utterly perfect. You have Eugenie who is passionate and brilliant and easily excitable and ADORABLE. You have Sophia who believes in you the way a mother should, always being patient and calling you her clever one, with a heart of gold even though you find out that her motives for awakening you are a bit selfish because SHE needs your help and she's been suffering. Antonia feels like how everyone's grandmother should be--yet she's tough as nails and doesn't want to give up on her life. She's done so much good over all her years, looking after children who didn't have homes or parents, teaching them, loving Carlo with everything she had.

The fact that there are bosses in the game like Laxasia, who is arguably one of the hardest to beat, and Markiona who is no pushover are hard to miss. And then the Legendary Stalker, Lea, who lives up to her name--and you'd automatically assume the Legendary Stalker is going to be a man because it's a fucking man's world, isn't it? You'd think the Stalker of legend would be a man, the toughest of them all, but no. It's Lea, who is so incredibly female and also broken, and a MOTHER to Carlo and Romeo. She's tough on them, but she's so passionate about them. She loves them. She feels such regret for being too late for Carlo, and that's why even on her death bed, she's fighting to do everything she can to save Romeo. She won't lose him the way she did Carlo. She won't let him down. Because she believes in the good in him, and she knows he deserves to live.

I absolutely love all of these women, and I just want to thank Lies of P for doing it properly. You never see a woman who is just there to be the love interest. There aren't any damsels in distress who can't stand up and fight for themselves. All of these female characters are inherently human and REAL and I love them with all of my heart.

[suksatoru]

"he's all yours, ma'am."

getting a call from your local police station telling you to come pick up your boyfriend from jail is not how you wanted to spend your friday evening. but here you are, standing at the foot of his cell with an expression so petrifying that even the officer standing beside you has to take a step back and avoid your gaze.

touya watches him unlock the cell with a grimace. the second the cell door slides open, you take a step forward—and touya does the most reasonable thing he can think of in regard to his safety and slams the gate closed, effectively locking himself back up again.

there's a moment of silence before you let out a gasp of absolute disbelief.

"touya, i swear to—"

"sir, i don't feel safe with her here. can't you, well, i dunno—make her stand a couple of fucking feet away from the door so i can step out without getting my face bashed into the nearest wall?"

the officer takes a long look at touya, who has the audacity to clasp his hands together in a plea, while you turn towards the officer with a raised brow.

"...you have her listed as your emergency contact. you'll be fine."

touya seems offended by the officer's words, but he doesn't argue any further as the man fumbles with his keys before unlocking the cell once again. touya steps out tentatively, shoulders slumping and a pout tugging his lips downwards (a half-assed attempt to look innocent, really) and you try not to let your eye twitch.

"officer, could you tell me just what he did again? i've seem to have forgotten what you told me." you state dryly, watching touya squirm under your gaze as he strains his wrists against the cuffs wrapped around them.

"uh—he was caught vandalizing a gas station. you know that one mr. takami a couple streets over runs? then he, uh, sort of beat him up."

"oh, come on—"

"shut. up. officer, please take us to the front desk so i can fill out the necessary papers and take him home."

the entire ordeal took only a little under an hour. and before touya knew it, he was back to being his usual passenger princess self beside you, though he had to keep one arm braced against the door and the other gripping the middle console for his own safety.

"babe, you are driving way too fast."

big mistake. if touya knew better, he would've held his breath all the way home instead.

"do you know how worried i was? did you know i was in the shower when they called? you're paying the hospital bill coming in the mail one of these days for when you finally send me into cardiac arrest with all the shit you pull, touya!" you snap, and since you were at a red light, you remove your hand from the steering wheel and give touya's ear a good harsh tug, just for good measure.

"okay, i get it—ow that fucking hurts! let go of my ea—i mean, sorry," he wheezes dramatically, and you finally let go of your grip on him with a huff when the light turns green.

"you're lucky they let you off so easy. seriously. i think you deserve at least—wait, are you not wearing your fucking seatbelt?" you snap, looking back and forth between touya and the road like this entire day was the most irritating inconvenience of your life, and touya can only scramble to put it on while mumbling a string of apologies under his breath. he peers up at you wearily, and you turn away from him and back towards the road with a grumble and tensed-up shoulders.

you're in a really bad mood today.

touya wants to tell you that he's sorry and that he knows he's wrong, but he's afraid that if he looks at you a certain way or says the wrong thing, you might just use your bare teeth to bite his head clean off.

so, he settles into his seat quietly and allows you the peaceful ride back home you deserve. now that he thinks about it, you've been under quite a bit of stress lately. it takes touya half a second to realize he must have made it worse, and it takes him another second more to remember that today was your only day off of the week—and he sinks back into his seat with a frown.

touya throws a careful glance at you through his peripheral vision, taking note of the tired look in your eyes.

you were worried about him when he got arrested. picking him up from the police station when he knows no one else would. fussing over him not putting on his seatbelt and being safe. and that is when touya is reminded why the only number in his emergency contact is yours.

it's because you love him, dearly and with all your heart, even when he acts like an exasperating little shit (e.g., the stunt he pulled today).

carefully, as if he's getting ready to pet an angry cat that loves to scratch, touya takes his hand and drapes it over your thigh, rubbing gentle circles as he presses his fingers into the fabric of your jeans. you don't push him off you, merely sighing through your nose and keeping your eyes on the road, and touya takes that as a sign that you're not too mad at him.

"when we get home, i'll run a nice bath for you to relax in. we can order takeout, and i'll massage your legs real good, you know, just the way you like after a long day." he says softly, and his touch is tender enough that you can't help but melt underneath it.

touya made staying mad at him really hard.

"fine."

"we can watch a movie too, your choice—you won't hear a single complaint from me. i'll even tell kei i'm sorry, even though that jackass was lookin' at me funny and started the whole—whatever. just know that i'm sorry, doll. i mean it."

touya doesn't tell you how he's only sorry for causing you stress, not sorry for rightfully knocking keigo down a size. but you finally do glance at him—and your face has softened into the very smallest of smiles. that sight alone is enough to warm touya's body entirely with love.

"alright then."

touya keeps his word, just like he always has. he carries you into the apartment bridal style just to hear you laugh again, he lights a candle for your bath and massages your shoulders and temple as you bathe, and he doesn't even bat an eye when you flick through your tv shows and select pucca. no, he settles into your side and passes you his favorite blanket instead.

touya makes mistakes often—all the time, actually. it was his specialty, but he liked to blame his miscalculations on bad luck or the universe working against him. but, then again, it didn't make sense for the universe to be working against him if he had you—a gift to breathe life back into him, the light of his life, divine intervention, if you will.

he'll work on himself to be better for you, and you'll recognize his efforts and dote on him accordingly. you make touya somewhat civilized and human, and for that, he is forever grateful.

[scraftyisthebest]

Thinking back to the first time Spinel stepped into action, which is when he stole Liko's pendant through a trap and memory wiping. It stands out more in hindsight because his methods are so dishonorable and almost cowardly that unlike Amethio (and later Coral, Sidian, and Chalce), no one in the RVT had any respect for him and actively insulted him, and even his own peers in the Explorers mocked him and made it clear they don't respect his methods or his character.

Coral, Sidian, and Chalce talked for the first time in the episode when he failed and pointed out flaws in his character, which are actually quite accurate. And when you consider how the three of them are in hindsight, their mockery of him fits.

Coral: Laughs her ass off, pointing out how the guy who's "prepared for everything" failed and slipped up.

Coral is the exact opposite of him. She doesn't plan or prepare for anything. She goes all in head-on, she's bold and brave, she acts on a whim (and on impulse), and she gladly takes risks for the sake of triumph. She's impulsive, but adaptable to situations and is head-on and aggressive precisely because she doesn't plan.

So she has no respect for the guy who meticulously plans things, takes zero risks, and refuses to deviate from his plans because he's so afraid of taking risks.

Sidian: Curtly and coldly points out how Spinel was foiled by tunnel vision

That's right. Spinel was foiled by tunnel vision. He's a brilliant schemer but he's so full of himself and overconfident that he has tunnel vision and cannot foresee any cracks and holes in his plans. Sidian, although somewhat ruthless at times, is humble and is thus not foiled by tunnel vision, because he has sound judgment and remains calm. Even if he loses he gracefully accepts defeat.

So he has no respect for the arrogant shithead who cannot foresee gaps in his plans, and loses his composure the moment things don't go according to plan.

Chalce: Decides to ask Spinel about what he knows. Spinel deflects and says "Read my report, that's all I know". Chalce knows that's not true and that he's hiding things. "I see, you're being cautious. Or shall I say, cowardly".

She's the calm and smart intellectual of the group, and she tries to pry this lowly man for information, but she knows he's hiding shit, being dishonest and refusing to share information that he personally doesn't want to share. Chalce notes there's caution, if not downright cowardice, in his choice not to disclose the full scope of what he knows, which she sees through and can catch, and points out to his face, highlighting Spinel's lowliness.

Side note but much later after this Amethio, Spinel's biggest hater, throws his own insult at him too lmao.

"Spinel, that worm". Amethio, who like the other three non-Spinel admins, is at least honest and attacks head-on, straight up calls Spinel a "worm".

----

And before that on the RVT's end they have absolutely no respect for this despicable worm.

Roy and Dot have zero respect for this rat of a human being.

Friede was straight up pissed at this lowlife sewer rat. "You're awfully shy, aren't you? Are you too afraid to face me? Come out here and show your fucking face!"

Dot showing her haughty and snobbish side haha.

"Hey, you arrogant shithead! You said we don't have the slightest chance of winning, right? Well guess what man, we just beat your ass!"

Taunting him and rubbing it in his face, yeah Dot!

This weak man got pissed at Dot's taunt.

"Ugh...these fucking rookie children beat me! Ugh! I can't believe I have to send my beloved Umbreon on these...children!"

---

A lot of stuff but I just love how everyone has a very low opinion of Spinel as a person, whether peer or foe. No one respects this man. As far as everyone is concerned, he's filth, subhuman trash, and a rat and they're up and front in saying it.

Uruto and especially Liko, it's your turn next to insult this disgusting lowlife. I know Uruto being as loud about his thoughts as he is will have absolutely nothing nice to say about Spinel. Liko rarely insults anyone, but she has every reason to verbally eviscerate this man at some point.

[c0mput3r-k1ss3r]

Thanks for responding!! I'm gonna copy-paste a few questions I have added to this post in a different reblog

Wouldn't the term desirdae or dissomae (I think that's the term) be more accurate?

What about those "subliminal" videos I saw a few times? Those that say they can turn you into your transID? I don't know about you, but in my opinion, those are a bit fucked up, and can cause people to delude themselves into thinking something actually did change from a 20 minute video on YouTube. Which can be pretty bad for one's mental health, speaking as someone who has deluded themselves over similar things in the past.

A lot of transIDs and Radqueers I see entirely support harmful transitioning, which I, respectfully, don't think is a good idea. I've seen transnazis try to bring back Nazism and Nazi Germany (which, especially because I come from a Jewish family, made me severely uncomfortable), I've seen transabusive people talk about how happy they got from beating the shit out of someone or their plans to do so in the future, and I've seen so many people from those two communities support that and encourage it. I am all for CNC and kinky shit, hell, I'm into it as well, but when a desire to be truly harmful is involved, it can get out of hand. It can't be practiced safely. And sure, setting up a safeword or something similar is absolutely possible, but if someone has such frequent fantasies or even sees themself as someone who should be abusive, I think the trust that is required for a lot of that falls apart. How do you know they're gonna stop when the safeword was used? They want to be harmful, and now, with your consent, you can't really stop them. I hope I'm making it clear enough.

How is transdisabled and transneurodivergent "ethical"? I am disabled and neurodivergent, and I find it honestly a bit mocking. I've seen TikToks and posts on how to "act neurodivergent/disabled" and it honestly feels so belittling. I've experienced really bad shit as a neurodivergent and disabled person, and the fact that those people think/want to be that, without having gone through it, feels honestly like a big "fuck you". you can't get autism because you want to, you can't have joint pain because you want to. It's stuff you either have or you don't. I don't get the desire to be neurodivergent or disabled, but using the term "trans" for it is so so misleading. You aren't "transitioning" into a neurodivergency or disability, you just want to have it. (Which is why I think desirdae is a more accurate term)

What about the glorification of a lot of things? I've seen transIDs glorify what they identify as. I hope you understand why glorifying disability, fascism, neurodivergency, specific races, being abusive/abused, etc is harmful.

Okay. I genuinely want a respectful TransID person to reblog this or send me an ask (preferably off anon so we could hold a conversation using reblogs)

I'm very interested in knowing why you see TransIDs as not harmful and your opinions on them.

This is coming from a person who has been in several uncomfortable interactions with transnazis, transharmful, and several other transIDs.

I genuinely want to understand, and I'm posting this with an open mind, because I do want to try and understand your perspective here, too.

I've seen a LOT of anti TransID stances and explanations and such, but I think it's unfair to take a stance when I have no idea what the other side is saying. I learned that with the plural community in the context of endogenic systems.

So please, any TransID person that's willing to be respectful and calm for the entire conversation and willing to help me understand your side too, my ask box and the reblogs of this post are open, please tell me!

[washingtonwhitemarkiplier]

IS THAT THE BEST YOU'VE GOT?!

[book-lover85]

Stay at home dad and artist on commission Keefe

[goldensakuma]

i am in. Immense Pain

[seventh-district]

“Why’s he call you Darlin’?”

on my knees begging my brain to stop trying to associate this song with Sam

[the-lonely-human]

I love Sonic games cause nobody has any clue wtf is happening half the time.

They are all just doing their own thing when they all randomly meet up, each knowing about 2% of the plot, and then the worlds ending and Eggman is up to his shit again, time to beat him with the power of friendship woohoo!

[maximusboltaqon]

sometimes i start to like gorgon a little bit too much and have to remember the alecto storyline again and go ohhhh right. i would kill him with my fists if he were real.

[lovelywingsart]

'It's time to face your fear 'Cause when your time has come and gone I'll be the one to carry on And you can throw me to the wolves 'Cause I am undefeatable

I'm hanging on to the other side I won't give up 'til the end of me I'm what you get when the stars collide Now face it, you're just an enemy'

'Undefeatable' - Kellin Quinn (yes- one of the songs from Sonic Frontiers.)

-

Ok, yeah, this wasn't initially song inspired, but then I thought about it and it just kinda went there LASFDJSKD Anyway, the boys and their weapons, plus my own little updates to the Asteroid Wispon because I thought it looked cool uwu (i.e. the name 'Asteroid' makes me think of space, so I kept the indigo color and made it look like a lil galaxy and honestly I love it even more)