#every time i remember that line i glitch a bit because what do you MEAN kit's first response to seeing ty was thinking oh yeah

[clockwork-carstairs]

remember when kit first met ty and he felt a shock of recognition go through him before marvelling at how beautiful ty was. despite being conditioned to hate the nephilim, despite thinking if he ever met one the first thing he’d do was hurt them. but kit meets ty and his gut reaction is only to think, i recognise you. all while ty has a knife pressed against his throat btw. and then kit goes on to marvel at the loveliness of ty’s voice and feels like he’s in a daze, like a bright light has gone off in his eyes. something about soulmates and meeting someone and feeling like you’ve met them before. seeing someone for the first time and thinking, i know you. and that’s on kit and ty and soulmatism

[burnt-by-marigolds]

A (Bitter?) Taste of Power

I’m currently in Act III of my very first BG3 playthrough. I’m enjoying myself immensely in a way I didn’t foresee; I guess I had been too tired of AAA games to believe BG3 could impress me. And yet, there’s a marvel around nearly every corner of the story.

For example, the little cutscene in the flophouse between Astarion and his siblings. I almost missed it entirely, because in my party, Shadowheart has Lathander’s Blood equipped at all times, and that thing emits light. So before I even registered there were any vampire spawns in the vicinity, two mysterious NPCs – Dalyria and Petras, as I was not-so-soon going to learn – went up in a puff of blood-red smoke, even while standing behind a $#%! wall (praise our lord Lathander and his light that shines through solid obstacles). If not for Astarion’s comment, I would probably think it was just some weird glitch on the periphery of my screen.

Anyway, several in-game hours later (and some online searching) I realized I’m not going to meet them again elsewhere and if I want the cutscene, I need to go back to a way earlier save.

But I don’t regret it. The encounter was worth every bit of lost game progress.

It’s no secret Astarion has a penchant for casual violence and cruelty. Kicking squirrels, using mind control to tell others to gut themselves – he may approve of all these actions, should Tav choose to commit them. Enough sitting around – let’s go hurt someone is one of Astarion’s lines said with such playfulness it makes me chuckle every time. And yet, at least during my playthrough, I haven’t seen him act brutally outside of combat. The spawn would approve if my Tav were a bully (he isn't), but up until now, he never did anything himself.

I suppose during Act I and II Astarion is just this kind of a mean kid who likes to watch from the sidelines, hiding behind a tougher ally, and snicker quietly. He’s probably still too scared, still feeling too weak, still trying to get the hang of his new situation. At least, that’s how I imagine it.

Travelling with Tav and others empowers him, little by little. It’s a good thing in general, but there are bumps in the road. As I watched Astarion manhandle Petras, I realized what happens if the work stops halfway – if Astarion gets confident enough to act on his own, but not confident enough to understand he doesn't need to be cruel to show others his worth.

People who are truly self-assured don't need to prove this by outbursts of brutality. They can afford to show clemency. The scene with Petras and Dal shows Astarion still isn't free of Cazador’s influence, as he keeps confusing cruelty with power and power with self-worth. So he has grown enough to take action (instead of letting others handle things and watching from the sidelines), but the underlying motivation remains to avoid appearing weak. Deep inside, there's still anxiety, fear and self-loathing.

There's one more factor that plays a significant role in this scene. Astarion acts tough in front of his siblings, because now he has backup. 

You have no idea what I can do. The sun can’t harm me, Cazador can’t compel me. I don’t need to fear him anymore.

Boastful, isn’t he? So different from the time when my Tav first suggested disposing of Cazador. I still remember how Astarion snapped at Yae for not knowing what he’s saying or who he’d be facing.

But why do I get the feeling Astarion is trying to convince himself as much as he’s trying to convince others? And that he’s trying to impress his companions as much as he’s trying to intimidate Dal and Petras?

Soon enough, the façade crumbles, as Astarion starts to discuss the event with Tav. He gets defensive, he comes up with a whole range of excuses, explanations and justifications. He may even say he's capable of doing the right thing once in a while, as if he deserves a medal for not burning Petras to ash.

I think a part of him knows he overreacted. And the insistent voice in his head tells him other companions will judge him for that and abandon him. The fear finally resurfaces at the end of the dialogue:

We are a team, aren’t we? You’re still with me?

Still placing his worth in extrinsic things, like the support of his new friends. Still so scared of being alone. Remember that memory of the year spent sealed away in darkness?

This is such a potent cutscene; it gave me a lot to chew on, especially regarding headcanons and the relationship between my Tav and Astarion. Yae is no saint himself, but the display of unnecessary cruelty gives him pause. He may need time to process what happened, and temporarily keep more distance from Astarion, which the latter will – of course – read in the worst way possible. There will be misunderstandings, angst, arguments, reconciliations.

But this is a story for a different time.

⊱✿⊰

Postscript:

The date on the file tells me I've written this text over a month ago. 

But then anxiety kicked in. What if I'm wrong? I haven't even finished the game once, I have no right to join in the conversation! I know nothing, I haven't played any of the origin stories! What if there's that obscure bit of dialogue you only get by playing the game for an umpteenth time in a very specific way that sheds entirely new light on this scene? I'm not as smart/observant/articulate/whatever as others!

It took me almost six weeks to realize I can't let my anxious brain win this one. Even if I'm “wrong” (can personal interpretations and impressions really be “wrong”?), this is a testament to how much I've grown to enjoy the game and love the characters and their stories. So, if you've reached the end of this post and even read this postscript – thank you. This is an important step in my fight against the Anxious Brain.

[prismkat]

⭐️any fic!⭐️

WHEW I forgot what the specific ask game for this said but I felt bad leaving this in the ask box so I figured as I continue the next SYB chapter (starting with rereading the fic for consistency) I’ll just highlight some points that I had secret meanings for when writing or whatever

Um read more for spoilers I guess if you feel like sticking to your own interpretations then you’re free to do that but this is just a chapter by chapter (not rlly) list of my own intentions

Also sorry if the chapters r inaccurate I kept forgetting to title what chapter was what

(Update from future prism: this is long)

Chapter one: oogly boogly or whatever

“Dee walked down a street, one she didn’t recognise, calling out her brother’s name. She didn’t remember where she was, or how she got here, or where anyone was. She assumed she must have gotten separated from her brother at some point, but when everywhere she walked looked the same, she couldn’t turn back and wait for him wherever she had lost him.

“Peter?” She called out her other brother’s name, beginning to feel scared. The road was almost pitch black, illuminated only by street lamps that were spaced out evenly, metres away from each other.”

This was based off of memory lane from omori!! This was a later bit actually where in the very original concept of the fic (like when it was meant to be a somewhat long one-shot before I realised that wasn’t going to work) where she actually did figure out the truth through a memory lane type deal. I scrapped it, but reused here because I didn’t know what to do with it

“She thought today was just going to be another day of watching the clock and counting down until it was time to go to bed so she could wake up and spend another day doing the exact same thing. However, when she woke up, she had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.”

No tidbits here, but I thought I’d bring attention to this.

Chapter two

“In her dreams when she saw Jack again, she would run up to him and tackle him in a hug, and they would sit down, and she would tell him everything he missed. All about her friends at school, what they would learn, the games she would play, and she would ask when he was coming back every single time.”

The Jack in her dreams was the real deal btw. I mean, that was my intention when writing it, and as far as I recall I never developed any lore that would require it to be retconned, so, yep, not sure if anyone realised this but that was totally him.

Oh yeah I’m also not going to highlight a specific line for this but Caroline’s accent in the fic is a Yorkshire accent, her entire character is based off of my own aunt so I thought it would be fun to give her one (+ I just felt she read a bit boring without it. Idk why)

Chapter five

“After they had finished washing up, Dee was ready to interview Peter, but he stopped to answer the phone. That left her and Caroline.”

This scene came before I had settled on Arcade’s existence! originally, i had in mind it was Henry calling. His intentions were dark, and I don’t think it would’ve been ooc for him in this fic, but he was originally seeing who was home so he could kill Dee because he just couldn’t have gotten away with it if William was around. I ended up changing it. I feel like arcade’s existence generally makes more sense, especially with the phone symbolism. Why? Shrugs

““Something felt off that day. I had a strong urge to call you two and make sure you were okay but I had slept in and had to get to work. I figured I was just being paranoid and that you guys would be fine… I don’t really want to think about what things could be like right now if I’d just risked being a little late to work.””

I felt I should also draw your attention to this. No particular reason

Chapter six

“”Happy Birthday, Dee!” It said, glitching slightly, but she still recognised who’s voice that was and gasped. “I can’t believe you’re six-years-old now, you’re growing up so fast! I hope it’s the best birthday you’ve ever had, and uhh, remember that I love you very, very much.” The audio glitched more the closer it got to the end, but she was thankful that after so long of not being used she could still make out clearly what he was saying.”

I hate this bit for how awkward it is, to be honest. But every time I’m itching to retcon it, I just think about how stupidly in character it is. Because like what are you actually meant to say on a birthday message. I’d have fucked up too

Chapter seven (aka explaining the symbolism in the trivial pursuit scene)

first things first ! Chapter was very much based on my absolutely hectic triv games with my own family. I hate it and love it at the same time. hence the chaotic energy. Though the cat never saved us like sparky did for Dee and Peter

“”Caroline reached for a card, reading it out. “In Greek Mythology, which flower sprouted from Hyacinthus’ spilled blood?””

a lot of people had deeper interpretations for this, and while I loved reading them, the truth was that purple hyacinths are associated with regret and sorrow. The reason this question was assigned to Peter was because he still very much blames himself over what happened to jack, regardless of if he killed himself or not. He’s never quite gotten over how he didn’t trust his gut and didn’t call that day.

“”What is the name of the deuteragonist of Richard Adams’ 1972 novel Watership Down? ””

said deuteragonist is Fiver, the main character’s brother. He has something in common with Jack, though it’s not the exact same. I won’t share. Go read the synopsis and you’ll see what I mean (/lh)

“Who is the author of the original Frankenstein novel?” Dee read out, flipping the card over to read the answer.”

Frankenstein’s monster. Jack. Need I say more?

“Another one about Greek Mythology?” He said. “Which creature from Greek Mythology is commonly pictured as a lion with a goat’s head protruding from its back and a tail ending in a snake head?”

Hahahaa… arcade’s real name….. ahahahaah

“He stared at her with beady eyes and she suddenly felt a sense of impending doom wash over her. “Do you want food?””

No comment.

“In her half conscious state, she could almost hear the phone ringing downstairs as she drifted back to sleep.”

I’m sure everyone gathered but the puppet in the dream was totally arcade and not jack, hence why the phone rung

Chapter eight

“”Aah! My face is being eaten a lot!””

gravity falls reference.

“She assumed it was probably Peter and Caroline checking in, or a friend calling. However, Sparky instantly stood up and began growling at the phone, hackles raised. “Woah, calm down.” Dee reassured him. “It’s just a phone! You hear it, like, all the time.””

Sparky’s violent reactions to the phone call is somewhat of a sixth sense thing. He can sense that they’re supernatural in nature, and though he doesn’t know who’s calling or why, he’s naturally on guard.

“Dee crossed her arms. “I don’t trust everyone! Like, I trust you. But Mr. Miller probably traffics pugs.””

Gravity falls reference

“”Some people-” He continued, “some people don’t even think about what they’re doing. They throw any sense of caution they could’ve had to the wind, and it’s over just like that. And I’ve seen it happen.””

Any guesses as to who he was talking about?

admittedly, when writing this, I was worried that this speech was ooc and it just wasn’t in his voice and grr. But yk what? Make that middle aged man feel worry. Make him feel concern for his kid I mean uh sister in law I mean random child who breaks into his diner

“Dee began to head out of the security office when they both heard someone enter the diner through the back door. They both peered around the corner, seeing Henry enter. He looked annoyed at something, and it was anyone’s guess as to what.”

Yeah he was looking for Dee. But sparky caused a ruckus so he left. That’s why he was barking when Dee tried to open the door and calmed down once she opened it. He couldn’t see who it was through the glass.

Chapter nine

“She sighed. “Man, why do circuses of all things have to have security? … We should beat up a clown.”

“ ... No? ”

“I’m all out of ideas then.””

I stole this from my friend this was my friend’s idea!!

hello if you’re reading this you know who you are

I was obsessed with the idea of the clown being Henry but it just didn’t work with my goal

Dee stood up, offering her hand out for him to take. “Watch and learn, brother.”

“Don’t call me that, please.”

Direct reference to dave always calling Dee sis in the flipside. See how you like it you little shit

“Well- we just got done practising for our main act, mitosis!”

I genuinely had zero clue for what I wanted out of the whole baby Dave scene so I was just making things up on the spot and it shows

Chapter 12

“All it takes is one little Timmy to catch sight of me and go running to his mom about seeing hellspawn in the arcade. Next thing you know, I’m out of commission and being dealt with a trusty axe.””

Haha.

“”…Letter?” Jack pondered quietly, tilting his head, before smiling again. “Oh, those! About that, Dee, I don’t feel like it’s a good idea to try to bring Peter into this.””

Arcade is trying so hard to be discreet about the fact that their only knowledge of the letters comes from seeing Dee carry it the day she went into the diner which they may or may not have seen through the eyes of spring bonnie

Chapter sixteen

“For a brief second, it looked like his words had gotten through to the Puppet, but they shook their head, “She won’t know she’s dying. She won’t even know that she’s dead. Just put your trust in me.””

Some people misinterpret this line. The way I see it (and wrote it, oops), arcade doesn’t want Dee to die. They don’t even necessarily wish harm upon her, they just think she HAS to for their plan to work, and this plan, whatever it is, is going to make dee’s death irrelevant anyway. I wonder what kind of plan or goal could do that…

Whew, I’m tired, and I don’t have much else to say for act one, and we’re not far deep enough into act two that I feel the need to clarify anything, so I’ll end it here!



[deliciousspecimen]

Is there a chance, and this is a crack one-shot, do one of Amity Blight accidently calling Charlie Mom? Its setting takes place during episode 3 of Season 1 with the trust exercises.

Also for an idea, instead of Amity being a witch she can be a Cat Sinner who died in the mid 1980s at 16. Just to make it a bit angsty along with some Odalia bashing.

A/N: LOLOL Sure, @beastkeeper91!!! Its a bit shorter than my normal works, but I figured that was okay, because It was only a silly little crack one-shot.

Trust Fall Trauma pt.1

pt.2

Sinner!Amity Blight x Hazbin Hotel.

Warnings: Toxic parent-child relationships, Trauma responses, Mild language.

Word Count: 1159

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

Charlie sighed, adjusting her clipboard as she rallied her little chaotic crew into the lobby.

“Alright!” she beamed with unnatural optimism. “Today’s team-building exercise is about trust!”

Groans erupted.

Charlie clapped. “It’s called a trust fall. One person falls back, the other catches them. Easy!”

That was when Amity Blight, one of the Hotel’s newer residents, felt her fur bristle.

She crossed her arms, tail flicking sharply. “That sounds like something invented by a corporate psychopath.”

“Exactly!” Charlie chirped. “Now partner up!”

It took some aggressive pairing (and a minor explosion), but soon everyone was reluctantly lined up. Amity ended up with Charlie.

Which… wasn’t terrible. Charlie was weirdly kind for someone born of literal Hell royalty. And she hadn’t yelled at Amity once, unlike what she was used to.

Charlie smiled softly. “You ready?”

“No,” Amity deadpanned. “But fine. Let’s get this over with.”

She turned, arms stiff at her sides, muttering, “If you drop me, I’m going to claw your face off.”

Charlie just laughed. “I got you, I promise.”

Amity hesitated for a moment. Then she let herself fall.

And Charlie caught her.

Effortlessly. Gently. Like she did this every day.

And something inside Amity broke.

A quiet, aching little thing she’d buried decades ago.

Her mouth opened before her brain could stop it.

“…Thanks, Mom.”

Silence.

Angel Dust howled with laughter.

Alastor raised an eyebrow.

Vaggie’s jaw hit the floor.

Charlie blinked. “Wait- did you just-?”

Amity’s ears flattened instantly, her face going crimson. “NO. NOPE. I- That wasn’t- Shut up-”

“Oh my-,” Angel wheezed. “She called Charlie Mom.”

“I am flattered,” Charlie said, cheeks pink.

“I hate all of you,” Amity growled, fur puffed up to max embarrassment mode.

She stormed off to the hallway, heart pounding like a jackhammer.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

She hadn’t called anyone “Mom” since she was alive. And even then- Odalia Blight didn’t count. That woman had been more CEO than mother.

She still remembered the “trust exercises” her mother used to do.

“Trust me, Amity. You’ll be grateful for this training someday.” “Trust me, darling, this pain is for your own good.”

She'd rather rot in Hell (which, technically, she was doing) than ever call Odalia "Mom" again.

But Charlie? Charlie, with her sunshine-and-rainbows smile and the way she caught Amity without hesitation? That moment cracked something fragile wide open.

She leaned against the wall, breathing hard, tail twitching with frustration and… something like grief.

“Hey.”

Charlie’s voice was soft as she walked up, keeping a gentle distance.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

Amity didn't look at her. “It’s fine. I just… glitched.”

“Everyone has glitches,” Charlie said. “I think that was really brave.”

Amity snorted. “Yeah, well. Don’t get used to it.”

Charlie smiled sadly. “I know what it’s like. To have a mom who doesn’t… feel like a mom.”

That made Amity freeze.

“I just want you to know,” Charlie added, “you’re safe here. No trust fall required.”

And for the first time in a long time, Amity felt something warm bloom behind her ribs.

“Thanks,” she said, quieter this time.

And then:

“But if you ever tell anyone about this, I do have claws.”

Charlie just laughed. “Your secret’s safe with me… kiddo.”

Amity groaned, facepalming. “Don’t push it.”

For the next three days, Amity Blight perfected the ancient art of Avoidance.

She mastered it with the elegance of a cat slipping under a door and the speed of a bat outta Hell.

If anyone walked into a room- she left it.

If Angel Dust started teasing her- she vanished.

If Alastor smiled at her too long- she bolted like someone had lit her tail on fire.

But Charlie?

Somehow, Charlie was the only one Amity didn’t avoid.

Which only made things worse- because now everyone noticed.

Vaggie caught on first.

She cornered Charlie in the kitchen over a burned pot of… Something..? It looked inedible.

“She keeps orbiting you,” Vaggie said, stirring aggressively. “Like a traumatized raccoon. With trust issues.”

Charlie blinked. “She’s just… figuring things out.”

“Yeah, figuring out how to run away like it’s a track meet,” Vaggie muttered.

“She’s trying.”

“She called you Mom, Charlie.”

Charlie smiled faintly. “Yeah. I know.”

Vaggie gave her a look. “Are you okay with that?”

Charlie didn’t answer right away. Then she softly said, “I think she needs someone who doesn’t hurt her just for existing.”

Vaggie’s expression softened. She took over the stirring for Charlie, doing it a little… Less violently than she would have normally.

“Alright. Then we pull her in.”

Charlie tilted her head. “What, like… a redemption intervention?”

Vaggie grinned. “More like forced bonding.”

Amity was tiptoeing down the hallway, tail low, ears back, perfect stealth mode activated-

“AMITY!”

She yelped. Practically jumped out of her own fur.

Charlie was there, all sunshine and way-too-much-energy-for-Hell. Vaggie stood beside her, arms crossed, looking suspiciously like someone who'd just baited a trap.

“Come with us,” Charlie said cheerfully.

Amity narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“No reason!” Charlie lied terribly. “Just… hanging out.”

“Team-building,” Vaggie added. “Again.”

Amity took a slow, suspicious step back. “Is this another trust fall? Because if so, I swear-”

“Nope,” Charlie beamed. “Today’s activity is… redecorating!”

“Decorating?”

“The hotel,” Charlie said brightly. “You live here now. You should make it feel like home.”

Amity looked between the two of them, eyes narrowing.

“…this is a trap.”

“Obviously,” Vaggie said, grabbing her arm.

They ended up in one of the guest lounges, with buckets of paint, mismatched furniture, and an actual beanbag throne Angel Dust had labeled “KING SHIT ONLY.”

Charlie handed Amity a brush. “You pick the color.”

Amity blinked. “What?”

“This room’s yours to redecorate. Do whatever you want.”

Amity hesitated.

This didn’t feel like a punishment. Or a manipulation. Or one of those “trust me, darling�� moments Odalia used to weaponize.

It felt… safe. Real. Like her opinion mattered.

“…Purple,” she muttered. “Midnight violet.”

Charlie grinned. “Classy. I like it.”

As they worked- paint splattering, Angel popping in to offer unhelpful interior design advice (“Have you considered GLITTER VOMIT?”)- Amity started to loosen up.

Just a little.

By the end of the day, the room looked… More her. And Amity felt like maybe- maybe- she didn’t have to hide in the shadows forever.

Later that night, after everyone else drifted off to their chaos or beds, Amity lingered in the lounge, curled in a beanbag with a book she'd found in a forgotten corner.

Charlie poked her head in.

“Hey,” she said. “Can I come in?”

Amity nodded without looking up. “Sure, Mom.”

Silence.

She froze.

Charlie blinked.

“…again?” Vaggie called from the hallway.

“IT WAS A SLIP!” Amity shouted, ears flattening, eyes wide.

But Charlie just smiled, soft and warm. “It’s okay. I really don’t mind.”

“…You should. It’s weird.”

“I think,” Charlie said gently, “it means I’m doing something right.”

Amity looked away, swallowing hard.

She didn’t say thank you. She didn’t cry. But she didn’t run either…

[thekimspoblog]

The 2nd Trip

For a while now, I've wanted to write more fanfiction about the stomach-turning star-crossed romance between William and Dolores. I mean the plot-twist at the end of Season 1 just recontextualizes their entire affair in a deliciously awful way. And in Season 2, we do get a lot more insight into how he became the Man in Black (especially Episode 9). But I still feel like there are a lot of gaps left to fill in, about how he "got bored" with Dolores. So here are some ideas I've had for that:

(I already wrote this scene) William has been invited to dinner at the Abernathy Ranch house, as a thank-you for saving Dolores from bandits earlier that day. When Peter pulls Billy aside to give him the suspicious-patriarch routine, William drops the facade and explains that he wants Dolores to remember him, so he can take her out of the park. Later, while stargazing, Dolores talks about how she feels like Teddy doesn't really understand her, and invites William to the barn for a roll in the hay.

The pair set off on a narrative (presumably one of Ford's) to recover a curative flower from the top of a cliffside, which will supposedly heal Dolores's sick mother. However, somewhere along the way, the two will get side-tracked and end up looking for some sort of more abstract treasure, backstage in the labs. The Forge hasn't been built yet, but maybe this is where William gets the idea?

Along this journey, Dolores finds Teddy's body dumped in a ditch somewhere. Naturally she's horrified and bereaved. What William doesn't remember (or maybe has chosen to forget) is that he did this - this was about more than just eliminating the competition; he was playing Teddy's role. Maybe he thought it was the most efficient way to win Dolores over... or maybe he just wanted to go back to pretending to be the good guy.

They ride the train together again, and maybe for a second it even seems like he's been able to jog her memory. But the sad fact is the spark is gone. It's not her; she hasn't changed one bit; every time on the train is her first time. But he's changed; this story holds no surprises for him this time around, so what's the fun? He still loves Dolores... at least he thinks he does... but he can see her puppet strings this time. Honestly, it's a horrible thing to say, but if romancing someone can be boiled down to an easy-to-follow dialogue tree... what's the point of consent? None of it was ever consensual, because she doesn't even know where she is! Whatever, all the more reason she needs to be taken out of this horror show.

Having successfully smuggled/bought Dolores's freedom, they get a condo in the city together. Dolores is very clearly a fish out of water in this new environment, but she's his manic pixie dream girl so all the repetitions/stutters/glitches are just part of the charm. I mean William had obvious contempt for Peter Abernathy when he was doing the same thing earlier in this story, but it's fine I'm sure there's no issues hiding there. Anyway, some of Dolores's strange behavior is cute, but her sleepwalking is causing a serious problem. William keeps getting called down to the Sheriff's station at 2 am, because Dolores was walking down the highway in a trance. This leads William to start doing more to lock her in the apartment at night, but naturally this only makes Dolores angry and distrustful. She's becoming more and more insistent that she wants to go back to her father, despite William trying to convince her that that man was never her father. This escalates to Dolores attacking William with a kitchen knife in an attempt to escape. And now William decides to cross a line he can't uncross: he tries to reprogram her into something more manageable.

Eventually Ford tracks William down and politely explains that Dolores must be returned to the park; whoever agreed to sell her in the first place has been fired (read: killed), and now Robert is here to correct this misunderstanding in-person. He explains that the hosts' cognitions begin to break down when they are out-of-range of the CR4DL, and that William is hurting her by taking her away from her family and the rest of her species. There will come a day when the hosts are ready to walk on the outside, but Dolores is still learning; she belongs under the watchful eye of her creator. William chews Ford out, for supposedly loving his robots like children and yet still raising them in a woodchipper. Ford gives Billy the standard "only suffering brings enlightenment" speech.

Meanwhile, Logan has finally been rescued by an EVAC team, and is slowly regaining his sanity in a hospital bed somewhere on the mainland. Naturally, his first thought is to adamantly warn Juliet about what William did, that he doesn't really love her, and the lies he will tell that she shouldn't listen to. But years of a strained relationship with her brother lead Juliet to give William the benefit of the doubt. William answers believably enough; he did get lost in a fantasy, but he's sobering up now and he remembers why he loved her. Westworld is too important a project for Delos not to invest in it, so yes, he will have to continue business with the park. But even if the hosts are sentient, according to Ford, Dolores was only brought online roughly twelve years ago. Frankly, William is disgusted with himself now!

Years later, Juliet visits the Mariposa. She's developed a real hatred for this park, this business, but she had to come here; this was important. She needs to have a frank chat with Dolores. Not even out of jealousy, more out of fear. What has her husband been doing to this poor woman? And how much restraint does he actually have from doing the same to her and Emily? In the background "Jolene" by Dolly Parton tinkles away on the player piano.

The Man in Black arrives in Sweetwater again, and threatens a fellow guest for trying to pick up the can of peaches, insisting that he be the first in line. He takes Dolores to Escalante, where they have a tea party among the sand dunes. It's clear at this point, William doesn't regard Dolores as a full person, but he's still content to have her as company while he mulls some things over out-loud. He talks about his hatred for rich snobs, how he would throttle James Delos if it were only legal to do so. How Juliet grew up rich and he didn't, and because of that there will always be unspoken resentment between them. Dolores recites the same script from the first chapter of this story, about her dissatisfaction with Teddy. William muses that that would make them both adulterers, and maybe that's not much of a sin compared to other ones. Maybe having one foot in the real world and one foot in the park, is the closest he's ever going to get to happy.

William wakes up on the train headed into the park again. The whole time we've been reading this story, it wasn't a flash-back; it was a simulation in the Forge. And Ford didn't write the medicinal flower narrative; William wrote this story for himself because part of his brain desperately wants Dolores to forgive him for the abuse. But she can't because she's not there; she's already left him behind in the dust. All this guilt, heartbreak and obsession has kept him reliving the past 30 years over and over again, trying to make sense of where he went wrong, why he couldn't have just played White-Hat like he was supposed to. But when Dolores is attacked by bandits again, this time lead by the Man in Black, William realizes that the only thing he could have done to break the loop was to let go entirely. To quit the park cold-turkey. Wish Dolores well, knowing that she'll mature eventually, but for better or worse, he and his perverse sentimentality can't be around for it.

[utnewhope]

The Hopeless Timeline

-The Human’s POV-

This is 100th genocide timeline. I’m used to this now. Gaining LV, Becoming stronger, that’s just so fun. I’m standing in the last corridor. There’s only one left in this room. That foolish skeleton. Heh. After I kill him, I’ll be able to eliminate the king, and that idiotic flower.

“Let’s just get to the point, smiley.”

“alright, alright… here we go.”

So predictable. Same attacks, same story, and… SAME MISTAKE. He fell asleep, now’s the chance to end him once again!

”heh, didya really think you would be able-“

”Sleep well, smiley~ heehee…”

“…so, guess that’s it, huh?”

“Cut that out, I’ve heard that a hundred times. You’re so boring now.”

“a hundred times, eh? heheh… You're really kind of a freak, huh?“

I won, again. I left the skeleton behind, and went to kill the king and the flower.

-Chara’s POV-

This again. What kind of freak are they? Hell if I know… This is the 100th time. Aren’t they getting tired of this? I guess they aren’t… Again. Same lines, same attacks, same mistake… He was attacked, again. I’m tired of this. I’m tired of erasing the world. I’m tired of seeing everyone die… …How about I make a change? I went to Sans, he’s not dead yet. Maybe, just maybe… This might work.

“Sans? Can you hear me, Sans?”

“huh? w-who-? wait… a-another human?”

He could hear me! He could even see me!!

“So you can hear me! Anyways, there’s no time for small talk. Sans. Can you do me a favor…?”

“hmm? eh, kiddo. im dying now. im afraid i can't.”

“I’ll help you! I’ll help you get up, please. I’m tired of this genocide. Please…”

“how can i trust you, kid?”

“Alright. I’m Chara. The first fallen human. A spirit that is attached to the human. I have DETERMINATION. So maybe I can help you!”

“there’s not much time to think anyways… ok. what should we do?”

“Sorry for the discomfort from this, but just wait a bit…”

I reached Sans’ soul. Letting it to absorb me. It felt… Weird. Really weird. I’m sorry, Sans…

“ah?! kid, what are you doing-“

I was fully absorbed. My determination and his magic were half-blended, his soul became unstable.

“I’m sorry, Sans… But I had to do this.”

-The Human’s POV-

I killed them all, again. But something was off. Chara didn’t appear. I ignored that, and reset for the 100th time.

-Sans’ POV-

The spirit kiddo, I mean Chara, was absorbed into my soul. As my soul became unstable, I was in a chaos of feelings. And suddenly, the world began to glitch.

“w-what is this?!”

“The human is resetting!”

Everything went black. When I woke up, I was back in Snowdin Town. I thought that Chara disappeared with the resetting. But I was wrong.

“Sans? Can you hear me?”

“?! chara? how are you still here? wait… how am i remembering things?!”

That’s the point, how am I remembering things?! Maybe it’s because of the kid’s determination?

“Sans, I hate to say this, but… The only way to stop the human, is to keep the EXP away from the human, and we can’t make every monster escape, that means… We… WE HAVE TO KILL THEM BEFORE THE HUMAN KILLS THEM.”

“what?! is that really the only way?”

“Yes… I’m sorry, Sans. But we have to do this.”

[dawndelion-winery]

Faithfully Yours

What sort of companion droid are they?

Android au! Ft. Childe, Diluc, Kaeya, Scaramouche, Aether

Warning: mildly possessive behaviour

Childe:

As one of the higher end models, he falls in both the domestic and guard lines

He makes himself very handy around the house and one of his favourite pastimes is seeing you savour his cooking

You'd tell him not to watch you but he looked like such a kicked puppy when you did, so you figured it wouldn't hurt to let him be

He's almost painfully clingy though

Since there's not much need for him as a guard, he takes it upon himself to fill the role of spouse

And seeks you out every few minutes because he just has to have your attention

Washing the dishes? He's bringing you a small stack of dishes every now and then to check if they meet your standards

He also fully expects to be praised or he'll assume he hasn't done well enough

Sometimes you can't even get him to charge unless you're in the same room as him because he complains he gets lonely

He also prefers when you call him Ajax as opposed to Tartaglia or Childe

"Psssst, psst, user<3, psssst."

"Yes, Ajax?"

"Heheh, I love you."

He works well with most other androids, though he will have a tendency to hog you a little bit

But he's very generous with you attention! Or so he says

You're free to sit in any other android's lap as long as he's the one you're looking at etc

Diluc:

Similar to Childe, he's classified as both a domestic and guard model

He's just not quite as openly affectionate despite also being very spouse like

Which means he functions best as a companion droid when he's the only one you have

Diluc, in essence, is a traditional lover android, which means he's happy to protect you and provide for you, at the small cost of him being the object of your affection

Kisses? He wants them all. Hugs? Entirely his

He's alright with being away from you, but that doesn't mean he isn't always thinking of you

In his opinion, there's nothing more enjoyable than cuddling you with a bottle of grape juice

Very much an android of service, you name it, he'll do it

If you do want other androids, he won't stop you, but he will get a little bit sulky

You'll find him hovering around you a lot more but not hugging you unless you're alone

He hopes you'll remember that no matter how many androids you have, he'll always adore you the most

Kaeya:

He's from the informatics line

Designed to help his user obtain any bit of information they desire to the best of his ability, he's programmed to be alright with not seeing you for long periods of time

So you're not sure why he seems so reluctant to leave your side

It could be a glitch, but since they've all been discontinued, it'd be too much trouble to get him fixed over such a minor issue

He tells you that he's alright with other androids but at the same time, you'll find there's always some sort of tension

Not to worry, of course! He's just keeping tabs on all of them so they toe the line

After all, he can't have any of them trying to replace him

He most adores laying on top of you with his head on your chest whole you play with his hair

Comb it, braid it, pin all sorts of accessories in it, he'll love anything you do to him as long as you're not pushing him away

Isn't he pretty when you style his hair from him? He often offers to let you dress him, insisting he'd be prettier if you picked out his outfits to match yours too

"What's the matter, master? You're not too shy to put your hands on me are you? You should really remember that I'm entirely yours."

Scaramouche:

A failed prototype to the Raiden Shogun, he was meant to be a comfort android with slight guard capabilities

He ended up too sensitive, turning him bitter and cynical as a result, far from the ideal comfort droid

Yet there's something so pure and soft in the way he cradles your head against his chest when you weep

He gingerly wipes your tears away, and hands you a tissue when you sniffle

Certainly, he's every bit of an asshole under normal circumstances

But there's no mistaking the original code, he was absolutely made to make you feel better when you're down

He presses gentle kisses to your forehead, his lips surprisingly warm and soft for an android, a feature specialised and perfected for all androids in the comfort line

He's the android whose hand you hold during sad movies and the one you vent your frustrations to

Some asshole cut in line when you were getting your morning coffee? His speech processors run the fastest, quickly registering the situation you describe and taking your side of the arguement

You're free real estate for bullying at other times though

Aether:

He's a very special sort of android

Along with his twin sister, they were made to be the customisable option among all the androids with their distinct personalities

At least that's how it was supposed to be

Since you'd gotten the original copy, he had the preprogrammed personality Hoyoverse had curated for him, without any requested modifications

He was gentle, but steadfast, always listening sweetly to you while acting as a mediator should you have any other androids

The true comfort android - he's always there for you to listen to anything you have to say

Unlike Scara, who's just as vocal as you are about your emotions, Aether is more passive, only interjecting where you need him to

He'll cradle your face and tilt your head so you look him in the eyes as he tells you to calm down, reassuring you that everything will be alright

His patience for you is boundless, and he's sweet to you even when you're in a good mood, doing all he can to ensure that happiness lasts

"Leave it to me, my dear user. I'll take care of everything for you."

Taglist[send an ask to be added/removed]: @myluvkeiji @pluvioseprince @aqui-soba @favonius-captain @tiredsleep @raincxtter @loverofthe-stars @gensimping-for-all @irethepotato @almond-adeptus @mx-kamisato @yuzuricebun @chaosinanutshell @heizours @codename-hiraeth @andreiling01 @callmemeelah @sadlonelybagel @plinkuro @thevictoriousmoon @mastering-procrastinating @sarahyumiko2 @local-mr-frog @cxlrosii @paintingsofdragonspine @mayulli @magica-ren

[thestalwartheart]

An interesting aside to the Bond's morality discussion, and him trying to find solace by leaving MI6, is how much MI6 doesn't want him to be a more healthy, well adjusted person. They want him to be an effective weapon. It's a feature of agent training, not a side effect/glitch.

I remember there's a classic book quote that I can't find atm, where M to Bond says something along the lines of, "It's good you like people, it gives you something to fight for. But don't like any TOO much, or we'll lose our fine weapon."

It's an attitude that's reasserted in the recently released book Double or Nothing. I find that intriguing too, because they have a new M that used to be a Double-O and they have promoted Moneypenny to oversee the Double-Os. So they had the chance to make MI6 softer and more supportive of their agents, and they didn't. (Not a criticism, just intriguing).

One instance that I'd love to talk about, I won't mention because of spoilers.

But one that's spoiler safe is an agent going through a psychological evaluation after a mission. She thinks about how it'd be easy to be tricked into thinking the psychologist was there to help her with her mental health, but she's not. She's there to evaluate if she's ready to still be an effective Double-O. It's a very interesting exchange and I really reccomend the book.

It got me thinking back to Bond in Skyfall with the MI6 psychologist. It can come off as Bond being an arse, Bond not taking care of himself, Bond refusing helpful therapy. But Bond knows MI6 and their methods and refuses to play their game there.

*rubs my silly little hands together* Let's talk about COUNSELLING, baby, and how agents don't have access to it!!!

It got me thinking back to Bond in Skyfall with the MI6 psychologist. It can come off as Bond being an arse, Bond not taking care of himself, Bond refusing helpful therapy. But Bond knows MI6 and their methods and refuses to play their game there.

This, this all of this. Bond knows exactly what it is and he has such disdain for it. Forgive me for saying it, but I don't think you can have a mentally healthy Double-0. They have to be able to compartmentalise their trauma and their moral compass so intensely that eventually it'll take it's toll. Arguably, no well-adjusted person kills and lives easily with it. I think the psychologists at MI6 know that, as do all the agents, and everyone recognises what a fool's errand those psychological evaluations are.

It's interesting you say they had a chance for MI6 to become softer. I haven't read the recent books, but I think Mallory is a great case study for this in the films. I always see him as someone who was willing to take the agency through a bit of change in order to modernise it a bit, but he got dragged under as well. That's so clear by the time NTTD rolls around. It makes you wonder if an organisation like MI6 could ever be a little bit softer and more human. I don't think it can, at least not in the Double-0 department. There's no getting around the fact that they're launching humans as weapons out into the world, who will be met with even more brutal weapons from the enemy and then return bent, broken, or never return at all.

Every part of MI6 lends itself to that cause, including its psychology department which specialises in evaluations rather than trauma counselling.

Oddly enough, for all its deadly weaponry, the only place I see a bit of humanity at MI6 is Q Branch. I'm very attached to the idea that it has two sides: developing tech that kills more efficiently, but also giving agents the means to survive. Having an exploding watch on them, or a key to unlock any door, is probably more comforting to them than any thought of a psychology appointment on their return. Even the idea that their tech is more efficient and deadly than ever before probably gives them a bit of solace.

My unpopular opinion re: counselling is that I think Bond would actually be relatively open to it (at least in a post-retirement, maybe post-NTTD world). Generally, I think he has quite a good sense of himself and his own mind, but I don't think that means he would shirk an excellent therapist if he came across one. PTSD is a fucking bitch, and it'll drive you over the edge if you don't take steps to manage it. I can see Bond getting to a point where he might need to talk to someone.

Okay, time for other peoples' opinions on this! I'll shut up now 😂 Thank you so much for the ask! 💕

By the way, for anyone reading this who has read Double or Nothing, go and slide into @slimysuckers' DMs.

[twin-books]

The above piece was a redraw of this old piece for my Fragmented AU. This new piece is a collaboration with @koo1creations​. I did the sketch, she did the line art, I did the coloring, she added the cataclysm effects, I did the rest of the effects. We both really enjoyed making this. I am very grateful to her for helping me make this so I can finally post the second part of the Fragmented AU. If you are curious you can find the second part here: Fragmented AU 1. Where it all began. Yes, it took me one whole year to finally get to this. I was really trying to figure out how I wanted to write this and my antagonist and then life got busy... Anyway, I finally got around to it. Again, I preface by saying this story isn’t meant to have any salt. It is only for pure fun. I wanted a mystery in Miraculous and since the show refuses to give me one, I made one myself. I do try to keep it as canonically accurate as possible but the story does take place between season 3 and 4. Anyway, if you want to know what the drawing is about please enjoy the following. I decided to try something a bit new. I do hope I succeeded.

Adrien Agreste doesn’t remember September 7th. If you had asked him what happened that day he couldn’t tell you. But that doesn’t bother him.

It should, though.

It should because that was the day Ladybug and Chat Noir fought over how he barely showed up for fights anymore. That was the day Chat Noir promised her he wouldn’t miss another fight, another patrol, another moment where she needed him again.

He doesn’t remember that. But Chat Noir does.

Why?

If he had the ability, he would remember that the day started out like any other. He was juggling going to school, piano practice, private lessons, fencing, and modeling all at once. It was at night where it all went wrong. In his scramble to get things done he missed yet another important akuma battle. Ladybug had to bring in another 5 heroes and even then, still barely managed without him. They all needed training. Training she didn’t have time for. It was too much for her to handle. Between that and her responsibilities as the new guardian, she lost her cool.

When he showed up late, again, she ripped into him. Of course, she didn’t truly mean every single word she said and immediately apologized afterwards. But the damage was done. He knew he hurt her and he knew he had to fix it. So he promised he will always be there when she needs him. She appreciates the sentiment but knows he can’t keep that promise. He would prove her wrong.

When he heads home that night his chest is burning with anger. He is mad at himself for failing Ladybug. He knows he could do better.

He is so stuck in his own head that he fails to notice the small black cat following him.

Had he noticed, he may have been able to observe how it moved. It was like a glitch. Like some sort of extra in a video game missing a few frames in its walk cycle. It sucks in the light around it as it travels forward, the area around it almost appears blurry.

It's careful in its illogical movements. It stalks behind him, maintaining a safe distance. Its tail is wiggling and its eyes are fixated on Chat.

It’s hunting.

When it meows, Chat jumps in surprise and then turns to it. It is sitting still. Those visual glitches are no longer a problem with it frozen in place so Chat doesn’t notice a thing. He carefully approaches. Its pupils grow wider as a result. It’s clearly excited. “Hey there little guy...” Chat says, crouching down in front of it, only an arm’s length away. “What are you up to?” It doesn’t move. “I bet you’re doing great compared to me.” Chat falls to the ground, sitting crossed-legged. He sets his elbow on his knee and rests his head in his hand. “I can’t seem to do anything right.” He sighs. “Or nothing I want to do right.” He reaches his hand out to pet the cat’s head. When Chat looks away it leans into the pet. Chat is no longer paying attention to it, absentmindedly petting it as he rambles on about the earlier day events. “I just want to make it up to her! I wish I could be both Chat Noir and Adrien.” Another sigh escapes him. “You’re so lucky all you have to do is hunt mi-” He’s cut off by a sharp pain shooting up his arm. He lets out an agonizing cry. It feels like venom is shooting through his veins. His reaction time is quick and he rips his arm away from the cat. Or, at least, he thought he did. It takes him a little longer to realize the cat’s jaw is still clamped onto his hand, somehow holding him in place, and its grip is getting tighter. He watches in horror as spines protrude from its tail, flesh falling off to give way to them. It is accompanied by the loud cracking and twisting of its spine. It’s a sound that makes Chat want to gag. His eyes grow wide as he quickly stands up trying to shake it off. It somehow pulls its whole body forward with pure muscle power and digs its claws into his arm, its tail wrapping up and around the rest of his arm, the spines digging through his suit and into his skin.  How? How is it doing that? That shouldn’t even be possible! His suit is made of magic! Unless... It’s made of magic too. He notices that somehow, even with its jaw firmly locked onto his hand, its lips begin to melt away, making it appear like it’s smiling as wide as the Cheshire cat. There’s a loud crack. A bright green, electric like energy manages to escape through the gaps in its teeth and skin. That’s when it occurs to Chat that this is his right hand and the pain shocks him back to reality. “My miraculous!” He screams, slamming the creature into a wall. He continues this several times but its grip only gets tighter. Its teeth sink into his skin, making it feel like it’s hitting bone, as it sets his nerves on fire. He’s only making it angry.  Chat narrows his eyes knowing what he has to do. “Cataclysm.” He growls. The creature suddenly yelps in pain and immediately jumps off Chat, splitting into several smaller versions of itself, each shifting and morphing into incomprehensible shapes. It seems it can no longer hold its more “innocent” appearance.   Chat is quick to take his opening and uses his baton to bat each piece of thing into a wall. It doesn’t put up much of a fight. It seems his cataclysm really frightened it. It quickly sunk into the wall, much to Chat Noir’s shock, forming an exact shadow of him and quickly running off. He begins to chase but only stops when he feels his right hand begin to numb. He looks down to examine it and finds a fracture in his ring with crackling magical energy quickly seeping out. He looks back up to find the creature has disappeared in all the other shadows, masterfully blending in. With his predator out of his sight he grabs his rapidly numbing arm. He then notices that despite just using cataclysm, there is no countdown timer.  He needs to get home. No time is wasted. He makes it to his home and through his bedroom window in what he could have sworn was under five minutes. His hand is shaking now, he can’t seem to control its spasms. His heart is racing a million miles a minute. “Plagg, claws in!” He immediately whispers, afraid of shouting for fear of waking someone. Even in a crisis like this he still can’t get his priorities straight. Almost instantly the rapidly escaping energy is sucked back into the ring as Plagg appears beside Adrien’s head. Slowly the feeling begins to return to his hand but he still can’t seem to stop the shaking. He turns to Plagg and notices how Plagg twitches, similar to Adrien’s hand, as if he can’t control his body either. “Are you okay?” The little cat asks, seemingly unbothered by his own jittering. “Am I okay?” He cries. “Are you?” Plagg looks down at his own paws and notices the way they tremble. His eyes grow wide in horror. “What-What happened?” “I don’t know!” He says in exasperation. He was hoping Plagg would have the answers. He runs his fingers through his hair, trying to ignore the shaking of his hand. This motion gives Plagg a perfect view of the ominous glowing coming from the bottom of his ring. He quickly grabs Adrien’s hand and flips it over to look at his palm. There’s a small fracture  in the band of the ring. “No! No!” “What’s wrong?” “The reason I can’t hold my form is because my magic is seeping into you!” Plagg says. “You aren’t meant to hold this kind of magic without some sort of conduit! If this keeps going this could cause a huge disaster! I’m talking extinction of the dinosaurs' levels of bad!” “What?” “We have to tell Ladybug! I think the grimoire has a page on how to fix this!” “No!” Adrien yells after Plagg before he can escape through a window. “Adrien. This is really, really, really bad. This can’t wait.” “Please. I-,” Adrien is struggling to find the words. He’s ashamed to admit that he just doesn’t want to bother Ladybug again after he let her down earlier. He fears her look of disappointment. “Can’t we just-” He takes a moment to breathe. “Can’t we just figure out what happened first and get our story straight before we bother Ladybug about this?” Plagg’s eyes drift to Adrien’s hand, the convulsions becoming more and more violent as time goes on. Then he looks into Adrien’s shaky eyes. “Adrien…” Plagg bites his lip. “Fine. But let’s make this quick! What do you remember?” “Okay. Cool. So, um…” He hums in thought, trying to go over the events in his mind. “I was heading home and then I stopped for a moment in that alley way. I was trying to figure out how to make it up to Ladybug-” “Not important. Skip to the point where the miraculous broke.” “Right! Sorry.” Adrien pauses for a moment, trying to think it through once more. So much of it didn’t make sense. “I was petting this cat. It looked like a normal cat. But then it bit me. And this cat, this thing, had the jaw strength of a crocodile!” Plagg nods in understanding, showing he’s following along. “It grew spines out of its tail,” He makes a disgusted face as he recalls that memory, “and then wrapped it around my arm and it somehow pierced through my suit. And then I heard this loud crack and saw this bright green light and I just knew… I knew that was the miraculous.” “How?” Plagg gives Adrien a puzzled look, seemingly having a hard time wrapping his head around the scene Adrien is describing. “I don’t know!” Adrien says, continuing on, “I tried slamming it into a wall but that only made it angrier so the only other thing I could think to do was use cataclysm.” He turns to look at Plagg and that’s when energy starts crackling out of the ring again, suddenly sucking Plagg into it with him shouting protests along the way. Adrien jumps back in surprise, staring down at the ring as the energy starts stinging his skin. He can feel his hand going numb again. “Plagg? Plagg! I didn’t say claws out!” He feels his heart rate spiking. Something isn’t right. “Plagg, claws in.” Nothing. “Plagg, claws in!” Nothing. “I said claws i-” He cuts himself off when he sees the black beads suddenly appear one by one, surrounding his hand like a swarm of wasps. Surrounding his ungloved, unprotected hand. “Plagg?” He whimpers. He’s scared now. With nowhere else to go and no magical outfit to protect him from the raw power of destruction it directs its wrath towards Adrien. The black particles seep into his skin causing unimaginable pain as he falls to his knees. “Plagg, claws out or in or whatever! Please, Plagg!” He begs, but the pain only gets worse. He’s not escaping this. He quickly rips the ring off, in a futile attempt to stop it. He tosses the ring aside and lets it slide under his dresser. Too late. Tears pour down his cheeks as he screams in agony. He cannot hear the shouts from Nathalie or his father. They are asking if he is okay, what is going on? Cracks similar to the one his miraculous bears begin to form in his skin, followed by violent magical energy trying to escape through them. He’s consumed by the rapidly escaping magical light as two pairs of panicked footsteps can be heard racing towards his room. “Adrien!” When the door is slammed open that light is already gone. Adrien is curled up in a ball on his bedroom floor. His eyes are squeezed shut. He is no longer screaming. Nathalie races over to him while Gabriel looms in the doorway. “Adrien! What is going on? Are you okay?” She helps him up and onto his bed. He’s silent. The silence is deafening. Gabriel steps forward. “Adrien. It’s the middle of the night.” He says, sternness in his tone. He eventually lets out a sigh. “Why were you screaming?” “I’m sorry…” Adrien says, shaking from a lingering unknown fear. “I don’t know. I don’t know!” He can’t remember! Why can’t he remember? What happened? What happened? Adrien begins to sob. Nathalie pulls Adrien into a tight hug while Gabriel clenches his fists and turns to leave. “Gabriel.” Nathalie says, calmly. “He needs you.” Gabriel stops and looks back at Nathalie. “You look like you have it handled.” He says and takes his leave. Nathalie’s grip on Adrien gets tighter. He can tell she’s angry but she would never say that. Instead she rubs his back. “Shh…” Her tone is soothing and brings his pulse back down to a normal pace, “It will be okay, Adrien. I’m right here.” It takes a while to calm him down but eventually Nathalie can finally lay Adrien to rest in his bed. “Call if you need anything.” She whispers to him. Once she has made sure all his fear is silenced she heads for the door. “Good night, Adrien.” He feels so tired. He pulls the sheets over his head, shielding his eyes from any light that comes from the moon and the stars. He can no longer remember why he was so upset. He eventually succumbs to sleep, unable to notice yet another sudden bright light that fills his room for merely a second. Chat Noir is now standing in the middle of his room. Chat looks around in confusion before fleeing out the window. He’s in a bit of a daze. Wasn’t that Adrien Agreste’s room? Why was he in Adrien’s room in the middle of the night? What happened? He can’t remember.

[lemliv]

SUGAR RUSH AU CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

this is. Very long.

Ranboo (Aka Ranboo Le Quorish)

Candy: Licorice and Taffy !

Powermove: String-Shot

A speed boost that starts fast and gets gradually slower - two licorice poles shoot up from the ground while a string of taffy wraps around them, acting as a sling shot to propel him forward!

Racer type: ??

Go to phrase:

Description:

Ranboo is a racer- at least he thinks he is. Sure he’s never completed a race and glitches the ones he is in but he can’t escape the nagging feeling that he belongs on the race track. That things will be better once he proves that he can finish a race.

For now, however, he’s learning how to be content with his foggy memory, constant glitched state, and watching from the side lines. It’s all he can do after all.

Tubbo (aka Toby Jollypop Jr)

Candy: Green apple Jolly Ranchers and Jaw Breakers

Powermove: Jolly Rollers

A protective shield that forms around Tubbo’s Kart to temporarily make him invincible and causes other players to bounce off

Racer type: Tank

can take a lot of damage at the expense of speed

Go to phrase(s): “Let’s break some jaws!” / “Sugar!”

Description:

Tubbo has a good life. He places well in races, he has a best friend, a nice house, really anything a video game character can ask for. But he can’t shake the feeling of something being wrong. And all signs point to the figure who disappears mid race after messing something up.

With enough determination, and some would argue carelessness, he is determined to figure out who the glitch really is. And more importantly, he’s determined to help him.

Tommy (Aka Tommy Sowers)

Candy: Sour Patch Kids

Powermove: Sour-Sweet-Swift

A basic speedboost! He maintains a higher speed for a short amount of time - its extended the further behind he is

Racer Type: Starter Racer

A type exclusive to Tommy. It makes him available on easy mode at all times (booting out the 9th spot if not on the roster already) Overall he’s a very well rounded but middle ground racer who is assisted by who he races with

Go to phrase(s): “Patch up your karts and let’s get sour!” / “Spice!”

Description:

Tommy is a racer in every meaning of the word. He likes competition, he’s loud and energetic, and he always seems to be going. Tommy loves his life and doesn’t get why others wouldn’t. He gets along with everyone, and wouldn’t mind if everything stayed the same.

Wilbur (aka Wilbur Cin O’Spice)

Candy: Cinnamon Discs

Powermove: Cinnamon and Spice

Wilbur throws up a cloud of spices temporarily blinding nearby racers

Racer type: Skill required

A moderate to eh racer when not properly used, but an amazing one to a devoted player. Has great handling, the kart flows through shortcuts easily, and power move is useful when applied right

Go to phrase: “Let’s spice things up!”

Description:

Wilbur is analytical, if you ask him he was simply coded that way. Always trying to find the best route and path, and figuring out solutions. It’s what he’s known for! So when Phil retired unexpectedly, giving no answers nor reason, Wilbur has determined that it’s now his job to find out why. More importantly, to get him back.

Techno(blade)

Candy: strawberry bon-bon (strawberry granny-candy)

Powermove: Straw-brawl

Temporarily gains more spikes on his kart, making him harder to hit and causing more damage to others

Racer type: Tank

can take a lot of damage at the expense of speed

Go to phrase: less lines - more so lots of noises like HEH when he gets hit and laughter when he hits others

Description:

Techno loves a good challenge, and as of recently races have been lacking. He doesn’t find the same enjoyment that he used to back before Phil stopped racing. So instead, he focuses on studying. Namely other games, but really anything he can study will do. He claims he’s read countless books from around the arcade, and will gladly give the information out if asked.

Phil

Candy: Green Peppermint Candy Canes

Powermove: ?

Racer type: ?

Go to phrase: ?

Description:

Phil used to be a racer. Arguably the best racer in the game prior to his retirement. After disappearing mid race, and not coming back until a week later he made a simple announcement. He would be stepping down as the leader of the racers and wouldn’t be racing for an undisclosed amount of time. Anytime anyone begged for the whys or whats, his lips were sealed, and still are.

Dream

Candy: Toxic Waste and Juicy Drop Pops

Powermove: Toxic Sludge

His kart lets out a liquid that causes racers behind him to slow down, it disappears after a short amount of time

Racer type: Speedy

Fastest karts at the expense of less handling and can't take a lot of punches

Dream has the fastest kart

Go to phrase(s): “Oh come on now- Smile!” / “Some people just can’t handle their sour candy”

Description:

Dream is the new leader of the Sugar Rush racers. When Phil disappeared he noticed how disorganized everything became and jumped to fix it, figuratively keeping the game running during hours. When Phil returned and didn’t take back the position, no one had any opposition to him staying. Dream runs the game democratically, seeing himself as someone to enforce rules rather than solely make them, and he tries his best to make sure everything is fun and perfect for the racers.

Sapnap

Candy: Red Hots

Powermove: Too Red-Hot to Handle

A speedboost that involves flames bursting out of Sapnap’s exhausts speeding him up until they burn out and he slows down quickly

Racer type: Well-rounded

Doesn’t have a particular strength or weakness - just well rounded!

Go to phrase(s): “BOOM BABY!” / “If you can’t handle the heat - get off the track!”

Description:

One of Dream’s closest friends, prior to Phil’s retirement, he was known as a dedicated and passionate racer. Now he’s one of the most trusted advisors for Dream, letting his opinions be heard with a blunt yet passionate emotion-fueled manner.

George

Candy: Blue Raspberry Gummy Rings

Powermove: [unnamed - send in suggestions!]

Temporarily gains the ability to bounce off of objects / racers rather than hitting and slowing down- repeated bouncing also causes a small speed boost

Racer type: Skill required

A moderate to eh racer when not properly used, but an amazing one to a devoted player. Has great handling, the kart flows through shortcuts easily, and power move is useful when applied right

Go to phrase(s): "I could beat you in my sleep!” / “Guess I’ll have to bounce back”

Description:

Dream’s other closest friend, standing in opposition to Sapnap, George could be amazing if he tried at racing a bit more. He’s known for sleeping in and showing indifference towards most things. Though for Dream, he knows George provides an analytical and logical thought process that can’t be beat.

Fundy

Candy: Candy Corn and Caramel

Powermove: Trick or Treat!

Fundy throws a random item from his cart that looks noticeably self made - sometimes it’s catastrophically bad, sometimes it just helps him, and other times it actually might assist a racer nearby !

Racer type: ??

Mysteriously - Fundy’s stats seem to change every so often though, surely it's just people remembering wrong?

Go to phrase(s): “Stay crafty and stay ahead!” / “Clever as a fox and just as sweet!”

Description:

Jack of all trades - master of none suits Fundy relatively well if you don’t take coding into account. Fundy used to be Phil’s advisor on coding when he was the leader, but since his retirement and Dream’s decline of Fundy’s offer to be his advisor, he’s picked up new hobbies. He fiddles and invents things, including messing with his own kart.

With experience that no one else has but his own reservations, Fundy has his own opinions on what’s going on in Sugar Rush.

EXTRA CHARACTERS

Kristin (non-racer)

Description: Bartender at a different video game called Tapper - her and Phil grew close during his break from racing and are now dating. She doesn’t play a big role in the story I just wanted to add her because they’re so sweet.

Jack Manifold (aka Jack Manifold)

Candy/sweet: Bomber pops

Powermove: [send in name suggestions}

Not so much a temporary boost as it is that when you fall off the map with Jack - instead of dying you’re placed back on the track!

Racer type:Speedy

Fastest karts at the expense of less handling and can't take a lot of punches

Go to phrase(s): “The Manifold always comes back!” “Bombs away!”

Description:

Minor rival to Tommy - just designed him because I wanted to. Does have his own track though - it’s cold / ice cream themed.

[valleynix]

I've seen the game twice! the moment it was released but it didn't got me then (perhaps cause it was disappointing which could have cooled down my hype) but recently my brian decided that yo remember those three fly women? They're your new hypefixation good luck!

(Dani was so damn right when she said everyone falls for her in time)

So here I am🧍a bit late to the party

With how long the chapters are I'm making notes while reading if something in particular catches my attention, so I won't forget hah... It might be a bit messy but that's the comments I have for chapter 3&4!

^ I've never seen anyone mention the daughters' wounds/scars on their heads I like the little detail.

^ It really feels like we're time travelling/see the glitches as the two worlds/timelines collide.

Especially with the dying maid, scene with Alcina playing the piano and the magically disappearing food.

I want to know so badly how it looked like in your head while you were writing it. And all the missing puzzle pieces.

^ THE LITTLE BONDING TIME WITH BELA AS THEY READ TOGETHER *screaming begins again*

^ DANIELA SHE SHE–

My God I feel like the lvl of the happy chemicals in my brain goes up every time she's mentioned.

^ Cassandra certainly knows how to make a DRAMATIC entry (the breakfast in ch.4)

^ The Cass/Dani moment in the forest *cries* so soft

I love to see the daughters interact with each other and get an insight in their relationship as well

^ I absolutely adore how they might be bloodthirsty cannibals who torture people now and then but draw a line at SA and are respectful of the personal space and boundaries

see, i wasn't too hyped with the game when it first came out (mostly because i hadn't finished Biohazard at that point), but i got into it, like... a little over a year ago?? and it has been both hell and joyous since :') but i'm really glad you've joined the party!! i hope you've enjoyed it so far :D

god, yeah, the chapters range anywhere from, like, 15k-30k? it's a WILD mess out there, but i prefer that over short and pointless chapters, if that makes sense? it gives me a bigger project to work on, too >:)

(let me asterisk each point you've made to talk about it :D)

*i LOVE the detail of their scars and each sister having a different one (like Dani's being the messiest/biggest of the three and Bela's being the most hidden), and i do wonder why more people don't talk about it? it makes them seem more... them

*hehe, i am most interested to hear what you'll have to say on this subject if you continue reading on >:) i can't reveal too much since you're still early on, but i will say that it'll make sense soon enough (and as for wanting to know how that scene went in my head, i could definitely write it out better if y'all want, but i'd have to go back and reread that scene to be sure sdkjfhs)

*GOD I LOVE BELA SO MUCH, she's such a nerd

*DANIELA!! i adore her to little pieces and i definitely feel she gets mentioned a lot LMAOO, i am slightly (majorly) biased when it comes to her and what scenes she gets <33

*Cass is the queen of dramatics and no one can change my mind

*god, i wish more people wrote them as a family instead of fighting with each other over some measly, easily replaceable human. like, i believe it's Cass that makes it very clear Reader means nothing when it comes to her family, and i love that for her

*y'all don't even KNOW the HATRED i have for people who write them as SAers. like, you can be a murderer and NOT be a sexual predator! i know Alcina raised them right and taught them what it means when someone says no (cue her exasperatedly explaining the difference between torture no and spicy time no)

anyways, i'm very happy to know you're enjoying it so far, and i look forward to what else you'll notice on your journey >:) <333

[onewithnomightypowers]

Old Habits

pairing: Tom Holland x fem!reader

summary: Old habits come back when you meet an ex lover after a long time. Conversations feel like you never stopped talking to them. Sometimes you have to see them one last time to say goodbye like you mean it but most of the time it doesn’t go as planned.

warning: drinking

words: 2.1k

a/n: could be read as part 2 of last kiss but is a stand alone. got a bit poetic at the end. hope you guys like it. and as always, love reading your opinions/reactions. also asks are open. (gif not mine)

masterlist 

'@tomholland2013 posted a story'

'@tomholland2013 posted a story'

 She picked up her phone to open Instagram. Yes, Y/N still had notifications on for his account even after they were broken up for months. Classic Tom. 

 He posted two of the same picture on his story. No one understood how that would happen almost every time, not even the people working at Instagram to whom they contacted about the glitch.

 Tom had his hair slicked back, standing in a white t-shirt next to Harry, his brother, giving a million-dollar smile. They were holding a clapperboard together. There was text on the picture too, 'day 1 let's go!!' She smiled to herself. Just because they weren't together doesn't mean that she wasn't allowed to feel happy for his achievements. Even though she wishes to know all these big things from Tom himself she is, unfortunately, left here, watching a small part of his life flash in front of her for less than thirty seconds.

 "Are you listening?" Hope, Y/N's date said.

 "Yeah, I'm sorry. You were saying?" Y/N placed the phone back where it was resting, next to the cold wine bottle.

 "You seem distant," they said.

 When she 'met' Hope (she only really met them 30 minutes ago), Y/N wasn't looking for love, just sex, and that is what online dating specializes in. She hoped Hope knew what they were signing up for, sexual intimacy and nothing else.

 "It doesn't matter does, does it? We both know what we are here for. Why not just cut the chase," Y/N replied.

--

It was early in the morning, the sun had yet to shine in its full glory. Y/N could only think of the first time she stayed over at Tom's old apartment but then she turned her head only to find Hope's naked body next to her. Her heartbeat accelerated with the realization that he was not hers anymore. Being in a foreign environment didn't help her growing anxiety, twisting and turning her intestines.

 It's been four months, her feelings for Tom refuse to quit on her because she knows she could never quit on them, on him, even if he has. He probably has already found someone else in Canada, she thought. She didn't want him anymore but she still needed him, one last time just to teach her stupid heart how to say goodbye.

 Y/N wore her clothes and picked up her shoes, going on a trail to find Hope's door to get out before they wake up. Climbing down the stairs, she took out her phone from the back pocket of her jeans.

 '5 new messages from Sam' 7 hours ago

Sam: hey

Sam: ik it's late

Sam: I am going for a run tmr morning @6

Sam: do you wanna come?

Sam: will go to the new coffee house near my house after that

 Y/N texted him back

Y/N: I'll meet you at the coffee place

Sam: come fast. already here

--

Sam and Y/N were standing in the queue to place their orders. “You look especially shitty today,” Sam said, running his right hand through his sweaty hair.

“I haven’t been home yet,” Y/N reasoned her appearance.

 His mouth formed an ‘o’ shape. The person in front of them left the queue, they moved towards the counter. “One hazelnut latte, double shot with skimmed milk,” Y/N gave her order.

 “And you?” the cashier’s question directed to Sam.

 “I’ll have a matcha latte with oat milk”

 Sam turned to Y/N, “Harrison got me on matcha, and now I can’t go back to coffee”

 They paid their dues and moved over to the barista counter to collect their order.

 “So, what were you doing last night?” Sam inquired.

 “I was on a date, it isn't a big deal though. Just had some needs to take care of”

 “Oh, was it any good?”

 “It was fine. I was distracted the whole time. Saw Tom’s story about halfway into the bottle of merlot. Couldn’t stop thinking about him”

 “Seems…sad. But you know Tom is coming back for the Christmas weekend, I think. He might attend Harrison’s Christmas eve party”

 “One hazelnut latte and one matcha latte,” someone behind the counter screamed.

 “That’s us,” Sam raised his voice.

--

Harrison had a bucket inside his house, under a sign that said 'drop your tracking devices here' with an arrow pointing to the bucket. Y/N dropped her phone on a pile of roughly fourteen others. Debating whether to see Tom's face was something she wanted or not made her late and not very fashionably.

 The house was decorated with empty liquor bottles along with red and green streamers from one wall to another. Everyone was drunk in their best dress. There were no signs of Tom yet. Y/N took a deep breath, walking towards the kitchen to get herself some liquid courage to help her socialize.

 The kitchen was rather scarcely populated. Empty glasses were lined up next to the sink. Are they clean or used? Bending down, Y/N opened the refrigerator to see if Harrison had any chilled wine. No luck. "Hey," a familiar voice was heard.

 She looked up at the familiar stranger.

 "Hey Tom," she smiled. The refrigerator light falling on Y/N made her blush visible.

She grabbed a half-cut lemon placed in the egg tray.

 “How have you been?" Tom asked leaning back on the kitchen counter, observing her movements.

 Y/N walked towards the sink to grab herself a crystal glass hoping for it to be clean. "Just busy with work these days"

 "I heard you got a job at Condé Nast, is that true?" he took a sip from his beer.

 "Well, you heard right. You are looking at their new senior brand manager for digital", she said proudly.

 Tom hugged her from the side she was holding a knife to cut the lemon for her gin and tonic. "That's great darling! You always wanted to work there"

 Darling. The butterflies in her stomach were fluttering like the first time she met Tom.

 "I saw your story the other day. You started filming your script, right?" she dropped the lemon in the glass.  

 "Yup, it was a long time coming," he grabbed the knife she was using and washed it without even knowing. He was so used to Y/N never washing utensils after using them and, he would always have to clean up after her.

 "Congrats on that babe!" The word 'babe' just slipped out of practice.

 Y/N grabbed a Bombay Sapphire standing still on the marble slab. The blue of the bottle shinning even in the dim-lit room.

 "I missed you," Y/N made eye contact, screwing the cap back on. A long, silent pause.

 I miss you too, so very much

 She cleared her throat, "so, how long are you staying?"

 "Going back Monday morning"

 She opened a can of tonic water.

 "Are you seeing someone?" Tom asked.

 "Wouldn't you wanna know" a smirk on her face grew. "I've been out on few dates, nothing serious. What about you?"

 "Met this girl online, dated for a bit but, she wanted something I couldn't give to her"

 Y/N scoffed, "did she have a foot fetish or something?"

 "No, Y/N. She wanted love, not my feet" they both laughed.

 "On that topic..." Tom calmed himself, "...I was listening to this song a few weeks ago and, there was this line, 'the smell of your hair reminds me of her feet' and it made me think of you"

 "I reckon," she took a sip of her gin and tonic.

 "No, seriously, I really related to that line. No matter how many people I hook up with, it will be hard to find the type of intimacy I shared with you. I still relate to it"

 "I hate going on walks alone and having faceless dreams," Y/N blurted, lacking a proper reaction.

 "You're still the face of all my fantasies," Tom confessed.

 None of them knew what to say next. Anything they thought of saying now included walking over the blurry line of exes to lovers.

 "You look pretty"

 "Classic me, had a glow up after getting my heartbroken"

 "You always looked this pretty. You are beautiful," Tom assured her. The 'heartbroken part did not sit well with him. He already felt guilty for taking a job across the pond which was a great opportunity for him to grow but was only possible by severing his ties with Y/N.  

 --

It had just started snowing on Boxing Day. Tom was alone in his cold home, boiling a pot of ramen noodles. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the burning stove with the pot on top.

Tom: *attached photo*

Tom: I come back after months and my family leaves me alone with no food

Y/N: you should add a poached egg

Tom: Thanks. I shall.

Tom: I think I made too much ramen for me

Tom: do you wanna come over and share?

 Her indecision was visible by the coming and going of the gray dots. Then finally, Tom could tame his anxiety by her simple reply.

 Y/N: sure.

--

There was a loud knock on the door. Tom put two bowls of hot ramen on the dining table and went to open the door. Behind the door, Y/N was standing with her hands inside her brown checker coat. There was dust of snow sitting on her shoulders. Her braided hair was made by the most anxious hands in town.

 The door opened and, Tom’s hands flew to take Y/N in his arms. They hugged like little kids hug their parents after being away from each other, for them, an eternity. It did feel like an eternity to them too but, they hadn’t forgotten each other’s touch.

 “I parked my car at the church, couldn’t find any spot here ‘cause of the snow," she pulled out.

 “The snow seems to be gaining momentum.”

 Y/N hummed in agreement. She took off her coat and hung it in the Holland’s coat closet.

 “Come on, the ramen is getting cold,” she followed tom into the kitchen.

 They sat adjacent on the wooden table in comfortable silence. Tom used chopsticks and, Y/N used a fork. Only the occasional noodles falling in the broth were heard, along with the gushing of wind.

 “It’s really spicy for me,” Tom said.

 “Yeah, I can see your ears turning red.”

She still remembers 

 Y/N raised her hand to cover her mouth while yawning.

 “Since you made the food, I’ll do the dishes,” she got up, grabbed their bowls, and walked over to the sink.

 Wearing the gloves, she turned to Tom, “it was quite tasty”.

 Tom gave her a smile.

 She spread the soap on the dishes and turned the tap on. Tom pushed his chair back to get up.

 “Have you made any friends at your new job,” he jumped and sat on the counter next to Y/N.

 “Yeah, sort of. Kyara works there too so, I have just made her friends my friends,” she washed his chopsticks.

 “That’s good. Have you talked to Emily after the wedding? She told me they are planning on adopting.”

 “They invited me over for dinner when they got the approval from the agency. Kyara made this amazing Hyderabadi biryani, it was her mum’s recipe so, it was obviously better than the restaurant”

 “God! You and your love for Indian food”

 Y/N removed her gloves, “I should go. Thanks for the ramen, by the way”

 “Are you sure you can go out in this weather?”

 “Yeah I think," she started walking out of the kitchen.

 Tom grabbed her hand. “Stay”, his voice was like cotton.

 Y/N turned and made contact with his pleading eyes. She moved closer to him. “Please”, he said. They both were inching in to lock their desperate lips.

--

Y/N did not notice when she had fallen asleep talking to Tom. Their naked bodies were covered by the white comforter. Her eyes slowly opened to a boy with brown eyes and messy hair looking at her.

 “I like it when you sleep. I love watching you sleep”

 She chuckled. “That’s a bit creepy, don’t you think?” She had a sleepy voice.

 “You look so serene, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I could stare at you for eons”

 “But love, I'm only here till the snow settles,” she caressed his cheeks.

“Then the cold shall frost our limbs," he leaned in to kiss her.

tags: @elios-timotea​

[ilovejevsjeans]

Why Ricciardo doesn't want McLaren struggles to leave him 'resenting' F1

With one absolutely at the top of his game and overachieving every weekend, the other has been left perplexed by his struggles to adapt to the car.

It also means that on days Ricciardo feels he has done well, like his charge to seventh in the Austrian Grand Prix, it is all overshadowed by what his teammate has done.

As a team player, Ricciardo is obviously pleased to see Norris make progress and benchmark the MCL35M.

But it’s not making his life any easier as the world at large questions his form. Indeed he’s decided that he has to not be overly concerned about his young teammate’s pace.

“I feel like it's obviously for whatever reason been a very unexpected and difficult season so far, just from a pace point of view,” he told Motorsport.com after the Austrian race.

“And I guess the easiest way for me to kind of move forward is to accept that. Did I expect more? Absolutely. But I think if I every weekend go into it now expecting to be quicker than Lando, or whatever it is, I'm probably just going to end up resenting the sport, because clearly it's going to take a bit more.

“Clearly there's something that is missing. I feel good in the car, especially the last three weeks, it's felt better.

“I don't want to say, what's the word, wave the white flag, or succumb to whatever it is, I'm just going to not really focus or lose too much energy on that, and just accept that he's driving very well. The aim is to obviously get closer, and help the team out as well.”

In other words, he just has to focus on what he’s doing: “I think that's it, you can get lost obviously with other things. And maybe that's the wise kind of 32-year-old in me now. But I think I've just got to focus on myself, and then hopefully, I can keep chipping away at it.”

Around the time of Monaco and Baku Ricciardo acknowledged that the upcoming triple header at “normal” circuits, with two races at the same venue, would be a huge opportunity for him to learn more about how to get the best out of the car.

His French GP weekend was solid, 10th on the grid followed by sixth in the race, some 11.8s seconds behind Norris at the flag. He started 13th at the Styrian GP and had a typically good first lap to get up to eighth. Decent points appeared to be possible, but an early engine glitch cost him four places and saw him ultimately cross the line where he qualified, in 13th.

In that context the Austrian race represented a step forward, and at least he was able to fight.

“Yeah, it was better,” he said. “I think it was just the day I needed. And for sure I would say for the team, the points, it was nice to get in seventh and get points for them.

“But I mean personally, right now obviously I'm not in a championship fight, so the points are, I don't want to say irrelevant, but I think the important thing for me was just have fun, be in some battles, and put myself in a good position.

“And that's what I did, and the end result was some points, which is nice. I just enjoyed it. Obviously it's been hard to fully enjoy it when the results have not been there, so I took a bit more fulfilment from from the race.”

Ricciardo is still getting those first laps right. He passed George Russell and Carlos Sainz at the original start, and then Sergio Perez (who went through the gravel) and Charles Leclerc after the early safety car.

“I don't know if it's I'm getting old, but the first laps are a blur!,” he smiled. “I remember getting George into turn seven, I don't remember much else, but I do remember I think on lap one I got two cars, and at the safety car restart I got two cars.

“So that was good, obviously moving forward, and I needed it because obviously out of track position from qualifying. I mean it was a fun race, I saw people get squeezed off, I heard there were some penalties.

“Because we've got the big screens and a lot of long straights, you can kind of see what's going on. So sometimes I'd see a replay of someone get squeezed, and then I'd see their radio get broadcast. Hopefully the fans were entertained!”

However despite Ricciardo’s obvious satisfaction with his Sunday afternoon there was no escaping the fact that, even with a five-second penalty taken at his stop, Norris crossed the line 40 seconds earlier.

Ricciardo remains mystified by his struggles, especially in qualifying. His woes continue despite all the homework that he and his engineers have been doing as he tries to adapt his driving style.

“A little bit of the frustration was that I was pretty happy yesterday [in qualifying]. The car doesn't feel perfect, but it felt pretty good. It felt better than a 13th place car.

“So I think everything felt okay, it's just not there on the stopwatch. But from a feeling, it's getting better. Maybe it's just literally half a tenth in each corner. And then I'm there. I don't know, but it felt okay.”

On the plus side, as he had predicted, the triple-header did allow him the opportunity to log more miles and try more things in the car.

“Absolutely. And even if I overlay my data from last week to this week, I'm doing a lot more things that this car requires. So I feel like let's say my McLaren driving improved a lot, and I think that was a bit of the kind of sadness from [qualifying], that unfortunately it didn't translate into lap time yet.

“So maybe it's still a bit conscious and I'm just spending too much energy trying to drive it like that. Maybe just a few more races and then it's more my subconscious, and then I can put the car more on the edge. Maybe it's that? We'll see.”

Next stop is Silverstone – the circuit where Ricciardo made his F1 debut with HRT exactly 10 years ago. It’s not been a particularly fruitful venue for him, and third with RBR in 2014 remains his only podium finish.

New for everyone this year is the sprint qualifying format, and Ricciardo is hoping that it will play to one of his obvious strengths.

“The way my starts have been, the last three races, I think I've made minimum two places every first lap. So having a sprint qualifying actually means I'll probably start further up the grid on Sunday! So I'm happy to have two race starts.

“I think probably you have to treat it like a race. If you're being complacent then ultimately you're going to start Sunday further back, and then you're going to take all the risk on Sunday, and maybe risk the front wing then.

“So I would say right now the mindset would be just a normal approach, try to attack when possible and make the most of it.”

Ricciardo admits he has reservations about the format: “I mean pitstops make it fun, I've got used to obviously doing pitstops, and also it really gets the team involved.

“And if they execute a good pitstop, and if you undercut a car or something through a pitstop, everyone feels like they've contributed to that that victory or that result. I like the team element of it, but we'll see what it's like.”

Looking further ahead Ricciardo can only be happy about his decision to join McLaren, as it’s clear that momentum is continuing to build.

“I think at the moment, it's Lando just having the pace he's having, and obviously the speed,” he said. “The speed is there in the car. So I think that gives the team a lot of motivation as well to push hard for next year, with new regulations. But obviously something is clicking with the car. So I think that's encouraging.”

[innuendostudios]

Thoughts on... some funny games

[no spoilers to speak of]

Thoughts on Lair of the Clockwork God

The wisdom of the gaming cognoscenti insists that comedy is hard to do in video games. Having grown up with Monkey Island and Zork, I've never found this convincing. But one true thing is this: it's hard to write about comedic games. The ineffability of humor is hard enough to describe in less-interactive media; I can't even explain to my partner why Gretchen saying "I met January Jones once!" on You're the Worst busted me up, and they were sitting right next to me when she said it. Throw in the "you had to be there" nature of the player's active participation and I lose myself in a cornfield. The thing I found hilarious might come a beat to early for you, or not at all, or not be funny in text like it is in gameplay.

Why did I like Lair of the Clockwork God? It made me laugh.

The premise and particulars are a lot of "that could go either way." Ben and Dan - stars of Ben There, Dan That and Time Gentleman, Please! - have returned. Ben is still an adventure game star, but Dan has adopted platforming mechanics in an attempt to get with the times. So playing the game involves switching back and forth between a character who can leap across canyons but can't pick up items or talk to people, and one who can combine inventory but can't climb over a 3-pixel rock.

Does that sound potentially funny? Potentially grating? Yes to both!

The plot centers around our heroes trying to save the world from several simultaneous apocalypses and having to teach human emotions to a supercomputer in order to do so. (Don't ask.) These means, rather like Ben There, Dan That, traipsing through a number of fantasy worlds (read: computer simulations) until the correct emotion is provoked. This requires cross-genre cooperation: finding ways to get Ben to areas only Dan can access, getting Dan new power ups by combining objects in Ben's inventory (an act Dan insists on calling "crafting").

The best bits are at these intersections, when Dan's platforming is the puzzliest and Ben's puzzles take advantage of Dan's skills. Periodically the game gives you a Dan-centric platforming gauntlet the controls are NOT precise nor pleasant enough for, or a Ben-only moon logic puzzle that leaves you googling the walkthrough.

But I liked it! A lot. The genre-hopping seems to have invigorated the developers, Ben Ward and Dan Marshall. I discussed my favorite joke in Ben There, Dan That (in what is probably the least popular video I've ever made that wasn't asking for money), but was also dismayed that the game was never that clever again. But this one is, several times over! Progression here involves cheating your way to a better respawn zone, goofing around in game menus, exploiting "glitches," exiting out and loading up entirely other games. There is a lot of poking and prodding at what a game of this nature can or should be.

But, honestly? The only real selling point is... it was funny. The humor is as anarchic and metatextual as in previous titles, but it feels good-natured in a way BT,DT didn't. And there are, here and there, little bits of meat on its bones - the characters wondering if, as a couple thirtysomething white guys, the world hasn't left them behind, no longer comfortable with the juvenile humor of their youth but not really understanding the youth of today, but having not yet fully escaped the mentalities they used to hold. (There's an unspoken humor to Dan's idea of "modern" gameplay being 2D platforming mechanics, especially at a time when adventure games are significantly more popular than on his last outing; this is a good joke whether or not it's intentional.)

Also: this game contains the most poignant urinating-on-a-grave puzzle in gaming history, and you may quote me on that.

Having finished it months ago, I can't even remember what all the gags were that tickled me at the time. Comedy fades from memory faster than drama or frustration. Mostly I just remember having a good time.

Thoughts on The Darkside Detective

Here's a hook: sometime after the mayhem ends in Ghostbusters, The Exorcist, Evil Dead 2, or some other paranormal blockbuster that you watched over and over in the 90's until the VHS wore out, some overworked detective has to come into your town and piece together what the hell happened.

This is his story.

It's a good gag, and the devs wring every drop from it. Existing in a world where these things are commonplace and you have to fit them into some notion of "police procedure" is just funny. Like, it's one thing to have a running gag where you keep observing the moon in outdoor scenes, commenting, with increasing hostility, that its behavior is suspicious (it has been present at multiple crime scenes); it's a slightly different thing when, given the things you've encountered, the moon being the Big Bad is actually somewhat possible.

The game is divided into six main cases and three bonus DLC missions (which come included in the base game now, and the third of which is the proper ending/setup for the sequel). You are the cop tasked to deal with The Other Side - and, when The Other Side bleeds into our own world, its cops have to deal with you. You have a sidekick with a mental maturity of about 6, which I guess makes you the straight man. (You have to grade on a curve to find a straight man in this game.) And you solve tasks like rounding up escaped gremlins or finding an AWOL lake monster all juxtaposed with mundane problems like inter-office squabbles and having not bought your Christmas presents early enough. It's (pleasantly) lo-res and sparsely isolated, so the dialogue and premise do most of the work, but they are ably up to the task.

The gameplay... not so much. I'm an adventure game lifer, so I can put up with a lot of nonsense. It's mostly straightforward inventory puzzles and occasional minigames. Most of the puzzles are fine enough. As the cases progress, things get more involved, and the DLCs especially involve some awful moon logic. And the minigames are not above using that same jumping peg puzzle you've solved in a dozen other games already. So gameplay ranges from serviceable to irritating, but it mostly exists to string together funny lines and silly images. (Christmas mall elves being secretly in service to Krampus - that's the kind of thing we're talking about here.) You won't feel much guilt for opening up a walkthrough; the puzzles aren't why you're here.

The sequel has just been released, and both games are cheap, so check them out if you feel like smiling.

Thoughts on The Procession to Calvary

It's rare for a game to be hilarious to look at.

The Procession to Calvary takes its name from the Bruegel painting. It also takes all it's graphics from Renaissance oil paintings, and the designer delights in making famously rendered heroes and religious icons steal, stab, fart, and swear.

A strong Terry-Gilliam-with-After-Effects vibe is what we're describing.

You play as a lady knight from a war that's just ended, which sucks for you because, in this age of peace, you're no longer authorized to kill. And killing's, like, you're whole thing. But the one person your new, pacifist king wouldn't stop you from killing is the warlord you just deposed, who fled to the South. So you embark on a nonsensical journey to seek out the one human on Earth you are authorized to kill, because killing is just The. Best. Ever.

Of the three games we're discussing, this is the most overtly cheeky, and, at times, the most scatological. I could've done with a bit less scatology, if I'm being honest, but the cheekiness is very winning. As with Lair of the Clockwork God, a lot of jokes could go either way - a field of people being tortured and a woman on a blanket selling commemorative torture merch could be painfully try-hard. But something about the victims being seemingly everyone ever crucified or broken on the wheel in a famous painting, and having them writhe on their crosses in a way that is both gruesome and goofy, and having a cacophonous soundtrack of their screams and moans that you will now imagine every time you look at one of those elegantly elegiac paintings from now on... it works. That the music score is being played by an extremely jaunty piper who dances behind you just out of sword's reach as you traverse the field pushes it over the top.

Oh, and the puzzles, while never hair-pullingly obtuse, will leave you stumped at times. Push past that to get the proper ending, but, if you're sick of trying, you can, at any point, just start stabbing your way through problems. Which, again: it takes a very deft touch to make "protagonist resorts to violence" actually funny rather than lazy and obvious. And maybe, in another game, the perfect timing of every animation, the clever quips, the careful contrast of cathedrals and high-society music halls with gleeful sword-swinging wouldn't be enough. But something about it being frickin' Renaissance paintings carries it the last mile.

This is probably the basest game of the three, but it's also the one that made me giggle the most. Having a BFA that required several art history classes may have something to do with it. But check this thing out.

[fandom-necromancer]

Finding each other Part 2

This was prompted by the amazing @headfulloffantasy and @downeyjrfreak! Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 | AU: Soulmate AU [Part1]

The drive home had been more than awkward. Gavin, having hastily loaded his job and the rest of the rescued androids on some unfortunate intern, had short of pulled the RK900 out of the precinct and to his car. And while the android sat on the passenger side with barely any movement, Gavin’s heart seemed to beat with the same rhythm as the engine in front of him. Finally home, they exited the car standing next to the open doors and looked at the small suburban house Gavin only managed to get because half of the neighbourhood was almost deserted. A bit self-conscious, he looked over to the android he barely knew, who apparently wanted to scan every little detail, because he was staring.

‘It’s not much’, he stammered almost as an apology. ‘But it’s mine, home.’ He coughed. ‘Well, ours now I guess.’ He kneaded his neck just to give his hands something to do and looked over. He stared directly into the android’s blue eyes. ‘It’s yours?’, he asked so silent it was almost drowned out by the slight breeze. ‘Ours?’ ‘If you want it to be?’, Gavin shrugged, taken off guard by the surprised tone. ‘You can of course also join the other androids at Jericho. If it’s too fast for you or-‘ ‘I want to be where you are.’ ‘Oh’, Gavin swallowed what he had been about to say. ‘Of course. Then let’s head on in.’

They closed the doors of the car and Gavin took the lead to the porch. Gavin unlocked the door and walked inside, waiting for the android to follow that did so tentatively, scanning what little he could see of the hallway. He closed the door behind him and followed Gavin’s movements while he kicked off his shoes and hung up his jacket. His eyes flew over a few pictures hung up next to the coat rack and Gavin stopped to look at them too. ‘Photo’s of my friends, mostly. A few vacations too.’ He tried a small half-smile, but it did little to chase the awkwardness away that lingered between them.

It was his cat that finally interrupted it, running up to them and weaving through Gavin’s legs to see who that newcomer was. ‘You have a cat?’, the android asked with wide eyes, crouching down and holding out his hand. ‘Yes. Do you like cats?’ ‘I don’t know’, the RK900 answered, completely focussed on the small feline walking up to him just to sniff and headbutt his fingers. ‘I think so, though.’ ‘Right, you never saw one before, right?’, Gavin commented, remembering that the android likely hadn’t been outside Cyberlife Tower until the raid. ‘No, this is the first time. It’s soft.’ ‘I’m sorry. It’s hard to imagine you never did… well, anything really. I think we really should talk.’ The android nodded, standing up again and waiting for Gavin to once again lead the way.

He brought him to the small living room and pointed towards the old cosy couch tucked away to one side of the room facing towards a large flatscreen and a coffee-table in between. Multiple old mugs with dark coffee-stains on the bottom piled on it together with takeout containers and a lone candle meant as decoration. ‘I’m sorry for the mess’, Gavin stammered, even if just to break the silence. ‘I didn’t really expect to… well, to meet my soulmate today.’ ‘I feel the same. I was… Well, your name on my wrist used to be the only thing giving me hope. It made me think I just had to somehow get out of there, once I had managed that there would be a person out there for me that would help me. When I was saved and taken out of that lab… I mean, I still had the name, but how should I even find you? I realised I vastly underestimated how hard it would be to find one human among millions. I was scared for a long time, but the moment I realised that I felt lost, too. Hearing the name in the queue, I thought I must have imagined it. But you had my designation and… I’m just relieved. It’s hard to feel anything beyond that.’

Gavin swallowed hard. It sounded like there was a whole lot of things the android wasn’t saying and none of them would be anything pleasant. Still, he couldn’t help but ask: ‘What did they do to you? If you don’t mind telling. You don’t have to!’ The android looked up at him. ‘I was designed as Connor’s successor. A machine to hunt and kill deviants. And I was thoroughly tested to what extend I was capable of doing that. Sometimes I wished I had been a machine, just so I don’t need to know exactly how it feels, just so I wouldn’t have to reflect on what I did and how it must have felt for the deviant I killed. Even if it was just a simulation it felt real. And I wasn’t a machine. I had been infected when a rogue deviant broke into the lab to get my help. He was killed, but I had his code and the next simulation I deviated. Knowing what they would do to me first-hand though, I did my best to hide it. And I was good with that. They just thought my programming was faulty, not that I was a deviant.’ He paused for a while, looking down on Gavin’s name on his wrist. ‘But because of that they changed me. They stripped away parts of me and replaced them with others. Deleted some completely. I remember existing in some form of a blank slate for an hour because they were on lunchbreak. But no matter how much they changed me, the fact that I never lost you…‘ He nervously faced Gavin again. ‘The fact that I never lost your name on my wrist throughout it all gave me hope. That no matter how much they changed me, you were still out there, and I just had to find a way out. That I wasn’t as alone as I thought to be.’

‘Way to set high expectations’, Gavin chuckled humourless. ‘But hell, that really sounds bad. I hope I can help you. Usually I’m not the person people would come to for that.’ ‘I escaped, and I found the person fate decided was perfect for me. I am safe. Most of my life that was my only goal. Right now I think I just need a place to stay and get used to… learn what it means to actually live I guess.’ ‘S-sure, you can stay here for as long as you want’, Gavin offered, unsure what else to say. He had spent so much time worrying whether his soulmate actually existed, that now that he sat right in front of him, he didn’t know what to do. ‘Cyberlife took a hard blow to their image and lost most, if not all of their power. I don’t think you have to worry about them ever again.’ ‘Thank you’, the RK900 whispered, brushing his thumb over his soul mark just like Gavin had done countless times in the past.

‘What about you?’, the android asked then. ‘I doubt not having a name on your wrist had been easy for you.’ Gavin huffed, finally prying the wristband away and showing the black letters and numbers openly. ‘No, it wasn’t. But no comparison to your story either.’ ‘Please, do tell me’, the android insisted. ‘You are my soulmate and I know nothing about you.’ Gavin leaned back and sighed deeply. ‘Hell, where would I even begin? Everyone thought it was a glitch. Everyone thought I would be someone without a soulmate but fate glitched out and I ended up with this keysmash basically. I wanted to believe it wasn’t and there was some reason for these numbers. Was bullied for them in school and was caught between wishing them away just not to be the weirdo and clinging to your name because it meant there was someone out there. Hid it in the end, but that didn’t help making finding friends easier. It only got better when I met Tina during police academy. She has the same kind of mark. She is destined for a ST300. When androids were released to the public, I must admit I started to really hate my mark and androids with it. I thought that it was an insult to be considered such a bad soul only a lifeless android could fit to me. But with deviancy you basically became persons and my view gradually changed.’

‘So you are not ashamed of having a different mark than other humans?’, the RK900 wanted to know. ‘What? No. Never really was to be honest. I was angry. I felt betrayed being told there was someone for me but having to always doubt myself. Living with the possibility it had all been just a glitch, that I would end up with a mindless machine and then after seeing the RK800 be released, having hope again, just to lose it once again after the revolution. But I was never ashamed of it.’ ‘Why did you lose hope to find me after the revolution?’, RK900 asked. ‘Well, there were no new androids being produced. If your line ended at the RK800, then suddenly the glitch possibility was there again. As was the thought that maybe I would have met you if the revolution wasn’t successful.’ ‘But then the name would have vanished, hadn’t it?’ ‘I don’t have the slightest idea how these things work, tin-can’, Gavin sighed. ‘I was desperate for some explanation at the time. Because I was terrified of staying alone all my life. Always told myself there are a lot of people out there happy living their life without any romantic relationship, but somehow that never sat right with me. And with my soulmark evident, hell, who in his sane mind would date me? I wanted you to exist. Wanted nothing more than meeting you one day.’

‘Maybe we do fit together then’, the android concluded with a calm blue spinning LED. ‘Both desperately wanting the other to exist and be there.’ ‘For vastly different reasons maybe but yeah. You’ve been through a lot more shit than I have.’ ‘I wouldn’t say that’, RK900 disagreed. ‘You had to live with it for thirty-six years. I only for about half a year. I can’t imagine how it must have been for you.’ Gavin nodded a bit uncomfortable. In his eyes his struggle wasn’t even remotely similar to the android’s, but comparing suffering was likely a bad idea in the first place. ‘Well, it’s over now’, Gavin concluded, defeated and feeling tired suddenly. ‘It’s over’, the android agreed.

‘What do we do now?’, the human asked after a few moments of silence. ‘Can I hug you again?’, RK900 asked. ‘It felt really good the last time.’ Gavin smirked at that and shrugged. ‘Sure.’ They scooted closer on the couch and the android put his arms around Gavin, who did the same. Leaned against each other like this, holding the other they barely knew and yet felt completely safe with, a comfortable silence settled around them for the first time. Gavin’s cat joined them after a while and Gavin himself gradually lost all of his tension. ‘I waited far too long for this’, he mumbled already sleepy and settled against the android in a more comfortable position. He felt how RK900 in his back looked down on him by the way his chest angled itself against his shoulder. Then he returned to his resting position and a gust of warm, slightly stale air hit the side of his head. ‘Me too.’

[harknesswife]

It was you all along (Agatha HarknessxFemale reader)

Summary: This is a sweet self-insert love story between Agatha and a Westview citizen. Everything that happens follows the original events of "Wandavision" and MCU, like a parallel.

Chapter: 05/10

Word count: 1.450k

The phone rang and I was pretty sure who it would be before I even picked it up.

"So, when you say early, you really mean it, don’t you?", I said, with my eyes still closed.

"Well, I assumed you’d be up already", Agnes replied and I knew she was smiling just by the tone in her voice.

"You don’t know me at all", I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. "So, what's up?"

"I also assume you don’t have any plans for today, so I’m inviting you to some trick or treating."

I got the calendar right next to my bed. October 31st.

"Oh, I see. Agnes, dear. I’m so freakin tired these days."

"Well, I think you need to live a little", I heard a door closing on her side of the line.

"I don’t even have a costume, and I’m not sure if there’s time to buy one..."

"Well, then he’s late."

"Who's late?", I asked when my doorbell rang. "Agnes, who’s at my door?"

She giggled.

"See you at eight. Don’t you dare keep me waiting."

Dennis, the mailman, was right at my doorstep.

"Do you guys always work that early?", I yawned while signing the paper he gave me.

"Well, don’t shoot me!", he raised his hands - "I’m just…"

"The messenger. Yeah, I’m familiar with that quote."

He handed me a package before running back to the van.

It was a big silver box with a purple bow on it. I opened it and found the most beautiful dress inside. It was all white, and I could see some tiny crystals attached to it. When I turned it in front of the light, they twinkled in so many different ways. It ended right above my knees, and I had the perfect heels for that. When I was about to go upstairs and try it on, I realized that there was one more thing inside the box.

Wings. Translucent and… magical. So it was a fairy costume. I took them out and boy, they were big. That’s why the box was almost double the dress size. How on earth had Agnes found that on such short notice? Or maybe… she kept that for a while? And was waiting to give it to me?

Just like that the fatigue was gone.

It took me hours to get ready, but it totally paid off. My hair was all curly and I had some glitter in my eyes. My makeup was all white and silver, except for my red lips. I was deciding either to take a purse or not when someone honked in front of my house. The wings were already attached to my dress (which took me forever to do it on my own), and they kinda flapped around me in a lovely way.

Agnes was inside her car, in a full witch costume, with a hat and a wig. Her mouth dropped a little bit when she saw me.

"You look amazing!!", she said, while I closed the door behind me.

"You too", I said, opening the car’s door. I struggled a little bit to get inside with those wings, but I refused to take them off. "So, do you really think people are gonna give us candy? I mean, I don’t think we’re young enough for this."

She grabbed a bag full of sweets from inside the glove compartment and gave it to me.

"I’ve got the treats!", she started the car.

"Which takes us to the tricking", I replied, biting a tiny piece of chocolate. "So, where you’re taking me?"

"I thought that maybe we could escape this town for a while. What do you think?"

She actually waited for me to answer.

"Drive!",  I said, getting my seatbelt on. She did.

I couldn’t help looking at her while she drove. The way she’d look at one side and then to another, before going through the next street corner, squinting her eyes and biting her lower lip…

"So, how long do you live here?", she asked me, still looking ahead.

"Well, since I can remember", I replied, looking at her.

"No family, then?"

"No one close...", I said, sighing.

"Don’t you have any friends? Anyone?"

"I’ve been alone for a very long time", I suddenly felt really sad.  And I had no idea of why my eyes were tearing up.

"You’re a lovely girl", she looked at me while saying that. "I’m pretty sure you could make lots of friends if you try."

"I don’t feel like trying."

She stopped the car right after we passed through Ellis Avenue.

"Why did we stop?", I looked around, but there was nothing to see. The lights were out in every single house.

"Why did you keep looking for me from your window?", she said, turning her whole body to look at me.

She was, again, expecting an answer. But I didn’t have one.

"I wanted to be friends with you", I said, my eyes unable to reach hers.

"But why? You don’t even know me."

She seemed to be accusing me of something.

"What are you trying to say?", I took my seatbelt off, so I could also turn to face her. My patience was all gone. "Tell me what’s wrong! One minute you treat me just fine, and then…"

Agnes gently touched my face. I stopped talking.

"What makes you so different?", she whispered, more to herself than for me.

She moved her hand from my cheek to the back of my neck. I shivered with her touch and closed my eyes for a second. Enough time for her to let me go.

"I need to... think!", she said, getting out of her car. Something between screaming and shushing. "Please, stay inside. Ok? Stay in. I’ll be right back."

Agnes took off her witch hat and tossed it on the ground. She seemed mad and confused. Nothing about her even resembled that lovely neighbor I once knew.

I opened the door and stepped out. No way in hell I'd watch her freak out like that and do nothing. I was on my way to her when something else got my attention. It was like a glitch right in the middle of the sky. I looked again, to be sure. Without even realizing it, I kept walking towards that strange thing that reminded me of a TV with a bad signal. The closer I got, the more I could see. The details were… so weird. Like a bubble. But with some kind of energy around it. It made me wanna touch it, so I lifted one of my fingers and, feeling kinda foolish, pressed against whatever it was. I felt a little shock, but it didn't hurt.

What if I tried to cross it?

"DON’T MOVE!"

My whole body went cold. I tried to turn my head but I couldn’t move a muscle. My finger still in the air, my eyes locked on that energy field right in front of me. If I could speak, I’d have shouted. But my voice was trapped inside my throat.

Her hands burned my waist when she touched me from behind. I knew it was Agnes because there was no one else in there.

"Trust me", she whispered again, right into my ears.

She held me tighter while my body just collapsed on top of hers. We both fell to the ground. My voice was back, but I was speechless. She pulled me away from where we fell, just trying to get me as far as she could from the glitch. Then we heard it before it actually happened. A blast. The barrier got bigger, swallowing houses, cars, and people. Agnes held me, and I kept my head down on her shoulder, with my eyes closed. There was so much wind, I could feel her hair whipping my body while she kept both of her arms around me. Protecting me from whatever was happening. It ended as suddenly as it started. We stood there for a few more seconds before she made me look at her. I didn’t want to.

"Hey. HEY!", she insisted when I tried to look away. "We need to get out of here."

She got up, taking me with her to the car. I had glitter all over my face, and her hair was all tangled.

"You don’t need to be afraid", she said when we got inside. "I’m not gonna hurt you."

"Agnes… ", I tried to tell her that I wasn’t afraid, but I simply asked, "Where are you taking me?"

"It's time to set you free", she replied, speeding up.

That made no sense to me, but I buckled up.