#her 2 hide out but didn't really have a logical reason for her to be there until this season..... :3c so a nice coincidence there.

[synnthamonsugar]

knife/sword lifting the other's chin for Ikora/Savathun?

Everything Ikora Rey knew about combat against lightbearers she'd learned in the Crucible. Though her current opponent stood four times her height, she was pleased to find the training held true. Look for openings. Exploit missteps. Don't overextend. A split-second lapse in judgment allowed her to land a bombardment of void upon her foe. The force flung the hive queen backwards through a thicket of overgrowth, into one of the many LED panels silently broadcasting evacuation routes since the last apocalypse. She crashed with a thud that rattled the floor and shattered the pane into a spiderweb of light and color.

She hadn't been killed, but injured badly enough to require her ghost's aid. He materialized, bathing her twisted wings in cascades of healing energy as she heaved herself from a prone position.

A temporary distraction that Ikora seized. On her own radiant wings, she launched herself at Savathun. Did something she hadn't been taught in Shaxx's training grounds — in fact, it was one of the only acts expressly prohibited under threat of expulsion from the City or worse.

She snatched the ghost from midair.

It was enough to disrupt Savathun from whatever trick she undoubtedly had tucked up her sleeve. Eyes fixed on him she lunged for Ikora; the warlock effortlessly dodged her grasp, running counter-intuitively toward her. In one fluid movement, she wrapped her sword-arm around the queen's neck instantaneously drawing a solar blade to her throat.

Silence, save the sound of their heavy breathing. The side of Savathun's massive, armored face pressed against the soft curve of Ikora's torso, the blunt horn at the junction of her jaw and neck jutted threateningly into her spine. Spiked pauldrons caught bond-side. It would take little effort for Savathun to pulverize her, leave her ghost with enough of a mess to escape halfway across the Arcology — or transmat somewhere else entirely — before she was revived. But she wouldn't — not when Ikora gripped her heart in her hand. Immaru trembled plaintively, wordless as Ophiuchus as his soulfire eye flicked between captor and guardian.

"Is this how we're doing it?" The quaver in her voice resonated through the edge of the sword, vibrating up through the hilt and into Ikora's hand.

"Any other way and I'd be dead."

"I've spent enough time around your Guardians to understand their idea of conflict resolution is resolving to kill the source of conflict. I vow my methods are not theirs."

The knowledge that Savathun hid in plain sight among the guardians of the Tower rankled Ikora, and though the irritation had waned with the discovery of her rebirth the feelings returned with this line of discussion. That she'd been able to mimic Osiris well enough that a lifetime of intelligence training had failed her was a source of professional shame (though no one else regarded it as such). That she'd opened up to her, student-to-mentor, made her prickle with a more personal brand of mortification. Still, she could not deny the value of their conversations. The means had been unspeakable but she believed — in spite of everything — that the intent had been true. Savathun had wanted to teach her; what had she traded in return?

She tried not to dwell on what classified information she had shared in briefings or strategic talks. What ciphers to herself had been revealed in hurried chats over morning tea in the Tower verandas, when they'd waxed philosophical in the lantern-light of the libraries. Maybe Savathun would crack those codes. Maybe she already had.

"Was attacking me your way of saying hello?"

"I wanted to escape, not harm you. Not in a way Ophiuchus can't fix." Ikora realized how warm and heavy the sword in her hand had grown, how weighty Immaru had become, too, despite barely weighing anything at all. "Exhilarating as it is to be here with you, no more stifling masquerades, finally free to be ourselves ... every minute wasted on this little moment of ours is a minute I could be working to stop it.

"We could be, if your priorities are in order. Or end me here and ensure the Light is extinguished. Your call ..."

Did they trust each other, or was this another game? She was not dead in an impact crater, and Immaru — though more terrified than she imagined him capable of — was physically unharmed. Judging by history, Ikora had every reason to believe that Savathun would turn coat, but there was a pressing sense they'd crossed a threshold through which the past had ceased being a guide to the future. She didn't know what would come next, but she knew Savathun yearned for the Witness' destruction, and needed allies more than anything.

Ikora drew the blade upward so that the point caught on the chitin of her jaw. Despite the other woman's size, and the wobble in her arms, it took little physical effort to lift her face-to-face. Like she was not only willing, but eager to go along. As they locked gazes, the muscles around her trefoil eyes bunched in a way that she recognized from Eris as a hive smile. A flush crept into her face, more scorching than the sun-fire in her hands. She prayed that Savathun didn't recognize how flustered she'd become — or dismissed it as nerves.

"Promise — no more lies."

"For you, dearest Vanguard?" Savathun crooned, tilting her head innocently. "The truth, always."

Ikora believed her, though she knew that, to a being who wove threads of reality and potential into wondrous, grotesque tapestries, 'truth' had a looser definition than most would accept. But most had not had a twenty-five match Crucible winning streak, nor slain ravenous packs of wish-dragons, nor resisted the call toward hubris that came with power of her magnitude.

On this wager, she released Immaru. Guided Savathun to her feet on the tip of her sword before casting it away in a puff of sparks.

"Where do we go first?" She asked, silently admiring the dreadful beauty of her companion, dimly backlit by the blues and purples of the arcology, eyes piercing the darkness like signal beacons.

"To find my sister," she replied, with a sweeping hand gesture that Ikora followed.

[fazedlight]

Why am I obsessed with the rift?

From my first fic to the many many many many season 5 fics I've written, to the fic where the whole thing could've been averted in season 2, to my no-villain-era-for-Lena in season 3 (twice) and season 4 fics......... I seem to have developed a bit of a rift pattern.

A reasonable person might ask: Why?

There's something that itches in my mind: I think either woman would've been fully justified in walking away from their friendship, and yet they ultimately didn't.

It starts with Kara, who is ultimately a fractured person. She deeply values the truth, and yet she's forced to live with various lies, unable to be her full self.

Her identity is in the in-betweens. She feels adrift between two cultures, she knows her alien state while reaping the privilege of passing, she hides core aspects of herself on a daily basis. I'm sucked into the rift, in part, because of who she is and how she struggles to put it all together. I think her frustration will resonate with anyone who's stuck in the in-betweens.

Kara's struggle for identity plants the seed for the rift. The bigotry of society meant she had to have a secret identity in the first place, and keeping the secret from Lena was certainly reasonable for a time.

We can debate endlessly about when Kara should've told Lena - I think it's really hard to find the line between "too soon" and "too late" - but it ultimately doesn't matter. Because it's Kara's kneejerk reaction to Lena's kryptonite that forms the first sort of betrayal, not the secret itself.

Kara screws up - she says something she regrets, she doubles down when threatened and scared. These are common mistakes... but we have super-level circumstances, so we get super-level consequences. And the engine she has inside her that fears loss (which she's suffered to a level that is unimaginable to anyone on Earth) kicks in. She can't lose another person she loves.

But who is she holding onto?

In the series, and in flashbacks, we watch Lena's progression from idealistic techie to cynical recluse. While she's experienced loss and isolation, that's not the cause of her shift.

It's in experiencing her idol and protector become the madman who kidnaps her. It's in realizing her best friend has betrayed her by taking the one thing that could've saved her brother. It's in moving to a new city to start over, and meeting a mentor who uses her to start a global invasion. It's in her partner in scientific discovery being a pawn to her brother, colluding behind her back.

And then there's the final downfall. Her new best friend - her trusted confidant, her hero, the one who made her feel not so alone anymore - is the super who denigrated her, maligned her, spied on her. Lena had two important people in her life at that point, and she sacrificed one for the other... only to find out the other was a lie.

With betrayal after betrayal - Lex and Andrea and Rhea and Eve and Kara - she loses faith that anyone is above their worst impulses.

So she falls to her own.

How can good people do bad things?

There's a saying I heard around MIT sometimes: there are no technical solutions to social problems. It's easy to forget - when you're surrounded by people seeking to improve the world via science and engineering - that you can't solve humanity via technology or logic or rules. Lena forgot this.

Myriad marks a shift in the rift. Kara lied to Lena, antagonized her, spied on her - but her wrongs were directed towards Lena. Lena's initial response - the petty manipulation and the plan to out Kara - were directed back at Kara.

But then the rift fundamentally shifts.

At this point, Lena's wrongs are no longer just about Kara - she's trying to brainwash the world. She mindcontrolled Malefic and enslaved Eve. This went beyond the fallout between two friends.

It's clear that her intentions are still good here. She's not a megalomaniac like her brother, she's not forming an us-vs-them mentality like her stepmother. She's an anti-villain at this point in the story - desperate to find what's true, in a world full of lies.

It's a hard line to walk, acknowledging Lena's trauma and well-intentioned motivations while realizing she's still ultimately culpable for her own actions. But it's important to try to balance, because Lena is still redeemable.

But getting back to the relationship itself - Kara played a large role in pushing Lena to the edge of her trauma, which was entirely motivated by Kara's own trauma.

You hide things so you don’t lose people. I run from people who hide things. I guess we were bound to explode.

Lena says this in my first fic mentioned earlier, and it summarizes the rift as succinctly as I can put it. Their traumas were incompatible, and their relationship should've failed.

And yet.

Delving into how the CW screwed up the rift could be its own essay. They gave us a complex and layered situation, only to gut it with It's a Super Life (beloved/beloathed), the narrative retroactively justifying Kara instead of examining her foils, glossing over Lena instead of delving into her ethical blindspots. The rift was cancelled.

What does that leave us with?

Well, I guess it left me seeking the rift, over and over again. I'm certainly not the first author to do a rift fic, and I doubt I'll be the last. There seem to be a few different approaches:

Some authors delve into the nuance, having the two characters hash out what they've been through in a way that feels balanced and real. In particular, I love the @searidings fic with the birds i'll share this lonely view. I don't think I have the skill to pull off that type of story.

Some writers lean heavily on one "side" or the other, often with lots of grovelling. This never resonates with me, because at some point in a relationship there has to be the realization that it's "us vs. the problem", rather than "you vs. me". In my mind, these fics miss the layers of trauma that led to the rift.

Some authors make the rift not matter. If you put the characters through hell and back, the anger will lose its thrust, and they'll be left wanting to heal.

I fall into the last category.

There's a moment from permanence by @itllsetyoufree that I especially love, where - in the aftermath of season 6 - Eliza asks Lena why she forgave Kara. Lena can't answer.

We like to think we're logically driven. But in my experience, forgiveness - and a host of other emotions - never work that way. Sometimes "sorry" cuts it, sometimes it doesn't. A lot of times, forgiveness comes from the realization that someone genuinely wants to connect, and that the fallout was relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

Of course, when your fallout includes extra levels of gaslighting and a bit of global brainwashing, making it relatively unimportant requires something drastic.

That's where I end up landing. Putting my blorbos in Situations helps them see the other in a new light - see the other's genuineness, the other's fears, the other's love. Often times, this comes with the simultaneous threat to someone's life (though that's not necessary, especially if it's earlier in Lena's breaking point cutoff).

I do assume - and sometimes imply - that they're also having those discussions, working things out in the background. Because of what I put them through in my fics, I don't think those end up being explosive discussions. It's about figuring out the practical aftermath of what the heart already knows at that point.

Whether I deliver on that is ultimately up to the reader, but that's my approach. Because at the end of the day, love is about cherishing and understanding the person in front of you - flaws and and traumas in all. These stories are driven by loving both characters, and trying to see them the way they see each other.

The rift is a story about love and connection - how those things can't happen without embracing someone else's trauma and without understanding one's own imperfection. Because that's what's at the root of all of us.

And that's why I write the rift.

[nierly-amazing]

Nier Automata anime Episode 21 disjointed thoughts:

Spoilers, obviously

It had a few good moments but overall I was disappointed in this episode, more so than the last 2. I've been enjoying the anime, especially early s2 immensely but it's gone downhill so fast. It's extra annoying because most of the issues I have could have been fixed/avoided really easily.

The good bits:

THEY THANKED DEVOLA AND POPOLA! After all that time they finally thanked them! (Though I wish they had more small moments of them being dicks to them in past episodes).

FUCK YEAH JACKASS running the truck right into the room!

YEAH THE TWINS KICKED ASS TOO!

OH NO THEY KILLED JACKASS BUT that's probably how she wanted to go tbh

I do think the anime handled the whole fear thing being the machine children's downfall better than the game since they actually did some lead-up instead of Pascal dropping the info after they all died. So that's another good thing. Buuuut...

The not-so-good bits:

I knew immediately A2's idea to send the kids to the resistance camp was a stupidly terrible idea. Idk why they didn't try finding somewhere else to hide them but I expected them to simply lead hostile machines there rather than infect the camp with a ZOMBIE virus. Really? Zombies? Shambling groaning zombies? The whole reason logic viruses are so scary was how strong they make androids and how they'll just attack everything until they fall apart.

I get the narrative reasoning that Lily offering to shelter them ended up being everyone's downfall, but I ended up being more annoyed because of how dumb it was that A2 sent them there. Seems like an easy fix too, Lily could have called in end of last episode after the camp heard the explosions and offered to shelter them herself, then Pascal could have worried about leading enemies to them and Lily assured him they could handle it.

(me) ^

9S has basically no screen time anymore; we can't really feel his descent as well as we did in game. For the most part things are just happening to him rather than him actively doing things. Like, instead of dumping the 2E reveal in the first S2 episode they could have slowly fed it to us over the course of these episodes. They could have made it more fucked up by having the machine network torment 9S with bits of 2E hints or had the damage to his body scramble his mind in a way that he remembers flashes of his past lives/deaths. I think the game's definitely handled showing his mental decline in isolation while still being a sympathetic character better than the anime is doing.

(cymbal ism)

I sort of like how they put the flight unit in the god box and forced 9S to see it but I feel it would have been more impactful if they had a moment where he almost found it in the flooded city but passed it up because he was distracted and didn't realize it was 2B's unit. And oh look he passed out again.

No lunar tears no 2B memorial? Give him a chance to breathe and have some sort of positive or bittersweet interaction. In the game he still interacted with other androids and helped them but the only interaction we got in the anime was him slapping a flower from that one memorial quest guy's hand.

Pascal's 180 is still ehhh for me. The whole thing that made the Goliath fight in game so impactful was he was holding onto his pacifism till the very end until he had no other option. But in the anime he went berserk the moment there was even the possibility of danger. They didn't even know the hostile machines were a threat to the village when the pods told them. They had time to evacuate and it would have been a lot more fucked up (in a good way) if they were followed and picked off and then pascal went berserk when it was only the children left.

One child killed all the others in fear instead of it being a whole group fear effort. And then he bit pascal with a zombie virus? Pascal blew up when A2 wasn't even there??? And she barely even reacted when his arm shrapnel almost hit her. I get that they have to deal with the lack of player input choosing what to do but that could have easily been fixed with a scene cut right before A2 makes a choice.

They could have written it so it showed signs of them all trying to escape but were unable to. Maybe had one of them still alive because they failed to hit their core and explained what happened or had some sort of other visual hints as to what happened. maybe frantic carving on the walls or something idk.

But then again, patient 0 being the one 9S was extra suspicious about and almost hacked back in episode 5 is pretty interesting. Shows he was technically right all along about them being a threat, but for the wrong reasons. Still they probably could have merged the two ideas together to work better. I'd like to know if the machine network infected them on purpose or if it was their own fear that caused them to snap. If the latter then they could have also had the infected resistance react differently than being stereotypical zombies. They could have picked up on the fear and all went hysterical fighting and shooting each other because the virus overwhelmed them with fear and they were trying to put themselves and each other 'out of their misery'.

But then again again I don't really like how they made the disabled one the one that went crazy and ate everyone. Idk, they could have handled it better.

The whole resistance dying is definitely sadder than in game. They both work in their own ways so I can't really say one is better than the other. It hurt but I didn't hate it. I want to see what they have planned for killing everyone in this version before I make my final judgment.

I do hope they have a scene where 9S finds the village and feels bad because that was a nice bit in game to show he still cared about them despite going on his rampage with the other machines.

I really hope the tower episodes are good, I can forgive this fumbling if the next few episodes are bangers.

[wolfiwonderer]

Tonny is sus

In honor of the new chapter and questionable decisions, I'm going to deep dive on Tonny and why I think his innocent look is a front.

He believes he's the good guy (which honestly, confidence in one's righteousness is a red flag that Julia (prev), Tonny, and Sahed all share). The Tonny that he presents cares about each member of the circus, hates taking their lives at the beginning and end, and has sweet innocent thoughts about Julia. I think he really believes that.

I love Tonny as a character btw, super excited to see where this goes.

Tonny does not really care about the people in the circus.

The oldest history we've been told is that they were in a castle. An old woman knew about them and funneled people there for money. Tonny gave them an offer to tie themselves to the castle for eternity to protect them from pursuit.

Okay, but everyone in the castle is miserable. Tonny looks miserable. The people around him do. He clearly isn't too worried about the woman directing people to him. So why is he signing them up when he has been shown that they will break down?

It seems like there must be some kind of compulsion that means Tonny needs to add people to the pact continuously. If he's really burdened by giving them happiness, then he wouldn't sign up for more work.

2. Tonny is not that bothered by taking people's lives.

Okay, first of all, I don't know how you could keep killing people twice and not prove that you don't actually feel bad about it. He has many options other than killing people.

Most of this being bad is predicated on Tonny knowing that there's a cost after their second death, but given how hard he claims to be working to stop people ending their lives (particularly to people who have been around for a while), I think he knows something of it.

Mr. Finnegan is the epitome of Tonny's immoral sign up practices. I have no doubt that Tonny thought he was doing the right thing, but a good 30 second think on Finnegan's motivation shows that it's a terrible idea. The entire reason that Finnegan wants to sign up is to spend more time with his wife. What exactly did Tonny think was going to happen when the wife died? It was going to happen, since he didn't sign both of them up (also, why not?). He had to know that Finnegan was a short term stay.

Mr. Finnegan is the 'youngest' of them all, which makes me wonder how many people have come and gone in the last hundred years. Sahed would probably be somewhere around his age if he aged normally, so he's the next youngest we know outside of Camille and Julia.

Speaking of Sahed, we also know that he made some kind of promise to him that convinced him to sign up.

Sahed has had the same goal for a long time and he thinks Tonny betrayed him. I'm inclined to believe him - even if I'm sure the details of what he asked for were impossible. Tonny agrees with him that Ah'kon deserve equal rights. He also seems sad about the hate against them in a way you don't see from other characters. But, his logic that it is too dangerous to taken them in seems weird when he also took in Dotty while police were after her. Sahed's intake couldn't have been risk free considering he's a legendary level escapee.

I could see this being a savior complex. He 'solves' the problems presented to him with the hammer he has. He signs up to fix problems he can't and then when he doesn't deliver, he hides behind all the other promises he's made. But it's like he' s a married man with a secret family and it's somehow the family's fault he wasn't faithful when they find out about the other.

3. Julia is not safe with Tonny

This is full on theory/prediction and I want to talk about some phone fast pass episodes, so putting it under the cut.

Honestly, Camille kind of called this out in the last episode. Julia has said that Tonny is keeping her close and he has a certain possessiveness. He shows signs of feelings (for no apparent reason than chemistry though? Like do they have much in common? Julia wants to not die but also not be a bad person. Tonny wants ???), and that could be explanation. But I get antsy about a guy who wants a woman to center her life around him. But if that was all, I wouldn't be quite so suspicious of him.

Tonny has admitted that Julia is in the middle between him and someone else, but then, like... doesn't explain. He's said full trust, but she's just hoping he will make her not die, when he has a history of breaking promises (other than killing people, he's got a good record on that, seems to be the go to solution for everyone at the circus). I can't help but think that the reason he hasn't elaborated on the true details of anything to Julia, and likely to everyone, is that it is something horrible.

[aishangotome]

Elbert Greetia: Chapter 3

Chapter 2

♡———♡

"The girl who was involved in the incident at the inn has regained consciousness" --

Such good news came in a few days after I went shopping with Elbert and the others.

Kate: It's really, really wonderful...!

Elbert: ...Yes, it is.

We wait in front of the patient's room for the preparations for our meeting with her to be completed.

Today, we are officially "police."

Our goal is to get information about "Bernal Trading Company" from her, the survivor of the inn attack.

(I have to keep my distance so she won't be suspicious of me.)

(But, I'm so happy... it's hard to switch gears.)

As I was struggling to control my emotions, a sudden gust of wind blew through the gap and ruffled my hair.

Elbert: ..............

The small wind also gently ruffles Elbert's golden hair.

His beauty, which was as captivating as ever, seems to be tinged with a deeper sadness than usual.

(Come to think of it, he was talking to the doctor for a little longer than usual earlier...)

(I wonder if he was told something then.)

Elbert: Do you... remember what kind of girl she was?

Kate: I think she was a redhead... with a few freckles, and still a young girl.

Elbert: ...It was nighttime, but you saw her well.

Kate: ...It was an intense scene. Besides...

Kate: ...I regret not being able to save her from that place, and it's burned into my memory.

Elbert: I see...

Elbert: I wonder why sad things are so hard to forget.

For a few seconds, a gentle silence descends, as if sharing the pain in our chests.

Kate: ...That's why I'm so happy today. To know that she's safe.

Elbert: ...........

Elbert: ...........Kate.

Kate: Yes...?

Elbert: You, in the patient's room--

Just as Elbert was about to say something, the door to the patient's room opened.

Nurse: Thank you for waiting. We are ready for your visit.

Kate: Oh, yes! Let's go, Lord Elbert.

Elbert: ......

Elbert: ...Ah.

-

Perhaps out of consideration for us being "police," the nurse showed us to the patient's room and quietly excused herself.

Girl: ...You guys are the police?

Elbert: Yes, we are. ...I'm sorry to come so suddenly.

Girl: Hmm, it's fine.

Lying in the bed was a girl who looked to be in her early teens, with a somewhat feisty air about her.

Daisy, as she called herself, calmly responded to our questioning, as if she had never been hovering between life and death.

Daisy: I knew the owner was dealing with some shady people. He was in debt and started brokering stolen goods.

Daisy: But the owner liked this "painting of the sea" that some famous painter from Russia or somewhere painted.

Daisy: He tried to make it his own, but the shady guys who caught on came to crush him, that's what happened that night.

The owner's body has not been found, apparently.

They seemed to have failed to get the painting out, but... Daisy told us that he probably went into hiding somewhere.

Elbert: May I ask why you were also hurt?

Daisy: I guess we were supposed to be silenced or something. ...Even though there were kids there who didn't know about the painting.

Elbert: ...I see.

My heart aches for Daisy, who answers us logically even though we are making her talk about painful things.

Kate: Thank you for talking to us.

Daisy: It's fine, you don't have to thank me. Is that all? Goodbye.

Daisy lies down on the bed, as if to force an end to the conversation.

--And, with a creak of the springs, something that was by her pillow fluttered down to my feet.

(Oh...!)

Elbert: ...This, handkerchief...?

Elbert picks up the familiar-looking handkerchief.

Daisy: Oh, that. They said it might be mine.

Daisy: It's not, but I couldn't throw it away for some reason. It's kind of like a good luck charm, in a weird way?

Daisy: It seems like they noticed me because this was next to me.

Kate: ...! Is that so...?

(Thank goodness... I'm so glad.)

I want to hug Daisy right now and tell her how happy I am that she's alive.

But I can't, so I just give her a gentle smile.

(It might be a burden on her body... Maybe we should take our leave soon.)

I glance at Elbert next to me--

(...?)

Elbert: .........

His porcelain-like profile looked as if he was crying, for some reason.

Come to think of it, Elbert had been drifting in a melancholy mood like this outside the patient's room as well.

(He was about to say something before we entered the patient's room earlier, too...)

I have a strange feeling of uneasiness.

Elbert: ...How are you feeling?

Daisy: Huh...?

Elbert's voice was cautious and gentle, as if touching a scar.

Daisy: Oh... Oh, haha. What, did you ask the doctor or something?

Daisy: Something about an infection? They said I could die at any moment.

Kate: Huh...!

I can't help but let out a gasp at Daisy's confession.

Daisy: But I don't have any family, and all my colleagues are dead... There's no one to visit me in sorrow.

Kate: ...!

I almost said, "I'll come visit you," but I hurriedly shut my mouth.

(I'm under surveillance. I can't just do as I please.)

(I never knew it would be so frustrating.)

It was as painful as witnessing a horrific scene.

Elbert: ...........

Elbert: ..."You were in poor health and unable to answer our questions properly," so...

Daisy: Huh...?

Elbert: ...Would you mind talking to us again tomorrow?

Kate: ...!

I can't help but look up at Elbert at the unexpected proposal.

(We've heard what we need to hear. I don't think Daisy knows anything more about Bernal Trading Company.)

(Elbert must know that too... and yet...)

Elbert: ...Is that okay?

Daisy: Y-yes, of course...!

Daisy gave us a bright smile for the first time today.

-

Kate: Lord Elbert, is it okay...?

Elbert: ...Hmm, what is...?

Kate: Well, considering Lord Elbert's position... is it okay?

Victor told us that the questioning was only scheduled for today.

If we stay too long, there is a risk that our true identities will be exposed.

(And yet...)

Kate: Why did you say we would go again tomorrow...?

Elbert: ......

Elbert: ...Because being alone when you're sad... is not good.

Kate: ...Lord Elbert...

(I've been thinking this since that night when we couldn't save Daisy.)

(Elbert... is very sensitive to people's sadness and pain.)

And he doesn't soothe them or deny them, he just gently stays by their side.

My heart warmed at the feeling of having touched Elbert's warm side.

Kate: ...Thank you.

Elbert: There is nothing for you to thank me for.

Kate: I feel the same way as Lord Elbert.

Kate: I didn't want to leave Daisy alone.

Elbert: ...I could tell you felt that way in the patient's room as well.

Elbert: You... don't seem to be very good at acting.

A fleeting smile, like a thin cloud, appeared on Elbert's lips.

The depths of my warmed heart ached faintly sweetly.

-

The next day, and the day after that, we lied to Victor and went to visit Daisy.

Daisy: I'm so lucky to have such a pretty boy like you visiting me every day.

Daisy: Well, with a bonus, though.

Elbert: ...A "bonus"?

Kate: I brought some delicious sweets today, but maybe you don't want them from the "bonus"...

Daisy: Whoa, just kidding!

Kate: Hehe, I'm just kidding.

Daisy: Oh, Kate!

We spend time in Daisy's hospital room, exchanging lighthearted banter as usual.

The questioning was only done once, on the first day we met, and from the next day on, we ended up just chatting.

(We're getting off track from the mission, but... as long as it's allowed, I want to fill Daisy's loneliness even a little.)

Daisy: Hey, these biscuits are so good!

Elbert: ...Good. She chose them.

Daisy: Hehe... Thanks, really.

However, Daisy's complexion worsened in inverse proportion to how friendly we became.

Every time I noticed it, my wish for her to live another day grew stronger.

(I want her to smile more. I don't want her to look sad...)

(I'm so frustrated that all I can do is visit her...)

Daisy: ...This might be the first time I've ever had someone care so much about me.

Daisy: Hey, you two, can you listen to my selfish request while you're at it?

Kate: Wh-what? Anything!

Daisy: Next time you visit, bring me a blue poppy. I love them.

(Next time...)

Kate: Yeah, okay. I'll definitely bring you one!

Happy that she has something to look forward to, I nod strongly.

(Poppies are a common flower, I should be able to find one at a florist.)

Daisy: Hehe, "definitely"...

Elbert: .........

-

The evening corridor, usually tinged with the loneliness of not knowing if we'll see each other again tomorrow, seems calmer than usual.

Kate: Lord Elbert, if possible, I'd like to stop by a flower shop somewhere... Is that okay?

Elbert: That's fine, but...

Elbert stops, looking somewhat solemn.

Kate: Is something wrong?

Elbert: Blue poppies... I believe they're a rare variety that blooms in the Himalayas.

Kate: Huh?

(The Himalayas...!? )

-

Alfons: My, my... What a rash promise you've made.

Alfons, who returned to the castle in the early morning and apparently just woke up, leans his cheek on his hand languidly, listening to our story with an amused smile.

Kate: Lord Elbert told me that since you spend all night out in the town in London, Alfons,

Kate: You might know of a shop that sells rare flowers...

Alfons: You shouldn't speak of people as if they're playboys, Elbert.

Elbert: ...? Was I wrong?

Alfons: You were absolutely right. However, even this playboy, who fills his days with the thrill of gossip...

Alfons: ...has never heard of a shop that sells flowers from the Himalayas.

Kate: I see...

(Should I just have her settle for a different color poppy?... But)

(I want to do everything I can so Daisy can keep hoping for tomorrow.)

(Is there another good idea... )

Elbert: Al, can we borrow your ability?

Kate: ...Alfons' ability?

Elbert: If Al touches the nape of your neck and whispers, he can distort the other person's perception for a short time.

(Distort perception...)

Kate: ...So, you mean he could make a different colored poppy look blue?

Alfons: Yes, blue or shocking pink. Think of it like a convenient hallucinogen.

(That would certainly fulfill Daisy's wish.)

(But... I wish I could find her a real one.)

Alfons: While it is tempting to deceive an innocent girl with my abilities and create a temporary salvation...

Alfons: Might there be a blue poppy in Elbert's room?

Kate: Huh?

Alfons: I seem to recall seeing a framed pressed flower before. If my memory serves me correctly.

Alfons: Why don't you search that junk room tomorrow?

(Elbert's room...?)

.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 4

If you’d like to support my translations, feel free to buy me a coffee here! :)

[mdhwrites]

It really does feel like the writers just kind of dont care about the world. When i first saw it, i was really interested in just how wild it was, a whole world based of hieronymous bosch? Cool.

But then they just contradict themselves, dont do anything with it or it just doesnt make sense? for example:

-In the first season the world is presented as this brutal, hostile place, where walking down the street can get you killed. Characters dont know what hugging or shaking hands is. The schools are brutal, teachers being downright vile at points. In season 2 they have a whole school dedicated to darwinian logic. But... later the teachers are suddenly nice, the world feels less hostile and they have therapists? what? in a place where you get thrown in prison for writing fanfiction?

-Some jokes are made that are 'haha get it cuz not human' but they make no sense. They have bard magic, walking guitars and bands, but when they have to look after luz, they suddenly think nightmare noises are a banger? Or how willow makes a '40s cartoon' joke, gus has a pb&j samwich, etc.

-Potion magic makes no sense. How is it a coven when you can do it WITHOUT magic. what happens when you get branded? do you just lose all magic? is it a pity coven for bad witches?

I feel on its own these things are nitpicky, but when they pile up it just feels like they were only thinking about making the place LOOK cool while having zero substance.

So you're correct that a lot of these are either nitpicks or just really lazy jokes on the part of the writers. In fact, the lazy, fish out of water jokes came back in S3 and make Amity just look like falling in love literally drained her brain out of her ears. However, that doesn't make them invalid, especially in a show with little worldbuilding. They pile up into making the whole thing feel like a construct.

Luckily, you don't have to go to nitpicks to point out that the writers didn't give a shit. Dana herself is one of the worst writers as far the worldbuilding goes. After all, she wrote Reaching Out.

She was the one who treated being a Wild Witch like choosing not to go to college.

She also co-wrote The First Day where, you know, they don't even acknowledge that multi-tracking is explicitly illegal in this society so why would an EC funded school EVER allow that?

There's SO MANY of these sorts of things peppered throughout the series that makes the ONE part of the world building we ever get, that is anything close to making this world actually unique besides implications, a straight up lie. It'd be like if Avatar made being able to multi-bend something you chose seven episodes in and suddenly slaughtered the entire point of the Avatar being special. It doesn't though because WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?

And there's no way to call this a nitpick. It's the hard basis for one of the main cast, even though Eda's status as a criminal is ALL OVER THE PLACE in S1, especially for people giving a shit about it. It's effectively the core of the villain's plot and the society they created. Any crack in the coven system becomes a crack in your main plot... And when it was first introduced, rather than nine, their were hundred, a fact that persisted into S2 when a character VOICED BY DANA talked about joining the Cute Cat Coven. You know, a coven theoretically not affected by the draining spell.

It's even important thematically. It is the oppression that Luz is supposed to fighting against. The way that self expression and being true to you is repressed is through the coven system and the laws surrounding it. Those need to actually function for those themes to feel like they have weight or they fall apart. It's part of why TOH struggles with thematic consistency because self expression doesn't feel like a core part of it when no one gives a fuck what you do. When there is no actual pressure to conform and hide yourself. At least, not for a story like this.

It's probably the biggest reason why when I hear people exclaim that TOH has great worldbuilding I just have to look at them funny. After all, none of this is even new or actually unique *gestures at Dystopian Fiction in general and D&D wizards school of magic* and it's told like shit. And for a story like this, your fantasy epic about sticking it to the man by showing how special you are, it NEEDED to be told better. It needed to have point.

But it never did and it just makes the writers look either like they didn't care or are just incompetent, let alone when the show director themselves is shooting their core concepts in the head.

======+++++=======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[tdvotes]

Ranking the Votes, s1a

Welcome to... Total! Drama! Ranking... the Votes! This series is a spinoff of Counting the Votes. I will rank each episode in season 1a (pre-merge Island) based on how confusing it was. There were 12 votes this season, so 12 will be the most straightforward elimination and 1 will be the most confusing.

For reference, here are the episodes:

Not So Happy Campers, Part 2 (Ezekiel)

The Big Sleep (Eva)

Dodgebrawl (Noah)

Not Quite Famous (Justin)

The Sucky (or Not So Great) Outdoors (Katie)

Phobia Factor (Tyler)

Up the Creek (Izzy)

Paintball Deer Hunter (Cody)

If You Can't Take the Heat... (Beth)

Who Can You Trust? (Sadie)

Basic Straining (Courtney)

X-Treme Torture (Harold)

Now, let's get a few technicalities out of the way first. Yes, Heather's math was off when she had Justin eliminated. No, we don't know whether Izzy or Lindsay was scheduled to be voted out that night. Yes, Harold rigged the votes against Courtney. And in the course of writing this post, I realized that some of my takes here are slightly different than they were in the original posts. I'm not changing that.

All that said, let's get to it!

12. The Big Sleep. No reason for the Bass to vote off anyone other than Eva, so this was pretty easy. 9 votes for Eva, 1 for Harold

11. Dodgebrawl. Gwen could have received votes for napping during the games, but a) she at least tried to play and b) she had just won the Awake-a-thon, so I think her teammates forgave her. Lindsay probably received votes for running off during the game, most likely from Heather and Noah. But Heather needed Lindsay in her alliance at this point, and she agreed with Gwen that Noah should "cram it". And Noah received votes for not even pretending to care about the games and instead focusing on his book. I'm going with 10 votes for Noah, 1 for Lindsay

10. Basic Straining. Harold may have rigged the votes, but we can be fairly certain that all of the others voted for him. The only other Bass I would believe didn't vote for Harold is Bridgette, who probably voted for Duncan because he kept making Chef mad. 4 votes for Harold, 1 for Duncan, 6 for Courtney

9. X-Treme Torture. Geoff, Duncan and DJ definitely voted Harold. Harold definitely voted Duncan. The only wild card is Bridgette, who I'm guessing liked Harold more than Duncan due to her comments in Hide and Be Sneaky. Still, it wasn't enough to save him. 3 votes for Harold, 2 for Duncan

8. If You Can't Take the Heat... Heather and Owen voted onscreen for Beth. Beth and Leshawna obviously voted for Heather. Being superstitious means that Trent probably voted for Beth for cursing the team. That leaves Gwen and Lindsay. I'm thinking Gwen voted for Heather. So by process of elimination, Lindsay had to have voted for Beth. 4 votes for Beth, 3 for Heather

7. Not Quite Famous. Yes, Heather's math didn't add up. But really, only one vote is unknown here. If anyone outside Heather's alliance voted for anyone other than Heather, that would save her butt. Gwen definitely voted for Heather. Leshawna probably voted with her best friend Gwen. Trent and Cody probably voted Heather as well because they're both friends with Gwen. That leaves only Justin. While he probably understood that what Heather did was way out of line, his morals are not all that straight either, as he showed in season 2. Perhaps he voted Gwen for skipping out on the challenge, or maybe Cody for following Gwen. Or maybe Cody voted for Trent because he was a love rival. I think most likely is that Justin voted for Gwen, putting the vote at 5 votes for Justin, 4 for Heather, 1 for Gwen

6. Not So Happy Campers, Part 2. Zeke got all 5 female votes for sure. And I'm guessing he voted off Courtney for being a chicken. Duncan could have also voted off Courtney -- by his logic, she and DJ were "the only ones wearing chicken hats, and if we ever have to lift a truck, I like our chances with the big guy." Plus, I get the feeling that at this point Duncan isn't quite the ladies' man he became later on. And Tyler's tone in telling Lindsay that he could kill a cockroach too, makes me think he also understands that men are generally physically superior to women. We can assume Geoff, DJ and Harold voted for Zeke as well, since they all have a slightly better attitude towards women than they thought Zeke did. So I'm going with 8 votes for Zeke, 3 for Courtney

5. Paintball Deer Hunter. Owen and Leshawna voted for Cody onscreen. Beth and Cody probably voted for Heather. Given Heather's reaction to seeing Beth get her marshmallow, I think Heather (and by extension her puppet Lindsay) voted for Beth. That means Gwen and Trent had to break a 3-way tie. I want to give Gwen's vote to Heather but that would mess up the count, so I'm going to say that they both voted for Cody as a mercy vote. 4 votes for Cody, 2 for Heather, 2 for Beth

4. Phobia Factor. Harold and Geoff didn't receive a point for completing their challenges, but they didn't not do them because they were scared either. That's why Bridgette, Courtney and Tyler were on the chopping block. Guessing Tyler and Courtney voted for each other. Also guessing Bridgette voted for Tyler since she was friends with Courtney. And looking at who was making fun of Tyler after he was eliminated, it was probably Duncan and Geoff who joined them. That leaves DJ, Harold and Sadie. I can't give them all to Courtney because that would force a tie. I also can't imagine DJ voting for Bridgette, so I'll give his vote to Tyler since he was already good friends with Duncan and Geoff. That means Harold and Sadie could both vote for Courtney and it wouldn't matter. 5 votes for Tyler, 3 for Courtney

3. Who Can You Trust? Courtney made it clear that she was voting for Sadie. Sadie, knowing that Courtney was voting her off, probably returned the favor. But beyond that, it's not exactly clear who voted for who. The bottom two made it seem like the Bass were just voting off their weakest link. So I could definitely see Duncan and Geoff voting for Harold. By the process of elimination, Sadie has to have at least two more votes from Harold, DJ and Bridgette. I'd say Bridgette was one of them because she was friends with Courtney. And Harold obviously didn't vote for himself, so I'm giving his vote to Sadie as well. And DJ? Who knows. My first guess would have been Harold but that would cause a tie. So I'm going with Sadie as well. 4 votes for Sadie, 2 for Harold, 1 for Courtney

2. Up the Creek. I mean, Izzy did give the other team advice on how to win, and Leshawna seemed pretty ticked off at her. So Leshawna and Izzy probably voted for each other. As for everyone else? They spent a lot more time bonding with each other than turning against each other, particularly between Trent, Gwen and Cody and between DJ, Geoff and Bridgette. Gwen probably voted with Leshawna because they're best friends at this point. Maybe Trent and Cody voted with them too. I guess if the Gophers heard Izzy when she told the Bass how to get back, she would have earned their votes. But perhaps Lindsay and/or Trent earned a few votes too for falling into the quicksand. I think Izzy would've been eliminated anyway though, just because she made a much bigger mistake. But it depends on who is voting. Heather's priorities seem to be #1 helping her team win and #2 crushing Leshawna and Gwen. Plus Izzy was informally a member of Heather's alliance, so it's possible she convinced Heather, Lindsay and Beth to vote Leshawna. And Owen probably didn't vote for Izzy. But he could have voted for pretty much anyone else except Cody because he had that bet going with him. Maybe, given that Lindsay was in the bottom two, Owen voted for Lindsay. I'm going to say 4 votes for Izzy, 4 for Leshawna, 1 probably for Lindsay

1. The Sucky (Not So Great) Outdoors. (The word Sucky in the original Canadian Teletoon version was edited for the US Cartoon Network version.) This was the hardest to rank because it's easy to tell that there were 7 votes for Katie and Sadie, but impossible to tell who voted for which one. I'm also going to say that Katie and Sadie both voted for Courtney because she berated them when they returned to the campfire pit. So I'm going with 4 votes for Katie, 3 for Sadie, 2 for Courtney

I found as I was Counting the Votes that a lot of people's votes are easy to narrow down, but not so easy to pinpoint. The next installment of Ranking the Votes is coming at the conclusion of season 1.

But what do you think? Which eliminations are the easiest to tell who voted for who, and which are the hardest? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

[soleiltac]

Okay, recently I found out the information from Disney Wiki that AUTO from WALL-E is the only non-sentient robot in the movie. And I don't feel like that. :(

I am aware that he is meant to be an antagonist, the "villain" of the story as he follows his directives like there's no tomorrow. But, I didn't think this trait should define ALL of his personality. Like, he clearly had emotions and showed them in a restrained way. Or at least I thought he did?

I decided to rewatch it.

Warning: spoilers, potential grammar, punctuation mistakes. Excuse me, english is hard!

***

Why do I think AUTO is a sentient robot? My observations.

• Every bot on this ship is capable of emotions, when why an intelligent steering wheel isn't?

• Well, why, he actually has them! You can tell it by his body language and a tone of deep synthesized voice.

He expresses:

1. Frustration, annoyance.

- "CAPTNNNNN D:" – AUTO said calmly.

2. Surprise.

- He is genuinely shocked to see WALL•E with 'the p l a n t' on his head. I actually laughed at his reaction.

- "n ot pos sible! 0:" every now and when.

3. He is persistent and blutantly stubborn. Strict on himself. Some people can be like that without any directives.

- Captain McCrea needed to give AUTO 'a stern look' for him to share the information about directive. AUTO reluctantly obliged. (At least he tried to reason with Captain.)

- "sir, i INSIST you give me the plant." (Dutch Van der Linde voice here: "he INSISTS...")

- (And the whole plot obviously.)

4. Anger, fear. McCrea: – You want it? Come and get it, blinky.

Auto: – N O.

- "E N ouGh" 😡 *flips the ship around impulsively*

- "NOT POSSIBLE D:" but with more panicking tone.

- "NoOOo..." when he gets deactivated.

• The whole sequence with manual is... interesting.

- At this point of the story AUTO ordered GO-4 to steal the plant from EVE to make her look defective in Captain's eyes.

- I felt how much AUTO and McCrea are tired of each other's presence. AUTO is patiently anticipating McCrea's attention, he is eager to do his job.

(- Captain tries to imitate jogging in his seat and AUTO for some reason looks at him with puzzled and uncertain look. )

- AUTO keeps pretending like he doesn't know anything...

• Which is actually not a common thing for robots. "Lying is a human emotion." (c) HAL 9000

And yes, hiding the truth is considered to be lying too.

It's not like he was instructed to lie by his superiors, they didn't care. But rather it's the tactic that he learnt while being active for 700 years. I bet he understands it would be much easier to secretly yeet the plant into space without bothering captain with a decision. I suppose it required some thinking in his mechanical brain.

When why does he show the captain an operation manual? Good question. My personal headcanon: he loves doing his job so much, it doesn't matter for him if it can increase risks towards his global goal. That is why I can tell it wasn't a programmed, logical decision of the machine. If non-sentient perfect AUTO knew about A-113, he wouldn't let captain see the possibility at all. He hasn't considered that his domestic human pet might get interested in whole "Earth" thing. And he hasn't considered sentient WALL•E and EVE as serious obstacles. He did a crucial mistake to satisfy his ego... Or... Or maybe not? It's a headcanon, after all. Maybe it was a part of protocol. Or maybe he tried to entertain McCrea. AUTO seems to care about him in some way as he didn't push him out off the power until the last moment. (uwu) Choose whatever you like more. It's a thought-provoking subject.

• That aside, have you noticed that there is not a single character in the movie who would not be terrified of having to leave the comfort zone? It's only AUTO, who is opposing this idea for the sake of survival. Recolonizing nearly-dead Earth is not an easy work, someone can get really hurt and, well, die. And knowing that AUTO is based on famous computer HAL 9000, who is, in fact, killed people because of his panic attack (he didn't want to be deactivated/murdered), this situation kinda gets a new meaning? It's an interesting perspective to look at AUTO's character, too. AUTO, like HAL, at the start of story was okay and non-hostile towards others. Eventually, as the story progresses, AUTO becomes more and more impatient, eager to complete his primary task, thus taking violent measures. In AUTO's eye WALL•E & EVE are rogue robots anyway, defected and dispatchable. But attacking the captain? AUTO's final step to AI "madness" was fighting the man he is designed to serve. And though I believe he wouldn't kill him, we can imagine AUTO was panicking at this moment. So, no programmed logic there either, pure emotion of fear and reckless behaviour, almost like HAL. And HAL is 100% sentient and conscious entity.

*** Well...

Maybe it's just me and my anthropomorphizing tendencies on non-living fictional objects. I can be self-projecting too much, so if you disagree, let's say it's my headcanons and leave that at that. After all, AUTO is a direct representation of BnL – heartless company, that destroyed life on Earth and continued destroying it in space. They made humans, their customers, helpless like babies! And I am afraid it could only be worse in the future, if it wasn't for WALL•E and EVE.

It's quite a tragedy that AUTO can't escape from this never-ending system of least resistance and comfort. He is the system. He is made to be an autopilot of Axiom, he IS the Axiom, programmed to do his job fully dedicated to the mission of saving mankind. And if he was really fully-sentient... well, it would've made his life even more miserable. What's the use of the steering wheel on Earth surface? It's not like they are gonna fly into space again. Captain's dead and woah, hello eternal loneliness, next generation forgets about your existence or decides to ignore it like a bad memory about containment. Even AUTO's closest henchman GO-4 is forever destroyed... *sigh*

I am overthinking too much, aren't I? Gosh, this wheel NEEDS a redemption arc. And friends. My heart bleeds for him, really.

[mytalemyworld]

Who shot him could be solved in many ways…here are my thoughts.

I think the spoilers said it was Neslihan who would shoot Serhan which was the most plausible option for me. Because the woman has had enough. How many times did her children suffer at the hands of Serhan? Plus she clearly stated in the beginning of the episode that he would never hurt her children again. She was aggressive, arguing with everybody, didn't seem to show her usual logical side. So I would definitely expect that from her.

However after the show had been renewed, the finale script changed, some parts were cut and we saw Neslihan unconscious. (Well, she still can regain her consciousness though, it's not impossible you know)

The other possibilities:

Why can it be him?

What wouldn't a desperate father do for his son? He doesn't hesitate to kill for his family and doesn't need to carry a gun. He can find one from the sleeping bodyguards. I think they're loaded and Serhan didn't take their guns.

Why can't it be him?

1.) The way Yaman said "what did you do?"

Children don't use formal language when they talk to their parents in Turkish culture however they usually add "dad/mom" at the end of their sentence. It was like Yaman was talking to someone around his age or someone who is close but not his parents.

2.) We didn't hear any car approaching. If the front door is open, the car must enter first. Why did he stop outside? If the front door is closed how can he sneak in without making a sound?

Why can it be him?

Serhan: Don't scream. Only Alaz is left however he is not at home.

1.) This is a bad sign like pointing out an obvious option. Only he can help but he is not there. Well, he might be on the way, evil dad.

2.) Why can't it be Güven? - reason 1.

3.) His motives? He has had enough too. He lost a sister, the love of his life, a child which he doesn't want but still can make him unstable more than he already is. He says he doesn't have any reason to move on. And if he sees his "dear" dad once again is trying to kill his other sibling, well don't expect him to act rationally. He might use the gun that belongs to the bodyguards.

Some poetical karmatic reasons: So, a long time ago in a galaxy far away... there was a scene in one of the best Yabani episodes. (I am sorry for being dramatic, but sometimes it felt like it happened in another universe) Alaz chose Asi over Yaman and almost killed him. So in a way Asi was the reason Yaman almost died. And Alaz was the tool.

In the season finale, Asi assured and promised Neslihan that she would bring Alaz back and nothing would happen to him or he wouldn't do anything bad because she would be with him. But we knew everything went wrong. He didn't stay with her and she shut the door in his face.

So if it really turned out to be him, Asi would be the reason Yaman survived and Alaz, again, would be the tool. A vicious cycle would come to an end.

Little Yaman Ali saved little child Asi, grown up Asi saved Alaz in some ways and Alaz would save Yaman. Every debt would be settled for good.

Hmm, also if the little Leia was still alive, we might see Obi-Yaman-Ali-Wan hiding her from her dad....yeah, a time jump, a darker Yabani...anything can happen.

Why can't it be him?

Because it will ruin him. Because he will be completely lost. Because he will never forgive himself. Because probably this will also affect his bond with his unborn child that exists for now. Because I will call you ruthless if you do so, dear writers.

Sigh, okay, I will be serious.

1-) Why can't it be Güven? - second reason applies him too. If the door is closed he must come from a different way but honestly, this must be shown in a very detailed way, I don't know, except maybe he is already inside which brings to my mind the other options.

Osman or Elif.

I know Osman is asleep but he might have woken up because of the voices. And Serhan was shot from a place where he was sleeping.

Elif would make sense too. But this is the weakest possibility because she is always so useless and whoever shot Serhan seems to be inexperienced. He's shot twice and a police would be more coolheaded I think.

Anyway...Whatever suits the plot and story, they will choose that option. They never try too hard to make it sense however there's a %1 probability that they will think about this a little more than their usual plot lines.

[chebyreksan]

Weeeell it’s

Feel like you fic (part 2)

————

Not finding him, the girl returned to her room and plopped down on the bed

,,Gosh, why me? no Caine, no answers. It’s F[censorship]G-’’

- come on, M[censorship]R! Ugh!

Shouting into the pillow, she raised her head to the bedside table and saw the box that ringmaster gave

- ..hmm

Taking the box, she sat down more comfortably

,, please, let it not be something dangerous. Please, not something dangerous..’’

She closed her eyes and opened the box.

- one..two.. three!

She opened her eyes abruptly. Inside was a small music box with a pattern of beautiful flowers with the inscription "moon flower".

- wow..- whispered, raising her eyebrows

Jester took out and carefully opened the box, from which music began to play. The melody filled the room, making her forget about many things, holding her breath, afraid to miss this moment. This music. This feeling.

The figure of a grand ballerina was spinning in the box and there was a plastic floor under it, through which someone can see how the mechanisms were spinning. She didn't think about anything, just lay down on the bed listening to music and realizing how much calmer she felt from this, as if she had returned to a place where there were no worries and it was warm. Somewhere far away from this place. Where was home felt

After that incident, everyone noticed Caine's strange behavior. He began to glitch more often, to wonder more often and try to hide it, which did not come out of the word at all. Everyone gathered in a circle when Caine left them again, "for something"

- Maybe he caught a virus?-ragatha asked thoughtfully

- Don't you think it has happened before?-zooble crossed their arms

- Mmm, I don't remember this, although he’s rarely been so thoughtful. Almost never!- said King, which surprised pomni because he sounded much more reasonable

- He's just going crazy, guys. Soon he will go so crazy that he will surpass Kinger- jax smiled-and he will take us to his swamp

- Jax, for God's sake shut up- ragata said with displeasure

- And-and if it's because of his new image?- gangle said softly

Everyone abruptly quieted down, looking at the gangle and she began to nervously rub her hands-ribbons

- w-well, this has never happened before, ri-right? Uh, as soon as he changed his appearance..then he became i-ill

- ..if we think about it like that-beginning of Ragatha - then it is quite possible. It sounds logical, at least

- I also think so now- pomni nodded

- Wow, gangle said something clever for the first time!- Jax laughed and zooble grabbed him by the neck, which made him groan

- D-Do you really think so?- gangle said in surprise

- Yeah, I can't think of much options for such behavior-Ragatha nodded and looked at the stage, not far from which they were sitting - it remains to figure out what to do

Zooble let go of Jax and he cleared his throat. Everyone fell silent, as if they expected someone to make the first move. And someone did.

- ..maybe we should ask him first-Pomni asked uncertainly

- Mh, as if he would just say-zooble rolled their eyes, adjusting their horns

- Hmm, maybe quite, if there is someone to trust-Jax seems to have come up with something- come on, guys , who does he trust most?

- K-Kinger?- gangle looked at the Kinger and he screamed

- What am I?!

- That's another question, who trusts Kinger?-rabbit raised an eyebrow

Except for Jax himself, everyone raised their hand and even Kinger, although he probably didn't know what it was about

- Oh come on? Are you kidding me?

- No one trusts you at all, so be quiet - zooble said with displeasure

Jax remained silent with annoying, clearly upset by such words. Pomni decided to say something so that there would not be a tense pause

- um, shall we ask bubble for help then? Caine trusts him, right?

- Probably, but bubble only appears with the help of Caine, and if we ask him to summon, he will suspect something - zooble said calmly

- okay, two things need to be found out: who does he trust and why did he change his appearance - ragatha folded her hands in a lock

- Well, he said to understand people and that it would be more comfortable for all of us..

Everyone looked at pomni in surprise and she herself stared back at them

- what? Isn't that right?

- um well..He didn't tell us the reasons -Ragatha began to explain

- More precisely, he said that it was just to see how we would react -Jax interrupted her

- .. wait, seriously?

- W-why did he say pomni the other reason?- Gangle looked at pomni , as if she could say the answer.

- Obviously, ladies and gentlemen-abruptly Jax stood up and pointed to jester- he trusts her a lot more than us. He told her the truth of his new appearance, which means she must find a way to return it back

Everyone fell silent. Pomni looked at everyone with confusion. She also stood up, showing her displeasure

- w-what? No! You can't claim that it was true. He could have lied to me too!

- Yep, but then why did he tell you another reason, hmm?- Jax chuckled contentedly

- To confuse us, probably

- But he doesn't need to confuse us, y-yes?-gang rubbed her hands-ribbons

Jester has reached a dead end. She wanted to prove something, but she couldn't do anything.

,, but it's true..if it was a game, he would have specifically said different versions, but..That's a f[censorship]r’’

Jax looked pleased and pomni started to get angry from the rabbit's behavior. Before she could do anything, bubble flew up to them, smiling broadly

- hello, friends! Caine asked me to tell you that now I will spend some time with you in adventures. Have you missed me?

- A-and what about Caine?- gangle said uncertainly

- He's fine, but a little busy. And now the adventure! Today we will play , "find a thing"!

Pomni frowned

- What kind of thing?

- You should already find out for yourself- the bubble giggled - this thing is very different from the circus, so you will find. Good luck!

- Wait-

but Bubble disappeared and pomni sighed.

- mmh, in any case, leave the victory to me - Jax put his hands in his pockets and went somewhere

- Mhm sure - doll said softly

Again, everyone has dispersed, they are doing something again. It seemed an endless task, but the ending melody was heard and jester breathed a sigh of relief. At the end of the game, everyone gathered at the stage, where Zooble was already standing and holding something, and next to her was babble

- well, participants, the winner was zooble , who found the very thing! Show them

Zooble lifted something above their and it turned out to be a disco ball

- of all things disco ball?- Jax frowned with displeasure .

- It would be better if it were a collection of bugs- Kinger muttered.

- all well done, you can go eat my gorgeous dish-

- G-GUYS!!

Suddenly, gangle collided with bubble and bubble burst. Gangle was shaking and gasping for breath

- t-there! There! I-

- Calm down, Gangle-Ragatha gently stroked her mask-calm down and tell me what happened-

- I-I found Caine! He's-he’s.. follow me! Follow me q-quickly!!

Gangle tugged on Ragatha's arm

- what? Did you find Caine?- doll looked surprised

- wow! Finally you are useful, Gangle!-zooble slapped jax on the back with all their might- Oh!!!

- f-follow me! Hurry up!

They looked at each other and quickly followed her. They went into the room and stopped. the ceiling of the room was high and glass, the walls were concrete and only a couple of crooked paintings were hanging, and some colorful figures were lying on the floor, but this was not what attracted the guys in the first place

Caine

He was just sitting in the middle of the room, leaning his back against a green figure with a blue screen of death in his eyes. Pomni reminded Ragatha when she was glitching, from which jester swallowed and decided to approach him carefully

- wait, Pomni - ragatha wanted to stop her already, but pomni didn't listen

Jester walked up to Caine and shook him a little by the shoulder. He didn 't react

- is-is-is he dead?- gangle whispered with fear, shedding tears

- It doesn't look like it, probably frozen again-shrugged Jax

- Don't panic, guys, we need to... we need to..- ragatha couldn't find words, trying to collect herself

- Need what? We'll leave him until he wakes up and that's it- zooble said irritably- we can't do anything with him anyway. He's coming back for the next game, so we're not wasting anything but time.

- Also true…Well, I'm off to eat

Jax carelessly left the room and zooble followed him. Gradually, kinger and gangle went out, leaving girls alone. Ragatha smiled awkwardly

- listen, I can see that you are worried..but everything will be fine

Ragatha put her hand on Pomni's shoulder, as if trying to support, but to jester it seemed like a doll's attempt to calm herself. Pomni looked at Caine and back at her friend , nodding

- I know,It's just..that it's all weird

- I understand, this is the nature of this circus

- Heh.. yes.. of this circus..

They were walking, but in her thoughts was somewhere far away from here. Even when they all sat down to eat, it seems everyone was thinking about the same thing, in Pomni’s opinion

If Caine dies, we won't have long to live either

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

Red Alert; an AU Guild Wars 2 Story

The Tideturners have lived in secrecy for decades, their operations hidden deep within the heart of the Mists. Rarely have they ever dared to reach out to the myriad of worlds that exist beyond their headquarters-- but things are changing. Time ticks away. The horizon draws closer. They cannot afford to hide away forever.

When the Commander was contacted by their head of security and offered a tentative alliance, he wasn't sure what to make of it. Why him? Why now? Who even are these masked strangers that all seem to know him so much better than he knows any of them? It was unsettling even back then, but now he knows exactly why.

Tick tock. Tick tock. It was a daring move, breaking into the Sidewinder's office to search for the answers, but the truth of this place is finally in his hands. If only it didn't leave him with so many more questions than answers. How can he possibly trust them now?

He has no idea how much his old adversaries feel the same.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

      The Sidewinder had always claimed that ASP’s security features shone crimson as a warning. Few had reason to doubt her claims; it made sense after all, didn’t it? Red was the color of blood. Danger. Risk. Injury. Who wouldn’t take it seriously? That was certainly how the Inquest used it, and the message never went questioned for long. To most, it was as logical an explanation as any– and there was no reason to ask any further after that.

     What else, after all, could the color red possibly mean?

     The Commander had almost forgotten, after all these years.

     Alarms blared, shrieking into the Turnabout’s main office from every direction. Every circuit flared with sharp, biting crimson, flickering along the wires and making the electric lighting overhead sputter and spark as if on the verge of a short. Power surged all around them– all from a source that he now knew all too well. How had he been such a fool?

      “Mai.” A single word left the asura’s lips. That was all he needed to say.

      The masked figure before him bowed her head. Acknowledgement, yet defiance remained as her shoulders rolled, the dangling chain links of her mechanical pauldrons rattling. He didn’t need to know what expression lay behind that disguise; he could already guess. Or, at least, he was pretty sure he could.

       “You know,” hummed a familiar electronic voice from a nearby speaker, “This really is no way to repay our generosity. Breaking into our humble workplace, after we so graciously invited you into our home? Tsk tsk. You really are a shameless little rat. Pity we didn’t set up any mousetraps for you.” Even laced with a heavy layer of static, he knew that voice well.

       “Don’t play coy with me. I know who you are, too.” The Commander’s voice was quivering. “The red energy signature, the morbid jokes, that pretentious attitude… Mai’s identity was just the last piece of the puzzle.” His eyes narrowed, jaw set as he glared into the closest camera. “You really had me going for a bit there, too. I almost believed you might be the real deal.” A twisted laugh echoed through the room, tinny as it reverberated from every intercom at once.

      He knew that laugh, too. He’d certainly heard it enough times.

      Red meant danger. Red meant fire and molten metal.

     But most of all, it also meant Scarlet Briar.

     “Come now, I would have thought the truth would be even more impressive! It’s not every day you meet a literal ghost in the machine, darling.” The Commander rolled his eyes, unimpressed.

     “Oh please. Every Inquest flunkie knows how to merge a living being with a golem, it’s not that impressive. I’ve encountered at least a dozen different biomechanical prototypes over the course of my career.” An annoyed ‘tch’ could be heard crackling through the speakers.

     “And how many of them were able to utilize that procedure to anchor a Fractalized echo, hm?” He had to admit, hearing her actually sound a bit irritated was a nice change of pace. “Or, say, give that spirit total control over a supercomputer hub and by extension, the entire facility it operates? None, I imagine. But you silly little asura do so love to think you’re the smartest ones in the room…”

     “Hm,” he remarked, unable to resist poking the bear one last time, “I think you just described yourself, actually.” A sharp pneumatic hiss rattled maintenance pipes in the ceiling, and he couldn’t quite tell if the technomancer’s invocation was hissing at him on purpose or had literally blown a gasket. He suspected it to be a bit of both.

      But the altercation was swiftly cut off as one boot thumped the floor impatiently. The Sidewinder didn’t look impressed; her tense body posture spoke louder than any words. The gleaming golden claws of one gauntlet were gripping a pistol at her hip, though she hadn’t yet drawn it. He studied her for a long moment, waiting. She made no move to approach.

     “Whatever you may think of me,” she growled finally through rattling hardware, “This doesn’t have to end in a fight. Surrender quietly and we can put this behind us.” The Commander fell silent.

     There was something in her voice that he hadn’t caught before. It was easy to miss behind the layers of electronic filtering, but… The more he focused on it, the more certain he was. He wasn’t sure how to feel about the revelation, something twisting unpleasantly in his gut. Suddenly he wondered if that mask was worn to disguise more than just her identity.

     … She was scared of him. The Sidewinder wasn’t shaking from anger, but fear.

     And in spite of all the poking and prodding, ASP still hadn’t made a single attempt to harm him. Neither of the two had, waiting for him to make the first move. They didn’t want to fight.

     The Commander wasn’t the type to back down from a scrap, no matter how impossible the odds. He’d taken on entire armies practically alone, slain massive heaps of raging dragon corruption, dismantled legions of mechanical horrors. He wasn’t afraid to use force if he had to– but that was just it, wasn’t it? He could feel his own hands shaking. This doesn’t have to end in a fight. The Mai he’d known rarely showed that kind of restraint. She only ever gave up when pushed into a corner, beaten down and hopeless.

     This woman was so broken she’d given up before the battle even began.

     There was no honor to be found in defeating someone like that. The mere thought of it just made him feel like a mean-spirited bully.

     A long, heavy sigh escaped the asura’s lips and, with no small amount of reluctance… He allowed his weapons to clatter to the floor. The Commander hoped he wasn’t going to regret that. For a long moment all was silent aside from the continuous blare of that alarm.

     “... Er..” To his amusement, the Sidewinder actually sounded a bit incredulous. “You’re.. Actually surrendering?” She straightened slowly, as if unsure what exactly she should be doing under these circumstances; this clearly wasn’t an outcome she’d actually expected. Even ASP seemed to be at a loss for words, her various jade tech artillery modules around the room slowly lowering in apparent confusion. Clearly the ‘AI’ wasn’t as much of a loose cannon as she liked to pretend.

     It wasn’t something he was used to doing either, but… This time, it felt like the right choice. The Commander nodded. “I am.” His former adversary only seemed to be even more perplexed, shifting her weight back and forth awkwardly before glancing pointedly at his dropped weapons.

     “... If I were to pass on what happened here, you'd be imprisoned at best, but most likely banished from the premises.” He could hear the inner conflict in the Sidewinder's tone. She paused for a long moment, head slightly lowered; only after seeing her nod a few times did he realize she was conducting a silent conversation with ASP. After a long, uncomfortable silence, she lifted one gauntlet and snapped her fingers.

     ASP’s alarms went silent as all the room's defenses retreated back into their hidden panels. All that remained of ASP's presence now were a few illuminated screens and the Sidewinder herself, her mask's red eyes watching the Commander in silent contemplation. He didn't interrupt, waiting patiently for her final verdict– only for the staring contest to finally break as she made a gruff ‘ahem’ into one gauntlet.

     “... Just put those away,” she ordered finally. “Gods know what sort of magical radiation you're packing. I'd rather not risk frying my hardware by handling them, but if anyone catches you armed then you're on your own.” He knows what she really means and won't say; if she confiscated his weapons they’d have to be logged. She's keeping him off the books. He gave her a nod of understanding and finally crouched to retrieve them, returning the weapons to his bag.

     “It really isn't an act, is it?” he inquired finally. “When I broke in here I assumed you were trying to pull a fast one on me, but…” Glancing to the cameras, he frowned. “You two really aren't planning anything are you?” The Sidewinder snorted quietly.

     “Oh you silly thing,” chuckled ASP with no small amount of amusement, “You really thought that, what, we lured you here as part of some nefarious trap? Come now, we both know I'm a more effective schemer than that.”

     “What she means to say,” clarified the Sidewinder with an exasperated shake of her head, “is that if we wanted to hurt you, leading you right into our base would be one hell of a stupid way to start.” One hand raised, resting on the side of her mask. Hesitation. “But… I get it. You don't trust us, and we don't trust you. Sooner or later something was going to have to give, and I know hiding so much didn't do us any favors. It’s time we talked… Face to face.”

     Click. The mask popped loose, electronics flickering out as it slid forward from the mechanical latches shifting underneath. When she drew it away, the sharp gaze that met the Commander's eyes told him everything.

      The woman staring back at him with weary eyes certainly was Mai Trin… But not as he'd ever seen her.

      She looked so tired and worn. Scars marked her jaw and vanished down into the collar of her coat, tracing old chemical burns that must have been excruciatingly painful. The wear of many years was written all over her features; he couldn't tell whether she was really that much older than the Mai he'd known, or if those creases had been carved by stress and pressure alone. This was the face of someone who'd been through the depths of hell and brought it back with her. There was no escape from the nightmares that lived on in her eyes.

     When he'd seen Mai drunken and rambling, abandoned by her crew with nothing left of her legacy except the barely coherent spirit of her former boss, he thought that was as damaged as the woman could possibly get. Maybe the Sidewinder was more stable, but he couldn't begin to imagine what could leave her with such a deeply haunted look. The Commander knew that look, though. He knew it very, very well.

      It was the same he saw whenever he looked in the mirror, thinking about all the things he could've done differently and all the lives he couldn't save.

      The Commander's gaze softened. Mai had wanted so desperately to be more than the horrors of her past. But in the end, no matter how far she ran, the darkness of her history always had a way of catching her up and dragging her down with it. He doubted this was what she'd had in mind, but it proved one thing he'd only ever been able to guess at before.

      … All she'd ever really needed was a chance to be someone better.

      “I shouldn't have ransacked your files,” he admitted, scratching behind one ear. “That was pretty reckless, even with my suspicions. I thought I knew what I was getting into, but… I apologize for misjudging you.” The Commander thought for a moment, brows furrowing. “Your version of Scarlet isn't exactly the industry standard either, is she?”

      “Well you certainly did find the rudest possible way to phrase that, now didn't you?” the invocation huffed. “But no, I suppose I'm not what you would consider a ‘standard’ echo of Scarlet Briar, as far as the Mists are concerned. Though I like to think that's a good thing.”

      “She died early,” the Sidewinder elaborated quietly. “Before the war even began. Her Alliance had barely even come together. Because of that she's a lot less… Corrupted. Turns out not having a dragon in her head does wonders for her sanity.”

     “See? As I said, it's a good thing.” Despite the revenant's somber tone, he could've sworn ASP sounded more chipper than ever. “I for one quite like being stable and well-adjusted. Isn't it nice when we aren't trying to kill each other?” In spite of himself, the Commander couldn't help a slight wry smile. He was starting to grasp her sense of humor a little bit more. For all her jokes, she was all bark and no bite.

      The last thing ASP wanted was to go back to square one.

      “Well, it's an improvement.” He maintained that smile. “At least now when you get an itchy trigger finger, you don't actually follow through on it.”

      “Exactly!” she cackled, apparently ecstatic that he was playing along. “See Mai, he gets it! These days I just traumatize nuisances with words instead of violence. It’s MUCH more efficient and I don't get confined to a toaster for maiming some incompetent clerk that doesn't know what an arcanomatrix cryotemperate modulator is.” The Sidewinder rubbed one hand over her face with the most drawn out exasperated sigh he'd ever heard. And that was quite a feat considering how many ridiculous questions had been asked of his poor college professors in class…

     “Please don't encourage her,” she groaned. “You're going to give me a hangover and I haven't even started drinking yet.” The Commander raised an eyebrow at her thoughtfully.

     “... ‘Yet?’ So I take it you haven’t kicked that habit?”

     “Try getting through a day with that menace rattling around in your skull and you'll understand.” ASP gasped in feign offense, but the theatrics were sign enough that she wasn't actually upset. He was starting to figure that out pretty quickly.

     … The two of them really were just joking around with him now weren't they? It was a surprisingly comforting revelation– not only that they trusted him enough to include him in their banter… But that he also felt good enough about it to join in naturally, too. Maybe, just maybe, this was going to work out okay in the end. Their casual snark actually reminded him of some of his friends from Dragon's Watch.

     “Fair enough,” he agreed, that smile still in place– even as ASP let out another offended gasp in turn. It was remarkable how quickly the tension had melted away now that they were actually being transparent with each other. Maybe that was all they’d really needed.

     A leap of faith, no matter what consequences it may entail.

     “Well, while you two were ganging up on me like the little traitors you are,” ASP bit back, “I’ve gone ahead and finished logging this security breach as a hardware malfunction in the official records. You’re welcome, you ungrateful drones.” He caught a faint ‘snrk’ from the Sidewinder.

     “Yes, thank you ASP.” With that, she made a swiping gesture in front of her with one gauntlet to summon a levitating holotablet, and then swiped and tapped a few more times before dismissing the display with a flick. “There, went ahead and cleared out my schedule for the day. I have a feeling this chat might take some time, Commander.” With that, she retrieved a stool from the edge of the room and placed it next to her desk, flopping into her own seat with a surprisingly casual air. He almost expected her to put her boots on the table, but apparently that level of disdain was strictly reserved for business meetings and politics.

     Understanding the prompt, he took a seat on the stool with a nod of agreement. “Then we’d better get started. I think we’ve got a lot to catch up on, Mai.”

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

     It was a bit haunting, she thought. The look on his face as she concluded her briefing felt so strange to her. Perhaps this Commander was full of surprises. And perhaps he wasn’t. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure whether his reaction was what she expected or not.

     Such keen sympathy wasn’t something she was accustomed to seeing on that face.

     But, for all his familiarity, the person wearing that face was much different from the one she’d known. And the Sidewinder had known that– of course she did– but had she been prepared for it? Not as well as she’d thought, it seemed. Even knowing the heart that beat within him was kind and warm, she still found herself waiting to find cold, bitter ice waiting in his eyes.

     This wasn’t her Commander. And she’d keep reminding herself of that until she believed it.

     “... I’m sorry,” he spoke finally. “It does explain a lot, though. And.. Strange as it is, I can relate.” The asura’s brows creased once more, studying her briefly before glancing at the red flickers that danced along a magitech display. “It seems like everyone around this place has a knack for defying expectations.” She caught the hint of a smile tugging at his lips, if for just a moment. But then it was gone– and he fixed his focused golden eyes on her once more, contemplative. “But… There’s one more thing I’d like to ask, if I may.” The Sidewinder felt her jaw clench ever-so-slightly, but she gave him a nod nonetheless.

    “Alright, ask away.” She had a bad feeling she already knew what his question would be.

    “... You never mentioned the Grand High Sovereign’s name.” She hated when she was right.

    “Trust me,” she answered quietly. “You’re better off not knowing.”

    But she could already see the answer in his eyes. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t telling him. She didn’t have to. He already knew. There was no hiding this truth from him, no matter how deeply she wished to. The guard rails were already off, and it was far too late to put them back on.

     Commander Ruju watched her silently with those tired, tired eyes, and she couldn’t help thinking how much different the two were. His expression was weary in a way that only the living could accomplish; there was a fire still burning deep within, smoldering under a layer of long-blackened ash. He kept it guarded carefully, but if you were to set your hand over the cinders, you would still sear your fingers on its concealed flame. Resolve like that had been tempered by a lifetime of strain, endlessly fighting against the flow of fate.

      The Ruju she’d known was empty and cold, forever seeking the darkness that would one day fill in where a living heart was meant to beat. There was nothing in his eyes, not even hate. That asura had felt more like a machine than a living being even before he replaced so much of his body with rigid, unfeeling metal. Now she wasn’t sure if he had a living heart at all.

      What had made him that way? The Sidewinder didn’t know, and likely never would.

      He lowered his eyes finally, one stubby claw starting to trace circles on the desk in front of him. “That’s why you chose me, isn’t it?” She couldn’t quite identify the emotion in his voice. Regret? Frustration? Resignation? All of the above? “I’m the only option you haven’t tried.” There was no blame in it, though. She almost wished that there was.

       “Lots of Commanders have tried,” the Sidewinder admitted. “None of them survived. You–”

       “I can do it.” Her heart sank, breath hitching sharply. “I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again. I might be the only one who can.” The earnest fire that broke out in his voice– the fierce resolve. She knew that expression, and she was never, ever going to let this happen again.

       “Don’t.” He seemed almost taken aback by the firmness of her tone. “The last thing we need to do is to feed another corpse into that lunatic’s meat grinder.”

       “Your chances of survival are roughly 0.000001 percent, dear,” ASP chimed in coldly. “And that’s assuming you flee at the start of battle. Victory? That’s a hard 0. I’ve run the statistics. And believe you me, a supercomputer powered by an intellect like mine simply doesn’t make errors.”

       Commander Ruju paused at that, but she could tell he was thinking. Finally there was a light tap of his nail against the table once more. His resolve was unwavering, but she saw something else this time– a flash of cunning. Maybe he was most used to having immense brute force on his side, but… That wasn’t how he got his start. Before Ruju was a soldier, he was a scientist.

      “Then, how do we even the odds?” The Sidewinder could feel her invocation smile.

      “... That’s more like it. Now you’re thinking like a strategist, Commander.”

[solomiracle]

be me

forgets some stuff about/surrounding lesson 16

goes to reread it

becomes even more confused

i only have like 2.5 questions but. what. someone explain this to me like i'm the world's dumbest 5 year old

we became lilith??

so we jump into the past in mammon's room, where the brothers (excluding lucifer) are doing their little prank. they acknowledge us, but we leave smoothly, and hide from our lucifer and our past self in lilith's room. we expect to just wait a bit and then see how the attic door was opened. but then... levi comes into the room, doesn't bring up us and lucifer, and then starts talking about how we're playing hide and seek with belphie, and now we should go look for him. we then go to the attic stairway.

while going up, we can hear lucifer and belphie fighting... despite how at the time, lucifer was with us. he begins to descend, and we manage to hide from him, despite not leaving the stairs or using magic. we then get to the attic, but cannot see a door.

i genuinely have no idea about the lucifer and stairway scene, but i can chalk up levi in lilith's room to be how for these parts, we get treated like we are lilith or at least have her power. why though. is this some really botched attempt at foreshadowing?

2. room time travel for no good reason

why did that have to happen in the first place? did the devs fear the chapters being too short or something? the story flows much better without certain rooms suddenly having scenes from the past. time travel is already tricky, the game doesn't need to make this any more complicated.

3. time loops. fuck you

the chapters are titled "the time loop" until we free belphie. the entire reason we went back in time is to figure out who freed him... which ends up being us... but we're only doing this because we didn't know it was us...????????????????

who freed belphie the first time? was it lilith's ghost or something?? while we're at it, since it's now clear that we've done this before - how many times? did we die those times too? did we get caught in the past?? time loops have to have a logical beginning you guys!!

i can blame the horrible handling of belphie post murder scene because of the game's story constraints and needing to shove the redemption into like. 2 chapters. but i can't excuse this time travel fuckery because the devs actually took time with it! just give a reason as to who let belphie out the first time, and get rid of the time traveling room/us becoming lilith deal. goddamn

[backstage-if]

Hey fend I have a bone to pick with you!

I looked at the pintrest boards and although I love Em and Spencer is still and always will be life! (Good job on the boards btw you did well! Yay!! Go you! ♥️)

Also will you consider making a list of the Ros fav movies or fav plays for me plus why they love em... pretty pleasseee 💜

but

HEY! Don't distract me!!!!!

Why are you out here making side characters hot??? Kwan, Saint and Anton have no fucking logical reason to be that attractive. My eyes are ruined now. 🙄😭 thanks for that 😑

Sorry not sorry for making hot side characters 😌 (and you maybe be able to kissy kiss with Anton, who knows what the future holds)

BUT sorry sorry sorry for the delay on the ask.

Here it goes.

C

I think C looves Sci-Fi and fantasy movies, like Star Wars and Interstellar (also, they're definitely watching Dune 2), but I choose Watermelon Woman (1996) for Cassandra and Paris Is Burning (1990) for Callahan. I can imagine them age 14, starting questioning themself, hiding under the covers to watch these in the middle of the night and still considering their fav movie to this day.

For favorite play, right now I would say The America Play by Suzan-Lori Parks, because of its themes about living in your own shoes and also bc they consider it to be challenging.

Neil

I can see Neil saying his favorite movie is something classic like 12 Angry Men (1957) (why is he always telling half-truths?), but actually having a soft spot for The Sixth Sense (1999). I just imagine him putting it on TV the following week of his mother's funeral + after his grandma returned to her house and both of his siblings ending up in the living room watching it with him bc all three of them haven't be able to sleep well.

For a play, it's Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, because 1) he watched it once with his parents (it's also one of his dad's favorite plays, unfortunately), 2) the themes.

Joy

I don't feel like Joy has an actual favorite movie, I think it depends on her humor and changes basically every week bc she loves movie nights with friends and/or with her cat. The most recent one would be Boogie Nights (1997) because of vibes ✨️ and also Julianne Moore.

For play, it's The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. She wrote an analysis on it for college and now believes it's a classic for a reason. Same as movies, Joy's favorites changes for time to time, but this still holds the first place (for years now).

Spencer

Spencer has a lot of movies they consider close to heart, but some recent ones are Garoto/Kid (2015) and Sound of Metal (2019). They are captivated by the acting and the themes (they think a lot about feeling unnable to do what they love and about death, probably more than would be healthy).

I think Spencer likes a lot of plays, but never actually stopped to choose a favorite one. Right now, their answer would probably be Little Shop of Horrors, because of the combo themes + music + pratical effects + they did it once right after they started acting (as ensemble) and have good memories of it.

A

A watches a bunch of movies with their mom when she has free time, so they have multiple favorites to choose from. Right off the bat, Ameera would say Lady Vengeance (2005) and Adarsh would choose Memories of Murder (2003), simply because these are movies they really enjoyed and think about rewatching from time to time (unusual for them, who prefer to discover new movies).

Now, for play it would be Spring Awakening, because no one can convince A not to choose a musical. It's a dream role for them and one of the reasons they decided to quit ballet and choose theater (not as dramatic as it sounds, more like.... it help them realize it seemed interesting and challenging and captivating in a way they didn't feel like ballet did anymore).

[fivekrystalpetals]

Not me making the umpteenth post about this very panel, but, bc I have only so much to go by here ;_; this panel has some funny underlying subtext because at the first glance, this seems like a very normal, very formal conversation between two people who are more or less strangers but--

1.] Break knows her name now?

interesting that Break addresses her as Miss Lottie here, and not little miss (flirty (derogatory)) like in the Sablier arc.

so, my guess is that he really did not know her name then, because he simply followed Oz (eye of the cyclone lmao) hoping to find some Baskervilles targeting him as they did in the Lutwidge. In fact, Oz himself wanted to do the same, put himself out there as bait for the Baskervilles before deciding to venture into Sablier.

(Funny how Break shoots down Oz's idea of meeting the Baskervilles with the excuse that they might be following absolute orders and hence, useless to negotiate with. and then..... proceeds to do the same lol)

[more under the cut cuz I can't shut up about these two lol]

Also, in the same chapter, Oz lets slip Zwei's name in their conversation which Break silently registers--

all in all, the most names among the Baskervilles he would have known by the time of Sablier arc is Zwei's.

meaning, after returning from his meet-cute meeting with Lottie, he must have set about trying to find out her name. Since they don't have internet in those times, only way to get information is to manually dig around.

but... of course, that is not possible just like that, right? Break cannot ask around a Baskerville's name without raising a bunch of questions, facing trouble from the Pandora (which is why he even hid the Intention's desire from them), ntm, nobody even knew any of the Baskervilles, much less their names.

Well, nobody except Oz. Oz did get to meet the Baskervilles and see and hear them interacting. during which time, Fang and Doug did call out Lottie's name a bunch of times. so obvs Oz should know her name. however, it's up in the air whether he would remember, rather want to remember the name of the girl who stomped all over his chest?

so this means Break really went that extra mile to manipulate this information out of Oz without rousing his suspicions. Oz is too smart for his own good, mind you. The slightest misstep, he is going to figure out what Break was planning:

and from this panel, it appears he didn't want anyone (including Oz and Gil) to know what he had been planning with the Baskervilles. and now even we, the readers, will never know lol

He must have asked Oz to recount his experiences from Lutwidge for him again and got him to slip up her name, the way Oz did for Zwei. Sneaky, so sneaky!

sooooo, while everyone was busy putting together two and two about the Tragedy of Sablier and whatnot, Break here was trying to squeeze out the name of the girl he met in a dungeon someday before he went fully blind (he was fated to see her just once, he can never see her again.) lmaooo what kind of shoujo manga plot was he playing out here?

2.] Lottie expected to meet him again?

This is a little more obvious but funny (to me) nevertheless. when Break puts his sword at her throat, Lottie doesn't even blink or get startled, merely sighs and goes: oh yeah I was wondering why the hell you didn't show up?

But for some reason I felt you'd show your face here.

So, I don't think she means Break making an appearance at Yura's party. That's way too obvious. Rainsworths, and by extension, Break their important valet, are invited and are going to be present here.

No, this means she had a feeling Break would slip out of there and come out here to have a tête-à-tête with her which is just... ??? How was she so sure? Was she looking forward to it? Waiting for him to write her a letter to her hiding place in Sablier or something? Waiting for him to come there just as her lion knocked down Yura? She wasn't in the least fazed! just goes, oh yeah I was waiting for you >_>

Because logically, Break surely went radio silent the whole of the month(?), right? Owing to his untimely blindness, whatever plans he might have had for her also must have cut off. Unless he got help from another person which he didn't seem to want, esp. not in this case, which, for whatever reason, he wanted to keep a complete secret. And in spite of this radio silence, Lottie doesn't think he was bluffing or stood her up at Sablier. She actually seems quite prepared to meet him here? I wonder how many times she turned the scenario over and over in her mind since they met and parted, and got more irritated what the hell did he mean and if he did mean something, why can't he contact her again?

because, the very first thing she demands of him is an explanation of what he meant by his words at Sablier

and surprisingly, this.... surprises him? at least enough to sheathe his sword and start talking properly to her??? (a huge thing bc Break never gives a straight answer; he is always talking in riddles and annoying everyone on purpose)

[lulubelle814]

Just Dizziness - Chapter 35

Tom’s POV

She was supposed to be home 2 hours ago.  What if something happened to her?  I tried Emma first who said they had just parted but that she had seemed down and dejected.  I tried reaching out to Ben to see if maybe Sophie had heard from her for some reason but didn’t have any news but said he would keep me updated.  It was another 20 minutes before I heard back from him.  She had somehow run into Sophie in the past hour or so, miraculously, but then why wasn’t her phone on? 

I really fucked up, didn't I?

Your POV

It felt so good talking to Sophie, but I was nervous going home, hesitating as I approached the house.  I took a few moments to think about things. Do I really want to go home right now? Should I talk to him? 

Mind you, I was still a bit mad and hurt but decided to press on because I owed it not just to him but also myself.  He had a right to be upset as well.  Trudging up the walk, I reached to open the front door when it whipped open to a frantic looking Tom, his eyes red and brimming with tears, hair wild.

“She’s here mum.  I’ll call you back.”  

Before I could get a word out, he wrapped me in a hug so tight that I couldn’t help but drop the bag of puddings.  I could tell he felt guilty, but the way he held me was tight but comforting, and I couldn’t help but lean into it, hiding my face into the crook of his neck and his into mine.

“I’m so so sorry, my darling.”  His tears fell onto my neck, regret evident in his voice.  Before either of us could speak again, we moved further inside, closing the front door, him picking up the bag of puddings, following me to the couch where we sat but didn't quite settle.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing. I should have told you."

"I should have been more understanding. What you've been through is unfathomable. I'm the one who overreacted. If I had stopped and listened, maybe I would have realized sooner."

Placing his right palm on my cheek, he pressed his forehead to mine. "How could you possibly have known, Tom? How could you unless I told you?"

He sniffles a bit. "I don't know, but I should have…..I should have been more diligent to you and your needs.  More observant perhaps.”

"Oh, you stupid, beautiful man. You can't predict everything. Shouldn't you have figured that out by now? "

With that, he gave me the sweetest kiss, holding me as I buried my head in his neck. 

"The one thing I've known, that I feel in my soul, is that you are home, where I feel safe. Those dreams just felt so real, but even at some point during those, I knew you were where I wanted to be. So if this isn't real, I don't care. I don't want to wake up to a world where I don't have you. "

He held me tighter. "I was so afraid of losing you. I cannot be in this world if I do not have you by my side. Even Zeus himself was not successful when he split us in half.  I would find you wherever you were, even if you were in another universe."

I couldn't help but laugh a bit to myself. "Yeah, Plato really had an interesting idea of soulmates, but I can't argue with your logic."  We held each other for what seemed like hours.  At some point he had pulled me into his lap. Neither of us wanted to move, but eventually my bladder won out after some time. 

When I exited the bathroom, I took a moment to change one of his shirts and some lounge pants before meeting him back in the living room.  He had the desserts and drinks ready by the time I arrived back to him, Lord Huron playing in the background. "Thought it might be nice to just have a relaxing evening. We can order take away if you're hungry.  And these puddings you picked up look amazing."

I shook my head and he pulled me close to sway to the music.  After a moment, I took a deep breath and asked him the big question on my mind. "What if it were true? "

"What's that, dear? If what were true?"

"What if it turned out this wasn't real? I don't know if I could handle it ...."

He picked up my hands in his and held them to his chest. "I know this is real, that you and I are here, together. If it weren't? I would fight until my last breath to enter wherever you are in as we are meant to be together in every universe."

We swayed to the music, occasionally eating before falling asleep together on the sofa some time after midnight.

Bolting up in a strange bed and in an unfamiliar room, it took me a few moments to remember where I was and how I got here. As I started waking up more, it came back to me. I was at Sophie's. 

Chapter 36

[jheselbraum]

Very disappointed that there are, apparently, no plans for totk dlc, because this means that:

There's no replacement for the master cycle. Seriously Nintendo? You transfer my horses from the regular game and my priceless photo of my dead friends from the dlc but my motorcycle is just gone and all I have is a shitty zoanite dupe??? I can make a fucking plane with zonai tech don't act like the presence of a working motorcycle would break the game I paid good money for that bike

There's multiple sidequests in gerudo town that Nintendo seemingly forgot to put in and normally that'd be, like. Fine, whatever, I don't need to give this guy ten frogs or whatever, I actually think it'd be really funny if there was one guy who would normally be a sidequest but link is just "No" and doesn't do it. But for some reason all the broken sidequest markers are shit like "bozai, you know that creep from the first game no one liked? He's illegally entered gerudo town and you cannot turn him in" and "an innocent man just trying to check on his wife and daughter during a natural disaster has been thrown in jail. You logically should have the ability to a) alert his wife to his predicament and b) at the very least bail the husband out of jail, come on. Multiple NPCs talk about this dude and even tell you where his wife is, like they're trying to guide you towards a sidequest, but the only thing you can do is show the poor schmuck a picture of his kid. The fact that you can do nothing about either of these situations is bad, and it makes me as a player feel bad. Like this is bad, Nintendo. I shouldn't have to tell you why having these things go unfixed is bad Nintendo. I shouldn't have to tell you why having someone successfully creep on your already sexualized race of middle eastern coded warrior women is bad, Nintendo.

More of a side note than a dlc idea but, is Kass...... dead? Is he just dead? Was he dead the whole time and just didn't tell his wife and kids because he didn't want them to be upset? Did he die before botw and just hide his body and tell his wife "my, uh, mentor died, so I have to go on a journey to fulfill his last request" and she didn't notice because apparently ghosts can just. Decide if they're going to be transparent or not in this game? That's the only explanation I have for all traces of him being fucking gone in totk and Penn talking about him like he lived 100 years ago. DLC could answer these questions. Why did you think we wanted an update on our bird bard friend less than we wanted an update on the relationship between Finley the zora child and Sasan her adult Hylian groomer, Nintendo? You could've just quietly erased Sasan from existence instead but no you had to double down on that didn't you.

The plot of totk is that Zelda accidentally Isekais herself into a different Legend of Zelda game and Nintendo is passing up on a golden opportunity to do a splatoon 2 and have the dlc be a playable Zelda campaign. I shouldn't have to explain to you why this would do well in 2023.

DLC for this game would not only objectively improve the plot but not having any is also, like. It's like saying "eh, we don't really feel like printing money today"

I don't want to hear shit from Nintendo about pirated games ever again. I mean that was true before this whole "No totk dlc" thing came out I genuinely do not care about Nintendo's profit margins, but I don't think any company that sits on a product like this and has the opportunity to make even more money and chooses not to has the right to complain about pirated games hurting their bottom line.