#event: snowstorm

[lucie-newman]

She paused outside, despite the cold, trying not to be obvious when her gaze halted on him. "Well, I hope that's not true. If not for me, then for Archie." She dropped her bags in the backseat, passing him a small smile as he held the door open for her. "And that, Mase, is why we do those wellness checks and treat you like a 90-year-old grandpa." She slipped into the car without complaint.

"I don't think that version will ever truly exist again outside of the students." Maybe it was cruel to say even heartbreaking. Mason had his moments but he was never going to be social butterfly of the family. Every time he thought he had two steps forward, his mind took him ten steps back. "I'll be fine." he confirmed. He never wanted anyone to worry about him. "You and I both know I probably won't so let's not make promises kiddo." He held the passenger door open for her and took the cart back.

[diz-eaze]

; yandere albedo.

the people of mondstadt know you. born and raised in the city of freedom, they've seen you grow from a small, boundless child into the refined adult you are today. your next door neighbor practically knows your daily routine by now: at 7:00AM you'll open your room window to let in the fresh air, then get ready. by 7:30AM you'll come barreling out of your house, dressed in your uniform and already heading off to the knights of favonius' headquarters as the acting grandmaster's assistant.

sara from good hunter will have your breakfast-to-go already prepared by the time you drop by. your usual, she'd say with a smile as she hands it off to you. you greet the local bard with gradient hair, and you'll bow down in respect should you encounter the cavalry captain, kaeya. amber high fives you by the headquarters entrance, and you encourage noelle when you see her struggling with training.

in your free time, you'll patrol around the peaceful city, looking out for any civilians that need the knights of favonius for mundane help. you encounter sneaky cats, dogs begging for treats, and dandelions scattering in the cool breeze. by sunset, you drop by timaeus' alchemy bench to see what he's been up to, and then retreat back to your little house.

you leave your mark on mondstadt that way, little bits and pieces of you are constructed together from countless interactions every single day.

they know you from your uniform to your civilian clothes. they know you from the type of smile you wear down to the subtle flinch you do when conflict brews.

though, from your recent behavior, it seems their belief in knowing you stands incorrect. an eerily quiet day passed through the city without any citizen seeing you at least once. the day after that, your odd behavior began.

your mouth struggles with the intonation of common mondstadtian tongue. your legs often give out on you mid-walk, and you stand up shakily, reminiscent of a newborn fawn. your memory is hazy, struggling to correctly place names onto people you've known for years. sometimes, you even look surprised when addressed by your own name.

it's... so very odd. you're like a newborn, in a weird, roundabout way.

but soon enough, your oddity begins to wane off. as if the puzzle pieces of you were all merely scattered to the ground, and it was only a matter of time before you piece it all back together to return to your former self.

you melt into your former routine, as if nothing ever happened. your neighbor sees you punctually leave at 7:30AM, sara gives you your breakfast, you greet venti, and you bow down 90 degrees when you see kaeya. amber high-fives you, and noelle is appreciative of your support. you patrol and help citizens, you drop by timaeus' stall, and go back home when the sun is no longer visible.

your previous behavior looks like a rough patch amidst the seamless silk that is your life. it was certainly a weird era for you, and people brush it off as a delirium of some sickness.

everything is fine. you're back to normal, and that's all that matters.

albedo knows you, more than anyone in mondstadt could ever hope to do so. they know you by your uniform and civilian clothes. they know you by your mannerisms. but albedo knows your inner wardrobe, the articles of clothing that you've yet to show to the public. he knows what makes you tick and what brings you joy. he knows the psychology behind your mind, why you do the things that you do.

they all claim to know you, but he deems that as a false statement.

anyone who truly knows you would know by now that the you in mondstadt is nothing more than a fake - an imitation, created by his own hands. a synthetic human being just like him. their claim of knowledge on you is nothing more than surface-level information; they never bothered to dive into the whirlpool that is you.

had it been him on the clueless end, he would've sniffed out the imposter long ago, because of how deeply invested he is in your identity and existence. he would know just from a glance, a simple overlook of your imitation, before he deems it to be counterfeit.

yet they never even paused to think why you were gone for a day without an excused leave beforehand, why you started acting different.

it was reckless, he'll admit. he should have taught the synthetic you properly before dropping it off in mondstadt. should've fed it everything he knew about you. but it leaves a bitter taste on his synthetic tongue when he thinks about your imitation knowing just as much as him about you. this being is not you, despite the 1:1 appearance.

in the end, he chose to drop the being off to mondstadt just hours after successfully creating it. it'll learn through its environment and grow to adapt, he's sure of it.

ignorance is bliss; a peaceful slumber. he'll let the people of mondstadt believe that the person they're with from now on is the real you. not that albedo has any complaints about their denseness, however, things are better this way.

this serves as proof that albedo is the only one who loves the true you.

the original (Y/N), stranded high up on the snow-covered mountain that is dragonspine. he's your only source of company, the only one capable of lighting a bonfire and putting a thick blanket on you. your hands are bound behind you, a safety measure until he deems you trustworthy enough to untie in the near future.

your new home is here, in dragonspine, where you'll learn to live and love the relentless blizzard and frequent snowstorms. his trips down to mondstadt are cut considerably short, for he aches to part from you. he starts to bring more equipment and items back to the camp to provide you with entertainment.

and when night falls, once he sees you deep in sleep, he'll gently raise the blanket so that he can worm into your warm embrace. a safe haven that is incomparable to the bonfire crackling a few feet away.

if there's one thing he's grateful to his imposter for, it'd be implanting the idea of a replacement in his head.

AKA; you've heard of albedo creating a synthetic baby from a single strand of your hair, now have an albedo who created a synthetic (Y/N) so that the real one stays with him <3

[quixoticanarchy]

aughghhhh i hate Waiting Mode i need to just fast-forward to the event i'm Waiting for i have no use for these in-between hours

[conqueenror]

They HAVE to give us Albedo's second SQ/ Venti's second SQ/Mondstadt Interlude quest or anything like that during the Natlan cycle where some shit happens again in Mondstadt, involving Durin and Albedo, and please even more Rhinedottir lore thankyou, and Dragonspine and. Yk. They gave us the prologue, they HAVE to give us the story after all those years. Or what was it for then.

[nicholas-quinn]

He took comfort in the grip of Oliver's hand. Somehow or other, he never stayed in a sour mood around him. "Well, you've provided the wining and the dining," he stood to grab a second bottle, stopping only briefly to lean close and brush his words against Oliver's lips, "seems only fair I provide the bedding."

[3:13 A.M.]

He woke up to the wind, to the shuddering sounds of the house stiffening beneath the storm. He was warm, cocooned in blankets and - he felt the body beside him breathing steadily. Oliver. His arm was around the other man's waist, his forehead pressed between his strong shoulder blades, one of his legs slotted between both of Oliver's. They hadn't fallen asleep like this. The wine was heavy in their limbs by the time they stumbled toward bed; they'd passed the taste of it back and forth between languid kisses. They were too tired for more, and slowly he'd dragged himself to one side of the bed, put his head on the pillow and dropped into dreams. He must have found Oliver in sleep. He must have been searching for warmth. He knew just then that he should unwrap himself from Oliver, but the other man was pliant in his arms and Nicki ached not to. He's sleeping, he thought, it's fine. Just this once. He'd forgotten how comforting it was to wake up tangled in someone. Just this once. He pressed a kiss to Oliver's back, soft as a wish, tucked his arm a touch tighter, closed his eyes and imagined (just this once) what it might be to call this man his. 

Oliver smiled back at him. "I'd like that," he stated with a nod. He was watching Nicki pour out the wine for them when the lights finally gave out, and didn't come back on. It was dark, cold, and quiet for a moment. He looked up at the other man and squeezed his hand back, giving him a small smile. His eyes remained on Nicki's as he spoke and he mentioned a second bottle of wine. "Please do. If I didn't know better, you were trying to wine and dine me before bedding me," he said with a slight smirk.

[drageekeksi5]

Open Questions in 2.3. Shadows amidst Snowstorms

Well into Natlan, and I still can’t stop thinking about what happened in V. 2.3 Shadows amidst Snowstorms. This time-limited event was such a masterpiece which left us with so many questions. Let’s have a look at the event, because for a game, that usually lore-drops with such an unrealistic trust in truthfulness, this quest left so many open questions and uncertainties. In my opinion, this starts very early on: the rustling we hear in Dragonspine.

When we ascend the mountain to look for Amber (even though I barely cared for that side quest), we hear some strange rustling. We follow the noise but find nothing and eventually blame the noise on Albedo, who shortly after appears. I think now we can blame the rustling noise on Albedo’s camp being robbed by Susbedo, but that throws in the question: how did Albedo not hear anything himself? He was closer to his camp than we were. He says he was gathering inspiration for a painting, but we never hear of it again. Surely, he later confesses to us that this investigation will capacitate him entirely, but there is a painting session later with the traveler. It’s not a strong suspicion (maybe he wants to work without the distraction of the travelers on his painting), but he is still acting a bit strange in my opinion, though he can’t be Susbedo at that time because of the birthmark.

Leaving that aside, we investigate the thief and Albedo ends up entering the cave alone. We have our talk with Susbedo, no doubt here, but that means Albedo is still in the cave. As annoying as Paimon can be, she is right: What is Albedo doing in there for so long? Is he guarding the other exit the entire time? I somehow really doubt that, and by that point, Albedo is more suspicious to me than the actual Susbedo.

Now, Eula accuses him of kidnapping Joel. I doubt that highly. Likewise, I doubt that it’s Susbedo’s doing since he was distracting the travelers. He’s got a better alibi than Albedo himself. It’s probably Whopperbedo though, which brings another question into the mix. What’s his deal with Joel? Albedo explains it with “meh, everything’s strange on Dragonspine” and it’s enough to stop the others from questioning it further, but with Joserf’s sudden return later, I think there’s more to it and Albedo is purposely hiding it. We’ve seen from various quests that Albedo is perfectly able to conceal his knowledge and keep the others around him guessing. Usually, he admits to knowing later on, but not here.

I feel like from here, we receive a lot of honest and forthcoming actions from Albedo, an act that helps us restore our trust in him. To most travelers, he probably wasn’t even suspicious. We believe him that there’s an imposter, we met Susbedo ourselves, noticed the difference, but still, Albedo confiding in us strengthens our trust in him. In hindsight, as my distrust has grown, I do wonder why he confided in us in the first place. I don’t think he lied to us, but I do question his motives. Maybe I’m getting paranoid at this point.

Cut to the avalanche, Albedo jumping after Bennett to save him. Nothing suspicious here, I just love how it highlights the difference between Susbedo, who fled instead of saving Bennett, to Albedo, who risks his life to protect Bennett. I don’t think Albedo ever gambled with his life in this bit, he seems very chill about it, too. Naturally, I get suspicious. Many of Albedo’s capabilities are a mystery to us. Remember when we did the flying test in event 1 and we asked how Albedo reached the destination? He said with the help of alchemy. He never elaborates on that, and we don’t question it. I do. We have absolutely no clue what Albedo is truly capable of and that doesn’t narrow down our theories.

The game with Whopperbedo and Albedo takes place. Whopperbedo is more detached, but still somewhat intelligent and capable of blending in. Makes me wonder what that flower is capable of. Is he capable of following orders? As in, kidnapping a child and bringing him to a certain someone? And again, we don’t know what Albedo is up to at that moment. We can assume he is following us from the shadows, since he steps into the fight before everything turns bad. Though notice that the fight went on longer and he didn’t step in then. Was he waiting to surprise Whopperbedo when it least expects it (risking that his friends might get injured in the prior fight), or was he maybe not so present as we thought? I just find it hard to believe that he would watch the others fight the imposter alone when he could’ve lifted the ruse much earlier. Remember when I brought up fast traversing from event 1? We don’t know what he’s capable of, but we do know he’s capable of that.

What follows is, excuse my language, a shitload of bullshit. I don’t trust a single word he told the others. He dismisses everything that happened on Whopperbedo and Durin, completely ignoring Susbedo. Sure, it makes no sense to bring that up now. The others don’t need to hear it and become suspicious again, but that makes the entire conversation rather insignificant for us. I think there is some truth in it, but it’s very shallow and misleading. That’s why the next scene at the camp is much more important to us, as the ones who know more.

Now, we enter really bizarre territory. Not Albedo’s story of creation, that’s actually interesting and beautiful, but again, what are his motives in confiding in us? Friendship? Because we're "different, too"? And something unrelated to the quest that I’ve been asking myself for a long time: how does Albedo know all that? People have been speculating about his creation for a long time, some thinking he came to being as he currently is, but the Hexenzirkel event hinted an embryo form of Albedo. His constellation hints to an embryo, and people are still trying to say he came to being as a fucking grown-ass man boy. DOUBT. So how does he know of his creation story so well? His Master didn’t even teach him Khemia (according to his character story 5 he taught himself). Maybe he learnt that from her notes as well, but who is to say he actually perceived everything right? Also, wouldn’t that imply that he is probably able to create a human being himself? Different story, but you see where I’m going with this. Albedo’s entire character is very suspicious, and still we’re inclined to trust him, and by him confiding in us, he hammers the nail on the coffin. (PS: Love the slight no one would believe you anyways, like, Albedo doesn’t feel threatened at all)

Then, he brings up the storytelling, which makes this thing even more interesting. We already can’t discern truth from fake, why is he inviting fiction into that? It allows him to tell the bigger story with Susbedo, but mind you, he could’ve done that without all that. For some reason he still fools Paimon, beats me how. But the thing is, this sequence is after the cutscene, I paraphrase, Albedo and Susbedo have met before that scene. And we have zero idea how that meeting went. We know Albedo drew his weapon, and we know Susbedo was watching him. He could’ve watched our entire private talk, meaning he could actually fill in Albedo in the storytelling section.

What if Susbedo was telling the story and not Albedo? Because the quick “don’t worry subject 1 got rid of subject 2” is too fucking suspicious. Also, why would Gold succeed on the first try and then create a faulty subject? I may be stuck on technicalities, but it makes no sense that Albedo would be called subject 1. Even more interesting, he says “I should’ve known, Master’s subject in the dragon’s belly.” Was he there when that happened? And since when did he have his suspicions? This is only the first time he voices them, but maybe he was investigating that much earlier during one of the many times we were separated.

Now, what speaks for Albedo being the storyteller of the scene? I do believe it was Albedo, but I want to think this through evidence-based. First of all, Albedo bluntly joking he’d use Paimon’s story to scare others is very Albedo-like. A bit strange, but I do feel like it resembles his charismatic character. Also, the star-mark, but by this point, I feel it has become insignificant. If Susbedo has really listened in earlier, he knows about our storytelling contest and how the traveler recognized Albedo. He learned of the importance of the birthmark. Albedo says it in his storytelling “[Subject 2] would secretly replace the Subject One of everyone’s memories, and inherit his identity, residence, clothing, sword, name, and friends.” In that sense, in the last part of his plan, he would have everything, and together with the mark, he’d fool us, too. Imo, he has no need to dispose of us if he finds the cheat code to fool us.

Then, Albedo talks about gardening, and that’s important, because he refers to that later as well. What I think of as more important: Albedo tells us to beware of Rhinedottir’s creatures. He tells us to beware of him. When you think about the many occasions where his unpredictability and hidden capabilities show, it’s really important. This could be a moment of self-awareness where he realizes that he maybe doesn’t deserve as much trust as he receives from us, but that’s ultimately what hooks me to the belief that this is our Albedo. His statement mirrors the famous “loosing control” plea from event 1. I have my hunch that this is the true Albedo, but we can’t be certain in this scene. I feel like this is the first scene where we can’t be sure who is who.

That is, imo, why it hits the traveler so hard at the alchemy booth in Mondstadt when they actually realize that, without that mark, they have no clue anymore. Usually, we as the players could trust the traveler to guide us by their skeptical reactions, but here, the traveler doesn’t find clarity. They form theories, just like us, but they don’t know.

So, who ist that in the end scene? Susbedo or Albedo? Before that, let’s dive into the pre-occurring topic: Joserf, Joel’s father. He’s been missing for quite a while, before 1.2. actually, and only returns in 2.3. seemingly out of nowhere. With no memories. It’s very suspicious and has led many to theorize that this is actually Susbedo. What speaks for this theory? > The impostor’s prior interest in Joel (if we acknowledge that Whopperbedo worked under Susbedo’s command and instead of being driven mad by Durin, which, btw, I call bullshit on. You can't blame everything on Durin). > Susbedo’s intent on living a real life.

But what was Albedo’s story then about? And why would Susbedo pose as Albedo up until now? He could pretend to be Joserf from the get-go. I feel like, a lot of that would be much clearer would we know what happened between Albedo and Susbedo – did they fight or talk? Whose idea was it to become Joserf? Also, who knew how to recreate Joserf’s appearance? Probably Albedo, but how did Albedo never find Joserf on Dragonspine? Isn’t he the investigator of Mondstadt? He knows various shortcuts in a cave, but he can’t find one man? If anybody should be able to find a missing person in Dragonspine, it'd be Albedo. The entire Joserf issue throws many questions and inconsistencies into the mixture, so much that I wonder why Hoyoverse even decided to bring it up.

But let’s throw that all aside and assume Susbedo is indeed Joserf. That would mean, he’s got no time to prank the Traveler in Mondstadt, he has a life now. Turning back to Albedo’s appearance would be an unnecessary risk. Not impossible, but what would be his message? To show the traveler that he could still be Albedo? To what end? It just makes no sense, he didn’t hold any animosity when they were talking that one time, why would he want to scare them now? Or feel the need for a power move?

So it’s Albedo alright? Well, why would Albedo leave his camp when he told us he’d have some things to do? Just to prank us? I wouldn’t put it past him actually. And his message? “Beware traveler, if this mark is the only thing that makes you recognize me, you’re on thin ice.” It fits to his prior message to be careful of Rhinedottir’s creatures and Dragonspine. The traveler brushed it off, somewhat, and maybe this is him showing them why this could be a dangerous mistake, even at the cost of making himself suspicious. Could he even hide his mark? Probably. Remember, his capabilities are endless.

What about gardening? Albedo isn’t a gardener, but neither is Susbedo. He’d probably suck so bad as a gardener since he’d be unable to weed out his garden without having an existential crisis. It’s again a metaphor, fitting to their prior conversation. So it must be the same person from before? Probably, but we do know that Susbedo had a very nice spot to overhear everything being said.

Albedo messing with Paimon is probably the strongest indicator of him being the real Albedo, but after everything that has happened, we can’t put our money in it. Also, Albedo could solve her problem if he wanted, but at no point he chooses to do so. Maybe he is working on his pedagogical skills.

The event was meticulously planned so that in the end, no one can say with certainty what happened between the two subjects. If they wanted us to know, they’d let us witness more of their meeting. Instead, they throw at us gardening metaphors, unrealistic (but technically not impossible) homecomings, untasteful pranks, and a whole lot of foreshadowing on Albedo’s and Dragonspine’s future. Why should Dragonspine become inhabitable again? No clue, but think of Simulanka, where they teased Durin’s reawakening. What could happen, if Durin were to actually awaken?

So many questions, so few answers. They probably have something big reserved for Albedo, but his foreshadowing never really makes room to believe it’s something positive. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Do you actually trust Albedo? This has nothing to do with like or dislike, I am a dedicated Albedo main myself and I’d go a very long way to protect him from his dark foreshadowing, but do I trust him? I think you can guess by my theorizing.

[jackelopeofthelake]

The US rn

[ray-of-the-abyss]

i hope we finally get another albedo event this winter. or maybe even a pernament quest considering that this whole durin resurrection thing seems very relevant...

[noa-markam]

"I'll tell the postman, if you want. The grocer," she started peppering her words in between kisses, "the dentist. Waiters. Even town hall at our next meeting." The wind howled once more outside the window. She couldn't have cared. She felt safer than she had in a long time. She knew exactly why that was, and she pulled Darrius to her for a deeper kiss. They were losing this thread of communication, abandoning it to what could be said physically, but before she let that happen, she pulled back. She told him, "You're my favorite person, Dare."

"Of course you haven't," he let out his own laugh against her skin, shaking his head just a bit, and knowing that neither of them had any idea what they were talking about now, other than music. The band. Noa being the person in the audience that was there for him, and Darrius could admit that it had been a long, long time since that had happened. He was normally the nerdy guy going home alone. But now… "You might have to tell Alec that one," he laughed, before it turned into a snorting chuckle as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "Or Che, when I play with him."

[tctteredwings]

for: @bhqextras location: kitty & brew, brooklyn, just after nightfall

After the snow had begun to fall, the coffee shop had pretty much turned to complete chaos, a constant stream of people hunting for somewhere warm to get a drink ( and the added bonus of cats for company helped, too, of course ). Leo was used to a busy day, of course he was, but he wasn't quite so used to so many people turning up without some kind of prior booking, which meant it had been non-stop since midmorning right through to nightfall.

He was in the process of tidying up the place ready to close, a few stragglers enjoying the last of their drinks, when without warning the power went out, plunging the shop into darkness. Naturally, there was a pause, hushed murmurs, and the sound of pottery and spoons clattering, and then instinctively he called out, "No one move. The cats." A second later he'd switched on the torch on his phone, doing a quick sweep of the room and those remaining. "We have a generator, be right back..." And then he disappeared through the doors into the back. The power wouldn't last very long, but it would help for now.

[dkniade]

Me casually watching a scene from the second Windblume just to see how Albedo and Klee interact

(~11:51)

Mona: “Who are you! Who dares imitate my master!?”

Alice, (imitating Rhinedottir?): “Ahem… Hmph, and what of imitation and mimicry? It has always been a fool’s errand to mimic and learn from humanity…”

(Learns that “fool’s errand” means “a task with no hopes of success”)

Me, who’s been thinking about Shadows Amidst Snowstorms today:

(On the assumption that Alice is imitating Rhine since the themes mentioned were also in Shadows Amidst Snowstorms)

(Even though it’s just Alice imitating Rhinedottir, why does that sound so harsh)

(Likewise Dorian and Whooperbedo mimicked Albedo’s behaviour but Dorian especially didn’t accept that humans are imperfect (hence perhaps subconsciously erasing his mark))

Me: wait, lemme just check how it was originally

Chinese: “咳咳…哼，模仿又如何？对人类的描摹和学习本就是无意义的愚行…”

Me, after fumbling with the definitions of 描摹 and 愚行: “Ahem… Hmph, and what of imitation? It has always been a meaningless act of folly to copy and learn from humanity…”

THAT’S SO HARSH… If this was ever her reaction to the events of Shadows Amidst Snowstorms (in which everything Dorian did was in hopes of ultimately blending in as a human and have friends) Dorian would probably have a crisis

TL;DR: started with casually observing Albedo & Klee’s dynamic, ended up overthinking a line about Rhinedottir and circling back to Dorian again

[lucie-newman]

LUCIE: (softly so as not to wake Archer) You'd think they wouldn't come out with personalities like that, but it's stamped on you, I guess. minute you're born. He's lucky his has some of his dad in him. With any luck, it will help mellow him out

(Pausing as the wooden rocking chair Cage made for her creaks softly under her weight)

.LUCIE: You can't think about it like that. What ifs and what could haves. It will drive you crazy. What we got is right now and I'm happy for it.

(A longer pause, the voice from the background muffled and growing quiet to full quiet when another door shuts). SAV: He's half you so, I'm sure I'll like the other half just fine. (Sav lets out a light laugh, then pauses) SAV: I um — I guess I'm just... sorry I haven't met Archie yet. Even I mean, before all this, with us. I should've, by now.

[wiretism]

Dorian after being the #1 member of the gold family and being the coolest and the most morally grey while also being tragic where you can understand his motives and his reasonings and yet people still disregard his whole character for a plethora of stupid reasons.

[maccaulayblake]

Who: Open. (@bhqextras) Where: Glow, Brooklyn

The power was going out on and off but the place was still riding on, for a Tuesday with expected bad weather the Drag Queens still showed and Glow drew a decent-sized crowd. The show must go on - as was the theme of the night, and lucky enough (for now) the generator was proving a worthy investment. Was it smart? No, probably not. Was he out there shoveling the main entrance every half hour? Also no. That much was clear when he stepped outside. Left with minimal staff, choosing to stay or go much earlier. The snow still beating down as hard as it was a couple hours ago when one of the only few people within eyesight came near, catcalling out "Ow ow, lookin' fucking fly. Fly and frozen. Should come in...strong drinks. Got a generator..."

[gcld-rushes]

      ・   ✦   ・   𝐆𝐂𝐋𝐃-𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐒 /   *    (   for @serendipitcs   )    

"Robin, my sincere apologies for disappearing. It seems the storm had other plans for my evening..." he said with a sheepish smile, knowing the late hour and the impending closing of the diner were not ideal circumstances. The night had taken an unexpected turn, much like the darkened streets and unforeseen obstacles that had greeted Colson on his way back from Stardust to his apartment and then back to Stardust again. The snowstorm had lent an ethereal quality to the city, transforming familiar streets into a pristine winter wonderland. However, the allure of the snow-covered city belied the challenges it posed, from slippery sidewalks to obscured paths.

His eyes scanned the familiar faces of the diner, settling on Robin behind the counter. Colson was a regular at Stardust, a fact not lost on the staff who had come to recognize him not just by his order ( the patty melt- with two slices of artisanal rye bread, layered with caramelized onions, melted Swiss cheese, and a special house-made aioli ) but by name. He approached the counter, apologetic for his late return. He reached into his coat pocket, producing a wallet, and pulled out a few bills. "I had to navigate a bit of a labyrinth out there to get this to you. Please accept my apologies, and let me settle up for the meal I had hours ago." Colson's tone was genuinely apologetic, aware that the staff had likely been preparing to close up for the night. "A tip too, for you for waiting up..."

[monards]

maybe this year we'll finally get an albedo event