#keyes anon

[chaaistained]

OMD URE WATCHING PANTHEON ???? I LOVEEEEEE PANTHEON OMG ITS SO GOOD AND SO UNDERRATED IT DESERVEs WAY MORE ATTENTION THAN IT GETS OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

HOW IS IT LIKE FOR U SO FAR ?????

wanted to wait on this ask until i was done and . what The FUCK???

what in the bloody odyssey core shit knuckles was THAT

it was SO INCREDIBLE in so many ways and i feel like there will always be a before-pantheon and an after-pantheon in my life now

it’s one of those pieces of media that reshapes the way you see the world

i felt it with avatar the last airbender when i was merely eight, i felt it again with the good place when i was seventeen, and now i’m gonna turn twenty one and i feel like i’ve relearned the meaning of the world

and that at its core, everything comes back to love, everything comes back to connection, to compassion

and the way you can feel love from all forms whilst simultaneously questioning its authenticity bcs the rate at which we evolve cannot possibly be kept up with

our minds are so much greater than any other cosmic force and yet we keep wanting more and more but at the end of it, we finally wish to regress to revisit to relive

because for every timeline that was witnessed and every apocalypse that was born from the first upload, it keeps happening, because maddie was both right and wrong, pain can and will grow smaller, but you don’t ever really forget it, it just takes a different shape

and when you have eternity? you’ll end up missing it

because the meaning of everything is love and love breeds pain

[people-can-be-tamed]

good with ropes??? and uh if i asked you why you need those skills ...?

"Sometimes when I'm alone I like to imagine myself causing harm to the people I hate.

Usually I restrain them so they don't fight around; especially Knightley, since he's taller and could have a better advantage over me.

The issue is, when I got to tying him down, I couldn't imagine it very well because I had no knowledge. So I searched up ways to tie knots and now I can restrain people really well.

...Oh, and they're also useful for kidnappings."

[hefty-halo]

So commander Keyes, what’s it like getting some time to relax? You’re not indulging too much, right?

"It's been very, well, relaxing. For the first time, I felt like I could let off the gas a little. Cortana has been such a great help in returning the ship to full order, and helping the crew be much more efficient. These days, I can spend more time actually doing things other than giving out orders."

Miranda replied, idly munching on a box of donuts that had been left for her. She was somewhat...in the dark about just how much weight she'd put on! Her uniform had never got tight, as if someone had been replacing it before it ever came to that stage~

[one-vivid-judgment]

you: i like dahlia

me: and suddenly enji makes sense /lh

no shots taken, i just SO fucking agree (in a different way, albeit) in seeing the pipeline of They Could Never Hurt A Fly (bonus points if they show that they're smart & just wanna support the protagonist to the best of their abilities because of how much kindness they've given and shown but doubt their abilities because of Insert Self Confidence Reasons) —> Yeah, Actually It Was All Fake & You're SUCH A Fucking Pussy To Be So Stupid In Handing Your Trust Out So Easily 👁️👁️

Honest to God, I like Dahlia more than I like Iris, and Iris is like... supposed to be the likeable one 😭😭 Girl awakens a total of zero emotion in me aside from her relationship with Dahlia and her role in the whole Bridge to the Turnabout plot. Dahlia is my girl, and while we are at it, so is Alita in AJ:AA. I played Investigations once when I was like,,, ten, so I don't remember jackshit, but I liked Cammy there, too. It's a pattern at this point 😭 I support women's rights, but mostly, women's wrongs. 

Honestly, I think Eiji is more like Matt Engarde/Simon Keyes. In the sense that, Dahlia never truly has that "she's so innocent, I trust her with my life" phase; in Turnabout Memories, Mia does NOT trust her from the get go, so you already know something about her is fishy, and by Turnabout Beginnings you are already fully aware of everything.

Engarde and Simon though? They DO fool you for the longest time!

(I gotta say tho, I haven't actually played Investigations 2, but I've watched playthroughs, so that's how I know about Simon; I watched those playthroughs like,,, two years ago tho 😭).

Engarde pulls the "I haven't killed Corrida or anyone (because it was actually an assassin, so I technically didn't do anything!)", and it WORKED, it TRICKED ME just like he tricked Phoenix 😭😭

Also, these three + Dahlia all have 'cocky bitch smirk' syndrome and I find that incredibly funny.

(Also, just a fun, unrelated fact: Juan Corrida's name had to be changed in the Spanish version to Juan Rivera, because "Corrida" means "cum/cumshot" in Spanish 😭😭 I felt so weird typing his English name just now)

[since0202]

Hello! I just wanted to check in and see how you are as you’ve been quiet recently💕

Thanks for the check-in (and thank you to everyone else who checked in). Life just got a little busy. I started school up again to get a certificate in UX/UI design, went on a bunch of trips, and my sister moved out of state, so it's been a busy few months. Writing kind of went to the back burner during all of it.

Sorry to go MIA on you all. But we're back and writing again and I hope to post the next chapter soon. In Chapter 54 we'll see if Maya is brave enough to go back to the rez and see Paul.

We'll also learn more about Leah and Keye's relationship. Also, I know someone sent me an ask about that way back when and I said that wasn't the reason she disappeared--which technically it still isn't and we'll learn why in Chapter 54. But I sat with the idea of Leah imprinting on Keye for months and it just made sense to my long-term story arc. So thank you to that person for the hard read on that situation!

Happy to be back and happy to see all of you in the notes and inbox.

[imagineanime2022]

The Variable

Caspian Keyes X GN!Reader

Word Count: 2240

Requested: Anon

Request: literally anything involving caspian idc ill read anything i just need SOMETHING WITH HIM

Warning: neglectful non existent parents, spoilers for pantheon so please watch the show if you plan to before reading this!!

A/N: I can definitely write a part 2 continuing through the series, it was just getting supper long, I got carried away.

Logorhythms had not expected you to be a problem, when you were young they expected you to grow apart having you in a part of his childhood that he was unlikely to remember would be fine but even as you started to get older you never seemed to grow apart. They had tried paying off your parents but that resulted in them running off with the money and leaving you to fend for yourself. They had then thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to have you moved halfway across the country to be placed in foster care but even they didn’t have the power for that without telling the government what they were doing.

You were placed in a care home until the age of 16 where you placed in a apartment with an assisted living allowance, during that time it only seemed to make the friendship stronger, you weren’t afraid of his Dad who on many occasion and tried to scare you away, you never headed his mother’s warnings to leave while you could, for whatever reason you stuck around. You quickly became a problem for them. Stephen never had a friend that he could fall back on. You were ruining everything but there was nothing they could do short of killing you that would get you to leave.

They had decided given your ages that there was one more thing that they could try to get you out of the picture and it came with the hire of a girlfriend, Hannah. That had always been part of the plan but now there was a bonus if she could get you both to have a fight or push you away in some way.

The day that Hannah joined the school was when you started to see that things were changing, you had been leaning against the lockers next to Caspians as he grabbed everything that he needed for the next lesson, you watched as the new girl was shown around the school. “Oh hi.” She waved eyes not moving from Caspian. “Oh no.” Nicole said as she looked between the two of you. “That’s Casper the unfriendly goth and his guard dog.” “Caspian.” He introduced himself with the correct name. “Oh like Narnia.” She joked and he nodded. You didn’t listen to what was actually said from there on, you watched her frowning, you wanted to believe that she was genuinely interested in him but your brain immediately asked why someone like her was interested in someone like him having just walked into the school. You were pulled out of your thoughts when he nudged you to start moving. “Oh, Hannah!” She called as she turned back to Nicole. “Like Montana.” He mumbled more to himself. “She seemed cool.” Caspian said as he looked back at her and you raised an eyebrow. “Cool? Is that the new word for pretty?” You asked. “Stop.” He narrowed his eyes at you while nestling his skateboard under his arm as you turned towards the next class. “Alright but ‘like Montana’ really?” You asked. “Shut up.” He couldn’t stop the smile pulling across his face as he pushed you towards the door for the next class.

The next day everything seemed to be normal, you walked into school and met Caspian at the gates. “You won’t believe what I found on that conspiracy site.” He said. “It’s too early for this.” You mumbled rubbing at your eyes trying to get yourself to wake up. “Oh come on!” He pleaded as you opened your locker. “Don’t come on me, I have no parents, the only reason I’m here is you, that should be enough.” You joked, you heard him shuffling before he pulled out your favourite snack. “What did you find?” Though it was framed as a give and take, you would have heard him out either way you’ve never been able to say no to him, not since you’ve been old enough to know what it was like to be in love with your best friend. “Someone thinks the Logorhythms faked their Dad’s death and is holding him hostage.” He explained. “Faked his death?” You asked “where would they be holding him and for what?” “I don’t know I didn’t ask but you remember there was a proposition logical problem and I solved it?” Caspian asked. “Mmm.” You hummed, closing your locker and making your way to his. “The images that they sent, it looks like her Dad is communicating the same way that AngryAngel did.” He explained “so I sent the pictures to them.” “And?” You asked. “Well nothing yet.” He answered. “Yes if you get kidnapped and imprisoned by some tech company, I will storm the building to get you back.” You dramatically declared and he rolled his eyes. “Not what I was asking.” He rolled his eyes. “Alright so what are you asking?” You asked. “What do you think?” He asked. “I think that it’s very unlikely.” You answered honestly. “But let’s be honest nothing is completely impossible… How was last night? You text and said your Dad was home.” “Ehh.” He shrugged “he ate and then he left.” “Mhm.” You hummed. “Don’t worry about it.” He dismissed your concern as he always did, walking into class, you moved to your assigned seat regrettably halfway across the room from Caspian. “Okay, everyone settle down, yesterday we were talking about Orlando’s love for Rosalind and it represents just one of the many types of love Shakespeare highlights in the play. For the next phase of our analysis, we’re going to break into groups of two, so everyone find a partner.” Your teacher said. “Guess it’s you and me.” You glanced up at a boy you recognised from class not that you cared to even know his name. “Why?” You asked. “She wants some time with your boy, without his guard dog around.” He smirked, jutting his head towards Hannah talking to Caspian, she’d pulled over a table and they seemed to be well into their discussion. “So can I sit or…” “Whatever.” You pulled your feet up into a crossed leg position on the chair leaning forward, ready to do all the work for the project since you were sure that he knew literally nothing.

“Are we still doing that movie night tomorrow?” You asked. “Oh um.” Caspian avoided looking at you and you knew the moment that he started fumbling. “You hanging out with… what’s her face?” You clicked your thumb and middle finger as if trying to remember her name, when in reality all it was doing was running around your head in circles. “Hannah.” He answered. “Don’t do that.” He muttered. “Don’t do what?” You asked. “Stop.” He was a little too smart for the games that normal people played as teens when dancing around their feelings. “Yeah, it’s fine I’ll just watch it on my own.” You finally answered. “Hey maybe we can-” “No it’s fine honestly, have fun.” You waved him off before heading off home.

The next day went as all the others did, when you got home you threw your bag onto the chair in the living room deciding to get changed and eat something before sitting down to finish the rest of the project that needed handing in. You were about an hour in before there was a knock on the door, you frowned as you opened the door to Caspian “I thought you were supposed to be with Hannah.” You said. “My parents scared her off.” He answered. “Your dad was home?” You asked. “Pushed my mum.” He answered. “She’s okay?” You asked. “Yeah.” He nodded. “And you're okay?” You moved out of the way allowing him into the house. “Yeah, he didn’t touch me.” He answered walking in. “Wait I thought you were watching that movie, it looks like your doing the project.” “Well my partner has no intention of working with me.” You explained as you walked towards the sofa where everything was spread out. “Oh yeah.” He nodded. “Look I’m-” “Don’t apologise for making other friends, just please be careful, there’s something going on here, I don’t know what it is but there is something going on.” You explained. “Is it so hard to believe that she might just be interested in me?” Caspian asked. “No it’s not, trust me it’s not but I don’t trust her.” You shrugged. “So you're jealous?” He asked. “Excuse me?” You asked. “You know you’ve had a rough evening, I’m not going to make it any worse but when you're ready to talk to me, you let me know.” You said picking up your laptop to continue with your work, he stood there for a second before disappearing out the door, your eyes cast down to your hands as you fought tears.

Over the next few days you only grew apart, your life became very monotonous, you went to school, you went home. You didn’t have any other friends so there was no one else to hang out with, instead you watched and rewatched old shows and movies. Caspian seemed happy with Hannah and you hated yourself for being angry about it, it wasn’t about you, he should be happy and you should be happy for him. You had for a long time wished that it might be you that made him that happy but it seemed like it was just not in the cards.

One afternoon you came home from school, everything seemed normal at first, that is until you walked into the living room to find Caspian hunched over your demolished laptop “I hope you're upgrading that as part of an apology.” You decided not to start a fight immediately. “Are you one of them?” He asked. “Excuse me?” You asked. “Answer the question.” He ordered, standing from where he was sitting in front of. “I don’t know what you're talking about Cas.” You answered honestly. “What’s this about, did something happen?” He looked at you for a second before looking back at your laptop. “I found these in my computer and my phone.” He explained holding up 2 small chips, you stepped closer looking at the little chip that said Logorhythms in small letters. “Okay so why did you think I had something to do with that, I still need you to sort out my tech problems.” You reminded him as you looked at the laptop in pieces on the table. “I went looking for my mum after I found this, I found her at the Civic Centre with Hannah.” He explained. “They were talking about me… About what I talked to her about.” “What you talked to Hannah about?” You asked. “Mhm.” He hummed. “So you thought that I was working with them too?” You asked. “I didn’t know what to trust.” He answered. “Well why don’t you talk to Hannah about it?” You asked. “Your mum’s not going to tell you anything but she might, especially if she’s new to all this.” “Why are you helping me, after everything that happened?” He asked. “Cas I’m not your enemy, never have been. I am, however, going to be real mad at you if you can’t fix that.” You informed him, jutting your head towards the laptop. “I can fix that.” He promised “Look I’m sorry about everything, you were right and I didn’t listen to you.” “No it’s fine I sounded like a jealous best friend, who-” You stopped yourself from talking realising that you almost outed yourself. “Who what?” He asked, he was a little too sharp for his own good and you knew that he was not going to let it go. “Don’t you have to meet up with Hannah, find out what’s going on?” You asked. “Who what?” He asked, stepping forward causing you to step back. “Can you maybe not make me say it?” You asked. “I need you to say it.” He almost pleaded, his hand coming up to rest on your cheek, thumb gently running back and forth. “Do you know what ‘it’ is?” You asked. “I have an idea.” He was so close now, you had to look up to make eye contact and his other hand had come to rest on the back of your head keeping you in place. “I’d really like to be more than friends.” You finally said and what you saw was the realist smile you had seen in a long time. “More than friends?” He asked. “Don’t make-” You were cut off by him pressing his lips to yours in an almost bruising kiss one hand dropping to your waist to keep you close. “Cas we have to find out what’s going on.” You reminded him between kisses as you tried to get him to pull back. “I will, I’ll talk to her tomorrow, I still need to fix your laptop.” He said dismissively, leaning back in. “Alright.” You pulled away placing your hand over his mouth, you could feel him smirking “you're very good at that.” “At kissing?” He asked, eyebrows raised, his voice muffled and you rolled your eyes. “You need to end things with Hannah and you need to fix that laptop, the rest is up to you.” You informed him as he pulled your hand from his mouth. “I’ll talk to Hannah tomorrow, I’ll fix your laptop tonight.” He promised, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “Happy?” “Happy.” You nodded.

*Part 2*

Request Here!!

[angst-and-fajitas]

Sorry if ur not doing request anymore but can you please write something for Maddie and caspian and their son I beg of you. There’s no fanfiction in this fandom 🥺 and ur writing is so good

I should probably make it clear real quick that I don't do writing requests, BUT anon you are in LUCK, because I will gladly use this as an opportunity to PLUG MY LONGFIC WIP!!

May I introduce you to...."The Miracle of Backups"!!!

It has exactly what you're asking for: lots of Maddie and Caspian and Dave!! Lots of Maddspian, Kim-Keyes family fluff, and...some crushing angst too. Because that's how I roll 💖

Here's the summary:

"Unbeknownst to Caspian, Maddie makes a backup of his upload just before his fight with Holstrom. After he dies in the battle, she resurrects him. This does not solve their problems." "A chronicling of twenty years of love and loss shared by one small, damaged family amid a changing world."

So basically, this is a canon-divergence plot where nothing changes aside from the fact that Caspian gets resurrected from backup immediately following the end of episode 6. This immediately sparks another massive existential crisis for our boy, but ultimately means that he gets to live through that whole 20 years he would've otherwise missed. The fic will follow the entire 20 years of this AU, and will probably be around 45 chapters long. I have the whole thing outlined!

Features: digital first dates! the utter chaos of surprise teen pregnancy! A more focused and thorough exploration of human-UI politics! Maddie and Caspian being loving parents!! No one going to therapy even though they really need it! (eventually) Maddspian Marriage! Cool aunt Justine!

Anyways, I'm being silly here, but I'm intending this to be a very serious fic, and my approach to it is staunchly to keep it grounded in Pantheon's themes and Ken Liu's ideas, and in how the characters would realistically handle such a situation, with all the messiness that entails. Lots of love, lots of loss, and lots of messy relationships. It's pretty important that people be aware that this is not a fix-it fic at all.

Anyways again! Dave himself doesn't show up for several chapters, but what I have here for YOU, anon, who is so very kind, is an excerpt from a chapter in the middle of the fic, at around the 10 year mark.

Context: Maddie and her engineering team have just completed the first full version of the upload androids we see in s2 ep7 and 8. Now that they have to beta test it, Caspian is, inevitably, her first choice for this. The Kim family heads to the Logorythms HQ to go see Caspian in the flesh for the first time in 10 years.

Final disclaimer: things will be edited as I start posting the story (SOON...), and the final version may end up different from this one! this is just a fun sneak peak :)

[evidence-based-activism]

WHY do you think the male suicide rate is so high? Has it always been this high, before modern times do you think? Is there anything you think women can do to help with this?

(Also, for the other anons I have received on this topic.)

It's not "so high". (I've also discussed male suicide in the past.)

According to a 2022 review on suicide mortality in the United States [1], there has been a recent (i.e., past couple of decades) rise in overall age-adjusted suicide rates. What this fails to indicate is that this recent rise is still significantly lower than peak suicide rates in the United States in the early 1900s. (So, not a new issue. We don't have reliable data further back than that.) It is also only somewhat higher than the average rates of the mid-to-late 1900s. Furthermore, this same article indicated that, in the past couple of decades, suicide rates increased 35% among men and 93% among women, indicating that this recent rise is definitely not a male-specific issue.

Another review [2] indicates that, worldwide, the age-adjusted suicide rate has been declining over the past several decades.

Other Information

Work has shown that women are more likely to attempt suicide than men, but men are more likely to die by suicide because they choose more lethal means [3]. Some men argue that men are more likely to die by suicide even once you've controlled for means [4]. However, this analysis was limited by a small sample size, preventing age-stratification. A much larger review and meta-analysis of 34 studies found no such sex difference in fatality by suicide method [5]. They did find that older adults are more likely to die than younger adults within each suicide method, which is important since the sex ratio of male-to-female suicides significantly increases with age [6]. In other words, simply comparing fatality rates without controlling for age, as the authors did in [4], does not accurately reflect sex differences in suicides.

Further, while there is limited research on this topic, evidence suggests that male and female victims of completed suicides were equally as intent to die [7]. Further, research on gender differences in "intent to die" in people who attempt suicide is decidedly mixed [8], while some work suggests that men have a greater suicidal intent others suggest no such difference. In addition, gender differences in suicide intent generally do not control for age differences, which, as we have seen, makes such conclusions dubious. There are also serious issues with the labels often used to make such comparisons [9]. Beyond that, misogyny plays a role in people's responses to suicides, potentially making them less likely to label a woman's attempt as "serious" [10]. And, indeed, other work demonstrates that women are more likely than men to repeat a suicide attempt, suggesting their degree of intent is being underestimated [11].

Further, a 2016 systematic review of randomized controlled trials on suicidal interventions [12] found the majority of trials that disaggregated results by gender found no difference in treatment effectiveness between men and women. The few studies that did are hampered by an important limitation: gender-specific sample size. Specifically, the majority of every sample were made up of women; this makes sense because the majority of suicide attempts are made by women. As a result, the male sample size in each study was fairly low, which would limit researchers' ability to identify small treatment effects for men. And this is important, given the effect size of suicide intervention programs is small [13, based on 1125 unique randomized control trials].

Feminism

As I've stated, feminism is a social movement for the liberation/equality of women. Addressing the male suicide rate is not (directly) a feminist issue. (I say directly since, as we've seen, conditions for men often improve with increasing gender equality.)

References under the cut:

Martínez-Alés, G., Jiang, T., Keyes, K. M., & Gradus, J. L. (2022). The recent rise of suicide mortality in the United States. Annual review of public health, 43(1), 99-116.

Naghavi, M. (2019). Global, regional, and national burden of suicide mortality 1990 to 2016: systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. bmj, 364.

Miller, M., Azrael, D., & Barber, C. (2012). Suicide mortality in the United States: the importance of attending to method in understanding population-level disparities in the burden of suicide. Annual review of public health, 33(1), 393-408.

Cibis, A., Mergl, R., Bramesfeld, A., Althaus, D., Niklewski, G., Schmidtke, A., & Hegerl, U. (2012). Preference of lethal methods is not the only cause for higher suicide rates in males. Journal of affective disorders, 136(1-2), 9-16.

Cai, Z., Junus, A., Chang, Q., & Yip, P. S. (2022). The lethality of suicide methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of affective disorders, 300, 121-129.

Suicide. (2025, February). National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide

Denning, D. G., Conwell, Y., King, D., & Cox, C. (2000). Method choice, intent, and gender in completed suicide. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior, 30(3), 282-288.

Fox, K. R., Millner, A. J., Mukerji, C. E., & Nock, M. K. (2018). Examining the role of sex in self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Clinical Psychology Review, 66, 3-11.

Heilbron, N., Compton, J. S., Daniel, S. S., & Goldston, D. B. (2010). The problematic label of suicide gesture: Alternatives for clinical research and practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41(3), 221.

Townsend, H. (2025). “Drama queens” and “attention seekers”: Characterizations of Femininity and Responses to Women Who Communicated their Intent to Suicide. Gender & Society, 39(1), 5-34.

de la Torre-Luque, A., Pemau, A., Ayad-Ahmed, W., Borges, G., Fernandez-Sevillano, J., Garrido-Torres, N., ... & Survive Consortium. (2023). Risk of suicide attempt repetition after an index attempt: A systematic review and meta-analysis. General hospital psychiatry, 81, 51-56.

Krysinska, K., Batterham, P. J., & Christensen, H. (2017). Differences in the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for suicidal ideation and behaviour in women and men: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Archives of suicide research, 21(1), 12-32.

Fox, K. R., Huang, X., Guzmán, E. M., Funsch, K. M., Cha, C. B., Ribeiro, J. D., & Franklin, J. C. (2020). Interventions for suicide and self-injury: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials across nearly 50 years of research. Psychological bulletin, 146(12), 1117.

[yyxandere]

Ok but who do you think in aa/tgaa would change themselves for their darling? well one of my best bet would bet Adrian Andrews ((is that her name..?)) But hey! I wanna hear ur thoughts </3 - 🍎 anon

-ˋˏSINCERELY YOURS. . . ->

There are many yandere's that would try to fit your standards while the others will force you to love them for who they are, HECK there are also yanderes that will CHANGE THEIR DARLING to their standards.

Yandere will change anything about themselves to fit your standards. Do you like people with dark green eyes? Then they will wear dark green contact lenses. Do you like people who learn a different language? Then be prepared for them to read and even practice that language! They are just desperate to be yours that they will change anything about themselves!

Phoenix Wright, Ema Skye, Maggey Byrde, Adrian Andrews, Iris Fey, Apollo Justice, Athena Cykes, Juniper Woods, Vera Misham, Raymond Shields, Katherine Hall, Sebastian Debeste, Espella Cantabella, Ryunosuke Naruhodo, Rei Membami,

Yanderes that WON'T change a thing about them, they will force you to love them no matter what, maybe they will change something of themselves but nothing too major, they will manipulate you to not like things that are the opposite of them. Maybe you like the loud type, then what? They will influence your mind to think that people like your type are childish etc. + there's a high chance that they will probably change their darling.

Mia Fey, Miles Edgeworth, Godot, Dahlia Hawthorne, Kristoph Gavin, Klavier Gavin, Simon Blackquill, Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, Simon Keyes, Justine Courtney, Darklaw, Herlock Sholmes, Barok Van Zieks, Mael Stronghart, Ashley Graydon, Courtney Sithe, Maria Gorey, Enoch Drebber, Esmeralda Tusspells

[starsaparilla]

you said you wanted asks so i must ask

1) do you have a courier oc? like, an actual character.

2) thoughts about christine and veronica (and Christine staying in Sierra Madre)?

3) what's one character you wish had been a companion but wasn't? and why and how would their quests go idk im shy despite asking on anon 😔💔

1) yes!! i have a couple.. i make new ones depending on the run i’m doing or the faction im siding with etc but for my current playthrough (neutral karma independent vegas) i have cherry!! she’s super cool… i like her lots. nepo baby that wants to run vegas herself as a way to get back at her family for disowning her (long story) + learns about love and friendship and kindness and also backstabbing along the way! i can’t draw so i mostly make pinterest boards for characters but yeah… i love my ocs. trying to flesh out the rest of her family at the minute too bc they were (to me) pretty prominent figures in the wasteland until around 50 or so years before the events of new vegas!!

2) christine and veronica are so dear to me!!! canon lesbians in a video game… i do wish they didn’t fall into the trappings of gays with unhappy endings but yk. 2010 so i suppose it was par for the course. as for christine staying in the sierra madre i have mixed feelings- ultimately i like it narratively, i think christine becoming a guardian is very fitting. the sierra madre houses vera keyes, a woman who had her life derailed and destroyed by the greed, cruelty, rivalry and jealousy of two men. in a similar vein, christine royce had her own life- and her love- uprooted and snuffe out by a cruel and greedy man too. it makes poetic sense to me that christine would stay to guard the sierra madre. christine/vera parallels are so srs to me and i would definitely go into way more detail at another point but im trying to keep this concise because you didn’t ask to be blasted with my dead money brainrot. anyway also i find it oddly beautiful that a place with such a dark past can perhaps become a safe haven like it should always have been now that christine is there. my one issue is that there’s no option to inform veronica of where christine is or anything but i know this was due to technical limitations and nothing else so i don’t harp on the devs too much for this.

3) benny maybe… i think doing an independent run with benny as the companion makes soooo much sense and i do think an ending where you both take vegas is super fun. but i have the benny companion mod so i don’t think he counts as an answer here for me personally. in terms of what would be best for gameplay id say a legion companion would be interesting as while i dont play legion nor do i like them, i think its a shame they’re underdeveloped. victor as a companion could be rlly fun! good for a house run and id love a securitron companion anyway :) id also love to port ulysses to the main game as a companion 💔💔💔 and then obvious popular answer sunny smiles my angel <3

i forgot to add quests!!! god actually i’m gonna have to think abt this one but i think for benny an interesting quest would be anything to do with the boot riders… will nvr forgive the lack of backstory we get for him in the game. legion companion could potentially involve visiting old settlements and learning about their history? it would be interesting for a legion companion to be someone disheartened with the legion’s methods, kind of like veronica (BUT NOT LIKE VERONICA) , and you can ultimately talk them into leaving (good karma) or convince them to stay with you and the legion (bad karma). i’m not sure on specifics for victor but given that he’s a cowboy likely inspired by old world western movies it could be so fun to have a quest that follows the plot of some famous western movie… big dramatic shootout at high noon. fun times. ulysses i’m split on bc i think it’s entirely contingent on how you interact with him in lonesome road and which faction you’re aligned with as there’s a lotttt of ways he can feel about you due to all of these factors that might make creating one Definitive companion quest hard. as for sunny idk. something that lets us go back to goodsprings ^_^ very last minute but i also think a great khan companion would be nice mostly bc i like the khans and the narrative is so awful to them

[kijimha]

ahhh. so the sender is doing it for attention. they sent the address to my simon keyes blog along eith an extra message; "i hope this hurts". not kidding.

alright jimmy mouthwashing i see how it is. youre a pussy for hiding behind anon btw

[people-can-be-tamed]

I cant stop drawing you ughhhhhhhhshshshshshzuzuhhyyytfgbhnnnn

"Really? I, um, I'm sorry for that... I don't have a way to fix it..."

[sadderda7e]

Sending this on anon to maintain my last shreds of respectability but your Keyes video is top tier. I’ve gotten sooo weird about him lately and I’m glad someone else is too

I think I know who you are because he barely had any fans lol

I'm so glad there are people who have an unhealthy obsession with him too. I've been trying so hard not to look too weird on this website😭

And thanks for liking that video! I really hope we can get more footage of him this year so I can edit it with Ethel Cain's Crush

[againaweasel]

What are your top 5 favorite books? (No cop-out answers either. You can't say "all of Homer" or "every HP book")

I’ve suddenly forgotten every book I’ve ever read. But off the top of my head without thinking too much about it:

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes because it broke me

Good omens but now like exclusively for Terry Pratchett

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The Country Will Bring Us No Peace by Mathew Simard (recency bias but also the prose did something to my brain)

Honourable mentions (i’m coping out I’m sorry anon):

A Psalm For The Wild Built by Becky Chambers because I’m a whore for a good robot story

Secret History by Donna Tart

Babel by R F Kuang

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield (also recency bias but beautifully written)

[writeforfandoms]

okay stop me if this is a weird idea- but think of forced shifting in the shifter au. Not as in forcing a natural born shifter to shift like Keyes did, but as in taking a random person who isn't one and injecting them with a DNA coder or something similar so that they become shifters. I imagine most injected/infected with it would likely die, but there has to be some people who it would be successful on, since genes are so varied between people. But I imagine to other shifters, those who survived would be.. off. Like their shifts would be unstable or unnatural. Animals that don't look totally right and the like. Odd behavior or more pain during shifts. I can elaborate off anon in dms but this idea just hit me and I had to share -🦐

Okay but THIS HAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Like. A forced shifter? Someone who was part of (likely unwilling) experiments and survived? And now has a whole set of instincts they don't understand and enhanced senses? Someone who can't get too emotional or they shift? Someone who is terrified of what they've become? You just slammed so many of my buttons right now swear down I'm blowing you a kiss also please keep talking while I take notes

[imagineanime2022]

The Variable *Part 2*

Caspian Keyes X Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4648

Requested: Anon

Request: https://www.tumblr.com/imagineanime2022/768228245966569472/the-variable?source=share

Op this is amazing! Please do continue it!

Warning: gun shot wounds, existential crisis, panic attack (if you've seen the show or like really squint)

A/N: I honestly don't know how I got so carried away with this one, again will continue into another part, hope you enjoy it.

*Part 1*

“If I come with you she’ll be suspicious.” You mumbled as you paced the room, you didn’t like that Caspian would have to do all of this by himself if we were to avoid raising suspicion. “You gotta calm down, it’s not like they know anything.” He reminded you standing from where he was sitting on the sofa “how about I call you and leave it open so that you can hear everything, if something happens then you can call someone.” “What good will that do, not like the police will get to you before they do.” You grumbled defeated and he rolled his eyes, a playful smirk on his face. “Are you sulking?” He asked. “Shut up.” You ordered. “Look I have to go if I want to meet her.” He squeezed your hands. “Fine… Fine, be careful and make sure that you call me.” You ordered. “Thought that didn’t matter.” He teased. “Doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to do it.” You followed him to the door before he opened it. He pressed a kiss to your forehead “I’ll see you tomorrow.” “See you tomorrow.” You watched him leave, waiting until he was completely out of view before going back inside.

It took about 20 minutes for him to call you and briefly explain the plan he had apparently thought up on the way there “you didn’t tell me this before, because you knew that I would not let you drive full speed into traffic to scare someone.” your voice gradually rose as you got to the end of the sentence, you vaguely registered Caspian’s chuckle and he put his phone in his pocket. You muted your mic to make sure that you didn’t ruin the plan and waited. “Hannah.” Caspian called. “I was looking for you, where’d you go today?” You heard Hannah ask. “Just getting your surprise ready.” He answered. “My surprise?” She asked. “Gross, guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” You heard Nicole, you carried the phone with you as you walked into the kitchen looking for something to eat as you listened for anything that worried you. You heard car doors closing as you assumed they both got back into Caspian’s car. “It’s about time stranger, thought I’d have to send a search party.” Hannah joked, you heard the care start moving “where’s my surprise?” “First I have a question.” You honestly weren’t sure how she didn’t pick up on it, his voice was flat and uninterested, something that would have made you uneasy had you been the subject of it. “The answer’s yes.” You had to admit her dedication was admirable, they must have been paying her something. “No it’s not.” “Okay.” Hannah drew out the word she was finally getting suspicious. “Who are you and who do you work for?” He asked. “Oh we’re just going to say it.” You nodded to yourself. “What?” Hannah asked. “I saw you talking to my mum at the civics centre yesterday. Talking about me like I was some job. So I want to know exactly what the job is.” Caspian was pulling no punches. “Okay I don’t know what you're talking about, but it’s not funny or whatever, so I think I want to get out.” She was panicked but you heard the click of the door locks with one simple word from Caspian. “Nope.” You giggled slightly considering the delivery of the word but it was immediately silenced by the car speeding up. “What are you doing!? Slow down!” Hannah ordered. “I will when you tell the truth.” Caspian answered. “I am telling the truth!” She yelled back, Caspian was unfazed, you heard the wheels screeching and the honking of horns but no crash. “Who are you?” Caspian asked. “Stop! Stop! Please stop!” Hannah pleaded. “What’s the job?” Caspian asked. “You are you’re the job!” She finally answered. “Talk.” Caspian ordered.

“My name’s Rachel, Rachel Brooks I’m from Hoboken! I’m an actor! I’m- I went to NYU! I graduated last spring, I got this audition, I thought it was a show, but it was for a company! They said it was a social experiment.” Her rushed explanation was fast and almost impossible to hear, you had to concentrate to catch everything that she was saying. “Wait… What company?” Caspian asked, he sounded distracted, you could tell that he was a little too focused on the answers for how fast he was driving. “What company!?” he asked more urgently when he received no answer. “Candle Street, I think it's a shell for someone else but the check, the check cleared.” Hannah answered. “How much?” Caspian asked. “1 million up front 5 million over the next 3 years.” She answered “I said yes, I signed all these contracts and NDAs, if I break I get nothing they take it all back” you heard the car slowing to a stop letting out a breath and relaxing now that the worst part of the plan was over. “My mum my mum is sick, she has cancer, she can’t have surgery and her insurance doesn’t cover the immunotherapy, that is the truth I swear, if I mess this up-” “Rachel, it’s okay I’m not going to tell anyone you told me. What does my mum know?” He asked. “Renee? Renee knows everything, she won’t tell me shit I have to report to her.” Hannah, or Rachel answered. “What about (Y/N)?” He asked. “They wanted me to split you both up and offered me extra, like a bonus if I did.” Hannah answered. “Why?” Caspian answered. “They said something about her being the uncontrolled variable.” Hannah answered. “Something they couldn’t control.” Caspian mumbled. “Okay if you help me, you will get your money and we will make sure that none of this comes back on you. If you help me, if you do exactly what I say.” “What? What do you want me to do?” She asked. “I need you to pretend that everything is normal, make her believe that nothing has changed.” Caspian ordered.

The next day school went very much the same as it had been the past few weeks, you had decided that you’d have to continue to pretend that you weren’t talking so you walked into school with your earphones firmly placed in your ears as you made your way to your locker. Your locker was a little off the main corridors, when you got to your locker you opened it and grabbed everything that you needed, you closed it and walked towards your first class but before you could get too far someone wrapped their arm around your waist and pulled you back into a small alcove. “It’s just me.” You recognised Caspian’s voice. “I was about 3 seconds away from elbowing you in the ribs.” You informed him as the arm around you relaxed. “Good.” He leant down resting his chin on your shoulder. “I’ve set up cameras at my house and Rachel managed to convince Renee that everything is fine.” “Good. So she doesn’t suspect anything?” You asked. “No.” He answered, you assumed that was the end of the conversation but he didn’t let go. “Is there something else?” You asked, he gave a shrug looking around, with no prying eyes he quickly leaned down and pressed a kiss to your lips, firm and reassuring, a promise that it would be okay. His hand came up to cradle your face, thumb pressed against your chin under your bottom lip, his own lips trapping it as he pulled away. “See you later.” You reluctantly pulled away, again glancing around before hurrying off to class, you set yourself up at a table and waited. The test made the class easier since you didn’t have to work with any other popular kid that left you to do the work. Caspian caught your attention when he stood asking to use the bathroom, your eyes connected briefly and you knew that it had something to do with his mum.

“What happened?” You asked when you finally got out of class. “She was talking to someone, sounds like something has happened, like someone got out.” Caspian explained. “Renee sounded panicked, like she was worried that they would come down here and ruin everything, she said his name was Cary. I think it might be your dad.” “Why?” You asked. “She said that he couldn’t even break her arm, that she had to do it herself.” He sounded distant when he said that. “She broke her arm herself?” You asked, Caspian had sat down with you and told you everything that had happened since you stopped talking but the fact that she had gone as far as to break her own arm to keep in role. “Then she’s more dangerous than we first thought.” “What do you mean?” He asked. “She’s extreme, she won’t hurt you but she’ll hurt anyone else so we have to be careful.” You explained. “That’s all you’ve said.” Caspian rolled his eyes. “It’s not all I’ve said but it is the most important thing that I’ve said.” You corrected him, he just squeezed your hand affectionately. “We’ll be careful.” You promised.

Later that afternoon, your phone was ringing “Hello?” You asked. “She wants to go to the coast.” Caspian informed you. “The coast? Why?” You asked. “She said we need a vacation, that I’ve been working too hard and hse needs to get out of the house.” Caspian answered. “How long does she want to go for?” You asked. “She said for the weekend.” He answered. “But?” You asked, feeling that there was something else that he wanted to say. “Maybe that would be the perfect opportunity to run.” He said softly, leaning back in his chair. “Run?” You asked “Alone.” “Well I can’t ask you to-” “Fine then I’ll tell you that I’m coming with you so what’s the plan?” You asked. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He argued. “Well then I’ll be following you across the country because I’m not letting you travel around alone.” You answered like a petulant child “so I meet you or I follow you your choice.” You heard him make a noise over the phone before speaking again. “Fine, once I know where we’re staying I’ll give you the location, then you make your way up there, I’ll leave the keys for my car out front so that you can drive it up once you meet me up there, we’ll figure out a plan.” He explained. “Good sounds like a plan. I’ll pack some stuff.” You informed him. “I’ll text you.” He said. “Hey Cas… I- be careful.” You settled on those two words something that had started to mean something else by, not that you knew if he knew that yet. “Yeah, you too.” He said before hanging up the phone.

It was a couple of hours later that you got a call from Caspian “Meet me at my place.” “What?” You asked “I thought you were going to the coast. What happened?” “She went through my stuff and unpacked it, I need to go back and get it, I stole the car, I’m heading back now.” You stood from where you were looking at your clock. “How long?” You asked. “At least a few hours.” He said. “Fine, just get back safe okay, I’ll meet you at your place.” You said.

By the time that you had gotten to Caspian’s it seemed that a lot had happened, you could see Renee and Cary along with Caspian, it looked like they were leaving the house, you saw Renee pull out the gun “Cas!” it was shouted at the same time that the gun was shot. She wasn’t aiming for Caspian, she was aiming for Cary and she hit him, you rushed over sliding to a stop and scuffing your knee at the same time. You grabbed a shirt out of your bag and pressed it to the wound as Caspian came to stand on his other side. “Are you okay?” Caspian asked. “I’m fine.” You answered, his eyes cast down to your knee but you didn’t correct yourself. “What do we do?” “Help me get him in the car.” He said. “Are you sure?” You asked. “Mm.” Caspian hummed, you helped him get Cary into the car and then he directed you to the back of the car “get in.” “Cas?” Your eyes moved to Renee who was still pointing the gun now solely at you. “It’ll be okay I promise.” He said softly pressing a kiss to your forehead before opening the back door, your eyes never left Caspian as he made his way around the car, you leaned forward. “How are you doing?” You asked, looking down as Caspian opened the car door to assess the wound. “I’m really sorry about this.” You pressed down harder on the wound, he grunted. “Sorry.” “It’s okay.” He managed to say through laboured breaths and gritted teeth. Caspian started the car and pulled away from the house, with his mum screaming after him but instead of calling his name she called out Stephen.

You have been driving for a couple of hours when you came up to an emergency hospital. Your hands were covered in blood as were a good few of your tops “No, no hospitals.” Cary managed to say. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Caspian argued but eventually pulled away. “They will still find us, keep driving.” Cary’s voice was breathy and strained. “We have time, I can hold out.” “There’s someone I can call.” Caspian called. “There is?” You asked at the same time as Cary spoke. “No. Caspian we can’t trust anyone, we just have to get somewhere safe. Off the grid. We have to focus.” Caspian glanced at you through the rear view mirror before speaking. “Stop saying ‘we’ I don’t know who you are. Okay.” “My name really is Cary. It’s Cary Duval.” Said person admitted. “Alright anything else?” Caspian asked after a minute of silence. “What do you want to know?” The breaths between his words were becoming more laboured and honestly it was becoming a little worrying but with him refusing hospitals you were at a loss for what you could do. “Was anything real? Like, are you really an asshole?” Caspian asked. “I’m a believer, I believed in the mission, I believed in Stephen Holstrom. But you, I’ve been watching you all your life, Caspian. Van Leuwen may have the plan, but I watched you. I was with you but when the plan called for me to be… I saw what I was doing and I didn’t want that. I didn’t want that for my son, I didn’t want that for you. It sounds horrible but I’m glad that your parents left you.” His hand latched on your in an affectionate grip. “Left you to look after him, give him something real.” “Who is Van Luewen?” Caspian asked, bringing the attention from you. There was silence as you looked to see that Cary’s eyes had closed. “Cary?” You asked, that caused Caspian to look over. “Cary! Hey! Hey! Dad!” Caspian attempted to rouse him but nothing worked. “I have to call Maddie.” “Maddie?” You asked. “You remember I told you about that person who thought that Logorhythms was holding their Dad hostage?” He asked, you nodded. “Yeah she’s the one that thought that, she told me her name in the same call where she warned me that I was being watched.” “Right and you can get in contact with her?” You asked. “I think so.” He answered, pulling out his phone. “Here, pull over, we'll swap, you call them and I’ll drive.” You suggested and he nodded.

Once you were both swapped over you started driving while he dialed whatever number he was looking for. It was a couple of minutes of arguing back and forth between him and someone else before he spoke to you “she called from a friend's phone before, she’s calling her.” You nodded. “Caspian!?” A new voice asked, you glanced back to see that he had put the phone on speaker. “Yeah it’s me.” Caspian answered. “Yeah it’s him, now who is he?” Another voice asked. “Justine, you can hang up now.” The first voice said, the one you assumed was Maddie. “Uh - uh I’m hearing this.” Justine said. “Whatever, Maddie I’m coming to Sacramento, I’m coming to you.” Caspian said. “What?” Maddie asked. “You said Logorhythms was watching me. You were right and now my… My dad has been shot.” Caspian explained. “Then get him to a hospital.” This voice was a grown woman, again different to all of the others. “What? Who is that?” Caspian asked. “It’s my mom she.. Mom, let me handle this.” Maddie ordered. “Listen, I can't go to a hospital. Logorhythms will find us.” Caspian explained. “They… They are the ones that shot him.” “How far away are you?” Maddie’s mum asked. “150 miles maybe.” Caspian gave a rough guess, honestly you were no help with that, you hadn’t done much travelling yourself given your past. “Sacramento Raceway, one o’clock. Parking lot should be empty.” Maddie’s mum ordered before hanging up the phone.

When you got to the raceway everything was empty, there was one car in the car park opposite.” Caspian said, leaning forward between the front seats as you hummed in confirmation. “There’s three people in that car.” You said as you glanced at Cary in the passenger seat. “It’s them.” He said. “How’d you know?” You asked. “When I spoke to Maddie before she said that she was younger than us, I don’t know who the guy is though.” Caspian said. They all got out of the car first, they didn’t seem to be carrying anything so you opened the car door climbing out, Caspian was behind you, he moved to stand in front of you but you reached out to stop him from completely covering you. “Are you hurt?” Maddie asked, looking at the two of you. “It’s not our blood.” Caspian answered. Maddie’s mum moved forward causing you to tighten your grip on Caspian, who gently shuffled your hand down until your finger intertwined, squeezing in reassurance. Maddie’s mum looked into the car catching sight of Cary. “Okay we are getting him to the ER.” She said. “I said no hospitals.” Caspian said. “Cas he’ll die if we don’t take him to a hospital.” You said softly. “Mum, if we do this won’t that just lead them back to us? To Dad?” Maddie asked. “Not if I take him, I can check him in with any five of my fake IDs, avoid the cameras. I’ve been a ghost on the ground for a year, give me your keys, you’ll ride back with them. I’ll drop him at a hospital far from here, I promise.” The guy stepped forward. “No you don’t understand, you don’t know what these people are capable of, whatever you think you know, whatever you think you know about me, you don’t.” Caspian argued. “You’re a clone of Stephen Holstrom. You’ve been raised just like him so you can complete his life’s work.” Maddie said, you could feel the shock “My Dad lives inside a computer, so we get it let’s go.” Maddie turned back towards the car getting in the front seat. “Come on.” Caspian pulled you behind him to get into the car.

You had been driving for a while, your leg had not stopped bouncing since you got in the car. It had been a while since he had seen this kind of a response from you, when your parents left it was common for your leg to bounce like that, he used to use it as a way to tell what you mood was and it had been a long time since he had seen you scared. He reached out placing his hand over your bouncing knee, your hand coming down to rest on top of his. “Who shot him?” Maddie’s mum asked. “Who shot your father, specifically?” “He’s not my father.” Caspian looked out of the window, though his hand still didn’t leave you. “And the woman who shot him was not his wife… She, she was a liar.” “Where is she now?” Maddie’s mum asked. “I don’t know, can you call your husband and make sure that they made it to the hospital?” Caspian asked, slightly changing the subject. “That’s not my husband.” Maddie’s mum glanced back at him through the rear view mirror. “That’s Cody, Laurie’s husband.” Maddie added, you didn’t recognise the name but Caspian seemed to. “You mentioned that name on the phone, said that was the one I talked to, who knew Logorhythms was watching me.” Caspian explained. “She’s Laurie Lowell, the first person to be uploaded.” Maddie explained. “My father was the second.” “You're serious, that other guy, that’s not your Dad.” Caspian said, catching her eye in the rear view mirror. “Just like the guy he’s driving isn’t yours.” Maddie said. “Maddie.” Her mum warned. “What do you… How do you know about me?” Caspian asked. You watched as they both looked between each other. We’ll show you when we get back.” Maddie finally said.

The rest of the drive was quiet, they pulled into a nice looking neighbourhood with an even nicer house. We all walked into the house, Maddie led Caspian towards the stairs “hey you knee looks like it needs cleaning, do you want me to help you with that?” Maddie’s mum tapped your shoulder and for the first time since it happened you looked down at your knee, bloody and bruised. “I should clean it.” You mumbled. “I’ll wait with you-” “No go and get your answers, we’re one floor away from each other, I’ll shout if I need you.” You smiled. “Are you sure?” He asked. “Of course I’m sure.” You nodded, he looked at you for a second longer before following Maddie, you followed Maddie’s mum into the living room where she directed you to sit down. “This will sting.” She told you and you nodded, hand fisting into the cushion underneath you. “You never told us your name.” “I assumed that you already knew it.” You answered as she started cleaning, she was right it did sting. “They referred to you as the variable, Maddie didn’t mention a name.” Maddie’s mum explained. “My name’s (Y/N).” You answered. “My name’s Ellen.” She smiled, before you could say anything else Maddie ran down the stairs and straight out the house. “He’s not really good at dealing with people at the best of times, right now his communication is probably abysmal. I usually do that for him.” “This is a pretty deep cut.” Ellen said as you looked for something to cover it. “I slid across the pavement to catch Cary after he was shot.” You explained. “That will do it.” She nodded as she put a bandaid over the top, Maddie walked back into the house and you looked at her. “I’m sorry.” You said. “What are you sorry for?” She asked. “I promise he doesn’t mean to be that harsh or unapproachable, he’s never been good with people stuff, I said it to your mum I’m the one who usually deals with the people.” You explained. “Lucky for them.” Maddie muttered. “I don’t think they would agree with you, they used to call me his guard dog.” You shrugged, “is there somewhere that I can wash my hands?” You asked. “Yeah.” Maddie showed you to the bathroom where you washed up and changed your clothes. It was the quickest that you had ever changed.

Once you changed you walked out into the garden, giving yourself a moment to clear your head. You don’t know how long you stayed out there but before you could go back a heavy weight crashed into your back, his arm wrapped around your waist and a face pressed into your shoulder. You could tell it was Caspian from the harsh breaths, the harsh breaths became less aggressive the longer he stayed wrapped in you “What happened?” You asked. “T-there were some videos, just stuff about where I came from, hiring Rachel, all of that stuff.” He explained. “Mmm.” You hummed, you turned in his grip wrapping your arms around him “just talk, it doesn’t have to be about this.” “Have you ever heard the theory that our whole life is a simulation, like the Matrix, but the whole universe? And we’d never know the difference.” Caspian said as he pulled you both down to sit, he pulled you close, legs crossed under yours that were pulled up. “I don’t know much about losing people, or feeling like your world isn’t real, in fact to me the world has always felt as real as it could ever be. I’ve always been hyper aware of the world and all the things that hid in it because in some way they’ve made their mark on my life. The part of my world that didn’t seem real is you.” You explained. “Well I’m not.” Caspian mumbled. “Not like that, I mean that you were too good to be mine, everyone left me but you never did, I believe in you and I trust you. Those feelings are real, that's what I choose to focus on.” You explained. “I always had this feeling that it wasn’t real, I even told Hannah that, told my fake girlfriend, in my fake house with my fake mum probably listening in.” His hold tightened on you as he finally looked up “that feeling was the only real thing in that house.” “I would have ignored it too.” You shrugged. “They say when you're a teenager you're not supposed to know who you are yet. But me I-I don’t even know what I am.” Caspian’s face took on a far away look, something you could only see from the corner of your eye. “Well at least we all have a reason to be dramatic.” You shrugged. “I think I win.” Caspian said. “Mmm.” You hummed. “I don’t think so my dad is digital.” Maddie called from where she had walked out to check on you. You pointed at her while nodding in agreement. “My mum is a robot.” Caspian answered as you and Maddie burst out laughing “don’t laugh I came out of a robot womb.” “I’m sorry.” Maddie laughed as you patted the space next to you for her to sit down. “It’s called ectogenesis.” Caspian added and that set you all off again for the first time in a couple of days and it felt good, you leant back against Caspian head rested on his shoulder, eyes falling closed for a second. “So your dad… Is he really real?” “He doesn’t know what he is.” Maddie answered. “You got a lot to talk about.” You mumbled. “I can show you if you want.” Maddie said. “I can wait up here if you want.” You added, Caspian glanced down at you, your eyes were still closed and he could tell by the tone of your voice that fatigue was catching up to you. “There’s a sofa down there that she can rest on while you talk to my dad… If you want to.” Maddie stood dusting herself off. “You should talk to him.” You said forcing your eyes open, “he might be able to help you understand.” “Fine but you need to get some rest.” He gently ran his hand over the top of your head before you lifted it, Maddie took your hand helping you stand before Caspian stood behind you, you all went down to the cellar in her house. You sat down while Maddie handed Caspian the VR headset. With nothing else to do but wait it didn’t take long for you to fall asleep.

*Part 3*

Request Here!!