#hal might be a player

[meazalykov]

Could I make a request for Obi please?

They already have a established relationship.

With her recently getting injured, could it be something along the lines of Reader got injured a few months before the World Cup and had to miss it, but Obi mostly was there for Reader. Now with it being the other way around this time, Reader feels conflicted about going to the Olympics as see knows those first few weeks are the hard but she won’t be there to support Obi.

my home is with you

lena oberdorf x uswnt!reader (requested)

authors note: i'm sad about her injury :( I wanted to see her at the olympics and start with bayern soon.. I know she will come back stronger ❤️ here's your request! normally i wouldn’t decide to write about this because it’s so soon, but i do requests (unless it’s too dark & much) so i hope you like :)

warnings: many injury mentions, very long chapter.

being back in your hometown gave you a sense of peace and warmth.

you haven't stepped foot in washington dc since 2018. you left your childhood club to go play at gotham for a year-- before moving to lyon (2020-2022) and then bayern afterwards.

waking up in the morning, you wished obi the best of luck against her game against austria. yes, she will be your competitor in the group stages against germany, but she is still your girlfriend of 2 years.

afterwards, you put your phone on dnd and put it in your adidas bag that you will take to the audi stadium. on game days, the captain (lindsey) highly discourages the players being on social media before games.

as the second captain after her, you agreed to follow that rule. social media can be toxic.

if someone really wanted to reach out to you for an emergency, they can do it through lindsey, emma, or your sisters who came to the game to support your send off to paris.

that's exactly what happened. while you were getting ready in your hotel room-- lindsey got an emergency call from sara dabritz, her lyon teammate who played for the german national team.

sara isn't on the german roster for the olympics, but alex popp asked her to call lindsey-- since she needed you to know of the news as soon as possible.

"sara?" lindsey's eyebrows knitted together. sara calling her during international break and the off-season has never happened before.

"where's y/n?" sara asked, ignoring lindsey's confused tone.

"I haven't seen her since this morning, she might be getting ready now. what's going on?"

"the entire german team is trying to get ahold of y/n. lena went down pretty badly during todays game-- it was her knee." sara swallowed.

lindsey was sad to her about the news. nobody likes when another player goes down with a *possible* acl injury.

however, she was scared on how she was going to tell you the news.

hours later at audi stadium, you walked into the stadium alongside trinity and hal. both of them play on this field for washington spirit, and the three of you bonded over the last few days-- knowing washington dc so well.

trinity and hal stopped at a water fountain to fill up their empty stanley bottles with water. your owala bottle was filled with cold ice water already, so you continued on with walking into the dressing room.

as you turned the corner into the room, you hear your coach Emma, say something along the lines of "well we can't tell her until-" before lindsey stopped her with her finger pointing at your entrance.

you were the first to arrive before the rest of the team, surprising to the captain and coach talking in the room.

"hey!" you smiled, unaware of what they know.

"hey y/n, ready for the game!?" lindsey casually says with a smirk on her face.

the poker face of the lyon player is perfection. something could be wrong but as the main captain, she can't let her emotions take over her logic.

as the second captain of the team, you had every right to question what emma and lindsey were just talking about.

however, you didn't. you were too excited to play in your hometown again. many uswnt fans came just to see you play on your turf again.

"I'm so pumped! my family came just for the send off to paris. some of them talk about "oh we can't never see you play since you're in germany." but now they're here so-" you rambled as you giggled.

for a moment, emma frowned at your happy sight. lindsey turned around to look at the coach with a guilty look, hating that they both agreed to not tell you *that news* until the end of the send-off.

"that's exciting. I'm positive we have a great game ahead." emma says.

your happy mood became a miserable one at halftime. being nil-nil against costa rica was not motivating since you wanted to impress your hometown community.

in the 70th minute, you scored off of a set piece shot by mallory swanson. the crowd screamed as they've realized that it was you, their fellow dc native, that scored the goal.

the game ended with a 1-0. you knew that the team needed tons of things to work on if you wanted a chance at winning gold in the olympics, but that will come with time.

after the send off ceremony, lindsey asked if she could personally talk to you in one of the empty conference rooms.

you agreed. at first, you thought that she was going to discuss olympic matters and what will drive the team to win gold once you reach france. since she is the first captain and you're captain whenever she isn't-- along with alyssa naeher.

however, lindsey was very tense as you sat down beside her in one of the wheel chairs. she made sure to close and lock the door as well-- this is when your heart started racing.

she is your friend and hates to give you the bad news.

"I need to tell you this before you go on your phone and see it in the locker room in front of the other girls." lindsey speaks.

your eyes widened, confused.

"what's wrong?" you start to panic.

"alex-- alex popp-- said that lena went down during the game against austria. it's her knee, y/n."

your heart shattered into a million pieces. you looked away from lindsey as you took a few deep breaths.

the blonde understood why you couldn't say anything after that moment. you thought about lena having a possible acl injury.

you panicked knowing that you weren't there to help her.

"I need my phone!'" you jump up from the wheel chair.

"here." lindsey said, pulling your phone out of her jacket pocket. she made sure that she had your phone on hand-- in private-- so none of the other girls were alarmed about seeing you so upset.

after you switched your iphone off from dnd, you had nearly 200 notifications.

the first is lena's parents-- asking you to call them whenever you had time before or after your game.

others came from lea-- updating you on what's going on with obi. she understands you were playing a game and couldn't answer right away.

some messages were from other footballers in the community that you're friends with, asking you to send well wishes to lena on their behalf.

is this how lena felt back in 2023?

back in april 2023, you were a starter in the second game against Ireland.

you weren't feeling the greatest, your friend mallory suffered a bad injury in the first game and you knew she wouldn't see the pitch for a very long time.

in the second half as the ball was coming from the air, you jumped up to head the ball. at the same time, an Irish player's foot went up in the air to get the ball.

the sharp part of the boots kicked at your ribs extremely hard. your breath was caught in your throat and you landed on the ground-- injuring your ankle by landing awkwardly.

the irish player received a red card, but you were struggling to breath as you needed medic immediately. alex and kelley stayed with you as you couldn't even sit up without squealing in pain.

your ankle was on fire and your lung felt like it was beaten in. torture would've been an understatement.

lena finished playing the game against brazil when jule pulled her-- harshly-- to look at the tv in the dressing room.

the german girl watched in horror as she seen her lover on the grass, you were crying your eyes out as you balled yourself together.

she noticed your hands going back and forth between your torso by your right lung, and your left ankle, as the medics tried their best to figure out what's wrong.

"what the fuck happened?" lena said angrily, in english-- confused as she rushed to grab the remote and turn the tv up.

"this isn't good for the united states before the world cup-- mallory went down on the first game against ireland and now *reader's last name* can barely move without a reaction." a german commentator speaks.

the entire german dressing room looks in horror.

your bayern teammates looked horrified as jule tried her best to comfort a stressed lena.

a replay of the injury happened on the tv a second later. everyone could see quinn's cleat harshly kick your ribs-- the landing on your ankle afterwards made some of the dressing room cringe as if they could've felt it themselves.

"yeah, I don't think we will see her in the world cup after this one." the woman commentator on the tv speaks when a stretcher takes you off the pitch moments later.

lena was quick to immediately call your mom and sisters, since they were there and she wasn't.

she knew how excited you were to play in your second world cup after winning the first one at age 17.

when you got back home to germany, lena was there for you. you suffered with a broken rib and grade 2 ankle sprain.

obi helped you stand up most days and picked up heavy things, since you couldn't even breathe without feeling pain for the first three weeks. lena did your chores at home, helped you with showering (your ankle made that hard to do), she did your hair. she did everything to make sure that you were okay.

you couldn't go to the world cup and watch her play, but you were still so proud of her-- even if she got eliminated in the group stage.

the injury that happened to you made lena fully committed to wanting to marry you. even through your bad injury-- you were there to comfort her once she was back from australia after a failed world cup campaign.

back in the conference room in dc, you rushed to call lea.

she answered in a heartbeat, you were surprised since it had to have been 5:30am in germany while 11:30pm back in washington dc for you.

"lea?" your voice cracked. you hated this for lena, more than your own injury from a year prior.

"how was your game?" lea tried to calm you down.

"it was fine, now what happened?" you ask.

lea didn't take offense to you wanting to know what happened. this reminded her on how lena was with you.

being her closest friend at bayern, and the one that put lena onto you, she understands the bond you have with your girlfriend better than anyone else.

"lena tried to tackle and get the ball away from a player but her knee popped. I think you need to watch this for a better understanding." lea speaks.

on the FaceTime you can see lea typing on a few things on the phone.

you looked up at a confused, yet guilty lindsey. she felt bad for you since you were far from your home in germany.

the notification on your phone showed that lea sent a link to a twitter video. you clicked on it and watch the whole thing play out.

its hard to tell at first, but slowly you could see obi's knee pop out.

this made you sick to your stomach.

after talking to lea for a few more minutes, then waking up lena's parents to talk to them (they didn't mind, they really wanted to hear from you), then laura, then klara-- you were exhausted.

you were allowed to go on the bus early and choose if you wanted to sit alone on the way back to the hotel.

lindsey told all of the girls that something happened- she explained the situation which caused the girls to feel bad for lena and your situation.

you called lena, in private, once you were back in your hotel. she sounded so hurt which caused your eyes to let out tears (quietly) as she talked about her medical scanning tommorow.

many people would do anything to participate in the olympics. you were grateful to be a bronze-medal olympian already heading to seek gold-- but you wanted to go home to lena in munich.

the best player on the uswnt was you, no debate. after scoring in the 2019 world cup final at 17, winning two champions leagues with lyon, being the second best-player now in the bundesliga with bayern, and carrying the national team to bronze in the last olympics-- the team looked up to you.

the girls let you have your space for a while. even on the plane on the way to france.

tierna, your closest friend on the national team, sat beside you. she was quiet as she watched movies while you anxiously looked at your phone to receive some kind of news.

after the plane landed, the girls were quiet as they headed out. you realized that you couldn't sit in pain waiting for the day that you will get home to munich-- that will affect the team chemistry.

as you were in your hotel room, lena called you.

"hallo liebe." you spoke softly.

you heard lena cough before a few seconds of silence started.

the fact that lena called you instead of facetiming you, you knew it was bad. the three letter injury is something u feared for lena as your eyes widened.

"its both." lena mumbles.

"its both?" you question softly as you request to switch the call to FaceTime.

lena accepts and you see her in the hospital room, tears dried down her cheeks as her red face is covered by her hands.

"acl and mcl." she breathed out as she looked at you through the camera.

you frowned as reality hit.

lena couldn't start a bayern next month.

lena won't go to the olympics.

she will have to sit out for at least eight months.

you know she will be okay, since she has the team and medical doctors to help her heal.

however, you were sad that you couldn't drop everything to go back to munich.

"obi." is all you could say.

"I already know what you're thinking-- and don't." lena randomly says.

your eyebrows knit together in confusion as she looks at you with a unreadable look.

"don't leave your team just to come here. they need you-"

"but you need me a lot more." you cut lena off.

she knows you're right, but she can't be selfish-- even with her injury.

"you will be home soon liebe, I know you love me and will care for me as soon as you can." lena says.

"once I'm back in munich, I will be there for you. you aren't going through this alone-- we will fight through this together and you will be stronger." you gave a sad smile as lena smiles for the first time since she went down on that grass.

"Ich liebe dich" she whispers.

"Ich liebe dich auch" you say back.

"when is your surgery scheduled?" you ask.

"we don't have an exact date yet, but they said it might be the week of the 29th." lena says as she lays back in the hospital bed in her black shirt and black shorts.

you didn't respond as lena flipped the camera, showing you a closer look at her knee.

"I am so sorry." you say.

"its not your fault." lena says.

"I know- but again-- I just want to be there for you."

"and you will soon, don't abandon your team." lena made it clear.

"okay, I won't" you sigh.

of course you felt bad that you didn't want to be in france, but in germany instead helping lena. however, you were sad about the group stage match against germany.

lena and you talked about that match as being one of the last moments where you will be "rivals" before she joins you in the season for bayern. now, neither will happen.

days later, the united states plays germany in the group stage after beating zambia 3-2.

you were in the starting lineup. emma needed you for this match, making sure that you talked to a sports psychologist before this match-- just so you were mentally prepared.

you knew how the germans played, so you would be a key to winning the group stage match.

as the teams were going to take their starting eleven picture, you see the germans hold up a shirt in honor of sydney and lena-- who were injured and couldn't be in the olympics.

you sadly smiled at this, happy that they're remembering them.

however, you got your act together fast. lindsey wasn't in the lineup so you were the captain of the match.

at halftime, it was 1-1. trinity rodman scored a goal in the 10th minute but klara equalized in the 34th after an error from #3 on the USWNT.

in the second half, you scored a golazo in the 55th minute after dribbling around sara doorsoun and alex popp.

unfortunately, lea equalized in the 88th minute.

the game ended 2-2 and you weren't happy or sad about it.

all of the german girls greeted you immediately with hugs and kisses on the head. you accepted them. you missed them dearly and they were the closest thing you had to lena right now.

"lea love!" you sigh in relief when you hug her tightly for thirty seconds. the cameras capture the beautiful sight as most know the significance.

"I wish obi was here right now." you lean your head on lea's shoulder as she kissed the side of your head, above your left ear.

"I do too. I hate how fate works." lea speaks through her german accent.

"same." you roll your eyes. not in anger, but in disappointment for the situation and how things can play out for the worst.

"how are you?" lea asks.

"can I be honest?" you ask. lea nods her head.

"I want to be with her. I am so grateful to be here for a second time but I can't imagine her being alone without us." you whisper into her ear.

you didn't want any of your teammates to hear you. lea is your closest friend so you know she won't tell on you.

"she's not alone, she has her parents-- but I totally understand. she will be okay." lea smiles lightly as she pulls a piece of hair of yours behind your ear, a piece of hair that fell out of your ponytail during the match.

lea is right, lena's parents are staying with her at the new house you both own until you can go back to munich-- which could happen in a few days or weeks depending on the outcome of the olympics.

"I know. she's a fighter.' you smirk.

"and a lover." lea winked at you.

lea loves the way that you and lena respect and are in-love with each other. being the third wheel is annoying sometimes (when she has to hang out with y'all instead of her own girlfriend) but she is happy for the both of you.

after multiple matches of the olympics, the united states is awarded silver after losing against france 2-1 in the final.

you were the one that scored against france.

if you said that you weren't in a rush to get home to munich, you'd be lying.

lena's surgery was pushed back to this morning. so you took the uber straight to the hospital from the airport.

the taller german was asleep as you quietly walked into the hospital room. obi's parents hugged you and congratulated you on silver.

knowing that they've been with their daughter for many days, you offer them a break.

"you guys should go down to the cafe and grab lunch for yourselves, please don't take offense to this but ihr seht beide sehr müde aus." (you both look very tired) you whisper since you didn't want to wake lena.

they loved you like their own daughter, so it didn't take them much convincing for them to get a break-- knowing their daughter was in safe hands with you.

when they shut the hospital doors behind them, lena woke up from the noise.

you took out a blanket from your carry on luggage, your back faced towards lena so you didn't see or hear her wake up.

"liebe?" you turned around quickly when you saw lena awake.

she had the same tired look that you're used to seeing when you wake up beside her, but she was smiling at your sight.

you pout in happiness as you walked up to hug her upper body.

"my sunshine, I'm so happy to see you awake." you kissed the top of her forehead as her head pressed against your chest.

lena closed her eyes in comfort, she missed you the most.

"to see me awake? omg I didn't die." lena laughed.

"oh lena shut it, you know what I meant." you giggled back, happy to see lena cracking a joke through her pain.

you look down her body to see the scar on her knee peak out from her hospital gown.

on the inside, you felt terrible. you hated seeing lena in pain. you'd rather it be yourself than her.

on the outside, you looked at lena as she gave you a peak on the lips.

after that, you saw the ponytail of her hair tangled.

"hold on lena." you pull yourself away from her arms and reach into your tote bag.

"no don't leaveeee!" lena says

"I'm not I'm just going to help you with your hair-- it will help you relax."

you pulled out a soft brush from your bag, refusing to use a comb and risk pulling on her hair after she had surgery.

"you're so sweet" lena looks at the brush in your hand and turns her head to the side, so you have better access.

"anything for my baby." you tell her as you kiss the right side of her temple.

"i'm just glad to be back home." you mumble as you start brushing through obi's hair, getting the tangles out slowly and softly.

"isn't washington dc your home?" lena giggled, joking and teasing about the game you played in dc almost a month ago.

"nope, my home is with you."

I hope you're happy with what I wrote from this request! #comebackstrongerlenaoberdorf ❤️🙌

[meraki-sunset]

Does ectobiology work between species or would that break the machine?

Like a consort and a carapacian can’t have an ecto child :c

No, it doesn't work between species, you can't make a half carapace half consort, or a half troll half human for example, the machine won't let you. It won't break the machine, it just won't work. You can make more carapace with the machine, but it has to be with other carapace, same with the consorts.

You can mix hybrids like Crow, Jade, Jas, Josh and Hal with other humans because they're still human but you can't make something like Davepeta for example.

See this is how it works

When you put DNA from two diferent species, the machine doesn't work

When you put DNA from two humans, you get a human

When you put DNA from two trolls, you get trolls, probably more than one.

If you imput put Davepeta's DNA mixed with human, you get a human, who has a 50% chance to be a bird hybrid. Because the machine only copies the Daveprite/Crow DNA. That would make the baby biologically Crow's

Davepeta's DNA mixed with troll DNA, get's you trolls, and their blood can be either Green-SpriteBlood, the other troll's blood (in this case Karkat's), or Nepeta's original blood. That would make the grubs biologically Nepeta's

If you imput only one troll's DNA you get a grub clone

Same with a human's DNA, you get a baby clone

BUT if you try to clone Davepeta, you get a clone of their components, a Nepeta clone and a Davesprite/Crow clone

The players learned most of this while messing around with the machines, creating the new population. So there might be some player's clones mixed in the baby population.

As a side note, Davepeta is not compatible for natural reproduction with either trolls or humans anymore, making them basically sterile. Not like they're the kind to have kids anyways.

[lukedanger]

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous Ask Game - Mechanics and Story

Knight-Commanders, what is the story told by those numbers on your character sheet? Here is an ask game list with some questions themed around that:

What led the future Knight-Commander to take their base class?

What led to the Knight-Commander picking their archetype, or staying the standard class?

If they chose to multiclass, what does it reflect about them? If they did not, why? Story or player reasons.

What prestige classes did they go for, and why? If not, would one fit them or did they qualify for one?

Which class features would particularly stand out with them - Rage, Channel Positive/Negative Energy, Animal Companions, etc.?

What about their skills and feats - what story is told by their skill selection, or was it pure gameplay?

Is there an alternative class or archetype that is in-game that may fit them better, and if so why did they not take that path?

Is a respec part of their story, and if so why? If not, if they had to respec into something else what would it be?

How does their Background choice reflect their character, and how does it play into their build?

How does their ancestry (race) play into their class and mythic path - do they overlap, or what dynamic is created from that combination?

How does their mythic path synergize with their build?

How does their mythic path synergize with their personality - does it augment it, or is it in contrast? Something in-between?

Which mythic abilities/spells would be iconic to them, and was it their preference or did they prefer something less iconic?

What about another mythic path that they did not take? Is there one that would fit them, build or personality wise, and what might that have looked like?

In your story, does the Knight-Commander consciously choose their mythic path at Drezen, or was it thrust upon them by their actions or some other outside force?

How well do they play mechanically with their romance, if any? If not, which party member do they synchronize best with?

Do they overlap with a party member in role or narrative presence, and if so how do they contrast from said party member?

Did any of their companions multiclass or take a PRC they do not start with, and if so what is the story behind this?

What is their favored weapon(s) or spell(s), and why?

Is there an item in-game that you felt became iconic to the Knight-Commander?

If the Knight-Commander could get a unique item, what would it be and what would it do?

What is the Commander’s opinion of their mythic patrons/advisors - the Hand of the Inheritor, Aivu or the Desnan Adepts, Zacharias, the Aeon in the mirror, Hal, Yozz and Noticula, etc.?

What units did they pick in the Military Council (Infantry, Archers, Cavalry, Spellcasters, Grand Tier), and why?

When the option to pick was available, which mythic units did they unlock and why?

[brainicusrotticus]

technically i played my first run of iwatex more than a year and a half ago. i focused heavily on exploration, managed to cure the shimmer and stop the famine without realizing it was possible to fail at those, and became a gardener with sym and dys.

but i remembered very little when i finally came back to the game (i remembered tammy dying, the gardeners, and the helios arriving, but that’s about it), so i decided to completely wipe my data and start fresh.

my new first run was… tragic. obviously tammy and hal died because it was a first run. i mostly did exploration. i went out and explored the month that tonin died, saw the fight, didn’t have the stats to try to save him so i ran for help, and then held his hands while he died, thinking i was tammy.

i stopped exploring for a while after that, and zeroed in on xenobotany again. i’d already done a little bit, and ended up creating the native hybrid right around the time i turned 13.

…which is also when sol’s mom pulls out the “you’re not doing enough” talk (possibly just if your rebellion is on the higher side? but mine has never not been, so i don’t know). which happened to be the event that triggered right after i made the native hybrid. so i was pissed that i’d just achieved a scientific marvel as a prepubescent child, only to be told i needed to try harder.

so i chose every angry option that presented itself. i despised her after that. i feel so strongly about it that i made it a foundational event to my view of my doctor!sol.

i stopped researching xenobotany, and started focusing on engineering instead. leaned back into exploration, too. until the famine got bad. i thought working on xenobotany might help things, make more plants and solve the problem long term.

…but it didn’t. and fluorescent died. which made feelings… complicated.

i leaned fully into engineering and exploration. managed to get to the ridges before ever fully exploring the valley. made efforts to befriend tangent, too. learned that the shimmer cure might be in the valley, but it wasn’t pollen yet so i wasn’t thinking super hard on it. helped her with some other stuff, too.

eventually, a pollen season hit and i remembered the cure. i went out exploring in the valley, but misremembered where the big event for it was and ended up using most of my stress getting to the wrong spot. i had to go back, relax for mid-pollen, and then went back out in late pollen.

i did manage to get to the glade, get what i needed, and get out. went back to the colony, last missing piece for the shimmer cure in hand.

and walked right into the story event where the shimmer finally kills geranium.

…i helped cure it the very next month. i, as a player, felt so… numb and useless about it. at this point i’d failed to save tonin, flulu, and geranium. not just failed, but tried and failed. tried so very hard.

i threw myself entirely into my relationship with tang. we started dating. i focused back on engineering because i didn’t know what else to do.

i found out what tang was working on. had been working on, for years. what i’d been helping her with, unknowingly.

i could tell she felt conflicted. that this was something she felt she had to do, but something she didn’t want to do.

i told her… i supported her.

i thought it was the first step. that if i let her know that i support her (not her project, but her), then she would know, when i told her it needed to stop, that i wasn’t mad at her. she wouldn’t have to defend herself. that she could lean on the parts of her screaming that this was wrong, and i’d support her in following the path to undoing what she had almost done.

that wasn’t a choice i was given. i just couldn’t read the writing on the walls.

i hoped the chance would come up with time passing. but it didn’t.

i decided i had to tell someone else. the only person i could think of who would be against it, and who could do something about it.

i told dys.

and he just… told me it wasn’t a serious threat. that the gardeners could handle it. i wasn’t close enough with him to make him take me seriously.

he left during the next glow.

i tried exploring again, hoping i might find something out there that would let me stop this. i broke up with tang, because i realized i couldn’t talk her out of it. i’d damned us both with that one choice.

in the end, there was nothing i could do. tangent’s cure came to pass.

i just imagine all those years sol spent sitting in the helios. thinking on the course of their life.

how they chose to run and get help instead of fighting to protect tonin. and he died because of it.

how they chose to try and focus on breeding new plants for the famine instead of working the fields. and fluorescent died because of it.

how they took one wrong turn in the valley of vertigo, delaying curing the shimmer by two months. and geranium died because of it.

how they said one wrong thing, thinking it was a path to redemption. and because of that, cal, and instance died.

…a planet died.

i know how it ends in the story. emerging more than a decade later. surviving, because that’s what humanity does.

but in my heart, it ends differently. sol refuses to stay in the helios. a season after the quarantine starts, they just leave. they venture out into the plagued wilderness to try and save something. some small bit of vertumna. something that can be regrown, like it was thousands of years ago.

…but they die with the rest of it.

[pooryorickentertainment]

Okay, so I haven't really posted any new art in three years, and I even failed at posting this BEFORE the actual event, but I have just returned from the 2024 David Foster Wallace Conference (my fourth overall) and had an amazing time. A life-affirming experience, as always. I was happy to be asked to create the logo for the conference again this year, but I will admit that I didn't have any fresh ideas, having done this a few times now. Conference organizer Matt Bucher suggested the Whataburger connection, since it's a Texas institution (some might say cult), and I loved that concept. I actually love Whataburger's branding a lot more than its food. Wallace had a junk food diet and love for fast food, which must have inspired him to name the Whataburger Southwest Junior Invitational after this regional fast food chain. I assume the he would have encountered it in Tucson, when he was doing his postgraduate work at the University of Arizona. It's not hard to imagine him playing a few tennis matches at the Randolph Tennis Center (the site of the tournament) and then grabbing a bite to eat at the local Whataburger.

It's possible to read Infinite Jest, and depending on where you live, not realize that Whataburger is a real brand. There are about 20 Whataburger locations in Austin, TX alone, which makes sense, considering its proximity to the Whataburger HQ in San Antonio. They operate 1,000 locations across the southwest and have a history going back to 1950. I can't tell if there is any deeper meaning in DFW's selection of this brand. The young tennis players take qualifying for the Whataburger tournament very seriously, some, including Hal Incandenza, pushing themsleves to the physical, psychological, and pharmacological limit to get there. This seriousness is undercut by a ridiculous sounding sponsor for the tournament, which turns out to be a very real American brand of fast food.

[poisonhemloc]

Gabbro is lazy. No way around it. They’re in a time loop, aware of the time loop, and they’re spending the whole thing playing their flute in their hammock. 

But. If Gabbro wasn’t, they’d be a lot harder for us to find- always on a different planet. Since we have a traveler who also knows about the time loop, they have to be someone who won’t move around. But, they can’t be stranded- one, because there is an astronaut already stranded, and two, because the stranded astronaut can not be the other member of the time loop. Feldspar is in a difficult to reach place on purpose, because their spot in the Eye Coordinates puzzle requires them to be stuck and hard to reach.

Gabbro? You can go find Gabbro, first loop, knowing nothing about the game, easy. You’re actually pushed in that direction a little- Gabbro went back to Giant’s Deep to learn about the statue that just made weird eye contact with you, Hal tells you, maybe go talk to them? 

While you can feasibly go find Feldspar on your very first loop of the game while not knowing anything about it, it’s much, much lower odds. Like finding the Vessel first loop. 

So Gabbro, to fulfill what they need to be for the story, is lazy, and is not going to be getting up from their hammock for this, thank you. They’ve done their exploring- the quantum grove on Timber Hearth, they’ve been to Giant’s Deep at least once before the current trip and I will argue minimum twice before- they were just on the Statue Island, and now, they’re gonna stay put. 

So, why are they on Giant’s Deep? When it comes to relaxation… well, Ember Twin (if you’re not in a valley filling with sand) is calmer, the Hanging City isn’t in danger of falling or being hit with projectiles, the Attlerock has nothing dangerous going on, and they’re relaxing on a planet that periodically flings them into space. But they can’t switch places with Chert or Riebeck- there can’t be an astronomer* on Giant’s Deep due to the atmosphere, and Gabbro would be in the Hanging City, not signposting the crossroads like Riebeck needs to be (...that write up is coming I promise). And they can’t swap with Esker- the Attlerock is good to do nothing on, but Esker can’t have an effective ship-fixing base on the planet with the highest gravity in the system.

*Part of the. Our time buddy is lazy. Astronomer!Gabbro who becomes incoherent half way through the loop- and then shuts down entirely when they realize what’s going on? Not useful to the player. Archeologist!Gabbro who’s either scared of space and in a time loop or goes ‘nothing can kill me forever!’ and goes on an exploring spree? Also not great- we’re supposed to be the explorers here, not Gabbro. Adventurer!Gabbro who’s never in one spot is a pain to find- you won’t go talk to them nearly as much if you can’t reliably find them, and if you’re chasing them into areas you haven’t been, it means you’re not exploring the way the game is trying to get you to explore, chasing clues and old messages deeper and deeper, you’re just wandering into a late game area unaware of it’s significance because you’re looking for Gabbro. They’re moral support, your one other person who knows, so they can’t be useless to you or moving around. 

So. Giant’s Deep. I think Gabbro being there also helps incentivise players to come back. You can explore all the easy stuff on Giant’s Deep in a few loops- the islands you can see might take two or three, one for the cannon and one for the quantum tower, and a final one for the module. It’s the easiest, or at least the fastest, to explore after Timber Hearth (I know Dark Bramble has less and you can do everything in one to two loops, but, Dark Bramble has the entrance requirement of Anglerfish Outlook in the Sunless City and realizing how you can use that knowledge). The Twins and Brittle Hollow all have a lot of other stuff going on- two separate cities that are both big and practically require you to find the secret entrances before you can really get things done, plus other areas, and Ash Twin might be quick once you know what’s up but it has a lot to figure out with the towers and the warping and all, plus the Sun Station and the ATP. 

There are only two islands on Giant’s Deep that actually have Nomai stuff on them that you can find easily when you get there the first time- the other two are Gabbro’s island and the bramble island, and you don’t know about the tower of quantum trials your first time there unless you’re really a fan of your signalscope and the quantum fluctuation sounds. But, you’ll come back to it more frequently because your time buddy is there! Go talk to them! Think about quantum stuff ‘cause the game set up that Gabbro is the quantum expert no matter what Hornfels thinks! Maybe go find the tower on accident and despair that you can’t tell Gabbro about it.…

Gabbro is also the second clue in the beginning of the DLC, pointing you at the DLC, which. I’m not sure why Gabbro of everyone was chosen to start that- Chert makes sense too, being sent out to check on a satellite- except that Gabbro you can talk to at any point during the loop and get a coherent answer, and Chert. You can’t.

[awanderingmuse-fandom]

Off The Marshamallow Stick and Into the Campfire

Chapter 33

Fandom: Outer Wilds

Summary: The light of the exploding singularity is brighter than anything Obsidian has ever imagined. Breathtaking as a spark of hope when they thought everything was lost. Obsidian would know, they’d worn that feeling like a  second skin, loop, after loop, after loop. The feeling still holds them even as pure light, pure possibility, consumes them. Then, nothing. 

Obsidian wakes up…

Rating: Teen

Warnings:  Major Character Death, severe injury, trauma, Existentialism, aftermath of trauma, alcohol use, references to suicide, mentions of substance abuse

Characters: Player Character (Obsidian), Gabbro, Hal, Gossan, Marl, Gneiss, Chert, Hornfels, Riebeck, Slate, Esker, Feldspar, Porphy, Rutile, Micha

Tags: Aftermath of the End of The Universe, Cannon Continuation, Gabbro didn’t just sit on Giant’s Deep the whole time, Player Character and Gabbro are friends, Science Compels Us to Explore the Multiverse, everyone lives kinda, things I wish the game let happen, liberties taken with in game timeliness and mechanics for easier write-a-bility, physics, metaphysics, fluff, hurt comfort, slice of life, Multiple POV, Tragedy, Character Death, Echoes of Eye Spoilers, Suicide Attempt, Adventure, Substance Abuse, No Beta We Die Like the Universe, A Bit of Prose for Flavor, All the writers and artists in this Fandom are amazing and y'all gave me brain rot

Chapter Preview

“This would've been easier.” Gabbro murmurs as they hop from stone to stone. “We could come back later when the sand’s rising for old times sake.” Obsidian suggests wryly, “But I think Gossan might consider that an unnecessary risk.” “I think I might consider that an unnecessary risk, Time Pal.” Obsidian would worry that they'd said the wrong thing if not for the teasing smile in Gabbro's tone. It probably is an unnecessary risk. “Then we'll have to skip it. I'm saving all my unnecessary risk goodwill for The Sun Station.”

[cringefail-clown]

I'm balls at telling the outfits apart what class is Hal? Also just generally curious about why you picked this classpect for him

hals a mage of mind in this au! as for the reason why, lets take a lil deep dive into my thought process here:

first the mind class, taking the description straight from the extended zodiac it says:

Those bound to the aspect of Mind are-you guessed it-the universe's great thinkers. But don't for a second think that means that they have all the answers. They are very concerned with remaining rational, and they have such a firm hold on the constant conjunction of their thinking that it's easy for them to see the multitudes of the choices laid out before them, which often leaves them frozen and unable to act. That said, when a Mind-bound finally launches into action, they can execute a plan with unbelievable grace and precision. Their identity is fluid-it can change from day-to-day, from thought-to-thought, from interaction-to-interaction. Remaining logical is more important to them than building up a solid foundation of "self." At their best they are great innovators, architects, and creators. At their worst they can be nasty, inflexible, and indecisive.

i always liked the idea of hal being a mind player. first off, its the opposite of heart aspect, which ties nicely with his and dirks relationship. mind is also about the changing of ones self and masks the character wears to hide their true self. hal goes through many changes in his identity - starting once as dirk, then being the autoresponder, then changing his name to lil hal. all the mind players we know about (in the og comics at least - idk how it looks in other media outside og hs) are also characterised by wearing some form of shades (tz and latula with their redglare style, u could also argue dirk wearing his ties into him being a prince of heart, therefore ghosting the mind aspect while destroying the heart), and as we all know, in famous words of the man himself, he is glasses. its not like, big thing that mind players have going on, and its pretty inconsistent with dave also wearing shades, i just always thought it was a fun thing to ponder bout. also, again, tying into mind players hiding their true selfes behind masks (ie. shades), and we all know that eyes are the windows into the soul...

mind is also strategic and manipulative - not always a bad thing, players of that class just know how to pull the strings to make their plans work, and how to alter decisions of others. i think the best example of that would be hals whole ordeal in the synchronize/unite sequence. you could also argue that through the rooftop convo between dirk and hal, hal actively manipulates dirks decision so he doesnt get rid of him.

honestly hals a tough cookie to classpect. he might as well be prince of heart as dirk - it also fits him well. it just so happens that tb!hal fits more into the mind aspect in this particular au.

him being a mage is also entirely tied into the turnabout au - for the og hal id say hed be maybe an heir of mind, if we went with this particular aspect? (inheriting the mind and being drawn to it, also becoming the aspect itself), but for turnabout hes the mage.

now mages are the active knowledge class, its passive counterpart being seer. while seers gain their knowledge through outside sources and guide other players actions, mages gain their knowledge through their own experiences and use it for themselves. mages also usually experience their aspects uniquely, and because of that gain a deep understanding of it.

hals situation in tb is very unique indeed - hes become an ai fairly recently, still struggling with his identity. he helps dirk with getting jane into the medium, and through the gained experience he plays a major role in getting dirk into the medium - which causes some... unexpected things to happen.

[seldomdrawncherubs]

*slides over prince of heart*

((This is gen one of my classpects lmao))

UU: dirk, is that yoU? or someone like yoU?

UU: i will tell everything i  know, of coUrse!

UU: the prince is an active destroyer, meaning the destrUction is either directed at yoUrself, or for yoUr own sake.

UU: the defaUlt for a prince is to destroy yoUr own aspect, making yoU look like the opposite aspect.

UU: that is why yoU might seem very calcUlated and smart, or cold. yoU are a heart player, but yoU act like a mind player!

UU: yoU prefer logic and reason and cold calcUlation, becaUse yoU gravitate towards the destrUction of heart. sometimes, princes see their aspects as liabilities, and try to sUppress them.

UU: as yoU know, heart relates to the emotions, the self, the personality, and the soUl. this means yoUr classpect will split yoUrself and yoUr soUl. lil hal is an example of this. Perhaps yoU are a maker of characters, dolls, or pUppets! pUtting a bit of yoUrself into yoUr creation. oddly enoUgh, this means the prince of heart bears many similarities to the maid!

UU: if yoU are like dirk, perhaps yoU might know someone like jane? those two are excellent friends, and i am sUre yoU coUld find a great friend or ally in them.

UU: when i first began my research, i thoUght the prince was exclUsive to men. after research and time in the dream bUbbles, i believe this is inaccUrate. a female prince or nonbinary prince coUld easily play; the rUnes of the frog temples do not appear to have many gendered terms.

UU: terms sUch as prince and lord are the closest terms in oUr languages, so that is what we call them.

UU: this does make me wonder who is responsible for the frog rUne temples that appear Upon doomed worlds…who speaks the langUage of the game that bUilds and destroys oUr worlds?

UU: either way, destrUction is cyclical with creation. time that decays and space that bUilds are closer than they appear! so if yoU believe yoU are destined to destroy yoUrself, remember that! sUrroUnd yoUrself with people who remind yoU that yoU are loved and worthwhile.

UU: the prince of heart has the potential for great resilience: to destroy and remake themselves, to rise and channel what once destroyed them into protection, and to gain a greater Understanding of the soUl. When things get toUgh, yoU may want to go back to older habits: self destrUction and self hate. but remember, there is a way oUt!

UU: i believe in yoU!

***

uu: GOOD. A DECENT CLASSPECT. ARE YOu DIRK? DIRK IS A GOOD HuMAN. HE IS NOT STuPID AND PATHETIC. LIKE THE ROXY AND JANE BITCHES.

uu: WHAT DOES A PRINCE DO? A PRINCE DESTROYS. LIKE A MALEVOLENT chERuB. TRIuMPHING OVER WORLD AFTER WORLD.

uu: A PRINCE IS THE SECOND BEST CLASSPECT TO HAVE. BuT DO NOT GET COCKY.

uu: YOuR CLASSPECT MAKES YOu PRONE. TO BEING AN ALPHA. SuCH AS MYSELF. BuT IT ALSO MEANS YOu ARE PRONE TO DESTROYING YOuRSELF.

uu: THE DIRK HuMAN IS SOMETIMES TRAPPED IN A PIT OF uSELESS SELF HATRED. HE CANNOT CONQuER. BECAuSE HIS CLASSPECT HITS HIMSELF. INSTEAD OF THE INFERIOR BETAS AND BITCHES AROuND HIM.

uu: THE SOLuTION I HAVE FOuND IS THAT PRINCES NEED TO STOP BEING MOPY. AND SEWING THEIR MOuTHS SHUT. AND WALLOWING IN HOW PEOPLE REJECT THEM IN PERVERTED TROLL QuADRANTS.

uu: I SEE MY SISTER HAS TRIED TO HINT THAT YOu SHOuLD HAVE CONNECTIONS. FRIENDS. MAYBE EVEN A TROLL MOIRAIL.

uu: LISTEN TO ME: DO NOT FALL FOR HER LIES. THE BEST PRINCE OF HEART POWERS COME FROM BEING ALONE.

uu: POSSESSION. CONTROL. SOuL CRuSHING. MANIPuLATION. IF YOu HAVE FRIENDS, THEY WILL DO SOMETHING LIKE TRY TO STOP YOu. OR MAKE YOu SOFT. OR INSIST THAT THEY SHOuLD BE THE LEADER INSTEAD OF LETTING YOu PuLL THE STRINGS.

uu: GO FORTH AND FuCK SHIT uP.

tumut

[angel---eater]

more thoughts about this

hal wouldnt be an evil or malicious god, hed be more like. the negative image of dirk, negative like in photography. the other side of that coin. again no one would really have a solid answer about what he governs or does, no one would really be able to agree on that. but hed have a steady history of more 'underground' worshippers

honestly playing around with the idea of the players living on different planets in earth c's solar system at some point, with hal being on pluto by choice. hal and dirk wouldve spent hundreds and hundreds of fuckin years making up, breaking up, breaking down, repenting, dirk breaking himself trying to Make It Better until hal would have enough and fly tf off to pluto and stay there for a loooong time

idk if im gonna keep this cause it might be too fucked up for what i want but- actually yknow i am gonna keep this ive got 5000 years to play with. at some point dirk wouldve made synthetic bodies for hal and just kept making them. itd start with just normal trial and error within the first decade post-game, literally just hashing it out with e/o to see what works and what hal likes best. but as the years keep going and especially after hal leaves, dirk would just keep making them because he misses him. theyd be empty cause he wouldnt bear to even have a brobot program in any of them, but theyd just sit around his fuckin house. i think at some point hal wouldve found his own quest bed out in paradox space, cause he wouldve started exploring after moving to pluto. but he wouldnt tell dirk hes got an organic body or ascended

i think dirk might feel a shift in the universe heart-aspect ways about that, but itd be more like a severance bc i dont think hals aspect would be heart in this. idk id have to think about that. terezi might just be Somewhere Else looking for vriska so theyd be down a mind player in this universe and i do love mind aspect hal. either way feeling that severance would make dirk spiral hard

[jadeyharls]

Holy Crap, That is a Lot of Words: A "Brief" History of Jade E. Harley and the Alterra Timeline

April 13, Year 0 ATG (After the Game): Sburb is officially beaten and the new universe is created. This is where this timeline splits from the Alpha Timeline. Before opening the door, Karkat ends up speaking to Calliope and stops John from opening it. If she had been brought back from the dead, was it possible to bring back the other trolls? After some deliberation, the living players decided that it might be wise to do some preparation before entering the new universe. They didn’t know what to expect, and this was a second chance they were not ready to screw up.

Over the course of the next few months the players alongside representatives of the carapacians and consorts start laying out plans for the new universe. This includes how they would go about kickstarting the new civilization, starting with the foundation of a single settlement and a governing body. The Mayor is eventually elected the head of this governing body, with several of the “gods” playing active roles in society by serving or consulting on a variety of committees. All of the former players serve on a council put in place to safeguard the timeline, however, it is decided early on that no players would be permitted to hold elected roles that would influence governing policies. (Read as: Gods are not allowed to become president.)

After experimenting with several combinations of powers, the players finally figure out how to bring a ghost back without the use of a life ring… sort of. (This process became a bit more refined after Feferi was revived.) The hunt begins for the unaccounted for ghosts that are not currently a part of a sprite. During this time the players are guilt tripped convinced to bring the Beforian trolls with them as well. However, bringing back old friends does come with some cost. Davepeta for example had already vanished before the game ended. Nepeta’s ghost was eventually recovered (with her actually being the last to be revived), but there was no sign of what might be left of Davesprite. Hal is lost when bringing Equius out of the sprite, and Nanasprite and Jasprose both go missing during this time period.

Jade secretly stashes away a GREEN SUN spark somewhere during this time. To this day, no one knows but her. It’s hidden in a locket she keeps well buried in the back of her closet. She has methods in place to keep it from being detected. This is also why she still has a small degree of her first guardian powers. No one questions it (Rose and a few others probably do tbh) because “really, who completely understands how first guardians work anyway?” 

September, Year 0 ATG: The door to the new universe is opened. The players and those who joined them start looking for a place to settle, as well where the meteor lab might have crashed. However, it for some reason can not be found.

Sometime before the end of Year 0 AGT: Aranea, Gamzee, and Jack are put in trial for their various actions during the game. (Vriska and Eridan would later be addressed as well, but those were the big 3.) Since there really wasn’t much of a justice system in place yet, there wasn’t a whole lot that could be done. (They are still working on it. It’s not a super big priority though since most of the timeline’s residents are really chill.) The two trolls are basically given a second chance under extremely close supervision. Jack however is placed under “house arrest”, with Ms. Paint acting as his supervisor of sorts.

July 15th, Year 1 AGT: Cantown is officially founded and named. Located near a river about 100 miles off the east coast of what used to be the United States. I never officially decided where, but I think my original idea was that it might have been somewhere in where South Carolina used to be. Note though, that Earth’s geography has changed significantly.

Sometime during Year 1 AGT: Jade’s first post game death due to a construction accident. Not just or heroic.

Year 2 AGT: Jade and Jake (now 18) move out from their shared residence with John and Jane into the tower they built much closer to the coast. 

Sometime in Year 4 AGT: Dirk and Jade have a falling out after he and Jake get back together for the 3rd god dang time. Up until this point they actually had been decently good friends and often worked together since they both serve on the Science and Tech committee. 

Jade discovers a natural pool in what used to be Central America, and starts conducting research on wildlife that lives there, including the rapid evolution of sburb generated fauna (Hummingbirds and frogs).

Mid-December Year 5 AGT: Jade (now 21) accidentally discovers access to what she calls the multi-net through a website called Hivetale. She tells Jake about this fairly early on since he lives with her. Lots of weird stuff happens.

January Year 6 AGT: Jade meets her first moirail (Eridan). He is the first visitor from outside her timeline. These visits are mostly one sided though, as she has no way to leave her timeline at this point.

Aradia finds out about this and puts in place the secrecy rule. As long as the multiverse shenanigans stay under wraps, she is fine. If the secret gets out or the timeline is in anyway threatened, they will be going into total lockdown permanently.

Jade becomes close with another timeline’s Alpha Dave (David) and Hal around this point.

Spring Year 6 AGT: Hal gets severely injured. She convinces Aradia to help her break out of the timeline to go and help him. They end up needing another time player to make this work, and Damara is recruited after Aradia strikes a deal with her. Jade… wasn’t entirely sure what that deal was and was kind of afraid to ask. 

Turns out Hal’s version Dirk is the only one that knows how to fix him so enter this jerk. Seriously, she could not stand him at first because of how he treated Hal. Over time the two Striders ended up making up, and Jade befriended Dirk as well. (Aka, Grumpybutt.)

The ex moirail ends up moving in with her for a short time after his home gets destroyed by magical girls. Yes that is actually what happened, and no she did not tell Aradia about this.

Her timeline’s Rose and Kanaya get married.

Her timeline’s Dave and Karkat start dating.

John moves out from Jane’s house, and gets a place with Roxy and Calliope.

Summer Year 6 AGT: Hivetale says goodbye, Tumblr says hello. 

Jade meets Jack within like the first month. He keeps trying to fight her and she is NOT having it. Frankly, she doesn’t trust him. It’s freaking JACK NOIR, and still in full Bec mode at that. If being in contact with anyone is going to be a danger to her timeline, it’s going to be him right? 

“Wait who is this small dog child, and why/how the heck is she showing up at my house asking me to date her dad?” Jade meets Lily Noir, and the rest of the original 6 pups slowly make their way into her life. (Alpha, Bones, Timber, Demise, Lily, and Kami. The other 7 kids have not been born yet.) Jade reluctantly at first becomes friends with Jack. It… took awhile to get Lily to quit trying to get her to date Jack. 

Jake eventually ends up finding out about the Noir kids and proceeds to be like wtf. To be fair, Kami was painting occult rituals on their wall. 

Jade finds out Jake is planning to move in with Dirk. This ends up putting her in a really bad place mentally because she is terrified of the idea of living alone again after doing so for most her life. They come to a compromise, and this is when Dirk moves in with them much to her chagrin. 

Jade gets pale married?? Yeah, so… funny thing. She had no idea that is what happened, or that was even a thing. She was basically given a ring thought she was just getting a 6 month anniversary present. She didn’t know it was a marriage thing until months later. Luckily, she was okay with it, just really surprised. 

December, Year 6 AGT: Jade gets Poppy (her eevee) as a birthday present. Hiding her from Dirk is a massive pain, but she manages. Again, Jade didn’t tell Aradia. She found out of course eventually, but this was months later so by then Jade was able to convince her that she could keep the little terror hidden.

Year 7 AGT: Okay, so my memory gets a little foggy for the next few years, but I’m going to do my best. First off though, Jade finally gets a inter-dimensional portal device. 

Jade also gets Olena (her then Vulpix, now Ninetails) around late November. Dinah, her dog, was given to her by Jack that December.

Jade’s second death by plant spore induced strangulation. The purple stranglers are discovered and appropriately named. 

That one time she was magic anon-ed and given butterfly wings and antenna instead of her dog ears for like a week. That sucked. 

Also briefly turned into a griffin of all things by an anon. She hated that.

The dislocated knee incident.

Year 8-9 AGT: Okay, I might be off here, but I am about 80% sure this is when Flarping 2.0 happened. 

Olena evolves.

Hal and Grumpybutt Dirk vanished around Summer Year 8 a few months before she joined Flarping.

If I’m right then this is when she met Equius, Kris, EE, Vinny, and a few others. She was still on Tumblr some, but mostly on Flarping.

I want to say she met Nova as well? Which also means she got Gilligan (Her robotic humming bird assistant), though I do think that was post Flarping. 

Mer-May anon stikes. She basically gets stuck in a bathtub for a week.

I believe this is when Paradox Space was a thing for a little as well.

Built the cabin near the pool mentioned earlier, mostly to give her a place to let her pets wander freely and host visitors from outside the timeline where Dirk wouldn’t be an issue. But it also serves as a place to do her research. The ex moirail lived here for a few months at one point.

Year 10 AGT: Back to Tumblr.

Jade has to put Herbert the frog in solitary confinement away from other frogs. 

Roxy and John get engaged. No, they still aren’t married.

The ex moirail goes MIA. 

Jade and Equius start getting together. Not like “together” together though. Nooooo never.

3rd Death by late onset of the family peanut allergy. 

The tiny metal baby (Orion Pax the Aron) is hatched by an egg left at Jade’s cabin by Ivory Noir. 

Year 11 AGT: Not a whole lot happens unless I am forgetting something. Jade slowly starts to resent the now ex-moirail as he kind of just vanished without telling her, and she starts to realize some other things about the relationship as well. She finally decides to move on.

Equius gives her Oleander (Turtwig).

Gilligan starts acting… odd. 

Year 12 AGT: PRESENT DAY Jade turns 29 this year.

Gilligan starts acting more odd.

Not a whole lot of anything too crazy. 

Kris and Jade become moirails.

Year 13 AGT and forward: Gilligan is [Spoilers]. You’ll see it eventually. It’s about time I got that plot point moving. Anyway, from here on out, there is some discrepancy when it comes to the future of the timeline. Basically, Jade and the other immortals continue on their lives as civilization grows around them. Eventually though, there is a timeline split that leads to one of two potential far-off futures. Like hundreds of years off. One is the “good end”. Jade ends up raising a family of family of 4 adopted kids, and maaaaybe gets together with someone. (Big maybe) It’s just a happy, well-adjusted life where nothing bad will happen. No haha, not at all. The other is the “bad end”, which… basically involves Jade starting to take the goddess thing a bit too seriously after she gets ditched by most of the people in her life, and becomes the ruler of a new planet dubbed New Prospit. She does have an adopted son in this timeline who is killed during an attempted assassination, and whoops this starts a war. 

[meazalykov]

getting what she wants

lena oberdorf x reader

part four of five

summary: you wonder if she will take this as seriously as you will, since the unfortunate event will turn her life around

warnings: angst, acl injury

the atmosphere in washington, d.c. was buzzing, the crowd already filling up the stadium for the final friendly before the olympics. 

the last tune-up match. the send off. you should’ve been excited, but your mind wasn’t entirely focused on the game ahead.

your family was here, your non-soccer playing friends have called off from their jobs just to celebrate your achievements.

however, you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, though you hadn’t put your finger on it yet.

emma had decided to rest you for the first half, opting to try out some new formations and lineups before the olympics. 

you were okay with it, knowing that your performance in new york had already solidified your spot in the starting lineup for the tournament. still, sitting on the bench with your legs jittering from the adrenaline that always hit just before a match wasn’t easy.

you sat between tierna and hal, the latter relatively new to the national team setup. hal’s wide eyes scanned the field, soaking it all in as she sat nervously beside you.

"y/n," she said, her voice soft, like she wasn’t sure if she should even speak to you. 

you turn your head to look at her, with a light smile letting her know that she can speak to you anytime. 

"i know you’re going through a hard time, according to the team. and i feel like you should hear this since we haven’t talked much but i’ve just... i’ve always admired you. as a midfielder, i mean. your control, your playmaking, it’s... i don’t know, you’re so goated."

you turned to her, surprised by the compliment. you hadn’t interacted with hal much since this was only her third call-up to the senior team. she was still finding her spot, but her genuine words made you smile, if only a little.

"thank you, you don’t understand how much that means to me right now" you replied, offering her a nod of acknowledgment. 

"you’ve been doing great too. i can’t wait to play with you more often."

hal gave a nervous smile, then added, "i know there’s been... a lot of drama lately. with carmine and everything. but i want you to know that i’d like to be your friend, no matter what. i don’t care about the rumors that might make you look bad or any of that stuff."

her words took you off guard, and you felt a wave of gratitude wash over you. 

it wasn’t easy to open up to new people, especially after your ex ruined your trust for a temporary period, but hal’s sincerity was a breath of fresh air.

"i’d like that," you said, meaning it. 

"friends sound good."

the game started, and for the first half, you sat watching intently, analyzing the way emma was testing out the new players. 

mexico was tough, just as they had been in the gold cup back in february, but you knew that your team had enough firepower to break them down eventually.

at halftime, it was still 0-0, and you were itching to get on the field. 

emma must’ve sensed it, because in the 63rd minute, she called your name.

"y/n, you’re going in. i want you to play in your normal position, just like last game, prioritize the opportunity. stay in the line– i trust you."

you nodded, already mentally preparing yourself as you stripped off your warm-up gear and jogged to the sideline. 

when the whistle blew, you stepped onto the pitch replacing rose lavelle, ready to make an impact.

within minutes, you found your rhythm, linking up with mallory, lynn, and sophia effortlessly. you could feel the game starting to open up, and you knew it was only a matter of time before the breakthrough came.

and then, in the 78th minute, it did.

lynn made a run down the left wing, drawing two defenders toward her. you saw the space open up in the middle and called for the ball. 

she cut it back to you, and without hesitation, you took a touch, then drilled it into the bottom corner of the net.

the goalkeeper dives too late to save it.

the crowd erupted as you run to the corner to celebrate. you see your family and personal friends and give them a heart with your hands, happy to see them here.

your teammates swarming you. it wasn’t a hat trick like the last game, but it was your fourth goal in two games, and it felt good—really good.

after the final whistle, with a 1-0 victory secured, you headed back to the locker room. 

the energy was high, the team buzzing with excitement, but there was a heavy pit forming in your stomach. 

something didn't feel right before the game, and you couldn’t shake it.

as you sat on the bench, wiping the sweat and grass dirt from your face, lindsey walked over, her expression serious. she motioned for you to follow her, pulling you into one of the private areas of the locker room.

"hi?" you asked, sensing something was wrong.

is she confronting you about the drama? you weren’t sure. lindsey reassured you many times that everyone still loves you, so you hope there were no new problems now.

lindsey hesitated for a moment, her eyes searching yours before she spoke. 

"i didn’t want to tell you before the game, but... lena got injured in germany’s friendly against austria. it’s her knee. popp thinks it’s her acl."

your heart dropped into your stomach, the words hitting you like a freight train. 

"what?" your voice cracked, panic already rising in your chest.

"she’s in the hospital back in germany right now," lindsey continued softly. 

"i’m sorry, y/n."

you didn’t think twice. without another word, you grabbed your phone and hurried outside to find a quieter space. 

it was 11:30 p.m. in dc, which meant it was 5:30 am in germany. 

lena would still be awake, especially if she was in the hospital.

with shaky hands, you dialed her number. the phone rang twice before she picked up, her voice groggy but filled with pain.

"hey," lena murmured. 

"i was hoping you’d call. nice goal by the way, i saw it on tv."

"lena, i just found out," you said, your voice tight as you tried to hold back the wave of emotions crashing over you. 

"your acl? are you okay? i—i should’ve called sooner but i had that game—"

"i’m... i don’t know," lena admitted, her voice breaking slightly. 

"it hurts like hell, and i couldn’t sleep. i was supposed to start my first game with you at bayern after the summer, but now... now i don’t even know when i’ll be back."

your heart ached hearing the defeat in her voice. 

lena was one of the toughest people you knew, but this was breaking her.

"i’m so sorry," you whispered, your throat tight. 

"i’ll be there for you, okay? after the olympics, i’ll help you with your recovery. i’ll make time, i promise."

"you don’t have to do that," lena said quietly, though you could hear the gratitude in her tone. 

"i don’t want to be a burden on you. you have so much going on—" she switches to german. 

"lena," you cut her off, your voice firm. 

"you’re not a burden. you’re a priority. i want to help you. i’ll be there for you, whatever you need. i promise."

there was a long pause on the other end before lena spoke again. 

"thank you," she whispered. "i... i don’t know what i’d do without you right now."

you sat there, the weight of her words sinking in. the truth was, you didn’t know what you’d do without her either. 

shes been in contact with you everyday since that night. unless there were training or games, there wasn’t a single long-period where you weren’t texting about something– or anything.

despite everything—despite the complicated mess you’d been through with your ex, and the uncertainty that had surrounded your relationship with lena—you realized just how deep your feelings for her ran.

you weren’t official with lena. not yet. but the way your heart was breaking for her right now told you everything you needed to know.

after a long pause, lena spoke again, her voice softer now. 

"i’ll still make time for you, even with everything going on."

"no," you said firmly. "i’m going to be there for you, okay? i’ll help you recover. you won’t have to go through this alone."

"thank you," lena whispered again, her voice filled with emotion. 

you sat there, the phone still pressed to your ear, your mind racing. this wasn’t how you’d imagined things would go. 

lena was supposed to start fresh at bayern after the summer, and now... now everything had changed.

when you returned to the locker room, the news had already spread. the atmosphere was a mix of excitement from the win and the heaviness of what had just happened to lena. 

your teammates, especially the ones who knew her well like tierna, gave you sympathetic looks, but no one said much.

as the team prepared to leave for d.c., the weight of everything that had happened in the past few weeks hit you all at once. 

from the messy breakup with sloan to lena’s injury, it felt like everything was spinning out of control. 

and yet, despite it all, one thing became clear to you as you boarded the plane for the olympics: 

you wanted to be with lena. not just as a friend, not just as someone helping her recover, but you wanted to be hers. and her to be yours. 

the thing is– you weren’t sure how it would all work out with lena, but you knew one thing for sure: you were in too deep to turn back now. 

when all of this was over, you and lena could figure it out together. 

the olympics came and went in a blur, the pressure mounting as you advanced through the tournament. 

the uswnt played like machines under emma hayes, and before you knew it, you found yourself in the final against brazil, the stakes higher than ever.

the atmosphere at the olympic final against brazil was electric. you were in the 2020 olympics with the team, but winning bronze doesn’t compare to this.

you stood shoulder to shoulder with lindsey and sam, eyes fixed on the opponents you’ve had faced so many times before. 

brazil was known for their speed and creativeness, but you knew alyssa naeher was more than prepared to keep them at bay. 

today wasn’t just another game — it was the olympic final. and you were more determined than ever to bring home gold. just to prove to yourself that nothing could stop your game, not your cheating ex— nobody.

but as the national anthem played, you couldn’t help but think of lena. 

you hadn’t spoken to her much over the last few days, mostly because she was in the thick of her recovery then traveling to meet up with her national team. 

though, lena was in the audience. you knew that. lena visited her german teammates as they won the bronze medal match against spain. to say that you were happy for them would've been an understatement. 

now the germans were here before the ceremony, ready to watch you put on an outstanding performance for gold.

your heart ached when you thought of her, the injury that had thrown both of your worlds off course. 

she was supposed to be thriving, ready to become a star at bayern, and now she was sidelined for months.

but right now, you had a job to do.

the whistle blew, and the final kicked off.

brazil came out swinging, full of energy, and the first twenty minutes were a back-and-forth battle in the midfield. 

every time adriana or marta touched the ball, your heart skipped a beat, but you knew alyssa was solid in the back. 

the triple espresso were pushing the attack, but brazil’s defense was holding strong.

at around the 30-minute mark, you found yourself in space, sam coffey threading a pass your way. 

your first touch was sharp, pushing the ball ahead of you as you glanced up to see the keeper off her line. the triple espresso was blocked by defenders, so without a second thought, you wound up and took the shot from just outside the box, sending the ball curling toward the top corner.

the sound of the net rippling sent a surge of adrenaline through your veins, and the stadium exploded in celebration. 1-0. 

you threw your arms up, letting the emotion wash over you as your teammates rushed to engulf you in a hug.

something inside of you wanted to cry in joy– but you held it in. there was still work to be done, and brazil wasn’t going to back down easily.

the rest of the first half was intense. 

brazil pressed hard, but the u.s. defense, led by alyssa, naomi, emily, crystal, and tierna, stood strong. 

when brazil did manage to get a shot off, alyssa was there, calm and collected, making crucial saves to maintain the lead.

at halftime, the locker room was a mixture of adrenaline and focus. 

the 1-0 lead felt good, but you knew it wasn’t enough. brazil was dangerous, and if you let up for even a second, they’d capitalize.

emma gathered the team for a quick pep talk, her voice steady but full of fire. you listened, making sure that you put on the best performance of your career in this second half.

as the second half kicked off, you could feel the tension. 

brazil came out with renewed energy, and for the first 15 minutes, they pinned you back, testing alyssa with shots from distance. 

she held firm, pulling off save after save, keeping the clean sheet intact.

you cheered, externally or internally, everytime. 

in the 65th minute, emma made a tactical switch, bringing in fresh legs to maintain the pace. fortunately, you weren’t subbed out. 

the game shifted again, and you found yourself back in the attack. mallory broke down the wing, flying past her defender, and whipped in a cross toward the penalty spot.

you were already there, timing your run perfectly. the ball floated in, and without hesitating, you leapt into the air, connecting with the header. 

it wasn’t the hardest shot you’d ever taken, but it was placed perfectly, tucking into the bottom corner past brazil’s keeper.

2-0.

the stadium erupted, louder this time, the roar deafening as you run around the pitch with your arms up high. your  teammates chased then mobbed you once again. most teammates from the bench even jumping up to hug you in celebration. 

a two-goal lead in the olympic final. you could taste the gold now.

with brazil rattled, the game started to open up. there were more chances on both sides, but your defense was unbreakable. 

alyssa, naomi, and emily were locked in, keeping brazil at bay with every attack they mounted. it felt like nothing could get past them, and you could see the frustration building in the brazilian players.

as the clock ticked down, the final whistle was nearing, but you kept your foot on the gas. 

brazil was desperate, throwing numbers forward, and that left them exposed at the back.

in the 88th minute, you found yourself in possession again, just outside the box. 

sophia made a darting run to pull the defenders away, giving you just enough space to take a shot. you faked to your right, cutting back inside, and then unleashed a low, driven strike toward the far post.

the ball hit the bar, but trinity recovered it and tapped it behind the net. 

3-0. the gold was yours.

the crowd exploded in celebration as you dropped to your knees, overwhelmed with emotion. 

trinity laid on top of you, crying with you. 

your teammates swarmed you, hugging you, lifting you up, the joy infectious. you had done it. olympic champions.

as the final whistle blew, the team celebrated like there was no tomorrow, hugging, crying, laughing. 

you had your gold medal moment, standing on top of the world. 

your hands were on your face as your sobs came out uncontrollably. if you told yourself a month ago that you’d be this happy and relieved, you wouldn’t believe it. 

lindsey and tierna comforted you as you stood up to go to the locker room, getting ready to shower before the ceremony. 

as you had a moment to settle down, your thoughts drifted back to lena.

you hadn’t realized how deep your feelings for her had grown.

the fact that she was there, the fact that she was hundreds of feet away in the stadium, recovering from an injury that could derail her season instead of celebrating bronze with her team, weighed heavily on your heart.

later that night, after all the celebrations, after the medals had been handed out and the photos had been taken, you found a quiet moment to yourself. 

the weight of the gold medal around your neck was a reminder of everything you’d worked for, but the ache in your chest was for something, someone else.

you pulled out your phone, glancing at the time. 

lena was probably asleep by now after partying with her national team, but you couldn’t help it. you needed to talk to her.

you dialed her number, your heart pounding as the phone rang. after a few rings, she picked up, her voice groggy.

"hey," she mumbled. 

"you did it!" she cheered through her tired voice. 

"yeah," you whispered, your throat tight. 

"we won."

there was a long pause on the other end, and you could hear lena shift slightly, probably trying to get comfortable in her bed. 

you know that she is someone who sleeps on her stomach, so the brace might make it hard for her. 

"i’m so proud of you," she said softly.

"i wish you were here with me," you admitted, the words slipping out before you could stop them. 

"this doesn’t feel right without you, even if you do have a different nationality than me." you giggled.

"i wish i was there too," she replied, her voice filled with longing. 

"but... i’ll be here when you get back. we’ll figure everything out then. until then, please enjoy your win."

you smiled, tears stinging your eyes. "i’m coming home to you. as soon as all of this is done."

"i’ll be waiting," lena whispered.

as you hung up after the goodnights, the weight of everything hit you all at once. 

the olympics, the gold, lena’s injury, your breakup with sloan, the confusion about what you and lena really were—it was all so much. 

one thing was clear in your mind as you stared down at the gold medal around your neck: it didn’t matter what obstacles lay ahead now. 

you moved on from whatever was in the past and you were in this with lena now, for the long run.

part five, the final part, here

[silver-horse]

This one might be a little controversial, but if you could trade out one of the existing companions/romance options for an NPC+ a romance who would you pick?

Oh that is an interesting question, thank you! :D

The one I would replace is definitely Hal/sin. 😢 But I want to say, it's not because I don't like the character. I love all the companions we have in this game (which is rare for me) but what we prefer in romance options is always a matter of personal taste. Also story reasons somewhat play a role in my choice. Hal/sin just doesn't have a lot to do in act 3, he doesn't have a personal motivation to continue to hang around, he even admits this.

I watched most of my mutuals obsess over Hal/sin during ea so I am happy for them xD but if I had to rank the romance options based on what I am into, he would be at last place for me. (Except for Emp/eror who is miles below last place lol sorry tentacle fans. And Haarlep I guess but I won't even count that as a "romance" option)

And I guess I would replace him with Nere. (Or Rolan but Rolan similarly to Hal/sin wouldn't have reasons to be a companion, it's just because I personally want him. lmao But they could make some NPCs romancable without making them companions.) Nere would be my number 1 choice because it would work for the story. (+ I personally want him lol) During ea I thought he would be the alternate drow companion if we killed Minthara because the only way to convince him to leave the absolute was to tell him Minthara is dead. So they seemed like logical alternatives for each other but right now that's not how the dialogue works and if we could have 2 drow companions, that would be even better. Also if the player wants to try the evil path right now some companions tend to abandon the party so it would be nice to have more companions who are willing to stick around for the evilz! lol

Also Jaheira should be romancable but she is already a companion.

[this2penguin2floats]

happy 4th anniversary to Rikka!

October 20th is Rikka’s anniversary. Because he is one of my favorite vtubers, I thought I could share some trivia about him here!

Holostars official site:

A "high-tech" robot called a holoroid. It turns out that his memory capacity is only 2 GB, so he is a bit of an airhead.  The gap between his soft talking voice and singing voice is quite charming. He is working hard to share his songs around the world.

Rikka is known for his singing skills. He currently has 6 original songs and 34 covers.

He also does many acoustic singing streams while playing his guitar.

(I recommend this stream)

Like what the stars website says, he has a capacity of 2gb, which can result in 2gb moments happening on stream

Even though he can be an airhead sometimes, he is also very skilled at gaming, especially platfomers. Alongside playing previously platformers such as hollow knight, Celeste, super Mario 3D world, he occasionally streams Mario maker every now and then, and plays levels with a less than 1% clear rate.

Besides platform games, he is holostar’s Tetris player and sometimes streams Tetris 99. He also plays a lot of horror games. You might have also seen him play Apex. His highest rank is masters and he occasionally shows up in other vtuber’s Apex streams to play with them. He mains Loba.

Currently, he is into street fighter 6 and mains Luke. He just recently got master rank.

Since his 3rd year in holostars, he has published 3 new original songs, ranked 2nd place in Shibuya Hal’s Apex tournament vsaikyo season 5, ranked 1st in Apex Matsuri, participated in street fighter tournament Reject Fight Night, sung for 10 cover songs, became a voice actor for a character in a multimedia project, debuted in the unit Unplan with Miyabi, Aruran, and Shien which also has an original song sung by the four of them, and just recently hosted a vtuber singing tournament ( vtuber singing king, also co hosted with Suisei). 

Make sure to send him a congratulations on his tweet, and check out his anniversary stream today ( or tomorrow depending on where you live). Let’s look forward to what he has planned in his 4th year, and something is already coming up, which is a holostars street fighter tournament in November hosted by him.

Thanks for reading 

Stuff you might want to check out:

Rikka’s Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9mf_ZVpouoILRY9NUIaK-w

Song list: https://m.youtube.com/@rikka/releases

Cover list: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVwGx6gOvSYBkvhr2Ixynm9towkN47xD3

Polaporiposupo So character introduction (eng subs available)(So is voiced by Rikka): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF0jDbwnbgY

Tetris playlist: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVwGx6gOvSYAsF3Suj4Z158_s0bpnPH1p

Channel that clips Rikka: https://m.youtube.com/@Reiganstars

(Reigan is the only one I know that frequently clips Rikka on YouTube. If anyone knows any other channel, please share in the comments 😭)

anniversary stream: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7tEId3okP4U

Random facts:

he is left handed

his mascot is a pink teddy bear named Spanner

I made a short video that’s a montage of stuff he streams.(basically a video version of what I said. Check it out if you’d like)(the editing kinda sucks 🫣)

[taxi-boi]

What’s your fanfic about?

I Think Therefore I AR (or ittiar) is a story (primarily) from the perspective the title character AR/Lil Hal as he deals with the repercussions of Dirk going AWOL to work on one of his projects and leaving AR to try and impersonate him for months at a time, a not uncommon occurrence. except this time it seems like the arrangement may be a bit more permanent

as the time to play sburb alpha approaches, AR has to balance keeping the facade of dirk alive, managing his own interpersonal drama, realizing he might not be as emotionless as first thought, and figuring out how sburb is supposed to play out with one player's whereabouts still unknown.

when writing i try to give every character the fullest respect i can give them and have been told on multiple occasions that I "did (character) so CLEAN" "get (characters) so right!" or that it "makes justice for every time (characters) have been mischaracterized" and i think that last ones a bit of a stretch but i take pride in it either way

theres also alot of exploration of sburb mechanics and the like later on, so if any of that sounds of interest to you, you can read it starting from the begining here:

mind the tags ofc and happy reading

[lies]

The Diplomat: Predictions for S2 (and S3)

Heavy spoilers for season 1 after the cut. Also, brief mention of some leaked photos from season 2 filming that contain a significant season 2 spoiler.

Unless otherwise noted, this is all just me speculating based on rewatching season 1 of The Diplomat multiple times, because I love it. I don't actually know anything.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Ronnie is dead from the Grove car bombing. I loved Ronnie's character, and would have loved to see them in season 2. But at this point they do more for the story dead than alive. sigh

As also previously mentioned, Hal and Stuart are alive but injured. This is partially confirmed by recent leaked photos from the Season 2 production, which show Kate and Hal leaving an event with a bunch of people dressed in black (Ronnie's funeral/memorial?) with Hal having visible injuries to his face but looking otherwise okay.

No sign of Stuart in those photos, though. Stuart was a few feet closer to the blast than Hal was, going by the freeze-frame of the car bombing effects shot. So it would make sense for him to have been hurt worse than Hal. I think he's alive, though. Debora Cahn & Co. know what they're doing, and Stuart is a top-tier part of what makes the show great. No way they'd kill him off.

The Grace Penn thing will blow up and Kate will be named to replace her relatively early in S2. I'm basing this on my sense that the show is going to have a three-season structure where S1 = Kate as UK ambassador, S2 = Kate as Veep, and S3 = Kate as President. I'll talk about the presidency part below, but in terms of veep it would be anticlimatic at this point not to have the Grace Penn thing happen soon. They've established that it will happen, that it could happen at any time, and that it is likely to happen in the next six months. Having it happen any later than 6 months would feel like a bait and switch. Having it happen in 6 months would feel flat. We want to see Kate thrown into the deep end. That's what they did in S1, and they're going to keep doing it in S2. They'll raise the stakes, and having Kate thrust into the vice presidency does that.

So Kate will go to DC. Stuart will go with her. Hal might go with her, but he might also be pressed into service as Kate's replacement for ambassador to the UK. This means a few things: a) It keeps Mrs. Munning, Pensy, and Winfield House in the show, yay! I mean, I can imagine scenarios in which they have Pensy and Mrs. Munning go to DC with Kate, but those don't really pass the smell test. b) It keeps Dennison in the show, which obviously needs to happen. c) It means Sec of State Gannon is out, since Gannon hates Hal and Rayburn promised Gannon he'd never hire Hal again. So push will come to shove, and I'm sorry, Gannon, but you don't have Hal's plot armor. So Gannon goes, though he could still show up as a Rayburn rival, and a S3 Kate rival, assuming she does ascend to the presidency and we see her subsequent election campaign in the second half of S3, which I think is likely.

Eidra goes to DC. It's a positive career move for her (assuming she gets a sufficiently high-powered role), and Kate's going to want her around. With Kate's newfound sway as a vice president taking the lead on foreign policy, she's going to want a trusted ally at the CIA. So more Stuart+Eidra relationship, yay!

Again on the subject of major players we will not be losing, Trowbridge (at least for a time) will continue as Prime Minister. There will be lots of fun intrigue in S2 about Kate and Dennison looking for evidence to tie him to Lenkov.

It makes me sad to predict it, but Rayburn is definitely going to die at or around the end of S2. They've telegraphed it enough times ("My cardiologist is sure I'm gonna die on his watch", "Just knock off that 'I resign' shit. It really pisses me off. I don't have that kind of time."), and again, how do they raise the stakes? Rayburn's heart is Chekhov's gun, and it absolutely is going off around the S2/S3 transition. (Unless they try to do a slow-burn and stretch it out for more seasons. But this is a Netflix show. If they're not planning for three-and-out they're not paying attention. And again, Cahn & Co. obviously know what they're doing.)

When they finally get the goods on Trowbridge, he'll be out as PM and Dennison will take his place. So the long-distance Special Relationship will continue and escalate in S3. It is to swoon. 🙂

I think that's it for specific predictions. In general I think the show's main dramatic arc will continue to be Kate gaining influence by convincing people of her abilities. This will happen through her “catching fire” as VP in S2, as Billie hopes, and then as President in S3, such that we'll recapitulate Stuart's journey from "it sounded delusional" to "then I met you and it sounded, frankly, more delusional" to "but now I'm getting the idea." Except now it will be everyone in the world going through that same process.

A lot of these predictions, maybe most of them, will turn out to be wrong. But I know the show will continue to be amazing: superbly written, cast, acted, and produced. I can't wait to see it.