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not-neverland06 · 11 months ago

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Crash of Worlds

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Cooper Howard x fem!reader, The Ghoul x fem!reader A/N: After this there’s gonna be more canon divergence - this one’s short (rope divider done by @saradika-graphics , cowboy hat/revolvers done by @firefly-graphics) Summary: You’d been expecting everything to be different, people, to be different. But not like this. Not to such an extreme extent. Maybe the vault had softened you more than you’d have liked but there was nothing to do about it now.

The green canopy of the forest provides a welcome relief from the heat. You and Lucy follow the signs pointing the way to Filly. You hear it before you ever get to see it. There’s a distant sound of yelling and the murmur of people. It has your heart clenching in your chest.

You’re outside, breathing in real air, not oxygen from tanks. You can feel the breeze in your hair and hear people. It’s all you wanted for three years. Bud prepared you for a lot. But he didn’t prepare you for just how jarring it is to wake up and suddenly everything you’ve ever known is gone. You don’t feel the years you’ve been asleep. It was like it happened yesterday.

But you’ve had three years to come to peace with what had happened. You can’t let yourself get wrapped up in this feeling of nostalgia. The raiders that came down to the vault were proof enough that the people you’re going to meet up here aren’t going to be anywhere near friendly. You know this world has turned into dog-eat-dog, Lucy doesn’t yet, though.

She walks towards a large grove of abandoned cars. The paint has flaked off and the glass smashed in, but they’re not in horrible condition for being two hundred odd years old. You're distracted by the convertible she stands next to and you gasp.

You rush forward, hand smoothing over the hood and grinning at the familiar feel. “I-”

You cut yourself off abruptly and Lucy looks over at you, a curious smile on her face. “What is it?”

You shake your head, “Nothing. Just excited to see civilization again.” You give her a terse smile, hoping she doesn’t smell the lie. You’d almost said that it was exactly like your old car. But that would have opened up a can of worms you weren’t ready for.

She groans, linking her arm through yours and nodding. “I know, me too. The surface is definitely not what I was expecting.”

You sigh, glancing back at the car before stepping towards Filly. “Yeah, me either.”

The noise reaches a crescendo as you finally manage to make your way into the market. There’s still signs directing you further through the woods so you figure this must not be Filly yet. Probably just a little place where people tried to peddle junk.

A man lurches out at you holding out a kebab and grinning widely. “DOG MEAT!” You jump back in shock as he screams in your face. His eyes are unseeing as he waves the kebab around. “GET YOUR DOGMEAT HERE!”

“Oh, what the fuck?” You mutter, you didn’t mean dog-eat-dog literally. You notice you and Lucy getting odd looks and you finally realize just how much the two of you stand out. In comparison, you're both well groomed and much cleaner than anyone here.

Not only that but you’ve got the stupid Pip-Boy’s on your arm and vault suits on. You’re walking advertisements of “Come rob me!” You steer Lucy further through the market, narrowly avoiding a lizard meat stall and dragging her towards a tunnel at the end of the path. Filly’s just beyond and you shove her through the opening, eager to get somewhere where you might be able to find something useful.

You seperate with the promise to meet back up in the middle of the town square. You’re going to look for something to change into and she’ll find some information on her father. Should be easy enough.

He’s not supposed to be here. He’d gotten himself and all of his kind banned a long time ago. An impressive feat, considering how lawless Filly is. But no one’s going to say anything to him, no one ever has before.

Any other ghoul and they would have been dragged right back out before they could even put a foot through the tunnel. But he’s not any ghoul, he’s the ghoul. And no one in their right mind is going to be the one to start a fight they’ve got no fucking hope of winning.

He rolls the empty vial of RadAway around in his hand, hat tipped down as he waits for his mark to show up. Ma June, cantankerous old bitch that she is, always has good supplies. But she doesn’t sell to ghouls, and if he didn’t need her alive right now he would have shot her for turning him away. She’s a well known fence for fugitives and bounties. If his mark is going to show up anywhere, it’s going to be right here.

Most of the people who try their hand at bounty hunting do it for the experience. They get bored, not that he can fucking blame them. After a while staring at nothing but sand and chickens makes a man go a little crazy. They don’t understand that it’s all a waiting game.

Sometimes it’s an exhilarating chase, like a predator tracking down its prey. But more often than not he’s just waiting for a slip up. A mistake from whoever has a price on their head is usually what lands them in his hands. And the second this man decided to use Ma June as a transport was when he made his mistake. Everyone knows that Barv can’t keep her mouth shut for shit.

When someone decides Ma June can help them, everyone knows where they are. It’s a big bounty, enough to keep anyone with a normal life cycle sated for the rest of their life. For him, it’s all about the hunt. The wait, that look in their eyes when they realize they're trapped and there’s nowhere left for them to turn. He loves it when he’s got them cornered.

There’s a desperation to them that makes the capture all the more sweeter.

There’s two bright flashes of blue against the otherwise dreary countenance of Filly. He doesn’t look up much, still trying not to draw too much attention to himself. He sees one, brown hair and wide eyed as she takes in the sights. Fucking vaulties.

It’s been a while since he’s taken one of their bounties. Their tech was pretty valuable among surface dwellers and when one was spotted, which was rare, there was usually a good price on their head. He can only catch the back of the other one, her face blocked by a conveniently placed support beam next to him.

She stops by the clothing stall, waving her friend along and speaking to the woman who runs the booth. Good fucking luck to her. There was no haggling with that woman and her prices were fucking ridiculous. He wonders how long it will be until he sees those two on the poster in some bar somewhere. He’s sure when the time comes, he’ll enjoy taking them too.

His gaze goes back to Ma June’s shop, interest already waned in the rare vault dweller. They were never all that fun. Never had any good information and always had a stick up their ass about morals and being a “good” person.

Finally, his mark turns up. Blind to the danger lurking behind him.

You’re in a really shitty spot when the fighting starts. You’re overwhelmed by everything around you. Freaks in wacky ass clothes peddling their mutated animals and fucking teeth. Teeth.

Teeth and bottle caps, that’s the currency now. Who decided that bottle caps were a good idea? Or teeth for that matter. You’ve only got so many of them. You don’t even want to think about what they’re getting used for.

The woman in front of you only has four of her own left and she’s demanding three of yours for a shirt. You’re not well versed in the economy of the wasteland, but even you’re sure that three teeth is a ridiculous ask. From the way people keep glaring at you as they walk by, you’re sure that she thinks because you’re from a vault you’re going to be gullible.

You’re too caught up in your quickly escalating argument to realize what’s happening until it’s too late. A man stands in the center of the square, his back to you. You can tell from your view that he’s pretty badly burned, the skin around his neck and skull warped and twisted.

He’s yelling about a bounty and your head tilts in confusion. There’s something to the lilt of that accent that sounds familiar. You take a step forward, abandoning the clothing stall and trying to place how you know him. It’s impossible, really, that anyone recognizable would still be alive. But maybe someone else got out of a vault and made it to the surface. If they did, it clearly wasn’t unscathed.

It’s only when he pulls out his gun that you realize Lucy is standing in front of him, with the man that bothered her last night. You want to call out her name, try and catch her eye, but the last thing you need is him pointing that gun at you. You jump back in shock as he shoots the man’s foot off, eyes widening, and feet scrambling backwards.

The woman in the clothing stall hisses, “Fucking ghoul,” and makes a run for it. You watch her go, finally realizing just how empty the square is now. Everyone has left, all of them terrified by the man in black. Your eyes dart between him and the stall.

She’s gone, and you need clothes. You’ll deal with Lucy’s scolding later. You leap over the counter of the stall and begin to rifle through the woman’s stock. Stuffing any spare clothes you think will fit into your pack and just because she was such a horrid bitch, you steal her bag of caps too.

The crazy old lady by the shop screams out a reward for anyone who manages to kill the man in front of you. When the guns start going off you realize just how screwed you are. You’re in the middle of the town square. Granted, you are blocked by the clothing stall, but these bullets they’re using aren’t ordinary.

They’re getting holes blown clean through their chest and the buildings around them are damn near exploding from the impact. The measly little wooden stall isn’t going to be any sort of decent cover against them.

You risk another look over the counter, hoping to find a clear path to Lucy or at least some better cover. He’s finally turned around now and you can get a half decent glance at his side profile. There’s nothing truly recognizable about him, just familiar. It’s hard to really tell anything about him when he doesn’t have a nose.

You watch with wide eyes and a disbelieving expression as he takes three shots to the chest like it’s nothing. He keeps chewing on his tomatoes and slowly finding cover to reload. A ghoul. Hank and Betty had told you and the other’s about them. People poisoned by radiation.

Most of them turn feral, but those who can find the right chems live a lot longer than any normal human should. They heal nearly immediately and are almost invulnerable to anything except their own disease. Considering how quick on the draw this guy is, no one has any real hope of taking him down.

With the shooting redirected you leap out from behind the counter and rush towards the shop. But something stops you before you reach the door. You don’t know what it is, what connects in your brain that has you so harshly coming to a stop.

You whirl around, ignoring the way Lucy calls out your name. He’s back out from his cover now. He aims, grinning and laughing as he manages to get two people with one bullet. Carnage is all around you. Blood flying through the air, surrounded by blood and guts. The relatively peaceful downtown has been littered with dead.

And in the middle of it all stands him. You have to be wrong. There’s no fucking way he’s standing in front of you. You take a step forward and his head whips towards you. The rest of him isn’t recognizable, but you would know those eyes anywhere.

His eyes widen with surprise and you feel your gut drop to your feet. This can’t be him. There’s no way. He’s slaughtering these people like it’s nothing. The man you knew could never be so casual about this. Then again, the relationship you’d had was built on lies. Maybe you’d never really known him.

Before you can process the anger in his face you’re being jerked to the side. Lucy pants as she drags you into the shop and you look over your shoulder, shocked to find a bullet where you’d just been standing. You catch his eye, see the smoke coming from the barrel of his gun and realize he’d tried to fucking shoot you.

Shit, maybe it is him. He had always had a bad temper and a good aim.

You can feel his eyes, tracking you even as you disappear behind the walls of the shop. You and Lucy risk a peek out of the shop when you hear something like an explosion. You gape as a power suit lands in front of him. What twisted ass blast to the past have you just been sent to?

How the fuck was Cooper Howard, ghoulified, and a power suit both in the same area?

You had to be dreaming. There was no way this was happening. But it was, and whoever was in charge of that suit had no idea what they were doing. He’s ducking under their swinging metal arms, taunting them and drawing out the fight. He could end this now, you both know where the weakness is.

Hell, you could end this fight right now. But you don’t see the need to kill the Knight when it’s clear he’s trying to protect you and Lucy. “We need to get him,” Lucy points frantically to the man on the ground. He’s not really moving, just clutching the bloody nub where his foot used to be and looking astonished at the blood around him.

“This is really stupid,” you hiss as you both start forward and wrap an arm around one of his own. You don’t have much time to process what happens next.

“Watch out!” The knight barrels towards you both. He wraps his arms around Lucy and goes flying into a building. You jump back at the explosion of wood and metal flying down around you. The ghoul has his gun pointed at them both. He’d clearly been trying to snipe you both, get you away from the man on the ground.

Well, he could fucking have him. You drop the man to the ground and he grunts as you make a run for it. A coward’s move, the same one you admonished Norm for. But, you’re a fucking hypocrite, so what? Right now, you’d really just like to survive this gun fight unscathed.

Something lands near your foot and you jump, realizing it’s a bullet. You glance up and the ghoul is laughing at you, full on belly laughing as he shoots around you. You realize with a start that he’s playing with you. Taunting you like a man who’s got all the time in the world. But you can’t stop running. If you stop, those bullets are going to catch up with you.

You keep going, legs pumping and heart racing as you’re separated more and more from Lucy. The mission, the whole reason you came up to the surface, is lost on you. You can only focus on one thing, surviving. You keep running, through alleyways and around buildings until you’re back in the woods. The whole time his laughter is following you.

The sharp noise of something whistling through the air reaches your ears and then something snaps against you. You glance down, only a moment to process the rope over your arms before he’s dragging you back. Your head hits the ground with a harsh snap, the motion slamming your teeth together and nearly biting off the tip of your tongue.

You groan in dazed pain and then he’s slowly dragging you back. One sharp tug after another, rocks ripping at your suit and scalp, hair ripped out underneath your back. Until, finally, he’s peering over you, face upside down and lips twisted up into a strained smile.

“Well, there you are, sweetheart.”

#cooper howard x reader #the ghoul x reader #fallout x reader #fallout tv series #fallout prime #the ghoul #cooper howard #I’ve been noticing a lot less interaction on my page #What the hell tumblr #cooper howard x you #the ghoul x you #the ghoul x fem!reader #cooper howard x fem!reader

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tealquacks · 7 months ago

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As a juice reward for myself, I’m going to go through my playlist that I made for Ryoto Hishakaku and say why I put each song on my playlist + my headcanons about this guy bc there’s literally nothing about him on the wiki (except that he sucks so much <3)

Here’s the playlist!

(I also made it on Youtube for those without Spotify, link here)

Note: this isn’t the music I think he’d listen to. Frankly, I don’t think he listens to music. He listens to AI generated lo-fi or business podcasts when he needs background noise.

If my thoughts don’t make sense, it’s bc I was writing this over the course of a few days while working on a few papers and a bunch of college stuff.!

Song by song explanations is below! It's mostly focused on his characterization in 8888 but there's mentions of 6488 and 7579 :3

This admittedly got long. I am fucking crazy, but I am free.

TANGLED WEB by slowgramming

To start off, I chose a song from REPLYHAZYTRYAGAIN, which is an album that (if I remember correctly!) was made for SCP-8888, where Hishakaku features heavily in. The reason I chose it for Hishakaku is because of the title, frankly. Not only does SCP-6488 have a good deal of spider imagery, but Hishakaku himself is also underhanded and manipulative. While he hasn't been particularly successful with his scheming, he still does it.

Kiss Me, Son of God by They Might Be Giants

This song, I feel, represents the type of power Hishakaku wants (and briefly has in 6488). He has the O5 in the palm of his hand, and can put any enemy brave enough to stand against him in a jar, what more could he want? Also, I don't think there's much of a difference between admo!Hishakaku and 8ball!Hishakaku, personality wise. The difference between them is that 8ball!Hishakaku was stopped earlier in the timeline than admo!Hishakaku, and that 8ball had connections to the Wanderer's Library/other anomalous communities that would be too risky to have in the Admonition timeline.

Caesar on a TV Screen by The Last Dinner Party

"And just for a second I can be one of the greats I'll be Caesar on a TV screen Champion of my fate No one can tell me to stop I'll have everything I want Anyone and everyone will like me then Everyone will like me then"

I think that like. Despite his unwillingness to get close to anyone or be intimate, he's still lonely. He feels entitled to human connection, if that makes sense, and believes that when he gets what he wants then love will come naturally to him. However, he'd be more comfortable with worship than actual companionship, because romance and friendship both require a level of give/take and vulnerability Hishakaku refuses to give people. He refuses to be seen as "weak", and is scared of being hurt.

Black Honey by Thrice

"I keep swinging my hand through a swarm of bees I can't understand why they're stinging me But I'll do what I want I'll do what I please I'll do it again till I've got what I need

I'll rip and smash through the hornet's nest Do you understand I deserve the best? And I'll do what I want I'll do what I please I'll do it again till I've got what I need"

He kind of fucks himself over in 8888, doing risky things like working with a crime ring and trying to sabotage the mission— and he fucks himself even harder in 7579 and 6488. He acts in his own self interest without thinking, and ends up facing the consequences for it, again and again. I think he can’t get himself to stop, honestly. A part of me thinks that this pushing and pushing, trying to get more of “what he needs”, is trying to make up for things he doesn’t have— like friends, or anything else outside of work and fruitless grabs at power. This guy needs a hobby.

Oh No! By MARINA

"Don't do love, don't do friends I'm only after success Don't need a relationship I'll never soften my grip"

Yeah, Hishakaku does not give a shit about people or anything but his own success. Placeholder (the author) answered an ask about Hishakaku potentially being divorced. They said: "Hishakaku claims to be aro/ace on account of his violent allergy to intimacy. But that doesn't explain whatever's going on between him and Jerry in 8888". In the tags, he elaborated, "To be clear I do not think being aro/ace automatically means repulsion to intimacy. I'm mainly trying to express that Hishakaku has used the label to write off a part of his identity he is not interested in investigating, because Hishakaku is a fundamentally incurious douchebag who does not care for other people and does not want to acknowledge his incelness"

Speaking of Hishakaku not wanting to investigate his sexuality, I don’t think he wants to examine his gender, either. I cannot justify it in any way but I think he’s genderfluid, or would at least be a bit more confident if he allowed himself to present femininely.

This is something that is also in Caesar On The TV Screen, where the singer talks about being able to speak because they are wearing a suit/being masculine. Which could be a part of the reason Hishakaku doesn’t want to introspect over either his gender or sexuality— he is a man, and that gives him social status— at least over some people. If he examines his gender/sexuality and it turns out that he’s not a man, then he’d either have to live knowing that he’s not a man and do nothing about it, or embrace it, potentially leading to lost respect/influence. Idk if I’m making sense but!!! Idk I think about him a lot.

ANYWAY back to Oh No!

"One track mind, one track heart If I fail, I'll fall apart"

Because Hishakaku doesn't give a shit about anything but himself and his own goals, if he fucks this up he's COOKED. He has nobody to turn to, no friends or support system. That's his own damn fault.

"I'm gonna live, I'm gonna fly I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna die I'm gonna live, I'm gonna fly I'm gonna fail, gonna die, die, die, die"

Every single SCP Hishakaku is in ends with him eating shit and getting his comeuppance. He's kind of doomed to fail, since he feels like he can only find contentment in power and control and refuses to look inward/embrace the things that could bring him happiness-- I.E, the relationship he has with Jerry in 8888.

The Circle Maker - Demo by Sparkbird

Firstly can I just say how nerve-wracking it was to add a Sparkbird song to this playlist? They make tiktoks about fandom related playlists their music is on. I'm trying to overcome my anxiety, but that'd be too much for me. As far as I know it's not on there.

"You are out of time You are out of favor You are but a cipher You are the circle maker"

Emphasis on the "you are out of time / you are out of favor". While he once might've had a place within the Foundation, he's totally squandered that. Also, I don't think anyone knows what the fuck his problem is. Hishakaku doesn't even know what his problem is, he represses so much shit and refuses to address behaviors of his that are shitty.

"How strange to grow so old And to never grow up And to never grow tall And to never grow wise And to never grow anything But smaller and farther away"

Like I think I say later in this post (I'm not writing it in all one sitting), I think that as director, Hishakaku is given life extending treatment, such as SCP-006. I think he's terrified of growing old-- and while he is, technically, aging, he's not changing or bettering himself. If anything, he could very well be getting worse.

Brand New City by Mitski

Hishakaku sees aging, and the fact that he will die, is something absolutely terrifying. This guy would love to be put in some kind of robot body, I think. Not just because he wouldn't die, but because he wouldn't age, too. Hishakaku came off as pretty vain to me, with him getting mad at Sokolsky for insulting his clothes, as well as STRAIGHT UP HISSING AT SOMEONE for making a joke about him not being fit. He will never be okay with aging or with growing older or weaker especially if he thinks that he hasn't "done enough".

Also, the line "I think my blood is passing me by" makes me think of his family, some nagging fear he has that he's failing them in some way.

Money, Money, Money by ABBA

This is a playlist about someone who cares about their wealth. I was contractually obligated to add Money Money Money. AND the song is a bop. Sure, it doesn't 100% fit but it slays so that's what matters.

However I don't think anyone, no matter HOW badly they needed the money, would either be able to get close enough for Hishakaku for him to give them money, or would be able to stand his bitchass for that long.

Also, Hishakaku 100% sees the world as "a rich man's world". Take that however you'd like.

Take Me To War (Live) by The Crane Wives

I can't 100% explain why this song makes me think of him so much-- I think it's because of how determined and ruthless I think he is. It doesn't matter what or who is in the way, if it's unsurmountable or not, he's gonna put up a fight until the very, very end.

Something I found interesting rereading 8ball for this is the fact that in the puzzle where they have to assign archetypes to people, Hishakaku was given the role of outlaw (or rebel, they were used interchangably when I read this.) Which, yeah he's elbow deep in crime, but outside of that I think he fits that archetype well. He's combative and driven, and desperately wants to shake up the status quo just so he can be the one who said he did.

Eat Your Young by Hozier

"Get some Pull up the ladder when the flood comes Throw enough rope until the legs have swung Seven new ways that you can eat your young Come and get some Skinnin' the children for a war drum Puttin' food on the table, sellin' bombs and guns It's quicker and easier to eat your young"

There's a nonzero chance that Hishakaku's been doing sketchy shit, even outside of what we learn in 8888. You don't become director with a clean record. Sure, he might not have been punished for these things, but what about things the Foundation condoned because, while unethical, they were in their interests? Fuck ethics, Hishakaku's going to do what's most convenient for him in the short term, with little concern for the long term or how he could hurt those around him.

Locals (Girls like us) by underscores, gabby start

Idk it's just the vibes. This song is cunty as hell and I think Hishakaku deserves one (1) cunty song. As a treat. The editing, and the fact that the song starts with what almost feels like a bunch of corporate buzzwords is part of why I associate this with him. That, and the singer's desire for conformity "I've done this questionnaire like 700 times / to get the same result as my friends" is something I think Hishakaku buys into. He wants to be special, but not a pariah.

How We’re Gonna Die by North Bloom

"But I cant take everything so seriously These days I'm just hoping to forget Move on and repress"

Hishakaku wants absolutely nothing to do with reflection and introspection, or his own emotions. Something I feel like he may value in computers/machines over humans is their unwavering logic. They don't get caught up in their emotions like humans do. He insists he's like machines, ruled by logic, but he's really not.

"Tell me how does it feel to know you were Bred to be a tool"

I headcanon that his family-- the Hishakaku's-- were a long line of mid-ranking Foundation personnel, always trying to get more influence within the Foundation. He was raised to be the very best, to move up the ranks more and more to make his family proud. I don’t think his parents really gave that much of a shit about him? Emotionally, at least. He grew up pretty rich, and they weren’t outwardly cruel, but they cared more about his future success and grades (to the point of being helicopter-y) than his emotions. I also think that if he had any conflict with someone and went to his parents for advice, they’d say “oh, they’re in the wrong. You’re smarter than them.” Or something along those lines. It’s an attitude he’s carried with him whether he realizes it or not.

Evelyn by Kim Tillman, Silent Films

“I'm a machine without a switch”

I see Hishakaku as a person who can't get himself to let go of things. He wants his cake and to eat it too. He's fully dedicated himself to what he wants, what he feels like he deserves/is entitled to. He sees nothing wrong with his behavior.

"These lofty thoughts are killing me Preoccupied by what I could be I get so high on my ideals Don't call me down But you can meet me where I land"

Hishakaku, to me, is someone who is constantly driven by desire. He wants to be high ranking, he wants power, he wants to be the very best. However, when he finally gets to where he's "meant" to be, he feels hollow. So, he's stuck thinking about what he "could" be.

ハロービルダー by Utsu-P, Hastune Miku

Here is the link to the lyrics!

Hishakaku is a technofetishistic guy, and I could easily see him obsessing over something technological like the singer. The song also fucks crazy hard.

The Spider’s Face (Dr. Stockill) by Emilie Autumn

Shoutout to @dino--draws for recommending this song! And also for enabling me. It makes me think mostly of Hishakaku in SCP-6488, when he's cast his web over the entire world. He's effectively destroyed AI, and even had the O5 under his thumb for a bit. He was able to make the OCI, and put his enemies in jars for christsake. This is him at the apex of his power, basking in the influence and control he has over others-- maybe even relishing in the suffering he can cause to them.

There's also spider imagery in this. I like to think that the reason LOTUS is a spider in the final bit of 6488 is because Hishakaku really likes spiders. He thinks they're kind of neat but would never tell a soul that because it's not normal to like spiders.

EVERYTHING by LuLuYam

"I want a life that'll give me purpose Fans, and lovers start to surface Be so big, that I own the circus All you clowns are at my service I want a life that's filled with green Leaf and money if you know what I mean White on my nose, blood on my sleeves Who needs friends, with dreams like these?"

I might not even have to pick these lyrics apart-- this is just what Hishakaku wants. He's burnt his bridges with people for his own image and ambition (Hell, he cheated at POOL with Kain Pathos Crow just to save his pride). In this, the Foundation is the circus. I've always interpreted him saying he "oversees" the site in 8ball (or whatever he says) as a Freudian slip-- he wants to be an overseer. He wants that power. That influence. He wants a life where he doesn't fell like he has to be more and more and more.

"A king, a lord, an emperor, a God A ruler over all My ego will not fall A fake, a fraud, a phony, oh my GOD! Don't crack through my facade… DON'T CRACK THROUGH MY FACADE!"

This guy sucks :3! I think that he's so focused on coming off the way he wants to that he's kind of lost himself in it. If you cracked through his facade you'd find a hollow mess and all the issues he insists he doesn't have.

Cockroach King by Haken

This song is basically about how Hishakaku is a capitalist/crypto bro and sucks a lot, but also how he's a fool for ignoring all aspects of his life outside of what he serves to gain from hurting people and believing he'll find any peace in financial success or bureaucracy.

All Eyes On Me (The Outtakes Version) by Bo Burnham

The repetition of "all eyes on me" again and again is what sells this as a Hishakaku song for me. The echo-ing vocals and the chaos of it also makes me feel like it's a fit-- I feel like Hishakaku has a lot of internal conflict that he doesn't address and just hopes will go away.

Whatever Makes You Feel Superior by Toehider

"Look at your friend's faces Don't it look like they're not having any fun? It becomes less about your theory And more about the feeling that you've won But whatever makes you feel Whatever makes you feel Whatever makes you feel superior"

Hishakaku wants to be superior to people because if he's above them then that means that he can't be vulnerable, nor would he be expected to be friendly or dedicate time to them. The most inaccurate part of this song is that it implies Hishakaku has friends-- he doesn't. He has subordinates, coworkers, bosses, and co-conspiritors.

In Cold Blood by alt-j

This is another one of those songs where I feel like the VIBES are what make it a Hishakaku song, not necessarily the lyrics. It feels like it'd be the theme song of some silicon valley murder mystery/conspiracy tv show. That fits Hishakaku perfectly. And if there's anyone who would do something in cold blood, it'd be him. The 01110011's also connect to Hishakaku's work with computers and technofetishism

King of Fools by Twain

"Ferdinand, a human-devil walking among men Filled up with the greedy lust to own up all the land He cut their bellies open thinking they had swallowed jewels When he watched the blood flow onto the naked ground Do you think he knew? He was the king of fools"

In all of this, Hishakaku is the king of fools. He wants and wants and hurts people without caring how he hurts them, then when they blow up in his face he either indignantly fights that he's in the right, or he acts as if he didn't know that anything would happen. For example: How I headcanon he got Site-15.

After Placeholder was abstracted, he changed quite a bit (check Dino--draws' blog for fir headcanons about how abstraction physically changed Placeholder.) I think Hishakaku was one of the first to catch onto the changes-- namely, the brain fog/freezing up-- by pure chance. Right place, right time. He started running "experiments" and being courteous to Place in an attempt to manipulate him into stepping down. Had Place not been recently abstracted, he would've caught on quickly. He's not sure if it was because of his suggestions or Place's genuine decision, but Place ends up stepping down and recommending Hishakaku for the position as director of site-15.

Almost immediately, Hishakaku switches up on Place and begins to lord his "victory" over the other man's head, especially when Place begins to study pataphysics, which Hishakaku sees as a quack science.

It takes some time, but Place realizes what type of person Hishakaku really is, and grows to loathe him. Not just because he tricked him into all but giving him the site, but because he pretended to be his friend in a time where he was at his most vulnerable.

Who Are You, Really? By Mikky Ekko

"So you feel entitled to a sense of control And make decisions that you think are your own You are a stranger here, why have you come? Why have you come? Lift me higher, let me look at the sun Look at the sun, and once I hear them clearly, say Who, who are you really? And where are you going? I've got nothing left to prove 'Cause I've got nothing left to lose See me bare my teeth for you Who, who are you?"

Hishakaku's been raised to be a director. He has no hobbies outside of crypto and computers. He grew up knowing exactly what he would be, and that is his ambition, purpose, identity. I firmly believe that if you asked Hishakaku to describe himself without mentioning his job, family, or status, he'd blank and stammer out that that question is ridiculous. This is part of why I think Hishakaku's dislike of Place is mutual-- Place thinks he's a puffed up crypto twit ruining his site, and Hishakaku is confused and jealous over the fact that Place stepped away from his position as director to go study nonsense in the woods, and he seems happier than ever. Hishakaku, deep down, feels hollow. He refuses to acknowledge that, but he is. And seeing Place so fulfilled, so sure of himself despite his abstraction, enrages him.

Iscariot by WALK THE MOON

Hishakaku always gets what's coming to him. Personally, I think he at least has some idea that he might not be able to weasel his way out of consequences-- but that common sense is discarded in favor of the arrogant belief that he'll be free from consequence forever.

This song could also be seen as potential feelings of betrayal from Cimmerian, since Cimmerian promised to keep his involvement with the Wanderer's Circle under wraps in exchange for helping him steal the 8ball. Even if he didn't have a personal relationship with Cimmerian, he'd still be pissed about the betrayal.

The Bottom (You Fucking Fucker) by The Taxpayers

Hishakaku could very well be the "you" in this song.

"You fuck. I fucking blame you, you fucker, you fuck I fucking know the reason you came Your name, your place, your time will come When the bottom drops out, when the bottom drops out And even though, even though you’ll get away with it Even though, even though people like you don’t do time I know someday your little black heart will pop Someday you’re gonna die, you're gonna die, you're gonna die

Things can always get worse Things can always get so much worse Things can always get worse Things can always get so much worse When the bottom drops out"

"Even though, even though people like you don't do time" This is more accurate in regards to SCP-8888, where, instead of being imprisoned for betraying the Foundation (AND LEADING TO THE THEFT OF THE 8BALL), his suggested punishments are being sent to watch the fish that goes on forever, or being sent to work at the Planet Fitness Foundation front in Jupiter, Florida. Researching Jupiter (I'm poking at an outline about his time there), it seems like a pretty nice place. Sure, he doesn't have his power, influence, or money, but it feels like such a nothing punishment compared to his actions.

"Someday you're gonna die, you're gonna die, you're gonna die". Due to the sensitive nature of what is kept at Site-15, I like to imagine Hishakaku receives life-extending treatment, like SCP-006. Once he no longer has access to that, though, he's stuck with having to confront his mortality. He'd taken 006 for granted, honestly. Now he's lost.

"Things can always get so much worse / when the bottom drops out" This is what Hishakaku's dealing with-- the bottom dropping out. Sure, he's not in prison, but he's been stripped of everything he's ever tied his identity to and in a super unfamiliar environment dealing with things he's never dealt with (assuming he is sent to Jupiter, which I think is the funnier and more painful option for him)

In conclusion, Hishakaku is an interesting guy that sucks a lot <3.

If you have any questions or want to give me a suggestion to add to the playlist, plz send an ask or message me I love this guy

#ryoto hishakaku #scp-8888 #scp-6488 #a little nervous to post this bc this is like 80% headcanon or more #idk this guy has been on my mind. throws a rock at him #Spotify

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ashen-char · 5 months ago

Note

I just saw Anora a few days ago and I have a some things to say.

Igor is the goat, especially in the candy shop scene and his interactions with Anora. (Ani’s cute but Anora is a beautiful name)

Part of me wishes that Anora slapped Ivan. The closest to that happening is in an Ani x Igor fic I read.

My little headcanon is that Ivan and his family get cursed for all eternity.

And I saw some people calling Anora a gold digger and they have to be brain dead to think that. It’s more than her wanting money and the wealthy lifestyle.

i also love igor in the candy shop like the way he casually grabs the bat, smashed the jar so effortlessly hahah. the way he plays with with it and throws it off the pier too! literally so funny. notable mention to how impressed he looks at ani's hits too.

spoilers under the cut i guess?

i also think ivan deserves a good slap, probably when ani finds him in that private room with diamond or something 🤔 but it means a lot too that even when she's signing the annulment form, she looks at ivan like "really? you won't fight for me? fuck, okay then." she begs a passed out ivan for assurance that his parents will accept them. she doesn't even get angry at him for going to HQ, for agreeing to be in a private with diamond. it's such a big part part of anora that she hopes, she's not naive but she still hopes and dreams. (i saw a take a while ago that she's naive for believing in him, which boooo 🍅) please link me the fic you read tho!

as for ani being a gold digger, ivan literally goes "i think we'd have fun even if i didn't have money". ani never asks him to spend money on her, besides her asking for a 3 carat ring. all of ivan's splurges are for him and chasing fun, he'll go all in at the casino and not care about losing it. if she's a gold digger, it wouldn't make sense for her to throw that sable coat down and leave it behind.

she does flaunt the money to others at times, be that lulu or to igor when he asks about the coat. but when she was flaunting the coat or the ring to garnik/toros, she was more showing off the "commitment" ivan showed to her. like she belongs in this world and they don't - "i bet you've never seen that before". and to lulu, i mean it's the first few times they met. obviously she's on that high that a high roller likes her and wants to keep seeing her, more bragging and gossiping.

there's even a scene where she tells ivan she'll miss him, he jokes that she'll miss his money, and she playfully agrees. at that point, ani's downplaying how she feels because she thinks he'll go. otherwise her "stop teasing me" wouldn't make sense, it implies she does want him to stay for burgeoning feelings.

the money's fun, and the drugs are a rush sure, but if we think about the times they connect and talk (rare as that might be), it's because of the fun that ivan is and represents. his energy, his jokes, how he doesn't take anything seriously. if anything, it's more commentary that wealth provides this lack of worry, and that's what ani would want over the material things.

#ask #anora

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pvrkacciosan · 4 months ago

Text

The Heart of the Lioness: ☽⋆36⋆☾

Blood of the Loyalist

The Heart of the Lioness Masterlist

Previous Part

It is said all moments in life are valued down to individual pockets of time, time which is only ever borrowed and must one day be repaid. Magic given to and given back in an endless cycle. Each hour, minute and second of life would one day boil down to a moment where it could cost someone everything. Each second as precious as the last, and they can only ever be harnessed or wasted.

In those precarious seconds as the knife flies for Teyra's heart Brielle's whole world stopped, all those little moments ceasing into the existence between the worlds. Watching as all the oxygen depleted. Those ever precious moments growing thin as her heart hammered hard into her bones.

Teyra ducks low, arm raising with the speed only immortals posses as her only defence. The Iron chains still wrapped around her forearm like vines chanting a rattle in the castles quiet foyer.

The approaching blade clattered off the metal links as time returned to itself. The dagger dropping like a weight to the stone as sparks flew, the sound echoing with Brielle's own pounding heart. The force of it still rocked Teyra back, jarring the chains with her. Brielle was yanked forward by the links, wrists still bound by the iron shackles, pain radiates down through her back in thick waves that have her gritting her teeth.

Teyra ascends her gaze, eyes wide as her head lifted from behind the shield of her chain covered arms, still held out before her, quivering from the force that had rattled the metal. She glanced to the metal links still ensnaring her arms, Drawing her attention along the swaying length of them she met Brielle's gaze, Isaiah still at her side.

It was no wondering whether time also faltered for the male as Brielle felt his shoulder sag under her arm still stretched over the expanse of muscle behind his neck.

"Teyra move!" Brielle jerked as Isaiah threw himself out from her hold, She swayed on her feet, willing them to not buckle under her own weight. Thankfully to whatever grace still followed them, Corbin was quick to replace himself under her arm, holding firmly to her side.

Neither could acknowledge it as Isaiah races for Cairn, who had already pulled free another dagger twisting it excitedly in his palm. Positioning it high, aimed straight for Teyra, who's eyes flare in panic from where she began to fumble with the chains in her tight hold.

Pants of air sawed through Brielle's chest as Isaiah barreled straight into Cairn. The sheer force of the hit would have been enough to snap bone, There was an audible exhale from both males as they crash to the stone, within the sprawl of limbs Isaiah desperately tried to wrangle the blade from Cairn grip.

Even as Cairn fights to get himself free.

"Get out of here!" Isaiah belted the words with such effort, and even from where they stood with their backs to the stairwell, Brielle could see the distress on his expression. Cairn twisted sharply, loosening Isaiah hold on the hilt, He snarled up at the male above him.

Corbin was tugging at Brielle's waist, but she couldn't bring herself to move, feet welded to the stone, watching as Isaiah latched to Cairn's wrist with his teeth, sinking them in until Cairn bellowed out, growling as he tried to rip his wrist free.

The sound would have wrung satisfaction through her, if it had managed to loosen Cairn's grip. It hadn't so as Isaiah threw himself back and began slamming Cairn's hand into the stone, hard.

He smashed Cairn's hand into the stone. Once, Twice again trying to force the dagger out from his curled hand.

"I'll buy you time. Get out of here!" He struck Cairn's hand to the ground, growling in effort, the bones of the males knuckles cracking audibly under the pressure.

"I can't leave you!" The word were tight in her throat, screaming them over the sound of the struggle, But Corbin was tugging more persistently now.

Isaiah twisted as he pinned Cairn down, the male thrashing like some rabid beast bursting to be set free. He took in the sight of Brielle, she met her friends gaze, he saw what she knew. They would need all the time, with the chains and her back, she was moving too slow to get herself to safety.

"Corbin!" Isaiah tone had dropped as he roared at The Hunter,

Brielle tried to swing herself from his hold, But Corbin was prying her back. Dragging as she dug her feet into the stone, heels burning with the effort,

Cairn had begun to punch balled fists into Isaiah side,

"Let me go," Even as she tried to will the words to come out strong, shallow pleading which had tears streaming was what emitted from her. Clawing into Corbin's arm, carving his flesh, to release herself from his hold to get to Isaiah-

Teyra rushed to keep up, Hauling the weighted chain in her arms, She too had dried tears streaking her face as she didn't look back, helping Corbin with Brielle as she was dragged to the castle entrance, Only able to watch as Isaiah was thrown off Cairn, the male rising with the dagger still in his grasp as he towered over The Loyal.

Isaiah sighed heavily as Teyra and Corbin disappeared, Dragging Brille between them out the entrance of the stone castle.

"Your attempts won't win you anything rat." Cairn's smirk widens, displaying the rows of his teeth glistening with blood, it poured from his top lip.

"You will harm my family no longer." Planting a back foot down into the stone, Isaiah rose, the ache of his ribs screaming at him.

He ignored everything as Cairn lunged forward, the knife outstretched in a sideways arch, a twin movement to what Teyra had done when they reunited in an alley not two street away from the castle. An unhinged fury burned alight under the cover of Cairn's flesh, a roar emitting from him as Isaiah dodged back from each swing,

"Your friends will all die by my blade." Cairn threw his fisted hand at his ribs, Isaiah shifted to avoid the blade swinging in for the other direction, aimed for his throat.

The moments boiled to the lesser of the two injuries, bracing for the punch to land, Isaiah tried to conceal the wince as Cairn's balled fist made contact with his side not two ribs from his heart.

Isaiah had managed to dodge the blade a second after, and shifted backwards quickly, Spinning to meet Cairn's next hit, he froze. Seeing Cairn back up a step, smirking as he watched.

A burning had begun in his side, flaring like liquid fire with each pulse of his heart. Isaiah winced sharply, hand flying to his ribs where Cairn's punch had landed, Palm clutching his side, fingers meeting the warmth of his own blood.

Something wasn't right, the flesh of his palm began to burn as he held it to his bleeding side,

Cairn backed up a step, tucking away the two daggers-

The second dagger, concealed inside Cairn's balled fist dripped a clear liquid...

The burning in his side grew stronger, a poison gnawing at the bone. Something wasn't right,

Cairn walked back smiling as he tucked the blades away, "Better run little rat."

Clutching to his side, Isaiah tried to wrangle enough pressure onto the wound, even as his flesh and finger began to go numb, From the bone out. He had to get to Brielle.

His legs had started to tingle as he panicked, pain lurching through his chest as he spun and legged for the door, down the steps of the stone Castle. To find his family.

The chain cuffs bite sharply into Brielle's wrists as she collided into the wall, hand sliding into the stone to support her weight as Corbin slung her from around him.

The chain links rattled as Teyra repositioned her arms, panting against the ball of metal tucked close to her chest.

Brielle pushed up to glance around at the female behind her, tears were streaking Teyra's face, the skin wet from where they had slide off during the run through the city.

"We have to get to the meeting spot," Teyra rasps, gentle tugging the chains, pulling Brielle from the wall. With a heave of effort, Brielle ignored the dull aches to forfeit Corbin's help, the male stayed close as the continued down the street. "We have to get you to your brother,"

Brielle watched sidelong as the lines in Teyra's face pinned, a diluted pain on her expression, her words hollow as she continued leading them into a small side alley, a figure walked hesitantly from the shadows off the wall, petite frame wrapped in a cloak too large to be her own.

"Brielle-" The female started, emerging quickly towards them, Elide's eyes darted between Corbin and Teyra for explanation as she ravaged the appearance of them. Dishevelled from running and Brielle could imagine her own state, Fenrys' shirt hung in ribbons off her beaten body, blood soaking the cloth red. Iron chains clamped like jaws across her wrists.

"What happened?" her words were small despite her voice being stronger than Brielle remembers of the human girl being from that day on the beach.

"We have to get moving," Teyra urged, adverting from Elide's question even when Corbin began to sign and glanced to her for translation, he caught Brielle's eyes, in question or simply to observe her reaction.

"We wait." Her throat was dry, keeping the shake from her words was to fight with her own voice. Teyra stilled, facing outwards to the street, to where the patter of light rainfall had begun, it was something to be grateful for, it would wash away their scents, dampening them to any who might track them.

"We have to leave the city." Teyra didn't glance back when she spoke this time, curling the chains further into herself.

The sting of tension boiled fast between them, "We wait for Isaiah."

Even with the pain of her injuries dulling her senses, Brielle could see clearly enough to notice Teyra's small flinch at the mention of his name. The rain grew heavier, fat droplets hitting her bare flesh now. It stung the reopened wounds, but Brielle could only ignore as Teyra turned back around.

"How could you not tell me?" The utter devastation etched onto her expression drew knots in Brielle's chest, The genuine hurt and betrayal of trust stung more than the pelts of raindrops.

"How could you let me believe one of the few people who cared about me would turn betrayer. Brielle I hate him for what he did to you." She hugged the chains closer, as though they were a blanket of security, "To watch him stab you. To want to kill him at the thought of that very betrayal, How could you ask that of him? Bronwyn-"

"Bronwyn knows of these risk-"

"All we do is risk everything for you and you were going to repay him by leaving him here. Alone,." The displaced anger had turned the edges of Teyra's ears red, her words flowing through that same anger. A barricade of anger allowing the rage to seep through.

Corbin shifts, nudging a knuckle into Brielle's side, She brushed it off, as Teyra drops the chains now, fist bunching tightly.

"His loyalty to you knows no bounds. That is clear. Is that how my sister died? Did Elleneta die through her loyalty to you?" She snarled the words now, all that build up emotion of her past growing hot with rage, "Are we all going to die following the Great Lioness of Doranelle?" She jerked a hand to Corbin, "Are you willing to die for this cause?"

But Corbin wasn't listening, his expression tore an even bigger hole in Brielle's chest, following his line of sight she ignored ever word Teyra had pelted at her as Isaiah stumbled into the alley, the scent of blood drawing thick in the air.

It didn't matter how they had argued, what betrayals had been made as Isaiah collapsed into the stone, Brielle and Teyra rushed forwards,

Her knees snapped in pain as she collided down beside him, Teyra and Corbin worked quickly at turning him over, Brielle taking up position near his head.

"Brielle." Isaiah's words were weak, as he coughed, Blood spurting between his lips.

Panic jackhammered her heart inside her chest, eyes darting to the blood on his clothes, Teyra noticed it in the same moment, ripping the material so she could glance at the wound. A clean slice between his ribs, a couple inches below his heart.

Brielle reached for the wound, to apply pressure,

"Don't" his hand rose to stop her, "Poison." He gritted it between his teeth,

She had to do something, had to help, Diving into her powers if she could just reach them past the iron she could expel the toxins. Delving deeper Brielle slammed into the wall formed like iron inside of herself, struck her fist into it, clawing until her fingers felt bloodied to get inside, to access the power that she knew could save him.

A panicked sob broke her, fighting to keep the shake from her hands she wrapped it around Teyra's arm,

"You need to go get Gavriel. He has to come heal him."

Teyra was crying, red rimmed eyes darting to Corbin and Elide, contemplating why they couldn't be the ones to fetch Gavriel. The males wouldn't understand Corbin's sign language and Elide would be to slow with her ankle and Brielle, with the chains. It would be to late. It had to be her.

"Teyra-"

She was still crying as she nodded once, rising quickly to ignore the thoughts, Brielle watched her take once last tear filled glance down at the male who had become her brother and protector and turned, taking off out the alley towards Madame Ellis' shop.

Isaiah coughed, his breath stuttering out of him as he gritted through the pain, With each second Brielle tried to hammer into her power, to break the wall of iron.

"Brielle." Isaiah gently raised a hand, curling it into her own against his chest, His fingers slipped tight around her own, blinking through the haze of his pain to meet her stare,

Brielle shook her head, "No, don't give me that look." She tried to pull her hand from his, to apply pressure to wound and damn the consequences, but Isaiah twisted his grip tighter, keeping her from aiding him as though he knew she would.

"It's okay." Tears welled in his own eyes, coughing a sound that gurgled at the back of his throat, a choking sound emitting from him.

He fought for breath against it, sitting up to meet her stare,

"Promise me, You will take care of Bronwyn" he chokes, "And the kids." Gods his kids-

He tugged her from her thoughts with his grip on her hands, squeezing tightly, "I promise." she whispered softly, ignoring the sound of Elide crying beside her, Corbin shifting to rest beside the women,

A moment of calm settled over Isaiah now, resting easy as he smiled, Fighting to breath around the blood clogging his airway, "Tell them how much I love them, how I did it all for them."

It was Brielle's turn to tighten her grip, "No. You will tell them yourself, Do you hear me?"

But Isaiah simply continued to smile, turning to her to relive it all, "I trusted you and Elle from the first day we met. When I stole the bag from you both. And I'm glad I did, To be loyal to you was the greatest thing that every happened to me. The greatest gift. " his hand tighten as he emphasised his words.

His grunted painfully, Brielle's hand curling towards her, to hold him close, "Isaiah, you are not dying. You hear me, That's an order."

A gurgle emitted from him, it almost sound like an attempt at a chuckle, "As you say... boss"

At the memory that splurged within her, Brielle sobs, hand tightening in his loosening grip, no matter how tight she held, to hold him to this world, she felt his hand slip from her own. As his chest finally stilled under their conjoined grip.

Gentle tugging, "No, Gods please no" Her head fell to his chest, the lack of movement there stilling her heart as she began to sob, fist trembling against his still hand. Clasping tightly, as she continued to cry.

Curled into his side, her head rested against their hands, Brielle wept letting all the seconds of those moments pass by, closing her eyes she tried to recall it all. The first time they met, Isaiah finding her after the Golden Death, Where Elleneta had died. Of the three of them, she was the last one standing, Alone. As Teyra had accused her of leaving Isaiah.

The sound of footfall at the mouth of the alley drew her attention but Brielle didn't rise from off Isaiah's chest. Trying to savour the lingering warmth of his body, to remember the lines of him.

"Sister.." Gavriel's voice cracked, the comfort that jolted through the centre of her chest had Brielle lifting her head, the tears on her cheek making the skin stick to the back of her hand.

Standing with a crying Teyra was him, Her big brother. Her big brother who had arrived too late.

Hand still in Isaiah's she turns to his calm face, as though he was simply sleeping. She kneeled up, pressing her lips to his forehead, "Say hi to Elle for me."

Then she was forcing herself to stand, Teyra moving closer now, on unsteady legs that shook beneath her, she met Brielle, but the Lioness couldn't look at her, stepping around she moved for her brother,

Gavriel was waiting, despite the urgent concern on his expression he waited for her to come to him, and she did, Brielle stumbled to him, body giving way. He caught her and held tightly,

"It's okay," His hand cupped the back of her head, stroking her hair as she whimpered with tears into his chest, Teyra's own cries mixed into the sound of the rain growing heavy around them. Brielle cried to her brother, allowed herself to be wrapped in the comfort of him as she finally let the darkness consume her vision.

☽⋆❈⋆☾

Rowan Whitethorn led the way through the outskirts of Doranelle, to where Brielle knew an assembly of skilled warriors would be awaiting their arrival.

Brielle tried not to let the panic gets a grip of her once more, for the last four months she had been training to gain strength, not really leaving the city walls since arriving here after Vallen. The mere mentions of it had bile rising at the back of her throat. To think of Elleneta, what that lord had done to her-

Brielle hadn't tried to recall much, hadn't even touched her power in her since Queen Maeve swore her in the elite cable of Fae warriors, on which happened to include Brielle's brother, That had also been something she tried to ignore.

Their share relationship was tense, she had opted to have Whitethorn train her, for her better interest, A mutual ground, which she got the sense Gavriel didn't entirely agree on. Brielle knew her brother had his reasons for distancing himself since he swore himself to the Queen, but she didn't think treating his sister like dirt to be a very brotherly thing to retain in their relationship.

So if ignoring him, gave him a taste of what she had endured, a fact which she doubted, over the years in his absence so be it. Not that she had been alone,

She had met some people, two she could rely upon in her darkest moments, and she had. Trusting them beyond life itself, She didn't know what had become of Isaiah, after her and Elleneta had been taken to Vallen. The last place Elle was alive,

As though sensing the direction of her drifting thought, Rowan gave the female beside him a soft shove,

Brielle glanced sidelong at him, glowering playfully back at her Rowan gestured ahead of them with a nod of his chin, "You ready for this?"

She had met Rowan before everything that transpired four months ago, one of the few times she had reunited with Gavriel over the years, Rowan had been there. It's why she trusted him enough to help train her, Lorcan filled in when Rowan was busy, there was... another, But his presence served as more of a distraction whilst training, his brother trained her well when he wasn't serving Maeve.

"Kid." Rowan urged again, looking back at him now, Brielle sighed,

"Ready as I'll ever be." She didn't like the twist in her gut at the prospect of what they were venturing to do.

Of the assembled warriors, each member of the Cadre was to select soldiers from within their own ranks to join Brielle, to fall under her command, Rowan had stated he would have given her more time, more training but Queen's orders.

So here they went, moving to meet with the rest of Maeve elite Cadre to select her unit of Fae warriors. They duo continued on in silence, even as Brielle tried to ignore the not so subtle glances Rowan kept shooting her way, he wasn't an entirely emotion based male, but she had noticed how his resolve softened around her. Whether it was for her sake or because her brother asked. Brielle couldn't bring herself to care, it was ... nice to have someone watching your back.

The open field or dried yellow grass housed maybe over one hundred soldiers stood in uniform rows, unmoving for they had not been given the command,

Brielle halted at the sight, so many of them, mostly male. Even if they didn't turn their heads to watch her, she knew they watched her from the lines of their formations. Keen Fae senses probably picking out her weaknesses, her fear.

The indescribable worry that is someone followed her they would land themselves with the same fate as Elle-

She shook away the thought as Rowan moved in front of her, shielding her from view with his broad shoulders, his silver hair falling long over them.

"Don't show them your worries. You owe them no explanation for your feelings. You are to command them, They are to obey. You are a blood sworn member of Queen Maeve's court you have no time to explain yourself to lower unit grunts."

Despite the harshness of his words, Brielle knew he was coming from a position of worry, his brow was pinched, Rowan has confined in her about his past, knew of his initial struggle to regain order amongst his rank rooted from his own weaknesses. If she wanted power, to never again be weak to the monsters that prey on their world like those in Vallen that killed Elleneta she needed to be strong now. This she knew.

Taking a quick steadying sigh, Brielle met Rowan's stare nodding once. He moved to be beside her once more, "Each of us chose around 25 warriors, elite amongst our own ranks, You may chose as many or as little as you wish, Maeve ordered for at least one to be selected today." He rounds out his shoulder as he walked, his eyes noting the twins, catching the way Fenrys glanced their way.

Brielle catches the sound of Rowan's muffled laugh, a sound so uncommon it snagged her attention completely.

"What?"

"You seem to have gained an admirer." Following his line of sight, Brielle felt her body hum as she met the familiar set of onyx black eyes. Heat spread along the cartilages of her ears as Fenrys smiled softly. Brielle glanced away the feeling of the males stare still a pleasant warmth against her skin.

Rowan watched carefully, flicking both fae a grin, the obscure amount of amusement breaking way onto his expression. It, much like his laughter was a foreign thing, its odd presence drawing attention.

Brielle might have been content to allow that amusement to hold, had it not been at the expanse of her not so obvious attraction to the males whose attention she could still feel lingering in her direction.

"Mind you business, Bird." she snapped the words at him Through her teeth, but they held no real bite, though perhaps Brielle should have imbued some of them with effort at how Rowan's smirk had turned feral.

"It will no longer be my business once you admit your feelings- Kitty."

Her annoyance simmered at the name, a play on her shifted form. It was easier to focus on that, then the way his others words made panic strike her chest, If Rowan had noticed her like for the male, had Maeve also discovered her secret draw to the male.

"I won't tell a soul until you wish me to." Rowan slows, pulling them both to a stop, Brielle tried to steady her breath but as she glanced out to the rows of warriors lined for her choosing, her breath split an ache though her lungs.

Pulling her attention, Brielle glanced back to the male beside her. The male who had unconditionally taken her on as a responsibility, a choice he had made. Her throat tightened as she met the unfiltered and unwavering surety on Rowan's expression. A usually unbothered mask which now cracked enough to let her in, to let her know it was okay.

Rowan; the male who had stepped into her brothers place, for she had been unable to stomach that interaction after everything. The male who now locked gazes with her and whispered again, "Not a soul." As though speaking any louder would alert even the shadows around them.

Perhaps it was a single tear that warmed her cheek, maybe her hands shook as she fisted them at her sides. But that buzzing in her, was undoubtedly the sound of her fracturing heart for Brielle could ignore it all, for that heart struggling to beat inside her was not strong enough for that acceptance.

Rowan's attention lifted above her, a playfully guarded smile lifting the edges of his lips, "For the love of the gods, Put the male out of his misery" He didn't attempt to hide his amusement as he walked backwards away, nodding to the approaching figure.

Brielle's spine forced itself rigid as the presence drew closer, a crawling sense that she had inheritably knew led to him. Learned to associate him with the settling calm that wormed its way into her bones whenever he was near.

"Hello Fenrys" The male halted behind her, waiting in his spot as she turned to face him.

Although Brielle fought often in the days since Vallen, to ignore the lose of a friend, the pain, the blood oath now tethering her to the Queen, this new feeling when he was near was something she couldn't bring herself to ignore, the distraction that trumps all others.

The sensation that bloomed when she met and held his stare was a warmth anew, the unsaid word was dizzying.

Fenrys studies her carefully, as he had always done since meeting her that day in Vallen, the look of trust there, it gripped that broken thing in her chest. For he had never looked at her with pity or distain, never blamed her for the death toll that followed her, only looked as though he could see everything. Including things Brielle herself had chosen to ignore like she simply couldn't ignore anything when it came to her.

A hand squeezed her own, Brielle glanced to where Fenrys carefully stroked a thumb across the ridges of her knuckles, the bone black and blue from training with Rowan. "hello, Bri" The softness of his voice had Brielle holding her breath, waiting for when that peace would shatter. To be taken from her as Elleneta had-

"I've picked out my best warriors for you." Fenrys mused, turning to rest a hand against the base of her spine, tugging Brielle to continue towards the group, the space between them growing marginally smaller with each step. Swallowing down the spike of panic at the sight of the assembled lines standing before their own generals, Maeve's blood swore.

"Is that so?" Brielle watched wit a raised brow, Fenrys smiled wide, nodding excitedly.

"Although," Fenrys pulled his lip between his teeth in thought,. "I was thinking how much of a shame it is." Turning with concern Brielle met his contemplation

But as Fenrys tried to hid his devilish smirk he continued, "That I couldn't volunteer myself for the position

Now Brielle was confused, laughing softly, "How so?" His hand flared at the bottom of her back, warmth blooming with each delicate stroke and circle of his thumb.

"I can only imagine how magnificent it might be to be under your command" A thumb swirled to dig gently into her spine, "Or simple to be under you"

Something in her flared or bloomed or simply exploded but as Rowan's words rung loud in her mind, her confidence rose to meet the feeling, "Who's to say that still cannot be arranged?"

Fenrys head flew back as a booming laugh belted out of his chest, throwing an arm over her shoulder he securely tucked her to his side, Ever inch of her that touched him seemed to tingle, and as a smile so glorious that it put the stars in their night sky to shame flickered to life on his face Brielle realised she might want to get used to the strange feeling.

"There you are." His words struck, At the appearance of the smile, realisation slammed into her chest. For those moments with him, She had been able to ignore all that had happened - Without guilt or regret for the feelings. Fenrys had seen through it and had worked to bring her from those thoughts. He had seen her.

Brielle fought against those thoughts now as he had done to replicate the smile that hadn't graced her lips since she lost Elle. "Here I am."

Her words were simple but they were enough. Fenrys didn't need more than that to understand.

"You two want to keep us waiting or you want Lorcan to die of his resentment first?" Rowan's booming voice traveled breaking the invisible shield around them, a comfort where Brielle could allow herself to accept the happiness.

Turning to observe the rest of the Cadre, the arm slipping off her shoulder Brielle walked, stepping wide to leave Fenrys' hold all together. It left a coldness in its place, a comforting thread in her chest winked out at that lack of touch. Brielle couldn't ponder it, even if he had made everything right just for those few moments. So irrevocably right. But with Maeve's leash, It wasn't gong to be another risk she was willing to endure, not after Vallen. She had already lost Elle and hadn't seen Isaiah since the day the two of them had been taken to Valle. That familiar ache in her chest returned and began to expand with each reoccurring thought,

A finger brushed her elbow, just a second, a small moment which knocked the thoughts from their war path, Brielle felt Fenrys move around her, caught the way Gavriel noted the touch. His eyes pinching together, a near permanent line on his brow creasing. Did he perhaps mourn the fact he wasn't the one to offer comfort, when she so clearly needed it.

Rubbing the heel of her palm into her sternum, to dull the ache, Brielle moved towards Rowan, Lorcan was scowling at the male as they all walked to address the first line of soldiers.

"I'm not resentful." The tall male had only agreed to offer his warriors because his Queen had orders it so. There was a barrier that he had fortified, to partition himself from Brielle, something he knew that he didn't want her to discover. One day Brielle would find out what.

"Be sure to add that to the list of-" Fenrys flourished his arms around, smirking, "Lorcan's List of foreign feelings and emotions."

Brielle's head snaps to watch as Lorcan swings his gaze to Fenrys, dark and lethal he glowers at the smirking male, a hint of a snarl bubbling in his throat. At the shiver of submission on Fenrys expression even as it hid under the amusement, Brielle can't help the wave of defensiveness for Fenrys as Lorcan continues to stare point at the other male.

"That isn't a thing." Lorcan barks out, as Brielle smiles wide, the males annoyance a trigger.

"Mother's tits, It is!" If she was to stand with Fenrys against Lorcan, even in humour so be it, the males was a grumpy prick ninety nine percent of the time, he could use a slick of enjoyment in his life, even if it was forcefully thrust upon him by two much younger fae.

As Lorcan shifted his stare to her, Brielle could feel the tension of the others around them, The twitch in Fenrys' jaw, and the wariness that both Rowan and Gavriel held as they watched the Lioness shifter stare down one of the most powerful demi fae on the continent as though she was merely a child taking on a fully trained fae warrior.

"It's irresponsible to discuss things you don't understand." Lorcan's words, a threat and a warning only spurred on the shared enjoyment between Fenrys and Brielle.

"I fear to inform you...you need to express something for us to understand," Fenrys swung to meet her attention, as Lorcan bounces his attention between them,

Rocking on her heels as she walked, "So we can't possibly begin to understand, we don't have any evidence."

Even as she spoke, Lorcan glared back at Fenrys, pointing him as the instigator to this whole mini attack,

As Lorcan moved to cross Rowan's side to reach Fenrys, Brielle allowed a small kernel of her power, a forceful wall she hadn't broken through since that day in Vallen, now a foreign hand reaching to her she grabbed tightly and tugged it to the surface in warning.

It had always been a potent power, strong when it struck the senses. Brielle felt the attention of every pair of eyes draw to her, even those of the warriors still standing in formation before them. All now aware of the female that walked surrounded by males who all stilled to watch her glare at the demi-fae male.

No one on the continent had felt that power since the Golden Death, were the magnitude of it struck, leaving ten thousand dead and a city in ruins.

Brielle herself hadn't touch it since that day, not even when Maeve had tried to break it out of her. The Queen's persistence might have made her wonder had it not been for her obvious intentions. Maeve wanted that power to wield it through Brielle as her own sword to use to bring down her enemies. Just as the fate that had befallen Vallen and its citizens.

The same power pulled heat through Brielle's veins, Lorcan observed lowering his hand from where it had risen to strike Fenrys a hand which Brielle monitored carefully, a flicker of muted rage in her gaze.

A figure stepped into the edge of Brielle's view, "Best be sure to score fear off Lorcan's list" Vaughan had folded his arms across his chest as Brielle and the others turned to watch him, he dipped his gaze low, a smirk tugging the edges of his mouth.

Through the stifling thrum of her power, it wasn't difficult to recount the scent of fear, the sense only being described as a wavering uncertainty that tugged against the gut.

"Now if we would," he lifts a hand from his chest, gesturing first to his line of warriors. The Cadre waited for her to move, swallowing deeply Brielle forced her body into movement, simply short steps that drew her closer to the formations of warriors lined watching all with bated breath as she approached.

As the throbbing of her power began to dissipate from her fingertips, the pressure and warmth tightening in her chest Brielle focused her vision to take in the sight of each individual lined. All selected for her choosing.

Brielle could see the drawn lines of exhaustion on their expression, no doubt in tribute to their hours spent training. They didn't meet her stare as she walked before they, rather staring beyond her if she stopped to watch them.

Since Maeve had given the command Brielle knew she had to choose but standing before them now she couldn't help how her hands trembled in worry, to lead them and hold these warriors under her orders? The concept had her shoving her hands into the cover of her pockets.

How was she to select them, to pass them between units so willingly as if they didn't have friends within their own unit. To have people for sanity savour, to hold you up if training got rough, How was Brielle expected to knowingly take them from what might be their people.

As Brielle continued walking, she surpassed more and more warriors, their shoulder sagging in what she could only assume was relief as she passed without noting them with more than a dignified nod of acknowledgement.

"Bri," She had sensed Fenrys behind her, even as he gently nudged her elbow, "Her majesty has demanded at least one must be selected." His words were reduced to just above a whisper as he surveyed the amount of capable warriors she had passed, his twin Connall was beside him, watching her softly, Brielle noted how Connall gaze drop to her shaking hands, shoving them further from view Brielle ignore both males and continued down the line.

The warriors varied in size, height and clearly age, but they all shared the same vacant expression of neutrality, it plastered their emotions. Eyes adverted downwards.

Except one. A gasp emitted from Brielle she hadn't fought to keep it within her, as the warrior locked her gaze. His arms folded behind him in a stance that was so unlike him. He had filled out since she last saw him. The lines of exhaustion marring his brow,

Brielle felt the males of the Cadre pause with her, she didn't care that they watched, couldn't care what the lines of warriors would think of her as she launched herself at Isaiah.

Brielle collided with him, knocking him out of that well formatted line, he wrapped himself around her tightly, holding just as securely as her. The force near bone breaking intensity, forcing the air from her chest in a soft sob.

"She's gone." whispering the word to him as Isaiah lowered her gently. Brille felt him bunching his hands around her back he stiffened against her as he noted the light hair male that watched him with a narrowed gaze. "Elle's gone"

It was something she hadn't been able to admit to herself, the way her heart seemed to crack in her chest at the thought, but having him here, it was somewhat easier to accept what she should have long ago, in spite of her efforts to ignore it.

"I know." Isaiah spoke, pulling away to hold her at arms length, Brielle could discern the mask he shrouded himself in, a cover to hide his own pain.

"It's all my fault," as her word registered, Isaiah began shaking his head, the rim on his eyes glistening,

But since Vallen, Brielle had time to process everything, and her friends absence in this world was her fault, with every web of reasoning she spun that conclusion was always drawn. That was a truth she had accepted in her heart already. There was nothing Isaiah could say that would change what she already knew.

Tugging herself from his hold as Fenrys approached, Brielle looked to Isaiah who despite everything had come for her, "How?"

There was a twinge of pain marring his expression as he averted his gaze, Eyeing up the male now closely at Brielle's back, as though he alone guarded her from all who may seek to cause harm. "That doesn't matter. I'm here now and I don't intent to abandon you a second time"

Something in her chest cinched at his word. Did he also feel at fault for what she and Elle had endured?

"Promise?"

Isaiah nodded once, eyes gleaming with nothing less then trust and loyalty, a stark contrast in comparison to their first conversation when they were acquainted. "Promise. I will always serve at your side, Boss"

She growled playfully at the nickname, a ploy, "You can break yourself from me if you keep calling me that."

His answering laugh ignited a spark of hope. Hope that everything might just be okay. For they had one another.

Brielle's body jolted, the sensation of falling hitting into her chest. The weight of the memory marring every sense as she bolted upright, eyes burning as the pressure behind her eyes pounded.

The rustle of leaves snapped her gaze up-

Gavriel stopped as his sister attention lifted to him, frozen as Brielle took in the sight of him after almost three months apart.

As all control slipped and the weight of that memory began to crush Brielle's chest, Gavriel moved. Crashing to the ground beside his little sister, lifting her small frame into him as a convulsion sob burst from her.

The sound was gutting him from the inside out, a knife carving into his chest as Brielle collapsed all her weight into him, the sound of her screams drawing the attention of the others as they lifted off their bed rolls,

But her cries were world ending as Gavriel gently rocked them, hand splaying across her back to rub into circles.

The ache was uncontrollable as she sobbed harder, breath stuttering from her chest in a great fracturing crack of pain,

He had broken his promise, Isaiah had broken it, He had left her after it all. Her only tether to who she had been before the Golden Death. The only person who had remembered Elle for who she had been since leaving her family, the only person who had been proof that what they had all endured together was real. He had seen it all and now he was gone.

And she was breaking. The Lioness' heart was breaking.

. . .

Taglist: @dreamiezpsycho@lunaralaraspace@mis-lil-red@mali22@the-fae-are-taking-over

Next Part

#throne of glass #fenrys moonbeam #fenrys x o.c #empire of storms #tower of dawn #kingdom of ash #aelin #gavriel #rowan #sarah j mass #throne of glass fanfic #throne of glass fanfiction

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darkscaleswriter · 1 year ago

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palinoia for the director's cut asks? 👀

(ask for a director’s cut on any of my fics!)

omg I haven't re-read Palinoia in years, when I opened my doc for it I got slapped in the face by times new roman bc this is from before i switched to writing in calibri instead lmfao. anyway time loop fic!! i had a lot of fun experimenting with style in this one, trying to capture the low-grade horror of being trapped in time and dying again and again and again. not sure i totally succeeded, but i liked writing it at least!! i'm especially proud of the bit that's a series of vignettes that descend into repeated "reset, reset, reset" lines, i think that part really conveyed what i wanted it to. it's still satisfying to read again after 6-ish years :D

(continued under the cut)

shadow link is so fun to write, he's a classic antagonist turned antihero type character and i love it. i also have a huge soft spot for him bc loz four swords was one of my first fandoms and is probably my oldest one at this point, so he's an og blorbo for me haha. (clenches fist) someday I will treat myself and get physical copies of the manga. someday…

at any rate, i'm re-reading palinoia and kind of laughing at myself about how the key to shadow breaking out of the timeloop was just. teamwork makes the dream work, lol. including using items from past Heroes bc i like the idea of items from previous games still hanging around odd corners of hyrule. i don't think i planned it that way but it's extremely in line with the themes i tend to write ^.^'

and zelda gets to join in! past me even left a helpful note on the doc explaining that zelda gets to be there bc instead of sending that dark cloud thing to take her like in the manga, ganon got distracted by vaati being vacuumed and wasn't able to stop the links from breaking her out. i am also now realizing that i never explained what happened to vaati beyond "vacuumed into a giant gust jar" and if i had plans for that, I didn't write them down. so… i guess he just lives there, now? maybe the links go back and smash the mirror after shadow's fully revived as his own being without being tied to it? maybe the jar was sealed away to become the next hero of courage's problem??

if I was going to rewrite this fic, i think it would be interesting to add a section where shadow gets desperate and tries to recruit vaati. maybe there would be 2 villain turned antihero characters surviving to the end…? or vaati is too power-hungry to go for it and betrays shadow at the last second, if he doesn't refuse and/or kill shadow outright for being a traitor. i think the last minute betrayal version would be a good loop to lead into a deleted scene where shadow straight up just hides in the dark mirror for a loop and refuses to engage, up until the links make it to the tower and are like "hey tf is this giant mirror and should we break it or something"

that deleted scene never got finished, i'm guessing bc it was leading up to shadow letting the links smash the mirror without ever revealing that he was inside (rip). based when where i was in life when i wrote this fic, i probably wasn't in a headspace to get quite that dark. i think there's a difference between considering your death an acceptable sacrifice in a fight to prevent a supervillain from taking over the kingdom and not caring about your death happening bc depression, y'know?

there's another deleted scene where shadow has a much more dramatic death that involves him fighting vaati in single combat himself, and ending the fight by chucking a bomb at the dark mirror to kill them both. i think that was vaguely what the final loop was supposed to be before the gust jar idea, and there was a whole bit with vio where vio is extra upset as shadow is dying in his arms bc shadow promised earlier not to kill vaati via the mirror. whoops, he lied! he went after vaati on purpose and planned that from the start! what a normal and mentally stable thing to do, shadow.

that ending was cut more because it ended up too close to canon, i'm pretty sure, and i wanted the final loop to be something more unique. shadow needed to do something different than his original ending to break out of the loop, so the full canon divergence had to happen.

shadow still died very briefly at the end of the final loop, when zelda had him throw a bomb full of triforce light at ganon, but at that point the goddesses were like "okay we'll call that having learned your lesson" and brought him back quickly enough that nobody realized he was gone. potentially including himself! i'm not sure that shadow ever consciously realized it was the goddesses farore, nayru, and din that put him in the time loop, but after it ended, he was just glad to be done with it and decided not to ask too many questions that could potentially make them change their minds haha.

re: the goddesses, i think the reason they took an interest in shadow to begin with (self-sacrificial death for the four sword heroes aside) is because shadow was created using the power of the triforce. he's one of theirs, sort of, at a sideways angle to how link and zelda and ganon are. close enough for them to meddle with, and idk maybe din was being extra salty at this incarnation of ganon for creating an entire sentient person and then treating him Like That. rip ganon for annoying his triforce piece's patron goddess, lol.

shadow was created from the dark mirror using the triforce of power as wielded by ganon, and my general headcanon is that shadow link literally did not exist until the events of the four swords manga when he is born from the dark mirror. he doesn't have link's memories, but he knows link's personality and remembers feelings/impressions/etc. and, since shadow was created with the triforce of power, he carries of sliver of it with him in a similar way to how each of the links carries pieces of the triforce of courage. part of the reason he's drawn to the links is because like calls to like. shadow was made in part from the triforce of power, but in the image of the bearer of the triforce of courage. the only part he's missing is wisdom, but at the end of his final loop, he does get caught in the blast of zelda's triforce power bomb, so… :3c

at the end of the fic, when shadow notes that he has the triforce on his hand, i left it deliberately vague about whether that was actually the full triforce or not. i don't remember if i had a clear answer in my head for this, but i suspect he shares pieces with the other links and zelda, bc i like the idea of them being all connected like that. regardless, what triforce piece(s) he has are what allowed him to sever his connection to the dark mirror and hang out in the sunlight without burning up like a vampire. he takes a lot of catnaps in sunbeams now that he doesn't have to worry about that haha.

anyway thank you so much for asking about Palinoia, it was really fun to go back and remember how much i enjoyed writing it. and i'm SUPER flattered that you read my fic to begin with!! i am so in love with your god of war time travel au, it lives rent-free in my head at any given moment.

thank you again!!! :D

#legend of zelda #four swords #shadow link #darkscales answers stuff #palinoia was fun i need to do more experimental stuff like this #tempted to write more fs stuff now since its been a bit #writing for this fandom always feels like coming home

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viewedooc · 1 year ago

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saw a comment on a youtube video about how the time aspect wore dave down and a DIFFERENT comment on a DIFFERENT song about how hes giving up time travel good (which i did not read before having him give it up i swear. i feel vindicated) and someone linked the page / read through that a little

so supposedly the beta session lasted a day but dave played at least three days going through time loops, and thats just the alpha dave, not counting all the ones that died or were doomed

i think it works as a parallel for his anxiety and tendency to overthink, probably leaning into some obsessive compulsive issues

like i think that's how his brain worked. he's able to throw out paragraphs of rambling because the spigot from which his stream of conscious flows is smashed permanently open so he's always in his head, distracted, thinking of things to say and possibilities and fears and doubts. running through it in his mind trying to give himself the best chance at success to overcompensate for his deep, deep, deep insecurity it's not the dead part of the dave that scares him. he's used to dead things (in jars) it's the failed part.

(someone remind me to talk about the parallels between his time aspect and interest in wet specimens later)

having to weigh all those decisions and outcomes and decide which ones were more favorable really took a toll on him. like letting jade shoot him (he wasnt afraid of his death he was afraid of jade being hurt)(having to leave his sister behind alone in a doomed timeline to save her in another.)

it's too much knowledge and executive power. the human brain is not built to experience life that way (which is why caliborn makes such a potent lord of time - his brain IS wired to work that way - vicious and cyclical)(whereas for aradia it was like a second chance that was genuinely hers and not taken from her or controlled by a weird horny freak)

i think the moment he gives it up is the moment he realizes he can do more for everyone just being present in the moment. both in terms of time and his maladaptive daydreaming. or his internal panicked searches for the Correct thing to say which is also Very Cool and Funny (which he'll never fully give up but he can learn to say something beautiful and true or even cringy and silly once in a while)

i think it also contributes to his deep unabiding love for his brother because he knows dirk is weighing all the options too. he knows none of them seem great or possible. he knows they're gods who are going to live to see black holes die. he knows that on the graph of the timeline between the birth of the universe and the death of the final black hole, he hasn't moved a nanometer. theyre not even babies theyre zygotes.

the cruxite egg was such a good metaphor because itll hatch when its ready. it takes time. let it do what it does.

davebot experiences all points in time simultaneously so where we would see a moment, followed by a moment, followed by another moment, it's like he has the whole picture in his head from start to finish and enough quiet time to ponder it all and he's cheerfully nihilistic. assigning "good" and "bad" to any moment is pointless because you stretch out the whole tapestry and it's beautiful. you can't just cut out the upsetting parts. find beauty in the threads and the hands that wove them

#long post #and i do mean long post #worth tagging

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russenoire · 1 year ago

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8, 17, 35 !

8. if you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

i've already written a story without action... so writing one without dialogue would be more of a challenge. it could be a piece in which two characters are cuddling and one is asleep, or in which they've just had a nasty argument and one more word might lead to blows.

17. talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

i hate repeating myself, so please have these links in which i answer this question at length instead:

35. what’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

'don't switch character perspectives within a scene! you shouldn't switch at all, but if you do it should only occur once a chapter/once a scene. head-hopping is bad.' oh, bollocks to that. GTFO and go challenge yourself, i beg you. go read some good 19th and 20th century english-language literature and get back to me. if there's a good reason for me to shift between brains in a scene, i will do it; and you, gentle reader, will be none the wiser. you also won't be calling it 'head-hopping', because it shouldn't feel jarring if done well.

most writing 'rules' aren't, really. at best, they're guidelines to help you target your writing for specific audiences. for every prescriptivist so-called rule, i can find ten published pieces of fine english lit that blithely ignore it. the one i smash ignore most often in my writing on this blog is... 'proper' capitalization. i'm sure it annoys some people, but my writing isn't for them.

#you ask i answer #聞いてくれば #答えようと思う #mob psycho 100 #mp100 #mp100 AU #asagohan no aru seibutsu #asagohan au #still life with breakfast #creative writing #ask game

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popculturebuffet · 2 years ago

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Sam and Max Beyond Time and Space Retrospective: Ice Station Santa (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy freelance police and welcome back! For those just tuning in for the better part of the year i've been taking a look at Sam and Max: Save the World courtsey of patron WeirdKev27, falling more in love with this franchise and these games each chapter. If you'd like to catch up, I've put links to each review into one masterpost

RIGHT HERE

So with season 2's production.. I don't have a lot. I tried but most articles I could find from the time are "Sam and Max Season 2 is happening and it's better than ever" and not much else.

It makes sense: Season 1 was Telltale Games big coming out party: while it wasn't the first game they made, that would be....

It was their big breakout success. So while season 1 was proving themselves by this point Telltale was a big name, Sam and Max were once again big names, and the episodic model had worked. So it's not a huge suprise that season 2's production was more: Let's do it all again but bigger and better!

So for season 2 the models are slightly more expressive, there's more mini games and the originals had widescreen support back when that was a feature. '

So what actually happens in this sequel? Well a lot so join me under the cut as our heroes take on a bloated hairy pagan god to save christmas, embark in a rigged trivia night, traumatize bosco for fun and profit, and run over some muppets. In other words it's another day at the office and i'm glad to be back.

We open season 2 with our heroes returning from a case, some time after season 1 which is said explictly to be last year, only to get a nasty suprise. A giant robot smashing up the place

It's not that souless abomination but the maimtron 5000. With our heroes assuming it's their goldfish plotting max's death, that old chestnut, we head outside for the first puzzle.. well okay we're SUPPOSED to head outside but I choose to instead dick around the office. The trophy closet continues to grow and i'm happy to see a jar of bliss join the stuff. It's not a big or flashy trophy granted, it's not a melted ted-e-bear heard or a whole human being. There's some nice new touches to the office too: the photos from hit the road and bad day on the moon are replaced with ones from season 1. IT's a nice little touch that helps vary up the office and allows it to feel refreshed while still recycling the set from last game.

The biggest and best addition though is some stuff swiped from Ted.E Bears charred ruins. I get the feeling they WANTED to include these last season but it simply wasn't fesable. At any rate you now have a mounted mafia anamatronic head over the desk and the wack a rat game is now free to play any time in your office. I did again, because I had fun and it's even more fun when you just touch the screen.

So we walk out onto main street.. and quickly get our first of many status quo shake ups for the season: Sybil's is thrown through the air and lands squarely between your business and boscos where the space for rent used to be. Or on top of it more likely. It's also teling just how used I got to Sam and Max's street that I know it like the back of my arm hair. Thankfully she's not inside but it was still unnerving to see such a key part of the first season tossed aside.

Thankfully the Maimtron himself... is pure comic gold. He's waxing lyrical incarnate, quoting countless pop songs. My faviorite bits from him are giving his number as "6875309" and "All the cops in the donut shops say way oh way oh". That one's more for Max's response "That's it no one quotes walk like an egyptian at me and lives!"

However bullets can't do anything against him. Thankfully he has a big wind up dealie on his back so you simply need to ask why do birds suddenly appear every time he is near. I mean the obvious answer as given by Lorne

Is just like me, they long to be, close to you, but since he's in metal box at the bottom of the sea since Max took office, it instead gives you an opening to turn the robot off. The sender turns out to be a hairy pagan god with powers untold. That right it's old saint nick and time for Christmas in late august.

One opening sequence later we're at the north pole and it's here we get some interesting structuring for this episode. For the first act of it you can't leave the north pole. Which was annoying at first as I wanted to see Season 2's settings and what's changed, but in hindsight works perfectly: it keeps you at the pole and thus keeps your options kept there. Likewise apart from a puzzle or two that requires you to go to the north pole, most of act 2 is on main street and the last one is a bit back and forth. It creates a nice gameplay loop without leaving you TOO overwhelmed.

But before we can get to the wonders of Santa's Workshop... we reunite with some old faces. Yes folks, the dreaded dark day of prophecy fortold in the scrolls has come. THE SODA POPPERS HAVE RETURNED

As you can imagine i'm not remotely happy their alive and survivied the great dakota wars with only a removal from office. Their mad about their christmas presents. Specs got.. something, Peepers got a night gown he just dosen' thave the hips for, and Whizzer got Tuberculosis. Same thing Sam got max. It's why they don't do secret santa any more. Those gags are funny, and at the very least Sam and Max are now as visably fed up with them as I am. They also aren't in this one too much and the developers make up for using them at all out of plot necsity by allowing you to throw snowballs full of bleach at them. Repeatedly.

It was one of the best days of my life. Also helping with the strain of these morons and specs returning is a little something from the past. See before I got into this chapter, Kev reminded me of what was INTENDED to be a running gag, but I simply never updated it. Persons of all ages I present the wall of misery

It was supposed to be a runnnig tally of characters I just.. flat out hated in fiction. Not just disliked, not just was mildly annoyed by in one version or another, the ones I CANNOT FUCKING STAND , the ones who truly bring out the rage in me. It ended up largely forgotten due to a combo of two things: my short term memory being shoddy.. and me simply not getting THAT angry that often when reviewing. I try to be fair to a work as much as possible, and prefer to focus on the positive. I"ll still be objective, i'll still come down on a works flaws, but at the end of the day the reason I got into this wasn't to let out my anger issues (which I do have and try hard to control), but to simply look at things I liked or things other people like as fair as possible. I WILL tear into something if it truly pisses me off, see my review of the boys comic, but I generally don't get my hackles up that high that often.

That being said.. as I looked at the wall I realized it had a place for that exact reason. If a character can not just annoy me (as a lot of this prototype do), but really make me hate them, really make it harder to watch an episode or read a scene if their around.. why SHOUDLN'T they get a badge of dishonor for it? Pissing me off is harder and harder these days, so why shouldn't someone get an award for it for somehow pulling that off? So I present to you

With thing one and thing two front and center. Thing three is absent because he's not a carnival of dicks crammed into one character model. If your curious whos who

First Row: Julie Powers (Scott Pilgrim (Comic)) Helen Lovejoy (The Simpsons) Billy Butcher (The Boys (Comic) ) Daisy Duck (Legend of the Three Cablleros Version, the rest are fine) Second Row: Mindy's Mom (Animaniacs Peepers (Guess) Whizzer (Oh come on) Roger Raincomprix (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir) Yivo (Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs) As for what the Soda Poppers have to do puzzle wise...

Yup my anguish, my bringing back and old bit, my pelting them with bleach and possibly elf urine, it all amounted to... well okay you DO get to pelt them all with bleach and possibly blind them for life. I"ll give the developers that. This appearance gets a pass.

So we finally get inside the Workshop to find this is the night santa went crazy, as Santa is holding anyone trying to come into his office at gun point and has been having the elves making more militarilzed toys. And tourture me elmer. Naturally Max loves that last one. He even screams like a real person.

I will say Santa holding everyone at gun point.. is more than a bit unsettling and is very "product of it's time" given the.. well everything that's happened since this chapter happened. While mass shootings happened back then, they weren't nearly as common. and... I need a moment.

Okay back. I didn't even notice it while playing it oddly enough, probably down to it being a product of it's time and my brain treating it that way. Or the situation being silly enough that the horrible crushing reality simply didn't hit me and thus the chapter holds up okay.

It helps the workshop has a genuinely... creepy atmosphere> The music, a more offputting carol of the bells, the lighting it's all more ominous than previous settings. It contributes to the episodes depressing vibe as when we get to town in a bit it's also a bit off. Thankfully this is sam and max so while I was a tad unsettled.. it really didn' tstay that way for long as you can stick your guns to the north pole, talk with the elves on how things hav edeteroriated and how the elves sang a song when they left "It wasn't very happy" and make an elf cry to progress.

Elf Tears make trees grow

So we need to make one of the elves cry. And given this is sam and max it's naturally one of the most darkly hilarious things as the elf WANTS to cry.. but even threatning to rip out his eyes or kill his dog dose'nt work.. I mean the former at least makes sense. You know I forget sometimes how much horrible stuff these games make you do till I sit down and play this month's chapter.. or how much comedy gold you get out of the suffering.

Now we have a pail of elf tears.. .which I didn't even know you could pick up. I assumed growing the tree was what you did to progress. This one's on me for both not using the button to show you everything you can react to.. and on not turning the hint system up. See last game I honestly forgot half the time Max gave you hints, not helped by the fact a majority were just max being max instead of offering any advice. So for this game they instead worked out a better hint system. I mean you can still talk to max for giggles, but instead if you turn it on and the game thinks your stuck, he'll shout out what you specifically need to do. I needed to crank it up to get him to do it, and evne cranked up it's nicely just if you've been idle or wandering around long enough.

Thankfully once Kev told me I could us ether elf tears, I grabbed them and used them on a coinvent little tree outside. This gets us into Santa's Office, but dosen't really fix the problem right away as he still outguns us. And given this is sam and max we're talking about that says a LOT. Thankfully we get our lead in to act 2: an exorcism diagram. It's actually quite simple they simply need a magentic pole, which they have and the four horseman of the apocalypse action figures.

So collecting all 4 is our next goal and we're finally back home. And each area has one of the four horseman.

The first one I encountered, and ironically the last one I grabbed, was Boscos. And boy oh boy was I not prepared. So.. since the end of Save the World Bosco's somehow sunk further down the conspiracy whole. Besides dawning his most hideous disguise yet, himself, he's torn the store apart, taking all the fun and helpful condiments from season one and replacing them with a presumibly useful in the future set of photography equipment. The lights are dim, the security's somehow MORE draconian and bosco himself seems on a shorter fuse. That dosen't mean we can't light it as there's two really fun bits. The first is since bosco is hiding from a group called "T-H-E-M", who i'm not doubting exists since he was at least SOMEWHAT on the money about most of his paranoid delusions, any time someone says them he gives out a high pitched shriek. Props to Oogie Banks for making it so damn hilarious. You can just.. say it over and over ot hear it till Bosco eventually uses the security system on you. Btads is back baby!

You can also ask if he has any, which of course he dosen't this isn't a store.. but the payoff is what makes the joke:

As for bosco's horseman it's in his package

And that joke was ALMOST as subtle as the jokes the game makes. Bosco won't open it because he thinks it has a bomb inside but won't NOT open it because it might have his broom. So once again we have to ruin bosco's life. Id' feel worse but given he's taken trillions of dollars from us simply because he could, let's scar him for life again!

This requires the present machine. You can send random junk to people. We only need to send two gifts for plot progression: a ticking stopwatch to bosco for obvious reasons and a footbath to stinky's diner for reasons i'll get into in a moment.

The watch makes Bosco think the present is a bomb, and while he's disposing of it you can steal from him again. And if he has any problem with it.. them.

Onto our next one at Pimp Le Car, another very 2000's joke but one that holds up as it's just plain funny a custom car place would decide "you know what we need to not get sued by xibit? FRENCH!"

And running Pimp Le Car are The C.O.P.S.

The COPS are like the anti-soda poppers to me: their instantly likeable, made their chapter better by existing and every time they show up gets a smile out of me. And lucky for me Telltale clearly felt the same as their upgraded to Bosco's old role of shopkeep, via their custom car buisness. Their also as funny as ever.

Naturally their task is the best. To get their figure (a free hood ornament) you have to run over as many torture me elmers as possible while they spit out things likes "I have rights" and "I'm an american citzen"

That's 1/4 horseman, but before we go we can also get Stickers

For the desoto. Turns out you can get 5.. I only got one assuming it was a once a chapter thing. It's pretty neat.

Moving on, we have Stinky's Diner, our second new location and our replacement for Sybils. And I have to admit while I miss both Sybils and Bosco's as it was this shakeup was necessary: while the gameplay loop of visiting the duo worked for a game, changing up who does their roll was necessary. Telltales smartly kept both characters, they simply changed up their gimmicks: Sybil's focused on her relationship with Abe LIncoln and Bosco has gone deep down the paranoia rabbit hole.

Stinky's isn't ENTIRELY new, having shown up in Hit the Road as a quick gag and Season 1 as a background feature. Our heroes were mentioned being fond of it's salty order who hoped to cull the weak with his questionable food.

Sadly for our heroes and about a wash for the rest of civlization, Stinky is gone, apparently having passed between games with his daughter taking his place. The boys are suspcious. The fact Stinky is a habitual liar who has rigged her trivia contest so no matter what you answer you loose so she can feel superior doesn't help.

Winning at trivia is a lot of fun and a clever puzzle: the pattern is simple enough: Sybil and Abe are on a date and while their relationship is going fine, the date itself is not great as both want to murder Girl stinky but neither wants to ruin the date for the other, and my boy the Army Bug whose dealing with some ptsd and the recent loss of his father. Poor guy. I'm glad he's here but he needs some bug therapy. Maybe Buster Blaster can branch out

YOU ARE NOT YOUR FATHER

YOU ARE GREAT

YOU CAN DO THIS

GIVE ME 5.50

Since the bug and Sybil always give the same answer, a and d respectively, you simply need to tell abe whose desperate for advice to choose b or c, choose whiche ver one he didn't and you win. Stinky begrudginly gives you your prize.

As for the footbath I mentioned you mail that to Girl Stinky, and she's thankful enough to let you take her old sock.

Note this is just me personally. If your into that, good for you. It's just not for me.

Anyways the sock will be useful later, and the less I have to talk about someone else's dirty sock the better.

So that leaves us with our final horseman to grab, and that takes us back to the start.. the giant robut. Thankfully kev told me when I was stuck to go back there. So Jimmy Two-Teeth and co have turned the robot into a boxing league. Thankfully you can aquire a boxing doll from the north pole and engage in the rat equilvent of punch out.

The boxing mini game is painful. It's main problem is simple: it's a punch out homage.. that isn't designed to work like punch out. So if you say spent a LOT of time playing punchout in college and have all your reflexes for a game tied to this where you assume you can dodge either way when your instead supposed to go the same direction your opponents punching, your gonna have a bad time. Spoiler: I had a bad time. Not helping is the final fight with Jimmy gives him a super punch that can knock you out in one hit. Why they didn't tune this up for the console versions better is beyond me.. and probably time and space.

Our heroes win.. which leads to Jimmy Two Teeth, sad his wife left him, to perch on a ledge and prepare to commit suicide. Honestly i'm suprised this episode didn't have you kick a puppy or 12 at this point. We can't help him yet though, but we CAN help santa. Using a record from his office, we play the summoning chant the friendly demon song!

youtube

Jared Emerson-Johnson continues his hot streak from last season and shame on me for not looking up who was writing and singing these things. Admitely the puzzle itself is frustrating if you don't get it but the solution.. is neat. The beast possesing santa left a bunch of clues around the workshop.. and it turns out it's our old friend Shambling Corproate Presence! I'm so delighted they brought it back.. granted it's just a pink monster.. thing, but it's still neat they brought it back.

Turns out though while this does draw it out Santa actually left out the instructions as a way of fighting from the inside.. and our heroes didn't look on the back. The only way to restrain the thing is the ghosts of christmas past, present and future. And thus we've come to our final act. You have to get the help of the spirits of christmas past , present and future to help. And in a nice and, as you'd expect for this episode, fucked up twist, it's all undoing shit our heroes did. Well for the most part, one is saving them but two are christmases our heroes genuinely ruined.

So first is past, and this is where we help our old friend Jimmy Two Teeth. Kinda. We go back to season 1 and while Christmas Past dosen't care about them kidnapping Leonard for keepsies, they do care about Jimmy's son needing money for his toureets or jimmy's wife about ot leave him. The only way to fix this.. is to kindap jimmy's wife, bring her to him, and then take his boxing glove so his past self can get the tourettes surgery money, fixing the problems we caused in his life with more problems in his life.

Then we have christmas present. Earlier when we got the figure from Stinky, Max pressed it. And since that one was pestlience it summoned the bug's awful family. We throw a snowball at him, it triggers his psd, and this gets the others to leave thinking he's his own dad.

So it's on to our final one which thankfully isn't comitting any crimes. Horay! We simply have to save ourselves from hell in the future. We do so by firing up the sleigh, which has been sitting outside waiting for some coal. And we just so happen to have a terrible persons' sock. We use it to coal up, go rescue ourselves and max hits on his past self suprising no one.

So now we can release the spirits of christmas. They try appealing to the corprate presence's better nature.. and once they get that off their quota beat it. Unfortuantely it goes back into santa.

Fortunately this final boss fight.. is pretty neat. See earlier in the workshop there's a bunch of stuff to play with but none of it comes into play, a tad annoyingly at that.

And while I still contend it was a bit much.. I can't fault telltale for the payoff, as you use all the stuff in santa's workshop to knock him out. The package that brought shambling corprate presence here turned out to be for satan so we send it back.

The problem is who will save christmas? Turns out it's the soda poppers who like me Max wishes were deead but for once turn out useful. WEll okay peepers and specs are, Whizzer's only fucntion is "unrinate on stuff" but frankly it's a funny enough gag he can live till the end of the season. JUST TILL THE END OF THE SEASON. Speaking of great gags our heroes drop off. And why not.. it's only mid november.

Ice Station Santa is a mixed bag for me. There are a lot of great gags shoved in here as usual, the puzzles are mostly fun, and while the first act can be frustrating the atmosphere can't be beat. It's mostly great stuff. The more I wrote about it though the more it became clear that the tone.. is a bit of an issue. Some jokes like making the elf cry or the muppet slaughter are so dark they work, while other bits just .. don't quite land. There's enough of the old sam and max goofiness to make the chapter not get to ounsettling but there's a more mean spirited tone in this one i'm really hoping isn't a trend for this game. Sam and Max works better when it's more over the top insanity and our heroes being over the top callous instead of just depressing. Still i'ts a solid start to the season Next Month..ish: Sam and Max take a vacation! Naturally they have to save the day to actually enjoy it. Thanks for reading.

#sam and max #sam and max beyond time and space #telltale games #skunkape games #sam #max #freelance police #sam and max freelance police #sam x max

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