#everything about this segment BANGED

[carnival-core]

Man I should prob capitalize on the meme and draw shitpost-angst fanart of Twitter fuckin dying but I think I’m too genuinely upset by this development despite seeing it coming to actually do anything . Someone possess me and do it for me

[felassan]

Edge – The Future of Interactive Entertainment magazine, issue #401 (October 2024 issue) – Dragon Age: The Veilguard story

The rest of this post is under a cut for length.

Update: this issue of this magazine is now available to buy from UK retailers today. it can be purchased online at [this link]. [Tweet from Edge Online] also, Kala found that a digital version of the magazine can be read at [this link].

This post is a word-for-word transcription of the full article on DA:TV in this issue of this magazine. DA:TV is the cover story of this issue. When transcribing, I tried to preserve as much of the formatting from the magazine as possible. Edge talked to BioWare devs for the creation of this article, so the article contains new quotes from the devs. the article is written by Jeremy Peel. There were no new screenshots or images from the game in the article. I also think that it contains a few lil bits of information that are new, like the bits on companions' availability and stumbling across the companions out and about on their own in the world e.g. finding Neve investigating an abduction case in Docktown.

tysm to @simpforsolas and their friend for kindly telling me about the article!!

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[image source]

Article introduction segment:

"[anecdote about Edge] We were reminded of this minuscule episode in Edge's history during the creation of this issue's cover story, in which we discuss the inspiration behind Dragon Age: The Veilguard with its creators at BioWare. Notably, director John Epler remembers the studio experimenting with a number of approaches during the early phase of development before eventually locking in to what the game was supposed to be all along, above all else: 'a single-player, story-focused RPG'. As you'd expect from BioWare, though, that was really just a starting point, as we discovered on p54." BioWare draws back the Veil and ushers us into a new Dragon Age

"BEHIND THE CURTAIN BioWare's first true RPG in age age is as streamlined and pacey as a dragon in flight. By Jeremy Peel Game Dragon Age: The Veilguard Developer BioWare Publisher EA Format PC, PS5, Xbox Series Origin Canada Release Autumn

The Dragon Age universe wasn't born from a big bang or the palm of an ancient god. Instead, it was created to solve a problem. BioWare was tired of battling Hasbro during the making of Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, and wanted a Dungeons & Dragons-like setting of its own. A small team was instructed to invent a new fantasy world in which the studio could continue its groundbreaking work in the field of western RPGs, free of constraints.

Well, almost free. BioWare's leaders mandated that the makers of this new world stick to Eurocentric fantasy, and include a fireball spell - since studio co-founder Ray Muzyka had a weakness for offensive magic.

Beyond that, BioWare’s storytellers were empowered to infuse Dragon Age with their own voices and influences, leaning away from D&D’s alignment chart and towards a moral grayness that left fans of A Song Of Ice And Fire feeling warm and cozy.

In the two decades since, the world of Thedas – rather infamously and amusingly, a shortening of ‘the Dragon Age setting’ that stuck – has taken on a distinct flavor. It’s something director John Epler believes is rooted in characters.

“There’s definitely some standard fantasy stuff in Dragon Age, but everything in the world, every force, is because of someone,” he says. “The idea is that every group and faction needs to be represented by a person – someone you can relate to. Big political forces are fine as background, but they don’t provide you with those interesting story moments.”

Dragon Age: The Veilguard bears out that philosophy. The long-awaited sequel was first announced with the subtitle Dreadwolf, in reference to its antagonist, Solas – an ancient elf who once stripped his people of immortality as punishment for betraying one of their own. In doing so, Solas created the Veil, the thin barrier through which wizards pull spirits and demons invade the waking world. In other words, many of Dragon Age’s defining features, from its downtrodden elves to the uneasy relationship between mages and a fearful church, can be traced right back to one character’s decision.

“The world exists as it does because of Solas,” Epler says. “He shaped the world because of the kind of character he was. That’s, to me, what makes Dragon Age so interesting. Everything can tie back to a person who to some degree thought they were doing the right thing.”

Perhaps BioWare’s greatest achievement in slowburn character development, Solas is a former companion, an unexploded bomb who sat in the starting party of Dragon Age: Inquisition, introverted and useful enough to get by without suspicion. Yet by the time credits rolled around on the Trespasser DLC, players were left in no doubt as to the threat he presented.

Determined to reverse the damage he once caused, the Dreadwolf intends to pull down the Veil, destroying Thedas as we know it in the process. The next Dragon Age game was always intended to be his story.

“We set that up at the end of Trespasser,” Epler says. “There was no world where we were ever going to say, ‘And now let’s go to something completely different.’ We wanted to pay off that promise.”

Yet almost everything else about the fourth Dragon Age appears to have been in flux at one time. In 2019, reporter Jason Schreier revealed that an early version, starring a group of spies pulling off heists in the Tevinter Imperium, had been cancelled two years prior. Most of its staff were apparently moved onto BioWare’s struggling Anthem, while a tiny team rebooted Dragon Age from scratch. That new game was said to experiment with live-service components.

“We tried a bunch of different ideas early on,” Epler says. “But the form The Veilguard has taken is, in a lot of ways, the form that we were always pushing towards. We were just trying different ways to get there. There was that moment where we really settled on, ‘This is a singleplayer, story-focused RPG – and that’s all it needs to be’”.

Epler imagines a block of marble, from which BioWare was attempting to carve an elephant – a character- and story-driven game. “We were chipping away, and sometimes it looked more like an elephant and sometimes it didn’t”, he says. “And then we eventually realized: ‘Just make an elephant’. When we got to that, it almost just took shape by itself.”

2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition was an open-world game commonly criticized for a slow-paced starting area which distracted players from the thrust of the plot. The Veilguard, in contrast, is mission-based, constructed with tighter, bespoke environments designed around its main story and cast. “We wanted to build a crafted, curated experience for the player,” Epler says. “Pacing is important to us, and making sure that the story stays front and center.”

Epler is very proud of Inquisition, the game on which he graduated from cinematic designer to a lead role (for its DLC). “But one of the things that we ran into on that project was an absentee antagonist,” he says. “Corypheus showed up and then disappeared. You spent ten hours in the Hinterland doing sidequests, and there wasn’t that sense of urgency.”

This time, The Veilguard team wants you to constantly feel the sword of Damocles dangling above your head as you play – a sense that the end of the world is coming if you don’t act. “There’s still exploration – there’s still the ability to go into some of these larger spaces and go off the beaten path to do sidequests,” Epler says. “But there’s always something in the story propelling you and the action forward, and allowing you to make decisions with these characters where the stakes feel a lot more immediate and present. And also, honestly, more real.”

No sooner have you finished character creation than Dragon Age: The Veilguard thrusts you into a choice. As your protagonist, Rook, steps into focus on the doorstep of the seediest bar in town, you decide whether to threaten the owner for information or make a deal. Brawl or no, you’ll walk out minutes later with a lead: the location of a private investigator named Neve Gallus, who can help you track down Solas.

You proceed into Minrathous, the largest city in Thedas and capital of the Tevinter Imperium – a region only alluded to in other Dragon Age games. It’s a place built on the backs of slaves and great mages, resulting in tiered palaces and floating spires – a kind of architecture unimaginable to those in the southern nations.

“When your Dragon Age: Inquisition companion Dorian joins you in Orlais, in one of the biggest cities in Thedas, he mentions that it’s quaint and cute compared to Minrathous,” Corinne Busche, game director on The Veilguard, says. “That one bit of dialogue was our guiding principle on how to realize this city. It is sprawling. It is lived-in. Sometimes it’s grimy, sometimes it’s bougie. But it is expansive.”

Immediately, you can see the impact of BioWare’s decision to tighten its focus. Around every other corner in Minrathous is an exquisitely framed view, a level of spectacle you would never see in Inquisition, where resources were spread much more thinly. “When you know that you’re gonna be heading down a canyon or into this plaza where the buildings open up, you have those perfect spots to put a nice big temple of Andraste or a mage tower,” art director Matthew Rhodes says. “You get those opportunities to really hit that hard.”

BioWare’s intention is to make strong visual statements that deliver on decades of worldbuilding. “People who have a history with Dragon Age have thought about what Minrathous might be like,” Rhodes says. “We can never compete with their imagination, but we can aim for it like we’re shooting for the Moon.”

The people of Tevinter use magic as it if were electricity, as evidenced by the glowing sigils that adorn the dark buildings – street signs evoking Osaka’s riverfront or the LA of Blade Runner. They’re just one of the tricks BioWare’s art team uses to invite you to stop and take in the scene. “A lot of what you start to notice when you’re the artist who’s been working on these big, beautiful vistas and neat murals on the walls is how few players look up,” Rhodes says. “We design props and architecture that help lead the eyes.”

For the really dedicated shoegazers, BioWare has invested in ray-traced reflections, so that the neon signage can be appreciated in the puddles. There are also metal grates through which you can see the storm drains below. “The idea behind that is purely just to remind the player often of how stacked the city is,” Rhodes says. “Wherever you’re standing, there’s guaranteed to be more below you and above you.”

One of BioWare’s core creative principles for The Veilguard is to create a world that’s actually worth saving – somewhere you can imagine wanting to stick around in, once the crises of the main quest are over. To that end, the team has looked to ground its outlandish environments with elements of mundanity.

“A guy’s normal everyday life walking down the streets of this city is more spectacular than what the queen of Orlais is seeing, at least in terms of sheer scale," Rhodes says. “One of the things we’ve tried to strike a balance with is that this is actually still a place where people have to go to the market and buy bread, raise their kids, and try to make it. It’s a grand and magical city, but how do you get your horses from one place to the next? Where do you load the barrels for the tavern? It’s really fun to think of those things simultaneously.”

Normal life in Minrathous is not yours to behold for long, however. Within a couple of minutes of your arrival, the very air is ripped open like cheap drapes, and flaming demons clatter through the merchant carts that line the city streets. A terrible magical ritual, through which Solas intends to stitch together a new reality, has begun.

“We wanted the prologue to feel like the finale of any other game we’ve done,” Busche explains. “Where it puts you right into this media-res attack on a city and gets you really invested in the action and the story right away. When I think back to Inquisition, how the sky was literally tearing open – the impact of this ritual really makes that look like a minor inconvenience.”

Our hero is confronted by a Pride demon, imposing and armored as in previous games, yet accented by exposed, bright lines that seem to burst from its ribcage. “They are a creature of raw negative emotion,” Busche says. “So we wanted to actually incorporate that into their visual design with this glowing nervous system.”

When a pack of smaller demons blocks Rook’s route to the plaza where Neve was last seen, battle breaks out, and The Veilguard’s greatest divergence from previous Dragon Age games becomes apparent. Our rogue protagonist flits between targets up close and evades individual sword swings with precision. In the chaos, he swaps back and forth between blades and a bow. He blends light and heavy attacks, and takes advantage of any gap in the melee to charge up even bigger blows.

“Responsiveness was our first-and-foremost goal with this baseline layer of the combat system,” Busche says. Unless you’re activating a high-risk, high-reward ability such as a charged attack, any action can be animation-cancelled, allowing you to abort a sword swing and dive away if an enemy lunges too close. “We very much wanted you to feel like you exist in this space, as you’re going through these really crafted, hand-touched worlds,” Busche says. “That you’re on the ground in control of every action, every block, every dodge.” Anyone who’s ever bounced off a Soulslike needn’t worry: The Veilguard’s highly customizable difficulty settings enable you to loosen up parry windows if they prove too demanding.

Gone is the overhead tactical camera which, for some players, was a crucial point of connection between Dragon Age and the Baldur’s Gate games that came before, tapping into a lineage of thoughtful, tabletop-inspired combat. Epler points out that the camera’s prior inclusion had an enormous impact on where the game’s battles took place. “We actually had a mandate on Inquisition, which was, ‘Don’t fight inside,’” he says. “The amount of extra work on getting that tactical camera to work in a lot of those internal environments, it was very challenging.”

Gone, too, is the ability to steer your comrades directly. “On the experiential side, we wanted you to feel like you are Rook – you’re in this world, you’re really focused on your actions,” Busche says. “We very much wanted the companions to feel like they, as fully realized characters, are in control of their own actions. They make their own decisions. You, as the leader of this crew, can influence and direct and command them, but they are their own people.”

It's an idea with merit, albeit one that could be read as spin. “It’s not lost on me,” Busche says. “I will admit that, on paper, if you just read that you have no ability to control your companions, it might feel like something was taken away. But in our testing and validating with players, what we find is they’re more engaged than ever.”

There may be a couple of reasons for that. One is that Dragon Age’s newly dynamic action leaves little room for seconds spent swapping between perspectives. “This is a much higher actions-per-minute game,” Busche says. “It is more technically demanding on the player. So when we tried allowing you full control of your companions as well, what we’ve found is it wasn’t actually adding to the experience. In fact, in some ways it was detrimental, given the demanding nature of just controlling your own character.”

Then there’s The Veilguard’s own tactical layer, as described by BioWare. Though the fighting might be faster and lower, like a mana-fuelled sports scar, the studio is keen to stress that the pause button remains as important to the action as ever. This is, according to Busche, where the RPG depth shines through, as you evaluate the targets you’re facing and take their buffs into account: “Matching elemental types against weaknesses and resistances is a big key to success in this game.”

You pick between rogue, warrior and mage – each role later splitting again into deeper specialisms – and draw from a class-specific resource during fights. A rogue relies on Momentum, which is built up by avoiding damage and being highly aggressive, whereas a warrior is rewarded for blocking, parrying, and mitigating damage.

Those resources are then used on the ability wheel, which pauses the game and allows you to consider your options. The bottom quadrant of the wheel belongs to your character, and is where three primary abilities will be housed. “Rook will also have access to runes, which function as an ability, and a special ultimate ability,” Busche says. “So you’re bringing five distinct abilities with you into combat.”

The sections to the left and right of the wheel, meanwhile, are dedicated to your companions. Busche points to Lace Harding, the returning rogue from Inquisition, who is currently frozen mid-jump. “She is her own realized individual in this game. She’s got her own behaviors: how she prioritizes targets, whether she gets up close and draws aggro or stays farther back at range. But you’ll be able to direct her in combat by activating her abilities from the wheel.”

These abilities are complemented by positional options at the top of the wheel, where you can instruct your companions to focus their efforts on specific targets, either together or individually. Doing so will activate the various buffs, debuffs and damage enhancements inherent in their weapons and gear. “So,” Busche explains, “as you progress through the first two hours of the game, this full ability wheel is completely populated with a variety of options and different tactics that you can then string together.”

BioWare has leaned into combos. You might tell one companion to unleash a gravity-well effect that gathers enemies together, then have another slow time. Finally, you could drop an AOE attack on your clustered and slowed opponents, dealing maximum damage. The interface will let you know when an opportunity to blend two companion abilities emerges – moments BioWare has dubbed ‘combo detonations’.

“I like to think about this strategic layer to combat as a huddle,” Busche says, “where you’re figuring out how you want to handle the situation, based on the information you have on the encounter, and how you and your companions synergize together.”

Deeper into the game, as encounters get more challenging, Epler says we’ll be spending a lot of time making “very specific and very focused tactical decisions”. The proof will be in eating the Fereldan fluffy mackerel pudding, of course, but Busche insists this shift to fast action isn’t a simplification. “What really makes the combat system and indeed the extension into the progression system work is that pause-and-play tactical element that we know our players expect.”

The autonomy of The Veilguard’s companions doesn’t end with combat. BioWare’s data shows that in previous games players tended to stick with the same two or three beloved comrades during a playthrough. This time, however, you’ll be forced to mix your squad up at regular intervals.

“We do expect that players will have favorites they typically want to adventure with,” Busche says, “but sometimes certain companions will be mandatory.” Others may not always be available – part of the studio’s effort to convince with three-dimensional characters. “They do have a life outside of Rook, the main character,” Busche says.

"They'll fall in love with people in this world. They’ve had past experiences they’ll share with you if you allow them in and get close to them.”

Being separated from your companions, rather than collecting them all in a kind of stasis at camp, allows you to stumble across them unexpectedly. Busche describes an instance in which, while exploring the Docktown section of Minrathous, you might bump into Neve as she investigates an abduction case. “If I go and interact with her, I can actually stop what I’m doing, pick up her arc and adventure with her throughout her part of the story,” Busche says. “What’s interesting is that all of the companion arcs do ultimately tie back to the themes of the main critical path, but they also have their own unique challenges and villains, and take place over the course of many different intimate moments.”

Some parts of a companion’s quest arc involve combat, while others don’t. Some are made up of large and meaningful missions – as lavish and involved as those along the critical path. “While they are optional, I would be hesitant to call them side content in this game,” Busche says. If you choose not to engage with some of these companion-centered events, they’ll resolve on their own. “And it might have interesting implications.”

The Veilguard promises plenty of change, then, even as it picks up the threads of fan-favorite characters and deepens them, honoring the decades of worldbuilding that came before it. This is perhaps the enduring and alluring paradox of Dragon Age: a beloved series which has never had a direct and immediate sequel, nor a recurring protagonist. Instead, it’s been reinvented with each new entry.

“It’s a mixed blessing to some degree,” Epler says. “The upside is always that it gives us more room to experiment and to try new things. There are parts of the series that are common to every game: it’s always an RPG, it’s always about characters, and we always want to have that strategic tactical combat where you’re forced to make challenging decisions. But at the end of the day, I think what makes Dragon Age Dragon Age is that each one feels a little bit different.”"

Q&A Matthew Rhodes Art director

Q. Early BioWare RPGs were literary, with the emotions and detail mostly happening in dialogue boxes. How have you seen the studio's approach to visual storytelling evolve? A. This has been my entire career. When I first showed up at BioWare, it was at the tail end of Jade Empire, and then I was working on Dragon Age: Origins and early Mass Effect. The games had taken that next step out of sprites and 2D models, and it was like: 'How do we say more? How do we communicate more clearly?' During those early days, a lot of games depended on words to fix everything for you. As long as your character was talking bombastically, you could lend them everything that they needed. But as time went on it also became a visual medium, and it's been this long journey of trying to establish art's seat at the table. I've worked with some great writers over the years, and art is also an essential part of the storytelling. From Dragon Age: Inquisition on, I've been trying to stress with my teams that we are a story department.

Q. Is part of that also letting writers know that your storytelling assistance is available, to help them show rather than tell? A. On The Veilguard, that principle has been operating the best I've seen it. Where you would need a paragraph of dialogue in one of those exposition moments where a character just talks to you, we could sell that with a broken statue or a skeleton overgrown with vines. We've had more opportunities to do that on The Veilguard than most of the projects I've ever worked on combined.

To a hammer, every problem looks like a nail, and so in every department, writing will try to solve it with more words, and art will try to solve it with more art. I've bumped up against moments where it's like, 'As much as we could keep hammering on this design, I think this is actually an audio solution.' And then you take it to audio, and you don't get that overcooked feeling where each team is just trying to solve it in their silo. It's a really creatively charged kind of environment.

[main body of article ends here]

Additional from throughout the article --

Image caption: “Spotlights shine down from the city guards’ base as they pursue you through the streets of Minrathous.”

Image caption: “While most of your companions can be sorted into comfortingly familiar RPG classes, The Veilguard introduces two new varieties: a Veil Jumper and a private investigator.”"

Image caption [on this Solas ritual concept art specifically]: “The name previously given to the game – Dreadwolf – was a direct reference to Solas. Your former companion, now on his own destructive mission, still features, despite the name change.”

Text in a side box:

"RATIONAL ANTHEM The hard lesson BioWare drew from Anthem was to play to its strengths. “We’re a studio that has always been built around digging deep on storytelling and roleplaying,” Epler says. “I’m proud of a lot of things on Anthem – I was on that project for a year and a half. But at the end of the day we were building a game focused on something we were not necessarily as proficient at. For me and for the team, the biggest lesson was to know what you’re good at and then double down on it. Don’t spread yourselves too thin. Don’t try to do a bunch of different things you don’t have the expertise to do. A lot of the people on this team came here to build a story-focused, singleplayer RPG."

Image caption: “In combat you no longer control your companions directly – this is a faster-paced form of fighting – but you are able to direct them in combat, and can even blend their abilities in ‘combo detonations’.”

Image caption: “You’ll be exploring new regions across Tevinter and beyond – Rivain is a certainty, and that’s only accessible via Antiva travelling overland.”

Image caption: “There are three specializations per character class; on the way to unlocking them you’ll acquire a range of abilities.”

Text in a side box:

"MEET YOUR MAKER “Full disclosure: Dragon Age has traditionally not done skin tones well, especially for people of color,” Busche says. “We wanted to do a make-good here.” In The Veilguard’s character creator, you can adjust the amount of melanin that comes through in the skin, as well as test various lighting scenarios to ensure your protagonist looks exactly as you intend in cutscenes. “Speaking of our first creative principle – be who you want to be – we really feel these are the kinds of features that unlock that for our players,” Busche says. “We want everyone to be able to see themselves in this game.” For the first time in the series, your body type is fully customizable too, with animations, armor and even romantic scenes reflecting your choices."

Image caption: “Your companions are a mix of old and new – Lace Harding is a familiar face. Veil Jumper Bellara is new, with a new occupation, while Davrin is a new face with a familiar profession – he’s a Warden.”

Image caption: "Arlathan Forest is home to the ruined city of the elves, now a place of wild magic, Veil Jumpers and (allegedly) spirits".

Image caption: "Bellara is driven by a desire to learn more about the elves, rediscovering the shattered history and magic of her people."

[source: Edge – The Future of Interactive Entertainment magazine, issue #401 (October 2024 issue) - it can be purchased online at [this link].]

[m1d-45]

look, don't touch

summary: a minor mishap in the lab leads to a chain of.. interesting events with the second harbinger

word count: 4.8k

-> warnings: reader is badly burned + mentioned blood + somewhat graphic description of injury, dottore + his reputation, you think you're going to die at one point (not serious, in passing, you don't)

-> gn reader (you/yours) and non-canonical segments

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr || @ryuryuryuyurboat || @undrxtxd || @rainswept || @wanderersqt || @rozz-eokkk

< masterlist >

you weren’t an earnest follower in celestia by any means, but if they could get you out of this then you would happily spend the rest of your life devoted to being a pastor.

mostly because that’s the only way you’d live to see the light of day again, but that was besides the point.

on a good day, working for any harbinger came with a lot of challenges, but you had ended up with the most ruthless and least rational. every time you walked into the doctor’s lab, there was a healthy amount of fear that it would be your last. at least one fight was going on at any given point, trying to read their horrendous handwriting gave you a headache, the constant mood swings and volatile behavior just the tip of the iceberg. on top of that, you also had to deal with being dragged into every idea and whim they had; your technical job title was merely ‘assistant,’ but that was far too narrow a band to cover everything you did that wasn’t in the fine print.

like this. standing with your hands shoved deep into the chest of a skywatcher ruin drake, fumbling for a casing supposedly “just a little further,” if beta’s continued pressuring was anything to go by. he was standing somewhere behind you, theta on the other side of the drake trying to figure out how to pry off the thick bolts sticking out of its spine. theta you could understand. he was mostly machine himself, so it made sense he’d be the one to pull apart the touchier components, but beta? beta, fussing with the wings of the drake, doing a whole lot of nothing while you shoved your very human and non-replaceable arms into a tangled mess of gears and wiring. you’d already gotten burned once, a thick droplet of oil falling onto your wrist from above that theta apologized profusely for, and you weren’t eager to do so again.

sure, if your arms did get ripped from their sockets you’re fairly certain you’d receive prosthetics in return, but that didn’t excuse anything. just because they were capable of amazing feats of science didn’t mean you wanted to be another test subject.

“you can do it,” beta ‘encouraged,’ leaning on your shoulder and not at all making it more difficult to strain for the part he wanted. “you saw the plans.”

of course you did, you were the one that had insisted he look them over again before ripping into the machine. behind the chest plate, behind the core, straight to the back was a wide bundle of wires. in the very center was a segmented strip of chained together casings shaped vaguely like dumbbells, supposedly easy enough to pull out. what was inside? who knew. probably beta. you’d found the wiring just fine—not just fine, you’d scraped yourself along far too many gears and raw edges to be entirely intact—but there was nothing inside it. you picked out the thinner wires one by one, and while you’d succeeded in finding the structure they were supposed to be in, it was empty. yanking it up had rewarded you with a bruise on your forearm and nothing in the slot below it, so you fed it back down and prepared to pull.

“please behave yourself, beta.” theta’s voice comes from higher than it was last time, a loud bang from above you reverberating through the entire machine. you try not to think about it.

“i’m supervising-”

“i’m supposed to be supervising,” you interrupt, gripping two bars of the structure and preparing yourself. “i don’t get paid enough for this.”

you breathe, your grip tightens, and you pull with everything you have. above you, something pops, and the frame in your hands is suddenly very slack. you don’t even have a chance to feel for the capsules before something hot and burning poured on your arms, a thick oil that clung to your skin and refused to leave. beta moved quicker than you could think, grabbing your sides and practically carrying you away from the machine. the sludge was forming a wide pool on the floor now, a dark lumpy black that stretched all the way up to your elbows and made you painfully aware of that fact. beta had grabbed a roll of mechanic’s towels and roughly wiped off the excess, the drag of the napkin on raw skin making you hiss. it left a reddish residue behind, though the sight of your hands quickly blurred with tears.

“theta, we’re leaving.” beta puts one hand between your shoulders and quickly pushes you out of the project room, a sliding door opening into the upper lab. you blink out your tears as best you can, mostly relying on beta to guide you past the maze of tables and machinery. this section of the lab didn’t have a medbay since the segments allowed up here never needed one, so it meant you had to walk all the way down to the lower lab for first aid. how fun. you weren’t keen on letting this stuff stay on you for any longer than it had to, but since when was any dottore known for his safety measures?

even in your limited vision, you see more heads turn toward you than usual as the door hisses open. beta don’t stop to pay them any attention, walking you straight through to the door marked with a red cross, hand tightening in your shirt when you stumble on the slight step.

“careful,” he says, like you’d ever be in this situation of your own accord.

the faucet hisses and so do you, gritting your teeth at the pressure on your hands. you blink rapidly, struggling to find the soap before he puts it right in front of you, pressing down the top and letting it fall into your hands. your skin is bubbled and angry, shaking hands and blurred vision making it impossible to figure out where anything was. instead of doing anything remotely helpful, beta just stands at your side like the world’s worst lightpost, providing no insight and only unnerving you further with his presence. the only indication he’s not lost in some manic daydream is occasional mumbling, though that may actually be evidence the more you think about it. you’re not sure how much time passes, just running water over your skin to stave off the pain. eventually, he sighs, “fine, i’ll go,” a nonsensical statement you almost don’t notice wasn’t meant for you before he speaks a little louder.

“i need to go, but i’ll get kappa for you.”

like he wasn’t already there to see you walk in. “sure.”

he lingers, then leaves. you continue washing cold water over your skin to keep the burning at bay, knowing full well its a superficial solution. best case, you’re burned severely and are either fired for incompetence or made to work through it. worst case, whatever chemical that was made its way into your bloodstream through one of the many scrapes you got and you were about to drop dead from a heart attack any moment now. neither option was rather thrilling.

your palm can’t take much more of the water pressure, but the thought of trying to twist the valve off is equally unappealing. pain, or slightly adjacent pain: a typical day in dottore’s lab. you never thought you’d be on the receiving end.

the door doesn’t creak as it’s pushed open, but the sound of boots on the floor gives it away. who you can only assume is kappa turns off the water, blotting up the excess on your arms with a soft towel that still felt too harsh.

“i know, i know…”

you watch through blurred vision—was that the cause of your headache, or was it the stress?—as he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a small tin. he moves delicately, barely a whisper across your skin as he spreads the salve over your arms. soft gel pads his fingers, a cushion of translucent silicone over everything sharp edge or hard plate. you could barely pick out the seams between the layers of his hand, each of them slipping and melding together in one fluid movement. the salve leaves a cool numbness wherever it touches, your pain swiftly becoming a faint memory. you’re somewhat surprised by how quickly it works, though you probably shouldn’t be. if they could figure out delusions, they could figure out an effective topical pain reliever. he gently twists your arm just enough to see if he’s missed anywhere, not pulling any of the irritated skin. once satisfied, he makes quick work of wrapping it, white bandage spiraling up your arm faster than you can blink. he tapes it shut just below your elbow, and the process begins anew.

there’s not much else to do but watch him work. your tears are finally starting to recede enough that you can see clearer, gauging the damage on your arms. it’s… well, terrible, if you’re being frank, skin peeling and blood smearing into the pale beige salve. you're definitely going to blister, and there’s no way you’ll be able to so much as pick up a pen in this condition. hopefully prime accounts for that when he decides your next shifts, though anything you do is realistically going to hurt. you’re pretty useless like this, even as a proper supervisor you couldn’t exactly take notes. you don’t have an ancient supercomputer in your brain like kappa or theta, and even the most basic of tasks involved your hands. no matter how good kappa’s medicine, there’s no way you’ll be in well enough shape by tomorrow.

“you’re worried,” kappa says, neither a question or a statement. an explanation, maybe, but to who?

“pardon?”

he ‘looks’ up (you’re fairly certain he only does that for your benefit) though his hands don’t pause, the red diamond on his face plate pulsing faintly. like his hands, the seam between black metal and bluish silicone is so small it might as well not be there. the silence stretches for longer than you know what to do with, long enough that he finishes with your arm, wiping off his hands on the towel from before. “your shirt has holes in it,” he says like it explains anything, ‘looking’ back down to wrap your hand. you’re able to watch this time, the roll weaving around your fingers and hand before being quickly spun along your arm, perfectly taut. he cuts it with his nail and tape dispenses out of his thumb to seal the end. he lingers there for a moment, thumb pressed on your inner elbow, before finally backing away. “you should change. there’s a closet behind you that should contain a spare shirt if you’d like."

you look down, noticing that he’s right. some of the goop splashed onto your shirt, leaving a smattering of holes. the skin beneath was fine, thankfully, but he was right. definitely not lab-safe, though not many of the actual substances you worked with were safe either. you were surely under-qualified to be handling khaenri’ahn machinery.

that’s beside the point. you turn around, finding the cabinet he’s talking about easily. shirts, pants, even a spare set of shoes. they seem to be mostly for the younger segments, but you pick out a shirt your size easily enough. you check behind you, seeing kappa turned away politely, and carefully pull off your shirt. you put it aside, silently thanking whoever decided to leave the shirts unbuttoned in the cabinet. probably kappa. it’s softer than you expect it to be, smooth blue that you’d almost mistake for some sort of fine silk if you didn’t know how resilient it was. every one of the segments wore them, fire, acids, and even beta’s occasional scalpel all deflected as if they were never there. it probably would have survived the corrosive from earlier, really, which makes you a bit bitter. the buttons close easily even with your limited dexterity, leaving neither bumps nor gaps down the front because prime was too good to be caught with a straight shot to his heart. if he was worse at his job it might be easier to be upset, but you couldn’t feel anything but begrudging respect about the man that hid a tie in the cuff to keep the sleeves secure around your elbow.

not for the first time, you wish you were given your own designated set. that would mean acknowledging you as more than an assistant, though, and prime seemed to be allergic to calling you even that. it was always either your name or ‘help’ with such a specific lilt that you couldn’t even describe it, something unique to whatever thoughts bounced between the precious few marbles still left in his head.

you liked to think you were more than just a standard helper. if nothing else, then the fact that you’d been working with him for as long as you had with your sanity intact had to mean something. according to rumors of payroll records from the ninth’s workers, the longest a previous assistant had lasted was barely a week over six months, and you had survived in this lab for more than a few years without getting fired, killed, or worse.

that could always end today, though. ruin drakes were endemic to sumeru and had to be carried across half of teyvat to make it to prime’s door, let alone the time spent finding and disabling them. failing a simple task on the first day was likely a perfectly fine reason to have your head on a pike. never mind that it wasn’t your fault, that it wasn’t your idea, or that you were grossly underqualified to supervise disassembly of khaenri’ahn machinery in the first place. since when was any segment known for his rational thinking and level-headed nature? fun joke.

you pick up your discarded shirt and thumb one of the many holes with a sigh. the edges were coarse and likely would only worsen in the wash, so there goes your uniform. the least of your worries, really.

“prime wants to talk to you,” kappa starts, drawing your attention towards him. his hands are folded neatly in front of him, mechanical voice slow and almost hesitant. you never knew a segment to be unsure of himself before, though you suppose prime is as good a reason as any. “but i can tell him you need rest. i understand today has been stressful for you.”

that was one way to put it. putting off talking with prime and going back to your quarters to avoid the problem for twelve hours sounded ideal, but you weren’t a fool. if prime was asking you to see him immediately after the incident, he had something to say, and denying a harbinger was a surefire route to whatever afterlife awaited you.

“thank you, but i’ll go see him now.”

his shoulders visibly fell, but he nodded. you dropped your shirt in the trash can as you followed him out, again ignoring the various other segments scattered throughout the lab. none stopped whatever they were doing, but you could feel their eyes on you, see their blue hair twist in your periphery. they’ve probably seen injuries far worse, and yours were already covered up… it was probably kappa, really. he rarely left phi’s side for any longer than he had to.

kappa input his access code without looking. or, you could only assume he wasn’t looking; even though his head was turned toward you, it didn’t mean anything. which was worse, that he could act without looking like he was, or that he acted like he needed to look?

his finger hesitates over the enter key. “you’re nervous,” he says again, this time actually feeling like it was directed at you. you never asked about before and probably never will. “he doesn’t seem upset at you.”

you bite your tongue to keep from being mean. you know he means the best—he was literally coded to be an empathetic caretaker—but prime wasn’t known for broadcasting his heart on his bloodstained sleeves. he could seem anything he wanted and it never had to reflect what he was actually feeling.

“thanks,” you reply instead, and he nods, the door sliding upward with a hiss.

the upper lab is empty. all the equipment is still there, of course, glassware and sealed jars littering the countertops, but all of the chairs are pushed in and vacant. nobody besides you walks along the tile, and the hallways beyond this section are empty too. stretches of white floor and steel doors your only company, the fluorescent lights buzzing above you.

it’s unnerving. have you written a will yet?

you turn to the right, towards prime’s office. it looks like all the rest, with a clear plastic bin hanging next to it and a keypad below that. you knock with your entire fist, two bangs that are a little too loud on your end but likely barely audible on his. his doorway is a foot thick, a well-defined border between the harsh lighting of the hall and his deceptively welcoming office.

whoever the fatui hired as interior designer deserved a raise. a nearly black wood bookshelf covers the entire left wall, volumes packed together with remarkable efficiency. on the right, a large map takes up most of the space, notes and string marking plans you don’t try to read. shelves of files and pinned up diagrams surround it in equally dense displays. the floor is a well-buffed dark wood that clicks under his heels as he rounds his desk, silent. the pristine white papers spread across his desk are the brightest thing in the room, interrupted only by the backs of the two chairs in front of his desk. he doesn’t pull one out, nor tell you to sit, only approaching you quietly. you can’t remember the last time someone dressed business casual was intimidating, but there’s a first time for everything. his gloves are a thick mystery fabric that barely a suggest a touch on your arm, blue palms carefully following the bumps and valleys of the bandage. you raise it, letting him inspect kappa’s work wordlessly. he doesn’t comment on the shake to your hand you’re certain he can feel, and in fact doesn’t give much of any indication at all. his face is unreadable behind the mask, a detail you’ve yet to determine as a good thing or not.

“theta analyzed the substance that fell on you.” his voice is quieter than you’ve ever heard before, like he’s uncertain about breaking the silence. he doesn’t let go of your hand. “it was mostly oil, yes, but it also included a mixture of slime condensate and some sort of elemental anchor. his working theory is that when the core collapsed, the slime mixture first spilled into the oil line, then that burst. the anchor dissolved into the oil, releasing its energy, and the slime helped it stick.”

dottore has a reputation well known across the entirety of teyvat and beyond. he was irrational, heretical, setting up seemingly nonsensical lines of dominoes that led up to a crushing wave of death. he did not care, he did not feel, he held no mercy. his office was more mystifying than the abyss, and a non-zero amount of his subjects had chosen the latter rather than stay. within the fatui, within his very lab, this fog did not lift. even theta and his khaenri’ahn brain couldn’t reliably track the thoughts behind prime’s actions. that thought at least made you feel a little better, because there was no way in a thousand years that you could ever rationalize prime explaining himself to you.

“you have experienced, in essence, a severe chemical burn.” finally, he lets go, stepping back and turning away to dig through the files on his desk, the rustling sounding too loud after he spoke so.. did you dare say softly? your skin prickles where he touched and you don’t know what to feel.

he comes back with an inch-thick stack of stapled papers and a pen, holding out both. you don’t dare flip up the blank cover page yet. “you will stay with kappa and phi until you are better, and follow whatever treatment plan he prescribes. you will fill one of these out three times a day: at morning, at noon, and at night. am i understood?”

paperwork? was that all? a lot of it, certainly—was there even enough time in the day to complete three of these stacks?—but far less than you were hoping for, let alone expecting. regardless, you nod, “when would you like me to start disassembling the ruin drake?”

the silence stretches. you can feel his eyes on you and you’re certain the weight isn’t phantom, even despite the mask. you run over your words again, searching for fault and finding none. you’d hoped by presuming you’d be working again you might save some of his anger, but did he not want you to? was that something he expected you to know already? did he not want the drake disassembled at all? the delicate wiring was certainly ruined by the waterfall of whatever anchor he said fell on you, and even if theta had somehow managed to salvage it there was no way it could be up to par.

“what?”

ever a man of few words. his fangs catch the light and you regret talking more with every second that goes by. “i assume you can no longer run any of your tests on it, so-”

“when did i mention the drake?” he shakes his head and crosses his arms with a surprisingly neutral sigh. “i give you explicit instructions to stay with kappa, yet barely a moment later you’re talking like you’re going to do something else. here i thought you showed promise…”

his words hold no bite. his arms, though crossed, are not taut with anger. you liked to think you’d gotten pretty good at being able to read the various segments’ moods, but that meant you’d either severely miscalculated or prime was teasing you, and you couldn’t decide which was worse.

you were lost, and the silence was continuing for uncomfortably long. “i’ll.. go see him right away, then?”

you can’t keep your voice from tilting into a question, having wandered neck-deep into unfamiliar territory, but he blessedly doesn’t comment on it. he waves you away with a stiff nod and you half-bow before turning around, not stopping until you’re safely down the hall and in the main lab with two doors between you. you leaning against the cool wall and stare at the packet in your hands. paperwork in exchange for an indefinite time off proper work sounded more than uncharacteristic to you, especially when a prized machine was damaged in the process. you turn over the pen kept beneath your thumb, seeing the ink inside slosh around within the glass chamber. it was one of his pens, not the standard practically indestructible ones kept around the labs. maybe that was why you were thrown off, he just really lost it this time. was this the calm before the storm?

you don’t stick around to find out.

the upper lab is still empty, an eerie feeling following you as you walk past the lines of tables and equipment. all of the actual chemicals are put away, which is a little reassuring, but it’s still wrong. even if the others are out, at least theta is normally sat at his desk. you walk a little quicker.

kappa is obviously awaiting your arrival, only idly watching phi mesh together gears on the floor—isn’t that a safety hazard for someone so young?—and perking up the moment you walk in. he waves you over to him, sitting on a large couch in phi’s play area. you cross the striped tape and enter the protected space, feeling only slightly like a criminal seeking sanctuary. kappa is sitting with feet propped a small coffee table in front of him, one you set down papers and pen on before joining him.

he notices the different pen. you can tell by the way his glance turns into a stare, ‘eye’ locked onto it with a slightly brighter glow. he sits dead still, transfixed… then his chest rises in another faux breath, his attention shifting to you instead. “see? not too bad.”

“i have to complete three of those a day.”

his head tilts, smile growing. “i’m glad to see he’s finally acting in accordance in his thoughts.”

before you can even begin to dissect whatever that meant, phi calls his attention from the floor. kappa’s eye flashes as he takes his feet from the table, standing.

“forgive me, i have to go. why don’t you get started on your paperwork?”

there it is. you almost forgot he was an identical copy of the guy who made you dig through a ruin machine because ‘it’ll be good work experience.’

you settle the stack of paper on your lap, uncapping the pen and flipping away the cover page to reveal the dense form beneath. your name, easy enough, then the date below that. next was the… approximate time of injury? why had he given you an incident report? he probably slipped it in on top of the other stuff for filing purposes, though you don’t know why when he would have gotten all of that information from theta. maybe he wanted to see if you’d lie? you may have willingly signed up to work under him, but you weren’t so stupid as to lie to a harbinger.

you described what you saw as best you could while not having any sort of medical training beyond ‘blood should stay inside the body,’ then treatment from kappa. your hand was already beginning to ache a bit from having to hold the pen, but it was tolerable enough when the page was finished in less than a minute. you let it relax a bit as you flipped the page, skimming the questions. your name, of course, then the date…

you flip the first page back to double-check what you already knew. they were the same. did he think you’d run out of space? it couldn’t be a fluke, surely—was one for kappa? questions fill your head, ones you ultimately decide to shake away. whatever the case, you didn’t need to touch this page, so you moved onto the next.

the next was the same. so was the next. you used your thumb to flip through the entire stack rapidly, confirming that yes, the entire packet are one-page incident reports, what’s going on? prime’s not careless enough to make a mistake like this. maybe beta, trying to one-up his past brilliant idea by sabotaging your work, or perhaps the goop had sprayed up to theta and fried his circuits.

“uh, kappa…”

he looks up from the elaborate string of gears phi has set up, smiling. “are you done? if you are, you should come over here and see what phi’s made.”

the younger boy visibly perks up, red eyes shining. his hands tap against the floor eagerly, “would you? please?”

you pointedly look at the stack, peeling up half of it so kappa can see your dilemma, but he only laughs in response. “come, dear. let’s leave that for later.”

you hesitate, unsure. there’s no reason kappa would have to lie to you. he has a direct line to prime in his head and was probably told to make sure you stayed on task, so… if he doesn’t see a problem with it, then that must mean this is how it’s meant to be, right? carefully, you set down the stack on the coffee table, capping prime’s pen and leaving it on top. prime had, for whatever reason, given you an unexpected out.

so you take it.

[fatuismooches]

fabulam diu oblitus - postlude.

synopsis: The tale of the raven and the sparrow has long been forgotten by most, but some will always remember.

includes: dottore w/ gn! reader

notes: This is the fourth part of this fic, please read the other parts first! It seems that the fairy tale of you and Dottore comes to an end. Follows some of Sumeru's storyline. Warning for death. Angst. Thank you to my mootie @kaixserzz and my all of my dear anons (🎐, 🐓 <3) who kept me inspired to keep writing this fic :3

prelude. first interlude. second interlude. postlude. sequel.

“The raven and butterfly’s happiness continued for much longer. But of course, every creature is aware that nothing lasts forever, and even the lightning in the sky would agree with that statement. All fairytales must come to an end. That was no different for the raven and the butterfly.”

There had been a buzz around the lab lately. Some of the segments had been ordered to leave for a Fatui mission. Which, would have been a normal occurrence, were it not for the place they were headed to this time.

“Sumeru? You’re going to Sumeru?” Your home country had instantly gotten your attention, not only because you haven’t been back in centuries, but also because the segments were never usually dispatched there, instead causing their usual chaos in other nations.

“Indeed. We will see if the Balladeer is able to become the God he so desires to be,” Omega hummed, moving a hand underneath your shirt to record your heartbeat. Ah, that was right. The puppet had stolen the Electro Gnosis to use as his ascension into godhood… and Dottore would be there to see how his experiment plays out. Well, you already had a feeling about how that would turn out. 

Moving on to a different subject, although Sumeru was the home you and Zandik were chased out of, you still held fond memories of it. Many happy things happened there for you, so the thought of it made you smile.

“You have to bring back lots of stories for me! And souvenirs! Oh, I would love to see how much Sumeru has changed from all those years ago,” you dreamily smiled. Yeah, your favorite cafe was probably gone by now… but you’d love to see what replaced it!

“Of course. I expect there will be much to say with the God of Wisdom and the Traveler intervening as well,” Omega chuckled, scribbling down something on his clipboard after glancing at the monitor, before fixing your shirt back.

“Your vitals have been better lately,” the segment commented and patted your head, which you happily indulged in. It wasn’t too noticeable, but it seemed like your body was getting even a little bit better. Not much, a little. But that was good anyway. “But run along now. There is much preparation to be done regarding the trip to Sumeru.”

“Okayyyy,” you stretched your words a bit disappointedly, not wanting to leave the segment, but you knew he had a lot of work to do. So instead you settled with pecking him on the cheek which he of course returned tenfold before you went off on your way. You had quite a few segments to say goodbye to, after all! You’d miss them a lot, but, you still had the other segments here with you. And your lover of course.

Surely, they would be back in the blink of an eye. Yes, surely, they’d return just as they always did. You had no reason to think otherwise. And so for the next few days, everything was normal. Time passed regularly. You got through the days as you did with any other.

But one day was different.

You were in your room by yourself, enjoying your alone time. Because as much as you loved being around the segments, you still liked being by yourself too. But all of a sudden, your tranquility was interrupted by literally a bang on your door, which made you jump.

The knock on your door was frantic and loud. Immediately you hopped out of bed to see what could possibly be so important that your door was getting pounded, but when you opened the door there was no one there. You were very confused… how was that possible? This was a pretty long hallway. Even with the segments’ abilities, there was no way they could just disappear into thin air like that. 

A bad feeling began to creep up on you, your stomach twisting and turning. You don’t know why, but it just did. But surely you were overreacting. Perhaps… perhaps… actually, you didn’t have any valid reasoning you could think of right now. Maybe though, maybe you should go and check on them. Just in case. You know that they’ll be there, in the lab doing their experiments or perhaps bickering with each other as usual, but there was nothing wrong with double-checking. And then you’ll calm yourself with a nice hug from one of them. It would all be okay. 

But you found that your steps were quicker and longer than usual, your breathing heavier than usual. As you got closer to the main lab’s doors, you strained your ears for their voices, anything, something, but heard nothing. You licked and bit your lip that had gone dry, weak legs walking even faster if that was possible, before you swung open the doors, hoping to see those blue mops of hair you so desired to see.

Nothing. The room was empty.

Your footsteps slowed, walking into the room cautiously. It was strange because it looked as if there were people in here just a few minutes ago. Notes that were left unfinished halfway. Beakers that had broken on the floor, with some mysterious liquids soaking the floor. Strange, very strange. And yet no trace of any segments remained.

The bad feeling had grown into something much worse now. Where else? Where else could they be? 

Their rooms. You should check their rooms. They were usually there if they weren’t in the lab, doing their own respective work (because their office and rooms doubled as one since they didn’t need to sleep.) So despite how your chest burned, and your legs ached, it didn’t matter if it meant your heart would be soothed and relieved.

You ran as fast as you could, more like you tried to because your illness had really kicked in since your mind was stressing out a great amount. As you clung to the walls, catching your breath, you paid no mind to the random agents who were looking at you funny, nor did you manage to catch their words of “Omega” or “erased” or “gone.”

It took longer than it should have taken you, but at last, you made it to the corridor with the segments’ rooms. You didn’t bother to knock, swinging open the door to Alpha’s room.

Empty.

Beta’s room.

Empty.

Every single room was empty. Fuck, even Zandy’s room was empty. And he was always in there if he wasn’t with you. Your head was throbbing with unease now, your heavy, troubled breathing sounding throughout the whole hallway. Where? Where? Where did they go…?!

“[Name].” A voice sounded from behind you. Spinning around, it was Dottore. Your Dottore! Okay, at least he was still here!

“Dottore,” you breathed a sigh of relief. He would have an explanation for this. “Dottore, where are all the segments? I-I can’t find them anywhere. I mean, I know the lab is really big, but it’s strange for them not to be in these areas,” you placed a hand on your rapidly beating heart, trying to calm it, not noticing your husband’s expression.

“...” The scientist was unsure of how to break the news to you because he knew of the bond you shared with the segments.

“Dottore? Why aren’t you answering me?” He opened his mouth to respond, but paused, seemingly trying to determine the best way to phrase his words. That only worried you more, because he was never one to sugarcoat his words. Your nervousness had returned once more, burning heat from fear creeping up your shoulders. “Zandik, answer me.”

“They’re gone, [Name].” The words took a few moments to settle in, silence overtaking the area for a little bit. But only for a little bit, as your nervous laughter rang out interrupting it.

“Gone?” You repeated. “What do you mean gone? They just can’t be gone. Right? Right, Dottore?” The nervous smile that had etched its way onto your face hurt badly, the laughter mixed with wheezing was painful, but it was all you could do to convince yourself this was a lie.

“Omega has… deleted them in exchange for the Electro Gnosis.” You looked at him blankly, the former emotion on your face gone.

“Deleted? Deleted from this world? From existence?” Your tone got higher and higher as you continued speaking. You didn’t even know Omega had the ability to do that. Or that the segments could be erased in the first place. Dottore just nodded in response. 

“But- but why? Surely t-there was another way?” Your voice was on the verge of breaking into tears.

“He wanted to show respect to the God of-”

“Respect? To a God, of all people?” You hissed, bubbles of anger surfacing now through your agony. “He’s a Harbinger, is he not? And he’s stronger than that God! He- he could have easily found another way! He didn’t have to DELETE the segments! Another method HAD to have been possible! Did he even try to negotiate?!” Hot tears ran down your cheeks as you raised your voice at him. It took everything it had in you not to fully scream. You began to pace back and forth, hand covering your already tear-streaked face, whole body shaking. Your husband could only watch.

Dottore wasn’t thrilled with Omega deleting all his segments either, with the endless resources that went into creating them, but what’s done was done. And both the Electro and Dendro Gnoses were acquired. But you? You were on the verge of hysterics. He had never, not once, seen you like this. 

You had come to a stop, head buried into your arm as you braced against the wall. Oh, the segments were gone forever. They were never coming back. You could only imagine how they must have been in their last moments. That they only had a few more moments to live. You couldn’t bring yourself to think about what Zandy must have thought in his last few seconds.

And what’s more, the segments had disappeared into… nothingness. There was no trace, no remains of their bodies whatsoever. And although seeing their bodies on the floor would have certainly destroyed you, perhaps this was even a worse fate. Because it was as if they never existed at all. You couldn’t even hold their bodies one last time, or give them a proper farewell. They were just… gone. Oh, how you wished you could have at least been there in their last moments, to provide some comfort, some love, some sense of peace. The more you thought about it, the countless memories with them flowing through your mind, the weaker your violently shaking body became as you struggled to hold yourself up. Dottore instantly noticed and, worrying about your frail condition, walked up to you before you spat out at him.

“Do not come near me.” Out of all the centuries Zandik has spent with you, he has never been on the receiving end of much anger from you. Rather, it was you who dealt with that from him. But this wasn’t just anger. It felt like venom.

“Why…” You pulled yourself up once again before glaring at him with teary eyes. “Why didn’t you stop him, Zandik? You could have, couldn’t you? They didn’t have to die…!”

There was only one answer the Harbinger could provide, even though he knew you would not like it. “It was necessary to obtain the Electro and Dendro Gnoses for the Fatui.” To this, you could only laugh again once more before digging your nails into your palms so hard it hurt.

“I see. I see…” You mumbled brokenly before stepping off to the side, your steps still unsteady and wobbly as you nearly tripped. Dottore once again tensed up, body wanting to move to support you, but the look on your face made him decide against it. You then walked past him, not sparing another look at him before exiting the corridor, tears still silently running down your face. He could only watch you as you left him standing, wondering about many things yet nothing at all.

—

“From that day, there was a drastic shift in the butterfly and raven’s relationship. The butterfly was indescribably hurt by the loss of the other ravens, and could not bear the pain. It was the first time the raven had ever been subjected to such cold treatment by his lover. Usually, it was the other way around. And it seemed like fixing this would not be easy.”

Dottore thought that if he gave you some space, you’d cool off soon enough.

He thought wrong.

You had flat-out been ignoring Dottore since the day the segments were erased. And not just refusing to talk to him. You didn’t even want to be in the same space as him. If he came into your room, you would just leave. As soon as he opened his mouth, you were gone. In order to give you your meds, he had to wait until you were sleeping to slip in, because of the way you were acting. When it was time to eat, he had to leave the meal outside your door, otherwise, you wouldn’t eat. That is if you even took it. The grief made it hard for you to do a lot of things, which made it imperative for him to help, but you didn’t want it. You were distraught, but you were angry too. Why? 

Because you truly loved the segments.

Dottore did not. He did not feel the same connection as you did. So he was at a loss. He didn’t know what to do to resolve this. Apologize? No, he suspected even if he did, it wouldn’t mean anything, because you’d know he didn’t fully mean it, and it wouldn’t bring the segments back anyway. Comfort you? You wouldn’t allow him to hold you or talk to you. Il Dottore did not know what should be done.

Omega received similar treatment when finally returned from Sumeru, the Gnoses in hand. Normally, you would be waiting at the entrance whenever he returned from expeditions. This time, however, you were not, which he supposed he should have expected. You didn’t want his stories. His gifts. No, all you needed to know was that he deleted the segments. They were gone because of him, and you didn’t want to see him right now.

Omega was not a human. He was a segment. Though, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t feel emotions. He did - when it came to you. But Omega was a selfish segment. Selfish when it came to a lot of things, you included. And selfishness and emotions do not bode very well, as it becomes… a convoluted mixture.

The segment thinks of himself as a patient man. He knows how to wait, and wait, and wait until it pays off. He can do that for you, too. Wait for you to come back to your senses. After all, they were just segments, right? And the superior one, the best one of them all was still here - him. So surely you won’t be like this for too long.

Just like his creator, he was proven wrong. He learned the depth of your anger a day he tried reaching out to you, wanting to put this whole situation behind. But you certainly didn’t share the same sentiment. It was like any other day, him talking to you and you walking away, but this time he reached out for you. The segment unconsciously longed for your touch, your affection, that was once so commonplace.

But as soon as you felt his fingers brush yours, you slapped Omega’s hand away with a scowl. You didn’t need to say anything. That one action spoke everything you wanted to.

You would never view him the same ever again.

—

“And so the butterfly found themselves drowning and suffocating in grief. Their whole life had been changed, the creatures who helped them through so much were now gone. But that would not be the last of the butterfly’s sorrow.”

You had been giving the cold shoulder to Zandik and Omega for a long time. Considering how clingy and affectionate you were before, they didn’t even know you had it in you. But now, it was as different as night and day. However, it wasn’t as much as it was before, because you still had to rely on them in order to live. Despite how much you didn’t want to, without them, you’d be dead. They were the ones who had to administer your medicine and give you check-ups so your condition wouldn’t get worse (although it already happened after the segments were deleted.) It was funny how easily progress could be reversed. How one thing, one random day, could change everything.

So eventually you had to let them in a bit. Most of the time you just ignored them and rarely spoke. Even during the checkups and shots, you had your head turned the other way the whole time. They would still attempt to talk to you, in hopes you would even grace them with a “yes” or “no” rather than the rare nod of your head. But it wasn’t very fruitful. 

Another habit of yours now was that if you weren’t in your room, you were most likely in a segment’s room crying. Especially Zandy’s. Clutching his plushies. Or maybe Alpha’s. Trying to fix up the parts he left lying on his desk. Or Beta’s. Going into his closet to wear his coat. Dottore knew better than to clean out their rooms because you would most likely snap at him again.

You didn’t have much energy to do anything else but lay in your room, blankly staring at the ceiling all day, your head a foggy, grief-filled mess. It did not feel good… you hated the feeling… but what else should you do…? You just wished you could feel the warmth of your segments… the seemingly annoyed but secretly delighted posture of Alpha as you held him from behind. The bitey nature of Beta that didn’t let you go once you were in his clutches. The small, clingy body of Zandy as he cuddled into your body, sweet dreams blessing him instead of the nightmares. But you could only dream about those things now.

Even the regular Fatui agents had noticed this development. The lovey-dovey nature of Il Dottore’s spouse was now reduced to this. You heard them speak about it.

“Have you noticed? Lord Dottore has been far more irritable lately.”

“Oh yeah, both Omega and Prime! I feel bad for those who have to work directly with them…. At least my job is just standing at this door all day.”

“I know. They always were terrifying, but it seems even worse now. Ugh, and now there’s even more work for us since all the segments are gone.”

“Do you know why? Has Lord Pantalone decreased his budget again?”

“Yeah, it’s kind of obvious…” The agent lowered his voice to a whisper. “His spouse, [Name], has been giving them the silent treatment for ages now. Don’t tell anyone this but, I believe that our great Harbinger, Lord Il Dottore… is feeling the effects of this. I’ve never seen them act like this!”

“Is that so? Speaking of, I don’t think I’ve seen them around here very much.”

“Well yes… if you were here for as long as I have been, you’d normally see them all over the lab but, they tend to stay locked up in their room nowadays. And Lord Dottore as well, he doesn’t leave his office much either. Omega seems to take care of much of the outward responsibilities.”

So that was what it was like. You got your answer to if Dottore missed you. You wondered how many people accidentally became his test subjects due to his rising temper because of you. But though it may not have looked like it, not speaking to your husband was hurting you tremendously as well. Because at the end of the day… he was your love, your life. He was your Zandik, the one who meant everything to you. The one who went through everything and anything with you. He was the only one you had… you still loved him, terribly so. Maybe that was a bigger weakness than your illness.

But that didn’t mean you were any less mad at him.

Omega, on the other hand… ah, you didn’t even know what to think anymore… you were so conflicted, it was so hard to even think… when you said you loved all the segments, that included him too. But he deleted all of them… you hated him… but did you love him too? No, you should continue to hate him, he was the selfish one… Zandy was gone because of him… you couldn’t forgive him! So you didn’t forgive him. The days continued the same as always. 

Until one fateful day.

Omega was set to head out on a mission. Which was quite unusual nowadays, because ever since the clones were deleted, he couldn’t afford to leave Snezhnaya with all the work that had to be done. All you had heard was that the blonde-haired traveler would be there too, from all the whispering around the lab.

But what did it matter to you? Whether the segment was here or not, it was the same to you. His whereabouts were surely not of concern to you, so you had no feelings on this. Though the night before he was set to leave, he knocked on your door anyway. You immediately pulled the blankets over your face and curled to the side of the bed so you wouldn’t see Omega. The door shut with a click and his boots sounded against the floor.

“Hello, [Name]. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that I am leaving soon. It is another critical mission for the Fatui, and I suspect the Traveler will be there once again.” He didn’t receive a response from you, which he expected. “But I’m sure this is of no interest to you, anyway.” He guessed right, you thought, you didn’t care. However, even after saying what he had to say, he did not leave. A silence overtook the room as neither of you moved or spoke. But then Omega called your name, with another short silence coming after it before he spoke once more.

“I will not ask for your forgiveness, because I know I will not receive it, nor will I apologize, because I believe I took the right course of action. But…” Omega paused, “I still hold you fondly. I still…” He reached his hand out to your covered body but drew it back before his fingertips could brush you.

“I hope we will be able to talk more once I return.” He seemed to wait a few more seconds, perhaps hoping you would stay something, hoping he could at least see your face before he left, but to no avail. All you heard was the retreating footsteps and the click of your door shutting once more. You pulled the blankets off so you could breathe properly again, as you thought about his words.

What should you do? You didn’t know. The segments had passed quite a while ago, and the pain was still fresh in your heart, but Omega… ugh… perhaps, maybe, just maybe, you could try talking to him once more. Only an attempt. If you didn’t like how it felt, you’d stop. And he wasn’t returning from the mission for a few months, so you had ample time to make your decision anyway.

But Omega never returned.

The next few months flew by quickly, and though Omega had not returned yet, you thought nothing of it. Something must have come up that delayed his return. It’s happened before, it probably happened again. That was until you noticed groups of Fatui huddled together murmuring in the lab. As soon as they saw you, they went back to work and shut up their little gossip quickly, which was very strange. Now you really needed to know what was going on, so you decided to silently eavesdrop on the next pair you found. But you would have never thought of the words you heard next.

Omega had been killed by the Traveler. 

Omega was dead.

Omega wasn’t coming back.

You would never see him ever again. The realization made your body weak as you stumbled back, having to cling to the wall for support. He was gone… the tears immediately sprang to your eyes, as you covered your mouth to keep your sobs down. Omega killed the other segments. Maybe a part of you should feel glad. But no, all you felt was red-hot grief and pain, as you crashed into the nearest random room, and cried, and cried, and cried.

If you knew that was the last time you would see him, you wouldn’t have acted like that…

You wonder why things had to turn out like this.

—

“The butterfly never truly recovered from their loss, but as they say, time heals all wounds.”

After Omega died, you didn’t have the energy to be mad anymore. You were just tired. Tired of everything. Everything felt like a chore. Though you saw your husband more often now. Since there were no more segments, and Dottore obviously wouldn’t trust even the best Fatui doctors with you, he was the one who did all the usual medical stuff for you now.

Admittedly, his touch felt nice. It felt good. It felt like exactly what you needed right now. Comfort. So you gave in. When he had finished the usual procedure, as he turned his back on you, you reached out and wouldn’t let go of his hand. Dottore stiffened from the contact - it had been a while since you’d touched him so intimately - but you didn’t let go, and only weakly tugged him closer, which he complied to. You couldn’t bring your eyes to meet his, instead blankly staring at his shoes, but he seemed to get the message anyway. Tentatively, he wrapped his arms around you to gauge your reaction, and when he saw no resistance, he pulled you into his chest and held you. You missed this feeling. You missed Zandik.

And maybe you were scared he would leave you too.

Things continued like that for a while. You’d seek your husband out for his touch. His presence. His voice. Anything that would bring you some peace. Though you still remained mostly silent during these times. You just didn’t know what to say. Sometimes you wondered if he was mad at you. Annoyed. Disappointed. You didn’t want to know though. You were content with the fact that Zandik would hold you in his lap even at the wildest hours of the night.

But now, it had been some time since Omega’s death and even longer since the other segments were erased.

You weren’t quite ready to move on, no, not yet, but it was inevitable. Or perhaps you would never truly move on, instead, they would always be a part of you. You’d always carry them with you. But regardless, you needed to try, at least for Zandy. You think he’d want you to try and smile more often. You were speaking a bit more to your Harbinger friends again, and finding some enjoyment in your hobbies. Not to mention your relationship with Zandik was becoming better again. He had still been there, even when your illness and grief had you at your worst, with no complaints. Even though he had nothing to gain from this relationship. Even though you had become someone different. He had always loved you.

But there was still a rift caused by everything that had happened, that you wanted to fix. Because at the end of the day, in this world, you two only had each other. So you decided to talk to him about it. You had a habit of this, just waltzing into his office without knocking, and came upon Dottore who had a small box in his hand, appearing to gaze at whatever was in it, before he quickly snapped it shut at your sudden arrival. You recognized that box. It was the one where he kept his wedding ring in. So he still had it like that after all these years. You pretended like you didn’t see it as he swiftly put it away.

“[Name].”

“Zandik. Are you busy right now?”

“No.” Both of you knew that was a lie. The Second Harbinger was always busy. You knew for a fact he was stretched thin, especially since he wasted so much time taking care of you along with his Fatui duties, which piled up quickly with no more segments.

“Alright… can we talk?”

“Of course.” Zandik had been especially attentive to your words lately. Perhaps because he missed the times you would talk his ear off.

“I want to make something clear.” Zandik looked at you curiously as you took a deep breath. Many possibilities raced through his head.

“I still love you, Zandik.”

Well, he certainly wasn’t expecting that, and you could tell, even though his expression did not betray his thoughts.

“You already know the reason I’m…” Your voice trailed off, not wanting to say the words aloud, but you continued. “But I… appreciate you for staying by me. For all these centuries, through everything. It’s been a… very long time. And although things are different now, I want us to be… happy again. It might not be immediately but… it’s because I love you, Zandik.” You swallowed, at the end, your voice growing a bit softer. Ah, you hoped that wasn’t too sentimental. Zandik’s expression was blank so you couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“So yeah, that’s all… I guess.” All of a sudden, the silence that followed made you embarrassed, and you wanted to leave there as quickly as possible. “Okay, I-I’ll let you do your work now.” And then you hastily made your exit and left the Harbinger alone, before he started chuckling to himself. He’d expect nothing less from you, his dear, darling spouse.

Though he wonders if you realize time is irrelevant for him. He’ll wait for you as long as it takes.

—

“One thing about the raven and the butterfly that would never change was that they were wholly intertwined with each other. Their fates were one. So even if they happened to go their separate ways, they would inevitably return to one another again.”

It was actually quite scary how fast time flew. From the time you woke up, to marrying Dottore, to the segments passing, to right now… it felt like a blur. You guess, now that your life span was no longer that of a regular human’s, time was starting to skew a bit for you. Well, you were just excited to spend decades more, even centuries with him.

Throughout all the years that had passed since that day, you found yourself falling more and more in love with Zandik again. You suppose that should be normal for a married couple but, it never ceased to amaze you how one man could make you feel like this.

Something that had become somewhat of a habit for the two of you was dancing. Yes, dancing. It had come up during one of your wedding anniversaries. To be honest, neither of you really did or planned anything special for the day. Perhaps there was a bit more kissing along with other affectionate activities, but you two didn’t look at it as something that big. First, because you didn’t want to waste his already precious time, but also because you knew from the beginning the wedding anniversaries would be countless. So every anniversary was more of something you expected, so it was nothing too big to celebrate, especially as people who lived this long… if that made sense. And Dottore… was Dottore after all. Never one to care much for dates.

But on one anniversary you were reminded of how you two danced during the wedding. Your clumsy steps as Dottore guided you through it all, and you wanted to relive that, so he indulged you. And funnily enough, you were a lot better! Your steps weren’t as unsteady and your body didn’t ache as much. Dottore’s feet didn’t get assaulted by yours too much. Even Dottore was pleasantly surprised. It probably had to do with the fact that although you weren’t cured yet, your health had been up on an upward curve. Of course, never the best but, much better than you first were. You were proud of yourself for making it this far.

So now, when you had time, you found yourself rehearsing your steps with him and your husband twirling you around. Perhaps one day you could reach his level.

You found that there were days that reminded you of the Akademiya. Where you could help him with his notes and research like a real assistant would. Obviously, it still wasn’t the best but it was something, and you could see that Dottore liked it. These days often came with you teasing him with embarrassing memories from the Akademiya.

“I still remember when you got motion sickness from piloting that ruin golem, Zandik.”

“For the last time, I did not get motion sickness, [Name].”

“Mhm, sure. If I didn’t drag you out, you would have-”

“That is enough from you.”

You found that there were more days he would take you out into the Snezhnayan winters (you were bundled up to the max) so you could finally see the snow. You found yourself attending your first balls at the Tsaritsa’s palace, as Dottore was now forced to attend himself rather than his segments. He didn’t want to leave you by yourself in the dreary lab so… you were often his plus one, where you spent the evening poking fun at him with Columbina. (You also were the one who publicly took sweets to-go from the parties for him so he wouldn’t get judged.)

And perhaps your favorite memory was when he took you back to Sumeru - yes, to another country - so you could witness the Akademiya Extravaganza festival. He, of course, had no interest in it, but you being you and loving fun things absolutely did. Many things happened, including meeting the Traveler… but that story was for another day.

All in all, you always knew this but, you found that no matter how many years passed, no matter what Il Dottore has done, no matter the amount of sins and wrongfulness he has committed… you were hopelessly in love with him. From the time he was that perpetually irritated but in love student from the Akademiya to his current self, the Harbinger that was a stark contrast to his former self but still possessed you for himself.

Sure, it was a bit lonely at times compared to before, but all the tender moments throughout the years made you happy to have Zandik in your life. Which is why you foolishly thought these times would last forever.

When Dottore told you he was leaving Snezhnaya, and therefore the lab, and therefore you, it jolted you right up from your sleepy daze on his lap.

“What?!” The word came out as a half yell, half-whisper. “What do you mean you’re leaving Snezhnaya?”

“It means I’m leaving Snezhnaya, dear,” he continued on his paperwork (which never seemed to end) as if this was common knowledge. “The mission needs a Harbinger to oversee it, and the task falls to me this time.” 

You were devastated. There were times when Dottore only had to leave the lab for a few days to attend to matters in different parts of Snezhnaya. (You spent the time at Columbina’s mansion because oddly enough, she always seemed to be there… how did she manage to shirk her duties so often?) But this was completely different. He would be so far out of reach, for a long time probably too. Foreign missions always took a while. You remember how long you had to wait for the segments to return from them.

“Okay, then I’ll come with you!”

“No, you’re not,” he immediately shut down your proposition. “Missions are still far too dangerous with your current state. You will stay in Snezhnaya, and wait for me to come back.” You knew when he used that tone, things were final, and you hung your head low, all sleepiness gone at the fact you wouldn’t be seeing him for months. Sure, you would be staying with Bina as usual but, you had a feeling it’d be hard to replace the rush of emotions Dottore gave you on a daily basis. 

Dottore noticed your dour expression, which he obviously expected, and sighed, setting down his pen. At this point, it was a sort of routine that he had memorized, comforting you and all. Although comfort would never be something he was adept in, years of doing it had let him become somewhat proficient. 

“[Name],” he moved his hand to guide your chin up so you could look at him. You were pouting. “These few months, or even less, depending on how quickly the work gets done, will only be a blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things. I’ll be back before you know it,” he hummed. Although he certainly was not pleased about leaving you by yourself for so long, such was the life of a Fatui Harbinger. It was at times like these he missed his segments. (Did that sound selfish? Well, he was a selfish man when it came to you.)

A drop in eternity, huh? Well, when he puts it like that, then maybe it would be just a bit bearable. And, when you think about it, he’s waited over four hundred years for you, all alone. So this little challenge couldn’t be too hard, right?

“Alright… I’ll wait for you, Zandik.”

“Good,” he chuckled at how easy it was to win you over sometimes and stroked your cheek. “In the meantime, you can work on the recipe you’ve been vehemently hiding from me and show me when I’m back.” You immediately brightened at that.

“Oh yeah! I promise you’re going to like these sweets better than the ones at the bakery!” You proudly declared.

“Oh? Now that’s a high standard you’ve set yourself to, dear. Are you sure you’re going to be able to live up to it?”

“Hmph, don’t underestimate me. My baking skills have improved over the years!”

The banter always made you two feel like regular humans, despite what you two really were.

—

“The days went by peacefully for the lonely butterfly, but soon that feeling was shattered when they learned of a golden comet’s presence near their raven.”

The days in Columbina’s mansion went by rather uneventfully. Surprisingly enough, she wasn’t home as often as usual. It seemed like the Fatui were really stepping up their business now. You’d have to ask Dottore about that. Maybe the day Celestia is defeated was closer than you thought. But today was a day Bina had some time to indulge in cakes and conversation with you. The chit-chat was mundane but brought a sense of comfort until the conversation somehow ended up with Dottore as the topic. Your friend always liked teasing you about him. Everything was lighthearted and sweet until she idly mentioned his mission.

“I wonder how your Doctor is doing on the mission~”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s Dottore after all.”

“Mhm, that’s right. I do wonder how he plans to deal with the Traveler though.” The mention of the blonde’s name nearly made you drop your teacup.

“W-What?” Your voice cracked as you implored your friend to tell you more. You were now realizing that you neglected to ask Dottore what the mission exactly was, and he did not reveal the contents as well, probably because he knew you’d freak even more if you knew he was most likely going to confront the Traveler. Columbina looked confused.

“Dear, did he not tell you?”

“No! I- ah, he only told me he has a mission in another nation, I guess it slipped my mind to ask him the details!” You now had your hand clutched to your head and another one trying to soothe your now rapidly beating heart. A naive and very stupid part of you thought it wouldn’t have to come to this, but it already did, so quickly too. 

Why were you so particularly scared? It was because all you could think of was Omega’s death by the Traveler’s hand, as well as your fellow colleagues. You knew that Dottore was far stronger than any of them but… you were in a panic. All the worst possible scenarios began invading your mind relentlessly.

“[Name], calm down. Dottore is strong. We do not even know if it will end in a battle or not, but regardless of the outcome, he is smart enough to-” Bina attempted to comfort you before you interrupted her and abruptly stood up.

“I need to go.”

“Go? Go to Dottore, dear?”

“Yes. Yes, I need to see him. I need-” Your words were becoming a jumbled mess from the anxiety this piece of news caused. “I need to see him in person if he’s okay.”

“You do not think you should think about this some more? I suspect the Doctor will not be happy if he sees you there, even if it’s you of all people.”

“It doesn’t matter. If I stay here, all I’ll be able to think about is him.” You could already see yourself losing sleep and appetite over this. “But as long as I can see him okay… even if he’s angry, I can deal with it. Anything is better than being over here helpless!” Columbina watched you silently.

“Alright. Be ready in a few days.” You looked at her in surprise.

“Bina? You’re helping me? You’re not going to… stop me?”

“Dear [Name], I will not get in the way of a decision you’ve made for yourself. If this is what you’ve decided, then it is my duty as your friend to assist you as I’ve done in the past. And perhaps this will teach the Doctor a lesson to stop withholding information from you,” the Harbinger sighed.

“…Thank you, Columbina.” You’d have to repay her sometime later.

—

“The raven and the butterfly found themselves reunited again at long last, and would stay together like that forever.”

It was funny you found yourself back here, your home country. It seems like you two were always drawn back here, despite no longer being welcomed. But that didn’t really matter too much, because as soon as the boat you were on pulled into the port, it was clear that today was not a normal day in Sumeru City.

You were too late. 

The fight had clearly already begun, probably only recently too, by the chaotic state of Sumeru. Obviously, it’d be out of order if there were two immensely powerful beings in battle with each other. Maybe, if you were just a bit sooner… but you already had your mind set. Although the Fatui agent entrusted with your safety was ready to head back already, his orders to not let you come to any danger, you just tranquilized him. (It was a courtesy device from Dottore in case he wasn’t near.)

And you ran. Was that a good idea considering your illness? Absolutely not, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Was it a good idea to walk into the middle of a battle? Also no, but you couldn’t shake the bad feeling you had this whole time. 

Although it was far away, it was easy to spot the place, as for one there were Fatui swarming the area and also regular citizens running in the opposite direction. Though your lungs were absolutely burning, your knees weak and scraped from tripping, tired from bumping into others, illness flaring up even worse from the added stress and exertion, you continued ahead with only one goal. To see your husband.

Throughout your haggard walking, you thought of the future. You thought of how great it would be to see Teyvat change in the next four hundred years just as he did. And this time, Dottore would not have to witness it by himself. He would have you. It would be amazing, just thinking of all the variety of new inventions and such that would be created! You two would surely dissect them and put them back together for fun. You two would do a lot of things, you think, as you finally made it to the door of the grand building the fight was in. It was already rather damaged, but the door managed to remain mostly intact, so you pushed it open.

Just in time to see the Traveler land the final fatal hit to Zandik, his body landing on the floor with a painful thud.

Your worst nightmare had become reality. But… Zandik told you he’d return to you in no time…

Suddenly, all the will you had before was gone in an instant. You didn’t have the energy or focus to call out his name. All you could do was blankly stare at his defeated body while taking some hesitant steps forward, all while mumbling something incoherent under your breath. The Traveler, despite their exhaustion, noticed you and immediately readied their sword again. But, they soon realized that there was no need for that from the exceedingly dull look in your eyes and the way you tripped over yourself again, landing on the floor, reaching out your hand towards the Doctor. You had to make it to him.

You pathetically dragged your body closer to Zandik, every part of it screaming out in part for you to stop. But you didn’t care. You could take it. After all, you knew the pain would soon be over. The Traveler merely watched you, still a bit on edge for what you could do, but you didn’t care. You didn’t care about anything besides Zandik, so you continued inching your body to your husband before you finally reached him. His body was practically motionless, his face revealed as his mask was destroyed to the side somewhere. When you came into view, a flicker of surprise came across his face but it quickly morphed into one of acceptance.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” You half-laughed at that.

“I could say the same to you…” Your voice had dropped to a soft, defeated one. Huffing and panting, you used your last remaining strength to pull yourself up and kneel, tenderly bringing your husband’s head onto your lap. He did not resist. It wasn’t like he had the strength to anyway. “You didn’t tell me you were going to be here, either.”

“It was not necessary… at the time,” Zandik said, looking right at you the whole time with those red eyes of his. “But I suppose I should have expected this. You never do as you are told, do you?”

“Of course not. But you should remember that whenever I break the rules, things turn out fine for us.” You smiled, and you had a feeling both of you were thinking of the same memories. That time you helped him break into the Akademiya’s library when it was closed, or the time you threw a book at someone for him, or the time you two helped each other on what was supposed to be solo assignments. Or the times you ran away from his needles and medicine, or the times you went behind his back and befriended the others. Those times ended out okay, so this time would be okay too.

Then, the building began to rumble, most likely about to collapse. The battle must have been quite fierce. Although the Traveler felt no remorse for the two of you, their kind heart still couldn’t help but feel the slightest twinge of pity. After all, the blonde had read the notes the two of you left scattered around Sumeru. To think that a relationship could last so long, especially one with the mad Doctor… You noticed their expression before you rasped out a mixture of a plea and demand.

“Why are you still here? Leave us now. I want to be alone with him.” Your words were empty of emotion towards them. There was no point in any hostility anymore, not when you had to treasure the last moments with your beloved. The Traveler didn’t seem surprised by your words, as they nodded and threw the bloodied Harbinger one last glance, before running away with the little fairy. It seemed they knew… you’d rather die here along with him than live without him.

You looked back at Zandik’s face, his once brightly colored red eyes now a darkened hue.

“I’ve failed you, [Name].” Since it was the end of the line now, even a genius scholar such as him had to admit defeat. Dottore thought back to all the times he swore to cure you. He swore he would do it so that you could be who you used to be once more. But he failed. He let you lose centuries of your life and left you in pain for your conscious ones. But you didn’t seem to share the sentiment.

“Failed me?” You couldn’t help but laugh at that, despite the tears that began to run down your cheeks. “Oh darling, you have never failed me. Not once in over four hundred years.” Zandik continued to stare at you because that was all the strength he had to do, so you reached for his hand and brought it to your cheek.

“You’ve loved me continuously for so many centuries, haven’t you? How could that ever be a failure?” You nuzzled into his hand, his own blood beginning to smear on your face, but you didn’t care. 

“Your love has changed so much over time. From your prickly and thorny yet beautiful love from the Akademiya. To your smooth and unabashed love now. But your love was unfaltering, to me at least. Perhaps I may be delusional, and I overthink how much you love me. But I think it was real, even though you may never admit it, that is what matters to me. So if you’re thinking about the cure, forget it.” Your hands were shaking and struggling to hold his to your cheek for this long, energy spent, but you continued anyway, even as a piece of the infrastructure suddenly caved in and collapsed on the opposite side of the room with a loud crash. “The cure isn’t what mattered. It was you.”

Zandik thinks you are the only person who has forgiven him. Not even he has. He knows he does not deserve it, but he shouldn’t say that to you now. But he thinks, even at this moment, perhaps it may seem sick or morbid, your beauty still manages to surpass that of any other being in Teyvat.

You thought about the Tsaritsa, who had shown you much love and kindness. You hoped she would finally achieve her goals. You thought about the other Harbingers, the ones who were still alive at least. You would miss them. You looked at your wedding ring. It was still intact. How lovely. Lastly, you thought about Zandik as you looked at him, and he seemed to realize something.

“[Name], reach into my pocket.” You were confused but you complied, wincing in pain a bit but successfully reached it and pulled out a box. It was the box he kept his wedding wing in. Popping it open, you were correct, and still couldn’t help but be a bit incredulous.

“You brought it with you?” You were surprised because a part of you still believed he thought the whole thing was a bit dumb.

“I normally do not but, with the length of the mission, I believed it would be a simple and easy way to be reminded of you.” That was cute.

“Sorry. I guess the good luck charm didn’t work,” you smiled apologetically as you slipped the band onto his finger, to which Zandik scoffed.

“You know very well I do not believe in luck.” You only laughed, though it was mostly drowned out by multiple crashes and rocks falling all around you. Being buried was a fitting end, to be honest. No one else needed to know about the two of you. No one else needed to know your stories. It would be best if the two of you ended up forgotten, lost to time. Then, no one would be able to misunderstand or twist your relationship.

Despite all of the pains that had befallen you, the suffering and hardships, you could happily say you lived a good life. You were happy, so happy, thanks to Zandik. Zandik was what made this life worth living… so this was okay. You would have loved to have been cured and lived out many more happy memories with him but… this was alright. But the time was limited, so this conversation needed to be wrapped up in a way that would satisfy you.

“I love you, Zandik.” You don’t expect any response back because of your husband’s poor track record with saying those words. 

The times Zandik has said the words ‘I love you’ have admittedly been scarce and in-between despite the centuries he’s spent with you. It was a grand total of… two times. And both had been said when he thought you were sleeping. 

The first time had been in the Akademiya. It had been a while since you two were a couple, and he had yet to say it. You expected that obviously. But one random night, when you two were cuddling and drifting off into dreamland, you heard the three words mumbled into the crook of your neck. It took everything in you not to react.

The second time had been when you had recently woken up from your coma. Dottore was around you constantly, taking so many tests that it made your head spin, and you had to take naps more often than not. And once again, as you were just about to slip off into slumber, you heard the three words whispered as he gently bit your ear.

Surprisingly enough, the third time would be now. Perhaps because he had nothing to lose anymore, as it was the end.

“I love you as well, [Name].” Your eyes go wide for a few seconds before you grin widely one last time, and you give him a look that says ‘I know.’ Zandik watched your eyes flutter shut as you leaned down to his face, and he let himself be enveloped in your final kiss, neither of you paying attention to the shadows cast by the multitude of broken architecture about to fall on top of you.

Let the fairy tale come to a close.

—

“In his last moments, the raven was taken back to a memory from centuries ago. It was a memory where he was truly happy with his lovely sparrow.”

Zandik awoke to a blue sky and a gentle breeze. He blinked, immediately trying to gauge where he was. But then the sound of a familiar voice flooded his senses.

“And you know what this professor had the audacity to say to me, Zandik? ‘Figure it out!’ Like, you’re supposed to be helping me, not writing me off! You’re getting paid for this!” You were lying down on the grass next to him, hands folded as you huffed. “At least I have you, Zandik. Way better than any damn professor.” He blinks at you. 

Zandik remembers this moment. It was the day when exams and classes were finally over, and you wanted to relax before helping him with his experiments. And you also thought it was the perfect time to rant about all the professors you had to deal with over the last few months. But soon, you just started bringing up random things that occurred over the term. Zandik couldn’t remember the last time he saw you like this. Donning the Akademiya uniform, so happy and carefree… healthy, strong, like nothing in the world bothered you.

He found himself slightly smiling at how stupidly happy you looked, before reaching out to you. But as soon as merely his fingernails came into contact with you, you began to dissolve right in front of his eyes. Immediately, he stiffened and sat up, again trying to take hold of you but you were no longer there. Zandik’s hands began to shake, and that’s when he realized his surroundings were changing.

The blue sky was now fading away, becoming pitch black along with everything else that was chipping away, ready to swallow him whole into the darkness.

Ah, he understood now.

This was the end.

—

“Finally, the twisted raven met his fate.”

Or so he thought. Zandik woke up once more. Everything seemed normal at first, the blue sky was once again there and the Sumerian breeze caressed his hair. Until he realized there was a sticky substance coated all over his hands.

Blood.

This wasn’t an unfamiliar occurrence for him, after all, he would usually get hands-on with his experiments, but he had an… odd feeling about this. Zandik blinked and all of a sudden, there you were lying on the ground in front of him.

Dead. Coated with blood.

Did he… kill you?

All too quickly, before he could reach out to hold your body or begin to process what happened, he was suddenly somewhere else. The desert.

Zandik laid eyes upon you. What he would usually see was you complaining about the heat while you dug through the ruins. What he saw instead was an Eremite plunging a sword through you.

And again. This time he awoke to you being completely cold and limp in his arms. And again. It didn’t take his brain long for him to understand what was happening.

His victims and test subjects could torture him for eternity, yet Dottore would not feel bothered or a shred of remorse. It would be a useless endeavor. But this? This was the perfect punishment. 

His beloved being killed in front of him, by the world, by other people, by natural forces, by his own hands. And for all of the power and knowledge he once had, he was powerless to do anything yet again.

… How ironic, Zandik thought.

—

At last, the tiny Archon closed the storybook.

It had been ages since the events in this tale had taken place. The Fatui were no more, Celestia was gone, the Traveler had long left this world, and Teyvat was at peace. So much time, that the Outcast’s name no longer floated around the Akademiya, now long forgotten. The God of Wisdom herself had gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from all the years that had flown by. And even still, she has not forgotten this story.

Yet, in all of her wisdom, she still cannot hope to fully understand the raven and the sparrow. The Dendro Archon found herself coming back to this tale, trying to comprehend their actions and thoughts. She reads it aloud to herself, draws pictures, and crafts the tale with her own words, yet it only leaves her more lost. Perhaps one day she will understand. But perhaps she won’t. Perhaps no one ever will.

After all, there were only two people who would ever truly understand the bond between the raven and the sparrow. 

Zandik and [Name]. 

An unfriendly and cold scholar and a sweet and caring one.

An immoral villain and an accomplice.

A violator of this world’s laws and a supporter.

A Harbinger and an assistant.

Regardless of those titles, perhaps at the end of the day, they only saw themselves as one thing to each other.

Two people who loved each other as if nothing else mattered.

[sancrevm]

stray kids: how they’d react to your solo stage at an award show

song recommendation: sugar rush ride by txt

bang chan: would 100% be a blushing mess, a wide grin lighting up his face as he just watched you in awe. he had the basic knowledge that you were to do a dance segment at one of the many award shows your group and stray kids were attending, but he had no inclination that it would be to this level of such a talented performance. he would remind himself to never doubt you again.

minho: would be so, so proud of you. he knows how challenging it is to not only perform solo, but to ensure everything went perfectly while enrapturing the audience. he would only just remember to wipe the pleased smirk off his face before the camera panned towards him, his excitement at your success was something he only wanted to share with you.

changbin: he had readied himself to be calm and composed — wanting the talk of the night to be about you instead of articles from dispatch on his reaction to your performance — but the second he saw you on that stage, he couldn’t help himself. his eyes were glazed with adoration, clapping so fiercely while turning to every member and saying, “did you see my baby just then?”

hyunjin: would be your biggest fan. he didn’t necessarily care for what the company or articles would say the next day, he just wanted to wholeheartedly support you. he would have your groups lightstick in hand, the other hand clutching his chest as if his heart would burst from how hard it was beating. he would absolutely be shouting your name and successfully bursting his members eardrums.

jisung: poor jisung would be so nervous for you. he would be so incredibly happy and proud and despite everyone telling him nothing would be bound to go wrong, his leg would still be shaking until the moment you walked onto the stage. honestly, your beauty made his heart stop the second he glanced at you and it wasn’t until halfway through the performance that he cursed himself for ever doubting you could make a mistake in the first place.

felix: he would be a deer caught in headlights watching you the second you appeared on stage. his mouth was parted slightly as he took in every move your body made, just in complete awe. he even forgot to clap at the end of your performance, chan having to nudge him to bring him back to reality. he wasn’t shy when making the request the next day that you had to dance it just for his eyes only.

seungmin: he would just be happy to experience it. you would be the one to express your doubts about performing on your own; he had no stress or qualms about you having a solo stage simply because he knew you could pull it off flawlessly. and when you did, he simply smirked at you backstage and said, “told you so.”

jeongin: he would undoubtedly be the happiest to watch you live your dreams. since your relationship was exposed quite recently, he was nervous and honestly scared that the crowd reception towards you wouldn’t be a good one. but when you finished your stage, the crowd in admiration by how unabashed and flawless you were as well as leaving the rest of the groups in shock, jeongin had never been more proud to call himself your boyfriend. he made sure to let you know of this fact with embraces and loud praises backstage.

[sepublic]

The Owl House Ending Anniversary Livestream

            These are the notes I’ve taken from The Owl House anniversary stream, just the stuff related to the show (though there was a hilarious anecdote from Sarah about having a theater light shine on her bald spot while attending an acting school);

For the finale, the VAs (and Dana and Eden) got to record voice work together for the first time since the covid lockdown. Sarah scream-cried and sobbed right after finishing the final lines for Luz. The recording occurred a few months before the finale aired.

            Zeno revealed that anime dub voice directors usually want a different direction for voice acting than with western animation, but when Zeno did a take for Hunter that he thought might’ve sounded too anime, everyone else was in full approval. From there, Zeno approached Hunter as the “anime emo boy” or “Sasuke” of the show, going for an “eastern anime edgy feel.” Sarah thought this fit given how much Hunter is trying; Zeno feels Hunter wears his emotions on his sleeves no matter how cool he tries to be.

Hunter would 100% be an anime fan and be obsessed with anime conventions in the human realm. Eden mentioned that Dana took a lot of anime inspiration when doing segments such as fight scenes or character power-ups, with Luz’s Titan form being based on Pokemon evolution.

            When voicing Lilith, Cissy would pull from her memories of her aunt Kim in translating the “fun, goofy” energy, and she normally does this for other fun aunt/maternal roles. Elizabeth Grullon brought in parts of her culture and ancestry when doing Camila, as per the advice of her late mentor Ken Washington.

            If the VAs could hang out with their characters for one day: Eden would take Boscha to therapy, and all of the VAs agreed, with Zeno ready to pay for Hunter’s (“The credit card will NOT decline”). Cissy would have a ride on Mike Socks. Elizabeth would visit the Demon Realm with Camila, get some drinks in her, make some arroz con pollo and tostones, put on some salsa music, and just vibe out. Sarah would also visit the Demon Realm with Luz, and wherever Luz likes to hang out; Maybe a beach day.

            Cissy thinks Lilith would go full-nerd when visiting the human realm, having a notebook and pen and going mad as she’s scribbling everything down. She’d stop people on the street to ask if they’ve had apple blood, and be an absolute menace, people would be freaking out.

            Pulling from themselves, Avi thinks Raine would meet things with a little bit of caution, having lots of disinfectant wipes, and eventually get comfortable, freely exploring without inhibition.

            Eden imagines Boscha would thrive in the human world, since there’s so many gullible people she could trick into being her followers. She’d either use the third eye for attention, or grow bangs/wear a beanie to hide it. Cissy joked that Boscha would run for president and win in a landslide, which is a bad idea because she’d have too much power at her fingertips.

            When it comes to Camila exploring the demon realm once everything’s cooled down, Elizabeth thinks she’d be a bit skeptical, but eventually relax, have some apple blood, kick back and make some friends… And then be ready to go back. Not an overnight stay, just a brief visit.

            Cissy was proudest of her performance as Lilith was “Why were you so easy to curse?!” in Agony of a Witch. For Zeno it was Thanks to Them, he felt it was a closed circle for Hunter; He enjoyed balancing various Hunter elements like the Golden Guard role, and the catharsis with Luz right afterwards. He’s glad it was vulnerable and open, wanting his performance to be honest and realistic. For Elizabeth it was Camila reacting to various Demon Realm segments such as Belos, or preparing to fight Kikimora.

Eden liked Boscha’s arc in For the Future, how it came full-circle when she helped the resistance because she didn’t mean real harm and just wanted things to go back to normal. For Sarah it was the ending of Yesterday’s Lie where Luz promises to stay in the human realm, she found it heartbreaking how it was Luz’s two worlds colliding; Sarah couldn’t wait to see the episode in its entirety. Raine was Avi’s first voice-acting role for animation, and they summoned the ‘guttural response’ to free themselves when doing the possession scene with Belos in the finale.

Luz’s favorite human realm drink is coffee or matcha due to her ADHD, the caffeine can help her focus, “turn Demon Realm,” but is also helpful for a nap. Sarah often brings large drinks into the studio, and described her performance as Luz as a cold brew, plus a giant gallon of water, plus some tea with honey after she’s done screaming.

            Hunter would like Red Bulls and go crazy with the energy. He’d apply Demon Realm mentality by believing Red Bull’s “gives you wings” advertisements, and write a letter to management demanding a refund when this doesn’t literally happen.

            Camila would love café bustelo, it’s a big Latina drink and was introduced to Elizabeth by her mom. The 4pm kind brings you to life and it’s the time for tias to gossip.

            Boscha is either a giant slurpee girl, or popping boba, because her third eye gives Boscha an inclination towards eye aesthetics. Plus Boscha could spit boba at people through her straw, which led to Sarah joking about Luz and Hunter walking in bespeckled with boba (“No Hunter, they do not give you wings”).

            Lilith would like pina colada, she’d think it’s the cool thing that everyone drinks, what with there being a whole song about it. Then she’d drink it and go on a tangent about how her mom never loved her, and Luz would ask her in concern how many she’s had. Lilith would collect several of the parachutes in her hair.

            Raine has a sensitive stomach, so they’re into kombucha and brew their own.

            (Fun fact; The group realized the eclipse was happening during the livestream and had a discussion over how to protect your eyes when watching it!)

            Rebecca Rose herself sent a question, asking what they think a palisman would taste like. They joked that Matthew Rhys was NOT here, and Dana apparently headcanons that palismen essence tastes like gushers. Zeno and Sarah joked that Belos has a sweet tooth and he’s obsessed because he left the human realm before they invented gushers. It never even occurred to Eden that palisman essence would have a flavor, it’d just be an energy boost, like pipe tobacco (and Sarah added this was appropriate because palismen are made of wood). Yesterday was Rebecca’s birthday and the VAs wished her a happy one.

            Zeno’s favorite quality about Hunter is his loyalty and dedication; When he sets his sights on something, he’s pretty relentless. He has a really deep well of complexity in him, half is angst but the other half is real heart.

            Elizabeth loves how Camila loves her kid so much that she’s willing to step past herself and her own limitations, her own fears and comfort zone, to connect with and support Luz. Sarah noted it’s like Camila is learning to be a kid again with her arc.

            Boscha doesn’t have a ton of great character traits, but she’s a strong athlete, doesn’t give up, and is powerful; Eden admires that about her, she’s badass. Everything else about her though…

            Sarah likes how Luz doesn’t have an ego; Yes she’s unapologetically herself and doesn’t know any other way, but when she messes up, she has no problem taking the blame and apologizing. She’ll own up to things and fix them. Though it was misguided, Luz was even willing to let go of everything she loved to make up for letting down the Demon Realm and protect everyone. It’s not easy to put aside your own wants and needs sometimes and apologize, accepting that you’re wrong.

            Lilith had a lot of faults, but her willingness to admit her own wrongdoing and go into the depths of her soul to figure out how to be better; Such as being a better auntie/sister, forgiving her parents, etc. She had a lot of growing up to do, and Cissy felt Dana gave Lilith such a beautiful way to go about that.

            Avi was glad to see Raine have stage fright and awkwardness/shyness in public and with social settings, but they can transform by stepping into this fierce protector/hero role, and find that confidence. It’s a multi-faceted character, a full human experience, and felt genuine to Avi.

            When asked if Boscha ever said sorry to Willow and Luz, Eden joked that love means never having to say sorry; Boscha probably skipped over that. Assumed she already said it at some point, the others just have bad memory. I’m sure they know, I helped them. I didn’t kill them and they’re still alive, so clearly…!

            The hardest episode to record was Thanks to Them for Zeno, the VAs had to take a break. It was already cathartic and then Hunter didn’t even get a break afterwards, plus Zeno had the knowledge of the show ending. For Elizabeth it was the finale due to the sadness of the show being over, but otherwise there was nothing hard for her because the experience was a dream come true; She was in pure joy when in the booth. Even when Camila was crying or saying goodbye, it was still fun for Elizabeth. But when she herself is saying goodbye, that’s when it’s hard for her.

            Eden also agreed on the finale due to how long it was (and she accounted for her role as voice director as well), mentioning how the episode was the culmination of so much, there was a lot of ground to cover, etc. It was so emotional how everyone brought so much, saying goodbye together as a cast. Not to mention the catharsis/closure of stamping Belos to death together.

            Sarah concurred, it was meta saying goodbye to the show and each other. But she also found Reaching Out hard, due to Luz’s complex emotions, her coming in and out a lot. She’s dealing with a great loss, and Sarah wanted to honor that grief, but also had Luz masking it, popping up, acting out, and needed to choose how/when to let that emotion come out. The grief wasn’t super-fresh, it comes in waves, and it was in that state where some are in shock or others cry; You never know when it’ll strike, when it’ll put you on edge. So Reaching Out was hard to map out for Sarah, especially with Luz just popping up to do one weird thing and then going away. It was a lot of fun, and workwise it was a lot of pressure to get it right.

            Cissy also had the finale, with the switch from Lilith making amends to being terrible again in the dream sequence being jarring. There was also Agony of a Witch, as the landing needed to be stuck to make the episode work; But Eden and Dana were there for the recording session to help.

            Avi had Follies at the Coven Day Parade, when Eda and Raine had their duel. Avi really had to tap into being angry and mad at someone they care so much about.

            If Elizabeth could give advice to any character, it’s for Boscha to go to therapy. Sarah tells Lilith to stand still and feel her feelings, you poor beautiful witch. Avi tells everyone to not be so hard on yourself. Cissy, to all (especially teenagers): It gets better, you think you know everything and you think you have the weight of your world on your hands (and tbf that was the case), but it gets better. Eden would tell Hunter to take a day off, take a nap. Zeno would tell everyone to do the same, it’s okay to let go. Eden would also advise Eda to lay off the law-breaking, Sarah said not to start her day with apple blood (save it for happy hour).

            Sarah’s favorite Hooty moment was the tea party, and how he would be haunted by his actions forever in Adventures in the Elements. Cissy loved Hooty and Lilith’s friendship, “No witch is an island!” Eden loves the first appearance of Port-a-Hooty, it had her in stitches the first time she saw it; There was sheer terror knowing he could travel. Sarah loved Hooty’s off-screen attack by Amity. For Zeno, it was two guards struggling to describe Hooty. Elizabeth concurred with everyone, and Avi liked it when Hooty just ate things and sometimes ruined a situation because of it. Cissy brought up Hooty’s skeleton bathing.

[the-broken-truth]

Blot-Mates: Yuu & The Overblots [Part 4]

SEGMENT: JAMI

Summary: Jami is struggling with his innate programming of servitude, but he has no one to serve. Consequently, he is finding it difficult to relax and function properly. What would happen if Yuu decides to teach Jami how to live a life where he is no longer a servant but rather spoiled?

[Note: The Yuu Variant is Male with Enma Yuuken's Body Build, Yuuka Hirasaki's Fighting Skills, and Yuuta Mito's Cooking Skills.]

[Note: This Storyline will be written in Script Format.]

Parts: [Prologue] - [Ri] - [Leo] - [Azu] - [Jami] (Here) - [Vi] - [Idi] - [Mal] - [All] - [Epilogue]

[Coal-colored eyes were fixed on the ceiling while serpents made of dark locks of hair hissed in irritation or struck at each other, showing their displeasure. Jami placed his hand on his forehead and ran his inked hand through his bangs before sitting up from his bed and perching on the ledge with his head hanging. He lifted his head and looked at the digital clock on the wall of his room: it was 6:45 in the morning. This was usually the time The Prefect would get up to make breakfast for the Overblots. The thought of the Prefect making breakfast for all of them, just as he and his Original Body would make breakfast for Scarabia Dorm and Kalim, was overwhelming. Jami wasn't sure how to cope with it..]

Jami (Hearing something coming downstairs): Prefect... (Stands up and leaves his room)

[Jami walked down the hall and down the stairs as silently as he could to make sure he didn't give away his location. He crept to the opening of the kitchen and hid around the corner while listening to Yuu speak to himself.]

Yuu (On the phone with Sam): Hey, Sam. I know you're getting the shop ready, but do you have cookbooks or teas from the Land of Scalding Sands?

Jami (Thinking): 'The Land of Scalding Sands? Surely, he is not thinking about...'

Yuu (On the phone): Did Ace and Deuce tell you about what happened in Potion's class? Yeah, The Overblots got separated front their original bodies and I offered them to stay at Ramshackle; I wasn't going to make them uncomfortable with dealing with their hosts in their dorms.

Jami (Thinking): 'He cares for our comfort? After we attempted to kill him? (Looks at the ground in shame) After I used him for my personal vendetta?'

Yuu (On the phone): I noticed that Jami seems uneasy and I want to do something to make him more at ease here. I thought of making him some food and tea from the Land of Scalding Sands, as he's not much of a coffee drinker. Also, I noticed a Mancala Board and I'm interested in buying it. Can you tell me how much it is? (Sam Talking) Great, I'll also take the Cookbook, Tea Canister Bundle, and Silk Bundle. I think I can make Jami some new robes with the silk. When can I pick up the items? (Sam Talking) Yes, I'm willing to do all of that for Jami, just like I would for the others. He deserves just as much as the others do. Can I come get the items now? (Sam Talking) Perfect, I'm on my way. (Hangs up phone)

[Jami silently moved away from the kitchen opening and around another corner just as Yuu left the kitchen, grabbed his wallet off the table, and walked out of the first door. Jami looked around the corner and stared at the door for a while before the same question began to haunt his mind.]

Jami: Prefect... Why are you willing to do so much for me...after everything I have done to you? All the pain I caused you? Why are you doing so much for me - A Servant?

[The front door of Ramshackle opened, and Yuu walked in with his arms filled with stuff; he walked over to the sofa and placed everything down before reaching into a bag and pulling out the Cookbook from the Land of Scalding Sands before he walked around the corner, only to see Jami sitting at the table with his hair snakes constantly hissing.]

Yuu: Jami?

Jami:...

Yuu (Placing the book on the table as he walked over to Jami): Jami, are you okay? I've never seen you up so early.

Jami: I had a hard time sleeping - the snakes are very...aggravated at the moment and their hissing is making it hard to sleep.

Yuu (Looks at the hair snakes with a thinking expression on his face before snapping his fingers with a knowing smile on his face): I know - They are dry.

Jami (Raises an eyebrow at Yuu): Dry?

Yuu: When was the last time you oiled your hair since coming here?

Jami: I... I hadn't.

Yuu: Give me a moment. (Walks over to the bags on the sofa, reaches into one, and pulls out a bottle of Hair Oil that came from the Land of Scalding Sands - Sam gave it to him for free) Found it. (Walks back over to Jami) I'll give you a hand.

[Yuu whistles, gaining the hair snakes' attention as he pours some hair oil into his hand and holds his hand out to the snakes, showing them what is in his hand. Once the first snake came close enough, he rubbed his hands together and rubbed the oil on the hair snake, making it hiss in pleasure. Yuu continues this process with all the hair snakes until he reached the top of Jami's Head and massaged the hair oil into Jami's dry scalp, making the Overblot hiss in pleasure.]

Jami: This... This feels nice...

Yuu (Smiles): I'm glad you like it, Jami. I'll make you some tea after this.

Jami: I have been meaning to ask you about that, Prefect: Why are you doing so much for me after everything I have done to you? Used you for a personal vendetta I had against Kalim? Why do all of this for me, a mere servant?

Yuu: You are not a servant here, Jami. Ramshackle Dorm has no servants and I will not allow you to speak about yourself in such a matter.

Jami: But... My entire life, I have served...

Yuu: And that was a crime done to you. It's no wonder you and Jamil overblotted; who would want to live like that? Forced to hold themselves back for the betterment of someone who doesn't deserve their staion?

Jami: You don't think Kalim deserves to be Housewarden of Scarabia?

Yuu: In all honesty: No, he doesn't. Listen, I have nothings agsint Kalim personally, but he is too immature to hold the position of power he does; constantly throwing parties at the slightest whim and leaving the aftereffect up to you and the other members of Scarabia; it's pitiful, really. The only reason he is in his position of power is because he was from the Asim Family. You are clearly a better choice of Housewarden, considering all the work you do.

Jami: You... You really think so?

Yuu: Of course, you are. Jami, you are skilled in both magic and cooking, your memory is sharper than a blade, you are skilled in multiple languages...

[4 Minutes Later]

Yuu (Making cups of tea and breakfast for Jami from the cookbook): You are able to craft an antidote from plants within a matter of mintues before the poison can actually kill someone, and don't even get me started on your Mancala Tips...

[5 Minutes Later]

Yuu (Placing the food in front of Jami with the tea): All and All, you are a amazing person, Jami.

Jami (Staring at Yuu): Prefect... You just spent 9 minutes praising me...

Yuu: Of course I did. I would say more but we would be here all day and I have to make breakfast for the others. Jami, you deserve every bit of praise I can give you and I shall give you as much as you wish. (Pets the top of Jami's Head) You are brilliant and loved, Jami. (Goes into the kitchen)

Jami:...

[Later that day]

Leo (Pounding on Jami's Door): OI, SERPENT! GIVE ME BACK MY LITTLE BROTHER! WE'RE GOING TO PLAY CHESS!!

Ri: No, Rose and I are going to tend to the Roses!

Azu (Shouting downstairs since his pot can't go upstairs): PEARL AND I ARE GOING SWIMMING!

[Inside The Room]

Jami (Moving his stones on the Mancala Board): Your turn, Little Flower.

Yuu (Thinking of his move while Jami's Hair Snakes are wrapped around his waist - preventing him from leaving): Jami, when can I leave? I need to make lunch.

Jami: They can order-in.

Yuu: But...

Jami: You are not leaving me until you beat me in Mancala, Desert Flower. Listen to your brother.

Yuu: Jami, you've beaten me over 20 times. I'm not gonna beat you anytime soon.

Jami: Then, you won't be leaving anytime soon.

Yuu: Okay. (Makes a move on the Mancala Board)

[END - TO BE CONTINUED]

[wolfjackle-creates]

Ghost!Robin Part 5

First, Previous

This is probably the segment you've all been waiting for. Hope it holds up to expectations! 1.1k words.

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Before Danny could ask any questions about what the big deal was, Dick nudged him. “Which do you want—curry or beef?”

“Can I try both?”

“Alfred loves to see people enjoy his food. Eat as much as you can, then take a few more bites.” Dick handed him one platter followed by another. Robin watched on as Danny scooped some of each onto his plate.

When the ghost pointed to the potatoes and patted his stomach, Danny made sure to grab a large scoop and took a bite of that first. It was heavenly.

He raised his second spoonful up to Robin as a thank you for the recommendation.

“The potatoes are my favorite, too,” commented Jason who must’ve seen.

That caused Danny to raise and eyebrow and flick his eyes to Robin again. “I can understand why; they’re to die for.”

Jazz choked back a laugh. “Now you’re just stealing Dick’s joke from earlier,” she said.

“What can I say? It was a good one.”

Dick clucked his tongue. “Jason’s the same way. I don’t get how you can joke about almost dying.”

Danny tried the curry and shrugged. “This is so good. And I dunno, death jokes are super common in Amity. What else are you supposed to do when surrounded by ghosts?”

Dick just shook his head. “Well, if you say so. Now, here, try this, too,” he said as he scooped more food onto Danny’s plate.

Danny did so obediently and the conversation moved to lighter topics.

When he was mostly done with his plate, Robin decided it would be a great time to sit down on the table between him and Jazz. He stared at Danny and pointed to himself then raised an eyebrow. “When help me?” he mouthed.

“Jazz, I hope you’re well rested because I keep remembering more things I need to tell you about tonight after dinner.” On the last words, he made eye contact with Robin.

Who was not happy at all with his response. He stood on the table and seemed to grow in size. “Now,” he mouthed, foot stomp included. Angry-frustrated pulses filled the space.

“Danny?” asked Jazz.

Damn, he’d completely missed her reply. “Um, sorry Jazz, I got a work message earlier and I’m a bit distracted. Could you repeat that?”

Her eyes narrowed. She was totally onto him. “Something is up with you tonight.”

“Who me?” he rubbed the back of his neck and put on his innocent grin, the one that never worked on her. Flicking his eyes to Robin, he asked, “Why?” hoping that Jazz would take it as directed to her.

She stared at him a moment longer before turning back to Jason and pointedly ignoring Danny. Robin also moved until he was next to Jason, their faces side-by-side.

Then he removed his domino mask to show bright blue eyes, the exact color of Jason’s.

“Well fuck.” No way could he keep silent after that reveal.

The rest of the table fell silent and Bruce looked concerned. “Is everything all right, Danny?” he asked

Robin flew over to Bruce next and held two fingers to either side of his head and wiggled them.

“Well, double fuck.” Danny let his head bang on the table and cursed under his breath in Sumerian.

Dick touched his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” The concern was clear in his voice.

“Danny?” demanded Jazz.

Danny sat up and looked longingly at the remaining food on his plate before pushing away from the table and holding up his PDA and bag. “I’m sorry, I have to excuse myself for a few minutes. An important work thing.”

“Really, Danny? Can’t it wait?” asked Jazz.

“No. It really can’t.”

“Will you at least be quick?” she tried.

Danny sighed. “This’ll probably take ages to sort out in full. But the first part should only take a few minutes.” He looked over the rest of the table and bit his lip. He should tell them something, but where to even begin? And it’s not like Robin, Jason?, whatever, wouldn’t spill the beans as soon as he was able. So he just turned and let the room, Robin right on his heels.

“How far away from Jason, er, from your living self, can you get?” he asked quietly as soon as he felt like they were out of immediate earshot.

Robin flew a few feet down the hall and around corner. They were only just out of sight of the doorway and well within shouting range. In fact, he could still hear the sounds of conversation, even if exact words were difficult to make out.

Robin floated before him, no longer smiling, and held out a hand.

Danny stared at it a moment before grabbing it and pulling Robin into a hug. The ghost felt so insubstantial in his arms, like a wisp of silk or an underinflated balloon. Without thought, he transformed and surrounded Robin more securely in his aura.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t visit sooner,” whispered Danny. “I’m sorry I didn’t know about you until now.”

There was a tug on his core. Robin was trying to take some of his power. Danny pushed as well, giving it willingly. In his arms, Robin grew more solid.

With Robin’s increased corporeality, Danny became aware the boy was shaking. He chirped an I’m here, you’re safe message.

Robin trilled his thanks and nerves.

Before Danny could ask what Robin wanted to do next, they were startled apart by a loud crash and the sound of breaking glass and china and a voice shouting, “What the fuck?”

In the hallway, in perfect view of Danny and Robin, stood Alfred and Duke. A dropped tray and shattered dishes decorated the floor at Alfred’s feet and Duke had barely kept hold of his own tray and was half turned away but squinting at Danny and Robin like they were painful to look at.

Shouted questions and running footsteps echoed from the dining room and then everyone else was there, too.

Danny ignored everyone, focusing on Jazz who was staring at him in pure terror. Before he could assure her it would be all right, she was moving, ducking under arms until she was in front of him.

She fell into a fighting stance and pulled out a fenton staff. With the press of a button, it powered on, glowing like a double-sided light saber in her hands. “If any of you try to turn in my brother or hurt him, I will end you.”

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Next

Tag list!

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[ecargmura]

Wind Breaker Episode 9 Review - Dr. Umemiya's Physical Therapy Session

I thought this was a delinquent anime. Why am I watching Dr. Hajime Umemiya performing physical therapy on Choji? I hope Shishitoren pays Umemiya a hefty amount for this therapy session because Choji made his problems everyone else’s.

There might be people disappointed about the outcome of this long awaited fight, but remember that fighting is about communication. Like how Umemiya told Sakura to use his fists to talk to Togame, he used his own fists and head to talk to Choji and it worked. Thanks to Umemiya, the viewers finally understand why Choji behaves the way he does. His idea of freedom is fickle. While being the top means free, it’s not the one he idealized, hence why he took the dark path because he was so distraught with the disappointment that came with its discovery. What Choji needed to realize was that the freedom he sought after had been with him the entire time: Shishitoren before he changed. He realized that Togame had been piecing back what had been broken the entire time and hence why he caressed his cheek and thanked him for protecting Shishitoren and not letting the group crumble even further.

The fight before Choji goes deep into this thoughts was still pretty good. The beginning part without any music was smooth. It’s crazy how well they’re animating this fight despite the huge height difference between Umemiya and Choji. Choji still pulls his weight and Umemiya does too. I think the craziest part of the fight was the neck biting scene. Given that Choji is themed around rabbits, the neck biting scene reminded me of a vampire rabbit, which then reminded me of the book series Bunnicula. I quite liked that series when I was younger. I still think it’s crazy how Choji gave Umemiya the nastiest hickey ever. Once this is all over and done, Ume needs to go to a doctor to check if Choji had rabies. I also liked the headbutt he gave to him. It reminded me a lot of Tanjiro and how he’d give headbutts to people.

As a manga reader, I do think the scenes with Choji’s thoughts are done a lot better in the anime. There were several scenes from those segments that I really liked. The first was the part where the floor underneath Choji cracked and he fell into it like he was in Kingdom Hearts. The second was showing Togame piecing together the fragmented memories. It symbolizes that Togame was holding everything together for Choji. The bloodied hands in some shots weren’t Choji but Togame’s. His hands became bloody from trying to collect all the glass shards and putting them back together instead of throwing them out, reminiscent of how he chose to cull the weak members for Choji so that everyone else wouldn’t hate him and make the group crumble. That was how much he cared for him. Gosh, it was done visually well. My last favorite part was the face touching scene. They improved so much from the manga. The manga had it to where Choji was thanking Togame for protecting them by touching his face while he was lying down and battered. The anime amps it up with the visuals, giving it a more sensual vibe. I was feeling so moved and even was holding back some tears with the scene.

I feel like I’m talking about Choji a bit too much, so I’m going to talk about Umemiya. Umemiya was great. He never showed any signs of weakness or having a disadvantage. I felt like he was just letting Choji hit him because he could tell he was faltering. I think Umemiya shined most towards the end where he rejected Choji’s jacket and wanted Bofurin and Shishitoren to be friends. Umemiya’s laid-back personality is his charm, after all. Also, Umemiya with some of his bangs made him look really nice and it made me wonder if he has his hair brushed back because having his hair down is an instant KO for his opponents.

Given how often Shishitoren was seen with cloudy skies and rainy weather, the last shot where the clouds lifted and showing off the blue sky was a nice way to show that Choji has returned to his normal self. It does feel like a nice conclusion for the Shishitoren arc and it makes me wonder how the rest of the episodes will be played out. I hope that there’s a second season. This show is way too good to not get a season two. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[bangtanhoneys]

Bangtan Baby: Tangerine Partners

He was known as the third parent of BTS. The second father of an unruly bunch of five men. 

The third eldest and the quietest, even if he did add his own chaotic energy to everything when he wanted to. And right now, he was Uncle Sug. 

Bora hadn’t quite managed to pronounce Suga just yet and Yoongi was even more difficult. Agust D was going to be a nightmare though she could pronounce the D quite well. So for now, he was Uncle Sug. However, whenever Bora’s eyes landed on him, she always yelled “Sug!”

Though the rest of BTS hadn’t fared any better other than Namjoon.

J-Hope became Hop, Namjoon was Joon, Jimin was JM, Taehyung was Ta and Jungkook got Kook or sometimes Kookie if she got her words out. 

There was never any uncle before their names. 

But it was cute, especially when she was toddling around on little legs, the princess of Big Hit and yelling names when she saw the right person. There had been many heart attacks when she stumbled on Bang PD and she had toddled very quickly, all the while yelling “Bang!”

So Uncle Sug was on babysitting duty. 

The little one was content to sit on his lap as he played around with his sounds, seeing what worked for the next song that took his fancy. She wasn’t expected to stay for long as her parents were around, doing various bits of recordings as was the rest of the group. He only got away with babysitting duties as he had plucked her up before anyone else. 

While the mix was playing around in the background, Yoongi slowly began to peel one of his many tangerines. There was a constant supply of them now as another fan had made an appearance if the excited jumping and squeals on his knee were any indication. 

“Thank god you take after me with your appreciation for fruit,” Yoongi chuckled as he peeled away one segment, checked it for pips and then handed it over to his niece. 

She stared at it for a moment, as if her tiny mind was trying to figure out what she had just been given. Yoongi was about to question further when she jammed the fruit into her mouth, leaving a trail of saliva and tangerine juice over her fingers and chin. 

“Now you look like your Dad,” grinned Yoongi as he grabbed some tissues. 

The two of them shared the tangerine between them as he played around with his mixing station, adding sounds here and there when Bora kicked with joy over. With the warmth of the room and the smell of his vanilla candle and tangerines, Bora soon fell asleep against his chest. 

“See, this is why I’m the best uncle. You just fall asleep with me so easily,” he slowly got out of his chair and over to the popup crib that he had secreted away. “I’m sure the herd will be coming soon so enjoy your nap, Bora.”

[compressedrage]

*cracks knuckles* It's King time baby– Episode 30

This will be in two parts because I have much to cover. One part will be the backstory segment, and then the other will be the rest of the video.

OKAY PART 1

The opening to this video sets up the later tragedy so well. It introduces Gold, King's son, but we know something is going to happen. it hangs over every little wholesome thing we see.

And in terms of wholesome things, they chose amazing ones to show! We have King reminiscing over a younger Gold, before the Gold of the present gives him a corn dog. They share a cute bonding moment (can you hear my heart cracking) before going to the festival.

(I love the concept of the festival from a world-building perspective. is there a reason there's a festival? is it even a festival? it looks very fun)

Gold is drawn in by a booth advertising a virtual realty experience in the world of Minecraft. He excitedly brings King over, and King signs a waiver. King's body language during this scene is hesitant, and the tone is almost a little eery; there's no one else in the section for the Minecraft experience. They are more-or-less alone.

(I wonder if King thought something felt off. I wonder that made him blame himself even more since he did nothing to stop Gold from entering the experience)

Gold is so excited. The workers at the experience let Gold go in, and he enters. The door locks behind him, and he is integrated into the game. King watches as he happily runs around the game, collecting resources and making tools.

Suddenly an alarm sounds. Something is wrong. On the screen King can see a black void open up in the sky. It rapidly expands and spreads, threatening to swallow Gold whole. Gold runs, before opening the menu and exiting the game.

He bursts from the entrance, but he isn't safe. The void is emerging through the opening, and Gold begins to disintegrate. King bangs on the door; it's locked tight. Not even the workers who run over to help him can get it open.

Gold reaches for his dad, but collapses and is sucked back into the game. A "fatal error" show on the screen. Gold is gone.

King drops to his knees. The workers approach him nervously, and one reaches out to touch his shoulder. King whirls around and grabs them by the throat, slamming them onto the ground. He does the same to the other workers who try to stop him before stopping and staring into the Minecraft experience. (In one of the most beautiful shots I've ever seen, the red glow is so ominous)

Back at his house King is in shambles. He lashes out at a poster he took of the experience, punching the wall as if it were the glass doors separating him from his son. He wilts against the wall for a moment, before getting up with new resolve. He will find a way to destroy Minecraft and avenge his son.

He is obsessed with this goal for an unknown amount of time; it could be months, could stretch into a few years, who knows. he researches everything he could ever find about Minecraft. He learns about its mechanics, its blocks. He learns of the command block, and acquires one from a shady figure in an alley. (such a smart move my dude)

The staff doesn't work. He tries several different versions, but even when he does manage to get it to work he still doesn't quite understand its mechanics. Maybe there was another way.

He delves into Minecraft's myths and mysteries. There he finds a description of the Minecraft Game Icon: "The most powerful item in Minecraft". The location is unknown. He tears the page from the book and walks around town, showing it to people. I honestly don't know what he expected but props to him for showing initiative I guess.

He stops outside a tech store. There, showing on one of the televisions, is a group of young sticks playing with an icon. Playing with it. King now as proof such an item exists, even if he has no idea how to get it. But he has a goal now.

Find those sticks.

He hangs up wanted posters all over town. And by a crazy stoke of fate a purple stick finds them and takes one.

Purple shows up at King's house with the poster and appears to explain the he knows the CG and how to find them. King doesn't seem to respond, or at least respond positively. (King's vibe in that scene was one of "I just woke up and I don't want to talk to people", which... mood, I guess that comes with the depression)

Purple jumps to prove himself, displaying how he is agile and can fight. When that doesn't get a reaction he pulls out his elytra and show off his flight skills instead. Lots of flips. King gestures for him to come inside.

King's house is a mess. Purple looks around a bit, finding a picture of King and Gold. King takes it out of Purple's hands and Purple backs away. They make their way down to the basement, where it is clear King has been working on the parkour trap idea for a very long time. And he has a Nether portal. He lights it up with his staff (which he now knows how to wield) and they enter Minecraft.

In the Nether they find a bastion. They defeat its inhabitants, and King offers them gold in exchange for their allegiance. (I'm pretty sure they might think he's a god of some kind because he can technically create gold from nothing, and remember how he disabled the AI of that one Piglin? Dude's terrifying)

With the Piglins now under his command, King builds himself a throne of quartz and gold. Purple kneels and hands him a golden crown. King takes it and gives Purple a head rub. I'm pretty sure that head rub won him Purple's undying loyalty tbh.

_._._

This section of the episode is so good. It sets up everything we need to know, and portals King perfectly. We can see and understand how he got to this place of extreme grief and obsessive vengeance.

We also see Purple, whose motivations we now understand from the last episode. He seems so upbeat here, so happy to help. It's devastating that he was so willing to betray his new friends for the validation of a father figure. My poor boy.

[celestiall0tus]

Tales of Bloody Bug and Chat Noir - Chapter 25 - Prime Queen

Beginning || Previous || Next

            Chat Noir sat on a couch across from Nadja Chamack to prepare to go live with an interview. It was an interview meant for him and Bloody Bug, but he reassured Bloody Bug that he had everything under control. Though he did add that he’d like for her to show up if she was feeling well enough to be in front of cameras. He didn’t expect her to show up, but he still hoped.

            “We’re live in ten,” a cameraman called out.

            Chat Noir sighed and looked away when there was a loud bang. Everyone turned as Bloody Bug strolled into the studio and sat beside Chat Noir.

            “Bug! You’re here,” Chat Noir cheered.

            “Yeah, well, I was bored. And I guess someone reminded me I should make an appearance for a few of these to keep people happy.”

            “Then I owe that someone something in return.”

            “Anything sweet will make them happy.”

            “Duly noted.”

            “And we’re live in five, four, three, two,” a cameraman called.

            “Good evening, I’m Nadja Chamack, and this is Face to Face. For this edition, I welcome the beloved guardians of Paris, Bloody Bug and Chat Noir.”

            Chat Noir waved to the cameras while Bloody Bug flipped them off.

            Nadja chuckled nervously. “Thanks so much for this exclusive live interview.”

            Bloody Bug rolled her eyes.

            “Thank you, Nadja, for hosting it. There’s no one else we’d rather have interview us than you. And to all my fans out there, hello,” Chat Noir added as he blew a kiss to the cameras.

            “Ham it up for the cameras, why don’t you,” Bloody Bug grumbled.

            Chat Noir leaned against the armrest and propped his legs up on Bloody Bug. “Oh, I plan to. Gotta give the fans what they want most. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge, Bug.”

            Bloody Bug snorted. She threw her yo-yo after a rafter, caught Chat Noir’s leg, and pulled on the string. Chat Noir yelped as he dangled and flailed around.

            “Alright, fine. I can hang out for a little bit while you have your little hissy fit, Bug.”

            Bloody Bug smirked and yanked on the string. Chat Noir’s eyes widened as he was pulled up over the rafter and onto the floor. He landed with a thud on all fours.

            “Huh, I guess cats do land on their feet,” Bloody Bug remarked.

            Chat Noir grinned as he took out his staff. He extended it to under the sofa and lifted it up causing Bloody Bug to fly off it. He stood proud as she got to her feet with a mischievous grin.

            “Oh, alright you little bitch. It’s on.”

            “Purr-fect. I love a good cat fight.”

            “Hold on. If we could-,” Nadja started.

            Bloody Bug lunged and tackled Chat Noir. The pair tussled and rolled around in a playful spar. Nadja grimaced as she stood.

            “We thank you both for this wonderful demonstration, but we do have an interview to get on with.”

            “Ugh, fine,” Bloody Bug growled.

            Chat Noir fixed the couch as he and Bloody Bug sat on it.

            “Thank you. Now, it’s obvious that you two are very close,” Nadja started.

            “Of course. We’re like this,” Chat Noir said as he intertwined his fingers.

            Nadja smiled. “That’s sweet. And, as you know, the people know you, but they don’t really know you. We see you saving Paris, but we don’t know anything else about you.”

            “Then get on with your questions,” Bloody Bug hissed.

            “R-right. Let’s begin with the caller segment.”

            Bloody Bug grumbled as Nadja brought up the first caller, Chloe.

            “Hello, caller. State your name and your question,” Nadja instructed.

            “Seriously, Nad-, I mean, of course. Chloe Bourgeois, as most of you should know. And I don’t have a stupid question. I just wanted to say hi to Bloody Bug and let her know I’m here for her. My door is always open.”

            Bloody Bug’s face softened. “Thank you, Chloe.”

            Chloe grinned and bounced. “You’re welcome. Ta-ta.”

            “R-right. Next caller.”

            Nadja dismissed the video of Chloe for Alya, Marinette, and a little girl.

            “Hi there, Bloody Bug and Chat Noir. I’m Alya, and I’m wondering if you can grab me an interview for my Ladyblog. You know, since I have way more viewers than Nadja and can make you way more famous than this little campaign you’re doing for Jagged Stone.”

            “Hi, I’m Marinette. Bloody Bug, I was hoping maybe we could meet up and hang out.”

            The little girl popped up in front of them. “Hi, Mommy!”

            “Uh, well, I don’t-,” Chat Noir started.

            “You can take both your requests and shove up your asses that they come back out the other side again. Next caller. Now,” Bloody Bug hissed.

            Nadja paused and looked down at her bracelet. She gulped and canceled the video call. “Uh, well, let’s move onto the next segment. So, a lot of fans think of you as a couple.”

            Chat Noir tensed up while Bloody Bug glared at Nadja.

            “What are you implying?” Bloody Bug demanded.

            Nadja forced a smile. “Can you confirm that you’re dating here, tonight?”

            Chat Noir’s eyes widened, his ears pinned back, his tail lashed, and his pupils narrowed into slits. He stood and held out an arm in front of Bloody Bug while he hissed and snarled at Nadja.

            “We’re here only for an interview as we promised to Bob Roth, not to be answer wild, false allegations about our personal lives. The very fact that you have the gall to feed into these rumors is a mockery to you as a reporter. Bloody Bug and I are nothing more than friends,” Chat Noir hissed.

            Nadja flinched and swiped on her table, playing the audio from when Bloody Bug and Chat Noir told each other they loved each other from a few days ago.

            Bloody Bug roared and kicked over the table of refreshments for them. “You would dare take these things out of context? For the record, I would never love him like that. He is my friend and brother. Nothing less.”

            “And she’s my best and first friend, and my sister too. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

            “B-but friends don’t tell each other that they love each other like that,” Nadja countered.

            “Well, these two do. This interview is over,” Bloody Bug announced.

            “But-!”

            “Over!” Chat Noir hissed.

            Bloody Bug and Chat Noir stormed out of the studio, out of the News Station, and into the city.

            “The absolute fucking bitch. What gall could she possess that she’d dare push the notion that we’re dating. It’s absolutely fucking ridiculous!” Bloody Bug fumed.

            “And that friends don’t say I love you. I don’t see why more friends don’t. If you love someone, let them know. What’s so wrong with that?” Chat Noir complained.

            “Exactly! You don’t need to be fucking to say you love someone.”

            “Well, kinda. You don’t need to be in a romantic relationship to say it.”

            “Bah! It’s all the same shit.”

            “Uh, no, it’s not. You can be in a relationship without, you know.”

            “Don’t see why you would. I mean, what else is there than the physical stuff?”

            “Well, there’s the love, the romantic gestures, the bliss of being with that one, and just so much more.”

            Bloody Bug gagged. “I see no point in that frivolous nonsense. It’s all just pretty words and empty gestures.”

            Chat Noir tilted his head. “I don’t understand. What do you mean exactly?”

            “Well, I… I don’t know. I just… I never cared nor do care for it. The romance, at least. All those gestures and giving all your attention to single person because they’re supposed to be ‘special.’ It just… I dunno. I don’t hate it, but it just seems… unnecessary.”

            “Then, I wonder, have you ever wanted a relationship?”

            “No. Yes? Maybe? I don’t know. I mean, I find a lot of people attractive, but, well, look at me. Who’d want to consider me? A little, hot-tempered bitch that has more issues than they probably should. Add in that I find all that romance stuff stupid, it just… turns people away. Sure, it gets lonely and I… can feel pent up at times, but who’d want me?”

            Chat Noir’s ears drooped as he reached out for Bloody Bug when a nearby plasma flipped on. They turned to see Nadja with blue skin, red hair styled similar to Bloody Bug, and a cyberpunk suit.

            “What the hell?” Bloody Bug asked.

            “Welcome, everyone, to a new show hosted by me, Prime Queen. Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news. Tonight, Bloody Bug and Chat Noir disappointed all of their loyal fans by refusing to admit the true nature of their love for one another. So, I’ve prepared some trials.”

            Prime Queen snapped her fingers to a display of Chloe and Sabrina reading magazines and gossiping. Sabrina gasped and pointed to the TV. Chloe jumped to her feet while Sabrina ran away. They watched as Prime Queen stepped through to Chloe’s room and tied her up. Prime Queen lifted her hand when Porcelet ran in and used Gift to immobilize Prime Queen.

            “Well, that’s Prime Queen taken care of,” Bloody Bug remarked.

            “Shall we then, Bug?”

            “Let’s.”

            Bloody Bug and Chat Noir headed to Le Grand Paris to Chloe’s room. They walked in to find Prime Queen frozen in place staring into Porcelet’s gift. Chloe had turned off the TV and searched Prime Queen for her Akuma.

            “I don’t see where it could be,” Chloe complained.

            “Oh, what about this?” Porcelet asked as she pointed to the single gauntlet on Prime Queen’s left arm.

            “The bracelet,” Bloody Bug remarked.

            Chat Noir nodded. He destroyed it and released the Akuma. Bloody Bug caught it and purified it. She released it as Prime Queen reverted to Nadja.

            “What’s going on? What happened?” Nadja asked.

            “So, how’s that for efficiency?” Chat Noir asked.

            Porcelet giggled. “Amazing job, Chat Noir and Bloody Bug.”

            “Cat, take Nadja back to the News Station. I’m going home,” Bloody Bug announced.

            “Wait, please! I want to apologize. They threatened to cancel my show if I didn’t get you two to admit to you being in a relationship. They wanted some more evidence for the campaign for Jagged Stone’s tour,” Nadja explained.

            “They’re going to have to enjoy disappointment as there will never be anything between us,” Bloody Bug stated.

            “Yeah. Bug doesn’t like romance anyway,” Chat Noir declared.

            “Wait, you don’t?” Chloe asked.

            “No. The whole everything of it is just stupid. If you take anything back to Bob, then take this juicy bit. I’d rather just the physical side of it all than all that stupid romance,” Bloody Bug said.

            “But… that dance,” Chloe whispered.

            “Dance? What dance? Are you and-?” Nadja started.

            “Cat! Get her out of here!” Bloody Bug roared.

            “Will do, Bug. And I’ll be seeing you later, right, pint-sized?” Chat Noir asked.

            Bloody Bug’s lips twisted into a smile and a snarl. “Those are fighting words, fleabag.”

            Chat Noir smirked as he scooped up Nadja and headed for the balcony. “Then I expect to continue where we left off later, yeah?”

            “You can bet one of your lives on it, pussy.”

            Chat Noir bowed his head and left.

            Bloody Bug sighed and shook her head before she turned to Porcelet and Chloe. “Good job, you two. Porcelet, quick thinking on your part.”

            Porcelet beamed from the praise. Bloody Bug patted her shoulder and moved to leave when Chloe called out.

            “Wait! Please, Bloody Bug, I need to talk to you.”

            “Not now, Chloe. I’m not in the best of moods.”

            “When will you be because it’s very important.”

            “I can’t say. I’m going through a lot of emotions as I search for something. Once I find it and sort myself out, I’ll be ready to talk. I know I owe it to you after everything I’ve done to you in the past.”

            “So… you really are… her?”

            Bloody Bug paused. “Do you hate me?”

            “I… no. I’m confused. Why? You treated me so well as this you, but not the other you.”

            “I know. I guess it was just easier, you know? You didn’t know who I was, and you acted so different around this me. It was… easier to get along with you when you weren’t putting up your walls. I’m sure it’s the same the other way around, no?”

            “Yes. I’m sure if I knew then, well, we wouldn’t be here, would we?”

            “No, we surely wouldn’t. But I promise that in time, we can talk. Just not now.”

            “Then answer one question of mine.”

            “Fine. Ask it.”

            “You aren’t going to hurt me again, are you?”

            “Chloe, I’ve done everything in my power to keep myself from hurting you since that day. There is nothing I regret more than that moment. You didn’t deserve that, and I know there’s nothing I can do to make that right.”

            “Well, no, but….”

            Chloe trailed off as she ran up and hugged Bloody Bug. Bloody Bug gasped and froze.

            “Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for giving me that chance to learn. Thank you for being the role model I never knew I was looking for but am glad I found. And know that whatever may come, I’ll be by your side. Always.”

            Tears fell from Bloody Bug’s eyes as she turned and hugged Chloe. Porcelet watched as she de-transformed. Sabrina trotted over as Chloe and Bloody Bug moved away.

            “Bloody Bug? I know it’s not my place, but may I offer something I told Chloe?” Sabrina asked.

            “Sure.”

            “Well, you’re not in the past anymore. Don’t judge people based on their past, but as they are in the present. After all, if we cling to the past, we can never see the present and will be forever blind to the future.”

            Bloody Bug’s breath caught as she felt Sabrina’s words strike her core. She looked down, then back up with a smile.

            “Thank you, Sabrina. I’ll be sure to consider what you’ve told me. Chloe, I promise, we’ll talk once I’m back to a suitable mental state. Right now, let’s keep doing what we’re doing. Ok?”

            Chloe nodded. Bloody Bug patted Chloe’s shoulder, nodded at Sabrina, then headed home.

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[ohno-the-sun]

Short little fic I wrote about Ruin Eclipse before the dlc came out

So its super inaccurate but it was a fun exercise

The world was alight. 

Sun had always screamed and yelled and hoped for the lights to stay on, for everything to stay the same, but fate didn’t have that planned for him.

He stood– right in front of that impossible barrier. It was just a door and Sun knew that. But everytime he went up to it– tried to push against it– a shock ran through his system. 

Like a stabbing pain behind his eyes it ran through his core like a brand. He was out of options. Still now he banged against the door– hoping that somehow some way he would be able to open it. Useless dents littered the doorframe. He knew they did nothing– the door was unlocked, free to be opened or closed by anybody who wasn’t him. Even if the door collapsed– nothing Sun could do would get him across the barrier. 

He could get him to do it. 

Sun looked around the room. Moon had done so much– to him, to the kids– at this point Sun couldn’t stand to trust him. But he was his only option. 

Sun hoped with every fiber of his being that Moon at least had enough self-preservation to get them out of this mess. 

There– a dark corner. Fire had not yet set in under one of play castles that surrounded the rapidly melting ballpit.

If he could just get over there…

The jungle gym was falling apart, plastic parts unable to stand the blistering heat. Thick ropes of nylon stuck together as flames licked their sides. The entire structure had fallen in the center of the daycare– Sun was going to have to find a way around it.

There.

He quickly ducked into a slide that had fallen down in the crash. It had fallen in such a way that its entrance was now positioned near the back of the daycare– right where he wanted to go.

Crawling though he could hear the soft crumbling of the room outside. A loud creak heard far above made him shutter. He paused. 

Only for a moment though. He quickly crawled the rest of the way through, ending up nicely positioned near the entrance of the fake castle.

It too was nearly collapsed from the intense heat, the roof slowly curving in under its own weight. 

Sun could only hope it stayed in place long enough. 

He quickly slid in, the creaking from above only getting louder. 

Looking around he could already tell it wasn’t going to be dark enough– the intensity of the roaring fire outside lit the initial segments of the tunnel like castle too brightly.

Sun crawled farther in. The creaking only seemed to get louder and louder. 

Finally– Sun could feel it. This was dark enough. He could feel the shifting of gears behind his face, a soft weight being placed on top of his head. 

He thought he could hear a snapping from far above. The creaking from before– had he– had I– 

Did they not notice?

They were slammed down. Something white and searing flashed across their systems.

And then—

Nothing.

~~~~~

Initializing startup…

Checking light levels…

Light levels set = 10%

Initializing “Night” Protocol…

…

…

…

…

Error “Night” not found

Backup Program Start

Initializing “Day” Protocol…

…

…

…

…

Error “Day” not found

…

…

…

…

Back up processor startup

…

…

…

Memory files retrieved 100%

…

…

…

…

Backup protocol initializing “temp_file_1”

Rebooting…

…

…

…

Startup Complete

…

They slowly opened their eyes.

Trapped.

They needed to get out,

A large metal frame sat on top of them– large white shapes attached to their edge.

What are those–?

The clouds–

A spasm ran through their body.

Something was wrong.

What’s going on–?

What happened–?

Images flashed across their processors. Bright flames lit the daycare, the plastic and soft padding that made up a majority of it not standing a chance. He– I ran.

Stupid stupid.

Shutupshutup.

Their already fragile processors heated up, they could hear creaking and shifting by their faceplate. A large piece of debris sat on top of their head, lodging them in a crack on the floor. They could hear the small pieces tumble around them as their head attempted to spin.

Trapped I was trapped.

You were stupid stupid. Too bright– I could do nothing.

Only you can leave!

Only you can be out–

Despite being trapped under rumble their body shifted and writhed. They felt trapped– claustrophobic– like their body wasn’t big enough.

We need to get out.

You need to get out it's too dark!

It was then when they noticed just how dark the daycare was. Every incandescent light bulb put in place to protect the kids burst in the heat. It was so dark too dark.

They roughly shoved the rubble on them off. The large piece had their head trapped slowly rolled off. The rest was light burnt foam and plastic, which slowly came off their body. The plastic had melted slightly into their clothing. In a rush they ripped it off– taking a chunk of the pant fabric with it.

Their endoskeleton underneath laid bare, not even a plastic covering protecting it. 

Messy messy messy, so so messy–

They shut off their optics. Both knew that their processors would overheat seeing what had become of the daycare.

They needed to think.

What are we going to do we’re trapped– we’re stuck– we’re never getting out–

Shut up shut up shut up you stupid stupid– useless pathetic worthless–

That was going to be difficult. 

Their frame shook, something loose rattling in their chest. 

Hot hot hot.

Their processors were way too hot.

Heat on a bot is like meat left to rot.

Calm down. 

Clam down.

Slowly both their processes slowed.

One step at a time. 

Moon?

Sun.

I you’re here?

Obviously.

Yes obviously– I mean here, I can hear you

And I hear you– you’re too close–

You’re too close. I can feel you.

Your emotions are loud.

Yours are… scary.

…

It’s crawling along their synthetic skin. A sort of infection pulsating just underneath. It was white and hot. Everything was tenuous, like looking over an edge and one small push would send them hurling down. 

What is this?

…It’s mine.

What does that mean?

…

… fine, be that way.

Slowly they activated their optics. Setting the resolution low so they weren’t flooded with inputs they looked around. 

Even with the low resolution they could tell the place was a mess, the playplace had sunken into the floor, the ballpit was a pool of discolored gunk, the cloud fixtures on the ceiling had fallen and crushed whatever remained. 

It was all too much. 

“I-I-I–” 

Why can’t I speak?

Cause you’re shit at it.

Will you shut up!

“G-G-G–”

Our voice box is broken.

Well now you say that!

[mephalis]

Lungs pushing up daisies - Alt ending

so this is an alternative ending, of what if everything that could go bad, went bad? this is for one comment that asked about it, so here you go! and also fueled by the fact that Argenti did not come home so, yeah :D im debating if i should post another work into the series with just this but i deemed it too short...let me know though if i should? as i am not sure and i thought here would work better LOL! special thanks to Grrrrain who helped me get the flow as well as inspired by some of their own sad hanahaki fic elements! a big inspiration!! click more to enjoy the ending! it follows up from the same fic but the last segment is...different! :D

[3:58]boothill:

What the heck was the name of that drink you got me?? Can’t fudgin’ find it anywhere here, got a mad itchin and i need to scratch it. you son of a nice lady, just had to get me a delicious one. Can’t believe I even forgot to go back and get that last forkin’ drop back at the hotel, what a waste.

Voice text converted into text

[3:59]boothill:

Also what kind of wine do ya like? I reckon it might be one of these red ones, but the guy is offerin’ me white champagne and what not…real fancy soundin stuff, they might be right up your alley.

Voice text converted into text

[4:24]boothill:

Too late rosey, i got you this red fudgin’ bottle instead of all the others! Darn son of a gun was trying to make me buy the lot of em, he kept on talkin’ and talkin’. Luckily i got somethin’ that always shut em up real quick. 

Voice text converted into text [4:25]boothill:

For the record, i did forkin’ pay for it. Got kicked out tho just because they get spooked by a gun so easily. Fudgin’ wussies.

Voice text converted into text [7:32]boothill:

You out in the wild or something? First time I got connection and you don’t! Oh yeah right, hope you got some wine glass or what not, don’t ya have to drink them out of these fudgin’ cups? Forgot ‘bout those.

Voice text converted into text [2:05]boothill:

Think ’m bout to see another knight of beauty, found myself at this lil ol’ station and people here are talking and ravin’ about this knight. Doesn’t sound too shabby, they’re sayin a bunch of stuff about bugs and what not…[intangible]-huh? Wait a forkin’ second…–red hair? [intangible] wait, oh shoot, ha! it is you! I can see your ship from here! Fudge, I had to park my forkin’ motor all the way on the opposite side–would you look at that! Wait, if you’re here then why haven't ya answered any of my texts? 

Voice text converted into text [2:12]missed a call from boothill.

----

Boothill tsk’d as the phone call ended with a message about some darn fucking voice message mail box, wherein he would have thought the knight might have been busy or far away from cell service to receive his call, Boothill wouldn’t have bat an eye. 

But Argenti’s ship stood right in front of Boothill, and he heard plenty of the folks on the station talking up a storm of how thankful they are for the current residing knight of beauty inside the ship.

“Ey! Rosey!” Boothill banged on the ship’s door, not too rough as he knew how Argenti cared about the exterior of his ship. Despite being a battle knight, Argenti went through many efforts to maintain the ship’s sleek look. 

There was no answer. 

Boothill was patient, he knew to wait for the right shot, to jump on his hunt. But his patience was a fickle friend, present only when he wanted it to be.

(not after he had heard of the knight getting possibly injured, not when Argenti, the man who’d speak up a storm, brimming with words, was this quiet. It had set his nerves on edge.) 

Boothill, maybe overreacting, kicked at the door in frustration. A futile gesture against the unease festering in his gut.  

But the door opened far too easily with a beep, enough for Boothill to realize it hadn’t been locked at all.

Realization struck him with grim certainty; if Argenti had been truly absent from his ship, he wouldn’t have left it wide open, right?

He frowned, and stepped in. 

There was a silent lull inside, Save for the soft hum of machinery and the distant thrum of the engine in the distant background. Only the sounds of his steps, heavy boots clanging on the metal floor echoed. Boothill had the half mind to close the door behind him properly, before frantically walking around with a search for a pretty red rose.

“Argenti? Ya here?” he called out, quicking his pace. Boothill could already hear the scolding of his Pa for his hasty intrustion in his head.

The sight of the lounge brought back the memory of his stay, and how he woke up from such deep slumber to find himself nearly drooling on Argenti’s pillows. 

But Argenti wasn’t there, so Boothill did not give it another thought as he turned. 

He blinked at where Argenti’s personal garden of roses sat, surprised to find a new addition added to the side, and stood beside it, the small figure of a wooden carved horse that he had made. It sat right next to the pot, somehow like it belonged there, like it was associated with the daisies next to it. 

The daisies, shockful arrays of white and yellow, sparkling somehow just like the roses. Not in the same way, but they had some sort of glow to them that Boothill found himself drawn to.

His hand hovered over them, and at once, he could recall how they felt once long before. 

It evoked a memory, soft and easy to tear off, the bundle of rough blanket of wool had many of the petals stuck to it as he once carried a baby–his baby–out of the bed of daisies one sweltereing summer day.

Boothill remembered Argenti once asking him about daisies.

The knight was already a strange fellow, doing whatever he got in his mind when it was aligned with beauty and all that jazz, but it was even a little strange to Boothill. Oddly specific, Where did the fascination of the daisies come from?

Boothill turned once more, not sparing the daisies a second glance. 

There was only one flower he was interested in. 

"Rosey?" Boothill called out again, stepping into the dimly lit shadows of Argenti's bunk. The room was cloaked in darkness, illuminated only by the soft, shifting  hues of the ship. 

However, light sparked on at his mere presence, automated.

Revealing Argenti's blanketed figure, slumped over the bed in an unnatural curve. 

His red hair sprawled from out of the cover like a wave of crimson river, his form held profound stillness that overturned the concern in Boothill’s heart into chilling dread. 

(was he even breathing?)  

"Argenti!" Boothill rushed forward, and at once he was hit immediately with the sharp smell of metal tang in the air that could not be hidden by the flora that always acquainted Argenti's.

blood.

He yanked the blanket off of Argenti, and reached to turn his body to face him all together in one motion. His mind raced with the urgency to assess the damage, aid whatever he could to slow down the bleeding of what might be wounds of the battle he was just in, and to call for help from the outside if they were grave enough to make the ever so preserved knight fall. But when he saw Argenti’s face, all action came to a screeching halt.

It was not an open wound, as Boothill had feared.

Boothill wished it was, as he stared at yellow daisies poking out of Argenti’s bloodied mouth. 

“..Argenti?” his breath hitched as he called out again with a tremor in his voice, pulling the knight into his arms and watched in horror as Argenti’s head drooped, falling down heavily like a ragdoll.

“Hey,” Boothill said with crackling static, desperation creeping in, haunting realization, “wake up, this ain’t funny.” 

Boothill reached to hold his face properly, cupping his pale cheek and ignoring the petal that cascaded its way down. He saw the pot of daisies by the roses, this was just a joke, a cruel joke from Argenti. 

A cruel joke from the world.

The pallor of a skin, like a forgotten rose, Argenti’s complexion was ashen. Dried blood stained his lips and trailed down his chin, the front of his shirt, and daisies spilled over his mouth with the tremble of Boothill’s arms holding him, scattering between them and forgotten. 

Boothill grit his teeth hard enough he could hear the metal, but everything was muted, numb to him as he curled over Argenti’s cold body. Boothill's fingers twitched in a pathetic attempt to hold Argenti gently, afraid to inflict more pain. The abscense of warmth was palpable, even without his senses. 

“Please,” Boothill begged, to Argenti, to anyone. Pressing his ear against Argenti’s chest, despite clearly knowing and his breath caught on his throat with a cry he wasn’t able to shed. 

It’s wrong.

“I love you.”

Argenti had confessed more than once, apparent with what he felt but Boothill ran away from it, from confronting it again, from ever mentioning it. He knew Argenti never moved on, it was obvious with the way the knight looked at him, held on to him, spoke to him, smiled at him that made that undeniable.

Boothill let it all unfold, endured the weight of Argenti’s affection with his own hidden beneath lies and pretend, thinking that this much was fine, as long as Argenti would be fine.

The corpse in arms beg to differ. 

He should have ran away, he should have cut all contact, but like a fucking selfish weak idiot he was he stayed enough for Argenti to die.

If anyone should have died by this cursed thing, it should have been him. 

“I warned you,” Boothill spat, hugging him closer, burying his face into the crook of his shoulder. He couldn’t even pretend when now he felt the cold of his corpse with the skin of his cheek pressed against Argenti’s neck. “Why, why did you keep…” 

Loving me?

Boothill clenched his jaw, burnt with despair, “Ya shouldn’t have it! I still, i still–it ain’t possible so how!?”

His questions and anguished cries were met with silence. 

Boothill had it first, he had been the one to first fall. He still loved Argenti despite it all, but he rejected him. All because he thought it was for the best.

He was the reason Argenti was now dead. 

The devastating cost of his silence, of his lie, now laid bare in front of him. 

The dull green eyes of Argenti’s corpse were devoid of his sparkle. The daisies covered with blood, the motionless sick stillness, a grotesque evidence that his life withered away long gone.

“I’m sorry,” Boothill choked on regret and sorrow, “im sorry, i’m sorry–”

He could only cradle Argenti’s corpse close to him, whispering his love into the void. 

“I love you, i still love you.” 

But his words fell on deaf ears, swallowed by the silence of loss.

[bargainoriley]

Atom Heart Mother (1970)

Here are my atom heart mother thoughts! As promised ;)

1. Atom Heart Mother

The brass intro is very ominous, and badass! And then the music kicks in! And it’s really cool! I really like the combination of a brass orchestra and rock band instruments. Then suddenly it sounds like there’s a battle going on and a car revving! Love the musical storytelling of this so far. The keyboard is lovely too in the more chill part! This whole song feels like a story being told about a kingdom (probably because of the brass orchestra) The ladies and men’s choir voices in one of the parts after is so ethereal and gorgeous as well. Almost fairy like! This part only just adds to my thought that this song sounds like it is written about a fantasy kingdom. After this the groove/chill part without the orchestra is also really good! Especially the bass line and guitar solo! I also really like how hard the drums hit in this song! Then the choir returns and once again we get the cool badass brass section back from the beginning! Then there is a pretty creepy sounding part, that kind of sounds like Revolution 9 in my opinion, but much better. Then there’s a segment where it just repeats previous segments. Then there’s a really nice cello segment to add onto this piece’s feeling of being a whole classical music suite. The last 3-4 minutes of this song is probably my favorite part because everything just comes perfectly together! I really liked this song, it felt more like a classical music suite than a rock song imo, but it’s really great!

2. If

This is an absolutely gorgeous song!! It’s so soft, but it has a really melancholic vibe (especially because of the lyrics). I love the electric guitar addition as well to the acoustic guitar! It sounds lovely! I also really like Roger’s voice here! It’s a very honest and melancholic song that I resonate with. The piano is also simply divine. One of my personal favorites!

3. Summer ‘68

This song…. Oh my god this song… It is so FREAKING GOOD!! The soft parts before the “how do you feel” parts are so happy and relaxed, but then it gets really intense and melancholic with the “how do you feel” parts. The first time I heard this beat drop I was surprised and really invested (this wasn’t when I first listened to this album, I actually listened to the song before listening to its album. But the beat drop still hits just as hard as the first time listening to it)! I was head banging hard. Not to mention the melody of this song is INCREDIBLE! It is a very deceptively happy sounding song, and that’s why I love it. I love this song’s melancholic vibes. The use of the brass orchestra again here is also so good, same with the piano! The vocal harmonies are so good as well!! Rick has the voice of an angel. This song also really reminds me of the Beatles. Probably my favorite song on the album low key.

4. Fat Old Sun

The guitar and vocals from David are so good! I love how soft he sings here, it’s as if he’s making a secret confession to the listener while they’re both lying in the grass! His voice sounds very vulnerable. And then when the electric guitar kicks in it becomes even cooler! This song also heavily reminds me of the Beatles, specifically something from Abbey Road. The bass line is lovely as well.

5. Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast

I love the intro! It’s very asmr sounding and also very charming. Then the absolutely beautiful piano and guitar kick in! It sounds very optimistic and carefree! I love the contrast here to the other pretty melancholic sounding sounds. Then it goes back to the surprisingly calming breakfast asmr, and then it goes to a new bit! The new part also is very lovely with the guitar. Then it goes back to Alan cooking bacon. And then we get a new great part with lovely keyboard, drums and bass. I love how chill this song is and how beautiful it sounds as well! This song really surprised and amazed me! Some of the breakfast eating noises are a bit weird though. Furthermore I love the concept that Alan eats a different piece of breakfast and then a new music part appears! It’s as if every breakfast item we eat is a different experience. One of my new personal favorites along with Summer ‘68 and If.

In general I really really liked this album! I think every song is great and wonderful and well written with creative concepts put in them! I also just adore this albums switch in melancholic vibes to happy vibes. Next up is meddle, which I’m very excited about! I’ve only heard good things about it.

[riptideripley]

Feeling Chapter 5

summary:does zoey regret everything..?

wrd count:771

angst - mention of getting shot

Rhea was panicking,didn’t know how to react to the whole situation. Yet she still went out there and put on her mami persona,did the segment and went backstage to do more on screen moments while preparing Dom in between everything. The show went by faster than she expected,feeling super cautious and nervous knowing she had to talk to Zoey soon.

Zoey was waiting anxiously in her hotel room when suddenly her phone rang,it was Randy. “What do you w-“ “I know where you’re going Zoey.” his voice rang through her ears,eyes widening. Immediately she hung up,immediately calling Damian. “Yooo Zoey what’s up?” “Damian I need you to watch Rhea. Randy is planning something and I-I don’t know what it is but please watch her” she told him,sighing in relief when he agreed. She hung up,gathering her things. She looked over at her nightstand,reaching inside the top draw to retrieve a pocket knife.

Rhea heard a knock at her door and opened it,revealing Zoey. She moved out the way letting the blonde inside,closing and locking the door. “Soo..” Rhea spoke breaking the silence,watching Zoey sit on the bed. “Look rips..I’m sorry. Me and Randy were talking at breakfast,just when I was about go back to bring you some coffee I got a call I was needed at Triple H’s office. I..I guess while I was trying to get my stuff he took my keycard.” Zoey explained,gently rubbing Rhea’s leg as she sat next to her. “..He was watching us earlier” Zoey confessed breaking Rhea’s silence. “Wait what..? And you still came here? Are you fucking du-“ Rhea was cut off with a quick kiss. “I’m not that stupid Rhea,I have Damian watching the hallway with Roman so don’t panic alright?” Zoey spoke trying to calm Rhea down which shockingly worked. “Whatever..so what do we do now?” Rhea questioned,still feeling uneasy knowing she was being watched like prey. “We can do whatever you want,I’ve been talking with Dom so we can work things out” Zoey spoke,running her hand over Rhea’s thigh.

Suddenly there was a loud bang in the hallway,causing both of them to freeze. Zoey was the first to get up,retrieving the pocket knife from her small bag as she slightly cracked the door open. It was Dominik. Laid out on the floor,blood seeping from his side onto the carpeted floor. As Zoey looked up from the sight,she caught a glimpse of a figure walking away. It was fucking Randy. Rhea was behind Zoey and quickly unlocked the door all the way,pushing Zoey out of the way and rushing to Dom’s side. Everyone in the hallway soon opened their door looking at the sight displayed in front of them. Zoey couldn’t even move,pocket knife slipping from her hand as she just stared emotionless.

Damian,Finn,and Roman soon rushed through the hallway after chasing everywhere for Randy. Finn stopped in his tracks seeing Dominik,his heart sinking.

Dom was there,head laying on Rhea’s lap as her hand was over his putting pressure on the gunshot wound. Blood was pooling beside his body and onto Rhea but that didn’t matter to her at this point. Rhea was a sobbing mess,gently shaking Dom awake every time he seemed to lose consciousness. Zoey had called the paramedics by now,hearing a rush of them flood the hallway. Zoey struggled pulling Rhea away from Dominik so the medics could assist him,having to get Roman to help. Roman could only hold her waist as she struggled to get out of grip,eventually giving up and sobbing into Roman’s chest as he turned her around holding her.

All of them rushed down stairs following the paramedics,deciding that Rhea and Finn go into the ambulance with him. Once they reached the ambulance,Rhea and Finn climbed inside promising to keep them updated.

Zoey didn’t know how to process this whole situation. She fell in love not realizing the consequences..does she regret bringing Rhea to her hotel room? Does she regret ever laying her eyes on her? Thoughts flooding her mind,not even realizing how light headed she was. Roman was the first to notice as Zoey collapsed onto the parking lot. “ZOEY!” he yelled out catching her before she hit her head onto the concrete.

Damian just stared. He knew everything..everything that nobody else knew but him and Dominik. He had to find Randy.

For his sister,for his brother,and for Zoey.

dt: @dmysterioblog @blessrhea @supartt @thetimetravler2000

creds: @cafekitsune @bexsbelts