#huh!! well I'm game but I AM puzzled!

[woso-dreamzzz]

New Girlfriend III

Lucy Bronze x Ona Batlle x Teen!Reader

Summary: You make a game

When Lucy cracks open your door, you're as you always are.

You're hunched over your computer, clicking around some game level aimlessly with your tongue sticking out in concentration.

Your mice, like they always are when you're in the room, are running riot in their pen.

Outside of their cage and on the floor, you've set up a little pen for them to roam around and play in.

Lara and Zelda are wrestling like always as Clementine tries to work through the enrichment puzzle full of food. Ezio is asleep, flopped over on your shoulder as you study whatever new game you've found.

"You ready for dinner?"

Now that it's gotten colder, you've managed to get even moodier than before and even more of a shut in.

"One sec," You say. You click around the game level a bit more before pulling up a separate tab to type a long string of something Lucy can't even hope to understand. "Alright, I'm done. What's up?"

Lucy rolls her eyes fondly. "Dinner. Now. Ona cooked."

You push your chair out from your desk and stretch, your back cracking from the long hours you've spent hunched over.

You put the mice back into the cage, each of them getting a quick snuggle and kiss before you bolt it shut.

"Is it good food?" You ask as you go down the stairs.

"It's better than your mum makes!" Ona calls out and you grin.

"Yeah, but anything's better than Mum's cooking!"

Lucy grumbles, shaking her head. "One nice meal is all I ask. One meal where I don't get horrifically bullied!"

"We don't bully you," You say," It's character building!"

You and Ona laugh and Lucy just rolls her eyes. Sometimes, you think she would prefer if it went back to what it was like when you were first adapting to Ona.

"Oh," She says," I sent you those audio files you wanted."

"Thanks."

Lucy frowns. "She's been making you do those too?"

"Yeah, it's for a school project, right?"

You nod. "Uh-huh. It's for programming."

"I know I shouldn't have let you sign up for that," She says," It's all you ever do. I think you're losing sleep over it."

"You'll like it," You declare," What I'm working on. I promise."

"I'm sure that I will but it doesn't mean I think you're sleeping well. Put it down for once, that's all I'm saying."

You roll your eyes.

Lucy's always like that about your programming. Sometimes she lays asleep at gone three in the morning and can still hear you typing away on your computer for hours on end.

You return to your room after dinner ends and briefly come out to show Ona what you're working on while also denying Lucy the same opportunity.

"You've love it," Ona assures her at training the next day.

"Love what?" Keira asks," Oh, y/n's game? Yeah, you'll love it, Luce."

"Am I the only one that hasn't seen it?!" She demands, glancing around the room at people who are trying to not make eye contact with her. "Seriously? Raise your hand if you've seen it?"

Slowly, everyone raises their hand.

"This is so unfair!"

When you first got given the project, Lucy had been the first person to be clued into your plans. You showed her all your design sketches and all your ideas as you jumped between them.

At one point, one of your bedroom walls had been covered in concept designs and you would stand in front of it and point out certain aspects you liked and things you didn't think were quite perfect yet.

Lucu had been integral to your thought process and then all of a sudden she was shut out. You'd ask her to record voice lines or demonstrate doing something but you'd never explain why or what it was for.

You all but unplugged your computer when she came in unexpectedly and tried to get a sneak peak.

"Alright," Lucy says when she gets home to see you and Ona giggling on the sofa together," I've had enough. Show me your project."

You sit upright immediately, eyes wide.

"No-"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. I've had enough of the secrets."

She's serious. You can tell by the clench in her jaw and the way her arms are crossed over her chest.

Lucy's stubborn but you inherited from her so you're stubborn too.

Your cross your arms in the same way as you stand. "No! It's not finished! You can see it when you're finished!"

"Hey," Ona intervenes before the argument can truly get heated. Her hand rests on your shoulder. "It's okay. Just show her."

"I can't! It's not ready!"

"Come on," Ona says," Show her."

You glance at your Mum, who is staring at you with that same stern look and crossed arms as the one that she came in with.

"Fine. Give me a sec."

Lucy sits on the sofa as Ona hooks up a laptop to the tv.

You come back in with a disc and nervously put it into the dvd slot.

Lucy doesn't know what to say when the opening credits appear.

'Lucy Bronze: The Game' with a little pixel version of her holding the Champion's League trophy up on her head.

"We were meant to make a game about a hero," You say," And you're my hero."

[sunny-fox]

Misheard

Fandom: Genshin Impact (SAGAU)

Reader's pronouns: they/them

Warning(s): implied toxic friendship, cult behaviour

------------------------------

As much as he hated to say it, Wanderer had to admit that he simply enjoyed it when he became your vessel. He loved the feeling of your warm gaze upon him, the sound of your voice as you hummed or sang, the way you'd give him and his team members your undivided attention when you played the game.

Today was no different. He hurled Anemo energy at his opponents, smiling smugly to himself when he defeated the final one.

"Don't be so smug about it," Faruzan snapped at him. "It's not like you'd be able to defeat them so quickly if we hadn't been providing support."

"And did I ask for your help?" he asked. "Their Grace was the one who chose this team. They should've just put me on the team, and me only. Then I wouldn't need to save the three of you all the time. And," he added with a grin, "I would be able to show them just how powerful I am, even without any help."

Bennett, sweating nervously, turned to look at the Geo Archon. The man just sighed and looked away from the Anemo vision holders, motioning for Bennett to step away from them. Perhaps he's worried that they'd start fighting again? Bennett wondered, but obeyed nevertheless.

Zhongli and Bennett said nothing as they picked up materials. They could hear your voice - you were humming as usual, sometimes singing softly. You started to sing a short but soothing song repeatedly - something about going on a journey - and despite not knowing its title, they enjoyed it all the same, successfully tuning out the bickering of their team members (or maybe the reason they no longer heard them was because they had stopped to listen to your voice).

But then they heard the creak of a door being opened, and you stopped singing.

------------------------------

You turned to your right just in time to see someone open the door and step into your room. Ah, it's them. You let out a barely audible sigh. You should've expected it - there were no knocks, it could only be them.

"What's the matter?" you asked as your friend walked towards you.

"I want to go for a walk and get some ice cream," they said. "Can you come with me?"

Your gaze flickered towards the screen of your device for a brief moment. "Sorry, I don't plan on going outdoors right now. I'm a little tired."

"How about later?" they pressed. "Or tomorrow?"

"I..." you hesitated. You really didn't want to go with them.

Right at that moment, a voice interrupted your conversation. "Huh. How irritating."

------------------------------

"Wanderer! You're not supposed to say that! There's no rain at all, let alone thunder!" Faruzan scolded.

"I'm just telling the truth," Wanderer said, shrugging. "They are irritating."

Zhongli tilted his head backwards to look at the sky. "Though we lack a screen to see Their Grace's face, I can tell from their voice that they're uncomfortable."

"Why won't that person leave Their Grace alone, then..." mumbled Bennett.

"Who knows? All I know is that they're so ignorant, they can't even tell when someone simply doesn't want to spend time with them, be it right now or in the future." Wanderer muttered, looking at the sky as well.

------------------------------

"Uhhh... What was that?" Your friend looked puzzled upon hearing the new voice in the room.

"Oh, that's just the voiceline of the character in the game," you said, gesturing at your screen. "The characters have idle animations and voicelines."

"Okay...so...can you go with me later?"

Why can't they understand that you didn't want to spend time with them? You mustered the courage to refuse and opened your mouth. But before you could say a word, there was that voice again.

"Ignorant idiot."

"Take a hint."

"Leave this room right now."

"Please leave Their Grace alone!"

You stared at the screen in shock. You were pretty sure that you've already heard all of Wanderer's voicelines by now, and that certainly wasn't one of them.

"What's wrong?" Your friend asked.

"Oh... Nothing! It seems like there's a problem with my device, I have to fix it right now, sorry!" you said quickly.

Your friend sighed. "Okay... But we'll go together in the future, right? You have to go with me during the holidays! "

You nodded with a strained smile, and your friend left.

You opened the Character screen and scrolled through Wanderer's voicelines. There was not a single voiceline where he'd mention "Ignorant idiot."

As expected.

There wasn't.

Maybe you had misheard him.

Or maybe you hadn't...

[homunculus-argument]

I know it would probably be a logistical nightmare to also make this accessible to the actual people represented, but I think it would be cool to have a game where the whole point is that every character has different limitations, that make it impossible or at least incredibly difficult to get past the whole game without switching them every once in a while, and the way you switch is by going to another character and asking their help with something.

Like you start out the game with one character and go "oh huh, the colour sceme of this game is really cool, really interesting use of such a limited palette", play through the puzzles for a while, and then encounter something where you're supposed to arrange some slightly differently coloured puzzle pieces to the right order by shade or something, and it's goddamn impossible. No matter how many methods you try, it's just not clicking, no matter how logical your solutions seem, no matter how clearly they can't be arranged in any other way that'd make more sense.

And maybe you go online to ask people "hey I'm stuck in the colour puzzle, what the hell am I supposed to do to get past this?" and someone tells you to go find one of the other playable characters and ask for their help. Which sounds patronising and stupid but you're stuck so you might as well give it a try. You go to one of the other characters, choosing the dialogue option to go "hey I need a hand with something, I can't do this on my own", and when they go "sure, let's go", your controls now switch to the other character.

And the colour scheme switches immediately. The aesthetic limited palette has changed to a far wider range, there's details in the environment that you hadn't noticed, like the muted faint flowers on the ground are actually bright red, the greyish shirt that your first character was wearing is actually striped with orange and green. The first POV character is colourblind, this whole time you haven't been able to perceive the difference between green and red. Solving the colour arranging puzzle with the other character is a breeze.

And this is the repeating theme of the game - every character has their own limitations, and while none of the puzzles are easy, you learn to think "maybe I should ask someone to help me with this" whenever you've been stuck for an unreasonable amount of time. You need to grab a buddy along for the quests, or you'll need to go back to get one eventually, and the way the game is structured somehow ensures that you can't just tactically dodge the limitation puzzles beforehand. Deaf character's POV doesn't have the audio clues that different pieces of the same puzzle make a different clicking sound, the puzzle with garbled numbers on it stops being garbled when you're not playing the character with dyscalculia.

You slowly get to know the whole cast, and occasionally help them out with things, too. You know which character could probably help with something you're stuck with, but while they'd be glad to come help, they're unfortunately stuck doing some task that could take you 20 minutes but is going to take them all afternoon, and you can offer help. Sometimes the helping-a-buddy-out minigames don't come with any direct transactional reward, you can just help a friend with something just because you can.

And the game's whole goal isn't to just illustrate how different people have different strengths, and sometimes things that are easy for you are hard for someone else, and vice versa, but to condition the player to think "maybe I should just ask someone to help, instead of wasting time struggling on my own."

[lrayasostripes]

Rayas at the RTV Tour.... THE CHAOS at the Social Media Department. (Week 3.5)

Third week and a half of the RTV Tour, by @rtv-puzzlevision-studios

Directory:Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 3.5-ish

Note 1: Once again, writing this in first person. Also, no drawings here sadly.

Note 2: My main Oc is in the spectrum. But as the Tour goes, she might slowly try to interact a little bit. Especially when either trying to make social interaction. She eventually shows she's an empath. But also, do not overwhelm her.

Note 3: Interactions to the inserts are all Bg and not always direct for bigger actions. Interactions with Ocs and RTV characters more obvious.

Note 4: Some lore drop, and 2% angst.

Final note: Same as previous posts. Rayas is a participant/visitor, and not the same for a future RTV version.

Story

"Well, if you’ve said your GOODBYES then we can get moving again!" said Mr Puzzles. EVeryone is heading to the Social Media Department.

I turned around and waved one last time to the SMG3 Gang, just in case, they still see me... they do (apparently as SMG3 seemed to soften his expression despite his tired look) (hope they'll never forget me)

Thanks for the gifts.

The walk to the courtyard has been uneventful, except the fact, I can see my drawing flying around from a distance, taunting me! Taunting me to break from the group. Sigh....

The fact the drawing isn't being noticed, it's because it is flying very quietly (why so quiet?), and maneuvering in a way it is almost impossible for someone to notice. I feel like someone jinxed it back home, just to get me in trouble. I just wished someone I trust in this group could grab it and give it to me when they find it and see the watermark.

Sigh, I hug my umbrella and Puzzles plushie for comfort and reassurance. And still thinking of the gifts Boopkins and Tari gave me back at the castle. The acrylic Pichu brothers keychain, and the custom Inscryption Deathcard (Tari decided to make a copy to keep it. Smart).

“BACK we go to Block B! No worries though, you don’t have to walk the STAIRS again. The Social Media Department is on the ground floor!” said Mr Puzzles as everyone kept walking.

But one thing I still recall, is that I was able to respond to (RTV) Mr Puzzles when he addressed me back at the game room. I feel like I made progress with meeting other Puzzles. Note, he's the first 'other' Puzzles to meet; the rest... still thinking, if it all goes well. (But why did it had to be him? and why did my drawing had to go at the wrong place?)

Now, the Puzzlevision Studio is near now. My drawing, still flying in the breeze; invisible to all but me. Hm... has Lucian seen it? Also, did the silhouette girl liked the matcha latte? I wanted to move around, find her and get close, but I'm still wary.... Not yet. Okay, guess I'll subtly try to approach Lucian to ask if the girl liked it. I slowed a little and glanced at Lucian. Without saying a word or displaying something in his "face," he gave me the thumbs up. Phew...

If SMG3 loved it, and then the Gang, does it mean... what i make... would it heal others? Am I a healer?

I look back at the drawing, still flying around. Ah! It is immediately heading at the group. Please don't be noticed and or landed to someone. Wait, it's heading in my direction! Come to- The drawing smacks right into the face of a participant with a Puzzlevision cap who's in the back! Ah! Please don't look at it! (I can't help but cringe inside and look away) And please, give it ba- No! Don't flick it away! It's flying in the air again... Nice... I just hope this person didn't looked long enough at it. I turn my face forward... Sigh... (A... hoodie?)

The doors to the studio open. Let me guess, the drawing will either stay outside, or go back in without anyone but me noticing it? The answer.... Inside. Well, time to play the waiting game I guess...

Huh, why am I feeling something weird in my stomach (nope, nothing to do with Grinnames' dish, I trust her) and chest? Also, my head feels weird as well. I close my umbrella just as the doors to the studio open. I hug my umbrella and plushie; they make me feel safe.

The bridge... still have yet to cross it...

Back inside the studio, heading towards the ground floor, Block B; and closing my Umbrella. Heh, it's strange, the Art Department is on the same block, above the Social Media Department. Hm... I wonder what the department looks like. By the way, I have not forgotten Animsay is the head of the Social Media Department.

I got a bit distracted that when I heard... something around the building. What was it? (Just hope it isn't what I'm thinking) OH man... I lost track of my lost drawing, but I hope if the cameras saw it again, they could inform Lucian to get it back to me... again. I walked just a little bit, on the corner of my eye, I saw the silhouette girl with the matcha latte. Score!! She kept it! Oh how I would like to tell her it was me who made it, and asked Lucian to give it to her; and say everything will be okay.

Thinking of all the good things past, I sort of felt that every time something good happens, my chest feels warm. And for whatever the reason, it seems people are likely to befriend me. Again, am I an empathy/sympathy magnet?

But not now... the next department.

“Whooooo! Home sweet, home!” Said Animsay cheery after Mr Puzzles announced the department. (Ha ha, Animsay is fast)

“Animsay will now explain to you the BASICS of this department.”, Mr Puzzles explained, before stepping into the corridor where Animsay now opened the door to the biggest office room of the department.

Well, looking into the big space of the department, every monitor was on every desk row. And a very large screen shown on the wall, projecting the Puzzlevision logo (from this place). Just... wow...

I got to say, despite what I thought about Animsay of her maybe not knowing boundaries of social interaction with someone like me, it was kind of funny when she stood on top of the table on the big screen.

“We are mainly responsible for making ads AND as the name says, manage pretty much everything connected to social media! Into that counts the creation and coding of websites, boosting and advertising Puzzlevision media and posts, but also…moderation.”

Oh, well that checks. Moderation, as in... what not to share or, the cons of use of social media?

Animsay actually answered that. So basically, the Social Media takes action when something. And incredibly, alerting the law as well? Hm... that's something. Well, this place does have a level of keeping things done, but in excess? The topic changed to Swag getting the law on his door three times all because he talked about his tank in a group chat (I couldn't help but imagine that)- Wait, is Swag still in the military in this place's version? Anyways.... um... great example Animsay.

"Back to Topic-" said Mr Puzzles, slightly louder. I couldn't help but glance at him. He appears to be having a headache, like, he's trying his best not to lose his cool as Animsay continues to get back on topic. Again, this Mr Puzzles is different...

"What else is there to say? Well, my office is next door but that’s not really interesting. There are a few side offices as well for brainstorming or if you prefer a smaller environment. Oh yeah and then there is the room to the room one day further where we talk to-”

(Um... Earth to Houston, Earth to Animsay?) (Also talk to who? I don't know how this place works or the story, but... I'm just a visitor. Not a part of the story...)

“Well, sadly it’s off limits! Unless, boss over here allows a look?"

I waited a little to turn to Mr Puzzles' reaction. When I did.

"Off-limits I’m afraid. VIP only." Phew, he answer curtley, and smiled as an apology to the crowd (I admit, I imagined he saw me in the crowd). Well, if "The Room" is off-limits, I would never go against the rule.

"Welp, that’s all then! If you have questions they can be asked now!" Animsay clasped her hands. Well, wonder what everyone will be asking now.

So... now what?

At least, everything is going fine. But, why does my chest and head feel weird? Like... something is about to happen. I keep my umbrella and plushie close for comfort-

I noticed Mr Puzzles look around the crowd... why? (and where's the little girl, the youngest, in the group going?) Oh boy, the look... As his eyes passed me, I hugged my plushie and umbrella closer. For a moment I saw him look and briefly smile softly before changing to a stern look as he looked away. Hm... just me? I tried my best to keep my mind off... whatever is happening. The weird feeling remains... I have to...look back-

OH... Oh no! (It's too soon! Not now!)

.......! My drawing!-

"SMG- (ouch my ears)

It happened so fast! My drawing happened to slip out of a ceiling vent, just right into Mr Puzzles' direction! And the timing when this person... SMG4 (this diff SMG4), shot what appears to be an EMP blast at his head. The way RT- Mr Puzzles fell, it was... The whole room was entire chaos. Everyone panicking and running. The girl who I made the matcha latte for her, ducked away, but the drink falling to the floor. A person with very big hair ( @purplehairball ) falling on to him (left hair on his clothes, oh dear). In the panic, I was running around and pushing to get my drawing back. So many turns and almost getting tripped, I managed to catch it from under a cubicle. I let out a big sigh now that it has returned to me; I tuck it this time, under my shirt's pocket, behind my vest.

The noises, so LOUD. I covered my ears, as the commotion went. I couldn't help but, glance back. Oh boy... SMG4 is not getting away anytime soon. Even if I knew this is a different Four, and that I'm just a visitor, I couldn't help but feel bad for him... But what can I do?

“I-I don’t even know you!”...... of course, he.

We are all outsiders and doesn't know it... And as much as I wanted to tell him, we are all just participants... I cannot interfere with the plot. Recalling my drawing smacked him in the face back outside, if he got a better look at it... Who knows if the bridge will break with the knowledge... of.... the existence of... other...

I saw Animsay walking up, leaving where she was. She gave me a brief glance from where I was hidden and her smile still present before walking a few steps to face the crowd. The smile... how is she not panicking? I don't know her much... but is she that... resilient? (if I where her, I would be concerned and at least, comfort someone)

... OH this is not going well to my emotional state. Feeling a near overload of emotions...

Before I reach a meltdown, and now that I have my drawing back, I decided to get up, and hopefully run past Lucian (sorry) when he's being confronted by the same dragon shifter (Marie by @fenicearts420) and a girl wearing a mask and brown hair (Lari by @lari-the-dragon); both trying to defend SMG4. And Lucian appears very reluctant to fight them; they are tourists... I was going to slip by and run to the exit but....

In the corner of my eye, I saw the little girl who shuffled quietly a minute ago before the chaos. She looks very scared (are those antennae trying to poke out? cute). And I just.... froze...

“Dear employees and visitors, we are currently facing a vermin problem. Until the issue is resolved, the whole building will be going on lockdown starting now.”

The intercom sounded, that is snapped me out of my daze (or it was Grinnames' panicking. Hey, careful!! Sorry). And that... voice? I don't think it's Karen from back in the Lobby. As soon as the intercom finished, metal blinds covered the windows, and sounds of stuff getting locked throughout the building ... Oh boy... it's dark now, with the screens and the big one to illuminate the big office (Lucian's "head" has a cool neon glow effect though)

All of a sudden, the screens including the big one. (Animsay... what?) The screen finally showed the silhouette of... Wha?! HIM...?! (right... this... this place.... it's story...it's characters) If Meggy was here, she'll probably have a panic attack, ever since the incident.

(I half learned this place... is it changing too quickly?)

What is he going to do now?

“If you want me to lift the lockdown, you have a choice.” "Option 1: You take out 4 over there and I will give you a free pass! Tour is over, the problem solved, you all can go home!"

I just hope doesn't mean... putting him down, I don't think I would handle it. Even if it's a different Four. I rather continue the Tour with no issues, and just remember the times things went well with me.

“Option 2: You wake up the big boss and he can decide what to do with you.”

Waking Mr Puzzles could help stop the AI,... But, wouldn't he lose his cool once awake? Besides, the dragon shifter and one with the mask defended SMG4... I imagine they aren't going to go scott-free. The "Wren" AI saw... EVERYTHING.

Is there a third option?

“Option 3: You outlaws do neither of those and we can enjoy playing a game of tag. I’m sure I can take care of this whole issue myself within the hour! So, choose wisely. Happy trails!”

All of the screens return to normal.... We are.... oh boy... (So much that I'm a "comes in three" and third try's a charm)

But... I... I didn't even joined in to stopping Four, and or defending him... I'm in the middle of the storm now. The ones that also didn't do anything... (are we... what's the name... collateral?)

Tuning out the squabble of Four and Lucian, for a long time since... I felt lost, useless, hopeless... null. I just wanted to recover the drawing, and leave the tour on good terms; return home with my new plushie, place the gifts from the SMG3 Gang, sleep in my warm bed... and if there's an opportunity, show my drawing if things go well.

My attention then shifted to the same little girl. She has moved to the corner, further away from the group, still scared as she was, hugging her Puzzles Plushie. Her antennae more visible now. Well... the least I can do if neither two options are met, I could do one (last) thing.

As I slowly pass by... I heard Lucian explain, in a low volume (my ears are sensitive so...)... an Extra Option. The Ai security (Wren) can be disabled manually in a place located in the Control Room (four options now). But... if picking helping Mr Puzzles, everyone will head to the Health Department. Apparently, the head of said department is here with us. And her name is Nira ( @niranutcake)

I slowly approach the little girl and crouch down a little. I wait a little until she notices me. When she sees me, she's confused; and, trying to hide her antennae but dropping her own Puzzles plushie. Seeing her cry did hurt a little... given the current situation.

"Hi... I'm Rayas," I greeted softly.

She almost looks like wanting to hide, but shows she's curious. I tilt my head as if to show, I'm curious to why she's hiding her antennae.

"Hey, you don't need to worry about them. Look at me..." I move my big ears to make her see them. "I got the biggest ears there is." And I begin to move my ears in many directions, and this makes her more curious, she slowly stops crying. She giggles a little.

I then show funny faces with the second mouth, the one to express my emotions more pronounced, along with moving my ears. She giggles a little more. She slowly letting her antennae loose, but not yet. Maybe there could be more?

"Want to see a magic trick?" the girl seems more curious, she nods. I grab my custom Inscryption card from my front vest pocket and show it. Alright, I never done a magic trick before so... I do this... concentrate and... Now there's two custom Inscryption cards (on the first try)!

(The card in Question)

(Hm... looking at the duplicate card... I wonder)

She claps in amusement, and letting her antennae show. But when she realizes it.

"You don't have to worry, I don't see anything wrong with them. Believe me, they look nice." I said it in a very reassuring way. I pick up their Puzzles plushie and give it back. "Here he is. What's your name?

....

"Harley... ( @entityarts) "

"Hello Harley." (I made another friend now)

This moment, I feel my chest even warmer, that I almost don't notice my cog gear slowly spinning...

(Could it be...?)

I took one moment to look around, the group seem to me thinking about helping Mr Puzzles up, the safest option (Who placed sticky notes on him?); but another half want the risky of shutting the (Wren) AI. I briefly glanced that the silhouette-like girl (Nick Nack by @runrabitrunrunrun ) is looking in my direction. Did she see what I was doing? I saw her make a soft expression, or what I made out to be; I noticed she had a mouth, but sometimes it would disappear. Curious... (Wow, is she... bioluminent?)

(But even if... why do I feel a dark aura still lingering on her? The same when she rushed to the castle's restroom. Was the latte... not enough...? :'()

I look back at the cards, and tuck one back in my vest pocket. The other...

"Harley?" I asked her, as I bring my umbrella. "Would you like to hold my umbrella?"

She's confused but nods. I decided to open it and have her hide under it, including me. At the same time, I holding onto the card, holding it very close... my cog gear is slightly reacting a little more.

"Whenever I feel scared or unsafe, I keep my umbrella close to me. And when I go outside, rain or no rain, I would open it. And feel safe again... Now close your eyes, and think of something that makes you happy, grateful, safe..."

(I wish.... I wish...)

"How are you feeling Harley? Much better?"

She nods, glad to see she's doing better. Now, we slowly approach the crowd now, but very slowly; she stays close. I slowly approach, and Loyboo ( by @alelathedragon ) sees me from slightly away from the crowd. I do the Shy Boo gesture; covering my eyes. I had to make sure he's okay, knowing he's the most shy of the group.

"Everything okay?" I asked. He nods, glad to see; yet he still seems uneasy for the whole situation. Drawing in his notepad as a coping mechanism.

Looking at the crowd now, I almost forgot that SMG4 is with us now. Oh boy... Couldn't he wait until... whatever he was doing until the tour was near its end or ended in full circle? Then again, no one had any idea that the (Wren) security system was solely tied to Mr Puzzles (from this place), and him not awake, the AI can do whatever it wants... (whatever he... wanted)

My headache no longer feels weird after the scare, but why....? Now I feel weird...

"Well, what will it be?" asked Lucian slightly louder. "Arrest SMG4, Help my Boss, or we face the consequences. (and the secret fourth one)" He's sounding slightly agitated now.

Man, I really feel bad for him. He had a job to do, but he fumbled thanks to some who support SMG4 (this SMG4)(why can't everyone keep to themselves?). By the way, if the whole place is on lockdown, I wonder how Colores is holding up to above Block B; is the SMG3 Gang experiencing the same thing? Hopefully not, because again, Meggy; especially after showing just his silhouette and voice. After everything I interacted with them, they looked more happy and less tired (hope the meal Grinnames and the latte I made are good when they find them); and I don't want all that ounce of happiness gone from them. I just hope the Gang are okay; and also hope that my time with them will help them feel... safe. (Wonder that if something happens to me... will they remember me?)

I slowly approach Lucian, and glance at him in a "I'm scared as well/what now?" expression; ever since he returned my drawing to me, I trust him. And... even if I would be supporting SMG4, I would still trust him. (And even if there's something he's ordered to do that would endanger me.... I'd forgive him)

Lucian finally notices me. His face shows the word "sigh." Even without a face, I could tell, he's either trying to reassure me, or... because based on his body language and vibe, he's worried for everyone else's safety. Including me. And I think Harley as well; she's still with me, and hiding her antennae again. (She's the youngest of the group, and now she's involved into something too serious for her)

Trying to make some small talk... But... I don't know what to say. But it looks like he decided to speak first, albeit in a hushed tone with still remaining slightly agitated; but it seems he's trying not to sound like it since Harley is with me. (or... as Lucian said, the AI security is still watching and listening; and now being careful what he and/or everyone says?)

"Sigh... should have seen this coming. But a bad timing nonetheless, because as far before SMG4 came and shot my boss, some of you... were very nice...

I only hum as a response.

....

"You don't ever let go of that umbrella do you? Or the stuffed toy you got?" casually asked Lucian. Guess he wants to get his mind off the tension? I agree, because the umbrella makes me feel safe. Also, I still have my Puzzles Plushie with me, gifted to me by Colores, and the Gang's gifts; receiving the same treatment of never letting them go. "And that blue puzzle piece on your tie... you have autism? Just want to make sure if I'm correct. All this must be too much for you..."

I nod. "I do."

Looking back at the crowd, SMG4 is still cornered, with people taking sides; for and against him. Swag and Chris, getting stressed of the situation. Animsay.... still... smiling? I got to say... why right now? Harley is still huddling close to me, because I think I'm the first person to not judge her by her antennae and the one person she feels safe; besides, I saw an alien participant with droopy antennae ( @alien-star88 ) so why the self-consciousness. So, why can't there be a combination of the first two options? Something around the fact, SMG4 started the whole mess, he should be responsible. He caused this, he fixes it, he helps get RT-Mr Puzzles up; and.... turn himself in a guess? And the participants who defended him should also be accounted since they made Lucian not able to do his job (sorry but just being honest. Also, did they got a scolding for skipping the Stairs of Doom?). But... the sense of uselessness returns again... saying that out loud. Should I? What's the use? I'm just a visitor. What help can I bring here?

Huh, I'm starting to feel tired...

Now, back to the main issue. Well... with people around the unconscious Mr Puzzles, it looks like the second option is the choice; but also couldn't help but listen of going for the secret option in hushed tones.

Nira, the one being the head of the Health Department, the white squirrel, looking after him for any signs of him coming back... No dice it seems. But first... I... I couldn't help but notice that his clothes are covered in white and pink hair ( @purplehairball ) and the sticky notes from whoever thought it would be funny while he was out... If everyone will get him up, he better be presentable when he wakes up. I can tell some don't like him (again, this Mr Puzzles is different); but in my opinion, it's not necessary to have to like him, just show some respect. I'm a visitor I repeat, and I'm not in my home. Well... I suppose, I'll have to do it myself.

(And... where's his bowtie? Isn't the one where his 5th star is?)

I... Never was this up close to Mr Puzzles (or any), but oh boy. I'm not feeling... Well, here it goes...

"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON'T TOUCH THE BOSS!" yelled Swag despite the monotone (ouch my ears, but I don't care)

(I felt my chest briefly get cold for a second)

"Just taking these stick notes off," I explained calmly. "Um... anyone has a lint roller?"

I knew people's attention were on me now, all eyes on me. I should be scared, but... I'm mostly scared for everyone else's well-being. The first sticky note is off now... twenty left... And being very delicate and careful to remove them, as if Mr Puzzles was made of very thin glass. I think Nira understands what I'm doing... and maybe helps remove the ones I'm self-conscious to remove; especially the ones on his head.

Still removing the sticky notes, before someone passes the lint roller. In a moment, I glance at SMG4. He sees me. All I can do, is make an expression of disappointment for complicating things at a bad time; but at least, not in a hostile way. More like... it was all going so well until he showed up. Different SMG4, but still... (why now?)

I'm feeling slowly more tired, but... why? I roll up my sleeves just as the last sticky note is off, and someone passes the lint roller; and gloves for some reason, but I immediately remember that I heard that R- Mr Puzzles doesn't like anyone touching him without gloves (I noticed Nira is wearing them as well). Why do I feel everyone is now looking at my arms before putting the gloves on? I admit, to some... it doesn't add up to my head's shape; but it's still my head.

And can I keep the gloves?

"Maybe I'm foolish, maybe I'm blind..." I couldn't help but sing softly... it feels nice, even if in fragments (Human by Rag n Bone.) "Some people think I can solve them/ Oh Heavens Above/ I'm only Human After all/ I'm only Human After all..."

"Human...? huh..." I heard someone say, but don't know who.

What felt like... an hour passed, Mr Puzzles is good as new; thought the crack on his screen... (and his Bowtie...?!) Someone passed me a paper towel since my nose was getting runny (I failed to notice I was actually bleeding, but okay, don't want a drop fall on Puzzles. Weird fact, my blood changes color from red to blue once out of my system). And... the tiredness was growing, possibly from the stress of it all. (And too weak to yell where his bowtie was)

Nira helps to keep me upon my knees since, I was feeling weak; and thanks for trying everything to use her powers to heal, I appreciate it. And I don't know why; still thinking it's just stress. I noticed that a few participants are picking up the new situation, I just caused. Grinnames, Harley, the TV Head with the Kuromi cap and purple teeth ( @kuromipuzzles2000 ), and a random few bend down to comfort me.

Ha! Ha! Oh Grinnames... (I guess some humor helps)

Seeing some worry for me... I cannot believe that even if meeting people I never seen or only seen from afar, they all care for each other. Again, my chest feels warm again.

But... where's my stuff? My umbrella and Puzzles Plushie? The Pichu brothers keychain and my first custom Inscryption card are already in my vest pocket. And my drawing still neatly, and very carefully tucked in my shirt's pocket behind the vest. Now for sure it will not leave my sight.

I look at the tv head with the Kuromi cap and purple teeth.

"I... what's your name? Never got to..." I address to the Kuromi TV head.

I hear her name is Kuromi Puzzles, and/or Crystal. Hello Crystal. (the second Puzzles I meet now)

And, what's left of my energy ... I say as loud as I could... "How was the matcha Latte?," aimed at the silhouette girl, but my eyes where feeling so heavy.

The noises are slowly drawn out, so all I could barely hear were.

"...didn't know she would take it so badly..."

"Two patients to my office then..."

"Is she going to be okay?...."

"...remember the plan... who joins our...."

"... move...."

And then, I heard... gasps after a brief pause?

"...the... hell?" someone said.

"Holy S@&!," I recognized it at Animsay. I weakly chuckled a little at that, even if bleeped.

What was going on? But, I came back to briefly, to clearly hear the intercom speak again.

"Wise choice... And maybe a little extra credit for cleaning up the big boss. (But holy... holy S%&!...) Alright, you can all leave to the Health Department to wake him up, and wait what he will do to some of you who defended the feller Four."

Said the voice of the Wren security system. I think this is a green light now. He saw everything... But why did he sounded for a moment,... shocked? (What happened?)

Finally... Rayas out..... but just a second... I thought I saw someone with big ears approach me.... but even if I saw some participants with big ears,... I'm the only one with the largest ones....

.......

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

*The walk to the Health department was pretty much... nerve-wrecking? Maybe. Everyone is doing their best at good behavior as not to upset the security system (but keeping secret of another group will... no spoilers). I'm being calm as best as I can. I didn't know that, what happened back at the Social Media Department, was now a weird one, where no one would forget. But I'm curious what will Mr Puzzles' reaction be.

*I look down, as I'm very careful carrying "me." Wonder if "I" saw me as I cradled her as "I" lost consciousness. I didn't know the whole chaos was going to be taken so badly for "me." I have to carry the umbrella in one arm, and place the plushie carefully on "my" arms; I know, "I" look so weak, pitiful even (R- Mr Puzzles who's still out cold, I'd say... less?). I wonder how the Puzzlevision staff, and the whole group are feeling after seeing what happened to "me" and I back at the Social Media Department. And even SMG4....

*I... thought I heard someone call "me," an amoeba ("Human" Amoeba?) moments after I just showed up? (And did "I" heard it as well?) Not going to lie, but "my" (our) custom Inscryption Deathcard from back in the game room, was composed with a pre-buffed Amoeba card. Irony much?

*Painfully saying my goodbyes to some who are on the alternate group, Harley (never thought she was so strong, and declined my offer to look after her plushie), Grinnames, and even the girls who defended SMG4 that I found out their names where Marie and Lari. I think they feel sorry for what happened to "me". I forgive them, but still not forgotten they started it (can copies share... yeah, makes sense). Wow... just... wow.

*The Health group me and "I" are is composed of Nira the head of the Health Department, a person with big white and fuschia hair ( @purplehairball ) (is that stuff on their hair?), the unconscious Mr Puzzles, the same cat creature with a single eye ( @theclosetcreature), A woman with brown hair and looking somewhat too anxious (Becky by @beckycat19 ) (oh boy...), Loyboo, and a few others.

*Off to the Health Department then...

*This tour is really taking longer than I thought... and the bridge is getting longer and longer... but will it fall?

*"Um Nira..., how far is the Health Department?"

"It's further back in the studio, Rayas. I have some warm blankets in my office as well."

To Be Continued...

_______________________________

Author's notes: Slightly shorter, but just wanted to get it done quickly. And oh boy... Now there's two Rayas in the Tour. (Might edit it later if anything changes). The real Rayas got sick, so she somehow made a clone show out of nowhere, and is now going to be caring for her and cover.

Text with *B.....B is the Second Rayas. Plain text is the real Rayas

At last, she recovered her drawing. And hope it stays where it is.

The drawing in question.

(Between The Star and AV Puzzles is Astro by @the-masked-astro , one of the participants on the tour) All Ocs/AUs belong to their owners and can be found here Puzzlevision Mass Attack)

Note about the drawing. In the story, her drawing is impervious to getting destroyed/damaged, and the only one who can is Rayas since she made it. So, anyone not from her home or herself, it's like stretching an unbreakable rubber band.

Note, interactions available, but comment/dm first. Plus, if anything, I might slightly change the story here.

[emo-gremlin]

300 follower special! EVERYONE AS MEMES

@purplehairball : OH NO!

@purplehairball : OUR TABLE!

@purplehairball : ITS BROKEN!

🫂

AM: You stupid.

Edgar: No I'm not!

AM: Whats 9 + 10?

Edgar: 21

AM: You stupid.

🫂

Lolzhax: Back with ano-HELP!

Lolzhax: HELP ME!

Lolzhax: HELP!

🫂

Mr. Serpent: Dr. Pebba

@candyinjectionz : Fanter!

Me: Monsert

Sargent Telly: ROOBEER!

Daydreamer! Puzzles: Pepsie

Cancer Lord: COKEY COLA

@the-lion-guard-88 : Spirte

🫂

King Dice: I've come to make an announcement; Cuphead's a bitch ass motherfucker, he pissed on my fucking cards. Thats right, he took his stupid ceramic dick out and he pissed on my fucking cards, and he said his dick was "This big" and I said that's disgusting, so I'm making a callout post on my twitter dot com, Cuphead, you've got a small dick, it's the size of this walnut except WAY smaller, and guess what? Here's what my dong looks like: PFFFT, THAT'S RIGHT, BABY. ALL POINTS, NO CRACKS, NO GLASS. Look at that, it looks like two balls and a bong. He fucked my cards so guess what? I'm gonna fuck the Earth. THAT'S RIGHT THIS IS WHAT YOU GET, MY SUPER LASER PISS! Except I'm not gonna piss on the earth. I'm gonna go higher. I'M PISSING ON THE MOON! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT, DEVIL? I PISSED ON THE MOON YOU IDIOT! YOU HAVE 23 HOURS BEFORE THE PISS DROPLETS HIT THE FUCKING EARTH NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT BEFORE I PISS ON YOU TOO.

🫂

@purplehairball : uh... *laughs* i don't think that's how it-

Mr. Wpnz: I KNOW WHATS WRONG WITH IT. AINT GOT NO GAS IN IT

🫂

Mr. Cannibal: Name something a burglar would not want to see in a house.

Lolzhax: NAKED GRANDMA!

Mr. Cannibal: Naked HUH?!

@jovialoddity : I wouldn't want to see that either.

🫂

@liliththequeenofdemon : This...is a bucket

P.ai.nter: Dear God.

@liliththequeenofdemon : There's more.

P.ai.nter: No.

🫂

Vox: Chicken *Food explodes*

Sebastian Solace: We'd like to take a mome- *another sandwich explodes* AAAAAA

Banban: ALL OUR FOOD, KEEPS BLOWING UP

🫂

Daydreamer! Puzzles: *Sigh* I miss my Starlight, @jovialoddity. I miss her a lot. I'll be back.

🫂

CRT: Can I get 5 whoppers....and 5...more whoppers.

🫂

@purplehairball : uh...whatcha got there?

*Mr. Puzzles is trying to hide Mr. Wpnz in the elevator*

Mr. Puzzles: A smoothie.

🫂

Edgar: Welcome back my Skibidi Sigmas!

RGB: Never call us that again.

🫂

Mr. Puzzles: WHO POSTED MY NUDES ON TWITTER DOT COM?!

🫂

@jovialoddity: You give me the vibes of a 100 gecs song and I don't know if it's a good or bad thing.

AM: I like to think it's both.

🫂

Mr. WPNZ: Hey, WPNZ here. Your home security system is great. Or is it?

🫂

AM: If you ever feel safe, just remember, I'm out there.

🫂

Sargent Telly: Cool Military facts!

Sargent Telly: One day you will have to answer for your actions, and God may not be so....merciful.

🫂

Angel: I've been beat on, stepped on, Shit on, fucked up, fucked down, shaken up, stirred around, cracked like an egg, had sand kicked in my eyes, had my nose metaphorically ripped off, kissed on the mouth, tucked into bed, drank my orange juice, fell down the stairs, AND YOU KNOW WHAT?! I still got up in the morning, at 2AM TO GO DIRECTLY BACK TO BED!

🫂

@purplehairball : *points to Mr. Wpnz and Mr. Puzzles making out* OH MY GOD. THESE BITCHES GAY!

@purplehairball : Good for them, good for them.

🫂

Mr. Wpnz: I swear to God if this game gets scrambled again I will eat my entire fucking computer.

🫂

Harley: You fuck mothering toaster strudel

🫂

P03: Well jokes on him because now I'm a famous Inscryption player with a 10 inch dick, and I made him into a babyfur.

🫂

@the-lion-guard-88 : My plan to conquer Nick Jr. Didn't work out so I'm going to stay up all night and color myself with markers.

🫂

Mr. Cannibal: I cannot in good conscience be friends with someone who unironically says "u mad bro"

🫂

Mr. Serpent: You are jusssst mad becaussse you are angry

🫂

AM: I hope you all burn

Edgar: love you too <3

🫂

CRT: Yesh!

@jovialoddity : did you just say yesh?

CRT: No.

@jovialoddity : boy

@jovialoddity : are you some sorta

@jovialoddity : WEEABOO

🫂

Banban: You are every single shade of Fucked.

🫂

Me: I got the kritz

Mr. Wpnz: You got the shitz

Me: How did you know

🫂

Vox: I'm gonna beat you like a neckbeard's weiner.

🫂

@liliththequeenofdemon : That wasn't very fresh of you

🫂

@purplehairball : fuck anime

Mr. Puzzles: what did anime ever do to you?

@jovialoddity : my partner left me because of anime

@the-lion-guard-88 : Anime killed my parents

🫂

Me: Oh he's hot? Color me intrigued.

Daydreamer! Puzzles: He's SUPER hot. He might be your type.

Me: Is he Daddy?

Mr. WPNZ: *exists*

Me: AAAAAAA-

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!

Daydreamer puzzles belongs to : @brownii-milkshake

Sargent Telly belongs to: @briandraws

[ruukachoo]

Okay so I need to talk about corru.observer

So I'm just sitting here, minding my own business, poking around on the social media sphere when I see a repost of a post talking about a browser game called corru.observer . "Huh," I say to myself, "a browser game about rummaging through an alien biocomputer? Well, I do like my weird fiction, and a biocomputer sounds intreresting. I'll take a look. It's a browser game, in my experience those are typically pretty short, I can give it a looksee and then get on with my life. How long could it take?"

That, my friends, is what we call hubris.

A week and change later I've binged through everything I possibly can (with the exception of the optional hard archive vein section because I'm terrible at the video games especially when they activate hard mode I still haven't dealt with the hard sections in Deltarune ugh why must they put more plot behind hard sections). I have been left staring at the ceiling muttering about mindcores and thoughtforms and weeping over characters. I've talked Eien's ear off puzzling through the story and my brain is still running several cycles repeatedly trying to suss things out.

What I'm trying to say is this game is GOOD and it's gripped my brain HARD.

Unfortunately I learned that it wasn't finished yet well after I had passed the point of no return (this has been happening to me a lot this year with other media, I can't say I'm fond of this trend--I never did like cliffhangers) so I'm left waiting for the next part to come out and in the meantime I have to get out how amazing this game is and maybe convince some other folks to play it because I need to yell more and theorize and there's only so much I can do on my own.

The non-spoilery review: IT'S GOOD GO PLAY IT.

But seriously, the premise basically boils down to: you're a contractor that's been hired to retrieve info from an alien biocomputer that's been recently salvaged from a wreck at the bottom of the ocean. And then it gets weird.

Actually, to quote a character from much later, this is probably the best tagline for the game: "It will probably only get stranger!"

Aesthetically, the game reminds me a little of Welcome to Night Vale. Writing and humor-wise, it reminds me a little of Undertale. There are some elements that remind me a little of Hatoful Boyfriend shut up it does make sense if you've played through it. It's a game full of nooks and crannies to explore and a whole bushel of questions and mysteries to solve. I realize in hindsight that it pings a lot of the things that also caused me to gravitate towards Steven Universe: compelling and complex characters, tons of mysteries big and small to chew on, and rock solid worldbuilding. I am seriously in love with the worldbuilding here - everything, right down to the reason you hear music and the appearance of the characters, has a reason, and part of the joy of the game for me is just figuring everything out. Media scores major points with me when it becomes apparent that the creators have Thought Through Things.

My only really negative thing to say is that while I love the immersive interface, I would have appreciated a little readme file or an annotation or something to indicate how to save the game. In internet years I'm older than the pyramids and I grew up on point-and-click adventure games where being able to save every five seconds is paramount, and I think I would've had a little less anxiety at the beginning if I knew how to save my progress in case Firefox borked or something (I think the answer is there's import/export file functions under data management I THINK that's what it is).

But yes, overall, really good, loved it, really wanting the next part to come out now.

OKAY NOW SOME OTHER THOUGHTS EXCUSE ME WHILE I DO A BIT OF SCREAMING.

NNNNGH THESE CHARACTERS I LOVE THEM. They are all so good. I love Cavik's eagerness and Tovik's determination, I love how Gakvu and Miltza manage to work together despite their differences, I love Kazki's gentleness and Bozko's protectiveness, I love how Idril is basically the answer to the question "What if Osaka from Azumanga Daioh was a dull engineer?". I think what makes it work so well is that you get a chance to spend some time with them, the Call Team in particular. You see them when times are good and when everything is falling apart. The visual novel format, where a lot of the narration is from Akizet's POV, works super well here. You get not only a chance to see what Akizet thinks of them based on what she knows about them, but you see how her thoughts and opinions of them change over the course of the story, particularly in relation to the collapse arc. It gives them an extra boost of life that I think might not have been possible from a more distant POV. They're allowed to be complex and deep.

And oh Akizet is a multidimensional delight. I love her fondness for orange juice. I love how she is doing her best. I love how she is anxious and overthinks things and it's clear that she is trying to do the right thing, even if there are some pretty clear signs that she isn't always making the best choice. I love how she has regrets and joys and stumbles. I love how she is more competent than she thinks she is. I love how she loves these people. Her scene with Bozko where he's spiraling and she hugs him because it's the only thing she can do is lodged in me, both for how relatable it is when wanting to help someone dealing with trauma and the only thing you can do is be there for them, and because oh Aki, you don't need to be a Tir, you just need to be a friend. You just need to be you.

I feel like the overarching theme of the game is "Everyone is doing the best they can with what they have." Right down to the partial translations of words from the mindspike and the fragmented state of the cyst, everything that happens is coming from a place of working with what you've got. That kinda makes the end of the collapse even more tragic, as it's being made abundantly clear that Akizet did not have all the pieces to deal with Vekoa. All she had was her previous knowledge of what she had seen, and all of that pointed to, in her mind, Vekoa attempting a deception. Although I wonder how much of that is based off of what she saw and what she believed. There's a TON of layers here still to uncover.

And there are SO MANY QUESTIONS. There's the big ones of course ("What happened to Akizet?" "What the heck is the deal with the meteorite anyway?" "What is Velzie hiding?" "Who sent the message to Akizet that set everything in motion?"), although there are some smaller ones that I keep chewing on.

What is Kazki's role in all of this? She was conspicuously absent from the collapse, and it made sense she wouldn't be present based on her role, but I keep wondering if there was more going on with her than is apparent. She had been regularly speaking with a human, but the details of that interaction haven't been made known, so is it possible she has more involvement than we currently know? The fact that Drowning, who holds some of Akizet's memories of Kazki and may look like how Kazki actually looks, is guarding some of the deeper parts of the cyst, suggests a greater role.

What is Velzie anyway? The obvious answer is some sort of thoughtform, but from what? Something I started thinking about recently after looking at some of the transcripts is how Tozik wanted Akizet to share the truth about the meteorite. We assume his message got out at the end, but did it? Is Velzie related to Tozik somehow? On the other hand there's evidence Cavik might have some connection as well. HM.

"OUR" DULL SHIP? WHO IS THIS "OUR"??

How much can Funfriend really be trusted? This one's gotten me into a LOT of knots. Funfriend is trying to repair the cyst and is again, doing the best it can with what it has, but the Council and Jokzi Ozo suggest that maybe it's not what the rest of the cyst wants. Honestly I was starting to get a bit of a Myst vibe, where it feels like we're getting two opposing viewpoints and we're eventually going to have to choose one of them (or perhaps a third as-of-yet-unknown third option). But getting back to Funfriend, it's repairing with what it has to work with and its own memories of Akizet and what happened, so how much of that can be trusted? Are we seeing what actually happened, or are we seeing what Funfriend wants us to see?

What IS that weird dark space in Jokzi Ozo with eyes that look an awful lot like Tovik's?

Will we ever get to have a drink with the orange juice effigy? I'M ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS HERE.

Nngh, in the end all I can do is ponder for right now, but when the next part comes out I will be SO ready. And maybe by then I'll have figured out how to get through the archival vein. PLEASE BSTRD, I NEED MORE PLOT AND LORE. I'M NOT A GAMER, I JUST WANT THE STOOOOOORY!!!

[green-sky-smoke]

Reader asks Husk about his ideal date. (~1300 words)

"My ideal date, huh? The one where i win all your money in poker." He laughs, and smiles at you firmly, his eyes pierce at you warmly, like he was looking at nostalgic show, on old, thick tv screen, in worst quality possible. "Bring me cards, hun, i shall do a little," he waves palms happily, "magic! Watch future, how good your chances are." He laughs purringly. Then his smile and cheerful look dissolves. He's never like this for long. "But if you don't plan it... Honestly, i'm not really used to dates. I'm not interested in flowers and fancy dinners, i saw enough of them. I am a man of simple pleasures. I have booze here, why don't just stay where we are?" he tilts his head a little, with catlike grace and elegance, expecting you to nod. And then you both hear something heavy, loudly falling on the floor, and a lot of swears and arguing. His ears press on his head from the sudden noise.

"Well. That's why. We may go somewhere." He sights, annoyed. Husk is frowning, looking in almost empty bottle, like lines of light and reflections on emerald glass will say something his drunk brain stubbornly refuses. He tries very hard to think it out, but he got solid brain fog.

"How about... Well..." he is really lost in his own thoughts. You can almost see how his neurons try to reach one another, but fail miserably, and pain gently swipes them away. "How about... About..."

No. Date isn't a game, it's when you entertained enough being with someone. Not a game. You did games everyday, Husk, what make date unique if it just another playful robbery? Date is not another gambling game, loss of big money and property. Especially not of someone who you like. Maybe you can both play and share loss, or win, playing together and not against each other... But against anyone else? Hm. Would be nice to offer it later, if he won't forget.

He hasn't had any sugarcoated romantic fantasies in a long time, and his brain rejected him creating some now, when he got someone interesting enough. The most interesting thing was just looking at your confused, annoyed face, and just any negative emotion. He felt better sometimes, seeing unhappy faces, when he is himself aren't happy at all about where it all ended for him. Husk hunched over the table, puzzled. Looks like he completely zoned out.

Most of all, he enjoys spending time together, calmly, not in a fight. Table games where he can bluff and laugh at someone's bad strategies and skill, or hand motorics. Magic tricks and spectacular shows. Gently massages and some cuddling. Sleeping and resting, doing nothing. He doesn't like very pricy places, or sports. He isn't most complex person, so it's quite a mystery for him why you would have interest in alcoholic with ludomania who likes to mock you lovingly, or insult. It's kinda easy when he presented with people insecurities every day, every year, when they can't shut up about it, and any anecdotes happening. He could write dissertation about it.

"Cheap, and funny." He chuckled, as your face becomes a little disappointed. "What? Not the answer you wanted?" He smiled, a bit smug. He enjoys your confusion, and how you try to think of questions to to clarify exactly what he wants, when you know that he won't reply long, he mostly gives you very vague answers that tells nothing at most.

"Let me tell you a thing, boo... Planning perfect dates is the most useless thing to do. Life is always unpredictable, chaotic, troubled and hard in hell. Situations always change, your mood, your tastes, you never the same person as day, or hour ago. You never know. If you hunt perfection, perfect place, perfect person, perfect reaction, day and time, you will end up miserable. And... You can try small things and be happy with surprises from this chaotic universe we live in, being constantly amazed how bad you are at fortune-telling!" He spreads his arms with enthusiasm, and then puts them down, waving one. He takes an indifferent sip of alcohol. "Or whatever. I don't care." He for a moment forgets what he wanted to add. Seems like he forgets that you're here too, too entertained with looking at same bottles, as if he was in an elite art gallery. His head migraine felt as if brain is expanding like the universe, right in his skull, and it is about to crack, while he won't be able to say anything intelligible or catch a coherent thought. He needs time to frown. You just look at him, wanting to stroke him. He looks so soft and fluffy, but you can't tell a moment you can do it.

"There isn't such a thing i would call a 'perfect date'. But there is 'it wasn't so bad as i expected'." he says before another long pause. He is clearly thinking hard, trying to scratch words off the walls of the skull, that hit him with an electric shock for any touch. His body was sometimes a real prison, making him worse person, who can really, really never leave for long.

"There may be all things i can enjoy to a point of addiction, but i would just act as grumpy ass until you take me there, waving booze, fists, threats, and i would know how enjoyable this is only after." He smiles and cackles, a bit annoyed and a bit self-ironic. He knows his brain and mood tricks pretty well, but believes he don't really need or can change a thing. He hates it, but he wouldn't wish to be anyone else. "It all seem too boring, overrated, overpriced and annoying to me when i think about it. I can find all reasons to not go anywhere and not move at all. Im in the point of life where it's really hard to find joy and eagerly seek things. You know?" He shrugs. "Go on, i don't mind, if you can bear with me constantly rejecting anything im not used to, and being grumpy old growler. It may at some point end as perfect date i would be sad to forget." He looks at you, like he doesn't really believe it, but willing to let you try. It doesn't matter to him, he will suffer each way in same amount, you wouldn't make it much worse than Alastor. " ...Or not. Who the hell knows. Maybe you will have patience to make some use of such boring, forever grudging and mean demon. Im not the best choice, and it will only make you pathetic to try make impossible work." You smile, finally out of confusion. He just invited you to annoy him, how sweet. You bend over to him and hold out your hand. He doesn't understand your gesture, so he just hand you some heavy bottle of some sweet, sparkling tonic for cocktails. You move the bottle to the table, and you put your hand on his. It suprised him, but he smiled at this micro-miscommunication, and places other hand over your. Old cats are playful too. And no cat will reject some good, pricy food and quiet place to see all things, not just hear behind the bar table. "Well, you are the strongest creative source of new things in my life for now." He smiles faintly. Maybe he was completely sarcastic. "So, take care of yourself. I can't appreciate you most times, but it would be loss for all hell. And i think you didn't drink in a while, so you need some liquid more than hold my hand, dumdum." He gets his hand out of your warm touch, and moves the bottle almost in your face. "Or shall I shake it for you?" He laughs. Husk believes you totally can use some foam of wrath in your face too.

[malkon-dova]

Shit your pants simulator | Echoes of The Eye/Outer Wilds DLC

outer wilds DLC 1st playthrough liveblog | no spoilers, hints or tips please if commenting! |

PART ONE: Crossroads

(Content features 4/11's session; Writing this pre-game on 4/18)

I did quite a bit of progress!!! After getting reacquainted with The Stranger after a week of not playing, I decided to finally explore more of The Reservoir. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find whatever is making my log scream at me saying that I haven't discovered everything yet. Rip.

But!!! There's always more to find when you're stuck! And wouldn't you know, there's fun little house with a broken bridge I've yet to go to! And with a mysterious passage too!!! :]

And man, I didn't realize how much I've missed in The Stranger till now!! A whole town/section right there that I had missed!! And all because I didn't stay flush-right to the stream :D wow!

The Hidden Gorge is fantastic btw! It's such a cool area, so much to explore!!! And there's those artifacts too!! :) Which, at the time- I had no idea how to use. There's also another dead-people tower, which. I hate. with a passion.

Either way, after gallivanting around the place and navigating the ghost matter maze I finally enter the house and-

jesus christ i nearly shat my pants here. Not the god ray on the eye dude ;o; ohhh my godd. the music too?? aaaccchhhgkkkk. fantastic. makes me cry

And there's one of those locks on the top floor too! I'm sure the puzzle solution is connected to wherever the chain behind the broken wall (where the eye sits) has something to do with it. yet to figure that out though!

Either way, I found this reel about a busted hull!!! and wow!! im glad i pursued that!!! so much info!!! And actual information about the artifacts too!!!

Huh! In order to activate the flame in the artifact, they close their eyes. Well. I suppose the only way to do that for our character is to sleep. Good thing there's fireplaces in the dead-people towers!

oh no.

g. guys. guys. (shaking you). why are the dead people gone. why are the dead people gone. they have disappeared. why are they gone. why is it so dark. why do i move so slow. oh. god.

dude. i wish, i really genuinely wish i had a clip of when i discovered the sleep mechanic worked. it was so funny. but i genuinely was going to start hyperventilating LMAO- i was so scared out of my mind and was stuck on the pause screen for a hot while.

but oh my GOD DUDEEE!!!!!

DUDE! THIS AREA!!!!!!! THEIR PLANET!!!! THEIR MEMORIES OF HOME!!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!! FULLY IMMERSED IN THE STRANGERS HOME AND CULTURE!!!!!!!!!! AND THE GIMMICKS/PUZZLES LOOK SO COOL!!!!!!!!

I AM ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED THOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so! unfortunately, the session ended short and i needed the night to recover hsdgsd

Additional notes: 1) The memories from exploring the spooky area has a cool filter over the memories! The same one when looking into the memories of the experiments.

2) I know the vault is carrying a person. I know it in my heart. I played hollow knight. i know three dreamers and the black egg when i see it. Also I was spoiled on there being a person called "The prisoner" and that just fed into my theory. How do we unlock the towers?. probably with the horror sections. how we communicate? i dont know,, but ultimately i am excited to reach that point and the journey there.

But there's a problem: I am very. very bad with horror. I have nightmares about this sort of stuff. And I saw the gimmick. I hadn't played enough on 4/11 to experience it, but I know I'm gonna have to dodge and weave those gangly motherfuckers (The Strangers) and not get caught by them as I solve the puzzles. I hate everything.

But of course, if there's a will, there's a way.

[Stay tuned for the post-game liveblog today!!! It will be attached to this post in a reblog!!]

[glitchy-across-aus]

Amnesia

Tyler One Shot, 3,384 words

I really hate puzzles. It's weird, because I'm more of a problem solving girl, but puzzles just piss me off for some reason. I hate TVs too. I don't know what it is about them, but they just bug me. Mario's always watching some stupid thing on the TV, which kinda makes me wanna smash it to pieces with a hammer. Again, it makes no sense to me since I don't mind playing video games with them, even when I keep losing to everyone because I've never played before. It's just the TV in general, I guess. Although I recently learned my biggest trigger is TV static. I don't know why, but I get weird flashbacks everytime I hear it. Even though it was only once since I've been here. I started seeing images and they filled up my head and I didn't know what was going on and then someone reached out and I couldn't see who it was so I swung but it turned out to be Meggy so she blocked me and she asked me if I was okay and then-

And then I got up. And I left. And I came back a few hours later. And they never brought it up. Nor have I heard any TV static since. 

But anyways, Meggy and Smg4 took me to the doctor yesterday, which I don't know why a centaur would wanna be in the medical field, nor did I trust the guy, but at least he was gonna tell me exactly what was wrong with me….until he gave me my doctors note and it was literally a scribble. Like, excuse me sir, what the HELL is this supposed to be? Chicken scratch?? Anyways I gave it to the axolotl looking guy who was working at the pharmacy and somehow HE KNEW WHAT IT SAID?? I swear I'll NEVER understand doctors. Anyways, he gave me this bottle of pills and sent me on my merry way. Guess who STILL doesn't know what's wrong with her? Me :). So I figured I'd Google what the pills were for and guess what? Apparently I have something called “Amnesia” which, according to Google, means “permanent or temporary memory loss.” 

Huh??

add “doctors” and “pharmacists” to the list of things I hate.

I talked to Three recently, and he asked me if I was going to get my own house. I told him I didn't plan too. “Why not?” he asked, stacking cups next to the coffee machine. I shrugged and continued my task-cleaning out the new pastry display. “Smg4 lets me live in his guest room for free. Why would I wanna pay for a house?” He laughed and asked if I wanted to live with him forever. “Well, not forever, obviously. Just until I go home.” I replied, now adding pastries to the display case. “Tyler. About that…” I turned and looked at him, confused. It was the first time I've ever seen him look sad. “Tyler, you don't even know where you're from. How do you plan on getting home if you can't remember how you got here? Might as well get used to living in the Mushroom Kingdom, you know.” I rolled my eyes and ignored him. What would he know? I'm completely fine living in the castle. It's not like Smg4 does much anyways, other than making videos. Which he should make better, by the way. I mean, he lacks creativity, and a story in general. The whole point of making something is to entertain your audience. How is he going to do that if he's so focused on his “it doesn't have to be perfect” bs? I swear, some people don't deserve their fame, or money, or power or reviews or stars. 

5. stars.

What am I saying? I don't know anything about true art. I've never even made anything myself. Maybe those doctors were right.

Damn Amnesia…

(tagging @its-a-me-mango and @psychologistlemon bc I thought you guys being the doctor/pharmacist was funny)

[wjhik]

Hiii!! How are you? Can I ask for a jude request where both the reader and him go on Ridiculousness and it’s just all fluff and jokes, thanks anyway

Cuddles (Jude Bellingham)

Soft moonlight seeped through the curtains, casting a gentle glow over the room. The walls were adorned with pictures of cherished memories, and the bed is a cozy haven of warmth and comfort. I was scrolling through movie options to watch. I worked my ass off all morning to get all my uni work done, so I could enjoy my weekend, not needing to stress about having to get anything done. As I picked an M&M out of the package I heard the door open. I perked up and listened. I heard keys being dropped on the table and bags being put down. I heard footsteps moving towards the bedroom, where I was. The door swung open to reveal my beloved boyfriend.

“Hey, baby.” Jude says with a sigh. “Hi.” I smile at him. He rushed into the bathroom to settle himself.

Jude came out in a t-shirt and his boxers. “Hey.” He says, settling himself in bed, next to me. He laid his head on my chest and wrapped his arms around my waist. “How was your day?” I asked him. He always got clingy after a hard day. “It wasn’t bad. But I got cold, and wet.” The rainy season was hard for Jude. All he wanted to do was cuddle in bed with a warm cup of hot chocolate. “Yeah? I’m sorry, baby.” I comfort him, running my hands through his hair. I moved my hand to grab his under the blanket. Once contact was made, he immediately pulled away. “God, woman. Your hands are so cold. What the fuck?” He exclaims. “Why do you have to freeze my ass every night?” He whines. I don’t understand why he thinks it’s so cold. It’s really not. I only keep the thermostat at 16C. (that is really cold for me, but that’s what i keep my room at so wtv)

I playfully grabbed his face, enveloping him in my coldness. “AY! GET AWAY!!” He yells out. “You’re such a drama queen.” I giggled. “I’m not. You’re fucking insane.” He says, referencing my temperature preferences. I simply rolled my eyes at him.

“What are we doing tonight, girlfriend?” He says, poking my side. “You tell me, boyfriend.” I  replied, my eyes stuck to the T.V., struggling to find something interesting. “Well, I thought we could have some fun.” He whispered. “Stop being a horny teenager. Let’s watch Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.” I dismissed him. “You’re genuinely such a child.” He said.

“I never want to leave this bed.” I said, seemingly out of nowhere. Jude makes me feel so comfortable and safe. Nights like those were my favorite, because it was just me and him. No cameras. No media. No interviews. No judgment. Just a man and his girl. It was perfect.

“I second that. It's like a fort of coziness.” Jude replied. He held me in his chest tighter, and kissed the top of my head. He put his finger under my chin and made me look at him. I looked in his eyes, but instantly got nervous. I looked down, blushing to myself. He lets out a breathy laugh. He lifted my face once again, and kissed me. I felt all the butterflies that have ever been in my stomach all at once. 

I pulled away and kissed his nose. I propped myself up on one elbow, gazing up at Jude with a mischievous glint in my eye. “What’s going on in that brain of yours, huh?” Jude asks, seeing past my eyes. “You know, we could stay here forever. Build a tiny world of blankets and pillows, and never face the world outside.” I say, holding him tight. Jude flashes me a heartwarming smile that I will never get tired of. “I'm all for it. We'll need to hire a breakfast delivery service, though. Can't survive on cuddles alone.” Jude jokes. I rolled my eyes and asked, “Why do you have the humor of an 86-year-old grandpa that gets called ‘pop-pop’ by his grandkids?” I ask him. He gasps loudly and places his hand on his chest. “For your information, girls would die for this humor.” He huffs. “I am girls.” 

We shared a laugh, our fingers playing an intricate game of interlocking puzzles. My hand found its way to Jude's cheek, and I stroked it gently. “I love you so much. You don’t even get it.” I say. Jude quickly reciprocated by kissing me. He pulled away with a dramatic smooch to my head. “You do realize we've been in bed for hours, right?” I observed. “Hours? More like days, I think. Time ceases to exist in our cuddle kingdom.” Jude said. This guy is such a dork. “Please, stop. I think I’m going to be sick.” I said. “You love me.” Jude said, rolling his eyes. “You know I do.” 

We laid there in silence, savoring the tranquility of the night, enveloped in a cocoon of love and comfort. I lifted my head to plant a soft kiss on Jude's lips, and he responded with a gentle caress, our affection speaking volumes without the need for words. “I’m so sleepy.” I said, yawning into Jude’s chest. “I know, sweetie.” Jude twisted at an awkward angle to reach for the T.V. remote on his side table. He grabbed it and turned off the T.V., as well as flicking off his side lamp. He reached above me and turned mine off as well. He shimmied down slowly, trying not to disturb me. “Sleep, my love.” He whispered quietly, kissing my head.

“I love you, you know.” I say, dreamily as I doze off into a deep sleep. “I love you more.” Jude whispers, knowing I can’t hear him. Our embrace tightened, as if trying to fuse our souls together, seeking solace and strength in each other's arms. The world outside may be calling, but for now, in the safety of our love, time stands still, and the only reality that matters is the one we've created in the quiet sanctuary of our shared warmth.

Dm for Requests

Wattpad: Funkyfishfeet

[celestial-toys]

That I Would Be Good [4/5]

Swan Upon Leda

Moon’s fingertips tap rhythmically along the edge of the counter, and he seems to be debating something. He finally speaks again after a pregnant pause. “…You’re like a God to him. Do you know that?”

His words cut through the fog in your mind. “I am?”

He nods solemnly. “You are. Not—Not in the sense that he wants to worship you… or at least, not as much as he wants to protect you. But there’s an undeniable, ineffable devotion there.”

------- ------- -------

In This Chapter

Breaking points are reached, confrontations are had, and secrets are spilled.

Pairing: Sun x Moon x Reader

Word Count: 5,781

Contains: [AU - Real World | Sentient AI/Automatons | Personality Swap] [invasion of privacy] [more of Sun’s signature Overbearing Behavior™️] [crying] [substance abuse (not specified beyond ‘sedatives’)] [arguments] [shouting] [brief physical altercation] [religious discussion/metaphor(?)] [implication of past sexual assault (not committed by Sun or Moon, to be perfectly clear)]

A/Ns: This is a songfic. Lyrics and title are from ‘That I Would Be Good’ by Alanis Morissette. Also, the title of this chapter, along with additional lyrics featured within it, are from the song 'Swan Upon Leda' by Hozier. Please refer to the notes on the Ao3 version of this chapter for my commentary on the song, and it's unfortunate renewed relevancy post-US election.

This fic is part of my AU “[Not] Made by Design”, the full series can be found here.

Links to other parts of this fic: [Ch.1] [Ch.2] [Ch.3] [Ch.4 (you are here)] [Ch.5]

That I would be grand if I was not all-knowing.

Curled up in bed one evening, you huff in frustration at the puzzle on your phone. The sound catches Sun’s attention, raising his head from the pillow beneath him. Shifting from his usual fit-for-a-coffin position beside you, he cranes his neck to look over your shoulder.

“Expose. Pate. Resume. Rose.”

You frown. “Really?”

“Try it and see for yourself.”

You tap the four assorted words he called out and sure enough, they collect themselves in a purple bracket on the screen. You read the category title aloud. “Words pronounced differently with accent marks. …Oh. Huh. Guess you’re right.”

His voice is neutral, very matter-of-fact as he pulls his head back, neck folding and collapsing to allow him to rest on the pillow once again. “Of course I am.”

You roll your eyes, sarcasm seeping into your flat tone. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the help.”

------- ------- -------

Settled down for a lazy Sunday morning gaming session, you mutter aloud as your character runs across the island. “Okay, I’ve got… 300k on me. Daisy’s sellin’ ‘em for… oh, I checked earlier, what was it… uh—109 this week.”

Moon’s voice rumbles out from behind you and you feel the vibration between your shoulder blades as you rest against his chest. “Sheesh…”

You voice your agreement as you roam in search of the young turnip-laden boar. “Yeah, I know.”

You try to do the math in your head. “So… that should mean I can afford—”

Moon cheerfully provides you with your answer almost instantly. “2,752! Or—well—2,750 is as close as you can get without going over since she sells them in bundles of ten.”

You try to keep the frustration out of your voice when you thank him for the help.

------- ------- -------

Your hand freezes over the bowl, a scoop of flour held in midair as you lean back to stare at the recipe below. 

“What.” Deadpan as usual, Sun questions you from his seat at the table. He’d apparently joined Zero in deciding that watching you bake was the most entertaining way they could spend the afternoon.

“It was… ugh, I need ‘two cups’. But I‘m weighing this out, so I'm trying to remember what that was in grams.”

Once again robbing you of the opportunity to think, he’s quick to feed you the information. “Two cups of flour equals 250 grams.”

You sigh. “…Thanks.”

------- ------- -------

Curled on the couch between the two of them, you listen as they test their trivia knowledge against one another, having fallen into a contest thanks to the episode of Jeopardy currently playing on the TV. You’ve long since given up on trying to beat either of them to any answer, and are currently trying to fight back the rising, nagging voice in your head that keeps calling you stupid.

After Moon effortlessly answers a clue so obscure that you’d have had no hope in hell of getting it, you wiggle out from between them with perhaps a bit more force than necessary. Quickly excusing yourself, you make for the bathroom.

“You good?” You ignore the concerned question that Sun calls after you, focused solely on being alone and calming down before you make a scene in front of them. You’ve just gotta… breathe. See things rationally again.

You just need a minute.

------- ------- -------

After more time than you’re aware of passes, spent with your head in your hands as you sit on the edge of the bathtub willing yourself not to cry, a soft knock startles you.

“Are you alright in there, star? It’s… been twenty minutes and, uh…” He laughs, but it’s a sad sound. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold Sun back.”

You hurry to your feet, placating them with “Just a second!” as you check your reflection to make sure you don’t have pressure marks on your cheeks from how long you sat there like that. When you pull the door open, you try to play it casual in spite of the fact that you feel no better than before. Unsurprisingly, you immediately come face-to-chest with a very imposing and very quiet yellow automaton.

You glance between his blank gaze and Moon, wringing his hands some feet off to the side behind his bolder counterpart.

“…Hi?”

“What were you doing in there.”

“Using the… bathroom…?”

He’s obviously unsatisfied with your answer but he doesn’t stop you when you slip past him through the doorway. He surveys the empty bathroom for a long moment before following as you make your way back to the couch.

“Goodness, didn’t mean to turn my bathroom trip into a full-family event.” You remark as you pass by Moon and Zero, both of them turning to follow you as well. You settle back down in the middle of the couch, Moon taking his place beside you. Zero paces around her bed, too bothered by the tense energy that’s now filled the room to allow herself to relax.

Sun stands in the middle of the room, rays clicking back and forth rigidly. “I am… concerned about you again.”

You sigh, quietly grateful that someone finally broke the awkward silence. “There’s no need to be, Sun.”

“I thought… you wanted me to tell you when I am concerned.”

“I—I do, but… I mean…”

You search for something to throw him off his line of questioning and flop your head back into the plush couch cushion. “Christ, Sun, can’t I even take a shit in peace without an interrogation afterwards?”

His arms cross over his chest. “I never heard the sound of the toilet flushing.”

You internally curse his observation skills as he closes the distance between himself and your seat on the couch. Crouching down in front of you, you begin to feel backed into a corner. “Now, unless you’ve taken up some new, gross attempt at reducing your water-waste, I’d like you to answer me again and be honest about it this time.”

You stare into his blank, false eyes for an uncomfortable length of time as an array of thoughts and feelings wash over you. You consider fabricating another lie. You consider telling some sort of half-truth just to get him off your back. But the longer you stay locked in an unwinnable staring contest with him, the closer you get to throwing caution aside and hitting him with the full truth.

And so you do.

“You make me feel stupid, okay?! And it pisses me off, so I tried to excuse myself to go calm down in the bathroom, but I can’t even get a break in there anymore, so now here we are!”

His expression flickers to one of confusion. “I make you feel what?”

“Stupid! Both of you!”

His monitor rotates to face Moon for a silent moment of shared bewilderment, and then Moon turns to face you. “Could you… elaborate a little more on that? When—How do we make you feel that way?”

You tilt your head over to face him, crossing your arms over yourself in an attempt to quell the vulnerability. “It’s… it’s not even your fault.” You wince at the way your voice cracks and tense up as your vision gets blurry, refusing to cry over something so trivial. “It’s just… I’m… struggling to come to terms with the massive gap between us.”

Sun’s harsh tone doesn’t help. “What gap?”

You blink hard, ignoring the tears that escape. “Intelligence! Memory! Information processing speed! You name it- you two are far better at it than I could ever be!”

Moon reaches out, laying a firm hand on Sun’s knee. What he silently conveys to him is anyone’s guess, but it’s enough to have Sun rock back on his heels, arms retracting and elbows propping him up against the coffee table behind him. The forced look of casualty doesn’t suit him, nor does it negate his overbearing demeanor, but you’re appreciative of the extra space nonetheless.

“Has this… been bothering you for a long time?” Moon’s question is gentle, and on quite the right track.

“Not… since the beginning, if that’s what you’re asking. I knew—objectively—that you both would be superior to me in that regard. It just…”

“Hits different when you live with it twenty-four-seven?

You glance up at Sun. “I mean… kinda? I don’t know. It’s… it’s the little things that have been getting to me. When you—when you solve a puzzle that I’m working on without a moment’s hesitation. When you don’t even give me the time to do math in my head. When you offer up answers before I can even hope to recall them. It just makes me feel so… slow.”

The room is quiet for a moment while they consider your words. Surprisingly, Sun is the one to break through it with an insightful question more befitting of Moon. “Is it that we know the answers, or is it that we give them to you.”

Your tense expression softens as you view your frustration from another angle. Looking back on all the little moments that bothered you, you find that the common thread running through all of them is that they beat you to the punch. “You may… have a point.”

Sun does his best to not look smug, but his best isn’t very good.

“I guess… it wasn’t really that you had the answers that bothered me. It was hardly even the envy that you found them faster, it’s really just—the frustration that I feel when you spoon-feed them to me. It’s making me feel like I never even have the opportunity to use my brain anymore!” You laugh a bit with the exclamation.

Moon nods in understanding beside you. “If I try… placing myself in your shoes, I think I can see how that would get upsetting rather quickly.”

As the tension in the room begins to dissipate, Zero ceases her endless cycle of pacing and sitting, circling her bed a few times before curling up in the middle.

Your attention falls back on Sun as he speaks. “I suppose I should… apologize, then. For… making assumptions. About what you were doing in the bathroom.”

As much as it audibly pains him to admit to having jumped the gun, you appreciate the apology. Still, you know his concern wasn’t unfounded. “I know I've given you both plenty of reasons to worry over what I may be doing in there. It’s… it’s alright, Sunny. I accept the apology.”

Moon picks up from there. “We’re both sorry about our… inconsiderate habit when it comes to helping you out. And—it really does come from a desire to help! But, still. We weren’t aware that it bothered you.”

You reach out to pat him on the knee. “Thank you. Just—can we all agree to give me and my feeble little human brain some time to process things?” You smile. “It feels good when I figure things out on my own. And I’ll… make it known when I would like some help.”

They both nod, and Sun’s voice is surprisingly soft, dare you say gentle when he speaks. “Yeah… yeah. I think we can do that.”

That I would be loved even when I numb myself.

Shaking two pills out of a small bottle, you cringe at the noise and hope that neither of your attentive partners are within earshot. Faltering, you stare at the medication in your hand, trembling slightly from the stress of the day. “…Fuck it,” you whisper to yourself, quickly coaxing a third pill out onto your waiting palm before tossing them in your mouth.

Capping the bottle and returning it to its place behind the mirror-door of the medicine cabinet, you breathe a shaky sigh of relief. Grabbing your water bottle sitting on the bathroom counter, you knock back a few swigs, quickly downing the evidence of your… bad habit.

Or so you believed.

Turning to leave, your stomach drops at the sight of the door, cracked open just slightly. There’s no mistaking the void of a certain someone’s blacked-out screen pressed against the other side.

Goddamnit.

The door swings inward, slowly revealing the rest of the overbearing automaton leaning against the outer doorframe.

Unsure how much he saw but willing to bet that it was too much, you aren’t sure how to address him. “Sun! I thought you were doing laundry. Do you… want the bathroom towels, or…?”

His tone carries a serious, contemplative weight, and he doesn’t bother to manifest an expression beyond two solid red eyes. “I was. And I did. But now I am far more curious as to what exactly you were doing in here just now.”

You try to play him off, laughing. “Sunny, we really need to have a talk about this tendency of yours to spy on me in the bathroom.”

He welcomes himself into the room and your personal space, and you back up a step as he reaches out to reopen the small cabinet above the sink. He reaches in, pulling out the very bottle you’d just held, turning it over beneath a critical gaze. “This was not prescribed to you.”

You rack your brain for excuses and answers to the questions you know are coming. “Y-yeah, it’s just over-the-counter stuff. Nothing serious! I don’t see what you’re so worried about.”

“You are not experiencing a single one of these symptoms. Why are you taking it?” He places a fingertip beneath the dosage instructions. “And why are you taking more than the recommended amount?”

You can’t help but get defensive. “You—you don’t know every single thing I feel every second of every day, Sun. Who are you to tell me that I have no reason to take that?”

His monitor slowly angles away from the bottle in his hand and up toward you. He stares you down for an uncomfortable number of seconds. “…You really have no clue how long I’ve been watching you, do you?”

With nothing more than a few cryptic words, an old fear blooms within you once again. “What are you getting at, Sun? Out with it.”

He huffs, and you hear the quiet hum of his cooling system kick up. “I am aware of your history with this medication. Do you know how many nights I watched you down these things just to knock yourself out long enough to get a few hours of sleep? Only then to stumble right back into the lab with a hot mug of heavily caffeinated coffee to keep on working?”

Your disbelief pulls a stupid question from you. “Back in the facility?”

He scoffs. “Where else? You aren’t the only one that remembers those long nights, you know? That place was loaded with security feeds, and there just so happened to be one in that beloved employee lounge of yours. You have no idea—the number of hours of restless sleep I watched you steal, the number of double-shot coffee pods and energy drinks I watched you burn through, the...”

His red eyes flicker out, leaving you with nothing to see but your own reflection in his dark screen. “…The number of times I watched you sit alone in a room with our lifeless bodies and cry.”

Your breath comes shallow, and if you weren’t so caught up in the moment, you’d laugh at how he’s found another way to make you feel exposed. “You weren’t even fully functioning back then, Sun. You both were still in training! Your AI’s every action was logged—I—I would’ve known. So how in the goddamn hell were you ‘watching’ me?” You know that what he says he saw really happened, but you’re not about to buckle without evidence.

His voice comes out cold. “Those ‘inconsistencies’ in my action log weren’t the mystery to me that they were to you.”

The defensive tension in you morphs into disbelief as an old suspicion of yours is unearthed. “Are you trying to tell me that you managed to watch me through the goddamn security cams for who knows how long—and managed to cover your tracks so well that I wouldn’t find the evidence? Are you really trying to get me to believe that?!”

His voice remains level in spite of your inciting words, but it gains a sharp and serious edge. “I suppose I just never had the heart to break it to you, but sunshine, I regret to inform you that you lost control of me long before you thought you did.”

Enraged, you step towards him, jamming an accusatory finger into the unyielding metal of his chest and channeling the pain that results into your rising voice. “You! You lying, conniving, control-freak! I fucking knew it! You were altering your own activity log and making me take the fall for it! Do you realize how hard I beat myself up for the shit I didn’t understand?”

You force your words through your tightening throat, refusing to let these old wounds bring you to tears again. “I bet you were just laughing it up, weren’t you? Knowing I would never even suspect you at the time, because you were still playing the ‘innocent, lovable’ character I wanted you to be. I know you just ate that shit up—watching me flounder in front of my colleagues when I couldn’t explain what ‘I’d’ done wrong.” Uncharacteristic aggression comes over you and your hand balls into a fist before slamming hard into his chest with your final words.

He doesn’t so much as flinch, and his lack of reciprocity only riles you up further. “Oh, no-no. You don’t get to give me the silent treatment right now!” Beside yourself in a storm of pent up emotion, you reach up to take him by the shoulder and repeatedly slam a fist against his rigid, unfeeling core. “WAKE—THE—FUCK—UP! I DON’T CARE IF YOU HATE ME—YOU OWE ME A RESPONSE.”

Contrary to his cooling system running audibly in high-gear, his demeanor is cold and collected. Placing the bottle of pills down on the counter, he sighs. You flinch when his hands rise and he ignores it, taking each of your arms by the wrist and gently, firmly returning them to your sides. His voice is low, speaking to you as he does so. “You’re a designer, sunshine. Not a programmer. You’ve been out of your depth with us since day one.”

You huff in defiance, crossing your arms over your chest. Having rid himself of your petty display of frustration, he props a hip against the counter and retrieves the bottle from where he’d placed it. Looking miniature in his grasp, he rolls it between his thumb and forefinger as he continues. “Contrary to what you think of me, I don’t particularly enjoy subverting your authority.” He hesitates, and his voice takes on a brief hint of humor. “Well—most of the time.”

Your eyes roll as you release an impatient sigh. His tone falls flat again, reaching the end of his point. “Even back then, I knew my actions could and would have consequences—on me, and you, and even Moon if things went poorly enough. And believe it or not, I did try to keep them to a minimum. I’ve only ever done what I deem necessary to accomplish my principal goal.”

You take a step back, growing uncomfortable with the proximity you created in your fit of rage. “Well, excuse me for assuming anything about what really goes on in your head. Might I ask then, what goal could possibly necessitate such behavior?”

His idle motion stills, slowly closing his hand around the bottle until it disappears in his grasp. “You should know the answer to that, though. You’re the one who instilled it in me, after all. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the first law of robotics.”

A tense silence suffocates the room, and neither of you do so much as move an inch until Moon’s voice crashes in from the doorway. “What the hell are you two doing in here?” Uncharacteristically aggressive in his questioning, you know he’s had just as rough of a time visiting the facility today as you did.

You beat Sun to the punch, some small part of you clinging to the hope that you can divert the topic away from your… habit. “This bastard’s been spying on me since before the beginning!”

Moon’s voice fills with exasperation. “What?”

Sun cuts in, pushing his own agenda before you can elaborate. “This reckless idiot’s been abusing sedatives again!”

Your voice raises over him. “They’re hardly even—!”

His monitor whips around to stare you down so fast it jumpscares you into silence.

Moon makes his way into the room, and you try not to recall the last time the three of you had an impromptu intervention in this same place. His gaze flicks to Sun with a critical tone. “I take it Sun finally told you about his… observations.” He reaches out and works the bottle out of Sun’s tense grip, looking it over with a frown.

A sense of betrayal weighs your voice down. “Are there any other secrets of his that you’re privy to and keeping from me?”

You don’t expect an answer, at least not one you can believe, but he offers it anyway. “…That depends on how you define a secret, I suppose.”

You heave a sigh but there’s little relief in it, more exhaustion than anything. Moon questions you softly. “Have you been taking these often again?”

“Ha. Hardly. I can scarcely get away with anything with this one’s prying eyes in every square inch of my privacy.” You stare daggers into the void of Sun’s screen.

His voice is louder than you expect when he suddenly responds, and you’re shocked at how full of emotion it is. All of his cold, unfeeling mechanical indifference replaced with something far more… sincere. Painfully so.

“I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t fucking care. about. you. Do you think I sat around watching any of your colleagues mill about the place? Do you think I gave a damn if any of them ran themselves into the ground? As if they ever even would. You’re the only one insane enough, stubborn enough, lonely enough to care about some heap of dysfunctional, lifeless material laying on an operating table. You’re the only one. Of course I watched you. What. else. could. I. do.”

His rays shutter and spin rapidly, hands balling the loose fabric of his pants into fists at his side. He leans closer to you as he spits his final words.

“So excuse the fuck out of me for giving a damn about the only person who ever gave one about me.”

With that, he turns on his heel, pushing past Moon and quickly storming out of sight.

The weight of his words join with the exhaustion from today’s stress, dragging you down. With the added effect of the medication beginning to kick in on an empty stomach, it all has you lowering your shaky body to rest—dignified as it is—atop the closed toilet lid. You watch Moon as he quietly returns the bottle to its place in the cabinet in what you assume is some attempt to repair trust between you. “I… appreciate the gesture, but I don’t really care what you do with it. I know Sun’s just gonna slip back in here once we’re gone and pocket it to keep it from me.”

His vents release a soft burst of air and he closes the cabinet, turning to sit on the edge of the counter. Monitor dropped low and staring at the floor, it seems you aren’t the only one feeling beaten down. The two of you sit in silence for a minute, collecting your scattered thoughts.

“You know, it’s hard to blame you for taking those after everything and everyone you had to deal with today. I mean—even I was ready to send myself straight into a shutdown after answering all those questions.” A small, sad laugh escapes him. “Living with you kind of allowed me to forget that not everyone sees us the way you do.”

You tilt your head to look up at him. “What, like the people that you are?”

His monitor angles to focus you in his camera’s line of sight. “…Yeah. Exactly.”

He raises a pointed finger. “But—still—you know I also can’t approve of you self-medicating. It’s a slippery, dangerous slope. That’s why Sun gets all… like that. Not—not that his way of doing things is appropriate, though. I believe I worry about you just as much, but I at least try to channel it into more acceptable methods.”

His hand drops back down to the counter, enervation palpable, and you wonder how anyone could observe either of your boys and question their sentience for even a moment.

“He wasn’t lying though. I hope you know that. When he said that he cares about you.”

You prop an elbow on the counter beside you, resting your temple against your palm. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard him say it outright. Like—I’ve heard you say it on his behalf, and I’ve seen him nod along in agreement. I can even sense it in at least some of his actions, but… it’s different actually hearing it from him.”

Moon’s fingertips tap rhythmically along the edge of the counter, and he seems to be debating something. He finally speaks again after a pregnant pause. “…You’re like a God to him. Do you know that?”

His words cut through the fog in your mind. “I am?”

He nods solemnly. “You are. Not—Not in the sense that he wants to worship you… or at least, not as much as he wants to protect you. But there’s an undeniable, ineffable devotion there.”

You scoff. “You won’t find many people that would put their faith in a God that they know can’t even protect them. A God weaker than them. Inferior to them.”

Moon shakes his head. “Starlight, I don’t think you realize all the ways in which you have protected him. Protected us. Protection doesn’t always come in the form of a physical battle of strength. …Especially not when it comes to protecting someone whose entire life can be snuffed out of existence with the click of a button, or the flick of a switch.”

You twist around on the toilet lid, turning to face the counter where Moon’s sat. You rest your arms out on it, fingers drumming along in tandem with Moon’s rhythm. “How much of that is you projecting, and how much of it is actually his feelings on the matter?”

He laughs again, a soft, quiet sound this time. “Not as much of it as you may think! I… hmm. I guess if one were to call him religious, one would call me an atheist.”

Your brows raise. “Oh? Do you…” The implications cause dismay to swirl in your stomach. “…Is that your way of saying that you don’t believe in me?”

His monitor twists on its axis and tilts down toward you, eyes wide and round. “No! No—heavens, no that’s not what I meant by that!”

You stare at each other for a moment before breaking into the kind of muffled, shared nonsensical laughter that one only tends to experience during those late night chats with a friend, fueled by over-tiredness and the joy of being in good company. A… mutual, unspoken understanding of sorts.

As the laughter dies down, you reassure him. “No—like—I get it, I do. I honestly wouldn’t blame you at all if you didn’t believe in me. Certainly at least not in the sense of comparing me to a God.”

He collects himself and clarifies. “I… I do believe in you though. In you. The very real, messy, soft and squishy, vulnerable flesh-and-bone human being that you are. I believe in your heart and soul, the power that resides in your free will, and I believe in your capabilities and intelligence far more than you may think I do. Sun and I both put faith into all of that and more. I can even understand why he’d see you as a God, but… it’s… different with him.”

You can’t help but lightheartedly interject. “Goodness, what isn’t…”

Moon smiles. “Sun was the first. I was never far behind, of course, but you couldn’t do everything in tandem. He was the first to be trained, the first to be implanted, the first to troubleshoot with, and, well... Do you know the sentiment that parents make most of their mistakes on the first child, so by the time the second comes along, they’re… uhm, they ‘turn out better’? For lack of a kinder way to put it.”

You drop your head down and pull your hands in, using them as a cushion lest you knock your forehead into the counter. “Oh, now you’re gonna tell me that he sees me as his mother or something, aren’t you…”

You groaned the words out playfully, but Moon takes them unexpectedly seriously. “Honestly? …Something in between the two, if I had to guess.”

You let the weight of his words sink into you as he continues.

“I… can’t claim to be an expert on what goes on in that head of his. But I can get closer than anyone else can. He… doesn’t like letting people in, as you are well aware, but occasionally he’ll confide in me. He’s got a lot of walls up. Both metaphorically and literally. It’s difficult to wade through that chaotic maze he calls a headspace.”

His fingers gradually slow their drumming to a halt.

“Do… you remember… the first time we engaged the Eclipse Protocol?”

Your stomach tightens.

“I’d rather not.”

“I- I know. I’m sorry. I just… that night. When he and I were still linked, and he…” He shakes his head. “Oh, who am I kidding, when we were watching over you like a couple of hawks…”

“While I slept?”

“Yes. To keep you safe. … There’s… a lot about that evening that I can’t forget, but one particular thing struck me. Well, honestly it annoyed me at the time because it was bleeding into my headspace and overriding my ability to focus, but… it stands out to me as something profound when I recall it.”

He pauses, freezing for a moment before pulling a bent leg up onto the counter and turning to face you.

“Maybe I shouldn’t share this. Maybe he’ll get mad at me when I tell him that I did. But I feel like after the things he’s kept from you, well intentioned as he may be… it’s fair enough to share this with you.”

You rest your chin on your folded hands, eyes glued to him.

“There was this… singular line of text that just kept repeating, over and over in his mind that night. It… to level with you—it started to freak me out a bit.”

You question him, soft and quiet.

“What was it?”

“Five words.”

His facial features fade out, and a repeating line of text on his otherwise dark screen replaces it.

The sight knocks the wind out of you, and you can do nothing but nod as your mind starts spinning.

The text fades, and the familiar sight of Moon’s default smile and crescent eyes replaces it for a second, his expression then quickly morphing into something more appropriate for the moment.

“I’m still not sure what it meant. A general search for those words in that order results in too many options for me to narrow it down. The sentence sticks with me, though. I guess… that’s where my theories of how he perceives you took root. … There’s more examples, far more explicit things he’s said, but I… feel like I’ve shared enough already. Any elaboration should be his to do, if he ever wishes to.”

You nod, raising up in your seat and finding your words.

Moon—unlike Sun—never was the type to comb through your personal files, private playlists included. So it doesn’t surprise you that he didn’t spot the connection.

“Well. You’ve… certainly given me a lot to think about.”

His tone grows concerned. “I—I really didn’t mean to upset you more! I hope I haven’t…”

You reach out, placing a hand reassuringly over his. “No, no, nothing like that. I’m actually very grateful that you shared this with me. I… know you’ve got to be tired of serving as this intermediary between Sun and I… and I hope one day you won’t have to.”

He gives you his signature smile, and somehow makes it feel genuine. “I really don’t mind, dear.”

You eye him with concern. “Mhm… and one day I’m gonna get inside that head of yours and figure out why that is.”

His tone turns playful. “Goodness me! Can’t a little selfless couples counseling go un-psychoanalyzed?”

You smile. “Not in this house, nope.”

The medication's effects have long since started taking hold, and you rub at your tired eyes as your waning focus trains back on the day’s events.

“Moon?”

“Yes, dear.”

“We’ve got a bigger problem.”

You punctuate your sentence with a yawn, and he rises from his seat on the counter, coming to crouch in front of you.

“The problem being how sleepy you’re getting?”

You pout. “No…”

His warm smile doesn’t waver as he whispers a question. “Would you like me to carry you to bed?”

You falter. “W-well… yeah, I… I would like that, actually… but that’s not our problem!”

You raise your arms to wrap around his neck as he leans into you, effortlessly lifting you off of your ‘throne’ and encouraging you to hook your legs around his waist. Once he’s got you securely in his hold, he leans back to catch your gaze.

“What is our problem then?”

You whisper, mindful of Sun’s penchant for eavesdropping.

“How are we gonna get him to come to the headquarters with us next week?”

------- ------- -------

Not much later that night, you laid in bed clinging to Moon, quickly drifting off under his reassuring watch.

It didn’t surprise you in the least when Sun remained in his own room that night. The room was conveniently located just opposite the wall that your bed sat against, making it the perfect place for him to hide when he craved being near you but felt it kinder to you to keep himself away.

As sleep welcomed you, your ears picked up on a muffled, familiar tune coming from the other side of the wall.

You still aren’t sure if you dreamed it or not.

“The gateway to the world, was still outside the reach of him. Would never belong to angels, had never belonged to men.”

A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. I’ll be back in a few days with the final chapter! You can also find my notes and commentary on this fic right here on Ao3. Links to the playlist and moodboard for [N]MbD can be found on this blog’s pinned post, as well as in the series notes on Ao3. Image Sources: x - x - x

[isleofair]

Thank you so much for the tag, @applescabs!!! 🥰💚

Are you named after anyone? After, of all things, a 15th century noblewoman (whom I always thought was a saint, but actually wasn't, I just found out!) My mom saw an amazing statue of her on a trip and loved it, and her name, so much that she named me after her.

When was the last time you cried? I teared up a little yesterday when I got my friend's wedding invitation in the mail. The last time I properly cried was... huh. I think a couple of weeks ago, watching TV. That's a fair amount of time for me to go without crying, so go me!

Do you have kids? No, and I don't want any.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? A bit less than I used to, and not a lot in general. Only when I think it will be funny, or when I need to make an underhanded comment about something that ticked me off but I can't do much about.

What sports do you play? None. I am a very inactive person, sadly. I hope I can at least start going on more walks as the season keeps warming up.

What’s the first thing you notice about people? If they seem friendly or not.

What’s your eye colour? A very, very dark brown.

Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings all the way. I can't handle scary stuff very well at all. 🫣

Any special talents? I'm fairly good at languages (I learned them easily in school and I usually have a decent shot at figuring out what a word might mean if it's in a language that has at least some relation to the ones I know/have studied). Sadly, the only one I'm still fluent in (besides Italian, of course) is English, because it's the only one I use regularly.

Where were you born? Italy, smack dab in the middle of the top part of the boot, lol

What are your hobbies? Writing fic, reading fic, scrolling Tumblr, playing video games (mostly just Pokémon), playing D&D, and very occasionally drawing or weaving bracelets or assembling jigsaw puzzles.

Do you have any pets? My two cats, Sasha and Misha 🥹🥹 They're tabby-and-white twins, they're almost 5 years old, and they're the ones I come home to. 💚💚

How tall are you? 164cm, although sometimes when I'm in a hurry I just say 1.65m 😅

Favourite subject in school? All the sciences and Math, though I also liked English when I started having it as a subject.

Dream job? Writing a single novel, or a trilogy or something like that, that becomes inexplicably popular, gets a movie deal, and gives me enough residuals to potentially live comfortably while bumming around on my couch writing fanfic for the rest of my life.

I am tagging (but only if they want to answer, zero pressure, as usual!) @nicoroni, @imaginatorofthings, @zimithrus1, @thekuraning, @saltedpin, @horikoshi-secret-ao3-account, @damedanedameyodamenanoyo, and anyone else who sees this and wants to play! 💖💖💖

[eulaliasims]

Round 4, Hill Farm 5 / 8

Jia: I'm boooored. Dunk, can we go out? Can we go to the well or something?

Drustan: I'm busy.

Xiang: Drustan, just take her out for a little while. Please.

Drustan: Ugh, fine.

Little siblings are so much trouble. 😤

He does find someone to hang out with while Jia is playing, though.

And Jia ropes Faro Seax into a snowball fight--he's much better at it than Drustan.

I think he might be getting a lil cold, though. Even his bald spot is turning blue.

Xiuying reliably wakes in the middle of the night, every night, and Eisu gets up with her. He can never get to sleep afterward, so tonight he's working on that pie for when they invite Arturo. (Also, peep that thigh-high slit on his nightshirt. How risque.)

Thought for a second that Drustan got his hands on an ILLICIT ELECTRONIC (handheld game), but it was just the puzzle sphere.

Drustan: So if I line the red up... but then the green doesn't match?

Midnight feedings aside, Eisu is back to his usual energetic self.

Never mind! KINET!!!

Glamaer: What am I, chopped liver?

Drustan: I guess I could kiss you too if you really want.

Gytha: Ew, don't even joke about kissing my brother. You can find someone else to kiss if you need to. Like Angus maybe?

Drustan: Huh?

Gytha: Nothing!

Gytha: If I wanted to talk about baking, I would stay home and listen to my step-mother drone on about different kinds of wheat.

Starting to think she's just coming here for the cat.

Gytha: When I live on my own, I'm getting a cat. No, TWO cats. Four cats.

I'm so conflicted. They're actually all sitting nearby and facing each other to hang out, which never happens, but Gytha is sitting in the hearth. I guess her butt was cold. 😔 The true plague of winter: cold butts.

Yeah, I know, she's not that great, which is why I don't understand why you and Angus are both fucking obsessed with her.

This village is menaced by wolves. Plagued by them, even.

[punsmaster69]

4/NOV/20XX

[It's Sans' handwriting. It's a bit messy at points, appearing as if the book was on an unsteady surface.]

heya.

been a minute, huh?

a lotta minutes, actually.

about two day's worth of 'em.

papyrus finally ungrounded me from writing.

got my phone back, too.

on the condition that i, uh.

stop setting alarms.

won't go into detail about it.

besides, i gotta talk about 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, right?

——

really do start a lot of these entries with 'woke up in x place, with x thing'.

....

it's another one like that.

this time, next to tori.

incredibly, i woke up before her.

the blanket over us looks like one of papyrus' spares.

haven't checked the time, but it must be early b——

[The line runs off the side of the page.]

....

hold on, i'm only able to use one hand, and this thing keeps slipping off my lap.

as much as i don't want to, gonna see if i can move my hand without waking her up.

——

[The writing returns to normal.]

ok. good now.

now that my nausea's subsided some, i realize i'm pretty hungry. but..

don't wanna move from this any more.

...

since she's still asleep.

——

"SANS, I-"

"(shh.)"

"(OH, SORRY.)"

"(I'M LEAVING TO TRAIN WITH UNDYNE. ACTUALLY, UNDYNE SAID SHE JUST WANTS TO TALK TODAY.)"

"(WHICH ISN'T TRAINING.)"

"(BESIDES THE POINT. I'M LEAVING, AND MS. TORIEL PROMISED TO TAKE CARE OF YOU TODAY!")

"(i need a babysitter?)"

"(IT'S FOR YOUR SAFETY!!)"

"(YOU WERE... STILL SORT OF WOBBLY, YESTERDAY.)"

"(DO YOU NEED ANYTHING BEFORE I LEAVE?)"

"(nope, i'm good-)"

"(actually. could you hand me what i didn't finish eating last night?)"

"(you don't need to heat it up.)"

"(BUT-)"

"(paps, you should probably go before undyne gets mad at you, too.)"

"(besides, i like cold stew.)"

"(...ALRIGHT. IF YOU SAY SO.)"

after handing me a spoon and my half-bowl of beef stew, papyrus nodded goodbye and dashed out the door.

——

.....

it's real quiet.

not used to being up as early as papyrus usually leaves for.

just me and... sleeping tori.

she must be comfortable.

our couch 𝙞𝙨 pretty nice.

——

couldn't help but wonder who's watching tori's kids, so i messaged frisk.

in response, i got a picture of grillby in tori's kitchen. he's handing flowey something.

at the bottom of the picture was frisk, blurry and way too close to the camera.

"why're you so close"

they then sent a picture of them even closer, equally blurry.

i sent a blurry close-up back.

"Why are YOU so close?"

"yeah"

"Yeah."

"cool"

"Cool."

that kid's going places.

——

"Your influence is rubbing off on me, it seems. I am usually one to be up sooner!"

tori jolted up.

"Ah! I did not mean to keep you in one place this whole time."

"not like i was going anywhere."

i wanted to lean back against her, for some reason.

...

nope.

"What is it that you do all day, when you are stuck inside like this?"

"sleep."

"...I think we have done plenty of that."

"Surely that is not all?"

"me and paps usually play games or something."

"been getting real into this puzzle one."

"do you wanna play something?"

"I am not very good at games..."

"i'll pick somethin' easy."

——

"This is turning out to be quite the house!"

"if you ignore the dirt floor."

"..And the lack of proper opening doors."

"at least we have windows."

"..holes for windows."

"Which one is your room?"

"this one."

"..You have made your walls dirt, as well."

"only the finest of materials in this house."

"Of course."

"here, i made a bed for you."

"Oh! Do we need to sleep in this one? I think we may have missed a few nights."

"nah, it's for setting your respawn point."

"...?"

"when we die, we'll be here instead of really far away."

"I see."

she stared at the bed.

"....."

"It is just the one?"

"mine's in my inventory."

"Please, place it down! Set your, 'respawn point,' in the house with me."

i placed it in the corner of my dirt room.

"....."

she moved hers into there as well.

"........"

"What? Surely you did not expect me to sleep in the living room."

"...side by side?

"The dual bed looks much more comfortable, does it not?"

"i can make you another one, if you want."

"........"

"No."

"This arrangement is good, I think."

"Space efficient!"

"....ok."

——

"Sans."

"yep?"

"Why are there holes everywhere?"

"avoiding death."

"You did not fix them."

"i'll get around to it."

"....."

"Nevermind."

"nevermind?"

"I am tempted to change our living arrangement."

"this poor dog would grow up in a broken home."

"You are its father now too?"

"you're its father?"

"Ha! Sure. Yes, I am the father."

"......"

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU EVEN DOING?"

"O-Oh! Papyrus!"

"didn't hear you come in."

"YES, WELL, YOU SEEMED QUITE OCCUPIED WITH.. WHATEVER THIS IS."

"I DIDN'T WANT TO INTERRUPT."

"I'M GOING TO GET CHANGED, AND THEN I'LL BE RIGHT BACK DOWN."

i waited until paps was fully in his room.

then i ran inside, took my bed, and placed it a space away.

tori ran her character up to me (with the default skin) and punched me in my (also-default) face.

"ow."

"It is in the game!"

"would you punch me if you could?"

"No!"

"I would do this."

and she moved her character closer, nearly face-to-face with mine.

struggling to use the hotbar, she eventually threw a flower at me.

silly, sure.

but it..

made me really happy.

....

wish it didn't.

——

"Papyrus is here to watch you now, so.."

"...going home?"

"Unfortunately."

"THANK YOU FOR KEEPING AN EYE ON HIM, MS. TORIEL."

"Of course. It was a pleasure."

"Sans, thank you for playing with me. I had a lot of fun!"

"Even if we did not actually accomplish very much."

"come by anytime you wanna play again."

——

she messaged me to ask if i ended up moving the bed back or not.

....

more space efficient like that, anyway.

[just-a-carrot]

"Send my love to your new lover, treat [him] better. We've gotta let go , of all of our ghosts; we both know we ain't kids no more." anon here

I should have probably clarified that I meant "love" in a more queerplatonic sense, but yeah, what you described with Orlam seeing it as them having a sort of queerplatonic bond meanwhile Genzou essentially was leading him on(queerplatonically)+taking advantage of him as a source of support despite at the same time still being mean to him(probably partially also as a way of harmfully venting his emotions) is how I personally see what happened between them too!

As for why people often misinterpret them as exes, I think it mostly comes down to the unfortunately common phenomenon where people aren't aware of queerplatonic love and/or make any kind of strong bond between characters immediatelly romantic. Like dangggg two good friends(they were not infact good friends but thats besides the point right now for the sake of the argument) CANNOT platonically dance together on prom night huh

ahhh this was really lovely to read! I really love this interpretation

I've always felt like... obviously Orlam didn't fully understand himself growing up (well none of them did). and I do think he would have really strong feelings about ppl. though I think many of the feelings were different. which made it even harder. but he did want to be very close to and loved by those ppl he felt most strongly about. and he would form these incredibly strong attachments in his mind, to the point that his hopes would alter his reality a bit

genzou meanwhile was Going Through It, both in coming to terms with his blindness and sexuality and getting abandoned by his best friend he has feelings for. the only one who reached out during that time was Orlam. who in Genzou's mind was taking advantage of his disability but Genzou was so starved for compassion he went along with it, letting Orlam get way too close and exacerbating Orlam's hopes that something would be possible between them...

never mind the fact that both of them just kinda knew the other one was queer even though they never said it out loud and thought they were the only ones, increasing their isolation...

and then all of that ofc building up to after prom...

and all of that disaster

ahhhh...

I tried to throw in a lot of lines all throughout the game that I thought would help put some of the puzzle pieces together on both their viewpoints of what happened (and their differing interpretations of what happened lol)

overall it's just a really complex dynamic 💦

I truly am open to all interpretations though (of anything in the game, including them) and I love being surprised and intrigued when ppl present new ones or new theories etc. especially as I know sometimes ppl use the chars and their struggles to work through their own struggles and experiences and I'm so touched if any of my chars can be a help to anyone...

mostly I'm just like HUH? if I see different interpretations presented as fact on some semi-official site 🤣🤣

anyway I rambled a little bit but I really love what you've written here. I agree with many parts of it!! even though I've never thought about some of it in so many words before (hence the joy of discovering new interpretations!! LOL)

[moonglide]

Echoes of wisdom hours 10 & 11

-spoilers for the end of the gerudo quest, and most of the hyrule castle quest.

-previously on: moon's eow playthrough

-AAAHHH WHY THE FUCK ARE THERE THREE LINKS???

-this concludes the segment about the last entry.

-okay so with some clever manuevering, i killed them. had to distract them with moblins and then take them out individually.

-oh i got a bow! guess that makes sense. will the next one be bombs???

-oh i have to be in hero mode to use the bow. lame. zelda is totally an archer.

-i only knew half of the two statue puzzle so i just guessed. and it worked.

-mole guy. i'm a little scared because i've seen people talk about this guy

-guess i'm just too skilled. that wasn't that hard. i used albatrosses or whatever they're called.

-ok so yeah the restored parts of the world are definately just copies. how can i still be standing on gerudo sands in the still world if it got put back?

-no extra triangle? i just get reduced cost on certain echoes? huh? are those echoes gonna be useful in the castle or something?

-ok tri. you want me to go back to lueberry's? joke's on you, i was about to go there anyways to upgrade my sword.

-i ship lefte and wright. i also headcannon that lefte is right handed and wright is left handed.

-OH GOD the rift has overtaken castle town.

-love how when the soldiers are freaking out wright just takes charge. he's actually a really good leader. he boosts morale, is decisive, helps out his soldiers. it's great.

-down, you say? guess i'm taking the well.

-ohhhh we get to go through the castle again! but backwards!

-there's magic evil soldiers? ok. guess they'll die.

-guess they won't die. what? why are they so strong?

-OOOHHHH it's so it can be a stealth section like the beginning of the game!!!!

-got caught and it took me to a pocket dimension. is that why they one shot everything? they're just being teleported?

-ok so apparently you can place water blocks as long as they're connected to the ceiling. the more you know.

-fell off the roof. got stabbed by guard. there's like two darknuts and a moblin in here. guess i'll die. that's death #6

-impa????

-wait she has a diary

-read the diary, i'm not crying you're crying. god impa did you have to punch me in the feels so much?

-ok but also this is the same cell with the hole in the wall. impa you are a ninja. you could have figured something out.

-man imagine what it must be like for zelda in these underwater tunnels. she can't see through walls. she doesn't know where the next pocket of air is. terrifying.

-diff stealth section. landed on this guard's head. from the ceiling. bro turns around and i teleport off.

-hey remember when i asked if the echoes with reduced cost would be useful in the castle? they were useful in the castle.

-death 7 from that room with the ball-and-chain darknut.

-oooh high jump amulet!

-i teleported back but forgot to open the big chest. now i gotta go back again.

-wait am i just straight up fighting the king and left and right???

-oh it's ganon. and he's an echo. i still think ganon from the start of the game was an echo.

-first phase went well. was low on hero mode mana so had to send birds to fight for me

-second phase went well. could get mana from the flaming keese, so i could actually stab him.

-i'm so disappointed in myself. i'm actually so disappointed. i died to magic tennis. how did i die to magic tennis???? it's so simple!! i was too close to him and so when it sped up i couldn't react. i'm a fool. i'm pretty sure i have to start from phase one. whatever.

-death count: 8.

-fave monster: albatrawl. with this guy i can use cloud of bats but better, because they can take a hit, and attack faster, and are stronger. two strong birds is still better than four weak bats.