#nbd mc

[heartshckle]

OF COURSE ACE DREAMED OF STAYING WITH THE MC FOREVER. GET UP OFF THE GROUND 🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣

[thelonelyshore-if]

Little PB sandwich teaser for no reason other than I'm enjoying what I'm writing. Very eager for the end of chapter 3 c:

[nineblooddances-if]

COMMANDER TRENT IX PRODITIO 

[PICREW LINK]

[ladymdc]

I wrote 236 words today. At this rate, I’ll have another chapter done in about… 3 months 😭

[acidpeaches]

LOVE THESE GUYS!!!

[coramatus]

AAAAAAA THANK YOU @peacheenie !!! WE’LL HANG ON AS LONG AS WE CAN HERE!

Or at least I will! Woodsy’s got his own problems. :P

……he’ll be fine. Eventually. Maybe.

At least Woodsy has his own cheer squad for the @ultimate-submas-tournament ! Whether he likes it or not.

City Streets Emmet is just here to have a good time. He just narrowly avoided being entered in instead!

(Meanwhile Volo and the Beast discover the joys of popcorn)

aaaa congrats @coramatus on da win!!!! mc and woodsman are certified besties now so you GOTTA grab the @ultimate-submas-tournament W cuz hes voting/counting on you!!!

^_^ good luck on ur future brackets!!!!

[hold-your-color]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ "Love Cove"

a Cove Holden (x mc) playlist with title track "Dream Boy"

I wanted to do a cover for the playlist for ages... only took me a few years to doodle something for a few hours nbd

[octopus-punching-union]

Mortkranken first reactions—

(spoilers, obviously)

I really liked the case in this one. All the info we learned early in the chapter (about curses, the mermaid, the acid) came back and wrapped up nicely in the end, I thought that was really satisfying.

How desperate that guy must've been, though... being in the hospital for upwards of a year, not seeing any progress made on a cure to his curse. As someone who spent years trying to get an accurate diagnosis for chronic health issues, I kinda get it. (All of the conflicting info MC's getting about her curse is also deeply relatable...)

Hopefully he's not still conscious, in that state of being immortal but with his body constantly being eaten by acid. That's just horrifying.

The info about anomalous viruses vs allergic responses and all that was really interesting, but I think MC's curse is different from those. According to Ed, forgetting about the eye will break the curse, so it's at least partly psychological? (And they like totally gloss over Yuri's super-cure. Even though it didn't work on MC, he might've just cured a ton of the curses in existence, which is huge!)

Yuri's stigma was kinda underwhelming. Like, his superpower is Smart. He's already really smart, and I don't feel like he should have needed his stigma (plus MC's boost) to figure out a battle plan. (But I loved that MC was just like fuck it I'm gonna hold your hand and he was scandalized about it. Bets that he's gonna be lying awake at night thinking about it?)

Loved Yuri and Jiro's dynamic. Loved Jiro being so blasé about everything. Did he kill someone? Maybe, he can't remember, nbd. Let's just put a corspe on dry ice, nothing wrong with that...

I wonder how much of Jiro's memory is affected? If it's just stuff from around the Clash, or generally everything before his coma? (How much does he remember Zenji?)

LOVED MC taking initiative at the end and calling for the general students to help. Yeah, they needed some extra motivation, but like. Most of the ghouls seem to forget that the general students even exist, and don't consider that they might be able to help with anything. Once they get up to the surface, the general students realize that yeah, they can help! I think that's really important when talking about campus unity — the general students are part of Darkwick, too.

About the Clash... the murder victim being in Ultio is making me feel more certain that the list of suspects is a red herring. I feel like Ultio was pretty shady and literally anything could have happened.

Also starting to think that the Clash was like every house for themselves and there weren't clear-cut sides. Frostheim, Vagastrom, and Mortkranken all hate each other. Everyone hates Obscuary. Everyone thinks Hotarubi's a bunch of anomaly sympathizers. Etc.

Really nice to see everyone making an appearance in this episode, even if briefly.

Subaru and Sho! I love them so much and I hope nothing bad happens to them.

Luca and Kaito! I feel like they've both grown a little since we last saw them? Luca jumps to conclusions but backs down quickly when he realizes he's misunderstood something. (Adorable really, when he thanks the one guy for giving them directions to the Pit. What a sweetheart.) Kaito is so so so intimidated by Jiro, but he stands up for MC when Jiro tries to take her away without explaining.

Alan! I wish we'd gotten more of him, especially with him being the first witness and all. It reinforced some thoughts I had about his character — that he really cares about the Vagastrom students on a personal level. And once he's decided that he trusts you, he really trusts you. (Back in Vagastrom episode, he never once questioned Tohma's actions or intentions, even when Leo served up some damning evidence. And after their mission, he still had a lot of faith in MC even though her ability had just catastrophically "failed" right in front of him. Here, he trusts that she'll solve the case and is willing to give her whatever she needs without question.)

Leo seemed a little... softer this episode. I feel like in episode 2, he wouldn't have taken the step to go make a copy of the case report for MC to have. He's still got some conflict with Alan about how to investigate, but this doesn't feel like he's trying to cut corners. (Genuinely, HOW is Alan planning to interview 80+ people on his own. How.)

(Luca and Alan I think are similar in that they both feel a strong personal responsibility to take action, even if they don't know the best thing to do. Luca jumping to conclusions and picking fights despite Kaito begging him to slow down, Alan sticking with inefficient old-school methods despite the results Leo gets by being more innovative. They both need someone to balance them out so that they can do their best, and I think finding that is going to be a big character development thing for both of them.)

Also interesting that Tohma seemed to take issue with Haku saying "our" referring to Hotarubi, considering how much Tohma has integrated himself into Frostheim.

Oh my god. That conversation between Haku and Tohma. Haku was definitely in Frostheim before, and Tohma seemed even less friendly than in their campus scene. And Haku is totally taunting Tohma like "Maybe MC and I are closer than you think."

...And then right when Tohma is accusing Jiro of messing with Frostheim, Rui pops up like "you know I'm watching you right?" and provides an alibi for Jiro (the herbs). This new ability of like, lurking in the shadows and watching everyone is great yandere fuel...

I've been assuming that "President of the Institute" is an elected or appointed role? But Tohma just goes right out and says that Jin will be the next president. If they're planning a coup, that's not very subtle. Unless it's not news that Jin will be/wants to be the next President... like if it's a hereditary position or if Haku was already aware of Jin's ambitions (if Haku used to be part of their plans?) Or, if it's a hereditary position, does this imply that Jin's family founded the Institute?

Towa and the tree. The yellow fruit represents Vagastrom? Something between Mid-Obscuary and Mid-Mortkranken caused the fruit to grow, and something in the latter half of Mortkranken caused it to wither. Idk yet.

Ren, cup ramen connoisseur. Ritsu, so sheltered that he's only ever had ramen at one specific restaurant and doesn't really realize that it's weird. Cat manager of the campus store. Those cats really need to unionize.

Taiga... might just be trying to cause problems for fun? But possibly he knows something about the inner workings of Darkwick that would turn him against the Gala and Laurel Crown.

Ed! Ed!!! Yessss, call out the Chancellor for lying in front of the entire fucking school. I love him, and I love that after warning MC about confronting Darkwick on her own, he does it himself so publicly that they can't retaliate against her.

I want to like Hyde. I really want to like him. Looking at his deal positively, he probably knows Dante well enough to know that he would support the Gala, and therefore his own support wouldn't actually be the swing vote. And the deal with MC was just to motivate her to try and unite the ghouls (he's previously talked about seeing the ghouls as people and the extreme responsibilities put on them).

I still don't trust Nicolas or the Chancellor, even though he apologized. They're claiming to care about MC's mental health, but is really that much more traumatic to find out that you're turning into an anomaly, vs that you're gonna die in a year? Both suck, but their decision withheld critical information about the curse that could have helped her identify what's happening to her. MC had no clues at all until Ed talked to her, two months into her year deadline. She is already starting to change. I really don't think that Darkwick, as an institution, has any intention of helping her.

...but he's clearly got yet another agenda going on. What exactly is he talking Sho into doing now? At this point I think Dante is the least shady of the professors, and he might literally be a reanimated corpse.

[differenteagletragedy]

I have been replaying Baxter's route in Our Life and analyzing it like I'm in English 101 (shout out to @meowzilla93 for listening to the unedited version of my rambles lol) and I've only played one moment so far (extra lol) but there are may thoughts.

-- Please play Hang first before Sightseeing if you haven't, doing things in this order is my truth and maybe it could be yours too! If you do it this way, then it's like you meet Baxter, he's a charming little weirdo and you exchange numbers and then the gang is going to the beach one day, so you can invite the new guy!

-- If you are feeling forward or nice or just have a big crush on him already (totally fair of you tbh), then you can invite him over to your room before you head down to the shore to get an extra hang in.

-- Before this, he was looking at you as maybe a potential fling, nbd, but if you are nice enough to not only include him in your plans but also to invite him into your home and also your ROOM? Well, that's pretty special, isn't it? And Baxter likes to feel special.

-- Ok listen, PLEASE don't try to convince this guy to get in his swimsuit and get in the ocean. I get it, I get it, but he is so surprised and happy if you just accept that he has a fear and tell him that he doesn't need to push himself, it's totally fine with you and not a dealbreaker. If you pick this option, then it's the one that makes him "crack his guard" for a moment, and he'll thank you sincerely instead of saying something jokey or flirty.

-- Because of this I think that he's used to people pushing boundaries with him, so much that he's surprised you DON'T do that. Not that he would think MC is being mean or insensitive if they do ask him to try the ocean, there's obviously not any sort of mean-spirited option there. But boy does he like just being fully accepted as is.

-- ALSO if you don't get him to go change, he waits for you downstairs while you do and you catch him smiling gently at a picture of you when you were a kid on the beach. Guy has got it bad already.

-- If you don't get him to change, then you can see that he's wearing little heels, and if that's not everything then what is

-- When you get to the beach, please tell him again that there's nothing wrong with being scared of the ocean. If you do, then "the tension in his face gradually softened when the 'but' he was waiting for never came." He is waiting for everyone to tell him that he's doing something wrong in some way. You gotta be Baxter's hype person, MC.

-- Ok so then everything happens, but if you play Hang first the way nature intended, then it all happens with Baxter as a crush instead of as your suitor for the summer. And that doesn't necessarily mean anything, but if you like a slower burn then that's an option!

-- He'll still put his arm around you and give you a little snuggle at the fireworks and tell you you look amazing even if you're not dating. Adorable.

-- Oh and if you aren't already dating then you get to hold his hand and walk through the sprinklers and pretend like it's raining, he's such a goof.

[kuratm]

while sayu knew that what he said must be a joke - she's come to known him well enough to tell when the dark fae was being serious or not - the tone he used was...well, quite sinister, and it made her slightly unnerved. he really doesn't know how to crack jokes, sayu can't help thinking to herself...but, of course, she'd never let that slip up, not wishing to offend her friend. ❛ um...i-i think you misunderstood my point. it's not that you can't take me there, magic wise, but rather...well... ❜ she stops for a moment, taking malleus's words to consideration. while he raised a good point, she still couldn't help the smallest twinge of guilt building in her chest - the last thing she wanted was to trouble others with her own wishes. blame it on her humbleness, she supposed.

this raised another question in the magicless girl's mind - how powerful was her horned friend? while she had a hunch, given the confidence he gave off whilst having this conversation, she couldn't possibly imagine the potency behind his magic. maybe all fae species were naturally stronger than humans, hence the insistence. it made sense, logically speaking, but perhaps...he is different from other faefolk? that could probably explain, well...the loneliness he tended to emit. people will always put those they idolize on a pedestal, never to consider how that person might feel...she can't say the sentiment wasn't understood, given that sayu, too, has experienced that in her original world. it's a good thing nobody here knows of her music career.

❛ be back by morning, you say...mmm... ❜ despite the hesitance behind her voice, sayu won't lie that she was very curious to see the fae's homeland. being able to explore more of this unusual world, getting to learn more of its' people and different cultures...it enticed her curiosity. maybe it's alright to indulge in her selfishness, even for one night...that, and she could tell malleus refused to drop the topic. he really wanted to show her briar valley...a wish she couldn't help but find rather...cute, oddly enough. with that in mind, she gives in with a soft sigh, amethyst eyes looking up at bright greens with a soft smile. ❛ alright, then...you win, senpai. i guess it'll be fine to leave the premises for one night. just...don't drop me in briar valley by myself, okay? i can't exactly teleport back here, after all, ehehe~ ❜ she couldn't help the smallest tease, emitted by a light giggle escaping her lips.

"Are you suggesting that something as simple as this would be bothersome to a powerful fae such as I~?" the prince replied, a smirk tugging at his dark lips. Something about his words seemed awfully threatening, as if he actually took offense to her being concerned about something like this, but it was all a jest. He simply struggled to convey a 'joking' tone in conversations.

Malleus continued. "I'm not suggesting a long trip. Perhaps a weekend, or even just for a night. There's no need for concern over actual travel. I could have you in Briar Valley with the mere snap of my fingers~" It wasn't an exaggeration, and anyone who knew Malleus and his power would certainly realize this. Honestly, Malleus couldn't think of anything he would like more than to show Sayu his home kingdom.

"I could take you tonight, if you'd so wish," he offered. "You would be back come morning without any concern for missing a class." Although he felt it to be quite dumb to be concerned about missing a class over this, but Malleus cared for Sayu, so her concerns mattered to him.

[guardian-of-time-if]

Any chance for leodra to have one blue one pink colored eye? Especially since she's worried about the superstition NBD if she can't. Also since MC is canon to die even if they're one of the immortal races how long after would that happen especially if she can potentially outlive her kids if she has them with a human from that other ask you had. If it's spoilers no problem I'm excited to find out in the story anyways (not excited she dies though) 😭 will MC be able to not have to hide her appearance when she does her trial I picked leodra and I want everyone to see her in her glory lmfao and if she potentially married luk would she still have to hide her appearance? I was only meant to ask one question and got carried away

Hi Anon, don't worry about getting carried away with your questions. I don't mind answering several things in one ask, it just takes me a little longer to answer them!

Any chance for leodra to have one blue one pink colored eye? Especially since she's worried about the superstition NBD if she can't.

I’m sorry, but I don’t think the available eye colors for Leodra is something that will be changing. Leodra eyes only existing in three colors was one of the first things I conceptualized about their species, and while heterochromia would theoretically be possible, I think it’s beyond the scope of what I want to do for this MC.

Also since MC is canon to die even if they're one of the immortal races how long after would that happen especially if she can potentially outlive her kids if she has them with a human from that other ask you had.

As for MC dying, the prologue takes place about 200 years after the events of the book, so I don't have a canonical death date for MC, just that it is sometime before the prologue. I didn't mean for the prologue to imply she dies at the end of the book. I love a good tragedy, but this is not meant to be one.

will MC be able to not have to hide her appearance when she does her trial I picked leodra and I want everyone to see her in her glory lmfao and if she potentially married luk would she still have to hide her appearance?

I too want everyone to see leodra MC in all her glory. Lol. The short answer is that, yes, during her official dragon seeker training, MC will not have to hide her appearance. Even if MC wants to, it won’t be possible as she’ll have to travel outside the empire, and the grand arcanist personally handles the spell that hides her true appearance. He’s good, but even he cannot maintain a spell for hundreds of miles away. 

As for hiding her appearance after marrying Luk, she won’t have to anymore. (Though that doesn’t mean everyone is going to be fine with her suddenly going without glamour.)

[nineblooddances-if]

COMMANDER LUCY/LUCIUS VIII FICTUS 

[PICREW LINK]

[operationnope]

Casa theories

I’ve seen some predictions, so I thought I’d throw my hat in the ring. Forever being an optimist and being on Theo’s route, I’m totally biased, but here’s my thoughts 💭

Whatever couple you saved, they’re gonna twist. For me, it’s Sophie and Jack and let’s face it- they are MESSY. No one will be surprised when they twist, but they’ll both be like, “I can’t believe you twisted!!”🍿😂

Hari will twist. Unless they somehow make it clear that we’re coupled with him, why wouldn’t he? It’s really confusing that they didn’t clarify that before we got the text. But it’s fb, so that’s pretty on brand 🙃

Your LI/partner that was fake dumped will stick. If it’s like s6, MC was still technically coupled with Elliot (and they kept reminding us about it 🙄), so it could be similar. Maybe they’ll say something while we’re at Casa that gives us some indication of what the heck is going on with our coupling. But our returned LI already said they would wait for us, so they’ll be loyal💖

Bea and MC are tricky because we’re in couple limbo. I’ve seen a theory from the lovely @crimswnred that maybe Bea will be the Chelsea decider- if MC sticks, she’ll twist and vice versa. Fb really picked a weird time to send us to Casa 😵‍💫

Now for the whole reason I am making this post- I think Claudia and Theo will stick. Claudia is a potential LI (if you’re on her route), so unless she pulls a Dana, she’s going to stay loyal so she can eventually couple with MC. And my boy Theo will stay loyal because he and Claudia are still good friends, and he wants to make sure she’s safe. And also because he wants to couple with MC, and I’m plugging my ears about him twisting 🙉

Obviously, I could be the biggest clown and Theo will twist. But we’ve not even had a chance with him, so for him to twist would be devastating. Even the Claudia girls got a night on the terrace, while we’ve been getting crumbs. I’m just trying to stay positive that Theo will not break my heart 💔🤡

I’m sure there will be some shenanigans from both sides and the dreaded postcard (but that usually turns out to be nbd). I hope the Casa boys are cute because my MC is gonna get hers. Also, I’m curious if one of the Casa girls that gets brought back will also be a future LI…

[quickspinner]

No need to answer but I see you never tag mc-lukanette's posts with anything. I already follow them so nbd but for people who follow you but not them I feel like it gives this vibe that you don't really like their content and are just reblogging obligatorily? Usually you reblog posts with stuff like "cute" or "aw" which sounds like not much but it sort of tells people what they're in for. If you've got some kinda beef with them then disregard, just is v noticeable since you tag most other posts.

I actually haven't been tagging a lot of things lately except with the quickroundup tag. I haven't had time lately to read things right away but if I don't reblog immediately I tend to forget, or get confused about which ones I have and haven't reblogged. I sometimes manage to read things from my friends right away, but not usually. Art is easier because I just have to look at it so those usually do get something tagged because I do want people to know they are seen and appreciated. MC asked long ago not to be included in the roundup so those don't get even the roundup tag.

With that said, I have always made a policy to reblog everything Lukanette possible whether I am a fan of it or not and regardless of my personal feelings about the author. From the beginning I have felt that if I wanted others to promote my work, I should start by promoting theirs. If that implies I'm only reblogging out of obligation, well 🤷‍♀️ it's a self-imposed obligation that no one is responsible for but me. I'm not sure I intended to become the Lukanette clearing house but I have the platform and followers now and even if something might not be to my particular arbitrary taste, that doesn't mean it doesn't deserve to be promoted and find its proper audience. That's my personal philosophy.

I used to try and comment on every AO3 fic as well, hoping to encourage more people to keep writing because I love the ship and I want there to be as much content as possible, and because I like encouraging new writers and I know from personal experience how much a positive comment can help. I haven't been doing that for a while, either - too much Stuff going on in life and in my head that I don't care to talk about here.

To anyone who has felt disappointed that I didn't comment, know that it is not a commentary on your work, just the big fat mess that is life and mental health right now. Please know that even if it was true that I didn't personally click with your story, there are people out there who will love it, and I'm more than happy to help you find them, so release any guilt you feel about being reblogged "unworthily." You are worthy and your work deserves to be seen, and not only shouldn't I be The Arbiter of What Is Good Enough, I have absolutely no desire to be.

If you (general) feel people should only reblog things they absolutely love, and are somehow offended that I choose to include everything, we just have a difference of opinion on how we want to run our blogs. You do your thing, and I'll do mine.

If anyone has any "best of the best" or otherwise curated blogs or lists I am happy to promote them, but I like the way I do things here, and I don't plan to change. I will however continue to honor any requests not to be included in the weekly roundup, so remember if it bugs you to be on their for some reason, any reason, just send me a message and I will comply, no questions asked, no explanation needed.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Atlus: yeah we really totally definitely wanted to include the femc, but it's just way too hard ya know?

Femc fandom: ye we made an original op alongside the animated cutscenes and the reload mods, nbd

(important note: this is a joke)

OK BUt-

Jk. I know it's a joke. But I'mma be honest......it is kinda sad that fans can do it but a company can't? (I try not to bring up the fan project in a "Look fans can do it why can't atlus?!" sense because I know the project wants to be left alone in that regard. Only reason I brought it up was because I'm like "Huh timing seems a little too close don't you thinK? >:( you trying to destroy the fan fun Atlus?" because it felt like they were trying to rain on our parade. TT0TT But in all honesty the DLC is releasing soon so I'm not really that surprised....it was just horrible timing on the universes end. u_u)

But man, if this guy can stop sounding like a broken record? It doesn't sound sincere, it's always the same thing, and it just feeds the assholes and upsets her fans more. TT0TT

But, god, how hard is it to just give us a COSTUME that's her? I'll take it.

"Oh but it'll just be an asset flip!!! Is that what you want?" No but if it's what I CAN GET I'll take it.

I also don't agree with the arguments of "Oh well they added all this stuff into P3R so they'd HAVE to add it for FeMC if not they have to make a new ver for her!"

Lol no? Just copy and paste it at best. Or just....get rid of the P3R exclusive at worst? I'm fine cutting out the P3R stuff. It's eh anyways. I'd rather have a "complete" P3 that takes what EXISTS in P3 Vanilla/FES/P3P than "another P3 buuuuuuuuuuuuut this one has new mediocre content! ;D"

If they literally kept the dialogue, voice acting, old cutscenes all the same (basically reuse ALL the existing assets), but just added a FeMC ver of the Answer and gave her some cutscenes. Then I literally would've been happy.

FeMC Answer>>>>>>Whatever fucking link episodes P3R gave me.

"No I want the new translation! Which means, re-recording lines with new OR old VAs!" Ok then just assign a gender neutral pronoun to the MCs (they/them/their/you/leader) so they don't have to re-record as many lines.

I dunno, I feel like the dev's priorities were skewed into whatever version of P3 THEY wanted vs what the Fans were asking for (which was a complete ver of P3.......which we've been asking for since P3P was announced TT0TT)

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

You mentioning timeloops got me thinking of the idea some people have had about the mc looping back whenever they die in a noble fight, but expanding it to be: everytime the mc dies, they loop back, but so does the other time traveler, Ingo. Who has no idea what's happening or why. Just think about all the times a person can die in their first run of the game! It'd be disorienting to be involved in any kind of time travel shenanigans, but to be along for someone else's ride, without there seeming to be any rhyme or reason to why you're skipping back would be so scary. Especially if no one else seemed to notice the changes and you already had an untrustworthy memory.

Or alternate idea: everytime Ingo dies he loops back to the start of the day, but whenever he does Emmet does too. Pretty sure Emmet could figure out it has something to do with Ingo, but it'd be a scary mystery as to why. He was already worried about Ingo the entire time he was missing, but when he started periodically looping back it got even worse. Could also be combined with some sort of wound or phantom pain transfer; whatever happens to Ingo happens to Emmet. In one way, great, because at least he knows his brother is alive! In many ways, not great, because what the fuuuck

this absolute CALLED SHOT of a plot point in the timeloop fic i can't finish writing whkjwhwjkwh. ok well in that one it's not just "loop back to start of day on death," it's that hisui's trapped in a permanent loop of mmm a little over a week before the world ends, and ingo's the only person conscious of the resetting. it's all very majora's mask. and then over on the other side of the rift, emmet is, yes, ALSO trapped in the loop, and while ingo gets the visual cue of "oops, planet rolled over and died again," emmet has literally. no. fucking. idea. why this is happening, other than that it MUST have something to do with the thing that stole his brother, since that appears to him to be point where it resets to.

imagine how painful it would be to be constantly resetting to the moment just after losing him. trying over and over and over but you're always just a little bit too late. and then on the other side, since the loop starts when ingo arrives, imagine having your entire living memory be a transient and ephemeral thing. the inevitability that every single memory you form will eventually be erased from reality, and you're the only one still carrying it. after the fact of having your entire life stolen once already.

uhhh i got a little distracted oops what were we talking about. OH THAT FIRST IDEA IS ALSO REALLY GOOD. you're right the idea of just being dragged along on someone else's timeloop ride is fuuun. getting to be the passenger, remembering previous iterations but having absolutely no control over it. and especially if this is on top of oop-ingo's dissociative episodes. sometimes he skips a day, and then some other times he makes up for it by doing a day twice. or more than twice sometimes, if the protag's really stuck on a thing. that is actually so fucked up. just no correlation between your personal awareness of time and the actual apparent reality whatsoever.

oouohg and then. fuck now you've got me going. but. i feel like a hallmark of timeloop fics is the target becoming sort of blasé about their mortality or like, the experience of pain. because on the one hand, they have infinite retries so it's nbd. on the other hand, because it's so "simple" to try again, they feel like they have a moral obligation to get it right. do it better. good enough is never good enough when you can try again and again and again for perfect. all it costs is a few moments of pain and then you can save that person, shortcut those hours, be faster be smarter know better– so that's the protag's angle. that's what they're living through, being the center of it.

okok now. now imagine they make it to the highlands, or wherever, having had three regions and three nobles to get comfy with this perfectionist ruleset. except, now they're being shepherded around by ingo. and ingo remembers. and crucially they do not yet know that ingo remembers.

i think i'm imagining they ignore ingo's warning about the alpha crobat, bc, look this is the fast way, charge ahead and get killed. and before ingo can even begin to process any of that, like oh fuck or why did you just run in there or oh fuck, did that kid just die—blink. day resets. and obviously, he can't be sure, but he has to think about that connection, like. it was almost the exact same instant, those two things happened. so he's thinking, while they run the day through again. and then this time he's fast enough to snag them before they can run towards the death monster, like ABSOLUTELY NOT, and when he does they go "huh. that's new."

and he's like FUCK DO YOU MEAN, THAT'S NEW???

and then oops! cat's out of the bag! no takesies backsies protag i don't think you're getting out of this one clean. and then ingo has to deal with the sudden information that the source of his torture for the past few months or however long it's been if you're counting undone days or not, is a teenager dying over and over bc god told them to. what's he even supposed to do with that.